Sunset bagged her hoof on the controls in irritation. She had tried to open the door to the Dome Nine shuttle entrance with no results. There were no attempts to communicate with her in any fashion, leading the crazed mare to believe that they knew she was in here.
‘Of course they would know,’ thought Sunset in frustration. ‘As soon as I left, they must have sent word of my escape to all the Domes. And the shuttle crew must have informed them the license number of this shuttle, making it easier for them to know which shuttle they can let in and which one not to.’
Taking a deep breath, Sunset closed her eyes and began to think, as the shuttle remained stationary in front of the door. She knew she couldn’t stay here forever. Sooner or later, the Royal Guard would send out a fighter or something to capture her. Maybe even kill her. She had to escape while throwing them off her trail.
Her first though was to use the shuttle to plow right through the Dome. That idea lasted half a second as Sunset quickly realized that if she did that, then everypony in the Dome would be killed, and it would become unlivable until it was repaired. She might have been tempted to do it, if she knew for a fact that Twilight was there, but that was unlikely. Plus, if she was wrong, Princess Luna herself would hunt her down.
‘Well, there’s always Plan B,’ thought Sunset as another idea popped into her head.
-x-
On the other side of the Dome, several members of the Shield Corps had gathered near the shuttle bay doors. A few of them were staring at the metal doors, horns ready to cast a shield spell around Sunset, once she decided to walk through. That, however, was unlikely, since the ponies in charge of security had orders not to let her in until Captain Shadow Blade arrived. The other members of the Shield Corps were staring at the shuttle through the translucent material that the Dome was made of, in case she did something stupid like trying to ram the shuttle into them. That way, they could reinforce the Dome with several shield spells at once in order to protect it.
For what seemed like the longest time, the shuttle just sat there, stationed a few hundred yards in front of the entrance. Then, it began to back up. Seeing this, all the members of the Shield Corps began to prepare their best protection spells in case Sunset was planning on ramming the door down. What happened next squashed that idea as the shuttle began to turn slightly to the side. Its engines then activated and the shuttle subsequently began to fly next to the Dome. The ponies of the Shield Corps began to chase after it with all of their might.
They didn’t have to run for very long. While the shuttle was still within their range of sight, the members of the Shield Corps watched as the front of it dipped down towards the lunar surface and crash. The unicorns stopped, their jaws open in dismay, as the shuttles engines began to die as well.
-x-
“I just got word from some of my stallions,” said Shining Armor, while his left hoof was pressed against his left ear, which held a small communication device. “It looks like Sunset won’t be a problem anymore. The shuttle she stole crashed just outside of Dome Nine.”
Shadow raised an eyebrow when he heard this. After they had gotten word of Sunset’s escape, Shadow had quickly begun to prepare. The first thing he did was to order several of their fighters to get ready to launch, in case Sunset planned on hiding out in one of the other TOMs, or even making an escape to Equestria.
As his best pilots began to ready their fighters, Shadow placed an order to activate the tracker that was in each shuttle. Normally, these trackers were there in case there was a random shuttle malfunction and the shuttle was set adrift. These tracker systems were equipped with a separate power supply, in case of a power failure, and were next to impossible to deactivate.
Now Shadow had a new way to use this system, which told him that Sunset was heading towards Dome Nine. As soon as he saw that, he sent word to the guards working at that platform station not to allow anypony to depart. Once that was done, the bat stallion gathered together fifty members of the guard and, along with Shining Armor, got onto a platform, which was currently heading towards Dome Nine.
Not one of the fifty guards said a word as the platform headed for its destination. They had been given details about how Sunset escaped, as well as what had happened to the guard that had tried to stop her. Right now, Blink was in critical condition within the TOM’s medical bay. While help was on the way, it was still very likely that he wouldn’t make it, after taking a shot to the head.
Each and every member of the guard was burning with the desire to bring Sunset to justice. Some had suggested that they take her out as soon as they saw her, but Shadow refused to allow that to happen. It wasn’t because he didn’t understand how they felt, for it was very much the opposite. Shadow blamed himself for not putting more guards there, and for not putting more protection in place.
But, he was still a member of the Royal Guard, as was Blink. Shadow knew that Blink loved the Royal Guard and what it stood for. It wasn’t just having fun and protecting the Princess, it was about protecting all ponies within the Republic.
What Blink had done on that TOM, when Sunset had taken a hostage, was the right course of action. Now Shadow had to do the same. It was not his duty to decide her fate, but to drag her to those who would. The only way he would allow any of those under his command to take her life was if there was no other choice.
“Have they identified the body,” asked Shadow.
Shining blinked for a second and then relayed the question to the stallions under his command. “No,” he said once he had gotten an answer. “It will take them some time to get the gear needed to go out there. But, according to their description, it’s doubtful that she survived.”
“Was the Dome Nine anti-teleportation system activated,” asked Shadow, who had a feeling he already knew the answer to that.
“No,” replied Shining after a few moments. “That would have caused serious problems for every unicorn in that Dome. We would have had to put out a public message on the radio for all citizens not to teleport, and the only ones that would know would have been the ones listening. Those that didn’t know would have ended up in a containment center, which would have become overcrowded quickly.”
“Then that means that Sunset might still be alive,” said Shadow with a sigh. Shining opened his mouth to object, but Shadow held up a hoof to silence him. “Sunset is a skilled magic user, not to mention being somewhat of a genius. She could have easily teleported out of the shuttle and could be trotting around Dome Nine while under disguise. Until they have checked the wreckage, I’m going to continue to assume that she gave us the slip, so that we don’t waste any time.”
Shining let out a sigh. “I guess that makes sense,” he admitted. Then, he began to look a bit worried. “Why do you think she went to Dome Nine? Do you think that she knows Twily is there?”
“It’s highly unlikely,” noted Shadow. “I can’t think of a way that Sunset would have heard about it, since Twilight made her plans today. Right now, I’d like to think that it is just a coincidence that she headed there. But, just to be on the safe side, I’ll send Lightning and a couple other guards to watch her without being seen. We don’t want Twilight to panic or worry the Equestrian’s.” Shadow then paused. “But, do you think that it was the right thing not to tell Princess Luna about all of this.”
Shining shook his head. “She has enough on her plate right now,” said Shining. “She’s meeting with the leaders of two different countries. I don’t think it would be right to interrupt something like that for something like this. Besides, I think we can handle this ourselves.”
-x-
“That was awesome,” exclaimed Scootaloo, bouncing out of the Prancington Theater, along with the other fillies from Ponyville as well as Spike.
“It really was,” agreed Apple Bloom, who was wide eyed. “Now ah hope ah gets a chocolate making cutie mark like Cady Bucket had.”
“I just loved the music,” stated Sweetie Belle, who began to hum the first song of the musical.
“It was alright,” said Spike. “But, why couldn’t they of had some chocolate covered gemstones?”
“Because darling,” said Rarity as she appeared behind the younger members of their group. “Ponies don’t eat gems. Our teeth simply aren’t strong enough to chew on them, like yours were.”
“Right,” replied the dragon turned colt.
“Well, I hope the rest of you enjoyed it,” said Twilight, levitating Pinkie Pie out of the theater. Nearly everypony else nodded or gave her some kind of positive response, expect for the hyper pink mare struggling to get out of her magical grasp.
After leaving Land Share’s place, Twilight took them to go see one of her favorite musicals, ‘Sweet Surprise and the Chocolate Factory’. Twilight had loved the book, as well as the movie that was made back before she was born. The resent remake, on the other hoof, could have been a lot better. But, despite the… questionable changes, the remake made ponies appreciate the original so much that there were now live performances with many good actors trying to recapture the energy of the originals.
The one they had gone to see was done with some of the latest holographic technology to help with the sets. One moment the background looked like the homes in Dome One, and the next, it looks like they are really walking into a chocolate factory in real time. No waiting for stage hooves to change the backdrop or anything. Twilight would have enjoyed it more, if she hadn’t needed to keep Pinkie Pie at bay when the actors entered the room where everything was eatable. The last thing she wanted was Pinkie trying to do a dive into the holographic chocolate river and hurting herself, while annoying the other theater goers.
“Well, ah think we can all agree that was a mighty nice play,” a smiling Applejack noted.
“Ah, it was alright,” said Rainbow as she looked away.
“Well, I’m glad you all enjoyed it,” said Twilight before looking at Pinkie. “However, I think some of you enjoyed it a little too much.”
“Hey, Mom,” said Scootaloo as she jumped up to get Twilight’s attention. When Twilight looked down, Scootaloo pointed a hoof towards a long wall in the middle of the street. On the wall were a bunch of posters with large red buttons next to them. “I wanted to ask you about them when we got here. What are they?”
“Oh, that’s a preview wall,” replied Twilight. “Each poster represents a production going on right now or coming soon. When you press the button, you can watch about a minute or two of the show to see if you like it. It also has a couple of reviews from a few different critics.”
“Can we go check it out?” asked Scootaloo.
“Sure,” said Twilight as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Spike ran off.
“So, tell me Twilight,” said Rarity, looking over at the preview wall, “is that the only place where a pony can find out what’s showing? If it is, then I can’t see how it can be efficient.”
Twilight shook her head. “Not at all,” she said. “We have dozens of ways to see what the latest movies and plays are. It’s just that in Dome Nine, they spend most of their time moving from theater to theater that they just find it easier this way.”
As the others listened to Twilight as she began to talk, Pinkie Pie noticed that a few ponies walking around the corner into her view. Each one was eating a fluffy cupcake that made the sugar loving mare’s mouth water. They looked so good and she hadn’t had anything sugary for hours! Licking her lips, Pinkie began to try and run over to where the other ponies were coming from.
“Twilight, I think you might want to let Pinkie Pie down,” Rainbow pointed out as she glanced at her pink friend. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped as Pinkie began to bounce up and down. The lavender mare could feel her magical grasp weaken as Pinkie’s motions became faster and faster. Soon, Twilight had no choice but to let her go.
As soon as Pinkie’s hooves hit the ground, she took off at a speed that would impress any member of the Wonderbolts. She ran around the corner, taking the form of a pink blur. As she did, Pinkie rammed into another pony. It was a white unicorn mare with a black mane. As the two got up, Pinkie noticed that she had a half red, half yellow cutie mark with a ying-yang design in the middle.
“Watch where you’re going, you moron,” snapped the mare.
“Opps, sorry,” said Pinkie with a grin. The other mare opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of another mare’s voice.
“Pinkie, what the hay is wrong with you,” scolded Rainbow Dash as she turned the corner. The speedy pegasus then noticed the other pony with them, who seemed to be glaring at them. The unicorn’s horn then began to glow and then she vanished. Rainbow blinked. “Who the hay was that?”
“Don’t know,” admitted Pinkie with a shrug as the others caught up to them. “Whoever she was, she sure was grumpy. She didn’t even accept my apology when I bumped into her.”
“You mean when you ran her down,” stated a deadpanned Twilight before sighing. “Look, if you wanted a cupcake that bad, then we can use one of the baking machines.”
Pinkie’s eye became huge when she heard that. “There is a machine here that does all that baking?!” she cried.
“Yes,” said Twilight slowly. She then pointed to a large, steel grey box that was about half their size a few yards away. “But, don’t get-” Whatever Twilight was about to say fell on deaf ears as Pinkie jumped into the air, gasped loudly, and then ran straight for the machine.
-x-
There was a flash of green light and Sunset Shimmer stood in front of the Prancington Theater, while panting slightly. So far, she had used a large amount of magic in a short amount of time. Several teleportation spells, energy blasts, and her disguise spell all had done a number on her magical reserves.
However, she was wondering if her disguise was worth it, since there was a limit to what it could do. The spell had altered the majority of her appearance, but her cutie mark had remained the same. All somepony who looking for her had to do was look at it and she would be caught. That was why she had to avoid any long confrontations with other ponies. The slightest wondering eye could have spelt disaster for her.
While making several nasty remarks about the pony that had rammed into her, Sunset noticed Twilight Sparkle as she turned the corner. An evil, delightful smile spread over her face.
‘It looks like fate is on my side,’ she thought, quickly making her way towards the corner and peeked around it. There she saw Twilight talking to the pink moron with several others standing around her. ‘Figures she’s friends with the pink clown.’
Briefly, Sunset considered attacking Twilight right here and now. But, with her magic running low, she didn’t stand much of a chance against Twilight alone. Even less against a group. If she were to attack, her best bet would be to strike now, without warning, and hope that she hit Twilight with the first strike.
But, that wasn’t what she really wanted. No, death was too quick and too good for the mare that stole the life that should have been hers. She wanted to do something far worse than kill her. No, Sunset wanted to hurt Twilight, hurt her in a way that even the best medical technology would not be able to heal her. Hurt her in a way that will go on hurting her until the end of her days. If she could do that, then whatever punishment she got when she was caught would be worth it.
It was then that Sunset’s ear twitched as she heard something. It sounded somewhat…familiar. Turning her head around, Sunset saw the little pegasus filly that had ruined her at the laser tag game. Scootaloo, Twilight adopted daughter. She was just standing there in front of the preview wall with three others foals.
Seems like fate really was on her side.
-x-
Pinkie looked at the strange device, wondering how it could give her a cupcake. There seemed to be a slot where a pony could put their bits in, a red button, and a metal circle in the middle. Shrugging, Pinkie pulled out a bit and put it in the slot. However, the coin was spat out from the same slot.
“Unable to recognize,” said the box in a female voice. “Please try a different bit.”
“Okie dokie,” said Pinkie as she put in a different bit. Sadly, the same thing happened again.
“Unable to recognize,” repeated the box. “Please try a different bit.”
“But, I did,” cried Pinkie as her mane became less puffy. “All I want is a cupcake.”
“And all I want is a real bit,” replied the machine. “But, even if you did have a real bit, I would be unable to give you what you want.”
“WHAT?!” roared Pinkie.
“Pinkie, calm down,” requested Twilight as she and the others caught up to her. Twilight quickly turned her attention to the machine. She then pulled out a Lunar bit and put it into the machine.
“Thank you,” said the machine. “I am sorry to inform you that nearly all of the material needed to bake anything is nearly gone. As such, I am not allowed to serve any more baked goods until I am restocked.”
“But,” began Pinkie, her eyes starting to water and her mane was now void of any poof.
“Ah,” uttered Twilight as she watched the pink one get very, very depressed. “By any chance, do you know when you will be restocked?”
“Yes,” replied the machine, causing Pinkie to cheer up a little. “It will be in seven days.”
“Oh, please,” flatly remarked Trixie as Pinkie began to cry. “Trixie does not see what the big deal is. It’s just a cupcake.”
Pinkie’s crying stopped. “Just a cupcake?” she roared, causing all of her other friends to take a step back. “Just a cupcake?! I pinkie promised the Cake’s that I would try out some tasty treats up here in the Republic, so I could compare the two.
“But, I feel like some all-powerful pony is watching me struggle with glee. Each time I get close to fulfilling my pinkie promise, this mean spirited pony smirks as he or she or whatever makes it so that I either come in too late or there are no sugary treats at all. Then, he or she laughs at my frustration. LAUGHS!” Near the end of Pinkie’s rant, the pink mare had gotten on her hind legs and had thrust her front hooves into the air as she screamed out.
“Well…ah…you still have some time darling,” said Rarity, looking at Twilight for help.
“That’s right,” agreed Twilight as she put a hoof on the pink one’s shoulder. “There is still plenty of time before you all return to Equestria. And, I know that the Princess will be having you all over for a special lunch within the next couple of days while you are here. I’m sure there will be something that will help you fulfill your, ummm, pinkie promise.”
“Really?” asked Pinkie as she began to calm down a bit. But, just as Twilight was about to nod, a scream was heard that caused Twilight’s blood to run cold.
“Scootaloo!” shouted Twilight, turning and running towards the preview wall.
-x-
Scootaloo had just screamed out for help as she, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike were being levitated in mid-air by this strange pony. She had no idea what was going on. Just a little while ago, the four of them were watching a preview of a musical called ‘Battlefield Moon’ (which looked and sounded awful by the way), and then this happened. The others, on the other hoof, kept asking what the hay was going on.
“Shut up,” snapped the mare who had them, but to no avail. Scootaloo kept screaming for help, hoping that Twilight would be here soon. But, as she screamed, Scootaloo noticed something about her abductor. For some reason, she was beginning to sweat.
Sunset let out a grunt as the orange filly kept yelling. She had wanted to make this quick, grab the filly and go. However, in her rush to grab her, Sunset had also grabbed the other three. ‘Perhaps this is for the best,’ she thought to herself as her magic began to cover the mouths of the foals to keep them quiet. ‘If I can get into a fight or something, I can use them as living shields. Now to-’ Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard several pairs of hooves galloping behind her. Quickly, Sunset turned around in time to see Twilight, and the other ponies with her, charging at her.
“Who are you and what are you doing to those fillies?” demanded Twilight, stopping just in front of her. Sunset watched as Twilight’s eyes began to shift to examine Sunset’s false appearance until she reached the cutie mark. Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared back into Sunset’s eyes. “H-how did you get free?”
“Twilight, do you know this mare?” asked Rarity.
“Drop mah sister,” said Applejack as she kept her eyes focused on Sunset.
“Oh Twilight, did you really think I wouldn’t find some way to get off that rock they left me on?” snidely asked Sunset as she dropped her disguise. As she did, Twilight’s horn began to glow, causing the area around them to become a little hazy. Sunset looked around and knew exactly what Twilight had done. It was an anti-teleportation zone spell. It was a complex spell that made it impossible of any pony to teleport out of this area.
“Is this your ‘great’ plan, Twilight Sparkle?” asked Sunset in a mocking tone. “Do you really think that taking away my ability to teleport can stop me?”
“I do,” replied Twilight, who shot a slide glance at Rainbow Dash. She knew how fast the pegasus was. The moment Sunset tried to run, Rainbow would be able to catch up to her in an instant. Also, there were two other ponies with her who could use magic. One of whom was the student of Princess Celestia. Hopefully they would be able to counter any spells Sunset tried to use.
“That’s very amusing,” said Sunset, her horn beginning to glow. “But I’m afraid it won’t stop me. See, I have some very interesting plans for your daughter.” As she said this, a crazy smile appeared on her lips.
Seeing Sunset’s smile, Twilight began preparing for another spell. Sadly, Sunset’s spell launched first. From her horn came a bright light, as well as an ear piercing noise. Twilight and the others’ closed their eyes on instinct, in order to keep themselves from going blind. When the light and noise finally faded, the mares opened their eyes. It took a while for their sight to fully return, but the first thing they noticed was that Sunset was gone.
All at once, all of the Equestrians began to talk. Applejack and Rarity wanted to know what had happened to their sisters. Trixie, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy wanted to know who that was. But, Twilight had been left speechless.
Deep down, she knew that Scootaloo was in trouble. She had been right there and she let Sunset get away from her. Twilight wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.
But, she didn’t. She knew that crying wouldn’t help the poor filly. She had to act and quickly. And, the first thing she needed to do was contact a few ponies.