//------------------------------//
// 12 - The Final Showdown 
// Story: Chasing Thieves 
// by Yukito 
//------------------------------//

Chrysalis' hands were shaking as she watched the teenage girl floating in the air, a intense green light swirling around her as she levitated two jewels before her – one purple, and one blue.

"This one's for you, Aria," Adagio said as she thrust the purple jewel towards her friend, before turning towards the helicopter. "And for Sonata…"

"D-Don't move!" Chrysalis shouted as she regained her composure, but was startled as the girl flew towards her, breaching the cockpit's window and reaching towards Sonata. She pulled the girl out and flew back onto the roof, leaving Chrysalis shell-shocked until the helicopter started to rumble.

Looking outside, Chrysalis could see a green aura enveloping the entire helicopter and tried to retreat. "The controls aren't responding!" she screamed as the aircraft was thrown backwards through the air. "ShitshitshitshitSHIT!"

Sunset Shimmer and Trixie watched as the helicopter fell down from the sky some distance away, horror spread across both of their faces. The horror soon vanished, though, as a hand clutched Sunset's throat and picked her up off of the ground.

Aria Blaze, now wearing the purple jewel around her neck, chuckled as she watched Sunset struggle and writhe in her hold. "This is payback. I told you before that you're no threat to us, and I meant it!"

"Let her go!" Trixie shouted, reaching into her cape before being tied up by a green light coiled around her body like a rope. She heard giggling and looked up to find Sonata Dusk, now freed from her constraints and wearing the blue jewel around her neck.

"Thanks for freeing me, Adgi!" Sonata sang as she raised an arm into the air, causing Trixie to rise with it.

"Yeah, appreciate it!" Aria followed, releasing Sunset Shimmer and allowing her to drop to the floor, before kicking her in the stomach. "Lemme have some fun with this one! I'll teach her not to mess with a siren!"

"Don't take too long, you two," Adagio said, before laughing at her own words. "Oh, who am I kidding? Now that we have our magic back, we have all the time in the world! Just make sure to find the location of that annoying book that connects to Equestria."

"H-How do you know about that?" Sunset asked, clutching her stomach as she tried to look Adagio. Aria grabbed her chin and forced her attention away.

"I'll be asking the questions here. Now, where's that book of yours?"

Sunset spat on Aria's face, causing Sonata to burst into a fit of giggles, only stopping when Aria sent a glare her way. "That won't work well," Adagio said. "Try her friends. That's what worked on our little thief, here."

"By the way, should I ask her where her friends are?" Sonata asked, looking up at Trixie as she flailed her legs in the air and demanded to be released. "Or should I just drop her to her death?"

"I don't care," Adagio said. "Her friends don't matter anymore. All that does matter is preventing Equestria from sending any annoying princesses to stop us."

"Okay! Down you go!" Sonata started to levitate Trixie through the air, bringing her closer and closer towards the edge of the building. She stopped when a bang sounded through the air, accompanied by a bullet striking her jewel and knocking it off of her neck.

The light binding Trixie vanished, and she dropped down onto the rooftop. All eyes turned to the hold left by Adagio Dazzle, where Shining Armor was clutching the edge, pointing his gun towards Sonata and panting heavily.

Adagio hummed as she approached the agent, creating a shield of light as he pointed his gun towards her. Blood ran down the left side of his face, forcing him to keep one eye closed. "Even in such a state, you have such keen accuracy."

"I was aiming for her heart," Shining spat, his hand shaking as he tried not to lose his grip on either the gun, nor the edge of the hole. "You creatures… are too dangerous…"

Adagio stopped, and smiled. "And here I thought that you were just some 'white knight of justice' or something, intent with taking in his criminals alive out of some stupid notion of 'mercy'.

"I am, but justice only extends so far," Shining Armor retorted. "I can't take any chances with you. You're a threat… to so many people… I made the decision a long time ago, to abandon my morals if it meant protecting the citizens of this country!"

"Words are nice, but without power, they're just that." Adagio stuck out her open hand, and Shining Armor felt a force pushing him down the hole. He screamed as he fell, and Adagio Dazzle turned back around to face Soanta. "Is the jewel okay?"

"I'm fine!" Sonata sang in a cheerful voice.

"She asked about the jewel, moron," Aria said.

"Oh. It's fine, too," Sonata said as she attempted to place it back around her neck. A string of light wrapped around her neck, and she turned back to Trixie to finish her work. "Alele? Kaitou Mooooooon! Where did you go?!"

Adagio raised an eyebrow and looked around for the missing girl. There was no visible way off of the roof, and nowhere to take cover, either. She heard a shriek from Sonata and snapped her head back, only to find her friend on the floor, with a tall, muscular silhouette behind her. "W-Who are you?!" Adagio demanded as she fired a beam of energy at the figure.

The figure shielded with a dark aura and vanished from sight. "I'm the hero that this town deserves, but not the one that it needs. I strike fear into the hearts of my enemies."

Aria felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around quickly. Before she could say anything, she was whisked up into the air in a trail of smoke, her mouth gagged as she flailed, much like Sunset had before.

"Just kidding." Adagio pointed her hand forward, a ball of green energy in her palm. "I'm just a castaway from the darkness. But against you three schoolgirls, even I can-"

"DIE!" Adagio fired her shot, and watched as Aria fell to the floor. "Aria, are you okay?!"

"Adagio, run!" Aria sat up, revealing that her jewel had been taken. "Get out of he-"

"ARIA!" Adagio ran to her friend, kneeling at her side and checking her pulse. "Still alive, just unconcious."

"That's right."

Adagio screamed and jumped to her feet. She threw a punch at the figure before her, only for her fist to be grabbed.

"It would affect my parole if I killed any of you. That's why I'm going to spare you… for now."

"W-Who are you?!" Adagio repeated, this time with much more fear in her voice.

The figure grinned. "An FBI agent gone rouge. A tyrannical king gone mad with power. Take your pick." The figure clenched his fist, eliciting a scream from Adagio Dazzle, before releasing it and reaching for the jewel around her neck. "These jewels allow you to channel your magic, but you sirens rely on the negative energy of others to give you strength. I simply channel the dark forces of nature and bend them to my will, thus, I am much stronger than you right now."

Adagio fell to her knees, clutching her broken wrist with tears streaming down her eyes. Her entire body trembled, and then she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. "Adagio Dazzle, once again, I am placing you under arrest."

Adagio gasped. "… This can't be happening. Not again." Adagio clenched her teeth together. "After all that I've done. After how far we've come. Have we simply traded one prison for another?!" Adagio took in a deep breath of air.

A blood-curdling scream filled the night, echoing throughout the entire city as the rain poured down even harder in the darkness of the night.





"You're sure?!" Shining Armor demanded over the phone, nodding his head a couple of times before smiling and turning to Sunset Shimmer. He hung up the call and said, "Chrysalis is okay! She jumped out in time onto a nearby rooftop!"

"That's good to hear," Sunset said, placing down her glass of water beside herself. She turned to Kaitou Moon and asked, "So what now?"

"We had a deal, if I recall correctly," Kaitou Moon said. "You let me go this one time, and I help you reel in this big fry."

"But in the end, it wasn't you that saved us," Sunset said. "It was Shining Armor."

"Actually, it was…" Shining Armor turned his attention towards where Sombra was sitting, behind the bars of an armoured van, once again inside of his straightjacket. "Excuse me. And Kaitou Moon? You're free to go."

Kaitou Moon wasted no time in jumping to her feet. "Well then, I bid you all adieu!" Smoke filled the area, and after it had dispersed, the thief was gone, replaced by a card that fell into Sunset's lap.

Sunset picked up the card and read the two words written on it: 'Thank you'. She smiled. "I'll let you go this time. Go find your friends and tell them the good news, Trixie." The card exploded into smoke, replacing itself with a similar one that read, 'Not her'.

Shining Armor approached the van and dismissed the two armed guards protecting it. "I want a word with him." With a couple of nods, the guards left Shining Armor alone with Sombra. "… You saved us back there."

"I did my job," Sombra replied.

"How did you use magic? Was it the jewel we found in your mouth?"

Sombra nodded his head. "I picked it up when I fell onto that display case. I figured that that's what the Dazzlings were after, so I took a precaution, just in case."

"You could have fled, you know? You could have been free. But you let us take you in. And more than that, you saved my life."

Sombra laughed. "I'm no fool. If I had fled, where would I go? By saving you, I earn points towards my appeal." Sombra turned his gaze towards the agent, and followed up with, "Well, I must admit, it did take me back. I believe that I have now saved you more times than you have saved me."

Shining Armor furrowed his brow. "How did you know that the jewels could give you magic?"

"The same way I know how to do magic in the first place," Sombra explained. "The knowledge passed onto me by my other self. King Sombra's knowledge, and his power."

"… Tell me something. Are you… Sombra the agent, or Sombra the king?"

Sombra hesitated for several seconds before answering. "Perhaps I am both, or perhaps I am neither. I remember being driven mad in my pursuit of power, yet I also remember finding no place in the world before I enlisted in the armed forces. And then I met you."

"You have two sets of memories?"

"But which set is real?" Sombra asked. "How do you know that your Sombra didn't die, and that I am not the other Sombra, masquerading as him?" A moment of silence passed. "Perhaps I did not flee… because I am still asking myself that question."

"… Regardless, you saved all of our lives, and many more, tonight. I'll be sure to mention that in the report." Shining Armor turned to leave, before adding, "Oh, and Chrysalis survived her fall."

"Darn. I don't like that woman."

"Neither do I, but next time, try to put some effort towards saving her, too. Okay?"

"By the way, where is Gilda? I did not spot her helping us tonight?"

"Ah, I had her watch over Kaitou Moon's friends. Though officially, she was on leave today due to a cold."

Sombra chuckled. "You… are just like your girlfriend, you know?"

Shining Armor simply waved back as he walked away, approaching the second armoured van containing the three members of the Dazzlings.