“Why don’t we just ask her?”
“D’you really think she’d give us a straight answer?”
The five friends – Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie – had gathered behind the school building that morning to discuss their plans for the upcoming break, but they had hit a snag when Sunset Shimmer came into play. They put their collective heads together but could not come up with a solution to their conundrum: what could they do that their reluctant friend would also enjoy?
“I think she might enjoy going to the pet expo happening just outside of town,” Fluttershy suggested.
“That’s your thing,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sunset Shimmer doesn’t strike me as the kind to care for animals.”
“How ‘bout we take ‘er to the rodeo?” Applejack asked.
“Yes, I’m sure that seeing her own kind being saddled and ridden for our amusement is exactly what she’d like to see,” Rarity retorted, earning a scowl from Applejack.
“It’s not like we’re hurtin’ them or anythin’!”
“How about-” Pinkie Pie began.
“We’re not hosting another party,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Not after last time.”
Pinkie Pie pouted and folded her arms. “Not my fault all that confetti got into the cake batter.”
“Umm…” The group looked up to find Pinkie Pie’s sister, Maud Pie, standing above them. The grey girl was wearing her signature blue dress and her lifeless eyes expressed no emotion to anybody but Pinkie Pie. “Sis, did you finish all of your homework last night?”
“… OH NOOOOO!” Pinkie Pie clutched her chest and fainted onto her back, her face turning pale and her pupils shrinking in her open eyes.
“I thought so,” Maud said. She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a sheet of paper. “If you’d like, you could copy my answers. I am certain that the majority of them are correct.”
Pinkie Pie sat up straight with a smile on her face. “Nah, I’m good! Besides, honesty is the best policy, Maudie! You know that!”
Maud blushed and nodded her head. “Right. Sorry.”
“Heehee! It’s okay!”
“Hey!” Maud Pie turned around to find Trixie standing behind her, her arms folded and her foot tapping the ground repeatedly. “Are you coming or what?”
“Mm.” Maud waved goodbye to her sister and walked over to Trixie.
As the two girls walked away from the group, Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie Pie and asked, “How long have those two been friends?”
“Oh, Trixie did some work for my folks when she was saving to buy that caravan of hers,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Ah guess she was serious ‘bout takin’ her show on the road when she graduates,” Applejack mused.
Pinkie Pie nodded and continued. “She met Maud there and the two really hit it off!”
“… They did?” Rarity asked, looking just as confused as her other friends besides Pinkie Pie. “I mean, they just seem so… different.”
“Trixie said that Madie’s a good listener and Maudie liked Trixie’s shows,” Pinkie Pie explained. “She used to hold one every night before leaving, until she saved enough money and quit her job.” Pinkie Pie sighed. “It’s so nice to see my little sister making friends all on her own. I was actually starting to worry she’d go through all of high school without a single friend.”
“I guess it’s true what they say about opposites attracting,” Rarity mumbled.
Rainbow Dash glanced over to the pair in the distance and put a hand to her chin. Pinkie Pie held a lightbulb over her head and a grin crossed her face. “Hey, I think I just got an idea.”
“Did it hurt?” Applejack laughed.
Rainbow Dash ignored the comment and climbed to her feet, chasing after Maud Pie and Trixie. “Hey guys!” The two stopped and turned around to face Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Maud, you wanna help Pinkie out, right?”
“Why?” Maud asked. “Is she in trouble?”
“Ohhh yeah! A real bind!” Rainbow Dash turned to Trixie, giving the magician a grin that made her uncomfortable. “We could really do with some… magic, to help us out.”
Trixie sighed. She stood outside of the Canterlot Gun Range with Maud Pie, the two of them wearing shades and black fedora hats to hide their faces. “Trixie can’t believe she let you talk her into this.”
“It’s to help my sister and her friends,” Maud Pie reminded.
“Yes, but I don’t see why we couldn’t have charged them at least a little bit for this.” Trixie pulled out a plastic card from her pocket and examined it. “Well, let’s hope this is good enough to fool the clerk.”
“A fake ID?”
“Yeah. Oh, you don’t have one, do you?” Maud shook her head. “Well then, maybe you should just leave this to me then.” Trixie opened the door before her and entered the store.
“Hey! Hey heyheyhey! No kids in ‘ere!” the clerk shouted from behind the counter as the pair of girls walked in.
“Kids!” Trixie scoffed. “How dare you! Just because I have a condition that impedes my growth, it does not make me any less adult!”
The clerk rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I get a lot of that.”
“Well do you get a lot of this?!” Trixie slammed her driver’s licence onto the clerk’s counter. Her fake one, of course, but judging by the softening look the clerk’s face, it was good enough.
“A-Ah, sorry ‘bout that. I get a lot of brats in ‘ere that tell all these sob stories so I can’t really give anyone an inch these days.”
“Whatever,” Trixie spat, putting her ID away and turning to the door leading to the gun range. “I wanna practice my aim.”
“An hour is thirty bucks,” the clerk responded. Trixie placed the money onto the counter and walked towards the door. “Hey! You got ID too, little lady?”
Trixie gasped and turned around. Maud Pie had tried to follow her into the range, but the clerk had grabbed her arm and stopped her. Biting her lip, Trixie cursed in her mind as she tried to think of something to say.
Maud Pie’s eyes met the clerks and he froze up. Her cold, stone-like gaze sent chills down the clerk’s spine and his grip began to loosen. Maud’s mouth opened and, in a cold, emotionless voice, she asked, “Is there a problem?”
The clerk let go of Maud’s arm completely and backed up, his arms raised. “N-Nope! No problem here, ma’am!”
Maud Pie nodded and placed thirty dollars onto the counter, before walking past her surprised friend. “… She’s good,” Trixie whispered, following Maud Pie with a grin.
As the two entered the range Trixie looked down the lanes. There were three people using the firing range: one was a middle-aged man with a trucker cap and a long beard, one was an elderly lady whose hands were shaking as she aimed her gun, and finally, Sunset Shimmer was occupying that farthest lane. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever fired a gun before, have you?” Trixie asked Maud.
“Papa taught me how to fire one during our family trip to Hawaii after I asked him to teach me.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Why would you need to- HAWAII?!” Trixie shook her head and continued her original question. “Why would someone like you need to learn how to fire a gun?”
“I wanted to learn to protect my sister,” Maud answered.
“Your sister? You mean Pinkie Pie?” Maud nodded her head. “She doesn’t seem the type to go getting into trouble.”
“She’s too nice and friendly. Somebody might take advantage of her and she wouldn’t notice,” Maud explained.
Trixie deadpanned. “That’s… a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“It isn’t like I’m breaking rocks with my fist or anything. I’m just protecting my sister from thieves and rapists.”
“… Don’t tell me you stalk her.” The lack of an answer only served to unnerve Trixie further. “Y-You can’t be serious!”
Maud turned to Trixie, staring into her eyes with her usual emotionless gaze. “… I was joking. I respect my sister’s privacy.”
Trixie blinked a couple of times before sighing in relief. “Then, the whole gun thing?”
“That was true. Whenever my sister meets someone new I check him or her out, first.”
Trixie rolled her eyes. “Have you ever heard of a sister complex?”
“Have you ever heard of a superiority complex?” Maud began walking down the aisle whilst Trixie simply followed in silence. She marked the victory in her mind before asking, “What about you? Have you ever fired a gun before?”
“Yeah,” Trixie said. “I learned how to use one thinking I could use some tricks in my show. Turns out health and safety issues prevent me from taking one into a public venue or into a children’s party.”
“That’s a shame. I would love to fire a shot at you and see you dodge it.”
Trixie slowed down a little to put some distance between herself and Maud. “Uh, thanks… I think.”
“How are we going to make Sunset Shimmer reveal what she likes?”
“Leave that to the Great and Powerful Trixie,” Trixie replied, focussing her eyes on Sunset Shimmer as the two closed in on her. “Seeing through people is a natural talent for one such as me.”
As the two arrived behind Sunset Shimmer, they watched as she loaded a new clip into her gun. The two looked down the firing range to find a target sheet being carried away by a crane. It had a human shape on it and showed that Sunset Shimmer had successfully hit the target’s stomach four times, its heart once and its head once. As a new target came into play Sunset wasted no time unloading all six of her new shots into its neck, creating a nice necklace of bullet holes on her victim.
Trixie’s mouth was agape as Sunset turned around and glared at the two. “What are you two doing here?”
“… Hmph. Not bad,” Trixie said with a flick of her hair. “It seems that Sunset Shimmer is a girl of many surprising talents.”
“In here, it’s Maria Timely,” Sunset said, casting a quick glance down the aisle to make sure that the clerk was not there. “And outside, you never saw me here.”
“What are you doing here?” Maud Pie asked. “Why do you need to know how to fire a gun?”
“Because there’s no magic in this world,” Sunset answered, loading a new clip into her gun and turning around to aim at her next target. “I need a way to defend myself, and this is the best way there is.” Sunset Shimmer unloaded all six round, hitting both knees, both elbows and both eyes of her target. “It’s also just a good way to relieve stress. Now, how about telling me how you found out I was here?”
“How did we know?” Trixie asked. “Who says that we did? We were surprised to find you here.” 'Your henchmen are easy to buy information from, y'know?'
“… Really?” Sunset deadpanned. “You two just happened to walk into the same firing range as me?”
“We both come here often. It’s amazing we haven’t run into each other before.”
Sunset Shimmer narrowed her eyes, but Trixie did not flinch. “Well, why don’t the two of you just take a lane far away from me?”
“But we’re already here,” Trixie said, entering the lane neighbouring Sunset Shimmer’s and taking the gun there. She started to load it when she noticed that the gun in Sunset Shimmer’s lane was still in its holster. “… You have your own personal gun?”
“So what if I do?”
“It’s illegal for a minor to carry around firearms,” Maud Pie said.
“It’s a good thing we’re not minors then, otherwise we couldn’t be here in the first place,” Sunset retorted, glaring daggers at Maud Pie, who took a step backwards in response.
“You said that you come here to relieve stress,” Trixie noted, aiming her gun down her lane with just her left hand and taking a shot. She clicked her tongue as her bullet missed the target. “Are you a big fan of guns?”
“… They’re interesting little devices,” Sunset acknowledged, holding up her gun and examining it. “Much slicker and more elegant than a bow and arrow. At first I just wanted to make sure I could hit my mark, but as time went on…” Sunset Shimmer whipped her gun forward quickly and fired her shots rapidly. “I started to challenge myself. Hitting specific targets, hitting targets quickly, even firing blindly.”
Sunset’s target had six holes in a circle across its abdomen. Trixie turned back to her own target and brought her second hand up, holding her gun steadier as she fired her next shot. This time she nailed the forehead.
“I’ve learned that using one hand doesn’t make you look cool,” Sunset said with a grin. “Not when you keep missing your mark. You don’t look cool when you’re dead.”
“I bet you could do it though,” Trixie said. “It’s funny. I always thought you were too grumpy to find something you enjoy, but it seems even you have a hobby. Too bad you’ve got no one to share it with.”
Sunset Shimmer lost her grin and looked down at her gun with a frown. “Well, it’s not like I have no one,” she said. “There are plenty of other customers that come by here and challenge me to a contest.”
“I bet you probably play a lot of video games, huh?” Trixie asked, firing another shot and hitting her target’s left foot. “Like Call of Duty, or Wolfenstein.”
“I’m not interested in something I can’t physically feel,” Sunset Shimmer answered. “A controller doesn’t compare to the real thing.”
“But it’s probably as close as you could get,” Trixie pointed out. “… Well, maybe not. I suppose there’s also paintball.” Sunset looked up with a questioning look on her face. “In fact, I hear there’s a big game happening next week. Paintball is probably as close as you could get to a full-on gunfight with other people.”
“Paintball… It’s not quite the same.”
“Oh, you should see the courses they have there,” Trixie said. “Trenches, forts, forests, traps, moats. And that’s just the wartime field. They also have a sci-fi field and a fantasy field. And then the prizes for those who come in at the top…”
Sunset grabbed her last magazine and loaded it into her gun. She aimed down her lane and hesitated for a moment, before saying, “Tell me more.”
“There. Problem solved,” Trixie declared as she walked into Pinkie Pie’s room, finding the group of give friends sitting around a magic eight ball. “… What are you doing?”
“Oh, we didn’t know if you would be successful so we moved onto our backup plan,” Rarity explained.
Trixie’s eye twitched. “… A magic eight ball. You replaced Trixie with a magic eight ball?!”
“But you said you did it, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as she stood up with her friends. “So? What’s the word?”
Trixie thrust out her open hand and shouted, “THIRTY DOLLARS!”
After the five friends reluctantly pitched in six dollars each, Trixie told them that they were going to participate in a paintball tournament the following week, and that Sunset Shimmer had no idea that she would be playing with them. With that, the five friends left to make preparations.
The following week saw the beginning of a week-long break for all schools, and on the first day of that week, Sunset Shimmer had made plans to participate in the great paintball tournament that Trixie Lulamoon had told her about. Whilst she couldn’t find anything about it online, according to Trixie, it was an unofficial one hosted by fans.
The idea of being able to practise her marksmanship on living targets, and to test her skills in surviving against enemies with similar weapons, were tempting to Sunset Shimmer, but what ultimately made her mind up was the prize for coming in first. Though she was vague on the details, Sunset Shimmer could only surmise a hefty cash prize for coming in first. Cash that could further fund her research.
After dressing appropriately – opting for shorts rather than a skirt and ditching her jacket since it was forecast to be a hot day – Sunset Shimmer packed her bag and put her phone into her pocket. Before leaving, she lifted the rug on her floor and opened the trapdoor she had created in her floor and pulled out the box that was buried in there. The box required an eight-digit combination that Sunset Shimmer punched in. ‘35259091’. It clicked and opened, revealing a pair of gloves inside.
Sunset Shimmer pulled out one glove and slowly placed her hand into it, biting her lip as she pressed her fingers against the fabric. Inside the glove, small fragments of glass from the mirror were sewn in, and were setup to dig into her skin when the glove was worn. She fastened the wrist to ensure it would not slip off, and then placed the other, regular glove onto her left hand. Holding up her right hand, Sunset Shimmer focussed. A couple of second later, her hand glowed green and she smiled.
“Right, time to go then,” she said as she collected her bag and left her room.
Sunset Shimmer dropped her bag as she departed from her bus. She was standing at the entrance to the Splatoon Paintball Arena, where she came face-to-face with the five people constantly invading her life.
“Oh, you’re here!” Trixie shouted, walking over to Sunset Shimmer with Maud Pie beside. “We’re just waiting for a couple more people and then we’ll get started.”
Sunset Shimmer’s hand were shaking and she grinded her teeth together. “I thought you said there was a ‘grand tournament’ here today, being held by fans.”
“Yep!” Trixie answered, her grin growing wider by the second. “And here it is! The Canterlot High First Annual Paintball Tournament, or FAPT!”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack sniggered as Rarity, Fluttershy and Trixie blushed. “Not… the best abbreviation, darling,” Rarity said.
Trixie cleared her throat. “In any case, once the girls arrive we can begin.”
“I thought I would actually be facing challenging opponents here!” Sunset Shimmer shouted. “Not a bunch of kids who spend their time asking balls the future!”
“Hey!” Pinkie Pie retorted. “No one doubts the power of the eight ball!”
A car pulled up to the entrance, with Big Macintosh in the driver’s seat. The back door opened and three cheerful little girls jumped out, laughing as they ran up to greet the group. “Thanks Big Mac!” Applejack shouted as she waved over to her brother. “Don’t worry ‘bout the pickup! Ah’ll take ‘em home!”
“Eeyup!” Big Mac replied, reaching behind himself to close the door that the girls had left open before reversing his vehicle and driving away.
Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood at attention before Sunset Shimmer and saluted. “Canterlot Mercenary Club reporting for duty!”
“… I’m leaving,” Sunset Shimmer said. “I can’t believe I booked a day off of work for this.”
“Oh? Could it be that you’re afraid of the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Sunset Shimmer stopped in her tracks. “Or maybe it’s the ‘kids’ that you’re scared of? Or maybe our elite mercenary force?”
“… Afraid? Of jokes like you?”
“Well, if you’d rather run away and babysit-”
Sunset Shimmer turned around and charged towards Trixie, stopping just short of her face. “You’re. On.”
Trixie sweated as Sunset Shimmer walked past her, leaving a chill that descended down her spine. “… Too far?”
Rainbow Dash laughed as she and her friends approached Maud and Trixie. “Man, that was great!” she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. “I swear, if I knew I could get free favours from you sooner-”
Trixie reached forward and grabbed the collar of Rainbow Dash’s shirt. “Listen you-”
“Ah-ah! Pinkie’ll be sad if her friend gets hurt!”
“Trixie, let her go,” Maud said immediately.
Trixie’s arm shook, but she ultimately relented. “… Well, fair enough, but she can hardly be sad if you get hurt during the game,” she said, looking to Pinkie Pie for confirmation. The pink girl nodded. “Wonderful. Then let’s just hope we’re on opposite teams, hm?”
Now it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to sweat as Trixie and Maud walked after Sunset Shimmer, towards the registration area, leaving a chill that descended down her spine. “… Too far?”
“C’mon, let’s go register our group,” Applejack said to the Canterlot Mercenary Club, grabbing her sister’s hand.
Apple Bloom quickly pulled her hand out of her sister’s grip and protested, “Ah can walk mahself!”
The three younger girls all ran together towards the registration area, singing about the fun that was sure to come. With a sigh, Applejack followed, Rarity patting her shoulder for support. “They grow up so fast,” Rarity said.
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash followed last. “… Wait, there’s eleven of us. Won’t this be unbalanced?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Fluttershy said. “I invited someone else to make the teams even.”
“Really? Who?”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy each felt a hand on their shoulders, and turned around with gasps. Behind them was a large, muscular man in a white tank top, grey cargo shorts and camouflage face paint. The large man removed his hand from the frightened Rainbow Dash and have a thumbs up.
“Sergeant Iron Will, reporting back for active duty!”
As Iron Will and an uncomfortable Applejack registered their group, Rainbow Dash took Fluttershy aside to ask why she had invited their Gym teacher along.
“W-Well, you asked if I had any friends who weren’t animals that I could invite, and Mr. Iron Will used to be a soldier before he became a teacher.”
“That’s even worse!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Whichever team he’s on has the advantage!”
Fluttershy covered her mouth with a hand and cast her eyes downwards. “I-I didn’t even think about that. I’m sorry…”
Sunset Shimmer and Maud Pie stood against a wall as they watched the argument. Sunset’s eyes turned to where Trixie and Rarity were arguing about fashion versus functionality. Neither one seemed to notice that their skirts were not at all practical on a battlefield. Rarity’s was too long and restricted movement, whilst Trixie’s offered free movement, but could easily reveal too much unless she moved slowly.
Pinkie Pie and the Canterlot Mercenary Club were playing with the crane machine in the corner and failing miserably. Sunset Shimmer actually felt a little bad after seeing Sweetie Belle’s fifth failed attempt to get a stuffed rabbit toy from the machine. With a huff, Sunset flicked her finger, casting a green light that hovered the rabbit up just as the claw closed.
As the toy was dropped into the hopper, Sweetie Belle’s tears suddenly disappeared and were replaced with a wide smile and a cheerful hop. The girl laughed as she grabbed her new friend and hugged it tightly, with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie congratulating her.
Sunset Shimmer huffed and turned away. “Idiots…” she muttered, before turning to Maud Pie standing silently beside her. Besides her blue dress that was impractical for a combat environment, the grey girl did not look or say anything stupid, or anything that annoyed Sunset Shimmer and gave her a migraine. She just stood there, nice and silent, waiting patiently for the game to start. “I have no problems with you,” Sunset said.
Maud Pie’s head raised by an inch to acknowledge the statement, and she responded, “Oh. Okay.”
Sunset then turned her attention back to Iron Will, who was returning with Applejack with twelve tags in his hands. “Alright soldiers, listen up! Take one tag and it’ll tell you what team you’re on! There are four teams in total, with three people to a team!
“Iron Will realises that he has had many more years on the battlefield! Iron Will realises that some of you may not even know the difference from your gun and your hand! But rest assured, Iron Will will go easy on whatever teams are unfortunate not to have Iron Will in their ranks!
“In fact, Iron Will will not even use his gun until he is at point-blank range to his target!”
Rainbow Dash gave her friends an uncomfortable look. “I’m not sure if I should be thankful or afraid…”
Everybody collected their tags one-by-one and the teams were set. Sunset Shimmer was joined by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Trixie Lulamoon was joined by Applejack and Rarity. Maud Pie was joined by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and Iron Will was joined by Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie.
“This. Blows,” Sunset Shimmer said as her two teammates struggled to figure out how to put on their headgear.
“Well, at least the teams are balanced,” Trixie pointed out. “One gun expert on each.”
Iron Will raised an eyebrow. “‘Expert’? But you’re all kids!”
Trixie chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, Mr. Iron Will, don’t you know? These days it’s common for children to take holidays with their families to states where the laws for handling firearms are much more lax.”
“It is?” Applejack asked, receiving shrugs from all of her friends.
Iron Will nodded his head with a hum. “I see. Times really have changed since Iron Will was a new recruit…”
The first round started with the four teams in each corner of the battlefield, having five minutes to scavenge supplies scattered around and prepare their defences and their arsenal for attacking.
Trixie worked on preparing a base that would blend in with the environment, providing them cover and a chance to surprise any attackers on their land. Applejack collected whatever she could find around them, and Rarity put it upon herself to organise the stock and lay down some traps.
Meanwhile, Iron Will had instructed Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie to collect all of the materials in their area, and prepared a makeshift bunker that would provide excellent defence whilst offering many openings to attack the enemy, including a viewing platform in a nearby treetop.
Sunset Shimmer's group was doing… less well than the other groups. After returning from her expedition to find more ammo, Sunset Shimmer found that Sweetie Belle had somehow trapped herself inside of her own pitfall trap, and that Apple Bloom had hid herself inside of a hole that was rigged with a trap designed to explode paint when somebody got too close. The only problem was that she had not left herself enough room to clear the trap, nor any means of escape.
Deciding that she was on her own, Sunset took whatever supplies the other two had found for herself, ignoring their pleas for help, and began to strategise which group to attack first.
As for the final group…
"… Okay guys, at some point, we are gonna have to talk to each other," Rainbow Dash said. Her group had done nothing after gathering supplies, save for simply standing in a circle with various looks. Fluttershy's eyes were all over the place, and she continually opened and closed her mouth, as though she had lost her voice, Maud Pie was staring blankly at the other two, and Rainbow Dash was growing visibly more annoyed by the second.
A siren rang, announcing the start of the battle, and the walls separating the four areas began to come down.
"Okay, here's the plan-" Rainbow Dash realised that Maud had vanished, and that Fluttershy was crouched on the floor, covering her ears at the loud sound of the siren. "Hey! Where'd Maud go?!"
Fluttershy turned and found that Maud had gone, and then answered, "I-I don't know…"
"Alright, forget her! C'mon Fluttershy, let's go take down Sunset's group first! They're probably the easiest ones for now."
Fluttershy simply nodded, following Rainbow Dash as the two ran through the forest terrain.
Trixie, Rarity and Applejack watched carefully for any signs of movement outside of their bunker.
"You sure this'll keep us safe?" Applejack asked.
"Most certainly!" Trixie answered. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is a master of the art of camouflage! Why, I daresay we may be trapped here forever should our only way in and out somehow become locked!"
"Please don't say that," Applejack deadpanned.
"And do try to keep your voice down," Rarity said. "We won't be 'hidden' if they can hear us from the other side of the battlefield."
"Fret not! It would take a master of ninja arts, or a complete genius, to uncover the location of our fortified domain!"
"What about somebody missin' a few screws?" Applejack asked.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "What?" Applejack pointed outside of the window, where Trixie found Pinkie Pie standing outside, waving at the three of them with her gun still holstered. "Impossible! How could she have found us?!"
"Pinkie sense?" Applejack suggested.
"Maybe she sniffed us out," Rarity offered.
"Why can't she be more like her sister?" Trixie groaned.
"In what way?"
"Y'know, be like a normal human being?!" Trixie grabbed her gun and fired it. Pinkie Pie jumped to the side, evading the bullet. Trixie fired two more shots, but Pinkie simply leapt over them. "Stop that! You're not a cartoon for stars' sake!"
Pinkie Pie stuck her tongue out at the three, before turning around and shaking her rear. "Now that's just rubbin' it in," Applejack said.
"Not to mention unladylike," Rarity followed.
Pinkie Pie ran away, prompting Trixie to jump out of the bunker, screaming, "Oh no you don't! Get back here you pink abomination!"
"Trixie, wait!" Applejack shouted as she left the bunker to chase after her partner. "Don't go off alone!"
"D-Don't leave me here!" Rarity shouted, following after the two through the forest.
Trixie fired shot after shot, her paintballs either missing Pinkie Pie completely or hitting the many trees all around them. "I." Another shot. "Will." Another shot. "Get you!" Trixie stopped to reload her clip.
"Trixie!" Applejack cried as she caught up. "Forget her! Let's just get back to the bunker an' wait out the battle some more."
Trixie grumbled as she loaded her gun with a new clip, before gasping as a chill descended down her spine. "Watch out!" Trixie pushed Applejack down and swiftly dove to the side, taking cover behind a tree.
A paintball passed over the fallen Applejack and struck Rarity – who had just caught up and was already panting and sweating from all the running – in the breast.
"AAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Rarity screamed as she clutched her chest and fell to her knees.
"You've been hit!" Scootaloo's voice shouted out. "Time to head to the losers' area!"
"I WILL END YOU!" Rarity screamed as she rose to her feet, fire in her eyes. As she stomped away, passing by Trixie, she stopped to add, "This is all your fault!". With a final huff, Rarity made her way out of the battlefield.
Applejack watched from behind the safety of a nearby rock and checked her own utility vest. "Guess these don't provide much protection. Hope the helmets still do…"
Trixie slowly reached out her hand, hoping to provoke a response from Scootaloo. She heard a shot fire, and quickly pulled back to safety. "Well, guess we'll just have to wing it from here."
"What about Pinkie Pie?" Applejack asked. "If there are two of 'em out there-" Applejack felt the cold feel of metal against the back of her head, and she froze, sweat dripping down her body.
"Pinkie Pie's the least of your worries," said a dark, hushed voice as she barrel of the gun lowered, and a shot rang through the air.
Trixie turned at the sound of Applejack's pained cry. She found Iron Will standing behind Applejack, who was clutching her back whilst wincing in pain. Trixie wasted no time in raising her gun and firing, hitting Iron Will's shoulder. "Hah! That's one down!"
"Iron Will learned the hard way never to get cocky on the battlefield. And now you will, too."
Trixie was about to respond, but before she could, she heard a bang and felt a sharp pain in her back, causing her to let out a shriek that echoed throughout the forest. She turned around. Pinkie Pie was standing behind her, giggling and bouncing on the spot in absolute glee. "Ee-hee-heeeee! I got one! I got one!"
"Sometimes a soldier must sacrifice himself for the sake of the mission," Iron Will explained. "Now, let's evacuate the battlefield on the double!"
"No! That was just a fluke!" Trixie cried as Iron Will dragged her flailing form from the field, Applejack following after them. "Give me one more crack at her! I'll teach that pink menace not to mess with a master of the magical arts!"
Fluttershy stopped at the edge of the hole in her path and peered down. She found Sweetie Belle standing inside, tears streaming down her face. "Oh! Are you okay?" she asked, offering a hand for the child.
Sweetie Belle sniffed and nodded her head, accepting Fluttershy's hand and climbing out of the pit. "Fluttershy! What're you doing?!" Rainbow Dash demanded, pointing her gun at Sweetie Belle. "She's the enemy! Shoot her!"
"Eek!" Sweetie Belle ran away as a barrage of paintballs flew past her, running towards the safe refuge of Apple Bloom's hiding hole.
"Shoot her!" Rainbow Dash repeated.
"I'm sorry!" Fluttershy screamed as she assisted Rainbow Dash, firing blindly at the fleeing girl.
Rainbow Dash groaned and gave chase, cornering Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom together in the hole. "It's over now!"
"Wait! Don't come i-"
The hole exploded, paint coating the three girls' clothes and helmets, and bringing a null silence over the battlefield.
"Ah, darn it!" Rainbow Dash shouted, throwing her gun to the floor.
"Eheheh… Sorry, Rainbow Dash," Apple Bloom said, grinning sheepishly as she left the hole with Sweetie Belle. "Guess we're out now, huh?"
"Eep!"
All eyes turned to Fluttershy, who was clutching her bottom with tears welling in her eyes. Sunset Shimmer chuckled, and stepped out from behind a tree, her arms crossed as she said, "Well, it seems that you two actually accomplished something, after all."
"Ugh! Now we're down to one member, and she's gone AWOL!" Rainbow Dash complained.
"Well, time to clear out now!" Sunset watched as the four girls left the battlefield. She took a step forward, but stopped as she felt a hostile presence. Turning around, she found Maud Pie pointing a gun her way. "There you are!"
Maud fired a shot, which Sunset dodged and returned. Maud removed her foot from the small tree beneath her, allowing the shrubbery to shield her as she fled deeper into the forest.
"A challenge? I accept!" Sunset ran after the girl, but found that she had lost her fairly quickly. She felt two shots heading her way and took refuge behind a tree. "Where is she? … She's nearby, but I couldn't see her, so that means…"
Sunset snapped her head upwards, finding Maud Pie sitting in the tree above her. Raising her gun, Sunset fired a barrage of shots as fast as she could, emptying her magazine on the stealthy assassin.
"I can't believe you took each other out!" Rainbow Dash said, laughing as she placed an arm around an uncomfortable Maud Pie. "That is priceless! Way to avenge us, teammate!"
"This is absurd!" Sunset protested.
"I'm having fun!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed.
"Well, Iron Will's team is up by one," Applejack said. "The next game is gonna be two-on-two, so we're gonna have ta combine our teams."
"Ooh, can we pair up with Maud?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Sisters have telepathic abilities! We could totally use them to our advantage!"
"We don't," Maud Pie asserted.
"Trixie would prefer any team that isn't theirs," she said, glaring at the team of Iron Will, Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie.
Iron Will stepped forwards, and said, "Iron Will thinks that the young ones should be with the stronger team!"
Scootaloo gasped in excitement. "You hear that, girls?! The mercenaries unite!"
As the Canterlot Mercenary Club gathered around and cheered, Sunset Shimmer huffed and approached a nearby vending machine. She feigned inserting several coins, and then held her gloved right hand over the glass, forcing the machinery to release a refreshing bottle of soda.
"Sunset Shimmer?"
"WHAT?!" Sunset yelped, spinning around and hiding her right hand behind her back.
Iron Will looked taken aback, and then said, "There's another reason I wanted us to be teammates for this next game. It's to teach you the value of teamwork."
Sunset Shimmer sighed. She turned back around to collect her drink. "Look, this isn't school, so don't try to give me any lectures."
"You don't listen in school anyway," Iron Will pointed out.
"Right, so why would I listen now? I'm here for one reason: to win. Those kids…" Sunset looked over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were giggling as Scootaloo pulled out many 'heroic' poses with her gun. "They're liabilities, plain and simple."
"They could be assets, if you let them be. You're the president of our school's council. A leader's job involves lending a hand to recruits having a rough time."
"I never even wanted them to be on my team."
Iron Will folded his arms. "Then given the choice, who would you have picked."
Sunset Shimmer narrowed her eyes. "Out of you lot? … Applejack is the only one I can see being of any use. Level-headed, athletic, and not smart enough to try forming her own ideas."
"You want a slave, not a comrade."
"I want to win," Sunset repeated. "With as few headaches as possible."
Iron Will sighed and shook his head solemnly. "Iron Will knew a soldier who thought like you. Thought the weaker recruits deserved to be left behind. Only cared for those who knew how to fight."
"He sounds like a smart guy."
"… If he had just accepted my request to join him, maybe he wouldn't have been outgunned."
Sunset Shimmer stood silently for a few moments, before Iron Will turned around and left. Sunset Shimmer scoffed. "Even if I did need friends, who would be my friend… after learning what I'm trying to do?" Sunset opened her bottle and chugged the drink, replacing the fluids that she had sweated out, whilst drowning the pit that had formed in her stomach.
Sunset found that she fared no better during the next game, wherein two teams of six worked together to infiltrate the enemy's base and capture their flag. Iron Will gathered everybody up to brief them on the plan, but he had forgotten to factor in one minor detail.
"Those children are useless," Sunset Shimmer grumbled as she walked away from her assigned post. "Even if you draw them a diagram of what they're supposed to do, they'll just find some spectacular way to mess it up."
Sunset hid around the corner to her base's flag, where Apple Bloom and Pinkie Pie were standing guard, as per Iron Will's instructions. "Hey," Pinkie Pie said, "D'you ever wonder why we're here?"
"Not really," Apple Bloom replied.
Sunset took out one of her paint grenades and gently levitated it to the door's narrow entrance, attaching the pin to the butt of Pinkie Pie's gun. Upon firing, the vibrations would loosen the pin, creating an explosion that would wipe out anybody nearby.
"That's settles the defence. Now to attack while the rest distract them."
Running through her base, Sunset Shimmer took as many shortcuts over walls as she could. As she reached the line that divided the two bases – the colour changing from red to blue – Sunset slowed down and opted to be more cautious. She heard gunshots and gazed over a wall, to find Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle engaged Applejack and Rarity.
Sunset sneaked past, leaving the two children to their fight, continued her infiltration of the enemy's base.
Scootaloo ducked her head down and nodded to Sweetie Belle. Together, the two of them ran from their hiding spot and retreated back into their base, rushing towards the flag. Looking over her shoulder, Scootaloo said, "They're followin' us, alright!"
"We gotta lure them to Sunset!" Sweetie Belle reminded, turning the next corner with Scootaloo. The two gasped, as Sunset Shimmer was nowhere to be found. With Rarity and Applejack hot on their heels, Sweetie Belle asked, in a panic, "What do we do?! What do we do?!"
Scootaloo gritted her teeth together and glanced around the corner. "You run! I'll keep them busy!"
"But-"
"There's no time! Just go!"
Sweetie Belle nodded, a tear rolling down her face, and then took off. Scootaloo cocked her gun and swallowed the lump in her throat, before jumping out and firing at the two approaching girls. She managed to hit Applejack, but not Rarity. Scootaloo's visor was hit, blinding her and eliminating her from the game.
Sunset grabbed Fluttershy's mouth from behind and fired a shot into her back, muffling the yelps that followed until the other girl had quietened down. Upon being released, Fluttershy solemnly left the battlefield in complete silence.
As Sunset continued her trek through the enemy's base, she noticed Iron Will sneaking around in the distance. Between the two of them, Trixie was patrolling the area. 'She's sharper than the others. Maybe I should draw her attention to Iron Will.'
Just then, Sweetie Belle ran up to Iron Will, waving her arms about as she said something that she couldn't hear. He nodded and pointed to a small recess in the wall on the lower level.
Sunset grinned. "Much better," she said to herself as she aimed her gun, firing a paintball at Sweetie Belle's feet. This prompted a high-pitched yelp which, naturally, caught Trixie's attention.
Trixie jumped down, catching Sweetie Belle fleeing through one of the base's tunnels. "Like shooting fish in a barrel!" Trixie proclaimed as she aimed her gun and fired.
To Sunset's surprise, Iron Will managed to jump in the way of the paintball just in time. "Run Sweetie Belle! And don't look back!"
"Oh no you don't!" Trixie yelled as she chased after the fleeing girl.
Rainbow Dash ran out after hearing the commotion, and opted to follow Trixie after Sweetie Belle. Sunset Shimmer grinned, as that meant that the flag was left unguarded.
Walking into the empty room, Sunset put her gun away and rubbed her hands together. The flag waved gloriously in the simulated wind, and was soon to be the very thing that led her to victory.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but feel that things were a little too silent. She felt uneasy. As though someone had slipped past her impenetrable defence and was just about to take her out from behind.
"AHHH!"
Or Apple Bloom. Pinkie Pie turned around, finding Rarity taking cover behind some nearby crates. Pinkie Pie fired her gun, the vibrations releasing the pin from the grenade attached to it. The next thing anyone knew, the entire room was paint.
A pair of eyes opened up and blinked a couple of times, and then Pinkie Pie, covered entirely in red paint, stepped forward, separating herself from the background. "Wowzers. These guns got better since the last game."
"MY HAIR!" Rarity screamed, dropping her gun so that she could grab her now-red hair as panic spread throughout her system. "MY BEAUTIFUL, LUXURIOUS HAIR! IT'S RUINED!"
"At least the flag's secure, but what-" Apple Bloom noticed the shell of a grenade on the ground, and picked it up in order to examine it. "Isn't this one of the grenades Sunset Shimmer picked out?"
As Sunset approached the flag, a chill descended down her spine. She felt as though she was being watched. Like something was standing behind her, with the intent to kill. Grabbing the paintbrush in her tactical vest, Sunset turned around quickly, but found nothing there.
Suddenly, she felt something pouncing down from above. Sunset's quick reflexes allowed her to roll backwards out of the way as her assailant stabbed the ground with her paintbrush. Wiping the sweat from her cheek, Sunset looked up to find out who had so daringly assaulted her.
"It's the two of us, again," Maud Pie said as she rose to her feet.
"Maud…" Sunset smiled, as the two began to circle around each other. "Good. Now I can get my revenge on you for last time."
"You used your own team as a distraction. I didn't know one of my sister's friends was so cold." Maud stopped moving and slashed her paintbrush horizontally towards Sunset's face.
Sunset leaned back to avoid the attack, and then returned in kind, followed by a stab when Maud dodged her first blow. Maud dodged again, resulting in a stalemate between the two.
The two stood with their paintbrushes pointed outwards as they stared each other down, each one daring the other to make the first move. "What do you care?" Sunset asked as she threw her paintbrush into her left hand.
Maud Pie took two steps forwards and slashed at Sunset's chest, missing when Sunset jumped back, and then followed her move up with an upwards slash aimed at Sunset's chin.
Sunset Shimmer dodged the second attack and took a menacing step forwards, prompting Maud to take one step back. "I have to know if I can trust you around her. She's sometimes too kind." Maud swung her paintbrush from Sunset's left, and Sunset parried with her own.
Maud retracted her paintbrush and swiftly span around to Sunset's right, though Sunset turned to face her before Maud could make any use of this move.
"It sounds to me like you simply don't trust your sister," Sunset said with a smirk.
The two circled around each other once more in silence, before Maud replied, "I trust her to show kindness to everybody. Even those who don't deserve it." Maud stepped forwards and slashed once more at Sunset's chest. Sunset parried the blow again, but at the same time, she had lost her footing.
Thankfully for her, so did Maud. As Sunset tumbled backwards, Maud Pie tripped forwards. Sunset jumped and performed a back flip in the air in order to right herself, whilst Maud performed a cartwheel.
The two were left with their backs to each other. Sunset glanced over her shoulder, and found Maud looking into her eyes. The two turned around and entered into ferocious combat, wood striking wood as their paintbrushes collided.
The two reached a standstill after one final parry, and Maud asked, "My sister believes that you are trying to right your wrongs. But if you're not, that would break her heart."
Sunset laughed under her breath. "I see. So you're that kind. The kind that thinks they can meddle in another person's affairs under the pretense of 'caring' for them. Well it's none of my concern, because I never asked for her kindness in the first place!" Sunset released a pin from her remaining grenade and pushed it onto Maud Pie, before retreating with a couple of back flips.
She watched as Maud simply stood there, her eyes wide and her body frozen. The grenade exploded, and the paint-covered Maud put her paintbrush away to clear the battlefield. "… When we were children, Pinkie Pie burned herself when playing with fireworks." Maud Pie stopped to look at Sunset, and said, "I don't want that to happen to her ever again."
"Then maybe she should stop playing with fire," Sunset replied, putting away her paintbrush and walking towards the flag. She grabbed it with her right hand and pulled it from its stand. "This makes up for the last game."
"Not yet!"
Sunset gasped and dashed to the side, rolling for cover behind a pillar as several shots missed her.
"What part of 'we'll sneak up on her' sounded like 'announce our presence to the whole world'?!" Trixie shouted.
"That wouldn't have been cool enough!" Rainbow Dash argued. "Besides, I had to let her know who was gonna finish her off!"
Sunset groaned and reached for her grenades, only to be reminded of the fact that she had used them both already. 'Where's my backup?! … Oh, right. I used them all…'
"No one left but you now!" Trixie shouted. "You could make this easier and just give up."
"As if I would surrender to the likes of you!" Sunset attempted to poke her out from her cover, but had to retreat quickly as she heard shots fired towards her.
"Fine then, stay right there! Rainbow Dash, you get her flag while Trixie keeps her pinned down!"
Sunset gasped. "You got it!" Rainbow Dash replied.
Grinding her teeth, Sunset clutched her hand into a fist, wincing as the glass piercing her fingers stung her a little. 'Wait, that's it!' Sunset focussed on the sounds of Rainbow Dash's footsteps, and then channelled some magic into her hand.
"It looks like she's done for," Scootaloo said from the lobby, watching the match play out on the monitors provided.
"Serves her right for sellin' us out like that!" Apple Bloom said with a huff.
Applejack sighed. "This was supposed ta help us get closer, but she's still actin' like we're the enemy an' keepin' her distance."
"If that was your objective, then this may not be a total loss," Iron Will said as he stared intently at the monitor showing Sunset Shimmer. "Sometimes, one has to be shown the value of friendship and working together. Perhaps realising what her actions have brought her will give Miss Shimmer cause to reflect on her outlook on life."
"I agree," Rarity said. "Sunset hasn't had many friends, and the one person she looked up to more than anything, in her eyes, betrayed her."
"Y'mean that 'Princess Celestia'?" Applejack asked.
Iron Will guffawed, startling the group. "The principal a princess?! Oh, that'll be the day! Gwahahahahah!"
"Uh, yes, as I was saying," Rarity continued, "Sunset doesn't like to open herself up to people. Even when Principal Celestia-" Rarity stopped herself suddenly.
"Even when she what?" Applejack asked.
"What? Uh… N-Nothing. What I meant to say, was that Sunset Shimmer just… I mean, she seems to be scared of making new friends. Perhaps she fears that we will betray her, too."
"Iron Will's no psychologist, but if she's got inner demons, it'll take time and patience to work 'em out." Iron Will turned to the girls, and said, "If you still want her friendship, you'd best prepare for some hardships! You'll have to fight for it, even if that means fighting Sunset Shimmer herself!"
The girls all exchanged glances and nodded together. "Hey! Rainbow Dash tripped!" Apple Bloom shouted as she pointed to the monitors. Everybody turned to see.
"What are you doing?! Get up!" Trixie shouted.
"I-I dunno what happened," Rainbow Dash said as she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
Sunset took the opportunity to jump out and surprise Trixie, blasting the magician before she could respond.
"GAAAAAHHHHHHH! NOT AGAINNNNNNN!" Trixie screamed as she stomped her foot.
Rainbow Dash managed to recover herself just before Sunset could fire her next volley of shots, and quickly made her way to cover.
Sunset ran from pillar to pillar, evading Rainbow's shots and making her way over to where Trixie was throwing a fit. 'Forget the flag! I can end this now!'
Taking one of the grenades from Trixie's belt, Sunset pulled out the pin and threw it over towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow's eyes widened as the device landed at her feet. "Oooooh, son of a-"
Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy removed their hands from the Canterlot Mercenary Club members' ears and looked over towards the receptionist. "Hey, was that legal?" Applejack asked.
"What did Rainbow Dash say?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I don't know," Sweetie Belle said with a shrug.
"Hey! Why'd you block our ears?" Scootaloo demanded.
The receptionist, after popping the bubble made by her bubblegum, said, "Yeah, that's legal. The rules say you can use any equipment you find on the field. Doesn't mention equipment from people that shouldn't be on the field."
"Sounds like a loophole if ya ask me," Applejack deadpanned.
"And Sunset Shimmer abused it to her advantage," Rarity followed.
"And Sunset Shimmer also came out a winner," Sunset said as she joined everybody in the lobby, followed by her angry victims, Trixie Lulamoon and Rainbow Dash. "If the rules are flawed, they should fix them."
"On the battlefield, there are no rules," Iron Will said as he approached Sunset Shimmer.
"Whose side are you on?!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she stomped past the teacher to join her friends.
Maud Pie approached Trixie with a wet towel and began wiping her face. "Stop that! I am perfectly capable of cleaning myself!" Trixie shouted as she swiped the towel, walking with Maud to the side as she cleaned the sweat off of her face.
Iron Will followed Sunset towards the nearby vending machines. He watched as the girl put in a few coins and pushed the button for a bottle of water. "What do you want now?" Sunset asked, turning to the teacher with a grin. "Who says you need friends to win?"
"You got lucky," Iron Will said, his arms folded. "Had Rainbow Dash not tripped-"
"Some say luck is a skill." Sunset opened her water and began drinking. 'Or magic, whatever works.'
"Your luck is bound to run out someday, and what will happen then?" Iron Will asked, only to receive no answer. "Do you know why these girls went through the trouble of arranging all of this?"
"They want to be my friends," Sunset answered after she removed the bottle from her lips. "I know, and I don't care. I never asked any of them for their friendship, and I don't need it."
"Because you're afraid?" Sunset looked startled for a second, before giving Iron Will a cold, hard glare. "I don't know what happened or what you're going through, but I do know that you've burned many bridges. What will happen one day when you burn the wrong bridge, and you have nobody there to support you?"
"I'll deal with it, like I always do."
"Like at the Fall Formal?" Sunset Shimmer bared her teeth. "I'm telling you this because I have known people exactly like you, and not a single one of them ever reached a happy ending! You're still young! This is your chance to decide whether you'll accept help when it's offered to you, or doom yourself to forever fight alone."
"… Did any of your friends… hold any vendettas?"
Iron Will raised an eyebrow. "Against me?"
"Against anyone. Were any of them out for revenge?"
Iron Will rubbed his chin and hummed in thought. "Y'know, I think there were a few."
"How did it end for them? After pushing everybody away."
"Well, many of them died for unrelated reasons," Iron Will said. "Many of them died in the process. A few got their revenge, but died from their injuries."
"None of them got their revenge and survived?"
iron Will shook his head. "Some did. But whether you could call it 'living'…"
"I see…" Sunset Shimmer took another drink of her water.
"The final round is four separate teams again. I know you don't think of your comrades as anything but children, but everyone has power that's just waitin' to come out. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one that makes 'em shine!"
"… Winning is all that matters to me, and I'll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal."
Sunset Shimmer walked away, leaving Iron Will to sigh and shake his head. "What am I doing wrong? I only know how to make people come out of their shells, not how to calm a wild horse." Iron Will took in a deep breath, and then proceeded to join the rest of the group for their final game.
"Where is she?!"
"She's over there!"
"How is she so fast?!"
"Is she a ninja?!"
"SHOUTING!"
Sunset Shimmer watched from behind a large tree as Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie ran about like headless chickens, firing randomly into the air and through the forest. Sunset ducked back as a stray paintball hit her tree.
The panicking girls had already taken down Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but Maud Pie had eluded them. Iron Will was nowhere no to be seen.
"Should we… do something?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Maud Pie left a while ago," Sunset said. "I guess she doesn't want to hurt her sister… I've got an idea." Sunset Shimmer ran forwards, ducking behind various trees on her approach to the girls. She heard the sound of a twig snapping and turned around quickly to find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle following her. "Did I say to follow me?!" she shouted in a hushed whisper.
"You didn't say not to," Apple Bloom replied.
"What do you want us to do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Just… stand back and don't get in my way!" Sunset turned back to where Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo were, only to find them running towards them. With a gasp, she ducked behind her tree. The two ran by, screaming as a volley of paintballs were fired their way.
Sunset Shimmer grabbed Pinkie Pie by the shoulder and pulled her in, rushing out from her cover with Pinkie Pie as her human shield.
"WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH! I didn't sign up for this!" Pinkie Pie cried as she watched Applejack and Rarity getting closer. "Ohey, Trixie's gone."
Sunset narrowed her eyes and pointed her gun forward, firing two shots that each hit one of the girls.
"Ooh, nice aim!" Pinkie Pie complimented.
"You… realise that I'm using you as a shield, right?" Sunset asked, looking around cautiously for Trixie.
"Am I doing a good job?"
"… Sure. Why not?"
"Look out!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
Sunset turned around and found Trixie pointing a gun towards her. 'I-I can't dodge it!'
"Revenge is mi-" A paintball hit Trixie's hand, causing her to yelp and drop her gun. "OH COME ON!" She shouted, stomping the ground before collecting her gun and storming off.
"Who-" Sunset found Apple Bloom pointing her gun towards where Trixie was standing. "Y-You saved me there…"
Apple Bloom slowly grinned and gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah, ah really did."
"That was so cool!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"Way to go Bloomy!" Pinkie Pie praised. "It's okay Scootaloo! We're alright!"
"Don't tell them where I am!" Sweetie Belle gasped and fired her gun blindly into the bushes. Scootaloo groaned and stepped out of the bushes, a blue stain on her visor. "Nice one, Pinkie Pie."
"Oops!" Pinke replied with a blush. "Eheheh… sorry…"
As Scootaloo left the battlefield, Sunset Shimmer took a moment to catch her breath and try to update herself on the current situation. "Trixie's team is out, Iron Will's team is now missing one Scootaloo…"
"And Maud's on her own," Apple Bloom finished.
"Which is where my shield comes in," Sunset said, turning around to confront Maud Pie face-to-face. "I knew you hadn't gone far, but you never fired any shots. Because your sister was in the fray."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Awwww, that's so sweet of you!"
"Let my sister go," Maud Pie said in a cold, harsh tone.
"Now why would I do that?" Sunset asked with a grin. She fired a shot at Maud, only for her opponent to dodge an take cover behind a rock. "I've got the ultimate weapon against you. You're only delaying the inevitable this point."
No response came, and Apple Bloom bravely stepped forwards. "Ah'll go take her out," she whispered, but was stopped by Sunset's hand.
"You fool. She's waiting for that." Sunset hummed in thought. "If we just wait this out, we can win."
"But isn't this match decided by who had the central land the longest?" Apple Bloom asked. "We stayed on the outskirts the whole time, so wouldn't we lose?"
Sunset gasped. She had forgotten all about the round's special gimmick, and started to sweat. "We need to draw her out…"
"Maud's stubborn," Pinkie Pie said. "One time, she got a bad grade and was too afraid to show our parents, so she locked herself inside a bathroom until the police managed to pick the lock!"
"… There may be one way to coax her out, and relieve this headache," Sunset said, pointing her gun at Pinkie Pie's foot. "Come out now, or I fire at your sister!"
Pinkie Pie smiled with glee. "YAAAAY! I'm being helpful!"
Maud poked her head out from her cover, staring intently at the gun aimed at Pinkie's foot. "… What do you want?" she asked.
"I can't afford for you to draw this out any longer," Sunset said. "Shoot yourself, and I'll release your sister! Refuse, and… well, you get the idea!"
"What guarantee do I have?"
"None. But you do have thirty seconds to decide."
"I don't know if I like this side of her," Sweetie Belle said to Apple Bloom.
"Ah like it, 'cause it's on our side!" Apple Bloom replied.
"Very well then," Maud Pie said, pointing her gun at her own chest. "I'll do it, but you better let Pinkie go."
"No Maudie! Don't do it!" Pinkie Pie cried.
"Forgive me, Sister." Before Maud Pie could pull the trigger, a tall, imposing figure jumped down from the treetops and landed behind her. With his left hand, he ran a paintbrush along Maud's neck, and with his right, he fired a single shot towards Pinkie Pie, eliminating them both immediately.
"One sister taking her life for the other… Iron Will will not stand idly by and watch such a tragic scene unfold!"
Pinkie Pie slipped out of Sunset Shimmer's hold and walked over towards Maud. "Aw well, that was fun! Good luck Iron Will! Knock 'em dead!"
"Sister, you could have freed yourself this whole time?" Maud asked as her sister walked by her. She followed after Pinkie Pie, the two leaving the battlefield together.
"Yep! I just wanted to try being a shield! It was fun until I got shot."
"I dislike when you make me worry…"
Sunset Shimmer stood agasp at the events that had just transpired, but she broke out of her stupor as Iron Will took a threatening step forwards. "Y-You shot your own teammate!"
"So?" Iron Will asked. "The ends justify the means. There are no rules on the battlefield!" Iron Will put away his paintbrush and trained his sights on Sunset Shimmer. "Isn't that right?"
"Wait! You said you wouldn't shoot unless at point-blank!"
"I changed my mind. You're too dangerous an opponent for that."
Iron Will unleashed a barrage of bullets, forcing Sunset and her team to run for cover within the dense forest around them.
"What do we do?!" Sweetie Belle asked.
Sunset looked over her shoulder, but found no sign of their pursuer. That didn't stop her from sensing him, though. "He's an ex-soldier! This is hardly fair!"
"It's three-against-one! Don't talk to me about 'fair'!" Iron Will's voice boomed out from all around the fleeing girls.
Ahead of them, Sunset spotted a bunker with a small, open window, covered in leaves and dirt. Sunset picked up the pace, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed as a barrage of paintballs flew by them.
"Get in!" Sunset shouted as she rolled inside, her teammates managing to join her without being hit.
"We're safe!" Apple Bloom said as she sat against a wall to catch her breath.
"Don't be naïve," Sunset said. "Iron Will will be here to finish us soon enough."
"What can we do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Sunset stared at Sweetie Belle for several seconds, before a wicked grin crossed her face. "I have an idea."
"Twenty-nine… Thirty…" Iron Will stepped out from his cover and slowly approached the bunker. "I'm waiting no longer! Iron Will demands that you come out, or I'll smoke you out! … N-Not literally, of course. No smoke bombs or flares or anything…"
"I'm coming out!" Iron Will raised his gun as Sunset Shimmer did indeed step out from the bunker, carrying a flailing Sweetie Belle in one arm and training her gun on Iron Will with her free hand. "Want to shoot?! Go ahead!"
"You'd use your own comrade as a shield now?! That's just disgraceful! And where's the other one?!"
"Well, she put up some resistance, so she's out." Apple Bloom came out from the bunker, clutching her chest and wincing as she ran away into the forest, tears streaming down her eyes.
"Sunset Shimmer… you scoundrel! I'll have you court-martialled for this!"
"Oh, please! You shot your own teammate!"
"Pinkie Pie was already dead! I couldn't allow you to have a shield to protect yourself!"
"Well, I have one regardless. A little small, but- NOW!"
Sweetie Belle raised her hand and fired her gun at Iron Will. The teacher simply rolled to the side, evading the shot, and gave them a questioning stare. "That was your plan? Distract me and try to catch me off my guard? If I weren't a trained soldier, that might have worked."
"True. It was a leap of faith."
Iron Will narrowed her eyes. "What do you have planned?" Iron Will gasped. He heard the sound of a footstep behind himself, and turned around quickly to find Apple Bloom pointing a gun at him. She fired, hitting where his heart was. "H-How did-"
"Ah did it!" Apple Bloom cried out in joy. "Ah really did it! Woohooooo!"
"Good going Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle called out.
"A-Ah don't know if ah can do that," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm not too good at sneakin'. Ask Applejack."
"You have to have faith in yourself," Sunset Shimmer said. "With faith, you can do anything. Or what, is the mercenary afraid to take this job?"
Apple Bloom mulled it over for a second, before nodding her head with a confident smile. "Okay. ah'll do it." She clutched her chest and took in a deep breath. "Okay, fake tears, an' look like ah'm in pain…"
"It's like ya said, Sunset!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Ah put mah mind to it, an' ah snuck up behind him without him ever realisin'!"
"I told you so," Sunset replied, dispelling the magical aura around her hand. 'A little sensory-manipulation spell also helped. Good thing these creatures haven't been exposed to too much magic. He didn't notice that anything was off with him at all.'
Iron Will turned to Sunset Shimmer with a look of utter surprise. After a couple of seconds to pick himself up and collect his thoughts, Iron Will gave Sunset a smile and said, "That was some good teamwork."
"You were testing us," Sunset Shimmer said.
"No. I was proving a point." Iron Will said, before turning to leave the battlefield. "Sometimes, you need comrades to fight alongside you. You support them, and they'll support you."
Sunset Shimmer scoffed. "Don't confuse the situation. I merely used whatever resources I had on hand, and these children counted. It's called 'improvisation'. Furthermore-"
"Uh, Sunset Shimmer?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Could you put me down now? I don't like being off the ground for this long…"
With a blush, Sunset gently placed Sweetie Belle back onto the ground, and then cleared her throat. As she watched Iron Will leave, she muttered to herself, "Anything to win."
Sunset Shimmer followed her team towards the centre of the battlefield to make their victory concrete. As she watched them celebrating and singing cheerfully, a smile crossed her face. "Well, I suppose there's some merit in being a valuable asset to others…"
"We did it!"
"We won!"
"And no casualties!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle high-fived each other in celebration, whilst Sunset Shimmer simply walked over to the reception table and deposited her equipment, wiping the sweat from her forehead upon relieving herself of that heavy helmet.
"Good work out there," Iron Will praised as he deposited his equipment besides Sunset Shimmer's. He gave her a thumbs-up.
"Hmph. It must be embarrassing for an ex-soldier to lose to a bunch of kids."
"Two kids, and a genius who hides her true talent," Iron Will corrected. "Forget the books; you should join one of our school's teams!"
"No."
"Don't think about it too much," Iron Will said with a deflated look. "… You did well, relying on your team like that."
"Let's just get one thing clear: I didn't 'rely' on them, and I didn't work with them because I wanted to. I was simply out of options, and that's all."
"Are you telling me you didn't enjoy it even the slightest bit?"
Sunset Shimmer turned around with a huff, and said, "Nope."
She began to walk away, when Iron Will called out, "Then I guess I just imagined that smile of yours!"
Sunset stopped and clenched her hands into fists. "Yes. You did."
"A shame," Iron Will said, scratching his head as he walked away. "I would've liked to see more of that smile."
Sunset Shimmer waited for a few moments, for the sounds of Iron Will's footsteps to fade away, before she continued to move towards the exit. She was intercepted by the meddlesome group of five that had schemed this entire day to begin with.
"Hey! Where're ya goin'?" Applejack asked.
"Home," Sunset answered.
"Oh? Didn't Trixie tell you?" Rarity asked. "The paintball was only the start of the fun! Next comes to sleepover at my house!"
Sunset Shimmer cast a glare at Trixie, who was busy punching the punching bag that Maud had procured from somewhere and shouting up a storm.
"Just us six," Rainbow Dash added. "No kids or teachers crampin' our style."
"Hey!" Sweetie Belle shouted, puffing our cheeks. "Mum said you've got to let me play with you!"
"That's fine," Applejack said, casting a mischievous grin over the younger girl. "So long as ya don't mind us talkin' 'bout boys and kissin'."
"Ewwwww! Never mind!"
As Sweetie Belle ran off, Sunset Shimmer attempted to bypass the meddlesome five, only for Pinkie Pie to nonchalantly block her path. "I didn't pack anything."
"That's fine. I've got spare pyjamas and a spare toothbrush," Rarity said.
"Really, I'm fine," Sunset said though gritted teeth. Suddenly, her phone range, indicating that she had received a text message. She pulled out her phone to check the message.
Sunset Shimmer, I have been called to Luna's house suddenly for an emergency meeting and will not be back until morning. The door is locked, so please ask one of your friends if you could sleepover at their house for the night. Celestia.
"… You planned this, didn't you?"
"Planned what?" Pinkie Pie asked.
With a sigh, Sunset said, "Fine then. It looks like I have no choice."
"Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Sunset's head in a headlock and walked her along with the rest of the group towards the building's exit. "PAR-TY! PAR-TY!"
"Let me go!" Sunset demanded, unable to free herself from the pink menace's grasp.
"Also, as the winner tonight, you are entitled to choosing the night's activities!"
Suddenly, Sunset Shimmer simmered down. "Well. Perhaps tonight won't be so bad after all," she said with a wicked grin.