Equestria Girls: Waves

by Deaku

Chapter 4

The school day had finished at Canterlot High and most everyone had gone home for the day, only a few of the faculty were still about finishing up some final tasks before heading home themselves. However in the library far back amongst the shelves sitting at a table in a corner that seemed to be forgotten by most were Starwind and the Dazzlings.

Starwind was reading through the notebooks where the Dazzlings had written their observations for the day, taking his time studying the material. Adagio was sitting on one end of the table glaring at Starwind with and expression that was a mixture of boredom and annoyance, wishing she was somewhere else but knowing there was no where else to go. Aria sat with her feet propped up on the table as she read one of the notebooks that Starwind wasn’t currently looking through, comparing notes with what she herself had observed. Sonata sat at the far end of the table eating chips and drinking a soda as she read through a book she had pulled from a nearby shelf, the others hadn’t seen what the book’s title was but Sonata kept giggling at whatever was in it.

“The stuff they gossip about around here…” Aria shook her head as she continued going through the notebook.

“Pretty typical stuff for a high school really.” Stawind responded as he read through the notebook he had. “Though there is the occasional interesting oddity.”

“Why are we just sitting here reading?” Adagio groaned. “There can’t be any use to knowing what the idiots around here gossip about.”

“On the contrary Adagio, as the saying goes ‘Knowledge is Power’.” Starwind told the golden siren as he held up the notebook. “The more we know about the people and the goings-on around here the better prepared we’ll be for whatever might happen.”

“It’s still boring.” Adagio frowned as she crossed her arms.

“Well if you’re that bored I suppose it’d be okay to tell you a little something I have planned for later.” Starwind’s voice had a bit of amusement in it. “How would you girls like to sing someone a little song this evening?”

“Are you serious?!” Adagio leaned forward and grabbed Starwind by the scarf, pulling him close enough that her face was nearly under Starwind’s hood along with his. “You’re just not saying that to try and get me to stop complaining or something?”

“I am indeed serious.” Starwind said as he pried Adagio’s hand open to let loose his scarf so he could lean back. “You’re going to mesmerize someone to make them more pliable to questioning so that I can ask them about that portal to Equestria.”

“And you don’t have any magic that you could use to get the information yourself?” Aria inquired as she set her notebook down.

“Oh I have a few things that could get the job done; but the spells I know for such a task are unsubtle and heavy-handed, plus run the risk of causing damage that could make them forget the information I was trying to get.” Starwind simply shook his head. “But with your singing instead of a hammering blow it would be a gentle trip into the mental fog leaving them open and unable to resist. Far more useful and far less mess.”

“Well whatever, be more interesting than just sitting around reading or watching.” Adagio commented nonchalantly as she leaned back, but she had a small smile on her face as she did so.

“So who are we going after?” Aria asked as she swung her feet off the table. “Can’t be any of the Rainbooms since our songs don’t work on them. Did you find someone else who knows about Equestrian magic?”

“Oh! Did you sniff them out?” Sonata suddenly tossed in.

“Why would you even ask something like that Sonata?” Aria immediately countered.

“Well that’s how he found us didn’t he?” Sonata motioned toward Starwind and then tapped herself on the nose. “Said we had the scent of magic.”

“He was just saying that to be dramatic.” Aria rolled her eyes as Sonata glared at her.

“Actually Aria, I really can smell magic.” Starwind laughed a bit. “And Sonata is right about how I found you three, I caught your scent and followed it to you.”

“I told you!” Sonata called out triumphantly.

“Seriously?” Aria looked at Starwind with an extremely doubtful look on her face.

“Yes, it is a minor ability of mine.” Starwind nodded, then sighed. “Unfortunately one that is nearly useless here; the Rainbooms have used so much Equestrian magic on these grounds that the scent practically covers the whole school and overpowers everything else.”

“What does magic even smell like?” Adagio inquired, looking at Starwind a bit doubtfully as well.

“Well while there is a base scent it’s kinda hard to describe, and then Equestrian magic has a base scent of its own which is equally difficult to describe. However each individual that has magic in them has their own scent on top of that which is a bit easier to identify.” Starwind explained. “For example the scent that you three had when I found you, or rather what remained of it, reminded me a lot of the sea.”

“So whoever it is we’re going after tonight I’m guessing they’re not magic.” Aria decided to change subjects back to whatever it was Starwind had planned. “So how’d you find them and how are we going to get them?

“Found them by observing and listening in of course.” Starwind said as he steepled his hands. “Now here’s the plan…”

In what was usually a quiet neighborhood a garage door opened revealing three teenagers that had just finished their band practice. Flash Sentry gently set his guitar in its case, after making sure everything was secure he closed the case and picked it up as he turned to his band-mates.

“If this evening’s practice is anything to go by we’re going to really rock them at the get-together this weekend.” Flash gave a quick fist pump with his free hand.

“No doubt.” Ringo said as he put his own guitar away. “We should be able to show the new guys a thing or two.”

“Oh Yeah! We’ve been on fire this week!” Brawly Beats practically cheered as he spun his drumsticks. “We’re gonna blow the other bands away this Saturday.”

“It’s not going to be a competition Brawly, even though we will be the best band there.” Ringo smirked a bit as he turned to Flash. “You want a ride home?”

“Nah, that’s okay. Feel like walking tonight.” Flash shrugged as he looked outside. “Looks like it’s going to be a pretty nice night, maybe I’ll be able to find some fresh inspiration and finish that new song I’ve been working on. Then we’ll have something new for the get-together.”

“Well hope you find that inspiration quick then, we only got a couple more days to learn a whole new song.” Ringo joked and gave a quick wave as he started out. “Be seeing you tomorrow.”

“Later Flash.” Brawly Beats said as held out a fist.

“Later Brawly.” Flash grinned and returned the fistbump.

As he made his way home Flash enjoyed the evening, the weather was clear and the stars had just come out. Maybe he really would be able to find the inspiration for his new song. When Pinkie asked him and his band to play at the get-together she was planning with that new girl, Venus Love, Flash found he just couldn’t say no, Pinkie’s enthusiasm was just too infectious. Even if it was a pretty spur of the moment school event it was still a great chance for him and his band to show off their music to the new students.

Flash began to make his way through the park; not only was it a shortcut to his house but maybe the more natural surroundings would help along that inspiration he was looking for. Not that they really needed a new song, they had several songs that he knew would be great for the event, Flash just wanted to have something fresh for the new arrivals.

As he continued walking through the park a tune came to Flash’s mind and he began to hum it out loud. It was a good one he thought; it was a calm tune and a bit mysterious sounding but it was catchy and something he felt he could easily put words to. But as he continued to hum Flash began to think there was something about the tune that sounded a bit familiar, maybe a bit too familiar… He shook his head, it couldn’t be. But as Flash stopped humming he noticed something; the tune wasn’t something he had been thinking up in his mind, it was coming from somewhere else.

Flash listened closely and he could hear a voice but couldn’t pinpoint where it was, it was like it was floating in the breeze all around him. The voice was starting to sound familiar and Flash didn’t like what he heard at all; he picked up the pace of his walk and did his best to watch the area around him as he headed for the closest way out of the park.

It was then that he saw someone on the path ahead of him walking in his direction, the voice picking up in volume as they got closer. Though he couldn’t tell who it was in the darkness, the trees around them shielded the figure from the streetlights so all Flash could make out was their form. It was definitely a girl, Flash could tell that much even if they seemed to be wearing a baggy hoodie with the hood up. Flash came to a stop and took a step back, he was feeling something was very wrong and he suddenly wanted to be anyplace but the park.

The figure stepped into the light cast by one of the streetlights near the path, under the hood Flash could make out golden skin and familiar sultry violet eyes. She took a few more steps before reaching up and pulling her hood down, sending curly orange-blond hair cascading down her back, before placing her hands on her hips as she continued to sing.

Flash took a few more steps back, his expression shifting from shock to fear before becoming one of anger. “Adagio! What are you doing here?!”

Adagio didn’t answer and she simply continued to sing; the look in her eyes was one of confidence, someone who knew they had already succeeded.

Flash could feel his mind beginning to fog, and he shook his head attempting to keep it clear. “Not this time!” He turned and ran intending to put as much distance between them as he could.

He didn’t know why Adagio was here, how she seemed to have her power back when it was supposed to be gone or why she seemed to be after him, but Flash sure wasn’t going to let himself be caught. He needed to get out of the park first of all, hopefully that’d give him enough distance to no longer be within range of the song, then he’d call Sunset; her and the girls beat the Dazzlings before, they’d definitely be able to do it again.

Taking a quick glance over his shoulder Flash couldn’t see Adagio anymore but his mind still felt a bit hazy, and he could still hear the song clearly. As he rounded the next corner Flash found out why he could still hear the song so well, leaning against a tree was another of the Dazzlings. As she sang Aria glanced towards Flash and then walked out into the middle of the path and crossed her arms as she continued to stare at him. Looking back Flash could see Adagio again as she walked towards him, her voice and Aria’s joining together in their song. Along with the fog in his mind it was starting to feel like there was a physical weight pressing down on Flash, but with a growl of determination he held his guitar case tight to his body and bolted from the park path and into the trees.

While they might be able to outmaneuver him when he was sticking the paths Flash was betting it wouldn’t be so easy when he was running randomly through the trees, though he had to slow his pace a bit because of the darkness and all the foliage. But he couldn’t seem to get away as the song seemed just as clear as it was when he left the path. Flash decided he could be a bit less careful and push himself a bit faster so that he could get away, but paid for it almost immediately as he tripped on a root. He managed to keep himself from completely going face down and instead went down on his knees and one hand. Before Flash could stand back up he saw a pair of feet right in front of him and looked up, even in the darkness he could make out Sonata’s face. As she sang she simply leaned down and booped Flash on the nose. Flash scrambled to his feet and took off running again as fast as he was able.

Flash did his best to get away, running in random directions through the trees and down the paths. But it didn’t seem to do any good. No matter which way he went he always found one of the Dazzlings in his path. As their song rang in his ears it got harder and harder to think clearly; and as his mind continued to fog his body was feeling heavier, like he was trying to drag a great weight through sand.

Moving forward the best he could Flash vaguely recognized that he was somewhere in the center of the park, pretty much the exact opposite of where he had wanted to go. Flash stumbled and lost his grip on his guitar case and it clattered down onto the stone of the path he was on. His body was feeling so heavy and his mind was so muddled that he couldn’t walk anymore and he went down to one knee. Flash could see the Dazzling circling around him as they continued to sing, though he could barely make them out as his vision was beginning to get fuzzy and Flash could feel himself starting to slip into unconsciousness as he began to tip forward.

Suddenly Flash felt a hand under his chin, a gloved hand by the feel of it, stopping him from falling face first to the ground.

“Ah Ah, Mr. Sentry. We can’t have you passing out on us yet.” An echoing voice spoke, piercing through the fog in Flash’s mind enough to be understood.

The hand slowly began to lift and Flash found himself standing up, his body seeming to move of its own accord rather than him actually deciding to stand up. As Flash stood his eyes began to focus a bit better and he could see what gloved hand was attached to; he saw a long black and green coat with a hood and scarf, whoever they were their features we hidden behind the scarf and the darkness under the hood.

“Who…?” Flash managed to ask, his voice sounding distant to his own ears.

“Who I am is not important right now.” Starwind answered simply. “What’s important right now, Mr. Sentry, is that I require information. I believe you have the information I seek. Now, will you answer my questions?”

It was a strange feeling to Flash, while his mind still felt hazy he heard the hooded one’s words perfectly clear. He couldn’t even move his body anymore, it was almost like he was hanging from the hand that was holding him by the chin. And he was close enough that all he could focus on was the darkness under the hood, but out of the corner of his eyes Flash could see that the Dazzlings were still circling around them and could still hear the sound of their song. It was getting so hard to think, let alone actually vocalize an answer.

“Yes...” Flash was vaguely surprised to hear his own voice.

“Excellent.” Starwind nodded slightly. “You are a friend of the Rainbooms are you not?”

“Yes…” Flash answered again, but then he was able to force himself to focus enough to add to it. “I won’t betray them…”

“Commendable.” Starwind commented as he watched Flash trying to concentrate. “Worry not, I won’t be asking you to betray them. As I said information is all I seek; I am unable to get it directly from the Rainbooms themselves so I must seek another source, which is you. Do you understand?”

“I understand…” Flash struggled to try and focus more.

“You seem closer to them than many.” Starwind stated matter-of-factly. “Have you spoken with them about their magic?”

“Not really… I didn’t want to seem like I was nosy if they didn’t want to talk about it...” Flash managed to shake his head a bit. “I don’t think anyone really does, after everything that’s happened everyone just accepts it…”

“It seems so as there’s only rumors floating around the school.” Starwind sighed. “So they truly are the only ones that know how their magic works then?”

“I’m not sure they know either…” No matter how hard he tried Flash couldn’t stop himself from answering the questions.

“How could they not know how their own magic works?” Starwind questioned, disbelief evident in his voice.

“It just sort of happens, especially when they play music…” Flash couldn’t even bite his tongue to try and keep from answering. “Sunset was trying to figure it out, something about it not working like back in her home…”

“Them not completely understanding it makes the situation potentially worse.” Starwind said more to himself than anyone before turning his attention back to Flash. “But you mentioning Miss Shimmer and her home brings us to the main reason we are having this conversation. The portal to Equestria… Do you know where it is?”

“Yes…” Flash did not want to answer the question he knew was coming.

“Where?” Starwind asked in a conversational tone, but the question seemed to bore right into Flash’s mind.

Flash was silent a moment as he concentrated as hard as he could not to say anything, but no matter how hard he tried to hold them back he could feel the words slipping out. “It’s in… the base of… the statue in front of the school…”

“Thank you.” Starwind said as he let go of Flash’s chin

Flash felt like his body was going to give out and he’d crumple to the ground, but right as he felt like he was about to fall a hand grabbed onto his arm. His body went from almost falling over to standing up straight. Feeling a bit like he was on strings Flash walked mechanically as Starwind led him over to a nearby park bench.

“I thank you for your time Mr. Sentry, it was enlightening.” Starwind sat Flash down gently on the bench. “I apologize for the inconvenience.” Starwind raised a hand slightly and Flash’s guitar case floated up off the ground and into it, he then set the case on the bench next to Flash.

His mind still in a fog and whole body feeling numb Flash could only look at the dark figure that stood in front of him. Flash watched as the Dazzlings came up and stood next to hooded one as they quietly continued their song while looking down at Flash with expressions of smug satisfaction.

“You can rest now Mr. Sentry.” Starwind said as he reached over and placed a hand to Flash’s forehead. “Just consider this all a bad dream you had when you sat down to rest and fell asleep.”

The hand came down from Flash’s forehead passed over his eyes and the next thing Flash knew was that everything went black.

“Flash? Flash are you all right? Flash!”

Flash could hear a prim and proper accented voice, but he was just feeling so relaxed that he really didn’t even feel like bothering to open his eyes.

“Yo Flash!”

There was a different voice, then a sudden blow across his face that sent him reeling and snapped him out of his relaxed state of mind. As his eyes blinked open and the world slowly came back into focus Flash could make out two forms in front of him. He could make out one with gray skin and long black hair wearing some sort of purple dress, the other had white skin and blue hair wearing white top and purple leggings.

“You can’t just slap people like that when you want to wake them up.” The first voice admonished

“Well how else was I supposed to wake him up?” The second voice questioned. “Didn’t have any water to throw on him and I don’t think he much appreciate having hot espresso poured in his lap.”

Flash’s eyes finally focused and he recognized who was speaking. “Octavia? Vinyl?”

“Flash! Are you all right?” Octavia asked with relief in her voice. “We found you sprawled out here unconscious.”

“Thought you might have been dead.” Vinyl smirked, but then her expression shifted to an apologetic one. “Sorry about the slap.”

“It’s okay,” Flash rubbed his cheek as he stood up from the bench. “I must’ve been really out of it if it took something like that to wake me up.”

“Why were you sleeping here of all places?” Octavia inquired.

“I was heading home after band practice…” Flash began, trying to remember how he did end up sleeping on that park bench. “I guess I was tired and sat down to rest then fell asleep… I think I had a strange dream…”

“Strange dream?” Octavia repeated while Vinyl gave him a questioning look.

“Yeah, I was being chased by someone…” Flash tried to recall the dream. “I think it was… they looked like… wait…”

There was something nagging him at the back of his mind, something important about what Flash was trying to recall. Flash crossed his arms and brought one hand up to where he was touching his forehead as he focused on trying to remember what was so important. He had been chased by someone, multiple people, but who they were was fuzzy. Concentrating on what he could remember the image became clearer; three familiar girls, behind them a dark figure. As the image in his mind came more into focus Flash immediately recognized the girls. There was a sharp pain and he grasped his head, that had been no dream.

“Flash, you okay?” Vinyl asked as she put her hands on his shoulders to steady him when it looked like he might fall over, dropping her espresso in the process.

“The Dazzlings!” Flash exclaimed as the pain subsided. “They were here!”

“Flash, the Dazzlings are gone.” Octavia told him. “They were defeated and ran away remember? They probably didn’t stop until they were far away from here.”

“Actually, at least one of them hung around.” Vinyl mentioned, getting a quizzical look from Octavia. “Pinkie saw the blue one in the school the other day and tried to catch her, but she got away.”

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Octavia questioned.

“Probably because you don’t really listen to the gossip going around school.” Vinyl shrugged.

“And all of them were here tonight, and had their powers back somehow.” Flash pulled out his phone. “The others need to know about this.”

Setting his phone to speaker so that Octavia and Vinyl could hear too Flash tapped the intended number, a couple rings later the call was picked up.

“Flash?” Sunset answered with a slightly surprised tone. “What’s up?”

“Sunset, I saw the Dazzlings tonight.” Flash said grimly. “And they had their powers again.”

“What?! How could…?! They didn’t hurt you did they?” Sunset asked worriedly.

“No, I’m fine.” Flash told her. “They hit me with their song, but they’re gone and I’m not feeling the effects anymore.”

“That’s good.” Sunset said with relief. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

“Well after band practice I was heading home and was taking a shortcut through the park when I heard singing, and of course you know who showed up.” Flash began to explain. “I could feel the song starting to affect me so I tried to run before it took hold, but no matter where I went they always seemed to be able to head me off. Eventually it was like I was paralyzed and couldn’t even move anymore, then someone else showed up…”

“Someone else?” Sunset asked, it was evident from the tone of her voice that she did not like the potential implications of that fact.

“Yeah, they seemed to be working with the Dazzlings. I’m not sure who or why, that’s when things start to get a bit fuzzy.” Flash was struggling to remember what happened. “I’m pretty sure it was a guy… yeah definitely was a guy. He asked some questions, I just can’t remember what. After that everything went black until Octavia and Vinyl here found me out cold on a park bench and woke me up.”

“I’ll call the girls and we’ll get there as soon as we can.” Sunset said assuringly “You’re still at the park right?”

“Yup, you’ll find us by my car over on the north side of the park.” Vinyl said before Flash could answer.

“We’ll see you there.” Sunset told them and they could hear the determination in her voice. “Then we’ll find the Dazzlings and whoever was with them and put a stop to whatever it is they’re planning.”

Outside a café were the Dazzlings; they sat in silence as Sonata ate her sandwiches while Adagio and Aria had only gotten drinks.

After they had caught and questioned Flash Sonata had been hungry so Starwind gave them money so that they could go get something to eat while he went elsewhere to continue his investigations. They didn’t attract too much attention at the café they picked, Aria had wondered if it was because they picked someplace that didn’t seem to have a lot of high school students or that Starwind had left some sort of spell still in effect. After they made their order they took it back outside to sit at one of the tables in front of the café so they wouldn’t have to put up with the people inside.

“So…” Adagio finally broke the silence as she idly stirred her drink. “We know where the portal is now.”

“Yeah, and?” Aria commented as and took a sip of her drink.

“What do you mean ‘Yeah, and’?!” Adagio demanded as she slammed a hand down on the table. “We can finally leave this world and get away from all this stupidity!”

“And then what Adagio?” Aria set her drink down and gave the orange-blond girl a skeptical look. “You already said that when you were listening in on Sunset she mentioned something about how the other Twilight would be there on the Equestrian side, and I doubt she’d be happy to see us.”

“There’s no way she’d be watching the portal all the time.” Adagio sat back and crossed her arms. “If we went through at the right time we might be able to sneak through and get away without being noticed.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of water on the other side of the portal so I doubt there’d be much sneaking around. Flopping around maybe.” Aria scoffed. “We don’t have our gems anymore Adagio, and without them once we hit Equestria we probably go back to the way we were. Then we’d just be easy pickings for whoever is on the other side.”

“Well it’s not like we’re completely powerless, we have some magic… thanks to Starwind” Adagio winced slightly, like it pained her to have to say that.

“I don’t think it’d work over there.” Sonata commented as she finished off a sandwich. “What magic we got now comes from Starwind right? And Equestria is a whole other world from this one, which means it’s way, way far away. Probably too far for the link with Starwind to work so we’d probably lose what magic we got as soon as we went through.”

“Have you two completely given up on trying to leave this world?” Adagio asked incredulously. “I thought you said this place was the worst.”

“Honestly? Since losing our gems I couldn’t care less about trying to get back to Equestria. I’d rather be stuck like this…” Aria motioned towards her body. “Than go back to how we were.”

“I don’t think this place is really so bad any more.” Sonata admitted. “We have a home now, and food, and magic. And we get to be spies too.”

“I don’t believe you two.” Adagio just shook her head. “You’d rather be that guy’s servants than being out on our own doing what we want?”

“I don’t see it as being his servant, I see it as working for room and board. He even gives us money.” Aria pulled some cash out of her pocket and held it up to prove her point before putting it back. “It more like a job really; and a lot better than how we would have ended up if we didn’t make that deal with him. Seriously would you really want to go back to what we were having to do before? Especially without magic? Either trying to find shelter or conning somebody into letting us in if we didn’t have the energy for a song. And that only worked sometimes, most of the time we were having to huddle under what cover we could find outside. And then having to steal whatever else we needed when we didn’t have enough energy to make someone give it to us, I don’t remember how many times we almost got busted for that. Would you really want to go back to all that?”

“I wouldn’t.” Sonata wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I like having a warm bed of my own.”

Adagio mumbled something under her breath.

“What was that Adagio?” Aria asked as she set an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand.

“I said I wouldn’t want to go back to that either, okay?!” Adagio growled and glared at Aria. “What do you want me to do? Go kissing up to Starwind now?”

“As funny as that would be… no.” Aria told her as a serious expression came to her features. “You do whatever you want, it doesn’t really matter to me. Our powers aren’t connected like they were before so it’s not like we have to stay together like we did when we had our gems. If you really want to go for the portal and jump back to Equestria go right ahead, I won’t stop you. But I’ll be staying here unless something a lot better comes along.”

“I’m gonna stay too.” Sonata said with a nod.

Adagio turned her head and looked away from Aria and Sonata, staring towards the ground. She forced her expression to be neutral but there was an occasional twitch at the corner of her mouth. Finally she took a deep breath and looked back towards the others.

“Fine… whatever.” Adagio said flatly. “I’ll stay for now; at least until I can think of a better plan than just jumping into the portal and hoping for the best.”

Suddenly there was a squealing of tires as a white car that had passed by the café slammed on the brakes, forcing several other cars to slam on their brakes as well. While there were no collisions the air was filled with noise as everybody started honking their horns. When the Dazzlings turned to see what was happening and try and figure out why the sudden traffic jam happened they saw someone standing up in the white convertible that had been the one to first slam on their brakes. They immediately recognized the white-skinned girl with the two-tone blue hair and shades; she was standing up in her car and yelling while pointing at them, though they couldn’t hear her because of all the noise from the horns. Next to her was a another familiar girl with gray skin and black hair trying to pull the other girl back down into her seat with one hand while talking on her phone with the other.

“Isn’t that the one who was helping the Rainbooms?” Sonata said as she looked over the scene with a quizzical look on her face.

“I still want to know why she wasn’t affected by our power.” Adagio was practically glaring daggers.

“I don’t think any of that matters right now.” Aria commented as she stood up. “Looks like that other one’s making a call so they’re probably not the only ones who know we’re here right now, we should go.”

“Ya think?” Adagio said sarcastically as she stood up before motioning down the street. “Let’s go this way. Thanks to all the other cars stopped she isn’t going to get hers turned around anytime soon, unless they want to abandon that car to chase us on foot we got a head start.” She then grabbed Sonata’s hand and pulled her out of her chair as she took off down the street.

“You could have at least let me grab what was left of my sandwiches!” Sonata complained as she looked back to what was left of her meal still on the table.

“You can ask Starwind to buy you more!” Aria reached over and turned Sonata’s head to face forward as they ran.

“Down this alley!” Adagio ordered as she made a sharp turn. “The quicker we can get out of sight the better!”

“Why don’t we call Starwind?” Sonata asked as Adagio continued to drag her along. “He could just use his magic to poof us out of here.”

“We don’t need him to get us out of this.” Adagio huffed as she continued to run.

The three took a path that zigged and zagged through alleys and across streets; doing their best to avoid what people they saw and trying to stay out of sight. Eventually they came to a stop and sat down on a nearby bench to catch their breaths, they couldn’t see any cars or people around.

“See?” Adagio smirked as she ran a hand through her hair. “I told you we didn’t need Starwind’s help.”

“There they are!” A voice called out.

Their heads whipped around to see Sunset, Twilight, Spike and Rarity had come around the corner of the building they were sitting by; Sunset and Rarity looked both determined and angry while Twilight and Spike were looking at them with inquisitive expressions.

Before anyone could say anything else the Dazzlings jumped to their feet and took off running again, while still feeling a bit winded the desire not to get caught gave them the motivation to keep running. They started to pull away from their pursuers and hoped to lose them by quickly turning corners and ducking through more alleys. But as they went around another corner the Dazzlings skidded to a stop as they saw the rest of the Rainbooms along with Flash heading down the street towards them.

“Stop right there!” Rainbow Dash ordered as she broke into a run.

While the others rounded the corner behind them Adagio wasn’t ready to give it up yet; fortunately they had come to a stop right next to the entrance of an alley, she grabbed Aria’s and Sonata’s hands and ran into the alleyway.

The Dazzlings could hear the Rainbooms yelling behind them but focused on the path ahead of them, it was a slim chance but if they kept going they might be able to get away. But just as they were about to reach the other end of the alley there was a screeching of tires on the pavement as a familiar white car came to a quick stop and blocked their path. Vinyl Scratch jumped out of her car and waggled a finger at the Dazzlings.

“Can I call for him now?” Sonata whispered to Adagio

“Yes…” Adagio grumbled under her breath.

“Your escape is denied!” They heard Rainbow Dash say boastfully and turned to see the whole group was behind them.

“It’s over Dazzlings.” Sunset told them, she quirked an eyebrow when she saw Sonata looked to be mumbling to herself but she decided to ignore it and her expression became serious again as she looked over the three. “What ever it is you were planning it stops here.”

Despite being blocked off from both sides the Dazzlings didn’t look like they were about to give up, in fact Adagio took a step forward and snarled at the Rainbooms. But then Sonata reached over and tugged on Adagio’s sleeve, Adagio looked over and Sonata gave her a small nod. Adagio’s expression immediately changed from one of anger to a familiar smug grin.

“Oh you’d like to think that wouldn’t you?” Adagio put a hand on her hip and let out a laugh. “You won’t be catching us, not a chance.”

“Later Rainbrooms.” Aria smirked.

“Bye-bye.” Sonata gave a small wave.

Before anyone knew what was going on the shadows around the Dazzlings began to warp and became like a dark mist that rose up and quickly enveloped them. Rainbow Dash charged forward but before she could even reach the cloud of mist it suddenly vanished without a trance and the shadows returned to normal; the Dazzlings were nowhere to be seen.

“No way!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she searched around, even going so far as stomping on the ground and tapping on the walls of the alley looking for some sort of secret entrance. “They can’t just poof away like that!”

“I’ll sniff them out!” Spike ran over and began sniffing all around where the Dazzlings had been standing.

“They didn’t come our way.” Octavia said as she walked up with Vinyl to where Rainbow Dash was searching. “All we saw was that mist coming up around them and then only the all of you in the alleyway.”

“I didn’t know they could do that.” Twilight commented as she adjusted her glasses. “I thought their powers were supposed to be sound-based.”

“The only power they had was through their songs. But we stripped them of their power back at the Battle of the Bands” Sunset had a hand to her chin in thought as she watched Rainbow Dash continue to search. “I saw Sonata mumbling something to herself before they vanished, but it couldn’t have been her… Whatever powers they had should be completely gone.”

“Maybe they went to Equestria then came back and bought something or someone back with them?” Fluttershy offered.

“But surely Princess Twilight would have noticed them coming and going.” Rarity replied. “And if they managed to make it through the portal why would they come back? That is their home after all.”

“Nothing.” Spike said as he stopped sniffing and sat down.” I can smell their trails coming in, but they just end right here.”

“Well they had to have something that helped them pull that off.” Rainbow Dash growled as all her searching turned up nothing.

“That something would be me.” An echoing voice from behind them spoke in a casual tone. “I couldn’t have you catching my associates after all.”

They spun around to find a dark figure in a hooded long coat and scarf standing behind them, no one had seen or heard them walk up, they were just suddenly there. Flash recognized the dark figure immediately.

“It’s you!” Flash leveled an accusing finger at Starwind. “You were the one with the Dazzlings back in the park!”

“You actually remember, impressive Mr. Sentry.” Starwind told Flash as the blue haired young man glared at him. “It may have been only a minor enchantment but it’s still no small feat to have shaken it off so quickly.”

“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie!” The pink girl cheerfully introduced herself and waved. “And this is Applejack, Flash, Fluttershy, Octavia, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sunset, Twilight and Vinyl Scratch. What’s your name?”

“I am known as Starwind.” He answered as he gave a slight bow.

“Well if you’re working with the Dazzlings that means you’re no friend of ours!” Rainbow shouted as she charged forward.

“Dash! Wait!” Sunset made a grab for Rainbow Dash’s arm but missed. “We don’t know what he can do!”

But Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening; she let out a battle cry as she brought her fist back, fully intending to punch this Starwind right in his hidden face. Starwind only response was raising a hand with palm facing outward towards the incoming girl. Rainbow Dash lashed out with a punch which was intercepted by Starwind’s hand, accompanied by a flash as their hands made contact.

No one was sure what happened. Suddenly Rainbow Dash was stumbling back the way she came; but she was not stumbling backwards like she had been knocked back, she had been completely turned around. Rainbow Dash was stumbling forward as if her punch had totally missed and she threw herself off balance with her continued forward momentum. Applejack managed to catch her as the rainbow-haired girl nearly ran into her.

“How the…?” Rainbow looked up at Applejack in confusion then back at Starwind who was standing there as if nothing happened. “What the heck just happened?”

“What are you?” Applejack questioned as she looked at Starwind, not sure if she wanted to know what was under that hood.

“I could be considered many things.” Starwind responded wryly. “But if you insist on a more specific label… mage, warlock, sorcerer, wizard; take your pick. I consider them rather archaic terms though.”

“You’re a magic-user?!” Twilight gasped, feeling a mixture of shock and fascination. “Did you come from Equestria too?”

“No, while I have heard much of Equestria from the Dazzlings I am not from that world.” Starwind answered as Twilight seemed to be trying to decide if she wanted to get closer to examine him or not. “I am of this world.”

“This world...?” Twilight repeated, unsure if she heard that right. “This world has its own magic…? What… mmph!”

Sunset gently, but firmly, put a hand over Twilight’s mouth before she could launch into a barrage of questions; when Twilight settled down Sunset removed her hand

Sunset looked at Starwind with a serious, almost grave, expression. “Why are you here?”

“I am here because of you Miss Shimmer.” Starwind nodded his head towards her.

“Me?!” Sunset was a bit taken aback.

“Yes Miss Shimmer, you are the one who brought other-worldly magic into this world after all.” Starwind stated matter-of-factly. “After all that’s happened did you think that it would continue to go unnoticed?”

“To be honest pretty much everybody who hasn’t see it with their own eyes seems quick to write it off as some sort of trick.” Applejack answered.

“Yeah, even though some fuzzy pics and videos have been posted online everybody’s all like ‘Faaaaake’ or ‘it’s a publicity stunt for some movie’ and stuff like that.” Rainbow Dash added

“I’ve seen the comments, some are rather amusing.” Starwind actually chuckled a bit. “But I’m not talking about skeptical mundanes, I’m referring to other magic-users. I wasn’t even anywhere near this area and I still felt it when Equestrian magic practically exploded into existence in this world.”

“I really wouldn’t consider it an explosion…” Fluttershy said as she hid behind Applejack.

“Yeah, it was more like a laser light show, it was pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash grinned, but then remembered the situation and her face became serious again.

“Let me put it another way,” Starwind said with a bit of sigh. “This world has a magical field, though it is not easy to see it is everywhere. But in this case think of it like a pond; when you brought Equestrian magic to this world and used for the first time in the way that you did it was like throwing a big rock into that pond and it created waves that spread out across the water. Waves that could be seen and felt by those sensitive to such things.”

“And I suppose you’re terribly sensitive to such things since you felt it from so far away.” Rarity guessed.

“Actually no, my sensitivity is pretty normal for someone like me. But that’s just how powerful that initial unleashing was; I wasn’t expected it and definitely wasn’t prepared, but even at that distance it was like getting hit in the face with a bat.” Starwind explained as he slammed a fist into a palm to emphasize it.

“That was quite a while back…” Applejack thought aloud. “So you’ve been lurking around here watching us since then?”

“Again no. As I said I wasn’t expecting it and was unprepared so I wasn’t able to figure out more than the general direction of the disturbance after it happened, what it was even was quite a mystery.” Starwind shrugged a bit. “It wasn’t until the second major incident that I was able to pinpoint just where the disturbances were coming from.”

“And after that was when you joined up with the Dazzlings.” Sunset said a bit accusingly.

“Correct Miss Shimmer.” Starwind told her, sounding a bit amused at her tone. “I found them not long after their defeat, we struck a deal and now they assist me here. Having three more sets of eyes on the task has been useful.”

“You don’t have any other wizard friends to help you?” Sunset commented rather disdainfully as she crossed her arms. “From what you said you couldn’t have been the only one to have sensed it.”

“Oh I have no doubt that I wasn’t, something like that would have been hard to miss. But if anyone else has come I am unaware of them, and probably vice-versa.” Starwind replied, still seeming not to care about Sunset’s tone. “Unlike your world Miss Shimmer magic here is a rare gift; and not one displayed openly considering things that have happened to the magic-users of this world in the past. Most of us operate independently and generally stay out of each others way unless someone starts causing major problems.”

“So what did you discover during your own investigation of Canterlot High?” Twilight inquired, but then noticed everyone else looking at her. “What? You aren’t curious about what someone who’s versed in the magic of this world thinks about the situation?”

“What I found was what seemed to be an infestation of other-worldly magic. There have been instances of other-worldly magic coming to this world before, but it has always faded fairly quickly while this continues to persist. It remains within you even though most of you weren’t born with the innate gift for magic, the magic is strong enough that I can smell it.” As Starwind mentioned this Pinkie looked at her arm quizzically and took a sniff. “Another thing was the reaction of this world’s magical field. Each major incident of you using the other-worldly magic pushes against the magic field of this world, even pushing it back a bit, creating the wave effect. Afterwards it comes rushing back to fill the void, though so much rushes back that the area has a higher amount of magical energy than before. Another effect that still persists even now.”

“None of that sounds all that bad, in fact that more magic part sounds like it’d be pretty good for you.” Applejack said as she gave him a suspicious look, wondering where this was all going.

“Indeed.” Starwind agreed. “In fact I was about to write the other-worldly magic itself off as a bit of an oddity, though one that did seem to attract trouble in the form of denizens from its home world. Something to study and keep an eye on just in case of trouble.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming along here.” Sunset voiced her thoughts, she did not like where this was going.

“Very astute Miss Shimmer.” Starwind nodded. “But that was before the Friendship Games.”

“You were at the Friendship Games?” Twilight said rather nervously. “Then you saw…”

“Yes, I arrived just in time to see your transformation Miss Sparkle.” Starwind’s tone began to cool considerably. “By the way, it would be much appreciated if you didn’t go punching holes in reality again, the fabric of the universe is thin enough in this area without someone purposely ripping into it.”

“That wasn’t her fault!” Sunset raised an arm up protectively in front of Twilight while the others stepped in closer around her. “That was only because she absorbed far too much magic and it overwhelmed her!”

“Exactly. An overdose of your Equestrian magic changed her into a monster that was so bent on getting to another world that she didn’t even care if the way she went about it would have led to the end of this one.” Starwind’s voice had become downright frigid. “And I now know that you experienced something similar when you first unleashed it into this world, though the monster you became seemed more bent on the domination of your former world from what I understand.”

“I… I was in a dark place then, I’m a much better person now!” Sunset defended. “If you were there that day then you saw that I didn’t become a monster; I was able to use the magic to repair the holes in reality, protect everyone and save Twilight.”

“Yes, while it seemed her desperation to understand magic was what fueled her transformation into a monster, it seemed your determination and desire to protect allowed you to become something more benign.” Starwind crossed his arms and brought a hand up with one finger raised. “But therein lies the problem… If your emotional state determines whether you become an angel or a demon what happens if one of you were to have a really bad day and then transformed? “

“That won’t happen.” Sunset said determinedly. “We’ll always be there for each other no matter what; we’ll help each other out through whatever might happen so we’ll never go to such a dark place that that has a chance of happening.”

“Commendable.” Starwind commented as he lowered his hand. “But something else I must wonder… If your emotional state can affect it in such a way, how much of an influence does the Equestrian magic have on you? Your bodies are infused with it, living everyday with it inside you. Has it affected your minds? Does it drive you to do things now that you wouldn’t have before?”

“It doesn’t work like that.” Sunset retorted. “I should know, I come from the same world as it does and used to work with it all the time.”

“Do you now? Just how much do you really understand of it?” Starwind inquired. “From what I’ve heard it no longer acts like it did back in Equestria and you have yet to completely understand how it works in this world.”

“I know more than you seem to think.” Sunset glared at Starwind. “And I won’t stop working until I understand it.”

“As will I.” Starwind responded, causing the others to look at him questioningly. “I will continue to study and observe until I understand enough to come to a decision. If it is as safe and helpful as you believe then I will admit that I was wrong and my fears were unfounded. But if it does prove as dangerous as I fear I will destroy it.”

“And just how are you gonna do that?” Rainbow Dash questioned skeptically. “You already said it’s inside us, to destroy it you’d probably have to take us out too.”

“If that’s what it takes.” Starwind’s voice seemed cold enough to freeze the air around them.

“Seriously?!” Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped as everyone else either had expressions of shock or disbelief.

“I’ve worked too hard to see this world and everything I’ve done fall into the abyss because someone was messing around with forces they didn’t understand.” They all saw Starwind’s eyes glow briefly within the darkness under his hood. “If I find such a threat I will do whatever it takes to stop it, even if it means completely eliminating the source.”

“You are wrong Starwind.” Sunset told him, her voice serious and strong as she looked right into where she had seen the glowing eyes. “We’ll prove it and show you there is nothing to worry about.”

“We shall see.” Starwind said as he turned and began to walk away. “Goodbye Rainbooms, I’ll be watching.”

Again the shadows began to warp and a familiar dark mist rose up to envelope Starwind; Spike ran forward barking, but the shadows had already returned to normal and Starwind was gone by the time Spike got to the spot he had been.

“How does he do that?” Spike wondered aloud as he sniffed around. “You can’t just walk off and not leave a trail.”

“Great… another problem caused by what I did back then.” Sunset sighed and hung her head.

“Oh Darling don’t think like that.” Rarity put a comforting hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Like you said you’re a much better person now and together we’ll show that Starwind how wrong he is.”

“It’s really more my fault.” Twilight said as she averted her gaze from everyone and wrapped her arms around herself. “He said that he thought the Equestrian magic was only an oddity until he saw what I did at the Friendship Games.”

“Now don’t you go thinking like that neither.” Applejack gently grabbed Twilight’s chin and turned her face back towards everyone. “You didn’t know what was gonna happen when Cinch talked you into using the magic, let alone who may have been watching.”

“Let alone it being a wizard.” Fluttershy added.

“Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock… whichever you want to call him it’s like something out of a storybook.” Octavia said a bit wistfully. “Though I suppose a lot of what’s happened at Canterlot High could be considered to be right out of a storybook.”

“Yeah if I hadn’t lived through all that I wouldn’t buy that he’s a magic-whatever.” Vinyl laughed a bit. “Even seeing him and the Dazzlings poof away like that I would have thought it was some sort of stage trick.”

“Even if he is magic I doubt he’s all that powerful.” Rainbow Dash scowled towards where Starwind had vanished. “If he could’ve done more he would have done it instead of poofing away like that.”

“I don’t know Rainbow Dash, I’m guessing he’s the one who gave the Dazzlings their powers back so he’s got to have some tricks up his sleeve.” Flash shook his head as he remembered his earlier encounter.

“Well all things considered, what’s been done is in the past so no sense in worrying about it anymore and whatever that guy’s planning we’ll handle it together like we always do.” Applejack said as she put an arm over Sunset’s and Twilight’s shoulders. “You two gonna be all right?”

“Yeah I’ll be fine.” Twilight answered with a small smile. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be okay, thanks Applejack.” Sunset gave a smile and a nod. “And you’re right, considering all we’ve done we can handle anything when we’re together.”

“That’s the spirit.” Applejack grinned as they all began to head out of the alleyway.

“When Starwind said he’d be watching do you think he meant all the time?” Fluttershy asked as she looked around worriedly.

“Oh my, I hadn’t even thought of that…” Rarity let out a small gasp. “I thought he was creepy but I didn’t think he was that kind of creep.”

Sunset let out a snort as she tried to hold in a laugh, which earned her an annoyed look from Rarity. “Sorry.” She gave an apologetic look. “I don’t think that’s the case; I don’t know what sort of power he really has but Starwind did say he was glad to have more sets of eyes from the Dazzlings for what he’s doing so I’m going to guess he can’t use his magic to watch us anywhere all the time.”

“Well that’s a relief.” Fluttershy relaxed a bit.

“But doesn’t that mean they’ll be around nearby instead?” Twilight questioned. “It stands to reason that if Starwind can’t use some sort of magic to watch from a distance that he and the Dazzlings will be close by observing, probably using magic to stay hidden. In fact we may have nearly caught them in the act already when Pinkie spotted that one in the classroom… Sonata wasn’t it? Pinkie, you said she was just suddenly there when you spotted her right?”

“Yup! Was talking when I suddenly noticed her hiding under a table, never even saw her come in.” Pinkie answered as she skipped next to Twilight. “But I don’t think we have anything to worry about, Starwind will definitely see our magic is good. Oh! Maybe he’ll even become our friend after! I mean how could he not? Not only do we have friendship magic but we’re all just so loveable!”

“Ever the optimist aren’t ya Pinkie?” Applejack said with a laugh.

“Yup!” Pinkie grinned.

“I’d offer everyone a ride, but I don’t think we could all cram into my car.” Vinyl said as she stopped by her convertible. “So what’s the plan? Keep an eye out and see if we can catch them in the act?”

“For now that probably would be the best course of action, now that we know they’re around and have some idea what they’re up to maybe we can catch them at it.” Sunset said thoughtfully. “And we’ll have to be careful about how we use our magic too since that’s what Starwind is looking out for.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Vinyl jumped into the driver’s seat of her car. “If you need help with anything you know how to reach me.”

“We’ll call you immediately if we see anything.” Octavia said as she got in the passenger’s seat normally.

Everyone waved as Vinyl and Octavia drove off then began making their own way down the street.

“How about we go get an after-chase post-meeting-a-magical-person snack?” Pinkie suggested as she practically was dancing down the sidewalk to a tune that only she seemed to hear.

“How can you think of food at a time like this?” Rarity gave Pinkie a look of disbelief.

“Well that chase did work up a bit of an appetite.” Rainbow Dash admitted while rubbing her stomach.

“If that bit of running worked up an appetite you should try doing what seemed like a few laps around the park.” Flash told Rainbow Dash as she held her stomach. “Getting something to eat does sound really good right now.”

“Oh very well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get a little something to eat.” Rarity relented as the two looked at her with almost pleading expressions.

“Food run it is.” Applejack smiled as she watched Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Flash cheer.

While everyone else was smiling and laughing as they walked Sunset inwardly sighed; she now knew what was going on around Canterlot High, not that it made her feel any better about the situation. She had also not only learned that this world did indeed have its own magic, something she had always wondered, but she had also met a native magic-user. Unfortunately that magic-user saw the magic she had brought from Equestria, and by extension Sunset and her friends, as a potential threat.

Sunset just wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. If they kept on using their magic like they normally did she doubted there’d be anything for Starwind to see as a threat; there was certainly nothing threatening about them transforming while playing music or when they were being true to themselves. But just how close would Starwind be watching and just what criteria would he be judging their magic by? That she had no clue about. Or what if something else happened while he was watching and became another crisis that needed the use of their magic to prevent? Again she could only guess and hope for the best.

Sunset took a deep breath to calm herself down. She would figure this out no matter whet it took, she would let nothing and no one harm her friends while she was around.

“You doing all right?” Applejack’s voice brought Sunset out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m all right.” Sunset answered as she rubbed the back of her head. “Probably just over-thinking things.”

“You do remember you don’t have ta take everything on yourself right?” Applejack gave her a questioning look, but soon smiled and put an arm over her shoulders. “We’ll all always be right here next to you to help carry the burden, whatever it is.”

“I know, thanks AJ.” Sunset smiled and put her arm over Applejack’s shoulders as they continued to follow along with everyone.

To be continued…