A Time of Reckoning: Seven Days in Sunny June, Book IV

by Shinzakura

August 8: Looking for Clues

The rain had barely stopped hours ago before a legion of law enforcement officials from every part of the Canterlot Metro arrived at the location of the crime. At least fifty marked cruisers, a CPD SWAT van, a CPD bomb squad van and emergency vehicles and ambulances from the ECFD were on scene.

Looking completely haggard, Firefly walked over to Shining Badge, who also looked like he’d seen better days. “Okay, fire’s out on floors one through three,” she said, “and you’re clear to go in. No idea how many more floors there are down there, or how many more fires or explosives are present. We’re trying to use foam on whatever we come across, but needless to say, my folks are a little worried about the number of explosive devices we’ve found. Are you sure there’s something you aren’t telling me, Special Agent Badge?”

Badge looked at her with the gaze of a man who’d already lost too much. “Captain, I have one of my best agents – and a friend, too – dead, with a CPD officer dead as well. I have another one of my agents down, and a third dealing with the fact that he was here and being the thin blue line between putting this down and letting it all spin out of control. Now I sympathize with your situation, Captain, but all I can say to you is to put those fires out, and let EOD take care of the rest, all right?”

Firefly, her face covered in ash and smoke and her blue hair looking greasy from sweat, nodded. “Yeah. I gotcha. Fucking world we live in, I swear.”

“We survived a hurricane, Captain Firefly. That’s a plus in my book. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to debrief my agent on scene.” Giving a nod of his head, he wandered past the legions of heavily-armed officers on site, towards where a bunch of paramedics were set up. And in the middle of them, being checked out, was Shining Armor, who looked exhausted, but otherwise holding up. “How you holding up, Armor?” Badge asked.

“One of my closest friends on the force is dead,” Shining said in a dull voice. “Mel didn’t deserve that shit – any of it. Neither did Hardy. And Sandy should be here, not being shipped off to CanterGen.” He shook his head. “Meanwhile, I put down two guys who can’t tell us jack shit, and we’re no closer to figuring out what the hell happened here.”

Badge looked at the paramedics. “You mind stepping away for a second? Bureau business.” The paramedics nodded and stepped away to give the two privacy. “Look, I know it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. But your friend found a SIREN base. A fucking SIREN base, right here in the forest, where nobody expected them. I mean, look – hidden base, highly advanced installation in the middle of the Everfree, right by the road. That’s some kind of GI Joe crap that nobody – and I mean nobody – expected. She uncovered that. And she’s a hero for it.”

“Yeah, tell that to her kids. Man, I mean who’s going to tell Sales Pitch – that’s her husband – and her kids that Mommy’s not coming home? I mean…fuck, I don’t know what I mean.”

“Yeah. I have to talk to the head of the bureau office in Seattle this afternoon so he can go pay condolences to Hardy’s ex-husband and daughter. That ain’t going to be any easier, I can assure you. But what I can assure you, Shining, is that you did your job out here, and there are some officers that owe you their lives for taking charge when it counts. Don’t forget that.”

Before Shining could answer, a dark-skinned man approached them both and said, “He’s right – you did your job, Officer Armor, and you should be proud of yourself.” The man had a big but vague smile on his face, and the look in his golden eyes and gray-and-light-red hair somehow set off Badge’s hackles; the fact that he was dressed in an expensive suit when the order of the day in the area was casual due to the mess made that mental alarm go off all the more.

“And you are?” Badge asked, somehow already knowing where the newcomer was from.

“Oh, yes, forgot,” the man said affably, producing a badge. “Agent Hidden Truth, STB. Sorry it took so long to get one of us out here, but apparently someone’s paying attention now.”

Badge groaned. “Took you guys long enough. What, the high and mighty Sciences and Technology Branch going to let my people do their jobs, or are we going to end up having one of those pointless turf battles?”

Truth waved his hands. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here: I’m just here to assist. Furthermore, I’m just a forensics guy – I don’t handle the big arrests like guys do, okay?”

“Look, that’s nice and all, but I’m standing on a pile of corpses that include military personnel from another country – personnel that, if I recall, aren’t supposed to exist – as well as what looks like mercs. Oh, yes, and don’t let me forget the two cops that lost their lives here and the agent I have in the hospital now.”

“Yeah, heard about that. Apparently several folks from the CIA are in front of Congress trying to explain why they were covering for whatever the Canadians are doing here. But as I understand it, whatever line there was just got crossed in a major way, and we’ve been given whatever go ahead there is to shut this shit down. Got some information from the OTI and DDI with permission to pass everything that they know on to you guys.”

“Look, it’s nice that you know your vowels and consonants,” Shining said, the sarcasm in his voice thick, “but you might want to speak in plain English for the people who can’t connect the dots.”

“Understandable. Look, I’ll meet you guys in your conference room at 8:30 and then we can talk. I think you might be interested to find out what we know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to talk to their forensics folks and see what I can get.” Nothing more to add, Hidden Truth headed into the investigation site, the look on his face as passive as he seemed overall.

Badge looked at Shining. “Look, you’ve had a hard day, so…go get some rest, check on Sandalwood, all that. Meet up back at 8:30.” The senior lawman sighed, looking as if he’d put on a million years in that statement. “I…I need to get back to the office and perform some duties I’ve never wanted to, but have done all too often.”

Shining nodded. “Understood.”

The morning came, and with it parents who were more than a little concerned about their daughters; Velvet briefly wondered how the others had found out, but soon realized that it had to have been Posey who had passed on the information over the course of the night. Neither she nor Night were happy about that, but she had to admit that had the situation been reversed, she likely would have done the same. Moreover, seeing the potential for crisis, apparently Posey thought she could defuse the situation by sending over her quite-literal rock star husband to help; it was apparently a good thing that in-person, Discord was nothing like his stage persona.

However, either Posey had forgotten (or didn’t know) that Discord and Velvet had a past, namely over Celestia – and it hadn’t been a particularly fun one, as during their teen years, the two clashed often. So the morning started off with both Night and Velvet feeling as though they were on the defensive, even if decades of problems she’d had with the platinum-tousled rock star was obviously water well under the bridge. Regardless, they’d stick to the defensive because Octavia was their niece and ward and they loved her dearly; they would do everything and anything to protect her from danger, herself included if need be.

So Velvet tried not to bristle as she hugged her best friend’s former flame and bade him to sit down at the table. But then he did the strangest thing, bending down and whispering in her ear, “Look, put the gun down, okay? I’m on your side, Vel.”

“Look, Disc,” she said, falling into the old nickname, “if this is about the past….”

He shook his head. “No, this is about me repaying a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Let’s just say I owe your oldest daughter a solid and we’ll call it that, okay?”

Velvet blinked. “I don’t understand.”

In reply, he gave her a grin that she was all-too-familiar with. “Watch and learn, Vel,” he said in a cheerful tone. “Watch and learn.”

Sitting down at the table, Discord looked at all the other parents, who had arrived before him. Cookie Crumbles was the first to address him. “I suppose now would be a bad time to ask for an interview?”

Discord gave her an affable smile. “Just here as a concerned parent, like you are. Perhaps later, though?” Without waiting for an answer, Discord then looked at the others and began. “Look, I’m sorry that my wife jumped the gun a little; that’s usually my job. And I think it’s fair to say as parents, given what Poe may have told you, that we’re just a little concerned about what may or may not have happened here.”

Rainbow Blitz looked at Discord. “I think none of us have any idea of what happened.”

“Be that as that may,” Discord replied, gesturing to Velvet, “I’ve known her for decades, both bad and good. But I can tell you that she’s got a good head on her shoulders – she always has. And whatever went on here, I should be shocked – absolutely shocked – if Velvet didn’t have things under control.”

Velvet tried to keep the surprised reaction from appearing on her face while he continued. She certainly hadn’t expected that, but in hindsight it should have been obvious: he was a parent, just as she was, and from the last conversation she had with Celestia, Discord was trying to make up for his years separated from Posey and her children. Admittedly, Tia’s always had a soft spot for him, but Posey doesn’t put up with much.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say that I have no idea what sort of insanity went on here over the weekend,” Cookie began, but was quickly cut off by Night.

“I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t refer to my niece as insane,” Night said in an uncharacteristically cold tone, and the journalist couldn’t help but flinch.

“Night, I think Cookie meant the general craziness of the weekend, not specifically Tavi,” Cup, who had come not only to check on Pinkie but to support her friends, stated. “But you have to admit, the things Posey told us, unless she was exaggerating, isn’t very comforting, and I’ve never known Posey to be one for blowing things up. But please, Night, Velvet, remember that we’re all parents here. We’re just worried about our children, even if we can’t help but sympathize what’s going on, especially in light of what happened to Twilight earlier in the year.”

“Plus, Vel, you know me,” Discord added. “Supposed living morality warning label or not, I hate seeing people suffer. I’m the one that’s supposed to cause chaos – well, at least so far as my record contract goes – but that’s my stage image, not me. And I know Poe has already said this, but we’ll do everything we can, I promise.”

“Thanks,” Velvet said, glad that whatever changes that had happened to him over the decades had occurred. “I just want to take care of my niece. She’s hurting right now and she needs support, not demonization.”

Rainbow Blitz adjusted his glasses, looking at both Night and Velvet. “Listen, I know this must be hell for you – I can’t imagine otherwise – but I think I speak for the rest of the parents when I say I have concerns.”

“‘Concerns,’ he says,” Cookie scoffed. “Blitz, ‘my daughter stole something’ is a concern. ‘My daughter went fucking psycho’ is something differ—”

“That’s not very helpful,” Appleseed said, looking at the journalist. Part of him wondered if he should have sent his wife along, as Cornflower was much more versed in talking to people than he was. But cleaning up from the storm was likely going to take a lot out of her, so she stayed home and he went along. “Plus, that’s being rather insulting to our hosts, y’ know.”

Meanwhile, Cookie took a sip of her coffee; she disliked being the heavy here, but she had Rarity to consider. “I just state the facts, Appleseed, for good or ill.”

“No, right now that’s opinion, not fact,” Cup said, rebuking the journalist. Turning then to Velvet and Night, she added, “I think it’s fair to say that none of us here are going to insist our daughters never see your children again – that’s not likely to help anything.”

Appleseed nodded. “But given that we all had t’ deal with Sunset’s antics in th’ past – and Ah sure as swear on mah family that we all know it’s in th’ past – we’d hate t’ see anyone with a passel o’ problems like that again.”

“And keep in mind that we’re just the parents of Octavia’s closest friends,” Blitz pointed out. “What about the others? I noted that several other girls are here as well, and their parents may have concerns, ones that you can’t quite explain away because of history.”

Night looked at them all. “Look, we felt it was prudent to tell you all because your daughters are close friends with our daughters and niece, but please, let me make it clear when I tell you that thing is being handled. As Discord here said, Posey is looking into a mental health professional for Tavi, and I have faith that she will find someone.”

“Probably the same one Pinkie saw a couple of years ago,” Cup said sadly.

“Yes. So while we informed you as a courtesy,” Velvet said with finality, “in the end, this is our business, not yours.”

Cookie was about to say something when Discord noted that and cut her off at the pass. “Listen, that’s good enough for me. And I know Flutters will be there for Tavi to rely on – knowing her, she’d probably never let me hear the end of it if I even considered saying otherwise.” He grinned with the pride that only a parent could have and said, “Sometimes it’s like she’s made out of nothing but pure kindness.”

Cookie couldn’t help but smile as well. “Sometimes I think my Rarity is generous to a fault, but I couldn’t be prouder.”

“My Rainbow’s loyal as hell,” Blitz noted, “and she would never run out on a friend.”

“Mah daughter’s as honest as the day is long,” Appleseed said, “an’ Ah’d be shocked if’n she wasn’t there fer a friend.”

“Pinkie loves to make people smile and laugh,” Cup said with a grin, “and she’d do that especially for a friend in trouble.” The baker looked at those around the table. “We all have special children that are unique. I think we should let them do what they can for Tavi.”

Cookie nodded; her fears were assuaged and that was more than enough for her. “So, that brings up the next question. They’re still planning to all go to Modesto this weekend, right? Shouldn’t we consider some parental supervision? A chaperone or two?”

Appleseed waved that off. “Ah think yer worryin’ a tad too much there, sugarcube. Th’ girls are old enough an’ Ah think they’ll be fine.”

“Yes, but they’re taking the younger ones with them,” Cookie insisted. “It’s one thing for Rarity to take care of herself. It’s another for her to take care of herself and Sweetie.”

Blitz waved that off. “I don’t think that’ll be an issue; Firefly was talking to another den mother in the region after the news reports said that several of the southern and western suburbs got hit really hard, so the local troops’ll try to organize some fundraisers. And you know as well as I that when it comes to Scoots, Sweetie and Bloomie, if there’s one thing they can’t resist, it’s a new scouting badge. Trust me, the fact that their older sisters are gone next weekend won’t even occur to them.”

Meanwhile, upstairs in her shattered bedroom and unaware of the conversation unfolding downstairs, Octavia curled up like a fetal ball on what remained of the mattress, shivering in panic. Fluttershy currently had her arms around her friend, refusing to let go while the raven-haired teen needed someone. Also present were Rainbow and Bon-Bon, who refused to leave Fluttershy alone with Octavia given what had happened earlier; Minuette, who was there for moral support; and Pinkie, because someone had to make Octavia smile again, in her opinion.

“It’s okay, Tavi. We’re here for you, I promise.”

“Why?” Octavia asked in a choked voice that everyone present strained to hear. “I’m a monster. You should leave me be.”

“You’re not a monster and you know we’re not going to abandon you,” the chiffon-haired teen said gently as she brushed the hair out of her friend’s eyes. “You’re just going through some problems right now,” Fluttershy said with a smile, “but it’s nothing that we can’t beat together.”

“Problems? I’m out of control!” Octavia wailed.

“Uh, why?” Rainbow asked. “Just because you rubbed one out last night—”

“Rainbow! That’s crass as hell,” Minuette scolded.

“Hey, it’s not like we can’t all smell it. You telling me you never flicked the be—” The rainbow-haired athlete suddenly had a hand clamp over her mouth.

“Rainbow, just drop it, okay?” Bon-Bon said from behind her. Rainbow nodded and the martial-artist removed her hand.

Pinkie, uncharacteristically quiet for most of this time, looked up from where she sat. “Look, it’s been a long couple of days, and we’re all tired as hell,” she spoke in unusually calm tones. “I just want to go home and crash for a few hours, personally. And Rainbow, seriously, TMI, okay?” She then looked at Octavia and said in a voice closer to normal, “Tavi, if you think what happened this weekend is going to scare us away, it’s not. You know I don’t give up on my friends, no way, no how!”

“Me neither,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile.

Scratching her head, Rainbow gave her friend an apologetic look as she said, “Yeah, me neither – especially not me. Tavi, I’m your friend and you know I’m here for you, okay? Just try not to paddle the pink canoe whenever we’re here, okay?”

At that, everyone groaned and Bon-Bon once again gave in to her facepalming instinct. “Why me?” she asked no one in particular.

Shining got home, looking exhausted. “Hey, I’m home,” he said in a dull voice. Right now, he needed some sleep, then maybe visit Sandalwood in the hospital before going back to attend that me—

No further words were said as he felt himself slammed to the floor unexpectedly. Instincts were about to kick in when he felt drops on his face. He looked up to see Cadance, lunging over him and crying.

“Shining…you…you didn’t have to….” Her words dissolved into an incomprehensible bawl as she bent down and glomped him, soaking his shoulder with her tears. All he could do was lay there, gently embracing her back and assuring him he was okay, that everything would be okay.

He wished he could believe it, though.

“Damn good thing th’ others volunteered to stay with Twily while she went to see Tavi,” Applejack said, glad to see the early afternoon sun burning through what clouds remained of the hurricane. At the moment, the members of the Eightmazing Eight, save for Twilight and Octavia, were in Sunset’s room. The other two were in Octavia’s room, with Twilight’s safety overseen by Bon-Bon, Trixie and Lyra. Minuette had left for home thirty minutes ago, with Blossomforth having caught a ride with her.

A small ball of flame appeared in Sunset’s hand as she sat on her bed. “Look, as long as I keep this spell up, nobody will have any reason to disturb us. As it is, your parents did say that you could stay until the end of the day.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I think that’s just because Dad wanted to get the interview with Rarity’s mom done before she keeps pestering him.”

Rarity exhaled in slight annoyance. “Okay, so I know my mother can be somewhat…dogged…when it comes to chasing down a story, but seriously darlings, aren’t all journalists?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Sunset replied. “I’m still perma-banned from being on the school newspaper after I turned it into a gossip rag.”

“Yeah, well, Gabby Gums is a stupid reporter name anyway,” Rainbow huffed, though in a way to make it clear she wasn’t really offended.

Sunset laughed. “I actually wanted to use Anon-a-Miss, but the student editor said that violated school reporting policies,” the flame-haired girl said. “Anyway, enough of that. I think we need to talk about the upcoming trip.”

“I GOT THE SNACKS TAKEN CARE OF!” Pinkie announced at maximum volume. Everyone in the room winced and shook their heads, as if to banish the temporary ringing in their ears.

“I’m sure you do, Pinkie dear, but could you do that at a less, ah, vehement volume?” Rarity asked.

“Heh, so~rry!”

Sunset quickly cast another spell and everyone looked relieved as the ringing went away. “Heh, had to learn that one when I was a filly – just don’t ask why, okay? Anyway, I’ll go over the stuff with Twily later tonight, but I want to make sure that we talk amongst ourselves to make sure that we do everything we can to make Tavi feel at home. It’s been…well, I’m not going to lie, it’s been a rough weekend for us all, but moreso for Twily given that it was her birthday that got ruined; and Tavi, who probably thinks we hate her or are walking on eggshells around her.”

“Look, Sunny, I don’t know what the fuck went on; I ain’t magical or anything like you are,” Rainbow said. “But she’s my friend, okay? I didn’t run out on you when you were learning how to be, well, the you you are now, so there’s no way I’m bailing on Tavi.”

“I promised I’d be there for her, and I will, okay?” Fluttershy insisted. “Besides, someone has to bring the music to the camping trip, right?”

“Thought Tavi was taking care of that, sugarcube,” Applejack asked, and Fluttershy’s response to that was a blush.

“I…I’m thinking about taking Dad up on his suggestion that I go into music instead of veterinary work.”

“Wow, that’s great, Flutters!” Pinkie said, leaping up from where she sat to go over and tackleglomp the chiffon-haired girl.

“That is seriously wonderful, Fluttershy dear, but I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a repeat of the whole modeling affair,” Rarity commented.

“Modeling affair?” Sunset asked.

“Yes. Late in our Eighth Grade year, before we graduated, I had designed some clothing, but I wasn’t sure about how it looked. Fluttershy offered to wear it, and caught the eye of an art designer at The Broadway – that was before they went out of business and were replaced with Liberty House, but that’s another thing entirely, dears – anyway, The Broadway bought the rights for the designs from me and had Fluttershy model them for their Spring Catalog. But somehow the images leaked out and Fluttershy was bombarded with tons of requests to model for teen fashion designers. It got so bad that Dr. Posey had to put her foot down, but the damage had been done.” Rarity sighed. “A shame too, Fluttershy. Your exotic looks really do you credit, you know.”

Fluttershy blushed once more, but said, “No, I think I’m a lot more confident about it then I was back then. Besides, if I do what Dad suggests and just let myself flow into the music, they’ll be focusing on my playing, and not specifically on me, right?”

“Uh, guys, weren’t we talkin’ about the camping trip?” Applejack interjected.

“Yes! And we’re going to have s’mores and churros and campfire cakes an—”

“Okay, Pinkie, that’s enough,” Sunset said with a smile. “Look, I just want to make sure that you guys are still in.”

“Sunny, Ah’d be a liar if Ah didn’t think that all of us are in for the long haul,” Applejack said with a smile. “Twily and Tavi are part of us, just like you are, and friends stick together.”

“Well, said, Applejack,” Rarity said with a nod.

“Yay friendship!” Pinkie cheered.

“I’m in,” Fluttershy insisted.

“You know my answer,” Rainbow replied.

“Thanks, you guys,” Sunset said with a wide, emotional smile. “It means a lot to me. Now I’m sure you guys probably want to get home, so your parents can harangue you about your weekend.”

“Oh, no need,” Pinkie said with a grin. “Auntie Cup is still here.”

“Yeah, and apparently Dad and your mom went to high school together,” Fluttershy added, “so they’re going to be catching up on old times. Plus, since we’re here, I think Dad wants to check out the lot at the end of the street where he’s going to build the new house.”

“Wow, so your Mom and Discord went to school together. Think they did the thing?” Rainbow asked.

“I’m too young for a headache,” Sunset groaned.

Sandalwood finished munching on her bacon double cheeseburger. “Hey, thanks for sneaking that in, you two. No way in hell am I going to eat the hospital slop while I’m here.”

Cadance rolled her eyes, then giggled, while Hearts Aflutter shook her head. “Yeah, maybe the broken state of your legs’ll match the one in your head. Seriously, what were you thinking?”

“Look, I was just trying to cover Shiny’s back, okay?” Sandalwood suddenly realized what she said could be easily misconstrued, and she looked away before she blushed.

“You are soooo lucky he’s using the bathroom right now,” Hearts said, crossing her arms.

“Look, Sandy,” Cadance began.

“No, Cady. I’ve beaten around the bush too many times already, okay?” The look on Sandalwood’s face suddenly grew wistful. “And no, you know me. I’m not that kind of woman – my thought was to protect a fellow cop first, then whatever next. I promise.”

“You can’t hide this forever, you know,” Hearts told her old friend.

“Yes I can, and I will,” Sandalwood insisted. “This is my cross to bear, Hearts, just like when Lemony had a thing for Buck before Cady here shot him down. I’ll manage.”

“Except that Lemony married Buck,” Hearts insisted. “Unless you got some sort of time machine and—”

“Hearts, that’s enough,” Cadance interrupted. “Sandy’s already hurting enough as is, okay?” She then turned to the brunette. “But Sandy, you can’t just keep doing this to yourself forever. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself forever. Why can’t you just let go?”

“‘Why can’t I just let go’, you say?” Sandalwood’s purple eyes narrowed briefly. “Do you know why I can’t let go? Because the day you and I were going to ask him out, you did…and I couldn’t build up the courage. So I stayed silent, and played uninterested. But I can’t do this anymore, Cady. I don’t want to do this anymore – but I don’t have a choice! What you and he have is special, and even if I had some magical ability to disguise myself like you and brainwash him into not noticing, I don’t think I could. What you and he have…nothing’s ever going to break apart.”

“Yeah, well you’re doing a great job of passive-aggressive not-doing it, idiot,” Hearts snapped.

“You know, it’s a good thing I’ve known you since first grade, or you’d be breathing through a straw,” Sandalwood snarled.

“Okay, that’s enough, you two!” Cadance interjected again, moving in-between the two. “This was all settled ages ago, or so I’d hoped. Sandy, I don’t know what I can say that can make it better, but I hope you’ll be able to move on. Hearts, give her a break, okay? Shiny might be dead right now if it hadn’t been for what Sandy did.”

“Yeah, point made,” Hearts replied.

“No promises,” Sandalwood added. “Believe me, I did the BEQ bunny thing.”

A second later, there was the sound of a toilet flushing, then Shining came out, his nose wrinkling at an unpleasant smell. “Wow, that place smells too much like disinfectant. Bothering my nose.”

“Yeah, you’ve always had a sensitive nose there, Shiny,” Sandalwood drawled before Hearts glared at her. The bedridden woman shrugged as much as she could. “Hey, it’s not like it’s a lie or anything – he was famous in high school for that, remember?”

“Yeah,” Hearts relented. “Forgot about that.”

A nurse poked her head in. “Hate to bother you all, but visitor hours are up in fifteen minutes.”

“We got it,” Shining replied. “Well, we gotta go, Sandy. Obviously I need to get some food in me and get Cady home before I head off to that 8:30 meeting.”

“8:30?” Sandalwood and Cadance asked at the same time.

“Yeah. We’re getting a new briefing on the situation.”

“Great,” Hearts sighed. “That means this is going to get passed to the Feds, which means a shit-ton of paperwork for us. Well, makes our lives easier in the long run, but for now,” she said, clapping Cadance on the shoulder, “you and I are totally screwed by the paralegals.”

“Yeah,” Cadance agreed with a sigh. “We should probably gather what we have now, because they’re going to come knocking in the morning.” She went over and kissed Shining on the cheek, adding, “I’ll catch a ride with Hearts, go to the office, then she can give me a lift home afterwards. You go do what you need to do and I’ll see you when we get back, okay? Sandy, I’ll swing by tomorrow, ‘kay?”

He nodded, and with a wave to him then to Sandalwood, both women walked out. Shining glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “Well, time for me to get going. Got just enough time to go home and catch a shower before I need to get ready. Anything you want, Sandy?”

“Oh, there’s lots of things I want,” she purred playfully, but then added, “but we can’t all have everything in life that we wish for. But there is something you could do for me if you can, Shiny.”

“Yeah, sure. Just name it.”

“If you catch the fucker behind all of this?” Sandalwood asked, her face sober. “Kill the son of a bitch.”

Given the sheer number of law enforcement personnel around the place, it was somewhat difficult for Rhapsody to sneak in. The rest of her fireteam waited in the nearby woods, ready to tear down the human wall of police if she needed a distraction, but she hadn’t worked her way up to Executive Officer of the SIRENs just by brute force and overwhelming strength. Sometimes, military tactics needed a woman’s touch – the whole reason the SIRENs had been created, after all.

So, standing in the former command center with two police at the doors, she was glad that her faux-NSA badge still worked. Either the Americans were slipping at checking their own backdoors, or CSIS had a few entryways into the American halls of power that Washington wasn’t aware of. Either way, that wasn’t on her mind right now.

She was here to investigate a murder. Several murders, in fact. The murder of Violin Elegy and the SIRENs assigned to the bolthole. They had been killed by a merc group that had been paid by CSIS, no doubt on that, but that didn’t make them the murderers.

No, the murderer – or should I say murderess – is Canta, Rhapsody thought, looking at the taped outline on the ground that she was completely sure had been the place Elegy had died. She could have taken extra precautions, but instead she treated the situation as if they were expendable – as if our Operations Officer was expendable. To me, that’s one of the last officers you want taken down, but that didn’t mean a thing to Canta. Which means she had something going on, and Ellie was in the way. The recent losses attributed to CSIS also came to mind. Thrust, Rise, the other senior cadre – were they victims, too?

Fingers danced across the keyboard she was at, and various documents came up on the screen. The two police officers weren’t going to say anything; after all, they just made half their annual salary tonight, and if they wanted to push it, Rhapsody had a few more thousand on her still. After all, neither the CIA nor the NSA wasn’t supposed to get into domestic intelligence matters, and so it wouldn’t do for an agent like Rhapsody – or rather, “Dark Secrets”, the name on her badge – to get caught breaking federal law, right?

Her eyes traced across the screen until she came across an unfamiliar folder: PROJECT ANTHEMUSA. It’s the same file that was on Canta’s USB, Rhapsody noted, but this one’s much larger. She reached into her pocket, copying everything. When she got back to the base, she’d have to make sure that she gave a copy to her sisters and Madrigal; whatever was going on was big and pointed to something sinister within their own ranks.

Please, Canta. Let me be wrong about this, she pled mentally as she walked out of the bolthole, flashing her badge to let her through the security cordons. Please don’t do something that will make me have to kill you.

“Why are we being followed?” Shimmer asked, as she looked around, noticing the Indian woman and the somewhat slovenly guy that had been two steps behind them in Seattle, two seats behind on the plane back to Canterlot, and now even after they had recovered their baggage, were still on their trail.

“They’re….” Solaire paused for thought.

“We were assigned extra security, weren’t we?” Shimmer asked, her cyan eyes looking into her mother’s lilac ones. When Solaire looked away, Shimmer shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t understand that we need a security consideration, given who we are. And I know you want me to have a normal life, where I don’t have to think about such things. But I don’t think that’s possible right now, Mom.”

“I know, mon petit tournesol,” the older princess said in a soft voice, “and I wish it weren’t. But until this is solved, we’ll have some assistance at this time. Hopefully, they won’t be too intrusive.”

Meanwhile, not really listening to the conversation, Coco was busy on the phone. “Really? Do you think so, Sweetie? I mean, sure, I’d love to do that, but I have to ask my aunt because my parents are out of town. But otherwise, I’m in. Yeah, talk to you later. Bye!” She hung up the phone and looked at her aunt. “Aunt Solaire? A friend asked me if I want to join her Girl Scouts group in helping with cleanup from the hurricane. We’ll be camping out in Sunnytown Park with some other troops and our assistant den mother. Can I go?”

Solaire thought about it for a second. “I don’t know. Are your parents familiar with the people?”

Coco nodded. “Sorta. But most of my friends will be there – Sweetie, Bloomie and Scoots, since Crackle’s in China. But I should be okay. Plus, we’ll be with a bunch of other adults. I’m pretty sure my parents would approve.”

“Well, if they’re okay with it normally, then I’ll allow it.” Solaire turned to Shimmer. “Is that something that sounds like you might be interested in?”

Shimmer shook her head. “Unfortunately, school started up this month, so I need to get back to my curriculum; I think I have a test coming up this week. But since we’re not leaving until the end of the month, that still gives me plenty of time to catch up with my cousin.” She reached over and put an arm around Coco, saying, “If you’re going to go, have fun; we’ll still have time to make it up, okay?”

The younger girl grinned. “Sure!”

Walking a discreet distance behind the trio, Saffron Masala looked at Zephyr Breeze. “Okay, I have our hotel set up. Closest I could get is about ten minutes away from where they’re staying.”

Zephyr shrugged. “Whatever works; I don’t really care. Funny, though; never realized it until now: the older girl reminds me of my little sister.”

Saffron glared at him. “So now you’re skirt chasing jailbait?”

He shrugged. “Hey, I might be incorrigible, but not that much. No, was just thinking of my kid sister back in Atlanta. I think she graduates high school this year.”

“Wait – you have a sister?” Saffron gasped.

Zephyr shook his head. “Yeah. Her name’s Fluttershy. She’s attending Alpharetta High. Pop says I should move the family back to Atlanta so I can beat off Shy’s boyfriends with a stick. But hey, what she does is not my business. Besides, I think we should focus on our current issue.”

Saffron made a dismissive gesture. “Ten to one this is an easy case and that the worst thing we have to do is the occasional stakeout. I guarantee, whoever’s behind this, the Frenchies’ll catch them and then ask us to drop the case by the end of the week.”

“You think so?”

She grinned. “I know so.”

The coffin opened up and with dead eyes Tennis Match looked at Sunset. She lay in the coffin, looking at Sunset with accusing eyes. “I died because you couldn’t protect me.”

“I’m sorry,” Sunset replied. “I know you were against me – the whole school was once, but that’s no excuse.”

Match clawed her way out of the open burial plot and stood before Sunset with her lifeless features, looking like death’s embrace had come to accuse the flame-haired girl in person.

“Will you die for me?” She moved closer, until she was right up against Sunset and the flame-haired girl could smell the fetid stench of Match’s undead aspirations.

“Will you die for me?” she asked, as she reached into her shirt, tearing it off, and into the sutures that kept her body closed, ripping them open and exposing the empty cavity that her body was now.

“Will you die for me, Sunset?”

Sunset woke up with a start, looking at the clock. That’s the Xth nightmare in as many days, she said to herself, sitting up in bed, taking care not to wake up her sister. Maybe I need to talk to Mom about this. But for right now, I need a glass of water. She got out of bed to go get one, but then remembered that she wasn’t allowed to leave the room unescorted in case Octavia had a relapse. Reluctantly, she reached over to wake Twilight.

“Sunny, why?” she heard Twilight mumble, and just as the former unicorn was about to touch the scholarly teen, she mumbled, “Why did you lie to me about the letters? Why?”

Letters? What letters? Don’t tell me…. Sunset immediately went over to her desk, looking for the most recent letters that Princess Twilight had written her on the Hello Kitty stationery. She didn’t find those. But with Twilight in the room, she didn’t risk looking for her other correspondence from Equestria, lest something be found out—

“I see you’re looking for something,” she heard Twilight’s voice say behind her – and she didn’t sound happy, either. As Sunset turned to face her sister, Twilight continued. “I found the letters. I…it looks a lot like my handwriting, a lot,” Twilight said. “But nothing in those letters make sense. Plus, I’m not one for trainwreck stationery.”

“I know,” Sunset said in a soft voice. “Listen, sis….”

“Why,” Twilight asked in an even voice, “did you hide this from me? Do you not trust me, Sunny?”

“What? No! You know better than that, Twily! You’re my sister! Why wouldn’t I trust you?”

“Because you hid that from me!” Twilight accused. “Look, I get that you were probably trying to protect me – from the looks of it, that’s recent, and I’m afraid that it means I might have a relapse. But if that’s the case, if you didn’t think you could tell me, at least you told our parents, right?”

“I….” Sunset found herself unable to say anything further. She was tired of the lies, but she could hardly tell her sister the truth, much less have her believe it. In many ways, the lies had reached the point that they were tailoring themselves to her life, which hardly made her any less ill at ease.

“Please don’t tell me you’re hiding this from our parents, too.”

“Twily, I….”

“No. I love you, sis, but I really don’t like this secrecy. I know why you did it and I appreciate it, but you just can’t keep secrets all the time, especially from your family, and especially if it involves me!”

“Twily,” Sunset said without a trace of irony or humor, “I keep more secrets than most people should. And I have a reason for that.”

“And I’m sure it’s tied to your past, and I’m sure you’re not telling anyone so no one else gets hurt from what you know. I get that. It’s just….” Twilight sighed. “Look, we’ve already got enough going on because of the impending adoption and now Tavi’s issues. Just…please don’t add any more right now. I know you didn’t mean anything by it, but…we’re family, through the good and the bad. And even when it’s bad, we stick together.” The younger girl went over and embraced the older. “Please don’t do it again.”

“Okay,” Sunset agreed, the bitterness of the lie feeling as though it burnt her tongue. “I won’t.”

“Good. Go get some sleep. I know you have a long day tomorrow, with the funeral and all.” Twilight kissed her sister on her cheek. “And if I hadn’t said it already, I forgive you.”

“Yeah,” Sunset murmured, climbing back into the sheets and forcing herself to go back to sleep; the water could wait until the morning. Now if I can just forgive myself for all the lies I’ve told the people I love.

Twilight was just about to crawl back into the sheets again when she felt a pressure in her loins. Great. Mother Nature needs me to empty the bucket. She briefly thought about waking Sunset up, but opted not to, given that it was just a quick jump to the bathroom. Sliding out of the bedroom silently so she wouldn’t wake Sunset, Twilight left the room, heading towards her destination. But no sooner than she closed the door than she saw Octavia standing there. She was dressed in a way that left nearly nothing to the imagination, and unless Twilight was imagining things, her cousin’s hair had turned white and her eyes red. There was a look on her face that no one, much less a relative, should have towards her.

“Well, hello,” Octavia cooed. “My wet dream just showed up.”

“Tavi, go to bed,” Twilight said in a tone more confident than she felt; mostly she felt revulsion and the need to run back towards Sunset’s bedroom. Although, to be honest, being half-asleep and with the odd way the moonlight was shining through the upstairs window, she wasn’t sure if she was seeing everything with true clarity or not. “You’re not well,” the plum-haired scholar added, knowing that much was at least true.

A salacious grin etched itself onto the other girl’s face. “Oh, I’m very well. And if you let me play with your hot little body, I’ll show you just how good I feel.”

“Tavi, please – you’re my cousin. I don’t know what’s going on, but this isn’t…this isn’t right.”

Octavia crossed her arms. “Fine, go fuck the bacon-haired skank. Just know this: sooner or later, I’ll get you right where I want you and I’m going to make you beg me to never let you go.” Octavia turned around and added, “Just know that you’re more familiar with my body than hers.” Just as she was about to open up the door, she finished up with, “Oh, and don’t be so quick to trust your ‘all-loving’ sister. She lied to you about the letter…what else is she lying about to you? To us?” Not waiting for an answer, Octavia returned to her room.

Twilight didn’t sleep well that night. Mainly because for the first time in a while, she slept by herself.

“Thanks for coming, Sunny,” Compass Rose said, her eyes filled with tears. “You don’t look so good.”

“Sorry,” Sunset apologized. “Not used to coming to funerals, to be honest.” And to be honest, this is my first one in the human world. I’ve only been to a few pony ones, and they never get easier. Sunset remembered her first one, an event that had struck close to home for the then nine-year-old filly. The funeral had been for Recurved Bow, one of the guards that had been assigned to Sunset. She had been injured in a freak storm, and to Sunset, it had been a scary time. She hadn’t understood what had happened, and with Celestia focusing on Recurved’s family at the time – she’d left behind her mother and two foals of her own – the alicorn didn’t have much time to explain what was going on to the confused filly. Eventually, with time, realization and grief had come to her, but just like her adopted species, funerals weren’t something that was easy for a person.

Rose hugged her. “No, I’m glad you came, even if it was just for my sake,” she admitted. “I know you and Matchie didn’t see eye to eye, and now you never will….” The teen turned away. “I’m sorry. I’m just getting emotional about this.”

“It’s okay, Rose. I’m here for you,” Sunset assured her. “If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Rose leaned into Sunset. “Catch this guy.”

“I’m sorry?”

Rose looked into Sunset’s eyes. “Sunny, Matchie was murdered. And someone is coming after all of us – all of us! You’re the only one who can stop the murderer! The police can’t, or they won’t!”

“Rose, I—”

“No, Sunny, I know you.” Rose jabbed a finger into Sunset’s chest, a literal pointed accusation. “I know you. You were the one who stopped those boys from hurting everyone. You were the one that dove into traffic to save your sister. You were there when Fluttershy and her father got back together on national television – I saw you in the audience, so don’t deny it! And I bet there’s a million other things that none of us know about. Something’s different about you since the day you changed, Sunny. Something…well, something magical.”

“No, there’s not Rose, I promise you,” Sunset insisted, as she saw the mortuary personnel pick up Tennis Match’s closed casket. Fortunately for her parents, they decided to go with cremation and burial in the family columbarium. Sunset winced inwardly at that, a leftover reminder of the days she thought Celestia hated her – cremation for ponies was considered a state punishment directly from the solar alicorn herself, or so the story went; the Princess herself had said that was ridiculous but she never outright denied it. Still, Sunset thought she knew her maternal figure well enough to know that it wasn’t true, but that still didn’t quite remove the icky feelings afterwards.

“Yes, there is. I can almost feel it.” She laughed. “No, I’m not into that New Age stuff like Lyra Heartstrings is, but…there’s something about you, Sunset, that seems otherworldly, if that makes sense. Maybe I couldn’t help but fall in love with you – I know I can’t ever have you, and I’m happy with Berry, but that just seems to be my lot, I suppose.” Rose finally released her embrace. “But I know in my heart that if there’s someone who can stop this murderer, somehow, it’s you. Only you.”

“I’ll talk to my brother,” was all that Sunset could say.

Sunset tried to shut out the bad feelings she had afterwards, especially when meeting with Tennis Match’s mother, who was hysterical and begged the girls to go home, where they’d be safe. The one good thing about the wake, if anything good could be said about it, was that Scotch Bonnet finally buried the hatchet with Sunset right then and there; she said that Match’s death made her realize that life was too short to hate, and if her friends had forgiven Sunset, then so should she. Feeling drained, Sunset finally departed the funeral home an hour later; she got a text from Pinkie saying that she didn’t have to come in to work today at the café, as both her aunt and uncle had to be called away on urgent business, so they closed both the Sugarcube Corner and the Knickerbocker for the day. Sunset texted a tired reply of thanks, and after a quick stop at the Burger Shack, Sunset decided to head to the library and see what she could do to speed things along. She certainly couldn’t catch a criminal, but maybe she could help her brother find information that would stop this Dead Hand Killer before he hit anyone else, especially someone she cared about.

“Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to meet them?” Sonata asked.

“Yeah. Got the text this morning,” Adagio stated, looking at the phone. It was the last of the burner phones she’d been provided with, and so until further notice, was her “permanent” phone. She didn’t like that; it was a tool by which she could be caught, but right now she didn’t have much of a choice.

The three got out of their rental car, looking around at the rolling hills, occasional trees, rustic homes and the aged motel in front of them. “French Gulch Motel and Grill,” Aria murmured, reading the neon sign with the faded paint. The three looked around cautiously; if this was a trap, it was a very well placed one, given that there was little cover, it was far enough away from an ECSD station to allow for efficient killing before law enforcement got involved, and in a small town like this, no one was likely to risk their neck for three girls who (in their probable opinion) probably deserved what they were getting anyway.

“I don’t like this,” Adagio stated. “Way too open for my tastes.”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Sonata said, watching the car coming up the road. She began reaching for the pistol tucked under her shirt, just in case, and she knew her sisters were doing the same. But as the car slowly pulled into the driveway, the three teens instinctively moved into positions where they had what little protection they could just in case a firefight broke out, and….

“Wait, girls,” Rhapsody Blue announced as she got out of the car. “You don’t want to make a mistake, you know.”

“XO?” the three girls said at once.

“Rhapsody,” the woman said, reminding them of her name. “We’re in public, remember?” But before the girls could apologized, the other three doors to the car opened, revealing three people that absolutely brightened the triplets’ day as six people immediately dived into hugs.

“Maddie!” Sonata practically leapt into her grande sœur’s arms. “You have no idea how much I missed you!”

For her part, Madrigal Storm ruffled her petite sœur’s bangs. “That goes for me too, Soni. Me too.”

“How’s it going, kid?” Vesper Blue asked Aria while they were in their tight embrace

“Better, now that you’re here, Vesper,” Aria gushed.

For their part, Intermezzo Blue cuddled her own mentee. “You know, you’re getting bigger, Dagi. Soon you’re going to be taller than me.”

“Stop that,” Adagio replied, blushing. “I don’t think I could ever outdo you, Mezzo.”

“Ladies, hate to break up the hugfest; I know how much you all mean to each other,” Rhapsody replied, with what sounded like a bit of sorrow. “But we have a lot to discuss and not enough time to talk about it.” As one, the other six nodded, and they all went into the diner.

A few minutes afterwards, the seven were all seated at a table in the middle of the diner. The restaurant was mostly empty, and this gave them time to talk freely.

“What made you choose this place?” Vesper asked her sister.

“The person who owns this place is a former SIREN, one of the earlier generations from the Vietnam era,” Rhapsody answered. “She ma—”

“Why don’t you let me tell this story, kid?” a woman stated, carrying a large tray and a pot of coffee as if it were nothing. Despite appearing to be in her seventies, she looked incredibly fit for her age, and appeared to still be somewhat of a match for any SIREN at the table. “I married a nice American Army guy and got out – that was back when SIRENs could still do so. Moved here, settled down, had some kids. But I always watched what happened in the background afterwards, and what I liked I didn’t see. Fortunately, I saw that admiral of yours, Poutine – knew him back when he was just a lieutenant, nice fellow – and I was glad to see he was trying to clean up that dirty mess of a program. Personally, I wanted it gone, but I know it’s too valuable to the muckity-mucks in Ottawa.

“But when I heard that Poutine had been killed and you SIRENs went rogue, then I knew something was up. And when Rhapsody here contacted me and told me everything that had happened, I knew that it was rotten from within. I’m sorry, girls, but the SIRENs ain’t what they used to be. It’s time it ended, and it’s time you ended it.”

Adagio looked at the old woman. “Listen, uh….”

“You can call me Spoonful. Ain’t what I was born as, or what I was as a SIREN, but it’s who I am now and who I’ll die as.”

“Okay then, Mrs. Spoonful,” Adagio asked, “why do we need to end the SIRENs? I mean, can’t we just go back to the way things were?” The teen already knew the answer to that, but she wanted to hear it from someone else – someone outside of her sisters, their mentors and the XO.

“Because it’s not right,” Spoonful answered without hesitation. “Because when I held my daughter, and then my granddaughter, I wondered if someone, somewhere, was holding me when I was a baby and didn’t know what my future would be. Because I wanted to be a normal girl, not a killer. From what I can see in your eyes, I can tell you think the same way – you just want to be normal girls with normal lives, and you’re anything but. I don’t doubt there are others in the SIRENs that feel as you do, and I can’t tell you the number of girls in premature graves who probably were the same.” Setting the food down in front of them all, she said, “You all have to stop this madness. Don’t care how you do it, but it has to be done.” As the others gave Spoonful a nod, she walked off, back towards the kitchen and her own happy future.

“She’s right. We have to stop Canta, regardless of whether or not that breaks my heart,” Rhapsody said, looking at Vesper and Intermezzo. “We grew up together – she’s just as much a sister to me as you two are, and she would be the last person I’d suspect of masterminding something like this. But she’s always been ambitious. And…” Rhapsody admitted as a sorrowful look came over her face, “…that is the sort of person that I would expect to this.”

“Do what?” Vesper asked.

“This,” Madrigal said, dropping some folders on the table. “This is Project ANTHEMUSA, something that apparently Prince Divine has been working on with Cantata for the longest time. They spend a lot of time together, and I’m fairly sure it’s not all sex, so they had to get something done. Take a few minutes to have lunch and then read, because after you’re done, you’ll probably think this is the weirdest thing you’ve ever read.”

The other five quietly looked through the files that Madrigal had provided, while Rhapsody and Madrigal looked at each other with knowing glances, not bothering to open the file folder. Lunch was about halfway completed when finally Aria closed her file and said, “What the shit is this fuck?”

“Aria—”

“No!” Aria said, rapping her fingers against the folder. “What is this shit? Seriously! This is some serious science fiction bullshit! She wants to turn the other SIRENs into monsters? Prince Divine has magic? What is this shit. Please tell me this is some codeword crap, because if it isn’t, then Cantata needs to be removed for cause, not overthrown! I mean, seriously, nobody’s going to believe any of this shit!”

“You’re right,” Rhapsody told her. “Nobody’s going to believe any of it. But that’s not the point. I had Healing Refrain analyze some of the components that are in the serum—”

“Refrain? Can she be trusted?” Madrigal asked.

“She’s on our side. She came to me a couple of days ago complaining about the number of medical supplies that have been stolen as of late: syringes, medicinal equipment, that sort of things. Additionally, she’d received some supplies that she’d never ordered and it disappeared the next day. When she brought the issue to the Captain, Cantata just blew her off – and Refrain does not like being blown off.

“Anyways, the serum’s components and forumula are described in the project files. While the rest of it might be absolute bullshit, the fact is that this serum is a mind-wiper. Cantata will be able to make the others highly suggestible, and apparently she’s been working on this for quite some time.” The senior SIREN turned away in disgust. “I’ve been so busy trying to make sure that we’re prepared to take the fight against CSIS and Les SCARS, that I didn’t even bother to realize that we had a viper in the nest. But snakes need to be put down. And we have to put her down now, or else she’ll have an army of mindless slaves at her disposal.”

Adagio crossed her arms. “I’ll bet the Black Team aren’t.” When Vesper and Intermezzo looked at her, Adagio continued. “Cantata has three junior personnel that have been rapidly promoted and answer only to her. They haven’t been around much, and whenever we’ve run into them, it hasn’t been pleasant.”

“Additionally, when they brought something back a couple of weeks ago, it looked like a body. The Captain cleared them and said it was a ballistic dummy, but I really have my doubts,” Aria told her. “I should have said something sooner, but I didn’t think it would be this.”

“None of us did, Ari,” Vesper told her. “We expected the Captain to lead us – and Cantata clearly has her own agenda.” She then turned to Rhapsody. “What are we going to do now?”

“That’s what we’re here to talk about. For starters,” she said, looking at the teenagers, “you three are our ace-in-the-hole. You have rooms here; Spoonful will set you up until we can get a hold of you. Since Spoonful owns this place, it’s off the grid and you three will be safe here until we call for you. I want you to throw away all of your identification, credit cards, burner phones, the works – I’ve given Spoonful some funds to get you new ones. But even still, I want you three to stay put until we call for you. And it will be at a moment’s notice, I have no doubt.”

She then turned to Madrigal. “Maddie, I want you to go through all of our intel files. Find anything that is related to ANTHEMUSA. I don’t care what it is, or how outlandish it sounds. I don’t care what you have to do to get that information. The moment you have it, send it to me, Refrain, Vesper, Mezzo and Spoonful. And then I want you three to act as if nothing is going on, even if it means looking outwardly as if you’re not on my side.” The look on Rhapsody’s face was stern. “We cannot afford even the least bit of lack of preparation to undo us.

“Vesper, Mezzo, I want you two to keep track of any of the Sisterhood that may look as though they’ve been compromised. You’ll be able to tell; many of them won’t be themselves or something will be off. Likewise, keep an eye out for SIRENs that are aware that something is going very wrong. They may be potential allies in this fight. Don’t alert them immediately; just keep their names and pass them to me, Maddie and Refrain. We need to know if there’s anyone we can rely on.

“Now, I want all of you ready to strike at a moment’s notice. We have to be prepared to take her down, and we may as well be prepared to capture the Prince as well. I have a funny feeling we’ve been played, and we’ve been turned against our government so that Cantata could do this. I don’t have proof of that, and I hope to God I’m wrong, but if I’m not, we’ve been fighting a war with CSIS for no reason – and too many people on both sides have been killed as a result.

“Which leads me to the last thing: I have no doubt that Cantata already has some of the SIRENs under her control, doubly so if the Black Team works directly for her. Which means we will have to kill them as well. I don’t like that; it means that we have to kill our friends, our fellow soldiers – our sisters. But if this serum is real, there may be no coming back for those impacted – they may as well be zombies. But it’s better to put them down than to let them be her playthings.” The others gave grim nods; if they had to do it, it was their sworn duty and they would not shirk from it.

“Okay, then it’s settled,” Rhapsody said. “The triplets will stay here, rest and get ready. Madrigal, you, Vesper and Mezzo will head back immediately after dropping me off by my car. I’ll head back an hour later, then liaise with Refrain to see if she has any new information and then we’ll see what else we can dig up while we plan. We’ll keep in touch with each other, every three hours, using the drop phones. Text if you’re safe, call if there’s trouble, understood?” The others nodded.

“Now let’s get to work. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can take down Cantata before it’s too late.”

Vesper looked at her older sister with no small amount of sympathy. “Rhapi…you may have to kill your best friend. I’d say it’s already too late.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Princess Celestia said with a voice that was stern and regal, but breaking. That last part only Sunset could hear, but at the time, she didn’t care. “I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here.” The look in those lilac eyes were one of controlled fury, but Sunset could see more in them – the pain of a mother trying desperately to reach out to her daughter, but held back by her own station in life. “You are welcome to stay in Canterlot,” the solar alicorn continued, “but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”

Sunset saw all that – every detail – and still didn’t care, though. She was well beyond caring about anything at that point. “We’ll never get past this because you can’t see how great I deserve to be!” Sunset wanted all but to scream at the princess, to do anything and everything to get her attention. But it was a failing effort – it had long been a failing effort years ago. “Is that really all you have to say to me?” she asked.

“No,” Celestia replied, turning away. “The guards will escort you out.” With nothing more to say, Celestia turned away and began walking away. Sunset thought she heard the start of crying from her would-be mother, but again, the young unicorn was far too gone to know for sure.

“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life!” Sunset shouted as the Solar Guards approached her. “You’ll regret this!” she shouted at Celestia as the guards withdrew their swords, getting ready to escort her out the hard way, if needed.

No, the only one that regretted it was me, Sunset thought as she parked in the parking lot of the Canterlot Central Library. It took me years to realize that, and years of losing somepony I loved because of my own stupidity. And she’s forgiven me for that. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to forgive myself.

Stepping out of the car, she wasn’t really sure why the memory came to her, or what it portended. If Princess Luna was correct about anything – and Sunset had no doubt that she was – pony dreams, especially those of unicorns, weren’t like those of humans. They were prophetic, magical and could tell something of the future. And even though Sunset spent most of her time as a human now, where dreams were merely the cast off detritus of the subconscious mind, she had to wonder if she still had a unicorn’s dreams.

No, she finally thought as she quickly summoned her laptop. If I did, then I would have been able to predict what’s happening to Tavi. The fact that she failed her cousin still stung, even as Velvet had explained it was nothing that Sunset was to blame for. But the flame-haired girl saw it differently: Octavia was family, like a sister to Twilight and very much in the same way to Sunset herself. If Sunset couldn’t do anything to resolve Octavia’s problem, even if it was beyond her ken, she still felt it was her fault.

As she walked through the doors of the library, she put her thoughts aside and walked in. She looked around, seeing the vastness of the great, early-20th century building. The building was doing increased duty, since one of the branches was closed as a result of a police investigation revolving around the murders.

“Sunset? Sunset Shimmer?” Sunset turned to see one of CHS’s teachers, Cheerilee, approaching her.

“Ms. Cheerilee? What are you doing here?”

Cheerilee smiled. “Oh, during the summer I usually volunteer working at the library. It’s a great way to keep well-read and a good way for me to spend the time working on my novel. Someday, you’ll probably see it on Amazon or something,” she said with a wink. “But the branch near my house is closed for the week due to the investigation, so I’m helping out here at the central branch until mine reopens. So, what brings you here?”

“Doing some research on the Dead Hand Killer,” Sunset told her.

“Oh, that,” Cheerilee replied, clucking her tongue in distaste. “Honestly, there are better things to do with your time, young lady. Why not catch up on the Spellbound series? We just got in the latest novel, This is Where the Magic Happens. You’d be best served by reading that, instead.”

Sunset shook her head. “I really appreciate it, Ms. Cheerilee, but this is kinda personal.”

Cheerilee nodded. “I know. I saw you at the funeral with Compass Rose and some others, but I thought you might want your privacy. But even still, you’re probably too young for this sort of thing.”

I’m older than you, and I’m still probably too young for this sort of thing, Sunset said to herself. “Look, I promised that I would do something for Rose, and I want to keep that promise. She grew up with Tennis Match and this whole thing is tearing her apart. She’s my friend and I want to do what I can to help her, even if it’s not much.” Sunset looked the older woman in the eyes and added, “Even if it’s nothing, I can’t shirk my promise to Rose. That’s not the kind of person I am.”

Cheerilee looked at her student with arms crossed in determination before the merest hint of a smile came onto her face. A second later, that smile grew until finally it encompassed the front of the librarian’s face, a proud rictus. “That’s exactly what I would expect from Canterlot High’s Go-To Girl.” Nodding her head in a certain direction, she said, “Follow me; I have something that may be of interest to your particular reading preferences. But you didn’t hear me say any of that, got it?”

Sunset smiled. “Hear what? I didn’t hear anything.”

A few minutes later, she was looking over a stack of books that had been collected from all over the Canterlot Library System, as well as several loaned from the Equestria County Library System and a few of the other surrounding counties as well. The books were to go to Shining Armor and Sandalwood, according to a few of the documents, and although Sunset offered to take them to her brother, Cheerilee pointed out that the rules were the rules, so he had to come get them himself. He was scheduled to do so tomorrow, but until then Sunset had time to look at them.

And right now, the biggest clue was in her hands: the 1997 book The Devil Card: The Mystery of the Dead Hand Murders. Sunset flipped through the pages with the reading speed she was well used to as Celestia’s student, absorbing every iota of detail that she could peruse within its pages. It was one of the skills, as much as she wasn’t one to admit it, put her on par with Princess Twilight, though her alicorn friend was more about lab work as opposed to Sunset’s preference for field research.

Regardless, books were her best weapon at the moment, and it was a weapon she was well familiar with.

According to this, the Dead Hand Killer is believed to be a copycat of the 1985 Dead Hand murders in Los Angeles. Given the age range, assuming someone as young as their teens at the time would be in their forties and would be at the end range of being able to successfully do all the killings that the Dead Hand did. But to do all the things he did and to be in all the places he was either takes a very affluent teen with too much time on his hands, or more likely an adult with a car and a job and a way to be around everything.

Sunset continued to read the book, as well as the looked at images of the cards. The tarot cards at the time were originally believed to be a custom deck, but instead was found to be a limited-print deck known as the Black Sun. Created by Tela Vuota, the man disappeared about a decade before the Dead Hand murders, but given that he was elderly when he created the Black Sun deck, he wasn’t assumed to be the killer. Furthermore, according to a second book, The Search for the Dead Hand Murderer, a 2005 DNA analysis on some of the evidence from the victims confirmed that in one case, the Dead Hand was likely a white male in his twenties at the time, information that Sunset wished she’d known earlier.

She then looked over some traditional tarot reading books as well as the most common of the readings and, the joker cards notwithstanding from the kills in both the Dead Hand and the Dead Hand Killer murders, she was able to come up with some of the most probable readings, based on the tarot cards that had been put in use earlier. By the time her phone’s alarm went off, signaling that sundown would be in thirty minutes and she had to head home, she looked over the notes she’d made form a pad she’d conjured up earlier in the day.

From what it looks like most of my friends are safe, though I may have to watch Fluttershy and Minuette for a few days, she thought. Magic pulsed in her hand and suddenly two cards appeared in her grasp: Number Five, the Heirophant; and Number Fourteen, Temperance. But instead of the traditional images on the card, the first had Fluttershy, jamming away on what appeared to be her father’s guitar, while the other one was Minuette, by the fridge, opting not to get any ice cream. Both cards were not really cards, but instead scrying spells that let her gaze on them.

Yeah, way too creepy for my tastes, Sunset thought as she watched Fluttershy in what was probably a personal moment that she wasn’t yet comfortable sharing with her friends; she’d made mentions about her increasing interest in music since her father came back into her life, but nothing concrete yet. Given that this was private, Sunset needed to find a better way to keep an eye on her friends.

She’d just banished the spell when there was a knock at the door. “Okay, Sunset, I need to head home for the day, so I’ll have to put a halt to your research,” Cheerilee said as she poked her head in.

“That’s okay, Ms. Cheerilee, I was just finishing up anyway. Need to get home,” Sunset admitted.

“That’s good. Find what you were looking for?”

“No, but not for a lack of trying,” Sunset explained. And besides, I need to leave the investigation to the professionals. My job is just keeping my friends safe.

“Her? Seriously?” Contralto Rush said as she looked at the dossier, then a glance back to Divine Right. “With all due respect, your highness, I hardly think she qualifies.”

Divine poured himself a glass of wine, then did the same for Contralto, passing her one. “Trust me, I can assure you that she fits the bill quite well, Petty Officer.” He snapped his finger, and a card appeared in front of her, wreathed in purple flames. “You know what to do.”

Contralto downed the glass of wine, then passed it back to him. “That’s why I do what I do, sir. Because I’m the best.”

The knife plunged down.

Fluttershy screamed.

The knife struck over and over and over, slicing flesh and sinews as the chiffon-haired girl’s voice reached hysterical heights, begging for it to all stop.

And then it did.

“DISCORD!” Posey shouted. She shouted his name again, as an irritated look crossed her face.

“In the kitchen, sweetheart,” he called back. “Making chicken Thai curry tonight. Cutting up the chicken right now.” He put down the kitchen knife and pulled off his headphones just as Posey came into the kitchen.

“Yes, but did you leave the Horror Channel on again? Our daughter’s passed out in the living room.”

An embarrassed look came over the man’s face. “Whoops,” was all he had to say.

Night came, and with it, two figures meeting in one of the basements of the SIREN compound. The room was unused and a perfect place to meet, given that this part of the building hadn’t been completely renovated yet.

“This is everything I could find,” Healing Refrain said as she handed Rhapsody a flash drive. “You know, with everything I’ve been reading in Project ANTHEMUSA, if I didn’t know better, I’d actually start to believe that Canta has found a way to turn the Sisterhood into monsters.” The look on the doctor’s face was stern. “But whatever it is, Rhapi, it’s not good – not for us, or for anyone.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Tested part of the serum on a patient I had in my office,” she said, ignoring Rhapsody’s scowl. “Don’t look at me like that; I only used enough just to test a few commands, and I’m sure Seaman Cello metabolized it within a couple of hours. In any case, she did everything I asked her to while under the compulsion, from the average to the…not so average.”

“Not so average?”

“Let’s just say that if I was a lesbian, I’d have a new girlfriend now,” Refrain explained. “And if she’s suggestive in that way, what do you think she’ll do if Canta gives her a gun and tells her to kill or be killed?”

“I don’t know,” Cantata’s voice called out. “Let’s find out.” The lights came on, blinding both Rhapsody and Refrain as they stood at the bottom of the staircase. Standing at the top was Canata, with several of her forces pointing guns at the two.

“You know, Rhapi, I love you like a sister. You and I grew up together and shared everything. You meant everything to me, Rhapi – you still do,” the SIREN commanding officer said in a tone that sounded as if she was going through some serious pain at the moment. But then her voice grew cold as she added, “And all you had to do was look the other way while I made sure that we got everything we ever wanted. But noooo, you and Refrain had to go play heroes. Well, we’re not heroes – we never were! We’re child assassins and women that grew up from child assassins, and we’ll never be loved by Ottawa, the public or even CSIS!”

“So you threw everything away just to get in bed with that prince of yours?” Rhapsody countered. “You replaced getting vengeance for the Admiral with getting your rocks off with some spoiled playboy? Are you mad?”

“As a hatter, and as crazy as a fox,” Cantata answered. “And I’m doing it all so that eventually Ottawa will burn with my righteous fury. That it will be crushed underneath my heels and that my husband and I will fashion diamonds from the carbon soot and ash that was the capital. And the only thing standing in my way is you.” She grinned. “Fortunately, I know you and Refrain are the only ones in your little rebellion to be, or else I would have murdered your baby sisters and their buddy a long time ago.”

“And so now you’re going to kill us?” Refrain asked, a defiant look on her face. “Or are you too much of a coward to do so yourself?”

“Watch your tongue, Refrain, or I’ll cut it out.”

“That will still leave me the teeth to rip your throat out,” Refrain snarled. “I’m a SIREN, and I don’t fear death – I am death.”

Cantata broke out into hysterical laughter, finally coming to a stop after a few minutes with, “Thanks, Refrain. I haven’t heard a good joke in a while. Always good to know you had your sense of humor intact.”

“Yeah, well, come down here and I’ll show you my other talents,” Refrain taunted.

Rhapsody looked at her best friend and now would-be murderess. “You and I know how this ends, Canta. Please, don’t do this.”

Cantata walked down the steps, several of her brainwashed SIRENs in tow. Rhapsody recognized several of them; many of them were close friends and confidants, all professional warfighters and under normal circumstances would never stand for this. But normal was a condition that was now dead.

The SIREN’s commanding officer stood before her executive and medical officers, an impassive look on her face. Finally, it was split by a soft, friendly grin. “Rhapi, you know I could never hurt you,” Cantata said, meaning every word of her statement.

But then she looked at Refrain with contempt. “Too bad for you I haven’t known you as long,” before pulling out a combat knife and in one quick blow, slammed the blade as hard as she could between Refrain’s eyes. There was the snap of bone and the gush of blood, and before Refrain could even register she was dead much less scream in final pain, she fell to the ground, her eyes wide open but partially obscured by the knife’s crossguard.

“CANTA! YOU BITCH!” Rhapsody launched forward, only to be grabbed by two of the mind-controlled SIRENs.

“You and I both know how this ends, Rhapi,” Cantata said with a voice that seemed to show genuine regret. “But as much as I should, I can’t bring myself to kill you. I love you too much, the sister I always wanted.”

“No. You’re dead to me,” Rhapsody pronounced. “The Cantata I knew would never do this. And you killed her.”

Ignoring her statement, Cantata went over to Rhapsody and caressed her face, embracing her in a genuine hug. “I need to go. This is almost as hard as when I had to end Piano.”

“Piano Bliss?” Rhapsody asked, horror dawning on her face. “You killed your sœur? You told me you loved her as if she was your own daughter!”

Pulling away, Cantata nodded. “I did. And I ended her, because she was in so much pain – because of the experiments that made Project ANTHEMUSA succeed. I love her for that – she will always be my precious child. I’m a proud mommy,” Cantata said with no trace of irony but instead with glistening eyes and a soft, motherly smile on her visage.

“No, you’re a murderer – and a traitor,” Rhapsody spat as she fought against her bonds, knowing it was useless. “But mark my words: the Sisterhood polices its own. A Sister will end this madness, Cantata. A Sister will end you.”

Tears filled Cantata’s eyes. “I…I can’t do this. Not again. Not to another person I love.” She went and embraced Rhapsody, letting her tears fall, kissing her on the cheek. “Farewell, my sister. If Divine and I have a daughter, know that she will proudly bear your name.” Letting go of the hug, she turned and looked at the senior hypnotized SIREN present. “End it quickly, and as painlessly as possible. Then get me Lt. Guitarron and let her know she’s been promoted to full commander immediately and to report to me at once.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the SIREN said in a dead voice.

Cantata walked back up the stairs, hearing Rhapsody’s snarls and threats become whimpers of terror as the ANTHEMUSA SIRENs assumed their new form. There was a tortured scream, and a few seconds later, just before she left the room, she could hear the splatter of blood against the far wall like a rainstorm.

Cantata left the room before she could turn to face Rhapsody – or rather, what was left of her – one last time. No, it was better to remember her friend as she was, friendly, loving and supportive. Cantata would need those memories now as she used them to further her plans.

As her soon-to-be husband loved to say, it was their divine right.

She stormed out of his apartment, angry as hell. How dare he? How dare she? All that time and all that effort that she’d tried to get her own boyfriend – and then she went over to his place to find him in bed with her sister!

Traintracks stormed out, wobbling slightly on her stiletto heels. She’d spent so much time and effort trying to win the heart of Slick Moves, and tonight it was going be their night. After all, how many seventeen-year-olds got to say that they bagged themselves a boyfriend just out of college, even if Slick just finished up his associates at Sunnytown Community College. So she’d dressed up like the woman she clearly was – makeup, tight clothing and the stilettos. She’d gotten her cousin to take her to Night Dream’s Intimates Store, just so she could get the stuff for tonight.

Tonight was supposed to be their night.

But no, big sis Hot Stuff set her eyes on him. Tracks sighed; she knew this was going to happen sooner or later; Stuff was a tramp that slept around and even at nineteen already had two children of her own from two different fathers. She and her two babies were already crowding the apartment they shared with their grandmother, but Tracks loved her nephews. She certainly loved them more than she did their whore of a mother.

But now her plans for the night were ruined. Ruined because Hot Stuff just had to have her fun. Ruined because Tracks just wasn’t fast enough to give it up for a guy she liked. Ruined because Slick wasn’t as faithful as she thought he was.

She sat by the train tracks, by the old North Sunnytown station. The subway line was closed this late at night, and the only thing that use the rails after hours were drunks looking to piss on them and freight trains heading from one destination to the next. And right now, it was the latter that was coming, the bassy rumble of the tracks working in tune with the blaring of the train’s horn as it blew while going past the station.

A train, heading from one destination to another, seemingly forever, without a place to call home or someone to love.

“Where’s the justice in it all?” Traintracks asked.

“Fuck! Where the hell is she?” Slick Moves said a few minutes later. He’d run out there in a half-tucked shirt, pants that seemed like they didn’t fit, and sandals. He was hardly the fashionable icon that had won Traintrack’s heart, and right now he looked as though he couldn’t win a prostitute if he’d paid enough. “This is all your fault!” he said to his companion.

“Yeah, whatever,” a girl snapped back. “Look, hate to break it to you, but you were more than willing to put it inside me. No one forced you to cheat on my little sister.”

“Well, maybe if her older sister wasn’t such a whore,” he said under his breath, though the accusation struck home. Just a few days ago, they’d started having fun and had actually gotten to penetration when she asked him if he had jimmys. Well, he didn’t and he promised her that he’d go get some. Meanwhile, Hot Stuff had come by and she wasn’t too picky about that sort of thing.

Well, now all was said and done, his girlfriend was gone for good, and while her sister was a good lay, she clearly wasn’t the girlfriend type. Yeah, this is what you get for not keeping your pants on, he chided himself.

“Hey, is that her purse?” Hot Stuff asked as they approached the metro station.

“Fuck if I know.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“Yeah, says the girl who fucked over her sister,” Slick Move was about to say, when he noticed Hot Stuff had bent down to pick up Tracks’ purse – and stopped. “Hey, what the hell?” She didn’t move, and with an annoyed grunt, he turned on the flashlight function on his phone. “What the fuck are you doing now, Stuff? Because no way am I going to get busy in a place that smells like pis—”

She stood up, the look on her face one of horror. In her hand, was what looked like a playing card, and Slick’s heart stopped. He knew what that was; he’d heard about it nonstop in the news over the past few days.

Flashing the light onto the rectangle, Hot Stuff and Slick Moves were horrified to see Card VIII, Justice, in all its cardstock, glossy-coated glory…and the obvious horrors that it portended.

Hot Stuff screamed.

Comments

[Alaborn]

It's crazy, but I'm frightened by the sound of the telephone.

[HB_DS2013]

This is pretty good. If I hadn't read All-American Girl, I wouldn't have discovered this series, seeing as I'm normally not a fan of the thriller genre. That scene with Fluttershy and the Horror channel was surprisingly hilarious, though. Also, did Zeph come from a previous marriage?

[Shinzakura]

7564971
In case you (and probably others) didn't notice, his sister just happens to be named Fluttershy. And said Fluttershy (who apparently goes by Shy vice our Flutters) lives in Atlanta. And if Shake It Off hasn't made it clear, there are others with the same name. Happens in the real world, happens here.

And I'm glad you like the story. The fun is yet to come.

[Flynt Coal]

7564992 I don't want to say "I told you so," but...

[Shinzakura]

7565442
Well, if you figured it out, I thought our readers would be savvy enough....

[Philosophysics]

7565461 ...

Quantum Physics is pretty mmuch a religion at this point.

Nothing can be tested properly because once you observe it, it changes. And yo can only know one thing at a time.

And religion is confusing.
So is science.

Dimensional duplicates fall into this.

Craziness was bound to follow.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

And I'm glad you like the story. The fun is yet to come.

Great chapter, but you, dear sir, have a VERY strange definition of "fun".

Also, this chapter didn't show up in my "Library" notifications. I was scrolling down through my Feed-notifications, and that's how I found out that the the story had even updated tonight!

---

What's UP with that happening to me all the dang time, anyway?!

[Shinzakura]

7565630
You may want to unfollow than refollow the story. That might reset whatever issue there is.

And the train has no brakes now. We're headed towards the end, with panic mode on or not.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

7565682 Good Idea, Shin; I'll try that.

*yawns suddenly* But tomorrow. Me bed is callin' me right now, so I'm callin' it a night.

Laters, y'all.

[BlueBastard]

7565682

I tried throwing brakes at the train. It didn't work. That should tell everybody how there are no brakes to stop this ride.

[ToaofTwilightZ]

7565461 I figured it out!...
...I'll take my cookie and leave.

[Basement Dweller]

Surprising to see Twilight drop the "strange letter" issue so quickly - she really must have been half-asleep! But once she meets Sunset Shimmer (Human Edition) the jig will really be up. I had thought the vacation plans may have been forgotten due to the hurricane and other craziness, but not only are they still on, they've even set a date for it!

[Shinzakura]

7567792
I don't think she dropped it so much as she forgave her sister for what Twily thought was a lapse in judgement. That being said, she could still find other things.

[Basement Dweller]

7568244
Well, sure, obviously she trusts that Sunset isn't up to anything too bad. But the letter is weird enough, I figured Twilight wouldn't let it rest until she had at least some sliver of an explanation.

[Ariel Schnee]

7476235 Evil power... Contained in a "Bell"... I smell a G1 villain in our near future.

Grogar.

Undead and evil goat necromancer.

Oh come on Celestia, how many of your sealed-evils-in-a-can are gonna get loose on Earth?

[Starcat5]

7571321
Actually, the baddies on "Earth" were Starswirl's S.E.i.a.C. brainfarts. To be fair, though, usually tossing someone across the vails of reality into another flippin' universe really does mean that they are not coming back. Run ruff shod across an unsuspecting and unprepared reality, sure. Come back from that, not so much.

[X_Ronoc]

Dun dun duuuuuuun.

I just say, this was a most enjoyable chapter (that I almost missed due to library sheenaghanes) and I'm very much looking forward to the end of this ride.

Also... now Cantata is doing the f**ing Divine Right thing too?!? That was literally his worst quality! (Besides the whole, you know, systematically murdering innocent people to summon an ancient demon in a black magic ritual thing) Why would you copy that, lady?!

[Ariel Schnee]

Looking forward to another chapter soon now.^_^

[Shinzakura]

7654547
Hopefully one should be coming this week. I've had a lot on my plate as of late and it's thrown my writing off.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Sunset laughed. “I actually wanted to use Anon-a-Miss, but the student editor said that violated school reporting policies,” the flame-haired girl said. “Anyway, enough of that. I think we need to talk about the upcoming trip.”

Irony incarnate