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

by Shinzakura

August 15, AM: The Carnival is Over

A quarter mile off the shore sat Calliope Rock. It was known for being a natural honeycomb, the holes created by eons of water and wind blasting through stone until it had become a swiss cheese monolith. The wind blowing through it at times created a natural, eerie music, a macabre symphony for those who ventured near its edifices. However, time and tides continued to take its toll and in 1957 the California Register of Historical Resources granted it landmark status, with the Federal government doing the same a year later. As a result of this, despite the fact that the rock had a flat plain large enough to accommodate a campsite easily, both governments, along with the County of San Luis Obispo and the Town of Cambria declared Calliope Rock off-limits to within a ten-yard area.

But right now, someone sat on the flat plain, crying her eyes out. Sunset sat on the rock, ignoring the last hours of night. Her heart was broken and there was nothing that could fix it. Her sister hated her. Soon, so would her whole family, and she’d have no reason – or means – to stay here. Sure, she could easily return to her birthworld, but that wasn’t home anymore.

Home – assuming it still was – was six hours to the north.

A random wave sprayed Sunset with saltwater. She was already soaked to the bone, but she didn’t really care. She just curled up closer, holding herself, begging for it to end. She wanted to go home. She wanted her mother’s embrace, for her father to tell her everything would be okay.

But she knew it wouldn’t be.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

Seated on the balcony, Twilight watched the ocean as her namesake occurred from the opposite direction. The blue hour coated the world in azure light and because this was California, the sky was its usual unspeakably beautiful hue. But right now, all she could think about was the person she destroyed.

Was any of it real? And did I have the right to do that? I owe her my life – literally! Twilight’s eyes were already red from crying. She had a broken heart, and that wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. She’d begged Octavia not to call her parents and let them know what was happening, and twenty minutes later, it had been Fluttershy who had come back down on behalf of Octavia and said they would wait until the end of day. After all, Sunset was a minor still, and with her gone, that meant that technically they needed to call the Sheriff’s Department, and given their proximity to the ocean….

Given their proximity to the ocean….

Twilight’s heart stopped. She wouldn’t…would she?

The answer came back, mocking and angry, as if it wasn’t a part of her, but something else: You mean like you forced her to? Disowning your own sister? An image of a dead body, bloated from having drowned in the ocean, red and gold strands of hair pushed listlessly by the lapping waves pushed into her mind….

SUNNY!

Twilight tripped over the lounge chair and came to a crashing halt on the deck, just in time to see a pair of baby blue flip-flops come to a stop right in front of her. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was; only one person she knew would go to the effort of painting balloons on her toenails.

She looked up anyway. “Pinkie, I….”

“Sorry,” she said, carrying a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast and sausage in one hand and a non-alcoholic mimosa in the other. “Can’t hear you over the sound of ‘fuck you’ right now, Sparkle.” She set the stuff on the table and plopped in the seat next to said table. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to eat. Since I didn’t get sleep, I need something that’s going to power me through a long, horror-filled day of looking for your sis…oh, excuse me, I forgot. You disowned her, right? Sorry, I meant ‘my friend’.” She looked as though a thought crossed her face and she added, “You know, I don’t think I had my pill yesterday. Going to be a fucked-up day for me, I guess.”

“You almost forgot your other one, too.” The door opened again, and out came Rainbow with much the same that Pinkie had, only with the addition of a translucent pink pill container. “Fortunately for you, I know what loyalty is.”

“Oh, thanks, Dashie!” Pinkie chirped as she caught the box.

“Pinkie, your hair’s starting to straighten a little. You okay?” Rainbow asked while she speared a sausage.

“Of course I’m not. The girl I’m in love with just got broken by her supposed sister and none of you will let me go Cupcakes on her.”

“Shoulda never let you know about that direct-to-video B-film, I swear,” Rainbow said between chews. “Didn’t even look realistic, the blood I mean.”

“Hey, at least Rainbow Factory was better, even if a little weird in that fantasy horror film way,” Pinkie replied, swallowing a gray-and-blue capsule before washing it down with some orange juice. “So, what brings you out here?”

“Didn’t want you to eat alone.” Rainbow looked over her shoulder and saw Twilight there, still on the ground, looking at her with regrets. “Well, technically not alone, but you get what I mean.”

“Yeah, that I do. I owe you one, Rainbow.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Pinks. That’s what being family’s all about. Guess we’re the only two here who know what that is, huh?”

Twilight picked herself off the floor. “Okay, I get it, Rainbow. You’re pissed at me.”

“Pissed doesn’t even begin to cover it, Sparkle. You pissed on the one person you should’ve been there for. You show no loyalty to your family.” Rainbow got out of her chair and walked over to Twilight until there were fractions of inches between Twilight’s fear-etched face and Rainbow’s fury-sculpted one. “The little girl who gave a big fucking speech about how ‘friendship is magic’ couldn’t wait to shit on the one person who needed her more than anything.

“You know, I found out from your mom back on your birthday that you’re Hispanic? You don’t look it – I’d’ve guessed that you were as white as Rares, AJ, your cousin or Pinkie—”

“I’m part Cherokee, if I recall correctly,” Pinkie said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Rainbow didn’t stop, instead jabbing a finger into Twilight’s chest. “I’m not the biggest one on being Hispanic and all, but frankly, you make me sick to be part of la raza if it means sharing it with you,” she snarled. “Latinas are supposed to look out for family – it’s fucking bred into us, you Goddamn tool! And now that you have a sister that needed you?” Rainbow walked over and picked up her fork, stabbing it into the pancakes hard enough for the tines to audibly scrape against the plate. “You couldn’t wait to break her just because you didn’t really understand her.

“You said part of you grew up because you learned friendship from us. Looks like you didn’t learn jack shit.” Rainbow stormed off the balcony, back into the house. Pinkie looked at Rainbow with a forlorn look, then turned back to her food.

“You’re not going to say anything, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“No. I have to eat, then get back out there to look for Sunny – that should be enough of a statement,” she said. “And I’ll keep doing it until I find her, or collapse. Now get the fuck out of here – you’re ruining my breakfast.”

Twilight walked into the house and downstairs, and if the reception she’d received upstairs was bad, the rest of it was worse. Seated downstairs at the table, eating was Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack, talking and laughing. The laughter gave way to glares the moment Twilight finished descending the stairs.

“I…think I’m done,” Rarity said. “My apologies, all, but my appetite just went south.”

“Yeah, think Ah need to get out of here as well,” Applejack said as she stood. “Anything to get out of this hellhole. No offense, Flutters.”

Fluttershy said nothing, instead Staring at one very uncomfortable Twilight. Twilight finally looked away and the chiffon-haired girl looked at Rarity. “We should probably get started on our search again.” She then looked at Octavia with an apologetic look. “Sorry that you need to be here to clean things up, Tavi.”

Octavia sat on the couch, eating and looking over what appeared to be a local map. “No prob,” she said between bites. “Keep in touch, okay? I’m already delaying contacting the authorities in case this isn’t anything major, but the longer this goes on….”

“We know,” the four girls said as one before vanishing.

Twilight looked at her cousin. “Tavi, speak to me.”

“No time,” Octavia said, almost as if to herself. “I need to find out where my cousin has gone, to let her know that she has some family left – that she’s not alone.”

“Tavi, I—”

Octavia threw her plate at her cousin and Twilight was lucky that the plate was plastic. “YOU STUPID BITCH!” Octavia roared. “YOUR SISTER IS MISSING AND YOU’RE STILL ON THE ‘WOE IS ME’ LINE OF SHIT? HOW DARE YOU!”

“How dare me?”

“Yes, how dare you.”

Twilight turned to look at Pinkie, and her hair was inexplicably straight. Her eyes were hard sapphires, and there was no trace of the happy-go-lucky girl Twilight usually knew.

“You broke your sister. Nevermind how I or anyone else feels about her – you broke the one person who needed you.” Pinkie stomped up to Twilight and she flinched back. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t hurt you.”

“You’re not a martial artist?” Twilight said, wincing.

“Cheerleading requires dance and dance is, in its own way, a martial art. What makes you think that I haven’t taken anything besides just dance? I may not be as up front about it as AJ,” Pinkie seethed.

“Pinkie, please knock off the Batman shit and get back out there,” Octavia told her.

“She deserves it.”

“No. And every minute we waste here is a minute closer to us finding a corpse.” That caught Pinkie’s attention. “Twilight is my problem, Pinkie. Please, go find my cousin.” Pinkie didn’t need further prodding and rushed out the door.

Twilight collapsed in a heap. “She…she was really going to hit me, wasn’t she?”

“She slammed you just a few hours ago, Twilight. Or did you forget that?” Octavia sighed. “You have no idea how much you’ve fucked up, do you?”

“You weren’t there! You didn’t hear what I heard!” Twilight said. “Did you think I wanted all this?”

“You tell me – this is all your doing, Twily. This is what you’ve wrought. Yes, Sunny probably lied to us about a few things. But I maintain that she’s afraid of something, something that would make any kind of lie permissible. What did she tell you last night?”

“She didn’t tell me anything.” Twilight let herself be led to the couch, while Octavia went to get some breakfast for her. “I heard her leave the bungalow, so I followed her, because I wanted to make up with her. Instead, I heard her talking to someone else and telling her everything.” Twilight looked at her cousin. “She’s not an orphan – her mother is still alive and out there, and Sunset not only knows it but has met with her during this past year.”

Octavia’s face was impassive. “Go on.”

“She told this other girl that she loves her mother, and that she’s torn between going back and staying with us. That’s not someone who is afraid.” Twilight took the plate and the drink as Octavia handed it to her. “I didn’t want to believe it, but she was so calm about it, so plainspoken, that it has to be true.”

Octavia sat down next to her cousin and was silent the entire time Twilight ate breakfast. Finally, when Twilight was finished, Octavia said, “Twily, you really have no idea of the damage you’ve done, do you? The girls are furious with you to the point that they wanted to toss you out – I told them that finding Sunny was more important. And as for this other person, do you know who she is?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, she didn’t look familiar at all. Why?”

“Then why do you think Sunset would tell a stranger her life story? We are her family and she doesn’t tell us much, and I’ll bet the girls don’t know much more than we. So what makes you think she would open up to a stranger?” Twilight tried to answer the question, but she couldn’t, and found herself staring slack-jawed at her cousin. “That’s right – you don’t have that proof.”

Octavia looked at her cousin. “Do you remember the weekend we were in Riverdale, just before Sunny came into our lives?” Twilight nodded slightly. “Remember that guy who kept staring at our chests? What was his name? Trophy Mantle? Guy was the richest kid in town and thought he could have one or both of us in bed just because he looked at us?”

Twilight blushed. “I’d rather not remember.”

“I do, you know why? Because I messed with his head. Told him that if he wanted me, we’d have to go skinny dipping in Lake Riverside, right? That I wanted to be loved by midnight.”

“But we were on the way home around that time!”

Octavia nodded. “Yup. And he took a skinny-dipping trip…right around a place where the local Girl Scout troops were having a weekend camping trip,” she laughed. “I fed him what he wanted to hear, because he wanted to hear it – and I’m not the one with the, ahem, ‘person-handling’ techniques that Sunny has.

“Yes, we know Sunny’s lied to us, and from what the girls say, her manipulation skills are legendary. But she’s never let us down, Twily, and I don’t believe she’s ever manipulated us, either. I know you want her to tell you everything; I want her to, as well. But what if she’s doing this for a reason? I remember what you shouted last night – that maybe we should worry about what she’s hiding. Maybe we should.” Octavia then said sadly, “but if that’s the truth, Sunny needs to worry more about what’s going to happen to her, first. And then you pushed her out of the metaphorical plane without a chute.”

The older teen sighed. “Normally, this is probably the part where we’d hold each other and cry about it until we feel better. But that’s not going to happen this time. Somewhere out there is your sister – our family, and she’s been missing long enough that we should be very worried. But I’m not going to assuage your guilt, Twily, not in the least. You need to learn this harshest of lessons, because what may come after might just be the death of someone. I only hope it isn’t the death of someone we love.”

The SIREN looked at her screen repeatedly, the look on her face one of utter befuddlement. “Chief? Chief, need your eyes for a sec.”

The INTEL chief walked over and looked over the shoulder of the SIREN, at the monitor. “Okay, what’ve we got? Remember, this info is due to the Captain in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, but none of this makes sense! We have records of Princess Solaire being in these three locations—” The SIREN pointed at a trio of far-flung sites on Google Maps, “but mainly here, at her family’s house; and here, at a townhouse in the Daybreak district.”

“Maybe she’s got someone’s she’s sleeping with,” the chief observed. “Every woman’s got needs, you know. She had a kid, kid had to come from somewhere, after all, am I right?”

“Which leads to the other weird thing. According to her cellphone logs, Princess Sunset has sat in her room at their family compound for the past few days. But about an hour ago, she apparently used her credit card down south, near San Luis Obispo.”

The Chief had a confused look on her face. “Stolen card?”

“No, doesn’t fit the profile. Plus, per our systems, the card’s been active long enough that there’s no chance that it’s fake. But if her phone’s here in Canterlot—”

From the other side of the room, another SIREN called out, “Got a phone hit. Sunset Shimmer’s phone, triangulated to the Canterlot location, two texts sent to friends in Paris.”

“See what I mean, Chief? It makes no Goddamn sense.”

A phone suddenly rang out, and all eyes looked at a cellphone on the chief’s desk. That, they knew, was the signal, but not what they wanted. The Chief went over to answer the phone anyway. “INTEL Office.” The phone was silent for a few seconds while she listened to what she knew was going to come. Finally, she spoke: “Captain, we can send it down but we have some discrepancies in the information that we really can’t understand.” More silence. “Sure, I’ll be right over.” The chief hung up the phone and said, “Transmit the whole package to the OPS Office. I’m going there to speak to the Captain and XO.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Lt. Storm should be back in a few minutes, and when she is, ask her to join us in the OPS Office. I have a feeling she’s going to want to hear this as well.”

“Sure thing, Ms. Sunlight Twinkle,” the woman said, looking at the debit card. “Staying with us for the whole weekend?”

“Just until I sort some things out,” Sunset said. At the moment, she had a smile on her face that she didn’t feel, combined with a glamorie that made her look like a composite of Lyra and Trixie. The debit card was also fake, though the magnetic strip on the back would allow it to connect to her actual bank account.

The woman looked at “Sunlight” and gave her a sympathetic look. “Boyfriend troubles?” Sunset was about to speak when the woman laughed. “You’re not the first one who left Club Tropicana to head up here for a cooling head. Happens all the time. Don’t worry, I’m sure your beau’ll change his mind. You go rest yourself for a while and let him come to his senses. It’ll happen.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said, taking the key. She felt drained and didn’t want to dump on the woman, given that she probably heard more than enough sob stories in her lifetime. As it was, Sunset just wanted to get into the bedroom and sleep for a few hours, and if she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to dream.

Dreams meant nightmares, after all.

She lay down on the bed, feeling the rest of her strength drain out of her. Her eyelids felt like blast doors. Her body felt numb, and not just because she was still a bit cold from sitting out all night on Calliope Rock. It was because she was empty, because there was nothing left.

I want to go home.

But which home? Returning to Equestria would worry her friends and admit defeat – this was her home now. But did she still have a home here? She didn’t want to start over – she had people she loved, a family, a sister she still loved and a cousin that was like a sister as well. An older brother – sorta – that she looked up to, and a younger brother who wasn’t bad when he wasn’t bad. Parents that she respected. A sister-in-law to-be that she admired. And all that could be gone now.

She wanted to hope, to believe that she still had a home and loved ones. But when she thought of them, all she could think of the rage and hatred in Twilight’s eyes. The younger sister that she loved so dearly, turned completely against her and filled with a fury no world could turn aside.

“GET THE FUCK OUT!” Sunset heard as her sister slugged her. “I never want to see your face again, you lying bitch!”

Sunset reached towards the air, towards the memory haunting her mind, wanting to hold Twilight and never let her go, to hold her and say how sorry she was for everything and that she had a good reason, but she never wanted to hurt anyone.

And yet all she could see was the hatred in her sister’s eyes.

For the first time in nearly a year, Sunset Shimmer was afraid of a member of her own family, and the repercussions of her own actions.

And for the first time in nearly a year, Sunset Shimmer cried herself to sleep.

“You look like you could use some excitement,” Zephyr Breeze said to Sunset Shimmer. “How about we all go out for a bit?”

“You’re just looking for another excuse to flirt with my mother, Agent Breeze,” Shimmer said with a grin. “Aren’t you married?”

“Quite happily, may I add,” he said with a bow. “But your mother’s an exceptional woman, and were I single….” He shrugged.

“This is the part where I become a typical teenager and roll my eyes,” Shimmer groaned.

“Oh, but you do that enough, mon petite tournesol.” Both looked to see Solaire, coming out in a camisole and shorts. It was the most casual that Shimmer had ever seen her mother dress before and she knew why. “I would think you wouldn’t want to do that for the remainder of your life.”

“Yes, mother,” Shimmer snarked good-naturedly. She knew nothing would come of it, and her mother was feeling like a girl again, so why let the situation go to waste?

“So, you said you had plans for us today, Zephyr?” Solaire asked him. Was she blushing? She hoped she wasn’t blushing.

“I thought we could go out and see some of the sights in Horseshoe Bay. I have plenty of time before I need to catch my flight back.”

Solaire paused at that. “Flight…back?”

He nodded, surprisingly sober about it. “Yeah,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head. “With Saffron dead, I need to report back to base to give a complete report. Someone will be here this afternoon to replace me.”

“Replace?” Solaire asked, a surprised look in her eyes. “No, I didn’t ask for a replacement. I don’t want a replacement.”

Shimmer looked at her mother, then looked at Zephyr. I don’t fucking believe this! she mentally groaned, facepalming.

“Look, Soli, it’s not—”

“But Zeph, I don’t—”

“Get a room, you two!” Shimmer groaned. The two adults suddenly looked at each other, then both blushed before laughing awkwardly.

“I…I suppose I got carried away, Zeph,” Solaire apologized. “My apologies.”

“It’s okay, Soli,” Zephyr replied. “I love my wife, but things haven’t been going very well for us.” He groaned. “Probably shouldn’t unload on you, but she’s thinking about leaving me.”

Solaire reached over and touched his face. “Why would she?”

“I…I’d rather not talk about that,” he told her, taking his hand in hers. “I’m…I’m going to go get the car ready. You two meet me outside when you’re ready.”

Shimmer looked at the man go, then at her mother. “You know he’s married, right?”

Solaire looked away from her daughter. “I…would rather not set a bad example for you, Sunset.”

“Mom, I’m practically an adult. Just because I had a relationship that went sour doesn’t mean—”

“Yes, you had a relationship that went bad, tournesol. But that is not as bad as being the other woman.” Solaire looked at where Zephyr had been and where she would soon be. “I…need to change into something a little more befitting my station. Please inform Agent Breeze that I’ll be there shortly.” Solaire walked silently towards her bedroom.

Shimmer walked outside to find Zephyr talking to someone on his phone, a sad look on his face. “Look, I’ll…. Paradis, please don’t shut me out. They’re my children, too! I….” His shoulders slumped. “Okay, you win. I’ll sign the damn papers. Look, I’ve got to get back to work. We can talk when I get home – hopefully you and the kids will still be there, too. Bye.” He looked up to see Shimmer standing there.

“Something wrong, Agent Breeze?”

“You’re too young for this kind of shit, kid,” Zephyr told her. “You already saw my partner go down. Go back to your room and pick up your copy of Teen Beat or whatever it is you kids do nowadays and stay innocent while the world will still let you.”

“I lost my innocence when I grew up without a father,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, and if my wants-to-be ex-wife has her way, so will my kids,” he told them. “You ever heard of an actress known as Paradis?”

“A bit. She’s on New Orleans PD, right? If I recall correctly, she redubs her own parts for the French version.”

“Yeah, that’s her – and she’s my wife. She’s always been a bit of an actress, and well, you know what I do for a living. Except that her star’s rising, and my star’s really going nowhere, and now she has a chance to really make a name for herself – huge sci-fi film they’re filming down in Florida, which means that she can move down to Nawlins year-round, instead of just the two months they do the location filming. Also means she wants to file the paperwork, which I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Paperwork?”

“Look, when a mommy and daddy really really love each other, they have babies. And when a mommy and daddy really really don’t love each other anymore, they have divorce papers. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised; the movie she made two years ago with Dusky Hearth? They stayed on set in Hawaii two weeks longer after filming wrapped up and shortly after that, Hearth left his wife. My fault for not paying attention to my marriage.” Shimmer was about to open her mouth when he added, “And don’t say anything, kid. I know it wasn’t my fault; if a woman wants to take off her panties that bad, she’ll do it. But it’s my fault because my job has taken me away from the kids so damn often, it means that Paradis is likely able to build a case for sole custody based on that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Paradis is a good woman; it just didn’t work out. Sometimes that happens. Life sucks, but that’s just how it goes.” He looked to the door to see Solaire coming out, dressed slightly more conservatively. “C’mon, let’s go live life.”

Adagio stood outside of the Modesto Grasslands Campgrounds, looking at the cars, none of which matched that of any of their friends. She kept her hand on her sidearm, which was loosely tucked under her shirt; it wouldn’t be enough to stop the mutated SIRENs, but it might be enough to give her the element of surprise long enough to break out the important gear.

“Just looked around the entire compound,” Aria said, jogging up to her older sister. “I didn’t see hide nor hair of them. Either they’re not here right now, or they didn’t come here at all.”

“Could they be at home after all?” Adagio asked, worry creeping into her voice. “We were all planning to come, but something could’ve come up and caused a cancellation….”

“We’ll see what we can do to trace Sunny’s phone,” the younger girl suggested. “I just hope Soni took the time to put tracers on the other phones.”

“Don’t worry, I can triangulate.” Sonata, also having done a round of the campgrounds, jogged up to them. Without further ado, she reached over and grabbed a laptop out of the back. “Cover me; I’m going climbing.” She pointed at the cell tower just over the hill.

“Are you crazy?”

“Look, if they get their hands on Sunny, it won’t matter if I’m crazy or not,” Sonata shouted at her oldest sister. “We need to find her and save her – nothing else matters!” Before either sister could stop her – not that either was inclined to after that discussion – she scrambled up the cell tower until she was amongst its antennae, then plugged into the maintenance terminal on the top. It was going to take a few minutes to search for a phone, but if Sunset’s phone was on, the program Sonata had would be able to track her phone anywhere in the world.

A second later, she had a hit. Thanks, Google, she thought to herself as she started her descent. A second later, she joined her sisters. “Start the car,” Sonata told them. “We gotta get going, and we gotta get going fast.”

“What’s going on?” Adagio asked as the three got into the car.

“Got a ping on Sunset’s phone. It’s four hours south of here.” Sonata then held up her laptop, showing the Android Device Manager website. “And I guarantee if I can find Sunny’s phone, then they already know where she is.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice then,” Adagio said as she turned on the ignition.

“Please explain it to me once more,” Cantata said, a headache building, “because I have a hard time believing my intelligence staff is incompetent.” At the moment, Cantata was with several of her trusted senior officers, Divine and Chief Shatter. There was a palpable feeling of something being on the verge at the moment, but exactly what was on the verge was the question of the day.

“Yes, I’d like the same answer as well.” All turned to see Madrigal Storm enter the room. “Apologies for the delay, Captain. There was traffic on my way back to base from liberty, but I assure you that I’ll look into the discrepancy immediately.”

“Very well, Lieutenant, but still I want you to hear this.” Cantata looked at Chief Shatter. “Please, Chief, continue.”

The chief stood by the two large displays in the room, one screen showing a map of the Canterlot Metropolitan Area, while the second showed the state of California at large. “The blue blips you see on the screen are the most commonly-reported locations for both Princess Solaire and Princess Sunset.” While Solaire’s was relatively stable, the one for the teenager went all over the place, as expected.

“Is this aggregate or based on tower data?” Madrigal asked.

“Based on tower data, Lieutenant,” Chief Shatter replied. “Additionally, if we look at the current data, we have the current locations of both princesses in green.” Four spots immediately popped up on both maps: one in eastern Canterlot, while three more popped up on the California map, both in Horseshoe Bay and a single one down in central California.

“Could that one down south be an anomaly? Because I want hard proof otherwise.” They all looked to see Prince Divine Right standing there. He looked at the maps with a particular intensity that none had seen on the man’s face before. The truth was, that all in the room had thought him to be an adventuring prat that had won the support and heart of the SIREN Commanding Officer by bankrolling everything. However, seeing his thundering quiet expression, those present had to revise their thoughts about him.

“Well, that is not our only criteria for proof, ma’am. We have a number of people that both Princess Solaire and Princess Sunset have been seen around.” The maps vanished, replaced by numerous pictures of people that none in the room were familiar with. “These are all the people that both have been around. Now, if you subtract the ones that are currently known to be out of town—” Several images turned gray and minimized, as the remaining ones expanded to fill the space, “—these are the ones that are known to be regular associates of the two princesses.”

Divine looked at the faces before him. Some were inexplicable, like the middle-aged woman with gainsboro and violet hair. Others were more obvious, like the well-built man with green hair. Then there were the confusing, such as one that was even a police officer currently seconded to the FBI, while his fiancée was a local assistant district attorney. Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, there were all the teenagers; the names of at least two were on backup lists for earlier sacrifices. If nothing else, this was a pageant of the bizarre, a menagerie of the perplexing. “So, could two of them be false alarms and two together be real?”

“Why would they be?” Cantata asked him. “They don’t know about our plans, do they? As far as they know, you’re dead. And there’s no possible way that they could be aware of everything.”

“Maybe it’s part of the security program. I did have you assassinate several other members of the family, remember,” he told them. “Plus, the French and American governments might be a little antsy about foreign representatives murdered while on vacation. Doesn’t make for good news.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I think we should have leverage in case the princesses don’t see things our way, don’t you think, Divine?”

“Absolutely. I need everything in place no later than precisely 3:00 AM tomorrow morning. So do whatever it is you need to do, but I want Sunset Shimmer ready to go no later than tonight.” The look in Divine’s eyes was practically demonic. “She will be the culmination of every plan we have made throughout the years, every single bit of stratagem and suffering that I and my forebears have made…she will be the key to open the final door of perception and then the world will be mine!”

Cantata leaned on him. “Ours, you mean.”

He put an arm around her waist. “That should’ve went without saying.”

“And that’s why we’re together,” she said with a tight smile. “XO, start lining up teams to commence capture – and I want our best teams focused on both the cop and his bitch and the girls down south, since there’s so many of them in one spot. Take whoever you can into custody, as it will give us the maximum leverage we can use. But if they resist and you run the risk of injury, take them out – in the end, we only need the princesses.”

Guitarron nodded. “I’ll make sure I’ve got the best ready. Should I send Black Team after—”

“No,” Divine interrupted. “I want Black Team on standby just in case something goes wrong locally. We have all the cards in our favor, but all it will take is one unexpected issue to throw everything out of whack. Those three are by far and away the deadliest you have, and in case something happens, I want whatever they come across to be deader than Moussed Hair’s acting career.”

“On it,” Cantata told him. “Anything else?”

“Two more things: One, we wanted to hear Petty Officer Bass Drop sing, correct?”

Cantata nodded. “That’s correct.” She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. “Let’s see how well she performs.”

A short while after, a girl with short green hair and silver eyes walked out, completely naked save for some golden ornaments. She looked like someone’s ideal dream, and indeed some of the females in the room of that persuasion certainly turned their eyes towards her. “Are you ready for my song, Captain?” she asked, leaning over by Divine as if to show her wares.

Divine, however, wasn’t going to take the bait – not with his fiancée around, at any rate. “Yes, Petty Officer, please, sing us a song that you’re familiar with.”

She stood up and bowed. “Yes. I would like to sing the first movement of Il Rullante, by Baroque Virtuoso, if it pleases you.” She looked at all present.

“Why in the nude?” Madrigal asked. For the first time, she suddenly realized that though she held a critical position within the SIREN chain of command, she hadn’t been consulted on anything. Cantata had gone through one of her petty officers – who she’d apparently promoted to chief petty officer second class, no less – for the information. And where, for that matter, was her chief? She’d been one of Madrigal’s trusted personnel within Cantata’s mechanisms, and even though Madrigal had planted transmitters on as much intelligence gear as she could, she still trusted her chief to make sure critical information went her way.

And if she’s gone, then….

“Lieutenant,” Drop said in a husky voice, “Il Rullante is traditionally performed in the nude. You see, it’s the story about a woman – an assassin – who is ordered by her king to murder a scandalous knave. But as the wily traitor is ever wary, the assassin comes upon a plan to catch him unawares. You see, she brazenly comes out to perform before her king in the nude, catching the scandalous attention of all, including the heinous rogue. But as she catches his attention, you see…” Drop reached into her voluminous hair, producing a small needle, then threw, announcing, “…she struck.”

Madrigal didn’t react fast enough to block the blow and it sank into her neck, the toxin sank in deeply before she yanked it out. “You bitch!” she snarled, grabbing her sidearm and firing. The shots rang true, two rounds sinking into Bass Drop’s heart, killing her instantly.

Divine Right sighed and shrugged. “So much for the singer,” he said. “Would any other girl care to assist in the endeavor?”

Cantata, meanwhile, focused more on her quarry, walked over to where the toxin was beginning to affect Madrigal. Kicking her in the face and then shooting her hand to push away the gun, Cantata laughed at her former subordinate’s scream. “To think, you could have gotten away with it if you’d only….” She paused. “No, actually, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t have gotten away with it at all.”

With the toxin taking her over, she spat at Cantata. “You drove us down a path of madness. You don’t deserve to be captain.”

“Well, you definitely deserve to be a sacrifice.” She held her hand out and a longknife was placed into her hand; the knife was bloodied and stained, looking impure and no longer suitable for anything decent in this world. “You see, I had a choice today: hunt down some girl named Twilight Sparkle and drive this blade into her, sucking up all that lifeblood for our cause, but I really didn’t feel up to searching for her. So imagine the surprise when I find out that one of the girls plotting rebellion against me hasn’t had the time to have a man stick her with his love spear. And sure enough, you are on the backup list in case I couldn’t get a hold of Twilight Sparkle. Means that Lyra Heartstrings and Tapioca get away from this, whoever they are…but it means that you get to make history.”

“We’re going to stop you,” Madrigal said, not feeling her body much longer. With whatever strength she still had, she lifted her neck and snarled, “We’re going to stop your plans, whatever it takes.”

“Too bad you won’t be around to see your little insurrection lose,” Cantata teased. Pointing to two of her SIRENs, she said, “Pick her up and follow me.” She then looked at Divine and nodded.

“Of course, I would be honored, my lady,” he said, bowing. They both looked at each other, the future emperor and empress of the world.
It was, after all, their divine right.

Ten minutes later, a predesigned text went off on Vesper and Intermezzo’s phones. They didn’t have to look at them to know what was going on. They simply looked at each other with eyes filled with shock before holding each other. A few minutes later, Vesper was the first to speak. “We’re going to avenge Maddie. We’re going to stop Blast and her monsters if it’s the last thing we do.”

Over where they were loading more weapons into crates, Sunny Side looked at her sister. “Greenie, tell me we’re going to win this.”

Evergreen Pine looked at her sister and nodded. “Trust me: whatever just happened? I think Cantata Blast just made a big mistake.”

Aria looked at Adagio, ignoring the simultaneous chimes of her and her sister’s text signals going off. “Pull over.”

“We can’t afford to—”

“Pull over!” Adagio immediately did, and as she did, Sonata rushed out of the car, over to the edge and vomited. She stayed like that on the edge for a second, holding herself and crying.

Finally Adagio went over to her. “She was brave, Soni. We all loved Maddie and we know you did too.”

Sonata cried, tears soaking her clothing. “She was the closest thing I had to a mom, sis. My sœur – no, my mother – was murdered. By that bitch.” Sonata wriggled out of her sister’s grasp, then looked at her with tearless eyes, burgundy irises looking into Adagio’s own violet ones. The tears went away, slowly being replaced with calm, acceptance, and finally fury.

“We need to go,” Sonata snarled, standing up and making her way back to the car. “Sunny’s in trouble.”

Adagio had never seen her sister switch on and off like that before. “Soni, speak to me.”

“What’s there to say? Our friend is in danger. We need to rescue her, stat.”

“Soni, please. You’re my baby sister—”

“No. I’m your youngest sister now. I stopped being a ‘baby sister’ when the woman that was like…, no, was my mother was just murdered. And now I want Goddamn revenge, but more than that, I want to save Sunny. Because if I don’t do that, then Cantata wins. And if she wins….” Sonata’s eyes narrowed into pinpricks of hatred. “Then I can’t shove the barrel of a PAW-20 down her fucking neck and fire every round until she’s nothing but bloody chunks even the vultures won’t bother with.”

Five minutes later, they were back on the road, driving as fast as they dared.

“How do I look?” Sable asked, looking at his TRANSFORMERS t-shirt and wondering if he was underdressed.

Celestia didn’t even look at him as she maneuvered her car into the parking spot next to her sister’s. “For the last time, sweetheart, you are fine. Trust me, a t-shirt and jeans are more than suitable for a simple barbeque?”

“Yes, but I’m meeting your sister—”

“You already met my sister, remember?”

“I meant her boyfriend, sorry. And something about your older sister?”

“Don’t worry, Armonia and her husband are out of town this weekend; I checked. Besides, we’re here to practice before you meet Moni or my parents.” They got out of the car and headed towards Luna’s door. “Trust me, the beer you brought will be worth it.”

“Don’t people usually bring wine to dinners?”

“Obviously you don’t know Lu as well as you should,” Celestia laughed as she knocked on the door.

A second later, Luna appeared. “Hey, you two are early. Shadow hasn’t even destroyed the grill yet with his attempts to set things on fire.” She then saw what Sable was carrying. With a smile she took it. “Awww, Opperbacco! Tia, let’s trade boyfriends, okay? You can have the semi-useless musician, and I’ll take your strapping man here. I take it he goes all night?”

Celestia crossed her arms. “Funny.”

“I thought so,” Luna smirked. “Anyways, come on in. We’re on the patio.”

As Luna went off to the kitchen, Sable looked at his sister. “Is she always like this?”

The pastel-haired woman shook her head. “No, usually I’m the one who makes sexual jokes. I’m guessing she’s starting to hint at Shadow that she wants something a little more permanent, probably because I have you.” She shrugged. “Usually she’s not one to rock the boat, but she’s been with Shadow for about five years now, and I think our parents are tired of waiting for him to pop the question. Problem is, Shadow’s not a ‘pop the question’ kind of guy. You’ll see.”

The two crossed through Luna’s townhouse – amazingly, she’d actually cleaned up for a change – and headed out to the deck, where a man with tan skin, short midnight-blue hair and goatee and blazing orange eyes glowered disgustingly at a Big Green Egg grill from which black smoke was pouring out. There was a pteropine look to the guy, and from what Celestia had said, he was a musician, which probably helped add to the look.

“‘Sup, Princess?” he said without looking away from the grill.

“Princess?” Sable asked.

“Yeah. Shadow seems to think of me as the prim and proper princess compared to my sister,” Celestia said.

Moonshadow turned to look away from the grill. “I’ve seen your place, Tia – even the dustbunnies have white gloves to check for dust,” he said with a laugh. “Anyway, I’m Shadow. Struggling musician and guy with a thing for girls older than my mother but look younger than my sister.” He offered his hand to Sable, and the two men shook. “Anyway, glad to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got some wood chips to tame.”

“A komado?”

“You familiar with these? Lu just got this damn thing after her gas grill bit the dust back in April.”

“Yeah. One of my buddies back in Kabul was a grill fiend. Swore by his Egg and insisted everyone in the unit know how to use it. So, I have some experience with it.”

“Cool, all yours,” Shadow insisted, stepping aside. “What happened to your friend?”

“Taken out by an IED,” Sable said softy.

No further talking was done for a little while after that until Luna came out. Seeing the silence, she said, “Look, I am not to blame for this one, okay? This one is not my fault.”

Celestia groaned. “Way to be the life of the party, sis.”

“I’m just going to ignore you now,” she said to Celestia while handing a cold beer to Sable. “So, how’s life living with my sister?”

Sable put his arm around her. “It’s a blessing. Every day is perfect and it only gets better.”

Moonshadow and Luna briefly looked at each other, then away from one another. “That’s good. For a moment, I thought I’d have to deal with Lu complaining about being alone while I’m on tour. At least thi—”

“You’re going on tour? When the hell were you going to tell me?” Luna asked.

“I told you three weeks ago, hon,” Moonshadow told her. “We were asked to be the opening act for Hüfstompr for their World Tour. Now, we only agreed to open for the North American leg, so I’m not going to be gone for a year.”

“You promised me you were going to be home for the holidays this year!” Luna cried. “We were going to spend the holidays with my parents, remember?”

Moonshadow shrugged. “This was a chance of a lifetime, Lu! And I told you about it, okay? Not my fault that you weren’t listening!”

Luna’s turquoise eyes glittered. “Sis, could you and Sable give us a minute?”

“Ah, sure. Anything in the kitchen need tending to?” Celestia asked, knowing what was going to happen.

“You could make the pasta salad,” Luna suggested.

“Done. C’mon, let’s leave the two to slug this out.” Before Sable could argue, Celestia grabbed her boyfriend and took him into the kitchen. Sure enough, the moment the door closed, the voices raised and the argument began.

“Is this normal?” Sable asked.

“Sweetheart, my sister and I tend to be very passionate people – that Italian blood, you know – but we’re like night and day. When I’m displeased with you, I tend to do it in little ways.”

“Yeah, I know that,” he groaned.

“And Luna and Shadow? Well…. While they’ve been together for over five years, they have a huge tendency to break up and get back together more often than the main characters of a high school TV drama. I stopped keeping count a long time ago, but if I recall, they last got back together shortly before last October – this is probably the longest they’ve been, ahem, ‘together’, if you get what I mean.”

Sable grinned. “So you could say they’re already married before they even get engaged?”

Celestia returned the smile. “I would argue that they’re even better matched than you and I, and the only couple I’ve ever seen even more perfect is my niece and her fiancé.” She ushered him into the kitchen. “Now let me show you my family’s famous pasta salad recipe before—”

“SEDERSI ORA, CAZZO!” Luna stormed into the house, stomped over to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of Nastro Azzuro, slammed it against the edge of the counter to pop off the top, chugged it in one go and glared at the door where her boyfriend was. She then went over to Sable and kissed him on the cheek, saying, “You’ll do fine,” before turning to her sister and giving her a beatific smile, adding, “You picked a winner this time, sis.” She then stormed back to the patio, shouting, “SIT THE FUCK DOWN, ASSHOLE, WE’RE NOT DONE YET!” before slamming the door shut.

“What just happened?” Sable asked.

“And this is the curse of being a middle child, I tell you,” Celestia sighed.

In the SIREN complex, dozens of SIRENS loaded into vans painted with faux livery. A few minutes later, supposed vans owned by a plethora of companies from Verizon to the Sweet Apple Supply Stop moved on their way, heading into position.

Thirty minutes prior, a similar vehicle from Gladiola’s Florist made an unscheduled “delivery” to the Rapid Rotors Courier Company. A few minutes later, RRC One took off from Canterlot Commercial Helifield, courtesy of the local tower and some new air controllers, the previous ones – like the employees of the Rapid Rotors Courier Company – now dead.

In Hilmar, California, a sedan was left with enough explosives just to destroy any identifying marks on the car. A second later, a new sedan of a vastly different make and model was stolen, but bearing the original plates. This new car raced on towards its destination, the passengers hoping they could reach it in time.

Pinkie cried uncontrollably. “She’s gone! My Sunny’s gone!”

Fluttershy held her close, her eyes also filled with tears. “We’ll find her, Pinkie. I promise. Hell or high water, we’ll find Sunny.”

“That’s it!” Rainbow snarled, heading for the stairs, Applejack immediately following her. Rarity intercepted both before they got to the stairs. “Get out of our way, Rares. I’m going to do what needs to be fucking done, and then AJ gets her turn—”

“What makes you think Ah’m letting you go first?” Applejack barked.

“—and then Pinkie can destroy whatever’s left, got that? So get out of our way – I’m going to kill that spoiled fucking bitch!”

“How is that going to help Sunset?” Rarity argued. “How is any of that going to help our friend! All that’s going to do is just soothe your anger and injure another friend!”

“Twily’s been hysterical all day.” They all looked up to see Octavia, her eyes also red from tears, walk down the stairs. “She realizes what she’s done now, and she’s cried herself to sleep.” Pinkie turned to look at Octavia and the moment their eyes met, the raven-haired girl knew she would never forget that moment so long as she lived. “She’s asked me to call my aunt and uncle and let them know what’s going on. After that, I need to call 911. Rainbow, I need you to contact Resort Security and let them know what’s going on as well.” Octavia paused. “But before that, I need a couple of things from all of you, especially you, Pinkie.”

“We’re not going to like this, are we?” Applejack asked.

“Fuck no we’re not,” Rainbow agreed.

“I’ll do it.” Everyone looked at Pinkie as she stood up, her face a sketch of pain. “I hate this. I hate worrying about the girl I love, and I can’t stop. I hate what I want to do to her sister for this and I’m afraid I will. But I’m afraid this will make me the kind of person I fear I always was, deep down.”

“You’re not.” Fluttershy took her friend’s hands in hers. “You’re stronger than you know, Pinkie. Believe in yourself. I know Sunny believes in you.”

Pinkie forced a smile to her face, giving Fluttershy a thankful nod

Octavia went over and hugged Pinkie. “Thanks, Pinkie,” she said.

“This is all about someone we love, right? Anything else is secondary.” Pinkie looked at her friend. “So go ahead and say what you need to. We’ll all agree.” Pinkie looked at the others, and there were varying levels of agreement, from Fluttershy’s full endorsement to Rainbow’s very reluctant nod.

“Okay. First, I want your promise that you’re not going to do anything to Twily, no matter what happens. I’m not joking when I said that once she realized what she did she lost it. She’s feeling immense guilt right now – and whether or not that’s justified is not the point. I want to find my cousin safe and sound, but that doesn’t mean I want to lose the other one here, okay? Please?”

“Ah don’t like it, but yeah, we agree,” Applejack said, looking at the others to make sure they were all in accord. “And the other thing?”

“I want you to tell me about Sunny – the truth. I don’t care about what the deal is, or whatever promises you made. My cousin is out there and could be in danger if not worse. Whether or not any new information comes up that lets her still officially become my cousin is beside the point, but to me she is still family!” Octavia placed her own hand on her chest, her eyes pools of worry. “I don’t care if she lied about her past or anything like that. All I care about is that she was there for me and for Twily when she needed it and that she needs us more than anything right now! So please tell me! If there’s anything I can do to help, tell me!”

The room was silent for a few moments, each of the others looking at each other, until Pinkie was the first to speak.

“Sunny…she’s an alien.”

“So, what, she’s Mexican? Look, if she came over when she was young enough, there’s that law the president passed about Dreamers….”

“No…she means a literal alien, Tavi.” Rainbow almost looked incredulous as she said what she never thought she’d say. “Sunny’s actually not human…and she’s a thirty-year-old unicorn from another world.”

The room filled with silence as Octavia looked at them and they looked back at her.

But it was the voice behind her that said it all. “Rainbow, if I just heard what I think I heard, then Tavi and Pinkie are not the only ones who need to be on pills.”

They all looked to see Twilight there, standing at the top of the stairs. “Look, Sparkle,” Rainbow began. “I know you’ve seen that video on YouTube. You had to have – practically everyone in town has!”

“Okay, fine, I deserve the lie, okay? But Sunny introduced me to the girl that made that video; she said it was a project for art class that Sunny was glad to help out with.”

“I don’t think you understand, Twilight, dear,” Rarity cut in. “Rainbow’s—”

“Messing with me, I know. And I fucked up, okay? I’m hurting right now – I chased away the one person I shouldn’t have. But I don’t appreciate the lies, okay? Fine if she’s really an illegal alien, but seriously? An extraterrestrial?”

“Extradimensional, actually,” Fluttershy added.

“Not helping,” Pinkie sighed.

“Look, I know you all hate me. And I know you’ll never forgive me or want to be friends with me after this is over…I’ll accept that. But right now, whatever or whoever she is, Sunny is out there and she’s in trouble. And I can’t forgive myself if something happens to her that I couldn’t stop; worse, if it was my fault. Please, help me find her.” Twilight looked at Octavia. “I’ll call my parents; you call 911 and then someone needs to contact Resort Security.”

“Good luck with that; I’ve been trying on and off all day and I haven’t been able to reach them. Wonder if they went out of town and left their cellphones behind,” Octavia explained.

“Regardless, we need to find Sunny – and I need to apologize to her.” She looked at them all. “Do we agree?”

Whatever was going to be said was cut off a second later as the windows shattered.

Cadance walked into the apartment she shared with her fiancée. “Thank God for the weekend! I feel like I could sleep the whole weekend long!”

Shining was already there, sitting on the couch, watching TV. “You don’t want to do that, because I have plans for the weekend.”

She plopped down next to him. “You do?”

“Yup.” He put an arm around her, then reached over for something sitting on the table besides the sofa. “Thought this might interest you.”

She looked at the tickets and her eyes lit up. “The Cirque de Soleil? In Klamath Falls?”

“Yeah. Apparently someone opened up a new resort there by the whitewater falls and they’re starting it off right. Figured we could jet up there in the morning, catch the evening show and stay overnight before we have to come back on Sunday. Thoughts?”

She kissed him. “I think that should make my thoughts clear there.”

There was a knock on the door. “Tell you what: that’s the Chinese order I made for dinner tonight. You go change into something more comfortable, and I’ll get that.”

“No, I think I’ll eat first. That way I can change later…and maybe I can get a certain guy to watch,” she said with a wink.

“I’ll take you up on that offer,” he said as he went to open the door—

—only to have it kicked in. A woman in CADPATs and body armor rushed in and with methodical precision, fired twice. The tranquilizer darts sank in, taking affect nearly instantly.

She tapped the radio on her helmet. “This is Capture Alpha. We have Tango Alpha One and Two in custody, over.”

Another girl leaned over the unconscious forms of a man and woman, while another girl with her tied up a gagged child trying to scream at the top of his lungs.

“This is Capture Bravo. Tango Bravo One through Three are in our hands, over.”

The group sat down at Luna’s table inside the house, the two lovebirds having gone through the argument storm and right back to lovey-dovey again. Needless to say, Sable was definitely feeling off-kilter. Celestia, knowing this, squeezed her lover’s hand in comfort.

“So, did you bring it?” Luna asked, templing her fingers as she leaned over the table.

Celestia shook her head. “Yes, though I have no idea why you want to borrow this.” She set down her burger, then walked over to her bag, where she pulled an item out. “You know this thing cost me a fortune.”

“Yeah, and I promise I’m not going to get Dawnbringer damaged, okay? Someone at the renfaire Cornflower and I are going to this weekend wanted to see that and Nightsgleam, and so I promised her I’d show her. As it is, Cornflower’s considering picking up a lance so she can joust with other people in wheelchairs.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Moonshadow offered. Sable, saying nothing, agreed.

The women, on the other hand, ignored them. “Oh? You still have Nightsgleam?” Celestia asked.

“Nightsgleam?” Sable asked.

“Yeah, it’s my sword. Live-steel katana, cost me a fortune, I still have the skin-tight kunoichi costume that goes with it whenever me and Shadow roleplay,” she said with a smile.

“I did soooo not need to know that, little sister,” Celestia sighed. “Anyway, take care of my sword or I swear I’m taking it out of your hide, got that?”

The answer to that was a squad of heavily-armed women busting in through all the windows, the front and back doors at once. With perfect precision, they fired, hitting all targets…except for one. On instinct, Sable rocked his chair back, the tranquilizer round passing just through where his torso would’ve been. The moment he hit the ground the relatively cheap IKEA Ingolf chair shattered and that gave him all the weapons he needed. He grabbed them and immediately attacked the first SIREN, hitting the weak spots around her body armor before putting her down.

He then grabbed her sidearm, snarling, “Who the fuck are y—”

Shots rang out, and he suddenly dropped to the ground, as a pool of red began to expand beneath him.

The senior SIREN present called out, “Clear! Hold fire, hold fire!”

One of them bent down, looking at their downed teammate. “Wow, whoever the hell this guy was knew his shit. Body armor’s seriously damaged and Dulcimer’s down hard.”

“Get her out of here, then.” She then looked at a third one present. “Check him – if he’s capable of that, we don’t want him getting up.”

“No need; looks like we got him,” came the reply.

“Shame; we could probably use the challenge.” She reached out on her radio. “This is Capture Charlie. Tango Charlie One through Four down, but we have casualties – one blue, one red.”

“One red?”

“Yeah, some guy with more muscles than brains, I guess. He was with the Princess. Maybe one of her bodyguards?”

“Understood. Leave one of your people behind for site cleanup; we’ll make the order to do that once the Prince prepares a little surprise he has planned.”

“Does the Captain know about that?”

“She’s the one ordering that you leave someone behind. Once we give the signal, she can torch the place and RTB.”

“Roger that. Capture Charlie Actual, out.” The SIREN looked to one of the team members not currently busy. “Yo, Seaman Crescendo, you have wait duty, got that?”

A second one grinned. “You’re letting Troublemaker stay behind? She might just torch the place early.”

Seaman Treble “Troublemaker” Crescendo groaned. “Ha, ha, fucking ha. Whatever. Besides, I need to catch up on my TV shows, anyway. You know how long I gotta wait?”

“Command didn’t say. All I gotta say is just wait until they give the order, then grenade the place and rendezvous as soon as you can. Why bitch? You got the easy job. We gotta get Dulcimer and the Tangos RTB.”

“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha, Chief,” Crescendo said as she plopped down on the couch and reached for the remote. “You guys have fun. I’ll manage somehow.”

“I’m going back in the house,” Shimmer told them as soon as the car came to a stop, bolting out immediately. She knew what was going to happen, and she didn’t want the awkwardness of being around when it did.

Watching her daughter, Solaire chuckled. “I can assure you she loved the day, really,” she said to Zephyr.

“I’m glad she did, really,” Zephyr said with a smile. “Sunset reminds me of my own daughter, Fleur Précieuse. Préci is just the sweetest thing, too: rose-and-white hair, adorable little green eyes, tons of freckles, though she hates them. I think she and Sunset would get along wonderfully. Not much of an age difference between them – Préci’s only thirteen.” Zephyr reached in his pocket and pulled out a picture, showing Solaire. “Probably the only good thing that’s going to come out of the wreck of my marriage.”

“Do you have to go?” Solaire asked him.

“Yeah. I have to go because I need to give a report on what happened to Saffron – we need to make sure the bastard that did her ends up behind bars, but that’s not for me to do, not my jurisdiction,” he said sadly. “No, the real reason I need to go is because Paradis wants me to sign the papers to let her take Préci with her to New Orleans. It’s legal separation papers.”

Solaire looked at him with shock. “Are you going to fight it?”

“I can’t, Soli. For one, the US court system usually prefers the mother to have custody unless she’s a real fuck up. Even if she’s cheated on me, I still have to admit that Paradis is a great mother and has been a fair spouse. And even if she was a complete basket case that would end up with me getting custody…you know what I do for a living. There’s a chance I won’t come home one night and I would never do that to my child.”

“You’re a good man,” Solaire told him, reaching over and squeezing his hand. “Apparently better than your wife deserves.”

“Look, I’ll make some calls, make sure that the person replacing me is decent enough. And….” He muttered something under his breath along the lines of “Can’t believe I’m saying this….” He gave her a smile. “Look, I’ve got some vacation days coming up, and even signing the papers I know Paradis isn’t going to beat feet for Louisiana instantly, so maybe….?”

“Why, are you asking me out, Agent?” She playfully tsked. “What would your supervisor think?”

Zephyr gave her a knowing grin. “I think he owes me a few favors, anyway. Plus, I already know Paradis has moved on, and in the end, I need to move on as well.”

The two began to lean closer, lips approaching one another, their hearts guiding them…

…until Solaire paused, her eyes wide in shock. Knowing that look, Zephyr immediately went for his gun, withdrawing as he turned…

…to see two rifle muzzles pointed at him. And in the distance, a heavily-armed woman wearing a balaclava pointed a pistol at the head of a tear-streaked Sunset Shimmer. “Drop the gun or I drop her,” the woman ordered.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Zephyr replied. “My partner—”

“Is dead,” the woman replied. “We killed her a few days ago, so we know that she’s not around. And unless you want to join her, you’ll lay down on the ground while we take the princesses, understood?”

He turned to look briefly at Solaire; she in turn gave him a quick kiss.

“I won’t let anything happen to her, I promise,” he told her.

“Wow, sleeping with your escort. How unprofessional,” one of the other women taunted.

“You harm either of them, and I swear you won’t live to see tomorrow,” Zephyr told the lead woman as he got out of the car.

“I’d be more worried about you, if I were you,” the woman said, nodding briefly to one of the other women, who pistol-whipped him, knocking him out cold.

“ZEPHYR!” Solaire screamed before she had a rifle pointed at her.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch. You’re lucky we don’t kill you,” the gunwoman said.

“Let’s make this easy, shall we?” the woman in the balaclava replied. “We have orders to take you two alive. Alive doesn’t mean unharmed. So, unless you want to be beaten within an inch of your life, I would shut the fuck up, get out of the car and get into that van over there before I kneecap your little shit here.”

“Mom….” Shimmer sobbed, looking at her mother worriedly. For as long as she’d been a child, she’d always relied on her mother.

“I’m counting down from three, Princess,” the woman warned. “Three….” She cocked the pistol. “Two….” To prove her point, she pointed her pistol and shot it at Zephyr. The round tore through his leg, painfully bringing him back to consciousness. “One….” She counted, placing the gun’s muzzle right against Shimmer’s arm.

“NO!” the elder princess screamed.

“Get in the van, now, or the next shot is going through his skull,” the woman warned.

“Mom, you can’t….” Shimmer replied, worried about both Zephyr and her mother, as well as herself. Who were these people and what did they want? Were these the folks behind the murders in her family? And if so, were she and her mother next? They’d already admitted to having killed Agent Masala, so who knew what they were capable of.

The third woman went over to the passenger’s side and yanked the door open. Solaire put her hands up, offering no resistance.

“Command, this is Capture Delta. Tango Delta One and Two are in custody. Tango Delta Three down; I’m leaving one of my personnel behind for cleanup.”

Shimmer had seen more than enough movies to know what that meant. “No!” she screamed, wriggling out of the woman’s grasp. “You can’t!”

The woman in command responded by punching Shimmer right in the solar plexus, driving the teen to the ground. “Oh, I will.” Ordering the second woman, she said, “Take this waste of skin to the van and her mother, too. I have no idea what the Prince wants with these two idiots, and frankly I don’t care. Afterwards, one of you will stay behind and take care of this shit.” For emphasis, she kicked Zephyr right in the side of the head.

The other SIRENs forced the two princesses into the van and rushed off, while the last one remained behind with orders to burn down the guest home both were staying in. She looked at the car Zephyr had been driving, as well as his service piece. “Oooh, nice toy,” she cooed. “Well, since I can’t afford to leave you alive, I’m going to do you a favor.” She cocked the pistol, aiming it towards his head. “A shame I have to do this; you’re kinda cute. But, alas, orders are orders.”

“Warrant?” one of the SIRENs replied. “I checked the whole place. No sign of either Princess Solaire or Princess Sunset. Just these girls here,” she said, nudging one of the tranquilized girls at her feet.

“Fuck, looks like this was a waste, WO,” another SIREN replied. “Decoys, just meant to fuck with us. Dust ‘em?”

“Let me get confirmation from command, first.” The warrant officer tapped her radio. “Command, Capture Echo here. We have Tango Echo One through Seven in custody, but neither Princess Sunset nor Princess Solaire is present. Repeat, we have decoys here. Request advise proceed, over.”

The radio was silent for a second before Guitarron’s voice came over the line. “Take them into custody. If they were smart enough to decoy, that means they’re close to Princess Sunset, which means we can use them as leverage.”

“Roger that,” the warrant replied. “Okay, you three, get these kids aboard the helo. The rest of you, come with me – we’re going to tear this place apart. Weapons free, no survivors. I want enough damage done to get the attention of the local cops, but not enough that they send in SWAT. While we can take a SWAT unit, we don’t need the delay.”

“Roger that, boss,” a particularly large SIREN carrying an XM556 minigun replied, a wide grin on her face. She then punctuated her point by firing, the loud buzz of the gun covering the 5.56 rounds tearing the wall across from them into nothing but particle board shreds.

“Okay, we’re on the clock, ladies. Do your jobs and we’ll live like queens.”

Seated on the couch, having a beer and eating one of the hamburgers, Seaman Crescendo laughed at the antics on TV. She hated to admit it, but she was a brony – she watched Filly Funtasia and loved the main character, Rose the Unicorn. Part of her even wondered if there were unicorns out there for realsies, but it wasn’t exactly something she was going to admit to her teammates.

She was so excited watching Rose and Bella thwart the evil Wranglum’s plans once again, that it gave her an idea for her fanfic. People were reading her works over at FillyFiction, after all, and she was a rising star of the fanfic world. In fact, her alternate universe fic about Rose secretly visiting the human world was something she was sure was going to get attention after she finished Book I of All-American Filly.

Besides, if it pisses off the haters over at 4chan’s /ff/ board, then all the better, she thought to herself with a smile.

She was so filled with new ideas of horsewords that she didn’t notice the sword driven through the back of the sofa and well into her back before it was too late. She screamed as she forced herself to her feet, only to find the man who’d been shot earlier, standing up, pointing a gun at her and looking the worse for wear.

“Not even my students are stupid enough to watch that,” he told her, then doubletapped. The first round went through the point where her shoulderblades met, followed by the second one tearing through her throat. She gargled on the blood and mangled wound before falling to the ground, dead. He quickly rushed through the house, checking for other mercs, ready to take them out with Celestia’s gun, if need be – it was a minor miracle that she’d just completed her concealed carry permit and was carrying. A quick jaunt through the townhouse, both upstairs and down, found nothing.

But it was while on the way down that slices of pain ripped through him like bullets, and he collapsed, falling down the rest of the stairs and crashing into a heap at the bottom. He tried to gulp down breaths of air, but it hurt like hell, and he had to bite off the pain, collapsing from the sheer agony. Goddamn, way too fucking lucky, he gasped. By luck, he’d still been wearing his body armor from when he’d been playing paintball with Sombra and a bunch of other guys down on the range. He’d gotten back late from that and didn’t have time to change when he’d met up with Celestia.

He ripped off both his shirt and his paintball armor, seeing that he hadn’t gotten off scot-free when he’d been shot: the bullets had been stopped by the paintball armor (which was actually just his own outdated bodyarmor), but they’d left bruises that he could still feel, as if he’d been slammed in the chest by a maul three times. Still, he forced himself back to his feet, ignoring the red-hot pokers of pain that he felt stabbing him. He looked at the merc he’d killed and thought that at least his stabbing feeling was metaphorical.

Whoever it was, they took Celestia, Luna and Moonshadow. He knew from the news reports that Blackthorn and his fellow assholes at ALICORN were done for…unless this woman was part of a backup team in case things went south. He knew that his old buddy was enough of a bastard to leave a fuck-with-you plan in case something went wrong, and sure enough, here it was. That meant his Tia, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend were in trouble.

No, scratch that…whoever took them is in fucking trouble.

He immediately began to strip the body of the bodyarmor, weapons and ammo. He’d have to leave a corpse here in Luna’s place as well as have to explain why he’d damaged Celestia’s sword, but he was sure that once he went and got her back, she’d probably forgive him for that.

The radio on the dead merc sounded. “Charlie Four, this is Command. Commence clean up.”

Sable couldn’t help himself. “Why don’t you come over here and clean up your own mess?”

“Who is this?”

“This is the Wolf,” he told the woman on the other end, feeling a bit of the old magic come back, like a band on a reunion tour. “The Wolf of Kabul. And you must be the bitch who had orders to take Tia. I’m not going to do the whole Gravelly Voice speech from Taken, so I’m just going to say this. Eyes up – I’m coming for you.” He then threw the headset on the ground and stomped on it.

He felt the pain tweak again and he stumbled over to the table. He reached over and grabbed the only thing he could think of to dull the pain: the bottle of Chateau Sultana cabernet that Moonshadow had been drinking. I had never pegged him from the wine type. It had been Moonshadow’s glass that he’d landed on, and had caused the pool of red on his chest; it wasn’t his fault that the SIRENs hadn’t bothered to see that the “red pool” was actually closer to purple.

Downing the rest of the bottle and wiping his mouth with his hand, he went over and grabbed the keys to Celestia’s car from her purse. Every minute that passed meant that something was going to happen, and Sable wasn’t going to put up with that shit. They took his Tia. They were now going to learn exactly why he’d picked up the nickname of “the Wolf of Kabul”.

They were going to learn that wolves bit, and bit hard.

“You know, rich place like this,” the SIREN said, still brandishing Zephyr’s gun and sitting in the car while waiting for her orders, “I’m surprised there aren’t any real guards around here. You know the kind that would give me a challenge.” She looked at the guy who was probably close to death at this point; though the bullet in the leg appeared to pass through cleanly, more people tended to die from the shock of a bullet wound than the wound itself. “I guess they got the day off since the fuckers who own this place aren’t here?”

Zephyr said nothing, remaining unconscious and nearly as still as death. She laughed, then spit on him.

“And here I thought you Americans had the best of the best protecting diplomats. Not only aren’t you worth shit, you were clearly fucking her. I don’t know about DSO back in Canada, but I’ll bet they know the fuck what they’re doing. Now, granted, maybe your partner was worth her salt, I dunno. I do know you aren’t.”

Zephyr continued to lie there, dead to the world.

Finally, the call came over the radio: “Delta Five, this is Command. Commence Cleanup.”

“About time.”

The SIREN’s eyes opened – she didn’t speak an—

Zephyr turned and pointed, surprising the woman with a revolver. He fired twice, the gun barking and tearing a hole in the woman’s forearm as well as ripping off her thumb. She screamed and he forced himself to his feet, pointing the gun at her, making sure she didn’t do anything hasty. “Throw me the headset – slowly,” he ordered. The SIREN did as requested, and Zephyr caught it one-handed, putting it to his ear. “You know, you really should train your people better, whoever you are,” he said glibly. “She just sat here and chatted instead of not checking me for a backup piece, you know that?”

“Whoever you are,” the woman on the other side said, “you are a dead man.”

“Right back atcha,” he replied with a smile. “Now, care to tell me who you are? You guys are organized and as far as I can tell, all female. So…Beliye Kolgotki? Some new unit I hadn’t heard of? Or…” He thought, muttering, “What was that report Candy Cup insisted I read…oh, yeah….” He then smiled and added, “Or maybe that rogue Canadian unit the CIA’s been spilling all the beans about. SIREN, right?”

The look on the woman in the car was an indicator that it made it clear, even though the person on the other line said, “None of your business.”

“So, SIREN, got it. Or…what’s the French version? Eh, probably wouldn’t remember it anyway. So, I have one of your people here, and I’m not going to kill her, but I’m not going to be nice about it, either. You can either cough up my charges, or I’m going to spare her – and come take you out.”

“Big talk for a glorified cop,” Command replied.

“Yeah, but you see, I wasn’t always DSS. I might be somewhat of a joker, a smoker and a midnight toker, but before I was with the Service, I kinda belonged to a particular Army unit. Perhaps you’ve heard of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment?” There was silence on the other end. “Now, it’s been a while and I know the world cares more about SEAL Team SIX than my old rag, but I’m sure I can make the same level of, oh, let’s just say, ‘impact’.”

“You’re a dead man. We’re coming for you.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll be there first.” He cut off the line and looked at the girl. “You want to live another day?”

She nodded.

“Don’t worry, even though you shot me with my own gun, not going to kill you. Not my style. However….”

A few minutes later he was driving off, hoping he’d find a cop along the way to turn the girl over. Fortunately, between the zipties and her being in the trunk, she wasn’t going to be a problem anytime soon.

No, his problem was finding Solaire and Shimmer and getting them back safe. He had no idea why the SIRENs had her, but if it had anything to do with their little rebellion against the Canadian government, then he was going to want answers. Whether or not any SIREN lived past giving those answers, well, that was what paperwork was for.

In her mind, Twilight Sparkle screamed.

Just a few miles north, aqua eyes opened in shock. A second later, the room was briefly filled with cyan light as the air rushed in to fill the space that 120 pounds’ worth of molecules no longer did.

Carrying the unconscious forms of the other girls, the first group of SIRENs headed off to the helipad, where the first helicopter sat, ready for takeoff. The second group, as ordered, began their wanton slaughter. Sure, it was a waste, but at least this way they’d be looking for whoever started a massacre instead of who kidnapped a group of girls.

The warrant officer ordered, “I don’t care who they are or even if you want to fuck them in your spare time. In ten minutes, the only things I want still living are SIRENs understood?” The attack team didn’t answer and instead started shooting all the people that by now had realized something was very wrong.

A golf cart of two security officers came up…only to be torn to shreds by the minigun one held. Another one fired grenades into one of the nearby bungalow and explosions within started turning the building into a charnel house of flame and debris, the screams of the dying within.

The warrant saw the first helicopter take off successfully. By now the local authorities had to be notified and were enroute, which means they only had time to light up just a few bits more before they had to take off.

She saw a child, a young girl come out of one of the wrecked homes, terrified out of her wits and wailing but somehow a survivor of the carnage that had befallen her. The warrant was an older woman and the life she lived, she knew marriage, 2.5 kids and a house with a white picket fence weren’t in the cards. Hell, she’d never even had a petite sœur of her own to train. So her heart went out in a motherly way.

She raised her rifle, aiming at the girl, ignoring the sounds around her and let the laser draw a bead on the temple of the child’s head. It’s better this way, kiddo, she thought. You won’t have to suffer the cruelty of the world coming, because it’s going to hit hard.

A second later, she would’ve appreciated the irony as she was hit, at full speed, by a glowing cyan fist, which knocked her off-balance.

The shot went wild, slamming into the stairs the child stood by. She screamed and curled into a ball of fear as the SIREN shook off the rather painful blow, turning to face her opponent. “What the…? You!”

Sunset didn’t answer, instead recalling the training she’d received from Applejack, Aria and Bon-Bon. While she could never call herself a martial artist, she was one hell of a fast learner. The flame-haired girl drove a flurry of blows into the chest of the SIREN, cracking the body armor. While the blow staggered the SIREN once more, she spun and slammed her foot across the SIREN’s face, completely shattering the goggles and protective mask she was wearing. The older woman slumped, and Sunset picked her up with one hand blazing with eldritch power.

“Where the fuck are they?” Sunset hissed.

The dazed woman looked at Sunset in surprise. “You are here! But they said….”

“I don’t care who or what ‘they’ said. Where are my friends?” Sunset demanded. “Either answer me or I’m ripping it out of your skull. And given that’s black magic, it’s going to hurt both of us – but you more than me.”

“What the hell are you?”

“I guess that’s a no, then. Fortunately for you, I don’t kill.” Sunset smacked the woman’s forehead and a spell went off, knocking her out instantly. Sunset then went over to the little girl. “It’s okay,” Sunset said. “You’re going to be okay, alright?”

The little girl looked at her. “Mommy and Daddy—”

“I know. You’ll be okay. Here’s what I want you to do, okay?” Sunset said, giving the girl what she hoped was her most confident smile. “Do you know where the restaurant is?” When the girl nodded, Sunset hugged her. “Here’s the thing: I’m going to give you a present. I want you to hold onto this, and as long as you hold onto it, nobody will see you, okay?” Sunset held her palm out and summoned a butterfly hairpin on which she cast an invisibility spell. “You go straight to the restaurant and hide and don’t come out until the police come, okay?”

“What about you?” the girl asked. “Aren’t you afraid?”

Sunset smiled, but this time there was no humor. “I’m the Archmagus of Equestria – the bad guys are the ones who need to be afraid. Now go, and know that you’re safe, okay?” The girl scampered off and Sunset let go of the smile, trying not to cry. Someone had taken Twily and the other girls – Sunset had seen their bungalow, blown to bits. And these strangers were now tearing the hell out of the place. Who were they – and given the weapons they had, what did they want?

A normal girl would’ve broken down right now, just like the little girl, and with reason, Sunset knew. But I’m no little girl. And the only ones who are going to break…are them.

Sunset suddenly heard the screech of tires and the roar of an engine, and she turned to see a car, and out of the car came three people – faces she knew.

Sunset’s heart broke. Suddenly, it all made sense: their knowledge and apparent training, their relative social awkwardness that at times outpaced Fluttershy’s…their sudden and mysterious disappearance. “Is this your doing?!” she screamed. “I TRUSTED YOU!”

Adagio slammed the brakes on the car, powersliding through the bushes as she saw the flames. “Fire at anything that’s…well, you know!” she ordered.

“Roger that,” Aria said, drawing a bead on a SIREN she knew. But that wasn’t the girl she knew anymore, not really. Under Cantata’s control, she was nothing more than a monstrous tool, a decent soul turned into nothing more than a mindless weapon. And as Aria fired, she knew she wasn’t really killing a fellow member of the Sisterhood – she was performing euthanasia.

A SIREN turned and fired on the car, and Sonata returned fire. “I don’t like this, Dagi!” she shouted back. “We’re killing our own!”

“No, we’re not,” Adagio said, pushing the car towards the flames. “They were already dead the moment Blast got her hands on them. Her and that freak of a prince.” She poked her head out the window and fired her pistol, taking down a third. “We need to find Sunny before it’s too late!”

In the distance, Aria saw a flash of turquoise. “Dagi, hard right! Just saw something!”

“Her?”

“Not a fucking clue – but it might just get us answers!”

The girls got there just in time to see Sunset let a girl vanish into the distance. “There she is!” Dagi said, slamming the brakes on the car, the other two leaping out to save their friend.

“Is this your doing?!” Sunset screamed at them. “I TRUSTED YOU!”

“She does not look happy,” Aria announced, setting down her gun.

“I’m going hunting,” Adagio told her sisters. “We need to stop this killing. You two take down Sunny and get her in the car. We’ll get out of here and then explain what the hell’s going on.”

Sonata looked at her flame-haired friend standing just a short distance from them. There was something…different…about her. “I got a bad feeling about this,” she admitted.

“So maybe she can throw a punch now,” Adagio said, pulling her trusty P-90 out from under the driver’s seat. “I trust you two to stop her safely. After all, we’re SIRENs, and she’s just a normal girl. How hard can it be?”

Author's Note:

How bad, indeed....

Comments

[AceRevolutions]

Uh, oh, this is(n't) going to end well~!

[Madd the Sane]

Rule number 1 of combat: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR ENEMY.

[BlueBastard]

8122785
I thought rule #1 was DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB?

[HB_DS2013]

An Archmage vs three SIRENS. Wonder how that would work out?

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

After all, we’re SIRENs, and she’s just a normal girl. How hard can it be?”

Famous last words, Dagi.
Although I hope not, in this case.

As for Divine and Cantata, they just made THE Mother of all Fatal Mistakes.

'Cause Hell is coming for them, and her name is Sunset Shimmer, Archmagus of Equestria.

Why? You messed with her family and her friends.

Get ready to die, and die painfully, idiots.

[Philosophysics]

And cue the epicness.

Also I REALLY HOPE IT ENDS HAPPY!

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8122912 Indeed.

And knowing how these things go, I'd say look for "bittersweet", rather than typical MLP happy ending.

[Kingofsouls]

Oh wow what a chapter. Everything that has been set up finally reveals thier sinister purpose!C

I honestly cannot wait for the next chapter. It cannot come soon enough.

[ThePoneDrome]

Sunny's about to go full on Gandalf on their asses.

[ToaofTwilightZ]

yes. YES!!! SHIT FINALLY GET'S REAL!!! I was sad when I thought Sable was dead. Good job, making me care about an OC Gary-Stu waifu-stealer.
(jk, I actually like Sable. Still, if he ever mistreats best princessipal, I don't care how many titles he's got, HIS ASS IS GRASS.)

[Philosophysics]

8123303 I think I would just settle for happy.

Bittersweet endings are overdone. Sometimes people just need a reminder that life can be good.

Maybe, just maybe, we need to realize that tragedy pales in comparison to simple, plain old, goofy happiness.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

Heh..they have absolutely no clue Sunny is a magic user

[EmotionBreakerSlayer]

I am saying this now... Holy Hayseeds!! Ari and Soni have no idea what is coming their way when it comes to an angry Sunset. I'm thinking that Dagi has the easier job in this case Cx

[namar13766]

Why do I feel things from the teasers are going to star showing up?

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8123423 Indeed. *evil grin*
And more, more than likely.

8123640 Well, that's me, too, but I think we know (or suspect) that there's going to be a few casualties (and likely some fatalities (bad guys ONLY, I'm really hoping, but only Shin and his crew know the ultimate truth about that) before the ultimate end of this roller-coaster ride that is Seven Days in Sunny June.

But I think well just have to wait and see for sure.

On a totally different note, maybe this is just ME being a ninny, but what's the difference between an Archmagus and an Archmage?

Wouldn't they kinda/sorta be the same thing?

[Night_Moon60606]

8124136 an archmage is one of the more powerful magic users, same with an archmagus, the difference is that one uses structured magic and the other raw magic. The difference is like using a club or a sword. Both can kill, but where a sword cuts with precision and speed, a club simply crushes and takes a great deal more force to inflict a killing blow

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8124602 Ah, okay.

Thanks for the explanation. That's basically what I wanted to know.

Sooooo, by THAT definition, Sunset uses RAW magic, rather than structured magic?

I think?

[Philosophysics]

8124136 I think archmagus is female and archmage is male.

All I know is there's going to be a bunch of villains with bad arches in their back once they're done.

Sorry. Not sorry.

[Shinzakura]

8124648
To put it within terms of the BV canon:
"Archmagus of Equestria" is the title for the highest ranked magic user in the land (who is not an alicorn). Prior to her ascension, Twilight was the archmagus; she chose to give up the title, which was split between Sunset (due to her power levels) and Raspberry (due to her expertise in dark magic). "Archmage" is just a synonym for the title.

Now as to raw power, it was pointed out by Sunset that though Twilight has better finesse, Sunset goes for sheer force.

To put it simply:
At her most potent, Twilight will use her power to carve the top off a mountain. Sunset, however, well just go straight to "Greetings from the Death Star".

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8124676 Ah, okay. Thanks.

*smirks* Very true.
And neither am I.

8124825 Okay, cool. Thanks, Shin.

At her most potent, Twilight will use her power to carve the top off a mountain. Sunset, however, well just go straight to "Greetings from the Death Star".

*snrks* And I just get the feeling that the Divine Idiot, Consort and Co. are about to find that out.

The hard way.

Or in OTHER words, a supremely pissed-off Sunset is a very DEADLY Sunset.

[BlueBastard]

8125038
But a Greetings from the Death Star would blow up the planet, killing everybody

[Shinzakura]

8125073
8125038

The alternative is making them listen to "Informer" over and over again.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8125073 Hmmm, good point.

8125109 Oh, dear Heaven.

[Shinzakura]

8125159
Hey, if she wanted to go for cruelty, we could choose "Chicken Outlaw"

[Philosophysics]

8125038 I am so very looking forward to seeing their faces as they realize true magic is friendship!

Also ginormous rainbow lasers that kill everything and has no concept of friendly fire. As in it doesn't matter if you're holding a hostage, it just shoots the hostage taker while the hostage suddenly gets superpowers.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8125221 Yeeks. No, thanks.

8125265 That makes two of us.

Very true, that.

[Shinzakura]

8125294
Perhaps some "Shiny Shiny" then?

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

8125302 Hmmm, okay.

[Zekromic]

Damn, things are getting serious. Damn, I want Divine and Cantata's heads on my wall

[BlueBastard]

8125896
Then print out a poster of the Book IV cover image and hang it on your wall. Their heads are in the upper left side of the scene already.

[Starcat5]

Um... When did A.L.I.C.O.R.N. get taken down? I honestly can't remember.

[Shinzakura]

8127891
A few chapters back, when they got into a shooting match with the SIRENs.

[Fire Seeker12]

Well done with the chapter. Keep it up.

[Shinzakura]

8138047
Later on in the book.

[Magnethooves]

>>Shinzakura
How long do you release the next chapter of 7DSJ? I'm reading it usually and i am so hype.

[Shinzakura]

8153120
New one comes out later today. In the past I've tried to release weekly, but I work for the Federal government and so the new administration has kept me...busy.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

“Of course I’m not. The girl I’m in love with just got broken by her supposed sister and none of you will let me go Cupcakes on her.”

“Shoulda never let you know about that direct-to-video B-film, I swear,” Rainbow said between chews. “Didn’t even look realistic, the blood I mean.”

“Hey, at least Rainbow Factory was better, even if a little weird in that fantasy horror film way,” Pinkie replied, swallowing a gray-and-blue capsule before washing it down with some orange juice. “So, what brings you out here?”

Those stories are more scary than half the horror movies I've seen.

[Teraunce]

I hope the Dazzlings manage to explain themselves and tell Sunny they are the good guys because they rebelled from the evil rebels.

[Aemon Targaryen]

“Yeah, it’s my sword. Live-steel katana, cost me a fortune, I still have the skin-tight kunoichi costume that goes with it whenever me and Shadow roleplay,” she said with a smile.

oh my
i will not kink-shame you

However i was really sure then he was only her boyfriend recently, the fact then it is such a long relationship is interesting

i would love to read more on their relation.

I really pity his mother if she ever learn about the roleplay

“So maybe she can throw a punch now,” Adagio said, pulling her trusty P-90 out from under the driver’s seat. “I trust you two to stop her safely. After all, we’re SIRENs, and she’s just a normal girl. How hard can it be?”

before going back on equestria ? there was honestly a fair shot in my opinion, but now than sunny had the sceal on her powers cancel ? you're screwed.

[Alchemystudent]

*Looks back at book one and my reading of it.*

I remember when this story was so simple. Just a little tale about Sunset getting used to being human, getting a new family, learning to live again. The magic was low, the stakes were low, and everything was just so quiet.

Now, we have magic, gun play, evil organizations, demonic sacrifices, and the coming of Lucifer.

...
...

GOD I LOVE THIS SO!