• Published 13th Sep 2016
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Finding a Place - Battlecat



Moving to Canterlot was supposed give Silver Spark a chance to begin again. So far that hasn't worked out.

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Chapter 32 - With Concern

Tuesday, December 6, 2016 – Continued:

As usual, I could feel my anxiety growing when we pushed the doors open and walked into the school. Walking into school with Sonata, Aria and Adagio joining our group was making me feel worse than usual. Safety in numbers wasn’t a philosophy I believed in after what happened on Halloween. As soon as the other students spotted them walking with the seven of us, the whispering began again. The tension in the other students was the worst I’d seen since we won the Battle of the Bands.

“The Dazzlings have come back!”
“They're with the Rainbooms though, maybe they're ok.”
“They could be under the Dazzling’s control!”
“Is Sunset working with them?”
“No, Sunset is good. Remember her and Silver were right there at the end!”
“That doesn't mean she didn't switch sides again!”
“The Rainbooms know what they're doing. They already beat them once.”
“I don't care what those five think. Those things are dangerous.”
“Silver Spark can take them. Didn't you see that swordfight?”
“You trust that guy? It was totally staged!”
“They're just three girls. We should give them a chance.”
“And Sunset was just one girl. Look how that turned out.”

The muttering continued as we walked down the hall towards the office. I was relieved to hear even a few voices speaking in support of the Dazzlings. The fact that some students weren't worried was a step further forward than Sunset and I were after the Formal. None of the usual bullies made their presence known as we made our way towards the office. Fluttershy walked up next to me and took my arm.

“Silver, if it's not too much trouble, could you check my dreams tonight?” she whispered. “If you think you won't get hurt that is. I’ve had some rough nights.”

“Consider it done,” I replied quietly, a pang of worry striking. “I’m sorry it took so long to get the training I needed to actually deal with the complexities of the dream realm.”

Adagio glanced at me with a wary expression. “Are you a proper Sentinel or have you been abusing your abilities to spy on us?”

“I don't know exactly what a proper Sentinel is but I'll tell you this much,” I replied defensively, surprised she had overheard me. “Even if I had looked into your dreams, I wouldn’t speak of what I witnessed with anybody in the waking world without your explicit permission.”

Aria snorted. “I suppose we don’t have a choice about trusting your word. I’ll pound you flat if I suspect you’re breaking that oath by the way.”

“She really will,” Sonata chirped. “And you’d deserve it. Oathbreakers are totes evil and we’ll stomp them for the greater good!”

Applejack gave Sonata a look of disbelief and snorted. “After what ya’ll did you think breaking a promise is worse?” Applejack asked skeptically. “Taking over the world isn’t evil?”

“Course it is silly!” Sonata replied in a cheerful voice, though her expression darkened. “We might have been a tiny bit bad but breaking an oath is totes worse, trust me. We wouldn't even be here if the-”

"Shut up Sonata," Adagio hissed. "Just shut up."

I really wanted to hear the rest of the story but it was obviously a sensitive subject and there were other issues to face as we lead the Dazzlings into the main office. Vice Principal Luna was in the front office speaking with the secretary. She raised her eyebrow when she saw our three new companions and walked to one of the offices. Principal Celestia smiled warmly when she walked out but it didn’t extend to her eyes as she examined the three Dazzlings who stared back at her with defiant expressions.

“Good morning. I understand we officially have three new students today. Shall we get you set up properly this time ladies?”

“Might as well,” Aria grumbled.

“Very well,” Principal Celestia said in an uncertain voice. “I would like to speak to each of you separately to determine which classes you should join. Miss Dazzle and Miss Dusk, take a seat; Miss Blaze, come with me.”

Aria followed the principal into her office while Adagio and Sonata sat down after a moment of hesitation. The rest of us exchanged glances since we had no idea what we were going to do next. Vice Principal Luna only took a moment to give us our marching orders.

“Mr. Spark and Miss Shimmer, I would like to have a word with you in my office. The rest of you may depart for your classes.”

Vice Principal Luna turned and walked into her office without waiting to see if we were following. Sunset and I walked and I closed the door behind us before taking one of the two chairs. Her office was dimly and a bit creepy. Still not as unnerving as Princess Luna walking out of the shadows last night so I relaxed and waited.

“According to your teachers, you two did not attend your classes yesterday afternoon,” she said firmly. “You were seen outside at lunch and then vanished for the remainder of the day. What is your explanation for this?”

Sunset and I exchanged a look so I nodded at her to speak first.

“We received word that Princess Twilight was having difficulty and needed some support,” Sunset explained. “Days aren’t the same length so to arrive in her world in time we had to leave at noon.”

Luna sighed as she looked at the two of us. “So you left to aid a family friend without notifying the office or making a formal request,” she said to herself as she wrote down the more believable statement. “We have been quite lenient with both of you regarding recent absences due to the . . . unique circumstances you both face. I can no longer let these incidents go unnoticed. I expect you both in detention after school today.”

Sunset and I nodded without protest.

“You both live as your own guardians so I can’t prevent you from leaving school in the future,” Luna added with a sympathetic smile. “However, I expect you to follow the appropriate notification procedure just like every other parent must when taking their child home. We don’t take attendance for fun, it’s important to know who is in the school if an emergency occurs. Your absences are still tracked so don’t abuse your privilege.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “Is there anything else?”

Luna actually smiled a bit. “Yes, actually there is. Celestia is arranging to have Sonata, Adagio, and Aria assigned to classes with you and your friends in them. There will be a few cases where they aren’t in the same classes. Adagio and Aria will join your English class this morning, Sunset. Sonata will be in your history and math class today, Silver.”

“We’ll keep an eye on them,” Sunset promised. “Are they going to be punished for anything they’ve done?”

At that question, Vice Principal Luna slumped back in her chair. “There is nothing I would like more than to keep those three in detention until the Friendship Games. Unfortunately, my sister and I were forced to conclude they haven’t done anything we can punish them for. They’re barely even guilty of bullying since they just used their magic to incite others. We can’t write down that ‘they used magic to control the school and foster a hostile atmosphere’ down in writing if we want to keep our jobs. It’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth but I don’t see any solution.”

Sunset nodded, her expression thoughtful. “You could punish me because I was guilty of obvious, measurable crimes. You punished me for bullying and vandalism; not for my actual abuse of dark magic.”

“In a way, they’ve been punished by the magic we used to defeat them,” I added. “I don’t know if you knew this but all three of them are nearly a thousand years old thanks to the magic of the pendants. With those destroyed, they’re only going to live as long as normal humans and they’re vulnerable to illnesses that wouldn’t touch them before.”

Vice Principal Luna nodded. “It’s a bit petty but that does make me feel a bit better. I guess I’ll just have to hope they have learned their lesson. That’s all for now, thank you both.”

We got up and were just about to open the door when Vice Principal Luna spoke up.

"Steel Rain is your godfather . . . any advice on where I could take him for a surprise?"

I smiled. "He loves food and enjoys just about everything. That said, he has an incredible weakness for foods from South East Asia and India. I know for a fact he will miss the restaurants he used to visit in Manhattan. If you know any good restaurants in the area he would be thrilled."

She smiled back. "Thank you, that's perfect."

We left the office and closed the door quietly behind us. Aria and Adagio were waiting in the office and they both looked at Sunset expectantly.

“Looks like you’re our keeper this morning, Shimmer,” Aria said, smirking at Sunset.

“Have fun with Sonata,” Adagio shot at me as they walked out the door.

I raised my eyebrow at Sunset. “Good luck my dear. I think you’re going to need it.”

Sunset just smiled and shook her head. “I guess we'll see.”


Sonata and I arrived in history class a few minutes after the final bell with a note from Celestia in hand excusing our late arrival. Mr. Cranky Doodle simply snorted when he saw Sonata and waved us to our seats. Our arrival was greeted with silence and several uncertain glances. Mr. Doodle immediately got back to his lecture about the mid-medieval period. Sonata rolled her eyes several times but held her tongue until about halfway through class when Mr. Doodle opened the floor for discussion.

“Oh, it would have been so romantic to live back then,” Daisy gushed when her turn came around.

Rose almost seemed to swoon as she nodded in agreement. “I’d love to have a handsome knight to sweep me off my feet.”

“Trust me, they really don’t want that,” Sonata said to me quietly. I think Sonata spoke louder than she intended because several nearby students looked over at us. Daisy actually glared at Sonata.

“What would you know about it?” she asked.

“Hello? Thousand-year-old exile here,” she said, pointing at herself. “I lived it and it totes sucked.”

Conversation in the room stopped abruptly and everyone stared at Sonata. Sonata actually shrank in on herself looked around nervously.

“They did know about that right?” she whispered at me loudly.

“No, we hadn’t mentioned it,” I replied. “It wasn’t our place to share your history.”

“Aria and Adagio are going to kill me,” she muttered, glancing around the room nervously.

The rest of the class looked utterly befuddled by Sonata’s statement. A guy with green dreadlocks looked over at me with a skeptical expression on his face. I vaguely recalled his name was Sandalwood.

“Is she really serious about this, Silver?” he asked. “The three of them are a thousand years old?”

I glanced over at Sonata who just shrugged her shoulders. “Might as well. The bag’s already out of the cat.”

“Ummm, right then,” I muttered to her before turning to the class. “Twilight confirmed their origin and age during her last visit.”

“Well, then you can't stop there, Sonata!” Lily exclaimed. “What was wrong with the knights? That code of chivalry and everything would have made it great! It's something some boys in this school could learn from I'm sure.”

Sonata laughed nervously. “It totes would have been if it applied to anyone other than nobles and other knights. Peasants and women were still totally slaves. Even among themselves, they were more of guidelines. Those knights were pretty vicious.”

Daisy crossed her arms and stared at Sonata skeptically. “So why do all the books make it sound so nice now?”

“Some silly man in the early 1800's tried to make it sound more awesome that it actually was. Aria wanted to correct his misconceptions with a rusty spoon but he was an ocean away in Europe by then. Besides, she’d need a pen to make corrections. Writing with a spoon? Aria just says the silliest things sometimes ya know? I’m just glad we didn’t lose our song back then; we would have been burned at the stake or something. Do you want to know why you really never want to go back to those times to court a handsome knight?”

Rose looked worried, but whether that was about Sonata’s story or Aria’s approach to problem-solving was anybody’s guess. “Why is that?”

“Toilet paper and flush toilets aren't even two centuries old yet,” Sonata concluded, shuddering briefly at the memory. “You don't want to live with the alternatives or the smell that lingers with the absence of proper sanitation. If you want a sample of how nasty it was, try using leaves or a stick to clean up next time you need to do a number two.”

Lily, Rose, and Daisy stared at her blankly as they tried and failed to comprehend that awful reality of the medieval era.

“The horror, the horror,” Lily whispered. Then as if they were one person, their eyes rolled into the back of her head and they slumped dramatically onto their desks.

The room erupted in laughter while Mr. Doodle walked over shaking his head. We would have been more worried if this wasn't a weekly occurrence with these three. I just pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. At least it seemed like Sonata was breaking the ice on a small scale. Only time would tell if it was really a meaningful connection or if my classmates simply had no idea how to react to Sonata.


The rest of history class had been relatively uneventful as Cranky Doodle went back to his normal lectures. Now we were in math class and Sonata was subdued in this class while she focused on her work. I was barely making it through the class myself so there wasn’t much I could do to help. Sonata was still working on her assignment when class finished for lunch so I stayed and waited for her. Finally, she dropped her pencil, groaned loudly and dropped her head onto the desk.

“I hate this,” she said sadly. “When did math start to involve knowing the alphabet? School is gonna suck so badly if this is how things work now.”

“What made you decide to come back?” I asked, honestly curious. “You seemed more enthusiastic than the others earlier.”

Sonata didn’t lift her head as she responded. “We gotta figure out life with no magic as normal peeps and our new identities say we're still high school students. Dagi and Ari thought we could go it alone just like the past thousand years but getting sick made them change their minds. Even our limited magic made life so crazy, easy for the past thousand years.”

“You had limits?” I asked curiously. “You three were throwing around tons of magic when you showed up.”

She sighed sadly. “I don’t really understand how we controlled this school so easily. Dagi said it was ‘cause there was so much anger mixed with the magic here or somethin’. Wasn't full Equestrian mind you but just coming to this school was invigorating! There was so much anger just floating in the air. Most of the magic we could gather before just kept us young and healthy. We used a bit to manipulate the occasional person but we can’t even do that now.”

“Fair enough,” I said gently. “You can always ask for tutoring if you’re having trouble with a class. Don’t let this get you down on your first day.”

She stood up suddenly and grabbed my hand to pull me to my feet. Her mood had gone from somber to cheerful in seconds. “Thanks, you’re right! Even better, it’s time to get lunch!”

Sonata hooked her arm around mine and proceeded to drag me out of the classroom before I could say anything. When we made our way out into the hall, Sonata received a few nervous glances while everyone gave us a wide berth. Sonata didn’t really seem to notice and just smiled the whole time. That calm came to an abrupt end when Flash Sentry noticed us and started walking towards us. I gritted my teeth in preparation for another aggravating conversation. Even though we had buried the hatchet after the Battle of the Bands, there still wasn't really any common ground between us. I was prepared to defend Sonata if necessary but Flash stopped in front of us and eyed the former Siren.

“Hi there. You’re Sonata, right?”

“That's me!” Sonata replied in her bouncy voice. “You’re Flash Sentry, right? You play the guitar and stuff, oh and you said some mean things to that purple princess when we were using our magic. Sorry if we messed that up for you.”

Flash stared at Sonata for a moment. A flurry of emotions flickered across his face while Sonata just watched him with a totally innocent smile on her face. I was worried he was going to lose his temper like he normally did when I was involved but to my surprise, Flash just sighed rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“Yeah, as much as I'd love to blame you and your friends, I made plenty of mistakes of my own,” he replied in a surprisingly contrite voice. He held out his hand. “We can’t change what happened so I just wanted to welcome you properly to CHS. I was going to introduce myself as well but I guess that's already taken care of.”

Sonata took his hand and shook it warmly. “It’s still nice to meet you properly this time but actually, I don't really know you. Well I know a bit since you were all pretty talkative when you were all magically angry but knowing all your dark secrets and angry feelings don't really help with knowing who someone is, you know what I mean? Honestly, the awful things everyone was saying even surprised me and I lived on it for . . . wait, was that too much information again?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose while Flash stared at her with his mouth hanging open. She had been shaking his hand the entire time and she was grinning. She didn't seem to be planning to let go, so he took his hand back and shook his head.

“Maybe a bit too much but it’s kind of cute as well,” he replied, chuckling. “Just slow down and you'll do fine.”

She let go of his hand and smiled, though her cheeks had turned a bit red. “Ok! Oh, I'd better run if I'm going to get some tacos! See you in the cafeteria! Nice meeting you Flash. We should talk later! Kay? Bye!”

She ran to the cafeteria to get in line for lunch. I watched her run off before looking over at Flash. He was watching her go and I realized I actually had the energy to smile at him for once.

“Thank you,” I said quietly. “Seriously, I really appreciate how you acted.”

“I thought was time for a change,” Flash replied before letting out a deep sigh. “It would have been so easy to lash out at her but what good has that done me in the past? Sonata is so disarmingly cute and oblivious. It’s surprising how similar her personality is to Pinkie Pie’s.”

“You’re right, I knew I was having deja vu when she was towing me to the cafeteria,” I said before shivering involuntarily. “At least Sonata doesn’t seem to have the sixth sense Pinkie does.”

Flash shuddered. “Don’t share that idea around. The idea of another Pinke will give everyone at school even more nightmare fuel.”

I froze up when Flash mentioned nightmares. How many nightmares had we triggered by bringing the Sirens back? People might not have been physically harmed by the sirens, but losing control of your mind was still harmful. I knew that better than almost anybody here after my experiences. People had fought, relationships had broken apart and who knows what other disasters had occurred. What was I going to have to deal with in the Astral Plane because of my choice to reach out to the Sirens?

We’ll find out tonight Silver, relax.
There’s no time to relax, I need to stop this before it gets out of hand.
We do, but nobody is asleep right now!
Spark, there must be something we can do while everyone is awake.
There really isn’t. Calm down.

In spite of Spark’s words, I was on the verge of panicking there in the hallway. Then, I felt arms wrap around my waist and lips pressed against my cheek. I felt someone’s chin on my shoulder and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sunset’s red and gold hair as she looked over my shoulder at Flash.

“Everything ok here?” Sunset asked. “Please tell me you’re not causing trouble Flash.”

Flash shook his head defensively. “We were just talking about Sonata and he froze up for some reason.”

I pulled myself back to reality, took a deep breath and gestured at my head. “Sorry Flash, I got lost in thought for a moment. It was actually good talking with you.”

“Ok, if you say so,” he said, a smile returning to his face. “It was good talking with you too. See you two around.”

Sunset released her hug and turned me around. Her brow was furrowed with concern as she looked into my eyes. “What’s really on your mind, Silver? You looked so tense I thought you were going to collapse.”

“Just worrying about everything,” I replied, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “We can talk about it later.”

“Think you can throw a backrub in as part of the conversation?” she asked, suddenly sounding tired. “Adagio and Aria are not entirely pleased with their new lot in life and they’re making it painfully obvious.”

“Deal,” I replied, feeling a bit more cheerful. “Sonata is a lot of things but she seems pretty sweet so far. It's a strange contrast to the other two.”

"Oh, she has a cruel streak in her," Sunset said grimly. "Honestly it almost cuts deeper cause she's mostly nice."

While we talked, we made our way into the cafeteria to try and have a peaceful lunch break. That hope was immediately dashed by the scene we found when we pushed the doors to the cafeteria open. Gilda and Lightning Dust were blocking Adagio and Aria’s from getting to a table and it was clear an argument had just broken out. Sonata was shying back from the confrontation with three tacos on her tray.

“You horse-faced fish things need to take a hike back to where you came from,” Gilda snarled.

Adagio just rolled her eyes before giving Gilda a look of total pity. “I know mythology isn't always taught but seriously? The proper word is hippocampus or sea pony if you're lazy. Calling me a horse-faced fish is about creative as calling you a furless monkey. Then again, perhaps a shaved orangutan would be an appropriate choice in your unfortunate case.”

Gilda snarled and lunged forward but she was held back by Lightning Dust. What caught my eye was Aria’s reaction. In mere seconds, Aria shoved her lunch tray into the hands of Wiz Kid who was standing closest and raised her fists in a combat stance. He looked somewhat befuddled but to his credit, he didn’t drop Aria’s lunch.

“You screwed with our brains,” Lightning snarled. “We didn’t like the demon doing it and we’re not letting you get away with it again! You really think you can take me on?”

Aria smacked her fist into her hand in response. “If you think we're helpless just because our magic is gone, you're going to receive an unpleasant surprise.”

Adagio snorted. “Oh, come now. Considering how meaningless your existence as a high school bully is, I thought you’d appreciate a bit of purpose. It’s not like you have much else going for you.”

“I have plenty!” Gilda snapped. “At least I wasn’t defeated by the music from a crappy high school band!”

Sunset had seen enough and walked out into the cafeteria with a stern look on her face. I followed a few steps behind, hoping she knew what she was doing. Sunset stepped up beside Adagio and crossed her arms as she glared at Gilda.

“The last thing this school needs is some trying to put this school back the way it was before the formal,” she snapped. “Stop pretending you’re doing this for anyone but yourself!”

“I don’t need anyone to defend me from trash like this Shimmer,” Adagio replied with a snort.

“Well you’re getting help anyhow,” Sunset sniped back. “Deal with it.”

“Oh, here’s the she-demon, back to push everyone around again,” Gilda said with a snort before noticing my presence. “Oh, and there’s her familiar, cowering in the shadows.”

I didn’t bother responding to her jab and just crossed my arms while staring at her. “Do you two seriously believe you have a still have some moral justification for your actions after what you’ve done?”

Gilda suddenly looked around nervously but Lightning Dust responded arrogantly. “We have every right to protect our fellow students from those who would cause harm. And you’re not going to stop us you monster.”

“No, I'm not because you don't have a leg to stand on,” Sunset said firmly. "CHS will thrive on friendship and cooperation quite nicely without you. Your behavior only leads to more violence and misery but you haven't ever cared about that, have you?”

Lightning Dust's face twisted with fury. “Stop spewing bullshit she-demon! You're not the alpha bitch of this school any-”

Before she could continue, Gilda elbowed her in the side to get her attention. Lightning Dust was confused but before she could snap at Gilda she clued into the situation. The intense glares from many other students wilted her confidence. The room filled with murmurs of agreement and support for Sunset. Lightning Dust and Gilda backed away from Adagio and Aria.

“You people will regret siding with monsters! When they turn on you, don't come crying to us,” Gilda snapped, dragging her partner in misery out of the cafeteria.

The two of them then scurried out of the room without another word. Sunset sighed and walked over to sit down at our table. The room began buzzing with conversation as Aria turned to Wiz Kid who was still standing there holding her lunch.

“Glad you didn’t drop this,” Aria said tersely, retrieving her tray from him.

Wiz Kid nodded, “N-n-n-no problem,” he stuttered, backing away nervously.

Adagio glared at the crowd. “Anyone else here planning to pick a fight or can I eat my lunch in peace?”

Slowly, the mob of spectators dispersed and drifted back to their tables. Aria and Adagio walked past our table. Adagio stopped and looked at the seven of us with a frown on her face.

“For future reference, the three of us fight our own battles,” Adagio said. “Don't get in our way next time. Now if you'll excuse me . . .”

Adagio and Aria walked over to an empty table in the corner near the windows. Sonata leaned over between me and Sunset with a smile on her face.

“Don’t worry ‘bout them,” she said cheerfully. “They’re always grumpy when things change and this is a super duper big one. They’ll cheer up eventually.”

She then walked over to join Adagio and Aria at their table. They were seated in a corner where they could watch the entire room. Their defensive posture reminded me of the first time I visited the Sweet Shoppe with the girls. I turned my attention back to my friend.

“I’m guessing the morning went poorly,” Dash said. “Your eye was twitching when you told Gilda off, Sunset.”

“Not as badly as it could have but yeah,” Sunset replied, her voice betraying her exhaustion. “Aria is abrasive and Adagio just can’t seem to stop trying to manipulate people. Their behavior with Gilda is only a sample of her behavior this morning.”

“They’ve been surviving the same way for so many centuries,” Fluttershy whispered. “Can you imagine how hard it will be for them to change their habits after so much time?”

“Well the only way to help them change will be to show them a new way,” Pinkie said cheerfully. “We should spend some time with them! I call dibs on Sonata first!”

“That sounds like a good idea but Sunset and I can’t help today. We have detention after school.”

“Seriously!?” Rainbow Dash asked while beginning to laugh. “How’d you two manage that?”

“We didn’t sign ourselves out of school when we went through the portal yesterday afternoon,” Sunset admitted.

Dash started laughing even harder. “Guess we’ll just have to take point on this project without you," She gasped when she finally calmed down. "We’ve got some experience making friends with former villains, don’t we Sunset?”

I felt a brief pang of irritation on Sunset’s behalf considering how many times Rainbow Dash had inadvertently insulted Sunset. I looked over at Dash to tell her to cut it out but before I could respond Sunset spoke up.

“Very funny Dash,” Sunset responded in an amused voice. “Just keep me and Silver posted on what you five come up with.”

The rest of lunch break was spent discussing a few ideas about what to do with the Dazzlings as a group and individually. There was some speculation about what the three of them might like but it was all guess work. Hopefully, they would continue to accept our attempts to reach out but time would tell.


Sunset and I arrived at the library together for our detention. My afternoon classes felt absolutely interminable. I blamed my shortage of sleep and the growing anxiety about the responsibility that came with my magic. I was fully prepared to spend the next couple hours cleaning the library for Miss Cheerilee but instead, we found Vice Principal Luna was in library speaking with Micro Chips who was looking through a binder. I knew him by reputation though we had never spoken to each other. Apparently, he was an absolute genius with computers and I had to wonder what his counterpart’s job would be in Equestria.

“I hope you’re ready for your detention,” Vice Principal Luna said with a funny smirk on her face. “Micro Chip has generously agreed to help set up the medical database for the entire county. I expect you two to familiarize yourself with this system during your detention and begin planning your analysis if time permits.”

Micro Chips pushed his thick rimmed glasses up his nose and held up the document he was holding. “Greetings,” he said in a nasal voice. “It’s a fairly complex database from what I’ve read here but I should be able to get you acquainted with the basics.”

We both stared at the two of them in surprise but quickly recovered. There wasn’t much I could say so I just nodded. Sunset was barely holding her excitement in but she managed to keep her voice calm.

“We will do our best to find the evidence we need,” Sunset said in a serious voice.

“Very well, I shall leave you to your work then,” Luna said as she left the room. “Miss Cheerilee will be keeping an eye on you and I expect you will help her with cleaning the library if you can’t work on this. I will see you both at five.”

“This is an awfully odd detention assignment,” Micro Chips said as he walked over to the computers.

We sat down next to him and Sunset sighed. “I’m sorry you’re stuck here helping us.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” he said cheerfully. “It’s a chance to look at an official government database. Plus, this gives me the chance to thank you both for what you did at the Battle of the Bands. I for one appreciate what you both have done for the school recently.”

“Really?” Sunset whispered. “Even after what I did?”

“Yes, the tech club has concluded you’ve both earned the benefit of the doubt at the very least,” he said, while his fingers flew across the keyboard. “I’m also curious if this project has something to do with another magic issue. Vice Principal Luna was quite insistent that this was important. I hope you’re not going to keep everyone in the dark if something else dangerous is going on. I for one would prefer to help you and your friends when I'm not under some spell and I know other students feel the same way."

"Thank you," Sunset said quietly. "I appreciate it. Silver, why don't you tell him about what's going on."

“There are some very dangerous magic daggers in this world. The curse they create is mostly dormant until it’s exposed to a source of magic, then it will kill the victim in days. We need to find out of if the curse can manipulate people into moving to Canterlot where magic can be found on occasion.”

Micro Chips stopped typing and looked up at the ceiling. “That is oddly specific. The only way you could know that is if you knew someone who . . .” His voice drifted off and his thoughtful expression became more concerned when he looked over at me. “You’ve been cursed, right Silver? You moved here from Manhattan and you looked like you were about to collapse the morning before the Fall Formal. It seems probable that magic spiked during those days.”

“I'm impressed you put that together so quickly,” I said.

“Me too,” Sunset said in a surprised voice. “Three of these weapons could be out in our world somewhere. The one that was used on Silver was last seen in Manhattan and we have no leads on the others. First, we need to find out if people have been drawn here by the curse at all. It’s possible Silver’s decision to move here was simply a coincidence.”

Micro Chips nodded. “It's an awfully big coincidence to leave Manhattan and move straight to an epicenter of magical activity while cursed like that. Would you like some help?”

Sunset and I exchanged only a brief look before nodding. “Considering lives are potentially at stake, yes that would be awesome,” Sunset replied. “Let’s get started.

Over the next two hours, it became painfully apparent that I wasn’t going to be much help on this project. Using computers to search the Internet was one thing but this was embarrassingly far beyond my understanding. On the bright side, I got another reminder of just how brilliant my girlfriend was. The two of them installed and examined the software and database. Within an hour, they were discussing joining tables, statistical analysis, and other advanced concepts. They might as well have been speaking in Japanese.

Once I realized I couldn’t contribute to the project in any meaningful way, I switched to helping Miss Cheerilee tidy up the library. Once that was done, I settled in near Sunset and pulled out my notebook to finish up some homework. When Vice Principal Luna arrived just before five they hadn’t pulled out an absolute answer but they were far from empty handed. Sunset quickly launched into an explanation.

“With Micro Chip’s generous assistance we’ve made some solid progress. After filtering out the incidents that were obviously not from the curse I noticed one anomaly. There are a noticeable number of deaths attributed to out of town visitors, more than seems reasonable.”

Micro Chips nodded. “Sunset informed me magic spikes every thirty moons here in Canterlot. I found a historical list of full moons online and those non-resident deaths do have a loose relationship with them. It’ll require further analysis but I’d say there’s reasonable evidence people are being drawn to this place by something before dying.”

Luna looked perturbed by what we had discovered. “So what can we do now? Where are these people coming from and how are we going to help them.”

“With the portal opening more frequently, it is probable victims of the dagger will quickly wind up in the morgue,” Sunset said sadly. “Silver is the only person who’s ever survived the curse.”

“There might be a way to help if we can identify the victims and get to them in time,” I said. “I was cured which means it's possible to save others. I'll try to learn how it can be done.”

Micro Chips nodded. “That seems like a logical plan. It’s a shame we don’t have a picture of this thing. If it is at all unusual in appearance we might be able to track it down on the internet using image search.”

Luna looked at Sunset and me. “Is there any way to get a photo of this weapon?”

I nodded. “We actually might be able to arrange to borrow one of the daggers from the vault. I think the princesses would do almost anything to retrieve the other ones considering how dangerous they are.”

Sunset grinned. “We will have to ask Twilight if she can help but I doubt there will be any arguments if we take appropriate precautions. Would you and the tech club be willing to help us out Micro Chips? I wouldn’t even know where to start to do an effective image search and if we have the real deal here we can take the best photographs possible.”

Micro Chips looked almost excited by the prospect. “If you can get one of those daggers to school, we can have Photo Finish take the pictures and the tech club can do the rest.”

Vice Principal Luna looked quite pleased. “Excellent. We will speak more about this tomorrow but for now, go home. You’ve done more than enough for today.”

With a quiet nod, Micro Chips gathered his stuff and headed out. Sunset and I left the Vice Principal to lock up the school and walked out the front door into the dreary damp winter evening. The two of us just made idle chit chat as we got into my car to drive back to my house.


I fumbled with my keys at the front door while Sunset waited. “You sure you’re going to be ok, Silver?” she asked. “You’ve been a bit off today.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied wearily. “I just need some rest to process everything that’s going on.”

Sunset put her arm around my waist comfortingly but her voice was skeptical. “If you say so. Just remember your mares are here for you whenever you need us.”

“Oh, I know,” I said, smiling in spite of my exhaustion. “Honestly, that’s one of the nicer things I need to sort out. The Astral Plane of this world is what really worries me. It feels like fate just keeps heaping more on our shoulders.”

“That is true,” Sunset murmured. “You don't have to do it alone but I’m sure you can bear the weight, Silver.”

I pushed the front door open and held it for her. “Hope you’re right. I really do.”

After eating some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner we finished our homework for the next day. Once that was done, Sunset and I adjourned to the living room. She settled down on a cushion on the floor in front of the couch and I sat behind her and began gently massaging her shoulders. After a few minutes of attention, she pulled out her journal and began to write.

Hi Twilight! I'm at Silver's house and we just wanted to say we miss you. I hope we can make time for a proper date soon. Oh, there was good news today. The Dazzlings showed up at school just when we were leaving the portal. Aria and Adagio are abrasive but Sonata seems pretty nice so far. I guess time will tell but they're giving us a chance.

How has your day been going?

Sunset leaned back on my legs and sighed. “Think we should tell her we got detention for visiting her?”

“Nah, I suspect she's been freaking out since you asked her to be our second,” I replied.

Hi there! You're lucky you caught me, I'm just having a quick lunch before I go back out to town. So glad to hear about the Dazzlings, it's a relief they're well. I'm a bit tired since I never did get back to sleep last night. You know, it's amazing how many books on dating are in my library. Precious few are about Trios but I can lend one to Silver next time I see him. My mind's all in a whirl from you choosing me as your second Sunset and I really want to do this right.

“See,” I said as I ran my hand down her spine. Twilight’s writing continued to appear in the book.

I would have spent more time researching but my duties are taking up my day. We're preparing for the Running of the Leaves the day after tomorrow and then the weather team can officially start winter. Once the snow is on the ground, I'll have some time to spare. Switching the seasons take so much paperwork. I think our day come into alignment this weekend so we could do something more time consuming without too much strain on our lives. I'm going to be lonely when we go out of sync though.

“Running of the Leaves?” I muttered. “What is that Sunset?”

Sunset giggled. “The smaller towns like Ponyville have a big race to shake the leaves off all the trees for winter.”

I sighed and shook my head. “The leaves don't even fall themselves in Equestria? Your world never ceases to amaze and confuse me.”

“They would if the weather was like here but it’s the price of Equestria’s shortened winter season,” Sunset replied. “The weather teams keep the weather warm as long as we can for better harvests but it doesn't give the trees the right signals to drop their leaves before the frost and cold. If we left them the tree could get damaged by frost and the weight of snow.”

I took my hand off her shoulder. “Crazy. Hey, could I write something? You’re free this weekend, right?”

“I have a job to take care of Saturday morning, but the rest of the weekend is clear.” Sunset handed me the book and I scribbled down a quick note to Twilight.

If you're available in the next four or five days, the three of us can make that day trip I was talking about. You can spend the night or we can pick you up at the statue first thing in the morning to travel out.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Sunset said when I handed the book back to her. Twilight’s response came in quickly.

Unless something comes up, I can join you around lunchtime on . . . Saturday right? Four days from now? Maybe we can watch another movie. Oh! And you both need to come get measured by Rarity! Assuming you still want to come to the Gala next month. Sorry, I have to leave now; planning meeting with the mayor next. Take care, I’ll see you soon!

Sunset smiled and wrote down a quite response.

Deal, don’t let your work get you down and have fun! Don’t stress about this relationship either! We all have a lot to learn.

She put the book down and started to close it up. I was about to start the massage again when she let out a little gasp. She grabbed the book and scribbled out another quick message for Twilight.

Wait, I almost forgot, do you think you can convince Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to lend us one of the Sakitan Daggers for a bit? If we take some high-quality photographs using local technology, some students at school can use the internet to find if any pictures have been taken. The sooner the better because we found some evidence the daggers are drawing people to the portal.

Once she finished, I ran my thumbs along the muscles on her shoulder blades through her shirt and I could feel her relaxing. I kept working on her shoulders, pleased by her response.

“I didn’t know you had a job Sunset,” I said quietly. "Where do you work?"

I felt Sunset tense up a bit under my hands at the question. She was silent for a couple minutes and I hoped I hadn't crossed a line. She sighed deeply before answering. “I don’t actually have one. Even though I’m enrolled at CHS I’m an illegal immigrant for all intents and purposes. I can’t risk applying for a real job. My ID isn't bad but it would never stand up to official scrutiny.”

Her response worried me. Survival in this world required money but without a legal identity, there was a hard limit on what she could actually do. I opened my mouth a few times and closed it without speaking. I wasn’t sure how to phrase all the questions her response brought up. Sunset stood up and crossed her arms, almost hugging herself and sat down on the couch a short distance away. She answered some of those questions herself.

“That leaves me with any odd jobs where someone is willing to pay under the table. Mowing lawns, cleaning house, raking leaves, shoveling snow, those sorts of things.”

“That sounds like an awfully limited and unreliable source of income,” I replied.

“I’m getting by,” she said defensively. “It hasn’t been easy but I’ve managed all this time without too much trouble.”

“If what Sonata said is true, the Sirens did that for a thousand years in this world. “I don’t like the idea of you forced living so close to the edge. How do you even manage rent with an inconsistent income like that?”

Sunset was quiet for a minute. “I skip meals sometimes to keep a roof over my head. The motorbike was going to be taken away for scrap. I rebuilt it so I'd be able to get around.”

Remember how light she was when you carried her to the nurse’s office?
I do Spark. This can’t continue.
But what can we do to help her?
It depends if she’s willing to accept help.

“It’s gotten worse since the Fall Formal, hasn’t it?” I said thoughtfully. “I’d bet you’re getting fewer call backs on odd jobs and you have less spare money now that you’re not getting food from other students. I just wish I’d realized this sooner.”

Sunset looked at me, her face furrowed with worry. “Please don’t tell the others,” she pleaded. “It’s bad enough that you found out I'm struggling. I don’t want their pity and charity.”

“I promise I won't tell anyone,” I replied. “No strings attached but I hope you'll let me help. Please relax Sunset.”

“Thank you, Silver,” She said quietly, laying her head down in my lap so she could look up at me. “I don't know what you can do though. I don't want your money or charity.”

“I'll come up with something,” I replied, running my hand through her hair while yawning. “In the morning I think. I'm in no shape to make decisions until I sl- . . . meditate . . . rest my body? Do I even technically sleep now?”

Sunset yawned in response and then smiled. “Maybe I can find out with the gear I got from Twilight to test human magic. Either way, I think sleep sounds lovely. I don't want to move though, your lap is comfy. Can we just stay here?”

“Well I need a proper bed tonight but I believe I have a reasonable compromise.”

I slid my arms under her legs and shoulder before standing up with her in my arms. She laughed quietly and put her arms around my neck while I carried her across the living room and up the stairs. Her hair still smelled like fresh rain from walking to my car earlier. I gently put Sunset down on the guest room bed and pulled the covers over her.

Her eyes were half closed as she began shifting around trying to get comfortable. Before she could doze off, I leaned in to capture her lips in a quick kiss. I was about to break it when her hand hooked the back of my neck and held me in the kiss. Sunset's breath mixed with mine and I ran my hand along her cheek. She opened her eyes and smirked up at me.

“Mmmmm, I'd ask you to undress me so I don't have to move but we really aren't at that point in our relationship.”

“Yeah, tempting as it is, I'll leave you to it,” I said as I walked to the door. I paused and looked back at her. “You know, it's funny how we didn't even blink at seeing each other without clothes as ponies. I didn't give it a second thought in Equestria. The idea of seeing you nude as a human on the other hand . . . yeah, I'll just stop there.”

Probably a good idea.

“Yeah . . . Goodnight Silver.”

“Sweet dreams Sunset. I'll make sure of it.”

I slipped out of the guest room and made my way to my own bed. It was time to get to work.

Author's Note:

This chapter took much longer to write than I had intended but here we are at last! The sirens are going to be interesting characters to write now that I’ve figured them out.

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