Prologue: Schoolweek from Tartarus

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“After all we’ve been together- Really? Why do think I’m Anon-A-Miss?” Sunset Shimmer looked around in shock at the other members of the Rainbooms as they silently judged her with arms crossed, their eyes squinting as their brows furrowed.

A nickname and half a day childish teasing was one thing, but how did Anon-A-Miss get these photos? Posting them was one thing, but the comments that they wrote about the girls were harsh to say the least!

“Like I said, Sunset, who else knew about my nickname?” Applejack glared at Sunset fiercely as she took a step back to stand near the other girls.

“At the time? I learned of it from your sister, remember?” Sunset held up her hands, palms facing her smoldering friends, and she would have continued if a thought didn’t start to worm its way into the back of her mind. “Wait… She told me Sunday night, then Monday morning it was posted, right?”

Rarity gave an audible gasp as Applejack’s eyes widened, a disgusted look passing over her face as she snarled at the amber girl “Sunset, you better not be trying to pass the blame on to my little sis of all people.”

“Wait, at least let me finish, alright? You all owe me that- you owe Twilight that.” Sunset let out a silent sigh of relief as she watched the girls grumble. No way they would disappoint the Princess that saved all their lives. “Okay, remember how ornery she got when you explained that it was just going to be us six that night? She threw quite the temper tantrum, and then out of the blue she calls us and says your nickname?”

“And Rarity! Sweetie Belle was the same! When you kicked her out of your room before-”

“Now that’s crossing the line!” Rainbow Dash strode forward, her arm waving out to the side. “Do you seriously want us to believe that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, Applejack’s and Rarity’s sisters are behind this? That’s just stupid, Shimmer, and you know it!”

Sunset would have taken another step back if it weren’t for the fact that she was already backed up against the lockers. The fire and brimstone in the athlete’s eyes was starting to scare the Equestrian as the rest of the girls started shaking their heads.

“I can’t believe you would try and pass the blame on to my precious little sister, Sunset! That’s just… That’s exactly what you would have done before the Fall Formal!” Rarity jabbed a finger at Sunset, the digit matching the accusatory tone in the girl’s voice.

Sunset’s nerves were starting to fray, her wit at its end as she threw out her arms in desperation as she struggled to stop the tears threatening to build at the corners of eyes. “But why do you five think it’s me!? What do I gain from doing this!?”

“You were probably just trying to scout us out and steal all of our secrets!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “You were just pretending to be our friend!”

“N-No! I’ve changed! I’m not the same person that I was! Please, you’ve got to believe me!”

“You can keep trying to tell us lies all ya want, Sunset, but we don’t gotta listen no more.” Applejack shook her head as she turned and started to depart down the halls. “Come on, girls.”

Sunset watched in horror as one by one the other four girls left, leaving her to stand alone in the hallway. She stood there, staring at the corner that the girls had vanished around. Surely this was a dream, right? The girls couldn’t be that ignorant? That distrustful of her? It had been what? Like three months since the Battle of the Bands now, the day that she had helped saved the school from the Sirens. A few weeks before that was the Fall Formal, when Sunset…

She clenched her eyes as the painful memories of that day, of all the years prior to that came flooding back. She shook her head, banishing them away. No, she had changed. She just needed to let the girls all take a minute to relax and calm down. It always hurt when secrets and embarrassing moments were brought to light, Sunset understood that well with how often the girl’s would point out her former actions to her after the Fall Formal. Almost four times a day.

She let out a deep sigh, and holstered her backpack before walking down the halls towards her locker. She would give them the morning to think and relax, and then talk to them again at lunch, when hopefully their minds would be clearer and they’d realize just how silly they were acting.

(V):.:(V)

“I gave you five all morning to sit and think about it, and you still believe that I’m Anon-A-Miss?” Sunset couldn’t help but start to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “Seriously?”

Dark glowers and disgusted frowns were her only response.

“You know what? Alright, I’ll let the five of you act like hurt little children for the rest of the day then. I’ll try talking to you all again tomorrow, just… Get some rest and really think about all of this and ask yourselves why would Sunset Shimmer want to become a social pariah again?” Sunset said as she turned around and started walking away from the table that the six of them always sat at.

Disappointment started to fester in her gut as the memories of the time prior to the Fall Formal once again came to mind. Maybe Princess Twilight hadn’t fixed anything here? Just like before, one message here, a picture there, and the entire school starts to fall apart.

She shook her head as she sat down at the “empty” table, rightly nicknamed because no one sat there in the past, often for sake of not being ridiculed. She forgot why it had earned that nickname, but she didn’t care. She instead decided to finish her lunch in peace and try to think more on Anon-A-Miss, her mind always coming back to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

But why would they do this to her? Surely they were old enough to accept that their sisters would want to spend some time with their friends, right? And how did they get Sunset’s pictures from that night?

She gave an exhausted sigh as she reached down and pulled her phone out of her pocket, inspecting the dented, second hand item. It’s screen was covered in scratches and blemishes and the volume buttons didn’t work, Sunset had to change it in the options every time. But this little piece of technology had caused so much damage, sown every seed of chaos during those dark days. And now it seemed to be coming back to bite her.

She frowned as she turned the device on, thumb tapping on the blue and white MyStable icon as the other hand brought a forkful of crisp salad up to her waiting mouth. She chewed at the fresh lettuce as she opened up her account, just as the device gave a small jingle. It was a notification from MyStable…? She refreshed her account, and her brow furrowed when she saw that one of the Wondercolts had posted on her page, yelling at her in text about a post that just went live on Anon-A-Miss.

She sighed, her fork dropping onto her tray as she brought her palm up to her face. Apparently the condition was spreading. She suddenly realized just how quiet the cafeteria had gotten, and when she looked up from her hand she noticed that all the eyes in the cafeteria were locked onto her.

“You can’t all really believe that this is me?” Sunset shouted, shaking her head. “What sort of reasoning would I have to do this anymore? Did you all forget that I saved you all from the Sirens already?”

Grumbling and bellyaching filled the air as the students all went back to their meals, leaving Sunset to sit in growing annoyance over the attempts to scapegoat her. She looked back down at her phone and opened the post that Anon-A-Miss had made, switching over to their account to study it properly now that AJ wasn’t trying to take her phone back.

The banners were all in her colours, amber, red, and yellow, and a crude silhouette of her sat in the profile image box. This was obviously hastily made in an attempt to make it seem like Sunset, and yet somehow it was working. Sunset chuckled as she started to tap away at the screen, leaving a message of her own on the front of the users page.

You obviously must be from Canterlot High School, but you seemed to have forgotten how I acted back then. If this really were me, why would I be so obvious about it? I’d be careful, you two, because now you have my interest.

Sunset smiled as she posted, before pausing and realizing what she had done. The old her had slipped through, the one that Anon-A-Miss wanted her to be. She swore at herself under her breath, cursing her hotheadedness. She had to play this cool, not give anyone any ammunition to place the blame on her. Hopefully over the next few days this would die out, and everything would be back to normal by the weeks end.

Hopefully.

(V):..:(V)

Nope, things had gotten worse. Much worse.

Anon-A-Miss had ramped up their posting of secrets, spreading out among all the students now, save of course for Sunset. And of course the students were all now part of the “Sunset is Anon-A-Miss” Group. The other Rainbooms had really chewed her out over the perceived threat to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, the two girls cowering behind their sisters as they confronted Sunset over her post.

Of course Sunset had apologized and tried to defend herself, but the girls weren’t even giving her a moment to breathe, let alone speak. Soon enough they stormed off, leaving Sunset surrounded by students all whispering things about her. She had tried to make her way through, but the students blocked her way, and when she asked politely to get through, they were rather… rough.

She paused as she opened her locker, staring at the book that had her cutie mark emblazoned proudly in the middle of it. She had forgotten it here last night in her desire to get home and just unwind. Maybe if the girls wouldn’t listen to her, maybe they’d listen to Princess Twilight? It was worth a shot at least, she doubted Twilight would just instantly blame her for Anon-A-Miss.

Sunset chuckled. Twilight probably still didn’t understand what the Internet was.

She flipped open the cover, thumbing through the pages until she got to a fresh page. She rummaged around in her locker and grabbed a pen. At least she had one person still on her side.

Dear Princess Twilight,

How are you doing? The holidays must be starting back in Equestria right about now.

I’m writing to you because we are having a bit of a situation right now at CHS. Someone is going around and posting all sorts of embarrassing secrets and rumours about the students, and to make it worse, they are posing as me. They call themselves Anon-A-Miss, and have been active the last two days, targeting me and trying to turn all of the school against me.

I am sad to report that it is working. All of the good that I’ve done since the Fall Formal, even helping during the Battle of the Bands, has been forgotten, washed away by the actions of Anon-A-Miss.

I know it’s a lot to ask, especially during the holidays, but I really need your help, Twilight. No one is listening to me, not even the other girls. They were the first targets, and as a result everyone else is on their side.

People are starting to get a little rougher around me now. It started with looks, then became whispers, and now today people are starting to “accidentally” bump into me.

Since no one is listening to me, I figured you could come over and help get their heads on straight. It’s obvious that it isn’t me behind all of this, its not even similar to how I acted back then, and yet everyone is against me.

Again, I apologize for doing this, but I could really use your help right about now.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*

Sunset smiled brightly, her hope restored as it raced through her body, warming her and fighting away the chill of concern. Princess Twilight would be able to help, and then everybody would realize just how silly they’ve been acting.

For now, though, Sunset would have to soldier through her day.

(V):...:(V)

“Sunset Shimmer, please report to Principal Celestia’s office.” the ceiling echoed again as Sunset made her way through the halls.

It was nearing the end of the day, and Twilight had yet to respond. Sunset wasn’t worried, but she had noticed the radio silence by this point. She was probably just tied up, the holidays in Equestria were quite demanding if Sunset remembered correctly.

For now she set her attention on the wide opening to the front office, and wondered why she had been called down to the Principal’s office. Mrs. Cheerilee had to silence all the snickering that the students had done when the first announcement came, Sunset shaking her head as she tried her best to ignore them while packing her things.

“Good afternoon, Sunset. You can head right in.” the secretary smiled politely, waving a hand towards the shut door that lead to this world’s Celestia.

“Thank you.” Sunset bowed her head and walked calmly over to the door, knocking on it.

“Come in.” came the half muffled voice, Sunset sliding the door open and walking in before shutting it behind her. “Ah, Sunset. Welcome. Please, sit down.”

“Of course.” Sunset paused, before nodding to the second woman in the room. “Vice Principal Luna, good afternoon.”

The woman nodded, her face its usually stony visage as she watched Sunset from beside her older sister.

“So, uh, what did you want to see me about?” Sunset smiled warmly, though she had all but confirmed what the snow white woman had wanted already.

“Are you Anon-A-Miss?” Celestia asked formally, though the glint in the corner of her eye already told Sunset what the woman thought.

“No, I am not.” Sunset shook her head. “But if you talked to any of the students, and I bet a large portion of the staff, they would tell you otherwise.”

“I read your post on their page the other day. I take it you have some ideas?”

“Well, I mean the only ones that have any connection would be Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but I agree with their sisters that they really have no reason to do this.” Sunset explained, chuckling that she agreed with people that so ferociously disagreed with her. “To be honest, I’m not sure who is behind it, I already tried to apologize for that post, I was getting a little frustrated when I posted it.”

Luna made a half concealed chuckle as she looked down at her sister. “Understandable. It is not fun when everyone tries to scapegoat you, right, Celly?”

“Please do be an adult about this, Luna.” Celestia playfully glared at her sister from the corner of her eye before returning her attention to Sunset. “I do agree that you are innocent, Sunset. However I doubt the students would agree with me if I asked them to.”

“Are you able to do something?” Sunset gave a hopeful smile. “I mean, I know you looked the other way when I was… the old me, but I could use someone on my side on this end of the portal.”

“I take it you have contacted Twilight then?” Luna returned to her dour, neutral emotion as she looked over to the amber girl who nodded in response.

“She has yet to respond, though I think she is a little tied up. I will probably hear from her tonight.”

“Good. Then for now you are free to go. We will work with our IT people to see if we can limit MyStable on the school networks.” Celestia nodded as she and Sunset started to stand. “However that will not stop whoever Anon-A-Miss is from posting on their cellular network.”

“Or preloading posts from somewhere else.” Sunset groaned. “Maybe if I made a point tomorrow of handing my phone in to you in front of some of the students, it would make them think that maybe it’s not me?”

“If you desire so, then I will meet you in front of the office tomorrow morning.” Luna nodded as Sunset waved farewell.

(V):....:(V)

Sunset sighed as she shut her journal. It looked like Twilight wouldn't be making it across the portal any time soon.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I’m so sorry, but I won’t be able to make it across the portal! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and myself are staying with Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire currently. Equestria is hosting a political summit, and I am going to be here for the next six moons.

But while I may not be able to be their in person, I can still be there in spirit and, my favourite, in book form! I will inform the Princess’ of what is occurring, and I am sure they will be fine with me assisting you with a friendship problem from here.

I am disappointed to hear that the students think it is you behind these rumours, especially the other girls! I am unsure what to recommend if they will not listen to you, as I know first hand how… stubborn they can be sometimes.

I remember Princess Cadance and Shining Armour’s wedding, when I discovered that Queen Chrysalis, leader of the Changelings, had replaced Princess Cadance. No one would believe me, not even the Equestrian versions of the girls! Eventually they apologized for their actions, and I am certain that they will too!

Please keep in touch with me! If worse comes to worse, we can talk to them through the journal, but I sincerely hope it will not come to that.

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

She stowed the journal back into her backpack as she prepared to head back to CHS. It was a fresh day, and today was the day that she would be handing her phone in to Vice Principal Luna. Hopefully that would help. At this point she was almost ready to say phooey on the girls, Rainbow had been texting her and telling her off all day after school and well into the night, and whenever she would try to prove her innocence, Rainbow would ignore her.

Was it even worth it at this point? If not even they would listen to her, there was no chance the other students would. And since Twilight was stuck doing Princess responsibilities on the other side of the portal, the chance of her proving her innocence was practically zero.

She stewed over her options as she trudged through the light snow that blanketed the streets, her mind shooting back to the reports on her laptop about the so called “Storm of the Millennium” that was gonna hit Canterlot over the weekend. She was already dreading the cold permeating through the brick walls of her small flat, and it’s not like she could ask Rarity for more blankets at this point.

Sunset let out a tired groan as she turned the corner towards Canterlot High School, the students already whispering and pointing at her. She hadn’t even bothered to read the recent backlog of Anon-A-Miss posts, but it seemed the apocalypse was coming to CHS judging by some of the people that had started fighting towards the end of the previous day.

She ignored the looks and various rude gestures that greeted her, instead focusing on shaking the snow free of the hood of her hoodie. She thought she heard someone call her name behind her, and against her better judgement she turned around to look, just in for something white and ovular to approach her at a bullet like speed.

Pain erupted from her cheek and eye as the snowball connected, and the thick, sharp rock it contained connected with her face. She gave a pained scream as she fell to the ground, her knees piercing the thinly packed snow and scraping against the frozen pavement as her mitten covered hands rushed up to grasp at her blazing cheek. She sobbed openly as the students around her laughed quietly, her cheek growing warm as she pulled back her mittens, now sticky with blood.

She found that she could not open that eye, the agony from the large gash that the rock had inflicted made it near impossible, and combined with the shock at the action left her a shaking mess on the school grounds.

Someone had attacked her! This was done on purpose! She hurriedly reached down and grabbed the rock, stowing it in her pocket as she rushed towards the school entrance. Towards safety.

“Ah, miss Shimmer, good- Wait, what happened!?” Vice Principal Luna’s voice quickly shifted from warmth to concern when she saw the blood covered face of the girl, tears streaming from the uncovered eye. “Come! We must get you to the infirmary!”

Sunset continued to sob as Luna wrapped an arm protectively around her and started to shepherd her through the halls, barking commands at the students to get out of their way as the duo barreled through.

“Please tell me that it wasn’t someone from the school that did this to you?” Luna asked as they started up the stairs towards the middle floor.

“I don’t know who…” the girl managed out between quieting sobs. “S-Someone called my name and then threw a snowball with a giant rock in it at me.”

Luna was aghast as she listened to Sunset’s pained response.“A rock? Why- Never mind, we are almost there. Nurse Redheart!”

“Luna? Whats-”

“We have a serious injury here!” Luna explained as she ushered the injured girl inside, Nurse Redheart audibly gasping as she saw the injury to Sunset’s face.

“Oh no! Please, bring her over here!” the woman turned and rushed towards a cabinet filled with various boxes and bottles and packages. “I sure hope it’s just the cheek. Have you tried opening your eye, Sunset?”

“N-No, I haven’t.” she answered as she sat down on one of the beds lining the wall, fishing around in her pocket. “Here, this is what was in the snow ball.”

Luna grabbed the gray rock from Sunset’s bloody mittens, shifting it around in her fingers. It was large, filling her palm with it’s various sharp edges and points.

“This is going to really sting, but it’s just disinfectant, Sunset.” the nurse explained as she got to work on Sunset’s cheek, the girl hissing loudly as the painful liquid did its job.

“I’m going to call Celestia up here. Nurse Redheart, may I borrow your phone?” Luna received a quick nod from the woman who was busy focusing on Sunset’s cheek, making her way over to the phone.

“Please, dear sister. Pick up your phone for once…”

(V):.....:(V)

“That should help keep it from getting infected.” Nurse Redheart’s smile was small and sorrowful as she backed away from Sunset.

“I shall make an announcement about this. This is getting out of hand.” Celestia shook her head as she crossed her arms. “Sunset, are you sure you don’t know who did this?”

“I think I would remember who tried to gouge my fucking eye out with a rock!” Sunset snapped back, hand hovering over the bandages and gauze covering the left side of her face. “S-Sorry…”

“We shall not hold it against you.” Luna chuckled, resting a hand protectively on the girl’s shoulder.

Redheart stepped back into Sunset’s view, handing the girl a small package. “Now you’re going to have to be careful with this. I’m giving you some antibiotic wipes and fresh gauze and bandages, because I don’t think this will heal over the next day. I would recommend you go and see your family doctor-”

“I don’t have one.” Sunset grumbled as she stashed the bag beside her. “But I know how to take care of myself, so don’t worry.”

“Would you like Luna to give you a ride home?” Celestia asked from the door, looking back at the girl. “I don’t expect that-”

“Go home? No, I’ll stay. They want to see me break; to run and hide! Well I won’t give them the pleasure!” Sunset growled aggressively, shooting to her feet. “The next student that tries something-”

“Sunset, please. Let us take care of this.” Celestia pleaded, her lips drawn thin. “I can guess just how upset you are-”

“Ya think? The entire school’s turning on me!”

“-But if you do something rash, then I am not sure if Luna and I can assist you.” Celestia finished.

“Hey, I’m not gonna start anything, alright?” Sunset shook her head. Any precept of trying to play nice, of being “friendly”, was gone. The students wanted to make her a villain again, even after she had proven she had changed! They attacked her, after all! “But if someone comes after me again, I’m gonna fucking protect myself!”

“Just don’t do anything too reckless. That’s all we ask.” Vice Principal Luna’s look was one of understanding as she followed her sister. “Please, come to us first, if you can.”

Sunset watched the two women leave. She knew they were on her side, but she also understood that they had rules to follow. Sunset grumbled as she stashed the bag of medical supplies into her backpack, right beside her journal. Princess Twilight would want to hear about this…

(V):......:(V)

Dear Princess Twilight,

Today’s the worst day of the week, hand down. I’m stuck with the left half of my face covered in bandages and gauze cause some whack job student threw a goddamn rock at me!

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna called the school out on it, but I’m still getting glares from the students, and the whispers have turned into loud swearing!

I don’t know what’s gonna happen for these last few days before holidays start for us, but I think I’m done attempting Friendship with these animals.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*

Sunset glowered as she stashed her journal in her locker and started heading towards class, now that lunch had finished. Hopefully Twilight would have some kind of suggestion for her, cause the students were starting to get just as vicious as the posts that Anon-A-Miss was making!

Sunset was starting to realize that most of the recent posts by Anon-A-Miss were false, thanks to her previous collection of blackmail that she had gathered on the students over her previous time as Alpha Bitch of CHS, and that was even more dangerous than the truth potentially!

“Hey! Anon-A-Bitch!” Sunset glowered as she heard that name shouted at her again, this time from the resident Alpha Bully of the school.

“When ya gonna stop postin’ shit?” Gilda asked as she and a handful of her cronies closed in on Sunset, cracking her knuckles audibly as she glared daggers at the taller girl.

“When ya gonna realize that it’s not me, idiot?” Sunset shot back, realizing that things weren’t gonna get away with a simple verbal bout. She dropped her backpack, shedding her coat with the same motion. “You really wanna do this, Gilda?”

A quick bark escaped from the girls lips, the goons giggling in response. “Six versus one half blind cripple?”

“Yeah, your odds fucking suck.” Sunset smirked, watching as Gilda’s face fell, her expression souring.

Gilda’s response was a loud cry as she charged as Sunset, her fist reaching back before swinging forwards and towards Sunset head. Sunset ducked out of the way, well used to having to fight in this world. She grabbed the girl’s arm and used her momentum to send the girl rocketing into the lockers, a loud clanging echoing through the halls as students gathered around them, chanting and cheering for Gilda.

Another cry filled the air as one of Gilda’s cohorts charged at Sunset, the rest following suit. Sunset smirked, they didn’t realize they were already fucked. One well practiced blow after another came from Sunset, her fists delivered into jaws and noses of the brutes, one after another, with the crowd booing her loudly.

“You’re dead, bitch!” came a low snarl from behind Sunset as hands grabbed around her neck and pulled her back, her spine exploding in pain as Gilda’s knee connected with devastating force. Sunset felt the stars that floated through her eyes as the teen’s ham-like fingers slowly started to squeeze around Sunset’s throat, choking her of vital oxygen.

Another pair of blows connected with Sunset’s back, the girl gurgling as the crowd continued to cheer. Her vision was starting to fade around the edges, and in the back of her mind she knew she had to turn this around, and quick.

As the latest blow retracted Sunset made her move, using Gilda’s motion and combining it with her own to off balance the girl, and sending her tumbling back with a loud cry of confusion, before landing with a dull thud, Sunset bouncing on top of her.

“Bad move, Gilda!” Sunset snarled as she tore free of the girl’s weakened grip, delivering a brutal elbow to the side of the girl’s head and preventing her grabbing hand to get purchase. Sher mounted Gilda over the chest, her legs planted firmly on the downed girl's arms as she started to rain heavy handed blows into the teen’s face, her vision turning crimson.

“I.”

THUD.

“TOLD.”

THUD!

“YOU.”

CRACK!

“I’M!”

CRUNCH!

“INNOCENT!”

Sunset’s last blow never connected, her hand grabbed from someone above her as she was yanked off of the body of Gilda.

“SUNSET!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Sunset’s rage filled haze slowly vanished as she struggled and failed to break free of Luna’s firm hold, the woman’s voice equally horrified and terrified.

“She started it! Her and her goons attacked me!” Sunset shouted as she got to her feet, breaking her hand free from the woman’s.

“We told you not to do anything reckless!” Celestia yelled as she broke through the crowd.

“Ya, well you didn’t stop them from jumping on me, now did you!” she snapped back as Celestia pushed her out of the way.

Celestia gave a panic cry as she knelt down over the unmoving body of Gilda, Sunset just now realizing the beating she had delivered to the girl. Gilda’s face was smashed, her nose bending in different directions as blood streamed down either cheek, her lips, like her cheeks, were swollen and split in multiple locations.

“Luna! Get her to the office! I’ll call Nine-One-One!” Celestia instructed as she knelt over the teen’s body, resting two fingers on Gilda’s neck.

“All students, return to class!” Luna bellowed, everyone bolting in terror, save for five who looked at Sunset in shock as she was dragged away by Luna. “You’re going to be lucky if you aren’t arrested, Sunset!”

Sunset ignored the woman, looking back at the Rainbooms as they stood watching her as she hobbled away. “What are you five looking at, huh!? Isn’t this what you fucking wanted!? Me to be the fucking villain!? Well congratulations!!!”

(V):.......:(V)

“The paramedics got her breathing normally…” Celestia said quietly as she faced out the window of her office, her eyes not looking at anything in particular. “Hopefully she wakes up soon…”

“...” Sunset sat there in silence, slumped over as she looked down at her hands with her only usable eye. She felt… empty. She should be outraged at herself for her actions, for how far she went, but after she got in the Principal’s office and sat down and she started to calm down, nothing came. Sure, her anger and feelings of betrayal still lingered, festering in her gut, but…

“They attacked me…” Sunset explained in a low whisper, not moving her gaze from her hands. “Six of them came after me, and I defended myself.”

“Defending yourself wouldn’t send a girl to the hospital on a stretcher, Sunset.” Celestia finally turned around and looked at Sunset, the girl finally looking up.

“And if that were me on the stretcher?” she asked simply. “Would you be having this conversation with Gilda?”

“I’d probably have her arrested before she walked in this office.” Sunset didn’t react to the hiss that escaped Celestia’s teeth as she bent over her desk. “You’re lucky the footage shows her swinging first, otherwise-”

“Otherwise what!?” Sunset yelled in outrage, shooting to her feet as she swung her arms out. “I’m lucky that my eye wasn’t gouged out this morning! I’m lucky that I’m not lying on a stretcher on the way to the hospital right now! These students are all coming after me over something that I’m innocent of!”

It was Luna’s turn to speak as she walked to her sister’s side. “If it weren’t for the fact that you were attacked earlier, and by a group, you could face serious prison time, Sunset! The false information on your paperwork puts you over eighteen now! You would be tried as an adult facing charges of assault and battery, or excessive force at the very least!”

“Let them! You can’t charge someone when they aren’t here!” Sunset threatened, crossing her arms as she glared at the two women.

“Exactly…” Celestia’s face was unreadable as she studied Sunset.

“Pardon me?”

“Sunset, you’re no longer a student here at Canterlot High School.”

“Excuse me!?” Sunset rushed forward and slammed her hands on the table, the wooden piece shuddering in place. “Are you seriously blaming me for the students attack me!?”

“I’m blaming you for almost killing another student, yes.” Celestia explain unemotionally.

“So I get attacked, and I’m to blame, huh?” Sunset shook her head. First the students all jumping on the bandwagon of accusing her of being Anon-A-Miss, and now when she gets attacked by students SHE’S to blame!?

“You know what? No, fuck you! You can’t expel me if I leave!” Sunset jabbed her finger at the women before storming towards the door of the office.

“Sunset, wait!” Luna called, her voice distressed. “My sister-”

“Can go shove her crown up her ass!” was the teens response as she slammed the door open and marched through.

The halls were empty, everyone was in class. Or they were supposed to be, because as soon as Sunset left the office and started down the hall towards her locker, she noticed five girls, standing in the middle of the hall where all of this started at the start of the week. Where Sunset was first accused of being Anon-A-Miss by the students. By them.

“What do you fuckers want!?” Sunset yelled as she neared, the girls mostly remaining still.

“We…” Rainbow Dash started, pausing when Sunset’s hateful gaze passed over her.

“You what?” the amber girl demanded quietly as she paused in front of them.

“We don’t think you’re Anon-A-Miss…” Rarity said, holding her hands in front of herself protectively.

“Oh, so now you assholes realize I’m innocent, huh? After I potentially lose my eye and almost get killed by students, you finally stop acting like fucking children!?” Sunset screamed at them, barely centimeters apart it felt. “Well what do you want!? Me to accept your apologies for ruining my fucking life!? Fuck off.”

Sunset split right through the girls, stomping past as they tried to keep up with her longer strides down the hall, Rainbow having the easiest time keeping up as she tried to plead with the Equestrian. “Please, Sunset! W-We talked about it at lunch and realized that you wouldn’t be so blatant about-”

“No shit!!! Quoting what I already said, huh!?” Sunset shook her head as she stopped in front of her locker, fiddling with the second hand lock before stashing it in her backpack, along with her journal and as many other belongings that would fit, before storing the rest under one arm and bulldozing through the group once more and heading back the way she came.

“Please, give us a second chance!”

Sunset froze as she heard Fluttershy cry out in an uncharacteristically loud voice. She slowly turned around on the group, her pupil a pinprick as her one good eye shook in its socket.

“Fuck. You.” she spat hatefully before turning away from them and walking down the hall.

“We really messed up, didn’t we…” Rainbow Dash said as she and the other Rainbooms watched Sunset’s back, bile threatening to boil out of her stomach as her guilt washed over her.

“What are we going to do… What can we do…?” Applejack asked to no one in particular.

(V):........:(V)

Sunset groaned as she pushed herself up off of the ground, hissing from the agony in her knees. She looked back at the ice that now sat revealed on the street, thanks to her boot finding it and started cursing loudly at it, before moving to cursing at the school, her life, and her former friends.

She looked around, and realized that she didn’t realize where she was, the heavy snowfall making it hard to make out any particular landmarks. At least the freezing temperature was taking away the stinging sensation in her knees, replacing it with a bone deep numbing. She grumbled as she started to grab her belongings.

What time was it even? She was so fed up with everything, so consumed with anger that she had just started walking as soon as she left CHS. She knew the Principal’s would probably call the cops on her after she stormed out of their office. Easier to scapegoat her than to explain to everyone that she was the victim.

She spat on the pavement at the thought of the school, of the people in it. She tried everything to make it up to them, to prove that she had changed, but apparently not even saving them from the mind control of the Sirens was enough to prove that she changed.

“WHY WON’T YOU JUST LET ME BE HAPPY, HUH!?” Sunset screamed from her knees, looking up into the sky with her arms held out, her school binders plummeting back onto the cold ground. “WHAT MUST I DO TO SHOW THAT I’VE CHANGED!?”

Life responded by just continuing to drop snow on her.

A low, deep laugh started to build out of Sunset’s core, making its way up and out of her, its dark, maniacal notes echoing through the air around her as she just laughed at all the things that life kept throwing at her, trying to beat her down into the dirt with.

“Well now, what do we have here?” Sunset’s laughter quieted down as the gate beside her opened up, a musical voice washing over her.

“Oh, heh… Of fucking course.” Sunset shook her head. Nope, life wasn’t done with her yet it seemed, as the form of Adagio Dazzle slipped through the raging snow.

“Fancy seeing you around here.” the lead Siren said, smiling as she looked down at the kneeling girl.

“I could say the same.” Sunset said as she grabbed her binders and finally stood up. “Saaay, you wouldn’t happen to be Anon-A-Miss, would you?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, darling.” Adagio said simply. Sunset wanted to distrust her, but the way she responded, Sunset just wasn't sure. “Why don’t you come inside? It is rather cold out.”

“...Come again?” Sunset asked to the retreating form of the Equestrian.

“What? Do you want to freeze out here?” Adagio smirked as she rested a hand on her hip.

“Why would you of all beings invite me inside? I mean, other than to kill me, of course.” Sunset smirked back in equal measure.

“Well I happened to overhear your earlier cries.” Adagio tapped a finger on her chin as she studied the girl. “And judging by what we observed on MyStable-”

“You just said you didn’t know what I was talking about!” Sunset yelled, her fire returning as she rushed up to the girl.

“Well I lied. Somewhat. However I assure that we are not behind Anon-A-Miss. Would we be so blatant?” Sunset froze as she heard those words again. No, the Sirens would not be so upfront about it.

“Fine. you got some band aids? I think my knees need some fresh ones.” Sunset asked as she followed the Siren into the snow.

Chapter 1: The Siren's Den

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“What the fuck is she doing here!?”

“Hello to you too, Aria.” Sunset smirked as she shut the door leading into the Siren’s house behind her, sighing as the warmth of the house started washing over her.

“Aria, sit.” Sunset chuckled at the tone of Adagio’s voice as she commanded her underling. “She’s here at my offer.”

“And why would you do that!? Did you forget what she did to us!?” the air radiated as Aria Blaze stomped down the stairs, flailing an arm in Sunset’s direction as she paused in front of Adagio.

Adagio sighed, bringing a hand to rest on her hip. “You don’t have to remind me, Aria. I was there, remember? I would also ask you to remember who is in charge here.”

“Bah, fine!” Aria threw up her arms as she turned to address Sunset, a smug look spreading across her face. “So I heard you’ve been having a rough time at school, huh?”

“Don’t have to tell me about it, ya bitch, I've been living through it.” Sunset chuckled as she brought her hand up to her face. “Though I don’t really have to deal with it anymore to be honest.”

Adagio’s brow peaked as she looked over at Sunset from behind Aria as she looked at Sunset in confusion. “The hell you talkin about?”

“Well I was gonna get expelled, so I told Celestia to fuck off and left instead.” Sunset shrugged as her bones started to thaw.

Aria doubled over in laughter as Sunset finished talking, slapping at her leg as she struggled to gasp for air. “You what!?”

“Did Celestia and Luna really think that you were behind Anon-A-Miss?” Adagio asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“No, they thought I was innocent.” she shrugged, confused slightly at what was occuring.

“Then why would they want to expel you?”

“Because I beat the shit out of Gilda.” Sunset said as she held up her hands, staring intently as she flexed her fingers, chuckling darkly as Aria’s laughter grew even more boisterous.

“You don’t seem the type, Sunset.” Adagio commented, tilting her head as a queer look flashed across her face.

“Well, I mean her and her goons jumped me, and I wasn’t gonna just let them walk all over me, ya know?”

“Damn girl! Maybe you’re slightly better than I thought!” Aria smirked as she wiped away the tear running down her cheek. “Fine, you can stay for a bit I guess. That Gilda bitch always rubbed me the wrong way back at CHS, so you have a little bit of respect from me for bodying her.”

“What's with all the racket down there?” came a tired voice from the top of the stairs, the most adorable yawn Sunset had ever heard following it shortly after.

“Just our new guest, Sonata. Do come down and say hi.” Adagio called up the stairs, an unsteady pair of footsteps slowly making their way down towards the small gathering.

“You never did explain why you let me in. I mean, if you wanted me dead I expect you’d have done it already.” Sunset crossed her arms in front of herself.

“Like I said, your cries resonated with me.” Adagio’s smile was full of the same smug, self confidence that she wore for almost her entire stay at Canterlot High School as she responded to Sunset’s question, avoiding answering it once again.

Sunset sighed and shook her head. “Come on, Adagio. I just want the truth, alright?”

“Who’s that?” came the still groggy sounding voice of the last Siren, Sonata Dusk. She looked quizzically at Sunset, obviously not recognizing her in her current state.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer. Remember me? I’m the one who beat you three at CHS during the Battle of the Bands.” Sunset explained, her voice calm and level. Out of all the Sirens, Sonata seemed almost the most innocent. Sure, she was easily the most mischievous one of the group, whereas Aria was more brutal, and Adagio duplicitous, but Sonata seemed like she just wanted to have fun. And eat tacos.

“Oh no… What are you doing here!?” Sonata started to backpedal, fear washing across her face as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. “Haven’t you done enough to us already!?”

Sunset froze for a second. What was Sonata going on about? She turned to look at Adagio, the question obviously readable on her face alone as the lead Siren let out a tired sigh.

“So, you won, and you destroyed our pendants, remember?” Adagio explained with Sunset nodding in time. Yeah, she remembered the Siren’s desperately trying to shovel the pieces back together before fleeing in a panic. “Do you know what that meant?”

“Well the Princess said that you were probably just normal girls now.” Sunset recalled, resting her hand on her hip. “But I thought that she was wrong, and judging by the reaction here, she was.”

“To put it simply, they were how we stored the energy that we fed on. Like a battery.” Adagio started, obviously speaking slowly to try and not confuse Sunset, much to her ire.

“So they were literally heartstones then.”

“Pardon me?” Adagio, let alone the other two Sirens, looked at Sunset in shock and amazement.

“You know, heartstones. A relative of spellstones, but instead of storing a spell, they store energy.” Sunset explained between chuckles at the sure collective look of bewilderment on the face of the three girls.

“How... do you know what those are?” Adagio asked quietly, taking a step forward.

Sunset tilted her head, her brow furrowed in confusion. The three had told Sunset during the Battle of the Bands that they heard all about her and her previous actions at the school, so why were they acting confused all of a sudden? “Wait, didn’t you three already know? I’m from Equestria as well.”

“What!?” all three Sirens cried out in time with one another.

“We didn’t know that!” Sonata said, suddenly smiling brightly as she bounded towards the girl, suddenly overly interested in her. “What was it like? Has it changed in the last however many thousand years!?”

“I doubt she would know that, idiot.” Aria snarked as she swatted the back of the bubbly girl’s head, Sonata emitting a small cry as her hands shot back to the sore spot of her head. “But maybe she could tell us if that bastard Starswirl is still around.”

“Starswirl’s been dead for ages.” Sunset said simply, a look of catharsis spreading amongst the three other Equestrians. “As far as changes, I dunno. I was never much for ancient geography, plus I’ve been gone from Equestria for… a little while.”

“Well the fact of that bastard being gone is reason alone to celebrate!” Sonata started bouncing up and down enthusiastically. “I’ll go start supper! We’re gonna have tacos tonight!”

“You and your god damn tacos!” Aria shouted after the skipping, giggling mess that was Sonata, before grumbling and looking at Sunset. “I guess you can stay for supper then.”

“I, uh…” Sunset paused, trying to come to terms of the craziness that had been the last… however long now. The Sirens, the beings that she helped defeat, were offering her food. The fact that they hadn’t chained her up in their basement was reason enough to be weirded out.

“Relax, Sonata’s probably the best cook this world will ever see.” Adagio snickered, obviously amused by the newly revealed Equestrian’s response. “Two thousand years of experience really does show.”

“Fuck it, why not.” Sunset chortled as she shrugged her shoulders and dropped her things onto the floor, stripping off her boots and following the lead Siren into the kitchen. “I mean, it’s not like I have anything else to do.”

“Just don’t think we’ve forgiven you for destroying our pendants, alright?” Aria growled dangerously from behind Sunset.

“Well why don’t you tell me why those things were so important to you three then?” Sunset growled back playfully, her academic itch getting the better of her.

“Well we figured that if we got enough energy we may be able get back to Equestria…” Sunset was surprised at just how sombre Adagio’s quiet tone was, the girl whispering to obviously keep Sonata from hearing. "I mean, when we first saw that rainbow blast of Equestrian Magic that night, we wanted to rule the world, but once we got to taste it... It reminded us all of home..."

“Why would you want to go back?" Sunset whispered back, reminded of the night of the Fall Formal, and her realization of how far she had fallen. “I mean, you all did some pretty terrible things if I remember right. At least here you’d be able to feed freely, right?”

“Because Equestria’s our home, idiot.” barked Aria, scowling at the girl as if she were an imbecile.

“Also keep in mind that history is written by the victors,” Adagio added, crossing her arms as a look of disgust washed over her face. “And that ancient “legends”, as I am sure we are now called, are often over embellished and woefully inaccurate.”

“So what’s your side of the story then?” Adagio and Aria both looked at Sunset as if she’d turned back into an Equine. “What? I like learning things.”

“...Are you sure that whatever happened to your eye didn’t scramble your brain?” an antagonistic chuckle came from Aria as she leaned up against a wall.

“I’ve been dealing with everyone I ever trusted in this world betraying me, had a rock potentially blind me, and I’m now staying at the house of the ancient Equestrian monsters that I helped defeat. For supper of all things.” Sunset grinned as she crossed her arms. “Logic, normality, and reason were thrown out the window long ago.”

“Touché. Alright then, we shall do the Hoof Notes version for you then.” Adagio’s smile seemed almost genuinely giddy as she looked at Sunset, obviously wanting to learn of her homeland. “First, what is the westernmost city that you know of in Equestria.”

“Vanhoover.” answered Sunset.

“Vanhoover…? That wasn’t around when we were last in Equestria.” Aria’s brow furrowed, before the girl scowled at the look she was receiving from Adagio.

“It has been thousands of years, remember. But Aria is right, we do not know that city. How far away from Canterlot is it?”

“Two days by pegasus chariot, roughly.” Sunset quoted, chuckling as she thought about how the plane ride from Canterlot to Vanhoover in this world was about two hours at most instead.

“Okay, so it’s on the new coast then.” Adagio nodded, resting her chin in her hand, her brow squished in thought.

“New coast? This must be one of the things you meant.” Sunset couldn’t help but start to smile slightly.

“Ah, yes. Well you see, our tribe used to inhabit the lands that now dwell at the bottom of the ocean to the west of the Equestrian mainland.” Adagio’s turn slowly changed to bitter, matching the low growl coming from Aria. "The Luna Ocean, as it is now called."

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about that…” Sonata whispered with immense sorrow, tears building in her eyes as she held onto a brightly polished cooking pot.

Morbid curiosity got the better of Sunset. “I’m guessing something bad happened…?”

“Your precious Princess’ blasted our civilization to the bottom of the ocean floor because we refused to send our kinsmen to be butchered in some senseless war!” Sunset jumped back in fear at the furious rage flying from Sonata, Aria chuckling in amusement at the girl’s response.

“C-Come again?” Sunset stuttered, trying to calm down her now racing heartbeat. The fire coming from Sonata's normally joyous eyes threatened to burn her alive!

“She’s talking about the Mino-Roaman War from ancient times.” Adagio paused, shaking her head in response to Sunset’s look of confusion. “Really? Great, so they even skipped over that.”

“Those bullheaded Minotaurs- Shut the fuck up, Shimmer!” Aria showed the giggling girl a pair of birds before continuing. “Their bastard of a leader decided to start a war with Roam, all because of a drinking contest gone wrong! Roam of course sent out requests for aid, and of course the Princess’ would help, and the two of them went all across Equestria rounding up troops.”

“We were a peaceful people! We were farmers, and fisherponys! We didn’t want conflict!” Sonata spat, slamming the pot onto the counter. “And then Luna took it personally!”

“So you’re saying that because your tribe refused to be conscripted they eradicated you?” Sunset raised an eyebrow in suspicion. That didn't seem quite right. “That doesn’t seem right. Besides, Nightmare Moon wasn’t for about another-”

“What Sonata means, is that when the super volcano known as Mount Hoofington erupted and submerged our lands beneath the water, the Princess’ and all of Equestria ignored our pleas for help, revenge for us not sending our young to be killed.” Adagio explained, Aria and Sonata both grumbling.

“I’ve never heard about any of this…” Sunset paused, unsure if she should believe any of this. “If it’s true, that is quite a claim.”

“Like I said, history is written by the victors…” Adagio turned her head away from Sunset, the unicorn watching small tremors run through the Siren’s frame.

Sunset broke the silence that had fallen over the room. “So question, then. Why did it matter if you were sent to the bottom of the ocean? I mean, your species feeds on negativity and such, no? You were part fish, part Pony, so being underwater wouldn't have been an issue, right?”

“Why would the Princess’ come to us to ask for aid if we were monsters?” Aria chuckled darkly. “Why would we have been a part of ancient Equestria?”

“Our entire tribe were ponies, Sunset. Back then, we were not different than you.” Adagio’s smirk was a raging sea of various emotions as she watched Sunset try to come to terms with what she just heard.

“What? But why… What?” Sunset could swear she heard her brain sparking and fizzling. “But those projections at the Battle of the Bands! The ancient myths!”

“Oh, that’s what we look like now, but back in the day we were just regular ponies.” Aria chuckled before frowning darkly. “Our leaders tried to save us after we were abandoned, and long story short, shit went awry and now we’re the last survivors of our tribe.”

“If it is alright with you, Sunset, I think all three of us would prefer to stop the history lesson there.” Adagio gave a sad smile.

“Oh, t-totally! I completely understand!” Sunset nodded rapidly in agreement, surprised at herself for potentially feeling pity for the Sirens. If this were all true… Sunset didn’t want to think about it. “I, uh… I’ll keep quiet on what you said. Besides, I doubt anyone would believe me anyways.”

“Today’s just full of surprises for everyone, it seems.” Adagio laughed brightly. “Here we are talking about our history to the pony that destroyed our only remnants of our home.”

“Well, I mean… It was in self defence…?” Sunset gave an uneasy smile, as the three Sirens burst out in laughter.

“I’m still pissed at you, Sunset.” chuckled Aria, the girl cracking her knuckles, the look on her face not holding a trace of humour. “Don’t you worry. Next time we meet, should we meet, things will be quite different.”

Adagio reached over and grabbed the purple Siren by the ear, the girl yelling and struggling to break free. “Oh do stop threatening our guest, Aria. She’s playing nice, and I invited her in.”

“The beef!” Sonata yelled as she remembered what she had been in the middle of previously, racing off back into the kitchen.

“Beef?” Sunset felt an uneasy look come to her face.

(V):.:(V)

“What do you mean you’re a vegetarian!?” flecks of taco flew from Aria’s gaping mouth as her jaw dropped at Sunset’s comment.

“You aren’t? I thought you three said you were ponies!” Sunset shot back in disbelief as she finished loading crisp veggies into her soft tortilla wrap.

“That was long ago. Why, even here we didn’t need physical food for sustenance.” Adagio chortled as she finished delicately wrapping her tortilla. “Since then we’ve branched out on our diets, thanks to Humans being so focused on butchering things.”

“I just…” Sunset froze and looked at the bowl of steaming beef with a sad look. “I know it’s a custom here, but… Back home? That would have been a sentient being…”

“You’re saying they aren’t here?” Aria smiled, trapping Sunset in her words.

“When did you get so smart?” Sunset grumbled as she glared at the Siren. “And it’s slightly different here cause they don’t talk. It’s like how after the Fall Formal people kept harassing me with images of horses fucking, asking if it made me hot- Bleh!”

“Heh, that’s a good idea, Sunset, thanks!” Aria laughed, only to get interrupted by a face full of lettuce. “Wha- Hey!”

“Want me to find you some images of whale’s fucking? Cause that’d be the same idea, bitch!” Sunset yelled playfully, winking when the Siren finally cleaned off her face.

“Hey! Stop wasting ingredients! I coulda eaten that!” Sonata cried out in horror, beef juice and salsa dripping down her chin on onto both her bib and plate. Sunset couldn’t help but laugh at how adorably innocent the girl looked with the bright pink cloth edged with white lace covering her chest.

“You’ve already had eight! Leave some for the rest of us!” Aria grumbled, flicking some of the lettuce at Sonata who squealed in adorable annoyance.

“Is it always like this around here?” Sunset whispered to Adagio, watching the other two Siren start to engage in ration-based combat.

“Yes… I’ve always been surrounded by idiots…” Sunset giggled softly as she listened to Adagio grumble under her breath. “Over four thousand years old and they both act like they’re infants.”

“So how close were you three back then? I mean, you three seem pretty friendly with one another. Well, more or less.” Sunset added the last bit on as she watched Aria grabbed the salsa dish and hurl it at Sonata who had been sticking her tongue out from across the table, the small bowl landing with a delicate “Splat!” on top of the girl’s head, who cried out in shock before breaking down into tears.

“We’re sisters, of course.” Adagio winked before turning on Aria and starting to blast the girl to hell and back as Sonata continued to wail like a newborn. Sunset watched the whole spectacle unfold, giggling the whole while, before getting and walking over to Sonata’s side, bringing her paper towel along with her.

“Would you like some help cleaning up, Sonata?” she asked, holding out the paper towel with an apologetic smile, the blue Siren looking up at her with tear filled, puppy dog eyes as she nodded with a low whine.

(V):..:(V)

“Thank you again for supper.” Sunset smiled as she finished dropping the armful of plates she held onto the counter beside the large, double wide sink. “It was delicious.”

“You better have enjoyed it…” Aria grumbled, glaring at the amber girl as she paused her scrubbing. Sunset chuckled as she watched the Siren fidget in the frilly maid apron before turning and looking at Adagio.

“Will you let Sonata know that she’s a good cook? I should really be heading home. Got a lot of thinking to do about my future now.”

“I can do that, but maybe it would be best for you to stay the night.” Adagio said as she jerked a thumb to the large window behind her. The snowstorm seemed to only increase in fury, the snow landing against the glass with heavy splats.

“Eh, I’ve walked through worse.” Sunset shrugged as she blatantly lied to the Siren. No need to play out her welcome any longer than she had to after all. Aria made that abundantly clear earlier.

A smug smirk spread across Adagio’s face as she crossed her arms, obviously not buying the girl’s line. “Sure you have, darling, and I was the Queen of Prance. Just stay the night and I’ll drive you home in the morning.”

“Look, inviting me into your home, telling me your pasts and treating me to dinner is one thing, but I’m seriously wondering why you’re being so nice to me right now.” Sunset shook her head, resting her hands on her hips as she studied the lead Siren. “Considering what I did? What’s your angle, Adagio?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” came the predatory response, Adagio’s eyes carrying an evil glint as her smirk grew malicious.

“Well, ya, I kinda do.” Sunset chuckled, with Adagio following suit momentarily.

“Fine. I don’t know.” Adagio’s face fell to disinterest as she held out her hands.

“...Really?” Sunset’s brow lifted in doubt at the Siren’s comment.

“Yes. I don’t know why I brought you in. After the Battle of the Bands we probably would have tortured then killed you, but when I saw you outside, on your knees and cursing life… Well it reminded me of something.”

“Because I seemed just like you three in the past I take it?” Adagio nodded in response to Sunset’s assumption. “Heh… Well thank you, Adagio. I guess I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“Just don’t think-”

“That you’ve forgiven me, I know that, Aria.” Sunset shook her head, chuckling under her breath. “If it makes you feel any better, I went looking for you three after the event.”

“Oh really? And why would you do that?” Adagio asked, her face conflicted.

“Maybe because I wanted to do for you three what Princess Twilight did for me.”

“That being…?”

“I thought we could be friends.” Sunset shrugged weakly, scratching at her cheek as she look away in embarrassment. Her eyes shot back towards the two Sirens as they erupted into laughter, Adagio having to lean against the wall in order to not fall down.

“F-Friends…?” Aria started choking as she tried to breathe between laughs. “You w-wanted to be friends with… u-us…?”

“Equestrians are just so precious.” Adagio added as she wiped away a tear forming at the corner of her eye. “Friendship- Hah! You must be joking, Sunset!”

Sunset stood there, a slight blush spreading across her face as she looked down at her feet, kicking the floor with socks as Adagio’s laughter slowly died off. Aria remained howling like a hyena, however.

“Maybe I was. I dunno… You three just looked so sad after your pendants broke, I felt like maybe if I talked to you three- Wah!” Sunset stumbled back as a knife flew past her head, streaks of water spraying off of it as it cartwheeled dangerously through the air before it clattered to the floor noisily before Aria stormed over to her and grabbed her by the shirt collar, snarling as she looked up into Sunset’s eyes.

“No shit we were sad, you fucking bitch!” Aria yelled, her eyes wide as her knuckles started to pale. “We spent all this time on this god forsaken rock trying to get enough magic to go back to Equestria, and then you come along and ruin everything! You’re lucky that we didn’t starve to death from the loss of our pendants! It’s bad enough that they were our only keepsakes from our time in Equestria- The only connection to all of our friends and family!”

Sunset knelt down slowly towards Aria, the Siren having broken down into tears part way through her tirade and slumping down to the floor. She quaked as she sobbed openly, hands coming up to her face. Sunset paused for a moment, her hand outstretched as she wondered what she should do, before reaching forward and wrapping her hands around the Siren.

“They’re all we had and now they’re gone…” Aria whispered hoarsely into Sunset’s ear as she sat down on the floor. “W-We kept the shards, but…”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.” Sunset said quietly, rubbing her hand along the stocky Siren’s back. “But you three threatened our school. We did the only thing we knew at the time.”

“Why’s Aria crying?” Sonata’s tentative voice called out from the opening to the kitchen, looking down at the two kneeling figures in worried confusion.

“Don’t worry, Sonata, she’ll be fine.” Adagio gave a sad smile as she looked up at the blue hued girl.

“So all this time you’ve wanted to just get back home?” Sunset asked as she pulled away from the struggling Aria.

“Yeah…” the purple Siren wiped away the last of her tears as she glowered angrily at Sunset. “It’s not like we want to be here, but there’s so little Magic that it’s took us all that time just to be able to make those projections… And then your friends come along, radiating Equestrian Magic…”

“Well they’re not my friends anymore.” Sunset said bitterly, looking away as she clenched her fists angrily. “I doubt that they ever were.”

“Well that didn’t stop you from helping them, now did it!” yelled Aria as she started to get in Sunset’s face again, the amber girl growling fiercely as she pushed the Siren away.

“And if I knew now what I do now, I probably wouldn’t have! I’d probably have gone back to Equestria and left those traitorous bitches to fucking rot!”

“Um… What did they do?” Sunset looked over towards Sonata as the girl tilted her head innocently.

“Adagio said that you three knew what was going on.” Sunset grumbled, crossing her arms. Her mood soured further as she thought back to what had all happened over the previous week.

“Huh?” Sonata’s look became even more vacant as she looked over to her leader.

“You said you weren’t interested, remember? Something about researching new taco recipes?” Adagio sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Basically someone turned the school on Sunset, spreading lies and rumours. You know, basic, petty, human revenge.”

“Really? And they thought it was you?” Sunset shut her eyes as her scowl grew, her body starting to shake as the fire in her belly started to grow hotter. “Why would they-”

“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW WHY THEY THOUGHT IT WAS ME, ALRIGHT!?” Sunset screamed as she shot to her feet, arms flying out as she watched Sonata retreat in fear. “I’VE CHANGED! I THOUGHT THEY ALL UNDERSTOOD THAT AFTER THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS, BUT NOOO! APPARENTLY EVERYONE FUCKING THINKS THAT I’M BEHIND ANON-A-MISS EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO REASON TO DO SUCH A THING!”

Sunset stood there, breathing heavily as her adrenaline continued to pump through her veins, her heartbeat raging loudly in her ears as all her anger came flowing forth. “Ever since the Fall Formal, everybody’s been giving me shifty looks, cracking jokes at my expense! The Rainbooms did the same! The only time they bother to fucking talk to me is when I tried to ask them questions! It would have been better if they just ignored me like the rest of the goddamn school!”

“So much for “Friendship”, huh?” Aria chuckled as she grinned at the back of Sunset’s head, only to fall backwards when Sunset turned on her, lava pouring from her eyes.

“Look, Sunset. Sonata meant no harm, alright?” Adagio explained slowly, moving to stand in between her and Aria as she held up her hands. “She didn’t know, and Aria’s just a cantankerous bitch.”

“Hey!” Aria cried out in annoyance, only to give a pained hiss as Adagio delivered a heel into the girl’s midsection.

“So please, do calm down. If it makes you feel better, maybe we could be of assistance in getting revenge on the Rainbooms?”

“Revenge?” Sunset’s voice still carried a steely edge to it, even as she started to slow her breathing, her emotions calming and rationality taking back over. “I… No… No, revenge is exactly what they want me to try and do, I just know it. Besides…”

Sonata slowly peered back around the corner as she heard Sunset’s voice died off, just in time to see the girl look over her shoulder and give an apologetic look before walking over to Aria and holding her hand out.

Aria looked up at the amber girl in confusion, but Sunset only smiled, her thoughts going back to the girl who looked down at her at the literal lowest point in her life, helping Sunset to crawl out of the crater in the ground. “I don’t want to disappoint my only friend. She would do better, and so should I. So, uh… Sorry for the outburst, and uh… I guess sorry for destroying your pendants?”

“I still say revenge would be more enjoyable…” Aria grumbled as she grabbed hold of Sunset’s hand, before making a surprised noise as she was hoisted effortlessly to her feet in one, fluid motion. “W-Woah, what the hell? How’d you do that?”

“What, pull you to your feet?” Sunset chuckled as she watched Aria look at her in amazement.

“Well, yeah, but with only one arm?”

“What? Didn't you see me when I took off my jacket that night?” Sunset chuckled as she slid off her signature leather jacket, before bursting out laughing as Aria’s eyes bulged out of their sockets as she stared at Sunset’s arms. “Like what you see?”

“Holy fuck!” was the Siren’s simple comment, earning laughs from the other three Equestrians as her eyes started to glaze over. “What the hell kind of workout do you do to get those cannons!?”

“I, uh… I just do basic stuff. I can’t afford a gym, but I like to be active so I’m usually out walking every night and doing a basic routine at home.” Sunset shrugged as an embarrassed blush came to her face.

“Bullshit! You gotta be on supplements or some shit!”

“I promise you that I’m not.” laughed Sunset as she put her jacket back on, Aria whining sadly. “I can barely afford dial up, let alone supplements or other luxuries.”

“I still don’t believe you, but whatever.” Aria grumbled as she started to walk back over towards the sink and the pile of dishes waiting to be cleaned.

“U-Umm…” Sunset looked back at Sonata, jumping in shock as she came almost face to face with the girl. “D-Do you like... Video games?”

“Heh, yeah. I don’t have my own consoles for obvious reasons, but I enjoyed playing them whenever I could.”

“Have you ever played Bash Brothers?” Sonata’s eyes slowly widened as she leaned in even closer towards Sunset, a hopeful undertone to her question.

“That’s the one on the little white box thing, right? With the motion controls?” Sunset received a frenzy of nods from Sonata as her balled up hands grew closer to her face. “Yeah, I think I played that one before. I quite enjoyed it.”

Sunset could swear she felt the sound barrier explode in Equestria from the pitch of the squeal that emanated from Sonata as she grabbed Sunset by the hands and dragged her at a lightning pace out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, Sunset looking back in confusion at the slowly vanishing form of Adagio who was giggling loudly.

(V):...:(V)

“I didn’t know you had an ocean in your house…” Sunset said in amazement as she shut the bathroom door behind herself, her eyes wide as she gazed over at Adagio.

“Yes, well, while it may have been unintended, but we quite enjoy the water still.” the Siren chuckled as she watched Sunset return to towel drying her long mane of hair. “I’m pretty sure we’d live in the ocean if we could and the Humans weren’t in the middle of destroying them all.”

“Yeah, magic would solve a lot of problems in this world.” Sunset nodded, thinking back to the luxuries she enjoyed while a student back in Equestria. “Mind you I don’t know if I could survive without the internet. Though mind you…”

“Hm?” Adagio paused and looked over her shoulder at the suddenly smirking Sunset.

“I haven’t had a good lay since I got here.” Sunset gave a playful wink as Adagio broke out into chuckles. “I was dating this guy for awhile and it really made me miss Equestria, if you know what I mean. Magic made things so much better, and mares were more willing to have fun, ya know?”

“Well the three of us haven’t spent any… personal time with anyone else since we were banished here.” Adagio chuckled as she watched a fiery blush spread over Sunset’s face in response. “Humans are a bit too… primitive for our tastes for a proper relationship.”

“Ya, I know what you mean, and I'm only a fraction of your age.” Sunset returned to drying her hair, winking playfully as the two Equestrians stood there.

“Can you blame us? Like you said, Human males are generally lacking, and society still is lacking in regards to understanding sexuality.” Adagio shrugged her shoulders again as she returned to looking forward. “So as such we keep things in the family, so to speak.”

“Oh... Okay.”

“We've tried being with others, but It never seems to work out in the end.”

“Did you ever notice the constant element with it?” Sunset asked Adagio loudly, a playful twinkle coming to her eye, only to spread into an extremely sly look as Adagio shook her head in confusion. “You!”

“Alright, smartass.” Adagio chuckled as she pushed off from the wall and turned towards Sunset. “Why don’t I show you to your room? Although you are more than welcome to join the three of us tonight if you wish.”

Sunset shook her head as Adagio winked, following behind the Siren a short ways before stopping before a door and slipping inside. It was beyond spacious to say the least, with her belongings resting neatly on the bed and desk. A slight feeling of envy washed over her, more at the fact that she was going to sleep on a bed that wasn't filled with lumps tonight.

She gave a tired sigh as she fell onto the bed, relishing the plush embrace that it gave her as her mind started to wander. What was she going to do tomorrow? It wasn’t like she was going back to CHS, she had all her important belongings from that place and it was clear that they didn’t want her back. Plus if someone came after her because of Gilda she could use the footage of her getting jumped on by those goons.

Her hand crept up to the scab running along her cheek and brow, gingerly pressing against the tender skin under her eye. She hissed as she slowly tried to open it, agony blazing through her cheek in response, but at least she could still see through it thankfully, so that was a massive relief.

She reached a hand up towards the ceiling, her fingers spread wide as she let out another tired sigh, a tear building in her uninjured eye as memories of the horrified looks on the Rainbooms faces flashed in front of her. They had apologized, that was true, but did they mean it? After all, they were the first to turn their backs on Sunset. They were the ones that let everyone in the school turn on her…

But what would Princess Twilight do? What would she say? Sure, the Rainbooms may have apologized like their Equestrian counterparts, but why didn’t they believe Sunset in the first place? Hadn’t she proved that she had changed? They even started to treat her like a real friend after the Battle of the Bands! They stopped with all the “No offence” jokes, invited her to their parties and get-togethers, even let her sit with them at lunch without ignoring her most of the lunch hour! She doubted that this is what Twilight went through with her Rainbooms.

She shut her eye, the tear streaming down her face and towards the bed. No, she couldn’t forgive them. Not for ruining her life. They knew how important they were to her, how much of her life they were a part of, and they still never got over her past actions.

She sat up and looked around the room for her journal, spotting it on the desk and walking over to sit down on the chair, rummaging through her bag for a pen. She flipped through the pages, past all of the lies she told the Princess about the girls, saying that the Rainbooms had been good friends, truly teaching her the magic of Friendship. She cursed herself for being so timid then, refusing to stand up for herself because she believed that the students actions were justified towards her.

Dear Princess Twilight,

Hello again Twilight, I hope your meetings are going well. I’m guessing you have been really busy because you haven’t replied yet.

I am sad to say that I am no longer a student of Canterlot High School. I hope that you will not overreact, as that would only make things worse for me. It is better this way, as now the students will not be able to attack me.

Earlier this morning, when I had just arrived at CHS, a snowball with a rock in it was thrown at my face. I am fine, though there will likely be a scar over my eye once it is healed.

Later in the school day I was jumped on by Gilda and some of her goons, and had to defend myself from their attacks. I maaay have gone a little overboard, but they attacked me first, I promise!

The girls finally apologized to me for believing that I was guilty of being Anon-A-Miss, but…

I don’t think I can accept it. They ruined my life, turned their backs on me and let me become the scapegoat of the entire school, and they think they can just apologize and make it better?

I guess I should tell you that I’ve been lying to you, Princess. About the girls and how they were so good to me after the Fall Formal. They never taught me about Friendship, never treated me like a friend. Even when we held the sleepover during the Battle of the Bands they didn’t want me there, they were just too polite to tell you that.

It wasn’t until after I helped defeat the Sirens that they and the rest of the school started treating me nicely, but it seems now like that was nothing but trickery…

I guess I should also tell you that I am currently staying with the Sirens, and they are actually being quite pleasant. This is shocking to say the least, but they are easily being friendlier than the Rainbooms have this week.

I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow, but I’m hoping you have a chance to get back to me before then.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*

Sunset smiled as she shut her journal, setting the pen down beside it. It was strangely liberating getting all that off her chest, telling Princess Twilight the truth about the Rainbooms instead of covering for them.

She leaned back. She would need to pay the Sirens back for their hospitality tonight, but how? She knew that she couldn’t fix their pendants in this world, and if she went back to Equestria then Celestia would no doubt find her, and that’s the last thing that she wanted. And even if she did fix the pendants, if they trusted her to do so, what guarantee would she have that they wouldn’t do something villainous as a result? They hadn’t exactly apologized for their actions.

Maybe she could take them back to Equestria? Sunset burst into chuckles at the madness of her comment. If they showed back up in Equestria they would probably end up banished again, maybe locked away in Tartarus or the Moon, and that would be a lot nicer than what would happen to Sunset!

And it’s not like they had any needs in this world, judging by the size of their mansion and the belongings in it! What could Sunset possibly do for them? Other than their hint of looking for revenge on the Rainbooms. She wouldn’t stoop to the level of those girls. She was better than that now.

“Come in!” Sunset called out in response to the knocking echoing from her door, the door creaking open as Adagio slipped in, shutting the door behind her. “Oh, hello Adagio. What do you need?”

“I couldn’t help but notice the hint of Equestrian Magic emanating from your room.” the Siren responded, a hint of sheepishness on her face as she leaned against the door.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Sunset chortled as she grabbed her journal, showing it to the head Siren. “That’s just my journal. It’s linked to a second one in Equestria that used to belong to Princess Celestia from when I was her personal protogé.”

“Oh? You really are a remarkable individual, Sunset.” Adagio smiled at Sunset as she crossed her arms.

“O-Oh, uh… Thanks?” Sunset scratched errantly at her cheek, unsure of how to feel about the Siren’s compliment.

“So it works like an email?” Adagio approached, studying the cover intently.

“I'd personally say more like an instant messenger, but either works.” Sunset explained, watching the Siren carefully.

“Interesting. I wonder why it still works in this world? I mean it is so Magic bare here, and then being able to link all the way back to its counterpart in Equestria? That is quite the impressive spell.”

“Thanks. It took me months to recover after casting it.” Sunset chuckled as the Siren gave her a look of amazement. “Princess Twilight even…”

“Hmm?” Adagio’s look changed to confusion as Sunset’s voice died off as she caught herself mid sentence. The Sirens may just be trying to use her, and while they had helped take care of her tonight, she doubted that she should let them know about the portal.

“Oh, sorry! I meant to say that Princess Twilight is also amazed, and she’s an Alicorn.” Sunset laughed, hoping to play off her lapse in speech.

“Oh? I thought you said that Starswirl was gone?” Adagio looked at Sunset in confusion.

“He is, why?”

“Well he was the one that helped the Sister’s ascend, so we believed that he was important for that transition.” explained Adagio, taking a seat on Sunset’s borrowed bed.

“Ah, well apparently Celestia was all that was required for Twilight’s ascension. And creating a new spell. I dunno, it's all very confusing to me to be honest.” Sunset watched as the Siren flipped her hair nonchalantly.

“I see…” Adagio seemed hesitant, uneasy. It was extremely out of character for the orange haired Equestrian.

“So what’s the real reason you came knocking, Adagio?” Sunset smirked, watching as Adagio jumped in spot.

“Well, Sonata had a request, and while Aria is often described as, and I quote, “a frigid bitch”, she seemed to agree.”

“And that is…?” Sunset leaned forward, smiling devilishly as she pressed into Adagio verbally.

“Well, you see…” Adagio's voice grew quiet again.

“Yes…?” said as she leaned forward, her features growing catlike as she verbally prodded the Siren.

“Maybe it is time that the three of us branch out, so to speak.” Adagio looked to the side, an embarrassed blush colouring her face.

“Branch out?” Sunset sat back in confusion, just what the hell was going on right now? "Didn't I already tell you I didn't want to share a bed tonight?"

“Not that, you child! Er... Would you be willing to give us your cell phone number?” Sunset froze. Had Hell, Tartarus, and the Sun itself just frozen over? She got off her chair and walked over to Adagio, the Siren looking at her, the blush deepening. “W-What are you doing?”

“Hmm… Nope, no fever…” Sunset paused as she removed the back of her hand from the forehead of the Siren. “Okay, what’s your ploy, Adagio? This isn’t like you. Like, at all.”

“Well Sonata was thinking that maybe the three of us could be friends, she wouldn’t shut up about how much fun she had playing that game with you, and Aria is so enamored with your arms that I am starting to get embarrassed by it.” Adagio stuttered repeatedly, stumbling over herself constantly as she sat on the bed. “We haven’t really gone out to do anything in quite a while, and we have no interest in wasting time on the inhabitants of this world.”

“Okay, this is more than a little weird, Adagio. Are you really being honest with me right now? I mean, what reason would you have to associate with me?” Sunset crossed her arms and her legs, one on top of the other as she grilled Adagio.

“If you want to decline, that is fine, we understand-”

“Look, Adagio, I just wanted to say it’s weird, alright? This whole day’s been weird! I’m not gonna look down on your hospitality, cause I really do appreciate it, but… I can’t not say that I find it weird that you three are wanting to be my friends. You three have quite the history back in Equestria, and you have quite the reason to be unhappy with me.”

“That is true.” Adagio said, catching her breath and starting to slowly calm down. She closed her eyes as she leaned back on her hands.

“But what have I got to lose?” the Siren’s eyes shot open in response to Sunset’s answer. “I mean, you three have been better to me than my supposed “real” friends have of late. I’m also no longer a student of CHS, so it’s not like I’m gonna have to explain to them that I’m hanging out with you three, so why not? I could use some more people on my side right now.”

Sunset was surprised at the sigh of relief that escaped from Adagio, a hand coming to rest on her chest as a pleased smile spread across her face. Maybe the Sirens really were just looking for some company? “Just don’t ask me to go after CHS in retaliation, okay? I’m not gonna give them any reason to dislike me any more than they already do.”

“I assure you that any plans we have for revenge on them will not involve you.” the same self confident, predatory smile the Siren wore during most of her stay at CHS spread across Adagio’s face as she responded to Sunset. “Thank you, Sunset. I’ll leave you be, though I suggest you lock your door after I leave, unless you want to suffer death of asphyxiation by Sonata snuggles.”

“I’ll take your word on that.” Sunset chuckled as she waved farewell to the departing Siren, following behind and locking the door with a heavy “Thunk”, before returning to her desk, a bemused smile on her face. It really had been an awkward last twenty four hours. She gave a small yawn, stretching her arms above her head, before pausing and looking down at her suddenly vibrating journal.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I will be honest, I am worried about you staying with the Sirens to say the least, but if they are acting cordially then I guess it is fine. However I am highly disappointed in you lying to me about your treatment by the school after the Fall Formal! I wish you had told me! I would have given you some advice, or asked to talk to the girls myself!

But what happened in the past cannot be changed, no matter what time travel spells say on the matter. I also do not condone violence upon others, but if that world’s Gilda truly did attack you first, and with others assisting her, then I guess your actions were in self defence.

I am sad to hear that you have left Canterlot High School, but I understand and respect your decision.

I am incredibly disappointed in the girls, and their treatment of you. I am shocked to say the least, and shall make a visit to them as soon as I can, to let them know that I am disappointed in their failure to teach you about the Magic of Friendship.

I am here for you if you need me, though we are about to enter meetings between the Minotaur and Zebra delegations, and negations have been tense at best, so I apologize for my slow responses, but these meetings shall hopefully be done in the coming days.

Your Friend,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. You know you don’t have to keep calling me Princess, right?

Sunset chuckled at the Princess’ postscript as she shut the journal, she could feel the embarrassment of the other pony through the journal. She looked over at her bed, her eyes starting to droop. Maybe she should turn in for the night? She had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be quite the day.

(V):....:(V)

Sunset’s yawn reverberated through the hallway as she scratched at her lower back. She didn’t know what time it was, but judging by the light flowing through her blinds this morning she had probably slept in quite late.

“Sunset!” the amber girl froze as the happy yell drowned out her yawn. She looked behind herself just to see the missile like form of Sonata Dusk flinging itself at her, arms outstretched. “Good morning! You sure slept in late!”

“Did I? What time is it?” Sunset chuckled as she slowly pried the girl off of herself delicately.

“Eight past eleven.” came the humoured response of Aria Blaze, the girl pocketing her phone into her jean pocket. “Morning, friend.”

“Given the way you look at me, I think you may want to be more than just friends, Aria.” Sunset winked, earning a playful scowl from the purple Siren. “Though that is pretty late. Sorry if I missed breakfast.”

“No worries, I saved your pancakes for brunch!” Sonata smiled warmly as she swung her hips from side to side.

“She wanted to eat them all herself, but I prevented that.” Aria snarked as she wrapped Sonata’s head in an arm lock, the girl crying pitifully as she tried to free herself from her sister’s vicious noogies. “Your welcome.”

“I was gonna save her some!” Sonata whined as Aria started dragging her down the hall. “For realsies!”

Sunset chuckled under her breath as she followed the pair down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Adagio Dazzle sat comfortably at the table, sipping gently on a cup of tea as she held an ancient looking book in her hands.

“Ah, good morning, Sunset. Aria, let go of Sonata and get our new friend her brunch.” Aria held a middle finger up in response as she dropped Sonata onto the floor before stomping over to the microwave. “I tried to wake you an hour ago, but you seemed to not want to answer.”

“Heh, sorry. I guess I didn’t realize just how much sleep I’ve lost over the last week.” Sunset replied as she rubbed at the back of her head. “Thanks again for everything so far. I promise to get out of your hair after this.”

“What are your plans now? Considering you are a free girl, I imagine you have something you want to do.” Adagio shut her book, setting it on the table as she removed her horn rimmed glasses and setting them on top of it.

“Not much, to be honest. I’m probably gonna have to find a job that doesn’t look for a social security number, and that could take a while.” Sunset groaned as she sat down in the chair she had occupied the previous night, resting her chin on the table. “I’m not looking forward to that.”

“Well what if you had a sponsor?”

“Pardon me?” Sunset raised a brow as she looked over at Adagio, only to have her line of sight blocked by a plate layered with steaming hot pancakes.

“Well it’s like I said. We could assist you in that matter. We have some connections after all.” Adagio gave a playful wink as Sunset sat up and reached for the glass bottle of maple syrup Sonata had deposited with along with some utensils. “Or maybe if you were looking to continue your education we could help with that, whether you wanted us to tutor you, or if you wished to pursue your studies at the other local school.”

“Crystal Prep Academy…” that school had quite the reputation, especially at CHS. The students despised the school and the students within it, especially because of the history of defeat at the upcoming Friendship Games. “How the hell would you be able to get me in there? I've heard the requirements are insane!”

“An email here, a phone call there. Nothing you would have to worry about, darling.”

“Hmmm... I’ll think about it. It would probably help if I got the paperwork from CHS; Celestia and said that I was no longer a member of that school, maybe she was transferring me instead of expelling me.” Sunset said between gooey mouthfuls of syrup soaked pancake. “Jeez, Sonata… You’re one hell of a cook!”

Sonata giggled happily as she scratched her cheek, her beaming smile causing Sunset to feel like she had contracted all the diabetes.

“If you go, we’d like to go with you.” Adagio said simply, crossing her arms as she looked at Sunset firmly.

“Yeah. You might not want revenge, but you’ll no doubt need protection if you had a rock thrown at you and people come swinging.” Aria wore a fierce smile as she stood up and walked behind Adagio, resting a hand on the Siren’s shoulder.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Sunset asked slowly as she set her fork and knife down delicately. “I mean, you three have a worse reputation there than I do potentially.”

“You’re our friend, and I think that means we should look out for you, right?” Sonata beamed as Sunset turned to look at her, before her face scrunched up in confusion. “I mean, I think that’s what that website said last night?”

“Huh?” Sunset looked back at Adagio and Aria, the pair grumbling as they slapped their foreheads with the palms of their hands. “Wait, did you three actually have to read up on what friends are!?”

“Look, it’s been, like, four thousand years since we’ve done this sort of thing, alright? No need to get snarky, bitch.” Aria grumble as she glared over at Sonata, crossing her arms.

“Alright, alright. I get you. Truth be told I did similar after the Fall Formal-”

“Hah!”

“Oh shut up, Aria.” Adagio hissed as she delivered an elbow into the girl’s core, doubling her over. “Once you are ready, we will take you to the school, and then home if you wish.”

“I guess that will work…” Sunset said, not looking forward to the inevitably coming confrontations.

(V):.....:(V)

“We should be lucky, I think everyone will be in the cafeteria right about now.” Sunset said quickly as she stashed her phone in her pocket, before looking around the hallways carefully.

“Damn, I was hoping to crack some skulls…” Sunset was unsure if Aria was joking or not thanks to her tone.

“We agreed to no violence, Aria. I hope you remember that.” Adagio whispered harshly, grabbing the girl forcefully by the shoulder.

“Oh, you five are early- Sunset? What are you doing here?” The secretary looked up from her paperwork as the bell dinged to announce someone’s presence, only to freeze when she saw the looming form of Sunset, then starting to panic when she saw the Sirens. “T-T-The Sirens!”

“Relax, please. The come in peace. We are just here to talk to Celestia and Luna, are they in?” Sunset asked slowly, raising her hands in peace even as a predatory smile spread across Aria’s lips.

“Y-Yes, shall I let them know-”

“That won’t be necessary.” Adagio said, turning and walking to the closed doors, purpose in her stride.

“Hey, wait!” Sunset called out as she chased after the girl, the other two Sirens following close behind her.

“Siren! What are you doing here!” Sunset hear Luna cry out in a panic as Adagio made her way into their office unannounced.

“I’m here for a new friend, actually. Oh, do hurry and come in, Sunset.” Adagio said, motioning impatiently to the lagging Equestrian.

“You seriously couldn't let me walk in first, could you?” Sunset grumbled as she entered the office, noticing Celestia and Luna both stand and looking at her in amazement.

“Sunset? What are you doing back here?” Celestia asked, confusion spreading across her face as she looked between the former students now standing in her office. “And with the Sirens of all people!”

“Because they’re here as my bodyguards.” Sunset said, her eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms. “And my friends.”

“Friends!?” Luna yelled in outrage. “After all they did to the school!?”

Indignation fueled Sunset as she yelled back, taking a step forward defiantly. “People change, believe it or not! You Humans may not think that people can change for the better, but us Equestrians do!”

“Then why are you here? This is not a good time-” Celestia started, only for Sunset to change her attention over to her and interrupt her.

“I want you to start up paperwork to get me transferred to Crystal Prep. I’m still deciding if I want to go there, but it would be better if I did it legitly.” she explained coarsely.

“Is that what you truly want, Sunset?” Luna asked, looking over at her sister for guidance.

“What, did you forget that Celestia was the one to say that I was no longer a student here?” Sunset scowled in annoyance. “You two-”

“I apologize for my outburst yesterday, Sunset, but you have to understand the repercussions of your actions.” Celestia said, before groaning tiredly as she sat back down in her chair. “Regardless, we will do as you request. It will take a while, and I’d request that you four come back after school is out.”

“How come?” Adagio asked, walking beside Sunset protectively.

“We had a meeting set up, and it would be better if you weren’t here for it.” Luna said, a shifty edge to her voice as she obviously tried to get the quartet of Equestrians to vacate the room. “Please, you need to leave before-”

Everyone’s attentions were drawn to the opening doors, a voice calling out as it slowly cracked open. “Sorry were late! The cafeteria was… nuts…”

Sunset froze, the dulling fire in her stomach suddenly roaring to a full blaze as she watched the Rainbooms stop on the other side of the door, looking at her in shock.

“Sunset? What… What are you doing here?” Applejack asked in a quiet voice, disbelief radiating from every word as she took in the form of her former friend, before switching to panic when she noticed the other three girls standing in the room. “Wait, the Sirens? What are they doing back here!?”

“They’re here as my friends.” Sunset declared, the five girls all taking a step back in horror. “Something that the five of you would never understand.”

“But those three are monsters! How could they be your friends! Don't you remember what they almost did to us!?” Rainbow Dash was the first one to recover her footing, rushing forward into the room valiently.

“Yeah, and when I was at one of my lowest points, when you five and everyone else on this world had turned their backs on me, they stretched out a hand, took me in and fed me!” Sunset snarled, causing the athlete to back down.

“B-But-”

“But what, Rarity!?” Sunset turned towards the fashionista, silencing her. “They treated me like a friend when you five turned traitor! The only time you five ever treated me like a friend was after I helped save your sorry asses from these three! Or have you forgotten all the times you ignored me after the Fall Formal? Or all the jokes made at my expense!?”

“Sunset, please, do calm down.” Adagio said slowly as she rested a hand on Sunset’s shoulder in an effort to calm her “You mustn’t fall down to their levels.”

“They’re just tricking you Sunset! You can’t trust them!” Rainbow started back up again, instantly regretting doing so.

“Oh, like you five did!?” Sunset spat back, her arm flying out as she shook Adagio’s hand off her shoulder.

“You two, here is our address. Finish whatever paperwork you need and mail it there. Express, so it arrives as soon as possible.” Adagio commanded as she hurriedly walked over to the desk of Celestia, grabbing a notepad and writing on it. “If you share it with those five, you are going to be in serious trouble.”

“Where are you going?” Celestia asked as she watched Adagio turn away and hurry to Sunset’s side, the girl seething as she tried to break free of Sonata and Aria’s hold.

“Getting our friend out of here.” Adagio emphasized without looking back, before gazing at the Rainbooms and causing them to clear the way with a single look before grabbing Sunset and assisting the other two Sirens with extracting her from the premise.

(V):......:(V)

“Thank you…” Sunset said quietly as the car stopped at a red light. “I... would have done something really stupid back there.”

“Tell that to my aching shoulder…” Aria grumbled as she grabbed at the joint. “You almost tore my arm off in there!”

“So we should be coming close to your apartment then?” Adagio looked back at the girl through the rear view mirror.

“Yeah, the red brick building with the yellow roof.” Sunset said, point forward.

“Ya know, this is a really old part of town.” Aria said as she looked out at the building to her side, a collection of boarded up windows greeting her. “What are you doing living here?”

“Well where else could I end up? It’s not like I have a family here, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna go to another orphanage. Thankfully an older lady agreed to take me in, so I got a flat on the top floor of that building.”

“Care to show us around?” Adagio asked as she parked the car. “We could help you carry in your things.”

“Sure, why not.” Sunset said, grabbing her backpack as she stepped out of the car. “Just, uh… don’t expect much, alright? Not all Equestrians on this planet are rich.”

Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out her key ring, sliding one of three keys into the lock before turning it and opening the door, holding it open for the Sirens.

“Holy shit! It’s colder in here than it is out there!” Aria complained loudly, shivering harshly as she made it into the ground floor entryway.

“Funny, I come out here to warm up…” Sunset gave a sheepish smile as she started up the stairs.

“I do hope she’s joking…” Adagio whispered quietly to her sisters as they followed Sunset up the stairs.

“Sadly I’m not.” the amber girl said over her shoulder as they reached the top floor, pausing and inserting a second key into the new lock, opening the door and holding out an inviting hand. “Welcome to my extremely humble abode.”

“Um, how do you live in here?” Sonata asked as Sunset shut the door behind herself, the Sirens all looking around in morbid amazement at Sunset’s small flat.

“Like I said, I never had much of a choice. But it’s still home, ya know?” Sunset smiled proudly as she looked over her tiny space.

“I’m amazed. I figured that this sort of place only existed in fourth world countries.” Adagio said, smirking as she looked over at Sunset, who stuck her tongue out in response.

“Hey, if you three don’t like it you’re more than welcome to leave.” Sunset chuckled. “Truth be told I don’t have much, so there’s not much reason for you three to stay. Uh, thanks for everything the last two days. I owe you three big time.”

“I’ll hold you to it then. But before we go…” Adagio said as she pulled out her smartphone. “What was your number again? We should keep in contact.”

Sunset smiled brightly as she dug out her phone.. This was the first time she was going to share her number with someone! None of the Rainbooms ever asked her for her number, even after the Battle of the Bands! She paused as she started her old, first gen smartphone up.

“Err, why don’t I get your numbers? I don’t actually know mine.” she chuckled in embarrassment as she smiled at the three Sirens who started laughing at her comment.

Chapter 2: More of the Same

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Sunset groaned as she sat up. She missed the Sirens bed, and judging by the aches and pains she was dealing with currently, her body did as well.

She rubbed at her eyes as she sat there in her bed, trying her best to not to fall back onto her lumpy mattress and into the alluring call of sleep. It waaas Saturday, though, surely she could sleep in a little longer?

Her cheek stung as her palm ricocheted off. No, bad Sunset! She had to get up and get prepared for her day, not be a lazy bed pony! But what was she gonna even do today? The original plan was to meet up at the mall with the other Rainbooms and spend their time shopping and goofing off now that school was out for Winter Break, but that had obviously been shot out of the air thanks to Anon-A-Miss.

Anon-A-Miss…

Sunset looked over at her phone, glaring at it. She had turned it onto airplane mode halfway through the week because of all the messages she was getting from students either through texts or posts on her MyStable account, and she even ended up removing the MyStable app shortly after.

And yet morbid curiosity was taunting her, making her wonder just how bad things had gotten since then…

Her hand froze, the phone resting just outside of her fingertips. Was this really a good idea? Her hand jittered as she tried to rationalize her choices, her mind racing through pros and cons. What if she…

She grabbed the phone, powering it up and logging in, before going into the options and turning off airplane mode. A second passed, then another, and before the third arrived her phone erupted into buzzing as a deluge of messages flooded her screen.

Sunset was sure the majority of the student base had texted her during the last few days, but it was the last batch that caught her eye. She paused, before slowly thumbing through them.

~*Friday, 1:13pm*~

From: RD

I know well probably never be able to make up for all of this but we really are sorry Sunset, please believe us.

~*Friday, 1:16pm*~

From: Rares

I believe I speak for the five of us when I say that what we did to you was utterly repulsive. We deeply apologize, and beg you to give us a chance to right our wrongs, darling.

~*Friday, 1:16pm*~

From: AJ

We messed up, and that’s the honest truth. Please let us try to make it up to you.

~*Friday, 1:17pm*~

From: Shy

I’m so sorry Sunset, I should have known you wouldn’t do something like that to us or the school. Please forgive us.

~*Friday, 1:18pm*~

From: PinkOnPink

I promise to throw you the bestestestestestestestestest ever apology party! Pinkie Promise! Just please come back to us!

Sunset scowled as she finished discarding the messages from the Rainbooms, as well as the other students. The indignation of her treatment festering in her still open wounds from the week prior. No, they didn’t deserve the chance to prove that they were sorry for their actions! They ruined her life!

...But…

Didn’t they give her a second chance, after the Fall Formal?

Hah, as if! Sunset shook that silly concept out of her head. No, it wasn’t until after the Battle of the Bands that anybody started treating her nice around there. She had been the butt of every joke at that school for weeks! The Rainbooms included!

She grumbled as she thumbed down through the last set of messages, her mood darkening further as more students sent her hate messages. She scowled as she dropped the phone onto her blanket, swinging her legs out from under it to come to rest on the floor. She instantly regretted that.

“C-C-C-Cold!” she shrieked through chattering teeth as her feet recoiled from the frozen flooring, almost burning from just how cold it was. Sunset finally noticed her breath lingering in the air, and just how rigid her sheets actually were. “What happened to the heating!?”

She gingerly tiptoed over to her wardrobe, her feet screaming in numb agony as she ruffled through the drawers in a desperate search for her thickest socks, the freezing air seeping into the rest of her body. She gave a victorious cry as she pulled the socks out, slipping them on as fast as she could. At least her feet were now insulated, what next?

(V):.:(V)

Sunset shivered as she brought the blanket up closer to her chin, cursing the week, nay, all of December to the depths of Tartarus! The landlady had stopped by a few hours ago to inform her that the heating unit broke down last night, and that someone should be by this afternoon to give it a look over.

That had been bad enough, but twenty minutes later Sunset had discovered that the hot water tank was also on the fritz, leaving her drenched in freezing cold water even colder than the air!

Now she was struggling to warm up under a collection of blankets with a mug of tea sitting across from her.

She glanced over at her phone. Maybe the Sirens would give her a hand? No, that would be too much to ask. Not to mention incredibly rude.

She grimaced as she reached out from under her blankets for the steaming mug. At least the electricity was still running.

(V):..:(V)

Sunset cursed her comment from the day prior as she flipped open the curtains to allow what light that was making it through the clouds to illuminate her room. She glared up at the now useless lights.

Mid yesterday afternoon the power went out, a spectacular “Bang!” radiating through the entire apartment. Apparently whatever old conductor or whatever the box was called had given out, leaving Sunset in an apartment without any electricity, heat, or hot water.

To make matters worse the weather was still getting colder, and the repairmen that came in yesterday told the landlady that nothing could be fixed, that this building and it’s utilities were too old. Everything would have to be upgraded.

Said landlady was now in the hospital thanks to the shock it gave her heart to hear that, leaving Sunset alone in the freezing building to take care of things.

Sunset grumbled as she picked up her phone, scowling as she swiped away another text from Rainbow Dash. The girl seemed to be making it a daily habit to text Sunset and try to apologize. She ignored it as it vanished, opening her messaging app and creating a new text.

Recipient: Adagio Dazzle

Hey Adagio, Sunset here. I just wanted to give you an update on the rapidly deteriorating state of my apartment. The electrician confirmed that he wouldn’t be able to fix any of the issues, everything would need replacing.

Sadly the Landlady is still in the hospital, so I’m stuck in a freezing apartment with no utilities. At this point I think I will take you up on your offer to stay with the three of you for the holidays, but I have to wait to hear more on the landlady.

For now I’m gonna go take a quick shower before I head to the mall to see if I can find a job for the holidays.

Sunset looked over at her journal as she shut off her phone. Princess Twilight had scrawled a message about the meetings taking too long, or at least that’s what Sunset thought the Princess had meant to write, the mess on the paper near impossible to make out. She knew Princess Twilight wouldn’t hesitate to bring her back to Equestria, but Sunset would sooner fight Gilda again then do that.

She grimaced as she approached the washroom, not looking forward to the freezing shower she was about to rush through.

(V):...:(V)

Sunset sat in a silent lump as the mall buzzed around her, her hoodie covered head resting on the table.

She was certain that the apartment building was a right off now, what with the water pipes all exploding and leaking everywhere in the building. At least the plumbers came quickly, Sunset giving them the keys and explaining the situation, before running to the nearby bus stop. She needed out of there before it claimed her life.

Not that the mall was much better. No one would hire her until she provided a social security number, but most of them promised to hold a position for her for when the rest of her belongings arrived in town with her family. A necessary lie Sunset had to weave, but ultimately fruitless in the end.

Thankfully no one had really paid attention to her, she did her best to hide behind her hoodie whenever she spotted a Wondercolt accompanied by friends or family. Though the fact that she was wearing her signature jacket should have alerted them alone to her presence.

Her pocket started vibrating, breaking her out of her grumbling stupor as she grabbed it out of her pocket. She paused to look at the screen, making sure it was a legit number, before swiping the green button and bringing it up to her ear.

“Hey, Adagio…” Sunset muttered under her breath, a bemused chuckle radiating from the phone’s earpiece.

“Hello, Sunset. Are you still at the mall?” the Siren asked, the noise in the background threatening to drown out the woman.

“Ya, why?”

“Just wondering.” Sunset jumped as a hand rested itself on her shoulder as Adagio’s voice whispered in her other ear. The Siren started to giggle as Sunset spun around to face her. “Hello. You look quite rough.”

“Tell that to my poor heart!” Sunset snarked as she calmed down, nodding to the three Equestrians that stood before her. “Hello Sonata, Aria.”

“Hiyas!” the blue Siren beamed brightly as she waved at Sunset in an adorable manner, her the pom of her Santa style toque wiggling around in time with the girl’s motions.

“Heya, Shimmer.” Aria grinned from behind Adagio’s other side, her arms crossed in smug superiority.

“Is there a reason you keep calling me that?” Sunset asked as she leaned back against the table.

“Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?”

“Shimmer’s my last name.” Sunset chuckled. “And Willis isn’t my first name.”

“Pay Aria no mind, she only calls people she sleeps with by their first name.” Adagio smirked as she interrupted the purple Siren.

“Oi! Shut up, Adagio!”

“See, what did Adagio say?” Sonata added between giggles, dancing away from the reaching hands of Aria.

“Sonata!”

“Heh, so what are you three doing here?” Sunset asked Adagio as she watched Sonata lead Aria around the food court.

“Well we figured we could do some shopping-”

“Don’t let the tsundere fool ya, Shimmer!” Aria called out as she grabbed hold of Sonata, the girl squealing adorably as she struggled to get out of the shorter girl’s hold. “We had to hold her down to keep her from driving over as soon as you let us know about the heating issues!”

“Awww, you really do care!” Sunset giggled as Adagio’s face grew red.

“Yes, well I’d make sure to lock the door to your bedroom at night, lest Aria sneak in and start rubbing herself-”

“S-Shut up, ya noisy nag!” Aria’s face grew just as red as Adagio’s as the girl dropped Sonata. “Weren’t you the one talking about-”

Adagio gave a strangled cry as she lunged at the purple Siren, clasping her hands over Aria’s mouth, silencing her. “Yes, and what about-”

Aria interrupted her attempts to remove Adagio’s hands by doing the same to her leader, muffling the Siren.

Sunset erupted into laughter at the scene unfolding in front of her, more eyes from the surrounding crowd focusing on the quarter before returning their attentions back to whatever they were doing previously.

“Okay… Okay…” Sunset managed to get out between giggles and gasps for air. “Who are you and what have you three done with the real Sirens? Cause you are all acting waaay too adorably!”

Sonata started to giggle as she watched Adagio and Aria break apart, Adagio flattening cloth and trying to make herself prim and proper again, while Aria just crossed her arms and looked away, grumbling loudly.

“What are you staring at?” Adagio snarled venomously over her shoulder when she noticed a table of roughly college age students giggling and looking in their direction, the group shutting up when they saw the dangerous glint in the Siren's eyes.

“So, uh, thanks for coming to pick me up, you three.” Sunset said sheepishly as the four girls grew closer together once again. “I really appreciate it. I wasn’t looking forward to going outside again to wait for the bus.”

“I don’t blame ya.” Aria chortled as she leaned against Adagio. “It’s colder than Adagio’s…”

Sunset’s head tilted in confusion as Aria’s voice died off, her smirk dissipating as her eyes seemed to dilate. “Um, Adagio? What did you do to Aria?”

There was no response from the orange Siren either, causing worry to start to mount as Sunset looked over at Sonata, the same spaced out look spread across her face.

“Hey, what’s up with you three?” Sunset asked in a worried tone, before pausing, her gaze traveling to her side.

A family of six stood there, arguing loudly with one another, their words intermingling in Sunset’s ears, though their anger was crystal clear. Her eyes narrowed, unsure of what to make of what she was seeing. It was almost like a cloud, nearly invisible to her eye, was wafting through the air towards them, its almost sickly green hue becoming visible as it approached the Sirens, fading into their torsos.

“O-O-Oooh…” Sonata’s lips moved, though her gaze still remained empty as it stared ahead endlessly. “That’s the good stuff…”

Sunset’s head snapped back and forth between the Sirens and the family as they continued to argue, she could swear their eyes were starting to glow red as the cloud continued to-

“Hey!” Sunset grabbed Adagio by the shoulders, viciously shaking the girl. “Sunset to Adagio!”

“W-Wha…?” a confused look spread over the Siren’s face as her stupor broke, her hand coming up to her face. “Sunset…?”

Sunset had moved onto Sonata next, the being much easier to rouse, before finishing with Aria. The purple Siren was less than happy, however.

“What the hell, Shimmer!” she yelled as she swung feebly at the amber girl, almost as if she were in a drunken state. “What was that for!?”

“What was what for?” Sunset asked as she backed up, hands held up in defence. “You three just went all space-cadet on me out of nowhere!”

“We were feeding…” Adagio said, her glassy eyes returning to their normal brilliant sharpness. “And quite a feast if I do say so myself.”

“I haven’t eaten that good since the Battle of the Bands…” Sonata said, drooling slightly. “Seriously, Sunset… Way to ruin the moment…”

“Ummm… I’m sorry?” Sunset gave an uneasy shrug, unsure of what to do, only to have Sonata suddenly lunge forward and lick the tip of her nose. “Wah!?”

“Mmm, strawberry banana…” the blue Siren giggled as she wiped away at her chin.

“Your apology is accepted.” Adagio said as Sunset scrambled to wipe off her nose. “However now that you understand, we would appreciate if you didn’t interrupt us next time.”

“S-Sure, but… Why were you feeding?” Sunset asked, wiping her hands on her pants.

“Just because we can’t store it anymore doesn’t mean we don’t need to eat.” Aria muttered under her breath before leaning closer to Sunset. “Seriously! I love me a good steak, but nothing beats… Well, that.”

“Negativity…” Sunset felt an uneasy voice start to cry in the back of her head, before clearing it away with a quick shake. “Eh, what do I care. Just… Please don’t try to cause it? That’s all I ask when I’m around.”

“I guess that would be fine.” Adagio said after a moment of contemplation, nodding her head. “Just don’t expect us to stop eating.”

“Works for me. Now, uh, where to?” Sunset asked, looking around at the three of them.

“Well we actually could do some running around while we’re here to be honest.” Aria said as she looked over at the elevator. “I could probably pick up some new wrenches. I swear, quality standards took a dive after the Cold War…”

“Wrenches? What do you need them for?” Sunset asked, a warm smile on her face.

“Our dear Aria is quite the mechanic.” Adagio said, nodding over at the purple girl. “We haven’t needed to go to the mechanic’s after the T came out.”

“I prefer to work on bikes, to be honest.” Aria shrugged with a smug grin.

“Oh? I would love to get a class six license!” Sunset beamed in excitement. “There’s just something about motorcycles that speaks to me.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Aria called out bombastically, walking forward and clapping a firmly onto Sunset’s shoulder. “What sort of bike do ya like? Cruiser, sports- You better not tell me you want one of those fucking motocross pieces of shit!”

Sunset started laughing as Aria grew close and started whispering dangerously in her ear. “God no! I have no reason why kids like those things! Probably one of the Haysian brands to be honest. Something small and fast.”

“Alright, I guess I can accept that.” Aria chuckled as she pulled her hand back. “I’ve always loved my Hogs, the roar of the engine just… Holy shit…”

“Oh, Aria! Tell her about your almost accident!” a mischievous smile spread across Sonata’s face as she bounced up on down, hand upraised. “I bet Sunset would looove to hear that story!”

Sunset looked back at the purple Siren, Aria’s face turning pink as her expression fell. “Oh? Pray tell, Aria.”

“The noise isn’t the only thing she enjoys about-”

“S-S-Shut up, Sonata! I thought you said you wouldn’t tell anyone about that!” Aria spat, frozen in spot as the blue Siren’s smirk deepened.

“Wait… No way…” Sunset started smirking herself as realization dawned on her. “No way, Aria. You…”

“It’s not what you think, damnit!” Aria turned to face the amber girl, a desperate look on her face.

“That, uh… Just wow, Aria.”

“Fuck my life…”

“Sure you don’t want-”

“I SAID SHUT UP SONATA!”

(V):....:(V)

“I-I see…” Sunset said quietly, her eyes starting to tear up as she held the phone up to her ear. “N-No, I completely understand. How long do I have? Okay, yeah. No, it’s fine, I have some friends willing to take me in. Okay.”

Adagio paused as she came out of the book store, her head tilted as she looked at the slumping form of Sunset. Aria gave an annoyed cry as she bumped into the back of the orange Siren, her arms laden with bags of Adagio’s books.

“Sunset? What’s up?” Adagio asked as Sunset gave a soft sigh.

“Oh, hey. Uh, sounds like the landlady passed away.” Sunset explained as she pushed herself off of the wall. “I gotta get all my stuff out by the end of the month.”

“Well good thing you have somewhere to go, huh?” Sonata smiled warmly as she skipped over to Sunset, before pausing and trying to force a smile onto the girl’s face. “So turn that frown upside down!”

Sunset grimaced as she broke free of Sonata’s digits, before finding herself chuckling due to just how silly Sonata’s smile was. “Geez, alright, alright. Thank you. I’ll, uh… I’ll find someway to pay you three back for this.”

“How about-”

“Without resorting to revenge.” Sunset growled playfully at Aria, the Siren huffing as she shifted her bags around. “Nor being a sex slave, Adagio”

The lead Siren gave a hearty chuckle as she raised a hand up to her chest, her head shaking side to side as Aria joined in with a chortle of her own.

“So I guess we’ll go hit up my place? We can do multiple trips, I only really need to grab a few things.” Sunset asked as the four of them started to head towards the elevator. “Aww, come on…”

“Well isn’t this awkward.” Adagio said as the elevator door opened and the surprised faces of Rainbooms looked back at them.

“Of all the mall in all the towns in all the world, they had to be in here…” Aria grumbled as she shuffled past Sunset. “Oi, are you lot gonna get out of there or not? I’m not walkin’ down the fucking stairs with this many books!”

“R-Right…” Applejack muttered, before shuffling her way out of the elevator, the rest of the Rainbooms following suit, heads hung as they tried not to stare at Sunset, the girl giving them all disappointed looks.

“You, er, haven’t responded to any of our messages, darling.” Rarity wore an anxious smile as she swiped a strand of hair out of her face as the Siren’s started to board the now empty elevator.

“...” Sunset response was a silent look, her brow rising slightly as her chin tilted towards her chest, her shoulder trembling as one of the Sirens poked her, most likely Sonata given the tempo of the jabs.

“We’re, uh, having that Christmas party tomorrow night if you-” Rainbow Dash was silenced by the look of outrage on Sunset’s face before she spun and stormed into the elevator, the door shutting off and separating the two parties.

“They seem desperate to get you to accept their apologies.” Adagio noted as the elevator started descending, her eyes carefully passing over Sunset’s trembling form.

“The fact that they- Look, can we forget about them?” Sunset asked, her fists clenched as she stared down at the floor. Anger boiled in her gut as she shook her head, trying to clear her mind and calm her emotions.

Today was going to be another day it seemed.

(V):.....:(V)

“So what sort of books did you pick up?” Sunset asked as she gazed out the window, breaking the silence that had washed over the quartet as the elevator descended back in the mall.

“Oh, some company released a new anthology of some of Hoofwright’s lesser known plays.” Adagio said as the car continued down the snow covered road.

“Oh? I didn’t take you as someone into acting.” Sunset said in amusement as she looked up at rear view mirror, just in time to see Adagio glance back with a mirthful look, a songbird like chuckle on her lips.

“Oh, my silly little filly. I have been pretending to be a young twenty something Human for the last however many thousand years. I was there when Hoofwright directed his first play, as well as his last.”

“And every single one in between.” Aria groaned, rubbing her temples. “I swear, I don’t know what ya see in that guy! The fact that you slept with him that one time… Bleh!”

“I could say the same about you and that Inkhorn from the turn of the century” Adagio’s eyes returned back to the road, but her attentions were definitely focused on the purple Siren.

“Hey now! At least he was world renowned for his stories!” Aria spat as she jostled around in her seat to glare at Adagio. “They’re gonna be making his masterpiece into a movie later this year!”

“At an indie film festival.” snickering filtered from the blue Siren sitting to Sunset’s side, causing Aria to shut up and cross her arms, her typical, annoyed, scowl spreading across her face. “I still say there hasn’t been a painter worth their salt since that crazy ear guy passed away! O-O-Or the blue guy! Well, I mean after he got out of that blue spree he was pretty good, heh…”

“Wow…” three sets of eyes focused on Sunset as she looked at each Siren in turn, studying them with an unreadable expression, only for it to quickly fade to an amused grin. “I’m gonna be staying with a bunch of nerds!”

“Hey now! These nerds are the ones taking in your sorry ass!” threatened Aria from the passenger seat. “So I’d keep that pretty mouth shut unless you wanna stay in a frozen apartment.”

“Fine, fine. My sincerest apologies.” Sunset chuckled, holding her hands up in a peace offering. She was amazed at how the Sirens were interacting with her. She had expected them to try and get revenge on her for the Battle of the Bands, much like it seemed that they wanted revenge on the Rainbooms, but here they were taking her in for the holidays, laughing and trading jokes with one another.

Like real friends.

“Okay, so I have an idea of what Aria does in her spare time, but what about you two?” she asked, looking at Sonata and Adagio with a warm smile.

“I like to cook!” Sonata raised her hand as best as she could in the confines of the car, beaming happily.

“She knows that, Sonata.” Aria smirked as she looked back over her shoulder. “Tell her something new.”

“Oh, and I like to paint, I guess.”

“She’s quite good at it as well, I might add. Yet another thing that having thousand of years to practice assists with.” Adagio knowing chuckle echoed in Sunset’s ears. “Well I enjoy the arts, as you now know, acting most of all. The three of us also enjoy singing, though I suspect you already knew that.”

“Oh, uh…” Sunset froze, her mind going back to the aftermath of the Battle of the Bands, when the Sirens’ pendants were broken and their voices… “I-I’m sorry…”

“Hm? What for now?” Sonata tilted her head in confusion as she blinked at Sunset.

“Y-Your voices. After your pendants-”

“Oh, we can still sing.” Adagio explained as Aria burst into laughter. “It’s not like we lost our voices with the loss of our pendants.”

“W-What? B-B-But-”

“Hey, do you know what happens to a Unicorn when their horn is broken?” Aria asked between chuckles.

“Y-Yeah. Their magic gets a little harder to control.” Sunset nodded, lost as to where Aria was going with this. “I think there’s also crackling, but I’ve never seen it in person.”

“Well that’s what happened with us. Magical backlash, as it were.” Adagio said simply. “Because our magic was usually connected to our voice, they took the brunt of it.”

“Sonata here kept crackling at the mouth for the first week.” Aria sneered, Sonata’s face falling as a slight blush started to build on her cheeks.

“Hey! Don’t tell her that!” Sonata whined, struggling to reach Aria with her outstretched hands.

“Think of this as payback for bringing up my bike!” Aria winked as her grin widened. “You should also see her when she feeds too much. Turns into a regular old Kaiju!”

“Staaahp!” Sonata blubbered as chuckles filled the car.

(V):.....:(V)

“Alright, that should do it for me for now.” Sunset nodded as she clapped her hands together. All of her more pricey belongings were now gathered, along with an assortment of clothes for the next few days. Sunset didn’t have much of a wardrobe, thanks to not having anything close to financial stability, and a majority of what she did have was from Rarity, and she refused to wear them after the Anon-A-Miss incident.

“Works for me.” Aria said through clattering teeth, her arms flying up and down her arms in a frenzied pace. “Let’s get out of this frozen hellhole!”

“We’ll come back this weekend perhaps?” Adagio asked as she watched Sunset and Aria start to pick up the amber girl’s collected belongings. “Lord knows we have enough boxes.”

“If that’s fine with you? I mean, we have until the end of the month, and I got most of what I need anyways.” Sunset said as she rested her laundry hamper against her hip.

“What about all those clothes up in the wardrobe?” Sunset wished she could bless Sonata’s childlike innocence.

“Those are from the Rainbooms. I’d rather not remember being their charity case.” she grumbled as she started making her way towards the door where Aria stood waiting and grumbling.

“O-Oh… Sorries!” Sonata giggled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, an uneasy smile on her face.

“Don’t worry. It’s water under the bridge, so to say.” Sunset said as she finished her key out of her pocket watching as Sonata held firmly onto her backpack. “Are we all ready to go?”

“Dear god you all better be!” Aria shouted as she threw open the door to Sunset’s apartment and started racing down towards the warmth of the winter air, leaving Aria, Sonata, and Sunset laughing in the amber girl’s humble flat.

Chapter 3: A Long Day's Night

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“So… Home sweet home, huh?” Sunset paused as she looked around the room. It was the same as when she slept here days ago, large, plush bed taking up the middle of the room, a closet that seemed like half the size of her entire flat, and a ‘small’ writing desk against the far wall.

“Compared to that icebox you were living in? I would hope so!” Aria remarked with a smug smile as she finished setting down one of the boxes of Sunset’s meager belongings. “I guess you weren’t joking when you said you went into the hallways to warm up! How haven’t you frozen to death somehow!?”

“I can give you a proper tour now if you’d like!” Sonata beamed as she jumped up and down excitedly, hand waving high above her head.

“Pass from me. I’m going to take a hot bath.” Aria waved as dismissively as her tone as she left the room, visibly shivering still.

“Sure, it would probably be good to know the layout of this place since I’m gonna be staying for a little bit.” Sunset chuckled as she deposited her swollen backpack onto her new bed. “You coming as well, Adagio?”

“It would be best if I did. Don’t want Sonata to give you the wrong understanding of our humble home.” Adagio said with a sly smile as Sunset walked past her.

“As humble as you are, Adagio?” Sunset chuckled as the door to her room shut behind the orange locked Siren.

“Perish the thought, dear.”

“Umm… Are you done flirting with her, Adagio?” Sonata asked, her head tilted slightly to the side. A flaming blush erupted across the faces of both warm hued Equestrians at the girl’s comment, before Sunset burst into mirthful laughter.

“S-Sonata!” the shorter girl exclaimed, stuttering in her embarrassment. “I was not- Would you- Just- Let’s show Sunset the house.”

Sonata gave an uninterested shrug of her shoulders before starting to skip away gaily as Sunset and Adagio shared looks. Well more of Sunset smirking as she looked down at her host who was busy removing her palm from her face.

“I swear, that girl is more mischievous than she looks…” the pale yellow Equestrian groaned before looking up at Sunset, and freezing in response to the amber girl’s look. “Oh not you as well…!”

Sunset chortled as she walked away.

(V):.:(V)

To say the house was massive was an understatement; Sunset’s old flat was probably smaller than the front entrance, let alone everything else! She was situated on the second floor, along with the Sirens, and was shown each of the different rooms hidden around the long hallway.

“This is my painting room!” Sonata giggled happily as she threw open the large, oaken door. A mess of sheeting, absolutely splattered with paint, covered the floor, and multiple easels stood at various angles and heights.

“Wow…” Sunset whispered under her breath, awed at the works sitting on display. “Those are amazing, Sonata!”

The blue Siren gave an even more adorable giggle as a proud smile spread across her face, one of her delicate fingers scratching at her cheek. “Thanksies! It’s a lot of fun- at least as long as Aria doesn’t come in and ruin everything.”

Adagio and Sunset shared an understanding chuckle as Sonata shut the door behind them, before moving on down the hall. The next door was seemingly in the corner, the hallway turning down and to the side.

“This is our library.” Adagio said as she entered, Sonata and Sunset following behind carefully. “It’s one of my pride and joys.”

The entire wall was seemingly made of glass as it stretched up two floors. A spiral staircase sat to Sunset’s side, allowing someone to walk up to the second floor. Rows upon rows of shelves ran all around Sunset, with a comparably small open area, ornate furniture sitting and waiting near a large table.

“This is my favourite room…” Sunset muttered with her maw agape. So much knowledge! Just looked how packed the shelves were! How old were some of those books!?

“I thought you called us nerds, Sunset?” Adagio chuckled as she watched the amber girl wipe a strand of drool off of her chin.

“I never said I wasn't! Seriously! This looks as full as Celestia’s private library!”

“I would hope so. We’ve been gathering these over our time here.” the pride coming from Adagio’s voice only edged on Sunset’s scholastic fire.

“Can I read these?” she begged, holding her hands together as she dropped to the floor in front of the Siren, her eye wide. Adagio burst out into song like laughter at the girl’s actions, the air radiating with the sound of her amusement.

“Of course. These are all reproductions we have made over the years. We keep the originals in a much safer place.” she said as she finally caught her breath, finally looking down at Sunset. Her brow furrowed as she studied the girl’s further widening smile. “What’s with that look?”

“...Originals…?” came the quiet, overly hopeful whisper from the kneeling girl.

“No.” Adagio shook her head, Sunset giving a loud whine which only sent the Siren giggling again. “I’m sorry, Sunset. But a lot of those are older than this city by nearly nine fold. They are only seen under very specific circumstances.”

“You tease.” the amber girl snarked back as she slowly stood up.

“I have been called that before, yes.” the Siren gave a knowing wink as she slowly walked past Sunset, her wide hips sashaying with each step, delicately brushing up against Sunset as she passed by. The Equestrian felt her pulse stop for a moment as Adagio gave a soft purr, the sultry look in her eye causing a warm sweat to build on Sunset’s brow before Adagio walked out the door.

“Wow…” Sonata said slowly, returning Sunset to real time with a jolt. “I haven’t seen Adagio use that much of her charm in centuries.”

Sunset’s response was a blubbering, gurgled mess as the unicorn tried to recenter herself. “Ah, bwuh… Wha…?”

Sonata gave a soft shrug as she walked after her fellow Siren. “Adagio always loved attention the most. She would go into villages and gather everyone around her, everyone fawning over her.”

“Are you two coming?” the girl said from around the door, her voice alone causing a tremble in Sunset’s heart.

The rest of the house tour had been thankfully devoid of Adagio teasing Sunset any further, the amber girl thanking the stars for that, as she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to tell Adagio to stop. At least now she knew where everything was, where and where not to go, and was able to return back to her room to start putting away her things, humming happily as she did so.

(V):..:(V)

“I thought this was supposed to get us more time with them…” Scootaloo whined as she watched Sweetie Belle shut the door with a quick hip check, her hands full with a tray of mugs filled with steaming hot chocolate and a plate laden with cookies.

“We all did, Scoot.” Apple Bloom groaned loudly back. This hadn’t been the first time that the shortest girl of the three of them had brought up that point when they were alone. “I didn’t think that they’d go back to her after all we did.”

It was true that the Rainbooms had ignored Sunset during the previous week, ousting her from their group just like the three girls had planned, but instead of having more time for them, the five older girls spent more time with one another, or other schoolmates.

“...I liked them better at the start of the week.” Scootaloo spoke up again, this time earning groans from both of her fellows.

Indeed, just as the Rainbooms had changed when they first thought Sunset was guilty of being Anon-A-Miss, they had changed even more drastically the day that Sunset left the school. Whereas the start of the week was them being filled with anger over their embarrassing secrets being revealed, and the apparent betrayal of Sunset, when they realized as a group that Sunset was innocent, they had fallen into despair.

“I had to do Rarity’s laundry again yesterday…” Sweetie Belle said quietly. Her sister had hardly left her room over the past five or so days, her door remaining locked as wailing sobbing could be heard from it. The only time she had left had been with the other members of the Rainbooms, and apparently they had run into Sunset at the mall, accompanied by the Sirens who she still seemed to call her friends. “Ice cream stains are so hard to get out of silk…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen AJ miss out on Granny Smith’s apple pie before. Heck, I don’t think I’ve seen her miss out on a meal before.” Apple Bloom added in equal exhaustion. Whenever she had tried to reach out to her older sister, Applejack would always turn her down, no matter what the offer was. Each time, Applejack’s emerald eyes would seemed glazed over, and empty, missing their usual spark of life. Apple Bloom had once overheard her sister crying in her room one night, saying that she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

Scootaloo scoffed as she downed her third cookie, crumbs spilling over her crossed legs as her cheeks puffed out in a squirrel like manner. “Well at least she taught Gilda a lesson on her way out!” she said bombastically, a smirk coming to her face. “That bitch had been treating me like crap all year!”

“We never should have done this…” Scootaloo froze as she heard Apple Bloom whisper impossibly quietly.

“What? What are you talking about, Bloom? Sunset’s gone, Gilda’s gone; the school is safe, finally! Mission accomplished!” Scootaloo said with a hurried, hushed pace, making sure to keep quiet in case someone was standing outside the door to Sweetie Belle’s room.

“Yeah, Sunset’s gone and Gilda’s in the hospital!” the farm girl growled, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she looked up at her sporty friend. “Bully or not, Gilda didn’t deserve that.”

“Hey, what’s your problem? She swung at Sunset first, remember? And wasn’t she the one who ruined your science project at the end of last year?” Scootaloo said with an equally growing ire as she eyed her friend.

“But that doesn’t mean she should be spending the holidays in the hospital!” it was Sweetie Belle’s turn to pipe up, her voice squeaking. “We may as well agree that we fell to Gilda’s level. To… To the old Sunset’s level…”

“Hey, you two know we can never reveal this, right? We’d probably get charged and sent to Juvie!” Scootaloo was suddenly slightly jumpy as that thought crossed her mind.

“You made sure to delete the account, right?” Apple Bloom asked, her lips drawn in a thin line. She agreed that none of them could make it know that they were behind Anon-A-Miss, especially not now with what happened to Gilda.

“And the email associated with it.” Scootaloo said proudly, smirking. “The public library sure comes in handy.”

Silence washed back over the room again, covering the three young teens with it’s suffocating pall. It was Sweetie that broke the silence of the three gently sipping on their hot chocolate. “I still feel sick about this…”

(V):...:(V)

“You know she ain’t coming, Dash.” Applejack said once again, more firmly this time in a vain attempt to get the athlete to maybe stop checking her phone every three seconds. “Hell, she hasn’t even returned any of our texts. Not that I can blame her…”

The Christmas Party, if it could even be called that, had begun hours ago, with each of the members of the band entering Rarity’s house, bundled up to try and break the biting chill of the wind whipping around outside, a few small bags held delicately in their mitten clad hands. Presents, lots of them. One for the night’s festivities, a Haysian Gift Exchange that the then six members of the Rainbooms had decided before the start of the month, as well as gifts for each other member.

Sunset included…

The other five had done all their shopping right after running into Sunset with the Sirens once again, the four of them looking joyous, the smile that had been on Sunset’s face before she spotted the five of them. It reminded them of just how happy she had looked after the Battle of the Bands, when they had finally started to accept her into the group, when the school finally forgave her for her past actions.

And then the raw, untamed disappointment she gazed at them with as they passed by in shame. When Rainbow had started to remind Sunset of the party, the disappointment had quickly been replace by anger, barely restrained fury and hatred; the five had felt like they had burned in the gaze of Sunset. They had been left shaken by the encounter, but had managed to get around the mall easily enough, purchasing their gifts for the exchange; they had all bought their personal gifts for one another well beforehand. However when they met up, ready to go, they froze. They ended up standing in front of that elevator again, people rushing by to and from.

It had been Rarity that suggested maybe they get something big for Sunset, the five of them chipping in equally. The other four nodded, and they started back walking through the mall, looking for some kind of hint of what to get their, hopefully not former, friend.

It had been a cruel twist of fate that they all paused in front of one of the local electronic shops, one that specialized in cell phones specifically. Everything had started because of a phone, potentially, and yet, they couldn’t think of an expensive item that both could be afforded by them, and be meaningful to Sunset. They had just hoped it wouldn’t be received in poor faith, should Sunset even decide to show up.

“You don’t know that!” the athlete responded as she looked up from her phone once again, her eyes and tone betraying just how little she trusted what she had just said. “She could be walking up to the door this very moment!”

“It’s quarter past seven, dar...” Rarity said softly, her voice dying out as she reached her trademarked comment, only for it to trail off. Rainbow may had been the most visibly affected by the groups realization that they had messed up regarding Sunset and Anon-A-Miss, but Rarity had taken the blow to her very core.

She stopped using her comment, always catching herself whenever she started to utter it, as she refused to say it after how she had treated the one that she called it most often. Her vaunted attention to appearances had gone to the wayside as well. It wasn’t to say that she ignored them, but if you had compared her that night to any day during the prior school week, she would have been kilometers ahead then.

“...I don’t think she’s coming…” came the soft, even for her, whisper from the groups resident animal lover. She had told them that the animals at the shelter had all been shying away from her of late, and it had only gotten worse by the end of the previous week. Somehow it seemed the animals knew that she had done something wrong, even when she had yet to discover that herself.

Pinkie, somehow, remained totally silent. Just like she had been since the mall encounter with Sunset. She looked uncharacteristically sombre when someone passed their eyes over her, yet when it was just out of the corner of someone's eye, they swore she turned a dull, emotionless grey, her hair seemingly deflating and drooping down over her, obscuring her face.

“Should we start the gift exchange?” Applejack asked, as uninterested as the rest of the girls in the prospect.

(V):...:(V)

“You want me to do what?” the opal eyes of the dark skinned woman grew wide even as her brow furrowed in confusion at the white woman’s comment as her fingers combed through the majestic, multicoloured mane of hair.

“I want you to dig into this Anon-A-Miss account for me.” Celestia said with a tired sigh as her scalp was gingerly massaged. “You’re the only one I know that could do this sort of thing for me without raising any suspicion, Chrysi.”

“Be that as it may, and this is quite a simple request, but why? I thought you said that Sunstrike left the school already?”

“Sunset, and yes, she did already. She left Thursday and then came back Friday with her new friends, and instead of causing trouble, they just wanted everything they would need to get her into Crystal Prep.”

“So then why have me do this digging? It sounds like everything's resolved. The account’s been deleted you said, now that their scapegoat is gone.” Chrysalis gave a happy purr as she felt Celestia start to shiver under her ministrations. “It sounds to me like you need another... Distraction…”

“Any other night, I would agree with you, but right now…” Celestia stopped any happy noises or movements she had been making, falling back into her melancholic state once again. “With Gilda in the hospital, her family went to the school board over it, which in turn is coming down on me. Thankfully we have footage of Gilda and her followers attacking Sunset first, which helps us on that end, and we have the footage of her rushing into the school after the rock was thrown at her. But we still need to know who's behind the attacks.”

“I mean, it’s not like it’s going to be difficult at all, Celery, it’s just that you haven’t told me why yet.”

“Because she feels like I turned on her, and I understand where she’s coming from. The Sirens gave me their address to send her paperwork to, but if I show up with proof on who it was that did all this, maybe…”

“You’re seeking penance; forgiveness.” Chrysalis said as she pulled the woman closer as she gave a slight nod. “...Never change, my love.”

“Only for you.” a warm smile spread across the face of the principal as she wrapped an arm lazily over top of the blanket.

“Would you two just shut up and go to sleep already?” came the annoyed grumble from Luna as she peeked her head over Chrysalis’ back, causing sheepish, schoolgirl like giggles to escape the other two women.

Chapter 4: So This is Christmas

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“Merry Christmas!” came an extremely excited and bombastically boisterous cry as the door to Sunset’s room flew open.

Sunset responded by giving a terrified shriek, flying out of her bed and crashing to the floor in a mess of bedding, clothes, and limbs, landing with a room shaking thud as Sonata flew into the room, somehow landing on her bed in a single, impossibly fluid motion.

“What are you doing on the ground, you big silly?” a smile wide enough to put the Cheshire Cat to shame spread across the blue girl’s face as she loomed over the still flailing form of Sunset as she struggled to free herself of her unintentional prison.

“Maybe if you weren’t trying to send me to an early grave!” she snapped in annoyance as she managed to tear off the bedding that had been impeding her as Adagio and Aria slowly entered the now open room as well, chuckling and chortling as they observed Sunset’s glare start to melt away.

“It’s your fault for trying to sleep in, dear.” Adagio said as she stood at the foot of the bed, a smile coming to her face. Sunset’s gaze slowly passed over her three friends, alertness finally starting to take control as she noticed that all three currently wore nothing but provocative nightgowns, and a Santa hat in the case of Sonata.

The amber skinned girl gave a large smirk as she slowly started to stand up, gathering her now removed bedding before dropping it on the bed beside Sonata. “I’m sorry that I didn’t take the three of you as individuals who celebrated the holidays.” she said as she straightened her oversized t shirt.

“Only Sonata does.” Aria grumbled as usual, crossing her arms as she stared at the bubbly Siren who was busy bouncing on Sunset’s bed. “I never understood religion.”

“Why wouldn’t I love this time of year!?” she exclaimed as she gave one last bounce on Sunset’s bed, launching herself from it and coming to land in front of the bed’s owner. “All the food! All the treats! It’s one of the few things that’s actually aged well in this world!”

Sunset shook her head, unable to stop herself from giggling along with Sonata, the girl prancing around in giddiness. “Alright, alright. Merry Christmas you three, now can I go back to bed?”

“Oh? You don’t want to open your presents?” Adagio asked, an obviously faked look of shock spreading over her face as she brought a hand up to rest on her chest.

(V):.:(V)

“Achtung!” the small gathering of Wondercolts looked up in exhaustion at the figure now walking slowly out of the kitchen, a large tray of treats innumerable bound firmly in her arms. “You all have seven minutes and thirty two seconds to wake up before we start the presents.”

Pinkie’s tone lacked all of the energy, enthusiasm and excitement that it had when she had first suggested the Christmas party that they now all attended. The Rainbooms and their younger sisters, both actual and honourary, sat in the middle of the living room of Rarity’s house, the sun outside having just barely starting to rise. The girl’s parents were away, having left on a private holiday at the start of the month, leaving their two daughters in charge of the family’s house.

“Yaaaay…” Rainbow droned, her voice and empty void that matched the emotional state of her fellow band members. None of them had slept to well the previous night, their minds still playing over what the night could have been if they had been true to Sunset.

“Oh come on, Rainbow! Don’t be like that!’ Scootaloo chimed in, a hint of annoyance playing at the edge of her voice as she tried to playfully roughhouse with her idol. “It’s Christmas! Time for family, and presents!”

“And friends, squirt…” the older teen replied as she weakly swatted away one of Scootaloo’s hand.

“You’re not still acting all doom and gloom about Anon-A-Miss, are you?” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle groaned internally as they squeezed their eyes shut. It may have been Apple Bloom that had originally started Anon-A-Miss, and Sweetie Belle who landed the most important blow against Sunset, but it had been Scootaloo that had wanted to keep going further, striking out against anyone that she had deemed that wronged her. “Protecting the school.” she would say in an attempt to justify her previous actions.

“Sunset isn’t Anon-A-Miss, Scootaloo. We already told you that.” there was a small bit of tension in the athlete’s words as her eyes narrowed. “So just drop it, okay? You wouldn’t understand.”

Scootaloo gave a childish “Harumph!” as she sat down, crossing her arms and shaking her head, allowing Apple Bloom to look up at her sister, a slightly concerned look on her young face.

“Sis?”

“Yes, Bloom?” AJ responded, eyes slowly glancing over at her younger sibling.

“Do you… I mean, the account was deleted the day after Sunset left, right? Surely-”

“Bloom, please…” the blonde haired teen’s eyes squeezed shut, Apple Bloom searing she could see a tear trying to force its way out of the corner of her sister’s eye. “Let’s just forget about that for now, okay?”

Sweetie Belle shuffled over beside her sister, Rarity’s eyes puffy and red, with not a trace of makeup to be seen on the girl’s face as she sat there in silence, looking down at her hands. “Where do you think Mom and Dad are right now?” she asked softly, resting a hand on her sister's forearm.

“Probably up high in a plane, enjoying the view and their time together.” a melancholic smile spread over the delicate features of the fashionista as she rested a hand on her sister’s. “I just wish I could be doing the same.”

Sweetie Belle felt her stomach start to boil as guilt washed through her, the sight of her sister’s eyes, so vacant of… anything, causing her heart to clench as she looked away in shame.

“We may as well gather around, I guess…” Pinkie Pie said, though not to anyone in particular. Everyone slowly shifted towards the towering tree that had been decorated by them during the start of the Anon-A-Miss event, the memories of how much they reviled Sunset as they did so burning the Rainbooms as they struggled to look at the regal pine.

(V):..:(V)

“What… The… Hell…?” Sunset paused as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the entire living room taken up by the single largest pine tree Sunset had ever observed! It stretched all the way up to the ceiling of the room, nearly two stories up, and was laced with tinsel and baubles. It glittered in the low light of the early sunrise, almost threatening to blind the Equestrian with its magnificence.

“You better like it.” Aria complained as she sidestepped out from behind Sunset, her arms crossing across her chest as Adagio started to titter gaily.

“When did this- How did- What?”

“Aria and Sonata put that up last night after you went to bed.” explained Adagio with a mirthful wink, a sly smile spreading on her face as she looked over at the purple Siren. “Then Sonata and I decorated it.”

“But where did you get it from? And how didn’t I hear you setting it up!?” Sunset looked around at the trio in utter bafflement.

“Well you diiid kinda break Aria’s drinking record for how much-”

“I’m gonna claim that back! Just you wait!” Aria interjected, silencing Sonata as her annoyance at the tree was dwarfed by just how sore she still was from the previous night’s drinking contest.

“As if, bitch!” laughed Sunset, resting her hands on her hips as she leaned back in time with her giggles. “The Earth Ponies back home would call what you served me tap water, and I usually drank them under the tables!”

Aria returned to grumbling as Sonata was finally released by Adagio, the blue girl bounding across to Sunset, before taking her by the hand and whisking her over to the tree. Standing at the foot of it and looking up, Sunset guessed the tree was easily thirty feet tall, the branches sagging under the weight of their decorations.

“Holy shit…” she said under her breath as she felt Sonata slowly push her down onto the ground, the unicorn simply following the given instructions as she pondered the goliath towering over her.

“Okay! Time for presents!” Sonata exclaimed gleefully, clapping her hands ecstatically as she skipped over to the tree.

“Wait- Presents?” Sunset felt her stomach drop as Sonata pulled back a branch and a collection of boxes beyond counting threatening to blind her with how sparkly the wrapping paper was.

The blue Siren’s head bobbed up and down rapidly as she started shifting presents out from under the tree, one at a time. “Mhm! Usually it’s just me getting my sisters something cute or silly that I saw that reminded me of them, but this year I have a new friend to buy for!”

“W-Wait! But I didn’t get you three anything! I mean, I’m freeloading here!” Sunset objected, looking around at the other two Sirens in distress.

“Like we care, we’re fucking loaded, idiot.” Aria snarked, a smug look passing over her face as Sunset looked over towards Adagio, who simply shrugged in disinterest. Sunset didn’t get a chance to say anything further, as suddenly a massive box landed in front of her with a large thud.

“Here we go! You can start with this one!” Sonata practically shouted, her smile approaching insanity levels of happiness. “It’s from the three of us!”

Sunset paused for a second, before relenting and emitting a soft sigh, and a loud fit of chuckles as she started to unwrap the huge box. “Alright, alright. It would be rude of me to reject gifts.”

Slowly, with delicate precision, Sunset unwrapped the box, starting with the massive collection of ribbons wrapped up like bows around it. Aria obviously disagreed with how slowly she was unwrapping the box as she voice her grievances loudly, Sunset getting slower and slower the more Aria complained, a smile building on her face.

“OH FOR FUCKS SAKE! JUST TEAR THE WRAPPING PAPER OFF ALREADY!” she yelled as she stomped over to Sunset’s side, tearing the paper off in great droves as laughter erupted from the other three Equestrians. Eventually, a plain, generic looking cardboard box stood before Sunset, the top flaps lifting up as Aria stepped back grumbling.

“Okay, so I guess I’m just gonna wait for it to open itself now.” she said, glancing up at Aria who suddenly wore a look of pure, unreserved desire to murder the sitting girl, who waved her hands, laughing again. “Okay, okay, I’m joking. Lemme just get the tape off here, and-”

A silent “Pop!” filled the air as the seal broke, air rushing in and out of the box as the flaps flew open and a single, triangular piece of fabric clad something stood out of the box. It was ridged almost, judging by the way the firm band ran around it, spiraling. Sunset tilted her head as she looked around at the room, unsure of what to do.

“Pick it up! Pick it up, pickitup pickitupickituppicketup!” Sonata started to hyperventilate as she rocked back and forth, her excitement having tripled as she watched Sunset start to lean forward, before pausing and reaching into the box.

It was plush, a delicate, yet durable feeling fabric lining whatever it was as she ran her hand along it. Thankfully it was inanimate as her hands reached a different kind of fabric that seemed to wrap itself around her hand. She gave a confused look before getting on her knees and peering into the box. She froze when she finally saw what was in the box.

“Oooooooh! I think she likes it!” Sonata giggled as she watched Sunset start to shake as she stared at the content in the box. “Go on, take it out!”

Sunset’s mouth was wide, her one good eye shaking in its socket as she reached into the box and pulled out it’s content. Her heart was beating out of control, her lungs burned with the need for fresh oxygen as she continued to hold her breath, her mind going wild and unsure of what to focus on. She stumbled back onto her rear, hands wrapped protectively around the life sized teddy bear.

The life sized replica of herself from back in Equestria. A life sized amber unicorn, with a flowing mane of crimson and gold, its aquamarine orbs glinting as it seemed to look back at her as Sunset’s gaze passed slowly over its plush body, resting on the mark sitting delicately emblazoned on its flanks.

A dual toned sun of red and yellow, just like its hair. Her hair.

Sunset remained silent with shock as she looked around at the three Sirens, her maw gaping as her body quaked. Sure, the mane style was slightly wrong, but that didn’t matter! This was unbelievable, to say the least!

“When did you buy this…?” she asked upon finally finding her voice again.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that.” Adagio chuckled as she waved a hand dismissively. “I hope everything is right? We judged your tramp stamp by that shirt and journal of yours, and you mentioned, somewhat, that you were a unicorn.”

“Yeah, no, this is amazing! I mean, yeah, the mane style is slightly off, but why should I care! This is the best thing I’ve ever gotten in this world! Thank you three so much!” Sunset couldn’t stop the stream of tears that now ran down her cheek, her smile beaming brighter than any even Sonata was capable of, as she firmly held onto herself in stuffy form, watching as Sonata reached back under the tree.

(V):...:(V)

“Heh… Make sure to thank Granny Smith as well the next time you see her.” Applejack said with an exhausted smile. “If it wasn’t for her, it’d be only a quarter of a quilt.”

Everyone gave a half hearted chuckle as Rarity pulled the last bit of the quilt out of the tall box that sat in front of her. Pinkie had produced a dish with pieces of paper in it, and on those sheets was a number. Once each person had drawn a number, she produced a sheet of paper, with all the numbers put in an order, each number matched with each of the others, as well as itself for when the younger children interacted with their sibling or idol.

“I love it, d… Applejack, thank you.” everyone's face fell as Rarity’s voice trailed off before she changed her choice of words, Pinkie Pie reaching over and scratching out the next number before reading out the next pairing.

“Four for Two. Come on now, schnell schnell!”

(V):....:(V)

“Oh, the new edition of The Case to Answer! Thank you, Sonata!” Adagio smiled warmly as she removed the wrapping off of the book she now grasped.

“Is that about that Ripper guy?” Sunset asked, resting her chin on the top of her plushy self’s head.

“Ah, yet another subject regarding us.” Adagio gave an overwhelmingly dark chuckle as she crossed her legs, a dark pall washing over the room. “Sadly we can get a little… forceful in our need to satiate our hungers.”

“Turns out forcefully taking negative emotions from Humans causes them to rupture, sort of like tomatoes in a microwave.” Aria stuck her tongue out in disgust, shaking her head awkwardly. “Disgusting.”

Sunset remained silent, shocked at what she had just heard. “I just… Wow… I'm glad that it didn't happen here. I mean, could you imagine how much peril Canterlot would be in?”

“We only did that once, don’t you worry.” Sonata beamed happily, as if confirming guilt for murder was something one waved a hand at. Like she just did. “Next present!”

(V):.....:(V)

“Oh man, new knee pads! Thanks, Rainbow!” Scootaloo beamed as she held the safety equipment out towards her idol, the girl giving a meager shrug as she watched the girl start to pull them on.

“Your old ones were looking rather ratty.” the rainbow haired teen said as Pinkie scratched another pairing off of the list. Everyone save for Scootaloo had remained quiet all morning so far, no one really sharing looks with one another, even as they shared their gifts.

“Does anybody else hear that…?” came the quiet voice of Fluttershy, the group looking at her in slight confusion until they too heard the unmistakable sound of Sirens start to fill the air. “Oh, I do hope nobody is hurt…”

(V):......:(V)

“Huh…?” Sunset gave a confused jolt as she felt her phone start to buzz in the hip pocket of her pajama bottoms. “Who’s…?”

“What’s up, Shimmer?” Aria asked, tilting her head as she watched the girl’s brow furrow while studying her phone.

“The… Fire Department?” she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders as she brought her phone up to her ear, answering the call. “Hello?”

“Yes, hello, this is Fire Chief Blazing Chimney. Is this… Sunset… Shimmer?” the older sounding male on the other end asked, the sound of papers shifting around him. He was obviously reading her name off of something.

“Yes, it is. What’s up?”

“I’m calling to inform you that the apartment you have been staying in has collapsed.” the man said slowly, sounding apologetic. “It happened just a little bit ago.”

“Oh, uh… Wow.” Sunset was both surprised, and not surprised that the building had finally collapsed on itself, given its rapidly deteriorating condition. “Uh, well I’m with friends, I’ve been staying with them for a few days now because of how bad the state of it had gotten there. I was told to get my things out before the end of the month.”

“Sadly, I don’t think that will be happening. You see, it also started on fire.” the man’s tone was blunt.

“Oh.” Sunset was unsure if this was now a prank call or not. “Uh, okay?”

“We have a crew on its way to put out the fire, but at this point I’d say the belongings you had in there are probably gone.”

“Okay. Well, uh… I guess keep me posted?”

(V):.......:(V)

“Why are you checking your phone, Bloom?” Applejack asked as she peered over at her little sister, whose eyes were glued on her device’s glowing screen.

“Babs just posted a comment and tagged me on MyStable.” the girl responded, holding out the phone towards her older sibling. “Apparently while they were out delivering something to Goldie Delicious, a building collapsed near them, and then burst into flames!”

“Oh dear! Is there anybody hurt?” Rarity asked, her face falling in concern as everybody started to crowd around the phone.

“Wait, Goldie Delicious?” Applejack asked, a dark thought slowly gnawing into the back of her mind. “But she lives in the Old District?”

“Old District?” Sweetie Belle asked as she watched Applejack’s look start to spread to the other members of the Rainbooms.

“Bloom, message her and ask her if she has an address for the building that collapsed! O-O-Or a description!” Apple Bloom didn’t even wait for Applejack to finish her rapid speaking, a worried look on her face as she opened up her messaging app and started tapping away.

(V):........:(V)

The quartet of Equestrians had returned to their merry laughter and opening of gifts after Sunset explained what had happened.

“Serves that place right.” Aria had snarked when the news had been broken, only to receive a present to the face; which later was opened to reveal a new set of wrenches.

“At least everything important had been taken out already.” Sunset said once her laughter had died down.

At the moment, Adagio was receiving a small envelope from Sonata, the last of the gifts that had been under the tree. Sunset almost didn’t see it as she finished opening her perceived last present, a set of silken lingerie, almost matching what the Sirens were currently wearing.

“Nothing beats silk, if ya ask me.” Aria smirked from across the room. “I mean, it was hard finding something in your size, so it may be a little tight.”

“I noticed it specifically shows off my arms.” Sunset commented as she held the piece up, her current black shirt hinting through the light fabric as Aria gave a not so innocent whistle, causing Sunset to start giggling as she carefully folded it and the rest of its set onto the pile of clothes beside her.

She had an somewhat of a selection of clothes again, thanks to the Sirens. Of course, almost all of it was meant to be appealing to look at, though Sunset didn’t mind. She was proud of her appearance, both in this world and back in Equestria, and while the old her loved just how people reacted around her whenever she bent over or wore a low cut top, the current her still enjoyed showcasing herself. Aria even got the theme of the clothes right, fitting her almost rocker like theme that she had built up for herself.

“Sunset, dear. You still have one present left…” came the sultry purr of Adagio, Sunset suddenly focussing entirely on the lead Siren. The world itself seemed to as well, it was as if a spotlight was being shone directly on her as everything else was dimmed out. “A very special one…”

“U-Uhmmm…” Sunset gulped, a cold sweat starting to build on her forehead at the sight of Adagio slowly making her way towards her, hips swaying hypnotically with each and every step. “W-What is it?”

“You have to open it first…” the ancient being teased as she knelt down in front of Sunset, her hot breath passing over Sunset’s face, an impossibly sweet scent filling her nostrils.

“Where is it then?” she asked shakily, looking around for the present. Seriously, how was she supposed to act here!?

Adagio didn’t respond verbally, instead, the small tip of an envelope peaked its way out of the middle of her cleavage. Sunset stared at it blankly as she felt everything shut down then slowly start to reboot. She pointed a shaky finger at the small red piece of paper, a chorus of giggles erupting from Sonata and Aria as they watched the spectacle unfold in front of them as Adagio gave a slow nod.

Sunset gave an even more audible gulp as she slowly reached forward. Normally she wouldn’t be this awkward in such a situation, she’d been in situations like this before; and it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to her same gender coming onto her. She was from Equestria, after all; Mares outnumbered Stallions four or five to one. But this, what Adagio right now was doing? This was thousands of years of experience showing itself.

She reached forward slowly, her long fingers squeezing the envelop tip between them and slowly starting to pull, easing it out from the girl’s generous cleavage.

“Ahn!”

Sunset froze as a pleased moan escaped from Adagio’s plush looking lips, even more rambunctious laughter exploding from the other two Sirens as her face turned to a cherry red colour. She didn’t waste another moment, quickly pulling the card out, but not too quickly as to potentially give the yellow girl a papercut.

“Awww, over so soon?” Adagio gave almost Sonata worthy puppy dog eyes as she gazed up at Sunset in sorrow, the girl’s heart threatening to rip itself from her chest.

“D-Damnit, Adagio! I said I wasn’t gonna be your guys’ sex slave!” she sputtered, earning a laugh from the Siren leader.

“Oh, Sunset, you are much too fun to tease…”

“Only cause I don’t know how I should be reacting right now!” Sunset shot back, fingers digging into the envelope. “Now what’s in here, huh?”

“Open it and find out.” a slow smile built on the face of Adagio as she gave a small wink of her eye, watching as Sunset slowly unsealed the envelope and fished out its content.

“Oh, thank god…” she sighed in relief when she saw what it was, holding it out towards them. “It’s just a gift card for the mall… Here I was dreading that it was gonna be a card good for one booty call from the three of you!”

Small smiles built on the faces of the Sirens as they stared at Sunset, but not one of them responded verbally, not even Aria. Sunset’s brow furrowed in confusion as she looked at the three Equestrians in turn, the same look shared across each of their faces. The cold sweat from before had started to return.

“W-What’s with those looks?” she asked, worry starting to gnaw at her mind as the smiles only widened. Sunset didn’t think she had seen Aria smile that widely before. “W-What? Would one of you like to explain what is happening right now?”

No answer yet.

She paused and looked around. No, nothing super out of the ordinary. What were the Siren’s playing at right now? She looked back to them, giving a loud shriek of surprise and terror as suddenly all three were kneeling in front of her.

“God damnit, you three! Don’t just jump in front of someone like that!” she chastised, trying her best to level her breathing and calm her heart.

Next she looked at her presents. Same thing, nothing. This time she slooowly turned back towards where the Sirens had been kneeling. All three were still there, smiling devilishly at her. Taunting her.

“Please, someone tell me what you want!” Sunset whined, tired of whatever hazing ritual she was currently undergoing. What other answer was there?

Still.

No.

Answer.

Her hand slowly rose up to her face, delicately rubbing at the bridge of her nose, trying to decipher what was happening. Wait…

She removed the hand from in front her face, slowly bringing the gift card back into view, the Siren’s smiles once more growing wider as they watched Sunset start to study the card. Her face fell, and she looked at them from around the card.

“There’s one other thing we enjoy, Sunset…” the lead hunter said to her pray, the teeth of the three Sirens appearing to take on a sharp edge as Sunset fell back.

“Fashion!” Sonata suddenly blurted out, causing Aria and Adagio to groan loudly in anger as all the mood and the tension in the air ruptured and vanished. “Er, was I-”

“Of fucking course you were supposed to remain quiet, Sonata!” Aria yelled as she dive bombed her sister, toppling her over onto her back as her thick fingers started to pull apart Sonata’s flailing lips.

“I swear, we can’t have nice things…” Adagio groaned as she reached out towards Sunset, helping pull the teen off the ground that she fell to upon hearing Sonata’s comment. “Yes, that many zeros is possible. You are going to need a lot of things for going to Crystal Prep.”

“Wait, what?” Sunset’s attention suddenly left the number that had been written on the card.

“Yes, it seems like the sisters running CHS indeed used express mail. We got the paperwork yesterday when you were sorting your stuff into your room.” Adagio explained with a slight nod.

“Um, awesome? Does that mean that if I try to get in there-” Sunset started to question what was next, only for Adagio to cut her off.

“We have an email all prepared to send to Crystal Prep from one of our Prench accounts, linked to a well established family with a long lineage and history of prestige.” she gave a small, knowing chuckle. “One of the many benefits of being so long of live, I suppose.”

(V):.........:(V)

Silence was the answer the Rainbooms gave as they looked at the burned out remains that had been Sunset’s apartment. They hadn’t been able to get very close, everything having been taped off for safety precautions, the lot of them forced to try and hold Rainbow back from digging through the rubble. Applejack’s trained eyes could see the signs of people digging through it, obviously the firefighters and other first responders had searched diligently for anyone on the inside.

“What if she was in there…?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes still wide with terror. “What if she…”

The five had only been there once, and only because they had literally forced Sunset to take them. She had been incredibly adamant of them not seeing her small flat, though none of them could remember why. It was from just before the Battle of the Bands…

Applejack wanted to comfort her distraught friend, but her arms were still full of carrying Rarity, the girl fainting as soon as they had arrived and got out of Fluttershy’s van. Between that and Rainbow running off to the wreckage, Applejack was struggling to keep everything under control as she turned towards Pinkie Pie.

“Has she responded yet?” she asked her cousin, receiving a small shake of the head in response. “Curses… Come on now, Sunset. This is no time to be ignoring us.”

She dug around in her pocket, delicately balancing Rarity as she pulled up her phone, tapping away until she was in the messages, pausing as she entered Sunset’s name and the contact popped up.

So many messages sent, but none answered. Hopefully this time would be different…

Recipient: Sunset Shimmer

Hey, we’re at your place and it’s totally leveled. -

(V):..........:(V)

~*Today, <1 Minute Ago*~

From: AJ

-I know you have no reason to like us,-

(V):...........:(V)

Recipient: Sunset Shimmer

But can you please let us know if you made it out?

(V):............:(V)

Sunset paused as she looked down at her phone. She so desperately wanted to ignore it. They had removed her from their lives, and so had she with them.

But Princess Twilight would say something along the lines of trying to forgive them, as they had with her. But Sunset wasn’t that forgiving in this case, as she started typing away a response to the farmer.

(V):.............:(V)

~*Today, <1 Minute Ago*~

From: Sunset Shimmer

I’m alive.

Never text me again.

Any of you.

We’re done.

Applejack rubbed away at the tears streaming down her face as she looked up at her friends, Rarity starting to stir in her arms. She felt a sad, tired smile slowly come to her face as she cleared her throat.

Chapter 5: Rash Rainbows

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"So what exactly are you planning on doing, Rainbow?" Applejack asked, adjusting the stetson upon her head as she wearily eyed her rambunctious friend.

"I'm gonna go kick my own ass, that's what!" she yelled in response, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Twilight Sparkle gave a tired sigh.

She had finally returned home, the summit with the different species of Equestria having finally ended, thankfully with everypony agreeing to whatever terms or bargaining that had been made. She didn’t understand how the Princess’ could do it.

Her last correspondence with Sunset had been regarding a massive shopping spree that the Sirens had taken her on. As far as she could tell, it seemed those three had come around. It seemed…

Twilight just couldn’t shake the worry out of the back of her mind. Sure, Ponies could change for the better when they see the errors of their ways, Humans, well… Twilight would have to talk to her friends from across the portal first. But the Sirens? The ancient menaces to Equestria itself?

“Wouldn’t that cause one of them paradox thingees?” Applejack said, her muzzle scrunched up in thought, a look Rainbow Dash soon mirrored.

Twilight was regretting even mentioning the happenings on the other side of the mirror-portal to her fellow Elements. They had all been aghast when they found out their counterparts had gone against what it meant to be Elements of Harmony. What it meant to be themselves.

Rainbow had been quick to bring up Discord, saying that maybe the Human world’s equivalent had gotten loose. Twilight wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but had been quick to calm down her overeager friend.

It had been Fluttershy that had brought up the point that now raced through Twilight’s mind.

“This sounds just like the Gabby Gums incident…” she had whispered softly from behind her long mane. That comment had sent the Alicorn’s mind into a frenzy. This situation was so similar to Gabby Gums! Someone or ones under a psuedoname spreading secrets! But if it were the Human versions of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, what was their motive? Their reason to do this?

“Twilight?” the Princess looked up from the table as her name was called, head turning to look at her flighty friend. “Would it?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What are you asking about, Rainbow?”

“If I went across the portal and kicked that fake me in the butt, would it create one of those paradoxes?” Twilight couldn’t help but snicker at her friends question.

“No, Rainbow, that isn’t how paradoxes are caused. But I do worry what would happen if one of us ran into the other worlds version of ourselves.” she paused, tapping a hoof on her chin as she contemplated the possibilities. “But she’s not a fake you, just a different you. You have to understand, that world is quite a bit different than ours. Not only do they seem to have different values, but they are also younger than us.”

“Younger? But you said I also owned Carousel Boutique?” Rarity asked, the look of confusion she wore spreading across the muzzles of Twilight’s other friends.

“Yes, the other Rarity does. Again, I am unsure of how or why, as she is still a student like the rest.” Twilight shook her head, mane flitting back and forth. “As far as I can tell, for every day they have, a day and a half passes here in Equestria. At least roughly. That may be why they are a mix of seventeen and eighteen years old.”

“Wait!” confetti filled the air as the shock waves from Pinkie’s party cannon threatened to deafen every other Pony present. “They’re all the same age? Even though here I’m a year younger than Fluttershy, whose the same age as Rainbow Dash, and both are a year younger than Applejack who’s a year younger than you?”

“U-Ummm… Yes? Is there a reason you brought that up, Pinkie?”

“Oh, just for all them!” she beamed, waving a hoof around in front of her before giving a small, knowing wink.

“All of who?” Twilight looked around, utterly perplexed, before shrugging and giving a heavy sigh and shaking her head. “Nevermind.”

“Rainbow Dash!” the panicked shriek from the normally reserved Fluttershy snapped Twilight to attention, following the outstretched hoof of the butter creme pegasus to the mirror-portal as the last bit of a rainbow striped tail disappeared into it.

“Rainbow! You- Gah! After her, girls!” Twilight shouted as she vaulted towards the mirror-portal, diving headfirst into it.

(V):.:(V)

“Owww…”

“Oh stop being such a little filly, Rainbow! You were the one who charged right through the portal on your own!” Twilight Sparkle groaned as shook her head.

“Well I didn’t know they used razor blades for walking paths!” the rainbow haired girl snapped back, before returning to hissing violently as Vice Principal Luna applied more disinfectant to the scrape on the Equestrian’s knee.

“You all were lucky that we were just leaving the offices.” the dark hued woman said, finally screwing the bottle shut and walking it back over to it’s cabinet.

“I agree. The portal doesn’t seem to understand seasonal weather.” the Princess gave a small shudder.

(V):..:(V)

The five had landed in a cluttered mess when they’d arrived, thanks to charging through the portal one after another after Rainbow Dash, and mercifully only the headstrong pegasus had suffered any sort of minor injury; a slightly scraped knee.

Twilight could only describe what she had done next as herding cats, as all her friends reacted eerily similar to herself when she first crossed the portal. Well, other than Pinkie, but she was Pinkie, so Twilight didn’t worry. Instead she focused on the various cries and shrieks of her other friends.

“Where are my wing!?” yelled Rainbow as she flailed helplessly around on the ground.

“Humans don’t have wings. I thought I-”

“What happened to my hooves!? M-M-My hooficure!!!” Rarity shrieked, silencing Twilight as the marshmallow coloured girl wiggled her fingers in front of herself.

“It’s fine, Rarity, just pleasepleaseplease calm down!” Twilight begged, bending down and resting a hand on the now sobbing Rarity.

Thankfully Fluttershy remained silent, though Twilight could tell by her friends eyes that she was having the largest existential crises ever.

“Twilight? What are you doing here with the Rainbooms?” a familiar voice called out with a surprised tone, causing all five Ponies turned human to look towards the front entrance of the school.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna” came four awed cries, the girls all attempting to prostrate themselves towards the approaching women. The duo paused, looking utterly baffled at the scene unfolding in front of them; doubly so once Twilight erupted into laughter.

“Princess?” Vice Principal Luna asked as her sister and herself stopped in front of the five Equestrians, the duo bundled up in thick winter coats.

“Come on, you five. Why would the Princess’ be here?” Twilight giggled as her friends suddenly started to realize their mistakes. “Sorry about that, back home the two of you are a rather big deal.”

“I would guess so after seeing their reactions.” Celestia nodded, a faint smirk twitching at the corners of her mouth as she looked down at the five girls shifting back to awkward poses. “I take it these are your friends from that side of the portal then?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, these are the Equestrian version of the Rainbooms.”

“Is there a reason as to why the six of you have come here?” Luna asked, tittering behind her hand as she watched the Equestrians.

“Yeah! I gotta kick the ass of the other me for being such a feather-brain!” Rainbow shouted, a growl coming to her face.

“P-Pardon?” Celestia glanced over at Twilight, the Princess giving a heavy, exasperated sigh.

“I told them about the Anon-A-Miss incident.” she said slowly, before looking down at Rainbow with a look mixed of annoyance and understanding. “Rainbow here was rather… moved by it.”

“Hey! I’m Loyalty! And if some other me isn’t gonna be Loyal, I’m gonna go shake their head for them!” huff as she crossed her arms, teeth chattering as a large shiver quaked through her frame.

“Would you all like to come inside?” Celestia asked, a slight frown on her face. “It is rather cold out and you six are absolutely not dressed for the weather.”

“Y-Y-Y-Yes please!” Rarity managed out between clattering teeth, earning a hearty laugh from the native women.

(V):...:(V)

“Okay, that should do it.” Luna nodded as she pulled away from the now heavily bandaid-ed knee of Rainbow Dash, a proud smile on her face.

“Um, thank you?” Rainbow looked confused, wiggling her knee around like a cat trying to remove a sock.

“Did you really have to use that many band aids, Luna?” Celestia asked amidst giggling.

“If We recall, you decided not to help, dear sister.” the younger woman shot back, crossing her arms as she tilted her head towards her sibling.

“...” Celestia didn’t respond, her head tilting as she looked around her sister, her face a mix of emotions.

“Rarity!? What are you doing!?” Twilight yelled, a blush crossing her face.

“Mph! Why, whatever do you mean, darling?” the fashionista asked as she finished pulling her long sleeved shirt over her head, depositing it on the bed she knelt upon.

“Y-Your taking your clothes off!” her lavender friend stammered, watching as the fashionista stared down at her chest in confusion.

“Is there a reason they are up so high?” Rarity asked, fiddling away at her bra helplessly. “And so unnecessarily big?”

“It’s not like I have a book on Human biology back in Equestria! Just trust me that you shouldn’t be doing that here!”

“Ha! Mine are nice and small!” Rainbow beamed, thrusting her chest forward proudly, before looking over at Fluttershy who was poking errantly at her own bust. “Heh, Fluttershy’s are even bigger than yours, Rarity!”

“Look! Everypony!” Twilight shouted, finally causing all of her friends to stop pawing at their chest and look at her as the two heads of CHS tried to keep from dying of laughter. “Trust me when I say it doesn’t matter what size you are, but it is incredibly important that you all keep your clothes on at all times.”

“Really?” Rarity actually looked confused regarding clothes, something Twilight never thought that she’d see. “I guess it just seems odd is all. Clothes are meant for special occasions back home.”

“Clothes here are for modesty, expression, and protection.” Celestia said, obviously struggling to keep her voice calm and level. “We don’t have fur coats like I guess you do in Equestria, so during cold winters like this we have to bundle up.”

“Ah, yes. That makes sense. It was rather nippy outside.” Rarity said slowly, hand and each of the other four new humans nodding in acknowledgement.

“Hey? What’s taking you so long?” a new voice said, the door to the infirmary opening as the hairs on the back of every Equestrian’s neck stood on edge, a dread chill washing over them as a woman with skin as black as night and long, teal locks of hair stepped into the room, pausing and starting to grin when she noticed the girl kneeling topless on the bed. “Oooh, are you starting an orgy without inviting me?”

“Chrysalis!!!” came the panicked cry from all six of the Element Bearers, causing the woman to do a double take.

“Um… I only know, uh… Twerlot Sporkle there- Waaahg!” the woman cried out as she was cut off by Rarity suddenly giving a war cry and launching herself at Chrysalis, leg outstretched, only to land pitifully, and loudly, on the ground.

“What’s going on here!?” Celestia asked as she watched Twilight Sparkle dash in front of her, her arms held out protectively.

“We’re protecting you from the Queen of the Changlings!” Twilight said firmly, her eyes narrowing as she watched the woman standing across the room from her.

“Protec- That’s my wife!” Celestia said, erupting into unrestrained laughter as she rested a hand on the Princess’ shoulder as she slid her way around the girl.

Needless to say, but every Equestrian present gave an overly shock cry at the announcement. “Wife!?”

“For eight years.” Chrysalis chuckled as she gave Celestia a quick peck on the cheek, wrapping one hand around her partners hip and holding up the other to show off the simple golden band wrapped around it. “Now will someone explain all this to me?”

“Well first, this is off the record.” Celestia said, locking eyes with Chrysalis as a firm look spread across her face.

“Hey now, you know I’m good for these things.” Chrysalis purred playfully, running a long finger up the middle of the pale woman’s neck. All six Equestrians gave uneasy shudders at the scene.

“Well this is rather… Substantial.” Luna added, Chrysalis giving a playful sigh before nodding.

“These six are from another world.” Celestia said after a brief pause to take a breath.

“Okay, I thought you quit smoking that stuff years-”

“I’m serious, Chrysalis. These six are related to that Rainbow back in September. Well, more or less.”

“That was just Twilight. The other five are her versions of our members of the Rainbooms band.” Luna said, nodding slowly as Chrysalis turned towards her. “After that, about two weeks or so, was when the Sirens showed up, and Sunset, Twilight, and the Rainbooms helped save us all from them.”

“Okay, someone wake me up.” Chrysalis started to laugh, causing the Equestrians to take defensive poses once more, the haunting reminder of the Queen’s attempt during the Royal Wedding flashing through their minds. “Or at least show me where the camera’s are! This is getting ridiculous!”

“I wish it were…” came the tired voice from the school’s Principal as she shook her head, hands resting gently on her hips. “You wanted to know what all that supposed ‘interference’ was. Well it’s related to them. Please do relax, you six. I’m not sure what sort of shenanigans that your world’s version of my wife caused, but it’s fine. You can trust her.”

“...Fine.” Twilight said, her friends giving her uneasy glances before relenting as well. “Celestia is right. The six of us are from another world, one where magic flows freely; almost over abundantly compared to this world.”

“Magic…” Chrysalis’ brow furrowed, a sly grin tugging at her lips. “There’s no such thing as-”

“Could we show her the portal?” Twilight asked with a somewhat annoyed sigh, glancing over at the two Principals. “Prove would help convince her.”

“Are you sure about that, Twilight?” Applejack asked tentatively, sharing side eye glances with the woman in question. “I’m not sure-”

“Look, you said something about off the record, right?” Celestia nodded as Twilight pointed at her. “Why?”

“Chrysalis here is… Her job is rather… Unique.” obviously the pale woman had struggled to find the right words to say, pausing multiple times as she chewed over her choice of statements. “She handles a lot of secrets, to put it simply.”

“Well, if she stays quiet, we’ll show her the portal. That should make her understand.” Twilight said, receiving nods from the sisters and a roll of the head from Chrysalis. “Follow me. You five, stay in here. We’ll be right back.”

“What!? No way, I’m coming with you!” Rainbow shouted as she leapt from the bed, only to land in a crumbled up pile on the ground. Obviously she had forgotten about her missing wings again as she pushed herself up off the ground, grumbling in response to Chrysalis giggling.

“You five don’t even know how to walk properly here yet. We’ll only be a few minutes.” Twilight said as she ushered the three women out the door.

(V):....:(V)

“So, how come you six came over here again?” Celestia asked as everyone finished reconvening in the infirmary.

“Well, like I mentioned, I said that these five heard about the Anon-A-Miss incident, and Rainbow wanted to ‘talk some sense’ into the other her.” Twilight explained simply, chuckling as she watched Chrysalis stare blankly out the window at the statue. She couldn’t see them, but the woman’s opalescent eyes were agape and vacant, her world still reeling from what she had just learned.

“I see. Well unfortunately all the students are home for the holidays still. They won’t be back her for a little while.” informed the white woman, crossing her arms.

“Well why are you here then?” Twilight asked, a little confused.

“Anon-A-Miss, sadly. It has caused us quite a few issues, between Gilda being sent to the hospital-”

“Wait, what about Gilda!?” Rainbow said from shaking knees as she tried to get used to walking in a bipedal body.

“She attacked Sunset, and Sunset defended herself… A little too well.” Luna mumbled darkly.

“Wow… Everyone in this world just sucks!” Rainbow shook her head as she crossed her arms. “Uh, no offence.”

Everyone gave a knowing chuckle in response to the girl’s comment, before Twilight started speaking again. “Well we might have some information for you regarding Anon-A-Miss!”

“Oh? Do, pray tell.” Luna said, motioning.

“Well, we’ve had our own experience with Anon-A-Miss. Or rather, a situation extremely similar to it. You see, back in Ponyville-” soft giggling could be heard from Chrysalis in the corner at the first mention of the girls’ hometown. “-we had three little schoolfilly’s use the school newspaper to spread secrets about various people in town. They also used a psuedoname; Gabby Gums.”

“You don’t think that maybe the same individuals are behind here do you?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, but it would be worth investigating. I actually saw them as students here during my, uh… visits.” Twilight gave an uneasy chuckle, scratching at the back of her head.

“Oh…?” Celestia and Luna each responded, sounding apprehensive, their body language closing. “Who?”

“Well I’m not sure if they call themselves this here, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders; or rather, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle.” the two principals seemed to deflate at the names were said, sighing. Celestia ran a hand through her hair as she looked back up at the lavender skinned girl.

“That’s what we discovered tonight…” she said slowly. “We had Chrysalis do some digging for us, and that’s who we narrowed it down to. We were really hoping we were wrong…”

“You might still be!” Twilight started to say, only to be cut off by Chrysalis as she finally broke away from the window.

“No, I’m certain. Like, ninety-nine point nine nine repeating percent certain that it was them.” Chrysalis said, smugly crossing her arms. “I’ve tracked them all over town, making and queuing posts. Even here in this school!”

“And this has ended up alot worse than Gabby Gums.” Twilight mused, tapping at her chin. “What sort of punishments could they be looking at?”

“Well, that’s one of the issues. They committed no direct crime. Cyberbullying is hardly even being talked about yet.” Luna explained, looking over at her sister. “But the self defense act of Sunset could be linked to them, due to Gilda believing Sunset to be Anon-A-Miss.”

“But like you said, it was self defense.” Twilight said, watching as Rainbow looked away in disgust.

“Gilda was sent to the hospital after Sunset knocked her unconscious and broke not only her nose, but fractured her cheekbones. She was barely breathing when the EMS arrived…” Rainbow could be heard taking in repeated, sharp breathes as Gilda’s situation was explained. “She just woke up finally a couple days ago.”

“Oh, Sunset… I should have been here for you…” Twilight said, her eyes tearing up as a nagging thought built in the back of her mind. “Is she gonna face anything?”

“Gilda’s parent’s have been trying everything, but the footage shows Gilda swinging first. They’ve gone all the way down to excessive force, but someone had nearly blinded Sunset earlier that day, so they’ve been talked out of it.”

“Good…” the Princess muttered, nodding slowly.

“Hey, maybe we should take them with us?” Chrysalis piped up, drawing everyone’s attention. “They would probably like to see their friend.”

“How? The car only seats four?” Luna asked, shaking her head.

“You’re going to see Sunset?” Twilight asked, smile beaming brightly as she looked hopefully at Celestia.

“Only because we needed to let her know the situation, but I’m not sure if you know, but, she’s staying with the Sirens, currently.” perturbed was the easiest way to describe Celestia’s appearance as she looked down at the girl who’s smile threatened to blind her.

“She has… But she says nothing but good things about them, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt!” Twilight paused, looking out of the corner of her eye. “Even if she did lie about the Rainbooms and how they treated her…”

“Well, I guess? But an entire bus, Chrysalis? They live in a very expensive neighbourhood! I’m not sure I trust you to-”

“Too late! You bored me, and I wanna see more of these magical horses!” Chrysalis yelled as she ran out of the room, laughing giddily.

“...I regret letting you show her that…” Celestia said, eyes glued on the door as it shut behind her wife.

(V):.....:(V)

“Wait! Stop! There in the cafe!” Twilight shouted, pointing at the five girls slowly entering Sugercube Corner.

“Um, we’re aren’t moving.” Chrysalis said bluntly, pointing at the streetlight glowing above them. “We’re at a red light.”

“Good! We need to talk to them!” Rainbow yelled as she bolted to her feet. She had been the first to get used to walking on two legs, proving it as she bolted to the front of the bus.

“Wait, you can’t-” Celestia said as she tried to stop the stampede of otherworldly girls.

“I’ll just pull over then.” Chrysalis said, maneuvering the bus into a parking spot and opening the door, letting the six girls out. They bolted across the thankfully empty streets, rushing to the door, almost tearing it from its hinges as they opened it and flooded in.

“What… the…?” Rainbow Dash asked as she watched herself enter Sugarcube Corner.

“That should be my line, idiot!” she yelled back at herself, her fist flying and connecting with her own jaw, sending her stumbling.

“What in tarnation!?” Applejack shouted as she caught her friend, a commotion arising from the two groups as they each rushed to pull their own Rainbow Dash back. Thankfully the cafe was empty, but that didn’t stop the proprietors from rushing out in a panic.

“What is going… on…?” Mrs. Cake’s yelling died down as she saw the two groups of Rainbooms, her eyes locking on the second Pinkie, before she gave an exhausted sigh and collapsed to the floor, her husband following shortly after.

“Rainbow, stop!” Twilight yelled, bringing everyone’s attention to her.

“Princess!? What are you doing here!?” the human Rainbow asked, struggling to break free from Applejack. “And who just hit me!?”

“I’m you, you featherbrained idiot!” pony Rainbow shouted back, also struggling to get away from her own Applejack. “Or rather, I’m the you who wouldn’t betray a friend!!!”

That comment shut up the native Rainbow Dash, stopping her struggles, as well as the other four members of the Rainbooms. Princess Twilight had heard about them, and what they had did… And now her version of them had come over with her.

“Um, the Wedding, Dash?” Twilight sounded just like a mother who had caught her child lying to her, and equally looked the part as she crossed her arms.

“Hey! Did you have to defend yourself- oh, right. Chrysalis.” Rainbow’s cheeks grew a sheepish blush as she realized what she had just started to say, only to vanish when she turned on her now sulking human self. “But it was nothing compared to what she did!”

“Look, we get it. We fucked up royally, okay? What else do you want us to say?” the human Rainbow yelled back in frustration, her fists clenched.

“That you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Applejack said, looking at her other self in disapproval. “You’re supposed to be Honesty, but did you even listen to her?”

The other Applejack remained mute, her eyes screwed shut.

“Didn’t Granny Smith teach you not to lie?”

“We did listen to her!” came the heated response of the human Applejack, nobody paying attention to the two Pinkie’s as they rushed over to check on the condition of the Cakes, before flipping the store’s sign to closed and resuming their positions. “We just didn’t believe her…”

“And why not?” the sulks of shame that the Rainbooms wore fell even closer to the floor as Twilight spoke up. “Hadn’t she proven that she had changed? Not only did she save you all from the Sirens; who she’s now staying with! Do you know how worried I am about that!? Who knows what they could do with her! She may say everything is fine there, but she lied to me about you five after the Battle of the Bands, telling me how good you had been treating her! I trusted you five!”

“We know…” Fluttershy said, looking up only to give a panicked shriek at the look the other her was giving, her eyes shooting back to look at the ground as she started to shuffle behind her friends.

“...Did you ever really forgive her?” the disappointment in Twilight’s voice was second only to its sorrow, the five Rainbooms struggling to not let their tears show. They had been struggling over Sunset’s reaction ever since the day she told them she was done with them. They weren’t sure what they were gonna do. “I guess not…”

“We’ve tried to apologize to her…” human Pinkie said, kicking her boots against the floor. “But she doesn't want to see us anymore…”

“Can you really blame her? We’re supposed to bring Laughter, not tears!” Equestrian Pinkie Pie admonished, her arms flying towards the roof.

“Please help us, da… Pri…” Rarity gave a small sob as she wiped away at her face, makeup running down her cheeks. “Please help us, Twilight… We don’t know what to do…”

“...What do you want to do, is the question?” Twilight said with a heavy sigh, crossing her arms.

“Woah now, Twilight.” Applejack moved to stand in front of her friend. “I’m sorry, but I agree with RD. These five did something right awful to Sunset, something so awful that it caused Rainbow to just fly headfirst into the portal! I’m not sure we should help them out of their mess.”

Twilight was amazed at just how adamant the farm girl was rejecting the Rainbooms, her human self included. Rainbow would of course object, she was loyal to a fault, but Applejack was usually a strong voice of reason in the group, a point of grounding.

“They were the ones who messed up here, and it makes me right sick to think that more or less my own kin did something like this.”

“We just want to get our friend back.” Rainbow said, finally looking up at the group of doppelgangers.

“She probably never was your friend!” the other her yelled back. “Friends don’t abandon their friends! They stay Loyal!”

“Okay, so you five want to try and show Sunset that you’re still her friends, but I do have to agree with my friends here.” Twilight looked away for a moment, wiping away the tear that had started to run down her cheek as the Rainbooms gave uneasy looks. “You five seem like fair weather friends. Nice to Sunset when it makes you look good, and instantly dropping her when things turn bad. I get it, Sunset did a lot of bad, more than I could understand since I wasn’t here for it. But she’s changed, she tried her hardest to show me, and to show you and the rest of the school…”

Silence washed over the room as Twilight Sparkle paused her talking, studying each of the girls standing across from her intently. “I don’t have any advice to give for this. But my friends here might, seeing as they didn’t believe in me once. Maybe they can help you?”

(V):......:(V)

“Will… Will you come back?” Rainbow Dash asked as the Equestrians started to file out of the shop. Everyone had spent the last twenty minutes talking with their parallel selves, and while the Elements had been unsure of their human selves, they eventually let up, doing their best to help.

“Probably. But for now we have to go. I need to go talk to Sunset.” Twilight gave a sad smile as she paused at the door, nodding over towards the now awake Cake’s. “Sorry about the commotion.”

The Rainbooms watched as Twilight hurried to catch up with her friends, the five standing around outside, before crossing the street and getting into the big bus that sat parked there.

“She said she was going to talk to Sunset…” Rainbow Dash said, rapidly turning on her friends. “We have to follow her!”

“What!? Are you daft, Rainbow!?” Applejack shouted, looking at the athlete like she had grown wings again.

“We have to do this, AJ! When else will we ever get this chance again!? Fluttershy! Gimmie the keys to your van!” the pixie sized girl shouted as the bus’ lights turned on and it slowly started to move.

(V):.......:(V)

“Wow… I don’t think I’ve seen a house this big even in Canterlot…” Twilight said as her and the three women stood in awe of the sheer size of the building in front of them. When Celestia said that the Sirens lived in the rich part of town, Twilight didn’t expect this.

“I’ll say…” the woman said, a slight hint of envy in her tone. “We should be quick, it is getting close to supper time.”

Each of them nodded, with Celestia reaching out slowly and grabbing the knocker hanging out of the mouth of the lion resting on the door, banging it against the small plate beneath it. A familiar voice could be heard from the other side of the massive barrier, though it was muffled and the words could not be deciphered. A few moments later it started to swing open.

“Hello? What do you…” Sunset paused as she was first Celestia, then Luna, before her eyes went wide, the girl jumping back and crying out as a finger flew in Chrysalis’ direction. “Queen Chrysalis!”

“Oh, hey, someone else getting me mixed up with a villain.” she said between chuckles as Twilight broke through to stand between the two of them.

“Relax, Sunset, that’s this world’s Chrysalis.” she explained, her amber friend noticeably calming down. “Uh, hi. It’s been awhile.”

“I’ll say! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming!?” Sunset shouted as she stepped out of the house in her socks, ignoring the cold as she wrapped her shorter friend in a massive embrace, hoisting her from the ground.

“This was… Rather… Unplanned…!” the Princess wheezed as her midsection was crushed, the three women devolving into chuckles at the site. “T-Tight!”

“O-Oops! Sorry, Twilight.” Sunset gave a sheepish blush as she let her friend down, the sound of a vehicle roaring to a stop filling the air. “So, uh, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, you see-”

“Sunset!”

All five of them froze as a voice filled the air, a girl bundled up like Sunset had never seen her coming barrelling around the corner of the house, her hand waving at the girl in an effort to get her attention.

“Oh no…” Twilight whispered under her voice, glancing over at Sunset and watching as any trace of positive emotion evaporated faster than a tray of cupcakes in front of Pinkie Pie as Rainbow made herself known.

“What is she doing here!?” Sunset shouted, pointing angrily at the athlete as she paused at the corner and waved an arm, the other four members of the Rainbooms appearing moments later. “All of them!? Why are they here, Twilight!?”

“We’re her to apologize to you, Sunset!” Rainbow said, approaching the steps that Twilight now occupied, her arms stretched out.

“I thought I told you traitors that we’re finished!” she spat back venomously, a bestial snarl on her lips as fire filled her eyes. “I don’t want to see any of you ever again!”

“Look, we messed up, we know that. But the Princess and her friends helped us understand-” Applejack started, her hands held up, palms facing Sunset as she turned on Twilight, the girl shrinking as sensed the situation turning from terrible, to apocalyptic.

“You, what!?” this time Sunset’s fury was turned on Twilight, the girl panicking as she turned to face her friend.

“Look, we just ran into them on our way here, and I tried to help them-”

“You tried to help them!? Whose side are you on, Twilight!?” Sunset demanded, shoving away the reaching hand of Celestia. “And you!! I’m not a student of your fucking school anymore, remember!? Why the fuck are you here!?”

“Sunset, please, you need to calm down. This is just a big misunderstanding.” Celestia tried to reason with the furious Equestrian, a fury the likes she hadn’t seen from the teen since the night of the Fall Formal bearing down on her.

“I’ll say! Not only is my only supposed friend helping the people that ruined my entire fucking life, but they showed them where I live!?” Sunset shouted at the entire gathering as she stepped back inside the door. “I thought Adagio said not to share this with the fucking Rainbooms!?”

“We followed them!” Rainbow said, rushing to stand near face to face with the gnashing maw of the outraged Sunset. “Please, just let us-”

“No! All of you get out of here before I call the fucking cops on you! I’m done with all of you!” she shrieked as she slammed the door, a heavy thud filling the air as a deadbolt was set.

“You- You-” Twilight Sparkle was at a loss for words! What were the Rainbooms thinking!? “Are you all idiots!? What are you doing here!? Why did you follow us!?”

“Rainbow said to follow you…” Fluttershy said in meek terror, her face mostly hidden behind her long bang. Twilight turned on the athlete who stood there in silence, a look of utter defeat on her face.

“I just… We just wanted to say that we were sorry…” she mumbled, unable to look at Twilight in the eyes.

“Well now you may have ruined everything!” Twilight shouted furiously, actually angry! She never got angry at her friends! “Now she thinks that I’m on your side!”

“Look, we all have to go, just in case she actually does call the police.” Chrysalis warned, starting to push everyone away from the door. “There’s a station close, and it wouldn’t take them long to arrive, and I can’t protect all of you.”

“But- Gah! Fine! You five! You are forbidden from going anywhere near Sunset until further notice! If you see her, walk the other way, okay!” Twilight shouted at the Rainbooms, all of them nodding numbly. “I’m gonna go back to Equestria and try to calm her down and explain things… Let’s just hope that you didn’t ruin things too much…”

Chapter 6: Chapter's End

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“Sunset? Who was that?” Adagio’s voice called out from around the corner as the sound of a door slamming radiated through the house. Sunset stomped over to the living room and collapsed into the sofa, screaming herself silent into the pillow she wrapped around her head.

“Sunset? What’s wrong?” Adagio paused as she watched Sunset get up and fling the pillow against the chesterfield resting across the room, giving another, almost feral sounding scream of pure rage.

“Twilight’s on the Rainbooms’ fucking side, that’s what!!” the girl’s eyes were pinpricks as they shook violently in their sockets, the lead Siren unsure if Sunset even saw her standing there. “Not only that, Celestia showed the Rainbooms that you live here! Now they’re never gonna leave me alone!!”

Adagio remained silent as Sunset continued to tear the room apart without actually damaging anything, the furious Equestrian showing great restraint in that regard, though she would have to return all the furniture to their proper positions. Instead, she turned her thoughts inwards.

She surprised herself when she found that she doubted that Celestia and Luna willingly showed the Rainbooms where they lived. Perhaps they were followed? But that doesn’t explain Twilight Sparkle’s actions. Was she really on the side of the Rainbooms? It seemed suspect, to the lead Siren, who saw firsthand that Twilight really cared for Sunset, when she reached out to the amber Equestrian during the finale of the Battle of the Bands.

Adagio watched as the telltale aura of negative emotion slowly flared to life around Sunset, embracing the girl. The energy crackled with intensity of the girl’s raging state, the Siren ignorant to her salivating maw that sat agape. She could feel herself reaching out towards it, coaxing it to her, only to hesitate. Something was… wrong… It was as if the emotions were bruising, a diseased purple overtaking the sickly green.

“I’m fucking done with all of them!!” Sunset yelled with her cracking voice, breaking Adagio out of her meditative state, her hand snapping back to her side as she heard the approach of both Aria and Sonata.

“Woah there, Sunset. You’re sounding a little hoarse there.” Aria smirked, only to stumble back as a pillow thrown at near mach speed collided harshly with her face, Sunset growling like a wild mongrel as she stared the Siren down.

“I don’t want to hear it, Aria!” she snapped, turning around and once more terrorizing the room.

“Um, what’s wrong with Sunset?” Sonata asked quietly, peeking over at Adagio with eyes full of concern.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s supposed to look like that…” Aria added, closing the circle the Sirens now huddled in. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it like that before.”

“I agree…” Adagio said, wiping away the drool that had built up at the corner of her lips as her wits fully returned to her. “I don’t know what’s causing that.”

“Something about being done with them?” Sonata asked, her usual ditzy expression returning to her face. “What did she mean by that?”

“Oh, that.” a heavy sigh radiated in Adagio’s mind at her sister’s comment. “Apparently her precious Princess Twilight arrived with both the Principals and the Rainbooms.”

“I thought you told Celestia not to do that!?” Aria hissed angrily, Adagio silencing her with a dark glare.

“I did, and I don’t think they would have. For now, we need to calm Sunset before she ruins our living room.”

It took a little while, but the Sirens finally managed to stop Sunset’s furious pacing and throwing of pillows. However once she started to calm down, her emotions change from fury to sorrow, and she wrapped herself around Sonata, quaking sobs shaking the two of them.

“Hey, we’re still here for you, Sunset.” the Siren said, faking as much of a reassuring smile as she could while patting the taller girl on the back. “We’ll be your friends.”

The three Sirens looked at on another in total loss of what to do with the current situation when Sunset started talking. “I just… I… I know I did some awful things in my past, but I’m trying to change for the better!”

“You’ve been trying for what, like, three months now, Shimmer?” Aria asked, her usual subtly and tack being shown as she looked at Sunset. “You’ve tried playing nice, and what has it got you? Crying in the arms of a former enemy who’s had to take you in because your supposed friends turned their backs on you, and an almost blind eye.”

“Aria!” Sonata exclaimed, looking extremely upset at her sister as she felt Sunset start to freeze up in her arms, only to be prevented speaking further as the purple Siren continued.

“Let me finish, Sonata! Look at yourself, Shimmer! One sight of them and you go from raging to crying like a little child! I thought we agreed to let a fucking badass stay here, not a little bitch!

“When we first showed up at CHS, and you showed us around, we could tell something was up, and we watched as you rolled over for any little snot nosed brat at that school and we thought nothing of you. But when we heard what you had been like, we got interested. When you showed up, injured and lost; when you told me you beat the ever living shit out of Gilda, you earned my respect!

“But if you’re just gonna keep trying to pretend like this hasn’t happened; that this is all some sort of dream, then I’d rather throw you back on the streets, cause you have no reason to stay in our house! I don’t CARE if you don’t want revenge- I really don’t! But you need to fucking grow a pair and get on with your life! Your not immortal!”

Silence washed over the room as Sonata watched her sister in abstract horror, Adagio wore a stony visage as she spectated quietly, and Aria simply crossed her arms as she scowled at the girl whose face was still stuffed into Sonata’s shoulder, her long mane of hair cascading over the girl’s upper body.

There was a loud, almost snort like sniffle as Sunset pushed herself off of Sonata, the girl looking tentatively up at her friend, unease radiating from her every expression as Sunset wiped a hand across her face. When her face was finally visible, the Siren’s could finally see just how swollen and red the girl’s eyes had gotten, even though one still lingered shut, the scab still causing issues opening it. Aria had expected a continued sob fest, perhaps even a fight, but instead, Sunset just gave a small, apologetic smile as she looked at the Siren.

“Thanks, Aria…” her voice was quiet, still crackling as started pulling a hand through her hair to try and straighten it. “I, uh… I really needed a good kick in the ass…”

“Uh… You’re welcome?” Aria coughed as she looked away, confused on what else to do now.

“I promise you three, I won’t let what’s happened get the best of me again. I am ready to move on in life, and it’s time I showed that… By, uh, cleaning up the living room…” Sunset gave a sheepish chuckle as she turned around and looked at where the grinning Adagio was pointing, rubbing the back of her head as laughter broke out from the three Sirens. “Man… Did I really do all that?”

(V):.:(V)

“Sunset! Hurry up already! We’re gonna miss sign ups at this rate!” Adagio’s voice echoed through the house as Sunset raced to finish getting changed. The Sirens had decided to take Sunset out to their favourite activity, karaoke. Sunset wasn’t surprised in the slightest, given their names, but what did surprise her was just how much they had dressed up for it. Or, in some cases, how little. Not to say that they could be mistaken as streetwalkers, but they were definitely leaving little to the imagination.

“Hold your horses!” she yelled back as she finished pulling on signature jacket from her old days at CHS, her fingers tracing along the material affectionately. She was actually starting to get giddy at the idea of going out, the only time she had done so with the Sirens so far was the shopping trip, or runs to get her belongings from her old apartment.

“We would if she were here with us!” Aria sounded quite mad, though Sunset could hear the giggling threatening to break through her voice.

She paused as she noticed her journal sitting on the desk, her previous trepidation starting to wash over her. No! she shook her head, her look turning to one of determination. My past is my past! It’s not my today! She grabbed the book, walking over to her massive closet and tossing it into one of the few cardboard boxes that remained of her things, mainly precious clothes that no long fit her.

“Sunset!” it was Sonata’s time to yell at her, sounding almost angry, or as close as the bubbly girl could get to.

“Coming!” she shouted, shutting her door and scurrying down the hallway, pausing at the washroom to grab a hair tie as she started running her hands through her hair. “Jeez, have a little patience, would ya? You’re the immortal ones here, remember?”

Aria gave a low wolf whistle as Sunset stopped in front of them, nodding in appreciation as Adagio face palmed dramatically. Sonata merely bounded up and started to swat playfully at the ponytail Sunset now wore, making small meowing noises as she did so.

“A little conservative, but I like the look, Shimmer.” Aria said with a crude chuckle and a sly wink before starting to make her way to the door, her boots clunking heavily against the floor. “Though what’s with the hairstyle change?”

“Oh, heh… I’ve always loved ponytails.” she chimed in as she finished putting on her own boots, the high heels adding a few more inches to her already spectacular height. “Even back in Equestria, whenever I saw a mare walk by with a ponytail I would just…”

The Sirens started giggling, certain that the shiver Sunset had just given was not due to the slight chill that had fallen over the city as night did the same. They entered the garage, the car giving a small beep as it started up, the darkness of the outside world starting to seep in through the opening garage door.

“So where are we going exactly?” Sunset asked as she slipped into the back of the car alongside Sonata, the girl purring happily as she leaned up along the taller girl. “I didn’t think there even was a karaoke place in Canterlot!”

“It’s a bar, actually.” Adagio said as she leaned around the side of the driver's seat as she started to back the car out of the garage. “The Storm King’s Cellar over in the college district, to be precise. It’s a frankly obtuse name if you ask us, but we have a bit of a reputation there for our performances.”

“...You sing in front of a bunch of drunk as hell frat boys for fun?” Sunset stared blankly at Adagio as the car paused it’s rearward motion, the Siren rolling her eyes and groaning.

“It’s the only place with proper acoustics in this whole damn city.” she said, shaking her head as the car finished pulling out and started to drive forward instead, Sunset chuckling at the Siren’s annoyed response.

“Hey, whatever floats your boat, Adagio. I just thought you Sirens would have a higher standard for your crowd.”

“What, like kids at CHS?” Aria snarked, looking back at Sunset through the rear view mirror as she sniggered quietly.

“God, a majority of that school wouldn’t know quality if it- I mean, you remember the blonde girl with the wall eye, right? I mean, no offence, but a saw? In an event titled the “Battle of the Bands”? At least Octavia had a proper instrument!”

“Octavia… You mean the girl with the cello?” Adagio’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember every little student at that school.

“Yes, that’s right.” came Sunset’s response, the amber girl nodding slightly.

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have her locked up in our house. I think she’s the best cellist that I’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to.” Sunset was amazed at the high praise the Siren was singing, an actually feeling of awe radiating from her voice. “I’ve always had a spot for the classics, and I dare say that she has a bright future ahead of her.”

“You should hear what her sister does, then. Some of the remixing Vinyl does with Octavia’s and Lyra’s works are spectacular.”

“Those two are sisters!?” Aria seemed like she was attempting to tear the seat she sat on out of the entire country with how much she was trying to turn and look at Sunset. “But they are total opposites!”

“I could say the same about you and your sisters.” Sunset giggled as she stuck out her tongue at the scoffing girl. “Your sisters have a sense of tact that put you to shame. Hell, I think even Rainbow Dash beats you.”

“As if! That girl couldn’t play her guitar well enough to save a burning orphans life!” hyena-like laughter erupted from Aria as street lights continued to pass at a steady pace.

“Hey! What’s our song list for the night?” Sonata butted in, Sunset noticing a small music player in her hands, its screen glowing brightly.

“Oh, probably do some of the pieces that Sunset heard at the Battle of the Bands.” Adagio said in an uninterested manner. “Hopefully she remembers enough of them to be a proper background singer with you three.”

“Oh! Oh!” cried the amber girl, reaching around and gently jabbing the shoulder of the now chuckling Adagio. “Is that where you’re trying to go with this!?”

“I’m just saying, Sunset. Music is in our very being, I wouldn’t expect the same standards out of you as I do us.”

“I don’t know what it was like back when the rocks in Equestria were soft, ya old hag, but in modern Equestria it’s almost a goddamn law that you have to break out into stupid songs at least once every half an hour!” Sunset shot back as returned back into her seat. “Don’t forget who it was that had to come in and sing the song that beat your weak asses!”

“Oooooooooh!” Sonata’s egging call echoed throughout the call as Sunset crossed her arms in smug victory.

“Besides. I even have a song ready for tonight myself.” she added, her smirk widening. “Something I’m expecting you to record for me.”

“When did you possibly have the time to write a song?” Aria asked incredulously, barking with laughter. “I haven’t seen you at your table aside to write in that journal!”

“Oh, just, ya know, earlier today. Something sort of popped into my mind after I threatened to call the police on those annoyances that stopped by earlier.”

(V):..:(V)

Yup, this place was your typical college style bar. Sure, it was a step above the rundown joint that she had occasionally stopped by back near her old apartment, but it wasn’t near the level of culture and class that she expected the Sirens to prefer. There was the noise associated with drunk frat boys, as well as the guaranteed scent of that disgusting body spray they like to use for some reason; prove that advertisements worked on those with pea sized brains.

“Hello, Reginald. I hope we have arrived in time to sign up for tonight?” Adagio purred as she lent onto the small desk manned by a massive brute of a man, muscles rippling through the tight embrace of his comically tight, and out of character, tuxedo. He seemed to look down at the Siren, though the aviators he wore hiding his eyes almost as much as the shadow that his top hat cast upon his upper face. He gave a small nod, uncrossing his arms as he thrust a sheet of paper forward upon a clipboard. “Thank you, dear.”

Sunset watched as Adagio started to fill in the sheet, a mess of scribbles was all she could see from the top portion, as well as the absolute giant of a man looking at her, his face complete unreadable as her reflection played off his glasses as she gave an uneasy wave. “Um, h-hi? I’m with them.”

“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just checking you out.” Adagio said, causing Sunset’s cheeks to erupt into flames as Aria and Sonata giggled antagonistically. “So just the two songs for us tonight, keep it short and sweet, and leave them wanting for more. Here you are Sunset, why don’t you -snrk!- fill out your application?”

“Oh ha ha, skank.” Sunset snickered as she snatched the clipboard away, quickly scribbling in her name and the request of 1 song as Sonata handed over her music player.

“Here you are, just play them in order. Love me some Regi!” she waved happily as Sunset returned the clipboard and started dragging the Sirens into the bar.

“Ya know, I didn’t see many registrations.” Sunset commented as they made it into the bar proper, a small stage situated to the side that obviously was where they’d be performing.

“A lot of the students are probably home for the holidays still. Canterlot University draws students from all over the country.” came the response from the lead Siren as she slowly sashayed her way over to the bar. “Hello, Charlie. Long time no see. Our usuals, please. And whatever ponygirl there is having.”

“Whatever the hardest whiskey you have is. Neat, and as full as the largest glass you have is.” Sunset groaned as Adagio jerked her thumb back at her. The bartender, a heavyset, but not obese, man with a greyish pallor and angry, heavy set eyebrows nodded slowly before starting off to make their drinks. “So why is it that you like this place? I mean, acoustics is a weak reasoning.”

“That man is certainly a unicorn back in Equestria, cause what he can do with booze is nothing short of magical.” Aria seemed salivate at the thought before turning at pulling at the collar of her vest. “Plus it helps that we’re the best looking motherfuckers in here.”

Adagio’s snide streak returned as she leaned up against the counter. “Whiskey, huh? I took you as more of a cooler girl myself.”

“Wow, nothing but rude from you two tonight.” Sunset shook her head as she rest her hands on her hips. “I dare say I could pull up my top and everyone here would be eating from my hand. And coolers are fine if I want something fruity, but I think I’ll take something that might put a buzz on me if I keep drinking all night.”

“Heh, with the height and fat you’re storin? I’d think you’d need to down a kilo of absinthe for that!”

“Wooooow!” Sunset reared back in laughter at Aria’s continuing streak of sass. “Seriously, Aria. I get you want to be choked out in these arms of mine, but don’t go trying to provoke me now.”

The quartet continued to share banter and laughs, even after their drinks arrived. It wasn’t until a younger sounding voice called out over the boisterous twenty somethings that the four Equestrians finally quieted down.

“Ladies and gentlemen- If there are even any of you in here!- It is time that we start introducing our contestants for tonight’s karaoke showcase! Those of you who are regulars- Okay, so all of you- I am certain that you will love to hear this! Our very own mavens of the voice have graced us once again with their presences, and this time, they brought a new friend! Please welcome to the stage, The Sirens!”

To say that the applause, catcalls, clapping, and whistles, was deafening would be an understatement. Sunset swore that the place was about to fall down thanks to the exuberance from the half drunk humans threatening to rampage through the bar.

“That’s our cue, newbie.” Adagio said, dragging a digit along Sunset’s chin before making her way to the stage, obviously relishing in the attention she was getting. Sunset let them have their little moment before slamming back the last of her drink and giving a loud whistle, silencing everyone and gaining the attentions of the three girls standing up on the stage.

Sunset gave a victorious smirk as she felt all eyes shift to her, giving a quick nod to the girls on the stage before slowly pulling off her jacket and slinging it onto the counter. She heard some idiot call out for her to take more off, so instead she grabbed the hem of her tight tank top and hoisted it up, up, and further up her body, until it sat tantalizingly shy of her prodigious bust line, and started tying it off, as her firm core showed itself to the crowd. Numerous wolf whistles called out from the crowd as Sunset reached back and grabbed her jacket, flinging it across her shoulder as she started her own slow walk up to the stage, her hiphuggers fulfilling their title perfectly as she watched Aria start to grow weak in the knees as Sunset approached.

“Aren’t you missing someone?” she asked victoriously, cocking her hip as she rested her hand on it, eyes looking down at the fellow members of her group.

“Well…” Adagio said, obviously struggling to regain control of the situation, only for Sunset to purse her lips and start shushing the girl, placing her finger delicately against the Siren’s plush lips.

“Shhh… Don’t you worry your big brain there, Adagio. I’m here for you.” for once, it was the Siren’s turn to blush in embarrassment, her eyes dilating dramatically as she stood there in shocked silence, her cheeks aflame. “Why don’t we go ahead and start singing?”

Adagio looked lost as she looked around, the whistles from the crowd more focused on the implications of Sunset’s actions. Indeed, her intelligence that she so vastly prided herself on was seemingly missing as her mind was rebooting, completely at a loss for what Sunset had just done to her. The closest thing she could think of was what Aria always described upon seeing Sunset’s musculature.

Adagio paused and took a deep breath, centering herself before her eyes shot back open and she glared at Sunset in annoyance, though the keen eyed Equestrian could easily make out the hint of confusion still glittering in their corners as the lead Siren swatted back at her.

“Play the first track!” she called out, walking to the front of the stage with an even more emphasized swing to her ample hips, glaring back at the trio to get into position. “Remember, Sunset, you’re backup. Just follow Sonata and Aria. And no fancy choreography, girls. Sunset would just mess it up.”

Sunset smirked and shook her head, as Adagio turned back to the front of the stage, the lights almost flickering out entirely as a deep, instantly familiar beat started. It thrummed heavily, filling Sunset with the memories of that night those many weeks ago as the crowd grew silent, the lights slowly fading into existence and casting their growing lights onto the four of them. This wasn’t her song, this was the Siren’s song, the song of their victory, but it still echoed in her mind, and as if on instinct, she opened her mouth in time with the other three Equestrians.

“Ah, ah-ah, ah,

Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ahh, ah-ah, ah, ah-ah,

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,”

The crowd remained silent as the voices of the four girls washed over them, soaking into their very beings as Adagio took a step forward. Sunset hadn’t even noticed that the four of them didn’t have microphones, but that didn’t matter. The Sirens had millennia of experience, and all she had to do was follow them as best as possible.

“Welcome to the show…” Adagio sang, Sunset certain that her smug smile from that night was once again plastered on her face as she held her hands out towards the crowd, and right on cue, the trio of Aria, Sonata, and herself added their small part, and would continue to do so.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah,

We're here to let you know... (Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,)

Our time is now... (Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah,)

Your time is running out... (Ah, ah, ah,)”

Sunset was amazed at just how the crowd was reacting; or rather, weren’t. They were wholly and solely engrossed in the four of them, and Sunset could feel the small hairs across her body start to stand up on edge. There was a small taste on the back of her tongue, what she could only describe as… tangy, yet it was there, hidden just away, but minutely noticeable. Before she could start to ponder it, the chorus started up again, all four stepping forward and swaying in time with each other.

“Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,

“Feel the wave of sound,

As it crashes down,

You can't turn away,

We'll make you wanna stay!”

Sunset felt a slight step from Adagio on her toe, the girl’s eyes flitting to the Siren who just gave a small nod without looking back, striding forward powerfully, her majestic voice sending chills down Sunset’s spine.

“We will be adored!” she cried, the eyes of the nearby crowd members glazing over as Sonata strode forward, Sunset catching a hint of the devious smile that she wore on occasion.

“Tell us that you want us!” her higher pitched voice rang out, Sunset almost falling prey to it, the words carrying a mix of both command, and begging.

“We won’t be ignored!” Aria was the next one up, her powerful voice sending shock waves through Sunset, just as much as her earlier words that finally broke her from her funk.

Sunset strode forward, more like a marionette on its strings, she hadn’t even realized that the Sirens had split to allow room for her, and if she had a mirror, she wouldn’t recognize the hungry, almost predatory look spreading across her face as she reached the front of the stage.

“It’s time for our reward!” the crowd went wild as Sunset finally got a chance to stand alone, to project her melodic tones to them, and though the back of her mind called out for more, she told it to wait, as all four formed up and joined back together as one.

“Now you need us!

Come and heed us!

Nothing can stop us now!”

“Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah,”

“What we have in store, (Ah-ah,)

All we want and more, (Ah-ah,)

We will break on through, (Ah-ah,)

Now it's time to finish you!”

“Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah...”

The music slowly started to die off, the four Equestrians standing proudly on the stage as the applause rang through the hall. Sunset was breathless as it all washed over her, panting slightly as the Sirens waved and giggle to one another as they gather Sunset and took a few steps back.

“Well, not bad for a newbie.” Aria said, playfully slugging Sunset’s shoulder. “We may make a Siren out of you yet.”

“You read the clues easily enough, though I may have had to draw you to them first. Either way, I am impressed.” Adagio gave a small smirk as she peered up at the immense height of Sunset. “Take thirty seconds to catch your breath, we have a more lively song coming up.”

“It’s the one from the start of the actual brackets!” Sonata whispered, Sunset instantly understanding why Adagio mentioned lively. It started as soon as the music did if Sunset recalled, and judging by the slow dimming of the lights, those thirty seconds were going to be a luxury. The music started and barely a fraction of a second later, all four burst into their final song.

“Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,

You didn't know that you fell...

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,”

Adagio once again strode forward, the swaying of her body still a spectacle to Sunset as the lead singer brought her mic up to her mouth, the beat starting to thump in time with her singing once again.

“Now that you're under our spell.

Blindsided by the beat,

Clapping your hands, stomping your feet.

You didn't know that you fell...”

And once again, Sunset fell in time with the other two Sirens, providing the small bridges for Adagio to draw the crowd in, as she had done countless times before.

“Oh-whoa-oh-oh,”

“Now you've fallen under our spell,”

“Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh,”

This time, there was no breaking apart for single line solos, each of the four pouring there efforts together to leave the crowd in a frenzy, Sunset noticing that the movements of the four where reaching a near perfect sync.

“We've got the music, makes you move it,

Got the song that makes you lose it.

We say "Jump!"; you say "How high?"

Put your hands up to the sky!

We've got the music, makes you move it,

Got the song that makes you lose it.

We say "Jump!"; you say "How high?"

Put your hands up to the sky!”

“Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,

You didn't know that you fell...

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,

Now that you're under our spell.”

“Listen to the sound of my voice… (Oh-oh, whoa-oh!)

Soon you'll find you don't have a choice… (Oh-oh, whoa-oh!)

Captured in the web of my song... (Oh-oh, whoa-oh!)

Soon you'll all be singing along... (Oh-oh, whoa-oh!)

“We've got the music, makes you move it,

Got the song that makes you lose it.

We say "Jump!"; you say "How high?"

Put your hands up to the sky!

We've got the music, makes you move it,

Got the song that makes you lose it.

We say "Jump!"; you say "How high?"

Put your hands up to the sky!”

“Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

You didn't know that you fell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Now that you're under our spell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

You didn't know that you fell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Now that you're under our-”

Adagio stepped in front of her three backup singers, emphasizing the last word she would sing that night.

“Spell…”

Only for what Sunset could only describe as heartless, villainous laughter to radiate out of Adagio, reminding her of the terror she had felt during that event. The crowd loved it however, the hollering and cheering shattered the dark memories, only doubling when she watched the Sirens grab her and walk her forward, before taking a step back and bowing to her, clapping their hands and grinning.

That was yet another something the Sirens wouldn’t normally do, but every action they had taken had proved that they had decided to treat her as a member of their group. As a friend. She could only smile and wave at the crowd, laughing at the situation as the male voice from earlier rang back out over the crowd.

“Let’s hear it once more for the Sirens! And I hope you liked their new friend, because she’s our next showcase!”

“Hey! Adagio!” Sunset called out as the three Sirens started to depart the stage, their leader pausing and looking back at Sunset. “I want you to record this for me! I know your phone is capable!”

“Why?” the girl called back as a microphone was brought up to the stage, an Adagio worthy grin spreading over Sunset’s face as she grabbed the mic off the stand.

“Because I don’t want you to forget this!” Sunset’s voice radiated through the hall thanks to the microphone, her cheeks flushing before she turned to the crowd, her mental reflexes keeping her on her feet. “This is the first time any of you have seen me here, and I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back, so I hope you’re all ready for a night you’ll never forget!”

Sunset drowned out the sound of everybody cheering her on, instead focusing on the fire that had been lit inside of her those hours ago, when the world seemed ready to crash down upon her once again; when her only friend had turned her back on her, and revealed who her real friends were. There was no way that this could make it to Equestria, but it didn’t matter. It was time to show the world that she was done with its bullshit trying to keep her down.

“Before we start, I want to preface this song. It’s an original piece, I’m actually going to be shooting from the hip so to speak. I had my world turned on its head earlier today, everything I had strived for pulled out from under me. I owe this song to the Sirens, for standing by me, and dedicate this song to those that had tried to ruin everything for me…”

Sunset grew quiet as she pulled the mic up to her mouth, the crowd growing quiet, waiting with bated breath to the goddess on the stage to start. No heavy thrumming or upbeat music filled the air as Sunset opened her mouth, a sombre, melancholic tone washing out over the crowd.

“It's past time I learned this lesson…

It's past time that I understood…

Be careful who it is you count on…

In this or any other land…”

Sunset opened up her eyes, a sad smile playing at her lips as she looked down at the Sirens. The light left them as nothing but shadows, hiding their expressions from her sight, but she knew they were watching her, just as the rest of the crowd did as she continued on in a dour voice.

“I once had hoped for friendship...

To find my place, among this kind...

But those were the childish wishes...

Of someone who was blind…”

Sunset paused for a moment, looking up at the crowd as flashes of the Rainbooms surrounding her after the Battle of the Bands passed over the crowd like a mirage, of Twilight Sparkle reaching down into the crater to pull her out. A single tear started to build up in the corner of her eye as whispering could be heard. Not judging, questioning whispering like she had dealt with during Anon-A-Miss, but of concern. A defiant smile erupted from her face as she strode forward, powerfully belting out in a more victorious tone.

“You’ve opened up my eyes!

See the world from where I now stand!

Me among the wicked!

You turning traitor behind my back!

You’ve opened up my eyes!”

That caught the crowd’s attention, the dramatic shift into action and ferocity spreading among the crowd as they started to cheer Sunset on, even as she took a few steps back and drew back into herself, her tone turning cool and bitter, a snarl coming to her face.

“Give up your sweet fantasyland!

It's time to grow up; and get wise!

Come now little Princess!

Open up your eyes!”

“We all start out the same...

With simple naïve trust.

Shielded from the many ways,

That life's not fair or just.”

The crowd had grown somewhat quiet again, engrossed on every word coming from Sunset’s mouth. She knew not where the words were flowing from, only that they were fueled by her anger and her disappointment, her feelings of total betrayal.

“But then there comes a moment...

A simple truth that I’ve now faced.

If you depend on others...

You'll never find your place…”

Her voice grew quiet, like a whisper compared to the bombastic bellowing of her third verse. It was time for her to start anew, and this was her way of telling it to the world, to those that sought to trap her in a cage of her past failures.

“And now as I take this first step,

Upon a path that's once again is all my own...

I can see it all so clearly...

Friendship is a tool and nothing more!”

Her pitch returned to its explosive pitch, drowning the crowd in the sea of her emotions, only to pull them right back up as she surged with new purpose in life.

“You’ve opened up my eyes!

See the world from where I now stand!

Me among the wicked!

You turning traitor behind my back!

“Open up your eyes!

And behold the setting sun!

It's time to grow up and get wise,

Come now little Princess...

And open up your eyes!

Like you’ve opened up my eyes!”

Sunset stood there on the stage, breathless and panting. A single feeling washed over her as the mic dropped from her numb fingers, her eyes wide and sightless as she stumbled slowly to the edge of the stage, grabbing her jacket and weakly fiddling with it before pulling it onto her back as she staggered her way out of the bar and into the cold winter night, the single feeling keeping her warm from the freezing embrace of the air.

Vindication...

(V):..:(V)

“What the hell was that…?” Aria asked as the Sirens exited out into the cold, Sunset leaning emotionlessly against the wall, staring blankly up at the cloudy sky.

All three of the Sirens had been rendered speechless by Sunset’s performance, of the raw emotions that had flown out of her. As beings that thrived on negative emotion, they had been consumed by the flurry of conflicting emotions that had flowed freely from the girl.

“The ending of a chapter…” Sunset said quietly, looking over and giving a small, lazy smile to her new friends. “And I have you three to thank.”

The three Sirens looked around at each other in confusion. The tone that was carried by Sunset’s words was different from all the previous times that the girl had thanked them for their actions. She had thanked them honestly for their good deeds, for their assistance in stabilizing her life.

This time she was thanking them for something more.

“Did you record that like I asked?” Sunset asked, starting to walk towards the car, the Sirens following behind with dumb looks.

“Uh, y-yeah.” Sonata said, her brain utterly frazzled. She had held the phone eerily still during the whole show, centered on Sunset as she sang her heart out, her emotions catching and consuming everyone in the crowd in their raging current. “Why did you…?”

“I have some people to send that to…” Sunset replied without looking back, pausing to look up at the sky as the clouds slowly parted as if for her, revealing a small collection of twinkling stars to match the small smile on her face.

Failure of Friendship

by snq144

Prologue: Schoolweek from Tartarus

Chapter 1: The Siren's Den

Chapter 2: More of the Same

Chapter 3: A Long Day's Night

Chapter 4: So This is Christmas

Chapter 5: Rash Rainbows

Chapter 6: Chapter's End