> Of Gods and Undead > by HeartfireFirebrand > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Sirens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a Cafe the sound or arguments where being shouted across the room, green mist floating around their feet. Three girls wearing hoods sat in the corner, one of them took off her hood her, her purple hair was done up into twin pigtails with streaks of aquamarine grimace “Adagio, there has to be a better way than this.” The girl next to her took her hood off revealing her arctic blue hair in a single ponytail with persian blue stripes frowned “I agree with Aria all this hatred, it tastes bitter.” The final girl sighed as she took off her hood revealing her wild orange hair with yellow streaks “It’s the only way we can survive, it’s how we feed. Unfortunately here is very little magic here and thus we need to do this often.” They then turned as they felt a huge surge of magical energy, they ran out to see a rainbow beam blast a demonic figure. Adagio smiled “I believe we have found some Equestrian magic, some foolish Equestrian brought it here and maybe we can even find our way home.” Four and a Half Months later Sunset was walking through the hall as students were preparing for the school’s musical showcase. Sunset walked over with a smile as she carried a paintbrush her buglike wings resting against her back and her long tail moving back and forth, she approached Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo “Do you need any help?” Apple Bloom shook her head “We’ll be good.” Sunset smiled “Alright, if you need any help just ask okay.” Sunset over to her group for friends, Pinkie her Alicorn like wings flapping behind her as she fluttered over to Sunset and gave her on a peck on the cheek as she arrived. Rarity squealed while Rainbow made a gagging sound, Applejack smacked Rainbow on the back of her head while Fluttershy was humming a small tune. The two Principal Luna stepped up with a smile “We are so glad to have so much effort being put into the Musical Showcase, with the money raised we will be able to run more school activities.” Principal Celestia stepped forward with a similar smile “I agree, I have a feeling this event will be even more exciting than the Fall Formal.” Sunset rolled her eyes as roughly half of the eyes turned to her with a fierce glare, later in the music room where her friends were practising Pinkie frowned “I don’t get why they are being such meanies.” Sunset frowned “I did some pretty awful things, for us it was over two years ago but for them it hasn’t even been a year yet so natural the wound is quite fresh. Besides even then two years is nothing compared to the years I tormented everyone.” Applejack frowned “But ya have changed for the better and we we all know it.” Pinkie grinned “Come on Fluttershy let’s show them what we’ve got.” Fluttershy smiled as she began to sing a pair of wings and pony ears popping up I am the Slasher! Gory, Brutal and Ruthless! The Mistress of Blood and Death! I will leave you screaming! Rarity followed with a grin as her ears glowed I am the Seamstress! I will leave you in stitches! As I tear you to pieces! I will leave you weeping! Rainbow Dash followed as she soared into the air I am the Doctor! Cold, Callous, Calculating! The Master of the Factory! I will leave you grieving! Pinkie grinned as her wings flared out I am the Baker! Mad, Torturous, Surgeon! The Gateway to Torment! I will leaving you begging! Applejack added the final verse her ear shifting I am the Farmer! Furious, Fiery, Feral! The Haunting Death! I will leave you silent! Just then Flash popped in “You guys are sounding really tight and quite terrifying.” Rainbow grinned “Yes that is the idea” she then frowned “But there is still a lot of work for us to do. Watching how the Rainbooms act made me think, their Rainbow Dash is arrogant believing she is better then everyone else and I know how easy it would be for me to fall into the same trap.” Flash rubbed the back of his head “So any idea if any of our friends from out of town are going to be here?” Sunset shook her head “Twilight probably won’t be here, the portal will be closed for a while yet and it wouldn’t do her much good to be ditching her responsibilities like that, she is a Princess.” Sunset took a deep breath “Flash I know I was horrible to you but I want us to move past it, are you willing to be my friend?” Flash smiled “Of course Sunset, you have changed a lot since then” he then waved “Well see you around, all of you.” Sunset frowned as heard a ping in her head “We have just finished constructing the Ultralisk Cavern.” Sunset sent a message back to the hive “Keep up the good work, Arantur.” Arantur bowed “Yes my Queen.” Sunset then looked up as they heard over the intercom “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the Foyer.” Sunset smiled “Principal Celestia spoke to me about greeting some new students, to make the feel welcome and I agreed.” Pinkie smiled “We’ll see you at the Cafeteria, Sunny.” Sunset smiled back “Will do.” Sunset walked out to the Foyer of the School, to see three girls “You must be the new students, I’m here to give you the tour of there school.” Adagio smile as she walked forward “I’m Adagio Dazzle, these are my younger sisters Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. It’s pleasure to meet you.” Aria rolled her eyes “Can we just go in.” Sonata whined “I’m hungry, I want tacos.” Adagio grimaced “That’s quite rude, Miss Shimmer here has offered to give us a tour.” Sunset smiled “If you want I can guide you to the Cafeteria, those gems of yours are quite pretty.” Adagio nodded “Yes, they are quite precious to us. It would be very bad if we were to lose them.” Sunset smiled “I’ll take you to the Cafeteria now if you’d like.” Adagio shook her head “We can wait until later.” Sunset nodded as she began to show them around the school not realising what they planned to do. > Chapter 2: Of Gods and Undead > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset had rejoined the girls in the Cafeteria, Rarity smiled “How did it go, who were they? Sunset shrugged “They were a little weird but none of them were bad.” The three girls were outside “You know what we must do, we need to feed and there is actual magic here.” The others nodded with a sigh as they entered the room and begun to sing. Sunset grimaced as the crowd began to turn on each other as green mist began to float she frowned as the Rainbooms began trying to kill one another “Okay, they are bad news. Must admit when I saw them I didn’t expect this.” Adagio turned to the fighting girls and tapped them stopping the physical fighting but the green mist still continued to grow. The girls left the room, Rainbow grimaced “What are we supposed to do?” Pinkie sighed “I wish this a problem we just blow up but I doubt that is the case.” Sunset laughed “I’m pretty sure Beerus would try anyway.” Pinkie smiled at the thought. Applejack frowned “If only we could get in contact with Princess Twilight.” Sunset frowned “I have an idea, come with me.” They arrive at Sunset’s locker, Sunset opened her locker and pulled out a book with her Cutie Mark on it. Rainbow Dash frowned “It’s just a book.” Sunset swatted her with the book, Sunset lectured as Rainbow groaned “Rule one when working with magic, nothing is as simple it’s just a book. This allowed me to communicate with Princess Celestia when she was busy, maybe she could pass a message on Twilight.” Sunset smiled as she began writing the message, meanwhile Twilight was sitting in the Library of her Necropolis organising books. Arthas frowned as he entered “How long are going to spend organising these books?” Twilight turned to him “Long enough to get the Library in order, it’s important to the Library stocked with books in case I...” They frowned as a book glowed on one of the shelves, she levitated it down and her eyes widened as she read the message “My friends across the Mirror Portal need my help.” Arthas raised an eyebrow “Mirror Portal?” Twilight nodded “Yes, some beings have mind controlled the school by singing and it is suspected they are from Equestria. I have to check, can you go and get the girls for me, it would be a big help.” Arthas nodded “I’d rather not have them wander through the forest alone, especially after a dragon tried to attack the Necropolis.” Twilight nodded as she grabbed a book and began to read up on ancient creatures. Once the girls were gathered Twilight grimaced “I got a message from Sunset, I have a feeling from what she said we are dealing with Sirens a group of creatures that spread hatred and despair wherever they go. They need me to help them.” Rainbow Dash frowned “I hate to burst you bubble Twilight, but isn’t the portal between our worlds cut off for a really long time.” Pinkie Pie got in Rainbow’s face “First off if there was any bubbles being blown why wasn’t I told about it! And second if the portal was truly cut off then how did Sunset send a message to Twilight.” Twilight grinned “You’re a genius Pinkie Pie!” before another word could be spoken Twilight ran out and grabbed a whole bunch of wires and began attaching to the machine. Arthas frowned “So what is that going to do?” Twilight frowned “Basically the magic in this book will force the portal open allowing me to go through at any time.” Arthas frowned “I’m coming with you, I can trust Kel’Thuzad to run the Order for a couple of days.” Twilight activated the machine with the book and the portal sparked to life. Applejack frowned “Are ya sure we can’t come with ya?” Twilight shook her head “It wouldn’t be wise, I not sure how having two of you would have an effect on the dimension.” Twilight and Arthas jumped through the portal, Twilight and Arthas did synchronised combat rolls as they landed. Sunset frowned “Twilight why can’t I feel your life force, did something happen?” Pinkie’s hand glowed with energy as she growled her wings flaring out “Twilight, why is the Lich King here?!” Twilight’s eyes widened “I’ll explain that later but first why do you have wings?!” Sunset frowned “You mean why the two of us have wings.” Sunset’s wings flare out from behind her back “It’s a long story but then again you have a long story as well.” After about an hour or two they finished listening to each other’s stories, Twilight blinked as she looked as between Pinkie and Sunset “So you’re both gods and you’re dating not to mention that there are doubles of everyone here, that’s a little hard to believe.” Sunset facepalmed “It’s about as hard to believe as the fact you know the Lich King and soon on the way to be the Lich Queen not to mention the fact you are Undead, realism and common sense have taken a holiday.” Twilight sighed “Let’s just go inside.” Arthas commented with a smile “You look really pretty.” Twilight blushed as she entered the school, not knowing who she was about to bump into. > Chapter 3: Twilight meets Twilight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight frowned as some people were glaring at her while others were glaring at Sunset and some were fighting amongst themselves “Is this what it’s like for you?” Sunset grimaced “Unfortunately, I suspect this timeline is connected to another Equestria, one where… oh come on.” The other Twilight was standing there with her friends, Twilight grimaced “So I see you’ve brought a copy of me, ah well no me is quite as good as I am.” Pinkie frowned “That’s funny since she is an Alicorn back where she comes from” the other Twilight scowled as Pinkie “I guess you’re not considering your reaction.” The other Twilight scowled “I’ll make you pay, mark my words!” Sunset laughed “I’d like to see you try, because trust me the pair of us are far more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Twilight stormed off her allies glaring at them before storming after her. Arthas frowned “You know I didn’t believe there were copies of all of you but after seeing that.” Applejack growled “They tried to murder us once too!” Twilight shrieked “What?!” Sunset sighed “I have grown to suspect she is you if she became like me and she found a way to bring magic across the portal with her, at least enough to cast weak illusions.” Rarity shook her head “Well you see that we have kept some of that magic and it allows to pony up when we play music, it also allowed us to be immune to her illusions.” Rainbow grimaced “They kicked our asses until our other friends helped us.” Fluttershy smiled “I like having someone to talk to when I’m alone, she helps be more confident and enables to push myself further.” Twilight frowned “I’m curious do any of you now how to beat the sirens.” Applejack frowned “Didn’t that song they were singing mention a Battle of the Bands.” Arthas frowned “We could come with a musical spell to counter it, would that work.” Twilight nodded “Well considering that they transform in response to music, it is quite possible.” Rainbow grinned “Look like it’s for the Mystical Monstrosities to save the world, come on girls.” Twilight shrugged as she headed into the school, Arthas frowned “Where are we going?” Twilight grimaced “Well last time I was here, I slept in the Library.” Pinkie bounced up and down with mad “Slumber Party at my place!” Before anyone could even speak Pinkie had grabbed Arthas and Twilight dragging them back to their apartment. Sunset rolled her eyes “Sorry girls but I have to stop Pinkie from giving them to much trouble, I’ll see you there.” Sunset burst off in pursuit. Rainbow Dash frowned “Pinkie hasn’t been as excitable unless there has been a party ” Rarity smiled “Yes, it appears Sunset is a calming influence on her. Those two really complete each other don’t they.” Applejack nodded “Ah was unsure at first but seeing how they act together they might as well be married, Ah hope Ah can find that one day.” Rarity sighed “I agree Applejack.” Meanwhile Twilight and Arthas were sitting together on the couch as Pinkie was gathering stuff for the party, Sunset entered “I hope Pinkie isn’t going overboard.” Arthas frowned “What is that weird slim box in front of us?” Sunset laughed “That is a TV, it plays a visual recording of something either fact or fiction that happened somewhere else, don’t worry it confused me a lot when I first arrived here.” Sunset then grinned “Speaking of which, how’s the sex?” Twilight’s face lit up a bright gold while Arthas was shocked into silence at her audacity, Twilight shook her head and screamed “Why did you ask about that, it’s private?! Didn’t you even think.” Sunset shrugged “Once you try to be an evil tyrant, you learn that shame is simply a barrier that holds you back. Even now it’s one of the lessons that stuck, you can never achieve something great or even become friends with others if you let shame control you.” Twilight smiled “That sounds very wise…” she then frowned “You didn’t tell us everything about your past, why?” Sunset frowned “It’s simple really, even friends have secrets they keep from one another, look Twilight there is one thing that is more powerful then even friendship do you know what that is?” Twilight froze as she registered what she was being told “What, friendship is the most powerful force in Equestria!” Sunset frowned “No, it’s not you told me yourself. Let me ask you a question, why can the Crystal Heart destroy when the Elements of Harmony cannot? It’s not a mere matter of the fact the Elements can’t destroy, I can destroy something with raw harmonic power if I so choose, it’s plain and simple Romantic Love is more powerful than the Platonic Love that powers Friendship.” Twilight stammered ”B-But…” Sunset frowned “Tell me then why when you ascended you stayed roughly the same size correct?” Twilight nodded, Sunset sighed “Celestia told me that Cadence almost doubled in height from her ascension.” Twilight’s eyes widened “She never told me that.” Sunset shook her head “Of course she didn’t Twilight, you saw what Princess envy did to me. Imagine when an actual Alicorn gets Princess Envy, you already know the answer to that question, if an Alicorn as old and wise as Luna could be affected imagine what it would do to you?” Twilight sighed “That is a lot to take in.” Sunset grimaced “I’m sorry Twilight, in truth I hoped not to make you deal with so much truth so quickly on top of the fact you are here to help but it just came out.” Twilight smiled “No I’m glad, in truth I know Celestia never tells me the full truth and instead leaves me to figure it out. I’m glad you’re not like that.” Just then they heard a knock on the door, Sunset smiled as she let the rest of their friends in so they could relax and enjoy themselves. > Chapter 4: Battle Begins > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash and Applejack were playing video games while Sunset was busy preening Pinkie’s wings, Rarity and Fluttershy were watching in awe as Sunset was carefully straightening each of Pinkie’s feathers with her teeth. Twilight meanwhile was leaning on Arthas as she writing the counterspell, Twilight smiled as she looked up “Thank you Fluttershy for allowing me to borrow your notepad…” she looked up to see Fluttershy watching mesmerised. As she stood got onto the bed, Arthas followed her “Twilight what’s... wait what is she doing?!” Twilight gave him a coy grin “Well’s she’s preening her girlfriend’s wings, you may want to take some notes if you want to please your wife-to-be, just a thought.” Arthas stayed up there to observe as Twilight returned to the spell, Maud placed the pizzas next to Pinkie with a slight pink glow on her face as she tried to ignore Sunset preening her sister. After they all had their fair share of pizza, and enjoyed their games they all decided to sleep. Sunset awoke as she heard movement she dissolved into mist as she flew out Pinkie’s grasp placing a pillow in her arms Sunset materialised in the kitchen to see Twilight busy scribbling with her mouth. Sunset frowned “Twilight, are you stressed about this? Don’t lie to me.” Twilight looked up to Sunset “Yes I am stressing about this, I’m the one who is supposed to have all the answers.” Sunset walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder “Take it from me, the one who has lived multiple lifetimes no-one has all the answers nor should they ever as without new questions one can never grow. Even with all the lives of led, the eons of experience I may have I am just another student of life just like you, so don’t worry too much it will work out.” Twilight smiled “You’re right, thanks Sunset for the advice.” Sunset smiled “No problem, now let’s get some rest our partners are missing their snuggle buddies.” Twilight blushed as Sunset giggled and the two returned to enjoy their rest. The next day Twilight was singing poorly to say the least, Hey, hey, listen We've got a message for you We're not all alike But our friendship is true Yeah, we're really different But we still get along So hey, hey, listen to our song You may think you're in control But we're here to prove you wrong With the friendship in our music With the power of our song Gonna stomp our feet, clap our hands With the magic of friendship Gonna stop your evil plan Arthas forced a grin “It sounded better then the couple of times you played it.” Rainbow frowned “Twilight, a word.” Twilight nodded as she walked over, Rainbow sighed “Look Twilight, I think you need to discuss your song choice with Fluttershy it doesn’t suit us. We don’t sing songs about friendship, and yes I know we use friendship magic but that power comes from our bond with each other, so won’t it work better if we play music we are comfortable with.” Twilight frowned “That does make sense, show me what Fluttershy has written.” Fluttershy was speaking to Sunset who had stepped to the front, Sunset grinned as she begun to sing By my Fire and Fury I am the Master Torment is my message Calamity is my goal All who oppose me will fall My fire burns and blazes From the darkness within My power grows I am the monster I am the Demon I am the the Tyrant I am Darkness Incarnate I am the Fear I am the Callous I am the Hatred I am your sins Twilight was horrified “This is your music!!!” Fluttershy nodded “Yes, me and Butchershy come up with it. Now that I think about it you haven’t met the crew.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and Butchershy opened them grinning as she hefted her meat cleaver onto her shoulder “It’s pleasure to meet you Princess.” Dr Dash laughed “Relax, you are worrying too much about this.” Lil Miss Rarity smiled “It’s fine deary, we’re all friends here after all.” Applehack was carrying her scythe “It’s pleasure to meetcha, Princess.” Pinkie and Sunset walked over “It was a little unusual but they are all our friends… no our family and we wouldn't exchange them for the world.” Arthas put a hand on her shoulder giving her a peck ”I know it’s a lot to take in but I’d say you should have more faith in your friends, Princess of Friendship.” Twilight smiled “You’re right and we have Sirens to beat come on.” They all cheered “Yeah.” Twilight frowned “Can you handle the first round while I work on the counterspell.” Rainbow nodded “Sure but first” she turned around “Sunset I believe our bands needs another member, do you want to join.” Sunset grabbed a guitar and delivered a stunning guitar solo “I’d love to.” Rainbow laughed “Great, welcome to our band.” The group headed to the first round, the played one of their songs they ahd practised but with an additional verse I am the Slasher! Gory, Brutal and Ruthless! The Mistress of Blood and Death! I will leave you screaming! I am the Seamstress! I will leave you in stitches! As I tear you to pieces! I will leave you weeping! I am the Doctor! Cold, Callous, Calculating! The Master of the Factory! I will leave you grieving! I am the Baker! Mad, Torturous, Surgeon! The Gateway to Torment! I will leaving you begging! I am the Farmer! Furious, Fiery, Feral! The Haunting Death! I will leave you silent! I am the Demon! Tyrannical, Tainted, Terror! I will dominate you all! I will leave you broken! Adagio grimaced “I can feel the magic within them but they are going to be too tricky to pick at, look at them all their bond is stronger then anything I have ever seen.” she turned to look at the Rainbooms “They have quite a bit of magic as well, we just need to take it from them.” Aria nodded “They seem like a weaker target, we just need to give them a little push.” Sonata began to whisper in Adagio’s ear as she pointed to the Great and Powerful Trixie and her band the Illusions, Adagio grinned “That may just work.” Little did the Dazzlings know that the Rainbooms had their own evil plan ready to set in motion. > Chapter 5: Demons and Sirens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset grinned as they had headed onto the next round, Rainbow walked over and smacked her on the back “I like the verse you added.” Pinkie ran over and gave a kiss “You were amazing!” Twilight smiled “I agree, you have truly redeemed yourself. I am really proud of you.” Rarity walked over “So any luck on the counterspell.” Arthas frowned “Unfortunately no, also with your ablities do you think they will come after you?” Applejack frowned “That is a good point, could they steal our powers if they gets us to fight each other?” Sunset shook her head “I suspect they already now about us, Starswirl banished them over one thousand years ago so they have likely grown quite wise over the centuries.” Fluttershy frowned “Are you sure we need to write a counterspell? It’s just a thought, if we work together and harmonise does it matter.” Twilight nodded “It is possible but I would not want to risk it under an assumption.” Fluttershy nodded “Fair enough, still just keep it mind.” The Mystic Monstrosities watched closely as the other bands played, the Dazzlings then took the stage. Sunset frowned as they sung the crowd began increasingly hostile towards one another “I am getting sick of this.” Rainbow growled in agreement “All the progress we made since the Fall Formal has gone down the drain!” Rarity grimaced “Even our counterparts are affected.” Sunset frowned “I guess their magic is different from ours, fueled by hate it is easier for the Dazzlings to get to them.” Fluttershy grimaced “It must be making them more powerful too.” Pinkie frowned “They have only take a trickle, they need something to get that trickle to become a deluge.” The group nodded as they headed back towards the stage, waiting for their turn as the second round begun. Soon it came to them, they grinned as they bean to sing By my Fire and Fury I am the Master Torment is my message Calamity is my goal All who oppose me will fall My fire burns and blazes From the darkness within My power grows I am the monster I am the Demon I am the the Tyrant I am Darkness Incarnate I am the Fear I am the Callous I am the Hatred I am your sins They stepped down after their performance, Sunset was watching cautiously while Rainbow and Applejack were turning their instruments, Twilight and Fluttershy were working on the counterspell while Arthas sat there being measured by Rarity for a suit. Sunset frowned as she watched the Dazzlings who aced their performance, she zoned out as the Illusions began to play until the sound of horrible music jolted her upright. She looked up to see the Rainbooms playing off key, she grimaced as turned the Dazzling who were singing as they watched the carnage. Sunset frowned as the Dazzlings then approached the Principals singing to the the Principals announced “The Rainbooms would be continuing on to the final round.” Sunset’s eyes widened as the crowd burst into a uproar shouting at them, she frowned as the Rainbooms looked confused. Sunset began prodding at them with her ki and realised that their minds were clear of the Dazzlings influence. Sunset frowned “It seems the Dazzlings can only control the Rainbooms for a limited time, seems it takes energy to affect beings who have magic.” Rainbow growled “So the final round is between the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms, damn it the Dazzlings have this competition rigged!” Pinkie grinned “I have a plan, I know one person who definitely won’t be affected by the Dazzlings.” Rarity frowned “Who?!” Pinkie grinned quietly beckoning the group to follow, they arrived at a small room where a pale skinned girl with cobalt blue and brilliant opal hair was tinkering with a a machine. Pinkie walked over and whispered in her ear. Vinyl grinned as she turned to them giving them a massive thumbs up. Sunset gave Pinkie a small peck on the cheek “Good work, Pinks.” Twilight smiled “Let’s show these Dazzlings what we’re made of!” Arthas grinned “Agreed, maybe now I can do something.” Twilight turned to him “I’m sorry, I should have included you in some way.” Arthas shook his head “I’m not a musician Twilight, I’m content to watch don’t worry about it.” Rainbow smiled “Come on let’s go.” The group nodded as they were finalising plans to defeat the Dazzlings. Meanwhile the Rainbooms were tuning their instruments, Twilight scowled “I don’t get why we were playing so bad it’s like we were… under a spell those Dazzlings hexed us!” The Rainbooms’ Rarity grimaced “That doesn’t explain how we won, we shouldn’t have.” Trixie growled “Trixie agreed,you shouldn’t have been allowed to win, and now I’ll put you in your place!” The Dazzlings chuckled, meanwhile the Mystic Monstrosities has positioned themselves on the tall hill with Vinyl’s machine set-up as they observed. Soon the Dazzlings began to sing while the Rainbooms underneath the stage began to argue about trivial things. The Dazzlings soon grew translucent wings and long fish-like tails as they continued to sing. Rainbooms’ Twilight blinked as she saw the green mist levitating upwards “Girls, those damn sirens have planned this and are now stealing our magic!” Rainbooms’ Rainbow growled “But how do we stop them?!” Rainbooms’ Pinkie grinned “Well I snagged this before the second round, I believe it was what we were looking for, turns out Principal Celestia had it locked in a twenty digit combination safe within a one hundred digit combination safe.” Rainbooms’ Twilight laughed maniacally as she put the golden tiara on her head. The Mystic Monstrosities meanwhile shouted at the Dazzlings “Dazzlings face us!” The Dazzlings grinned their eyes glowing red as they prepared to engage only for six demonic figures to burst out from the stage behind them Sunset’s eyes widened “Demons … but how?” Pinkie pointed “Look at the crown their Twilight is wearing.” The purple she-demon had a golden crown with Sunset’s mark on it, Arthas frowned “Well this just a lot more complicated didn’t it.” Sunset meanwhile was looking up at the crown in shock, contemplating the decision she must make. > Chapter 6: Hard Decision > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset’s group was standing there as the Dazzlings summoned their an Astral version of their true siren forms and sent them at the six She-Demons. Twilight’s eyes widened “What do we do now, they are clearly clashing and are going to start putting everyone in danger?!” Just as she spoke a fireball and sound wave slammed into Sunset. Twilight blinked as Sunset was now worse for wear, Sunset grimaced as she looked at Pinkie “It think we may have to obliterate them,… if they keep this up we are going to…” Adagio fired a particularly strong soundwave at the Demon Twilight, the crown was sent flying towards them as Demon Twilight slammed into the ground. Sunset was eyeing the crown, she picked it up and stared at the sun symbol her hands trembling. Pinkie looked at her worried “Are you okay?” Images of the Fall Formal assaulted Sunset’s mind the demon, the horror of what she had done. Twilight placed and hand on Sunset’s shoulder, Sunset turned to Twilight her eyes shrunk to pinpricks almost begging for an answer. Applejack frowned “What’s wrong Sunset?” Rainbow grimaced “It’s obvious, she’s scared of the crown and what it means to her as well as what should she do with it.” Rarity gasped “You’re terrified aren’t you not just of the crown but of what it means?” Sunset nodded as she shook. Pinkie turned Sunset to her “You are not that person anymore, you can do this!” Rarity smiled “You’ve been a marvellous friend.” Rainbow grinned “You have stood with us and given our friendship everything.” Applejack smiled “You’ve never been determined and driven.” Fluttershy smiled “You have helped me with my animals countless times.” Twilight smiled “You’ve proven that I made the right choice, I’m truly glad to see you thriving here.” Sunset gulped as she shook violently as she placed the golden crown on her head,she turned to her friends and held out her hands Twilight taking one while Pinkie took the other the other girls grabbing onto each others’ hands until all three were standing together staring at the centre. Sunset closed her eyes as did the other six girls and alight shot out into the seven of them each of them forming a colour of the rainbow as they started to spin created a massive rainbow cyclone that spun towards the Dazzlings and Demon Rainbooms spinning around them. The Demon Twilight growled “What is this… wait?” she placed her hands on her head to realise the crown was gone. The seven colours stopped circling revealing seven floating girls each with a pair of glowing alicorn wings save one who’s buglike wings were glowing. Sunset frowned “You are just how like I used to be, abusing a power you didn’t understand and now I am going to show you the proper path.” The Dazzlings astral forms growled, the Demon Rainbow Dash punched the energy only to bounce off. They froze as the seven girls begun to spin faster and faster as the energy grew larger and larger until it engulfed all of them, the Dazzlings were unsure of what had happened to their astral forms, until their gems shattered and they froze in fear. The rainbow dispersed the sirens looking at six girls laying on the stage while seven girls six with wings and pony-like ears as well as one without. Sunset approached the six weakened girls and held out her hand out to the Rainbooms’ Twilight who scowled “I had everything and you ruined it!” Sunset sighed “I’ve been where you were” she then let out a humourless laugh “you know there was a time when I earned the title of Bitch Queen and then contact with Princess Twilight’s crown similar to the on I am wearing now it removed all inhibitions, all restraints even to the point of killing.” The Rainbooms’ Twilight gasped in horror “You could have killed someone but…” Sunset frowned as she turned back to her friends and girlfirend behind her “I was so close to being a murderer…” she turned back to her “…and yet they became my friends and one even became my girlfriend.” Sunset frowned turned to a grimace “and all it took to cause such a tragedy was a simple crown, I became a She-Demon just like you and your friends did.” The six girls shivered “We could have killed someone!” Sunset nodded “Yes but I am offering you a second chance, you can change as I did but you have to truly accept friendship in your hearts. Be assured me and the girls will be with you every step of the way… now some others need to be spoken to.” The Rainbooms were stunned into silence. Sunset walked past them towards the Dazzlings, Sunset held out a hand with a smile “You deserve a second chance as much as them.” Adagio slumped “It matters little, without our gems we will slowly die from the lack of magic within out bodies.” Sunset shook her head as the crown glowed pouring a small light of friendship magic into the three of them. Aria’s eyes widened “What did you do, I feel stronger than ever?!” Sunset nodded “I gave all of you a bit of friendship magic, I will keep giving you a little bit until either A you can generate your own or B I find another more permanent solution still regardless I’m offering you my friendship.” Sonata smiled gripping the hand to the shock of the other eight girls, she turned to them “I’m sick of standing there letting the hatred be my life, this is a chance for something better and I’m willing to take it.” Aria and Adagio stood up “She’s right.” The Rainbooms’ Rainbow stood up and turned to the rest of the Rainbooms “We have been given a second chance, we might as well take it.” The Rainbooms’ Applejack nodded “She’s right, what do we have to lose?” The rest of their group sighed and nodded. Sunset frowned “Good because I have to meet with someone.” Sunset turned as she saw a someone who looked exactly like her “You must be Princess Sunset?” Pr Sunset eyes widened “You’re me…” Sunset frowned “I believe it would be best for you take your Element of Magic and leave, I have two groups of reformees who need the help of me and my friends.” Pr Sunset nodded “I can see that… I have to get back to the meeting before somepony gets worried.” Sunset waved as her Princess counterpart left as she tried not to think about the difficult tasks she had in front of her. > Chapter 7: Table > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was sitting at the mirror like table in a crystal room that stood out from the rest of the castle, Arthas frowned as the table had the Cutie Marks of Twilight and her friends orbiting around a town in the middle of nowhere. Twilight grimaced “I better get the girls, this seems to be important.” Arthas nodded “Very well, this seems to be something for you to handle. In the meantime I have to address some of the concerns the nobles are having about us and our future role within Equestria.” Thirty minute later Twilight frowned “This table and this room has been an oddity in our castle. We have left as it had done anything but this map seems to be sending us to solve a friendship problem in this town, I believe it needs all of us to be there for some reason.” Rainbow grinned “It’s a been a while Twilight since all six have been on an adventure count me in.” Applejack nodded “Ah’m with ya Twilight.” Pinkie Pie frowned “I had some baking to do but I guess I can make time for this.” Rarity sighed “Very well.” Fluttershy nodded with a little more conviction in her voice than usual “I’ll come too.” Twilight smiled “Thanks girls, I know I haven’t had as much time to spend with you since I returned but…” Rarity grinned “It’s fine but we all want an invitation to the wedding when it happens.” Twilight blushed “We haven’t even a proper date yet, too much has happened.” Rarity shrieked “You haven’t it!” The whole group sighed as Rarity went on a rant about that all the way to the train, once they got in the private cabin. Twilight growled “Rarity I get it, now stop ranting please your giving me a headache!” Rarity blushed “Sorry Twilight but you need to do that.” Twilight sighed “Rarity, I am a Princess now like Celestia and Luna. How much free time do each of them have?” Rarity frowned “Next to none… oh.” Twilight grimaced “Exactly and they just have to manage a nation, I have to introduce an entire race of undead into Equestria and unlike them the nobles have no respect for me which makes my job even harder.” Applejack frowned “Why haven't you told us about this.” Twilight sighed “When I have time off I don’t want to talk about work, I want to relax not answer a every question ever.” Rarity sighed “Fair enough I suppose.” It wasn’t long before the train arrived at the last stop and they got off, Rainbow frowned “Where are we, this looks like the middle of nowhere?” Twilight frowned “The town should be near here we need to go on foot from here.” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow “You mean hoof right?” Twilight sighed “I’m still readjusting to Equestrian speech.’ Applejack frowned “Is that the town we are looking for.” Pinkie Pie frowned as she looked at the grey dusty ground “I’m not liking the looks of this place.” Twilight frowned “Let’s keep our guard up, I don’t want any surprises.” As soon as they entered the town, they saw ponies each one with a equal mark on their flanks. Fluttershy was watching closely her eyes flashed a yellow colour for a moment as her wings fluttered slightly in agitation. A white stallion approached them “Welcome to our quaint little town, my name is Double Diamond.” Twilight held out a hoof with a warm smile “Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.” Double Diamond smiled “It’s a pleasure to meet a Princess, I’ll take you to meet our leader. Fluttershy whispered to Twilight “Something feel really off, it feels like a strange form of forced joy.” Pinkie looked around “Something smells fishy about this place.” Double Diamond had lead them to a door, he knocked “Starlight, we have some new guests.” Starlight opened the door with a smile “Welcome, it’s a pleasure to have you all here.” Rainbow Dash frowned “This village is boring?!” Applejack grabbed Rainbow by the tail with a frown, as they began to argue Fluttershy holds out a hoof “Hello I’m Fluttershy.” Starlight nodded “It’s a pleasure.” Twilight nodded “Princess Twilight Sparkle, your village is interesting to say the least.” Rarity frowned “I noticed you don’t have a boutique in you town, is there a reason?” Starlight smiled “We are a town that believe in the way of True Friendship, that we don’t believe in special talents. We are all equals here, we have no need of special talents.” Fluttershy muttered so quietly that nopony else could hear “Not this rubbish again.” Twilight frowned “You mean you have all given up your Cutie Marks.” Starlight nodded “Yes, you see here unlike with your friends over there we never have fights.” Fluttershy shook her head “Those two fight all the time but they always solve it in the end. Friends fight but their bond becomes stronger for it, the strength of your bond is not determine by the good times but how you solve the bad.” Starlight chuckled nervously “Right.” Pinkie Pie was cautiously watching everyone who was staring at them, Twilight frowned “May inquire what you do with everyo…pony’s Cutie Marks?” Starlight nodded “Sure we keep them in a cave, I’ll show you.” Applejack and Rainbow joined them, with a few bruises here and there. Rarity sighed “What did you two do?” Rainbow grinned “We had a bit of a fight, but we’re fine aren't we Applejack.” Applejack laughed “Yes, don’t worry Rarity we’re fine.” The limped alongside their friends, Pinkie was carefully watching the environment eyeing the ponies around them. Fluttershy was at the back, she was glaring at anypony who got too close to them from behind. Starlight smiled as she they entered a large room with several jar, she lowed one down which held a star with a swirl on it “This is my Cutie Mark, a reminder of my past.” Twilight smiled “I’m glad you have all found a better life here, it seems we came here for nothing.” Starlight then grinned the staff glowing “No, I don’t think so. In truth I believe you should join us.” Fluttershy growled “NO!” as she leapt forward a yellow flame flashing around her body, her friends were all stunned into silence. Instead of a light yellow pegasus, a tall dark yellow changeling with a pink cobweb-like mane had summoned a dark yellow shield blocking the flash of turquoise magic. Fluttershy grimaced “You know what’s funny, your not the first group of ponies or the second or the third, in fact I’d say you are probably number twenty or thirty who actually tried this. Some on a much larger scale, entire cities or even a small independent nation.” Starlight grimaced her staff glowing again “What do you know?!” Rainbow growled “What did you do with Fluttershy?” Fluttershy turned to the side with a toothy smile, three pink butterflies sitting there on her flank “It’s me, don’t worry Rainbow” she then turned back to Starlight “Do you know why none their teachings last very long? It’s actually very simple, ponies are not a powerful species by any means and without our cutie marks ponies are the weakest species in the world. Their connection to magic is severely limited, so usually starvation or worse extinction cause those cites and their teachings to vanish.” Starlight growled “I don’t believe you!” Fluttershy sighed “Very well you give me little choice in this matter.” Fluttershy teleported them out to the town in a flash of fire, Starlight galloped only to see a huge swarm of yellow and pink hovering over the town. > Chapter 8: Fluttershy's Truth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starlight screamed as the huge wave of Changelings began firing beams of magic beams at her. They flew into the room, the jars containing everypony’s cutie marks shattering as a barrage of magic echoed through the halls. Ponies all over the town were stunned as their Cutie Marks rejoined them, Starlight screamed as her mark reconnected with her “NOOOOO!” She telported away vanishing without a trace. Twilight growled as she looked at Fluttershy “Where is Fluttershy?” Fluttershy frowned for a moment before turning around “I am Fluttershy, look Twilight I understand you have little reason to trust me but I’d rather explain this just once.” Rainbow growled “Tell us the Truth!” Applejack grimaced pulling her down “Ah trust her, has she done anything odd or off to anypony because as far I can tell she has been the same maybe a little more determined after Twilight’s disappearance but nothing other than…” Rarity shrieked as a hoard of dark blue changelings “More Changelings!” One of them taller then all the rest landed her blue mane with a golden mane. The Changeling gave Fluttershy a hug “Queen Fluttershy, I was a little shocked when your hive moved out.” Fluttershy grimaced “Queen Pansy, we have another Cutie Mark incident.” Pansy’s eyes widened “Hurricane is not going to be happy about this, not at all.” Fluttershy's eyes widened as well “You didn’t tell her that we were here did you?” Pansy nodded. Fluttershy let out a shriek. Rainbow growled “What are you talking about?!” Pansy frowned “I’m sure you’ve heard my name before, I mean does Pansy and Hurricane ring a bell to any of you.” Rainbow jumped in realisation “Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy but how are you are a Changeling?!” Pansy grimaced “Fluttershy converted me, after my official death I simply had a new body constructed. As long as there are Changelings in our hive we can live through the Hive Mind, as for Hurricane well...” Just then a pony in a Wonderbolts uniform slammed into the ground, she pulled off her hood. Rainbow gasped as she saw the gold mare with an orange mane with a flaming bird Cutie Mark “Spitfire” ‘Spitfire’ growled “What is going on here, Fluttershy, Pansy!” Fluttershy rubbed the back of her head “Hurricane, we have a Code 315 incident.” Hurricane growled “Well this is just fucking fantastic, why now of all times!” She took a deep breath “right, well I’ll send some Wonderbolts over here in the meantime considering Princess Twilight is here I’ll be taking all of us to Canterlot where we can resolve the Changeling issue.” Twilight blinked “Spit…” Hurricane frowned “Please, call me Hurricane. Now we need to take that train to Canterlot, Princess Celestia needs a field report.” Applejack frowned as they headed toward the train “How you alive, it’s been over one thousand years.” Hurricane frowned “I swore an eternal oath of service to Equestria under the Tree of Harmony, as such the Tree of Harmony bound me to eternal service of Equestria. I am reborn shortly after my death, it’s even possible Rainbow may end up teaching a future me after this body expires.” A few hours later, the Elements of Harmony returned to Canterlot alongside Spitfire and Pansy, both Pansy and Fluttershy were in their pony forms. The group stayed silent as they approached the castle, Spitfire approached the guards “Urgent report needs to be given to Princess Celestia and Luna, these seven need to come with me as it involves them.” The guards nodded “Very well, but be careful all the nobles are in the throne room.” Hurricane grimaced, the group arrived in the throne room to Celestia sitting on her throne with Luna on the other as the nobles simply stood there. Spitfire walked over and told them everything, some of the nobles were shocked but more of them weren’t. Celestia and Luna turned to Fluttershy and Pansy, they frowned “Spitfire has told us everything, so you two are Changeling Queens?’ Fluttershy and Pansy burst into yellow and blue flames respectively, Fluttershy frowned “Yes we are, I have been a Queen for one hundred thousand years.” Rainbow shouted “That’s impossible, I knew you as a foal!” Fluttershy turned to her “Changelings rebirth ourselves in new bodies every now and then, it’s like waking from a dream but you remember all of it. It helps when you live as long as we do.” She then turned to the Princesses “I’ve been in Pony society since before you two were born. I fought Discord during his reign, while also manipulating his reign from behind the scenes mitigating any damage he could cause.” Twilight frowned joining her fellow Princesses “Why should we trust you, you could have been trying to take power from day one?” Fluttershy turned to the nobles, over seventy percent of them burst into yellow flames revealing changelings. Celestia frowned “So you have replaced our nobles?” Fluttershy shook her head “No, in truth they are my great grandchildren. They have been keeping Equestria safe for generations under my command.” Hurricane shook her head “They are telling the truth Princess.” Luna frowned “Spitfire, what do you mean?” Hurricane sighed “Spitfire is not my real name, it’s what I am called in this lifetime isn’t that right Pansy?” Pansy saluted with a goofy grin “Private Pansy at you service.” Celestia eyes widened “Private Pansy, why is she a Changeling we thought she was dead!” Hurricane rolled her eyes “Relax, Flashlight it happened during a routine mission gone wrong and the only way to save her was Royal Rebirth. Her body may have burnt up with the rest of us but she could always make another as her soul lived on in the Hive Mind.” Luna blinked in shock “Celestia she called you Flashlight.” Celestia gasped “Commander Hurricane.” Hurricane laughed “Quite, it’s good to talk you two again. Still I believe we should begin the changeling integration into Equestria proper, they have been practically running the place for multiple millennia.” The Nobles growled “We won’t accept that, these foul bugs have no place in Equestria!” Hurricane frowned “Well I think it’s time to show you all something.” Hurricane guide everyone to the window to look at out the public all of Canterlot was looking up. Suddenly ninety percent of the ponies burst into yellow flames, Hurricane grinned at the stunned ponies “It seems they have quite a big place in Equestria, wouldn’t you say.” Little did they now just how much this moment would change Equestria. > Chapter 9: Changeling Discussion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Arthas, Pansy and Fluttershy were sitting around a massive round table. Celestia frowned at Fluttershy “How did your hive manage to take over Canterlot.” Fluttershy giggled “The scouting team that discovered Mount Canterhorn were changelings, we had mined there for generations.” she then frowned “We thought it would be a good place to rebuild there, as for how we dominated the nobles well remember the massive interbreeding incident five hundred years ago.” Celestia frowned “Yes the nobles families were so concerned with keeping the Unicorn blood pure that they started to interbreed with their siblings.” Fluttershy nodded “Yes and the amount of genetic deformities killed off most families, eighty percent of the ones who survived were the ones who either A were changeling already or B agreed to changeling conversion as changelings due to our biology all drones being siblings survived easily. As for other cites “Pansy and I’s hives each make up fifteen percent of all major cities population and five percent of all rural towns population.” Luna raised an eyebrow “Why such a focus on Canterlot specifically.” Fluttershy smiled “It was to keep the unicorn bigotry down to a minimum and make sure the other pony races got their say in how the nation was run.” Twilight nodded “I can see how that would be a problem, so what is you plan now?’ Fluttershy stated simply “We wish to reveal ourselves, we have been planning this for a long time but needed enough time to let some of the anti-changeling movements settle down first.” Arthas nodded “I can understand that, still this is going to cause a grand uproar in Equestria. I’m not sure exactly how this is going to work.” Twilight frowned “Well first we are going to make her a Princess of our nation, it won’t be that hard for her as she has been practically running the nation herself.” Pansy frowned “The other Queens won’t be happy about this will they?” Fluttershy shrugged “It doesn't matter, if I can fight Discord I can handle a few angry queens.” Fluttershy grinned “Speaking of which, don’t think I can sense you eavesdropping in that painting.” Discord popped out of the painting with a grin “You know I always suspected you were hiding something from me but this is glorious. To think the meek little Bearer of Kindness is actually a greater deceiver than I.” Fluttershy giggled “Well you should actually know this isn’t the real me, just an illusion projecting my voice.” She dissapeared only for the painting Discord was in to burst in a flash of fire revealing Fluttershy in all her glory she smiled at the Princesses as Discord’s jaw dropped “I needed to get him back for his tricky behaviour, so I made my body into the closest and best eavesdropping position for a being like him to take in the room.” Discord pouted “I know something was off about it, it was in such a perfect place but due to the fact the Princesses didn’t noticed it I assumed it was safe.” Fluttershy gave him a lecherous grin as she morphed into a Lamia and slithered around him “We Changelingsss are the massstersss of deception, you had no chance againssst me.” Pansy smiled “Fluttershy was always the lecherous type, I don’t think he will be getting any sleep tonight.” Twilight blinked “Really, she always seemed so demure and innocent. The fact she could be some lecherous succubus is beyond my ability to imagine.” Pansy burst into laughter “When we first met she convinced me that she was my half-sister from another mother who was a dragon-griffon hybrid and she found me attractive. I believed her for years until I almost died and was made into a ling.” Luna blinked “ Seriously.” Pansy frowned “Yes, she could also be incredibly ruthless. A dragon was mustering a force to assault Equestria, she even was able to convince the dragon to give her all his hoard and then she convinced him to eat a powerful explosive rune despite the fact the he knew exactly what it was.” Fluttershy smiled back at her “I sssee you’re telling them sssome intersssting ssstoriesss about my passst.” Pansy nodded “They don’t believe me about any of it.” Fluttershy grinned “Then I did my job quite well, maybe one day you and Dissscord could join me for a threesssome, I have quite a few interesssting ideasss to ssshare with the two of you.” Pansy smiled “I’m looking forward to it.” Luna pouted “That sounds like fun.” Fluttershy grinned “Well sssoundsss like sssompony wantsss to join, I think that can be be arranged right Dissscored.” Discord nodded unsure of how to behave around her “Yes Fluttershy.” Fluttershy grinned “Good, Luna meet me at our chambersss in three hoursss, I have to get Mr chaosss here warmed up for ussss.” Luna almost skipped out of the room as she left out one door while Discord and Fluttershy left out another. Celestia sighed “Twilight, can you wake me in the morning, I have the rest of the day off so I’m going to get drunk off my flank so that I can to get the thought of my sister, Discord and Fluttershy having sex out of my mind.” Twilight sighed “Well great, at least things couldn’t possible be going any worse for Sunset.” Meanwhile in the human world Sunset was sitting a table on Kami’s with Pinkie levitating all twelve Gods of Destruction in front of them “This is fucking shit I swear, you twelve need to get along!” > Chapter 10: Rainbooms Adjusting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RB Twilight walked through the hallways as everyone glared at her, she frowned as a someone placed a hand one her shoulder. She turned around to see Sonata one of the former Sirens, RB Twilight spat “What do you want?!” Sonata frowned “Look, the fact is almost everyone hates the both of us and our groups as well, even the the Mystic Monstrosities get a few glares for trying to help us we should at least try to be amicable with each other.” RB Twilight frowned “Did one of the other two send you here?” Sonata rolled her eyes “I may not look but I am the real leader of the team, the other two argue too much about everything while I say nothing and come up with my own plan. I was the one who came up with the plan to make Trixie upset with you and send you down into the basement.” RB Twilight growled “Okay but why approach me?!” Sonata frowned “You’re the smart one, Dash will just get angry and yell, Applejack is stubborn, Fluttershy is too timid, Pinkie won’t take me seriously and Rarity well I have no idea how to approach her but you are intelligent enough to understand that us outcasts must stick together.” RB Twilight frowned “I’ll try and convince the others but…” They watched as RB Rainbow flew into a locker, her right arm limp. Sonata bolted towards the limp girl, she caught from Gilda. Gilda growled “So you’re protecting that bitch, come on guys let’s show them what…” The sound of thrashing was there, and she turned around to see both her bully friends and the Diamond Dogs writhing on the floor, as the MM’s Rainbow and Applejack who glared at the six boys on the floor. Gilda pulled her hand out of Sonata’s hand and ran off, Rainbow and Applejack walked past the unconscious boys their Alicorn like wings flexing as the walked past. MM Applejack frowned as she placed her hand on RB Rainbow’s shoulder “Now I’m not as good at this as Sunset but I should be able to help.” RB Rainbow gritted her teeth as her bones begun to repair themselves, Twilight sighed “I have to thank you for doing this, the other five helped me get me on my feet when I arrived. I didn’t know how to live like one and they all helped me when I needed it most, we were all outcasts save each other.” MM Rainbow nodded “I can understand that, in truth you may all be easier than Sunset was. She never had any friends, you girls have just need to put your anger against everyone else away and be leaders.” Before anyone could say anything someone else stepped forward “Let’s not rush things, even now Sunset still gets some glares. This takes time.” They turned around to see MM Fluttershy standing there “I believe we should meet up with the others.” The group proceeded through the hallways, they all entered the Cafeteria all of them the Rainbooms, the Dazzlings and the Mystic Monstrosities sitting at one large table set up. RB Fluttershy was trying to hide behind RB Rarity who grimaced “What happened to all that courage you had before?” RB Fluttershy squeaked “We were in control back then.” Sunset frowned “No one would dare mess with us, I’m pretty sure of that.” The MM band summoned their powers, Sunset and MM Pinkie’s bodies were glowing with godly energy. MM Rarity was hovering ten diamond shards, while MM Fluttershy had a hornet swarm glowing in her hand, MM Rainbow had a bolt of Lightning and MM Applejack simply flexed as her hands as they glowed with power. Aria frowned “We don’t need your help, we are perfectly…” Sonata placed a hand on her shoulder “Enough, we are not here to compare egos. I propose that when the MM crew are not around the rest of us should stick together like a unit so we don’t get attacked. Glares are one thing but physical violence is another.” RB Rainbow and RB Applejack growled “Why should we work with you three anyway, you were worse than us!” Aria and Adagio stood up but a single glare from Sonata forced them down “I am truly doing this your benefit, the fact is the three of us have fought in more wars and battles than you three can count.” Aria grimaced “Don’t remind me, the trenches in France were horrible.” Twilight frowned “As much I hate to admit it she is right, we need to stick together. We can’t always accept help from our magical and godly friends, they have their own live to lead as well.” MM Applejack frowned “So what are you all doing for Christmas anyway?” MM Pinkie grinned as she gave Sunset a peck on the cheek “I was planning to help Sunset enjoy her first Christmas with us.” Everyone gasped “You never celebrated Christmas.” Sunset sighed “I was alone when I got here, and I wanted my first Christmas to be with you guys so me Pinkie didn’t cerebrate until we returned.” RB Pinkie shook her head “That is unacceptable, you are going to celebrate Christmas with all of us, we aren’t taking no for an answer.” RB Twilight nodded “Even I enjoyed Christmas when I first arrived, I’d say we do this together.” They all had agreed not realising that three young freshmen were glaring at them as they Twiddled with their phones.” > Chapter 11: Growth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset was in MM Pinkie’s kitchen, she was making some brownies. MM Pinkie ran out “They’re here.” Sunset smiled as she gave Pinkie a peck on the cheek “I’ll be out once I’m done with the brownies, in the meantime make sure our guests are comfortable.” MM Pinkie smiled “Will do” she bounced out of the room. Sunset continued to make the brownies, putting the first batch in the oven when she felt an energy signature enter the room. RB Rainbow entered the room nervously “Can we talk?’ Sunset smiled as began making the second batch “Sure, what are you curious about?” RB Rainbow looked around nervously “Um, well you see I have a crush and I’m not sure what to do about it?” Sunset put her spoon down and turned around “Dash, here is the simple fact of the matter, you have a choice do or do not? If you wish to pursue this then tell them, if you don’t then stay silent.” Dash slumped “But I want to, I just don’t know how.” Sunset frowned “The best thing you can is just tell them, speaking of which who is it?” Dash said nothing her cheeks flush. Sunset sighed “I understand you’re uncomfortable with this so I won’t push.” Dash returned with Sunset after the brownies were finished, MM Rarity smiled “These are good, really good.” Sunset smiled as she looked at Pinkie “I learnt from the best.” She sat next to Pinkie and gave her a small peck on the cheek. Pinkie grinned as she proceeded to shove her tongue down her girlfriend’s throat right in front of them. Rainbow and Dash didn’t notice as they were playing a game with both Applejacks. The Dazzlings had decided not to come having their own plans. Both Rarity’s turned away, both Fluttershys were blushing while RB Twilight and RB Pinkie closed their eyes. Dash was growling frustrated as she and Rainbow were losing to both Applejacks, Dash was about to reach for the system when Rainbow pulled her back with a scowl. Both Applejacks grinned, the RB’s Applejack cheered “This is the first time Ah’ve won against Dash.” Rainbow frowned at Dash “You turned off the console every time she almost won didn’t you?” Dash looked away in shame, Rainbow frowned “Learn from this and don’t do it again, a good sportsmen doesn't cheat to win. You were an example of what I would become if I gave into my own darkness.” Sunset walked over to Dash “Look yes you have made mistakes but those can be fixed given time.” Dash growled “What do you know, you and your girlfriend are gods how can you understand what we go through!” Sunset shook her head “We gods are not above mistakes, the reason we seem so wise is because things like this are nothing as we are busy trying to solve bigger issues. I have to figure out who is going to be the next god of destruction of this universe. If my pick is too passive he will be a failure and if he is too aggressive he could destroy the universe, being gods just means we can fuck up on a much larger scale.” Pinkie nodded, after that evaluation the girls settled down. Both Rarity’s were doing both Applejacks nails when MM Applejack got a phone call on her mobile “Can someone get that for me?” Rainbow grabbed it putting it on loudspeaker, MM Applejack frowned “Apple Bloom, what happened?” RB Applejack grimaced. Apple Bloom shook her head on the other side “Ah just wanted to know if ya were coming home tonight?’ MM Applejack shook her head “Ah’m staying over at Pinkie’s with Sunset and the rest of our friend group.” Apple Bloom frowned “Alright, see ya tomorrow Piggly Wiggly.” Sunset shrugged it off, MM Applejack turned to her counterpart speaking of which “I haven’t seen your Apple Bloom anywhere.” MM Rarity and MM Rainbow nodded in unison “we haven’t seen your Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle either.” RB Applejack sighed “All three of them dissapeared one day.” Dash slumped “We searched for days with no trace and when we finally did find something it wasn’t good…” RB Rarity felt tears welling up in her eyes “We found Sweetie Belle’s ‘s body lying in a pool of blood.” MM Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack jaws dropped. Dash frowned “Don’t ever take your sisters for granted or else you may regret it one day.” Meanwhile on the outskirts of Canterlot a short white looking corpse with pale rose and gray mulberry hair. A orange machine with moderate cerise hair was beside a pair of turbines on her back whirring, then a yellow bug-like creature with brilliant crimson web-like hair joined them. The machine turned to the corpse “Necrosa Belle, are you sure we should return?” Necrosa Belle nodded “Yes Cytaloo, our sisters must miss us. We owe to them.” The third girl nodded “She’s right, Ah owe mah family a lot.” Cytaloo nodded “Very well Crysathia Apple, we better return to the school and meet with our siblings.” The next morning as soon as the Sunset entered the school with her entire fifteen strong friend group, they heard someone call out to both Applejacks “Piggly Wiggly!” MM Applejack raised an eyebrow “Where did anyone hear that?” Apple Bloom ran up to her “Look at this.” Both Applejack’s frowned as they saw the post and the strange picture of the account had posted it, Apple Bloom frowned “Do you think it could be Sunset, the account is using her silhouette?” Both Applejacks shook their heads, MM Applejack frowned “Ah refuse to believe that, she has changed Ah can see it.” They proceeded through the hallways, a few people still glaring at any and all members of the Rainbooms and Dazzlings. Later that day at MM Rarity’s place Sonata was standing with both Sunset and Pinkie helping them plate up the food, Sunset smiled “I must admit you did a good job helping Rarity set this party up.” Sonata smiled “Yes, it took us a lot of work getting some of this set-up, to the point we couldn’t attend the sleepover last night.” They heard familiar shouting, Sonata frowned “Give me a moment.” Sonata walked out to see Aria and Adagio wrestling on the floor, Sonata growled “What are you two doing?!” Rainbow and Dash looked at her “They started arguing about something and then started fighting.” Aria growled “She said that I am a violent monster!” Adagio growled back“Only because you called me vain and self-centered!” Sonata frowned “So far you two have done nothing to prove each other wrong” she turned to Adagio “As soon as she told you an ugly truth you immediately insulted her” she then turned to the grinning Aria “And you as soon as she insulted her you jumped on her in fury!” Sonata turned to the two of them with a look of disapproval on her face “We are here to celebrate Christmas and the first thing you do is started fighting, if this happens again I discipline both of you when we get home!” Rainbow blinked “Wow, I think if that was me I’d have crapped my pants.” Dash frowned “Really, we’re tougher than that!” Rainbow turned to her “I think it’s important to accept our limits and use them to grow rather than let our ego erupt.” Both Rarities were exchanging information about their designs trying to come up with something new and unique when Sweetie Belle came in. MM Rarity sighed as Sweetie Belle looked at the two Rarities before running upstairs. Sunset had her phone out taking photos, RB Pinkie then slammed into a closet revealing hordes of garish outfits. MM Rarity exclaimed “Not that, it my Closet of Shame full of clothes that look horribly garish and I regret buying.” Both Rainbow and Dash grinned as they began dressing up as photos were taken. Soon they were all dressing up in different outfits, Sunset smiled as she took more photos. That night none of them noticed Sweetie Belle taking Sunset’s phone but the undead Sweetie Belle was watching from a nearby roof. The next day Sunset and Pinkie entered the hallways, the others girls frowned. MM Applejack in particular grimaced as she showed the pictures “So, I have to ask you something these photos were on you phone. Did you post them onto the Anon-A-Miss?” Sunset shook her head, Rainbow sighed in relief “Good if you told us you did that would have been bad.” Dash frowned “But if you didn’t do it then who did?” They heard a sweet voice “I have an idea.” They turned around to see three freshmen students, Necrosa Belle ran over to RB Rarity “Sister, I’ve missed you so much?” RB Rarity’s eyes widened “Sweetie Belle, you’re alive?!” Necrosa Belle shook her head “I’m not alive but not dead either, as for my name call me Necrosa Belle.” Cyberloo flew over to Dash “It’s been a while, sis.” Dash grabbed her hugging her tightly “Scootaloo!” Cyberloo shrugged “I go by Cyberloo now, I even have weapons look at this.” Everyone save Sunset and MM Pinkie were a little worried at the large blade that replaced Cyberloo’s hand. RB Applejack felt an apple hit her head “Ah hope ya haven’t forgotten ya little sis?” she turned around to see her sister, who grinned “Mah name is Crysathia Apple now even now Ah haven’t forgot Ah am an Apple.” Sunset smiled “It’s good to see a fellow changeling.” MM Rarity frowned at Necrosa “What did you mean when you said you have an idea of who it is?” Necrosa frowned “I was watching you at your slumber party last night, I saw your sister take Sunset’s phone while she was sleeping?” MM Applejack’s wings fluttered aggressively as she realised “Apple Bloom, damn it she spread Piggly Wiggly through out the school. But why?!” Crysathia sighed “Jealously, she wanted to frame Sunset for all this. Ah must admit though if Ah was doing it Ah would have done a better job than that.” Cyberloo nodded “I believe we should confront them now before this gets any worse, right now this just involves us and we can end it with just us.” MM Applejack frowned “So what’s the plan?” Necrosa whispered in her ear, Applejack nodded “Very well, I’ll leave you to it.” At the end of the school day Apple Bloom frowned as she was sitting with her friends. Scootaloo frowned “Our plan failed, they are still spending time together.” Sweetie Belle frowned “So what do we do?” Necrosa frowned “You three are going to tell your sisters why you did this and then apologise. They already know what’s going on.” The three freshmen were stunned as they stared at the person who looked like an undead Sweetie Belle. Cyberloo and Crysathia entered from the other door Cyberloo frowned “Give it up Anon-A-Miss, you’re busted.” Scootaloo ran at her only to run into a massive shield, Scootaloo bounced off. Crysathia opened her mouth and spat a piece of goo on each of their legs so they were stuck to the floor. The three then bound their arms with Crysathia’s sticky and escorted them to one of the musical practice rooms glad that the other students had gone home. As soon as they entered the room Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle were stunned as everyone save Sunset and Pinkie were glaring at them as if they were devils themselves. MM Applejack growled her wings tensing “So why did you do it Apple Bloom?!” Sunset stepped in the way “Enough, she’s family and family doesn’t behave like this to each other.” Sunset lowered herself to Apple Bloom’s face and looked at all three of them “Tell me why did you do it?” Apple Bloom looked at friends with shame “We were all jealous of ya, our sisters barely spent anytime with us because they were spending time with ya.” Sweetie Belle nodded “We just wanted our sisters back, we felt you stole them away from us.” Scootaloo nodded “Me as well, I just wanted to spend more time with Rainbow.” Rainbow stepped forward first her glare vanishing from her face. She wrapped her wings around the three “I am sure we are all angry with all of you to some degree, not just because of what you did but because you didn’t trust us with your feelings. We are a family, we stick together but we are not mind readers” she then turned to Sunset and Pinkie “and even the gods amongst us are not perfect either, they didn’t notice your feeling either.” MM Applejack approached “Ah won’t shut ya out, ya are mah family but there will be repercussions of this.” MM Rarity smiled “Me neither, I saw how much you loss affect my counterpart and how glad she was to have you back.” The family now twenty one strong all embraced ready to face the challenges of the future. > Chapter 12: Prelude to the Friendship Games > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a couple of weeks since the Anon-A-Miss incident had been cleared up, Sunset entered the office. Pr Celestia and Pr Luna were standing there “We have something we need your help with?” Sunset frowned “What do you need my help with, please don’t tell me it’s some magical problem?” Pr Celestia shook her head “Not exactly, you see the Friendship Games are coming up in a few months and we would like to try to keep the magic from causing another incident.” Sunset raised an eyebrow “I assume me and my friends shouldn't participate then?” Pr Luna shook her head “You can, in fact we encourage it. It would mean you are closer to any magical incidents should they arise but we wish for you to prevent any.” Sunset grimaced “Yes but magical incidents need an instigator. I was one as were the Dazzlings, if it happens again it will be because of one of the Crystal Prep students trying to mess with magic. All of us know that is a bad idea.” Celestia grimaced “Well that doesn’t help, urghh I’m starting to hate magic.” Sunset sighed “I am too, all it causes is problems. Look I’ll speak to my friends and do my best to make sure this doesn’t become another mess.” As Sunset left Pr Luna frowned as she turned to her fellow Principal “Are you sure we shouldn’t take care of this ourselves?” Pr Celestia sighed “Do you really think we can deal with this? You and I know nothing about magic, I’d rather leave to her, she became a goddess while she was away and that means she is probably better equipped to handle this than anyone else.” Luna nodded “Very well, let’s just hope she can handle it.” Later in the music room both bands and the Dazzlings were all grouped together. Sunset entered “Well, do any of you know about the Friendship Games?” Everyone except the Dazzlings and Sunset groaned “Great, let’s have Crystal Prep beat us again. They always do.” Sunset frowned“Well I am in charge of keeping the magic out of these games or at very least preventing a third magical incident from happening, do you mind telling me more about.” RB Twilight complained “What is there to say Crystal Prep wins every time. They are better athletes, better at academics , better at everything! The Friendship Games have nothing to do with friendship, it is dumb and doesn’t work!” Rainbow raised any eyebrow “Sunset, you were a student here for years how did you not know about this?” Sunset rolled her eyes “I spent all of my years planning to become an Alicorn to show Princess Celestia I was worth something, I had not time to play games.” RB Twilight blinked “Wait you were alone, how did you manage to survive here?” Sunset grimaced “Why did you think I started blackmailing people, I hated doing it but without it I wouldn’t have enough money to put food in my stomach. I blackmailed kids for lunch money so I could eat and then kept doing it so that no-one would oppose me and if I stopped I would starve.” RB Fluttershy slumped “We just did for the power, nothing else. You at least had a better reason then us.” RB Twilight was even more downtrodden “And if you were discovered for what you actually were you may have been experimented on.” The everyone in the MM group with the exception of Pinkie then looked at Sunset with worry in their eyes, Sunset shook her head “Me and Pinks have more than enough power to kick the asses anyone who tries that nonsense.” Sonata frowned “I’ll help you, me and my sisters have been around for one thousand years we know a lot about magic and how it works.” Sunset nodded “Very well, we better get to the lab” she then turned to MM Pinkie “I could use an extra pair of hands.” MM Pinkie nodded, Rainbow frowned as MM Pinkie, Sonata and Sunset left “Why aren’t we going with them?” MM Rarity rolled her eyes “Because we don’t understand magic as well as they do and we also should prepare for the games after all we want a shot at the Crystal Prep students.” Dash grimaced “We always lose though.” RB Applejack frowned “Are we really going to let that stop us? Are we going to let them win so easily? No, because those bastards need to work for their victory!” RB Rarity nodded “While I don’t agree with her language, I do agree that we need to give this our all isn’t that right Flutter…” Both Fluttershys pulled away their lips from one another with a blush, MM Rarity blinked “How long have they been doing that?” MM Pinkie poked her head in from a portal in the ceiling “They have been doing that since after the Battle of the Bands ended, you just didn’t notice because they are very quiet?” Both Applejacks as well as Rainbow and Dash had to hold back both Rarities from bombarded the two lovers with questions. > Chapter 13: Student > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight was standing at the front giving a lecture on the undead “We are not the same as the undead raised by dark magic, we are not puppets to anyone and have our own thoughts.” A unicorn raised his hoof “I’ve heard you have been having families come in to ask if they can bring back their family members but you turn some down, is there a reason for turning them down?” Twilight nodded “The light will only bring back someone who wants to be brought back, if they don’t then it doesn’t work. I don’t want to give ponies false hope, I simply ask if their loved one was at peace when they passed on.” Twilight frowned as she she looked at a clock “It seems we’re out of time, I would love to answer more questions but you all have your next class soon.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw a familiar mare running out of the building, she grimaced “Starlight Glimmer!” She took the next train back to Ponyville and then headed to the Necropolis only to find Starlight Glimmer in a magic duel with both Kel'Thuzad and Jaina. Starlight was then blasted into the wall by Twilight “Well, let’s cage her so we can talk.” Starlight awoke in a massive steel cage covered in powerful enchantments. Twilight grimaced as she pulled out a scroll from Starlight’s saddlebags, her eyes widened as she turned to Starlight “What were you doing with Starswirl’s time travel spell?!” Starlight growled “I wanted my village back, maybe I wouldn’t go as far with but I was happy there! I have nothing now, NOTHING TO LIVE FOR!” Twilight gave her a weak smile “I can help you find a new purpose in life, look I know this is going to be difficult but I can help you.” Starlight grimaced “Why should I believe you, I have done nothing but cause you trouble. Do you think I can be really accepted by your friends?’ Jaina growled “Why are we offering her a second chance, she was going to…” Kel’Thuzad placed his bony hand on her shoulder “You obviously haven’t adjusted to the ways of ponies, they place an incredible emphasis on reformation and forgiveness.” Starlight sighed “And if I agree with you, what then. Are you going to put me in prison.” Twilight shook her head “No, you’re going to be my student. You have a lot to learn about friendship and that’s where we will start.” Starlight slumped “Fine, I don’t’ really have any other options do I?” Twilight unlocked the cage and put a wing over her “It will be alright, don’t consider this as a punishment but as a beginning of a better, brighter future for you.” Starlight gave her a small smile “Well, thanks. I just have never had any friends since Sunburst. I don’t know what to do.” Twilight smiled “Well you can meet with my friends and we can work things out from there” Twilight laid a hoof on Starlight’s wither as the unicorn tensed up “Don’t worry, my friends may be a little rough around the edges but they will forgive you I’m sure of it.” Starlight nodded “Very well, I’ll trust you.” Twilight smiled “That’s all I ask, the girls will arrive soon.” Within moments Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy had entered the room. Rainbow Dash instantly saw Starlight looked almost ready to leap when the Fluttershy put a buglike wing in the way, she moved forward “I assume Twilight has shown you the error of your ways, of what you were planning to do and for me that is enough.” Starlight blinked “Really but you were the harshest there, I was worried that you would want me dead after what I did.” Fluttershy took a deep breath “If I had a bit for every time one of my lings did something dumb or stupid that made me really mad, I could buy Equestria several times over. I have learned to be very forgiving, I was angry because I needed to be to get the point across.” Applejack smiled as she trotted over “Ah’m willing to help, Ah;’m willing to be ya friend if you’re willing to be mine” she then whispered “Dash will come around, she is very defensive of her friends but once ya find yaself in that group ya are friends for life.” Starlight felt tears in her eyes “Thanks Applejack, I just didn’t expect any of this from any of you.” Rarity gave her a hug “Don’t worry, we are going to help you. It may be hard but you’ll get there.” Starlight flinched Pinkie bounced over pressing her muzzle to the unicorn “I’m going throw the most amazing party ever, what kind of cake do you like tell me, tell me?!” Twilight frowned “Pinkie give her some space, she needs some time coming to terms with this” she then turned to Starlight with a smile “actually I now somepony who may be able to help you, she has been through something like this before.” Twilight levitated a book over with a ying and yang sun mark on it, she scowled as she read the final entry “Shit, I need to get over there it seems they need some magical help.” Starlight frowned “I’m coming too, I want to meet this pony.” Twilight smiled “Well she’s not a pony exactly, I’ll explain later.” The two jumped through completely unaware of who they would meet on the other side. > Chapter 14: Friendship Games > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RB Twilight sighed as she approached the school, she frowned as she saw Sunset and her girlfriend MM Pinkie glaring at Dash standing in front of two sets of freshmen, one human and the other not. MM Pinkie growled “Dash, a broken guitar string doesn’t count as an emergency!” RB Twilight sighed as the rest of group arrived to hear that, some of them left having responsibilities to get while others stayed. RB Twilight stayed outside with Sunset who was writing in her journal. RB Twilight then looks up to see a girl tampering with Wondercolt Statue, she shouted “Hey!” Sunset looked up with a frown to see the hooded girl at the statue, the girl then burst into a run but she could get very far Sunset appeared in front of her with a warm smile “We just want to talk.” The hooded girl looked nervously as RB Twilight approached, the hooded girl took off her hood. Sunset pinched her nose as she saw the tricoloured hair tied into a ponytail “I see the problem, Twilight meet Twilight.” Both Twilights turned to each other shock on their face, the human world’s Twilight began to panic “How are there two of me?! This is impossible! I must be dreaming!.” Sunset grabbed the girl by the shoulders “Calm down for a moment, you’re not going crazy. Have heard of the theory of alternate universes?” The Human Twilight nodded, Sunset smiled “Good, Twilight here is from an alternate universe as am I. The statue here is actually a portal” she then pointed to the other one “That statue is also a portal, I came from the portal here while Twilight came from the other portal.” The Human Twilight took a deep breath “Okay, we need to do something about our names, it’s confusing. Look I like science so how about Sci-Twi, it’s easier to say.” RB Twilight nodded “Very well.” Sci-Twi frowned “So what powers these portals? It would require something as powerful as a fusion reactor to hold open such a huge rift.” RB Twilight shrugged “No, the portals are powered by magical energy.” Sci-Twi giggled “Come on tell me what really powers these things?” Sunset frowned as she tapped Twilight “Watch this.” Twilight turned to her only for her eyes widened as Sunset created a flame in her hands “This is magic and I assure you it is very real, I mean just look at these.” Sunset flared out her buglike wings. Twilight looked at them “Magic is real… can I have some time to think about this.” Both girls nodded “Don’t tell anyone else, we don’t want a paranormal team investigating our school.” Sci-Twi nodded and headed toe the bust stop, she meekly waved goodbye to them as she boarded the bus. Sci-Twi took a deep breath as she approached a large crystal looking building, she entered to see her fellow students ignoring or glaring at her. She avoided them as she headed to her lab, she smiled as she entered to see a little purple dog in her lab “Spike I just discovered something interesting and strange” she sat at her desk “how about you help me figure out how to measure magic.” She begun tampering with a strange device with multiple glowing dots. Sunset and MM Pinkie were sitting on the bleachers as Rainbow performed a song to help motivate the school for the upcoming Friendship Games. Necrosa frowned as she watched “Why do I have a bad feeling about these games.” Cyberloo shrugged “I don’t know.” Crysathia frowned “I can feel the competitive spirit in the air, I just hope no-one gets hurt.” Meanwhile back at Crystal Prep Sci-Twi hears a knock on the door of her lab, Sci-Twi opened to see a pink woman with violet rose and gold hair “Cadence!” Cadence smiled “Where did you go today, I’m curious?” Sci-Twi nodded “I went to Canterlot High to examine the strange goings on there, two girls that I met were very nice. They helped me in my research.” Cadence smile widened “I’m glad you made some friends” she then sighed “Principal Cinch wishes to see you for something, I’m coming with you.” Sci-Twi nodded “I understand.” The two arrived at Principal Cinch’s door. Sci-Twi cautiously opened to see an opal woman with multi coloured hair. The woman smiled slightly “Twilight sit down please.” Sci-Twi sat down “Principal Cinch, may inquire as to why you brought me here.” Cinch nodded “Miss Sparkle, I have heard you don’t wish to enter the Friendship Games. May inquire as to why?” Sci-Twi took a deep breath “I believe it will interfere with my research, that I won’t have enough time to material for my next experiment.” Cinch frowned “Miss Sparkle, I have noticed students glare at you or give you the cold shoulder often. That is not something that happens often here, most students have their groups and they push each other towards improvement. Do you know why they act this way?” Sci-Twi shook her head, Cinch grimaced “It is quite simple, Miss Sparkle you are not a team player. Even the really smart science kids are part of the science club, you spend all your time alone contributing nothing to the group. I am telling you this for your benefit, science is a collaborative effort so I have taken the liberty of entering you into the games.” Sci-Twi looked at her almost shrieking “You can’t do that!” Cinch took a deep breath “Yes, I can. If I believe a student needs help improving themselves in any aspect of their life then I am duty bound to push them.” Sci-Twi left dejected, Cinch looked at Cadence “You have put me in a tough spot Cadence, I may not be the kindest person but I don’t like tormented my students. If something goes wrong this is on your head.” Cadence nodded as she left the room. A couple of hours later in the gymnasium Scootaloo sighed “I wish I could compete.” Cyberloo smiled as she rested an arm around her counterpart “So do I but we will get out turn in the future.” They watch as the Crystal Prep students enter the gym, Sweetie and Necrosa Belle approached some of the Crystal Prep Freshmen as the party started. Necrosa smiled “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” Most of them ignored her, one bold girl however growled “Get lost, we don’t need to hang around with you Canterlot losers.” Sunny Flare frowned “Now that is incredibly rude, just because we are rivals doesn’t mean you have the right to be rude.” The Crystal Prep freshmen huffed as they walked away. Both Rarities approached “We must thank you for helping our sisters.” Sunny Flare raised an eyebrow “Are you two clones or copies?” MM Rarity nodded “Kind of yes, this is my sister Sweetie Belle and the sister of the other Rarity here Necrosa Belle.” Sunny Flare looked at Necrosa in confusion, Sunny Flare shrieked as Necrosa removed her head “Yes I am undead, no I am going to eat your brains. Any other undead questions you wish to ask?” Sunny Flare looked at the two “Is this normal around here?” RB Rarity shrugged “I turned into a She-Demon alongside my friends and fought a bunch of Sirens until we all got blasted by a magical Rainbow Laser so I’d say yes it’s normal around here.” Sunny Flare shook her head as she walked away “This place is weird.” Apple Bloom and Crysathia Apple were eating apples together. They then hear the sound of party cannons and smile as the party started joining not noticing that RB Pinkie had her magic drained out shortly afterwards. Principal Cinch stepped forward “I’m glad that Canterlot High has given it’s rivals such a warm welcome. I’ve heard about the improvements this school has made since the last games, so let’s push each other to new heights of skill and knowledge, enjoy yourselves.” The two groups of crusaders join together to watch the Academic Decathlon begin, MM Pinkie and Sunset surprise everyone with the Mona Lisa inside their Cake. Cinch blinked “You have some amazing students, Celestia.” Celestia nods still in shock. The decathlon passes quickly until the final round, Sunset vs Twilight. Cinch steps forward “This is the final activity of the Academic Decathlon, the Elimination Equation.” Sunset shrugged as she quickly looked over the equation and had finished it at the same time as Twilight, they both got it correct making the first round a draw. Sunset’s group cheered on as she came down while the other group glared at Twilight in contempt. Cinch frowned “They have certainly improved but we’ll make up for it in the next round.” Shortly afterwards everyone was out at a massive field, Sunset was sitting on a bike her wings flared out as she looked at Rainbow who nodded. MM Pinkie and MM Rarity were on the field, MM Applejack and MM Fluttershy were prepared for the first round. Apple Bloom watched the entire first round, shocked when as her sister magic welled up only for it to be drained out by Sci-Twi’s strange amulet. When it came for Sunset to get on her bike, her eyes widened as a huge dragon emerged from a portal onto the field. She flew off her bike knocking the huge dragon into the air before obliterating it. Cinch stormed over to Celestia “We must cancel these games, that thing could have killed someone.” Celestia nodded “I agree, we will call this a draw and leave it at that.” Both schools met in the hall, Celestia stood in front of the group “We have declared that it’s too dangerous, thus the rest of the competition is cancelled and we’ll leave it at a draw.” Cinch’s eyes widened “Wait a moment, some students are missing.” Sunset felt a huge burst of magic, everyone ran out to see Sci-Twi shout out “Help” as was pulled into a glowing magical sphere. She then re-emerged in a transformed state her skin a darker purple with magic glowing around her eyes as well as pair of raven wings. She laughed as she tore open portals in the ground and air “I am Midnight Sparkle, the Seeker of Knowledge.” Crysathia frowned as she nodded to Cyberloo and Necrosa “Buy me some time, I will join you in fighting her shortly.” She ran over to Sunset with her hands glowing green, Sunset gritted her teeth for a few minutes. Cyberloo meanwhile was her jet powered legs to fly swinging a sword at Midnight while Necrosa leapt at her from the ground with her claws. Sunset growled as Crysathia let go of Sunset’s head “What was that for?!” Crysathia sighed “I’m sorry, I needed to borrow some memories to help my friends.” Sunset sighed “Fine, just don’t kill her.” MM Pinkie looked at Sunset “We could easily beat her you know.” Sunset frowned “If we make one wrong move, we could kill her.” Meanwhile Crysathia walked forward flames glowing around her as her form shifted into one eerily familiar, a huge red demon with black wings and razor sharp claws flew towards Midnight. Midnight Sparkle gritted her teeth as the Crysathia delivered a massive punch into her gut sending her flying. Midnight roared “Enough games!” She knocked Cyberloo and Necrosa down leaving Crysathia alone engaging Midnight. The fight went one for some time, Crysathia had the physical edge her transformation being a massive demon but Midnight’s magic was superior. Crysathia had pinned Midnight only for a large blast to knock her flying. The two continued to clash for several minutes, Midnight hit Crysathia with a powerful beam slamming her into the ground. Midnight grinned “Your strength was formidable but my magic is better, so any last words.” Crysathia stood up with a grin “I have gathered enough information from you” with a flash of flame Midnight was staring at a perfect copy of herself. Crysathia telported behind Midnight and delivered a powerful blast into her back sending her to the ground. Midnight struggled to stand but then Sunset appeared and drained out the magic with her finger. After returning the magic and healing Sci-Twi both schools agreed to end the games, a massive party was held. The next day Sunset had invited Sci-Twi who had transferred schools to join them near the statue. Then Princess Twilight jumped through the portal “Are you…” Sci-Twi sighed “Great there is now three of us.” Sunset smiled “Everything is fine, don’t’ worry about it.” The group settled down as they introduced her to Sci-Twi with them eventually deciding that RB Twilight would now be called Alt-Twi while Princess Twilight would just be called Twi.