"So, what do you think? Looks good on you., huh?" Starlight asked as Twilight emerged from the changing room with a new outfit.
"I love it. Thanks so much."
"Don't mention it, Twilight." The two stopped as Twilight's phone began to ring. Starlight watched with a bit of concern as the other girl reached to answer it. "You sure you want to answer that? After what you told me, maybe you should leave them hanging for a bit."
Twilight stopped short of pulling the phone out and looked over to Starlight. "You know what? You're right. I think I'll give them some time to think it over."
"Wise choice. Let me just pay for this stuff and we can grab a bite to eat."
"Sounds great." As Twilight passed her, Starlight hid a twisted smirk.
Meanwhile
"Twilight," Dash called over her phone as she stood on a street corner. "Come on, I know you're there. Just pick up."
"Nothing?" Rarity asked as AJ, Pinkie and Fluttershy stood behind her.
"No, just went to voice mail."
"Couldn't get a hold of Sunset either." Applejack added.
"Where on earth could they have gone? They weren't at her house, school or any of our other hangouts. They've simply vanished."
"At it's all thanks to those Crystal Prep girls. If they hadn't..."
"If we hadn't what?" Sour Sweet interrupted as the other CPA girls accompanied her. "If I recall correctly, you started all of this."
"Us?" Dash questioned.
"You were the one who accosted Indigo in her own home." Sunny brought up as Indigo herself stepped up.
"And the last I checked, we didn't detonate the cake right in the birthday girl's face." The blue haired girl placed an accusing finger to Pinkie Pie's chest. The group soon erupted into yet another boisterous argument.
"Enough!" Everyone stopped as they turned to Sugarcoat who was wearing a rather stressed look. "We're all to blame for this. Every one of us. We put ourselves and what we wanted ahead of what we said was important; Twilight. What's important now is that we find her and let her know how much she truly means to us. That's what I'm going to do. If you can't put aside whatever grudges you have with each other, don't even bother following." They all watched as Sugarcoat walked off and, one by one, they begrudgingly accompanied her.
Elsewhere
Sunset, with the aid of Spike was in the process of tracking down Twilight. "Thanks for helping, Spike."
"No need for thanks. Twilight's my friend and I'm on her trail." Spike led the way as Sunset followed closely behind. "She went...this way."
As they raced down the road close to a channeled stream, something caught Sunset's attention out of the corner of her left eye. She turned to see what looked like Twilight entering into a large storm drain that led to the sewers. "Spike, their she is!" The two quickly turned and made it down the incline and called out several times to her but received no reply. Sunset's phone began to ring as she raced after Twilight. "Dash, I found Twilight..."
"Where are you?" Dash responded as the other girls were gathered around her. "Alright, we'll be there as fast as we can."
"Well, spit it out!" Indigo demanded.
"There down at the stream near Sea Biscuit and Pharaoh st."
"What are we waiting for then?" AJ asked. "Let's get a move on." The group quickly boarded a bus and made their way to the destination.
While the others were in route, Sunset and Spike continued on through the seemingly endless tunnels that made up the sewer system. "Why would Twilight come down here of all places?"
"Well, from what you told me, things sounded like they got real crazy." Spike continued to sniff as he moved back and forth. "One things for sure, these tunnels aren't making finding her scent any easier. It's like she just vanished." The two see a figure down one of the halls and race after them. As they round a corner they are shocked to find a large hole in the floor with a slope that drops them into a caged area.
Sunset rubbed her head as she got her senses about her. "What was that all about?" She looked up as the hole they fell through was closed by a mechanism, the only light in the area provided by dim lamps hanging from the ceiling.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Spike responded.
"I could answer that." Both turned to see the figure they'd chased into the tunnels. The person assumed to be Twilight promptly removed her glasses, fixed her hair and wiped away the purple face paint to show someone that Sunset was familiar with. "You're in a trap."
"Ghost Note?"
"Hey, loser."
"Where's Twilight?"
"Like I care. I was told to lead you down here," The siren stared up at a speaker overhead. "And now it's done so give me back my pendent." Sunset and Spike traded odd glances as the girl shouted at the box. Immediately after a shoot opened and the three heard something tumbling down as Ghost anxiously awaited the contents, hands cupped to catch it. She was extremely disappointed to discover the shattered remains of her pendent land in her palms.
"Looks like whatever deal you had is done. Now where's Twilight?"
In stunned disbelief, Ghost squeezed the shards in her hands before letting them fall to the floor. "She was never here, but wherever she is, it's a better place than you are now." She spun around and tackled Sunset as the two wrestled on the floor. Spike joined in and bit the siren on the leg only to be kicked off a second later. Sunset eventually pried herself away as the other girl grabbed a large stone that lay on the cage floor and hurled it at her. The inaccurate throw missed the red haired girl's head completely and smashed into the speaker, which fell from it's perch and shattered into pieces on the floor.
"Hold it." Ghost ignored the girl and rushed her. Sunset grabbed her by the front of her jacket and flipped her through the air and into the iron bars. "I said, enough!"
"Okay, you've got my attention." She slid down the bars and sat herself on the floor.
One Hour Later
"Sheesh, that was a long bus ride." Indigo complained as the group hopped off and searched for their missing friends.
"Well if someone hadn't gotten us on the wrong line we'd have been here a lot earlier." Sour chimed in, shooting an accusatory finger at Pinkie.
"Are we seriously going to do this again?" AJ jumped in between them as the girls stopped and remembered their main priority.
"Right, sorry."
As they made their way to the location Sunset described Sugarcoat joined Applejack at the head of the group. "Thank you for the intervention. I'm not sure how much more of that I could take."
"No worries, I've got a handle on them. Still, if I'm being honest, I'd be lying if I said I trusted you girls one-hundred percent."
"While I find your lack of faith in us annoying, it is understandable. We were not the kindest to Twilight the last time we encountered each other which led to a series of events that almost caused a world wide disaster. You may not trust us, but I am telling the truth when I say that Twilight does mean a great deal to me."
AJ was speechless for a moment before attempting a response. She was cut short as Rainbow called out and pointed down to the drainage pipe below them. "There it is, down there. That must be where Sunset said she saw Twilight."
"Down there?" Rarity cringed. "But it's a sewer pipe. It's so...filthy." The other girls looked at her before she perked up, albeit nervously. "What I meant to say was...let's get down there and save our friends."
The girls slide down the incline and began to file into the tunnel. They soon found themselves frustrated with the large network of tunnels, Sour Sweet being the most vocal of them. "This is hopeless! how are we going to find her in this maze?"
"I can help you." Everyone stopped as they heard a gargled voice that came from some hidden P.A. system. "If you want Twilight back safe and sound you'll do exactly as I say."
"Show yourself, you creep!" Indigo shouted to the ceiling.
"In time. First, you'll break into teams of two, of my choosing of course. Let's see: Sour Sweet and Pinkie Pie, Sugarcoat and Rarity, Lemon Zest and Applejack, Fluttershy and Indigo Zap, Rainbow Dash and Sunny Flare."
"What!" Most of them said in shock.
"What's it going to be, your pride or your friend?" Reluctantly, they split up into the arranged teams. "Aww, that's sweet. Now then." before they realized it, a trap door opened under each of them and the duos slid down into new, unfamiliar areas. "Now you all just sit tight and I'll be back shortly with your instructions."
Meanwhile
"Listen, whoever this is that you're working for clearly doesn't have my or your best interests in mind. And I really don't want to wait around to figure out what they have planned for us."
"You saying you want to team up. That's a good one." The siren let out a short laugh before looking up at Sunset. "All the same, you're right. And I plan on giving her a piece of my mind and maybe take a piece out of her."
"Yeah, let's...let's cross that bridge when we get to it." She took a look at the lock on the door. "Spike, do you think you could..."
"No problem, Sunset. I'll just need a little push." Sunset gave him a small shove from behind as he squeezed through the bars. She then reached through the bars and lifted him up to the lock as he stuck a claw into the slot and eventually activated the tumblers and the door soon opened.
"Follow me, I'll get us out of here," Ghost said as she took the lead. The three raced off down one of the halls. It eventually led them to a long walkway over a large drainage pit where the water poured down from several large pipes. "And after I get you out I don't ever want to see you again." As they reached the middle of the platform a blast of orange energy hit Ghost Note that sent her over the side. The only thing keeping her from falling into the pit were her quick hands that managed to grab onto the lower scaffolding. "Maybe I'll see you one last time. Help a siren out?"
Sunset reached down to help as Spike growled at someone across the bridge. A hooded figure casually walked toward the two, their left hand raised toward them. "Don't. She's useless to me now and I toss away useless things. You on the other hand, Sunset, I can use you. Now come with me."
The girl ignored her and continued to reach down to help up the siren. Immediately after, a blast of energy fired from the figures hand that came in between Sunset and Ghost. "I went through a lot of trouble to get you here and I'd hate for our first meeting to be me taking your hand off!"
"I'm not just going to leave her!" Sunset declared as she refused to let the danger deter her from her goal.
"Fine." One more blast fired and hit the scaffolding, which caused it to break away. Ghost was sent screaming into the large body of water as it spiraled down the pit to an uncertain destination.
"No!" Sunset's screams almost drowned out the roars of the water all around them, her hand still extended.
"Now, I'm assuming that I have your undivided attention. Let's proceed, shall we. That is, if you want to see Twilight or any of your other friends again."
"What did you do to them?" The girl's eyes were full of hate toward the figure as she got to her feet.
"Come with me and soon you'll see," they said before gesturing to Spike. "And keep that thing under control. Now then, there's so much to see and discuss."
Sunset and Spike both looked unsure as they followed this person, clearly wielding some form of magic, down into the depths of the sewers where no one could find them. Should something truly awful happen, who would know. Still they pressed on. If their friends were truly in danger, they had no choice but to see this through to the end.