*The Portal to Equestria*
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Twilight said as she approached the statue. “Hold onto this.”
Pulling a small notebook out of her pocket, she passed it to Applejack.
“Alright Twi. But, what is it?” She said, still unwilling to meet Twilight’s eyes.
“I needed to make sure the portal won’t go out. Since something went wrong with Sunset’s journal, we're going to use that smaller duplicate to make sure it’ll stay open.” Twilight said before turning to the portal. “When I’m about to return, I’ll write you a message and the notebook will alert you.”
“Ah guess that makes sense, but why are ya’ leavin’ already? We need ya to help us stop Sunset.” Applejack said, worry tinting her voice. Behind her, the other girls murmured their agreement.
Sighing, Twilight turned back to face the five girls.
“I need to consult with Princess Celestia on what’s happened to Sunset. It’s a bit of a long-shot, but maybe she knows something. Something that can help us get her back. So unless all of you can suddenly produce someone with over a millennium of experience in mysticism and battling the forces of evil, I have to go back to Equestria.” Twilight said, the sharp edge in her voice prompting the others to back up slightly.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Twilight groaned.
“I’m sorry. That’s just part of it. If I’m being totally honest right now, I’m still very angry with all of you, and until I can sort it out, we won’t be able to call on the Elements if it comes to that. I just need some time.” Twilight said as she reached the portal.
“Well…um, I guess that’s fair.” Fluttershy said as she stared down at her shoes. “Um… how long do you think it’ll take to talk with… Princess Celestia?”
“Not too long.” Twilight said, not bothering to look back at any of them. “I’ll be back as soon as possible. Try to hold out till I do.”
And with that, she stepped through the portal and vanished, leaving the five girls staring at the plinth.
*Canterlot Castle*
Twilight made her way down the marble halls towards the throne room at a swift trot. Angry or not, she wasn’t going to leave her friends on the other side to face off against Sunset on their own. But whatever Sunset had become, it was something so far outside of anything she could comprehend, that without information, she was practically powerless. And there was only one being she knew of that might possibly give her that information.
Summoning her magic, she pulled the doors to the throne room open and trotted in. Sitting upon her throne was the pony she sought.
“Twilight.” Princess Celestia said, before rising and approaching the younger alicorn. Looking Twilight over, Celestia's face morphed into a very slight frown. “From the look of things, this isn’t a casual visit. What’s happened?”
Twilight’s ears pressed against her head and her wings drooped slightly as she looked up at the older alicorn.
“I… it has to do with… the other world. With Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight said hesitantly, watching as Princess Celestia’s expression grew concerned. “Something’s happened to her… something… bad. And, well, you’re the only one I know who might know how to fix it.”
“Slow down Twilight.” Princess Celestia said as she regarded her former student. “What exactly has happened?”
“That’s just it; I don’t know.” Twilight said. “The abridged version is Sunset was framed for betraying her friends trust, was expelled from school, and vanished. I only found out about all of it two days ago when the journal you gave me to communicate with her started acting strange. When I went to the other world to find out what had happened, I ran into Sunset about to kill the other world’s Rainbow Dash.”
Celestia’s mask slipped, and her expression slowly morphed to one of mild sadness and anger. “She was trying to murder another pony?”
“That’s just the thing. I didn’t get a good enough look at her to tell that it was Sunset. When she saw me, she doubled over like she was in pain, and then just vanished into thin air. It was Rainbow Dash who told me it was Sunset.”
“How did she vanish into thin air? The magic of the other world is too weak to allow something like that.”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know. I don’t even know if the thing that attacked Rainbow really even is Sunset…”
“Please, Twilight, calm down and tell me what’s happened to her.” Celestia said firmly as she put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.
“Okay…” Twilight said as she took a few deep breaths, “Okay… Like I said, I didn’t get a good look at her. But… from what I did see, she looked like some sort of twisted wraith. Her whole body was changed into some sort of white to black gradient, and she was using magic, but it was nothing like any magic I’ve ever seen, even dark magic.”
Taking one final deep breath, Twilight looked up at Celestia, hoping her mentor could give her some sort of advice. But when she looked at the princess’s eyes, her heart sank. Celestia, paragon of wisdom, and one of the oldest beings in existence, simply looked back down at Twilight, her face unreadable.
“Princess… you do know what’s happened to Sunset, right? You know how to save her. Please… tell me you know something to help her.”
“I’m sorry Twilight.” Celestia said as she closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “But, I’ve never heard of or seen anything like what you’ve described. I’m not sure anything like that has ever existed in Equestria.”
Twilight’s heart sank.
“No…” She whimpered. “But if you don’t know what’s happened, how do we find a way to save her.”
“Oh, that’s very simple my little purple pony princess. You can’t.” A condescending voice said from above, though it lacked its normally jovial air. Looking up, Twilight saw Discord floating near the roof of the room.
“Discord? What are you doing here?” Twilight said as she glared at the floating draconequs.
“Hmph. I saw you tearing out of that garish castle of yours, so I thought I’d follow along and see if there was something fun going on. Sad to say, there isn’t.” Discord said as he floated down, hovering near the alicorns, his face unusually serious. “The taken are bad news.”
“The taken?” Twilight asked. “What are the taken?”
“They’re… a problem, is what they are. And from what you’ve just freaked out to Celly here, your little friend Sunset just became part of that problem. Too bad for you.” Discord said.
“I presume then, that you know what’s happened to my former student?” Celestia said as she glared at Discord.
“Unfortunately.” He said.
“Well, don’t leave us in suspense.” Celestia said, “Please, enlighten us.”
“Alright, but you’re not going to like it.” Discord said as he righted himself and snapped his fingers. Both Twilight and Celestia suddenly found themselves sitting in a pair of desks, dressed in school-filly uniforms while Discord hovered next to a massive chalkboard, wearing a professor’s robes and a pair of reading glasses. Twilight squirmed with discomfort, while Celestia simply narrowed her eyes at him, but remained silent.
“As you may or may not know, reality is composed of many different concepts or forces.” Discord said as he pointed to the chalkboard, which manifested several arcane runes, ones that Twilight recognized as ancient ones representing things such as Light, Darkness, Order, Chaos and Balance.
“While most places in the universe are not tied to a specific… we'll call them fundamentals… and are instead influenced by all of them to varying degree, others are more directly tied to a specific fundamental. For example, Equestira is predominantly aligned with the fundamental of Harmony, which seeks to build a universe of peace and order.” He continued as he pointed to the rune for Harmony, which manifested little caricatures of cheering ponies dancing stiffly around it, cheering in flat, squeaky cartoon voices.
“But, there are other forces out there. Some that are similar to Harmony.” More runes appeared by Harmony, runes that read things like Life, Tyrany, Order, Peace and Stagnation all of which cavorted across the board with one another, giggling and dancing around happily.
“And others, that stand in opposition it.” More runes appeared and growled at the other set of runes. Runes that read things like Freedom, Conflict, Chaos, Creativity and Death.
“Discord, what does this have to do with Sunset?” Twilight said as she raised a hoof.
“I’m getting to that.” Discord said as he folded his arms behind his back. “Don’t interrupt the exposition.”
Frowning, Twilight huffed through her nose and crossed her forelegs across her chest.
“These forces all possess what we could call a living will; a sort of nucleus of sentience that exists at a higher-dimensional level beyond yours. You met a fragment of Harmony’s existence when you found the Tree of Harmony. Of these forces, two of the most powerful are in a constant state of war for the fate of your plane of existence: the Sky.” The rune for the Sky split away from the others and took a position on the left side of the board.
“And the Deep.” The rune for the Deep did the same, moving to the right of the board. All of the other runes vanished, leaving the two the only ones on the board.
“Because the fundamentals occupy a plane of existence so high above this one, they're paracausal: they exist outside the boundaries of material law, and are instead bound by rules wholly unique to them and them alone. All fundamentals can, at their discretion, grant mortal individuals a sliver of this paracausality. The Elements of Harmony are one example of these paracausal gifts of the fundamentals. It is only through the gifts of the fundamentals that you can defeat another gifted with a fundamental’s power.”
“Is that why only the Elements could stop you?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle. Though, unlike you and the element bearers, I’m not imbued with a fundamental’s power. I’m more like the Tree; a manifestation of a shard of a fundamental’s existence. Chaos specifically if you’re wondering.”
“As fascinating as this is Discord, please get to the point where it involves Sunset.” Celestia said as she regarded her uniform with mild disdain.
“Right, right. I’m getting there. Unlike most of the other fundamentals, the Deep’s philosophy is a little more… aggressive. To the Deep, a reality not at war is one that is stagnant and weak.” More drawings manifested on the board. Little stick figures of different shapes all fighting and killing each other. “It drives those it imbues towards one end: the destruction of all life that cannot stand against them. As far as the Deep is concerned, the only way that something is worthy of existing is if it can prove that right to exist by destroying everything else.” Soon, there was only one stick figure, standing atop a mound of corpses, holding its foreleg in the air and squeaking in victory. “That is the Deep’s goal: to see all life in the multiverse winnowed down to one single force that could not be bested. Its ‘one final shape’, so to speak.
“The taken are one way it recruits others to its cause.”
A new drawing appeared, this one of Sunset Shimmer in her human form.
“Taken are individuals who are abducted and pulled into another place and time by the Deep.” A glowing portal appeared next to Sunset, and grabbed her with a tendril, pulling her through to the other side.
“There, the Deep exposes them to their deepest fears, flaws and pain, stripping them down to their most basic level.” The human Sunset fell to her knees, weeping into her hands.
“And once it does, it offers them the chance to overcome and remove those flaws.” A glowing ball appeared next to the crying Sunset drawing, which she looked at with a hope filled yet tear-stained face.
“But in doing so, it strips away their individual will, making them little more than extensions of the Deep itself, then sends them back where they came from to fulfill its goal of creating its ‘final shape’.” Cartoon Sunset took the glowing ball, which spread up her arm and turned her into the horrific monochromatic nightmare Twilight had seen, which then passed out a second portal and started blasting cartoon versions of her friends before disappearing.
“That’s all well and good Discord.” Celestia said as she freed herself from the desk and moved towards the draconequs. “But how do we get Sunset back?”
“Oh, Celly, its very simple: you don’t.” Discord said with an unkind smile. “Or, rather, you can’t. Your little Sunset is gone. Unlike the Deep’s other methods of granting its gifts to its followers, being taken is much more… invasive. Once the Deep gets itself into someone, it burns out everything else. There literally isn’t anything left of Sunset to get back.”
“So what do we do? If you’re telling the truth…” Twilight began.
“I am.” Discord interrupted. “You may not trust me, but you'd be wise to heed what I say. The taken are a very serious threat, especially if they decide to come through the portal to this world. Harmony is allied with the Deep’s sworn enemy, so what do you think will happen if it becomes aware of this place? I’ve seen other worlds fall to the Deep, and if it learns that it could deal a blow to one of the Sky’s allies, one taken will be the least of our problems.”
“Fine. That still leaves us where we started; what do we do about Sunset?” Twilight said, her ears pinning back against her head. “I can’t just give up on her. There has to be something that can save her.”
An expression of genuine pity worked its way across Discord’s face as he regarded the young alicorn.
“You can’t save her, because she doesn’t want to be saved Twilight. The Deep offered her something that she wanted on a level so profound that it let the Deep literally redefine the very concept of her existence. That is what it means to be taken. To have the essence of what you were in this reality burnt away by the power of the Deep, and replaced by a singular, euphoric joy that removes all doubt, pain and fear, while imbuing you with the singular purpose of fulfilling the will of the Deep. If she's been taken, she willingly accepted the gift the Deep offered her.
“I know you’re not going to like this, but in the end, your only choices are to put her down and buy that world a little more time, or close the portal permanently and leave them to their fate. The longer she’s allowed to run free, the more interest the Deep will take in the other world. And the more interest it takes, the more likely we are to have taken, or worse, on our plate.”
“Put her down? You mean kill her?” Twilight gasped. “Discord, she’s my friend. I can’t… kill her…”
“Then that world will die. Sunset won’t stop until all life there is extinguished. And she could do it. The taken are like a wildfire. She will kill. And kill. And kill some more. And the more she kills, the darker she’ll burn. And the darker she burns, the stronger she becomes, and the more she will kill. And once she starts to burn dark enough, she’ll be able to do to others what was done to her, and the infection will spread.”
“But… even if I was willing to… murder… Sunset… how could I? You said yourself that only something that’s… what was the word you used… paracausal, can beat something that’s paracausal. The Elements are back in the Tree, and the Rainbow Power was used up defeating Tirek. And I can’t risk taking the Crystal Heart through the portal. Even moving it would spell the doom of the Crystal Empire.”
Discord closed his eyes, crossed his arms and lowered his head. Twilight saw his brows knit up in thought.
“There… is something that might be able to help.” He said, trepidation clearly in his voice.
“What?” Twilight and Celestia said in unison.
“The Sky and the Deep have fought for eons. And… those they’ve empowered have made weapons to fight the other. Paracausal weapons. I know where one of them is hidden. It might be enough to stop your little Sunset, but getting it won’t be easy.”
“What sort of weapon is it?” Celestia asked.
“The last desperate attempt of a doomed people to hold back the tide of the Deep’s servants. It couldn’t stop an army, but it should be more than enough to end a single taken.”
“Where is it?”
“Amidst the ashes of a world that fell to the Deep. And before you ask, no, I can’t get it. It’s a weapon of the Sky, so it would reject me. But you?” Discord said as he pressed a finger to Twilight’s muzzle, “You it might accept.”
Twilight took a step back and looked down to her hooves, her ears pinning back against her head. Could she really do it? Could she kill Sunset? Her heart rebelled against the idea. But, if Discord was telling the truth, there was more at stake than just Sunset. As angry as she was with them, she couldn’t just leave all of her friends on the other side of the portal to die.
But, there was even more at stake. Thousands… millions of innocent lives were in danger, in both the other world, and in Equestria.
Twilight turned her face up towards Discord, her eyes burning with determination. She’d failed Sunset when she needed her. She wouldn’t… couldn’t fail the rest of her friends.
“Alright. How do I reach this weapon?”
*Canterlot Mall, Suri’s Fabrics*
Rarity listlessly flipped through the bolts of cloth in front of her, her heart just not in the task of picking out the materials for her latest project. Softly sighing, she released the cloth and began to aimlessly wander the isles, periodically picking up merchandise of some sort and pretending to examine it.
The last couple of days had been an emotional roller-coaster, to the point that her inspiration had dried up like a puddle in the sun. She wasn’t sure what hurt more: the guilt learning that Sunset hadn’t been to blame for Anon-a-Miss, or the nagging fear that somehow it might be their fault Sunset had turned into a genuine monster and started killing people.
Looking around, she saw the other store patrons, going about their shopping without a care in the world. A few days ago, that’d been her. Just going on with her daily life. But now, there was a terrible weight on her shoulders. The weight of a guilty conscience and the knowledge that if things went the way they usually did, the Rainbooms might be facing down Sunset again, but with so much more on the line.
What was worse was that they still didn’t know who had started this whole thing? Who was Anon-a-Miss? Taking a deep breath, Rarity pulled out her phone, and checked the time. 2:23pm. She had seven minutes till she was supposed to collect Sweetie. Putting the device away, she made her way out of the store and began her trek towards the mall’s central rotunda. It wasn’t that far, but she didn’t see the point to staying in Suri’s any longer.
Slipping her hands into her pockets, she trudged through the crowd. After a minute of walking, she reached her destination. The rotunda, unlike most of the mall, was free of shops or vendor stands, instead boasting several large planters full of flowers, with dozens of benches for shoppers to sit and relax on. As she approached, she could hear festive music from one side of the open area. Turning towards the sound, she spotted a temporary amphitheater that had been set up for a small group of musicians, including, to her delight, Octavia Melody. Making her way over to the stage, Rarity took a seat on an open bench and, for the first time in hours, relaxed, a small smile turning up the corner of her lips.
It quickly turned back to a frown. There was still the impending problem of Sunset Shimmer, and Anon-a-Miss. Of the two, Sunset was the more immediate, pressing issue. She was still out there. Somewhere. Probably biding her time, waiting to strike. And if what happened on the soccer field told them anything, Sunset could literally appear out of thin air and vanish again at will.
The thought caused Rarity’s throat to constrict in terror. Sunset could strike at anytime, anywhere, and there was no way for them to stop her.
Then there was the other looming problem. They still had no idea who had started all of this. As much as she wanted to deny it, the princess had made a convincing argument against Sunset being Anon-a-Miss. The more she stewed on it, the more she realized that she and the others had been wrong.
So who was Anon-a-Miss? And why did they go out of their way to implicate Sunset? The problem was, there were any number of students at the school who would love to see Sunset fall. As much as she hated to admit it, not everyone was as forgiving and willing to give a second chance as she or her friends were. And we were hardly willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when it was put to the test. There was literally an entire school of teenagers with motivation to ruin Sunset. And teenagers, despite what they often thought of themselves, were not rational, mature adults. It wasn’t too big a stretch to imagine that someone with a grudge against Sunset could do something like this.
So… who could it be?
“Hey, big sis!” A cheery voice called. As Rarity turned towards the source, a small, energetic bundle of trouble glomped onto her, sending a warm surge through her body.
“Hello Sweetie. Are you ready to head home?” Rarity said fondly as she returned Sweetie’s embrace.
“Awww! Do we have to?” Sweetie pleaded.
“I’m afraid so, dear. We agreed: we spend an afternoon at the mall, you finish your winter break homework.”
Rarity watched as Sweetie pouted before her face brightened.
“Can we at least stop by Delightful Dove for some ice-cream?” Sweetie said, flashing Rarity with her best puppy dog eyes.
Rarity raised her hand to cover her mouth as she chuckled, a smile playing on her face.
“I suppose so. But keep it secret from mama and papa. Can’t let them know I’m spoiling you.” Rarity said as she patted Sweetie on the head.
“Yay!” Sweetie cheered before getting up and pulling Rarity to her feet.
Rarity took Sweetie’s hand as the two walked towards the food court. Looking down at the younger girl, Rarity sighed. Regardless of everything else going on, she was glad to have Sweetie with her. Though, she was worried too. If Sunset came after her, would she be able to keep her sister safe. The idea of Sweetie getting hurt filled her with both dread and rage.
As they approached the Delightful Dove kiosk, Sweetie let go of Rarity’s hand and ran ahead to get into line. Tittering at the sight, Rarity sauntered towards her sister, when she heard a familiar chime and vibration from the inside of her purse. Pulling her phone out, she saw a text from Rainbow Dash. Hoping that it wasn’t anything serious, she popped the message open. It was a short text, but as she read, the bottom fell out of her stomach, and tears began to well up in her eyes. Leaning back against one of the nearby support columns, Rarity’s left hand shot up and covered her mouth as she mewled one word.
“No.”
Rarity, have you seen the news?! Principal Celestia’s dead! They found her body this morning!
*****
Luna stood in the Canterlot City morgue, her arms tightly folded across her chest, and her face a carefully maintained porcelain mask. Beneath the mask, her blood was boiling. It took all of her considerable will to not immediately tear out of the building, pull her M4 out of storage, and go hunting for whatever lowlife dared to hurt her sister.
Instead, she stood by the Canterlot PD’s coroner, Gentle Passing, as her hand wrapped around the body locker’s handle.
“Are you ready Miss Luna?” She asked.
“Just do it.” Luna replied curtly.
“Alright. Brace yourself.” Gentle Passing said as she pulled the drawer open.
Even with her time in the marines, there was a difference between seeing the corpse of an enemy combatant and seeing that of her own sister. What made it even worse was the state of the body.
All of Celestia body below the sternum was gone, leaving only the upper torso and head mostly intact, though they were peppered with ugly bruises. The wounds were not jagged or torn like the damage done by shrapnel. They were smooth, clean and uncauterized, like the flesh had simply stopped existing. Even with the damage to her face, Luna knew her sister anywhere.
“That’s Celestia.” Luna hissed, her nails digging into her palms and her face twisting into a dangerous scowl.
“Okay.” Gentle Passing said sympathetically as she closed the drawer. “I’m afraid I need you to look at one more.”
Luna simply grunted her reply as the coroner moved her hand to the next drawer over. Meeting Luna’s eyes, she simply asked, “Ready?”
Luna nodded.
Gentle Passing pulled the drawer open, revealing a second familiar face. Like Celestia, his body was badly mangled, though it was almost worse. Where the killing blow on her sister was obvious, Sombra’s entire body was honeycombed with dozens of smaller holes. They didn’t pass all the way through, instead having bored deep into his flesh. They were still prolific enough to easily to kill him. Like Celestia, much of what remained of his flesh was patched with savage bruising.
“Yea. That’s Sombra.” Luna said, her voice barely containing its rage.
Gentle Passing made a few notes on her clipboard before closing the drawer. Looking back to Luna, she sighed before speaking. “Thank you Miss Luna. I’m sorry for your loss. If you want, I can recommend a counselor for you to talk to.”
A dangerous look flashed across Luna’s face, causing the coroner to flinch.
“I don’t need to talk to anyone. I just need you people to find whoever did this.” Luna hissed, her body tense with repressed fury.
“We intend to.” The coroner replied.
“Good. I’ll be in touch.” Luna curtly replied as she turned on her heels and made her way out of the room. She made it about ten feet outside the coroner’s office before her anger boiled over and she slammed the butt of her fist against the wall.
“FUCK!” She screamed, her eyes going moist with tears. Losing her sister was bad enough, but her brother-in-law too? That was too much. Luna clenched her teeth so hard her jaw creaked, as too many questions played over and over again in her mind: who could have done it? Why would they do it? Sure, Celestia had some enemies in the district office, but none of their policy arguments could have ever led to this. And Sombra was a sculptor. A famous one, sure, but a sculptor nonetheless. He had rivals, but they wouldn’t resort to this.
Would they?
So why? Why?
Luna lifted her fist and brought it back down on the wall again, the pain of slamming the concrete barely registering in her mind. She hoped that the police found whoever did it before she did. Because if she found them first, she’d be doing time for murder.
Taking a few deep breaths and straightening herself, Luna smoothed out her blazer with a few deft swipes of her hand, and resumed her walk out of the police station. As she exited, she pulled out her phone and opened her contacts list. Scrolling down, she found the number she was searching for. Tapping the tab, she put the phone up to her ear and listened to it ring. When the line picked up, a gravelly voice replied on the other end.
“Canterlot Pistol and Rifle Range. This is Steel Carbine. How can I help you?”
“Hey Carbine, its Luna.”
“Luna!” Carbine replied, her voice taking on a slightly more cheerful tone. “How’re you doin’ hon? Been a while.”
“Yea. Hey, you got any ranges open tomorrow? I’d like to come down for a bit. I’m feeling rusty.” Luna said, keeping her voice as natural as possible.
“One sec.” She said as Luna began to hear the telltale click of a keyboard. “Yea. Range 7 is open at 2. That work for you?”
“That sounds good. I’m going to bring my M4, so could you have some 5.56mms ready for me?”
“The M4? Feelin’ nostalgic, are we?”
“Something like that. See you at tomorrow at 2.”