//------------------------------//
// 5|3 ◈ What's Lost 
// Story: Splintershard 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

A mare, abandoned.

Through many trials, claims her throne.

What was never hers.



"Looks like it's just you and me," Sunset didn't bother to turn this time. "So, you want to end the war I hear."

"Yes."

"...Why?"

Emily fell silent. At the same time, she felt her lungs draw in a breath without her command.

"She wants to return home."

"What's stopping you from doing so? Why interfere in such a prolonged conflict?"

"This body does not belong to her."

That seemed to catch Sunset's attention. The alicorn turned to face the duo, taking a curious step closer. "Proceed," she commanded, "You intrigue me."

Star, what are you--

"May I have permission to properly introduce ourselves?"

Sunset gave a curt nod.

"Thank you. Currently, you are speaking to Starlight Glimmer. You may be familiar with who I am, even if the body I reside in is not familiar to you. As you likely know equally well, I perished long ago."

Sunset lifted a brow.

"To put it shortly, I was reincarnated. Sort of. Emi, please elaborate."

Wait what.

"Uh--" Emily's thoughts slipped from her mouth before she even had time to process the shift in control. "Hiiiiiii?"

Man. Way to go, Emi. Top-notch performance. Truly an award-winning act.

"Cut to the chase, Starlight. Emi. Whoever you claim to be."

"Well, I used to be a human, if you want it to be that direct. If you know what a human even is."

Sunset was caught aback, a glint of recognition in her eyes at the utterance of the word. "Y-you--" she sputtered, "You've been through the mirror portal too?"

"A mirror portal. Not the mirror portal. There's more than one y'know."

"What's it like in the human world?" Sunset's demeanor shifted entirely, no longer the stoic ruler she'd been just moments ago. "Did you attend Canterlot High? Or was it some other place that you came across the mirror portal in? It's been terribly long since I've last visited."

Emily shook her head the best she could, though that didn't save her frizzy hair from getting caught in the net. "Starlight opened the portal for me. She uh, reincarnated into my body, if you want it in her words. No idea why or how, she just kinda did. And then my hands became magic because of her."

"Hands became magic... and upon passing through the portal, you became a pony," Sunset nodded along.

"Nope! Magical backfire thing. Had a shard of the Tree of Harmony with me, used it in a wand, got in a fight with some crazy ponies in an alley that were trying to beat me to death with weird amulets, and BOOM. Pony."

"Shouldn't have said that Emi," Starlight muttered from the back of her mind.

"A shard of Harmony," Sunset circled the duo in the net, the venomous tinge again returning to her voice. "Where did you find this shard? The Old Guard protects its resources with careful watch, and I know I'd personally know of anypony who would've taken one of our own fragments."

"I asked Mister Blueber--er, Blueblood if I could take one."

"You... asked."

"And I asked politely, at that," a wide grin began to spread across Emily's face, mirroring the increasingly bewildered frown forming on Sunset's own. "Something about dramatic capacity of the crystal or whatever."

"Thaumatic, Emi. Thaumatic."

Emily pressed on, ignoring Starlight's tired lecturing.

"I'd show you it if I still had it. No idea where it went though. Your guys took my bag when you caught me the first time around."

"Emily," Starlight reminded, "Your horn. It's embedded into it, remember?"

Sunset didn't respond this time, though the flurry of movement on her face was plenty enough to guess her thoughts. Through the flitting glances and eyebrow gymnastics, she finally settled the matter with a sigh.

"So you wish to return home. To the human world."

"Yeah."

"And you refuse to because you were transformed into a pony. Have you tried passing back through the portal?"

"Still horsemoding on the other side. Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be human when you're in a pony body?"

Sunset chuckled. "Trust me, I've done that more than a few times on accident. You get used to bipedal life. And hands. Horsemoding is a rather strange way to put it, though."

Emily shrugged the best she could while still dangling in the net. Sunset watched her make an excellent imitation of a caught fish.

"Do you want me to--"

"Yes. Please."

Sunset waved off the remaining guards, watching them leave the premises before lighting her horn. Emily unceremoniously fell to the floor in a heap of thick netting.

"I still don't quite understand--" Sunset lifted the net for Emily to disentangle herself. "--why is it that you thought stopping an entire war from breaking out would grant you your body back?"

"I made a promise. To Starlight."

"Except you forgot the part where I told you I don't care anymore," Starlight grumbled. "Thanks, though. For keeping it."

"Starlight," Sunset repeated. "May I speak with her? From what I understand, you two are now one and the same, are you not?"

Starlight's words effortlessly slipped through. "We are, yes. Originally, she indeed made a promise to me. I would be the one to open a portal for her, and though I am not capable of transforming her back--trust me, I've tried a number of times now as she slept--I intended to cloak her pony form, possibly for the rest of whatever life I have in her body. It was the best I could do for her after she unwittingly hurled herself through the portal out of curiosity. After we fled the prison we were placed in following a failed attempt, I told her that she no longer needed to fulfill her promise. And then, of course, we ran into Twilight."

"What... was this promise, by the way?" Sunset cocked her head. "I don't believe you ever stated what it was in the first place."

"She promised that she would help me prevent the time-travel scrolls from ever being used again. I understand that they're a powerful weapon to wield against the Old Guard, Sunset, but I'm begging you--you do not know their power. I do. You'll erase this very reality from existence, to the extent of which you may not even have a kingdom to rule over when you return to your own time."

Sunset rubbed her chin. "I suppose you have a point. Sending an entire army back in time would indeed stand to balloon into some unintended consequences."

"Wait. Wait--" Starlight's mutters rose in volume. "If you are now the leader of the Ashen Phoenix, and Twilight Sparkle no longer wishes to lead in any capacity, then what is the point of the war? The Old Guard formed explicitly to protest the former rule of Twilight, and at least when I was alive, the Ashen vowed to carry on Twilight's brief legacy. If you do not wish to do so, but instead intend to rule by your own accord, then what are we even doing, preparing for another bloody war of factions?"

"I have received intelligence on Blueblood's little clan developing weapons of mass destruction with the intent to crush Canterlot."

"Are you aware that we destroyed them alongside Fluttershy?"

"I do not know who that is."

"Fluttershy. Y'know, Element of Kindness?" Starlight fidgeted on her hooves. "Disappeared mysteriously as well? Surely you've at least heard of her since your return to Equestria, whenever it was. She's really the only reason we were able to dispatch the weaponry of the Old Guard as quickly as we did."

"I... suppose I do remember hearing word of a supposed weapons testing accident recently within their borders. Though, I unfortunately have not been able to contact my spies since the event."

Wait. Weapons. Holy crap, did they just forget about Lisa?

"We can discuss your friend later, Emi." Starlight muttered under her breath before locking eyes with Sunset. "So what do you say? Twilight's legacy is long-gone, even if the mare herself lives on. Continued warring, at least in my eyes, is petty at best, and futile at worst."

"You say you are familiar with Blueblood," Sunset finally began. "In what state is your relationship with the leader of the Old Guard?"

Emily paused, shaking her head. Starlight seemed to have silently slipped away again. "They think you've kidnapped us, soooo... friendly, I think? Plus they don't know about our transformation. I'm not entirely sure if he knows you're even in charge here. I didn't know you were in charge until I fell into that net of yours."

"I prefer for my publicity to be minimal for now."

"No no, I'm saying that maybe, if Blueblood and the rest of his faction find out that you don't want anything to do with Twilight either, then they might just... y'know, stop the war?"

Sunset snorted. "Won't be that easy, I can tell you that. Even if a ceasefire can be agreed upon, the hate that brought upon this war will not vanish so quickly." A muted chuckle rose from her. "And to think I envied Twilight over this kind of power."