//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Broken Things // Story: Lost Sun // by crossed //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer knew she was the best at everything. Why had Princess Celestia picked her from the ashes of that accursed orphanage otherwise? No normal unicorn filly could’ve created a firestorm of that intensity at her age. Nothing less than the most talented caster could do so, and so she knew that was why Celestia had chosen her specifically to be her student. Her, a child who, up until that moment, had been a no-name orphan that nopony wished to adopt. Fate revealed its plans to her in the form of a mirror; showing her what she had always dreamed of… Royalty. Flight. The overwhelming magical power of an alicorn, the ability to shape her world as she pleased. The adulation, bowing, and cheers of the crowd everywhere she went. It was her birthright. What else could such a clear sign mean? Of course, as she laid on the floor of the dusty attic she’d been spat out onto, shivering in the cold of a baleful draft, all she could really think about was the utter look of anguished disappointment on her teacher’s… no, her mother’s face. She reflected on the sleepless nights spent in the forbidden sections of the library. The dreadful hours spent studying for surprise tests. The endless amount of time she spent rolling Celestia’s words around in her head, trying to decipher what was a lesson and what wasn’t. It was all so… numbing. It didn’t outweigh the horrid feeling of her body without wings, however. Her dreams of unconditional adoration clipped along with her imaginary wings, she didn’t particularly feel obligated to drag herself to her hooves in the dark and cluttered attic. She figured she would lay here until she felt like getting up again… Whenever that would be. She supposed she could always continue her research, put more work in, but what was the point? She had estranged herself from the only mare in the world who knew the secrets of Alicornhood, and the mirror had turned out to be nothing more than a deception. As Celestia had told her… it merely showed her what she desired most. It wasn’t an avenue to acquire it, evidently. There were simply no shortcuts to destiny. She had supposed that by going through the portal, some great secret would be revealed to her, or that she would simply be granted her wish. It seemed instead that it had deposited her in somepony's attic somewhere in Equestria, which was... less than useful. Who was she kidding? It was absolutely bucking terrible. How would she explain this? She supposed she could just not explain anything and leave, but where would she go? She'd been kicked out of Canterlot Castle, and after incapacitating those guards and flinging herself through a portal it was likely Celestia didn't exactly want to see her anytime soon, and that there would be harsh consequences for her actions. "So stupid!" She whisper-yelled to herself, groaning in frustration. What was she going to do now? Cry about it like a little filly? She wasn't a child anymore, she was a full-grown mare! She huffed and rolled over onto her stomach, deciding that she needed to anchor herself and get a clue of what was going on. Dragging her splayed-out limbs up, she sat up on her haunches and looked around the dusty, spiderwebbed attic. It was much larger than she expected. There was a lot of open space, and even some turns where the roof itself turned. She could see moonlight filtering in through a dormer window ahead of her, and moonlight was pouring in behind her as well, although something seemed to be casting a shadow on her. Turning her head, she gasped and then grimaced as she saw the mirror portal, but with cracks spiderwebbing along its surface. The shards reflected her dour face and the rest of the attic, a hundred versions of the same image spread out across the broken, dusty mirror. Sunset pondered for a moment how in the Tartarus that happened to the mirror, and why it hadn't taken her, well... Somewhere else. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't really a dusty attic in somepony else's house. She had more questions than answers, as usual, and so figured there would be no better time than the present to get to work on those answers. Standing up to her hooves, she trotted over to inspect the mirror, lighting her horn as she summoned the innate arcane perception that all unicorns possessed. The mirror was broken. Whatever had happened to it, the enchantments bound to it had been violently ripped apart. She supposed the symptoms were disturbingly similar to a rebound. The shattered pathways drifted apart as stored mana evaporated off the artifact. What had been done to it wasn't purposeful, and that was a relief, but further revelations about the artifact made her stomach churn violently. As she traced the places where the pathways had been, something she had faintly thought about but not truly considered until now reared its ugly head. "This is the same mirror..." She whispered, trailing off as the thought's implications sprawled out in her mindscape. She hadn't gone anywhere. She hadn't traveled across space and time, or been flung into another dimension. She had been trapped in this mirror for... Buck, who knows how long it could've been? A dreamless, seamless sleep that had lasted as long as it pleased, until the mirror itself could no longer contain her... Or something interfered with its containment. Scrying along the edges of the thing and poring over its layers, she couldn't find anything at first. But then she felt a warmth, and stared at the flickering, fading strands of golden arcana as they seemingly slunk away. She wasn't sure what to make of it. It was utterly unlike any kind of magic she'd seen before; utterly unlike anything a pony, alicorn or unicorn, could cast. The raw power emitting from it was unpleasant, and even touching it with her senses was nauseatingly overbearing. However, it seemed determined to hide its presence from her, and before she could work up the courage to study it any further, the magic was gone, withdrawn from her senses. Somepony, or something, had freed her. Overloaded the strained enchantments on the mirror, or simply forcefully pulled her from its grasp. That was troubling, but what was even more troubling to her was that she wasn't moving forward or making any progress this way. Sure, she had learned that she had some kind of silent benefactor, but that didn't help her discover the secret to becoming an alicorn, and neither did it answer any questions about where the Tartarus she was, and if there was a warrant out for her arrest or something. Further than that, if she had been in there for a long time, then had it been a while? Had things changed in Equestria? Had Celestia... forgotten her? She strode over to the nearby dormer window and looked outside at the stars, watching the glittering celestial objects as they hung in the sky. What caught her attention immediately wasn't the splendor of the night sky, but what was missing from it. Sunset Shimmer stood under the light of a moon that was missing the mare's face that had been emblazoned on it for all of her life, and shivered in uncertainty as this foreign celestial object hung unmoving in the sky. No, no matter how long she stared at it, she got the sinking feeling that this was the same moon that had been over Equestria for countless eons, and that no, it was not moving in the slightest no matter how much time she let pass. The craters were the same, in spite of her uncertain feelings on the matter. Would it have been better to be under a foreign moon? She couldn't be certain. The sight spurred her to act. She was staring gormless at the night eternal, and this helped absolutely nothing. She couldn't do anything about this, and trying to figure out why the buck the moon wasn't moving wouldn't help her in any tangible way. She bit her lip to bring herself back into focus. There wasn't really any time for this- but... There was, wasn't there? She had no impetus driving her onward with speed; no deadline to meet. There wasn't a test tomorrow, and there wasn't something that required immediacy... Except for the gnawing realization that she didn't have forever to live. Yeah, that one always liked to catch her off-guard. She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof and took a deep breath, practicing a mind-calming technique Celestia had taught her once. It was bitterly ironic that the mare whose guidance she had run away from was now guiding her again, albeit in spirit. The thought spawned a sardonic chuckle in her throat. She supposed she would never escape Celestia's shadow, in one way or another. It was both a comforting and extremely displeasing thought. She decided to forcefully set aside her conflicting thoughts on her mother-figure and decide what to do right now. There was, however, the small problem of a sharp object pressed up against the back of her neck. Once upon a time, the Lulamoon family estate had been a shining beacon of luxury and natural beauty. The carefully trimmed forest that surrounded the estate, the verdant backyard, the untamed ruggedness of it all, touched by the guiding hoof of earth pony gardeners... Yes, it had once been one of the most beautiful gardens in Equestria. That was when she was young, though, and now she stared into the dark thicket from the kitchen window, quietly sipping her tea. Trixie had come home. What home there was left was... Debatable. The thick dust carpet over every surface and the abundance of spiderwebs, the rats running amok through the halls and the other unthinkable pests scurrying about. She swore she had seen a small Starspider in one room, but she supposed that it could've just been her nerves getting to her. The pantry was completely bare, raided long ago, and she had found the front door broken open. The walls were stripped of family portraits and the rooms had long-since been emptied, save for those that were magically locked. It was a miracle that the oven was still here, and still worked, but she supposed if it hadn't she would've found some other way to make her tea. It wasn't the most terrible place to lay her head she'd experienced in her travels. Trixie stared at the haggard, broken reflection of the mare in the grungy window panes, vines gently blowing in the breeze and tapping against the window. The deep bags under her eyes and the gauntness of her face were, as always, grim reminders of the fact that her last proper magic show had been a year ago. Ever since, work had been... difficult to come by. She was an eccentric mare with a specific talent in something most ponies had absolutely no need of in their every-day, especially now when there were... deeper concerns. She'd plied her trade in a variety of circles, but nopony had any room in their employ for the showboating magic mare. It was... Humbling, but deeply demoralizing. Who was she if she couldn't perform her amazing feats of magic, boast about escapades she'd obviously never participated in, show off with tricks that were simply impossible to the average pony? She was a washed-up, two-bit magician, that was what she was. And now, as she turned her saddlebag over and began hoofing through the meager valuables inside, she had turned to being a highwaymare. Her tricks were good, at least. With the intimidation of complex illusions and a mostly-blunt dagger she had no real intention of using, most ponies who still traveled on the roads alone would fork over their belongings without a fuss. The work was unsatisfying, anxiety-inducing, and utterly emotionally-and-physically exhausting. She'd been dodging guard patrols for the past three weeks on one of the larger roads, and decided that enough was enough. While most of the home was looted, she was aware of at least a few places where things she could sell would be left. There was, of course, also the property itself. If she could locate the will and the deed, anyway. Groaning, she set the teacup down and laid her chin down on her forehooves, feeling the weight of the week dragging her head down. She could've shut her eyes and slept right then and there, but that was a good way to wake up with her things missing, or being chewed on by some predator animal. It just wasn't safe here. Shoveling 'her' things back into her saddlebags, she levitated her tea and other personal effects along, heading into the hallway and then up the stairs. Fortunately, the majority of the house's structure had been reinforced with enchantments, and was no worse for wear save for cosmetic damage. The same couldn't be said for a lot of the house's fixtures and furniture. The floor was scattered with the remains of long-stolen or destroyed items, and Trixie had to light her horn to make sure she didn't step on something and hurt herself. She made it to the top of the stairs when she froze, hearing shuffling above. In the attic. The attic, she knew, was one of the few places that was actually magically locked. Its entrance was also not exactly put on display either; and both of these things were enough to ring alarm bells in her head. It could've just been some kind of animal up in the attic, but... No. It was too heavy to be something she shouldn't concern herself about. Drawing the dagger with her telekinesis, she placed the things she'd brought with her at the top of the stairs, creeping forward slowly and quietly. She made it to the intersection of the hall, cocking her ears to listen as what sounded like muffled hoofclops echoed from above. She reached out with her telekinesis, struggling for a moment to find what she was looking for in the dark. Taking hold of the attic hatch door, she undid the latch on the thing and let it fold down, a hoofladder quietly unfurling before her. Without much further fanfare, she slunk up the stairs and into the gloom of the attic, snuffing her horn as she gripped the dagger in her hoof. Standing in the light of the moon was an orange- or perhaps yellow?- coated unicorn mare with a bright red and yellow mane. She seemed... pensive... as she stared out into the night sky. Glancing around, Trixie noticed immediately the cracked mirror, but resolved to investigate that after she got this invader out of her family home. Not that it was much of a home anymore, but... it was the principle of the thing! Trixie crept up carefully from the stairway and into the gloom of the attic, casting a quieting spell and an illusion over her horn that would hide its obvious glow. Trixie was not usually one for subtlety- she preferred to wow the crowd, after all- but this situation was dangerous. The unknown unicorn could've been one of Queen Nightmare's lackeys, sent to fetch her for some reason or other, but somehow that seemed unlikely. She gave an obvious glance to the mare's flank, noticing the sun cutie-mark. Either way, agent of sun or moon, she wasn't exactly keen on someone welcoming themself into her property. Floating the dagger up, she pressed it against the back of the mare's neck. "The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know who dares intrude in her home!" She shouted, hoping to keep the unicorn from doing anything hasty. The unicorn whipped around, slashing a thin line across her neck in the process, and backed up towards the dormer window, aiming her horn at the threat. Trixie's eyes widened and... Sunset lit her horn, staring at the other unicorn while holding a spell to defend herself. She almost dropped her spell in shock when she saw how gaunt and thin the other unicorn was. Warm wetness and a stinging pain in her neck reminded her that this dirty, gaunt mare was armed and dangerous, and so she held the spell matrices still in spite of her hesitance to, well, wipe the floor with her. "Trixie ah... Apologizes for cutting you... But, Trixie demands that you declare who you are and what you are doing here!" The azure-coated mare said, taking a hoofstep backward with an uncertain expression. The dagger floated in front of her chest defensively, the knife ready to be plunged forward- should it unfortunately come to that. She really didn't want the blood of another pony on her hooves, but... This was her home, and she would defend it. The confusion-struck unicorn slowly stood up from their defensive stance, the flowing cyan dissipating from her horn as she stared at Trixie carefully. "Are you stupid or something? What's with the third-person pronouns?" She asked imperiously, pulling herself up into an adversarial posture, but not one that was outwardly dangerous. "You!" Trixie ground her teeth, "Trixie is the one with the knife! Do not question the Great and Powerful Trixie's use of words!" A smug harrumph, with the ragged mare stamping a hoof into the attic floor. Sunset looked over Trixie for a moment. The mare's silver hair hung matted around her head, her coat in a similar shape of griminess and uncleanliness. She looked like she hadn't had a shower in weeks, and frankly she smelled like it. There was also the tattered cloak the magic mare wore, which was purple and covered in silver stars- she noted that the purple made her eyes pop a bit in the dark. There was also, of course the elephant in the room; she was levitating that knife without using her horn. Sunset called upon her magical senses at that, noting the illusion around the mare's horn. Clever. There was also a silencing spell on her hooves. Evidently she was some kind of high-level illusion magic caster. Most couldn't weave together two such complex illusions of different types on themselves at the same time- especially ones that moved with them. She was... impressed. But she wouldn't be using basic telekinesis to hold that knife if she knew any kind of other high-level spells. Sunset smirked, encroaching slowly forward while preparing to quick-cast telekinesis if she needed to. She could one-hundred-percent catch the knife and overpower the mare if she did go for a stab. What was life like without a little risk anyway? Trixie took a step back as Sunset retorted, "You're threatening me with that thing? Try something and I'll fry you where you stand." She was obviously bluffing. She wasn't going to kill another pony, and she most certainly wasn't going to use pyromancy on her if she had to hurt her. The idea was horridly vile. Sure, burning somepony's hair or coat a bit here and there was funny, but she always made sure it didn't go further than that. It was just a practical joke. The magic mare stepped forward, letting her illusions go, "Trixie will not be threatened in her own home," She growled, her face twisting into a scowl. "Trixie once again demands you explain yourself!" Sunset sighed and glared back, starting to circle around the magic mare as she held the dagger ready. "I was in this mirror in your attic," she gestured with a hoof towards the offending object, "and now I'm not. I need you to cut the horseapples and drop that knife, and tell me where I am and how I can get back to Canterlot from here." Trixie's scowl died on her face, and so did her aggressive posture. There was a bit of dread and fear. "Canterlot? Trixie cannot possibly imagine what you would want to do in that accursed city." Now it was Sunset's turn to be confused again. "Accursed? What in the Tartarus are you talking about? Look, I need to get back to Canterlot so I can grovel to Princess Celestia until she lets me back in the castle." Lightbulbs went off in Trixie's head. Something was wrong here- this pony wasn't caught up on current events. Out of time. She slowly lowered the dagger and sheathed it in her cloak. "Trixie does not think this is a good idea... You should join Trixie for tea. There are things Trixie thinks you should be seated before learning." She said gently, turning aside slightly. Sunset cocked her brow. Poison? Or was this a genuine invitation to tea? She supposed she couldn't find out just by posturing and threatening this wretched mare. She huffs, "Fine. As long as you answer my questions, I'll entertain you." "Trixie asks you to follow her to the kitchen." The ragged magic mare said, already piecing together some questions to ask. With the tension mostly defused, the two mares stared at each other for a few more moments, before embarking from the attic to head downstairs...