Sunset Eclipsed

by EldritchNexus

The Weekend Off, Part Seven: The Skirmish

Lightning Dust and Radiant Dawn went to a cafe, sitting on either side of a small round table with an umbrella stand. A few of the other customers thought it was such an odd sight to see such a large unicorn and a small pegasus sit together. Radiant levitated a menu from the table and began to peruse the various foods and beverages listed. Lightning had her own menu spread out against the umbrella pole.

"Sir and madam, may I take your order?" asked the earth pony waiter, when he finally came over to them. "Might I interest you in any of our fine beverages?"

"Lemonade, with plenty of ice cubes!" Radiant and Lightning both said at once.

"Very good, then." said the waiter, who went back into the restaurant.

"So, you like lemonade, too?" asked Lightning Dust.

"Sure do." said Radiant. "I've been drinking almost nothing but apple cider for the past couple years of my life. Since I'm doing more with my life now, I figured I'd start drinking other stuff. Lemonade was the first thing I could think of."

"Likewise, Radiant." smiled the pegasus.

The waiter return with a tray loaded with a jug of lemonade and two tall glasses filled with ice cubes. After placing the tray on the table, he decided to ask them what food they would order.

"And what, sir and madam, would you two request of our fine establishment?" he asked, thoughtfully.

"I don't know." said Radiant, who was quickly scanning her menu. "There's a lot of stuff on here, but nothing I'm all that familiar with."

"Get the grilled cheese." whispered Lightning Dust. "Trust me. I think you'll love it."

"Okay, I'll have what my friend here recommended: The grilled cheese sandwich." Radiant told the waiter. "Oh, and some potato wedges, too."

"And the lady would like the same?" asked the earth pony.

"Yep." said the pegasus, who just drained her glass of lemonade. "Except with mozzarella sticks on the side."

"Then I'll be back in a few minutes with your meals."

"That's fine by me." said Lightning, who was holding her head up with her front hooves. "I have all the time in the world."

When the waiter left, Lightning Dust sighed quietly as she stared dreamily at Radiant Dawn. Radiant was just finishing his own glass of lemonade, then pulled his head up to let out a loud belch.

"Oh, excuse me." the unicorn cleared his throat.

"Oh, that's just fine, big guy." said the pegasus. "I may be a girl, but it doesn't mean I don't like to get a little...edgy."

She refilled her glass, and guzzled down the whole thing. In a few seconds, she put down the glass and belched even louder and slightly longer than Radiant.

"Ya see?" she said.

"You know, I'm impressed by how fast you drained that glass." smiled Radiant. "That must've been three or four seconds."

"I can do it faster!" boasted Lightning.

"So can I!" countered Radiant.

"Wanna bet on it?" grinned the mare.

"How about we have a lemonade drinking contest?" suggested the unicorn. "I mean, just for fun."

"You're on!" said Lightning Dust, with a determined look in her gold eyes.

---

Further up the mountain, in the city of Canterlot, Flash Sentry was reviewing a group of unicorn guards who were practicing with basic force field spells.

"Very good, gentlemen." he nodded. "Now that we've got that one covered, let's move onto the restraining spells."

"Lieutenant, well done." said a voice.

Flash Sentry turned around to see Captain Star Shield in full purple-and-gold armor.

"Captain, I was under the impression that you went down to Ponyville with Sunset Shimmer and her friends?" asked Flash.

"I am afraid you are mistaken, lieutenant." said the captain. "I am much too busy keeping the royal guards in line to..."

He paused slowly. The pegasus captain had a surprised look on his face.

"No, he couldn't have..." he whispered to himself.

"Sir, is there something wrong?" asked Flash.

"The security of Canterlot has been compromised!" Star Shield began to shout. "We've been infiltrated! Lieutenant, scramble the guards! Don't let anything enter the palace without your consent."

He quickly unfolded his wings.

"Captain Shield, where are you going?" asked Flash.

"To Ponyville." answered the older pegasus. "Lieutenant, I will need you to send a squad down after me. Princess Luna's student is in danger. And if half the stories I've heard about him are true, then Princess Twilight will have her hooves full, too."

"Are you serious about that?" asked Flash Sentry.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" said Star Shield, sternly.

"Not at all, sir." said Flash, who turned to the other guards present. "Alright, everypony! It's time to see what you guys can do. Get to defensive positions! Watch out for anything out of the ordinary."

"Pegasus guards, follow my lead!" bellowed Captain Star Shield, who took off into the air.

He flew over the city walls, and a dozen pegasus royal guards followed him down the mountain. In Ponyville's library, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, and Trixie Lulamoon were checking the various objects present: spellbooks, scrolls, statues, and jewelry.

"Alright, that's forty artifacts cataloged and only a hundred and fifty more to go." said Trixie, bored. "I'm not gonna lie, Twilight: Things are going very slow here. I mean, I'm all for learning about new artifacts, but this really isn't how I would've done this. I'm still surprised you're letting me do this with you, Twilight. Considering our past disagreement, and all."

"Oh, quit your bellyaching, Trixie." said Sunset, who was more enthusiastic about analyzing the objects. "This sure beats what I had to do in the human world. Seriously, if I had to go fix another door, I'd just puke."

"That reminds me, Sunset." said Twilight. "How'd you get back to Equestria so early? That portal shouldn't have opened up again for another two years or so."

"Well, that's a funny story, actually." said Sunset. "So, on the thirtieth night after the portal deactivated, I had the urge to go over there to see if I could find a way to open it up. Then by pure luck, it activated for me."

"Did you or someone else mess around with it?" asked Twilight.

"I don't think so." said Sunset. "It seemed more like it was meant to happen. My theory is that every thirty nights, it would open up for a limited amount of time for someone from one side of the portal to take a one-way trip to the other side."

"That seems awfully convenient." said Twilight. "In fact, it's so convenient, it's way too good to be true. I wonder why none of the princesses told me about it when they sent me in after you."

"Maybe Princess Celestia didn't want me to get any ideas on how else to use the mirror." said Sunset. "It sure didn't stop her before."

"But that still raises the question of why that one-way porthole thing would come into effect like that." said Twilight.

"I think it might be a failsafe of some kind." said Sunset. "In case somebody--or somepony-- were to find themselves stranded on the wrong side of the portal, but were unable to wait the whole thirty-moon cycle."

"Seriously, thirty moons?" Trixie scoffed. "As in thirty lunar cycles? What divine idiot built that portal anyway?! That's probably the most inconvenient time integer ever!"

"To be fair, though." said Sunset. "I think it's a good thing that portal's shut for so long, anyway. You know, in case someone from one side decided to go invade the other side."

"Like what you almost tried to do last month?" asked Twilight.

"Well, kind of." said Sunset, who shifted nervously in place. "But I mean if someone that actually came from the human world tried invading Equestria."

"Are you serious about that, Sunset?" said Twilight. "We've both been to Canterlot High. All the people there are pretty nice."

Sunset Shimmer scoffed, stomping a hoof.

"C'mon, Twilight!" she snapped. "Don't be so narrow-minded. Canterlot High's not the capital of the human world. It's just one school in one town. There's still an entire nation all around it, and their laws are way different from what you'd expect here in Equestria. I consider myself lucky that Canterbury--the town Canterlot High is located in--was in a part of the country that didn't practice capital punishment."

"Sunset, please calm down." said Twilight.

"No, I need to finish." said Sunset. "And do you know what capital punishment is, Twilight? It means that I could have been executed for what I did when I was that demon. If Canterbury's justice system did practice capital punishment, they wouldn't have cared if I had been purified by the Elements of Harmony or not. As far as they might've been concerned, I was a dangerous terrorist or criminal or whatever, and needed to be brought to justice their way!"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating just a teeny-tiny bit?" questioned the violet alicorn.

"Not at all." said Sunset. "And trust me, I've seen--I've escaped--from the people that the country on the other side of the portal consider terrorists and dangerous criminals. Probably even the worst of them all: The Chrysalis Syndicate."

"The what?" asked the alicorn princess.

"The Chrysalis Syndicate, Twilight!" exclaimed Sunset Shimmer. "They're a bunch of soldiers in high-tech armor. They've got military-grade firearms and everything! I barely escaped with my life trying to get away from just one of them! They were hunting for me, and even tried to kill me in cold blood. Why? Because I was a pony!"

Twilight Sparkle listened to Sunset's words, and gasped.

"Sunset, listen to me." she said. "I completely regret ever leaving you back there. If I had known that madmen like this Chrysalis Syndicate were on that side, waiting for you, I would've gone out of my way to bring you back to this world. No matter what you did, nothing could've warranted what you just described. I honestly thought it would've been a great way to make friends."

"That reminds me, Twilight." said Trixie. "Why, may I ask, did you put the very people Sunset was bossing around in charge of being her friends? You've been studying friendship for what, three years now? Why couldn't you have done all of that in the safety of this world?"

Before Twilight could answer, the trio heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They turned to see Captain Star Shield standing in the doorway, his wings erect.

"Um...hi, captain." said Sunset, waving a hoof. "How are things with you?"

Star Shield's head turned up, and a wicked smile curled on his face.

"Oh, much better now." he said, with a strange tone in his voice. "In fact, I have just what I was looking for."

"What are you talking about, old man?" asked Trixie. "Were you eavesdropping on us?"

"You could say that." said the pegasus. "Not that you'll be able to do anything about it."

"What in Equestria are you talking about?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"You'll see, princess." Star Shield's voice began to deepen. "You'll feel it, too."

Realizing what was happening, Sunset Shimmer leaped up in front of Twilight and Trixie.

"Watch out!" she shouted. "Get away from him!"

Her horn glowed, and a teal energy beam shot out from its pointed end. The spell hit Star Shield square in the front. The pegasus was knocked back outside, and climbed back up to his feet. He casually strode back towards the library, as if nothing happened. The three ponies gasped.

"Oh, no." Sunset moaned, her green eyes widening. "Not him again!"

"What's going on, Sunset?" asked Twilight.

Suddenly, Star Shield's body burst into green flames. But he kept on moving towards Twilight Sparkle and her two companions. His body seemed to alter underneath the fire, and grew to roughly the same size as Princess Luna. His legs stretched and thickened, and his body broadened into a buff dark shape. A horn grew from his forehead, and a smaller one extended from his snout. His face grew wider and monstrous in appearance. His black eyes enlarged, his schlera turned green, and his pupils reddened and expanded horizontally. But the final note of this impostor's true identity came when its two bird-like pegasus wings became four long, silvery dragonfly-like wings.

Comments

[Givralix]

I really love this fanfic ^^