The Quickverse Chronicles

by Quick Fix

Crossing the Line Part 2

Author's Note:

Part 5 of the Sunset arc. <Previous/Next>

Minor retcon aside, this piece leads in to the events of Heart and Mind, so brace for major spoilers if you hadn't read it.

August 18th

---

Equestria was basking in the warmth of a late summers day, a pleasant warmth covering the land and raising the spirits of everypony who felt it. While most of the land was making the most of the sun while they could, Canterlot sat blanketed under a tense atmosphere. Although details of exactly what had transpired within the castle a week ago had been managed well enough to prevent a general outcry, rumors had begun circulating after Shining Armor had been seen leaving Canterlot Central Hospital before his return to the Crystal Empire. Although most of the rumors were wild and varied enough to keep the public from guessing the truth, every single one that Sunset Shimmer overheard was like a dagger full of dark magic that took whatever mood she was in and twisted it to how she had felt after talking to her mentor, lying there in tears.

Each rumour, every second of that memory, a reminder of her biggest mistake.

Her studies had only resumed two days ago after her disastrous involvement in the diplomatic meeting that had caused this whole mess. Princess Celestia hadn't spoken much during those sessions, only voicing her approval for study topics and answering any questions she had. It didn't help that Sunset was limited to subjects well below her level, leaving her with plenty of time to think things over while going through the durability of magic resistant minerals or other such nonsense. It wasn't worth trying to discuss things with the princess, from the looks she had been giving and how she had spoken at the time it was a small miracle she'd allowed Sunset to remain her student at all.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it turned out the pony that had been directing the castle lockdown in the wake of the incident had been Lieutenant Colonel Cipher. Her father. It had been several days before the two of them had been able to talk and while he clearly didn't understand why she had done what she did or the full extend of what it meant, he had done his best to reassure her all the same. His words still echoed in the back of her mind...

'It could have been a lot worse. But that's a good thing too. Nopony was seriously hurt and only a select few ponies even know. Your mother isn't one of them and I'll make sure it stays that way for your sake...I know you're not proud of what happened, Sunny, but everypony makes mistakes. Don't let it define you, let it just be a blip while you remind everypony why Princess Celestia chose you as her student. Keep being a good pony.'

Though she had kept quiet about it at the time, Sunset couldn't help but see how wrong that advice was. It was alright for him, able to live with an attitude where 'good enough' was a valid result. Sunset Shimmer didn't make mistakes, not at her level where failure meant things like this happened. Not when the challenges she undertook in her current role demanded perfection if they were to better herself and Equestria. If that was to continue after this, then the current challenge she faced was finding a way back into Celestia's good graces.

Sunset groaned to herself as she lay back on her bed, staring up at the notes she'd taped to the ceiling through unfocused eyes. Her house had been her own for a few years now, her little space on the edge of Canterlot's residential district to gather her thoughts and indulge her own studies. It felt a lot emptier now though. She'd packed up most of her personal subjects and halted her correspondences with Chief Moondancer at the Institute of Development, deciding it wasn't worth risking a princesses' ire in any way. Now she only had old notes to go over when she wanted to relax.

Her eyes lazily drifted from paper to paper, occasionally focusing to see if it was something that might take her mind off everything for a few welcome moments or even provide an unlikely clue for where to start with fixing her situation. Normally they provided some light reading but right now they only sat in place, almost mocking her as reminders of how she had come so far only to be blocked by a moment of error. Sunset frowned and focused in on the notes again, feeling a spark of determination inside her to push through this mess and get everything back to the way it had been. Somehow.

After a minute of speed reading she stopped on a page she had written when she was twelve, levitating it down and taking it in her hooves. Sunset paused for a moment as she remembered why she had written this note to herself, a reminder that the nightmares she had had about Starlight Glimmer during that time were impossible in reality. The note itself meant little now but the pony mentioned within it had set her mind racing, decades old memories resurfacing and a germ of an idea starting to come together.

Starlight Glimmer had been a highly dangerous individual twenty years ago, one that had taken the full efforts of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself to bring down. But could it have been handled better? Could Starlight have been brought in in a way that didn't hurt anypony unnecessarily? It was possible, if such a result was engineered rather than risking leaving it to fate. Of course, that would require breaking the rogue unicorn out of a dungeon and re-enacting her cult without it being found out, something that would likely take years. But nothing worth doing was ever easy. If all went well, nopony would even catch on that she was involved. If not...

Whatever 'if not' was, that couldn't happen. Returning to Celestia's side a hero and being allowed to resume her studies freely was a must if she was to continue helping Equestria. Hopefully everypony involved could forgive her.

---

Six months later...

Darkness was starting to fall over Canterlot as a thick cloud cover began to blanket the city in time with the sunset. Early February typically saw the weather patrol get a lot of bad weather out of the way in order to make things as bright and clear as possible for the new years celebrations. Within the walls of the castle, Sunset Shimmer shivered slightly as she browsed over a historical parchment, trying to ignore the chill of the library. She had been through the parchment enough times by the time she was eleven, but reading helped keep her calm as her eyes darted up to check the clock over the door out to the hallways.

Everything was in place. All that empty time in the past few months that she had normally used for her studies had been put to good use, getting friendly with the castle guard and learning about how they worked to the point that many of them almost saw her as one of their own. It made her feel bad that all of that was for an ulterior motive, but it was for the greater good and she genuinely appreciated their friendship. As far as things with Princess Celestia and her parents stood, she had told them that she would be withdrawing from her studies in a few days to walk Equestria for a time and learn more about the world she wanted to help but hardly knew. That wasn't technically untrue. She would be walking the land, but it would be to find a safe place for her base of operations. Plus, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

Another glance up at the clock showed it was now twenty past six. A little early but it would be better to work with extra time than less. Right now Celestia would be finishing setting the sun before retiring to her chambers for the evening. Luna would raise the moon in ten minutes, then head over to the EDF Command Center for a update on current situations before beginning her duties monitoring the dream realm. All of that kept them on a path that didn't cross Sunset's, so barring unforeseen occurrences she would only have to time her movements to match those of the guards. She had memorized the patrols by now so that shouldn't be any issue either. No point in hesitating any longer, time to go to work.

Sunset placed the parchment back in place and headed out at a brisk trot. She could walk this route in her sleep, the path from the castle entrance to the library was one she'd used since she was a filly. The fact it took her right past one of the castle vaults had meant little on any other day, but now it meant that walking past it had allowed her to study it through countless passing glances. As she kept walking her horn lit up momentarily, pulsing for a few seconds before her aura died down again. Magic to mask the caster's magic use was highly complex, but she had figured it out when she was nineteen. Nopony would know she would be the one casting the spells she'd need unless they actively knew to look for her aura.

Sunset rounded the last corner into the hallway in time to see the tail of a castle guard disappearing round the far end of the hall. She'd run the numbers through her head countless times based off everything she'd been able to gleam from hanging out in the barracks. By the time she got to the vault door the guard would be out of earshot if she was careful, leaving her two minutes to get in, grab what she needed and get out before another guard got too close. Her magic flared up before she even reached the door, scanning for anything beyond the basic anti-magic defences and finding nothing. Perhaps the princesses believed nopony who actually managed to break in would find anything generally considered valuable.

She took a steadying breath and placed her horn against the door, watching an aqua pulse cover it for a moment before checking again. The touch of her magic had disabled the defences for now and she gripped the opening mechanism in her magic, carefully sliding it open enough for her to slip inside.

The vault interior was compact, thirty feet long by fifteen wide and filled with shelves, each one loaded up with what seemed like regular everyday items. Sunset knew each was here for a reason though and made sure not to touch anything as she stepped forward. She quickly found what she was looking for, not quite in the same place but still the same. The glass jar containing Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark. She quickly scooped it up off the shelf and checked it over in her magic. No obvious, or even subtle traps on it, the fact it was pressed back against the wall pretty much the only thing keeping it from falling off. If she'd had time, Sunset would have left a complaint about the lax protection.

Just as she turned to go, her eyes were drawn to a pendant sitting slightly further down the shelf. It was largely unremarkable, made of brass on a thin chain, a white engraving of a horn with sparking magic etched into it. The chain looked long enough to be comfortably worn by an alicorn but otherwise, there was no reason for her to pay it any mind. Yet, now that she had seen it...Was it just a subconscious desire to keep some reminder of her mentor or some unknown connection that compelled her to take it along? She gave it a quick check and it had no protection either. There was no time to debate it though, she only had a few spare seconds if she wanted to be away from the door before the next guard showed up.

Sunset headed back out the vault, keeping both the jar and the pendant in her magic since it was quicker than putting the latter back. As soon as she was back outside she stashed them in a statue alcove on the opposite side of the hallway and closed the reinforced door, tapping it with her horn again to dispel her disabling spell. That had been slower than she'd hoped, but it was the only timed part of her plan and it was done. There was just enough time for her to start walking down the hallway as if that had been all she was doing before the anticipated guard rounded the corner.

"You're here late, Sunset." The guard commented casually as he approached her. An older pegasus stallion with a white coat, light blue eyes and the classic guard's armour, Sunset recognised him as one of the veterans of the castle that had been serving since she was a filly. In fact, he was the one she had been talking to the day she'd first spotted the cutie mark in the vault.

"Bomber," Sunset replied. It wasn't hard to her to remain calm around him, the two of them had clicked easily due to both having a strong work ethic. Even now his eyes had gone to the vault door to check for any irregularities, though there was no hint that he suspected anything. "Just committing everything to memory while I have time."

"Smart. You're probably going to have a lot of ponies asking what living in the castle is like," Bomber said, pausing for a moment before sighing slightly. "You know, it's going to be weird not seeing you around."

"I know, I'm leaving a lot of friends behind doing this." Sunset admitted. At least she wasn't lying about that. "It'll be worth it though. Good of all Equestria and that."

"Yeah," Bomber nodded, slightly sullen before his ear twitched and he perked up again. "Say, I'm joining some of the others for drinks when I get off duty. You want to come along?"

"I'll see what my plans are for tonight, but no promises either way."

Bomber nodded and offered a hoof to Sunset, one she bumped in return before they both headed off their opposite ways. Part of her wondered if she should use a spell on him so he wouldn't remember meeting her here, but she decided against it. Aside from their discussion being open enough to avoid suspicion, she respected him too much. After rounding the corner she waited for a few moments before doubling back and retrieving the jar and pendant from their hiding spot. The easy part was over now, now she had to put on the charisma and guile of a leader. No pressure there.

Sunset set off quickly, heading for the entrance to the dungeons. Thankfully her path didn't bring her into contact with any further guards, security in the area was light due to how few cells were in use at present. She headed down into the first level of cells, following the route she'd laid out after seeing the cell listings in the guard barracks. The light down here was far worse than the rest of the castle, only a few firefly lanterns spaced out with another hanging outside occupied cells. There was only one of those at present.

As Sunset moved up to the cell door, she hesitated for a moment. The last time she had been here, she'd seen eyes filled with cold fury, a pony that would likely still hold a grudge against her even now. It meant little right now though. Starlight Glimmer may have been dangerous, but without her magic she was nothing. Sunset had studied her background intensively in the past in case she attempted revenge, enough to formulate a plan of how to proceed right now. With said plan at the forefront of her mind she placed her items aside and stepped in front of the door.

"Hello, Starlight Glimmer."

"Sunset." Starlight replied with a scowl, sitting up on her bed to face the other unicorn. She looked slightly underweight and her mane dangled limply, devoid of any styling it once had. Otherwise she looked relatively okay for a mare in her mid-forties that had spent the last eighteen years as a prisoner stripped of her magic.

"It's, Sunset Shimmer." She corrected before she could stop herself. Starlight simply stared at her through slightly narrowed eyes, sitting closer to the edge of her bed.

"...What do you want?"

So she was still as direct as ever. Good. Time to see if Starlight was still devoted to her cause, and if Sunset was as good of an actor as she hoped.

"What I want is simple," Sunset said, putting some contempt into her voice. "To see Princess Celestia realise that she's not so special. For Equestria to see their 'leaders' for what they are; Control freaks that think having wings and a horn makes them better than everypony. That they can just cast ponies aside for a simple mistake!"

Starlight was silent for several seconds, staring Sunset down. Though nothing had changed externally there were little hints in her body language, a gentle lean forward, muscles relaxing slightly, that her attention had been gained.

"Admirable, but not something you'd just randomly tell me."

"I know. Good to see you're still sharp after all these years. That's the kind of mind that deserved to lead a free and equal land." It was the most basic kind of flattery, playing to her desires, but it was working.

"It would need to be more than that," Starlight said, lip curling slightly in anger. "There's no freedom in Equestria as it is now, not with those that cling to their false superiority roaming free and tearing down anywhere that actually provides ponies with the happiness they need. They need to suffer first, broken, made to provide no resistance before they either bow or die!."

Sunset nodded, knowing that she was referring to the Elements of Harmony. Granted, they would be a problem if somepony got wind of what she was up to, but then it would be her job to make sure that didn't happen. First though, she had to go all in.

"They certainly seem to have no problem using their 'hero' status for their own ends," She told Starlight, stepping closer to the cell door. She could say anything she wanted about them, Starlight's status as a prisoner didn't give her much chance to fact check. "We just have to make everypony see just how inept they are, alongside their precious princesses. How we do that...It's quite simple really, there's one thing that everypony needs but will happily find somepony else to blame when they're denied it."

Starlight tilted her head slightly, her expression shifting to one of curiosity.

"Food," Sunset continued. "Hungry ponies are more likely to lash out, to blame somepony else for their problem. If the pony they direct it toward is having the same problem though, they'll try to blame somepony higher up for it. On and on, more and more ponies blaming ever upward until everypony in Equestria is angry at the princesses for their failures to provide even the basic needs of their subjects, not to mention any further unrest that results from it. Then that's where we come in."

This was the moment of truth. Starlight closed her eyes and made a thoughtful sound, mulling what she'd heard over. Sunset stood watching her with baited breath, knowing that if the caged unicorn wasn't convinced, and plan B didn't work, then she'd be back to square one. After a minute Starlight got up from her bed and walked over the door, face to face with Sunset.

"...What am I getting out of this? And why are you still telling me anything of it? If you're powerful enough to pull that little mind trick you did as a filly, what's stopping you from trying that plan of yours and equalising Equestria on your own?"

Plan B it was.

"You get this," Sunset took the jar in her magic and brought it over, holding it up to see but keeping it out of reach. Starlight gasped slightly at the sight of her contained cutie mark, staring at it with a focus unlike any she had displayed before. "For all my ability, I can't remove cutie marks. You can have your village back, better than ever, a beacon of unity and equality that will emerge as the only place in Equestria to remain unaffected by the princesses' failures. Ponies will see your leadership as the right one and beg for you to lead the land faster than you can say staff of sameness."

"I'm listening."

"We need each other to make it happen though. I need your magic to bring equality back to the world, you need me to gather ponies for the cause without drawing undue attention. We can discuss details after I've gotten you out of there. What do you say?"

The pause hung a little longer than Sunset would have liked, leaving her wondering just what kind of a reply she was going to get. Starlight took a look at her expression and chuckled slightly.

"I promise not to blast you the moment I get my magic back. I know that's what you were thinking."

Sunset nodded and her magic around the jar faded, letting to fall to the floor with a crash that echoed through the dungeon halls slightly. Finally freed of its confines, Starlight's cutie mark hovered for a second before glowing and shoot through a gap in the door, reuniting itself with it's owner. Starlight herself was momentarily enveloped in a white aura before flashing brightly. By the time Sunset's eyes recovered, the door between the two of them had been forced open with magic, a sound of pleasured content coming from the other side at the return of a talent denied to its owner for far too long.

"Where do we begin?" Starlight asked with a smirk as she stepped out of her cell. Her dulled coat was back to its vibrant pink, her lifeless mane still unstyled but now a deep purple with an aquamarine stripe. Her cutie mark was again firmly in place on her flanks instead of the gray equals sign of before. The only real difference between her and the pony she had been twenty years ago was an extra, slightly maniacal glint in her eyes.

"By getting away from prying eyes and finding the best place for 'our' town." Sunset said as she placed the pendant around her neck before stepping close to her new 'ally' and teleporting them both out from the castle. This was the path she'd chosen for herself for the next few years, playing a villain while she built up Starlight's second coming only to bring her down when the time was right. It wasn't anything close to what she wanted, but returning to Canterlot as the hero who stopped Starlight Glimmer would make up for it once she was back under Celestia's wing.

Right?