Ch. 18 Shell Shock
Early morning sunlight peeked through the windows of Canterlot Castle into its silent halls. At this hour, only The Guard and the craziest of early-birds were awake. One such pony wandered aimlessly through the halls, enjoying the peace as the light bounced off of her red and gold mane. Sunset's mind wandered along with her hooves as she walked, memories coming to her in a steady stream. Some teased a small smile out of her while others made her feel a pang of regret as she stumbled across their triggers. These didn't last long as new additions to the castle perked her curiosity in ways that brought her back to her fillyhood. Granted, most of these new places to explore were just shortcuts to already existing portions of the castle's old layout, but it was still gave her a bit of a thrill when she discovered them.
"Let's see what's behind door number fifty," she whispered, an impish smile decorating her muzzle as she turned the nob with her magic.
As the door slowly opened, the faint sounds of breathing could be heard. Realizing that she had stumbled across somepony's bedroom, she made to close the door only to stop when something caught her eye. A pink mane ribbon hung from the headboard of one of the beds, a very familiar yellow Earth Pony filly curled up under the comforter. Her lips contorted into a hard frown as she let herself into the room. Each step towards the sleeping filly stoked a toxic fire in her heart. This was one of the people responsible for her almost killing herself. This filly took her friends away from her. She destroyed everything she fought so hard to earn.
Her teeth ground together in pure rage as she stared at the sleeping Applebloom. Her horn glowed with an unformed spell at its tip as it tried to shape the magic to reflect its mistress' emotional state. Frustrated tears slid down her cheeks as she struggled against what the fire inside her demanded. A shaky sigh rattled past her lips as she gave her gathered magic a directive and tucked the blanket around Applebloom. The sleeping filly let out a pleased hum in her sleep, completely oblivious to the mare's presence. She turned to leave only for a small voice in the room to make her freeze.
"S-Sunset?"
Slowly, she turned towards the whisper and was greeted by a groggy Pegasus filly sitting up in bed staring at her. They stared at each other, both as still as statues as they waited for the other to make the first move. Eventually, Sunset broke the stare down and again made to leave the room.
"Wait!" Scootaloo whisper-yelled, struggling to get out of bed.
"Why?" she said coldly, eyes locked with the ground. "Do you want to take my new friends away, too?"
Scootaloo flinched, then sighed as her gaze fell to the floor in shame.
".....No," she sighed as she lowered herself to the ground. "I.....I just want to talk. Can I?"
Silence filled the room as Sunset mulled over Scootaloo's words. She could tell her no. That their was nothing she could say to her that would make a difference. She could tell her that she hated her guts and would never forgive her for what she did. It would be so easy. At least, it would be....if she did hate them.
"Alright," she sighed. "Meet me at the Royal Dining Hall in ten minutes. I'll let the staff know you have my permission to be there.."
Scootaloo gave her a weak smile then said, " Thanks Sunset."
She nodded, then finally stepped out of the room.
***
You could cut the tension with an ax as Sunset and Scootaloo ate. While Scootaloo looked nervous, Sunset was fighting every urge to scream at the little filly. Like in the bedroom, both waited for the other to break the silence to start the conversation. The problem was that neither seemed to know where to start. Sunset wanted to drop her baggage onto the source of her anger, but a larger part of her knew that wasn't the right way to handle this. In Scootaloo's case, she didn't want to ruin her one chance to talk to her. She didn't want to wing it when saying the wrong word could make her already shaky situation even worse.
"So," Sunset said, face unreadable as she stared at the startled filly. "What do you want?"
Scootaloo gulped. She still didn't have the words to say what she wanted, but decided answering Sunset's question was a good place to start.
"I-I wanted to say I'm sorry," she stammered, scared to look Sunset in the eye. "W-What we did was stupid and it wasn't fair."
"I see," Sunset said, not even a faint change in her pokerface. "Is that it?"
"N-No," Scootaloo gulped. "I also wanted to say I want to make it up to you."
Sunset's left eyebrow twitched as a spike of anger shot through her.
"Really? How do you plan to do that? Be my gofer for a while?"
She shook her head.
"I still have to do things around here. When that's done you can make me do whatever you want."
Sunset's anger vanished as intrigue took its place. Given what she'd heard about her, she half expected the Terran to start bargaining for an easier punishment. The fact that the foreign Pegasus was willing to take her punishment in addition to whatever Sunset had in mind for her did raise her opinion of her character.
"That's a pretty big offer," Sunset said, propping her head up with both forelegs as she stared at Scootaloo. "What if I told you to never talk to your friends again? Would you still do it?"
The filly narrowed her eyes as the mare, then said, "No. I won't leave my friends."
Sunset frowned.
"You took my friends away from me. Why shouldn't I do the same to you?"
Scootaloo's glare hardened.
"Because that won't make us even, just sad."
A faint smile formed on Sunset's muzzle.
"Mom's been talking to you, huh?"
Scootaloo's posture softened as the tension weakened in the room.
"Miss Raven and Crow are pretty good teachers too," she smiled. "Oh! And someone from home talked to us a few days ago."
"Let me guess," Sunset chuckled. "Grey Pegasus. Yellow mane and tail. Misaligned eyes?"
Scootaloo nodded.
"Derpy did good then," she smiled, then sighed as she gave her breakfast guest a deadpan. "As for what you can do for me, I'll have to think about it for a while. Is that fine?"
"What ever you want to do," she said solemnly. "Just don't drag the others into this."
"Got it," she nodded. "Whatever I come up with will just be between you and me. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom will be left completely out of it."
"Thanks," she smiled. "And Sunset, I'm really sorry. For everything."
"Apology accepted," she smiled, a warmth forming deep in her heart as the words left her mouth.
Scootaloo beamed at that, then remembered her food and tore into it like a starved wolf. As Sunset enjoyed her breakfast, she marveled at how light she felt. It was like a lead weight had fallen off of her back and it was glorious. The air seemed cleaner. The world brighter. Granted, she knew that it was going to take a lot more then a simple apology for her to get over what happened to her, but if what she was feeling was anything to go by it was a start at the very least.
***
Derpy stared at the stores they passed as she strolled through Canterlot, Sunset not far behind her as she did the same. Neither of them had any real destination in mind as they navigated the streets, both simply wanting to get some air now that they were done with their holiday shopping. Though a good sized part of it also had to do with Princess Celestia practically hovering over them like a solar-powered vulture most of the time when they were in the castle.
She slowed her pace until Sunset was next to her and draped a wing over her back. Sunset jumped from the sudden contact, then leaned into her marefriend's embrace. Derpy smiled as she enjoyed Sunset's warmth, eyes locked with hers as they walked. If there was anything good she could say about the Solar Princess' actions it was that she gave them the push they needed to give their relationship a shot. Though, both wished she'd ease up on the whole ring thing. The whole world seemed so much brighter for the both of them since their fist date, especially when they where together to enjoy it.
Their revelry was interrupted when something from a store they passed flew out and clung to Derpy's foreleg. They stopped and Derpy raised her leg to be greeted by the most unusual sight. A light-purple Unicorn filly with a bright-yellow mane and tail hung onto her leg like a sloth as she looked up at her with yellow eyes full of love.
"Gotcha' Mama!" she cheered giggling at the bewildered mare.
Derpy stared at the Unicorn in shock, only for recognition to slowly take form as she stared.
"Dinky?"
"Uh-huh!" the filly smiled, tilting her head in confusion. "Are you okay Mama?"
Sunset stared at the two ponies in shock, trying to make sense of the situation. Fortunately, answers came in the form of another grey Pegasus running out of the same store.
"Dinky!" Equestrian Derpy said, running up to her startled double. "What did I tell you about running off?"
Dinky stared back and forth between the two Pegasi a few times, then flung herself at the other mare like a flying squirrel with a look of terror as she cried, "Changeling Mama! Mama save me!"
The mare blinked, remaining completely still even as her daughter clung to the back of her neck. Derpy wasn't doing much better as she stared at her double. At that moment, a brown Earth Pony stallion galloped out of the store to Equestrian Derpy's side.
"Ditzy, dear," the stallion panted, a thick Trottingham accent coloring his voice. "Are you alright?"
The native Pegasus turned towards him and smiled.
"Yeah Time, just saving Dinky from me," she smiled tilting her head slightly towards Derpy.
When the stallion looked at Derpy his jaw hit the floor.
"Dear, do you have a twin sister?" he asked, turning towards Equestrian Derpy.
She chuckled, then gave him a playful hip-bump and said, "Am I not enough for you dear?"
Time chuckled as he gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"It's a Changeling!" Dinky squeaked, hiding behind her mother's neck. "Get her daddy!"
Time chuckled then mussed the filly's mane with a hoof.
"Now now, let's not jump to conclusions here."
As he said that, he looked deep into Derpy's eyes. She leaned back from the stallion's intense gaze as he searched her for something. Sunset tensed as she watched this happen, ready to spring to her girlfriend's defense should the need arise. Then just as suddenly as he started, he broke his stare and smiled in satisfaction.
"Don't worry Dinky dear," he chuckled. "She's not a Changeling."
"Are you sure?" Dinky asked, peeking out from her hiding place.
"I would hope so," Sunset smirked, leaning into Derpy's side.
The couple stared at the two mares then gave them a knowing smile.
"Well, pleasure to meet you ma'am," Time smiled, holding out a hoof to shake. "I'm Time Turner, but most call me Doc."
"Sunset shimmer," Sunset smiled, shaking the offered hoof. "And this is Derpy."
Derpy nodded, trapped in some sort of mental stall as she stared dumbly at her double and her family.
"Nice to meet you Derpy," the native Pegasus smiled at her double. "I'm Ditzy Do."
Derpy shook herself out of her block and nodded with a smile at Ditzy.
"Same here. And It's Derpy Memes actually."
The rest of the group stared at her in confusion, Sunset's stare holding a trace of surprise at hearing this unknown part of her girlfriend's identity.
"My folks are weird," she shrugged.
Ditzy and Time nodded in understanding, the mare in the group scratching the back of her head awkwardly. Dinky popped her head out of her mother's mane and stared at Derpy with scrutiny.
"You sure she's not a Changeling?"
"Yes muffin," Time Turner laughed.
Dinky stared at the two mares for a few seconds, then smiled before hopping off of her mother and landing between the two duos.
"Hi! I'm Dinky Do!" she beamed.
It took everything Sunset had not to scoop up the little filly and hug her like a teddybear. It was as if the cuteness of a million bunnies and kittens had been compressed into a single being with a smile made of pure sunlight that could put Pinkie Pie to shame. Derpy unconsciously brought a forehoof to her chest as she stared at the filly, her charm too much for her to handle all at once.
"Nice to meet you," Sunset smiled, then shifted her attention back towards the filly's parents and asked. "Do you all live up here?"
"No," Time smiled, pulling Dinky into himself to keep her from wandering off. "We had the day off today and thought we'd see the sights."
"I see," she laughed. "How have things been so far?"
"Crazy," Ditzy chuckled. "But nothing we haven't dealt with already. Ponyville kind of makes a place like Canterlot look organized most of the time."
"So you're from Ponyville?" Derpy asked.
"Yep!" Dinky chirped. "Daddy helped me make my own bomb shelter last week!"
Sunset and Derpy blinked at that while the two native ponies chuckled.
"Well, I think we've eaten up enough of their time dear," Ditzy smiled as she picked up her daughter by the scruff of her neck and placed her onto her back. "We don't want to leave Rose waiting at the hotel for too long."
"Sister does tend to cause problems when she's board," he sighed.
Ditzy giggled, then turned towards Derpy and said, "If you're ever in Ponyville and want to talk, stop by the post office."
"No problem," Derpy smiled. "Thanks."
Ditzy nodded and walked away, her husband not far behind them as they disappeared into the crowds. Sunset smiled as she watched them go. After what happened in Ponyville, it wasn't that hard for her to wrap her head around the idea that their was another version of her girlfriend walking around. It was a bit shocking that said double had a different name and was a mother, but she was nothing if not adaptive. Derpy on the other hoof seemed to not be taking it quite as well.
"What are the odds, huh Derpy?"
At the lack of a response, she turned towards the mare in question. Her lips were pulled into a stiff smile as she stared into the crowd where her double disappeared into with a twitchy eye.
"Derpy?" she asked, nervously waving a hoof in front of her face. "Are you okay?"
"In a world far, far away," she said, voice just above a whisper. "I'm married to my father, my sister is my daughter, and my mom is my sister-in-law."
"Y-Yeah," Sunset chuckled awkwardly. "Pretty crazy, right?"
Derpy nodded, expression and stiff posture unchanged. Sunset struggled to find a way to snap her out of her stupor. She briefly considered smacking her, but immediately killed the option with a nuke before moving on to other options. When nudging her failed to get any results, her face heated up as a new idea took form. Gulping, she leaned in and gently planted a kiss on Derpy's cheek. Derpy blinked out of her shock as Sunset pulled back, a deep blush coloring her muzzle as she bashfully locked eyes with her.
"B-Better?" she stammered with a shy smile.
Derpy's face turned beet red and with wide eyes nodded vigorously.
"J-J-Just give me a minute to wrap my head around what happened."
Sunset's smile grew and she nuzzled into Derpy's neck.
"I can help you, if you want."
For a moment, Derpy's head and neck seemed to merge with the red of Sunset's mane as her blush spread past her chin. Cinnamon and vanilla made the two mares drunk with each other's presence as Derpy's shock was replaced by a much more pleasant mental state. With an incredible display of willpower, the two mares pulled themselves away from each other.
"How about now?" she asked, voice a little breathy as she smiled at her girlfriend.
"Wh-Who are we talking about?" Derpy asked, blushing heavily and teetering slightly.
Sunset giggled then guided the Pegasus through the busy streets, doing her best to keep her own head out of the clouds as they walked.
***
Sunset hummed happily as she sat in front of her bathroom mirror and brushed her mane. Aside from meeting her girlfriend's double, nothing of any particular note had happened. Not that that was anything to complain about as far as she was concerned. After everything that happened on Terra, she was happy for a boring day in her native land. Though boring wasn't quite the right word. Finding out what the second half of her girlfriend's name was, was a point of amusement for her as she occasionally dropped her full name for a bit of light teasing. Derpy took it with a smile while also pushing her own buttons by calling her LIttle Sun at random intervals.
She chuckled and set her brush down on the bathroom counter.
She admired herself in the mirror as she thought about just how great a turn her life had taken. Granted, it looked like the world had turned into a frozen void not too long ago, but from that pit she met the sweetest person she could ever hope to meet. She reconnected with her mother for the first time in years. Piece by piece, she was returning to her former glory before Annon-a-Miss tore her apart. An event that filled her with rage, but also reminded her of what she had now thanks to the hell Scootaloo and her friends put her through. She was happy. She was loved. And she was going to do whatever it took to maintain that.
A thump from her bedroom next door caught her attention. Smiling, she stepped away from the mirror and made her way towards the door.
She must've fell out of bed again, she thought with a giggle as she opened the door.
When the light filled the darkened bedroom, her smile died. Standing over the still form of Derpy was a Unicorn dressed in a formfitting black outfit that covered their entire body with a knife hovering beside her in an orange glow. The blade was pointed at the sleeping mare's neck.
Stats
Page generated in 0.049 seconds
Total duration
656 users online
891,905 hits today, 2,591,549 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
.....Some Nobles are Gonna DIE.
Discord must be busy.
9595378
Naw, Discord probably supplied that knife. I would hate to be that Unicorn when she/he tries to use it.
9595417
Possibly, it just seems like half the point up until now was how spectacular their failures were without disturbing either of the lovebirds. Pretty sure this will...disturb.
Well... I'm thinking the only reason half of Canterlot is going still be standing shortly is Derpy could be in the fallout. That assassin is probably going to wish they were dead shortly though.
9595481
I foresee epic fallout. IF the assassin is using something supplied by Discord it will be hilarious, if not I predict imminent smears of former unicorn nature.
Oh no!
Well this is Awkward.
Yep, Awkward
A blast of fire will murder this pony.
Also really wants to know what happens next.
I think some Noble is going to have a very warm lesson coming her way. Then again I bet Discord’s prank is going to kick in again and she will experience some more fun.
One should never draw a weapon one does not intend to use. Spite is a weapon, a vicious goad to keep the enmity running hot. It can be very useful, hatred can keep someone going long after they would have otherwise laid down and died. But it also corrodes the spirit, and binds you to a single course of action.
No, unless you are resolved to someone's destruction, 'tis better to sheath your spite and regard the world in a kinder light. You will live a happier life.
Welp, someone's a very dead pony.
Followed by the stupid noblemare who hired them.
Unless..........
Unless said assassin is said stupid noblemare doing the old "If you want something done right, do it yourself" routine.
Either way, I predict that they are in for a very bad time.
And a lot of serious pain.
Mainly because one does not mess with Sunset's mare.
Ever.
On another note, have I mentioned just how much I hate cliffhangers?
Next chapter soon!
Please!!!
9595743
Now you see my evil mind at work! Muhahahahahahaha! No, if I REALY wanted to be evil, I'd pull a Steven Universe and put the fic into a six month hiatus after this chapter.
9595753 Oh, I can see through you easily enough.
Yeah, that would be pretty evil.
And Steven Universe seriously does that?
I don't watch the show, so I don't know about things like that about it.
Something tells me there's about to be an assassin shaped hole in the wall very shortly. And regardless of Discord "handling" the situation, something tells me that Sunset will not be very pleased about politics and racism putting her girlfriend in danger... Further, if I remember correctly the noble had insinuated in a prior chapter that she was going to take matters into her own hooves. This bodes to be interesting.
Hmm, also, below are a few typos for your editing pleasure.
the crowed where - the crowd where
name was was a - name was a
must've feel out - must've fell out
I think some nobles will face Daybreaker soon.
9595772
SU is infamous for that.
9595862
thanks for the heads up.
9595965 So I've heard.
Just to ask, why do you spell 'axe' without an 'e'?
God fucking damn your cliffhangers!
9595971
Because I'm a bloody idget sometimes.
9595991
You're not the only author I've seen do that, so I wondered if it was regional or something.
9595995
technically both are correct, it's more that ax has recently, for a given value of recently, begun being used more in 'Murica
considering the verb is 'to abruptly remove', it's kinda fitting
9596063
So the 'E' is abruptly removed? Clever.
Well... I'm just gonna get some popcorn
That was adorable.
Also, that assassin is in for a very bad day:
"You took the job, that was your first mistake."
Talk about your sitcom situations. XP
sunset and the killer see each other and sunset does two things. the first being aiming her version of the stare at the would-be attacker while screaming with a voice from the deepest darkest part tartarus DIE!!! while casting a sound canceling spell on derpy to prevent her from waking up. the next thing that would happen is a giant flash of light and in place of the attacker is a pile of ash.
Don't think you can stare at someone with scrutiny. Confusion sure, suspicion definitely.
Oh, fuck you. I love you, you're a great writer, but fuck you. Great story by the way, I really enjoy your work.
This is how I feel whenever I see Eri from MHA say or do anything cute.
9595753
It’s a good thing I’m in the future so any attempts at a hiatus won’t affect me