Convocation by Need

...It's been a week already.

Sunset Shimmer glazed her eyes on the watch hanging by the wall as its hands ticked ever so slowly, following the dull, rhythmic beat of the unstoppable flow of time.

She caught herself dozing off inside her own head again, a quick shake of her head took her thoughts away like she woke up from a daydream. Pulling herself up from the chair she was sitting in, she threw a smile towards none other than Rarity, who was sitting by her side at the café they were in, cheerfully distracted with the final bite of a particularly interesting-looking parfait.

"Well, Rarity? It's getting late, I think that it's time for me to go, now."

"Oh?" Rarity wondered as she also looked at the clock, gasping in surprise at the time, swallowing the final bit of her dessert in the process. "Oh my, is it really this late? Oh, I am sorry, darling, for keeping you for this long!"

"It's fine! It's fine, really," she confirmed as both girls stood up and walked up to the counter, trying not to giggle at Rarity's clumsy attempt at picking up her groceries and walking at the same time. "I wanted to come, anyway. Though I gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to buy so much purple fabric. Isn't all this heavy?"

"Why, purple is the color of nobility, I'll have you know! This marvelous midnight fuchsia shade is exactly what I needed for my inspiration! I'm positively bursting with ideas, weight is just a minor setback!"

"If only Rainbow Dash agreed to come, you wouldn't have to drag all of that back home instead of just carrying it."

The young fashionista shook her head slowly as they finally reached the counter, paying the cashier enough money so that they could legally leave the establishment.

"I had you to help me carry them this far. I think I can manage a few extra blocks on my own. What about you, Sunset? Going straight home?"

"Yeah," she nodded as they finally left the café, the cold wind of the evening striking them both like a rather unpleasant breath. "I don't really have anything to do right now, too. I might as well, then."

"Oh, how I envy you!" Rarity chuckled as she rose enough of the packages she was carrying to fit the straps through her head, having them hang by her side as she made extra effort to carry the rest without rolling sideways. "I cannot thank you enough for your company, though. I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"I'll hold you to that," Sunset also chuckled, finally waving goodbye to her friend, watching her clumsily stumbling up her side of the street, trying her best to still look as elegant as possible.

And with that, she brought herself to walk the opposite direction, still silently laughing under her breath at Rarity, whom she could still hear complaining about how, in hindsight, she should have probably bought a bit less than she did.

It had been a week already. Seven whole days after Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, walked through that portal on her way back to their homeland of Equestria, after assisting in the defeat of the three Sirens that threatened the whole school. Perhaps considering only the school was too small of a spectrum, considering what those three girls could do. If they had left them alone, who knows what damage they would do? Maybe they'd threaten the country? The world, possibly? Was that their goal, ultimately?

She couldn't answer her own questions, so she found comfort in trying not to. It was already done, anyway. Her friends went back to their usual daily lives, their band getting along even better than they were before. Twilight wasn't there anymore, and life goes on.

Their band. Sunset's, also.

She couldn't help but smile at that. It was silly of her to think this way, but she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, she was somewhat forgiven for what she's done. Being rewarded with actual friends without feeling like she's an outcast, even among them. Spreading joy through and with them in everyday life, she found it was very easy to keep on smiling with each passing day. It was something she was slowly getting accustomed to. Smiling, laughing, spending relatively happy and joyful days... things she squandered and denied when living under the wing of Princess Celestia. Opportunities wasted... a life thrown away.

Sunset shook her head, once again. I need to stop thinking like this, she scolded herself as the cold wind got slightly sharper, making the young girl brace herself a little. The night was unusually cold, something she still wasn't used to in the human world. The weather being relatively unpredictable, and working on its own accord... Humans are crazy. I still can't believe they let that happen here.

Completely encased inside her own head, Sunset Shimmer slowly walked her way down the street towards her home. It was a very shabby street, nothing fancy or extraordinary in it except for a couple miscellaneous stores in the way. The most fascinating part of this street was the fact that it always seemed to have some manner of movement in it; usually there would be a car or two passing by even at the latest hours of the night. There would always be a couple people still strolling down towards somewhere, probably a place more exciting than this particular street, but still happened every time.

Which was exactly why Sunset Shimmer felt extremely uncomfortable, and stopped in her tracks as if she didn't believe this.

There was no movement whatsoever. No cars, no people, nothing. The street was completely deserted, with no real signs of life coming off it at all. She launched a gaze forward as if trying to see if her eyes weren't deceiving her, but truly, there was nothing there. She was alone.

The wind seemed to get slightly colder as Sunset finally resumed walking forward as if that was the cause of it all, but there was still no one in sight. Her eyes zipped in all directions as if she suddenly found herself in some kind of trance. What is going on, here? This is the city, why is it so quiet?

"Oh, you shouldn't have to worry about that, my sweet."

She froze. Sunset Shimmer immediately swung her body, turning around so quickly that even Rainbow Dash would be proud of her. And just as she did so, her body froze once again, just for a quick beat, but long enough for her to actually notice it.

There was a woman, there. Standing not too far from where Sunset now was, this dark-skinned beauty threw her eyes at her like she was greeting someone familiar. Not much taller than Sunset herself, this lady was wearing nothing short of what would be considered a one-piece dress of relatively impressive quality, its dark red colors being a fierce contrast to her blue eyes that shone like the moonlight. An exquisitely done hair, tied in a bun, adorned her makeup-heavy head like a crown, and she stood proudly on her feet, which carried her with elegant steps, filled with poise.

"Good evening. I take it you know why I'm here?"

Sunset Shimmer did not know how to answer to that. She opened her mouth to say something, but her voice did not come out at all. The woman before her simply giggled, raising one of her hands towards the younger girl in a beckoning way, while slowly walking forward, with utmost care with her steps.

"Don't worry. Come to me, little one. I'll answer your questions, all of them."

Celestia's Ex-Protégé could swear she saw the woman's eyes glow as she said that. A strange tingling sensation on the back of her head was immediately erased by the torrent of thoughts that raged in her mind like a hurricane, and she instead stepped back on instinct. The woman, as she saw this reaction, stopped in her tracks.

"Oh my. This wasn't supposed to happen."

She opened her smile again, throwing a beckon to Sunset Shimmer one more time, only to have her step back yet again, her brow furrowed into a scowl. The girl felt the back of her head sweat a little, as she was certain of it this time. This was the second time this woman tried to do something to her. She was bad news.

"What are you doing?" she asked without giving a single inch, still slowly walking back, ready to sprint at a moment's notice. "What do you want from me? You're weirding me out, here."

And with that, the woman's smile was gone. Her eyes flared golden like she was trying to crush Sunset with her gaze alone, and her mouth distorted into a crooked, broken frown. Sunset stepped back once again as the woman rose her nose up slightly, as if looking down on the girl like she was standing exactly where she didn't want her to stand, disgusting leathery noises started popping from her frame like a cocoon ready to burst open.

"...That explains why you just walked right through my barrier like it wasn't there, little girl. You are harder to tame than I thought you were."

The wind seemed to die completely as the Equestrian felt her hair stick to her neck a little. The golden flare of the woman's eyes got visibly brighter as she took a forceful step forward, the tingling sensation in the back of Sunset's mind turning into a painful scratch as she launched her voice at her yet again, the soothing tones she used before all but gone.

"Come to me. I will treat you nicely, young girl. I promise."

And with that said, Sunset Shimmer broke eye contact, turned around and ran the other way as quickly as she could, making the woman behind her gasp in shock at the reaction before her.

"H-HEY! That wasn't supposed to- You're not supposed to run! Come back here!"

In what felt like milliseconds, there was a loud, flesh-bursting noise from behind her as Sunset Shimmer sprinted down the street as fast as she could. Throwing a backwards glance out of instinct alone, she found out her fears weren't unfounded. The woman was giving chase, her back had now sprouted disgusting-looking inverted leather wings and as she flew, her golden eyes were the most visible things in the dark of the night, overpowering the moon through her silhouette against it.

Her thoughts were racing at an incomprehensible speed. The possibility of this woman being human was now thrown out of the window so hard it went into orbit. She was being chased by something nonhuman, with wings, golden eyes and the possible ability to hypnotize people. What was going on!?

...No. That's not important, is it? What's going on, I know exactly what's going on, she pieced to herself amidst the maelstrom of thoughts raging inside her head. More important than that, what is she? Wings, hypnotic powers... Was she trying to seduce me, before? Is that what that was?

There's not a whole lot of creatures with the power of hypnotizing people through seduction, specifically. If I narrow the possibilities down, I'd say she's either some manner of vampire or a succubus, but since her wings are inverted I'd say the former is not a possibility. As it stands, Succubi share many similarities with vampires - the inability to survive under the sun and drinking blood from their victims, to name a few - a peculiarity they share with werewolves, too, if I'm not wrong, and they all also share a very specific weakness which seem to be catered to nightwalkers in general...

Silver...!

"Stop running from me, you runt! I told you that's not how this works!"

The Succubus' voice was ever closer than before as Sunset immediately threw her hands inside her pockets in a desperate rush to find anything she could use. Her fingers found a few coins - useless right now. A streamer, courtesy of Pinkie Pie, but also useless! Some keys, a wallet with nothing she could put to use in it! She clacked her tongue in irritation as she shoved her hands inside the pockets of her jacket...

...Her jacket!

In a complete daze of brilliance, Sunset Shimmer pulled her arms through her jacket's sleeves in a clumsy attempt to run and remove herself from that leather coat, turning her running momentum into strange, ungraceful hops as she tugged her arm through the sleeves as hard as she could. As she binded herself slightly by doing so, the Succubus finally dashed forward in a surprising burst of speed, landing in front of the girl, spreading her inverted wings high into the air in a shave of menace.

There was no time to think. Sunset's momentum was already crazy thanks to her clumsy stunt - all she did was not land on her feet. Toppling forward in what almost looked like an accidental fall, Sunset Shimmer fell on her left shoulder, making a hard, dry impact as she landed, tumbling forward and under the Succubus' wing in a surprisingly skillful feat of acrobatics. Finally managing to remove the jacket from herself, the Equestrian held it by the sleeve and swung it at the woman behind her almost blindly - desperately, even - and watched as she herself stepped backwards in surprise at what was happening.

The Succubus's cheek was grazed by the jacket, and she put her hand on her face by anything if not reflex. She looked dumbfounded at the girl standing before her, who was looking both shocked and extremely lucid at the same time, now standing defiantly at the woman, like she feared no more. The attack caused only a tiny, minimal scratch...

...But it hit regardless.

One of the many silver buttons of Sunset's jacket grazed the woman's face, but it was more than enough. She felt her cheek swell and burn like she was stung by a dozen bees, and covered her allegedly tiny wound with both hands as she screamed in horror at the realization of what happened. Her eyes pinked out in response to the violent reaction against the metal she was struck with, and she threw daggers with her eyes at the girl before her while baring all of her sharp teeth, snarling like a mad, angry beast let out of its cage.

"Y-You... You little runt! What did you..."

Sunset Shimmer did not waste any time as she immediately started wrapping the jacket properly on her right arm, as to not accidentally drop it. She felt some manner of confidence coming back to her. She had silver, she could defend herself, now.

"Stand back or I swear I'll slap you with this again! You don't want that, do you?"

"...Are you for real? You're threatening me with a jacket," she deadpanned as her brow furrowed as hard as her facial structure would allow. "Don't get cocky, girl, or I'll make sure I won't leave even your bones behind when I suck the life out of you!"

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to step back! I'm warning you, leave me alone!"

Sunset rose her right arm above her, holding the other end of her improvised defense with her left hand, wielding the leather jacket like a whip. The Succubus removed her hand from the swollen wound on her cheek, and snarled at the girl with a voice that wasn't her own anymore.

"There's only so many buttons on that thing," she reinforced violently, the tiny, but extremely allergic wound on her cheek only adding to her fury.

"But there's plenty of them in it to strike you in the face again! Don't make me!"

As she said so, the woman before her gritted her teeth as she pulled her head backwards, making the Unicorn raise an eyebrow, worried. However, the action soon struck Sunset's ears as the yell the woman unleashed was quite literally, otherworldly.

A piercing, overwhelming shriek was unleashed by the Succubus and Sunset yelped in horror as she felt her head was being crushed from the inside. Windows around them shattered, glass sprayed on the sidewalk and street lights were burst from the attack which lasted not more than just a couple of seconds. The woman laughed hysterically as Sunset Shimmer struggled to keep her eyes open, and she lunged forward with her own left hand, aiming directly at the Equestrian's neck.

She didn't know why she was still lucid enough to react, but all she did was raise both hands trying to defend herself from the strike. The jacket she was holding, magnificent in its well-placed buttons, struck the arm of the succubus as she lunged forward, making her stop the attack immediately and yell in surprise at the luck of the ex-protégé. Sunset's senses were still working enough for her to understand her position, and she gritted her teeth herself, holding the arm of the Succubus with her left hand and punching the jacket in its entirety in the face of her aggressor, making a satisfying whack as she felt her feet give way to her weight and sound-induced headache. She fell on her knees as the succubus fell on her back, yelling at the top of her lungs all manner of insults and profanity, all of which Sunset was too deaf to listen to properly.

The pain the woman was feeling was excruciating. That jacket, that damned jacket and her rotten luck! She could barely understand the levels of pure, horrendous pain she was feeling right now, and her patience was completely gone. She punched the sidewalk, hit some of the broken glass with her elbows as she tried to stand, and the sounds of a great, furious beast now escaped her throat with no restraint whatsoever. She tried to focus her vision properly, and realized she was blinded in one eye. That little girl was going to die for this.

Clawing at the ground as she very slowly managed to pull herself up, the Succubus drooled slightly as her facial muscles were not responding properly to her commands. Sunset Shimmer took to her feet first, still listening to painful ringing noises inside her head like war drums in an echoing cavern.

"You'r- *COUGH!* Going to pay for this!" the wounded Succubus threatened as she couldn't take one of her hands away from her face, burning so badly as it was. She was surprised she could even stay conscious. "I swear I'll gut you and hang you in my wall like a trophy!"

"W-What's even your problem, you jerk? What do you even want from me?" Sunset managed to cough a sentence as she pulled her right arm back into position, wielding it like shield. "What did I even do to you?"

"YOU SLAPPED THAT POISON ALL OVER MY FACE! HOW DARE YOU ASK ME WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"Well, excuse me for defending myself from a psycho! I'll be right sure to apologize to you never!"

The Succubus immediately made a motion to try and advance, but the girl rose the jacket, showing it off and making all the shiny silver beads in it seem much more deadly to anyone as they have ever looked. Wounded and careful, the Succubus made several failed attempts at bypassing Sunset Shimmer's makeshift shield, much to her chagrin.

"You stupid, bacon-haired, loathsome mongrel she-dog! Cut that out already!"

"I've seen beehives with less open holes than your face right now, you cantankerous excuse for a nightwalker!"

"Oooh, she hit you pretty low there, Mira! I'm pretty sure you've got an insult of your own prepared, but do you mind if I give my two cents, just for the heck of it?"

Sunset Shimmer screamed in surprise as she threw a glance at the man standing right across the street, both arms crossed like he was watching a ridiculously entertaining event of some kind. Dressed just about as sharply as the average townie in his blue jeans and brown t-shirt, this extremely pale-skinned man's maroon hair swayed slowly alongside the wind, reaching just about as high as shoulder length. As he stepped forward towards both women, the Equestrian felt the urgent need to step back even further in full retreat mode, her mind racing as quickly as it could in order to come up with an appropriate method of escape. He, on the other hand, rose his own towards Sunset and said with a mockingly calm tone, a relatively friendly one, even:

"You are all but a boil needing lancing!" he said as he turned around to face the Succubus, whose face was as close to resembling confusion as it could probably get. "...Did I do it right? Am I hip with the kids yet?"

"Pierce Claw, FLANK HER! Don't let this she-dog escape!" she yelled out the top of her lungs as Sunset kept stammering backwards, still putting the jacket between herself and obvious danger. "DON'T LET HER!"

"Ah? I heard you already, stop yelling. That's super annoying," he casually complained as he kept creeping inward towards a desperate Sunset Shimmer, who was now throwing constant looks to the ground, hoping a hole would open up and swallow her to safety. "Sorry, little girl, but... y'know. That's how we sorry excuse for nightwalkers do, I suppose."

And with that, he put his hand around a nearby parking post, pulling it off the ground like the weight meant nothing to him. Giving it a few random swings, his eyes flared a menacing crimson color, his teeth growing sharper with each step he took, the fur slowly growing on his arms and neck giving him a more bestial look than the Unicorn ever wished.

A Werewolf, of all things! What was going on, here? Not only she was attacked by one, but two nightwalkers? Both weak to silver, sure, but he had the common sense of wielding a parking post like it was a club! Her jacket wasn't going to save her anymore! If he hit her with that thing...!

"L-Look, I'm not even sure what caused all this!" she pleaded in relative panic as her back now was rasping against the walls of the store behind her. "I just want to go home! Pierce Claw, was it? I didn't do anything wrong, so--"

"Ah, you see? There's where I stop caring," he responded with no real malice in his voice, pointing the club towards her face like one does a spear. "This isn't about right or wrong, little girl. This is about Mira asking me to help her, so that's what I'm doing."

And so he did, bringing the parking post behind him, ready to take a baseball swing directly at her, Sunset Shimmer's eyes and mind trying their hardest to find a way out of this situation...

But what followed was a bang, instead. A very loud, metallic bang that rang through the Equestrian's ears, making her wince and open her eyes, in pure, unfiltered surprise.

The parking post was now cracked in half. Pierce Claw didn't even take the swing, and the weapon was now rent in twain. With the innocent curiosity of a child, he pulled the makeshift club closer, inspecting the fact that, indeed, the post was now broken in his hands. Looking at the wall by his side, he saw a metal parking meter sticking out of it, coins falling off of it like confetti. On the ground, the other half of the post lied.

It took everyone a couple seconds to properly adjust to the noise, but they all looked at the other side of the street yet again, and there stood yet another person. A woman, this time, clad in what could only be classified as clothes that no one would wear without a good reason. A black, buttonable shirt with a wine-red tie adorned her chest, and her blue, knee-long skirt absolutely didn't match with her green cargo pants. Seriously, Rarity would've had a field day with this one. She was nearly as tall as Flash Sentry was.

Oh Celestia, not another one!!

Her almost ankle-long light blue hair flowed in the wind slightly as she gazed towards the trio with such intensity that Sunset Shimmer could swear she heard something snap somewhere. Her stride forward stopped just shy of her reaching halfway across the street before the Unicorn saw the absolute horror in the eyes of the man standing close to her, him visibly shaking at what he was seeing.

"Drop the weapons," she commanded with a tone of voice that would make grown men's spines freeze over. "I'm only going to say this twice."

"YO! YO!" Pierce Claw exclaimed as loudly as he could, immediately throwing the broken club into the ground, putting both hands into the air and surrendering. "E-Easy! Hey there, Quay! I surrender! No need to get rough, OK? I quit! I'm done! Hands up, see? I give!"

"W-WHAT?" Mira the Succubus, on the other hand, shrieked, outraged. "Are you going to let this walking wardrobe disaster tell you to-- You spineless waste of time! This is ridiculous!"

"M-Mira!" the man exclaimed, not moving a single inch from where he disarmed himself. "Don't do this! It's not worth it, just relax and stop, OK?" immediately turning his head around, he whispered to Sunset Shimmer, who was just dumbfounded at what was going on. "You too, just listen to Quay! Don't annoy her!"

"I refuse!" Mira stomped, furious. "Look at what that bacon-haired she-dog did to me! Do you really think I'm going to just back down because someone told me to? This is ridiculous!!"

"Drop your weapon, Lily Mirage. This is the second time I'm warning you."

"Oh, so the little girl knows my name, congratulations!" she yelled once again, waving a hand dismissively at the newcomer, resuming her stride towards Sunset Shimmer, who was perplexed and confused at what she was witnessing. "I'm not done with you yet, you know! I don't need this coward to gut you! I can do this myself!"

And before she could take a single, positive step, she felt her body being raised from the ground, a fierce grip on her own ankle being the only thing she could register before she found herself being slammed against the pavement with the power of a speeding truck.

Sunset Shimmer could not believe what she was seeing. That girl - Quay, was it? - was swinging the Succubus around by the ankle with such ease she might as well be swinging around a weightless doll. Again and again, she would throw her against the ground, reach down, pick her up by the same ankle and resume the process over and over. She counted - Lily Mirage was tossed into the pavement no less than twenty-five times, all of which were potent enough to bash the woman through the asphalt, leaving holes where her face landed. When she finally stopped, only the dead silence of the night could be heard, followed by Quay patting her clothes, and looking at the remaining two with eyes that told them that absolutely nothing of consequence had just happened.

"...Didn't you hear me?" she commanded yet again, this time directing her tone right at the Equestrian. "I told you to drop your weapon."

"M-My weapon? But I don't..." she stumbled upon her own words. They never failed her this badly before in her life.

Well, maybe that one time...

"Don't be stupid! She's not gonna say it again!" the man shrieked as he turned his head around, every single monstrous feature he possessed was now gone. "She means your jacket! Surrender it or she'll do that to you, too!"

"My jacket? But this is all this is! A jacket!"

"Quay! Calm down, OK? No need for more of that, let me talk to her!" the man pleaded as he turned only slightly around, not taking the newcomer off his field of view. "Uh, so it's like this? You were using that to fight us, right? So by objective definition, that's your weapon. That's how Quay works, I didn't make the damn rules up."

...Oh!

Now that he mentioned it, it made perfect sense. Sunset Shimmer shook her head around, the insanity of what's been transpiring this night clearly clouding most of her ability to process rational thought. Still, she complied, the desire to greet the asphalt with her teeth being something she wanted to avoid at all costs. She unfurled the jacket from her right arm and threw it at her feet, an action that clearly pleased the girl before them. She smiled softly - something that Sunset thought wasn't even close to being a possibility a few moments ago - and clapped both hands together, clearly satisfied.

"See? That wasn't hard, was it? I think we all learned a valuable lesson here, today, wouldn't you agree, Mirage?"

"eEeeuughhthhpppthhh."

"She agrees. You, Claw. Pick her up, I touched this carcass enough times for one night."

The man obeyed the woman, his physiognomy changed completely as what could only be described as tension disappeared off the air. He pulled the quivering, beaten down remains of a succubus and winced, something Sunset understands the why, perfectly.

"Wow, Quay. I think you should reconsider the number of times you throw people on the ground when they don't obey you or something."

"I did warn her twice! I don't have time to stay here and babysit a stupid Succubus who destroys half a block trying to capure a single human girl! I was busy! Don't any of you think I don't have anything better to do?"

The man opened his mouth to reply, but quickly found it intelligent to bite his lip, impeding himself from doing so. He simply nodded in agreement to her claim, something that seemed to please her, if only slightly so.

"Excuse me," Sunset interrupted as she was still frozen in place, not really registering what she was hearing or seeing. "What in the Sun's name is going on, here?"

"Uh. I just heard Mira screaming and came here to check, honest! I was just taking a walk," Pierce Claw shrugged. "I think you were just unlucky or something?"

Just unlucky? This night was awful! What were these people even thinking...?

"Regardless of whatever is it that your luck may be, there is a barrier deployed around these blocks right now," Quay pondered as she took another good look at the Equestrian, her eyes focusing on her enough to make her step back in discomfort. She slowly opened her eyes in surprise, bumping her fist on her palm with a gasp of realization. "And all I see is a random human girl that seems to have gotten as unlucky as she could. So what are you doing here, exactly? I was told that... Wait! Uh, hold on. So YOU are Sunset Shimmer!?"

She simply nodded. without thinking. The blue-haired woman grunted in annoyance, looking to the side like she wasn't expecting this at all.

"Urgh! Why didn't you say so before? I thought Sunset Shimmer was some kind of magical monster or something! You look just like a normal girl! I was gonna ask what a normal girl was doing here, and it turns you're... I'm not even going to continue this sentence. I don't have time for this."

"H-How do you know my name? I don't even know who you people are! And you look like a normal girl, too!" She forcefully stomped herself forward this time, her patience getting thrown out the proverbial window just as quickly as her ability to understand what was going on before..

"I do, don't I? That's the whole point," the girl replied to the Unicorn, shrugging in indifference. "I'm not here to answer your questions, though. I was summoned here to keep you from getting hurt, stop a dumb Succubus from causing more damage than she already did and invite you to our headquarters. That's it."

That's it, she says. The Equestrian felt the incredible need to retort, but something told her that this Quay woman's patience was shorter than Pinkie Pie's attention span when she was on a sugar rush.

The point still stood, after all. She probably just saved her life. Better to roll with the punches right now, see where this was going.

"...Fine, sure. Thanks for saving me. But invite me to your headquarters? What is that even supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it means. You are Sunset Shimmer, aren't you? I don't see any other people around here."

The Unicorn simply nodded. Quay shrugged, dismissively.

"Then you're the one I'm supposed to have protected, and to invite over. That's all I know."

"That's all you know? I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't understand!"

"Neither do I! I'm just the muscle of the Convocation, OK? I'm not there to ask questions, I'm there to beat troublemakers down and obey orders!"

Sunset Shimmer poked the tip of her own nose, stopping herself from saying something on impulse. She just heard something very interesting being said...!

"...The Convocation?"

"If you want to ask questions, do it to someone that can bother to answer them, and to someone that actually would know what they are talking about. I am inviting you as per my master's request, that's all. What say you?"

"...And what about me, Quay? Can I leave, now?" Pierce Claw asked with a relatively cheeky tone, making the woman turn around with wide open eyes, as if he just asked the world's most stupid question. He carried the mess of a person that was hardly recognizable as the Succubus on his back like a ugly, beaten down backpack.

"Oh? You're still here? Get lost already."

"Oh. ...OK. Uh... bye, I guess! Take care of yourselves, kids!" He didn't even bother staying for longer than necessary. Right about as quickly as he arrived, Pierce Claw left, carrying the one that started all this mess on his back. The Equestrian somehow felt like that wasn't a very good idea.

"Are you sure that's fine? Just letting them go like that?"

"Yeah. They got the idea. I hate repeating myself three times, I think they understand now."

That's hardly what I actually meant, though.

If she hates repeating herself three times, though, Sunset Shimmer felt like making a decision immediately. She was invited twice, already, after all.

...I wonder?

"I do kind of owe you for saving me, there. Is this... Convocation Headquarters far? You really don't know what they want with me?"

"I really don't. I'm not forcing you to come, though. I have only an invitation, after all. And the Headquarters are just about as far as you wish them to be," the blue-haired girl said as she turned around, walking down the street on the completely opposite direction to Sunset Shimmer's house. "Would you follow me? It won't take long to get there."

Fine. I have no idea what is it that I'm doing... But I might as well.

Curse you, inquisitive curiosity.

Kicking her jacket up back to her arms, she patted it harshly as she proceeded to follow the mysterious so-called enforcer down the streets, putting it back on after she made sure there were no Succubus bits hanging from the buttons in it.

Sunset Shimmer absolutely hated walking through places like these.

In complete, morose silence, Quay led the Unicorn through streets that quite frankly had nothing exceptional about them. It didn't even take too long before signs of everyday life returned to the city, much to the return to form Sunset hoped to see. The lights of cars and the footsteps of people returning home or going out for a night somewhere gave her a strange sensation of peace that she never bothered to pay attention to before. I guess that when you get used to the humans' city, anything that breaks the flow immediately makes you feel uncomfortable.

The guide's stride didn't continue for long before she suddenly took a very sharp turn towards a relatively clean-looking alleyway, much to Sunset's surprise. It wasn't entirely out of place, but it was too clean for a random alleyway. Were they there, already?

"...So, how much farther is it?" she asked with a glint of honest curiosity in her voice. For once, Quay didn't seem annoyed with the question she received.

"Very close. As you might expect, we can't really show ourselves to the open public without risking our everyday lives, so to speak. We live among humans and we look the part when we can, sure, but as you might imagine, not doing so would attract attention we don't want."

"That makes sense."

"So for the more unfortunate ones that can't play the part, they have to hide somewhere. That somewhere is the Convocation Headquarters. We're standing right over it, in fact."

Sunset Shimmer blinked, confused. There wasn't anything there, it was an almost empty alleyway next to what looked like an abandoned warehouse.

The most stand-out thing about this place was the dumpster on rails which lead straight into the warehouse, which was full of all kinds of junk. She felt like she was being made fun of.

"...So, how does this work? I don't see anything special about this place."

"That's why it works, isn't it? I said we're standing over it. That usually means we have to find our way down."

You don't say.

"There is a trick to this. The dumpster, specifically. It's heavy enough to do the trick, almost. See how it's on rails? There's this platform a little ways into the warehouse, where you'd usually park the dumpster, so to speak. Pushing this on top of it would trigger a switch, and the platform would go down like an elevator."

"...Really? And how do you expect us to move it?" Sunset asked as Quay led her inside the warehouse through the rails, ignoring the dumpster completely. Sunset continuously threw glances at it expecting to see some manner of switch connected to it. Maybe it was powered by electricity?

"You'd need a key to do that," she answered with a bored voice. "You're not expecting to push that thing to the platform, are you?"

"...No."

"Good for you, then! Well done."

"...So will you get that thing here? With this key of yours?"

"I don't need it. I said that what triggers the switch was weight, didn't I?"

And just as she said it, Quay stepped on the platform. The metal clang echoed through the ears of the Unicorn as she felt the ground shake, the girl looking at Sunset with the same bored expression she seemed to always have.

"Are you coming, or what?"

"Y-Yes! I am!"

Without really wasting time, Sunset found herself hopping onto the descending platform as if she expected it to suddenly fall if she didn't do so. Quay laughed with her nose as the Equestrian fumbled in her feet, still debating in her mind whenever to make a joke about this or not.

"So. It needs weight to...?"

"Yes."

She immediately shut herself up. Not only because she believed that saying anything else would guarantee she got herself a lifetime supply of iron shoved down her throat, but because for as strange and far-fetched Quay's "invitation" seemed to be, there was no doubt in her mind anymore that this woman was in fact, telling the truth.

It was a short ride down the strange elevator, but it was more than enough for Sunset to see a sight that she believed could have come from Equestria itself. The ceiling of this underground facility was covered in a glorious luminescent glow, granting enough light to the whole area as the light of the sun would. It was an incredibly large area - much larger than Sunset could have possibly guessed. For all the words she could have thought, the word "City Vault" came to her immediately, as the sight from the elevator granted her a good overview of the entire vault before her. Divided in what could only be described as four sections, a lower terrace filled with what looked like houses and dwellings, packed with all sorts of people adorned the eastern lower part of the vault, partaking in what could be easily seen as everyday activities. The western section, although smaller and higher up than the eastern one, was blessed with beautiful lights atop two towers, stretching all the way to the ceiling of this massive vault, that made about most of the luminosity that gave life to the atmosphere of this place. To the south and about the highest point of the vault, there was a section with only two buildings of significant-looking poise, looming over this fantastic little city while still glowing a light, welcoming color.

But the center of the vault was where the most impressive aspect of this all lied. The central area was a single building surrounded by a small terrace large enough to fit about three elephants in its width. The building itself, easily the largest one in all of this little city, was tall and imposing, reaching to the ceiling as well and irradiating a light that if not for the fact it was focusing all of it towards the ceiling, would probably blind someone. Seeing such a thing made Sunset Shimmer's breath stop at her breast. She could not believe what she was seeing.

Every single section of the vault was connected to one another through ramps and stairs, with roads interconnecting one place to another in a constant, round flow. There was the impression that there were no dead ends in this place. Walk too far into one direction, and you were probably bound to come around the other end. Follow one specific road, and you end up in another section of the vault, only to keep following it and end up back the same place you started. It was harmoniously sound, surprisingly so, considering the thoughts she had as she heard of this place. She had no words to spare. None were needed.

"Welcome to The Town. Or Convocation, whichever you prefer."

"...It's incredible. I-I had no idea...! H-How come a place like this!?"

Her words were once again cut short as the elevator ride ended. The slight tremor of their landing made her gasp in surprise, as if she forgot where she was standing on, and she jumped away from it in surprise. Quay chuckled in what felt like a mocking tone, and left the ride herself. They were officially within city limits, now.

"Try asking the one who invited you. Everything's cool? My job here is done."

"W-What? But--"

"I said my job is done, OK? Just go to the Terrace of Light, the building at the center of it all? Just say you're Sunset Shimmer and no one's going to stop you."

...I'm not sure I care for your attitude.

"I'm going back to my own place," she muttered almost unintelligibly, waving a half-assed goodbye to Sunset, walking towards wherever. "Have fun."

"H-Hey! Is it really OK? I don't-- ...She left."

She sighed, a slight migraine hitting her right in the temples as she shook the chip off her own shoulder. She wanted to play the distant enforcer? Fine. That's her role, whoop-de-doo. Thanks for at least giving me directions, you jerk.

Sunset spent a couple moments collecting her composure, adjusting her jacket with a swift movement from her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she started walking forward, her eyes not entirely sure where they should be focusing on.

The architecture of this place was both familiar and alien to her at the same time. In many ways, it reminded her of Equestria - Canterlot City, specifically - with the polished walls that made most of the buildings that surrounded her. But it also resembled human architecture in their placement and overall atmosphere. She wasn't sure if she knew what that feeling was exactly, but the fact remained that this place had a striking semblance of an alien merging of it all. Could it be a coincidence?

Her feet carried her with coy steps, though she was sure she was going the right way. The paths in this place were just as easy to follow as they were to understand as viewed from above, and she was grateful for that. The odd look she got from the people passing by stung her and she knew she was an outsider to this place. Of course she was, that was a matter of fact. Still, this was her first time walking in her human form in a city where the most human-looking creature was a three meter tall troll creature, lean and lanky in his build. She wasn't glanced at nearly as often as she thought she would, maybe "human-looking" creatures weren't uncommon here. But they never saw her before. Considering the population of this place, it was easy to figure out that those who wander around as human will eventually be remembered and figured out. For all intents and purposes, she was a new face there. She quickly realized how fast she was walking now, and she forced herself to stop her jogging into a more carefree stride. Attracting more attention now wasn't what she wanted, that's for sure.

But her worries died shortly after she stopped running and started striding. For as she climbed the last flight of stairs to the terrace above, she found herself in the aforementioned "Terrace of Light". She was there. Finally.

She threw a couple worried glances around as the size of the building seemed to be much more magnified when seen from so close. She approached it with caution constantly plaguing her thoughts, and the first thing that struck her as odd was that there were no guards at the entrance.

Or at least, that's what the untrained human eye would say.

This massive building had, maybe, more than one entrance. But the one Sunset was standing in front of right now was a massive double-door that looked about as heavy as they were big. At least four times her own size, the frame of this massive iron gate was actually a tree of considerable girth. Its branches enveloped the frame of the door as if holding it in place and it stretched out above like an archway, giving off a very strong presence in on itself. Sunset knew exactly what to expect out of this, it wouldn't be as easy as to simply knock on the door or reach for the handle.

"Hello," she said as she rose her hand to the tree, making sure to smile at it. "Do I need to have permission for you to open the doors for me?"

"...Oh, that is most uncommon! A newcomer that knows about me?" A voice beckoned from the bark that surrounded the door - a very slow, melodic tone echoed within Sunset's mind as it seemed pleased to have been greeted. "This is truly something new! Tell me, who are thee?"

A treant! Why am I not surprised?

"I am Sunset Shimmer. I was told someone wanted to speak to me?"

"Ah yes, you are the one our master has summoned!" the tree moaned softly as its smaller branches slowly reached out to Sunset, shaking her hand in a surprisingly gentle manner. "I trust your guide here has done as instructed?"

"...As instructed, you say? All she did was bring me here," she said as she scratched the back of her neck, stumped. "Sorry though, I still have no idea what I'm doing here."

"Oh, I do tend to ramble, pardon me! Pay me no heed, please, come in!"

And just like that, the door was opened with a very satisfying clicking noise. It swung open as it had life of its own, and the treant seemed pleased with itself as it let Sunset pass. She, as the path was opened for her, gave the tree a small good-bye wave and walked through the portal, of which did not, in fact, close behind her as she went through, much to her surprise.

The inside of this building was just as impressive as its outside, and surprisingly devoid of staff. A single stairway leading even further up and toward the one door that got her attention was probably where she should go, but she could not help but pay attention to the rest of this place as she advanced towards her destination. Pillars and pillars of marble, stone and trees made the interior of this wonderful castle all the way to its high, lightly domed ceiling. A couple stairs on the sides probably lead to the upper storeys as some other paths lead deeper into this sanctuary, although she had no idea where those paths would lead. Forcing herself to stop from wandering off without a clear goal, she reached the top of the wide flight of stairs, and found herself standing in front of another pair of wooden doors. This time though, with no guardians to protect it. Sunset shook her head and clenched her fist, determined, and knocked on the door. It didn't even take a second before a voice that could only be described as otherworldly answered in what seemed like it was directly into Sunset's own mind.

"Ah, yes, do come in. I was expecting you."

And with that, the door opened.

Sunset could not entirely describe in her mind that what she was seeing at first. The room she was now in was clearly spacious and round - something that seemed to be a motif in this underground City-Vault. After throwing a quick look upwards, the extremely high domed ceiling emanated a shining, soothing light that the Unicorn was certain that it was the blinding light that erupted from the very top of this building. The room was nearly featureless if not for a small pond in the very center of it, adorned with flowers Sunset wasn't even sure they could possibly exist. It was a relatively big room, definitely the definition of a throne room in its size. And as the doors closed softly behind her, Sunset blinked, and realized the room was not vacant.

Standing on the other side of the pond, with both hands behind her back and with a welcoming smile on her face, this lady that looked like she was in the early stages of her twenties tilted her head forward, making her blond-pink, long hair slide off her bare shoulders. Her clothes were azure-white, adorned with so many jewels that the Equestrian believed each could emanate a light of its own. Her amber eyes sparkled like gold under the light they were in, adding even further to the unnatural presence of this creature. She wasn't human, that much was obvious.

She initially found herself unable to speak, the overwhelming torrent of thoughts that occurred to her all night suddenly returning like an awful addiction. Still, she composed herself, bowing slightly to the woman before her if only for courtesy's sake alone.

"So, you were expecting me? Forgive me for saying, but that makes me want to ask so many questions I find it difficult where to even begin."

"Oh? 'Tis fine," the lady replied with a graceful nod of her own. "I find it that answering questions is something I'm quite good at."

"First things first, then? How do you know who I am?"

The lady tilted her head once again. She seemed about as confused as Sunset, regarding her own question.

"I'm surprised that was your first question. You were involved with the Siren incident about a week ago. As someone who was vital to that issue's solution, I figured you'd know why you'd be summoned, in the case you ever were."

A leap of logic? Somehow, Sunset Shimmer thought she should have seen that being the case. Though she stated things so as a matter-of-fact, it took the Equestrian by surprise. Once again, she found it slightly challenging to find the correct words to ask the right questions.

"You... You knew about the Sirens? About what they did in Canterlot High? About their plans, and their actions? All of it?"

"Most of it, yes. 'Tis was an awful situation, truly. We are most thankful that the solution presented itself when it did." She paused for a quick second before resuming speaking, as if adding the next sentence as an assurance to that what she spoke. "We have eyes and ears in many places. You yourself is not guiltless of a magical crime, correct? We know of that, as well."

Sunset cringed at hearing those words. Clearly, no one was giving her an easy time when it came to trying to forget.

"So you knew of all that? I'm sorry, but if that's the case, why didn't you interfere? Why not send that... That crazy-strong Quay person to deal with the Sirens? You clearly had no issues doing that tonight!"

"Oh! Dear Quarry gave you a hard time, did she? Forgive the girl - she simply takes to her job too seriously. One cannot truly blame her for such, can they?"

"...Uh. I guess?"

"To answer your question however, yes. I could have sent Quarry to deal with the problem, but..." she took a deep breath, as if slightly ashamed to admit that what she was about to. "The truth of the matter stands that I did not wish to send her towards such a harsh and dangerous situation. I saw the spells that were fired with my own eyes! Those were powerful, devastating magical spells! I could not risk her life by sending her your way, she would have been destroyed!"

...Were the spells they were firing that powerful? Sunset tried to recall, but she truly could not tell.

Surprisingly enough, since she was right in the middle of that crossfire. The lady before her held a few strands of her own hair, twirling them in her fingers as she paced very lightly around the pond, as if she was floating.

"We were truly fearful of that what might have come, but the Sirens were defeated in the end. The wave of magical force was so great that I feared for the worst, and right at the very center of it all was you. This is the second time you are at the center of a magical eruption, Sunset Shimmer. Forgive me for saying this, but you had me intrigued then. First as an opposing force, then as our rescuer!"

Sunset didn't reply to that statement. She instead opted to simply blinking in astonishment. This lady truly was aware of all that's happened? Then why wasn't Twilight mentioned at all?

She decided to keep that to herself. Maybe it was for the best, after all.

"So as I did my research on the matter, I took notice of a particularly nasty girl preying upon someone while making an unbelievable ruckus, and what a shock it was to see you, under attack! I immediately contacted Quarry and told her to keep you safe. And as I wanted to meet the one responsible for an explosion of magic not only once, but twice, I requested your presence as well. Truly, it is wonderful to finally make your acquaintance!"

"...You contacted her? How, by speaking into her mind?" Sunset's words came out on their own, making her gasp lightly in pause. The lady before her, however, did not seem to mind.

"Not quite. Quarry is a special case. As she is bound to me, 'tis most simple of me to contact her like so. It also helps that she is a Golem. Not too many of her kind around, I will say."

Well, that certainly would explain many things! A Golem!

"Oh, but would you listen to me, mesmerized by the sound of my own voice!" she chuckled as she placed her hand on her own shoulder, bowing ever so slightly. "I apologize for my lack of courtesy, as I have not introduced myself yet! I am called Nimue. I do personally welcome you to the Convocation of the Lost."

"Well, um. Thanks." Sunset replied with a glint of embarrassment in her voice. "I'm still not sure what I'm doing here, though. You said you wanted to meet me, right?"

"Quite frankly, 'tis is the case, yes. I must admit to being rather curious as to many things, though asking them of you would be difficult," Nimue softly spoke as she kept on lightly floating around the pond, this time towards Sunset herself. "I find myself wondering if I should ask."

"...You answered my questions. I don't see why I shouldn't answer yours."

"Very well," she nodded slightly, pondering but for a brief moment upon her own question before directing it to Sunset. "Where did you acquire knowledge upon the lore of the supernatural?"

Sunset paused for a moment, and Nimue took notice. Without wasting time, she promptly elaborated:

"You managed to defend yourself against that Succubus that ambushed you this very night. Not including the Siren incident also being solved with your involvement in its solution. I can only assume you studied on the matter, yes? You seem relatively comfortable walking through the Convocation of the Lost."

"Ah! W-Well, that is... Um," Sunset fidgeted in place for a moment, unsure if she should answer properly or not. Mentioning Equestria to a woman like this seemed like a terrible practice upon safekeeping a secret. "I had a teacher, though... She wouldn't appreciate if I mentioned who she is. I, uh, simply didn't forget."

Nimue looked attentively at the Equestrian's eyes, nodding in an understanding way that quite frankly, Sunset didn't wholly expect.

"I see. You wish to keep such things close to your heart? I respect your discretion," she continued with a noticeable glint of neutrality in her tone. "There's not a whole lot of such nowadays, I'm afraid. 'Tis refreshing to bear witness to it."

"...Not everything's going very well around this Convocation?" Sunset promptly sniped, pulling the topic of the conversation as far away from Equestria as she could. "For you to claim what you did, I have to guess I'm kind of right."

The lady chuckled in a distressed manner. As far as Sunset could tell, she hit the nail on the head.

"I wish I could tell you otherwise, though 'tis not as bad as it seems. Everyone understands what the Convocation stands for, some just find it within themselves to stretch to limits we quite frankly, cannot have."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"The Convocation of the Lost is what it is. 'Tis a place of comfort, a home to the creatures that lack one to call their own. As some are easier to be human in this human-addled world, a sanctuary is needed for those that have a harder time doing so themselves. A place for giants! Trolls! Sauhagins! A Medusa also lives among us! I can never remember the poor girls's name," she derailed before smiling and picking up the pace again, as if speaking too much about this place was harder for her than it seemed. "I am sure one can draw one's own conclusions upon hearing that?"

Why, are you testing me? Sunset Shimmer blinked in wonder as she didn't even take too long to answer, as if the situation came normally to her own frame of mind.

"I can guess. Turns out you don't have eyes and ears everywhere, after all," she replied with neutrality as the lady before her broke open a smile, confirming what she just heard. "Otherwise this wouldn't be a problem. You have an enforcer after all, and a pretty strong one at that. If anyone got out of line, all you could do was fix the problem yourself, right? But if people lie and hide things from the Convocation..."

"...You truly are an incredible girl, you know that? You teacher must be proud of you."

I don't think she could have been more disappointed in me, actually.

"I have Quarry, 'tis true. The situations she can fix are a boon to our cause, 'tis also very true. But the reach of the Convocation of the Lost can only go so far, especially after the Siren incident. Quite honestly, 'twas... an embarassing display of our part, and everyone noticed. You are a clever girl, I am sure you can piece together the backlash from that fiasco."

Another brief moment of pause. Sunset Shimmer wasn't trying to purposefully delay her answers, but it turns out that thinking still takes time.

"If the reach of the Convocation can only go so far... And you didn't interrupt the Sirens," Sunset reaffirmed with a mumble, audible enough for Nimue to listen. "And if people noticed that, then they realized what the reach of the Convocation actually is."

"...Correct," Nimue confirmed with a sad nod, her frame now walking over the pond as if it was just as solid as the ground. "If we demonstrate what our reach is by failing at reaching, those that dare walk outside of said reach may do as they please. Does it not strike you as odd, how that Succubus attacked you in such a rash, impulsive manner? Disregarding safety protocols, breaking houses and being an overall danger to all of us by acting in this way?"

Something that never happened in her life before? Yes, that did strike Sunset as odd. Does that mean that some creatures aren't taking the Convocation's laws seriously anymore? What with the Sirens, and the Rainbooms' efforts to stop them being kind of a call for everyone involved with this place?

"W-We had nothing to do with this problem, though! The Sirens started all of it! If we hadn't stopped them--"

"Please, I blame you not for what you did!" the Lady beckoned forward, inching ever closer to Sunset. "You saved us, that much is crystal clear! ...However, seeing as where we currently stand in this awkward position, I find myself entangled in a maze of issues. I am in need to fix said issues, but for that..."

The Unicorn raised an eyebrow as Nimue was now standing right in front of her at an arm's distance, a relatively serious expression adorning her admittedly pretty face.

"'Tis necessary... vital, to extend the Convocation's reach. That much is clear."

"...And that involves me in some way."

"If you wish for it to be so. I have no intention of forcing the issue."

She took a very deep breath. So they finally reached the core of the matter.

This place needed people to serve as the Convocation's reach. Sunset couldn't really put truth in her words when it came to assuming Nimue didn't have many people she could trust, but the fact she was being approached this personally didn't fill her with confidence in guessing the opposite. These people were earnestly asking for her help. Maybe they didn't have any other options, or maybe she just got lucky.

...

"You know, I, uh. I have school to attend to. I have my friends, we play in a little band, too. Many things happened in my life back at that event, and I'm... I'm still struggling over some things," Sunset claimed in a worried tone, scratching the back of her head as if she wasn't sure she should say what she was about to. "So I can't promise I'll be there when you ask help of me. B-But if you do, in fact, need me for anything... I-I'll see what I can do."

The smile in the face of the lady before her was so bright that Sunset almost squinted. She bowed forward in the most elegant way the Equestrian had ever seen, and she knew the lady was struggling not to break into a hug as she was positively beaming with joy upon hearing Sunset's words. There were no underlying factors to this, this woman truly was overblown with joy!

"I would never dare to intrude upon the freedom of your life, Sunset Shimmer! Truly, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!" She smiled so widely, Sunset could nearly pay witness to all of her teeth, each glistening like polished pearls. "I wish I could claim that a call for help did not also intrude, but I cannot make such promises."

"That's fine. Allow me to also not make a promise to help, always. I'll do it when I can, though."

The Lady smiled once again. Apparently, the deal had been sealed around these strange set of compromises.

"Bless you, Sunset Shimmer. You've truly been doing us a favor we can never repay."

I haven't done anything for you, exclusively, yet.

Still... It doesn't feel bad at all to hear that again. I think I could get used to this. ...Eventually.

"And then I spent hours - let me reinforce that for you, darling - HOURS, finishing the embroidery on that dress! HOURS! I can't even begin to try and remember when I finally got to sleep!"

"I can't guess, Rares. I'm surprised you're good to even walk a straight line today."

"Pish-posh, Rainbow Dash. I'll have you know I am feeling good enough for that! ...Mostly."

"Considerin' how much makeup you put on everyday, Ah'm surprised you had enough time to do that at all today! Where'd you find the time?"

"Applejack, a lady simply creates the time when it is necessary for her to do so. Don't you agree with me, Fluttershy?"

"Uh? Um. I think so. One day, I got so hung up on feeding my pets that I didn't have time to... Um. I don't think I should say more."

"...That's missing the point entirely, darling. Sunset, you know what I mean, don't you?"

Sunset Shimmer blinked in an awkward daze. The gaze of the desperate need for understanding emanated from Rarity's eyes like beacons, having her shiver a little from the question she received.

"...I never forget to brush my teeth."

"Oh, now you're just picking on me!" Fluttershy whimpered a little as Rainbow let go a chuckle from the bottom of her lungs. Rarity, on the other hand, simply waved her hand around, dismissively.

"There's always time for a party, though!" Pinkie exclaimed with excitement as everyone simply nodded. "I see what you mean, then! I mean, making time for a party, or making time so that we can have a party? Or prepare the party... Or maybe all of the above! We need to make a lot of time! ...Do we have enough time to make!?"

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but her hands clutched tightly around the small evelope she was holding for quite a while, now. She knew what was inside of it, already. Though now, it contained nothing more than just scrambled nonsense, as per what it contained claimed it would do after being read.

"I'll make sure to make the time," she reassured her hyperactive pink friend, who gleamed with glee as she immediately started inflating balloons, per-emptively, one would assume. "...Being busy is a part of life, after all."

"Why? You're busy?" Rainbow interjected casually, leaning on her side against a wall as she uncrossed her arms. "Do you need some help?"

"No, it's fine," Sunset reaffirmed. "I have more than enough time. The rest will simply have to make do."

She let go a small sigh of confirmation to her own words. Yes, she would simply have to make do.

She always had friends to come back to, after all.

Unsuitable Realities

View Online

Sunset Shimmer could not remember how long it took her to actually get used to three things when she came to the human world.

One of those things was walking. Sure, walking was fine enough in Equestria, but humans had only two legs to stand on and move. How do they keep their balance, she would curse under her breath as she would trip and wobble. Truly, an embarassing display from her part. Still, she eventually learned to walk as the magicless ones do, but stopping curling her hands in the shape of hooves took a little bit longer than that. Old habits die hard, after all.

Second thing to get used to was the use of technology to perform absolutely anyting. No magic, no telekinesis, no teleporting, no instant growth! Humans had to be so overbearingly patient with anything they had to do because of it, it nearly drove her insane. Still, she eventually grew fond of the marvels of such technologies. She couldn't listen to a backlog of music wherever she went in Equestria, or simply turn on a TV and pig out on foods while watching the programs they had in there. Sure, it wasn't magic, but it was entertaining and a viable means to just turn yourself off of reality and waste time on simple entertainment.

But nothing compared to the third thing: the digits. OH, the DIGITS! Finger, toes! The ring finger, the pinky, the index and thumb! Why did these things have to be so strange and alien-looking, producing nails off of them like rejected talons from a horror story you'd tell to foals around campfire stories at night? They had their uses when it came to precision when precision was necessary, but she could hold things with her hooves just fine! These weird, noodle-like digits the humans fondly referred to as fingers were the bane of her reality when she stepped throug that mirror, and although she had mastered control over these ugly things for the most part, they still gave her trouble. Her little diversion with Flash Sentry gave her enough practice on his electric guitar, which, honestly, did help her gain control of her hands a little more, and thanks to that she could actually even play instruments now, but that was hardly what being called a master at wielding these sausages was. They drive her insane, and she still hated whenever she had to use them at a constant, precise base point. Such as wielding small objects like pencils. Or inserting USB cable X into socket Y.

Or playing at the arcades.

"UUUUHHMMMMMM."

"S-Sunset, I think you should stop...?"

"NO. I won't surrender to this... T-This DEVIL MACHINE! Cheating hunk of junk designed in Tartarus! You think you can mock me!? You think I'll give in to your taunts!? I'll show you!"

She felt her temples burn with fury as she shoved her hand inside her pocket and drew another quarter. She was ready for this. She was prepared. She knew of this day and of the implications it had. Today she would win. This was her moment. These were her quarters. She had a couple dozen more, most vile of creations! She would not stop until she had finally conquered your evil!

Her eyes were focused. Her left hand was curled into a fist in reflex, but she paid it no mind. As the devil machine rang its accursed jingle in her ears, she started her move. As her concentration reached once again, unpararelled levels of zen, her mind could only process equations and mathematical possibilities of which would make most sages blush. The back of her neck was sweating, her chest was moving along the rythmic drawing of breath she provided. The stick moved with the precise movements of her hand, and she found her mark once again. With unprecedented, minute calculations, she waited for the hook to stop swinging. It was on the perfect angle, the pixel-perfect accuracy for it to finally do what it was supposed to do all along. She was ready.

Sunset punched the button, and the world seemed to have stopped. The claw made its way down, mocking in its intent and design. But its mocking nature would end that day. Its evil was to be vanquished, and Sunset Shimmer would have been the one to slay the creature! Her eyes bulged and squinted as the claw finally reached down, snapped itself around the objective...

...And flimsily let it go as it went up, making a disappointing clicking noise as it reached the top of the machine yet again. Sunset's vision was filled with hatred.

"UUUURRRGGGHHH!!! WHO DESIGNED THIS MONEY-SUCKING DISASTER? WHO DID IT!?" She cried as she hit her head against the panel of the claw machine, her fury reaching levels of unhealthy proportions.

"Well, this IS the arcade. It's not made for you to get things that easily," Rainbow Dash chuckled as Sunset Shimmer shivered in frustration, her head hurting from the implausible low chances of which this machine could have failed, and did.

"That Claw! That claw is so unreliably flimsy! Who would design such an atrocious thing? Did you SEE that thing? It didn't even try to grab the toy!"

"Like I said, the arcades."

"Who on this accursed world would take pride in designing this!? It doesn't work! It fails at its most basic of functions - grabbing the toys it snaps around!"

"...But hey, if failing is its design, wouldn't that make this machine a success?" Another third voice belonging to a man interrupted her as Sunset's grunts of frustration finally stopped in its tracks, dying in her throat like a burp that went wrong.

Sunset Shimmer finally found it within herself to take her eyes off her arch-nemesis and gaze to her side, a dumbfounded look of astonishment and boiling fury combining into a single glance sideways, looking at the man who just spoke to her. In a reflexive gasp of non-surprise, she felt her headache actually getting a little bit worse. She considered throwing the machine at him to be a very good idea.

"Unless of course, you expect a machine designed to steal your money to not in fact, do that? Because then that would mean the machine failed, right?"

"Um. Kinda?" Rainbow Dash interjected, giving the man a crooked look, full of strange suspicion. "That makes sense, I guess?"

The man before them bore a very simple look. Some basic, blue jeans and sporting a brown shirt with very little detail on it, this pale-looking individual with shoulder-length maroon hair was smiling from ear to ear as he casually approached the two, clapping his hands together in an appreciative way, clearly entertained by the fact someone replied.

"I know, right? There's your designer's pride, right there! Chalk another one up for the wonders of capitalism! Or is it bureocracy? I can never remember," he shook his head around like he completely gave up on the idea of continuing his sentence. "Anyway, no one's here to listen to me praise the douche that designed this crap. Hey, Shimmer! I had no idea you were into arcades."

I never knew my temples could burn this badly from a headache.

"I didn't know you were into showing up without considering other people, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Sunset interjected, making the man take a step backwards, slightly shocked. "At all."

Rainbow Dash blinked, surprised. She didn't know what to say exactly, but that wouldn't stop her from doing it anyway.

"So... You two know each other?"

"How far can you stretch the definition of the word 'know'? Because that would be stretching it pretty far," Sunset sighed, her guard risen so high up that the slightlest twitch from the man before them would be enough to have her draw what could easily be considered her designated weapon of choice for the night, resting casually inside one of her jacket's inner pockets. "This man is called Pierce Claw."

"This man is called~" he lightly joked as he made a fake pained expression, clearly demonstrating his failed dramatic attempts at being dramatic. "Man, saying like that feels so cold, don't you think, miss...?"

"Rainbow Dash," she introduced herself without really adding much flavor to her introduction, much to Sunset's surprise.

"Right! I should have guessed half of it, but you never know," he chuckled. Clearly, Sunset wished the sun was still out by this point. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Rainbow Dash threw a curious glance to Sunset, who simply shrugged, indifferent. She still offered him her hand, which he promptly shook with no strange movements whatsoever. Sunset didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, but seeing him act this mellow and friendly was still not easy for her to proccess.

"Anyway, I wonder why I'm not surprised to see you here, Pierce," Sunset Shimmer calmly spoke, still trying to get a grasp what this creature wanted. "Are you trying to find new ways to be hip with the kids, as you yourself say?"

"Oh, I'm already the hypest there is, don't you know?" he grinned so wide that almost all of his teeth could be seen. "Actually, I was out here looking for you. I'm glad my hunch was right."

Sunset Shimmer blinked, surprised. Pierce Claw was looking for her? Just as the situation was strange, she wasn't very acquainted with the Werewolf. She had met him a couple times before, but all of those encounters usually ended in about the same minute they started. She crossed her arms, raising one of her eyebrows in a strange sensation of wonder.

"...Oh really? Try explaining, I might listen."

He didn't respond immediately. She wasn't sure if she sounded forceful or not, but Pierce Claw hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to reply to her, properly. Rainbow Dash was simply looking at what seemed like a distance - clearly more entertained than she probably should be.

"I'm getting kind of desperate. I wish it was easy to talk about this, but..." he stopped once again, crossing his arms in a strangely serious manner. "Quay can't help me, and everyone else I know is out of my reach right now. It's not easy for me to ask, but I need your help, Sunny."

Sunset Shimmer felt the back of her hair stand as he namedropped someone she hadn't heard about in at least a couple days. She stealthily glanced to her side towards Rainbow Dash, but she didn't even flinch from the words she herself had heard.

"My... My help? Specifically, mine?" The Equestrian mumbled, having the man before her simply nod. He wasn't dancing around the issue anymore. "W-Why me? I mean..."

"Like I said, I have no one else around The Town to turn to. I tried to appeal to Nimue, but no one let me reach her."

The Convocation of the Lost...! So this is what it's all about!

"Hey, look. I would love to sit down and listen, but I'm hanging out with my friend today? Can't this wait?" Sunset Shimmer motioned towards Rainbow Dash, her eyes unsure on where exactly she should be looking at. Her friend however, simply patted Sunset on her shoulder, a small smile showing on her face that made the Equestrian open her eyes, surprised.

"Don't you think you should at least listen to what he wants to say or something? It doesn't hurt to do that, does it?" Rainbow Dash nodded as she let go of Sunset's shoulder, a friendly smile showing on her face as she faced Pierce Claw. "Besides, he said he was desperate. You don't have anyone else to turn to, right?"

"...I don't. I tried contacting everyone I know, but no one answered me back."

"Well then! I think I'll go backstage for a while," Dash remarked as she patted her friend on the back, walking deeper inside the arcades. "You two talk! Don't hold yourselves back or anything."

Sunset couldn't wholly believe it as Rainbow Dash grinned and walked behind the rows of arcades, leaving them both alone. Pierce Claw chuckled heartily as he pated his own forehead, leaning against the wall with a very tired expression.

"You have good friends, Sunny." The Equestrian threw a sideways, slightly annoyed glance at Pierce as he called that yet again.

"Don't give me nicknames, please," the Unicorn sighed as she scratched her own temple with her index finger, feeling slightly immature in comparison to her friend's disposition. "...And yeah. I get myself thinking my friends are too good for me sometimes."

It didn't even take too long before Sunset resumed speaking with Pierce Claw. Turning herself around to face him directly, she crossed her arms and rose her face to meet his.

"So, you tried talking to everyone? Including Quay?"

"Quay's not even giving me the time of day. I said I tried to appeal to Nimue, too. Those Light guardians didn't let me inside the Terrace, even if I said I had something to file about. I have a problem that need solving, damn it! So much for the Convocation helping those of the community, right?"

Nimue, the leader of the Convocation of the Lost, had told Sunset Shimmer about that before. The reach of the Convocation being shorter than it used to be.

A community of monsters that live in the human world, mostly hiding from sight so that the group is not compromised. Those that can walk around in human form are also part of the community, of course, but apparently, stuff like this could happen, too. Sunset Shimmer sighed loudly, patting her arm as it was still crossed.

"...So you reached me instead?" she inquired with curiosity. "Why me, exactly?"

"Well, you kind of traded words with Nimue before, right? It's nothing official as I heard, but you're part of all of this, aren't you?" he honestly scratched the back of his head, feeling like he wasn't sure on what to say. "A-Anyways, I need help, and you already did work for the Convocation. I just figured... you'd accept my request for help. Or in any case, listen to what I have to say."

She blinked and nodded at him. Much to her surprise, he seemed glad for that.

"What is this about, then?" Hearing Sunset ask him the question made Pierce Claw's face contort in a mix of pain and joy. He slid his hand through his hair for a while, obviously picking the right words to use in the sentences to come. Sunset waited patiently: she knew too well of the feeling of carefully gathering thoughts, and much to her surprise, he didn't take long.

"...This is about a friend of mine. An idiot friend of mine that couldn't help but get himself in a bad situation." He took a deep breath. Clearly, this was going to be quite something. "He was gone for three years. Just disappeared of the face of the world, and then suddenly, he shows up. And not only he shows up, but starts a cult, of all things. I can't believe he's being this stupid."

"A... A Cult?" Sunset asked, her head turning very slightly as she felt her eyebrows furrow. "What's this about?"

"You see, unlike what you may think, I actually do have friends," Pierce chuckled, crossing his arms as he kept leaned against the wall. "And this was one of them. ...Unlike what you may think of him, though, he was human, and one with quite a good head on his shoulders. He had a wife, too. I don't really get in touch with her that often anymore, she thinks I was responsible for him disappearing."

The Equestrian nodded, sinking in the information she received without too much difficulty.

"And why would she think that?"

"I was the last person he was seen with before he disappeared. Of course, the Convocation got right into that case, questioning me like I was some kind of high-class criminal or something. I'm still not even sure how this case got into the hands of the Convocation, but long story short, that's how I got acquainted with Quay's heel weight, and my friend was gone. Vanished off of existence."

"That is, until recently, right?"

"Yeah. He showed up, as the leader of this 'cult', completely out of nowhere. The shocking part of all of this though, is that as for what I've seen, heard and noticed... he's an Alchemist now. A real, genuine one."

An Alchemist? Is this guy for real?

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, myself. I still don't know what to make of that. He was just a regular joe before, you know? How did he even do that?"

"...And what's his objective, exactly? You did say he started a cult, right?" Sunset elaborated, uncrossing her arms as she did it. "I'm rolling with the punches right now, so humor me a bit. What's with that?"

"Urgh. It's a phony cult dedicated to the worship of the science," Pierce Claw mumbled through serrated teeth. "I don't buy a word of that crap, but I don't have hard evidence to prove it isn't."

"You just called it phony, though. If that's the case, what is your friend's agenda?"

Pierce Claw shrugged uncomfortably. That was very helpful, thank you!

The Unicorn felt her eyebrows twitch again. It was hard to choose what to think about, exactly, but she decided to work from the top.

First of all, an Alchemist. A real one, according to Pierce Claw, that was possibly made to be in a three year time period. Sunset Shimmer never thought this could possibly be a thing, considering that Alchemy is difficult to do, but it certainly wasn't impossible during that time. If that is true, then how did he even do what he did? How did he gain all of these abilities...?

It technically doesn't matter. How he did it isn't as important of a question to ask as where he did it. Alchemy isn't easy to do, meaning the Alchemist needs to learn the art, and where you learn it seals the deal whever you have a successful study pattern or not. If Pierce's friend was a regular, boring human before the three year skip, he must have been taken to an exceptional set of circumstances that allowed him to learn the art very, very quickly. He also would have needed a teacher in order to learn that fast, but let's work with one thing at a time.

Second, a cult devoted to the study of the sciences? Why a cult of all things, and why start it as soon as people realize you exist again? Pierce Claw clerly noticed it straight away and he went to the Convocation for help, but was shot down by them!

An Alchemist with a cult? Devoted to the Sciences? That is probably a cult devoted to the study of alchemy, but Pierce called it a phony cult, which means that whatever is it that they are doing, it's a facade. He doesn't seem to know exactly what its purpose is, but the goal of Alchemy is generally to model and recreate. Of course that is an extremely junky and undetailed view on the practice, but the nutshell is still there on that particular idea. If that's the case, what is this Alchemist trying to do with the cult? He didn't start it out of a whimsical idea he had, he has an agenda and he wants to use the cult to do it.

Whoever is involved with that cult are the Alchemists's hostages...? Would it be safe to assume that?

"...OK, then. Let me ask you this question now, Pierce," Sunset said as she rose her head so they made eye contact. "What do you want me to do? What are you asking my help for?"

"I want to make him stop. He's involving a lot of people with whatever is it that he's doing, and I'm not having any of that. He was a regular, fine guy before! I don't know what the hell even happened, but..."

Stopping your friend from doing something stupid is what a friend would do... is that it?

Sunset sighed. She had already made up her mind, even though she had no real idea on what to do, exactly.

"What's your friend's name?"

"...! S-So, you'll help me, Sunny?" Pierce Claw opened his eyes, surprised. Sunset chuckled a little, resting a hand on her hip as she saw the man's surprised reaction.

"You didn't tell me his name until now because you feared I'd take this matter somewhere else, right? Don't worry, I'll help you out," she confirmed with a nod, making the Werewolf's frown turn upside-down. "As much as I can. Which is, I'm not sure how much."

"Cruise Ward! His name is Cruise Ward, and thank you, thank you for this, Sunny!" he exclaimed with a burst of joy, holding her hands and shaking them with gusto. "I swear I'll make up to you one day, I swear it!"

Oh, boy. What did I get myself into...?

I better go talk to Rainbow Dash, though. Something about my overbearingly random schedule, probably.

Much to her surprise, Rainbow Dash was surprisingly understanding when Sunset approached her about leaving for the evening. Apparently, saying you're going to help a friend in need is a much stronger line than the Equestrian initially thought.

She took a shine to giving long sighs as she scratched her head when dealing with many things about friendship that she wasn't fully familiar with. She figured that starting from somewhere was as good of an idea as any, and persevered through the streets of the city as Pierce Claw was close by at all times, her following him towards their destination.

"He's used some kind of magic I don't understand to keep people away from the place unless he invites them in," he added, his steps finally stopping as they approached an overpass, a bunch of buildings located right past them. Sunset felt like they were crooked somehow - was it just her imagination? "So he can personally select those he wants to involve in his schemes."

"...If that's the case, then how come you can casually walk in there?" she added without taking her eyes off of the buildings across the highway, the overpass looming over it like a particularly dangerous arm of some kind. "You just said he needs to let you in."

"...You're right."

She gave him a sideways look into his eyes. This man was furrowing his brow hard enough, he looked way more focused than he had any right to. It didn't take long before she nodded, an understanding spark hitting her right on the head.

That explains that, all right.

It was an obvious building, when Sunset stopped to actually pay attention to it. It was a large one - about twenty storeys tall. Inconspicuous in its design, looking just like any other building in the city that reached as far up as this one did. The one thing that attracted attention to it was the fact that it did try, in fact, to avert your eyes from it somehow. Looking at it directly was difficult, and when done, it would look warped and twisted like she was looking at it through extremely thick correctional glasses. She tried squinting her eyes to bring it into focus, but nothing happened, so it wasn't her eyesight that was doing this. The building was warded somehow, and its purpose was for people not to be able to successfully pay attention to it even if they tried. The Unicorn knew exactly what was causing this, now that Pierce had explained. If she wasn't told that was the building they were looking for, she would never have found it. Unless she was invited by the Alchemist that owned the place.

"I don't want him spreading stupid ideas and crooked morals like a veritable disease," Pierce Claw added, his mouth contorting into a pained grimace as he turned around to face Sunset. "So I'm having him stop that idiocy. Though I don't understand Alchemy and Magic at all, you know? That's why I need your help, Sunny."

"That's fine," she confirmed with a slight glint of understanding in her eyes. "You're trying to help your friend make the right decision. I respect that."

Sunset pumped her right fist, decisively. She stepped forward, gathering her courage as she started to climb the overpass, a slight feeling of dread crawling up her spine as the buildings across the highway looked more crooked than they did before. Was she seeing things? This was way too much for her to keep believing that at all...

...Sunset stopped walking when she realized no one was behind her. She turned around and saw Pierce Claw on the overpass's first step, furiously shuffling through... an I-Phone?

"What are you doing?"

"Sh! Hold on, just gimme a sec," he spoke through his teeth as Sunset rolled her eyes, approaching him and looking into the screen of the phone. His fingers casually browsed through... a dictionary?

"I'm going to ask you again, what are you doing?" she wondered aloud as he poked the screen one more time, a single word coming up from it, making him pump his fist in irrational triumph.

"YES! Veritable is a real word, and I used it correctly!" he sounded extremely pleased with himself as he blushed furiously with pride, shoving the I-Phone back into his pocket and patting Sunset's shoulder. "Did you see that, Sunny? That was awesome! Take that, nerds!"

"Um, excuse me?" Sunset's eyes could not get any wider as the Werewolf started to climb up the overpass himself, now. "That was-- w-what was that for?"

"...I needed a segway. This will do," he casually bumbled as Sunset jumped the stairs up, following him with a disgruntled look of disbelief. "Sunny, I'll be honest with you. I'm pretty sure things might get hairy in there, if you catch my drift. I don't know what he'll do when someone he didn't invite, as in you, waltz into the building alongside me. So promise me you'll stay close, OK?"

If you were expecting to get into a possible brawl in there, why didn't you-- ...Nevermind. Quay wouldn't hear you.

Sunset felt her lungs fill with air again. Suddenly, the non-presence of the Convocation's Golem Enforcer was a bigger issue than she had hoped.

"And what am I supposed to do, again?"

"I don't know anything about Magic, or Alchemy, or any of that voodoo junk! I-I don't know what to do or expect if I go in alone, so stay close to me, 'kay?"

So I'm to be your eyes and ears in there? ...Fair enough.

Without really trading any extra words, Sunset's feet pulled her towards their objective. She didn't even really need to ask him to know exactly where they were supposed to go. The crooked building before her eyes was trying to push her vision from it with so much verve that it was actually doing the very opposite from its intended purpose. Sunset knew what the building was like - trying to divert her gaze from it was a dead giveaway to its objective.

The trek to reach it however, felt like a whole hour. her feet felt heavy and dragged as she forced her body to obey her commands, Pierce Claw looking ever more distant as he kept going - not really looking like he was under the same stress she was in. She felt her forehead sweat a little as she started stomping the ground with each step, to help her body obey her and do what it was being told. It actually worked.

It took tremendous effort for Sunset to actually bring the building into focus. Despite all her best efforts, everything seemed to blend together in a particularly gross, badly-made painting, making it hard for her to spot even the entrance to the warped structure before her very eyes. Pierce Claw pointed the one they needed to go in, and with a dry gulp and with the moonlight above them shining their way in alongside the street lamps, the glass double-doors slid open with a singular push from his hands, and they were inside the building then.

The Equestrian blinked. Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place, as if she suddenly stopped wearing those glasses she didn't need. The walls became clear, the ground seemed easier to walk on, and even the air became noticeably tasty to breathe, as in she finally realized how good it actually was to do that. She even looked at her own hands, trying to figure out if everything was fine, and sure enough, everything was back to how it always was.

This building was, for lack of a better name, normal. The lobby looked like there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, there were even people inside! They hardly seemed to take notice to Pierce and Sunset, most of them being adolescents and young adults...

Or so would the untrained, less paranoid eye of a normal person would think.

Pierce Claw was right, this place was a phony cult. This was 100% the lair of a magician preparing him or herself for something, although she couldn't put her mind into what it was. Everything seemed out of order in some way: the position of the vases by the corners of the lobby were in a very specific pattern, there were exactly seven different posters and paintings hanging by the walls and she could swear that the air smelled tasty: the obvious addition of a ventilation of herbs and incenses deliberately spread through the entire building.

She felt the corners of her mouth distort into a sadistic grin. Turns out there may be trouble, after all.

"So, what do you think?" Pierce asked as they both walked deeper into the main lobby, looking in all directions with attentive eyes. "...I think I should try to get Cruise's attention somehow. Any ideas?"

"Don't do anything here," Sunset interrupted, making Pierce shift in place and look at her directly. "This is a blast zone. You were right on the money, Pierce. This man is up to no good."

"W-What?" he somehow seemed surprised and not, at the same time. "How can you tell?"

"I admit I am basing everything through paranoia alone. You told me your friend is an Alchemist, right? If that's the case, this room is shaped exactly like a magic transmutation circle, with the props in here being the key points making it like what it is," she spoke very calmly, trying not to let anyone hear her and not being suspicious at the same time. "Even the height of the objects are accurate. I'd rather not annoy our host while in a place like this."

The Werewolf felt cold sweat slide down his neck as he nodded, understanding. Sunset shoved both her hands inside her jacket's pockets, adopting a more relaxed posture, walking casually inwards.

"W-Where are you going?" Pierce asked while immediately following her. She just looked at him with a smile on her face, as if she expected him to ask.

"We're already in, right? Let's take a look around."

"Isn't it dangerous?" he understandably asked yet again, having Sunset feel like chuckling. "I-I mean..."

"It is, but there's no point in not doing anything. Like I said, we're already in, right? We might as well case the building."

Now it was his time to feel his temple burn a little. Didn't he just say for her not to leave his side at all times!?

Regardless, he jumped next to her, and soon enough, they were already climbing the flight of stairs to the second level. Much to Sunset's surprise, no one ever attempted to stop them. Something started to nag on the back of her mind as to why that was the case, but she ignored the thought. Focus on one thing at a time, Sunset Shimmer. You're in hostile territory, don't let the enemy blindside you.

She felt like she was walking through some very carefully constructed veins of magical power. It was very subtle, but she could feel the ground vibrating under her feet. The scent that lingered in the air and the strange use of lighting all came together in this eerie weight of looming power in every corner of this place, making her clench her fists inside her jacket's pockets. The people that were inside the building were having seminars of logistics, much to her surprise, but nothing out of the actual ordinary. Pierce Claw seemed to be on edge just as much as she was. She nodded gratefully at that: at least he was understanding enough to realize when something was wrong.

As they walked around the third storey of the building, they also took a look around the rooms. Opening doors, looking at notice boards and listening to conversations. Most of the people inside were talking about their everyday lives - what they did that morning, what they ate, what person X did to person's Y's Z. She shook her head dismissively and procceeded to shift paintings in the walls instead, leaving them all at an angle as she walked by. She somehow found this to be very therapeutic to do.

It didn't take too long before they reached another door on the fourth floor, this time. Pierce was unusually twitchy, his obvious worry rubbing off a little on Sunset, and she couldn't really put him at fault for that. They were not being bothered by anyone yet! Nothing was getting in their way! If there was a reason to worry and panic, she never thought that a smooth sailing would be the main cause of it, but she found herself speeding up her steps more and more with each passing minute.

"I don't like this. It's too quiet."

"Tell me about it," Pierce agreed, stopping his stride forward completely as he opened yet another door, this one leading to a cafeteria. "I don't get it? What's going on?"

"I don't know, but this is definitely strange," she pointed, standing a little behind him as she glossed over the people inside, eating and drinking with no anormality whatsoever. "I hate when I can't figure..."

And then it finally hit her. Like a ton of bricks suddenly collapsing on top of her head, she came to the realization of the issue.

It is NIGHT. 22:37, in fact! What are all these people doing, eating and staying in here as if it was around daytime!?

Just as she came to realize this, she felt a bolt of danger coursing through her mind. She turned around just in time, as standing right behind her was a man, wielding a kitchen knife in his right hand and bringing it down, aimed straight at her neck...!

She let go a shriek of surprise and ducked so quickly she felt her hips snap in complaint. The weapon missed her, swinging wildly over her head, making her escort look behind him and immediately take action. Pierce's whole body fulminated with his transformation out of his human form, taking a bestial shape of fur and fangs, roundhousing the attacker with so much power Sunset heard bones snap. The man crashed against the far wall, the knife he held collapsed far deep into the darkness of the hallways, lost.

Sunset hadn't seen Pierce Claw's full transformation yet, and the sight was undeniably a formidable one. Looking just like a humanoid, bipedal dire wolf, his face became longer and with so many fangs they looked more like jagged knives. His arms became longer and more muscular, and so did his legs. He was impossible to recognize from his previous form, and was so beast-like in its poise that the Equestrian fully understood his need to stay in human form to not be hunted by madmen with torches and pitchforks. His eyes flared with a dark red color in this form, and they turned to face Sunset's. She saw bewilderment in his gaze.

"W-What the actual hell was that?" he exclaimed in a voice much deeper than his own, but still recognizeable. "Where did he come from?"

"There's more! We were found out!"

The Werewolf looked inside the cafeteria and realized she was correct. Every single person inside was now wielding some manner of kitchen appliance in his or her hand. Knives, forks, some idiot was even wielding a spoon with both hands. He tried to look them in their eyes, but they were not seen, which sent a spike of horror all over his fur. These people were under a spell of some kind? He couldn't tell, but he knew one thing: he needed to take Sunny out of danger's way.

As she dashed away from his effective range, he quickly found himself jumping away from the wild, uncontrollable swings from the attackers with such speed he was a blur in Sunset's eyes. One by one, the attackers were beat down with the savagely long arms and legs of the Werewolf, his limbs allowing him to safely smack them without the fear of possibly being slashed by an appliance. Who knows? Maybe one of them was made of silver.

Sunset Shimmer did not stand around, lifeless, watching Pierce Claw beat the everliving zombie out of these people. She herself knew she was in danger, regardless of the circumstances of her positioning, so she brought herself to, once again, think. This was her strongest weapon, her ace in her sleeve. She had to put her powerful brain to work, and all senses in her body were reacting accordingly.

This whole place seemed strange to me from the very start! With it being night-time as it is, why was all of this happening the way it actually is? I can only guess it's because of the actions performed within these walls, but I have no proof of this. The incense, lighting and position of every single prop within this building may be directed to circumstancial evidence and nothing more, but I'd rather take my chances. This whole place is a singular, gigantic magical construct, and I have to think about it like what it is!

Magical constructs are mainly consisted of that what was initially used to make the construct be. Golems are as such - usually built from boulder and stone. I am certain that this building isn't made of rocks but of building materials such as clay, sand, wood and metal. That would inherently make it more complex, but the idea generally used to form it is the same. The main difference however, is that this building is never going to walk and speak, and that's because this isn't a magical construct in the sense of it gaining sentience, but it being a solitary, singular proxy of energy. It's the electrical current that makes the lamp produce light! If I somehow manage to cut off this source of energy...!

This is easier said than done but it can be done!

The Werewolf was lightning quick on his feet, and before Sunset's bravado could get her too far from him, he caught up. Her leaving a tight, unmaneuverable space was the smart thing to do, and he immediately took to her side. She felt like his legs were ridiculous compared to hers - the speed of which he could move was insane!

Regardless, they sped up down the hallway, dodging people that were now actively trying to get in their way. It was like everyone that was downstairs suddenly found their way upstairs, and it was driving Sunset crazy. This needed to stop right now, and if she had to play hardball to have it happen, so be it! She took a dive to the ground when a group of people were walking in their direction, blocking the hallway and throwing things at them, and dodged them masterfully. Pierce ran over them like a speeding struck, and she found herself running down a flight of stairs, her hand clutching the object inside her jacket that she was holding onto from the very beginning.

As she ran down the flight of stairs, leaving Pierce a few meters above her fighting those people, she came across even more of them walking like zombies in her direction, so she took drastic measures. Pulling herself up from the guardrail of the stais, she jumped down a whole set of them, landing even further down and grimacing at the pain that surfaced her from the power of gravity. She pulled herself up, there was no time to sit down and complain about pain! She ran further down the closest hallway, her eyes looking in every possible direction, desperate, looking for some manner of Air Vent! There it was!

She found one just as Pierce Claw barreled through even more people, dashing towards her with a dumbfounded look of perplexity in his eyes. She could tell he wanted to yell and complain, but she didn't have time for this. She instead pulled the object from her hand - a tiny vial filled with a strangely-colored liquid, and threw it at the air vent, cracking the bottle and spilling its contents within.

Everything seemed to stop. The blurred, crooked look of the building returned full force for a couple moments, flashing before their eyes like a pulsating, grotesque wound as the walls audibly groaned at what she's done. Pierce Claw held himself back as he looked horrified at what she just did, a victorious look of satisfaction slashed all over her face.

"W-Was that... QUICKSILVER!?"

"Yes!"

The Werewolf stepped backwards, horrified. He looked in all directions as people left and right collapsed to the ground, striking it like lifeless dolls. Their pursuit completely denied, their efforts lost due to Sunset's attack.

"Please remember me to never piss you off?" he mumbled in between his teeth, the stench of the weapon she used being enough for him to feel threatened. "You're clearly insane and horribly dangerous, so would you kindly?"

"H-Hey! I just worked something out, OK?"

"How did you even do that?" Pierce was breathing hard, as he gave some distance to the ventilation system of the building. "I-I mean..."

"I know what you mean, and I'll explain," Sunset said as she was also breathing hard, feeling like the joints of her legs were complaining and screaming at the effort she just put herself through. "Think of this building like it's alive. A magical construct of some kind. Of course, it needs to spread its magic all over the place in order for it to be what it is, like we need blood to pump through our veins so we stay alive. Usually, it's some form of thing that connects everything together - either a certain object that's present in every room... or a ventilation system that wasn't fully blocked off by the owner of the place. I think I found the latter. Didn't you notice that there were absolutely no air vents whatsoever in this building?"

"...No! Who the heck even pays attention to stuff like this!?"

"Do you know what living organisms like a well-working mechanism absolutely hate? When you throw powerful alchemichals inside its guts, especially if it's poisonous or corrosive!" Sunset interrupted with a proud chuckle, making the Werewolf wince in response. "This won't last forever, but I think I just--"

She stopped talking. Her eyes weren't deceiving her, yet again - a man was standing right behind Pierce with eyes so fiercely glaring towards hers that she could swear he could see through her skull. The Werewolf saw the look on her face and immediately swung himself to face behind him, but he was, surprisingly enough, too slow.

A loud bang, impossible for Sunset to describe, ringed in her ears like someone ripped her ability to understand sounds in half. Pierce Claw's bestial form was gone, his human shape standing before her with a limp, something red flowing from his right shoulder that she easily recognized as...!

"That was very informative. Thank you for keeping me up to speed, little girl," the man enunciated very clearly, sending shivers down Sunset's spine as she opened her mouth to scream, but she felt something strike her stomach with such force that she found the only sounds she could make as she genuflected were breathless wheezes of pain. "But this is a clear affront to my person, and I cannot accept such barbarism in these halls. Also, uninvited as you are! Truly shameful of you."

Sunset Shimmer was shivering in pain as she blinked in pure confusion. The man didn't move. He was still standing far away from her, how was this possible? He hit her with such force...!

She rose her head enough so she could try and get a good look at him. He was fully dressed in a black, formal suit - his golden hair was short and well-kept, clearly combed with gel of some kind. He wasn't looking very impressed with the two invaders, carefully walking towards Sunset Shimmer as Pierce groggily reached out, his left hand failing to grab a hold of his shoulder as he crouched, holding Sunset by the jaw and looking at her directly in the eyes.

"...You have beautiful eyes, young lady," he claimed as she tried her hardest to get a hold of herself, the pain coming from her stomach nearly driving her insane. "Such fire! So potent in the impetus of their gaze! You truly have something special about you, little one. So clever, and yet... so human."

"Ward!" Pierce's voice weakly mumbled from his voice, a visible gash on his right shoulder keeping his entire right arm hanging uselessly at his side. "The hell are you doing? Just showing up after the cat's out of the bag and shooting your friends like it ain't a big deal!?"

Cruise Ward stood up, the Equestrian held firmly in his hand by her jaw, much to her disgusting discomfort. She felt very little strength on her legs as he forced her to stand. His green eyes flared towards Pierce, who was so visibly furious he was almost unrecognizeable. Ward sighed, shrugging slightly at the man standing against him.

"I'm the one who wants to ask what were you thinking, bringing his outsider to my home without my consent! Didn't you see what the wench did? I am glad I reached you two when I did, or something horrible might have happened!"

"Horrible...?" The wounded magical beast coughed, his legs still trying to keep him from falling down as best as they could. "What's so horrible here? That we were attacked by those people? That she's tried to fix the damage you caused?"

"You're still calling it that, Claw? You are, quite frankly, annoying me," Cruise Ward growled menacingly, dragging Sunset with him as she walked towards Pierce with a very smug saunter. "I honestly can't understand you. I have already told you, haven't I? What I am doing is a service to those that need it! I am giving these people something to live for!"

...What... what are those two talking about...?

"I have no qualms about you thinking what you do, but when you interrupt my work... That's when things get messy. These people need to believe in that what I tell them. The human mind, albeit being fragile and susceptible to change, is also very stubborn and limitless. It takes time to reform their way of thinking! When you interrupt that process, you ruin the experiment. Thankfully, the damage your little friend caused wasn't very strong. I was hoping she'd simply get herself slain, but turns out that I still make mistakes. This is easy to fix, though."

Sunset felt his grip on her jaw tighen. She finally found strength in her to push the man away with a single, powerful shove, but stumbled awkwardly as he laughed, heartily amused.

"Oh! Seems you've got more pep than I thought you had."

"...You. What are you doing? What is this place?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Ward asked, confused. Pierce Claw wheezed deeply as he tried his hardest to scratch the wound from his shoulder, but the slightest touch in there would cause him to horribly flinch from the pain. "Surprising. I thought someone with your intellect would have already figured it out, but... I suppose not?"

Sunset Shimmer felt the entire world around her warp like it was some sort of terrible dream. She stumbled on her feet as she saw the walls change, the ceiling changed. In the span of just a couple seconds, they were not in the hallways anymore. They were inside an office, instead. A very elegant, posh-looking office that might as well belong to the owner of the building in question.

She did not manage to ask how come they were now inside such a place, her voice didn't come out. She was too busy trying to believe that suddenly, she was teleported to this place alongside Pierce and Ward, all three of them standing over this carpeted, massive square room, all at a reasonable distance from one another. The room was beautifully stylized, with a brown carpet adorning all of the floor, reaching all the way to the door and the far side of the room, which instead of a wall, it ended in a massive mirror view of the city, the night sky's moon shining gloriously to them through it. Ward casually strolled around, resting himself at the mahogany desk, crossing his arms as he rose his face yet again, looking down on the Unicorn and the Werewolf.

"This is the means to an end, I suppose. A way to fix a problem with humanity that quite frankly, will inevitably take time and effort to do."

"What do you mean by that?" Sunset coughed through her teeth, her strength finally coming back to her as she had enough time to breathe. "What problem would possibly need to be fixed?"

"The exact same problem you encountered as you waltzed into this building!" he exclaimed with a formidable lack of patience. Sunset Shimmer didn't understand. "...*Sigh*. Humans are easy to fool. Tell them something is true for long enough, and they start to believe in it. Their minds is a superb tool that sets humanity apart, and yet it is their greatest weakness! A fundamental flaw in its design that should not exist! By definition of the tool, it should not be a part of any of us!"

"...That explains why you suddenly think you have the right to change anything," Pierce coughed. The Alchemist threw a sideways, icy glance at the man, who stood firm in his feet as he slowly returned to his beast form, his right arm still worthlessly limp and wounded. "You just freakin' disappeared! For three years! You wanted to become Chief of Police, didn't you!? What kind of person that wishes to do good to people goes around brainwashing them, because he thinks they are too stupid to think for themselves?"

"Someone willing to make a difference! I thought you were the same, Claw." The Alchemist retorted coldly, his feet carrying him away from his desk and towards Sunset Shimmer, who stepped backwards in response. "What about you, little lady? Do you think the same as he does? That humanity is clever enough to understand its limitations, and should be left to its own devices? With no guidance, no strength of mind of their own?"

She found her own head looping around itself with no real objective as she tried to piece together what she's been told. This man was mad! Did he truly expect her to answer such a question with no real context given to her? ...Or had the context already been given to her? Which was it?

Regardless, she couldn't bring herself to agree with someone that wounds people because he thinks he knows better. Pierce Claw was right. What kind of person brainwashes people and says it's for their own good? That's not what living your life as an individual was...!

"I think you're clinically insane."

Ward opened a smile. The Werewolf took a step forward, his beast form becoming more and more complete by the second.

"Ward. Leave the girl alone, she's got nothing to do with you or your problems."

"...You actually care? Very well," the Alchemist said, turning his back on Sunset Shimmer and walking towards the Werewolf, who did not back away from his advance in the slightest. "I though you and I were similar, Claw. I think not."

And with that, Sunset heard a sound. A disgusting, battered sound slashing right next to her, followed by a sensation that she found impossible to describe.

She was paralyzed. Her body wouldn't move properly, her mind wouldn't work properly. Sunset felt a horrible sensation coming from her right side, and she felt her mind shuffle in confusion. Pierce Claw looked horrified, he screamed something but she couldn't listen. He looked terrified, then furious. He took a swing at Ward, but the Alchemist said something and the Werewolf was pushed to the wall.

Why couldn't she hear anything? Sunset felt her head pump painfully as she felt her body was out of balance somehow. She tried to scratch her forehead, but she felt like something was wrong. Wondering why that was, Sunset finally managed to turn her head a little, and she saw her right arm. On the floor.

It took her a good moment for her to understand what had happened, but she couldn't bring herself to think precisely. Her eyes would notice the gashing wound on the stump connected to her shoulder, and then notice her arm on the floor. As she slowly came to full understanding of the situation, her body registered the pain. As she tried to move, her breath would turn into a violent wheeze. She was stuttering in her movement as she fet her knees give in. She fell to the ground, her voice escaping her throat with such verve it was deafening. She could not listen to the sound of her own voice. She could feel the pain ringing in her mind as she couldn't bring herself to stand.

"SUNNY!" Pierce Claw coughed violently as he tried to push himself forward, but was constantly being pushed back by a force he didn't understand. "What the hell did you do to her? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"...I am merely acting on accordance to my own verdict. You see, Claw - you actively attemptd to sabotage my design. I did tell you, didn't I? That this project was exceedingly difficult to perform? That I needed help? And yet you asked for help yourself to do the exact opposite! You brought this witch in here, for no other reason but to sabotage a plan to fix this dirty reality! Therefore, you leave me with the idea that I might just show you why doing that was a bad idea."

Sunset felt her chest tighten as she coughed what she assumed to be blood. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused. She couldn't stop looking at that limp limb that used to be attached to the rest of her, resting so close to her face it was surreal.

"...A really bad idea."

Pierce Claw let out a brutal howl as he lunged towards Cruise Ward, but for some unexplicable reason, the lightning-fast speed of his beast shape only succeeded in striking monumental quantities of oxygen. He did not waste a single moment as he would scan the room with any sense he would have, locate the Alchemist and launch yet another attack at him, but fail miserably yet again. It was truly a sight to behold - no matter how fast, how brutal and how furiously the Werewolf attacked, he seemed to do absolutely nothing noteworthy. It was useless.

It all seemed like this would go on forever until the Werewolf suddenly, for no explanation whatsoever, found himself sitting on the desk's chair. He blinked with just as much confusion as he could have, and then with just about as much warning, he was launched alongside the chair towards the wall, of which he striked quite fiercely. Then he was launched towards the ceiling. And the floor. He was struck against the mahogany desk. He was not in his beast shape anymore.

"Oh, Pierce Claw. You truly, truly wonderful creature. Coming all the way within my lair... My domain, my reality... and expect to change it. I will make sure you remember this day, my friend. Maybe that will make you susceptible to suggestions, as well? That will truly be a wonderful subject of studies, don't you think?"

"...You've become a monster, Ward."

"Really? Hearing that from a Werewolf... I think I should be worried."

The Werewolf did not find it within himself to retort. He suddenly felt himself being crushed, beaten. Slashed and burnt. The Alchemist stood in front of him, his hands in his pockets, an echoing laughter booming through Sunset's ears like a fog...

...How is he doing this...?

An Alchemist has to obey the laws of nature to do what he does. Some would call it the law of equivalent exchange - for you to acquire something, you must sacrifice something else of equal value. Also, no form of mass is created out of nowhere, and no form of mass also disappears completely. Everything is transformed into something else. That is the nature of the universe in which we live.

So for this man to do what he does... In this magical construct castle of his... he needs to be doing something else for him to do all that he's been doing. He has to.

...He...

Sunset's eyes were unfocused. Unclear. She could not listen to Pierce Claw's screams of agony, neither the Alchemist's insane laughter. She could, however, notice that her mind was still working. Her heart was beating. Her pulse existed. She felt her chest moving up and down following the movement of her breath. Her eyes danced in their orbits, taking in the scenery of everything around her. She thought, and thought. She saw the faces of her friends, she saw Princess Celestia. Sunset then opened her eyes, and suddenly, everything made sense.

She felt her body being pulled up as the pain from her wound was unbearable. She then noticed that she actually managed to stand up. She took a deep breath as her eyes were glassy and sharper than they have ever been. Her body started moving automatically, towards none other than the two men, who were a couple meters away from her, and Cruise Ward took notice to that. He stopped doing what he was doing, and chuckled to himself, Pierce Claw looking absolutely horrified at what he came to see.

"S-Sunny...! N-No!" he weakly muttered, his mouth barely moving at all. "Y-You'll die!"

"Oh, but she is truly a feisty one, Claw," Ward laughed as he stepped forward, throwing a slashing look at the girl who was not impressed in the slightest. "Since you're still standing, how about we fix that problem?"

"...Why don't you just try that?"

Sunset felt her mouth taunt him, and he gritted his teeth at it. Taking it to heart, he promptly launched an attack directed at her leg, this time. And it tore the limb clean off.

"SUNNY!"

Sunset Shimmer felt an unbelievable pain rush through her whole body, but she didn't stop. She knew what was going on, now. She knew how to stop it. As she felt the hit, she bit her lip and closed her eyes, in almost a trance-like state. Opening her eyes yet again, Sunset Shimmer took a legless step forward... and she advanced.

Cruise Ward's eyes bulged in disbelief. He gasped, stunned at the sight before his eyes. This woman... She was walking? With only one leg!?

"...Was that it? Is this the extent of your powers, Cruise Ward?" Sunset tiredly wheezed, her feet still carrying her forward despite lacking 50% of its parts. "I figured something was off about you, but I figured it would take me a while longer to understand... Turns out that was a bad guess."

The Alchemist once again launched another attack at her, this time yelling out the top of his lungs as a bolt of power rushed right through her midriff, but all it did was crack the walls behind her. She breathed in deeply as she kept making progress forward, a killer smile growing on her face with each and every step she took.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid of me?" she taunted with a voice that was hardly her own. This time, the Alchemist backed slightly, Pierce Claw's eyes not believing at all in what he was seeing. "Come on, then! Go for my neck! Cut my head off! Aren't you the master of this reality? What are you waiting for, an invitation? Then I am giving you one!"

Ward complied. Using much more power than he was used to, he blasted a hole in the ceiling so wide that he was certain he fired a magical shot powerful enough to be a tank's shell. However, he missed Sunset once again, whose smile was even wider than before.

"You can't do it, can you? Tell me, if you can simply make things happen at will, why don't you dominate my mind right now? Why not Pierce's? Oh, you don't need to asnwer that, by the way."

"SHUT UP! Y-YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! Who do you think you are to--"

"This is a fake reality created by the construct we are in. Just like how one will never find this building if one's not invited or told explicitly where to go, this power of yours is a phony joke that will not work on those that are aware that you are using hallucinations and light shows! This is all a giant stage! Smoke and mirrors through alchemical means, nothing more! You're not changing reality, you simply change our perception of reality! You are a failed attempt at telling a bad joke!"

Cruise Ward couldn't think of anything to say, his voice wouldn't come out. What was this he was feeling? This little teenage girl had the presence of a giant about her, every single step she took forward renewed her visage, as if she was regenerating right before their eyes. Why was this happening? Why were his powers faling him!? This girl was immune to his powers! He needed to escape this creature, but his feet wouldn't obey him.

"Today's been an awful, annoying day, you know. It's been a while since I last felt this irritated. I was already in a bad mood today - you just gave me a gateway to vent!" Sunset felt her right fist clenching. She pulled her arm back, and picked up the Alchemist by his collar with her left hand. He was pale, sweating horribly and whimpering like a child. Through gritted teeth, Sunset exclaimed with an unusual spark of anger that was relatively nostalgic: "I think I should thank you!"

And with that, the last thoughts that coursed through his mind as Sunset Shimmer's fist crashed against his jaw that night were of pure, uncheckered horror.

"...*Sigh*."

"Hmm? What's the problem? I thought you would be happy."

"Ah? Oh, no. I'm happy, or at least... I'm glad that it's all solved, now. It's just..." the Werewolf took a few seconds to collect his words, his left hand fiddling with the letter he had read almost like a bad habit. "I was hoping he wouldn't have gone so far into the deep end, you know? You didn't really meet him before, but he..."

"He wasn't so bad before? I'm sure that was the case, one day."

"Yeah."

A few days had passed since their adventure inside that building, and Sunset could still not truly come to grips with what she saw in that place. She understood it. She destroyed it. But still, when your life goes back to normal as if nothing had happened, it always felt a bit surreal. Not bad... just strange. Like what had just happened was just one of those awkward dreams you have sometimes.

When the Alchemist was beaten by a punch, no less, it turned out the entire building was an illusion cast through his powers. It was an abandoned building, dirty and rotten, with many doors, walls and pieces of the floor missing completely. When Sunset destroyed that magic, the place slowly warped back to its original state, allowing Pierce and herself to call for an ambulance, rescuing every single person that was located inside of that place. Turns out many of them had gone missing for months, some even years. They were slowly being brainwashed by that man during all that time, but when the illusion was broken, no one remembered a single thing. Where they were before or after the spell cast on them was gone.

The wounds Sunset and Pierce had sustained were also just illusions, for the most part. One thing actually was true, though, and that was that one silver bullet shot through Pierce Claw's right shoulder. He was fine, it would probably take him a few days more to heal, but seeing him carrying his right arm on a sling was slightly shocking to her. She was sure all wounds caused inside that building were false. Turns out she got more lucky than she thought.

"So, what now? What does the Convocation say about all this?" she asked as she took a sip of the soda she was drinking for a while, now. Pierce laughed lightly with his nose, raising the letter a little and smiling.

"They are indebted to us for solving an issue long overdue. I wish they would stop being complete bent tools, but that would be quite a miracle."

"Well, they did muffle the situation with the building after we were done," the Unicorn nodded to herself, taking another sip of the drink. "Sometimes you have to work with the tools given to you."

"Except their tools are blunt and broken," the Werewolf grunted. "I know I should be grateful to them for at least doing the clean-up duty, but..."

But maybe things wouldn't get so bad if they were doing their job from the very start... is that it?

Sunset could understand. Not all feelings of gratitude came untainted, no matter how hard you tried. Not all acts of good came without some form of consequence. But still, does that make it so those acts are pointless in the first place?

"Do you think that pushing them away when they are trying to do what they can is a good idea, though?"

The Werewolf mumbled something under his breath as Sunset leaned a bit more on her chair, resting her elbows on the table they were sitting on.

"I was told the Convocation is having a ton of problems, but they are still trying their best to do what they can to help. Considering they are trying to do what's right despite not being able to do that completely... isn't that worthy of mention?"

"Hah! Well, they kind of hired you, so they are doing something right," Pierce laughed, making the Equestrian grin a little, embarassed. After a few seconds of silence, he stood up, crumpling the letter in his fist and burying it deep in his pocket."...But you're right. I should be grateful they are doing something, at least. I can't fault them for that. But honestly, most of that is directed to you, you know?" And after yet another brief pause, he continued: "...Thank you, Sunset Shimmer. You have done by me more than you think you have done."

It took her a few hours to fully absorb the gratitude of which he had showered her with. It always seemed like a strange, alien sensation to her: doing good by others. Ever since she became friends with the girls at CHS and Princess Twilight, the feeling that someone is directing gratitude towards her was something she wasn't used to yet. It was a powerful feeling, one so strong and fulfilling that she came to the point of believing that maybe, just maybe, she didn't deserve any of it.

...But those were thoughts for another day, another night. This time, she was basking in the feeling of gratitude, directed to her by someone she pretty much helped on a whim.

Little by little, I hope I can make you proud of me again.

Little by little.

Clearing Matters

View Online

"I'm not leavin'."

"...*Sigh*. And why not?"

"That's not the question here! The question is still why should I? I'm staying here because it's the obvious thing for me to do!"

"No it isn't! Don't you understand you're causing trouble to your mother!?"

"That is true, sweetie. You're causing everyone a lot of trouble, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm causing troble for staying in my house, ma? Give me a break! You're not the dictator of the truth! None of you are! You're just a pawn of the system!"

Yes, I am a pawn of the system for delivering a message.

"Look, I've gone through this before with you. You need to leave. You can't make your house whenever you feel like it! The humans are going to discover your secret sooner or later!"

"If they find the secret, that is a negligence from the Convocation! Their system is fundamentally flawed, brought to light by the actions of those that do nothing to stop people from finding the truth!"

What are you even talking about...!? That didn't make any sense!

"Uh... W-What do you mean?"

"It's all in plain sight for you to see! The Convocation doesn't want to take good measures to prevent humans from finding us, so they oppress us and force us to live according to their ways and laws! It's all a part of their controlative agenda, so they can have us all under their thumbs and do as they please!"

That line of thinking is so fundamentally flawed I don't know where to start.

...First of all, controlative isn't a real word, I think you meant manipulative. Second, the Convocation of the Lost isn't all-mighty and all-powerful. How can they control the humans so they never notice you? If you mess up, it was your fault, not the Convocation's! They are doing the best they can, and even that isn't good enough most of the time! Why would the Convocation try to control a group it has no real control over? Why would it want to control this group, exactly? What for? Do you want me to continue!?

Urgh...! How in Celestia's name did this get pushed onto me?

Sunset Shimmer felt like her temples would pop from her head like corks from a bottle thanks to her migraine. Not a badly justified one, maybe an overreacted one, but a migraine was what it was, and its sources still existed, stemming from frustration and the complete disbelief from the situation she found herself in.

She was now standing right next to a relatively slow-paced street. Very few cars, not a lot of pedestrians, but with a lot of possibility for both, in the right time of the day. The time was 13:37, the sky was relatively unclouded and her patience was running thin. It wasn't very often that the Convocation of the Lost would throw requests at her during daytime - actually, it didn't happen very often even at nighttime, that was a condition Sunset designed with their leader, Nimue - but they still happened. Not a single week would go by without some matter needing to be looked into.

Still, this had to be the most awkward case she was placed to deal with. She wasn't very used to giving friendly advice to her own friends yet, what gives her trying to give advice to a family? A family of Slimes, no less?

Slimes. Yes, those corporeally fragile creatures that can take the shape of any creature they wish, albeit with extreme limitations in doing so. Without proper practice, most Slimes just adjust to living in their base form, hiding from sight in the City-Vault of the Convocation, colloquially known amongst them as "The Town". And even as they assumed other shapes, they still cannot move at most speeds or they would crumble their disguise, collapsing back to their slimy appearance.

Which immediately made the Equestrian feel slightly shocked when she received a message from the Convocation, telling her that she was needed in order to deal with a case regarding Slimes that live outside of The Town. Supposedly, they had received "orders" to leave their current home because it was compromising their position, as it was due to being discovered by Humans, considering its location. A family of two: the mother, Key, and her 16 years old son, Lock, were asked to leave, and so it was supposed to be. The Convocation even received a report claiming that they had obeyed...

It was not the case. The mother, Key, had returned to the Convocation with an apology, claiming that she had submitted a wrong report by accident. Turns out she had left their house, but she then realized her son had stayed...

...Two days after she had left.

"In any case, you have no rights to take me off my home! This is a violation of my citizen rights! I have all the support of the people to protest!" the voice of the teenage slime came out, defiant and steadfast. He was truly not in the mood of leaving.

"That is true, dolly. We do have the rights to fight for our homes." Key slowly shook her head, agreeing. Sunset slowly rubbed her own eyes, them feeling much heavier than the usual.

"But you're compromising everything by staying! Didn't the Convocation warn you about the problems you can cause if you stay?"

"A man's house is his castle! You have no rights to tell me what kind of problems my castle can cause others!"

"...You live in a street drain," she retorted. She felt like she was speaking to the sewers. Turns out she was.

"IT'S MY DRAIN, HOWEVER! There are MANY like this, but this one's MINE!"

"What about your mother? Isn't this hers, too?" Sunset appealed, but Key simply shook her head, dismissively.

"I left two days ago, dolly. I don't live there anymore."

THAT'S HARDLY THE POINT!!!

Now I know why Quay shove this job onto me. I'll make sure I say thank you personally.

Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath as she looked down to her feet. Therein lied the Street Drain, lair of Stubborn Mule Mcgee and his mother, Attention Spanned. He woudn't leave even if she appealed to him. ...Maybe she was approaching this the wrong way.

"...Look. I know how hard it must be for you to leave your house," she slowly began, Key the Slime smiled widely at her, making her think her words through even more carefully. "But didn't the Convocation offer a new house for you two? That's what I was told."

"I don't believe any of your corporate shlock! I want my house, built with the sweat and tears of those that actually built a house for themselves!"

You didn't build the sewers, you little--!

"Dearie, aren't you forgetting something?"

"...Oh yeah! And also, it's easy to come by food down here!"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU EAT!" Sunset felt her throat burn as she put a stop to herself. She took a deep breath, once again, feeling her sweat on her forehead slide down her nose. She needed to fix her composure, she wouldn't be caught dead yelling at a culvert. "...I don't particularly care about your culinary habits."

"You WHAT? Did you hear that, ma?" the young slime's voice rumbled from the entrance of the sewers with indignation in his tone. "The corporate commander over here doesn't wanna know what the common folk eat!"

"Oh, my. That can't do, dolly! How will you understand monsters like us if you don't know what our habits are?" Key looked up with her greenish eyes, like a puppy. Sunset Shimmer buried the desire to keep thinking that maybe that's where she got her IQ from.

Mental faculties, Shimmer. Keep your act together.

"Get outta here! I'm not leavin' my home! I have the rights to stay here!"

"I find it interesting how you say that when your so-called rights extend themselves to compromising everyone else because of them."

"...What?"

"Do you even know why you've been asked to leave?" Sunset grunted as she slid her hand through her own face, her desire to get out of that location before people started looking at her funny growed stronger every second.

"Oh, I was!" Key replied happily, rummaging through her bag with the speed of molasses. "...What was the reason again? Um... I think I was told? In the letter I received? Where did I put it again?"

"You're clogging the drain."

"Excuse me?" the voice from the sewers grunted, annoyed. "You're going to have to try harder than that!"

"You're clogging the drain because you live in it. That's why you were asked to leave." Sunset Shimmer never deadpanned so hard before in her life, she felt like her facial muscles had died.

"Ma, is that a thing?"

"...Heeey! Look, dolly! This is my wedding ring! I can't believe this is where it was!"

"That's lovely." Monotone.

"MA!"

"Oh! Right, um... I think so? I remember being told something like that."

"Right. So, what does that have anything to do with me staying or leaving?"

"Look, if you clog the drain, the humans are coming to check it out and see what's causing that! They will find you!"

"Oh, but isn't the Convocation supposed to keep that from happening!? Where's your resources and your enforcers, Ms. Syndicate? Why don't you use them instead of turnin' a blind eye to the poor folk that have to fend for themselves, expecting help from the corporate and then getting nothing but their coldest shoulder! This has nothing to do with me! This is all your fault!"

Sunset Shimmer felt like her mind cracked.

She was there before - people pointing at her and saying that things were her fault when they were. But that's where the difference lied. She was being insulted through ignorance and through the bravado of a teenage boy that was obviously going through that particular hormonal phase that she heard so much about.

She took a few deep breaths as Key simply wobbled in place, a look impossible to decipher plastered all over her face. Sunset was faced with a question of unmitigated importance: What would Fluttershy do in this situation?

...Would baby-talking a Slime actually even work?

"L-Look," the Equestrian gagged, her physiognomy breaking, herself moving into a more meek and calm posture. "We can work things out, right? W-We don't really need to antagonize each other! We all have to work together in order for everyone to be happy, right?"

"That's TOO LATE for that, you Federal, Corportate schlock! You're nothing but a goon of the system! Your random words won't sway my resolve!"

That's exactly when Sunset Shimmer realized that she wasn't Fluttershy.

"Oh, Celestia. Please, give me strength..."

As Sunset felt her sanity being drained by the drain, Key stepped forward and pointed severely at her ex-home, a slight hint of disappointment coming from her voice.

"Baby, I don't think it's nice to call people names!" That was the first time Sunset heard some manner of authority from that Slime's voice. Except that it didn't even manage to stand up to a light summer breeze. Don't think it's nice? Way to go, Ms. Key, I'm sure that accomplished everything you wanted.

"Ma, it's not wrong for me to fight for what I believe in, is it? That's what I'm doing!"

"Of course it isn't, baby. You have to make sure you stand up for yourself and your rights."

"So that's how it is, isn't it? I'm doing my best, here!"

"I know! I'm proud of you, my baby Lock!"

"Uh. Excuse me?" Sunset interrupted, her voice cracking a little alongside her patience and desire to stay there. "I'm not only sure I don't understand, but please don't teach your son to do wrong things, for my sake? Don't make my job harder than it needs to be."

"OH! I did it again? I'm so sorry, dolly! You're absolutely right!"

Which is it? I don't think I've ever seen someone so fickle before! I wish I never had the pleasure!

"Ma, don't listen to her! Sometimes you gotta stand firm by your decisions! You have to be firm and decisive, and not beat around the bush! You have to take action and stand for what's right!!"

The Unicorn then blinked, holding her retort deep inside her throat as she turned around to spew a one-liner. She found herself actually thinking about something that was quite frankly, true!

Even a broken clock is right twice a day, so the saying goes, and Sunset finally could witness such a saying come true. Maybe it would be seen a mean, or not very good overall... but a decision and an action had to take place or much more trouble would spread from this... scene. The Equestrian took a deep breath and nodded to herself. If someone had to put on the big girl pants, so it would be her.

"You know what? You're absolutely right!" She agreed with the kid, making him pause for a quick second before responding, confused.

"What?"

"You have to be firm and decisive! You're absolutely right!" Sunset claimed as her hands reached inside of her jacket's pockets. "Thank you for telling me something so powerful! I think my life has changed for the better. Really, I will remember what you said forevermore!"

"Uhh... W-What's your deal?"

"Oh, this is the deal: you're going to be nice and leave that clogged drain, or I'll drop a bottle of liquid nitrogen with you still inside." Sunset spoke with the most unthreatening tone of voice she could muster, and the effects were legendary onto herself. She felt her own spine crawl with that one.

"...You what, now?"

"You don't know what that is? It's a very, very cold substance that freezes most liquids it touches, instantly!" She gave it a pause so Lock could understand the implications behind her phrasing. "I think you know your own body enough to know that Slimes really hate being frozen. It makes their jello-like nature very, very hard... and brittle. And when you thaw, you melt alongside the ice - I wonder where you would end up if we did that."

"W-WHAT? YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

"Get out of the drain, please," Sunset's voice was now relatively serious and demanding. She felt awful. "I'm not saying it again."

The slime grunted and complained, loud banging noises could be heard as he was probably shuffling violently inside, trying to think as hard as he could. Key, on the other hand, simply looked at Sunset with a set of very inquisitive eyes, not raising a single objection, not complaining in any way herself. The Unicorn appreciated it; finally she wasn't doing something that hindered her progress.

"Gh! Y-You monster! ...Fine! F-Fine, I'll leave! There's no need for this, OK?"

Now I know why Quay does what she does the way she does it. It actually works.

"Baby, you're finally listening to reason! I'm so proud of you!"

"Ma, I'm being threatened! Can't you see this? This she-demon is threatening me with ice!"

"H-Hey! You wouldn't leave any other way!" Sunset defended herself, crossing her arms in the process. "You brought this upon yourself!"

"Yeah, whatever, you evil, wicked beast."

"Oooh, my hand's getting sore from holding this cold bottle! It's gonna slip! Oh my! Oh, no!"

"W-WAIT! Here! I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" his voice echoed from the drain as a few banging noises began to echo from within. Sunset rose an eyebrow, confused. "Hm? T-That's... HM!"

"What's the matter?" Sunset's voice came out on its own.

"O-Oh, uh. This place is a bit tighter than I remembered, it's nothing! I can get out! ...I think."

"Oh, baby! You've been eating too much again? What did your mother say about you overfeeding when indoors?"

"I'm sorry, ma! But I just got a huge chunk of---" Sunset immediately plugged her ears and started singing Twilight's counterspell as loud as she could inside the echoing halls of her own terrified self. Thankfully, she remembered that atrocity, word for word!

Celestia, PLEASE give me strength...!

The Unicorn was pressing her ears so hard it was a miracle her head didn't crack in half. As she kept paraphrasing the worst song she heard in her life inside her own head, Key reached out to her and poked her belly, attracting her attention.

"Excuse me, dolly? I can't seem to be able to do this on my own."

"...W-What do you even mean by that?" She was more scared of knowing the answer than of anything else that happened before in her life.

"My baby is stuck but I can't seem to help him out by myself. That's strange, I never had that problem before."

Sunset took a deep breath once again as she reached over, cautiously, over the street drain. Gazing down within it, she honestly couldn't see very well, but she was sure she could see a little slime boy's face, trying to squeeze through a gap she found it was crazy he couldn't get through.

"What are you doing? You're a slime, just squeeze through!"

"And emerge a slime on the surface? I'm not taking that chance!"

Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that.

"Hold on, I think I managed to...! Get... Through!" he grunted as a very audible popping noise echoed within, and he reache--

A HAND

"No." Sunset Shimmer stood up and started walking the other way. An exasperated gasp in stereo rushed behind her, both dumbfounded, both stunned.

"D-Dolly! We just have to help him up!"

"No. I'm not touching that hand." There was no leeway in her tone. Key shuffled in place awkwardly for a moment, as if she simply ran out of things to say. "I'm not doing it."

"You threaten me to get out of my house and then you just abandon me? What kind of--"

"I AM NOT--" she immediately stopped herself as a pedestrian passed by, throwing awkward glances at Sunset Shimmer as she found herself folding and blushing so furiously she could blend in with a purely red backdrop. "I'm not doing it. Do it yourself."

She crossed her arms, adamant on her resolve. Key simply shrugged a bit, turning back to her son's dripping slime hand and grabbing it.

Sunset would never forget the sounds she heard that day. Loud, squelching noises that she only had heard in her worst nightmares. Sounds so poignant and gross that simply thinking of them would trigger a safety device inside Sunset's mind to erase the memory of such sounds, with little success. She stood there, trying her best not to look too grossed out as the sight VERY SLOWLY unfolded before her eyes, with Lock emerging from his home and assuming a solid, human form, eventually. It was the first time in her life that she had maybe considered never eating again.

"Huh! ...There! I'm outside, now!" the chubby-looking boy, about three heads shorter than Sunset was, grumped his words with no desire to hide his animosity. "Thanks for nothing."

"You're welcome." It was difficult for her to speak. She considered that maybe self-inflicted amnesia was a good idea.

"Right, then. What do we do now?" the distinctively brown-haired boy asked while crossing his arms, his eyes just about as green as his mothers'. "You're not leaving us to fend for ourselves, are you?"

"Uh? Oh, uh. I don't think so. Weren't you supposed to report to The Town when you left? I doubt the Convocation didn't give you directions."

And it was at that very moment that Ms. Key let out a surprised gasp of realization. Both the Equestrian and the little upstart traded looks of confusion as Key opened her little bag once again, shuffling its contents inside and pulling out a little letter, that was very nicely well-kept.

"Of course...! I completely forgot. Baby, we are meant to meet them so we can find ourselves a new home!"

Sunset felt like her left ear was bleeding, but she paid it no mind. In fact, she was shocked that it took it that long.

"Excuse me?" she asked, just to add continuity to Key's train of thought. "Didn't I say that, like, a few moments ago?"

"Um... I had forgotten that was true! We were meant to go and meet the Convocation, apparently, and they will find us a place to live! Isn't that nice of them? They are such lovelies!"

"Ma! You FORGOT THAT? Where were you living in the past two days!?"

And that's exactly when Sunset offered to guide them to The Town, when Key simply wobbled in place once again, as if she ran out of things to say.

If she were lucky, maybe that's how she would be for the rest of the day. Anything to make hers end faster.

"And der be da rest of your things, mon. Documents, keys and all dat good stuff. Don't go 'round missin' dem, now."

"T-Thank you, Mr. Silvertusk. I-I won't."

Hm. I suppose Ms. Key never saw a troll before, Sunset inquired as the lanky, tall and tusky creature handed over the documents to the new resident of The Town, smiling a little at how coy and shy she was.

Silvertusk was one of the many intermediates that poised the workforce of the Convocation of the Lost. Those were the people you'd go to when you were to perform a specific service, or they would reach out to the enforcers to pass forth the information for a particular job that need doing. For all intents and purposes, they were the notice boards of the Convocation, in theory. Most of the intermediates just spoke to those with direct access to Nimue, but even her won't know where the single, specific issues of the Convocation lied, such as the Slime issue Sunset was solving this day.

"And what 'bout ya, mon?" he asked towards Sunset Shimmer, having her blink and look up to meet him in the eye. "Ya did a good job! Quay absolutely refused to go and do dis, so I appreciate de effort ya put on."

"Oh, it was nothing!" she said as she uncrossed her arms, making a slightly meek gesture. Apparently, Silvertusk had a miserable job getting either in contact with Quay, or having her actually do something about the monster living in the sewers. Sunset believed the latter to be the case. "Um. I guess someone had to do it."

"Yes, I would like to file a complaint about this Shlock, Mr. Troll, sir!" little Lock said as he stomped his foot as hard as a slime could without crumbling. That is, not very hard. "Would you believe this? She threatened me to leave my house! She said she would freeze me if I didn't leave! Is this how you wil ltreat us if we start living in this place!?"

"...What you say now, mon?"

"Threaten? I have no idea what you're talking about," Sunset claimed with the most honest-filled glamour in her voice, making the little Slime be taken aback.

"Y-YOU SAID IT! That you'd drop that Liquid Nitrothingie inside my drain if I didn't leave!"

"...I don't remember ever having Liquid Nitrogen with me. What are you even talking about?" The Equestrian wasn't even trying to lie too hard. This was a piece of cake, considering what she's already done before... much to her chagrin, but still. Skills are skills.

"Some little mons enjoy havin' a big imagination..."

"I-It's true! Ma, tell him!"

"...I never saw her holding anything to do anything," Key pondered as she poked her chin with her index, inquisitively. "Are you sure about this, baby?"

The little slime was stunned. Now it was his turn to completely run out of things to say, as Key finally shook Sunset and the Troll's hands, a face of pure appreciation drawn all over her. She took Lock with her as she finally entered her new home: a wall drain within the halls of the Convocation, a much better place for them to live, as far as Sunset was told. Not only it was bigger, but easier to actually slime your way in and out. She wanted to forget. The world wouldn't let her forget.

"...Liquid Nitrogen, eh? I'm gonna have to remember dat one. Dey get real stubborn sometimes, ya know, mon? Makes our job much harder than dan it already is."

"Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do is to be a little harsh on them," Sunset said as she crossed her arms, throwing a little sideways glance to the troll, who also did the same thing. "Anyways, I'm not saying anything if you don't."

"Dese lips are sealed."

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

View Online

"Sunset Shimmer! Over heeere!"

Pinkie Pie's voice reached the Equestrian's ears as she opened a happy smile of her own, seeing all of her friends together, waiting and calling for her.

She was surprised to her very core. Sunset Shimmer was still not used to many of the things you'd consider doing alongside those you call friends, and going to the amusement park was one of those things. The sensation of joy she received when she was invited, and now when she arrived and saw her friends there, waiting for her, bubbled to the surface a sensation of joy and happiness that she still wasn't familiar with, but was working hard to get there!

Within the span of just a few moments, she was now alongside the five girls, joining them in their crusade for fun at the closest roller-coaster, maybe even go to a less wild ride to enjoy the thrills it gave! She had to stop herself from giggling a little just to adjust her composure, but with little success. Everyone could see she was overjoyed, and they themselves repayed her excitement with excitement of their own.

"Sorry I was late, girls" Sunset apologized as Pinkie Pie let go of her hug the last, as of custom. "I would've gotten here earlier, but-"

"Oh, don't mind getting here two minutes late, please," Rarity interrupted with a giggle, swinging her gorgeous hair backwards with a simple gesture. "Would you believe I arrived here myself just a little before you did? We must have missed each other!"

"Who cares, though? We're all here, so let's get to start having some fun!" Rainbow Dash spoke with great enthusiasm, enough to make Pinkie's smile get even wider. "I've been looking forward to this day for quite a while, now!"

"Ooh, me too! Me too!" the hyperactive, pink-haired one added, hopping around slightly with a smile that couldn't possibly increase in size. "This is going to be so fun! Should we go to the ferris wheel first? Or maybe the bumper cars? Or - Or the balloon race!"

"Hahah! Calm down, Pinkie! I think there will be plenty of time for all of that," Applejack said with a hearty laugh, placing a hand over her shoulder and helping her bouncing decrease in overall speed, enough for it not to punch small holes in the ground. "We just arrived! I reckon we should enjoy ourselves proper."

"Oh, the balloon race sounded nice," Fluttershy meekly agreed, making said smile from Pinkie to actually grow, despite Sunset's contrary beliefs. "I would like to see that..."

"Grrreat choice, Fluttershy! Check it out, it's actually a recent ride!" Pinkie exclaimed with joy, pulling a pamphlet from her hair and opening it with a single swing. "The new park's owner - a young man called Cheese? He added it not too long ago when he inherited it alongside a bunch of other rides! Isn't it great?"

"How do you know the park owner's name?" Sunset inquired, slightly raising an eyebrow as Pinkie simply tilted her head in return.

"Because~ It's written here, silly!" She then gave the pamphlet to her not-quite-human friend, who simply grazed her sight on the paper before locking onto the name Cheese Sandwich, park owner.

Well, I guess that makes sense? Oh, Pinkie...!

"I also try to remember the names of everyone I meet!" she happily giggled, hopping onwards towards the inside of the amusement park, with every single girl following her, as they blindly trusted where she was going. "It's all part of the Friend Plan, you know?"

"Everyone? Isn't that kind of taxing, darling...?"

"I'm not one to not trust Pinkie Pie when it comes to that," Rainbow Dash simply shrugged, pointing forward as the girls seemed to silently agree with that statement. "Just let her do her thing."

Sunset simply traded them all a look as they did so, opening a smile of her own as they kept on going inward. This was going to be quite a day, she was sure of that!

Rumors had flown around way back, how the amusement park was actually on its last legs for quite a while and on the verge of being abandoned. Looking at it now, it certainly didn't look or feel like that at all anymore! Everything was absolutely bustling with activity, a very recent renovation act taken place to genuinely spark new life into the beaten down, decades old park. Pinkie Pie was absolutely right, the new owner definitely embraced the love and joy this place absolutely pumped with, and not only made sure the park survived, but thrived. Sunset wasn't sure anymore on how much effort was put into renovating every ride, building new ones and just giving everything a new coat of paint, but considering how big and beautiful this place now was, it must have been a monumental task.

It certainly paid off. For all the time Sunset Shimmer had been there in the human world, she had seen this place definitely showing its age. But suddenly, almost out of the complete blue, it slowly became the way it is now. All of the rides, spread around this beautiful landmark in this city, it was enough to make her head spin - it had something for at least someone to enjoy, either through a physical attraction or through its visuals and aesthetic. The Equestrian had to hold down her laugh as she saw Rarity absolutely gawking over the statues, proudly displaying powerful-looking horses, the symbol of the city. Applejack instinctively appreciated the distance between kiosks and cafes, making a very difficult case to hide that she did. Rainbow Dash wouldn't stop looking at all the exciting rides, the roller-coaster absolutely pulling most of her attention away from anything else. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were both attracted to the colors and the atmosphere - mostly Pinkie Pie, on the latter and Fluttershy appreciating the expert care for nature present and the calmness it instilled on her on such a place with such bustling energy; a place of rest and repose after a thrill-filled ride.

It wasn't just them! The Unicorn could definitely see people all around the theme park appreciating something different about it, as if they just walked into one for the first time in their lives. Some were laughing, others were in an adrenaline rush which was pumping through their body after going through an insane ride for the first time ever, replaying through the ride again and again. The energy and the joy in this place was intoxicating, and Sunset couldn't help but be caught in the tide of it all, her smile and her adrenaline rushing as she and her friends blazed through rides as if they were all little kids again.

But amongst the crowd, a single face caught Sunset's eyes. A face she was acquainted with, a single face that drew her sights, unexpectedly so, but the strange feeling of wonder and surprise both clashed together to make this single person be easily spotted in the crowd, for hers was a face one does not simply forget.

There was Quarry, also known by many as Quay - a girl about as tall as Flash Sentry was; built lean and proportional in ways that are very easy on the eyes, which clashed fiercely with her odd sense of dressing in clothes that felt like she simply didn't care at all. Her insanely long light blue hair reached down to her ankles, and if not for the fact she was standing absolutely still, Sunset might have never noticed her presence in the movement of the crowds.

The Equestrian was appalled by the sight before her eyes, so much it almost pulled her away from everything else. For many people, the sight of Quay meant imminent trouble, something that was there to end any issues that were possibly happening at that time. She was a means to an end - a period in a sentence as the main, meanest and most well-known and feared enforcer of the Convocation of the Lost - the only one that directly reported to Nimue, the leader, herself. Many respected her authority while few challenged it as she approached them, and that would usually end with relatively graphic results. Needless to say, the medic of the Convocation was being paid very well.

Sunset Shimmer was curious. Perhaps much more than she intended to be, as she wasn't sure for how long she stared at the girl - a Golem that looked remarkably like any other human. Her presence there was both harrowing and interesting, for all the right and wrong reasons. The Equestrian wouldn't claim that seeing someone like Quay at the amusement park was unnatural, mostly because it wasn't her place to say what people would like to do with their free time, but just the fact she carried the title she did...

...Could there actually be? Is something happening in this amusement park, right now?

The thought was overpowering in more ways than one. On one side, she was enjoying herself like she had never enjoyed herself before with her friends - an activity she was looking forward to all week. On the other hand, if there was something wrong with this place, and Quay of all people was sent to deal with it...

Sunset gulped hard. She felt like she needed to know, if only to put her mind at ease. Maybe she was thinking too hard? Maybe Quay was there for no reason, only to enjoy herself but didn't know where to start?

She apologized to her friends as she gave them a flimsy excuse to use the restroom, leaving them to run towards another ride and wait on the line for a quick moment. She immediately skipped within the crowds, dodging the eventual overexcited child as she did so, and she closed distance with the Golem, very quickly in fact. As she rose her hand to greet her, she felt herself fidget for a while - unsure on how to speak with the enforcer. However, time was running short and her curiosity knew no bounds at this point.

"Hey, Quay! ...I wasn't expecting to find you here!"

The Golem bulged her eyes as she turned around, shocked and surprised at the approach Sunset gave her. She was immediately recognized as Quay's eyebrows furrowed very lightly in wonder, her arms crossed like she was stuck in that spot on the ground for days.

"You! ...Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm hanging out with my friends," the Equestrian claimed, making the enforcer slump her shoulders a little, still looking at Sunset like she just saw the last person she expected to see. "What are you doing here? I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see you in a place like this. I never really took you for a carnival per... golem."

"...With your friends?" Quay asked, shifting in place a little as she looked a little less shocked at Sunset's presence. "I see."

Sunset blinked a little as the Golem kept looking at her as if she didn't fully understand the language the Equestrian spoke in. After just a quick moment, she rose her eyes back at her:

"So you're not here because Nimue asked you to?"

...I knew it...!

"Look, I'm sorry to ask, but is that why you're here?" Sunset asked with a much more serious look on her face, still unsure on what to say to the Golem. She never truly got the opportunity to speak with her outside of a span of just a couple seconds. "...I wanna know if my friends and I need to leave the park."

"No, it's fine," Quay reassured her, still keeping her arms crossed. "...In fact, I don't know. I can't speak of things I don't understand; I'd rather not give false information than no information at all."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It means exactly that. ...No one knows what's going on. A couple days ago, Nimue got some reports about some kind of potential in this park, the kind that's not good for people's health? Information about all of that stuff was confusing and annoying so I didn't pay attention to it, but I do know that no one knows anything about it."

That sounds ridiculous! What!?

"...So that's why I'm here. To keep an eye on things, see if I can spot something weird. I hate when I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for - I thought Nimue had sent you to..." She stopped. Quarry shifted, nudged herself in place and shook her head, dismissively, her expression absolutely frozen in a state of constant seriousness. "Never mind."

"So... nothing's happened in the time you've been here? For how long..."

"Three days. And no, I haven't seen a thing yet," Quay shrugged, making the Equestrian raise an eyebrow even higher, confused and appalled at what she just heard. "If this was any other job I would've bailed on it already, but..."

But Nimue asked you, so it must be pretty serious for you to just leave...

"Do you bail on your jobs often?"

"...Leave me alone, Sunset Shimmer. I already told you what I'm doing here."

Hmph. As friendly as ever, I see. Oh, well.

It doesn't seem like there's any immediate danger... I mean, everyone around the park's doing just fine, anyways. I think it'll be fine.

And with that, Sunset Shimmer bid the Enforcer goodbye. She had a ride to catch with her friends, and she'll be damned if she lets the opportunity to see Rarity's face when they board the Hurricane and she realizes that was a terrible idea slip her by.

"Oh, goodness... Darlings, I think I'm lightheaded! Oh, I'm definitely-- definitely, yes."

"That was AWESOME! I TOLD you guys that the Roller-Coaster was the best thing EVER!"

"Simmer down, RD! ...I don't think everyone's around here's as up to speed as you are."

Rainbow Dash threw a quick glance at the table, and she giggled a little as Rarity, Sunset and Fluttershy all displayed a slight hue of green around their ears. The lightheaded buzz that followed the rush of rides, topped off with a ride of the Dragon's Maw roller coaster was a little bit more than the girls could handle, and they were now just readjusting to the feeling of having a firm, solid ground beneath their feet.

"...Now I know why it's called the way it is," Sunset sighed deeply, trying to contain her lunch as best as she could. "I think I'm actually glad they took a while to let us in..."

"Really? I thought that was super annoying," Rainbow positioned herself, crossing her arms as she pouted, still failing to contain how excited and full of energy she still was. "Having us stay back because of a time technicality..."

"Gasp! You have to respect the time, Dashie! In both the Amusement Park and in Comedy, timing is EVERYTHING. You can't have time be out of whack when that's the core essence of your soul!"

"...Did you just say gasp as y---"

"TIMIIING!"

Sunset felt a little balloon reopening in her chest as she chuckled, Rarity and Fluttershy both also looking slightly better, no shade of green around their faces anymore. She let go a small sigh as the noises of the roller-coaster rumbled the ground beneath their feet, making Fluttershy meep slightly, intimidated.

"What's the matter, Fluttershy? Are you OK?" Rarity kindly asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as she nodded, positively.

"Um, y-yes. I think I'm just a bit worn out by those big rides..."

"Well, RD keeps pushing us all into going in 'em," Applejack quipped, making her rainbow-haired friend shift a little, annoyed. "Maybe we should have slowed down a little before goin' up there?"

"Well, uh," Dash stuttered, trading looks with Fluttershy for long enough for her to absolutely fold. "...Y-Yeah, maybe? B-But the roller-coaster! And the Hurricane! And... Um, maybe we should go in a slower-paced attraction next?"

Everyone kind of choked a little as they noticed how absolutely quickly Rainbow Dash stepped back, almost as if it was as unnatural of an occurrence as her waking up early. Maybe they would never know.

"I would appreciate that, Rainbow Dash!"

"THEN WE HAVE A PLAN!" Pinkie Pie's battlecry echoed to nowhere as the passer-byes simply threw quick glances in their direction before resuming walking towards their actual destinations. "Where should we go next?"

"Oh, I agree with Fluttershy, I would simply relish an opportunity to go a little slower right now," Rarity added, looking very quickly at a nearby mirror, analyzing the intricacies of her makeup's details. "Is there any place around here that doesn't require us to... actually ride something?"

"This is an amusement park, not a ridy park, silly!" Pinkie giggled, opening the flier she had previously by removing it from her hair, once again. How didn't she lose it yet was a mystery Sunset would love to solve. "Let's see, there's a HAAAAUNTED house! Or a MIIIIRRROR house! Or a WIIIILDLIFE house! ...I didn't even know those existed."

"...I'm surprised there's even something like that," Sunset added, scratching the back of her neck. "How many houses are there?"

"About ten! Labyrinth house! House house! House of Fun - that one's a personal favorite - Outhouse, Guard House--"

"We get the idea, Pinkie," Applejack interrupted, laughing a little as she looked at Fluttershy, who smiled a little at how much in her element Pinkie Pie was. "Any ideas?"

"Oh, um..." Fluttershy pondered, looking at the faces of her friends as if they were expecting the answer they were sure she would give. Except... "How about the Mirror house? Last time I went to a horror house..."

You weren't impressed. I saw the picture.

"Any objections, girls?" Rarity questioned, walking by Fluttershy's side, shifting her own hair backwards like it was a cape. As she heard no objections from anyone, she proceeded to move in the general direction of outside of the view of the roller-coaster, towards their newest objective. "To the House of Mirrors it is, then!"

"...That's weird. I was sure she would say the Wildlife house?" The rainbow-haired girl asked Sunset, who smiled at her friend's inquiry. To be fair, she also thought that would be the case, but...

"Maybe that's why she didn't pick that one? Because everyone expected it?"

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. Fluttershy being subversive... that was definitely something new.

The House of Mirrors. Well, at least the giant lettering on top of it made sure it was impossible to miss.

It wasn't very far from most of the other attractions, but as far as they go, this one was relatively out of the way. Unsurprising, considering that according to the flier, it was one of the first buildings actually built in this park. Everything else was just built in more convenient locations.

"I have to admit, I was expecting something smaller than this," Applejack said as she scratched the back of her head, genuinely impressed at how big this was. Apparently, instead of making it a two storey building, the previous owner opted to just making it very large. "How much do you need for a house of mirrors, anyhow?"

"That's what we're here to find out, isn't it? Let's-a-go, girls!" Pinkie exclaimed as she positively skipped towards the massive wooden double doors that didn't bar anyone's way, considering they were swung open during work time. Interestingly enough, there wasn't any personnel around - maybe they deemed it unnecessary?

Regardless, the girls were soon all stepping inside the building made mostly of wood and stone, a very dim light being cast from the lamps above them to make up for the fact that the building itself had no windows. This made the lighting present within the area to be projected in such a way that provided a very interesting angle on the mirrors that they had within this attraction, something that took Sunset by surprise - most of the girls too.

This building was big, and for a reason. The amount of mirrors present within was positively insane, but not in any special, or labyrinthine way. This house was made mostly of corridors that spread out in many different directions, encompassing most of its walls with the namesake of the building. Many different types of them were noted by the girls that created the most intriguing and bizarre effects as they were seen from the dim, strangely off-putting lighting from the ceiling. Some made you much taller, or much shorter. Some of the mirrors caused the illusion of a hologram to be cast before you, or made you even move slower, or faster. Sometimes, a strange combination of both happened, and instead of it being charming, Sunset found it to be awkward and chilling.

She couldn't really put her finger on it, but something about the way this light was being cast on their reflections was shockingly alien. She couldn't even describe the feeling she had to herself, much to her chagrin; she was used to knowing how to understand effects of science to a degree, and being this strangely bothered by them was a feeling Sunset wasn't familiar with. She tried poking the mirrors, stopping the lights from reaching them somehow, or maybe even jumping in front of some of them to try and see if she could get any results from that, with no real success.

Her bizarre drive to understand the magic of the mirrors was so great that when she finally came to her senses, her friends were already on opposite sides of the corridor, laughing and enjoying themselves as they were completely enamored with the interesting, magic world of their own reflections. The Equestrian shook her head in annoyance: being this inquisitive about things that didn't matter was something that just came back like a very bad habit, and she dismissed her thought almost as quickly as Fluttershy and Applejack called out to her in their own side of the corridor.

"Sunset Shimmer, come here! You're gonna love this one!"

She let go a tiny chuckle as she walked up to them and saw that her reflection of the mirror they pointed out was... accurate? She rose her right hand, and the reflection did the same! How did they even manage to do this!?

"Isn't it interesting? I wonder how they do all of this!"

"It probably takes some fancy skills we don't even understand," Applejack interjected, being extremely amused at the fact her mirror was actually showing her reflection accurately, in slow-motion. "People must study super-hard to figure stuff like this out!"

Study super hard... I used to do that all the time. I still do, by the way, and I can't even fathom how they manage to do this!

Why was this bothering her so much? Sunset shook her head again, and her reflection did the same. She blinked her right eye, and so did the reflection. She showed her right palm to her double, and so it did as well. She then rose her left hand so it hovered centimeters against her double's right, and the reflection's left hand creeped closer to Sunset's right palm, which sent a chilling bolt down her spine, making her pull distance between them.

She took a very deep breath. Whatever was it that was creeping inside of her head needed to leave, right now. She had no use for unnecessary thoughts like that, especially when they were connected to her lack of ability to understand a concept caused through light illusions!

The Equestrian took this opportunity to take a very good look at the building they were in, and she was surprised to find that she couldn't, in fact, find too much inside of it. This was a house of mirrors, sure, but it just being a bunch of corridors and glass was so distracting that she soon found herself thinking of absolutely everything else instead of the fun she was supposed to be having. She noticed that the lighting was so dim and gloomy, it was borderline depressing. She noticed the very light wooden creaks in the distance, she noticed the complete and utter silence that followed the girls' voices as they laughed and had fun. She noticed she wasn't having any, and it was surprisingly scary.

It was scary. She was scared.

...But of what, exactly? She was scared of the lights? Of her reflection on the mirror? As Sunset's mind kept asking itself those questions, her body realized for the first time that the girls were alone inside this place. There was no staff outside, and no one else but them were in this building right now. The Equestrian bit her finger in stress as she couldn't help but feel like she didn't want to be in there anymore. The thought came to her like a bolt of lightning and before she realized it, she was walking at a quick pace through the building towards her friends, the idea of getting away from this house brought some manner of comfort back to her mind.

Sunset made a quick turn at the closest corridor she found and there was Fluttershy and Applejack, as they were enjoying themselves in a way that absolutely boggled her mind. Without really thinking too hard, the Equestrian gripped Fluttershy's hand, immediately capturing her attention as she did so, also managing to make Applejack look at her.

"Fluttershy, Applejack? ...I don't like this place." She spoke without really thinking too hard. Her thoughts were so confused and lost that she, quite frankly, didn't fully want to think too hard.

"What? ...Sunset, are you okay? You look a little pale," Fluttershy softly asked, holding Sunset's hand with worry. "What's wrong?"

"I... I don't know, there's just..." she spoke with a very desperate rust to her voice, which the girls noticed immediately. "There's something off about this place. I can't put my finger on it, but there's definitely something wrong here."

"How'd you reckon? ...You sure about this?" Applejack asked just to be safe, and Sunset confirmed it with a nod. "You don't think it's your mind playin' tricks on you?"

"I don't know. I just feel like there's something abhorrently wrong with this place," the Equestrian shivered, throwing looks in all directions as she noticed something she should have probably noticed sooner. "...Wait, hold on. W-Where's Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity?"

"They were down the corridor, I think," the element of kindness said as she turned around to look down the corridor, but she didn't see anyone down it at all. "That's strange, they were there just a second ago."

"Sunset, d'you think this' something bad? I mean... last time you had a feeling like this...!"

"...W-We need to find the others! Come on, girls!"

Following Sunset's orders, Fluttershy and Applejack ran down the corridor with her, dashing past the mirrors with little desire to pay attention to them anymore.

None of the girls would genuinely brush Sunset Shimmer's worries aside. Everyone was prone to being very scared about simple things, true, but her hunch about something being very, very wrong already saved their hides really badly before. Seeing her panic and saying that this place was off-putting and wrong definitely counted as something worth at least looking into, and so their dash down this strange, large building started with little to no success. The girls thought that was really weird indeed - this building wasn't that large, and the three girls were nowhere in sight?

The Unicorn felt like her mind would crush her. Her thoughts were pumping so quickly and so erratically that she couldn't process them, her eyes simply locking onto things on the distance and taking center stage inside her mind. As she would run, she would see the mirrors again, casting her reflection on them as if she was being mocked. She would look at her own face and see she was horrified, scared beyond reason as they ran deeper into this maddening house, their footsteps being the only thing that genuinely made noise within these empty, cold halls.

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack tried to call, but no one answered her. "...Rainbow Dash!"

"Rarity!" Fluttershy also called, her calm and sweet voice being forced out of her lungs with surprising power. "...Girls! Please, respond!"

No response. This place was cold and quiet, the feeling of dread that Sunset felt before now evolved into genuine, full-fledged terror. She couldn't even be bothered to think anymore, she wanted to find her friends and get them out of there immediately. She took a quick turn in a corridor, then another turn in another one. She looked in all directions, called out for the girls, but nothing happened. Where were they?

Maybe they left? That's the only thing I can think of! Maybe Rainbow got bored and left, so Pinkie and Rarity followed! Why else wouldn't they answer my calls? Why else wouldn't they simply let us know they are still around?

...That would be convenient, wouldn't it?

That's the last thing that came to Sunset's immediate mind as she took another very quick turn around a corner and stopped running as she almost ran into--

"P-Pinkie Pie!"

"Oh! Hi!"

The Equestrian felt her knees scream in complaint as she forced her momentum to stop completely or she would crash into her friend, swinging her arms wildly backwards in order to halt her advance. She stopped, breathed and smiled so much that she felt like she was in a dream of some kind. So they are inside the building, after all!

"Where were you, Pinkie? We were looking for you!"

"...We?"

The Equestrian's ability to interpret what her friend had said suddenly came back to her like a breath of fresh air, though she wasn't sure she was fond of that at all. Very slowly she turned around, and... Fluttershy and Applejack weren't with her anymore.

She had lost them in there!? Her heart skipped a thousand beats as it was pumping so quickly she thought it would tear from her chest and start walking on its own. Sunset took a step backwards as she called for her friends from the bottom of her lungs, with little actual success.

"I don't think they heard you."

"Oh, no. Oh, no! No, no no! This isn't...! L-Look, Pinkie! We need to find them! There's something wrong with this place! I hate it here! Can we please find the girls and leave?"

"What's wrong with this place? It's all just a bunch of reflections."

"I... I don't know! I really don't know!" Sunset desperately exclaimed, holding Pinkie's hand as she was trying her hardest to think properly, but wasn't being successful. "All I know is that I really don't like this place at all!"

"You hate looking at yourself, don't you?"

...

The Unicorn stopped moving.

"You hate when you look at your own face and you see yourself staring back, don't you? ...Because you can't see past your failures. You can't see past your own mistakes, and they haunt you. So you hate yourself, because you can't forgive yourself. Is that why you hate it here?--

Sunset's ears felt like they were playing tricks on her. Her ears buzzed with static, her mind stuck in a loop of confusion as she looked at her friend's face. Pinkie Pie's face was frozen, static in a permanent semi-smile, as if someone slashed it there, lazy, to simulate the act of smiling. The pink-haired girl stepped an inch closer to her friend, her eyes cold, piercing and dead.

Why do you hate yourself so much? What kind of mistake can't you see past? Tell me all about it.

NO!

Celestia's ex-protégé couldn't rationalize what she was seeing, but she let panic take over. On instinct, she pushed herself away from Pinkie, and ran the completely opposite direction. She wanted to run, run and disappear. She didn't want to stay there anymore, she wanted out! Immediately!

Her feet stomped the floor with such force, it was uncanny. The speed in which she managed to run was probably faster than she had even ran before in her life, and very quickly, Pinkie became just a silhouette in the distance, as she turned around a corner as quickly as she could, and was forced to stop.

Before her, right now, was none other than Applejack herself. Looking at Sunset as if she expected her to run through here... with the same blank, creepy expression on her face - it sent chills down the Equestrian's spine.

"It doesn't matter if you run. You can't escape yourself, it doesn't matter how fast you think you are. You're stuck with your decisions and your choices forever. Do you really think that you can simply try and pretend that you've never made the biggest mistake of your life?"

NO! I-I don't! ...T-This isn't about that!

Isn't it?

Sunset ignored her own mind as she couldn't think anymore. All she could do was turn around and run away again, turning another corner, watching as her friends disappeared from her sight, only to be interrupted again, by Rainbow Dash this time.

"Do you think that lying to yourself will fill the void inside you? It won't. A life built on lies is just as fickle as someone that can't accept their own failures. You're not living a happy life, you're living a lie you tell yourself to make you feel better about yourself."

I'M NOT! I'm in a much better place now! I don't hate my friends, or the life I have now!

You LIE.

LIAR. YOU HATE IT. YOURSELF. YOUR CHOICE. YOUR MISTAKE. YOUR LIE. YOURSELF. YOU HATE IT.

She cried. Her eyes couldn't contain themselves as she ran away again, a stream of tears and horrified shock burning through her like fire in her veins. Sunset's face distorted into a pained, hurt wreck as she put her all into running, her feet carrying her as hard as they could without tripping and falling. She couldn't see where she was going anymore; she was eventually stopped by crashing onto a body that was pushed back violently by the strength of the impact, forcing the Equestrian to look up to Fluttershy, who looked absolutely the same as the others.

"Do you think you made the most important person to you proud with the lies you keep telling?"

She was surrounded. her friends were all around her, casting shadows so dark and oppressive that she felt like she was being consumed by them. Her eyes mellowed and cried tears she hadn't cried in a long time - so long she had forgotten already. Her hands held her head as she curled on the floor, pathetic and whimpering unintelligibly as she rose her face enough to cast her eyes on the mirror, once again.

A Raging She-Demon looked back at her with eyes filled with condescending pressure. Sunset stared at her own face as if she was being sucked in by it, her heart being torn, slashed and broken by it.

That was the last thing she saw before the mirror exploded in front of her, Sunset Shimmer's mind being spirited back to a shocking surprise as Fluttershy was thrown so far down the corridor she made a bonking noise as she skid along the floor.

The Equestrian opened her eyes, appalled at the sight of seeing Fluttershy being tossed somewhere, but that wasn't the point. She looked around as if she just had just woken up from confusion, her mind just now coming to terms with understanding itself a little again. She rose her face, dirty with tears, and sat down on the floor, looking at the woman who now stood in front of her; a light-blue haired girl that carried a look that quite frankly, surprised Sunset more than she think she did.

"Q-Quay!?"

"What's even up with you? Were you born under an unlucky star?" The Golem's voice ringed so easy for the Equestrian, she felt like it healed her as she found the strength back in her body to stand up. "I honestly don't know how you do it! It's like you're a trouble magnet or something!"

The Golem stepped forward, defiant towards Sunset's friends, who stepped back a little, worried. ...Except they didn't really move, or show any signs of shock in their features. They were the same as before - creepy, frozen. Unchanged.

"Now, whatever it is you are? I'm giving you a chance to stop before I bash your face in."

"I had no idea souless dolls even managed to speak on their own. Where is your puppeteer, doll?"

The Enforcer of the Convocation blinked once, a little surprised at how little the one before her actually cared about her threat.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not giving you another chance! Stop this annoying thing you're doing and if you resist, I'm crushing you like the worm that you are!"

"...I see. You really don't want to disappoint the puppet master. How much have you let her down, already?"

Quay didn't feel like giving them a third warning, so she pulled her fist back, ready to start attacking. Sunset jumped up on instinct, grabbing hold of her fist as she did so, making the golem stop.

"W-WAIT! Don't do it, STOP!"

"What are you doing, Sunset Shimmer? This is the thing I've been sent to neutralize! Why are you stopping me!?"

"Because those are my friends!" she exclaimed loudly, jumping in front of the enforcer, relatively irrationally. "T-They are my friends! Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, whom you just tossed away, and Pinkie Pie!"

"They're your friends...?"

Sunset Shimmer looked back at them and before she could think too much, Applejack had walked up to her, picked her up by the hip and shoulder and tossed her towards the closest mirror with so much strength it was unnatural. The Equestrian crashed against it with violence, punching a hole through the glass and onto the neighboring corridor, having her roll on the floor for a while as the bruise on her face made her yelp in shock and pain.

"This is what it is, isn't it? You're so aggressive and straightforward! So eager to prove yourself, but that's not what this is, isn't it? This isn't about you proving yourself, this is about you trying not to make the most important person to you disappointed anymore."

The Golem's eyes widened in shock as she was torn between running towards the wounded girl, or staring dumbfounded at the girls, who were speaking with such poison that it was piercing her ears like a bad headache.

"W-What? DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? I TOLD YOU TO--"

"You're a failure and you know it, little girl. The only reason you're being kept around is because you're the puppet master's, not because of your skills at being good at what's required of you. You can do nothing else but to attack and threaten. You know this, you know your puppet master knows of this. You disappointed her. You don't want to anymore, so you're even more angry and fierce than you were before. Not because you want to evolve into something else, it's because this is all you're good for."

"SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"You have no real power outside of what you can do. How does it feel? I know how it feels, little girl. This hurts you quite badly. It hurts to be a failure. To not be able to achieve the expectations of those dear to you. Why do you think you only get assigned jobs that play to your strengths? It's because the puppet master knows you can do nothing else."

The Golem's face was impossible to describe. She was surprised, shocked, scared, stunned, bewildered. She didn't know where to look. Her chest was moving heavily following the speed of her breath, as she was stepping back herself. She caught on to her feet as she stopped, and clenched her fist again. Not out of anger, but out of fear. Something was worming its way inside of her head, and she was scared of it.

What was this? What was going on? Why were this cretins saying what they were, as if they knew the truth! They knew nothing!

Nothing? You know very well that what you hear is the truth. You can't deny it. It's who you are. You can't deny yourself, otherwise you'll have nothing.

Quay was stuck in place. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe properly. Her face was distorted with a scare that she deemed unnatural. She tried to punch the closest of the girls, but didn't even manage to gather the strength to do it. Her will seemed to slowly get drained from her body as all she could do was feel her deepest insecurities be exposed, being attacked mercilessly by the voices that echoed inside of her head.

...Sunset rose her face. Her eyes were watered, as her tears still streamed down her cheeks and spotted the floor. She found herself breathing a little bit more calmly, but that didn't mean much. She wanted to scream to the enforcer, have her snap out of it, have her run instead of staying put and let her fall for the trap, but she couldn't do it. She felt like her body was so much heavier than it really was... all she could do was look around, confused and scared. Not being able to understand the why and the how.

That is, until her sight fell upon a very specific mirror. It wasn't fancier, or more special visually in any way... but the reflection in it was what caught her attention, more than anything else ever had the whole day she spent in this cursed house.

Applejack was in the reflection. She was waving frantically, trying to say something to Sunset Shimmer, but no voice was heard from it. Sunset slowly stood up, her eyes bulged and glued to the image of AJ desperately motioning to catch her attention, and when it did, her friend smiled, glad. The Equestrian saw Applejack point forward, and she quickly looked at where she was indicating; the scene of the golem being surrounded by the girls, words being cast down upon her like the most painful of illnesses. Quickly, Sunset cast a glance back at the mirror, with the apple farmer motioning to herself, then to her double, then making as many hand signals indicating Sunset to attack her. The look on her face demonstrated how serious about this she was... this was indeed Applejack. The real one. Inside the mirror!!

For the first time in what felt like forever, Sunset felt some semblance of sanity and full-body control return like a bolt of lightning had struck her. Turning around as quickly as she could, the Equestrian dashed through the hole she was thrown through and before anyone could register what had happened, she had body tackled the closest one to Quay - Applejack, of course, making her tumble and crash onto the ground with a dry, hard thud. The one in the mirror flinched and held her head as if she had felt the attack herself, smiling and giving Sunset a thumbs-up when she turned around to look.

...Reflections.

Mirrors. Reflections coming to life. Insecurities coming to flourish and opening weaknesses through fear.

This is...! I understand now! I know what this is!

Sunset's fears evaporated when everything seemed to fall into place. Once you understand the monster, what reason there is to fear it? She looked at her "friends" - the doubles created when her actual friends were caught by the monster, and they all started to groan and move with clear intentions of violence, which definitely gave Sunset some pause. She couldn't hurt the doubles: if what happened to Applejack was any indication, if the doubles were hurt, the real ones would feel it too. She had to do something else - she had to run. She had to get out of their range, and defeat the monster that was causing all this!

The Equestrian turned around and tried to pull Quay up, but soon the realization that the enforcer was indeed an insanely heavy Golem came to her. However, the girl stood up herself, lightheaded and confused, Sunset's eyes being the only thing she could see at that moment, as if she was slowly being pulled back to reality.

"W-What? ...The hell just...?"

"RUN! Don't stay within their range, or you'll become one of them!"

"YOU CAN'T RUN FROM WHO YOU ARE!"

Sunset clenched her teeth and apologized as she simply gave Rarity's double a headbutt on the chin, making her step back enough to give Sunset room to run away. Quay was confused, still trying to get her bearing, but as soon as the Equestrian ran past her, she took to action and did the same, shaking her head and trying to come to grips with the feelings that bubbled to the surface so unexpectedly.

"W-What...? What happened? I'm confused, what happened? What the hell?"

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry!" Sunset apologized, unsure if she was asking forgiveness to Rarity or to the Golem. "I didn't know what was going on! I was so scared, I didn't know what to do...!"

"Uh...! I... W-What did that thing do to me?" the Golem whimpered a little, her steps as she ran ringing much, much louder than Sunset's own. "T-Those things were talking about me like they knew who I was...!"

"Those people are my friends, Quay! I told you already!" Sunset reaffirmed, being forced to stop running as a dive into a corner led them straight into Fluttershy's double, who looked absolutely cold and unflinching. Sunset's worries were right, these things could warp through the mirrors! "Or at least, those are their bodies!"

"...You have some pretty weird friends, Sunset Shimmer," Quay was sweating bullets as she stepped back, visibly scared of the visage of those things that could pierce through her mind and make her feel things she didn't want to feel. "I don't like this...! I hate this place! What do I do!?"

"Trust me! ...I know what we can do!" the Equestrian reassured the golem, turning around and launching a yell as loud as she could, trying her hardest to make everyone inside this building hear her: "GIRLS! I NEED YOU TO SHOW ME WHERE THE MONSTER IS!"

You are the monster, Sunset Shimmer.

SHUT UP! I'm not listening to you anymore!!

"Now, RUN! Come on, Quay, RUN!" Sunset urged the directionless enforcer as she simply dashed in an unrelated direction, being closely followed by her. The doubles all made mention to jumping into the mirrors, as predicted.

However, Sunset Shimmer knew exactly where to go. Her eyes weren't even directed towards the corridors, but at the mirrors. She saw Fluttershy, visibly hurt a little as she pointed west with both hands. On another mirror, there was Rainbow Dash, motioning towards the same general direction fiercely, her teeth clenched and visibly furious. Applejack, with a very slight bruise, motioning down a specific hallway, Rarity, stoic and unflinching, holding her chin with one hand and pointing towards their destination with another. Pinkie Pie was running through every mirror she could be shown in, almost as if she was racing Sunset towards their goal...!

Her wonderful, amazing friends...!

"What's going on? What kind of plan are you hatching, Sunset Shimmer? Explain to me so I can understand!"

Oh, so you never explain anything to me, but you demand answers from me? ...Well, that's just how you are, I suppose?

"...Paranoia!"

"...Excuse me?"

"This monster... It's called Paranoia! It resides in a very specific mirror, draining the sanity and soul of those that look into it, taking over their bodies and imprisoning its victims in mirrors! If we capture its main source of power, we'll be able to break the hold it has on my friends! We'll be able to fix this nightmare!"

A rumble. A groan. A very audible shriek of anger followed the frame of every single mirror in this house, and Sunset knew why. The monster was getting afraid. It was irritated that she knew!

"You'll never break my hold on them, Sunset Shimmer!!" a voice echoed from all the mirrors at once, mimicking the voices of her friends. She did her best to ignore it. "Try as hard as you want, it's not going to work!"

The Equestrian wasn't very impressed. This monster did a much better job at working its way inside her insecurities... It wasn't doing a very good job at hiding its own.

They kept on running, dodging the doubles as they came across them, and following the instructions of the girls in the mirrors. Following Sunset's instructions, Quay refrained from trampling over the doubles, with the very real danger of her squishing them. She accepted simply letting the Equestrian guide the way, silently nodding and following her directions.

It didn't take very long before they reached a very isolated corridor in the end of the house. The doubles were all there, menacing and shield-like in their positioning, the girls at the nearby mirrors pointing frantically at a single, special one. One with a different frame, a different mold, a different size. It was about as big as a house mirror one would hang on the wall, a little bit shorter than Sunset herself. It was adorned and designed with beautiful intricate details, and it definitely gave a vibe much more menacing and overpowering than any other she'd seen that day. That was the one, Paranoia's mirror.

However, they faced a conundrum. The girls were all surrounding it, keeping Sunset and Quay from reaching its frame. A warped, uncharacteristically bizarre reflection teared inside of it, blurred and bubbling in incomprehensible ways... Paranoia was getting frustrated and worried. Its mind games weren't working on the Unicorn anymore.

"...So you reached my mirror. Good job, I guess?" the Paranoia monster taunted, its mirror vibrating with the strength of a jackhammer as the creature spoke. "But for what purpose? These humans are my shield. Unless you're admitting to your true nature, Sunset Shimmer, and disregard their friendship as the shackles of a lie? Are you willing to break their bones and bodies so you can reach me?"

The monster was right. Sunset definitely had a plan to beat the monster, but to get to it, she would have to beat the doubles... and that meant hurting her friends. That was out of the question, she didn't even need to consult the reflections to know deep in her heart that she would never do it, regardless of their disposition.

...So that begs the question. How would she do it? She needed to get to that mirror! She needed to cast its reflection on the first double around that it captured and break it... That would be Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash or Rarity. For some reason, her guess was on Pinkie being the first double, but that was irrelevant if she couldn't get her hands on that thing.

"What about you, Ms. Quarry? ...All you have done is ask questions, lost and confused. You don't know what to do, do you? You're just a lost little lamb in the land of the grown-ups, not being able to stand to your own lack of capabilities. You stick to what you know, in the safety of your intolerance to adapting to things. You are stale. You are not worth anything to your puppet master. It does not need a dog that knows only one trick."

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO SHUT THE HELL UP?" Quay yelled from the bottom of her lungs, making Sunset sweat, worried. The Golem was still under the monster's mind games...!

"Like I've said. That's all you can do." The monster in the mirror glowed with a very menacing color, its purple shade emanating from the glass like mist. "Come now, Quarry... Tell me how much it hurts. Your life, being as pathetic and lost as yours is."

"QUAY! Don't listen to this thing! I told you already, it's playing to your insecurities! It's striking where it hurts on purpose! Don't let it do it!"

"Shut the hell up...!" the golem whimpered, its teeth clenched so hard that it was causing her physical harm. "You don't know anything! I'm trying so hard...! I don't want to make Nimue worry anymore, but I'm just... I can't...!"

Sunset panicked, once again. Desperate to make the Golem snap out of it, she stood in front of her and tried to make her look in her eyes, but to no avail. The golem simply cringed, her head bursting in pain as she looked positively horrified. What was Paranoia doing to her?

...Regardless of what she thought it was doing, it was too late, as Sunset suddenly felt the golem pushing her away, projecting her backwards with so much power that she felt like she was pushed by... well, a golem. She screamed and folded, crumpling to the floor as Sunset flew past the shielded guard of the Paranoia, and crashed against the far wall, the dry echoes of splintered wood ringing through her bones like a disgusting musical instrument. She coughed violently as she tried her hardest to look up at the enforcer of the Convocation, but she was behind her sights - the feet of the doubles keeping her from actually seeing her.

"Yes. You're in so much pain, little creature. You're mine, now. I'll make sure your fears remain buried. Your reflection hurts, doesn't it...?" the monster quietly whispered like a lullaby to the girl, who very slowly rose her eyes to meet the closest mirror... But Paranoia stopped.

Instead, the monster shrieked in panic. Sunset Shimmer was running away, a very valuable thing carried around her arms as she tried her hardest not to trip as she ran.

"T-THE MIRROR! NO!"

"Girls! Where's the exit? Please, show me the exit!" the Equestrian was desperate, her eyes still letting tears drop from both her shocking experience earlier, and the shove Quay just gave her. The reflections were proving to be exceptionally helpful with her finding the way out of the building. "We need to get this thing outside, as quickly as possible!"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT THIS IS MEANINGLESS!" the angry, echoing voice now emanated from every single mirror in the house, almost as if she was inside the body of a giant monster. "The only way to break my reflection is under moonlight! You're just wasting your time!"

...What did the monster just say?

Sunset Shimmer was appalled. As she ran, she checked her cellphone, analyzing what time it was, exactly. As she did so, her eyes quickly scanned the walls for any signs of a clock, and lo, there it was! As soon as she saw it, it made perfect sense for her. Everything was falling into place. Paranoia was making a huge, irreversible mistake!

The Equestrian did not waste any time. As quickly as she could, she dodged the doubles that were now rushing her down so quickly that she felt like she was taking part inside an actual nightmare. Seeing Fluttershy take swings at her, or Pinkie lunge in her direction like she wanted to eat her alive... Applejack and Rarity both swinging themselves so wildly that calling them puppets in a string wouldn't be inaccurate. Sunset found herself running so hard that she was surprised at her physical condition... but she had to give it her all. After everything she had gone through, she would be damned to Tartarus before she surrendered...!

And just like clockwork, there was the exit of the building. The massive double-doors, closed as they were, were slammed open by Sunset as she rammed them with her shoulder, forcing her to roll out of the house of mirrors, the one she was holding still kept safe in her arms as she fell to the ground, striking her back against the concrete.

Immediately following her, however... was none other than the doubles. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack. They all stepped out of the house with fire in their eyes, but as they looked at the reflection Sunset cast upon them, all they could see were themselves. The gentle glow of Luna's light illuminated the area alongside the street lamps... and when Sunset punched the mirror from the back, destroying its image completely, Paranoia let go a most painful shriek of disbelief, its original form being cast from the glass like it just crashed through a lake...!

"NO! WHY? W-WHYYY!? WHY?"

The doubles immediately vanished from their sight. Inside the house, six mirrors shattered and the same effect came to pass, with all captured girls freed from their imprisonment. The Paranoia monster wiggled on the ground, having difficulty breathing as it gasped and coughed for air, standing up from the glass-shard filled ground.

This creature looked so unlike anything Sunset would have guessed. It looked just like a crimson-clad jester with a beaked, white mask and hood covering its head. This beast, quite frankly at least twice as tall as the Equestrian, was lean and thin like sickness itself. Its eyes were bulging golden with fury as it looked up to the moon, honestly shocked and appalled at the fact that it was already night time.

"But HOW!? T-This wasn't supposed to be! It's still too early!"

"...That's exactly the same thing we heard today, when we were going to enjoy a roller-coaster ride," Sunset Shimmer explained, menacing in her tone. She let go of the mirror's frame, letting it crash against the ground with a final, loud noise that echoed coldly through the air. "Apparently, the staff of this amusement park completely forgot about Daylight Savings time because of the final renovations that took place. Looks like your prediction about what time it was was off by an hour."

The monster stumbled in place, stunned by what it just heard. This girl...! Who on earth?

"The name's Sunset Shimmer, Paranoia. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

...It was a beat of a moment. Paranoia felt its temples burn with ire at this little girl, who just made it look like a complete and utter fool. As it revved up it body to lunge at her, she didn't feel the need to move. A massively loud chain of noises ringed from the house, and before the monster could even properly process the information, Quay charged through the walls like a battering ram, absolute and complete fury drawn on her eyes, locked onto the jester like a predator does to its prey.

Sunset had never paid witness to something like this in her life. The Golem charged the jester with so much force that she could see it bend like a broken bow. Paranoia was flung from the impact with breakneck power towards a lamp post, absolutely demolishing it in the process. Quarry didn't waste a single beat; fuming with anger, she kicked the jester as it laid on the ground, sending it high up into the air and witnessed it crash against the ground. Feeling the indescribable need to punish the monster some more, the enforcer picked it up by the leg and used Paranoia as a broom, slapping its head against the concrete over and over again like it was absolutely weightless, a cry of frustration leaving her throat as she finally let it loose when Sunset asked her to.

Quarry gritted her teeth with anger. She released her grip on Paranoia, who could only make whimpering, confused gasps at them. Looking straight into its eyes, the Golem's animosity was made clear. This creature was going straight to Nimue and answer some questions - half broken or not.

"This dog may only know one trick, jester. But it's a trick it does well."

Sunset sighed relieved when she had heard that she would never have to worry about the damages that were inevitably caused due to what happened at the House of Mirrors.

Much to her very surprise, Nimue herself had appeared at the site alongside a small workforce of undercover Convocation agents. After doing a lot of quite possibly shady work, the lady directly approached the Equestrian and thanked her for her service, despite the unfortunate method in which it had to happen.

It brought a strange quietude to her mind when she heard that. Sure, she didn't mind helping the Convocation, but this... this was something else. This could have easily escalated into something much worse; the girls were the first victims of Paranoia - who knows for how long it's been in there?

It also made her incredibly happy to see all of her friends were not seriously hurt. The one who got the worst of the beating was Fluttershy, but she wasn't that badly hurt at all. Combining that with the healing provided by the Convocation, she was promised three days of visible bruises before she was as good as new again. Everyone was very surprised at the contacts Sunset had, but ultimately decided not to pry too hard. It's already been a hectic, extremely dangerous event, all they wanted was to relax in safety.

When the Paranoia monster was taken away by the Lost, Sunset knew what awaited it. It was to be locked in the Convocation's prison and interrogated by Nimue, of all people. She didn't ask about the details of the decision behind that - she felt like it fell outside of whatever jurisdiction she might even have. Maybe all of this had a much bigger thing going behind her back, but she dismissed the thought with a quick shake of her head.

What didn't fall outside of that, however, was Quarry. The Golem was pensive ever since Nimue arrived, talked and dealt with the aftershock of Paranoia's capture. When all was said and done, once the monster was appropriately secured, all she did was nod, speak a few words with their leader and then she just stood there, looking morose and melancholic. As everyone around Sunset made extra claims to reassure her that they were fine, she slowly approached the enforcer, who took notice of her presence immediately this time.

"Hey, there," the Equestrian engaged, her voice coming out weak and coy. "You're not looking so hot."

"Neither are you, but no one's judging," she replied with a very light glint of humor in her tone, enough to make Sunset open a tiny smile, at least. The enforcer's expression darkened soon, however. "...It's funny. It doesn't matter really how hard I try to deny it, I just can't bring myself to do it. Paranoia was right about me. All along."

Sunset didn't bring herself to say anything. What could she even say to her, after all?

"I'm nothing exceptional. All I can do is push things, break things, hit things, step on things. Be the immovable object, or the unstoppable, physical force. I'm not subtle, I'm not intelligent. I'm not clever and resourceful. ...I'm just a giant brick that can be used to drop on top of things."

"Tell me this. ...What good is that to people? What good can I be to Nimue when she needs much more than just a dumb brute with no real skills? No wonder people trash-talk the Convocation all the time. They don't have a frame of reference outside of me when dealing with how the Convocation deals with things. They aren't hating on Nimue and what she stands for. They are hating on me, and my incompetence."

"...That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"Is it, really? Why do you even think Nimue jumped on the opportunity to contact you, and recruit you?" Quarry gave her sentence a small pause, her face glued to the ground where the mirror was shattered. "...That's because you're everything I'm not. You figured the monster out. You realized, in the heat of the moment, the mistakes it had made. You think of a plan, you strategize. You're sensible when you need to be, and not when you can't be. ...I'm never going to fill that role. That's why you were sought after as soon as an opportunity appeared."

"Is that why you were worried that Nimue had sent me, earlier?"

Sunset's question caught the Golem by surprise, but she just chuckled and nodded, without any signs of aggressiveness from her.

"Yeah. I feel like... Like I've disappointed Nimue way too many times already. She doesn't send me to deal with sensitive tasks at all anymore. I'm always the last resort - someone that doesn't know how to deal and solve problems outside of just... beating it down. So I was determined to have this problem solved, no matter how long it took! I was in that place for days, trying my best to think of how I could do it! Where to start from, what I should look for!"

"...Turns out I was lying to myself. I'm never going to be able to be the strength Nimue needs. All this... weight, this strength of mine...? It's worthless if it's without direction. It's just a bunch of loud noise. It may hurt and annoy people, but it doesn't solve anything."

"You saved my life." The Equestrian interjected.

Quarry stopped talking. Sunset Shimmer's friends very slowly approached them, making the golem feel slightly uncomfortable at their presence, but she didn't say anything.

"You see. ...The Paranoia was kind of right about me, too. I really hate myself. I can't stand how come I can wake up every day, knowing that I did what I've done. I used to have such a happy, good life. My mentor was caring and loving, the environment in which I grew in was my life and my soul. As I learned from her, I believed I was destined for greatness, and I wanted so much more! I started to dabble in knowledge I should not know of, things I didn't understand. I thought my mentor was keeping them away from me because she thought I wasn't good enough! ...Turns out she was just trying to protect me, and make me happy."

"I... I threw it all away. I ignored her pleas, I shunned her friendship and I cast away everything she had taught me because I was stupid enough to believe I knew better. I was caught dabbling in more of the forbidden knowledge she had explicitly told me never to anymore, and I lost my cool. I threw it all on her face, told her how much of a failure of a teacher she was! ...how nopony would ever dare give me what I deserved, because they thought I couldn't handle it. I openly said I hated her, and I..."

"...I'm never going to forget the face she made when I did that. To this day, when I close my eyes, I can picture with precision the look on her eyes as she told the guards I wasn't welcome in her presence anymore. I still have nightmares about it. She looked so sad, so broken. It was like I had just ripped apart a piece of her soul and burned it because it was funny. I was furious at her - how dare she even think a couple of guards would keep me from achieving greatness? I was her pupil once, they were never going to keep me from getting what I wanted. So I knocked them out... got my most prized possessions with me and left."

Sunset's eyes were absolutely filled with tears as she kept talking. No one interrupted her as they heard her unleash the bottled up thoughts that were gathered inside her chest.

"That was so stupid of me! So very, very stupid of me! How can I even be bothered to look at a mirror and think everything is gonna be okay in the end? I hate the decisions I made with such fervor it borders self-hatred. When the Paranoia pointed all of that to me, I crumbled and lost all sense of direction. ...The hardest thing to do in your life is to look back at what you hate about yourself the most, and come to accept that as something that's a part of who you are."

"So, in a way, the Paranoia was right. ...But it was also wrong. You rose above your calling when you came to my aid. You saved my life! I was done back there until you showed up and rescued me from myself. Thanks to you, I managed to get my cool back and rescue my friends. ...The ones I would move worlds for. In that sense, the monster was wrong about me."

Sunset Shimmer looked back at the girls, who were all smiling happily at her, tears in their eyes just as well as in hers.

"I don't hate my life here. I am not lying about how I enjoy myself here. You girls are my world, the ones that give me the strength to keep going when I would have otherwise lost all the will to keep going. You've given me that chance."

"It's not really in our power to forget and bury our past," her friends pointed, putting their hands around Sunset's shoulder with warmth as everyone gathered together and took part in a fuzzy, cotton-candy smelling group hug. "But to use our past as a stepping stone, to help us reach towards a better future."

The Golem didn't have any words. She simply nodded and accepted their hug, the comfort that came with it and the powerful smell of sweets that invaded her nostrils like an angry army.

Sunset Shimmer found solace in knowing that taking her time to reflect upon herself was definitely a necessity... and she found comfort is knowing she wouldn't have to do it alone.

Pinkie Pie's invitation for a slumber party at her house came as a blessing to finally put Sunset's mind at ease. At least for now, she didn't want to sleep alone.

She didn't want to see her face that night. And if she did, she wanted her friends around to keep her sane. She definitely could count on them for that.

By a Lonely Hillside

View Online

Sunset Shimmer, 'tis with a great weight in my heart that I approach you with a matter most unfortunate which I personally wish to see addressed.

Truly, the matter of fact stands that ill befalls us all in one way or another, 'tis the truth about life. I desire not to proclaim to the winds some manner of self-centered, pretentious, self-righteous claim to express the fact that some suffer more than others, and we should all reminisce about such and act accordingly to those that suffer less or more. To ask a healthy man or woman to abandon their rights to have a good, happy life because their neighbor suffered greatly is the most unfair approach to everything that could ever be. The healthy man or woman, after all, have nothing to do with the other's suffering, albeit approaching the one that suffers and offer their hand in assistance is most viable and admirable of them. To each, the reach of their own hands, so to speak.

'Tis exactly why I reach out to you. I wish not to ask of you to suffer because someone else does, that would make me an awful creature that has no purpose in existing in some way - however, I still am compelled to ask of you to assist someone that does indeed, suffer. 'Twas a most unfortunate accident, one that I wish from the bottom of my heart to be able to revert time and undo what has been done, but such powers escape my abilities and thus I must resort to the methods I can employ.

Perhaps you might find yourself suffering from the endeavor, relatively speaking, and for that I have no words to express the depths of the well from which I draw my apologies. Thusly, 'tis imperative of me to tell you not to accept this request unless you truly wish to do it.

Hopefully, that will be enough.

Within this city, there lies a single house that sits lonely atop a hillside that hangs solitary in the shade of its own trees. With a beautiful view of the cityscape, this house has been afflicted with such sorrow - one of which is harmless now, at least to us. That does not mean no one is suffering however, and it cuts me deeply to claim that for the sake of the safety of us all and for the secrecy of our existence, the one who suffers needs to go. I refuse, however, to do so through any means other than through a diplomatic approach, and that is why I contact you.

I am sorry, Sunset Shimmer. I wish I could not ask such things of you, but sorrow comes for us all, in one way or another. 'Tis my wound, and if you do not want any part of it, then burn this letter and pretend I never contacted you.

Sincerely;
Nimue.

Sunset Shimmer's hands clasped tightly around the paper she was holding, her eyes reaching out to the distant landscape before them as a sigh escaped her breath. She wasn't sure exactly how much of this was due to her having to climb a hillside, or if it was thanks to the extremely morose letter she now possessed, its words turning into a scrambled, garbled mess of incomprehensible nothing after she had read it.

It wasn't very common for her to receive letters like this one. In fact, this was maybe the first one, ever. Nimue was always very straightforward when asking Sunset for assistance, so having her explicitly tell the Equestrian to avoid and pretend she never got this letter if she didn't want to assist them told her a whole lot about what Nimue was like, much more than she already seldom knew.

Therefore, as her feet complained in fatigue as Sunset Shimmer found herself finally reaching the summit of said hillside, she was already decided on helping no matter what.

This was a very lonely hillside, indeed. The pathway that lead all the way up here wasn't even pavement, more like cobbled stone with grass sprouting from it, making it feel and look like no one's walked these grounds for many days. The moon was high up in the sky, the light of the waning satellite and the stars being the main source of guidance for the path ahead of the girl made the area look really gloomy and sad. Sunset shivered a little as the wind blew lightly, but effectively, dancing through her hair with a chill, proper for a cold night.

The path still extended a few ways to the house which sat atop of it like an old, battered down landmark that history had forgotten. It looked old, uncared for and it was obviously abandoned. Its wooden walls had definitely seen better days, some of them jutting forward and blemished with some black taint that Sunset identified as moss and dirt. Some of the few windows the house had were broken, and as the wind passed by her, Sunset could listen to the music the house echoed with as it passed through its frames, sounding much like a sad, crying lullaby.

Sunset Shimmer stopped walking as she took the opportunity to take a look around. The area around the house was quite wide - there was a nice, big yard right next to it, neighboring the path down back to civilization. The Equestrian noticed a few toys around it - there was a swing; a couple car tires as well. A gnarled mess of a broken jungle gym, which was turned to scrap thanks to lack of care from whoever had left this place a long time ago. Sunset also saw hints of sand in there; maybe there was a sand box somewhere around here prior to it being abandoned, but now all that remained were shadow remnants of something that once was.

It was impossible to tell for how long this place had been abandoned. If Sunset didn't know any better, she would probably have guessed that this was abandoned for decades, but that would probably stretch her guess too far. The soft lights of the night sky, despite sparkling beautifully above her head like diamond dust expertly sprinkled atop a black velvet curtain, did very little to illuminate this area in any other way other than sad and depressing. The Equestrian didn't really bother looking up too much despite of that however, and found herself walking amidst the wreckage, carefully not stepping on any rogue sheets of metal or scraping herself on one by accident. Her hands were cold, so she stuffed them inside her jacket's pockets, almost in an attempt to shield herself from the environment in some way.

And then she finally saw it. A tiny speck of light, emanating from the wreckage almost as if it was trying to hide from her. Sunset took a deep breath in as she slowly walked forward, her mind being strangely serene and collected; a very thankful change of pace.

Sunset stopped walking as soon as she got very close to the light, who gasped and remained still like a statue. The Equestrian shrugged; collecting as much of her words as she could before using any of them.

"...You don't need to hide, you know?" she said as the small light gasped fiercely once again, flinching like it had been suddenly dumped in cold water. "Not from me, at least."

The tiny light didn't respond for a quick while before standing up on its own. After another very short while, it stepped out of the wreckage, and the sight before her eyes made Sunset's heart sink.

It was a child. A little kid, a bit younger than Rarity's little sister, Sweetie Belle. It was impossible to tell what the rags she was wearing once were, but they looked like something a very happy urban child would wear before being mauled by a bear. Her hair was long and braided, but it was hard to pay too much attention to it due to a very nasty-looking wound on her temple - something that the Equestrian couldn't guess what caused it. It must have been a tremendous impact, however...

She was not alive. A pale, silver silhouette that emanated a soft, haunting light of said child now stood before Sunset Shimmer with such big, expressive eyes it made the Unicorn frown in discomfort. The little ghost tried to open a smile at her, but all that Sunset saw was a sad glint of shyness and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I was told to keep quiet and hide if someone showed up." The ghost's voice echoed, ringing like an abandoned bell in a ghost town long lost to time. It sounded very light and soft, almost restrained, somehow. She fiddled with her fingers as she looked up at the Equestrian, coy and careful. "...I just did what I was told."

She was told to stay quiet and hide? Makes sense. No one's very inclined to meeting with the ghost of a child in this place.

"I was also told to come up here and meet up with you," Sunset carefully said, smiling a little as she attempted to find common ground with the fallen one. "I suppose I also did what I was told, so we're even."

The child's smile grew a little, much to Sunset's comfort. It was strange, really. She could barely see her surroundings under the pale moon's light, but she could see the ghost so clearly... it was almost surreal, too much like looking at the moon itself.

"So we're not going to get in trouble? Are you one of the nice ones, lady?"

"Oh, I suppose I am one of the nice ones," the Unicorn responded, bringing herself down a little to the kid's own level. "My name's Sunset Shimmer. What's yours?"

"I'm Cascade."

Sunset took a deep look inside the little apparition's eyes. They were filled with fear and worry, something that quite frankly, made Sunset Shimmer take pause if nothing else.

"You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm not going to do anything to you."

"Oh. I-I'm not really afraid of you."

"You're not? ...But aren't you scared?" Sunset asked, without really forcing her voice too hard. It was much harder for her to do than she thought it would be. "What scares you?"

"...Being dead."

The Unicorn opened her eyes wide in surprise at what the ghost said. She nodded at Sunset, opening a fraction of a smile that vanished just as quickly as it arrived.

"Yeah, I know I am dead. I heard it's uncommon for that to happen."

Oh, no. You poor thing...

"I... I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry... I'm the one that died."

Sunset Shimmer was at a relative loss for words. What does one say to someone that just says things like that? How do you really talk to the ghost of a child that understands that it's dead?

She couldn't find the answer. Or more like, she couldn't construct a proper answer. Theorizing and debating within her own mind for a correct method of approachability seemed like the wrong thing to think in a situation like this. The ghost of a child was still a child, after all...

The Equestrian stood up and looked around the wreckage, and the abandoned house. Considering the child's existence in this place, it wasn't very far-fetched to assume things, but she needed to find something to speak about, if only to avoid getting choked in her own inability to produce words.

"This place," Sunset started, her hands feeling chilly even as they rested inside her jacket's pockets. "Was this your house?"

"...It was. Me, my dad and my mom all lived here. I think I had a dog, too...?"

"You... think you did?"

"I can't remember a lot of things... I try to remember them, but it's like my head doesn't want me to."

I think that's because of that nasty-looking wound.

"It's really weird, I don't know how to explain."

"Well. What can you tell me about what you remember, then?"

Little Cascade fidgeted in place a little, obviously shy and embarrassed about being asked that question. It made sense, she was a little kid after all, and Sunset was a complete stranger. Once again, she lowered herself enough down to the ghost's level and tried speaking with a voice as mischievously soft as she could.

"I'll tell you a secret; no one knows about this! ...Actually, I'm also a ghost doctor!"

"...A ghost doctor?" the kid said almost in a doubtful tone, but Sunset was pretty good with her words. "Really?"

"Really. Ghosts are a bit different than people, so you need special medics to take care of them," she said as she opened a smile, laughing a little at how strangely convincing she was sounding. "So, as a ghost doctor, I know that if you re-view what you do remember, everything will start going full circle."

"Oh! Is that why you were told to come here?" Her eyes lit up like fireworks as Sunset stood up slowly, her smile finally growing beyond what the Equestrian expected.

"It is. The ones that told you to hide told me to come here and take care of you. Isn't that thoughtful of them?"

The little ghost opened up a smile, nodding slowly, but surely. Sunset Shimmer's little lie seemed to have done the job for now... Living up to it shouldn't be too hard of an issue, maybe.

"This is a large yard. Did you play here often when you were alive?" The Equestrian immediately took action into speaking. Just as long as that was happening, she wouldn't feel too much like the atmosphere alone of this place would crush her.

"I did. I lived a little bit away from other kids, so my dad and my mom both built this place for me."

"Seems like a lot of care was put into all of this. So they built it all for you?"

"Uh-huh! I especially liked the swing! Sometimes, I would get a big swing from it and jump into the jungle gym! My dad didn't like when I did that, but mom didn't mind too much?"

Maybe she thought it was a good adventure.

"I stayed here a lot. Most of the time, I think. The most of what I remember is of this place, and my house. Have you seen it yet?"

Sunset threw a quick glance at the abandoned building, and the creaking of the windows, followed by the howl of the wind through its frames made the Equestrian shake her head, her hands seemed to get a little bit colder from the thought alone.

"I don't think it's safe for me to go in there now."

"Ah, that's true," Cascade spoke as she took a few quick steps around the broken jungle gym, almost as if she was skipping around a meadow. "Did you play around a lot too? When you were little?"

The Equestrian stopped herself to think. She should have expected questions like this, but trying to reflect upon her life was never something easy for her to do.

"...I don't think I did. At least, not in that sense of the word."

"Hm?"

"I mean, I had fun, but not with jumping around or playing with my friends. I liked to stay quiet, on my own little space. I always thought that was more comfortable for me."

"...So you never had friends?"

"Oh, I had them," Sunset chuckled, her eyes dancing in their orbits as she attempted to think of the proper things to say. "I was just... not a good friend when I was young. What about you? I think your friends would have loved to come over and play."

"Ah! They did! I remember that, I had a bunch of friends!"

...This is the first time I've done this, but apparently it really does work.

"I remember meeting them when me and dad went to town to buy some stuff for the house. I can't remember what it was, I think it was boring adult stuff," little Cascade chuckled with an undefined tone, bordering the sad and happy. "They were all playing at the park. It was a pretty sunny day and I was soooo tired... From the sun! I never liked the heat. ...Anyway, I hid under that thing that looks like a plastic igloo? I can't remember the name of that thing, and they found me, and made me play with them!"

"I believe you were pretty mad at them for that?"

"I WAS! I was sooo annoyed! ...Well, not that annoyed maybe, but I was still annoyed," she corrected herself almost as if apologizing to her own memories of her friends. "I wanted to hide from the sun, and then Quill comes and asks what I was doing there all alone, looking gloomy and unfun. So he pulled me out, and when I realized it, we were playing tag. I was it, of course."

"You must have worked up quite a little, I'd guess?"

"I don't think I had ever ran that much before in my life. I was always a bit weak, so I got winded super hard. I still ran, though. I was it, after all," Cascade chuckled sadly, looking down to the broken down yard and swinging her foot at one of the broken bars of the jungle gym that prodded at a weird angle, but she didn't hit anything. "Dad looked super shocked when he saw me playing with them all. He was so happy when he picked me up he asked me if I had made new friends! He had never asked me that before."

Sunset Shimmer remained in relative silence. The little ghost seemed like she was completely lost in her memories, reliving them almost as if they were happening right in front of her eyes right now.

"I had no idea. I thought they were all just annoying at first, but... When I looked back at them and they were all smiling so nicely, with so much energy... I realized that I really liked them. I said yes."

"I imagine your dad was radiant from the news."

"He was! He looked so happy, I never saw that before! ...I wanted to see him make that face again! So I would make EXTRA effort to go out and play with them! ...but..."

Once again, her eyes just dozed off into the ground. The Unicorn walked a little closer to the ghost, being extra careful not to step into any jagged edges of the wreckage.

"I was always a bit weak. I'd get sick easy, so I couldn't get out on my own too much, my parents were scared I'd get worse doing that. So, they built this place for me. ...For us."

For us. For you and your friends.

That explains why this yard is so much larger than a normal one. Your parents must have put so much more effort into building this place than I could possibly try to understand.

"They would come over almost every Saturday. It was a relief, I really liked those days."

Sunset Shimmer rose an eyebrow at Cascade as she jumped off the wreckage, almost as if she genuinely thought she had to dodge the objects there.

"So you enjoyed Saturday more than any other day of the week?"

"Holidays, too! I never really got along well with school."

Ah, I see how that would've went.

"I never liked it. It was all so boring. I liked reading and staying quiet, but not really participating in all the things the teacher would have us do. ...I think that's a bit strange?"

"The word would be contradictory," Sunset said as she followed the little ghost out of the wrecks, walking now on the cobbled street that led toward the house, the grass that was growing through the cracks ruffling gently as her feet passed by them. "So you got bored at school? Was it always like this?"

"I don't remember. I don't think so."

"...So I would say your friends made you appreciate adventure a bit more, wouldn't you agree?"

Cascade took a little pause, considering the Equestrian's words with a small nod and a smile of her own.

"I think you're right! You really know a lot, Miss Sunset!" she exclaimed with the innocence of a child, making the not-quite-human blush a little. "Did you get bored at school too?"

"I would say that if I did, it was for very specific reasons," Sunset analyzed, scratching her Adam's Apple as her eyes locked onto the horizon for a second, the beautiful view of the city down below being something out of a painting of lights. "I admit I hated studying the same matter more than once. I always thought that learning it one time only was enough, and it proved right most of the time."

"Heheh. You were a better student than I was. ...It's super weird, you know? I didn't enjoy school at all, but now that I'm dead, I wish I could go back and apologize to my teacher for all the trouble I gave her. But that's not happening, right?"

"Sadly, no," the Equestrian shook her head dismissively, sliding her fingers in her hair as she did it. "But I don't think you have anything to worry about. You can't possibly have been a bad student. I know, I can tell."

"So you were a good student, then?"

No. I was a failure.

Sunset's voice didn't come out, but her eyes did all of the talking for her. Cascade tilted her head just a little, her eyes filling with a strange sadness Sunset wasn't sure it was her own.

"I'm sorry."

"Heh. It's okay, you're not the one that's at fault," the Equestrian chuckled a little, pulling her jacket a little closer to herself, looking at the ghost with a relative bad girl vibe. "I think it always kind of stuck with me, though. Having to learn to accept myself was a pretty hard thing to do."

"And did you?"

Sunset Shimmer blinked in surprise at the surprisingly caring look the child gave her, and smiled back in response. The camaraderie of girls dealing with their wish to apologize to their teachers was strangely comforting, and the Equestrian shrugged awkwardly as a response.

"I wish that was the case. I really don't think I did yet. I think I'll be sorting things out for the rest of my life, I'm not sure."

The child ghost skipped a bit on the pavement, walking toward the edge of the view toward the city, where a thigh high stone wall separated the road to a downhill slope towards gravity. Cascade was barely tall enough to look over it.

"You know, I never got to see all of that," the child said with a glint of melancholic excitement in her tone. "It looks so beautiful from up here! What is it like?"

Sunset Shimmer rested her hands on top of the wall, letting the cool night wind blow through her hair as the light of the moon and the city, both took aim at her eyes like a spotlight.

"It's busy. There's always something happening down there, at night and day. People coming, going and staying."

"Don't they ever sleep?"

"It's a big city. Not everypo-- one goes to sleep at the same time."

"Really? I guess that's a nice thing about being an adult," Cascade noted to herself as she swung her foot at the ground, as if she was patting it with the sole of her extremely damaged shoes. "It's kinda sad. I never thought too hard about this kind of stuff, but not ever being able to know what that's like..."

"You still lived around adults. Your parents usually show you what being an adult is like, even if they try not to."

"Your parents must have been really adult-like, then! Dad and mom both goofed around with me when they could. Except when I did badly at school... they would give me the stink-eye when that happened."

You make that sound like a fond memory of yours. I'm not sure I have memories like that about my own folks.

A prodigy daughter of yours... So much for an honors student.

"...Do you mind if I ask something?" Sunset asked, resting her weight on top of the wall, giving her legs some sense of rest. "Sorry if this seems inappropriate, but... how did you die, exactly?"

Cascade didn't answer for a couple seconds, taking the time to look down into the lights of the city, almost in a hypnotized trance. She shook her little head a little, discontent with her own thoughts, and turned around to face Sunset, looking her right in the eye.

"I remember just a little about it. ...More like, how it started."

"I have no intention of having you answer if you don't want to."

"It's okay, I guess. I said I didn't remember much about it. It was a car accident, though."

Car accident. I hear that in this world so often... I'm partially glad that Equestria's lack of automobiles is actually a thing, Manehattan's semi-industrialization be damned.

"I remember we were going to visit someone. ...I think it was my mom's friend? I was super sleepy because we had to wake up really early, so I was a bit switched off, I guess," the ghost mumbled as she paced around the pavement, avoiding stepping on the blades of grass as she did it. "It was Saturday, wasn't it? Since it was a holiday, my parents decided to go out for a change. Dad was super excited, I remember him waking me up with a really energetic smile on his face. He convinced mom to get up super early! I don't think that ever happened before."

"Sounds like your father was truly one of a kind."

"He was crying so hard. He tried to pull me out, but I was stuck in the metal bars. He was desperate, he couldn't pull me out."

...Sunset's eyes lost all of their shine as the ghost's eyes lost their own, stuck once again in a lapse as if she was witnessing it happen right in front of her. Cascade was unmoving, her head slumped down in a depressed hunch, her voice coming out like it didn't belong to her.

"I couldn't recognize dad. He looked like the world had ended. He yelled, and cried, and scolded me seriously for the first time in my life," the ghost's eyes started to shine again as her voice became watered down and shaken. "He ordered me not to die. If I did it, I'd be disobeying him. He told me to live, and if I died I'd be grounded. ...I didn't understand what he was saying, but I didn't want to make dad sad...!"

The Equestrian saw for the first time in her life, the face of a ghost as it cried. The child turned around to face Sunset as her face was a mess of tears, flowing from her incorporeal cheeks like curtains thrashing in the wind.

"I-I d-din't-t w-want to...! M-Make d-dad sad! I did-dn't w-want to...!" the words the Unicorn could understand as Cascade barely managed to enunciate them hit Sunset much harder than she thought they could. "B-BUT I DID! ...D-Dad...! I made dad sad! I died! I couldn't live, so I died! ...I made him cry! I-I made dad cryy!"

...The Equestrian cursed her own inability to be able to hold this child and tell her it was going to be all right. She cursed her inability to correct the mistake made that day, and her lack of understanding about what it actually means to be dead.

How does one respond to that? How does one soothe the crying heart of a dead child as it bawls and despairs about something outside of the control of time's unforgiving eternity?

So, she didn't reply. Instead, Sunset Shimmer simply listened. She heard the ghost cry, and silently embraced it within her own thoughts. She had no other option, she had no words for this. She simply had her presence, and her silence.

It felt like she had lost sense of time as the ghost looked up to her, looking with the lost and confused eyes as she had. Sunset could swear she could feel the child's hand as she rose her hand to Sunset's jacket, trying to hold onto it, but to no avail.

"I-I m-made dad cry. D-Do you think h-he hates me? I-I didn't obey him! I didn't obey dad...!" She cried words through her incorporeal tears as she wept right next to the Equestrian, who finally managed to bring herself to crouch next to the ghost, looking her with eyes filled with emotional sympathy.

Look at you. So close... and yet so far...

"Do I even have to say it...? Your dad wanted you to live because he loved you. I'm sure he still does," Sunset almost whispered her words, trying her hardest to make them the hand she wanted to have to pet this child's head. "He would never be angry at you because of this. He would never hate you, or anything like that."

"...B-But he said..."

"He was desperate to save your life, that much is clear. He wanted you to live, so he said what he did. Not because he meant to say that literally... but because the meaning behind his words meant more to him than anything else he could have said," the Equestrian gently said as she saw the little ghost's face brighten up so little, and yet it was such a relief to see. "You do know what he meant to say, don't you?"

"..."

"I love you, so please live. Ultimately selfish, but that's the nature of love. He didn't want you to live so he wouldn't punish you. He wanted you to live because he was your father." Sunset's smile grew generously wide as she stood up and looked over the horizon, again. The little ghost did the same, her eyes still filled with water in them, her little frame trembling relentlessly at the burst of emotion that surged within her. "...He truly was one of a kind."

It didn't take too long before the ghost started sniffling again, her body quivering so much that the Unicorn could swear she was still alive. Cascade walked a little and sat down on the ground beyond the border of the wall, as she could not sit on them. She looked solemn at the horizon, her eyes still leaking phantasmal tears.

"...Now that you say it, it m-makes me feel silly." She sniffed really loudly, making a dry, empty echo sing along the tunes of the wind. Sunset didn't comment on her words, and instead, jumped over the wall and sat atop it, looking at the horizon alongside the child for what felt like hours. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Sometimes, things that happen to us cut us more deeply than anything else. And most of the time, it takes others to help us heal these wounds... some of them you might not even realize they were there to begin with."

The little ghost threw a quick glance at Sunset, revealing her sad, tear-filled eyes to her alongside a smile that she wasn't sure what message it brought.

"Sunset Shimmer? W-What is it like? ...On the other side?"

On the other side. So that's the look you're giving me?

"You're... asking me if I know?"

She simply nodded a little.

"...I don't know," she honestly responded, the chill of the wind growing so sharp that she could swear it could cut through her skin. Still, she refused to flinch to it. "I wish I knew, but I never died. So I don't know."

"I see. I also don't know what it's like."

The little ghost sniffed sadly, looking over at the moon while whimpering words, barely audible through the sounds of nature around them. Cascade turned around a little to face Sunset with the same sad eyes as before, her lips trembling with each syllable uttered.

"I have to go, don't I?" she silently asked, her voice coming out so weak and powerless that it barely had enough strength to reach Sunset's ears. "...Do I have to?"

"I'm sorry, Cascade. ...Being a ghost doctor doesn't make me able to bring you back to life. I can only help you bring some matter of closure to your life. Once you do that, though..."

The little ghost nodded in silence, turning her head around slightly just so their eyes would meet.

"I'm scared. ...I don't want to do that alone. Stay with me?"

And just like before, the Equestrian didn't use any words. With a soft move from her legs, she positioned herself by the child's side and sat on the grass, both girls looking at the moon, side-by-side. She felt the unfathomable chill of Cascade's ghostly hand resting over her own, but refused to remove it. And there she stayed.

...She wasn't sure how long she sat on that one patch of grass. Time seemed to pass by so slowly, that minutes felt like they were hours. All that was heard in the air was the wind blowing through the house; the ruffling of the trees, shaking its leaves and branches together, making a harmonious sound that mimicked the sea. Grass and dry leaves sifted together, some carried as the song of the breeze passed by, carrying them towards the skies. Everything was hardly silent, and yet, Sunset couldn't shake the feeling like she didn't listen to anything.

She wasn't sure when it happened. But before she realized it, the little ghost wasn't there anymore.

Right by her side was nothing more but an empty hillside, full of grass, illuminated by the dull light of the night sky; the only company left for the girl was the howling wind, singing its song like a hymn for the departed.

Sunset Shimmer stood up. She patted her clothes and jumped over the wall, back to the cobbled pathway. Without thinking too much, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number - one that answered relatively quickly, considering how late at night it was.

"...Yes?"

"You gave me this number, so I'm using it. Nimue, I need a favor from you."

*Knock* *Knock*

...The man opened his eyes, disgruntled.

He yawned, the sharp pain in his mind striking the back of his head like the bad hangover that it was. He cursed under his breath as he threw a glance at the clock, and saw it was 13:00.

It was a SUNDAY. Who on this cursed earth would bother someone in their Sunday break? He took another quick look at the bed he was resting in, only to be interrupted once again by the incessant knocking on the door.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Urgh! I'm COMING! Don't punch a hole in my door!"

He was annoyed. Of course he was annoyed, someone prematurely woke him up during the one day of the week he would use all to himself. A day away from work, from contacts, from people in general. So the fact he had to actually see someone during this day was enough to make him wake in a bad mood.

The house he shifted through wasn't in a bad condition, but it always looked a bit dirty during his day off. He would use this time to just enjoy himself and drown in some kind of alcohol, if only to make it easier to bear an empty house. So he had to dodge a few bottles on the ground, half-eaten pizzas, console CDs and controllers lost amidst the chaos that ensued at night; all of which culminated in the fury he felt when someone started to bang at his door.

And angry he was. Very angry he was as he looked through the spyhole and saw a girl standing on the other side. She looked relatively young, with hair red and gold like fire reflected in the sun's light. He rose an eyebrow as he unlocked the door and swung it open, the cranky look on his face showing her all the welcomes she would get. But instead of backing off or looking relatively surprised at the power in which he opened the door, she looked stoic and serious, as if she expected him to do that.

"Graze Wave?"

"...What do you want? It's Sunday, I don't want to be disturbed."

He once again, used a forceful tone to push her back, but she didn't flinch. She instead looked at his eyes like she saw something nostalgic in them, and shrugged slightly at the words he used.

"I can imagine you'd want that," she calmly said as she pulled one of her hands from the leather jacket she wore. She held a small box, of which she presented to him without delay. "But I'm here for you, anyways. As in, this is for you. Yours, to be precise."

"I didn't order anything," he said with another rasp of irritable in his tone. The girl once again, didn't flinch from his demeanor. "So you can take your little delivery and go deliver it to the one that asked for it."

"You're Graze Wave, so this is yours. Or more like, it belongs to someone that was dear to you. I am just making sure it's properly returned."

Those words gave the man some pause. He rose an eyebrow, confused at the girl's claim, but he decided to roll with it. Was she for real?

He picked up the box. It was almost weightless... it was a cute little thing, obviously bought just recently from some store. He shook it just a little to hear a rattling noise inside, and threw a look at the girl who was staying there with the same blank, serious expression on her face, both hands inside the jacket's pockets.

He shrugged once, undoing the little tie that held the box closed. Who was this girl, just coming over and delivering something for him like this? Somehow, the curiosity got the better of him, and the box found itself open...

The man gaped his eyes. His mouth hang open by itself, and before he realized it, everything was a blur before him.

A sudden rush. What was this that he was feeling? Joy? Sadness? A piercing blow of despair that cut so deep he could swear his soul was butchered in half? A seething wave of nostalgia and memory that mended the torn soul he had just felt be cut?

The man couldn't tell. In what felt like milliseconds, he was on his knees, crying his eyes out as he held the tiny box in front of him, his eyes incapable of focusing on what they were seeing. He babbled, gasped, tried to breathe in, but all he could do was weep, uncontrollable tears flowing from his face like a leak just burst open after years of pressure. He gritted his teeth as he rested his whole weight on one of his arms, using the other one to cover his eyes as he couldn't stop, his mind slowly attempting to process all of the feelings that rushed over him, like a relentless wave of the oceans crashing down upon him.

The girl crouched in front of him, her shiny teal eyes making contact with his as she opened a smile - a smile he could swear had the power to heal the deepest of wounds.

"It's not your fault. It wasn't. And it will never have been."

...He wasn't sure when was it that he stopped crying. But once he did, the girl was already long gone - a mysterious creature that simply came and went, just like the wind.

...Thank you.

Who ever you are. Wherever you are. Thank you.
Thank you.

Revoked Magistrate

View Online

Sunset Shimmer let go a small sigh as she threw a look upwards, facing the sign above the door of the café before her.

She wasn't a stranger to cafés; that much was obvious. However, that was hardly the point as she crumpled the small piece of paper that she held in her hands, containing so many formal words and information that she thought it was asking her out on a date. Throwing that thought out the window, however, was the fact that this was quite probably, the first business invitation that she had received before in her life.

A business invitation. Only the Convocation of the Lost would do things like this through letters and carrier pigeons, much to the surprise of the Equestrian. It's like she was back home! ...Relatively speaking.

Curiosity really is a damning thing, she thought to herself as she shoved the letter inside her pocket and added force onto the door, having it swing open with a ring of a bell, making her entrance particularly clear to the owners of this place. It was a little quaint café, nothing exceptional about it except for the fact that nearly as soon as she entered the place, a man stood up from his chair with a very satisfied smile, and walked up to her while removing his hat in a greeting, bowing ever so slightly to her presence.

"Ah, yes! Sunset Shimmer, it's good to see you."

"...Mr. Shields."

Standing right before her, with a sly businessman smile, the deepest voice she had ever heard and the inability to stop showing his teeth when he smiled, was the reason behind her coming into this place at all that afternoon. Raycast Shields; Magistrate of the Convocation of the Lost, one of the many creatures that inhabited "The Town".

She had heard of his name before while doing work for the Convocation, and what she heard wasn't very nice, for lack of a better word. Rumors and nay say flew abound with the name of Raycast, but most of what she did in fact, hear, was not very intuitive, like diluted rumors with no real grasp on the actions of the one that is a victim of those rumors.

Thus, when she received a letter from this man, asking for a business allegiance, it made the Equestrian take pause. And enough interest to agree to come and meet him, for better or for worse.

"I wasn't expecting you to answer my invitation so immediately," Mr. Shields noted, beckoning Sunset to follow him back to the table he was currently sitting in, a solitary one in the back of the café, perfect for those that want to be left alone. "I must admit, I am surprised you did so."

"You're just about as surprised as I am, then. A personal invitation from the Magistrate of the Lost himself?" the Unicorn chuckled with a slight hum of confidence as both of them sat down at the table, opposites to one another. "I must admit, curiosity got the better of me, so I came."

The man gave her a slight sly, hardened smile, forcing it to show through as he nodded a little at Sunset's statement. "...Magistrate. It truly is a very sad thing; ever since the Lady of the Lake stripped me of my rights to, I do believe that I cannot be addressed by that title any longer."

"...I don't think Nimue stripped you of your right to call you a simple name, Mr. Shields."

"Didn't she?" the man begun speaking with a relatively disgruntled tone, but he stopped himself early as he caught the glimpse in his own voice. He instead rose his head with poise, resting his trilby on the table. "The Lady is fair and just in her decisions, however... I must abide by them, if only to preserve whatever dignity the Convocation still has. We all know we've been struggling to pick up the pieces of our community, it's been an unbearable mess."

"Well. I'm not really all that invested in the business of the Convocation, so I'm not sure how bad it's been..."

"Oh, it's been much better than it used to be, thanks to you, Sunset Shimmer." The man let go a hearty chuckle that sent the baritones of his voice rumbling down every muscle the Equestrian possessed. "As I said before, The Lady truly makes sound decisions. Making you an agent of the Convocation was in fact, the most healing move to our community in a long time."

She didn't really know what to say to that. She wasn't sure exactly how helpful she was being... after all, a condition Sunset imposed upon the Convocation of the Lost when it comes to sending her requests was... not to send too many, because she had a life outside of their community.

Are you telling me that the minimal work I've been doing is incredibly successful? I find that hard to believe; the Convocation has enforcers!

...But I digress. I better not press onto the issue too much, I'd really rather not talk about this.

"Maybe it's been, I can't really say. Is that why you called me here? Somehow, I don't think that's true."

"...It isn't. It still involves you, however, so your presence here in this café is not irrelevant."

Here we go, that worked. Nicely done, Sunset.

"Very well, then - let me begin by simply asking you a question. How aware are you of the presence of magic, here?"

Sunset didn't skip a single beat, answering automatically. "You mean, the lack of magic."

"Precisely," the man nodded with a satisfied inflation in his voice, waving at a waiter, successfully attracting him attention. "Magic is, for all intents and purposes, a myth amongst humans for a very good reason. It's nearly non-existent here, with its random flashes of power occurring once every millennium and having the ones that witness its effects to believe them to be miracles. Of course, stories of magic and magi spread through people due to their love and interest in the mysterious, but they never truly managed to get solid proof on anything. Magic is, after all, a force of nature that cannot be contained as one contains an animal."

I, of course, know all this. Is he testing me somehow?

"It's actually easier to compare it to a thought, or a dream," Sunset added, shuffling through her menu and asking for an iced coffee at the waiter, who promptly noted both their orders and dashed off, as if he thought they were kind of crazy. "Intangible, yet undeniably true - brought to being by the very act of existing within po-- human limitation."

"Cogito ergo sum. You are incredible, Madam Sunset!" he claimed with an honestly huff of joy in his voice. "I was still relatively skeptical, but you really are extremely knowledgeable about magic! ...I wonder, for curiosity's sake alone, where did you learn all of this?"

"Why do you ask? Do you want to learn magic?"

Sunset's joking tone was not lost on the man, having him shake his head slightly and letting go a chuckle of amusement. "I'm afraid that's not necessary! I appreciate the invitation, however. And your discretion. Forgive me for asking that."

She shrugged a little as the waiter came by the table, writing down their respective orders and leaving as soon as he had them. The café looked relatively busy; very appropriate for them to talk about whatever they wanted without really attracting attention.

"So you called me here about this particular thing?"

"I did. I will not dance around the subject, Sunset Shimmer. Magic in this world is scarce, and only through lengthy rituals of preparation, or those with a very specific domain painstakingly created by the Magus, can perform spells reliably. Magic creatures born through spells such as Werewolves, Succubi and Treants... Fairies and Leprechauns, the list goes on forever, are the result of those miracles of magic I spoke of before. Rare events that eventually became lives of their own. Magical in nature, but still unreliable in its... use, so to speak."

"Some call them magical sicknesses for a reason, right?" Sunset added, making Raycast nod in agreement. "One can hardly call a curse a magic spell the afflicted person casts willingly."

Being able to control the curse is another matter altogether, and not related to the issue at hand. Unless of course, you make it is so, Mr. Shields.

"...Alas, such things are beyond my personal interest at this point. I am more pressed into analyzing the intricacies of magic itself, and that returns me to the point of my original question," Raycast said as he turned his face down to look at his thumbs for a quick second, gathering his thoughts. "The lack of magic that there is. I plan on rectifying that."

Sunset blinked in silence as the waiter approached them relatively quickly, considering. He placed their orders on the table - an iced coffee for Sunset, and an espresso for Raycast - before promptly leaving them alone.

"You... want to fix the lack of magic?" Sunset asked again, receiving a nodding response from Raycast as he took a quick sip of his order. "Excuse me for asking, but I want to know why."

"I am genuinely surprised that you ask me this. ...Magic is a wonderful, useful and powerful tool, Sunset Shimmer. Its echo can be used in so many different, useful and helpful ways to the cause of the Convocation that simply treading through this community I can find many different options in which it can be served as a crutch to assist us on our cause! Our issues, our lack of means to deal with the many members of this group! I want to use magic to help the Convocation of the Lost; can you see how useful the tool of magic can be when applied in this way?"

...Of course I can. Magic is a wonderful tool that this world doesn't have. If they knew what kind of flexibility Magic has in Equestria, I think they'd have an aneurysm.

It... would definitely be very helpful to have magic, I agree. But still...

"Forgive me for saying this, Mr. Shields, but I have a couple doubts," Sunset added with a small pause for her to have a quick bite of the iced coffee. "Mostly directed towards you, and the reasons why you lost your position as Magistrate."

"Ah, yes. You've read the files," Raycast said with a small glint of weariness on his tone. "I'm not surprised, I should have expected this line of questioning."

"I'm just curious about some things, that's all!" Sunset quickly added, making sure to safely cover her bases before proceeding. Raycast nodded safely, assuaging her fear of prodding too hard on this subject. She let go a small cough before raising her eyes to meet his, again. "In the files, you were also researching a way for one to perform magical acts with the assistance of a catalyst, right?"

"You are correct. It backfired, badly," Raycast spoke lowly, the baritones of his voice rumbling on his throat almost like the motor of a vehicle. "Project 1213 of the Magistrate's Official Offices; the Virgam Astrorum; or the Staff of the Stars. It was meant to be able to focus and concentrate the mana of an area around it, and have magic energy bleed into the air, making the use of magic possible for those with the knowledge to do so."

"How did it fail? The reports aren't specific."

Raycast took a deep, slow breath before proceeding: "The magic was invasive to those that were exposed to it. The Astrorum definitely made magic bleed into areas around it, but those without the ability to properly block off the pressure of mana would get hurt by it, having their skin burn like fire. It was a disaster that hurt many people, and it forced the Lady of the Lake to put Ms. Quarry in action. The Golem crushed the Astrorum, restrained me and had me placed before the Lady in trial for my action without proper consent of the Convocation."

"So you didn't, in fact, warn them about what you were doing before you did it?"

"I did not, and I realize my failings. I did not mean for the Astrorum to do what it did, but that does not excuse the fact that it indeed, hurt many others through my creation."

Sunset had very little else to add to that sentence, so she silenced herself with another bite of iced coffee. If anything, she could actually relate to him in some way.

He created something he had pride in, but it backfired and it did the complete opposite of helping others. She had heard word from others about Raycast Shields; about how he had created a horrible thing and was shunned by it. Hated and considered an outcast amongst his own peers.

Sights like that made the Equestrian have thoughts about herself at Canterlot High; especially after Twilight Sparkle turned Sunset's own vile powers against her and crushed her in a blast of magic so powerful she thought the world had landed on her skull. Sunset was never truly comfortable walking around people back at the school for a very long time, having them talk behind her back as if she could not listen to them. Or maybe they didn't care, it wouldn't have surprised her.

...While it was therapeutically punishing in a certain way, it was also really hard to take. Accepting your mistakes is just one big step towards bettering yourself... trying to make up for the mistakes you've made was even harder to do. Others might not be very forgiving of you... trust is a really difficult thing to earn from others, but extremely easy to lose.

"Do you mind if I ask why you ask help from me, specifically?" she asked with a serious tone, having Raycast raise his head a little, slightly pleased for the change of focus on the conversation.

"Of course, though I do not have to stress how powerful the magical eruptions that happened at that school, Canterlot High, were," he said with a matter-of-fact tone, making Sunset nod a little in defeat. Of course he would know. "I am very certain you are familiar with the level of energy that was released around that place not one, but twice. Also, in both scenarios, you've been spotted right at the center of these events. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the cause of both of the eruptions in some way."

"...You wouldn't be wrong." Not entirely right... but also not wrong. "So that automatically qualifies me?"

"In a matter of speaking," Raycast said lightly, drinking the rest of his coffee without hesitation. "This is also the reason as to why I have asked you to meet me here. I wanted to make sure you weren't a fluke. This is the first time we meet, after all."

"That's fair, I guess."

"Allow me to say that so far, you have assuaged my fears quite spectacularly, Sunset Shimmer! You certainly have studied the arcane, that much is clear. I would very much like to ask you for help regarding my research."

The Staff of the Stars.

"You want to rebuild the Staff?" Sunset asked, eating more of the coffee that slowly melted inside the glass. Raycast pondered her question but for a brief moment.

"Maybe. ...It's too soon to tell yet, as the functional design of the staff had absolutely no flaws. The main issue came from how it was built, and the arcane fundamentals I've put into practice..."

So maybe the Staff itself can be made to work with no problems.

Sunset Shimmer finished her latte, placing the empty glass on the table with a satisfying light clang. She felt her mind race a little on its own, theorizing and hypothesizing magical equations with so much ease it was like she never stopped thinking about them at all, sending a rush of nostalgia down her spine that made her eyes spark with enthusiasm. Applying algorithms into arcane knowledge, prodding and destroying flawed execution and substituting it with what works!

"You've got a deal, Mr. Shields!" Sunset happily exclaimed, making the man before her absolutely beam with enthusiasm. "I look forward to working with you! ...When do we start?"

"How about tomorrow, is that OK with you?" Raycast asked with a much more entertained tone. Sunset nodded in a confirmatory manner, making him pick the trilby from the table and placing it back on his chiseled head. "Excellent! Tomorrow, at 14 hours? Meet me at the station, closest to the amusement part? I can never truly remember the name of the place."

"Ah, yeah. Don't worry, I know where it is. 14 hours?"

"I am looking forward to tomorrow, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset didn't remember when was it that a night went by so quickly for her.

Her excitement was strangely comforting and relaxing, something for her mind to find relative safety in. Working on a magical artifact, with another master of the arts by her side? She couldn't stop thinking and processing her thoughts at all, organizing her ideas so easily inside her brain it was like she was a library of information that finally popped itself open after years of pressure.

Sunset made her way to the station and sure enough, there was Raycast Shields, sporting a relatively nice-looking vehicle she couldn't make heads or tails of. She never bothered to pay attention to cars and that type of nonsense; it completely fell off her area of expertise. Still, it was undeniable that they provided a quick transportation through the city, and it wasn't long before Raycast had taken Sunset to his atelier, a relatively nice-looking house that it was just shy enough to be considered a manor.

They truly did not waste any time as he invited her into the white fortress he called a house. With its supports being made mostly of sturdy-looking wooden beams, it combined really well with the wide windows that jutted off the building's sides like it was its eyes. Many different forms of plant life grew around the building, with some vines crawling from the sides and reaching out to said windows, that also sported a generous amount of foliage in them. It was very clear he took good care of his house!

As she walked inside the building, she easily noticed just how strangely comfortable it all felt. The inner walls were completed with the same wood that was used on the windows, contrasting fiercely with the white concrete that was on the outside walls. The floor was padded with a dark, maroon carpet that was possibly covering wood as well, and she thought that walking on top of it felt much more comfortable than a floor had any reason to allow.

Sunset's eyes found themselves skittering through the place, her mind slowly processing the sights that were being projected in them. This was quite spacious! The ceiling was high enough for one to need a relatively long stepladder to reach it, stacked on top of another. The living room was connected to the kitchen, which was connected to the dining area and some other area Sunset identified as the laundry, tucked away in relative obscurity in the corners of this large building. It was also two storeys tall, but Sunset did not find herself going up, much to her tiny speck of curiosity's chagrin.

This is definitely the house of a magus. Everything is so uniform and pleasant; it's definitely been crafted to suit the needs of a magician. ...Is it shaped internally like a very personalized magic circle? That would make too much sense.

"This way," Raycast said, pushing a door to the side and revealing a large stairway leading down a nicely-lit cobblestone path. "I will take you to the artifact right away."

"Downstairs?" Sunset asked with confusion, following the Ex-Magistrate down the stairway, the sounds of their footsteps echoing through the tight space they found themselves in. "This house is clearly fit enough for a magus already. Why have the atelier downstairs?"

"And why would I leave the atelier where anyone can easily access?"

Oh yeah, that's reasonable. I'm too used to Equestria's ateliers... any Unicorn that studied magic worth her or his salt would just have a room designed to the practice of the magical sciences; sometimes right next to the kitchen for the sake of convenience...

I'd guess humans can't really do that without being considered weirdoes, can they?

"At any rate, here it is. Welcome to my laboratory, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset felt like she had just walked through the portal to Equestria again.

Her eyes lit with excitement as her surroundings were so filled to the brim with books that they might as well be the walls. The thick scent of paper and ink absolutely filled her nostrils with such potency that it stuck to the back of her mind like a reacquired addiction. The light hum of the magical vibration that rippled through the air made it so that she had to focus as hard as she could so she wouldn't find herself walking like a pony again out of sheer reflex. The ceiling was quite high up and domed, reflecting the lights that came from the blue-colored crystals that were stuck to the wooden beams that served as she shelves for the many books that surrounded them, creating a sense of wonder and magic that could only be topped at the Convocation of the Lost's Vault-City.

As the stairs kept going down for a couple extra meters, separate platforms around them served to accommodate more magical equipment, such as rune tables for one to play around in and exercise their rights to challenge the theories they had conjured, or alchemical labs filled with many tiny bottles filled even more with strangely-colored liquids that probably would glow in the dark if allowed. Sunset recognized a potion of levitation on one of the tables! Hard to come by the stuff needed to make that one.

This area was really big, much more than the usual library she would see around the human world. Still not even close to Canterlot's magical library's sheer size, but comparing that to this was like a bout between a child and a wizened old warrior. Still, it certainly made her blood absolutely rush with nostalgia, and she couldn't stop smiling at the sight. Raycast caught sight of this, and he let himself chuckle with pride within his own little atelier.

However, the main star of this place was, indeed, at the very bottom of the stairs, inside one of the few extra rooms created with specific magical purposes in mind. Three rooms were separated from the main hall they were now in: one to the north, and the others at east and west, with the stairs leading out of the atelier back to the house the way they came proper to the south. The doors were heavily built and obviously magically warded; the real brunt of magical creation happened inside of them after all, and one couldn't bring themselves to be careless when dealing with the raw powers of the arcane. Raycast was well prepared, and just as Sunset complimented his devotion to the arts, he opened the northern door, leading them inside a circular room, much smaller than the hall was.

And just as the lights within the room were cast into Sunset's eyes, she opened them with the brunt of interest that overcame her yet again. There it was: the Staff of the Stars. Broken, dismantled, and as it stood right now, it was clear it was desperately salvaged by its creator.

...What a sight. Even broken and battered as it was, Sunset could not deny that its powers were real. It absolutely pulsed magical energies with so much enthusiasm that it surprised her to know beforehand that it was in fact broken. The staff hovered a couple centimeters above ground, being kept in suspension by a crystal that was stuck on the floor beneath it; quite possibly having the staff not make contact with anything solid for now. Raycast sighed as he approached the object, looking backwards at Sunset Shimmer with analytical eyes, the weight of this room's presence sliding down her shoulders like rain.

"So, this is it," he said with an excited tone, finally snapping her back to attention. "What do you think?"

"...It's kind of hard to put into words. It's definitely real! Not that I didn't think it wasn't real before, I just like seeing things with my own eyes!"

Sunset analyzed the whole of the pearl-white orb that had been destroyed in five different pieces of varying sizes that served as the staff's focus. The shaft of the artifact was also broken in three different places, gnarled and splintered like someone grabbed it and twisted the thing like it was a wet towel. Quay certainly did a number on this thing, quite possibly because she wanted to be sure the staff wouldn't work anymore. Maybe this was the best she could do at that immediate time?

"It's truly a shame to see it this badly destroyed, but it had to be done. I do not condone Ms. Quarry for what she had to do."

"I don't think she did too good of a job. It still irradiates energy," Sunset said as she walked around the artifact, her eyes skittering across its entire surface as she lightly bit her own index finger, her thoughts coursing through her mind like water in a river. "Though the way it releases it... it's so forceful."

"...Wait, it's still functional?" Raycast asked, his face distorting into a slight glint of wonder and confusion. "How is it so? More importantly, how can you tell?"

"It's still releasing magic, you can't feel it? ...Even when it's broken, it still sparks with power - it makes sense as to why it was harmful to others. It's bleeding power through the air with so much enthusiasm it's actually violent when it does it. How many wards did you put in place when you enchanted this orb to do what it does?"

Raycast opened his mouth to say something, but his voice died in his throat when all came of it was a laugh of admiration. How many more times would this girl surprise him with how much she knew about spells?

"W-What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" he confirmed with another glad chuckle, scratching his head while smiling to himself. "Nothing but my surprise at how comfortable you are at talking about magic. That is truly something very difficult to come across, I admit to not having the privilege to say I spoke often with what I would consider my peers."

So I suppose that I got lucky with my own privilege.

"To answer your question, however. I placed three wards to cover the three basis of magical theory, but that wasn't enough to hold back my original miscalculation, apparently."

"Three wards, OK. Do you still have the original design notes? Can I take a look at them, just to bring myself up to speed?"

Raycast nodded in confirmation, promptly reaching out in the main hall for the notes on his project. He wasn't sure exactly on his own thoughts, neither on what he was expecting, but this girl's enthusiasm towards this line of work was refreshing, to say the least! As she picked up the papers and begun studying them with a focus he wasn't even sure a normal, healthy person would have, his last seeds of doubt were washed like rain on a hillside. She wasn't a fluke or a case of chance, neither just a random enthusiastic about the subject. As soon as she picked up the papers and scanned them with those amazing teal eyes of hers like a predator stalking its prey, he knew he had stumbled upon a magical genius. She absolutely devoured every single piece of document he had ever created on the subject of the Virgam Astrorum, casually strolling through the halls of his atelier as if she was reading a light novel.

She didn't waste any time producing thoughts of her own regarding the subject. She asked questions he had asked himself many times during the process of creation of the first version of the Staff: how much mana does it condense into the air, how much should it absorb into its systems? How would it bleed this magic into its environment, and how does one control it once it's all been said and done?

He was taken by surprise at how much in her element she seemed, as if she was always meant to be walking in a magical atelier and doing what she did now. He couldn't help thinking that this girl was maybe kept away from magic in general by someone, and felt a sense of companionship in this. Seeing her scribble notes, crunch numbers and ask meaningful questions regarding the Staff made Raycast feel a flame of energy burn inside his mind, having him get into gear and pick up his own slack. He would be damned if he left everything for Sunset Shimmer herself to do! He never truly had another true mage working alongside him in this way - he would never let such a golden opportunity go to waste!

And thus, together they begun the new effort to recreate the Staff of the Stars; a joint project that would take days to finish.

How long exactly did it take? ...They weren't sure themselves. Sunset would come, solve a million issues with their project alongside Raycast and then another million other problems would come to the surface. Little things that went by completely unnoticed initially would be spotted by one of them when they would do a daily, routine checkup on the Staff, such as the mass of the Orb would interfere on the amount of energy it would release when it absorbed magic in its initial burst, or how would the staff realize how much magic it had already released, stopping itself from going too far like it did last time. Things Raycast never truly considered, and new thoughts that coursed through both their minds as they reached similar conclusions on the matter at hand.

It was a work of genius. Sunset knew that this thing must have taken a huge initial toll of Raycast's mind, putting him under tremendous amounts of stress when trying to do this alone. It's no wonder this thing had failed before - it had taken them days to find, crunch and spot a thousand little problems that could potentially escalate beyond their original intent, but they would find them, they would fix them, and with the expertize of two magi, they made excellent progress into making this failed project, a successful one.

Magic is a truly fickle little thing. It's powerful but sensitive - strong but frail. If you cast a powerful but careless spell, it might as well spiral out of control and lose its original meaning. Fixing every single minute detail is imperative to the success of this Staff, especially considering what it's designed to do, since magic is very rare in this world.

Making it so that the magic around this staff is absorbed, condensed and released is a much harder task than I initially thought it would be...

...But it was done.

Two weeks. It took both magi two weeks to finally reach the finish line on their project. Two weeks of grueling work, attacked by every angle with problems and more problems. Sunset Shimmer and Raycast Shields were now circling around the final steps of the project, throwing numbers at each other like a particularly violent game of tennis.

"...And if the third square inch of the fifteenth magic circle recreates the sixth step all over again, the first ward would crunch base 5..."

"Base 5 is sustained by the Paradox we installed in all magic circles proper. ...The wards are designed to take care of this, unless there's another problem with the sceptillian crystallite dilapidated in the 657th paradigm of the Focus stone."

"The Focus Stone's got more balancing wards than any other part of the staff. If it doesn't crunch itself, it will prevent the Paradox from going out of control," Sunset added with a knowing nod, finally reaching the bottom of her list and stopping for a couple seconds before turning around to face her peer. "So... I think that's it?"

"It's the end of my list as well. ...I do think this is it."

They traded looks of amusement between one another, finally gazing themselves upon the Staff of their creation. It was beautiful! Its mahogany shaft, shaped similar to that of a powerful-looking branch made of mahogany was floating just a couple centimeters above ground, just like how it was before. From bottom to top, it was absolutely covered in magical runes and inscriptions of magical fidelity - all carefully woven and calculated according to the manuscripts and the theories of magical interest. Sunset had studied those many times before; they are fundamental to the inner workings of magic, after all.

Though its shaft was impressive in its own right, nothing could beat the crystal that sat atop of it, carefully surrounded by the branch in a way that it looked like it was a hand holding it tightly. It was a beautiful fist-sized gemstone that shared similar characteristics with the Benitoite, a gem that was far over their budget but not over the interests of magic! Crafted from absolute scratch to fit their specific needs, this stone now held their dreams in the balance. Either it would work as intended... or fail as it had done before.

Sunset gulped dryly as Raycast walked toward the artifact, throwing a final, confirming glance at the Equestrian. There was nothing left for them to think or analyze... now it was the time to put their theories under trial by fire.

"...Very well," Raycast claimed to no one in particular, cracking his fingers and furrowing his brow, with nervousness emanating from his frame so intensely that Sunset could cut it with a knife. "It's all or nothing, now."

"Day 15 of the Stars Project: Testing the Virgam Astrorum in its entirety. ...Let's do this."

And so it was done.

Raycast placed his hand around the haft, lifting it from suspension and wrapping it tightly around his fingers. Sweat poured from his brow as his heart was beating a mile a minute, his eyes focusing with so much intent on what he was doing that it was possible he could not listen to anything else. He placed his hand atop the gemstone and muttered the magic word they had come up with together, in order to activate the artifact as it as intended:

"Veneficus Cantus".

The Wizard's Song.

The incantation was heard by he artifact, which immediately responded. It glowed, rumbled, shook gently under the Magistrate's grasp and it emmited a ray of force from it like a forcefield expanding around it, engulfing both Magi inside it and embracing them in its design. Sunset grimaced for a second, her heart pumping so hard inside her chest she thought the experiment had failed... but nothing external happened.

She blinked, looking around in relative safety. Raycast did the same, his eyes bulged open with hope as he turned around to face the Equestrian, his hands still tightly clasped around the haft of the Staff. They waited in complete silence for something bad to happen so Sunset pull the plug on the project, but it wasn't necessary.

He let out a nervous laugh of surprise, followed by a guffaw of surprise. Sunset was just as shocked as he was: step one was a success! Nothing had happened! They weren't on fire! The walls weren't melting! That was progress!

...Now it was up for the moment of truth. Sunset could feel it: coursing through her body was a familiar, comforting sensation. She felt like she was there before, like this warmth of power covering her like a blanket was always meant to be there. She resisted the urge to attempt anything, she couldn't bring herself to do it right now. Strangely enough, she felt nervous about it; like returning home after having a particularly embarrassing fight with your parents.

The rush of magic that coursed through the air was... actually kind of terrifying to her. Memories of when she turned into a raging she-demon during the Fall Formal came back to her with verve, and she stopped herself from thinking. She held herself back, the desire to tamper physically with magic sucked itself into her subconscious like a scared cat hiding under a bed.

Raycast, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. Not paying attention to her hesitation, he looked at a random object on the ground - one of many they had placed for this specific purpose alone - and focused on it. A familiar glow rippled from his hand as he pointed it towards a book, and the glow surrounded it.

He levitated it. A simple, quaint levitation spell. The object quietly floated from the ground, slowly making its way from the air like an invisible hand guided it, and as if it was in slow-motion, a tangible one reached out to it and finally claimed it, raising the book to the air as if it was a long-desired trophy, a dream finally realized!

It worked! The Staff of the Stars, it was a success!

"Hah! Hahahahaha! W-Would you look at this! Sunset, would you look at this! No fireworks, no obvious deathly hazard! It works, genuinely so!"

"I can see that! We did it! We actually did it!" The Equestrian's eyes were sparkling with energy as Raycast performed yet another levitation spell, bringing the book from his hands all the way to Sunset's, whom picked it up as it came within her reach. "OK, OK! W-We need to stress test it, now! Maybe run through a few priority loops, see if it's all coming together?"

"...No problems thus far, that is certain. Nimue's going to choke on her words when she sees this!"

Sunset Shimmer stopped walking. She blinked a few times before looking at Raycast, whom was playing with a floating extra pair of books like he was back at Magic Kindergarten.

"...Hold up. What did you just say?"

"That... Nimue's going to choke on her words? When I present the working Virgam Astrorum to her?" he explained, stacking books on top of one another while in mid-air. "Quite frankly, I can't wait to see the look on her face! I guess very few people has ever proven her wrong like this before."

"You wanna prove her wrong...?" Sunset questioned, her mind trying to comprehend exactly what was that she was hearing. "Wasn't that the point of this exercise? To fix what the previous staff had gone wrong? Why would you need to prove her wrong if fixing what was wrong with this staff was the plan from the start? Isn't this expected, at the end of the day?"

"I think I had told you this already? She ordered the previous Astrorum to be destroyed! I am certain I told you this before."

Sunset felt the back of her mind itch as she furrowed her brow slightly, the gears inside he head spinning so quickly that she could swear she could listen to them. She paced lightly around the room as Raycast let go of a few books and picked up other objects, obviously enjoying himself as he did it, when the realization hit Sunset like a speeding truck on a highway.

"YOU DIDN'T GET PERMISSION FROM NIMUE TO DO THIS?!" she screamed from the top of her lungs, holding her head with both hands as the weight of her mind seemed to increase tenfold.

Raycast simply shrugged, as if he thought that was an obvious thing from the very start. "No, I didn't. Considering my position after the destruction of the first model of the Astrorum, asking for permission to build another one would have resulted in an immediate deny."

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT THIS? ...Oh, no. Oh, no oh no oh no!"

"What's the matter with you?" Raycast asked, his voice rumbled across the room as he rone of his eyebrows, now facing Sunset directly. "You're worried about this? The Staff is a success!"

"I-I know, it's truly wonderful that it genuinely works, b-but... It's... It's technically illegal!" Sunset's hands started to shake as she paced violently around the room, her eyes dancing in their orbits like she was in a sudden sugar rush, the adrenaline practically leaping off her frame. "My point is, this isn't good!"

"Why are you worried about this? To that point, also, what does it matter? The Lady of the Lake cannot refuse to accept the uses of such a wonderful artifact! If we present it to her, what real options would she have?"

"C-Consider it, Raycast! If we present this staff out of nowhere to her, Nimue's going to have an aneurysm!"

"She would have one despite of the initial state of the project!" Raycast defended, completely focused on the topic at hand. "Even the mention of the project would have made her reject the idea! I appreciate what the Lady of the Lake does, but she needs to understand that if things remain the same as it is now, we won't be able to fix the problems the Convocation now face!"

"And your idea of doing that is to act behind her back?" the Equestrian pointed, her eyes bulging out even more on the pile of realizations that creeped up on her. "Oh, no. I've acted outside the reach of the Convocation to do something it doesn't want? Did I just commit an unforgivable criminal act?"

"...Sigh. I do believe you are panicking over nothing. Nimue needs to see possibility unfold right before her eyes! Nothing will change for the better if no risks are taken!"

He speaks the truth. ...Though I still can't see Nimue being happy about this.

This isn't a matter of possibility, it's a matter of objectivity! No matter how much we wish for it, Nimue's never going to simply smile and wave if we show up with a working Staff! It's simply not gonna happen!

"...OK. L-Look, Raycast. I think we're being too sudden about this."

"Sudden?"

"Yes! Sudden," Sunset slowly said as she paced around the room, the feeling of nervousness still creeping up her spine like a mob of angry caterpillars. "We made the Staff work, that's wonderful. But consider it! Nimue's never going to accept the existence of this thing, at least not so easily. We need to take our time!"

"I assume you have something in mind? Are you aware that Nimue might never be willing to accept this research as valid, regardless of the time we take to assuage her fears on this matter?"

"I... I'M AWARE! It's just... We can't just spring this onto her without any planning! It's a bad idea!"

"A bad idea? Sunset Shimmer, this creation of ours is a breakthrough in magical technology! It needs to be shared! Holding this thing back is an affront to decency; think of all the good things we can do if we act sooner rather than later; if we convince Nimue now!"

I... I KNOW! I'm not against your reasoning, b-but...

It's illegal...! It's not a good thing to do this right now! How do I convince him? Celestia, how do I do this?

"I... I can't support this course of action."

Sunset Shimmer's voice came down cracking and broken, like a record that had been thrown on the ground before stuttering the last few rings of the sound it could produce. She fidgeted in place, silently tugging her pinky finger through a nervous twitch, her eyes not sure exactly where to land and stay. She gritted her teeth lightly as Raycast rested the staff on the ground, scratching his chin in a curious manner, Sunset could not read the expression on his face.

"I... I'm sorry. I can't support it. I t-think it's a bad idea, that we should wait a little longer before doing anything."

"So, this is your stance on this matter? That's fine," Raycast said with a defeated sigh, shaking his head in a light glint of disappointment. "I understand. You wish for caution, and I'm not against your reasoning. It makes sense, after all."

"S-So! You're..."

"Like I said, I understand," he finished once again, leaving the Staff of the Stars on the resting place it laid on for the many countless hours they spent working on its restoration. "I still think we should act now, but I'm sure you have your reasons to step back on this issue. I'm not holding it against you, far from it. I think you're being sensible."

His words released the stress valve that was getting stuck inside her mind, making a wave of relaxation spread through her frame like a wave at the ocean. "Oh, thank you, Raycast! ...I'm sorry, but I truly DO think this is for the best!"

Sunset smiled wide as her head got a bit lighter from the weight of her actions. She was sure that their creation wasn't a bad one, but if it was illegal, then she certainly didn't want to make it public.

...That would put her back in the same position she was when she first came into this world. Betraying someone that trusted her; stabbing their acceptance and friendship in the back with a broken, sawed blade.

She never wanted to experience that feeling again. Not if she could help it.

...But it was in vain.

Sunset's heart was beating a mile a minute, her feet stomping the ground hard as she ran as quickly as she could to the nearest bus stop. She desperately rummaged through her wallet in search of money to pay for the fare as her hair stuck a little to the back of her neck, her breath carrying her as far as it could.

How could she be so blind? Naive? She had left Raycast's house thinking everything was going to turn out all right, thinking that maybe he would be reasonable and understanding enough of their situation as to not do anything stupid. Maybe he didn't, maybe she was being overly paranoid...

But she wasn't. She knew she wasn't. When she left that house yesterday, she had her heart calm and collected, her fears quelled by the trust she placed upon the Ex-Magistrate. But today, her heart was skipping in fear as she came by his house in order to check on their creation, but no one was found. Raycast wasn't there.

Of course it wouldn't be surprising if he had just left the house for a while, but in the time Sunset spent knowing this man, she got to know what kind of person Raycast was. He was organized and with a fit schedule - not one to stray from his immediate goal. In this particular day of the week, he would always stay at his atelier, practicing runes and incantations with a scripted magical sequence that thanks to the Staff of the Stars, would be more than just random practice - it would be actual magic. Knowing him as she did, it was alien and bizarre for this man not to be at his home.

...No. He wasn't there. Sunset's fears weren't biased, they were true. She prayed from the bottom of her heart for whatever hope she could think of. She knew where he was going, and who he was going to meet. It was just a matter of time before she got there.

Please...! Please, Celestia, please let me have enough time!

"Why are you so blind? Don't you understand that this is for the good of everyone?"

"No, I do not. 'Tis most puzzling indeed on the matter of thought that the Astrorum is meant to help instead of corrupt. Clearly, you and I saw differently upon it being unleashed!"

"That was a miscalculation, a clear and bizarre defect upon its design! I have tweaked and fixed it, I have studied and worked around the problem! It's become null and void, the Astrorum is safe and clear to be used!"

"You clearly did not have nearly enough time to work around the issue, Raycast. The problem extend beyond the corruption it initially unleashed - 'tis a matter of power being handed to those that can seldom control it. Handing over magical powers to absolutely anyone that can wield it is a surefire way of allowing them to do as they please outside the reach of the Convocation of the Lost!"

"This boorish argument of yours again? You love to expect the absolute worst of your people, don't you?"

"...'Tis the reality of our situation, Raycast. I cannot fathom the thought that you cannot see the same. 'Tis not the same as giving food to those that are hungry, 'tis a matter of handing out weapons to the hungry instead!"

"And you expect your people to behave in such way? In the case that may be true, you DO have enforcers! What is the matter with this system, if that is the case? Can't you policy your own people? Don't you have any respect for those that work for you?"

"None of them would work for me if it wasn't for the fact that I respect them the most. They are willing to go to the field and do what they must! Do not plug me with ideas of disrespect for those that are doing what they can to help the Convocation!"

"Then give them the tools they need! I have created the Astrorum to assist everyone that needs help! It can help us save lives, it can help us maintain the peace this community craves!"

"The only thing you will spread around the community with your creation is discord and disharmony, Raycast. Least of all, 'tis not what we need."

"We're back at square one! You keep speaking of the Astrorum as if all it's going to do is incite these people to throw fireballs at each other!"

"And will it befall our enforcers, then, to be in the receiving end of said fireballs in order to quell the damage you would have unleashed? Raycast Shields, I appreciate your passion to be a hero, but with these ideas and mentality, a hero will be the last thing you'd be. I had your position, your rights revoked as a means to stop you from attempting these ridiculous stunts, but apparently 'tis not enough. ...Forfeit the Astrorum Virgam's existence."

"You can't be serious!"

"Do it, or I will have to ask of Quarry to do it again for you. You have been tried in our court once; do not tempt fate again."

"...You are making a terrible mistake, Nimue. This is an affront to the science! To your own people!"

"Leave. This conversation has ended."

Raycast Shields shivered with fury as he turned around and slammed the door open on his way out. He could barely put his mind around the conversation he just had with the Lady of the Lake. How dare she threaten him as she just did?

Moreover, how dare she make little of his ability to create something that would help the cause of the community! She thought him a mockery! Claiming that all he would do by doing good would be to spread evil and chaos? Was she actually sane? Did she think so little of him as to believe he was incapable of performing positively?

Was she truly that inept and incapable at being someone that could open her eyes and see the truth laid bare right before her? She was wrong, blind and being too stubborn to see it! Someone like that barely had any qualifications to make decisions, let alone to lead! This was an outrage that had absolutely no standing on whatever position she had placed herself in!

...No. This had been the final straw. Nimue's paranoia was cute at first, but now it was truly starting to get in the way of a possible readjusting of this broken system that helps no one. Raycast had the means to fix it, all that needed to happen was for the problem to be actually fixed.

The problem.

Raycast's mind raced with rage as he left the Terrace of Light and cut corners short in order to put himself as far away from Nimue as he could in the shortest amount of time. He was furious, his eyes could barely see in front of them as rage thrashed inside of his skull like an army of angry lions. He had a plan, and very little time to put it to action. He felt the last threads of restraint attempt to rip inside of his mind as he finally found himself stopping, as his path was blocked. Without really thinking about where he was going, he took a shark turn into an alley, where the lights that cast from the ceiling seldom reached.

The dim lights of the environment were casting a relatively obscure shadow over the one that now stood in his way. Despite the poor lighting conditions, Raycast had complete confidence on who it was, having him sigh to himself, the small threads of rationality still clinging to his mind like desperate castaways on a storm.

"...What do you think you're doing?"

"Sunset Shimmer."

He blinked in relative non-surprise as the Equestrian stood in a dark alleyway of the Convocation's city, blocking his way forward. She furrowed her brow as she crossed her arms, her frame radiating an intensity that rivaled his.

"I should be the one asking that question, but allow me to free you of your worries. I claimed sole responsibility for the creation of the Astrorum. As far as they know, you are not involved in my affairs."

"What? ...I-I appreciate the kindness, if that's what that was, but that's not why I'm here."

"So you're here to stop me from leaving? Sorry, but I need to see myself out."

"Oh, really? Gee, I'm sorry for catching up to you and checking to see if you were fine! I'm trying to stop you from doing something you'll end up regretting!"

"Regret. ...I have heard that word too many times in my life, least of all today," he muttered darkly as the deep bass of his voice rumbled in his throat. "You'll regret this, I regret that, we all regret something one way or another. Acting stupidly is a regret, not acting at all is another. Life is full of regrets, thus I shall embrace all of them if I have to. But I will NOT stand by someone that refuses to accept this as reality and all she does is ignore it all for the sake of believing on a reality that doesn't exist!"

"I think you misunderstand," Sunset interjected, making Raycast blink and furrow his own brow, his anger not allowing him to process his thoughts as coherently as he wished. "Nimue isn't trying to believe on something that doesn't exist. She's just trying to keep all of these monsters safe."

"By doing what? Refusing to help them at all? This is your leader, Convocation of the Lost! She refuses to help you and calls that a just act worthy of her position!"

"That's not true, is it? She's not exactly in a position that allows her to take too many gambles without thinking, right?"

"She has all the tools she needs in order to do exactly this!" he yelled with fury as he swung his hand as if attempting to slap a fly out of his way. "Instead, she is content in calling those that wish to help, villains! She claims that our ideas are dangerous and risk fixing the system she so very carefully keeps broken!"

"Broken? She is doing all she can to keep everyone in this community from rampaging! Without the careful planning she's done, they would be out there, fending off for themselves instead of counting on each other for help!"

"So much for that, wouldn't you say?"

"It's a good effort!" Sunset defended, her teal eyes reflecting the few rays of light that entered the alley, making them spark like they were shining in the dark. "You can't deny that she's been doing good by them, despite the few shortcomings that are being solved as we speak!"

...So she, too, refuses to see reason...?

Raycast lowered his stance a little, his mind bubbling with rage and inconformity. The one that he thought could support him in this, the one he believed would understand... was just about on the same side as the one that was the true blister in this community.

He had been left by everyone. He was alone.

"Fine. ...So be it." He turned around. There was nothing more to be said. Now he had truly no more doubts about it in his mind.

"Raycast?"

"There is nothing more to be said between us. Good-bye, Sunset Shimmer."

And there the girl stood as he left, her mind looping its own thoughts as she tried to think of whatever way she could ask of him to stop. To no avail.

Sunset's head was pounding as she rested it on her hands, her thoughts not exactly making any sense as she thought them.

What did she do wrong? ...Didn't she try her best to have him see reason? Pacify his rash decisions, make him understand the value of patience? ...That was very odd, though, he was a very patient man already, as far as she had seen. He was an accomplished mage, and knew of the magic arts very well! Someone as rash and impulsive as he had been this day shouldn't have managed to build something like the Astrorum in the first place, where did this outburst of his come from?

She couldn't tell, and it was devouring her insides like acid. She had made her points pretty clear, hadn't she? What did she do wrong?

What could I have done differently? What could I have said to him...?

What would Twilight say in a time like this?

The thought came to her like an itch on her back that she couldn't scratch. The thought of consulting her successor was definitely not a bad idea, but the book was all the way back at her home and she would have to actually go there in order to ask the question that crunched her skull with unprecedented pressure. The bright halls of the Convocation of the Lost shone lightly above her head, and she rose her eyes to them like she was in a trance.

There was very little for her to think of, now. She felt her head resting back on the table of the little resting area inside the Convocation's city, and her mind went adrift in the maze of confusion she found herself in. How long had it been, with her trying her best to think of answers for the questions that made no real sense to her?

She couldn't tell, but there was little to. She felt her mind spark back to activity as a familiar jingle shook inside one of her pockets, and Sunset pulled it up almost as if she was sure this little song had rescued her sanity. Looking upon a familiar name written in her phone, she felt her head clear slightly, urging her to press on the screen in order to answer the call.

"Yes?"

"Oh, Sunset! Hello," Fluttershy's sweet voice came from the phone like the blessing of an angel. "Sorry to bother you, but Rainbow's phone is out of credits, again. So I'm calling you, instead."

"It's fine," she replied with a happy tone, much to her relief. "What's the matter? Something came up?"

"It's just that Applejack invited us for practice. Remember that crazy schedule she had because of her family business? They had to remake that, and turns out it freed up her schedule a lot."

"That's super nice for her! I think she was meant to work all day long for days, wasn't she?"

"She was!" Fluttershy said happily as crashing background noises of quite possibly Rainbow Dash echoed through the speakers, making the quiet, soft voice on the other side of the phone stutter a little, surprised. "Um, a-anyway, since everyone seems to be free, we figured we should get together and practice? Are you free? Can you come?"

I would love to, Sunset prepared to answer, but her voice was cut short immediately by what could only be described as a chilling rupture of echoing sounds.

She stood up by reflex as she stopped everything she was doing, raising her head up to the extremely high ceiling of The Town. In complete shock, her ears captured the low thuds of explosions that could be heard in the distance, and her eyes saw lights erupting like geysers the same direction the noises came from. Sunset's heart started beating quickly, her mind coming to grips with the reality of the situation as she felt her feet slowly carrying her towards them by reflex.

"S-Sunset? What was that noise? Are you OK?"

"...Sorry, Fluttershy. I think I won't be able to show up for practice this time. I hope you girls enjoy yourselves." She calmly said as she put the phone down, shoving it back inside one of her pockets and turning the thing off.

Sorry. But this is my problem. If I caused this...

If I caused this, I want to know what I did wrong. I have to!

Sunset's feet were carrying her quickly through the streets of the Convocation as monsters of varying sizes and shapes did the complete opposite, for the most part.

Confusion and excitement rushed through the streets with an energy that wasn't exactly unpredictable to be. Curiosity is a mortifying thing; self-aware creatures are instinctively driven to know what caused a problem, and to witness the problem if their instincts don't urge them to flee, instead. Monsters aren't exactly human - their self-aware curiosity usually urges them to actually roam towards danger instead of fleeing from it, which cluttered the streets in ways that forced Sunset to take paths that she normally wouldn't take in order to walk in the direction of the explosions.

However, that mattered little when it came down to approaching the Terrace of Light, where the main source of the explosions came from. Someone was fighting in this place, and thanks to the shock waves that rippled through the air, Sunset knew exactly what was going on. Monsters were more spread around in this area, all curious eyes that wanted to witness what was going on, for better, or for worse...

Mainly for worse, as a bubble of magical power erupted not too far from where the crowd was standing, forcing them to actually flee with those that weren't curious enough to stay and watch.

"WHOA!" Sunset exclaimed in surprise as the debris and the monsters themselves all kind of collapsed in her general direction, forcing her to take a sharp dive to the ground in order not to get hit. "...H-Hey! You there, what's going on? What's causing this?"

"I don't know!" one of the random monsters that was fleeing the scene said, trying his best not to get trampled as he ran. "Someone's going crazy in The Town! I don't really know what's going on!"

...I think I have a pretty good idea, she thought to herself as she stood up and ran towards where more explosions could be heard, some of the housing collapsing with the thuds that struck them like wrecking balls.

She ran. Quickly and cautiously, she ran towards the source of the explosions who were getting more and more intense by the second. Debris and ruptured cobblestone filled the streets as fire and smoke rose from some of the wreckage, forcing Sunset to cover her face as she advanced, and voices could finally be distinguished amongst the sound of fighting...

"I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS, YOU FREAK OF NATURE!"

"Stay out of my way, Quarry!"

Raycast's voice commanded with a fierce blow to it, and Sunset recognized the silhouette of the enforcer of the Convocation of the Lost: Quarry. As Sunset rose her face to see where the voices were coming from, exactly, Quarry was tossed with telekinetic magic through the air like a weightless puppet, crashing against a building nearby, tearing through it like the building was made of cardboard. She hardly even skid through the ground as she stayed motionless for a moment, raising herself from the debris with a look of sour fury spread all over it. It took her a quick moment to notice Sunset's presence as the Golem slowly stood up and cursed profanities in between gritted teeth.

"YOU? What are you doing here?" she said as she pointed back towards where Sunset came from, her face contorting in what could possibly be described as pain. "This isn't a place for daisies like you! This is a battlefield! Get lost!"

"That's exactly WHY I came!" Sunset defended her position, still staying away from from immediate radius of the explosions just a tad yonder. "I need to know, what's going on?"

"...That nutjob Raycast built another one of those freaky magic staves of his! I don't even know what the hell he thinks he's doing, but he's attacking Nimue!"

"Nimue is here? Is she safe?"

"Yeah, that's why I'M here! I'm here to keep her safe, and I can't be asked to protect you, too! SO LEAVE!"

"No, I...! I can't! I wanna help!" Sunset pleaded with a strong cry, making the Enforcer stop on her feet as she started running towards the fight again. "...I have to."

"...Don't say I didn't warn you." Quarry turned around and ran towards the battle yet again, her long, light blue hair streaking behind her like a banner being carried into battle. Sunset took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to jump in the middle of explosions... and took a dive into the battleground herself.

All things considered, it wasn't as bad to look at as she initially thought. Raycast was looming above ground, forcing himself to float with the effects of the Astrorum Virgam, of which he carried in his hands like a spear made of light. He was glowing with a powerful white color that surrounded everything his power touched, like a coat of paint that responded to the winds that were blowing from the Staff of the Stars.

Resting on the ground with a dumbfounded look of absolute astonishment in her eyes was Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. She held a shield in her hands, much to Sunset's surprise, with her blond-pink hair fluttering in the wind. Despite the surprised look on her eyes, she still held herself up with poise, staring down at Raycast with just as much intensity as he unleashed.

"I expected many things out of you, Raycast," she said with a soft yet firm ethereal tone, holding the shield with both hands as she rose it up to her chest. "But I never expected you to go so far as to do this."

"Can your pretentious higher-than-thou speeches, Nimue. I am sick and tired of listening to you talk."

Sunset could hardly believe that this was Raycast's voice. It was so damaged and cracked... this man was driven over the edge!

"You've mocked me and hurt your people enough. You don't deserve to call yourself the leader of this community anymore!"

"KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT, YOU CLOWN!"

Quarry interrupted them with her yelling again, picking up a boulder about three times her size and tossing it towards Raycast, who admittedly performed rather poorly at flying away from it. Granted he still dodged the attack, but still, it was a clumsy dodge, with him fumbling to get his balance in the air. Without wasting time, however, he managed to pick the rock up as it flew by with telekinesis, and held it aloft like he was showing off how it was done to his attacker.

"And you. You're a stubborn loyalist, aren't you? Do you get a kick from throwing your brothers and sisters at me like this, Golem?"

"Ha-ha! You're not funny, douchebag!" Quarry yelled as she cursed under her breath her inability to reach Raycast up above. "You've gone over the edge super hard this time, Raycast! I'm gonna make sure I not only wreck that staff, but I'm also gonna wring your legs off like I'm picking carrots!"

"Quarry, please! ...Raycast! What you're doing... this attack of yours! Do you truly think this is necessary?"

"I already said I am sick and tired of you talking!" he yelled with pure venom in his voice as he rose the boulder up above and tossed it down towards Nimue, who rose the shield and blocked the attack with a grunt of effort, surprisingly enough. The rock cracked in half as a loud bang rippled through the air, and the impact of the hit cracked the floor she was standing on, the pieces of the boulder collapsing around her harmlessly. She rose her face to meet his, a look of defiance plastered all over it, steadfast, making the man take slight pause. "Necessary? It's demanded. I can't handle this anymore, it needs to change!"

"I can see that your methods of change are about as much as I expected them to be. I know you and I disagree on many things, Raycast, but this...? I do not even know what to make of this."

"Make of it what you will. I'm done with you, Nimue. If with this I can make things better in the long run, it's a bet I am more than willing to take!"

"Sorry, but can I interject for just a minute?" a voice came from the top of one of the buildings, making the three look at it with looks of pure shock dashed across their faces. "I'd like to say a few things, if you'd let me."

Sunset Shimmer was there, inside the radius of the Astrorum Virgam's magical influence, alongside Raycast, Nimue and Quarry. Standing atop one of the less damaged buildings and looking slightly up so that she could look at Raycast, who flew, she couldn't exactly tell what any of the three before her were thinking. Still, she made her move, and now it was time for her to play.

"Sunset Shimmer! ...Did you come here to get in my way, too?"

"If by getting in your way, you mean stopping you from breaking houses and threatening the lives of the inhabitants of this place, then yes."

Raycast blinked with confused rage as he turned around to face the Equestrian, who gulped in silence as nervous sweat popped in her neck by the force of his pressure. It didn't take long before he responded, the Staff in his hands glowing ever more strongly by the second.

"I am doing what I must do so everyone will be better off! What I'm doing is the right thing to do!" he roared with intensity as Sunset held her ground, resolute. Nimue and Quarry both were looking at her with worry, trying not to incite Raycast to attack her as soon as they did anything. "Are you seriously considering that I am in the wrong? You have no right to tell me this!"

"...Sounds like you're overcompensating," Sunset chuckled to herself as she found a bit of confidence to throw in her words. "Besides, look where I am, now, just so we can talk like actual people. I wouldn't want you to get a creak on your neck from looking down at people too much."

That was a jab that he didn't have the patience to receive. With a bellow of anger, he picked up many different rocks around the battered down residential area around them all and rose them with magic, the white glow of his power seeping into every object he was manipulating like a disease that spread too quickly. The girls on the ground both gasped in worry as he pointed all of those at Sunset, his mind losing the focus and the ability for him to consider not attacking.

"Stop doing this, Raycast. You are wrong."

"I'll be the judge of that, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset's confidence made the two women on the ground level gasp in shock as Raycast cut off his restraint and hurled the boulders with all his might in the direction of the Equestrian, each spearheading in her direction like jagged missiles of boulder and stone.

...And she found herself comforted by the magic she embraced around her.

Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, Sunset cast away the memories of when she adorned the Element of Magic atop her head. Those were waters past, things she's been fighting against for many days. She accepted the fact she would never forget what she did, neither that people would forgive her for what she's done. That was a permanent black stain in her resume and it would never go away.

Thinking about that brought her some comfort. Coping with what she's done was much easier when she finally accepted the mistakes she's made, and starting right now, she would fix another one of those. She finally understood Raycast, somewhat, as she re-opened her eyes and paid witness to his. Eyes of constant attack, of a man that probably never knew peace from his peers. Someone that needed allies, and to his understanding, they left his side and shunned him. Even if that wasn't the case, he believed no one stood at his side.

...She was probably the straw that broke the camel's back, and she wasn't going to have that be another mark on her life.

Sunset Shimmer's frame begun to glow as the rocks blasted in her direction with the frequency of a machine gun. Barely listening to the shouts of worry from the girls downstairs, she used her own magic with a dexterity fitting of Celestia's Ex-prized pupil. Each and every rock collided against a barrier of her own design, a teal-colored wall of pure force that shone like a jade against the brilliant lights of The Town of the Convocation of the Lost. Dust was kicked up in the air as Raycast grunted in relative surprise, Sunset's frame sparking with just about as much power as he.

"Why the shocked look, Raycast?" Sunset asked, raising herself again with the presence of a giant, her hair flowing behind her, reflecting the brilliance of the environment in its own shade of fiery gold. "Did you expect different? That Staff wouldn't exist if it wasn't for me! Of course I know how to cast spells!"

"We both built this, Sunset! Don't you think I'm a low-class wizard!"

The spectacle of spell-flinging that resumed made the Golem duck and hide behind cover as the Lady of the Lake stood where she was, holding the shield with both hands as the Aegis that protected her. They couldn't believe in the dexterity of the Equestrian when it came to countering every single one of Raycast's magic spells. He would rise a boulder, and Sunset would crush it before he could throw it. He would attempt to move the roof of the building she was standing on, but she would nullify it with a single movement from her hands. He would grunt and yell as he would attempt to cast a magical laser at her, but she would swat it aside like it was a harmless fly.

...He couldn't believe it. What was going on? This little girl! Sunset Shimmer, she... she was deflecting everything he threw at her! Did she think him a mockery of magic? Was she not taking him seriously at all?

She seldom cast any magic of her own sans to defend herself from his. She would cut down his spells with surgical precision the likes of which he wasn't sure wasn't a bad joke being told around a campfire at night. With each spell of his that she'd counter, his patience would grow thinner and his thoughts would grow more muddled. He was thinking as hard as he could at the same time he was trying not to lose control of the flight magic he had cast.

She defends herself too well. I think I need to surprise her a little!

"...Is this how you wish to play this game, Sunset Shimmer? FINE!" Raycast yelled from the bottom of his lungs as Sunset's frame was emanating so much magical power that it felt like she could cut him down with a single look, but he wouldn't let himself be swayed! "Allow me, then! Allow me to demonstrate the extent of my powers! This is what I can do!"

Sunset blinked in surprise as Raycast began to harness magic behind him, concentrating with all his might. He was truly struggling with this one...! Sweat was popping from his forehead as the Golem sprung from behind cover, waving her hand at Sunset, catching her attention as she yelled at her: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Look at him, he's OPEN! Kick his ass already!"

What, are you not going to do it yourself? Sunset mentally joked while she opened a calm smile at the girl, whose face was so dumbfounded and confused that the Equestrian cursed the fact she turned her cellphone off.

"I'm not going to hurt him."

"W-What?"

"Sunset Shimmer! ...What are you planning?" Nimue asked as the area around all of them began to swirl with the wind of magic that permeated the area. Sunset re-faced Raycast, her expression still as filled with confidence as it's always been.

"I'm doing something right, for once."

And that was the cue. The man was charging magic with so much focus that he couldn't afford to lose control. He pointed the Staff at another building that hasn't collapsed due to his assault, and with a quick flash of power... he was there.

Nimue and Quarry both gasped in shock as Raycast laughed heartily at what he did. Teleportation! An actual teleport! THIS was true, Eldrich magical power! A spell such as this was truly beyond the ability of any wizard to ever attempt to control the raw powers of the arcane! This was a true master's skill, one only a very select few wizards could ever attempt to control...!

With a guffaw of triumph, he looked at Sunset Shimmer who certainly displayed a look of surprise of her own. Using this to his advantage, he proceeded to perform the actual magic he was preparing, and the ground beneath her feet erupted in a jagged array of spikes that burst upwards with fury, kicking up dust and debris from the building's now missing rooftop.

"N-No! Raycast, what--"

"Hahaha! T-This is it! This is TRUE arcane power! Did you see this? What can you say to this!?"

"I did see it. I wasn't very impressed."

...He stopped breathing for a moment as his heart jumped from his chest all the way to his head.

He gasped in shock, looking at where Sunset... used to stand. She wasn't there anymore. She was behind him.

Slowly but surely, Raycast turned around as Sunset Shimmer stood there, looking at him with a look he couldn't decipher at all drawn in her eyes. He was frozen, shocked and lost in the maze of panic that engulfed the whole of him like a grasping vine that impeded him from moving. Her physiognomy was pristine: she wasn't showing signs of fatigue or effort at all. He, on the other hand, was sweating and tired from the effort of teleportation, plus the spell he just cast...

And with that thought still cruising through his head like an unstoppable stampede, Sunset placed her hands on both his shoulders... and with another spark of magical power, they were in the ground. Standing right in front of one another, in between Nimue and Quarry, who both stared at the scene with their jaws jutted open.

This girl just teleported us both from the top of that building, right after teleporting behind me when I demonstrated my own power.

Teleporting twice in a row. With absolutely no effort.

He had lost. Raycast's mind suddenly seemed to calm itself down as he gritted his teeth in shameful defeat. He had been bested in absolutely every way, shape or form. He couldn't win. Not now, not in a million years, not ever. This girl that stood before him with an absolutely calming look in her face was, without a shadow of a doubt, the superior Wizard...

She defeated him simply by demonstrating that if she truly wanted to, she would have already done it. Nothing he could do would matter. No strategy would work. No amount of power would prove superior.

Raycast lowered his head, surrendered. Without thinking twice, he breathed in deeply and handed the Staff to Sunset, who picked it up without hesitating.

"...What does one say at a moment like this, I wonder?" he asked aloud as Quarry slowly walked towards them, Sunset urging her not to do anything violent with a simple look. "I lost. I surrender, Sunset Shimmer. You won our duel."

"T-That was unbelievable! I had no idea you were such a formidable Mage, Sunset!" Nimue praised as she also approached the scene, still holding her shield in between her and Raycast, whose look was still sour and displeased.

"I do what I have to, when I can. Raycast Shields, we need to talk."

"Talk about what? The hell was this all about? Just beat the crap out of him, already! If you're not going to do it, then let me!"

Nimue promptly shut Quarry up with a look as Sunset appreciated the initiative. Raycast just shook his head in defeat, still trying to come to accept the defeat he suffered.

"I am clearly not designed to defeat her in a magic duel, Golem. I'm not stupid enough to not understand the difference between us. I'm not going to do anything anymore, I've surrendered."

"I'm sorry, Raycast. ...I've abandoned you, even without really realizing it," Sunset said with an audible glint of pain in her tone, making the Ex-Magistrate look away. "I don't know how much apologizing will do, but there's nothing much else for me to do."

"How about getting rid of this woman? That would be a good start," Raycast spat as he lowered his eyes to meet Nimue's, who stood firm in her feet, still keeping Quarry from decking him in the face. "You are the reason this all started, Lady of the Lake."

"You truly believe that? We have covered this a million times before, Raycast. I cannot make radical changes that swell this community with power. That is a mistake."

"You have never truly attempted to make the mistake to even know if it is one. This community needs all the help it can get. There are monsters out there that can't benefit from the assistance of the Convocation! Some of then live in slums, or in generally terrible conditions that force them to do horrendous things just so they can survive."

"...This is awful, and I agree with you. We are working the best we can to solve this issue, but giving these people weapons is not the way to--"

"Spare me. I heard that a thousand times before, I care little for that thought."

"I understand your point of view, Raycast, but let's think of this a little bit differently," Sunset added, making both of them look at her instead of each other. "Magic is a wonderful, powerful tool. It can be used in many different beneficial ways; ways that you two can't even begin to wrap your heads around. I've seen it before: magic being used to manipulate weather, change the seasons, the day and the night. Magic to grow food, magic to spread harmony through the world like an intoxicating song of life that all can benefit from. I understand how powerful and useful magic can be, and I don't deny any of that."

"But magic can also be used by those with evil in their hearts. They can use it to their own end, causing destruction and disharmony to those that stand in their way. They can use this dark magic to dominate minds, turn them into slaves, or... t-turn oneself into a monster that might never know redemption in the end. As it stands, magic is a gamble - a high-risk move that while potent and useful, helpful and incredible... it's also a dangerous thing for someone like Nimue to spread through her people. Monsters that, by their design, already have many different means to live beyond the human way. As they are living among humans, that makes that difficult... but it's the reality of the situation."

"I cannot afford to make that gamble. I would rather work things out in a way that does not resort to such drastic changes. 'Tis a risk I cannot afford to take, lest I risk the lives and the safety of those that already have it. Such is the reason as to why I do what I do, Raycast Shields. I am not neglecting their situation, I am doing my best to solve each and every one of their problems every day. ...But it cannot happen in a day. Not like this."

The man took a deep breath as he looked up to the ceiling of The Town. The lights that were cast down upon them danced in his irises, and he lowered his head as he couldn't find himself to think of more words to cast at them. They made their point... and they spoke the truth.

"I understand. ...And I accept my actions as what they are," he said as he lowered his head in tired defeat. "Whatever punishment the Convocation deems necessary... I will accept it."

Sunset traded looks with Nimue and Quarry as all three girls nodded in unison, agreeing with his sentiment and declaration. It was over, and Sunset placed her hand atop the Staff's focus stone, finally bringing this magical incident to a close:

"Veneficus Cantus," she muttered. And the Staff's magical bubble and influence disappeared from around them.

"So, what will happen to Raycast?"

"Currently, I am unsure of the punishment we will place. Despite his good intentions, he damaged the Convocation of the Lost, attacked me and put lives at risk. That is not something to be brushed off lightly."

Well. When I did that, I kind of got out of it easy, then.

"We'll consider his position and punish him accordingly. 'Tis a matter I will put thought into, don't worry about it."

Sunset and Nimue both looked from the Terrace of Light at the damage Raycast had caused. It was pretty bad, especially in the area where Sunset interrupted them. Turns out that the crowd in between her and them impeded her progress more than she thought they did.

She sighed a deep sigh as Nimue threw an amused look at the Equestrian, who still held the Staff of the Stars in her hands. Shaking her head slightly, she focused her sights in the damaged buildings that the workers of the Convocation were trying their best to repair.

"That Staff. You built it with him, did you not?" Sunset grimaced with the question, knowing that it was something she would have to cope with, no matter what. Nimue looked at her through the corner of her eyes, her face impossible to read.

"I-I did. ...There's no denying it, I helped him build it. When he approached me, I thought I-I thought he had permission! ...I never bothered to ask."

"You do realize that this puts you in a bad position, don't you?" Sunset didn't bother replying. She knew the answer was clear as day, no matter what words she would probably try to use to camouflage it. Besides, she didn't want to.

She rose the Staff of the Stars and put it in between them, offering the artifact to Nimue without as much as undoing the furrow in her brow.

"Here. This Staff should never have been made in the first place. Do with it what you have to."

"Answer my question, Sunset Shimmer. I don't wish to play the guessing game, I want to hear it from you."

Sunset paused for a moment before sighing and answering with a strong tone. "I do realize it. I made a terrible mistake. I'm not even sure how I can make up for it."

Her reply seemed to please Nimue, as she turned around to face Sunset directly, pushing the Staff away from her towards the Equestrian, who rose her eyes with shock and surprise swelling in them.

"You can start by doing the right thing, as you have been trying to do."

"W-What?" Sunset gasped, her grip on the Astrorum intensifying as she clasped both hands around it. "B-But what I did, it was illegal! A mistake! It was something that caused all this damage!"

"We all make mistakes, Sunset Shimmer. Some of these are more damaging and intense than others, and some mistakes will stick to you for the whole of your life, 'tis true. That what separates the ones that grow with the ones that never do, however, is that the ones who truly understand the value of the mistakes they make; they attempt to do good by them. You make a mistake, you accept it, overcome it and move on, carrying your mistakes not as hurdles but as stepping stones so you may achieve something greater."

"This is called life. 'Tis what constitutes a person that grows and matures. You are trying to fix the mistakes you made. You accept them, and you use your mistakes to grow stronger. While you may have caused damage to the Convocation, you made sure it was minimal by stopping the one that used this creation in his campaign. You have proven you are accepting of your misgivings, and I do not hold it against you."

Sunset wasn't sure exactly what to reply to Nimue. "Are you really ignoring the fact that all this damage happened because I helped Raycast make this staff?"

"Did you forget the time when you didn't know why he was making it for? Or did you forget when you single-handedly stopped him from doing anything worse? ...This artifact of magic if yours, Sunset Shimmer. If you wish to destroy it, then it will be by your hands, not mine. You have earned your right to keep it."

And with that being said, Sunset Shimmer smiled and nodded. This woman before her was crazy, and maybe she knew it. Regardless, she placed a trust in Sunset that she wasn't sure exactly where was it that it came from.

Maybe Nimue herself had learned a lesson that day... a lesson about giving allies to those that are worth having as allies.

Or maybe the lesson of giving someone a second chance. A chance Sunset was never going to break; she promised herself that.