//------------------------------//
// The Badlands 
// Story: Bards of the Badlands 
// by Amber Spark 
//------------------------------//




“Okay, fine, it’s a good campaign, but it doesn’t mean I like her. All she did was make the right call at the right time. She’s the Princess’s student! She probably gets all sorts of special classes on military tactics, battle magic and stuff like that!”
“Lemon Hearts,” Minuette pleaded. “She’s trying! You’re not. So why won’t you give her a break? You’ve got to see this isn’t good for you!”
“No, what’s good for me is not trusting somepony because they happened to not have done something horrible yet. It doesn’t change all the horrible things she did do.”
“And how is holding a grudge going to help anything?”
“So I remember what she did!” Lemon Hearts growled. “She doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”
Minuette shook her head. “What she doesn’t deserve is this constant stream of hate from you!”
Lemon Hearts flushed. “That’s ridiculous! She ruined my life!”
Sunset sighed and stared down at the arguing mares from a shadowed corner of the second floor. She’d gone up to use the restroom and had come back to this. 
She knew she shouldn’t care. Lemon Hearts didn’t mean anything to her. She wasn’t a friend. She was a mediocre student on good days—unless the subject was alchemy, then she was hopeless—so she was barely worth Sunset’s time. 
And yet… the simple fact that Lemon Hearts was Moon Dancer and Minuette’s friend told some part of her that Sunset should care about Lemon Hearts's feelings.
It’s a horrible sensation, being concerned about what others think of you. One you wouldn’t be worried about if you would just listen to me!
Sunset sighed and banged her head against the railing. It should have been cathartic. Instead, it just hurt. 
“How long have you been listening to them?”
Sunset managed to stifle the shout, but it didn’t stop her from shooting a dark look at Twinkleshine, who was standing behind her and levitating a small cup of water. 
“Did anypony tell you it’s not nice to sneak up on ponies?”
“A few times,” Twinkleshine shrugged as she stepped over and looked down at the arguing friends.
“I don’t understand you three,” Sunset muttered.
“What’s that?”
“You ponies… you don’t act like second-years.”
“Well, we’re actually third-years in a month or two.” Twinkleshine glanced at her, her expression impassive and far too mature. “Besides, what do you expect us to do? Act like little foals?”
Sunset tried to figure out a better way to say it, but couldn’t come up with anything. “Maybe?”
“None of us really had a choice.” Twinkleshine shrugged again. “You of all ponies know going to GU is a lot of pressure. It changes ponies. Some ponies get super-serious and block out the world. Moon Dancer was like that before you started tutoring her. Some ponies get silly to cope with it. That’s Minuette.”
“And you?”
“I’ll never have the magical strength of any of you,” Twinkleshine said. “Well, especially you, but I’ll never have the gifts Minuette and Moon Dancer have. I’m actually okay with that. You all seem like you’re destined for the spotlight. But me? I’d just like to settle down somewhere quiet. Have a family. End up doing something fun for a job. Simple stuff.”
“You’re kidding.” Sunset stared at the pink-haired unicorn. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not everypony wants to change the world.” Twinkleshine smiled in a quiet sort of way. “Some of us have to keep it running, after all.”
Sunset opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Thinking like that—it just felt wrong. Like denying a critical part of life itself. What was life without the challenge? Without striving to be the best?
You’re not the best at anything anymore. You’re giving up.
Sunset shook her head. She wasn’t going to let that damn voice get to her. She was certain her passenger was a phase. It would be gone soon enough, after things calmed down in her life. All she needed was a little more patience.
“What about Lemon Hearts?” Sunset asked. 
Twinkleshine looked down again at the two ponies, who were still arguing. She took a drink of her water and seemed to gather her thoughts as Minuette’s voice rose again below.
“Lemon, tell me. After the Masquerade Ball, did you try reaching out to Green Fields?”
Lemon shook her mane. “Don’t push this on me, she did it! Green Fields went from playing with my mane to slow-dancing with her in no time flat!”
“But did you try, even once, to talk to him about it?”
Lemon Hearts swallowed. “Uh, well—”
Minuette cocked an eyebrow. “No! Because the big bad Sunset Shimmer scared you off! You keep telling everypony that you loved him, but you never even tried to patch things up.”
Lemon Hearts stamped her hooves and growled. “No! She stole him from me, and put all kinds of ideas in his head about me!”
“Okay, so maybe she messed up how he sees you. Maybe that made it hard for him to reach out. But communication is a two-way street! If he didn’t contact you, and you didn’t try either, is that Sunset’s fault?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Now think about the Alchemy final. If she was still the vicious, backstabbing little filly you so desperately want her to be, why would Dean Slate have to invent such a—”
Sunset’s attention was broken by Twinkleshine clearing her throat. 
“I don’t know anymore. Lemon Hearts used to be the middle ground between me and Minuette. A bit more outgoing, but not as much as Minuette. Then again, I haven’t met anypony as outgoing as Minuette.”
Sunset smiled just a bit. “I think I can agree with that.”
“But… hm…” Twinkleshine frowned. “Lemon Hearts changed a lot this year. It’s been slow. I know the whole ‘Grass Fields’ thing really hurt her. When last summer came around, she seemed to be doing better. But since the beginning of the term… after she saw you in the class…”
“Yeah, I’m such a great influence.”
“You were pretty awful to us in the beginning,” Twinkleshine admitted. “But it was different, like you wanted to fix things but didn’t understand how. Lemon Hearts couldn’t see it. I don’t think she even wanted to.”
She took a long drink of water and set her glass on the banister. “Minuette was all over it, though. You’ve seen how she is.”
“Yeah.” Sunset nodded. “She’s a special kind of crazy, isn’t she?”
“Sure, but she’s also one of the best kinds of crazy I’ve ever met.” Twinkleshine laughed quietly. “Still… Lemon Hearts… she never forgave you.”
“I can’t really blame her,” Sunset admitted as a rush of obnoxious guilt flooded through her before she managed to shake it off… if only barely. And that was only by not looking at Lemon Hearts hissing at Minuette below. “So… why don’t you hate me?”
“Me?” Twinkleshine took another drink and turned to look Sunset squarely in the eye. “You want the truth?”
“Might as well.” Sunset shrugged. “Your friend down there seems to enjoy throwing it in my face every chance she gets.”
“I’m curious.”
“What?”
“I’ll admit, when everything happened during the finals, I really did think it was you. After all, my legs suddenly turned into miniature trampolines… or something like that.” She chuckled quietly and swished the water in her cup. “Now, I knew Cinnamon had issues. Ponyfeathers, I knew Raspberry Tart had issues… but to that level? That she would go to those lengths to get back at you?” Twinkleshine shuddered. “That scared me. I didn’t like the pony she became… I started to worry that’s where I could end up. That’s not a place I want to go.”
“That’s not really an answer. Why are you curious?”
Twinkleshine finished her water and paused for a long moment. “Well… Moon Dancer is completely convinced you’re trying to be a better pony. She was so convinced, she stood up for you in the middle of Polish’s exam. I want to know if she was right.”
“What do you think so far?” 
Sunset was not afraid of the answer. At least, that’s what she told herself. 
Twinkleshine’s smile grew a little bit. “Still thinking about it. But that little trick in the game helped.”
Sunset stared at her. “How can seeing how I act in a game help for something like that?”
“It’s something my mother always told me: ‘watch a pony at play and you’ll see them at work too.’ She was a coach for the Canterlot Polo Team. She thinks seeing how ponies play reveals how they think.”
“And what do you think?”
“I’ve seen enough to think she might be right.”
“Well, that’s somewhat encoura—”
“You’re being just pulled into her freaking lies! Moon Dancer is wrong about her!” Lemon Hearts shouted from below, her voice going from annoyed to furious in an instant. “When are you going to get your head out of the clouds, Minuette? She’s a fake!”
“I’ll get my head out of the clouds when you get yours out of the ground!” Minuette snapped back. To Sunset’s shock, there was real anger in the blue unicorn’s voice. “She’s trying! Which is a lot more than can be said for you!”
“Why in Tartarus is this so damn important to you?”
“Why?” Minuette shoved herself into Lemon Hearts's face. “Because I’m tired of seeing it hurt you!”
That one brought up Lemon Hearts short. “What are you talking about?”
Twinkleshine glanced at Sunset and suddenly coughed loudly. Both Lemon Hearts and Minuette’s eyes shot up to the balcony.
“How long have you two been spying on us?” Lemon Hearts snorted.
“Actually—”
“We just got here,” Sunset interrupted smoothly. “I was showing Twinkleshine the small artifact collection the Princess lets me keep for study.”
Twinkleshine had a tiny little smile on her face as she nodded to Sunset’s little lie. “You should check it out. She’s got a few neat things up here.”
“Maybe later,” Minuette replied with a grin that didn’t look one-hundred percent genuine. “After all, we have a villain to vanquish! So get down here and let’s make this happen!”
Lemon Hearts stared suspiciously at Sunset, but her eyes drifted over to Twinkleshine. There was a note of actual worry in her face as she stared at her friend. Twinkleshine just smiled back. Finally, both Minuette and Lemon Hearts headed to the dining room table, now lit by a beam of moonlight coming through the massive window overlooking Canterlot.
“Yeah,” Twinkleshine whispered as she headed for the stairs. “I think she was right.”
Sunset stared after her, but found her gaze wandering to Lemon Hearts, who was hunched over on her side of the table. Minuette on the other hoof, was watching Sunset like a hawk. She had another smile on her face. This time, it was honest.
Minuette also looked somewhat self-satisfied. For some reason, Sunset didn’t really mind. 



Garnet focused her entire will upon the cliff face, seeking any point of entry. The long road from Elderfields had led them here… to something that shouldn’t be. And that made her nervous, more than she wanted to admit. Eoana flew around, trying to figure out how this wall of rock had come into being.
Garnet probed the wall with her magic before cursing under her breath. Still nothing.
“How’s the back?” 
Garnet’s back immediately twitched as Forest’s question shattered her focus.
“It’s better. Never been run through with a sword before.”
“I’ve seen worse,” the cleric replied in a motherly voice. “You’ll be fine.”
“Is that your professional opinion?”
“As a Cleric of the Light of the Sun? Yes.”
“I’ll take your word for it. And Wind?”
Forest turned from the cliff and looked at the slumped body of the pegasus.
“The spell Snow worked upon her was severe indeed. I pray she’ll wake within the next hour if my healing took. Now, it is up to both her and the Sun.”
“I can’t believe Dogs managed to ambush a pegasus.”
“Wind likes to walk. She’s a bit particular for a pegasus.”
“Says the deer that travels with said pegasus and a batpony.”
Forest shrugged. 
“We should be grateful that we found her. In this nearly-trackless expanse, she could have been lost forever.”
Garnet shrugged. “I guess. But right now, she’s not much help.”
A batpony slammed to the ground in front of them, forcing them both to take a step backward. Garnet almost threw a trio of firebolts at the intruder before she recognized the figure as Nightblossom.
“You two figure this thing out yet?”
Forest shook her head. “All we know is that there should be an open canyon that leads to the ancient Fortress of the Shadowed Sun. There is nothing above?”
Nightblossom kicked at the cliff and yelped when she bruised her hoof. 
“No,” she said, glowering at Wind Speaker for some reason. “It’s nothing but scrub up there. It looks real.”
“The map Wind showed us could be wrong,” Garnet pointed out.
“You mean the map Snow managed to steal from her?” Nightblossom grumbled. “I can’t believe that pony. What in Tartarus is her problem?”
“She was checking the area, something of which you are quite aware,” Forest reminded her. “After all, you declined the task.”
“Don’t push this on me!” Nightblossom shouted. “I’m not the one who decided to throw somepony into a fire.”
Garnet sighed but said nothing, focusing once again on the cliff face. All she sensed was rock and dirt.
“She saved us with that little trick,” Forest said for what felt like the hundredth time. 
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it! Or her!”
Garnet growled and whirled around. 
“This is getting us nowhere!” she shouted to the heavens. “I don’t have a clue how to get past this wall! According to the map, it shouldn’t be here, but I can’t sense any sort of magic on it at all!”
“That’s… because you aren’t… an Earth pony.”
All three of them whirled to stare at the groggy expression on Wind Speaker’s face as she blinked a few times in the bright moonlight. 
“Hello everypony. Did …I miss anything?”
“About blasted time you woke up, you featherbrain!” Nightblossom growled even as Forest rushed to Wind’s side. “We’ve been here for over an hour and you’re heavy to carry!”
“So very sorry,” Wind muttered dryly as Forest helped her to her feet. “I’ll try not to get blasted out of the sky by a unicorn, beaten by Dogs and bound by an overpowered sleep spell in the future.”
“That would be quite helpful, thank you,” Forest commented as she stepped away, watching Wind carefully.
However, the pegasus seemed well enough. The magic of the cleric and the healing potion they’d administered to her had done their work. Wind Speaker stretched her wings and checked her so-called ‘battle-saddle’ she wore on her sides.
“At least she didn’t damage this,” Wind muttered. “I would have killed Snow if she had. This thing’s expensive.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that all out of the way…” Garnet interjected with a roll of her eyes. “Mind telling us what you meant about us not being an Earth pony?”
“Before she knocked me out, Snow demanded to know how we were going to get past this barrier,” Wind said. “I didn’t even know it was here, but she seemed to think we had a plan. Apparently, it requires Earth magic to get through.”
“Then how’s she going to get through it?”
“The Dogs.”
Garnet blinked a few times and facehoofed. “Oh, by the Queen’s Mane, of course! Dogs use Earth magic. That’s how they dig so fast!”
“Seriously?” Nightblossom scoffed. “The sorceress sage couldn’t be bothered to remember such details?”
“My memory isn’t perfect,” Garnet snapped. “Anyway, you’re the adventuring experts. Shouldn’t you know something about the Dogs?
“I’m afraid I fail to see how this information is of any assistance,” Forest pointed out. “None of us have the ability to wield Earth magic.”
Garnet raised a hoof. “I can.”
Nightblossom stared at her. “You’re a unicorn sorceress. Don’t tell me you’re part Earth pony too.”
“No, I’m not!” Garnet growled. “I’m not some terribly written character out of a cheap book! What I meant is that I can… sometimes.”
Wind Speaker nodded. “Your Wild Magic.”
“Isn’t Wild Magic… wild?” Forest asked.
“It can… sometimes… be controlled. For a brief second or two. But, it’ll leave me pretty useless for at least a couple hours.”
“What is required?” Forest asked.
“This is stupid,” the batpony complained. “Let’s just go look for a hole or a cave.”
“Assuming we find one, how do we know it’s not blocked or guarded?” Wind Speaker replied. “I think this is our best option. However, Garnet, you do realize what will happen if this doesn’t work, right?”
Garnet nodded.
“Well I don’t!” Nightblossom shouted with yet another glare. “Somepony mind telling me?”
“She could lose all of her spells,” Wind murmured. “Burnout… or worse.”
Nightblossom stared at Garnet with an open mouth. “You’re kidding.”
Garnet shook her head.
“Okay, that’s a stupid risk. Why bother?”
“Aren’t you worried what Snow is planning to do with fifty bards?” Garnet pointed out. “I doubt she abducted them just to have them sing her a lullaby. She’s after something. Something bad. We need to get to them before it’s too late. After all, that’s why we’re here.”
Nightblossom’s bright eyes narrowed even further as she studied Garnet. “Nope. This isn’t gonna work.”



“What isn’t going to work?” Minuette asked. “Lemon Hearts, you’re not making any sense.”
“You’re trying to do the whole ‘noble sacrifice’ schtick!” Lemon Hearts growled. “Trying to get me to like her because of it! I know for a fact sorcerers can’t control their wild magic like that. The most they can do is use a second roll to pick a different effect!”
“Any group of adventures can use Harmony as a magical focus once a month as long as they are united by a common cause and have a single arcane caster in their presence,” Minuette recited with a sigh. “It’s on page two-hundred and fifty-six. Calling upon Harmony allows the caster control over any Chaos-related for a maximum of ten seconds.”
“Oh yeah, since Nightblossom’s totally going to go through with that,” Lemon Hearts growled. “She doesn’t trust any of you, definitely not enough to use Harmony!”
“Using Harmony is the only way we’re going to deal with this.”
“That’s your fault!” Lemon Hearts shouted. “You built up to this moment!”
“Actually, it’s in the book!” Minuette lifted up Bards of the Badlands. “But since you’re being a pest, I’m not going to show you. So nyah!”
“Nightblossom isn’t going to help Garnet become the hero,” Lemon Hearts snarled, crossing her forelegs. “It’s that simple.”
Enough is enough. Sunset wasn’t sure if those were her own thoughts or that angry voice rattling around in her skull. 
“So you’d rather wreck the game than do something to help us progress?” Sunset snapped. “I thought you were supposed to be their friend?”
“Who are you to lecture anypony about being friends?” Lemon Hearts's eyes were burning now. “You tore everypony apart for years. One incident doesn’t redeem you! You can’t change who you are, Sunny!”
Sunset stood to her hooves so quickly her chair fell over. She didn’t care.
“I know who I am!” Sunset shouted. “I’m a unicorn with a gift for magic who also happens to be the personal student of Princess Celestia!”
“And the truth comes out!” Lemon Hearts cried. “You think you’re better than all of us!”
“No! The truth is, I don’t have a freaking clue about friendship. But I’m trying! All you’re doing is the same thing Cinnamon Tart did to Moon Dancer!” 
The silence was deafening. Twinkleshine and Minuette’s eyes darted back and forth between Sunset and Lemon Hearts. Lemon Hearts's expression had frozen, as if Sunset had just punched her in the face.
Sunset suddenly found she couldn’t meet anypony’s gaze.
And then Minuette started laughing. 
It was not a quiet laugh. It wasn’t a dainty giggle or even a hearty chuckle. This began with three snorts before she fell out of her chair, howling with laughter so badly she started stamping on the floor. Tears streamed from her eyes as everypony in the room just stared at her.
For reasons Sunset couldn’t explain, Twinkleshine was the next to fall victim to the inexplicable laughing curse. She kept herself a bit more composed than Minuette, though, managing not to land on the floor.
Sunset stared at Lemon Hearts and saw the same complete and total incomprehension she felt.
But somehow… it didn’t matter. Minuette’s laughter truly was as infectious as a plague. Before she even realized what was going on, Sunset started giggling, which quickly devolved into gales of laughter. Lemon Hearts managed to put up a good fight, but with three other mares dying from incurable mirth before her, even she couldn’t keep a straight face.
Sunset wasn’t sure how long they were there, laughing their tails off for no reason. All she knew was it felt like something was missing from her when she finally managed to catch her breath. And she felt far better because of it.
Minuette slowly climbed into her chair, still snorting occasionally as she righted her Game Master’s screen and fixed a few things on the table. 
“Would… would you mind telling me what that was all about?” Sunset asked, still trying to get her curse of giggles fully under control.
“You two!” Minuette cried. “You two are so determined to be angry at each other. It’s hilarious! Like watching cats separated by a window trying to fight! There’s all this yowling and scratching and howling but nothing’s actually happening. I don’t know how you two haven’t noticed it yet! Sunset, you want her to be angry at you!”
Sunset gaped. “I do not! I’ve been trying my best—”
Minuette shook her head. “No, not intentionally. You want her to be angry at you because it means you’re still allowed to be the pony you were a year ago. There’s a part of you that doesn’t want to lose that. And as long as there’s somepony out there who won’t forgive you, you can still be that Sunset Shimmer!”
Is that possible? Am I really so scared of losing that part of me by actually making friends?
She thought about herself staring out the window, looking at either some random piece of the Summer Sun Celebration… or looking out to the east.
Sunset couldn’t help but notice that the angry little pony in her head had suddenly gone very silent. She wasn’t sure her passenger was even there anymore.
“And Lemon Hearts?” Minuette continued after another giggle. “You’re not angry for yourself. You’re angry because you don’t want to admit that maybe Moon Dancer was right. You’re angry at yourself and you’re trying to be angry for us, since Twinkleshine and I agree with Moony.”
Something clicked. “You knew we were watching you, didn’t you?” Sunset asked.
“Yep!” Minuette giggled yet again. “It was a blast seeing you two actually bond! Worked perfectly!”
“Wait…” Lemon Hearts protested. “They were up there the whole time?”
Minuette nodded. When Lemon Hearts looked at Twinkleshine for affirmation, the pink-maned unicorn shrugged sheepishly. Finally, her eyes turned to Sunset.
“And you didn’t say anything? After everything… no, you actually lied! You lied! To my face!”
“There wasn’t any reason to say anything,” Sunset muttered. “It would have just embarrassed you and made you angrier.”
Lemon Hearts stared at her, gaping in shock. Finally, something seemed to deflate in the yellow unicorn and she put her head in her hooves. 
“Why’d you have to go and make everything complicated?” Lemon Hearts moaned. “You were so easy to hate. But then as the year went on, ponies started to think you were different. But all I could remember is all the damage you did. All that suffering you inflicted on everypony. But after the alchemy final…”
“Lemon Hearts,” Sunset sighed. “I know I’m not a good pony. But after what happened, I going to try to be. Now, I can’t fix this overnight. I’d love to, but since mind control magic is against the law in every part of Equestria I know of… I have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
Lemon Hearts's head finally lifted and she looked Sunset in the eye. To Sunset’s surprise, the other unicorn was crying. “He still won’t talk to me, you know.”
“If I can help fix it, I promise I will.”
A long silence stretched between the two ponies. 
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“With my luck, I’ll probably make it worse,” Sunset muttered. “But… I can try. But… look, I’m sorry about what I said when I compared you to Cinnamon—”
“No,” Lemon Hearts interrupted. “Don’t. You were right. I’ve spent this whole time trying to make Minuette and Twinkleshine hate you. Real friends don’t encourage hate. Moon Dancer was right about that.”
“Yep!” Minuette chirped. 
“Took you long enough,” Twinkleshine said as she rolled her eyes.
Lemon Hearts stood up and slowly walked around the table to Sunset. Sunset forced herself to stay in exactly the same spot. It was a hard battle, but she managed to hold her ground. Then the yellow unicorn did something Sunset wasn’t ready for.
She held out a hoof. 
Sunset tentatively, slowly and gently… bumped it.
Minuette let out a squeal that could probably be heard all the way in Trottingham.