//------------------------------//
// Gloria et virtue 
// Story: Division 
// by 5aszs 
//------------------------------//

"That was satisfactory, Sunburst. Now, the crown seems to be the most powerful and important out of all of the Elements so try and use it to vaporise the targets over there."

Sunburst sighed upon his father's comments and dropped the Element that he was using. Sir Capricornus (Sunburst's father), Sunrise and Sunburst were in the courtyard at the Capricorn mansion and the couple were currently practising with the Elements of Chaos (with Sunburst’s father coaching them) in preparation for their confrontation with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in six day’s time. Learning to get to grips with the Elements was easier said than done and Sunrise and Sunburst had made small progress in their attempts to successfully control and use the Elements as they wished. In the two weeks that the Capricorns had the Elements, Sunrise had suffered a fractured jaw from a magical mishap with one of the Elements and Sunburst had lost a tooth. The six Elements were all the same size except for one which took the form of a crown with a six-pointed dull pink star placed atop it. Due to the Elements of Chaos being discovered and kept in Saddle Arabia for several decades, all of the Elements had Arabic words inscribed on the front of them which meant deceit, cruelty, greed, betrayal, gloom and dark magic. 

"This is so frustrating, we don't have much time left and we still haven't gotten to grips with the Elements", grumbled Sunburst as he walked over to the Elements (that were currently on the ground) and he simply stared at them. Sunrise remained silent Sir Capricornus stared at his son disapprovingly. How was he supposed to defeat Celestia and Luna when he didn't even believe in himself? 

"As the next leaders of our failing country, neither of you are behaving as if you are members of House Capricorn. Gloria et virtue. Our house motto should be engraved into your brains by now. Do you really want to give up now when you've come so far and are so close to victory?" Sunburst shook his head adamantly. "Then you need to get a grip and keep trying. We have worked at this for far too long to see all our hard work go to waste. Now, try using them again but this time you have to actually believe that you are able to control the Element. 

Sunburst used his magic to levitate the crown onto his head and he closed his eyes and lit up his horn.  When he opened them a few seconds later, his glasses had fallen off his face and onto the ground and he was thrown forward slightly by the magic. The crown lifted him high into the air. A large black orb of magic appeared and it surrounded Sunburst and Sunrise wore a worried expression on her face whilst Sir Capricornus appeared to be intrigued by what was going on. Suddenly the orb began to fade and screams of pain could be heard. The orb had disappeared completely and Sunburst dropped to the floor like a stone.

“SUNBURST!”

Sunrise rushed over to her husband and turned him onto his back. Sunburst had a long gash running across his torso and his mane smelled of smoke. Sunrise placed her hooves over his chest and began to compress it, quietly sobbing in her attempts to revive him. 

“He’ll wake up. Trust me.” said Sir Capricornus quietly as he stood over his son. Sunrise continued her attempts to resuscitate her husband for a few more seconds. Sunburst opened his eyes slowly. He immediately placed a hoof on his wife’s face.

“Wha-what...what happened?”

Sunrise ignored his question and hugged Sunburst tightly. Sir Capricornus waited respectively for a few minutes before he cleared his throat. Sunburst and Sunrise stood up quickly and Sunburst looked nervously at his father.

“You’re still doubting yourself. That’s why you can't control the Elements. We have six days left.   If you want House Capricorn to take over Equestria, you need to sort this out now or there will be consequences for all of us. Practise is concluded for the day. We'll resume at the same time tomorrow morning.”


Sir Capricornus teleported away from the courtyard and his son and daughter-in-law were left alone in the courtyard. Sunburst picked up his glasses from the ground using his magic. The glasses had been completely wrecked by the crown Element.

“Are you okay, Sunburst?” asked Sunrise worriedly, stroking her husband’s face gently.

“Yeah, I will be. Why does he hate me so much?”

“He doesn't hate you, he’s just worried. He thinks you won't be able to control the Elements in six day’s time, but i know you can. You just have to prove him wrong.”

“I will.”

Sunburst’s irises suddenly changed colour to purple and green; and this did not escape Sunrise. 

“What was that?”

“What was what?” replied Sunburst, confused by Sunrise’s sudden outburst.

“Your eyes, they- it doesn't matter.” said Sunrise, telling herself that she had probably imagined what she had just seen. “What were you going to say?”

“Lab tests on the Elements of Chaos would be very beneficial, but we don’t have the resources to conduct a thorough investigation with the Elements of Chaos and the only House that does is-


“House Cancer.” said Sunrise, finishing Sunburst’s sentence for him. “But we can’t. Everypony thinks that Celestia and Luna have the Elements safely hidden in the palace. They're going to ask questions if we approach them about this."


"We will need all the allies we can get for our takeover and besides, they voted alongside us in favour of  Sir Renois' proposal. That proves that they at least have the same ideals as us in terms of how to fix the economy. I will go tomorrow to the Cancer Corp headquarters and meet with Sir Cranco to discuss the arrangements for the research.

“I have to admit that the benefits slightly outweigh the consequences. But how are you going to tell your father?" 


“I can handle Father. It’ll be fine."





"EXCUSE ME?! WOULD YOU CARE TO REPEAT THAT FOR ME?!"

"Father, please, I said-"

"BELIEVE ME, I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID SUNBURST!"

The father and son were in the study of the Capricorn mansion and Sunburst's attempts to convince his father of the plan involving by the research of the Elements were not going very well. Sir Capricornus had been yelling for the past ten minutes and his hoarse voice wasn't going to stop him from letting his son know exactly what he thought of his 'idea'.

"Did you actually think that you could stroll into Cancer Corp and ask to borrow one of their labs for research without expecting any questions? The last thing we need to do right now is draw attention to ourselves and this is what you propose?"

"Father, we need to strengthen our alliance with House Cancer to have a better hold over the other noble houses. Researching the Elements may also give us a better idea of what their potential will be. Out of all of the noble houses, Cancer is probably the most respected after Aries and it would bolster our own reputation if we do this. If you want me to take charge of Equestria, then this is what has to happen-"

“You can't even control the Elements of Chaos and you expect to go through this without running into any trouble. You’re even more deluded than I thought you were.” Sir Capricornus’ voice then dropped in volume. “Maybe you’re not ready to take over Equestria on behalf of House Capricorn. It's too soon. I should’ve waited.”



“What? You want to doubt my credibility days before my takeover. HAVE YOU NOT HEAR ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT THE GEMINI PARTY TWO DAYS AGO AND HOW I DEALT WITH ATLAS?! I made him look like a foal and now all the other nobles know that we aren't pushovers, that House Capricorn shouldn't be taken lightly. I am not your little foal anymore, i'm a grown stallion and i will not stand for this anymore.”




"Father, why are you and grandpa angry?" asked Sunset Shimmer innocently as she opened the door and walked into the study."


Sunburst took a deep breath and turned to address his daughter. "I'm not angry, I'm just talking to Grandpa about something very important. Why don't you go back to your room and finish your studies."


"Okay then, I'll go now." Sunset left the study and closed the door behind her using her magic. Once her footsteps had disappeared up the stairs, Sunburst resumed his conversation with his father.


"If you want me to take over Equestria, then this is what has to happen in order to ensure that we are in the strongest position possible." concluded Sunburst in a tone that made it clear that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Sir Capricornus narrowed his eyes at his son. “Do as you wish. I will not concern myself over your wellbeing anymore.”








Cancer Corp was one of the most advanced buildings in all of Equestria and it was a fact that Sir Cranco (the CEO of Cancer Corp and head of House Cancer) always took pride in telling this fact to ponies that came to visit. The five-storey building's construction had taken six long years to complete and the multi-million bits investment from House Cancer and the two princesses was previously seen by some as a waste of money; but the vast improvement of public health and life expectancies for all three tribes helped to change ponies’ minds. Cancer Corp also had a huge impact on the improvement of medical standards in hospitals across the nation, which was a deciding factor in their growing popularity amongst the common ponies. 

Sunburst's carriage was nearing the entrance of Cancer Corp and he was mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say to Sir Cranco. Whilst he was confident that he could get away with this plan, there was still a small part of him that had doubts about whether the plan would work. The satchel Sunburst was carrying contained six ancient jewels that were taken from the underground bunker in the Capricorn mansion. Sunburst planned to present these jewels as the subject of research to Sir Cranco. The carriage suddenly came to a stop and Sunburst composed himself and slowly exited the carriage; but was shocked to see Sir Cranco already waiting for him at the door.


"Sunburst Solar, a pleasure to see you. It's not that often that you grace us with your presence here." welcomed Sir Cranco with a huge smile on his face. Sunburst walked forward a little cautiously and was led into the building by Sir Cranco. The pair walked through the reception and Sir Cranco quickly teleported the pair to his office on the fifth floor. Sir Cranco sat in the large blue swivel chair at his mahogany desk and stared intently at Sunburst.


"It's a very nice livelihood you have here Sir Cranco." complimented Sunburst, who was admittedly feeling a little nervous. He wanted to make sure that Sir Cranco was in a good enough mood to not ask too many questions when Sunburst made his proposal.


"Yes, Sunburst, it is, isn't it? Now, enough about me. I'm sure you didn't just come here to have a chat about my life or shower me with compliments."


"No sir, I actually have a proposal regarding a research opportunity between our two houses and I hope that you will seriously consider accepting this proposal."


Sir Cranco leaned forward in his seat and made it clear that he was interested. He gestured to Sunburst to continue speaking.


"These artefacts I have here," Sunburst paused to take the jewels out of his satchel, "were discovered by a servant at my father's mansion approximately eight days ago. We have performed our own analysis spell but we feel that research conducted at Cancer Corp would provide us with more answers as to what these jewels actually are and what they can do."


Sir Cranco stroked his chin for a few moments, deep in thought about whether he should pursue this opportunity. He had to admit to himself that the prospect of researching unknown artefacts interested him and the stagnation of Project Mutatio meant that morale levels amongst his scientists were at an all time low, and this project could ignite a new competitive drive within his scientists again. But what benefits were there for him if he agreed to Sunburst’s plan on behalf of House Cancer?


"In return of course, my family will make a 15 million bits donation to Cancer Corp and we will also sponsor Cancer Corp for any future research projects that happens here." said Sunburst, quelling any concerns Sir Cranco had left.


"Well then, I'll be pleased to host research on these jewels for you Sunburst." Sir Cranco lit up his horn and the two were teleported to one of his labs. The lab itself covered a huge amount of space and the majority of it was taken up by ponies of all tribes working on their own individual projects. The tables were covered in test tubes and all sorts of chemicals and small explosions were occasionally heard, which explained why workers were yelling and diving for cover underneath the table. Sunburst jumped in shock at one of the explosions, which drew laughter from Sir Cranco


"Don't worry, this sort of stuff always happens. You’re not in any danger at all, Mr Solar. Now, we will be very thorough in our research and I will be sure to contact you in a week's time with the results regarding these artefacts." said Sir Cranco as he gently took the satchel away from Sunburst. He called out a name and the pony it belonged to rushed forward to Sir Cranco. The scientist took the satchel from his employer and exited the lab. 


"Now," said Sir Cranco,"was there anything else you needed or -"


"HELP!"


The foal's cry for help came from a lab that was situated a few metres away from the one that Sunburst and Sir Cranco were in. The two looked at each other for a fraction of second and for the first time, Sunburst saw Sir Cranco's cheerful mask drop and he looked terrified. He quickly galloped out of the lab and in the direction of the lab. Many lab workers also dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to help the filly. Sunburst also galloped out of the lab and entered another smaller lab, where he saw a little purple filly shaking vigorously on the floor (with small bursts of magic coming off her body) and Sir Cranco desperately attempting to help. Another foal (who appeared to be her older brother) stood over the both of them, tears flowing freely from his eyes. 

"Sir, I'll alert the hospital." said one of the workers by his proposal was quickly shot down by Sir Cranco.


"NO! I-I can fix this." yelled Sir Cranco, before whispering to himself in assurance that everything would be okay.

The filly suddenly stopped shaking and opened her eyes slowly. 

"Grandpa... wha-what happened?"

Sir Cranco breathed a huge sigh of relief (as well as Sunburst and everypony present) and he held the filly close to his chest. He looked up to the other foal and beckoned for him to join the embrace. The workers quickly flooded out to give the family some privacy but in their haste to exit the lab, one of the workers bumped against a shelf, knocking over a very heavy scale that was on the top of the shelf and it quickly fell towards the other foal’s head, and if it hit its target, it would cause serious brain damage to the filly’s older brother. But the filly saw the scale just in time. She quickly removed herself from her grandfather's embrace and managed to light up her horn and halt the scale mid-fall, moving it slowly with her magic and placing it on a nearby table.

"Twily, you-you saved my life." whispered Sir Cranco in complete shock. His granddaughter slowly stood up and gestured to the scale that had fallen off the shelf. Suddenly the filly was surrounded by magic and was lifted into the air. When she was lowered to the floor a few moments later, there was a new addition to her body and particularly on her flank. 


"Twilight, you...look at your flank." said her older brother.


Twilight looked down at her flank and saw a pink six-pointed star surrounded by five other white six-pointed stars decorated on her flank.


Sunburst was happy for the little filly and smiled as she jumped around the lab in celebration. He was also relieved that her and her family didn't  come to any harm; but there was something that was bothering him. When Twilight's brother cried for help, Sir Cranco muttered 'project mutatio', and 'mutatio' meant change. He also refused to take Twilight to hospital. Could Sir Cranco be hiding something in the seemingly innocent lab? Sunburst then took a closer look at the filly's cutie mark and his heart stopped for a few moments. The pink six pointed star resembled the star on the crown Element. How was that possible? It surely couldn't be a coincidence. Was this filly linked to the crown Element and if she was, how? Could this filly be a threat to House Capricorn in the coming years? Sunburst had a lot of questions with no answers and this was yet another issue to deal with in the days before House Capricorn's takeover of Equestria.





".....and I’m done! FINALLY! I hate writing essays.



Sunset threw her book to the floor and decided to read a few more chapters of her history book before her mother called her down for her tea. She turned to the most recent page that she had been reading and continued to inform herself of Celestia and Luna’s ascension to the top of Equestria. 

“... and as the crops continued to fail, a harsh storm came about that wreaked havoc throughout all of Equestria and any remaining viable crops that remained were destroyed. The earth ponies and pegasi began to place more pressure on the unicorn nobles to allow Celestia and Luna to rule since they appeared to be the only ponies that could save Equestria. The ruling house, House Aries, couldn't find a viable solution to the drought or the possible invasion and so they handed over control of Equestria to the princesses in a vote that all of Equestria took part in.” Sunset had a question regarding the final statement so she went downstairs to the kitchen to ask her mother.

“Mother, why did House Aries give up their rule instead of discussing this with the other noble houses?”

Sunrise jumped in shock and turned to see her daughter trying her best to not laugh.

“What did you ask sweetie?”

“I said, why did House Aries not talk to the other noble houses about giving up power to Celestia and Luna?”

“How about I finish up this stew and then I'll tell you all about it, okay?”

“Okay, mother.”





Sunburst stared impatiently at the clock, which seemed to be teasing him with time moving at such a slow rate. He stood up and started pacing around the room again, unable to get the image of the filly’s cutie mark out of his mind whilst looking out of the window and waiting for . He checked the clock again and was infuriated by the fact that another minute had not passed yet. He was not going to wait any longer. Sunburst got up and left his room, trotting quickly down the stairs and out of the hotel doors in less than a minute. Walking down the empty Canterlot street, he crossed the road twice and headed straight to his destination; Cancer Corp.





“So why did House Aries give up their power Mother?”

“Patience, Sunset, I'll get to that point in a few moments. We have to start from before the drought took place and when everything was fine. Each of the tribes had their own role in society; the earth ponies grew the crops that would feed everypony, the pegasi controlled the weather and they were also essentially our nation’s military force, which is why the Wonderbolts were formed. The unicorns moved the sun and moon and we also ruled over Equestria. Each pony knew their role and did their job. There were not any unicorn farmers nor any pegasus studying magic and for hundreds of years there was peace and prosperity in Equestria. But, approximately one hundred years ago, there was a group of pegasi, led by a mare named Private Pansy, that protested against this system and they argued that ponies shouldn't be confined to a particular job based on whether they had wings, a horn or neither and-”

“But that’s so silly, everybody else was happy with it and nopony else complained about it so why did they?” interjected Sunset.

“They were probably looking to get rid of us unicorns as leaders and their outbursts began to influence other ponies, and soon enough, a group called the Equestria For All group had been set up and their branches throughout Equestria that argued for the abolishment of this system. The ruling house at the time was House Aries and they had taken over from Codardo of House Leo after he was assassinated by an earth pony. They were sympathetic to the cause of the EFA and they began to break down the rigors of the tribal system that was in place. However, the rest of the noble houses disagreed with this notion and in council meetings that everypony attended, there were raging arguments that took place between the nobles.”

“So everypony was fighting and nopony had a good solution to the problem. So where do Celestia and Luna come from?” asked Sunset.

“They arrived in our country in the midst of this crisis from out of the sky. Some said they came from a foreign land and others said that they were spiritual beings sent to save our country. Their appearance understandably threw many ponies off and in their first speech, they described themselves as having ‘the intelligence and power of a unicorn, the flight and perseverance of a pegasus and the good, strong heart of an earth pony’. Celestia in particular won over many ponies with her rousing speeches and optimistic manner. Luna on the other hand appeared to be an introvert and even a little aggressive at times, but she also eventually managed to gain popularity. The sisters claimed that in order for the crisis to be solved, ponies had to learn to trust each other.

“So basically Celestia and Luna saved everypony. What about the windigos?” asked Sunset.

“Windigos? That's just what parents tell their foals on Equestria Day. There are no such things as windigos, at least not in Equestria. House Aries called for a snap election and in that election, nearly 65% of the population voted for Celestia and Luna to take over, and this ultimately diminished the noble houses’ power. House Leo- which is my house- threatened to annex western Equestria and rename it ‘Unicornia’ and their plan was only supported by House Capricorn, so it failed. Badly.”

“Is that why Grandpa Leonus hates Princess Celestia so much?”

“He doesn't hate Celestia,” said Sunrise, choosing her words carefully,  “he just thinks that she doesn't always make the right decisions when it comes to Equestria. Anyway, enough about Equestria’s history, how are your studies with the princess going?”

“Great! I have my mid-term exam coming up and I know that I'm going to beat everypony else because it's obvious now that I'm just so much better than them. But Celestia told me that I should make friends but I don't want to. What should I do?”

“You don't need friends Sunset. All they will do is waste your time and distract you from your studies. Just focus on your studies and you will go very far. I am confident that you will achieve great things, Sunset.”

“Thanks, Mother. Can I go and practise for the exam now?”

“Of course.”

Sunset hugged her mother tightly and galloped away. Sunrise watched her leave with a sad smile, praying that her innocence wasn't tainted by what Sunburst had planned for Celestia and Luna.





Sunburst had been circling the Cancer Corp building for the past twenty minutes, searching for an opening that he could enter the building through. The security was quite lax due to the fact that nopony would want want to break into a health lab, but this did not mean that Cancer Corp was not guarded. The entire building was surrounded by a shield spell that had taken Sunburst ten minutes to neutralise and he still wasn't any closer to breaking in.

I need to hurry, the longer I spend here, the higher my chances of getting caught. 

Whilst circling the building again, Sunburst noticed that one of the windows hadn't been closed properly and thus had a very small opening. Sunburst quickly walked over to the window and used his magic to force the window open. He climbed in slowly and entered a room that was in complete darkness. Sunburst lit up his horn and investigated his surroundings. There were a huge number of sheets strewn all over the tables in the room and the whiteboard still had drawings all over it. Sunburst walked quietly through this room and entered the corridor. He found a light switch on the wall next to him and turned it on, illuminating his surroundings immediately. At the end of the corridor he saw an old, brown door labelled ‘Mutatio.’

That's what Sir Cranco said yesterday.

Sunburst walked over to the door and pushed it gently, surprised at the fact that the door swung open. He walked through slowly to find another door surrounded by a barrier made up of pink magic.

Now, how does this work?

Sunburst stared at the orb for a few moments, his mind quickly running through all of the possible ways he could overcome this spell. He lit up his horn and fired a red streak of light at the orb but this had no effect. He gathered up all of his power and fired at the orb again and a small dent was formed but it wasn't big enough for Sunburst to break through.

Why isn't this working? How can I not get past this orb?

You're going to fail Sunburst. 

Sunburst turned around quickly to find the source of the voice but he saw nopony behind him. He returned his attention to the orb and charged up his horn to fire another bolt of magic and another small dent adjacent to the previous one was formed.

Just give up Sunburst. Your so-called ‘mission’ will only end in failure like your time at Celestia’s school.

Sunburst turned around again and like before, saw nothing. His heart began to race and he felt small beads of sweat run down his neck.


Turn around and go home Sunburst. 

This time the voice rang loudly and clearly in Sunburst’s ears. He then heard a beeping sound and the sound echoed throughout his head, causing Sunburst a great deal of pain. His horn began to swell a little. Sunburst cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground and holding his head in his hooves. He felt the ground spin beneath him and the world blackened, the pink magical orb and the door it protected fading into the darkness, taking Sunburst’s consciousness with it.





“Candidate 0706. Please enter the examination hall.”

Sunburst opened his eyes and found himself standing in a lobby with lots of other foals. His eyes widened upon seeing the foal who was stood in front of him.

“Sunburst, go!”

Sunburst watched his younger self shiver and walk very slowly into the exam hall.

Oh no. I remember this day. The first end-of-year exam. But why am I here? Why did I go back to this day? The worst day of my life.

Sunburst was teleported into the hall and he cringed upon what he saw. The younger Sunburst was shaking and the three examiners he stood in front of gave him stoic looks.

“Sunburst Solar, considering your previously abysmal exam performances, I hope you will redeem yourself today.” said one of the examiners whilst briefly looking over his notes.

“Ye-yes sir.” whispered the younger Sunburst, shuffling on his hooves. He turned to the wagon (which contained a puppy) in the room and took a deep breath before speaking.

“Today I will be performing an accelerated growth spell on this puppy here. The spell I perform should enable the puppy to pass through adolescence and adulthood and reach an elderly age.”

“An ambitious proposal, Mr Solar. Are you sure that you will be able to successfully complete this spell?” asked the female examiner.

“Yes.”

“I am sure that you are aware, Mr Solar, that due to your poor exam results this year, it is mandatory that you achieve a mark of 65 out of 100 today or your place at the school is at risk of being taken away?”

“Yes, sir.” whispered the younger Sunburst. He took a deep breath and turned to face the wagon. He closed his eyes and lit up his horn. The puppy barked loudly as it was lifted up into the air and Sunburst’s magic appeared to be working as the puppy's legs began to elongate.

Here it comes.

The puppy suddenly dropped to the floor and the younger Sunburst’s magic faded. 

“Mr Solar, you failed to complete the accelerated growth spell. Your score is a zero and we will be having an emergency meeting with your parents to discuss your future at this school. You are dismissed.”

The younger Sunburst ran out of the hall sobbing and the older Sunburst ran after him but remembered that nopony could see or hear him in this flashback and stopped in his tracks. The room suddenly disappeared and Sunburst found himself now standing outside his father’s mansion. He walked forward slowly to the door.

“Sunburst!”

Sunburst heard his name being called and he had the shock of his life when he saw who the voice belonged to.

Mother.

Lady Caprica walked slowly towards her son. In the final months of her life, her teal mane had shortened to a few wisps of hair on her head but now it was as long and luscious as it was in her youth. Her kind teal eyes focused on her son and her warm aura drew her son close to her.

“Sunburst, my son, I-”

Sunburst threw himself at his mother and tears fell from his face as he clung to his mother tightly.

“Sunburst, look at me.”

Sunburst quickly wiped away his tears and looked at his mother.

“You need to stop doubting yourself. You can't let what happened in your childhood dominate the rest of your life. You have lots of support and the ponies that love you believe in you.”

“Hmph…. Father doesn't believe in me. He still holds doubts about me.” said Sunburst with a hint of contempt.

“He just wants you to show that you can assert yourself, and i know you can do it.”

“What about the voice I heard in Cancer Corp?” asked Sunburst, nervousness creeping into his voice.

“That was the dark magic. When you used the crown today, a portion of the magic must’ve entered your body. I'm guessing that the dark magic has now grown in size, which could explain why you heard it speak.” explained Lady Caprica.

“How do I get rid of it?” asked Sunburst.

“You can't. It channels your negative emotions and uses it against you. You can only repress it by believing in yourself.” said Sunburst’s mother.

The ground suddenly shook and Lady Caprica was thrown to the floor. Sunburst quickly helped her up but she was incredibly light in his hooves.

“I don't have much time left Sunburst, so listen carefully. Go forward with your heart and always consider what is best for other ponies. You will be a great leader. Gloria et virtue, my son. Hold those close to you.” said Lady Caprica with a sad smile. She eventually disappeared a few seconds later and Sunburst lost consciousness again.





Sunburst suddenly woke up and found himself back on the ground in Cancer Corp. He shakily stood up and stared at the orb.

Believe in myself. That's what I have to do.

Sunburst charged up his horn and fired at the orb, gradually increasing the power he used. The shield began to crack and long lines formed on it, threatening to split the shield apart. The shield suddenly exploded and the door was thrown open. Sunburst fell backwards and hit the ground hard. He got up and quickly walked through the door, entering the room that Sir Cranco had attempted to protect.

Let’s see why Sir Cranco was trying so hard to hide what is in here.

Sunburst saw a whiteboard with several diagrams on it and decided to investigate. He quickly skimmed through the diagrams. Images of something called a telephone. Sunburst gasped out loud. This ‘telephone’ would make communications so much easier between ponies and letters would effectively not be used anymore if this invention was shown to the world. Sunburst looked over some other papers that were on the nearby tables.

Footsteps. 

Sunburst suddenly heard a pony’s footsteps travelling down the hall. They appeared to be walking towards the room Sunburst was in. he quickly looked for a place that he could hide but he remembered his mother’s words and stood confidently in the middle of the room. Sir Cranco quickly saw the shattered orb and rushed into the room, shocked to see Sunburst standing there.

“What is this?” said Sunburst, holding one of the sheets.

Sir Cranco sighed and seemed to give up. “That, Sunburst, is how we’re going to change Equestria. Forever.





Gloria et virtue
That is how you will go far
Secrets will be revealed
And ponies will show who they truly are