The dark and red sky brought the smell of an endless fire which jostled Sunset’s nostrils, singeing the tiny hairs. Her eyes were soaked with tears from the smoke. Ash rained down, covering her like algae covering a lake at the start of spring. Another explosion struck her eardrums as she fled through the burning forest. Many of the trees were already blackened, scorched, and ripped from their roots. Rocks that were once huge boulders now were no more than the size of a doorknob. Gravel swam beneath her hooves as she ducked for cover, another boom.
It was another time, another place, one that was not her own, Sunset knew. There was no great big crystal tree that Princess Twilight resided in, the map was still crumbled, and there was certainly no way Lord Tirek had escaped for a second time. This is Tirek’s timeline, she recognized, just as she had recognized the last three worlds. Out of all the villains she’d heard of, Lord Tirek was truly the worst of them all. Brainwashing, feeding, lying—nothing could compare to the terrible nature of the centaur. Even Sunset knew that her own demonic power would have been no match compared to Lord Tirek.
Dark clouds huddled over her, the path becoming foggy with dust and smoke. Another blast struck the trail in front of her, sending debris flying overhead. Luckily, it sucked the air out of the fire close by, granting her a different path out of the violated forest. Is this still the Everfree Forest? she wondered, trying to figure out the closest landmark. Ponyville was always close by, but if Lord Tirek was loose then surely it would be in ruins. A brief lapse of cloud coverage lit the way through some trees that had yet to be destroyed. She found herself traipsing through brush and thorns just to make it ahead of the roaring fire.
The sound of the burning was almost as terrifying as the sound of Lord Tirek’s magic. Click, click, boom. Another quake. Click, click, boom. Dirt showered down atop leaves, sounding too much like a rainstorm. Her eyes broke free from the tree line, and much to her surprise, Ponyville still stood. Another ravaging beam sent her screaming down an incline, sliding on her rump, and hitting the bottom like a dropped bag of potatoes. Two burnt twigs were stuck in her mane, her backpack dirtied, and her hooves were covered in soot and mud. The fire burned so hot that the ground had begun to melt.
Her whole body was hurting. I thought I was done with running after the last world, she complained as she made sure everything was still in place. I’m going to have a couple bruises. In the distance, she could see the town of Ponyville. Like a beacon of light, the quaint town was still standing. No fires, no rubble, not a scratch from what Sunset could tell. As she drudged closer, well away from Lord Tirek’s fiery blasts, she found that she was right. The town was completely intact. Not a piece of plank or hay out of place. The grass was normal, a bit patchy but nothing a little bit of love and care couldn’t fix.
As she entered the cozy town, she could still see Lord Tirek in the distance above the hay roofs. Click, click, boom. She shook. Not just from the quake, but from fear. The side of Ponyville she entered was devoid of life. Have they all fled? A sudden orange blur dashed past her, proving the town was not empty. She followed, chasing after the blur only to find a crowd of ponies coming out of their homes. She sidled up beside them, following the crowd to wherever they were headed. Shouldn’t they be evacuating!? That’s when she noticed her run slowed, matching the rest of the leisurely ponies heading towards the direction of the evil centaur.
Ponies gathered at the edge of the town, all standing like sheep staring up at their fate. These sheep did not seem worried, they held happy little smiles. “What’s going on?” Sunset asked one mare who she trotted with.
“Lord Tirek has come!” the pony answered with a bit of glee in her voice that Sunset did not like.
Her heart sunk. They’ve accepted their fate, she reasoned, grimacing. The large centaur ceased his fire for a moment, turning his gigantic head to face Ponyville. Oh, no! Here he comes! I’ve got to get out of here. Just as she turned to run in the opposite direction, the crowd enlarged, trapping her within the sea of ponies. She struggled to move, and then she heard it.
Click, click, boom.
It ended with ponies screaming.
The warmth struck Sunset’s fur like a firework hits the night’s sky. The heat rushed over her, and the screams continued. But it was not pain they yelled for—it had been screams of delight. Ponies throwing their forelegs into the air and stomping back down. Whinnies and hollers melded together into a pot of cheering. The fire was gone, put out by the centaur, but the long crater remained. Sunset rose up bipedal, placing hooves on other ponies for a better look. It was as if someone took a large plow to the ground, creating an empty trench, but then it wasn’t. In a blink, water sloshed down the newly created river. Fillies and colts ran forward to jump into the rushing rapids, but the centaur put out a big meaty hand. He was larger than any castle.
“Now, now,” his voice boomed as he spoke, “you must let the sides cool first. The water is nice and cold but even so, it does not touch the banks.”
“Thank you, Lord Tirek!” the fillies and colts yelled from the edge as they waited for the hot dirt to settle and fizzle out.
Sunset couldn’t believe her eyes any more than her ears. While the crowd dispersed, she stood alone staring up at the centaur with her jaw touching her chest. She did not have to stare up for long, however, as the giant centaur started trudging away from the quaint town. “What in all of Equestria just happened?” Sunset said, perhaps too loudly.
Another mare, different from the last, came up to Sunset and asked, “You’re new around here, aren’tcha?” The voice was familiar, but the giggle was what Sunset recognized.
“Pinkie Pie?” Sunset turned to face the mare, and she was surprised by the earth pony’s look. “You’re… you.” She squinted, examining the pink face, pink hair, and pink tail.
“You know me?” Pinkie Pie asked. Compared to any other Pinkie Pie Sunset had met, this one looked like an exact copy to the one who had been carting cake through Princess Twilight’s castle. Everything about her was familiar except for the most important detail. Thick cerulean eyes were replaced with a light grey, leaving almost a contrasting glare to the wide-eyed pink mare. “How do you know me and yet you don’t know what’s going on? That’s really silly.”
“Pinkie Pie? Oh, Pinkie Pie?” another voice called, just as familiar.
“Rarity! Over here!” Pinkie waved a hoof. “Someone knows me that I don’t know! Isn’t that funny?”
Sunset turned. Her eyes looked the white unicorn up and down. With no contrasting picture other than the previous worlds, Sunset assumed this Rarity was the closest thing to the original as possible. A curl to her purple mane hitting her shoulder and twisting outward, she looked positively normal. Her tail curled into a ribbon shape as well, long and endowed with a sleek shine. The only thing off about the white unicorn was the dull, grey eyes below the thick black eyelashes, mimicking Pinkie Pie’s. “Rarity,” Sunset spoke, her brow furrowing. “You both are living in Ponyville? Is everyone else here?”
“Everyone else?” Rarity lowered her head, glancing over the red and yellow mane of the fellow unicorn. “Are you friends with Pinkie Pie?”
“I just said, I don’t know her,” retorted Pinkie. “But that means a welcoming party is in store!”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset said, backing away from the two. “This is all a little much for me to take in.” I should have gotten more sleep before I left. “I’m from… far away. Could you two explain why Tirek is running loose?”
Rarity stepped toward Sunset, extending a hoof. “It’s common courtesy to greet somepony and introduce yourself before asking questions. Since you are from far away, I will forgive the slight. My name is Rarity, but you seemed to have already known that. You are?”
“Sunset Shimmer.” Taking the hoof in hoof, Sunset gently acknowledged the greeting.
“Pleased to meetcha Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie bounced up and down, tossing her body over the back of the unicorn and brushing the backpack. “How do you know me and Rarity? You some sort of dress-party enthusiast? Is that even a thing?” When she pulled away, the backpack pulled with her, a strap snapping in two. The bag hit the ground, and Pinkie muffledly said, “Oops.”
Lifting up the backpack with her magic, Sunset examined the two ends and noticed the slice. “It must have gotten nicked while I was running. I guess it’s about time to get a new bag. This one has been killing my shoulders.” When she looked back at Rarity and Pinkie, she wondered why they had their hooves covering their mouths.
Before she could ask, Rarity whipped around to Pinkie. “We must get her to my boutique, and quick!” she whisper-yelled, and the pink pony agreed.
“What—” was all Sunset could manage before Pinkie snatched the bag out of the air with her teeth.
Rarity was a bit more calm, locking her forelegs with the magical unicorn. While the pink pony ran ahead, Rarity stayed with Sunset. “Come, darling. Look natural.” She smiled with her lips, but her eyes remained frantic, glancing in every direction as she forced Sunset down the road. As the boutique came into view, Pinkie stood at the door jogging in place. Once inside, Rarity let go of Sunset and slammed her body to the door. “What are we going to do!?” she howled, pulling on her mane. “She has magic!”
“Now will you two explain to me what’s going on? What’s the big idea?”
Pinkie started sifting through Sunset’s things. “I don’t think she’s from our world, Rarity,” the pink mare said as she lifted out the journal Sunset had been given during her stay in the Resistance timeline.
“Hey! Don’t go through my things!” With her magic, Sunset ripped her backpack and books away from the pink pony. “I learned plenty from the last world, like how you girls are always different. Apparently, this world doesn’t have common decency.” She glanced at the broken strap. “Geez.”
“So Pinkie’s right? You really are from another world? A world with magic?” Rarity stepped toward Sunset. “I-I can fix that strap for you if you’d be inclined to tell us more. More of your world, of your magic.” She held a hoof to her horn and swooned, rocking back and forth. “By Celestia, I miss that divine feeling.”
Holding her backpack to her chest, Sunset glanced over the grey eyes of both mares. “On one condition. You fix my backpack and an exchange of information. I’d like to know as much about this world as possible.” She had gone through three worlds where she didn’t have the full facts, and she was understandably tired of it.
“Your duty is not to learn of our world, Sunset Shimmer,” she remembered Nightmare Moon saying in her throne room. I’m making it my duty from now on. Those ponies didn’t just watch Tirek, they cheered him!
“That seems like a fair trade,” agreed Rarity. She led both Pinkie and Sunset up to her second level where her sewing machine sat. Never before did Sunset see any of the bearers’ homes in her Equestria, aside from the small percentage she walked through of Princess Twilight’s castle. “Let me get some string.” To Sunset’s surprise, the white unicorn used her hooves to reach up for a black spool of thread sitting on the shelf behind the machine.
Dropping the bag on the table where the sewer sat, Sunset glanced around the rest of the room. “This is your home, right Rarity? You live in Ponyville?” Sunset’s dim grasp of their lives bled through. These strange worlds altered their living arrangements, disorientating her knowledge more so.
“Oh, yes. Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! If you know me, why have you never visited my home? That’s a bit odd. Are we friends?” Rarity began placing the line into her sewing machine, a few ticks rang out every couple of seconds.
“No sense in keeping the full story from you. I’m glad you both are interested, at least.” She paused, inhaled, and then exhaled. “The world I’m from has you two and four other bearers as guardians of Equestria. You’ve defeated countless villains with the help of friendship and the Elements of Harmony. One villain being Tirek, of course. I used to live in Equestria before I went through a mirror. Beyond the mirror has the same versions of you, which, when I returned to Equestria and was caught up in this parallel world escapade, it was fairly easy for me to adapt to seeing different versions of you. Though I’ve never actually met any of you from the original Equestria, besides Pinkie, I have met plenty of your separate timeline counterparts. Which, I suppose includes you.”
Though the sewing machine was on and spitting twine, Rarity had long pushed the backpack’s strap past the area of the needle. She sat with her mouth agape staring at the shelf in front of her. Pinkie, who stood close to Rarity, was also completely speechless. Her eyes bulged like the thick end of a tube of toothpaste.
Not having Nightmare Moon to tell everyone to believe my story really makes me miss her, Sunset reminisced. “Alright, your turn. Spill the beans on Tirek and this world.”
The sewing machine shut off. “I’m sorry, darling. Could you repeat that? It was quite a lot to take in all at once.”
Sunset inclined her head and sighed. “Simple version. You two are bearers of the Elements of Harmony. There’s four more. All six of you use the Elements to defeat evil. Which is exactly what I’m here to help you do.” Sorry Tirek, you’re not getting the Nightmare Moon treatment. “Now then, why is Tirek around? How’d he get free from Tartarus?”
Rarity shook her head. “Pinkie, explain, would you?” The sewing machine clicked on again as the white unicorn went back to work on the broken strap.
“R-right. Uh, where to begin?” Pinkie tapped her cheek as she came closer to Sunset, sidling up next to her. “Lord Tirek… Lord Tirek… I suppose it all started when Cerberus left Tartarus unguarded. The big ol’ cutie visited Ponyville, and that’s when Lord Tirek escaped. Apparently, he marched on Canterlot only to find out there was this whole big changeling invasion! He single-handedly defeated the changeling queen and her army, absorbing their magic and kicking her butt out of the city.”
Sunset interrupted the recounting, “Hold on, Tirek didn’t show his face till way later! The changeling invasion happened years before Tirek attacked, it didn’t even happen till after Twilight became a princess!”
“Who’s Twilight?” Pinkie asked.
“A princess in my world,” answered Sunset.
“You mean we have four!?” the pink pony gasped.
“Four?” Sunset’s eyes lit up. “You mean… Luna isn’t trapped in the moon?”
Rarity finished the strap, a fine embroidery now sewn in the place of the cut. “Everyone knows the tale. Here’s your bag.” She handed Sunset the backpack with her hooves, which Sunset levitated over her shoulders. “When you said we were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I wasn’t quite sure if you were being serious, seeing as Princess Celestia used them to free her sister. It was quite surprising when we were informed Nightmare Night wasn’t just built on a myth.”
“So, what happened to the Elements of Harmony?” Sunset asked.
“Dunno,” answered Pinkie with a shrug. “You’d have to ask one of the princesses. Anyway. After Lord Tirek defeated the changelings, the princesses thanked him. To everyone’s surprise, he parleyed.”
Sunset grimaced at the thought. “Parleyed? How does Lord Tirek, the hater of ponykind, parley?”
“He’s not so bad,” Pinkie claimed with a shake of her hoof.
“It’s true, he’s not,” agreed Rarity, with a bit more hesitation than the earth pony. “He’s the protector of Equestria now. It was a huge deal at the time, though it doesn’t seem like much now. In exchange for all of Equestria’s magic, he guards our realm against those who would do us harm.”
Sunset threw her forelegs up in a rage. “Protector!? Who would he protect us from other than himself!?”
Pinkie answered, “Well, he did march north and deal with Sombra, restoring the Crystal Empire to its former glory.”
“Wait, really?”
“I do miss my magic so,” Rarity said, eyeing Sunset’s horn. “But Canterlot has never looked better. And now he’s come to Ponyville to help build us up. You were there for the commemoration, correct? That river is being cut into the earth on the opposite side of town to help water flow to Sweet Apple Acres. Soon, more farmland will be sprung up for the Apple family, which Lord Tirek himself is going to help plow and grow.”
“Now I know how you two felt. That’s a lot of information to take at once.” Sunset rubbed one of her temples and closed her eyes to help her think better. “None of this matches up with my Equestria. None of this matches up with any Equestria I’ve visited!”
“How many others? What are you exactly?” Rarity asked.
“It’s an incredibly long story. I’ve visited many different worlds. You know that Nightmare Moon myth? I just came from a world where she ruled—the sun was nothing more than a distant memory. That changeling invasion? It was the second world I visited. Queen Chrysalis had captured all of Equestria, trapping every colt, filly, mare, and stallion in cocoons.” She groaned, slapping her forehead. I forgot to look at the map. I’ve got no idea where the other bearers are.
Rarity leaned from side to side, examining Sunset with a keen eye. “You know, I’d call you a liar but you still have your magic. I doubt you traveled all this way from the border. Clearly, you’re not from our world, and if everything you say is true then that means—”
“—We’re not real!” Pinkie finished.
“No. No, Pinkie,” Rarity continued, “That means she’s telling the truth about us being bearers. What exactly that entails, I’m unsure, but we should head to the princess immediately.”
“Are you crazy!? Princess Celestia would just hand her over to Lord Tirek and he’d drain her magic!” replied Pinkie, twirling her hoof around her nonexistent horn. “Other ponies have left Equestria with their magic, maybe she’s one of them! How do we know we can trust her?”
Sunset put a hoof to the earth pony’s mouth. “Actually, visiting Celestia is exactly what we should do. I’d be eager to hear how she gave in to Tirek. Even Nightmare Moon fought to keep him in Tartarus. Do you think you two could take me to Canterlot?” Boy, do I miss Nightmare Moon. Free chariot rides in the sky. I should have taken more time to enjoy the scenery.
“But Sunset, your magic. If you’re found out by Lord Tirek, you won’t have your magic anymore. Is that something you’d be alright with? I’m unsure how you move from world to world, and Pinkie could have a point, we don’t know your intentions. Are you certain you’d want to do something that would end with your magic being taken away?” Rarity asked, her expression of concern was pretty heartwarming compared to the last world’s Rarity.
“I don’t use my magic to teleport between worlds. There’s a map that requires the six bearers to sit on it before a portal opens up for me. Without you six, I don’t go anywhere,” answered Sunset. “Not to mention if we bump into Tirek, I can just easily get away. A small unicorn compared to that big ol’ centaur? Piece of cake!” Had Sunset not trotted to the door, eager to leave, she would have seen the two grimacing faces of the bearers.
The two mares didn’t put up a fight, however. Rarity directed them to Ponyville’s train station which could be taken to Canterlot, and Sunset remembered taking it to Manehattan. That seemed like so long ago. She thought to ask if they should bring Applejack, but decided against it—none of it mattered until she spoke with Celestia. I’m sure Celestia will be eager to have magic return to Equestria and be rid of Tirek. Just because he’s supposedly good doesn’t mean he’ll stay that way. Stealing magic doesn’t sound like a good guy sort of thing.
Making their way down the road, the train station in sight, Sunset thought to ask about the changelings and what had happened to them. That’s when she noticed the two stopped, their eyes wide, their mouths open to the wind. “Girls?” she said, just before slamming into a red wall. She fell on her rump and rubbed her head. When she looked up to apologize, her expression changed to mirror Rarity and Pinkie’s. Tirek!
She had seen his height. He was a giant. Far bigger than any dragon. Yet, as he stood in front of her, he was no taller than Celestia. “What’s this?” he said, his bulky arms crossed. He was sniffing the air, his white brows creased together as he focused.
“Lord Tirek!” Sunset heard Rarity yell as the white unicorn came close with Pinkie at her side. “It’s a pleasure to see you!” she greeted with a big, exaggerated grin.
“Rarity, Pinkie,” Tirek greeted, far more warmly than Sunset expected.
I never met him. I remember reading all about him during my time under Celestia. I never knew he could control his size. I suppose when you have all of Equestria’s magic, your powers could rival Discord. Sunset did not speak, she let Rarity and Pinkie do the talking, which they were surprisingly good at. Here I thought I was the one good at improvising.
“You see, this is just a costume,” Rarity said, pulling on Sunset’s cheek as if it were cloth. “It’s actually just Sweetie Belle and her friend Scootaloo. What do you think? A good enough costume for Nightmare Night?”
“You’ve outdone yourself, Rarity,” Lord Tirek replied as he examined the ‘costume’. “And whatever you’ve used as a perfume, it’s almost intoxicating.” His nose ring swayed as he got a big whiff of Sunset. Her mane rustled just from the strength of his nostrils. “But I thought Nightmare Night wasn’t for a ways out? Why prepare so early?”
Pinkie stepped in. “It’s never too early to prepare! That’s why all my parties go off without a hitch! Preparation is the key to being Pinkie-keen!”
The centaur shrugged and then patted Sunset’s head. “Alright. You girls have fun in there. I’ll see you next week for the bake sale.” One last heavy inhale and Lord Tirek trotted past the trio. They all breathed a sigh of relief once he trailed into the distance.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Sunset said.
“I can’t believe we just lied to Lord Tirek!” Pinkie replied, pulling at her bottom eyelids. “We’ll be thrown out of Equestria for treason if he finds out!”
“What’s done is done. No time to worry about it now. Let’s just get tickets and board!” Rarity ushered them along to the train depot, gaining three passes with haste. After they boarded and found their seats, they all sat close to the windows, staring out at the rest of Ponyville to see where the centaur might be. Once the train began, Rarity said, “I’m glad Sweetie’s off with our parents. Hopefully he won’t run into Scootaloo.”
Pinkie held her head to her back legs, shaking something fierce. “I cannot believe we just did that. What if he finds out? What if he talks to Sunset again? Oh geez! We’re going to be in so much trouble!”
“Would you two calm down? Clearly, if you’re so upset about him finding out, you should help me take him down.”
“Take him down? Are you loco in the coco!?” Pinkie asked. “Listen, Sunset. We all miss having our own special magic, but you can’t go against Lord Tirek. He’s too powerful. Not to mention the princesses are on his side. If you go against him, you go against Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! What pony in their right mind would go against them?”
“They would probably go against Tirek if they knew they could use the Elements of Harmony. Which—” Sunset paused, realizing her words were a mistake. “Wait. Couldn’t Celestia and Luna just use the Elements of Harmony on Tirek? Why would they allow him to be free? This doesn’t make any sense.”
“Darling, I already told you. They parleyed,” Rarity replied. Pinkie leaned in close to Rarity and whispered, to which the white unicorn nodded. “Excuse us, Sunset. We’ll, uh, be right back.”
Ever obliging, Sunset waited in her seat for the two to return. She watched them pass through the doors of the train to another section, and when they were gone she turned to glance out the window. Her eyes dragged across pine trees, the bright blue sky, and the second set of train tracks that ran along theirs. Wait, what? She pushed her muzzle to the window just in time for another train to pass by. The big pink train rushed with the same amount of fervor as theirs, tearing down the track back to Ponyville. There certainly weren’t two tracks in Crystal War timeline. I don’t think there has ever been two.
Sunset peered around the cart for a moment, but no one else sat in the train’s caboose. “Why need two trains if the first one’s barely full?” she mumbled to herself.
With nothing better to do, Sunset threw off her backpack and pulled out the journal that kept her memories of these crazy worlds. Flipping past the first few pages, she reached the end of the Nightmare Moon section. Her eyes dragged across the wrinkled photo of herself and then moved on to the next blank page. What to call this world, she perplexed, picturing Tirek in her mind’s eye. She did not know much of the centaur. He was power hungry, he hated ponies, and his brother had ratted him out to the princesses. Yet, in this world, he did not seem to hate ponies. Nor was he locked away in Tartarus.
Chewing on the end of her pen, she decided against naming this new timeline for now. Instead, she wrote about Tirek’s strange ability to alter his size and of his desire to help pony living conditions. She didn’t believe the latter but wrote it in anyway. Slapping the book closed, she put it back into her bag and noticed Rarity and Pinkie Pie had not yet returned. I have to assume they’re talking about me, possibly how crazy I sound. Still, maybe I should check on them. Tossing the backpack over one shoulder, she went up to the door between train carts. On the other side she found sounds of the train chugging loudly along the track. Wind brushed against her, tossing her mane into her eyes. She pushed on into the next cart where only a few ponies sat.
The ones that bothered to look in her direction all had the same grey, dull eyes as Pinkie Pie and Rarity. None of the ponies in this cart were the two mares, however. She continued forward, pushing open the next door with her hooves instead of her magic. When she closed the door behind her, she found the two arguing on the connectors between carts.
“When we cross around the bend, the train will slow and we can jump!” Pinkie Pie shouted over the noise of the train.
“Pinkie! You’re insane! There’s no way I’m going to just jump and hope I make it! We can just ditch her in Canterlot, it’s not that hard to do! The city is massive!” Rarity replied, also shouting.
“What are you guys doing!?”
They held onto each other, a nervous shine to their eyes as they stared back at the orange unicorn. “S-Sunset!” Rarity shrieked. “We were just…”
Sunset didn’t wait for an excuse. Using her magic, she shoved the two into the next cart. Several ponies sat within, many glancing back at the trio, but Sunset did not care. “You two were just planning on ditching me!?”
“W-well, you see, Sunset,” Rarity explained, “Pinkie made a very convincing argument that, well, we don’t know if you’re actually telling the truth.” She smiled awkwardly, shrugging her shoulders at the same time. “You could just be a pony from outside Equestria, come to attack the princesses with your magic. With no real proof, we just thought that perhaps it would be in the best interest of everyone if we skedaddled and let you manage on your own. No hard feelings, right?”
Pressing the back of her hoof into the bridge of her nose, Sunset could feel a headache coming on. “If you wanted proof, you could have just asked.”
“That’s what I said!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air.
“Pinkie, that was me,” Rarity corrected. “You wanted to jump off the train.”
Pinkie twisted her head into her shoulder, giving a cute smile to both the unicorns. “Oh, right. My bad.”
When they settled back into the empty caboose, Sunset once again pulled off her backpack. Pulling out the journal that had brought her so much misery, she opened the first page. “This is the journal I used to communicate with Princess Twilight. In it, there’s mention of you two and the other bearers. A lot of it is very personal questions, especially some of the older ones pertaining to friendship. I’m going to let you two look through it, but please try not to judge me for it. Some of those questions have really obvious answers, at least, to those who understand the meaning of friendship.” She held it out for the two and Rarity took it in her hooves.
With Rarity on one side and Pinkie on the other, they put their heads together to read some of the passages and paragraphs. Sunset watched as their eyes lit up, their expressions popped, and their mouths opened and closed. It was a nervous wait for Sunset, like waiting for a teacher to grade a test right in front of you. “There’s so much here,” Rarity said at one point.
“Friendship wasn’t easy for me in the beginning. I’ve come to understand a lot of different things about it, but it took a lot of work. Most people don’t see that,” replied Sunset. She was busily twirling the watch on her left foreleg, a nervous twitch that remained from the last world.
“Applejack’s a bearer!?” Pinkie yelled. “We should have stopped by the Sweet Apple Acres on our way out of town and brought her with us.”
“You know Applejack? That’s a relief. Most of these worlds, you don’t know each other.”
Rarity tapped one of the pages, concern showing on her face. “Dear, I’m not quite sure I understand one thing. A lot of this references the past. Why exactly were you so bad at friendship?”
That twisted Sunset’s heart. Everything’s coming out immediately, huh? Using her magic, she levitated the book back to her and skimmed through the pages. “Dear Princess Twilight,” she began to recite, “Thanks again for your help with the sirens. It’s been a chore getting everything back on track, but I think the other students are really starting to accept me. No one will be able to forget what I did, especially me, but they are starting to forgive. Maybe soon they’ll look up to me like I look up to you. I know you’ve forgiven me, especially for using your crown to turn into a raging she-demon, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but it keeps me striving forward, to be better. Anyway, thanks again. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.”
“What did this Princess Twilight respond with?” Rarity asked.
Sunset closed the journal. “Some kind, reaffirming words,” she replied. Though they didn’t help me forgive myself.
“Well. I am certainly convinced.” Rarity nodded. “To go through so much work to write something like this just for it to be some sort of prank or delusion? Especially for some ponies you don’t know? No, I couldn’t see it being anything but the truth. Of course, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. What does a bearer even do?”
“Don’t worry. It’ll come to you. It’s part of your instincts as—” Sunset paused as a building caught her eye. She swiftly threw her head to the window, peering out at the rows and rows of white-gold buildings. “Wait. Where are we?” she asked the two.
“Looks like we’ve entered Canterlot,” Pinkie answered.
Sunset shook her head in disbelief. “Impossible. Canterlot is up on the mountain.”
“Oh, darling, your world must be awful!” Rarity lifted a hoof to the window, pulling open the glass. “Take a look outside, you can see the noble district from here.”
Doing as she was instructed, Sunset pushed her head out the windy hole and followed the tracks with her eyes. Going up, up, and up, she realized they weren’t even close to the Canterlot she had known all these years. Far in the distance, she could see what had once been the main gate to the city, the same one she entered with Nightmare Moon. Between her and the gate sat hundreds of homes, shops, guilds, businesses, and parks where bustling ponies worked and played. “This is amazing!” she shouted after pulling her head back in. “Are all the cities in Equestria improved like this?”
“Most,” Pinkie responded. “Except for Ponyville. But not for loooong!”
“You must come with me to Manehattan some time,” Rarity said to the two. “I’ve often dreamed of opening a shop within the city, but now I could open two and they’d be far enough apart to justify their existences!”
Sunset leaned against the wall of the train, staring out the window with a bit of excitement building in her heart. When the train began to chug up the mountainside, passing through tunnels, Sunset rushed to the caboose’s backdoor. Standing bipedal, she stared out the door’s window at the city below. This is what Blueblood wanted, she realized. Miles upon miles of purple roofs flooded outward in places that forests once resided. I wonder if that stallion is here or if he had anything to do with Tirek’s takeover. She would not judge the stallion of this world on the troubles of the last, just like she would not judge Princess Luna for Nightmare Moon’s shortcomings.
A thought popped into her head, one that soured her good mood. Should I not judge Tirek? He was the evil centaur who destroyed Twilight’s library home. He befriended Discord and then turned on him. He drained the princesses of their magic and used the bearers as hostages. Yet, in this world, he had done none of those things. No. Tirek isn’t like Luna or Discord. He’s more like Sombra. An evil stallion bent on a hostile takeover. She pushed down the worried feelings, the hesitant notion.
The screeching of the tracks told of the train’s soon halt. They reached the platform for Canterlot, though it did not sit in the spot Sunset remembered. When they exited, Sunset could see the castle far in the distance. It was larger than ever, perhaps to accommodate for Lord Tirek’s strange size changes. Traveling deeper into the city, Sunset felt a tone change compared to that of the last world. The sun felt bright on her fur, warming her like the moon could not. Walking down the main street, Sunset found no hint of music in the air.
But nothing was more odd than not seeing any guard towers. In fact, there were no guards. None patrolling the streets, none patrolling the gates. As they rounded the bend and traveled up the limestone steps to the castle, Sunset found that the gates that once blocked off entry to Canterlot Castle had been removed, along with the entirety of the fence surrounding the massive fortress. “Where are the guards?” Sunset asked the two.
“Who needs guards when Lord Tirek can protect us?” Pinkie replied, a mocking smile rose as she spoke.
“And there’s not anyone who can use magic on the princesses. If they tried, Lord Tirek would be there in an instant to strip them of it. Much like how we were worried about yours,” added Rarity. Her tone suddenly shifted when she said, “You’re sure you’re not planning on doing anything with your magic, right?”
“You might be surprised to know this, but I was once Princess Celestia’s student. I’m pretty good with magic, and I know when to not use it.”
That seemed to satisfy both the mares as they traveled up the marble steps to enter the castle. The halls were bustling with ponies of all statures. One gentlecolt in a fine tuxedo was chortling with an earth pony who was way too underdressed for a party within the castle. “What’s going on?” she asked the two bearers.
“We don’t live in Canterlot, how are we supposed to know?” Pinkie giggled, rolling her eyes.
“Right.” Sunset pressed forward, taking charge. They passed the open throne room, a room that Sunset remembered fondly as a filly. Nopony resided within, and so they followed a group of tourists who were photographing much of the interior. What a strange place this world is. They reached a section of the castle that Sunset did not recognize. An open hall where a crowd of nobles gathered. Another banquet? she wondered, a wry grin on her face.
That’s when she realized she was spot on. The crowd started to disperse, revealing a pink alicorn in the center. “Auntie!” the pink alicorn shouted, causing Sunset to turn.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna entered behind her and the two bearers, their radiance glowing like the celestial bodies they control. Sunset hadn’t seen Princess Luna in person, only the nightmare version of the dark alicorn or the principal counterpart. She’s shorter than Celestia, she noted, though Nightmare Moon had been the same height. She was so jealous that she even needed to be as tall as her sister, she realized.
“Cadance, I see you’ve been entertaining everypony.” Celestia wrapped a hoof around the pink alicorn. “Welcome, all! I’m glad you could join us this day! It’s a very happy occasion. As you all know, Ponyville’s construction begins today, and we can only assume Lord Tirek will have it completed within a week or two. Our friends from the north have already departed for the town, and I am certain they will enjoy their new home.”
“And I’m certain we will enjoy peace and quiet once more,” Princess Luna added, and much guffawing was had by the crowd.
Pinkie slapped her forehead and whispered to Rarity, “Shoot! I forgot the yak party was happening tonight!”
“Yak party?” Sunset asked.
“We’ll fill you in later,” Rarity replied and motioned to Princess Celestia. “Now would be a good time to interrupt, she doesn’t seem busy.”
The white alicorn stood surrounded, but Rarity was right. Compared to Luna and Cadance, Celestia was the least popular. Sunset swallowed her anxiety down and whispered a reassuring word to herself. Placing one hoof in front of the other, she strode forward to the white mare twice her size. “Princess Celestia,” she called out over the crowd.
Some of the nobles stopped talking, but it was Celestia herself who looked to the unicorn. A smile on her face, she stared for a long second before the smile dissolved into fear. Her eyebrows pursed up, her mouth fell open. “Y-you?” The way Celestia said the word, Sunset couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. “What are you doing here?” It was bad.
“I’ll bet you never expected to see me again. Most of the other Celestia’s didn’t. An awful student like me, showing up out of nowhere. Yet, here I am, though I am not the Sunset you once knew,” Sunset claimed, holding her head high. “Through a strong magical force, I’ve become changed. Thanks to the power of fri—”
“Sister! Aid me!” Princess Celestia cut off the unicorn, screaming for help. Within a second, Princess Celestia was blocked by Princess Luna and Princess Cadance, their wings spread. “Her eyes! Look at her eyes!” Princess Celestia pointed at Sunset’s full, shining, colored pupils. “She has magic! Cadance! My pen and scroll!”
“I’m not here to hurt you. Any of you,” Sunset argued. “I’m not even your world’s Sunset. I’m from a different timeline, one that is peaceful and filled with magic. The magic of friendship, like the one I hold with my friends.” She motioned back to Pinkie and Rarity, but when she looked the two were gone. “Wait. Where’d they go?”
Cadance had retrieved a pen and scroll, and Celestia held it within her magical grasp.
“Hey! You have magic too!” Sunset stared deep at the eyes of the three, noting that each of them had a shine that other ponies did not. “If Tirek rules, why would he let you three have magic?” she asked, more to herself than to the trio of princesses.
“For emergencies like this,” Princess Celestia answered just as she finished writing the scroll. With a blast from her horn, the parchment was gone. “Sunset Shimmer. Whatever power you’ve found will soon be stripped of you. I told you once and I’ll tell you again, you’re banished from this castle. You chose your path, and it shames me to have to see you still holding onto such a sickening lust for magic.”
With a shake of her head, Sunset argued, “I don’t. I had a taste of what real, powerful magic could do, and it’s the greatest embarrassment of my past. I am not your Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia. I’m a student to Princess Twilight, and she taught me the true meaning of friendship. Through her, I gained an understanding of what having friends truly is, something you tried to show me but I didn’t listen.”
“Who is this Princess Twilight?” another, deeper voice spoke.
Sunset turned, almost jumping out of her fur and skin.
“You. I should have known the smell of magic. Who is this Princess Twilight that you speak of?” The centaur appeared seemingly out of nowhere. His stature was not as tall as she had seen as he barreled down the forest around the map, nor was he as short as when she bumped into him.
“She’s a princess from another world, a world where ponies are free from the likes of you,” Sunset growled.
“Me?” Lord Tirek laughed. “The ponies of this world are free from the likes of me. I do not rule them. Just like how they are free from the magic that tormented them for so long. Just like how you will soon be as well.”
“There are whole other worlds out there where you’re locked away in Tartarus. Where ponies are free to practice magic to their heart's content. Just like this world will soon be once I defeat you!” Sunset readied herself, preparing to jump out of the way.
But the centaur was too quick for being such a large creature. Grabbing Sunset by her foreleg, he pulled her to stand bipedal. “I care not about other worlds, only this one. And this one is free from the terrible magic that ponies and monsters have abused to attack and demean others.” With an expansive opening of his mouth, the centaur dragged the magic out of Sunset’s horn, feasting on the power she held.
She felt the energy drawn right out of her, like a piece of her subconscious was forcefully yanked out. When the centaur finished, he dropped her to the ground where she laid for a moment. Her body felt weaker, her mind split in two. It was exactly how she felt after losing the power she had gained as a demon. She stared at the ground for a moment. “You broke my watch!” she shouted, though it sounded too quiet to be considered a yell.
“If any of your friends from other worlds decide to visit, let them know they are welcome here so long as they give up their magic.” With a gracious bow, Lord Tirek turned and clawed the air. A black gash formed in the air, to which he stepped through, disappearing from the room.
Sunset stared at the broken watch, the face shattered, one of the hands on the ground. With her magic, she tried to pick up the hand, but nothing came from her horn. Pushing with her weak knees, she rose from the floor, feeling a sudden tremendous weight that had not been there before. She swayed as she stood, trying hard to get a grip on her balance. Every muscle strained to keep her from toppling over and slamming hard onto the marble floor.
“Now you are not a threat to this world or yourself, Sunset Shimmer,” Princess Celestia spoke loud and proud.
Breathing hard, Sunset did not look up at her former teacher. Inhale, exhale, inhale. She focused on her breathing for a moment before finally wetting her lips to speak. “I wasn’t a threat to this world before,” she breathed, turning her glare up at her old mentor. “That was before.”
“It’s a shame the dungeons are gone, they’d do this one some good,” Princess Luna voiced.
But it was Cadance who stepped forward, kneeling down to Sunset’s level. “If I might make a suggestion, auntie. This one seems troubled, and Lord Tirek often turns to me to help those who are like her. Let me take this one back to the Crystal Empire. It might do her some good.”
Princess Celestia relaxed and sighed. “Very well, Cadance. You may do as you please. But do take her away quickly. It aches my heart to see her, to see that look.”
At first, Sunset did not know what look she meant. She hadn’t realized it, but she was feeling the same way she felt all those years ago. When I was Princess Celestia’s student… She stared at her previous mentor with a glare held beneath her mane, anger flowing through her veins. It had been that way long ago, the day she was no longer a student. Spite, rage, a guttural feeling of anguish. It was there, hidden beneath, the feeling brought back after all the years passed.
“What’s your name?” Princess Cadance asked, coming closer to the distraught unicorn.
Sunset inhaled, breathing as deep as she could. “My name is Sunset Shimmer,” she told the pink alicorn. “And I used to be Princess Celestia’s student.”