“And did you really gain dazzling new ensembles with those geodes when you fought that deranged camp director?”
Trotting along the gravel path, Sunset nodded casually at Rarity’s question. The umpteenth one about her adventure at Canterlot High she had been bombarded with. After having taken the amber unicorn on a friendly tour of Ponyville, along with Pinkie taking pictures of her with every citizen possible, the Mane Six were now escorting her in the direction of the train station.
“Yep.” She simply said, snacking on a cupcake held in her magic aura. “At this point, my friends and I have faced so much craziness, hardly anything surprises us anymore.”
“Now that, we have in common.” The ponies gave a laugh at Fluttershy’s little joke. Wiping a bit of frosting off the corner of her mouth, Sunset smiled gratefully.
“Thanks for the tour, everypony. Everything here is just as nice and welcoming as the mirror world.” She paused briefly to finish off the last bite of her dessert. “Mmm… especially Sugarcube Corner’s cupcakes.”
“No problem at all, Sunset.” Twilight replied kindly. Turning around briefly, Sunset couldn’t help gazing at the crystal castle standing tall over the rooftops of the town.
“And I gotta say, Twilight, your castle looks a lot bigger on the outside.”
“Yep, that’s everypony’s usual reaction.” Came Spike’s flippant response.
“Come on!” Rainbow Dash’s voice broke up the friendly chat, coupled with the sound of billowing steam and a shrill whistle. “If we don’t hurry, we’re gonna miss the train to Canterlot!” Everypony turned their attention to the train standing in place as they neared the station.
“Gimme a second, Dash!” Applejack grunted, a rope clenched between her teeth. “Just gotta get somepony to co-operate!” She was dragging a desperate Pinkie Pie along the ground towards the platform, camera held in the tip of her mane as her hooves clawed at the dirt furiously.
“But I didn’t get a picture of Sunset with Cheerilee, Roseluck or DJ PON-3 yet!” The party pony pleaded loudly, trying to break free from the lasso around her waist. “They’d look adorable together, you guys! ADORABLE!”
Sunset and Twilight glanced at one another as her pleas continued to go unheard, finally giving each other an amused smile.
“That’s Pinkie Pie for ya.” The pair of them laughed at their simultaneous statement before making their way onto the platform.
Once everypony was comfortably seated in their carriage, there came a jolt and the train was away. Sunset stared out at the town of Ponyville growing smaller and smaller, the sunlight glistening off the tip of Twilight’s towering castle. Her smile soon faded as her gaze redirected itself to Canterlot in the distance, hanging off the mountain in all its regality. So many memories of that gorgeous city. That lustrous castle. Not many of them pleasant the more she looked back on them.
“Sunset, darling? Are you feeling alright?” Snapping back to reality, the unicorn sharply turned her head away from the window to glance at Rarity. She along with the others were staring in her direction quite worriedly.
“Hmm? Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.” Came her hasty reply. “I mean, it was really nice of you all to show me around Ponyville and introduce me to everypony.”
“Hmph. Not everypony.” Pinkie sulkily stuffed her camera and uncompleted scrapbook back into her mane, slumping against her seat with a pout while grumbling under her breath. As everyone rolled her eyes, Sunset’s amused smirk faltered somewhat.
“It’s the ‘visiting Canterlot’ part of my trip that’s got me worried.”
“What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy, her brow furrowed. “Isn’t visiting Princess Celestia again something you’ve been wanting to do for a while?”
“Well, yeah.” Sunset replied. “I mean, it’s so relieving to finally be able to talk to her after all these years.”
“Here comes the ‘but’.” Rainbow rested her cheek on her hoof expectantly.
“But at the same time, it’s…” The amber unicorn sighed deeply. “…pretty terrifying.”
“I don’t see whatcha got to fret about, sugarcube.” Applejack straightened her Stetson with a confident smile. “I'm sure Princess Celestia’ll welcome anypony with open arms and a smile, especially an old student.” Shaking her head, Twilight stretched out one of her wings across Sunset’s back comfortingly.
“I'm afraid it’s not quite as simple as that.” She said softly.
“Twilight’s right, Applejack. You didn’t see the last conversation we had.” Sunset winced as the painful memory once again slithered through her mind. “It was… unpleasant, to say the least.” Pinkie blew a dismissive raspberry.
“How bad could it have been?” She asked optimistically. Sunset gave her a deadpan stare.
“I demanded power even though I hadn’t done anything to earn it, along with accusing her of being selfish and keeping me from my true potential.”
“Oh.” Pinkie’s smile instantly deflated. “Scratch that. That’s pretty bad.”
Twilight’s comforting wing never left Sunset’s back as she sighed once more.
“So I have no idea what to expect.” She directed her sight down at the floor sadly. “For all I know, she could take one look at me and slam the door in my face.” Taking her wing off her back, Twilight placed a hoof on Sunset’s chin and gently turned her gaze towards her.
“Sunset, you’ve already done so much to earn forgiveness from everyone.” The Alicorn said with firmness. “I witnessed firsthoof just how much you changed for the better. You realised that you couldn’t just take power without earning it and improved upon yourself.”
“Well, with a little help from that giant rainbow laser you blasted her with.” Spike quipped, earning a tiny snort of amusement from Sunset. Even Twilight couldn’t help smiling slightly.
“Well, yes. But the point is, Sunset, you showed everyone you were worthy of a second chance.” Giving a nod of encouragement, Rarity joined in the pep talk.
“And if you can tell Celestia about all you’ve done to help your friends back at… Canterlot High, was it… I think she’ll be more than willing to see the light.”
“Yeah, she’d have to be totally nuts not to forgive you!” A sharp glare from her friends caused Rainbow to scratch the back of her head with a blush. “Heh… which she isn’t, of course.”
Applejack got down from her seat opposite Sunset to trot over and place a hoof upon her shoulder.
“And you can count on all of us being right behind ya every step of the way.”
“You betcha!” Pinkie popped out of her seat and embraced Sunset tightly, which she thankfully didn’t mind all that much.
“Besides, Princess Celestia’s really not the type of pony to hold a grudge.” Fluttershy added in a confident tone. Looking around at them all, Sunset’s smile gradually returned. Chuckling slightly, she politely wriggled out of Pinkie’s grip.
“You girls are right. Guess I am overreacting a little bit.” She said gratefully, looking back out of the window at the approaching Canterlot.
“Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all.”
Only the lonely sounds of the gentle wind and heavy panting echoed across the desert.
Having convinced themselves what they’d seen in the Catacombs was a result of the heat, Field Walker and Lithic Dust were now focused on heading back to the village of Somnambula to rest up before heading home. But the scolding sun wasn’t helping matters. And neither was the weight of their bulging saddlebags containing both their tools and the artefacts they had gathered. Still they pressed on, trying to ignore the sweat soaking through their clothes.
Letting out a breath, Field Walker stopped walking for a moment. The Earth pony turned his head over to his right saddlebag to pull out his flask of water.
But he froze.
“Do you hear that?” Stopping in her tracks, Lithic Dust looked over at him, cocking a puzzled eyebrow. Curious, she held a hoof to her ear and listened closely. A mysterious, barely audible sound carried on the desert wind reached her eardrums.
“Yeah. What is that?”
Deducing the sound was coming from behind them, the pair of archaeologists slowly turned around to gaze at the endless dunes in their wake. The sound became clearer and clearer, almost like eight pounding drums. Coupled with growling. A terrible shape finally made itself clear through the blowing sand.
Both ponies’ eyes widened at the sight of Alsum barrelling towards them at top speed, his eyes burning with rage.
“Sweet Celestia!” Lithic cried out.
“RUN!”
Neither of them made it very far.
Before Lithic Dust’s wings could even get her hooves off the ground, Alsum had seized them both in the monstrous claws attached to his new body. The two of them struggled furiously in his suffocating grip.
“Let go of us!” Lithic wheezed, trying in vain to pry the claws off her abdomen, even resorting to feebly punching them with her hoof.
“I don’t think so, you miserable little bandits.” The jackal-scorpion snarled, holding the two ponies close to his muzzle. “You’ve stolen something that belongs to me.”
In one swift motion, he had snatched Lithic Dust’s saddlebags in his smaller claw and was searching through it impatiently, tossing out tools and Alkulbian relics. When it became clear what he was looking for wasn’t in there, Alsum let out a growl and violently tossed the pegasus onto the sand.
“Where is it?” He growled, seizing the trembling Field Walker’s saddlebags and tearing it open with ease. Instantly his greedy eyes were illuminated in the green glow of his intended prize. Throwing the tattered saddlebag aside, Alsum held in his claw the beetle-shaped relic, the green crystal orb on its back gleaming in the desert sun.
“Yeeees…” He sneered, a horrible chuckle escaping his throat as he held up the treasure in triumph. Lithic Dust and Field Walker could only stare in both confusion and terror.
“At long last! The power of the Scarab is finally MINE!”
His moment of triumph promptly fizzled as the beetle’s gem centre crumbled in his grip, falling to the sand in a shower of dust and shards. Alsum’s once-proud grin contorted in a blend of horror and fury.
“What?! No!” He screamed, his eyes darting back and forth between the Scarab and the green powder. “Of all the crystals in this wretched world, why must glowpaz have the shortest life expectancy?!”
He hadn’t realised he still had a terrified Field Walker clutched in his scorpion claw until something caught his eye. A gleam of sunlight reflecting off something.
Something green.
Calming down somewhat, the jackal-scorpion’s gaze directed itself to something peeking out of the top of Field Walker’s shirt. Leaning in closer toward the pony, Alsum inquisitively reached out one of his pincer claws. Out of his shirt, he gently pulled a necklace coiled around his neck and adorned with shining glowpaz. His yellow canine eyes widened.
“Where did you get this?” His question came out in a whisper.
Lithic, still not daring to move, stared from her spot on the ground as her partner finally found his voice.
“I, uh…” Alsum’s brow furrowed into a determined glare, shutting Field Walker up again.
“I must have more of this to rebuild the centre.” He snapped his head up to the yellow Earth pony’s face, baring his teeth.
“Tell me! Now!”
“N-No!” The stallion replied defiantly, albeit still shaking. “I’m not talking!” The jackal-scorpion let out an irritated growl until the orange coat of the other pony caught his eye. The intensity in his eyes softened as his lips curled up into an innocent smile.
“Oh, really? Well that’s quite a shame.” Lithic Dust’s eyes widened as Alsum turned his attention to her. Before she could even spread her wings, she let out a pained scream as one of the beast’s legs pinned her to the sand, the pointed tip digging into her back.
“Your friend here did seem like quite the spirited one.” Field Walker could only stare fearfully as Alsum’s gigantic stinger found itself hovering dangerously over his partner’s head.
“I’m still getting acquainted with this new body, you know.” The amalgamated creature said casually, as if chatting about the weather. “And I’m quite curious to see whether this venom of mine can paralyse.” His sinister grin returned as Lithic struggled desperately under his leg.
“Or worse.”
“No, stop! Please!” Field Walker shouted at last, holding out a hoof. Alsum’s glance returned to him, his stinger lifting away from Lithic’s head just slightly.
“We… we got these necklaces from the town of Somnambula!” The Earth pony cried. “The ponies there gave them to us for good luck before we came out here! Just please don’t hurt her!” Looking into the distance, Alsum narrowed his eyes at an ambiguous shape on the horizon. Once he made out the vague form of small buildings, he finally released his grip on both the ponies.
“Hmm.” He murmured to himself. “So glowpaz is not as scarce as it used to be.”
Alsum looked up to the heavens, the signature hideous cackle sounding from his throat once again. Field Walker and Lithic Dust flinched as Alsum, at lightning speed, wiped around and swiped his claws at both of them. He snagged both of their glowpaz necklaces and voraciously stroked them with the tip of his pincers.
“And once I have all that I need, Equestria shall hear my name… and TREMBLE!”
The pile of crystal dust disappeared into the winds as Alsum began his trek towards the distant town with a twisted laugh and an equally twisted smile. Nodding at one another, Field Walker feebly gave chase after the monster as Lithic Dust finally took to the skies and soared away as quick as her wings could carry her.
Toward Canterlot.