//------------------------------// // Vigiilis Noctis // Story: Adepta Sororitas: The Tale of Canoness Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who by the way never liked her whole name, never thought herself to be a big believer in things like Destiny. After all, if it always existed, a force that guided you towards one specific end, then what was the point of doing your best if you will always end at the same result? Sure, it gave you stability and security, the knowledge that no matter what you did you could always depend on the result for some validity of your life, as in no matter if life expected you to be a simple farmer or grow to become the empress of a whole kingdom, things will always be alright at the end. No, what Cadence hated was the fact that Destiny was fickle, and in one blink, all of your plans could be broken, torn apart and set aside, just because it wasn’t your destiny to do it, no matter how much you tried. Determinism was not something Cadence dwelled very long in, no matter how interesting it may be as a thought current. Cadence found the notion interesting, but incredibly sad too, since a pony could pour their heart and soul into something, only to find that their efforts were ultimately useless since the beginning. Why would Princess Cadence think that when Destiny gave her a hoof full of cards that made her win the pot? Because she also knew of one little filly that had been pushed aside by Destiny and it broke her heart to think about her. Looking upwards into the night sky, Cadence fixed her eyes into a distant point in the starry carpet that was as beautiful as it was inspiring. Since the moment Princess Luna came back, the night has been jaw dropping in terms of sheer beauty, clearly showing that even after a thousand years missing, the Princess of the Night really knew her stuff when it came to matters like making a simply night look like a piece of art. This night Cadence wasn’t looking at the spectacle, no. She was instead focusing her eyes on a small light in the firmament, one thing that many ponies and creatures of Equus will believe as a moving star of some kind. It was a blinking dot that Cadence memorized well, knowing very well that it was not moving due to the actions of one alicorn. No, it was moving due to its own propulsion, always vigilant since the day they appeared over Canterlot. All the way up, even beyond the canopy of magical constructed stars, beyond the movement of the Sun and Moon, free of the gravity of Equus, there was a machine of proportions that dwarfed anything any creature on the planet had ever build, with technology that was sometimes even a mystery to those that lived inside of it. The ship was the home of one Sunset Shimmer, once a member of ponykind and also, for a short time, a member of Cadence’s family. The Pink Princess had never really had much of a family. Sure, she loved the Earth Pony couple that had taken her in, but even before her ascension she had felt a little bit different. It was probably because she was a pegasus back there, or maybe it was Destiny once again at work, pushing her into Canterlot and becoming Princess Celestia’s niece, at least in name. She didn’t mind it since she loved Celestia as if she was her real aunt and she also got to meet many others that in a way became part of her family. Blueblood may act like a real peacock, especially in front of a camera, but beyond dealing with the occasional gold digger that went after him due to his title, he was a pony she could laugh and talk openly with. There was Raven, Kibitz, Twilight, and Princess Luna who since her return had been able to meet the new members of her family. Sadly, there was one little pony she couldn’t truly form a bond as with others. Sunset Shimmer had been proud to become a member of Celestia’s family. In fact, Cadence and the hot headed unicorn had never had a problem, what with the redheaded pony thinking that one day Cadence will also be her cousin, but that day never came. Being the Princess of Love, she was attuned to the many different kinds of expressing love, from the fraternal, lovers, friendship and even filial. That’s why Cadence had been hopeful that Celestia will finally stop being alone, so withdrawn as day went by. It was only after a few years back that Cadence had finally found out the reason behind Celestia’s morose mood as the return of Nightmare Moon came close and it was understandable. It was the return of her corrupted sister and thankfully, thanks to the work of six young brave mares, the Princess of the Moon had been saved, but by that time, the damage had been done. The little filly that looked at everything with amazement and desire to understand everything in the world had been changed, little by little. It was not entirely Princess Celestia’s fault, but by taking Sunset Shimmer from the orphanage at such young age, it was clear, at least at the time, that she had plans for the young filly. Sadly those plans had nothing to do with giving Sunset Shimmer a family. As Cadence watched the night sky she remembered the days when Sunset would smile in a carefree fashion, ready to start another day in her tutelage and how that smile little by little changed. Instead of happily asking for more knowledge and spending time with the Princess, Sunset Shimmer simply sat down and looked at Princess Celestia, listening to her lectures without even a smile, only a cold face, like a good little student should do. Gone were the chats between teacher and student. Gone were the days when she will joke about something or another. They were all exchanged by polite talking and questions about magical texts. Gone was the little filly that dreamed of being part of a family and the only thing remaining was a mare that had become jaded and tired of being leashed by her teacher. It was clear that when Princess Celestia made Cadence part of her family, but not her, some part of her own decision to become an alicorn steamed from that. After all, maybe if she was an alicorn maybe Celestia will see her worthy of being part of her family. They were only conjectures on her part, sure, but there must have been something that changed Sunset Shimmer so deeply that she preferred leaving the universe all along than remain one more moment in Equestria. Celestia may look unbreakable as ever, but for ponies that spend time around her, it was clear that what had happened between the Princess and Sunset had deeply affected her, what with changes in her treatment to her next student. Twilight Sparkle’s education was completely different, what with her openly giving affection and her time to her now favorite student. Of course it would be different after all since Twilight has always been loved by her family, while Sunset had never found the love she wanted from her teacher. Of course it would be different when one has a family and the other is an orphan that saw her mother figure as someone who thought of her more like a tool than a daughter, at least that’s how Cadence saw the situation from the times the pink alicorn had with Celestia after the ‘Great Meeting’ as the papers have been calling it. Cadence was probably one of a group of ponies that were close enough to the Princess to see those rare moments of weakness, when the Princess of Ponykind was gone and the only thing left was a mare, old and with many memories that weighed upon her shoulders. The return of her old student had broken her mask so fiercely that Celestia was left atop her throne, with no guard or attendant except her closest friends and family. Luna, Cadence and Twilight Sparkle stood around her, surprised to see the state in which Celestia had been left after such a meeting. She had never before seen her weep. As the train advanced across the night, Cadence watched the far away ship, constantly reminding the denizens in Equus of their presence, that they were here and they will keep constant vigilance on what they did. Many in Equestria had been in awe of their visitors, thinking of them as envoys of a higher entity, almost as if they were protectors of the planet. Others were scared of what they were perceived as monsters, of course, never aloud and never in front of the strange armored bipeds, well, except for one time when some of the most stupid royals had opened their mouth. Let it be said that Sunset Shimmer hasn’t lost any of her usual fire. So far, Sunset Shimmer and the other warriors with her had kept to themselves, with only a small piece of land in Equus that they used to grow what they needed alongside minerals that they excavated from the ground and for the most part, they were content to use that or the ship that floated gently in the sky. Cadence wasn’t sure how they did it and was afraid to even ask, considering that Sunset Shimmer was the only one that spoke directly with ponies in general, something about xenos and heretics. Cadence didn’t really want to know what that was all about. Sadly for her and her husband, they will have to talk with Sunset Shimmer, if she even wanted to meet the Princess of Love considering how frozen the diplomatic talks between Equestria and the representatives of the Imperium of Man were, but Cadence will need their help, what with the return of Sombra. The young Princess still shuddered remembering the face of those crazed ponies and the look of glee that a revived Sombra had when he simply walked into the courtroom back at the Crystal Empire and named himself its new Emperor. It was a nightmarish day, with loyal soldiers of Equestria dying by the dozens, being ripped apart and in some cases, which Cadence knew that she will remember for years, eaten alive by ponies that looked more like demons than anything else. Frenzied and raving, Sombra’s minions were as corrupted as their leader, who had re-appeared without any warning. It was a long trip to Canterlot, hours that Cadence usually spends reading notes or documents from the court or a novel of some kind, talking with her husband or drinking and talking with ponies in the train, either from the Crystal Kingdom or ponies that were returning. Tonight, any of those distractions would be useless. She had just been deposed and had to run away from her home. Her husband was lying in the bed at her side, part of his face hidden beneath thick bandages and Cadence couldn’t wake him, not with how injured he was. It was better if he rested until they arrived at Canterlot and for people to talk. They were all busy, from nurses and everyone that knew first aids, to the soldiers and citizens that were able to run away alongside her. Cadence couldn’t rest. She couldn’t sleep. The guilt, shame and pain of failing all of her little ponies weighted upon her. Good ponies had died this day and many more were still trapped on the frozen lands that the Crystal Kingdom had now become. Cadence had seen the Crystal Heart, usually so bright and full of magic, turn into a lifeless rock in front of her eyes as they tried one last attempt to repel Sombra’s attack, but it was all in vain. Now, the land she had tried to modernize and bring about new life was now the playground for the reborn monster. Looking into the sky, Cadence hoped that this calamity would not be the one thing that plunged Equestria and the planet in general into chaos, because at the end of the day, Cadence wasn’t sure if their friends in the sky will help them, or simply take the opportunity to burn the planet to the ground. She was taken from her thoughts when she heard the door of her private train room be opened. She turned around while carefully gathering magic on the tip of her horn. No matter how secure a place could be, she couldn’t leave her defenses open, not again. After seeing who was entering she sighed, knowing that there was no danger. After all, it was one of the soldiers that had survived the initial massacre. Emerald Shard was what might be called a veteran in the force. Of course, that was mostly for years working in the army more than any real experience in the field. Cadence had nothing against him, but ponykind in general was not quite prepared for attacks of such magnitude and ferocity, not anymore at least. He was still a loyal soldier, one that had been affected like the rest of the ponies in the train, due to the brutal reality of what war with true evil was. “You are still awake Princess?” He may be a soldier at heart, but that didn’t mean that Emerald was as rowdy as most citizens thought of the army. Even without wars to fight in, the military branch of Equestria was still disciplined and educated, just like Emerald who always spoke with Cadence with more elegance than most nobles in Canterlot. “I couldn’t quite sleep. Also, I need to look after Shining, and his injuries are quite severe.” “Still, you also need to rest. Tomorrow will be a long day, what with the Diarchy, well, what used to be the Diarchy getting together to get the army ready to fight against Sombra. Is that not the mission of this travel?” “Partially, because we also have injured and civilians that ran away-” At those words Cadence was interrupted by Emerald. If it had been anyone else, or if they had more people in the room, everyone would have been scandalized at the gall of a simple guardsman to interrupt a Princess, but for Cadence, who thought herself as an equal to others, she never got mad. In fact, she always enjoyed a good debate, probably something from her days at High School. “You did not run away Princess. It was a tactical retreat to save lives and you are right now in search of reinforcements. It was not cowardly what you did. You were only thinking about the citizens of the Crystal Empire.” Emerald, a soldier through and through. Cadence had to smile at the way in which the captain of the castle guard explained her actions, but Cadence knew that she was running away. What good is to have powers that had to do with Love when the enemy was filled with so much rage? Besides, what worked against Chrysalis and the Changelings wouldn’t help a second time, what with Shining hurt. Her husband hasn’t even woke up since they left the Crystal Empire and she was worried, not only about her love, but about the ponies that she couldn’t save and were right now in the middle of terror. “Call it whatever you want Emerald, I ran away, once more going to my Aunt’s home asking for help and it will be Twilight and her friends who will swoop in to save the day.” “Excuse me Princess, but you don’t sound so sure of that. Besides, Princess Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony will probably end this crisis.” It was sad to see so much hope in Emerald that Princess Cadence couldn’t tell him that they didn’t have the Elements anymore, that they were back once again on the Tree of Harmony. “I hope you are right, because if not, then we will have to call for… other reinforcements.” Almost on instinct, Cadence turned to the window. As the empty fields of Equestria’s frontier passed by, her eyes were focused on the ship in the sky. “Princess, you don’t mean-” “Sombra has always been a dark wizard, even more than that, he is a darkness-made pony. Who else to destroy something so dark, but someone that had been trained to do that from the beginning?” “She is more likely to kill us all than to save us, I’m sorry your Highness, but you know what I say is true.” “I know Emerald, I just… I trust her, as foolish as that may sound.” Cadence still believed that inside of Sunset Shimmer there was still that young happy filly, that she hadn’t been killed by pain and nightmares. She just wished she was right this one time. ----- Far away from home, in a low orbit around a planet full of green and blue, a young woman stood watching how beautiful and peaceful everything was from so far away. It was bizarre for the woman since it was quite the rare day for her to have time of respite and to think since her life was normally full of chaos and battle every single day. The life of the Adepta Sororitas was not a quiet one, at least for those that called themselves Battle Sisters. For the rest, the norm was either reading, studying the words of the Emperor and those close to him as if they were religious texts, full of the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Their days were filled sometimes with the search of the heretic, of those that had been corrupted by power or wanted to betray the Emperor in the Golden Throne. Others could maybe find a quiet life becoming nurses of young nobles and teaching them the way of life, quietly manipulating them in the true way of the Imperium. There was no peace for a Sister of Battle. Since she had appeared on that other world, she had been plunged into a dying universe that was hanging on by a thread, always at the edge of extinction and only the Inquisition, the Guard, the Adeptus Astartes and the Adepta Sororitas stood as shield against the heretics, the chaotic and the mutants, always waiting an opportunity to destroy the Imperium of Man. It was tiring and every time Sunset was forced into the battlefield she left a piece of herself, not of her body since she was still without scar, something so bizarre considering how many battles she had been a part of. No, she had left parts of her mind, of her soul behind, things that had been part of her, that symbolized the old Sunset, turning her into quite the deadly machine, one that followed the word of the Ecclesiarchy. Sunset Shimmer wondered if, after all this time, she had truly become the role that she had played since she had been out in the Schola Progenium, the school for those that had lost their parents. It was a good thing that records were so hard to come by in the massive amount of planets that made the Empire, because that allowed Sunset to get by unnoticed, at least until the time came for her to truly shine. Years after that, Sunset wondered if it had been a good idea to be so good at things, because here she was once again, looking at her home and wondering if maybe all the xenophobic rants in the Codex had affected her. Looking at Celestia after so long, it just made her ache for the time where things were simpler, when she didn’t have to kill others because they didn’t believe what was allowed to believe. Sunset knew that she had it easier than most. After all, she hasn’t been part of any Inquisition mission, and instead, she had always been there to save planets from other faction’s incursions. Defeating Orks when they invaded the Tavares system, or the Chaos incursion on planet Eterya, those were easy, but this, having to rely on another species, one so different to them after getting lost in the Warp? Sunset felt the words of her teachers in the Schola come to her and saying she shouldn’t trust xenos, but her heritage was still there and knew that following the most extreme parts of the Codex will end with either her team or planet Equus dead. It was a thought that kept her awake at night, or what passed at night in the Lunar-class Cruiser ship. She had been thinking about options for their ship, how to survive and how to continue living, if either they should search for the Imperium and a way to go back, or should they stay and try to create a new Abbey when someone appeared in her cabin. She was wearing not the habit of the Sororitas, but the green uniform of the Guardsmen. She looked fresh out of boot camp and Sunset pitied her a little bit, knowing that if they had arrived at their original destination, she would have probably been the first to die in the battlefield. “Can I help you?” Sunset tried to avoid talking with most guardsmen as she did to her Sisters. The poor soldiers were probably prepared to deal with a crazy Commissar who will kill them if they ever wavered, or just to raise moral. Instead, Sunset decided to take a more hands-on command on them considering she was the one with the higher rank, not to mention that the mere whisper of Inquisition made them all want to throw themselves into the metallic floor and ask to have a merciful death. “Yes, ah, Miss, I mean, Canoness Shimmer, there is a transmission from planet Equus, I think it is one of their Princesses.” She must be very new considering she didn’t show the usual kind of xenophobia as others. Sunset shuddered to think what kind of troubles she would have if there had been any Space Marine in the ship when it was warped by the, well, Warp. She would probably have more headaches trying to get the different groups on the ship from killing each other. “Was it the white Princess of the dark one?” “It was the white one Canoness.” “Well, that will mean things are serious then, because for what else will she call me? Unless she is asking me to take tea with her, because if that’s the message then I will have to send a negative with help of a few Bolter rounds.” At least crude humor was enough to make the guardsmen relax around her, make them see her as one of them instead of a force that at any moment will declare them heretics and shoot them right there. Sunset Shimmer may have thought that things were boring right now, but she had no idea of what kinds of trouble she and the rest of the ship will get into, not to mention all the rules that she will break in the next few weeks, at least enough to make most members of the Inquisition fall dead due to shock and consternation.