//------------------------------// // Chapter 23- Eventful Day. // Story: My immortal phoenix. // by Lieral //------------------------------// Peace. That is a word Sunset Shimmer never hated, and yet, this single word always had looked so fragile and at the same time so hard to be claimed that she had forgotten her meaning more than a century ago. She thought that living all by herself in the middle of the desert was peaceful, but sleeping until midday on a Sunday in a fresh house without monsters crawling outside her door in a bed that is not simply a wooden table with the air conditioner at its maximum potential... Well, THAT is peaceful. Until the sound of a strong hooter that shook the entire bed wake her up. "WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD, WE HAVE A LOT TO DO TODAY!" A very familiar and unexpectedly excited voice spoke while Sunset immediately stood up with both her fists glowing with magic even if her eyes are mostly closed. "Where? What? When? What?" She blinked a few times while trying to process what is happening which make a loud laugh happen somewhere around her left. "Someone still a little sleepy," Spike joke while still laughing. "Well, I have the solution for that," Twilight offered something with the hand that was not holding the hooter, and it took no more than a few instants for Sunset's nose to understand what exactly it is. "Thank you for the coffee," The glow around her fists disappeared when her brain finally understood that there is no reason for a fight which allowed her to take the offered mug and drink a big part of it. "But can you please explain what is happening?" "Today is a special day where I will need your help with," Twilight answered and drink a gulp of her own mug, which appeared from apparently nowhere. "Okay, what is it?" Sunset asked already searching for clothes to change into. "She finally decided it's time to take the saw," Spike shrugged and drink from a third mug. "Don't you have anything else to do? And why did you start to drink coffee after you fell on the fountain? Maybe we should test that. And from where came that mug? it's not one of the mines!" "In order: Nope, I don't have anything else to do today, I always drank your coffee I just don't hide it anymore. No thanks. And I ordered on the internet," Spike answered without giving her a glance. "That's why I never had a leftover coffee even when I was sure I had left a few more," Twilight pointed at her dog as if accusing him. "And since when you can order things from the internet?" "We're going to stay here all day like this," He sighed. "All you need to know is that the pets lives don't stop when you guys go away. Hell, there's like a million movies talking about it!" "Ooookay..." Twilight stared him for a few more seconds, but she usually knew when she was going to hear an answer she was not going to like. "Anyway, today is the day we agreed that we would be testing your magic" She barely could keep herself from jumping like a small kid. "Is that so?" She yawned. "If you want we can do that," "Didn't you said you wanted to test a theory too?" "And I do," Sunset retired her blouse and took another one making Twilight turn away with a red face. "But my test can be done wherever I am, so, I think there is no reason for me to not help you out while I am waiting," "Okay, here we are," Twilight proudly said as soon as the trio arrived in their destination. "...." Sunset observed the heavy metal doors that are locking what really resembles a bunker or something like that. "I told you she was going to use a saw," Spike shrugged much for Twilight frustration. "THERE'S NO SAW INSIDE!" The purple haired girl yelled with her voice trembling. "Twilight..." Sunset stared the girl with a blank expression. "How did you paid for that?" "What?" Twilight took away her glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief. "I didn't pay for that, I 'rented' it with a 'friend'," Sunset crossed her arms and with a skeptical expression kept watching the other girl. Twilight, on the other hand, was cleaning her glasses faster each second passed while avoiding eye contact. "Now that you talked about it," Spike put a paw on his chin and assumed a concentrated expression. "She constantly surprises me with something like that. And after all, if you can pay for that you could very well buy some new video games we were waiting," "We?" Twilight put her glasses on. "Wait... THAT'S WHY THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER FILE IN MY GAMES!" "Seriously? Just noticed now?" Spike facepalmed. "Geez. I cleared Ocarina of Time 3 times last year! How can you be so clever and yet so slow?" "HEY," "We are leaving the main subject here," Sunset interrupted and put a hand on her waist. "What 'friend' helped you rent something like that?" "Well, I don't know if 'friend' is the right word here," Twilight scratched her chin with a finger while looking away again. "It's more like 'a guy that owes me a favor or two' I guess..." "A favor?" Sunset's eyes seem to be looking inside Twilight's mind. "What kind of favor are we talking exactly?" "Let's get in because we don't have the whole day," The door suddenly opened and Twilight got in before even Sunset could react. "At least now I know how she got a thing or two from the portal that I wasn't sure before," Spike shrugged and went inside while wagging his tail. With a sigh, Sunset put both of her hands inside the pockets of her jacket and followed the pair. Inside the place, if far less impressive when compared with the outside. The place is really big, but a few strange machines and protection glasses occupied the space without getting even close to filling all the space inside this giant fort. "I think he must owe you a really big favor, huh?" "TEST Nº 1: Physical strength. "Seriously?" Sunset asked while staring Twilight that was on the other side of the protection glass. "I think you saw enough of my strength. Besides, my natural strength is not boosted by my magic, so this test is a little useless," "It may not be boosted, but I need the base data before getting into really big tests," Twilight took a pen that was behind her ear and drank a small gulp of something. Spike was also on top of a really big chair holding his own mug and stared the red-haired girl with interest. "I was going to do a few personal questions first, but let's do it for last," "Okay," Sunset sighed and took a red ball that was next to her. "So, what do you want me to do?" "Throw that ball against the wall," Twilight pointed toward the farthest wall that was almost 100 meters away. "When the ball starts to fly away my machinery will try to measure the speed so we can calculate the necessary strength to do so. It may not be an exact measure of your limits, but it's the closest we can get without destroying the whole place I guess," "Just it?" Sunset asked. "For the first test? Yes," Twilight started the many numbers that were appearing on her laptop with interest. "After that, we will try to measure your base speed, which will be just 50 meters run, so, just after that we will try to measure your magic with the equipment I created," "If you say so," Sunset adjusted her posture for a better angle to throw the ball. "Then, can I start?" "Yes," Twilight gave her thumbs up. "Recording in three, two, one... GO!" Sunset sighed one last time and assumed at least a slightly more determinate expression. She was pretty sure that using all of her strength was completely out of question, but there is no reason for her to do at least a small effort. Adjusting her feet she pulled back the arm holding the red ball, and with a single movement of her arm, she threw the ball toward the far away wall. The ground did not resist entirely and cracked bellow her feet and ball seemed to simply disappear from her hand. as it flew so fast that it literally catches fire in the middle of its way and dragged many small pieces of equipment around the bunker along with it as it shattered the very barrier of sound before hitting the wall and exploding upon impact. For a few seconds, there was no sound. Sunset stared the damaged wall without interest while both Spike and Twilight held equally blank expressions. "It's my impression or the ball catches fire before hitting the wall?" Spike's voice held no kind of emotion. "Eyep!" Twilight answered monosyllabic just like one of her oldest friends would have done. "With a small explosion?" "Eyep!" "Where do I saw this before?" Spike asked. "By igniting the oxygen in the air and creating explosions is a similar way of working of a meteor catching fire while falling through the atmosphere... At 25.000 Miles per hour," They both took a sip of their mugs at the same time without changing their expressions. "TEST Nº 2: Speed." "Are you really sure of that? The first test was not enough?" Sunset sighed at the starting line. "I don't think we have anything to lose now. Besides, I rented this place for just a day, this is the max time we can use this place before the secret service notices... At least that's what he said..." Twilight again took her pen and noted down a thing or two. Her white lab coat, messed hair, and hot mug gave her the impression of a mad scientist. "After this is all over, I would like to have a small talk with that friend of yours," Sunset adjusted her position for a better start. "Okay, beginning in Three, Two, One... GO!" Again the ground did not support the ridiculous amount of pressure and cracked as Sunset started to run ALSO breaking the barrier of sound herself, breaking also a huge amount of equipment, and without passing a single second she was already on the finishing line. "You'll have to pay for everything she breaks?" Spike asked with the same expression he maintained since they started. "Not exactly," "Good. So, what's her speed?" He asked. "Well, the human eye can consistently spot and recognize an image in 1/4th of a second, and I saw nothing at all," Twilight sighed. "So, she moved from point A to point B in speed around 9000 MPH at least," "Nice... But why didn't you just looked at the computer and tell me the exact numbers?" "It only can measure speeds below 999 MPH... And its one of the things that broke when she ran," They both took another sip of their mugs at the same time without changing their expressions. "TEST Nº 13: Magical levitation." "For someone so smart you do not learn, do you?" Sunset asked. She was sitting down on a chair with her arms and legs crossed while observing Twilight getting more and more disheveled. "You do not need to understand everything Twili," "Can you please stop saying that?" Twilight stared Sunset with wide open eyes. She was so focused on trying to understand just the smaller amount possible about Sunset's magic that she did not notice that she had just been called Twili "I heard on the Test Number 5: Generating Heat," "You should not have taken something so flammable," Sunset shrugged. "Fair point," Spike said with a calm voice. "IT WAS A GIANT BOLDER OF STONE! TO MELT THAT YOU NEED AT LEAST 21000 DEGREES Fº!" Twilight yelled. "Fair point," Spike also agreed. "Which side are you?" Twilight was barely keeping herself from screaming out loud. "On the winning side... Which basically means Sunset's," Spike said with a tired voice. "Why are you so focused on that? We already learned that not even your machinery can keep up with Sunset's most simple spells," "Geez, Thanks," Twilight seemed completely depressed. "I just..." She sighed one last time and punched the metal table in frustration. She was so confident that the magic was going to make sense and that she was going to understand it that she barely could keep herself from crying by disappointment. She felt something warm on top of her hand and turned to face what was the cause just to see Sunset by her side smiling sweetly. "It is okay to feel frustrated," She said and took both Twilight's hands on her owns embracing them. "You do not need to understand anything now, I am not going anywhere," Looking inside Sunset's eyes Twilight saw that she was not angry nor mad, instead, she was just worried. "I just thought if I can understand the magic I may be able to use it for a good reason, and... Maybe I could be a little like you..." "You do not have to be like me, Twili," This time Twilight looked at Sunset with a blush for being called by her nickname. "I did not tell you because you wanted to do this ever since I came, but I DO understand even the structure of magic and put it in numbers," "YOU WHAT?" "Calm down," Sunset tightened her hands around Twilights. "We have all the time to study that later, by now, it is a good idea for us to finish this day, right?" Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. Let's go home, but can you at least finish this last test?" She asked looking at Sunset with puppy eyes. "Already did," Sunset let go of Twilight's hand with a convinced smirk. "Huh? But there's nothing... The bunker is upside down?" She asked surprised. "I could do that, but I thought it would catch too much attention," Sunset answered shrugging. "AAHHHHHH!" Twilight finally noticed that SHE was being levitated the whole time alongside her red-haired friend, and in an automatic act, she desperately hugged Sunset with all the strength her arms could muster. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Both Spike and Sunset laughed out loud. "You're a good friend, you know?" Spike observed as Sunset lay Twilight down on her own bed. "Where did she slept this time?" "Chair," Sunset simply answered. She searched for a clock and found it at the nightstand. "01:39. She overworked. Today was a pretty eventful day," "Eyep, she does that a lot," Spike jumped on top of the bed searching for a good spot to take a nap. "Actually, ever since you came I think this is the first time this happened," Sunset took Twilight's glasses from her face and put them aside. She scanned the room like she already did so many times and again her eyes locked in one of the many pictures on the wall, mainly the one with all Twilight's closest friends. For some reason, this one is the most interesting one in Sunset's eyes. "I would like to meet them..." She murmured. "What did you say?" Spike asked with his eyes barely open. "Nothing important," Sunset walked toward the door. "Hey, aren't you going to sleep too?" Spike asked confused. "I will just clean the table," She waved a goodbye. "Will be right back," "If you say so," Spike finally closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep. Sunset closed the door silently and looked at the totally filled with paper table. Twilight had been working on this ever since they arrived and just stopped when she fell asleep. "At least they must be interesting," She took one of the papers and started to read it. Reports. Many and many different reports. One of them is detailing the first test with a precision of details, and other is about personal questions that in the end, she did not ask, so all the answers were basically a lot of '?????' one after the other. Birth, measures, tallness and many different questions filled the frontal part of the report. But nothing of that is of interest. Quite frankly, how old is she? She stopped counting thousands of years ago and found no interest to search in her memories for an answer. However, for some reason, this same paper seems to have something written on the other side. 'People hate dying. They hate killing too.' 'They don't like making others cry, or crying themselves,' 'How must it feel to not be able to save one's life?' 'What about when family dies? Or when a loved one dies?' 'She had been through all that, and for the first time in my life... I don't want to understand. Sunset stared the paper with the same expression she always held before seeing Twilight for the first time, blank and empty of any kind of emotion. Look's she has the effect of letting Twilight pretty philosophical, but when she thinks about what she had just read only one thought crossed her mind. "What idiocy," She stared the moon across the window as the sky started to snow.