The Terror of Death- Sundown
Upon first coming here, she did not think that she would find herself in the center of a city that was said to be forever lost. But upon stepping hoof in the crystal empire, the unicorn found herself in a place that was much different from the Equestria that she was once familiar with. For a moment, she felt like she was in the past, but nevertheless, she had to refocus herself. The unicorn had a goal that she needed to accomplish… and to accomplish such a goal, there was something that she needed to obtain.
Word around town was that the princesses were all gathered here for their annual princess summit. And there were four of them, much to her surprise. Though, it was not the princesses themselves that she wanted, but something that they carried. The crown that was known more commonly as the ‘Element of Magic’. One of the six elements of harmony. And if what she heard was correct, the newly crowned princess of friendship had it in her possession.
She waited until night fell over the empire before making her move. Using an invisibility spell to hide herself from the guards as she quietly slipped into her room from the open window on the balcony. Using her magic again to gently close it, she began to scan the room and look for what she seeked. Being cautious to not wake her up or the baby dragon sharing her room. The crown had simply been placed on the princess's nightstand, not in some kind of lock box or chest that the unicorn thought it would be placed in.
In fact, everything up to this point had felt a bit… too easy. But that did not stop her from placing the dummy crown in her saddle bag in the place of the one she grabbed and making her way to the door. Closing it quietly as she let out a sigh of relief. “Well, this was too easy…” She confidently spoke as she walked through the center of the room. Heading towards the stairwell at the end of the hall. “Now with the crown, nothing can prevent me from setting my plan in motion-”
CLICK!
“Hold it right there.” The voice made her jump, the hood on her cloak coming off as she turned around. What she saw though… almost seemed flat out impossible.
What was a human doing on this side of the mirror?
The words of the adept rogue had caught the unicorn mare off guard. A shocked look on her face as Haseo kept his arm steady. He had just caught her red hoofed for not only trespassing, but if what she said was true, robbery. “Now… we could do this the easy way or… things are going to get rather difficult-”
Before he could finish, the unicorn attempted to turn around and gallop towards the other side of the room. But not two seconds afterwards did Sapphire rise up from the shadows on the floor and startle her. Causing her bag to come loose as it dropped to the floor. The shadow filly glared at the yellow unicorn, pointing a hoof at her as she shouted. “See!? Ponies can't be trusted!” Her cheeks puffing out cutely as she seemed to be in a slowly worsening mood.
“W-who are you-!?”
“Funny you ask that,” The rogue replied back to her. “I could ask you the same thing. We’ve already had one pony sneaking around today and I say that’s the limit.”
“Yeah! Identify yourself, bacon head,” Sapphire snapped, glaring even more at the mare. “Or should I just eat you and be done with it?”
That just had the unicorn blink, her eyes widening as she looked back at the rogue. “Is… she joking?”
All the adept rogue did was give the unicorn a shrug, shortly before noticing the bag on the floor and looking to Sapphire. Before he could say anything, the filly had sent a shadow like claw to push it closer to him. And in the process, the crown that was inside began to roll out onto the floor and to Haseo’s feet. Something that surprised him at first, but then afterwards, he just looked back at the unicorn with a raised eyebrow. “You’re kidding me, right? All of this just for a crown?”
“Oh, what the hay do you know!? I have plans for this,” She snapped, quickly using her magic to retrieve her bag and the crown that fell on the floor. “I got what I came for! And there’s nothing you can do to stop me-!”
“Oh really?” He asked, putting the gun down and folding his arms. Beginning to realize just how much of a hole this pony was digging herself. “Did you read the label?”
The unicorn blinked, baffled by the sudden unexpected question that he posed for her. “W-what?! There is no label! This is a magical artifact! One of the elements of harmony, not some kind of toy-!”
All the rogue did was just glare back, repeating the same words that he said with a bit more intensity now. “Did you… read… the label?”
After hearing that, the ‘bacon head’ unicorn picked up the crown with her magic, flipping it over as her eyes began to hone in on something that she overlooked the last time around “Friendship is Magic: Element of Magic… Made of 100% recycled chaos magic… Made in Shanghay-” The last three words though really began to sink in though after a few seconds as she looked at Haseo. “THIS IS A PROP!?!!”
“Yeah, funny story about that…” The adept rogue unfolded his arms, summoning his pistol again and aiming it back at the mare. “A couple of weeks ago, the element of magic was already stolen and since then, Princess Twilight has been using this as a temporary replacement. Now, I don’t know about you, but it seems rather suspicious of you to be trying to steal something that has already been stolen. That and the fact that you were already caught for trespassing.”
This was really not going well for the mare. She had planned for this to be a quick and simple way to steal the crown and get back to the other side of the mirror. But now though, she felt as if her back was against the wall. “So you can either come quietly or-”
“Haseo, what’s going on-?” The voice came from where the princesses chambers were as Twilight pushed the door open. Her eyes widening at the sight of what was going on and at the sight of the crown on the floor.
The unicorn that Haseo was cornering though used this chance to quickly pull something out of her bag, using her magic to crack it and toss it into the air. Just as it was about to come back down though did the adept rogue realize what it was. “Sapphire!! Shield your eyes!! It’s a flash bomb-!!”
BOOM!!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!”
Sapphire’s high pitch scream tore throughout the crystal empire, echoing into the frozen wastes surrounding it as many of the castle’s windows shattered violently. The small shadow filly curling into a ball a split second later as she covered her face with her hooves and wailed in unimaginable pain as smoke billowed from her pitch black fur.
“Sapphire!!” The rogue rushed over, trying to silence the ringing inside his head to hurry over to the filly and hold onto her. Picking her up and looking towards Twilight. “Find your brother and put the empire on lockdown! Nopony goes in or out, now!!”
No more than two seconds later did the princess teleport out of the room as the adept rogue tried to help the curled up filly. “Sapphire, it’s okay. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be okay,” As he said that, Haseo was frantically casting Repth to try and mend the filly’s pain. “Daddy’s here.”
Sapphire clung to Haseo as she continued to cry out in pain, seeming unresponsive to his words as he took notice of the smoke coming off her body. Taking a closer look at her face as her front hooves latched onto him, he then saw a large black holes with cracks expanding across her face from where her ‘eyes’ had previously been. “Oh my god…”
“Haseo!!” He turned around, seeing both Princess Celestia and Cadence at the end of the hall as they rushed over, before looking back and seeing the state that Sapphire was in. “By the stars, what happened here?!”
“Some yellow unicorn with a fire like mane tried to steal Twilight’s crown. But after catching her red-hoofed, she used some kind of flash bomb to escape. Now Sapphire’s in extreme pain and Twilight’s getting Shining to put the whole place on lockdown-” His gaze now looked towards Celestia, who she herself looked rather shock at the state that Sapphire was currently in. “D-do either of you know h-how to help her? I don’t want to lose her.”
All that had Celestia do was look towards Cadence, motioning for her to leave as she was the only on in there with her. “I know how… but if I do this, we keep this between ourselves. Do you understand?” All Haseo could do was nod, really hoping that she knew what to do to help her as the princess of the sun closed her eyes.
What he did not expect though was for when she opened them, her eyes began to glow green. Shadows emerging from the edges as her horn erupted with dark magical power. Directing the magic, she looked to Sapphire and had it go towards her. The dark energy heading towards the holes and filling the cracks that were around her eyes. As if they were never there to begin with.
All of which, made Haseo stare at her with utter disbelief. “Holy shit… You know dark magic?”
“It is a secret that I want to stay secret,” The princess told him directly. “Dark magic is one that's more like a force of reality on its own. The more that you try to control it and bend to your will, the more that it would act against you. If the rest of ponykind knew about this… I would be frightened by what would happen if they did.”
All Haseo did was nod, before looking down to Sapphire now. “Sapphire? Sapphire, can you hear me?” He didn't quite get a response, but from Saphire’s ragged breathing and the fact she had stopped screaming he had to hope the now unconscious filly was going to be alright as her fur seemed to reform all over her body including her face as Celestia stopped channeling the dark magic into her small form.
“She’ll need some rest. Light magic, the Crystal Heart or anything that’s too bright, can be severely damaging to an umbrum,” Celestia told him, before changing the topic a few seconds later. “Now, who is this ‘intruder’ that did this to her and attempted to steal from Twilight?”
“It was a unicorn mare. Fire like hair, yellow fur, cyan colored eyes,” The rogue recalled, setting Sapphire down on the rug in the middle of the room. “I couldn’t get her cutie mark or name, but she said something about ‘plans’. However, I couldn’t get her to elaborate on that-”
“There’s no need,” The princess told him, narrowing her eyes as she looked out towards the nearest window. “I know who she is.”
“Y-you do?” Haseo asked, baffled by what the princess said as well as her tone just now.
“Yes… and I was afraid that it would someday lead to something like this,” The alicorn told him. “For you see, Twilight wasn’t my only student. There was one other.”
“Spread out! The castle’s already locked down and we closed off the port of entry by the station! She couldn’t have gone that far!” One of the guards told a few other ponies as Sunset hid in between an alleyway. Trying to remain out of sight from them for the time being. From overhearing them, she realized that the mirror she used to come through here was in the castle and therefore, on lockdown. There was no way for her to be able to go back inside without the possibility of getting spotted by anypony.
Because of this, Sunset now had to find another way to get out of here, and fast. But because of her situation, she had rather limited options for doing so. Teleportation would track too much attention, the train station was more than likely closed off and there was no way that she could just ‘lay low’ with this many ponies searching for her. There had to be some kind of way for her to escape.
As she began to ponder her options though, a faint shimmer from the right side corner of her vision caught her attention. Two ponies emerged in front of some kind of globe like statue that glowed green, one a unicorn and the other was a pegasus. And they were talking to somepony else. With a quick spell, she amplified her hearing in order to catch wind of the conversation that was going on.
“What the hay do you mean the empire’s on lockdown?! What happened?”
“Somepony broke into the princesses chambers and then assaulted the daughter of Cadence’s protector. We’re on the lookout for her right now. Did your entire party make it through the chaos gate?”
“No, it was only the two of us. We were just completing a bounty!”
“Then follow me. We need all hooves on deck. We’re looking for a golden yellow unicorn with a fire like mane and tail.”
At that point, the three ponies that were talking soon began to follow the one that greeted them. Leaving a clear shot for Sunset to try and make it over there. If this device was some kind of gateway, then it was entirely possible that she could use it to get out of there! There was still hope! Placing the cloak she had back over her head, she galloped on over to where the ‘gate’ was and placing a hoof on it.
“G-get me out of here!”
No response… she was met with utter silence. As if it did not respond to her. “C-come on! H-how in the world is this supposed to-”
As she was tapping the structure with her hoof though, she heard something from behind her and turned. Only to have her cloak torn off and stuck to a nearby wall as a dagger held it in place. Looking at the direction where it came from, she laid eyes on the same pegasus from before, who now had two daggers attached to his forelegs as he spoke up. “Spearhead, let the general know we found her. We’ll do what we can to prevent her from escaping.”
“O-oh no!” Sunset panicked, quickly trying to come up with some kind of way to protect herself. She tried to form a barrier of magic after firing off two bolts at the pegasus, but it was too quick. Leading to it dash right at her before going into an upward somersault.
“Ghost falcon!!”
The unicorn’s eyes shrank the moment she saw the barrage of daggers flying directly towards her. At this point, fighting back seemed useless. She couldn’t be able to defend herself as she felt two of the knives graze her forelegs. Leading to her stumbling forward.
“Quick Step, our orders were to subdue her and bring her in alive,” The unicorn retorted as it wielded a tome next to her that Sunset had not seen before.
“Yeah yeah, I know. I only just grazed her so she wouldn’t be galloping anywhere,” The pegasus shrugged it off as he approached the unicorn. For Sunset though, she just wanted to leave. To get out of here. Not to come back and continue her plan, but out of fear.
Once more, she placed a hoof on the structure, speaking again. “P-please… get me out of here! I-i don’t care if you take me away to some burning ruined wasteland! Just help me!!”
Destination confirmed.
Instantly, the structure began to awaken and roar with life. Shocking the two that were pursuing her. “Aw buck!! She activated the gate! Wintergreen!!”
“I’m on it!! Go!!” The unicorn declared. “Zan Rom!!” Wind began to surge around them as the light around Sunset began to grow. But it was as the light was shining brighter that Sunset soon realized that this other unicorn was not trying to attack her.
She was accelerating her comrade forward. Getting him to bolt directly at her.
“You’re not GETTING AWAY!!!”
The last thing that could be seen by the unicorn before her vision went white was the face of the pegasus and the blade that was just mere inches away from her face. All before she was whisked away.
Moments after helping Sapphire’s injuries, Haseo and Celestia took the filly to his room. Setting her down on the bed and helping her in her recovery. As they waited, the princess told the rogue more about the pony that they encountered. The former student of Celestia’s who was taken on not long before Twilight was her student, but when she was not satisfied with the results of her teachings, she began to change. Becoming more cruel and dishonest over time and eventually, straying away from the princesses teachings and pursuing her own path. Yet, Celestia did not think that she would be so bold in order to do something like this.
But it was as she was finished speaking that the two of them finally were given a sign of hope. Sapphire was beginning to slowly wake up.
“Nngh… no… not my eyes…” Sapphire whimpered as she flailed her front legs a bit as if searching for something. It seemed she hadn't noticed that she had been healed as she tried to feel around with her front legs and right herself on the bed calling out to Haseo as she stumbled about.
“S-sapphire?” Haseo spoke up, before rushing over to the filly. “Oh my god, Sapphire!” He held her in his hands before slowly pulling her in for a hug. She could feel a tear or two going down the side of his face as he continued to speak. “Y-you had me so worried!”
Sapphire hugged Haseo back, her small body trembling as she did so. “I-It hurt papa… I felt the magic compromising my eyes being stripped away and destroyed almost as if I was being eaten alive by an angry swarm of miniature lightning bolts…!” She proceeded to cry into his chest, both scared from the trauma she just went through but also happy that Haseo was right there as he promised he would be and even more happy to be alive.
“Sapphire, your eyes are okay…” He interrupted her, still holding her. “We healed them. Have you tried opening them?”
“T-they were… healed?” Sapphire said, confused before attempting to open them. Sluggishly managing to open them successfully. “W-what!? H-how!?” She then sputtered in shock, her body trembling more as she felt her face with her hooves to be sure she wasn't imagining this… Although, there was a small detail that seemed off. Her eyes, which were once a vibrant crystal blue, now held slight specks of discoloration in places that would occasionally flicker red or green.
“I’m relieved to see that you are okay, young one,” The two of them heard Celestia speak now as Haseo turned towards her.
“E-eep!” Sapphire squeaked as she tried to hide herself within Haseo’s arms, her grip on Haseo tightening.
“Sapphire, it’s okay! She’s the one who healed your eyes.” The rogue told her, trying his best to calm the filly down.
Giving Haseo the filly equivalent of a thousand mile stare, Sapphire relayed her doubts and confusion to him silently. She trusted Haseo, but it was far too soon for her to trust a pony. And with how she hadn't stopped shivering, it was obvious it was going to take some convincing for the traumatized filly.
“Allow me,” Within seconds, Celestia used the same magic she once did before. Darkness forming around her as a green hue simmered from her eyes. She only did this briefly, shortly before dismissing it. “I used the power I know from dark magic to restore your sight. I know that you don’t trust me… but I can’t just sit around and watch a young filly like you suffer in pain and lose the gift of sight.”
Sapphire seemed to freeze, not blinking, shivering, or even breathing as she stared at Celestia. “Y-you c-c-can use… d-dark magic!?” She seemed to mewl, shrinking into herself a bit as here eyes became metaphorical pinpricks. “Y-you didn't do anything other than try and fix my eyes did you...?” Her paranoia seemed to be rising as she began to twitch, the filly uncertain of how to check if she had been meddled with in any way aside from the restoration of her eyes. Matters certainly were not helped by the fact that Sapphire had a deep rooted mistrust for ponies and that the one who apparently healed her was none other than Celestia… one of the rulers of ponykind.
Of course, all the princess did was shake her head. “No. I wouldn’t do anything to harm a young filly like yourself. Especially since you’re Haseo’s daughter. He was the one who asked me if there was a way to save you. He was scared and worried about you after what happened and didn’t want to lose you.”
Sapphire looked up at Haseo silently as she heard this… before snuggling into him with a bone crushing hug as she whispered “Thank you…” to the rogue, a black tear streaking down her muzzle at the mixture of emotions running through her. She still couldn't trust ponies, probably never would, but she knew that in this world that there was one being that would always be there for her whom would love her and that she could trust. And that, was all she needed in this life.
To Haseo though, he felt that the thank you that he heard was supposed to be said to both him and Celestia. But instead of trying to correct her, he instead just held her closer. Holding her tightly. He wanted to tell her about who did this, but he felt that doing so would be too soon. It would be better for them to just enjoy the moment.
Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Um, hello? Are you in here, Haseo?”
“Yeah, Cadence. Come on in,” The rogue spoke, shortly before the door opened and the alicorn trotted inside. She turned to see him, before noticing that Sapphire was now awake and healed. Something that was beyond surprised to her. “Sapphire just woke up, so let’s try to take it easy.”
“I’m so glad she’s okay,” Cadence let out a sigh of relief. “I was worried about you after seeing what happened earlier. How did you help her?”
For a moment, Haseo turned to Celestia, shortly before the adept rogue let out a sigh. “Let’s just say that’s for us to know. Is everything going okay right now? Did you find the mare who did this?”
The question was met with a look of uncertainty by the princess of love as she looked back at all three of them in the room. Part of her really did not want to break the news to them after finding out that Sapphire was okay. Yet, another part of her thought that it would be better for her to say it rather than having it be abruptly brought to their attention by somepony else. “Yeah, about that-”
Unfortunately, that was when the latter scenario kicked into high gear. “WHAT THE BUCK DO YOU MEAN THAT SHE ESCAPED!?!!” The voice boomed from that of General Ironwings as she stood in front of two new recruits. Quick Step, a pegasus who now wore the equipment that would normally be seen on a twin blade, and Wintergreen, a unicorn who was wearing the robes of a shadow warlock and had a grimoire to match.
“General, if you can please just let us explain,” The unicorn spoke. “We had her cornered in the main square, but somehow, she was able to get the Chaos Gate to activate and it took her away before Quick Step could be able to grab and subdue her-.”
“Oh no.” Haseo muttered, looking down to Sapphire and still holding her close. Going as far as to close the windows to block out the conversation so she didn’t hear what they were saying. He was concerned that if she heard anymore about the one who harmed her, she would have a breakdown that was on the same level as when they were separated. Maybe even worse.
“Cadence, could you leave us for a moment? I think it would be better if we were filled in on the situation later,” Celestia soon spoke up, noticing the change in Haseo’s expressions and how Sapphire was reacting to what she heard outside. Cadence herself acknowledged her aunt’s request, stepping out and closing the door behind her.
“I-it… e-escaped…?” Sapphire stuttered, having gone rigid and cold to the touch.
“Not it… She…” Celestia told her, “But I know for certain that your father would not allow for you to be harmed like that again…” There was a bit of a pause to her words though. Something that Haseo picked up on quickly.
“P-p-ponies… Scary… Why must they always… Hurt me…” Sapphire half muttered to herself half asked as she seemed to be zoning out, making one question if her hearing was working.
“Sapphire, it’s going to be okay…” Haseo assured her, before noticing the change on Celestia’s face now. “What is it? You seem to have something on your mind… Is it about her? The one you call Sunset Shimmer?”
All Celestia did was nod in response. “I told you that I once took her under my wing as a student, but when she did not get what she wanted, her actions and motives changed. But one thing always remained the same. Whenever something did not go her way, she would always remain defiant,” The princess stopped for a moment, before looking back at them now once she thought of the words. “She would never run like what she did just now… there’s a part of me that thinks that she’s scared.”
“That doesn’t excuse what she did to Sapphire-”
“And I’m not saying that it does,” Celestia quickly retorted. “I’m just… worried that this would cause even more damage than she already has done. And I don’t want to see that happen.”
At the moment, the rogue kind of knew what she was implying. But then again, there was a lot on their minds right now. Though, one thing was for certain. “Princess, I’m going to be with Sapphire for a while and calm her down. I’ll come back out when I’m ready.”
The princess of the sun acknowledge the request, before trotting over to the door and walking out. Leaving the rogue alone with his daughter as he tried to help her cope through the traumatic experience that she just endured.
Meanwhile…
“Alright, you two. Now, start from the beginning.” Shining Armor spoke as he looked at the two most recent members to join the royal guard, Quick Step and Wintergreen. After overhearing the outburst from General Ironwings earlier, Shining took it upon himself to bring both the pegasus and unicorn inside the castle so they could report what happened without the changeling trying to interrupt them. Yet, he wasn’t just having them report to him though. In the room, three of the four princesses were in the main hall of the castle alongside Sunburst, the royal crystaller.
“Before what happened in the main square, the two of us were undergoing training with our fellow recruits, Spearhead and Ash,” Wintergreen started off. “We were split into groups of two and tasked with taking on a bounty at the quest counter before coming back. When we returned, we found Spearhead and he informed us about how the entire Crystal Empire was on Lockdown.”
“And after that?”
Now the pegasus took his turn in speaking as he looked back at the Captain of the guard. “After he told us what was going on, Spearhead was going to take us to the general. However, as we were leaving, I saw a mare in a cloak rush over to the terminal for the Chaos Gate and acted as if touching it would cause it to activate. It was then that I got a bit suspicious and used a throwing dagger to tear off the cloak, which in turn revealed the suspect that the guard was trying to apprehend. We attempted to follow standard procedure for apprehending her, even using one of my skills to break through a shield she cast with her magic, but just when we thought that we had her, she said something, the chaos gate activated and took her away.”
“Just like that?” Shining asked, wanting to make sure that there were no details left out of the equation. Their answer was just a simple nod, prompting the unicorn to ask another question. “What did you try to do to subdue the subject?”
“Some of my daggers grazed the edge of her forelegs. Not to the point where it would be a direct wound, but just a scratch and a few lost hairs of fur,” The pegasus said again. “It was intended to slow the subject down if they attempted to run.”
“I see,” Luna now spoke up, just before noticing Celestia come through the doors of the hallway. “Would you happen to know at all what the subject said?”
“If I have to be honest, it sounded less like she had some kind of plan, but more as if she was acting out of desperation. She said that she wanted to get out of there and didn’t care if took her to, and I quote, ‘to some burning ruined wasteland’.” Upon first hearing that, there looked to be an exchange of glances between some of the ponies who were there, including amongst all four princesses. Trying to understand what it could mean.
“Area words.”
Now everypony looked back towards where Sunburst was standing, all while Cadence raised an eyebrow. “Come again, Sunburst?”
“It’s how a Chaos Gate functions. One of the things that Haseo told me and that we’ve been trying to teach the newest recruits of the guard is how to use Chaos Gates,” The unicorn followed this up by using his magic to project what looked like the chaos gate in the main square alongside three small boxes. “In order to use a chaos gate, you can’t just tell it where you want to go like ‘Ponyville’ or ‘Canterlot’. Instead, you need to put in a combination of three words, or area words, that will take you to the destination that corresponds with it.”
“So you’re saying that her plea… caused the gate to activate?” Luna now asked as Sunburst dismissed his spell and readjusted his glasses, a puzzled expression on the princesses face.
“It’s all possible. Though, from the sounds of it, the unicorn sounded as if they were afraid of what would happen if she was caught,” His words were followed by a nod from Wintergreen, who also acknowledged the same thing. Yet, there was one more thing on the stallion’s mind that he had to ask. “If I may though, do we have any idea who this pony actually is though?”
Silence began to echo through the room as everypony looked back at one another. That was, until one of the ponies who just walked in a few moments ago began to speak. “I know who she is.”
“P-princess Celestia?” Twilight now asked. “You do?”
“Indeed. At first, I was a bit unsure. But after hearing Haseo’s encounter with her that started this chain of events, I can confirm who she is,” The diarch of the sun replied back, looking now towards the princess of friendship as she spoke. “Her name is Sunset Shimmer. She was once a student of mine, beginning her studies not long before you started learning from my own teachings, Twilight. However, over the course of time, she became dissatisfied with the lack of results from what I taught her. In turn, it lead to her becoming more deceitful and dishonest before eventually straying away and pursuing her own path. Yet… I never even thought once that it would come to something like this.”
“What exactly happened in this ‘encounter’ with Haseo?” Cadence asked.
In turn, Celestia herself expelled a deep breath. Before she told everypony what the rogue had originally told. “She attempted to steal Twilight’s crown, thinking that she could use it as a conduit for some kind of plan of hers. However, before she could get away, Haseo caught her and attempted to get her to give it up with Sapphire helping him… However, when Twilight woke up, she used a flash bomb and dropped her bags before getting away, forcing Haseo to rush over to Sapphire instead of pursuing her.”
“If I may interject,” Wintergreen spoke up. “What would be the reason why Haseo would not pursue her?”
“It’s because what Sunset did, even though it might have been unintentional, did something horrible,” Celestia explained, looking to her sister briefly before looking back at everypony else. “Umbrums like Sapphire have two main weaknesses. The first is the magic of the crystal heart and the second is any major form of light. The amount of light that went off in the room because of the flash bomb severely injured her. If Haseo wasn’t there to help heal her in time…” At that point, the princess paused. Thinking of the right way to phrase it, before deciding to just tell it straight up front. “She could’ve gone permanently blind.”
A couple of gasps went off in the room. Especially from Twilight. The thought of the little filly that was on the train with her losing her sight? That was too cruel to even think of. “I-is she okay?”
“She’s awake now, but I fear that the scars of what happened would be lingering around for a long while,” Celestia responded back. “Aside from that, I believe we all know what happened soon afterwards.”
“That just leaves us with only one question. What exactly are we going to do now?” Shining now asked. “I mean, how exactly are we supposed to find her? Who knows where the Chaos Gate possibly took her?”
“Now that you mention it… there might be one possibility,” Sunburst then spoke up, before turning to the pegasus in question. “Quick Step, do you still have your blades?”
“Yes, but I haven’t had the chance to clean them up after what happened earlier,” The pegasus responded as he took them out to show them. Though, it was as Sunburst was looking closer at the blades that Quick Step had a question for him. “Do you need them by chance? I can give them to you-”
“You don’t need to give that to me,” The crystaller interjected, before using his magic as it appeared to pull something that was caught between the edge of the blade and the hilt on both weapons. “I just needed this.”
For a moment, Twilight and Wintergreen both blinked, before realizing what he was holding onto. “Is that-?”
“Fur. And if it’s what I think it is, it’s Sunset’s fur,” Sunburst told them. “If we can figure out a tracking spell using this, then maybe we can determine her location. Though, our first priority should be to make sure that the Crystal Empire’s back to normal now.”
“The lockdown’s already lifted, but we still are going to happen to open an investigation into all of this,” Shining Armor then spoke up. “Wintergreen, Quick Step, I want you to collect the saddlebag that Sunset dropped on the third floor and bring it over to the barracks. We’re going to need to take a look inside there and see what other clues might be hiding. Otherwise, you’re dismissed”
“Yes sir!” Both ponies saluted, before heading to the stairwell to complete the task they were assigned.
“What should we do though?” Twilight now asked.
“In the meantime, you should head back to Ponyville with Spike after the summit. In addition, since Haseo is likely to be caring for Sapphire, I’ll have to assign you another guard to take his place for your train ride back,” Shining told her. “If we make any breakthroughs on the investigation, we’ll send you a letter.”
With that though, everypony else seemed to part ways as they all went back to their personal quarters. Although, as Celestia was going back with her own sister, Luna had a question for her sister.
“Tia, would you care to tell me who this ‘Sapphire’ is? I don’t believe I have ever met her before.”
Elsewhere...
As her eyes began to adjust once more, Sunset Shimmer began to realize that as of right now, she was no longer in the Crystal Empire. In fact, she was not in any local city or town at all. The unicorn woke up to find herself in the middle of a barren and broken wasteland that was dried up of any fauna or plant life. She had seen the place before, but only in the pages of geography books when she once lived in Canterlot. Dry winds were blowing as she began to look around and realize where she ended up.
She was in the badlands. And right when a raging dust storm was beginning to take form. Panic began to set in as the unicorn mustered any strength that she had to try and get away from the storm. Yet, despite her best attempts, Sunset found herself caught in the storm. Blurring her vision as it made it harder for her to see where she was going. The numerous stones and pieces of rocky terrain were just mere shadows as she attempted to cross through.
Upon reaching one of the basins that was closest to her, she had to use her hoof to find if there was an opening. She could’ve used her magic, but right now, Sunset was already using it so that she could try to see through the storm. Though, as she inched closer, one of the rocks she was touching gave way. Causing the unicorn to stumble and fall forward down a deep section of rock that was in the earth.
Yet, as she struggled to get up on her hooves again, that was when she found something. She found what looked like an underground hive, or to be more precise, what remained. The walls were covered in cracks by the hundreds, each revealing an unnatural black abyss with white pixelated ones and zeros fading in and out, like a dying light clinging to whatever it could. The floors were mostly the same, only the opposite with wide holes that changed from black to red like a siren, and the white numbers within changing every five seconds. It seemed almost like a parasite had taken hold over the place.
Looking at the hive, part of her thought that going inside would be a bad idea. But it was either this or trying to find her way through the storm again. Treading carefully, she began to trot towards the front of the hive. Going through a hole in the wall that appeared to be the entrance. What she saw though really through her off guard.
There were changelings here. Not just one, but patrols of them. Each one was projecting a green field and they all were patrolling around a platform that looked to be held up by natural threads as if it were a chandelier hanging over them. The platform was kept together by walls all around it, but Sunset wondered what it was supposed to be. Was it some kind of prison cell, holding something in? Or was it the home of whoever lived here?
Whatever it was, she felt compelled to get a closer look. To save her magic, she began to climb up the side of a nearby cocoon. Being careful with the placement of her hooves as she climbed up carefully. The higher she rose up, the better of an angle that she could see the top of the platform that all the threads were holding up. But what she saw… confused her.
“A door?”
Seconds after saying that, Sunset covered her mouth with a hoof. Worried that the drones could’ve heard her. However, they did not seem to hear her words or even notice her presence. Which was a sigh of relief as she continued to climb. The goal for her was that if she could climb high enough, she could easily be able to use a small amount of magic to teleport herself to the top. Something that wasn’t relatively too hard considering everything that she had been through so far.
After landing on the top of the cube though, that was when she began to use her magic on the handle of the door. However, any attempts to pull the door open ended up being unsuccessful. “Darn it. Out of all the things that have been thrown at me, how is opening a door the hardest-?” Just as she said that though, she twisted the handle again but didn’t pull. And as the door fell open, Sunset felt herself getting yanked inside. “Agh!”
After the unicorn fell inside, she found herself lying on what looked like a spider like creature with wings as she slowly began to raise her head up into the air. Upon looking around, she found herself in what looked like the changeling equivalent of a nursery that ponykind would have. However, there was one major difference.
In one corner of the room, there was a small girl. She was playing with a larvae like worm, but Sunset was more shocked of the fact that there was another human here. The only ones that she had seen up until today were from the other side of the mirror. As of now, she has seen two of them in Equestria.
The girl looked at her dead in the eye, unphased by her entrance. She looked like a corpse, and if not for her fingers continuing to toy with the worm, Sunset would’ve thought that be true.
The unicorn soon felt the need to say something as she looked at the girl. Even if she looked unphased, she felt that her entrance might’ve startled her. “Um, h-hi?”
The human tilted her head, expression not changing. “Are you lost, pony?”
“M-maybe…” Sunset said, looking back at her. “Where am I?”
“The word eludes me. Many words do.” The girl said, her tone never shifting. Never diverging. “I forget and remember, such is the way I am. Perhaps you would call this place mine.”
“Yours? Like your home?” She asked her, slightly puzzled by the girls choice of words.
“Home…” The word sounded foreign on her lips, and there was a hint of… something. Confusion, perhaps? “I do not believe that word is correct. I merely exist here, for now. What about you, stranger?”
The girl, oddly enough, brought up a valid point. What about her? It was something that Sunset had to comprehend to herself, before actually answering her. “I once had a home… but I was forced out. All I wanted was to understand what I can do with magic, yet my teacher Celestia did not approve of it. So I ran… Now, I feel as if I’m in an Equestria I no longer recognize.”
“I detect a large quantity of similarities between us. Strange…” She pondered for a moment as she pulled the two ends of her worm till the little creature was severed in two uneven halves. It was a sight that made Sunset twitch for a moment, and made her to try to come up with something to say so she did not have to focus on that.
“Do you… have a name?”
“I forgot most of it. Mor is all I recall, so I redubbed myself ‘Morti’.” The pale girl crushed the larger half of her ‘toy’ in the palm of her hand, uncaring.
“I’m Sunset… Sunset Shimmer,” The unicorn introduced herself, before thinking of something to ask her. “Um, Morti? I know this may sound a bit sudden to be asking, but can I stay here? I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”
Morti stayed silent for a moment, before nodding faintly. “I cannot calculate a reason not to. But you mustn't leave.”
“With the way things are right now, I don’t think I’ll be leaving anytime soon,” Sunset told her, trotting closer to her. Half tempted to hug her as a sign of thanks, before deciding to go all in and wrapping her front hooves around the girl in a warm embrace. “I don’t think you know how much this means to me. Thank you so much.”
Morti leaned into the embrace, though unsure what was happening. “There is no need for this.” She piped up.
“You… haven’t felt a hug before?” Sunset questioned, looking back at her with a raised eyebrow. “Morti, if I may ask, how long have you been here for?”
“Five months, one week and three days.” Morti replied matter-of-factly. “While I have been active for five months, two weeks and seven days.”
“Dear stars, you’ve been by yourself for that long? That sounds horrible,” Sunset cursed to herself, trying to remain positive despite everything she heard Morti tell her. “At least, I’ll be here now so you don’t have to feel alone anymore.”
Morti analyzed Sunset silently for a moment. She wasn’t entirely sure what the orange mare was getting at. “You don’t need to concern yourself with my well being. I am not like ordinary organics. Co-com-co-... fellowship is not a necessity I require.” She struggled a bit with her words, but quickly found an alternative.
“O-okay then.” Sunset nodded her head in response, not entirely sure of what to say next afterwards. It felt off, but it was something that she could concern herself with later.
“What is your primary directive?” Morti interrogated.
Sunset blinked, startled by the sudden question and the words used to phrase it. “P-primary w-what?” She asked, looking back at her with a confused look. “W-what do you mean?”
“Your ultimate objective. Your… p-purpose?” The last word sounded alien to the pale girl. Hearing the last part had her raise an eyebrow, but the unicorn let out a sigh as she began to think a bit before responding.
“Well… before I met you, I ended up trying to do something that right now, I’m beginning to regret. But with the way things are, I can’t just go back and ask for forgiveness. Not after everything I’ve been through,” She said, looking as if she was pondering on something, before fully answering her. “So… right now, my purpose is to learn. I want to learn the things that most ponies would rather just have locked up or hidden away. If I can be able to understand how some of these things work… understand what has caused parts of Equestria to change.”
“And then what?”
Sunset only had one thing to say in response. “Survive. I won’t be able to get any farther if I just end up dying out in a wasteland now, would I?”
Morti began to float in mid air, her white dress flowing in a non-existent wind. “Then join me.”
Now the unicorn blinked, caught off guard by the girl floating in the middle of the room. She had no wings, so how was she able to do that? “J-join you?”
“Yes. I require others to help me regain the rest of my code.” Morti answered without hesitation. “I am but a mere fr-frac- sliver of my former self. I was barely able to convert the locals. The most likely scenario, if I were to act in this state, would not be favorable.”
“She’s only a piece of her former self?” The unicorn thought to herself. She used this revelation to prepare and formulate her next question. “Do you think that your… code contains the memories that you once had?”
“It is very likely. I also calculate that it also has around ninety two percent of my strength and power.” Morti stated. “What you see before you is but the base code, or the ‘skeleton’, if you would prefer. My memory is highly unstable, and in my current state I won’t last longer than a year.”
“But with my help… that can change?” The unicorn now asked her.
“My chances would significantly improve.” Morti looked up towards the hatch in the ceiling. “I’ll grant you administrative access to the hive.”
Sunset thought it over for a few moments, before nodding her head as she made her decision. “Alright. I’ll do it. What would I be looking for?”
“There are eight fragments, each taking the form of something… of a substantial size. You locate it, and use the hive to weaken them, and then I’ll join you to assimilate the data.” Morti donned the ghost of a smile. All while Sunset nodded in response as she looked towards the latch in the ceiling. Though, she had one final question for the young girl.
“Sounds simple enough… Where should I begin looking?”
“There is a small town below the capital. I believe the hive thought that place important. Burn it down, if you have to.”