//------------------------------//
// Ch 11 - The Choosing - Those Who Are Worthy 
// Story: Phoenix-born Rising - The Ascension of Sunset Shimmer 
// by The Voice in the Water 
//------------------------------//

Sunset fidgeted in her seat, her persistently itchy uniform not helping her restlessness. She was in yet another exam room, this one was done up with a dozen low tables each surrounded by luxurious floor pillows, and covered with elaborate table cloths with ornate candelabras at their center.

The scene was familiar from all of the other practicals she’d taken. But this time, there was something new and unexpected: At each table seated on the cushions were sun-gazer sized, ball-jointed porcelain dolls. Each doll was dressed in the “typical” clothing of a different ranks of nobility, and were exquisitely crafted to the point of being nearly lifelike in appearance. Even their hands were articulated.

Sunset found herself not liking the whole scene before her. Aside from the almost lifelike quality of the dolls, she could have sworn they were watching her. A morbid thought passed through her head when she remembered that Lady Inkwell was involved: it was entirely possible that they were watching her. Only Celestia knew what sort of enchanting that she was capable of. 

It wasn’t like magically animated puppets were unknown in Solaria. If anything, magical marionettes was a well respected form of entertainment out West. Sunset had many happy memories of going to shows with her oath-sisters whenever a troup came through town. But the puppets they used weren’t ever this big.

Or numerous.

Or lifelike.

Taking another deep breath, Sunset focused her mind on her meditations, letting the mental exercises bring her thoughts under control. This was it. This was the final stage of her exam. 

It was the moment of truth. 

Only ten minutes ago, she’d been in the break room with Daisy and Lily. Yet, the joyous reunion had been interrupted with Sparkler’s arrived to inform Sunset that it was time for her exam.

That information had hit her like an avalanche, because she’d completely forgotten about the exam. As much as she wished she could stay with her friends a few minutes longer, she knew she shouldn’t keep Lady Inkwell waiting. Before leaving, Sunset had pulled Daisy and Lily into one last goodbye hug, before turning to follow Sparkler. As she exited the room, she’d looked back to her friends, and received an encouraging smile and nod from them.

The sight warmed her heart, yet it did nothing to alleviate her nerves for what she was about to do.

Lady Inkwell had said that they would be doing a mock dinner, but hadn’t told them exactly what that would entail. Looking out at the room gave Sunset a pretty good idea what she was in for. 

“Hello Sunset,” A familiar voice said. Lifting her head, Sunset saw Lady Inkwell approaching, Dylis conspicuously absent from her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

“If I said no, would it change anything?” Sunset asked plainly.

“No, it wouldn’t,” Lady Inkwell replied, a touch of amusement in her eyes.

“Then sure, I’m ready,” Sunset said as she rose to her feet and curtsied to Lady Inkwell. “So, I take it that I’m going to be playing with the dolls?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Lady Inkwell said with an amused smirk. “For the first part of the exam, you’ll be preparing the tables and serving food and drinks like you would at the rite.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Sunset said, taking a deep breath to brace herself. 

“That’s not all,” Lady Inkwell said, before casually snapping her fingers, the action producing the loud clang of a bell. As the sound faded, the doors opened and an older, white and pink haired, orange skinned earth-weaver woman wearing an identical uniform to Sunset’s entered the room. Approaching Lady Inkwell, the woman bowed before turning to Sunset and smiling warmly. 

“Please, allow me to introduce Will-O-Dawn,” Lady Inwell said, before gesturing to Sunset with an upturned palm. “Will-O, this is Sunset Shimmer.”

“Greetings young one,” Will-O said, smiling as she knelt down to look Sunset in the eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Um…thank you,” Sunset said, unsure of what was going on. “So, is she going to be giving me my exam.”

“In a manner of speaking.” Lady Inkwell said as Will-O rose back to her feet and stepped next to Sunset. “For the first part of the exam, you will be working with Will-O-Dawn to serve a mockup of the pre-ascension meal, just as you would at the rite.”

“Wait, what?” Sunset exclaimed, before slapping her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry, your grace.”

“Apology accepted Sunset,” Lady Inkwell said. Sunset could have sworn she heard Will-O snicker. “Is there a problem?”

Sunset bit her lip in an effort to focus her thoughts.

“May I speak freely?” Sunset asked after a few seconds.

“You may,” Lady Inkwell said. 

“I thought that we were going to be doing this on our own,” Sunset said, fighting to keep the incredulity out of her voice. “There were others being trained to do this?”

Looking at Lady Inkwell, she could almost feel the amusement coming off her, even if the phoenix-born’s countenance didn’t change. 

“Sunset, did you think that you were the only ones who would be serving at this rite?” Lady Inkwell asked as she looked Sunset in the eyes.

“Um…” Sunset said as she shrunk back a little. “Yes?”

Lady Inkwell merely smiled.

“Sunset, there are whole villages in Chromos dedicated to preparing for the day Lumina lays an egg and a new phoenix hatches,” Lady Inkwell said with a hint of amusement. 

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Lady Inkwell raised a finger to silence her.

“Sunset, you are on the clock, so unless you want to cut your time in your exam short, we should get started,” Lady Inkwell said as she folded her arms behind her back and turned to walk towards the tables. Both Will-O-Dawn and Sunset fell in behind her, as she continued to give instructions to Sunset. “There are two parts: in the first, you will be working with Will-O to serve the tables as though you were at the rite. At first, you will be serving drinks. How well you perform in the first stage will determine which meal setting you will be doing in the later stage. My puppets will respond to your actions, and record your performance, as will Will-O. Understood?”

“Yes, your grace,” Sunset said.

“In the second part, you and Will-O will perform one full setting and serving as before,” Lady Inkwell said as she stopped and turned to face Sunset. “However, in this run, Will-O will introduce errors into the settings and servings, while the puppets will stop responding to mistakes that either of you make, but will record them. It will fall on you to not only avoid making mistakes, but identify any mistakes that Will-O might include, and report them to her at the end. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your grace,” Sunset said with a small bow.

“Good. In that case,” Lady Inkwell said before moving her arms and upper body in a sweeping spell-dance, culminating in her clapping her hands above her head. The moment her hands met, there was a flash of light, raspberry colored light that formed into dozens of small motes and flew into the puppets. As the motes of flame were absorbed into the porcelain, the puppets began to move. “I will take my leave. I know you have it in you to ace this Sunset, so show me what you’re really capable of.”

And with that, Lady Inkwell turned and walked out of the room, leaving Sunset with Will-O-Dawn and the puppets.

*****

“Girl!” One of the puppets shouted irritably. “Where is my drink?!”

Sunset continued on her way without replying, instead following behind Will-O-Dawn, both walking with perfect poise and genial smiles on their faces. Will-O had a large tray balanced on her upturned left palm, while Sunset had a medium sized one on hers. On its surface were several drinking vessels, including a brass goblet with a blown glass vessel filled with twestriblossom wine, a carved coral snifter filled with Veritas Brandey, and two carved diamond glasses with sparkberry cognac.

Sunset did not approach the “irritated” puppet first, instead following behind Will-O as she made her way to the other tables. As she passed a table, she paused to place the coral snifter before  a puppet dressed up as a duke, delivering the vessel on his left side, and positioning it 5 cm from the upper left side of its salad plate.

“Thank you,” the puppet said levely.

Bowing her head, Sunset made her way to the next table, depositing the diamond glasses before two puppets dressed as a marquess and marchioness, the latter getting the beverage first, followed by the former, each glass placed 5.5 cm from the upper left side of their salad plates.

Sunset only received a nod from the puppets, but bowed. 

“Girl! I’m waiting!” The puppet that had yelled at her earlier called out again, earning a reproachful glare from the other puppet at the table. 

Keeping a smile on her face, Sunset approached the table.

“I’m sorry for the delay, your lordship,” Sunset said as she placed the goblet in its proper position 6 cm from the upper left corner of the ‘earl’s’ salad plate. 

“Hmph, took you long enough, dirt-eater,” it said, before lifting the vestle and taking a sip, before spitting it back into the glass. “Too warm. Take it back and get me a new one, right now.”

“Of course, your lordship,” Sunset said warmly, maintaining her smile as she took the vessel and headed back to the “kitchen” to get a new goblet as images of rats devouring the ‘earl’ flashing through her mind as she walked.

*****

Sunset’s smile was starting to falter, but not just from the fatigue of having to keep her lips curled up for as long as she had, or the length of time she’d been walking around the exam room. No, it was that not seven minutes ago, they’d finished with the drinks run, and taken a short break. At the end of their break, Will-O-Dawn had decided that Sunset had shown enough promise to take on quite possibly the most difficult setting and serving that she could have; a setting that involved the four most intimidating puppets in the entire room.

Puppets made up to resemble General Steel Sentry, Commander Spitfire, and their bond partners Vestian and Akari.

This was it, they were doing a “proper” phoenix-born serving. Not a drill. Not a written exam.

No, they were doing the actual thing.

With enchanted automata that would act and react like the phoenix-born and their bond partners.

She’d first encountered these particular puppets near the end of the drinks stage of the exam, when Will-O had brought her to their table. Unlike the common Dukes and other nobility, the phoenix-born were to be served exclusively by a specific spet of servers, meaning that if Sunset managed to be assigned to them at the rite, she wouldn’t be splitting her attention between the immortals and the rest of the nobility. She would be serving them and them alone.

While it meant that she wouldn’t have to remember or juggle orders, it also meant that she would be staring the linnorm directly in the eye.

Sunset was still on edge from serving the four puppets their drinks. When she had delivered Steel Sentry’s carved jacinth tumbler of Golden Sunfire gin, she’d almost placed it one millimeter too close to his fruit plate. Thankfully all of the time she’d spent studying the images of the placement meant she’d corrected herself at the last moment, but her heart had been beating a kilometer an minute as the keen eyed puppet had regarded her before it dismissed her with a swift flick of its fingers.

From his reputation alone as the leader of Solaria’s military, as well as being the second oldest living phoenix-born, Sunset had a feeling that the real Steel Sentry would easily be a thousand times more intimidating.

If anything positive came from the experience, it was that the shock ensured she didn’t almost make the same mistake when serving Spitfire or the phoenixes.

In hindsight, she almost wished she had placed it incorrectly, because the pressure of doing the actual serving was weighing down on her like a ton of boulders. Then she reminded herself that she was doing this not just to earn a coveted position in the rite, but to stick it to Sapphire. At the thought of the arrogant Heliopolan, Sunset felt her drive return, and her focus was renewed.

Thankfully, the puppets had “backed off” to allow the two of them to do the base settings. Tungsten and gold utensils and spider silk napkins were meticulously arranged and placed on the table, Sunset making minor adjustments to her arrangement to perfectly match the mental image that had been grilled into her mind's-eye.

Once the base settings were done, the puppets had returned, and from the cold, disinterested looks on their faces, she inferred that she’d got everything right.

After completing the first stage, Sunset followed behind Will-O to retrieve the first course of the meal, the soup. Reaching the “kitchen” area, Sunset grabbed the serving cart bearing the carefully made plates meant for the puppets. On the cart were two large gold bowls studded with rubies and jacinth filled with rich, thick rummalis chowder, along with two smaller carved pearl bowls filled with toasted obsidian scarab beetles for the phoenixes. From the conspicuous lack of scent coming from the bowls, she knew that the contents were not true food, but rather alchemically created facsimiles: they’d have all of the physical properties such as weight and texture of the real meal without wasting any of the rare ingredients that would go into the one served at the rite.

Stopping the cart at the designated spot exactly 1.01 meters away from the table, Sunset took a step back and stood at attention, going over the instructions that Will-O had given her: Will-O would handle Spitfire and Akari, while Sunset would serve Steel Sentry and Vestian.

‘This is just part of the test,’ Sunset thought to herself as she nodded to Will-O-Dawn. ‘If you want to show them your worthiness, to show your determination.’

Taking the bowls meant for Steel Sentry and Vestian off the cart, Sunset balanced them on her left arm and approached the puppets. First she placed the pearl bowl onto the special platform integrated into the gold perch the Vestian puppet was resting on, making sure that the top most beetle on the pile had its head pointed directly at the “phoenix”. Receiving a disinterested glare from the puppet, Sunset bowed to it and moved on to Steel Sentry, placing the bowl before him, ensuring that the sprig of five navtel leaves and one flower floating on the soup’s surface were pointed exactly towards the center of the table, and the bowl was precisely 6 cm from the edge.

“Would you like any spice for your soup, your eminence?” Sunset asked as she bowed towards the puppet.

The puppet looked at her for a moment, his brows narrowing slightly. Sunset kept her calm as the puppet glared at her. After a few agonizing seconds, it spoke.

“Five eighths of a grind, into the exact center of the bowl,” the puppet said.

“As you wish, your eminence,” Sunset replied as she retrieved the grinder from her belt.

Lifting the grinder over the bowl, she made sure she was positioned exactly over the center, and gave the top a sharp, steady twist, using the feel of the number of clicks to judge when she’d reached exactly the requested amount.

The puppet regarded her cooly.

“Is there anything else, your eminence,” Sunset asked as she returned the grinder to her belt and bowed.

“I don’t recognize your accent. Where are you from, welp?” The puppet asked.

Swallowing, Sunset pinched her eyes shut, a motion that was thankfully obscured by her bangs.

“I hail from Golden Tree, in the Western Territory, your eminence,” Sunset said, using all of her willpower to keep her voice even and controlled.

The puppet regarded her for a moment, before huffing in irritation.

“Of course Raven assigns a worthless, dirt-eating mongrel to me,” the puppet said as it inspected her like an animal up for sale at a market, before making a shooing motion with its hand. “That is all. Leave now.”

“As you wish, your eminence,” Sunset said as she bowed and stepped away, refusing to allow herself to show any frustration.

*****

Sunset set down the heavy gold plate before the puppet of Steel Sentry, trying to ignore the disapproving glare he, Vestian, Spitfire and Akari were giving her. Much to her chagrin, Sunset found that the almost impossible level of detail paid to every part of the meal was actually working to her advantage. As difficult as placing all of the parts in just the right spot was, it also meant that she could use the ones that were already in place to accurately gauge the position that the plate should rest on the table.

Bowing to the puppet, Sunset turned to walk back to the cart to collect the next part of the meal: a large, baked, rainbow-shelled conch meant to be shared between both the phoenix-born and their partner. Placing both hands under the 18 cm long, kaleidoscopically scintillating rainbow colored shell and carefully lacing her fingers through the long, razor sharp spines, Sunset lifted it and walked back to the table. 

Approaching the puppet from the left, she gently set the massive oceanic snail down before the phoenix-puppet’s perch. Unlike the plate, there was no way to have a ‘perfect’ positioning of the snail, as the shells were never the same between individuals. Instead, the key was positioning the inner lip of the shell exactly 15 cm from the side of the perch with the platform used to place bowls for the phoenix to eat from.

“Can I get you anything else, your eminence?” Sunset asked as she bowed to the puppet.

“Bring me another Golden Sunfire, whelp,” the puppet replied. “And be quick about it.”

“Yes, your eminence,” Sunset said as she rose from the bow and went to get the requested drink.

*****

Sunset slumped down into one of the chairs set up along the edge of the room, letting out a deep, exhausted sigh as her head rolled back to rest against the wall. Minutes ago, she and Will-O-Dawn had finished the first half of the test.

“I must say, young one, I’m very impressed,” Will-O said as she approached Sunset and sat next to her, craning and rolling her neck after she’d settled down into the chair. Once settled, she passed a steaming mug of eincjara to Sunset, who took the mug in both hands.

Sunset took a slow, grateful sip of the thick, sweet, rich-tasting beverage, before letting out a happy sigh. She rarely got to drink eincjara back home except during festivals, so she was going to enjoy the rare treat while she could.

“Hey, hard work pays off. And I’ve been putting in a lot of it,” Sunset said as she stared at the rusty-red liquid in her mug, the sensation of her muscle fatigue starting to abate. “How long till I start the next part?”

“We can start now if you want,” Will-O said with a titter.

“Would it be alright if I took a few minutes to stop feeling like a bunch of petroquines played kickball with my head?” Sunset said as evenly as she could.

“Sure. Think five minutes is enough?” Will-O said with a grin.

“Yea, that’ll do. Thanks,” Sunset said as she took another sip of her eincjara. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you worked for Lady Inkwell?”

A warm chuckle escaped Will-O-Dawn’s lips as she leaned back a bit in her chair.

“All my life,” she said with a wistful smile.

“Really? As in, since you were old enough to work?” Sunset asked as she looked at the older woman.

“In a manner of speaking,” Will-O said, before looking at Sunset and smiling. “Tell me, young one, have you ever heard of the sun-touched?”

Sunset thought for a moment. The phrase was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. Then, it struck her as she remembered.

“Wait, aren’t the sun-touched the Queen’s personal attendants?” Sunset said, her voice cracking with awe. “You’re telling me that you’re from the village at the base of Celestia’s castle? You’re one of the sun-gazers who’s village has lived in Celestia’s light since the founding of Heliopolis?”

“Indeed,” Will-O said blissfully.

“I’ve heard stories about your village. Is it true that you’re trained from the moment you can walk to serve the Queen?” Sunset asked with wide curious eyes. “That your senses are so finely honed that you can tell when a grain of sand is out of place in one of Queen Celestia’s rock gardens?”

“Yes, on both accounts,” Will-O said.

“I… I can’t even imagine what that must be like,” Sunset said with reverence, “living in Celestia’s light like that. It must be amazing.” 

“To be fair, young one, you haven’t been born and raised on this path, so that’s not surprising,” Will-O said warmly. “Just as I can scarcely imagine a life not lived by the Queen’s side. It’s all about where your path begins, and where it leads. Mine is to serve the Queen. Yours… well, yours is yours to find, and follow.”

“I suppose,” Sunset said as she stared down into the mug. “Celestia willing if it were really that simple.”

“No life is simple, young one,” Will-O said as she patted Sunset on the shoulder. “And not all paths are as clear as mine. Give it time.”

“I… okay. Thanks,” Sunset said, before downing the last bit of her drink and getting to her feet. “So, shall we finish this thing up.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Will-O said as she stood and stretched her back, a satisfied groan escaping her throat as her back audibly popped.

*****

For the second time during the exam, Sunset found herself by the phoenix-born puppets, setting the table, delivering food, and clearing off plates, bowls and drinking vessels as they were cleaned. But this time, there was an additional level of stress, as she had to not only perform her part flawlessly, but keep an eye out for any deliberate errors that Will-O-Dawn might add.

Walking purposefully towards Steel Sentry, Sunset looked at the position of all the components of the table, gauging where she was supposed to place the salad plate.

As she looked, there was something almost imperceptibly wrong on the table. She could sense it, but couldn’t quite place it. All she knew was that with how hard she’d drilled the precision of the placements into her mind, she could tell that something was wrong.

But what?

Maintaining her pace, she approached Steel Sentry from the left hand side, and began to place the golden plate down before him. Yes, just as she was about to set it down, she made a slight, last minute correction in the placement. 

There, to the right of the salad plate, was the error: the angle of the inscriptions on the teacup’s saucer that she’d been using to gauge the position of the salad plate were 2° off from where they should have been in relation to the knives. Had she used it to position the salad plate, she’d have placed it wrong.

Making a mental note of the error, Sunset addressed the puppet.

“Do you want any liitais for your salad, your eminence?” Sunset said.

“Yes. Two and three-tenths strokes of fine grated,” Steel Sentry said curtly.

Bowing again, Sunset returned to the cart and retrieved the small block of hard cheese and the ceramic-tungsten grater. Returning to Steel Sentry, Sunset was about to begin grating, but froze yet again. Doing a quick count, she realized that there were only 18 rows of grating slots on the grater, not 20. 

Doing a quick bit of mental math, that meant that if she wanted to get the right volume of liitais onto Steel Sentry’s salad, she’d need to do two full strokes, plus just over half a full stroke.

Staring ruefully at the grater, Sunset brought both over Steel Sentry’s salad, and began to grate.

*****

“… and for the desert course, I noticed that there were 36 plietes in Vestian’s bowl, rather than the appropriate 35,” Sunset said to Will-O-Dawn as she gave her end of exam debriefing. “In all, that brings the number of errors that I observed to seven: one in the drinks stage, one in the soup stage, one in the appetizer stage, two in the salad stage, none in the main course, and two in the desert.”

As Sunset finished and took a deep breath, Will-O-Dawn steepled her fingers and gave Sunset a scrutinizing look, before nodding, a slight smile forming on her face.

“Thank you, Sunset, you’ve done well. I’ll pass along my assessment to Lady Inkwell,” Will-O said before gesturing to the door. “You’re free to go. Do not discuss anything that has happened in this room with any of the other students who have not completed the exam. The results and your placement will be announced after dinner.”

“So, that’s it?” Sunset asked, “I don’t get to know how I did until later tonight?”

“That’s right,” Will-O said, before patting Sunset’s shoulder. “Don’t fret about it Sunset. You did what you did, you can’t change it now, so why worry. I’d suggest you take the rest of the afternoon to relax, alright?”

“I… fine. Alright. I’ll try,” Sunset grumbled. “So you won’t even give me a hint?”

The only response she got from Will-O was a light chuckle, a lopsided smile and a hand gently turning her around and pushing on her back.

“Enjoy your afternoon Sunset,” Will-O said kindly but firmly as she began to walk Sunset to the door. “You’ll know how you did when everyone else does.”

“Thanks. Like I can relax with that looming over my head,” Sunset grumbled as she allowed herself to be led.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Will-O said as she opened the door and ushered Sunset into the hallway, following after her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an evaluation to write. Sun’s radiance upon you, young one.”

“Sun’s radiance upon you too,” Sunset said as she began to walk towards her room.

“Just about every day, young one,” She heard Will-O call back over her shoulder.

*****

“Ugh, that was brutal!” Daisy whined as she fell face first onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. “Wake me up after the rite’s over.”

“Oh come on Daisy, it had to be worse than that,” Sunset said with a tired smile as she lowered her book to her lap from her spot leaning against the headboard of her bed.

After returning to her room, Sunset had felt like she’d been run over by not one, but a whole herd of petroquines. Staggering into the bathroom, she’d taken an almost painfully hot bath to work the exhaustion out of her muscles. After soaking for what felt like a blissful eternity, she’d dressed in her more comfortable casual clothing, and gone right to her trunk to retrieve her book of legends. Treasured tome in hand, she’d settled on her bed and allowed herself to get lost some pleasure reading. Until moments ago, when both Daisy and Lily had stumbled into the room, bleary eyed and exhausted just as she’d been when she had returned. 

“You’re not helping, you know that right?” Lily groaned as she splayed herself out on her own bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Yup. That’s me; utterly unhelpful, existing only to take up space and make everyone around me miserable,” Sunset said, badly imitating an upper-class Heliopolan accent. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and powder my butt and pretend that I’ve got more than one fiftieth of a mind.”

Both Daisy and Lily stared at Sunset for a couple of seconds, before bursting out laughing.

“Oh Celestia, Sunset! You’re awful,” Daisy said as she snorted with mirth.

“No I’m not. I’m perfect and flawless and have no idea that sticking a twig in my eye would hurt because I’ve never had to go outside in my life,” Sunset retorted, barely able to keep her smirk off her face. “Now, bring me a peeled blueberry. I’m going to eat it without straining my jaw this time.”

“You better be careful, you might forget how to breathe and blink at the same time,” Lily said, getting in on the action.

“Or fail at standing up because you never walk, only get carried around on a pillow,” Daisy said as she kicked her legs with mirth.

“Walking? But only peasants do that. Why, I don’t even wipe my own bottom. I have someone use silk sheets to clean me after I poop,” Sunset said, putting a hand on her chest and sticking her nose into the air. “Manual labor is beneath me because my daddy said so.”

Soon, all three of them burst out laughing. 

“O… o… okay,” Daisy said as she tried to get her breathing under control. “Stop. Please. I’m going to run out of air.”

“I never have that problem,” Sunset said, maintaining her mocking “Heliopolan” accent. “My brain needs so little air that I can’t be drowned.”

“Please… Sunset… stop,” Lily said between gasps. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“Oh, fine. Be that way,” Sunset said with an unapologetic lilt and grin as her laughter died down, allowing her friends to catch their breaths.

‘I missed this,’ Sunset thought as she leaned back against the headrest of her bed. ‘No constant studying. No exams. No pressure. Just laughing with my friends.’

A soft, wistful sigh escaped Sunset’s throat at the thought of her friends back in Golden Tree. To her oath-sisters. And how much she missed seeing them.

“You okay Sunset?” Daisy asked, noticing Sunset’s mood taking a sharp downturn.

“Huh? Oh, yea,” Sunset said, a sad smile forming on her face. “Just… thinking about my sisters. Sorry to be a downer like that.”

Daisy propped herself up on her elbows and rested her chin on her palms, a sympathetic smile on her face.

“Hey, we get it. You’re homesick,” Daisy said wistfully. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t too.”

“You know, you’ve never told us about your home town,” Lily said, looking at Sunset while still laying on her back. “Would you… like to? We’d love to know what it’s like living in the West.”

“I…,” Sunset said, her voice catching a little.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Lily said, turning over onto her stomach and scooching to sit on the edge of her bed.

“No… it's okay. I’d be happy to tell you about it,” Sunset said as she closed her book and looked down at it, as she ran her fingers across the cover. “Who do you want to hear about first?”

“Well, what’s Golden Tree like?” Daisy asked as she kicked her legs back and forth.

“Heh,” Sunset chuckled, thinking of ways to describe Golden Tree. “Well, I guess the best way to describe it is that it's home…”

*****

The sounds of the dining hall were especially raucous that evening, with discussions of the exam being the main topic among the students. Sitting at their table in the back, Sunset, Lily and Daisy found themselves apart from the conversation. Instead of fretting over their performance on the final exam, Sunset’s stories of home had led them to share stories about their own hometowns.

One thing led to another, which brought them to where they were now: eating an unusually opulent celebratory dinner and swapping embarrassing stories about their misadventures.

Misadventures that currently had both Sunset and Daisy laughing hard enough that they could barely breathe.

Taking a few bracing gulps of air, Sunset met the eyes of a slightly darker shade of raspberry then usual Lily Valley.

“So, wait, you’re telling us that after the minstrels finally lured the moth swarm out of town, they decided that they’d give everyone a free performance for the trouble, and that just started everything all over again when it drew them back in?” Sunset said, a giant grin on her face.

“In our defense,” Lily said, an uncomfortable grin on her face. “We didn’t know that the honeysuckle we imported from the north would draw in that many moths, or that the music would agitate them the way it did. Needless to say, the town’s clan representatives weren't happy with how the festival went that year.”

“At least it wasn’t as bad as when… I’m sorry Sunset, which of your sisters got into the hard zap apple cider again?” Daisy asked as she managed to get her giggles under control.

“That would be Pinkie Pie,” Sunset said with a good natured groan. “I still don’t know how she managed to get every duck in Golden Tree into town square without anyone noticing, or where she found all the little hats she stuck on them. I’m just glad I managed to catch her and keep her occupied while the cider wore off. There were a lot of people that were pretty mad about having to figure out which birds belonged to them.”

“Celestia’s sun, that doesn’t make any sense,” Lily said with a laugh. “Why would she even do that? How could she do that? I could have sworn you told us she’s an earth-weaver, not a fire-caller.”

Crossing her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair, Sunset regarded Lily with a smile.

“If I’ve learned anything about Pinkie,” Sunset said with a chuckle, “it’s that you just don’t question how she does what she does. Pinkie… is Pinkie. That’s really all there is to it. Looking any deeper would probably lead to madness. Or taffy. Or both at the same time.”

“At least there’s never a dull moment with her around, right?” Daisy asked.

“Pretty much,” Sunset said, as she noticed that the room was getting quiet. Taking a quick glance towards the front of the room, she saw why. “Lily, Daisy, looks like it’s time.”

Lady Inkwell and Dylis had just entered the dining hall, and were looking out over the assembled students with a calm, imperious expression. Once all conversation in the room had died down, she made her way to the far wall of the room, and, folding her arms behind her back, turned to address the students.

“Thank you all for your efforts over the last four weeks. Some of you have shown yourselves to be worthy of the duty you’ve volunteered for, some of you have shown far exceed all of my expectations, while others have shown a distinct lack of worthiness,” Lady Inkwell said.

Sunset had a feeling she knew who Lady Inkwell was talking about, and had to suppress a smirk.

“In one hour in the main auditorium I will give you your assignments for the rite,” Lady Inkwell continued. “So, please, enjoy your meals, and I will see you all in a little while.”

And with that, Lady Inkwell turned and walked out of the room.

Sunset turned back to her friends, who shared a look with her. This was it. The moment of truth.

Both to see if her work had paid off.

And if her mysterious guide was right about Lady Inkwell being ready to shield her from whatever Sapphire was going to try.

*****

An hour later, all of the students were crammed into the main auditorium. While dinner had been full of nervous energy, now the air was filled with dread and anticipation. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. 

Standing at the head of the room were Lady Inkwell and Dylis, the former’s countenance serious as she regarded the students, while the latter was giving them a curmudgeonly glare from his golden perch to Lady Inkwell’s side. In addition to Lady Inkwell, Sparkler, Will-O-Dawn, Dr. Arnica and the other instructors were seated on the stage behind the royal seneschal.

“Now that everyone is here, and has had a chance to unwind, I’m pleased to say that all of you have completed this trial. And now, you shall receive the fruits of your efforts and devotion,” Lady Inkwell said, before gesturing to a stack of scrolls to her left. “Next to me are your assignments for the rite. Each of these is based off of your performance in the classrooms, your aptitude in the practicals, and my observations on both your conduct and attitude.”

Sunset could have sworn that the air got a little thicker as Lady Inkwell said those last few words.

“After you’ve received your assignments, know that if you do not wish for the responsibility required by your assignment, you may request to be put on any lower difficulty position,” Lady Inkwell continued. “Are there any questions?”

Silence.

“Well, then I suppose we can move on,” Lady Inkwell said as she began to perform a simple spell dance. Soon, glowing raspberry light engulfed the scrolls, and they drifted into the air, each one floating out over the room and depositing themselves in the waiting lap of one of the students.

Her heart racing a mile a minute, Sunset grabbed the scroll in her lap and closed her eyes. Breaking the wax seal, unrolling the parchment, and cracking her eyes open, Sunset read her assignment. A second later, she almost dropped the parchment. Because what she saw was something utterly unimaginable and unexpected:

Sunset Shimmer: Aide to Royal Seneschal Raven Inkwell.

Sunset could scarcely breathe in her suddenly far too tight tunic. She was peripherally aware of several unhappy groans and muttered curses of disappointment, but none of those mattered. Only those eight words on the page. Lady Inkwell wanted her to serve as her personal aide durring the ceremony.

The thought was terrifying.

It was wonderful.

Her mind couldn’t even comprehend the idea, and she was starting to feel lightheaded before she realized she’d stopped breathing.

“Daisy, Lily, am I seeing this right?” Sunset said as she turned to her friends. Looking at the other girls, Sunset realized they were similarly stunned. “Girls, are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Lily said quietly. “I think I might need to sit down.”

“You are sitting down,” Daisy said, her voice also soft and weak.

“Oh, yea,” Lily replied softly. “I need to sit down more.”

“Yea, me too,” Daisy said.

“What’s wrong? Where were you assigned?” Sunset said, her concern for her friends beginning to override her own trepidation.

Both Lily and Daisy slowly turned their scrolls to face Sunset, holding them open so the words were plainly visible to the other girl.

Flower Wishes / Lily Valley: attendant to Archduchess Roseluck of the Eastern Territory

“Oh… oh wow. You girls too?” Sunset said as she held her scroll up for her friends to see.

“Oh my / Sweet sunlight…” The Easterners said almost breathlessly.

“I know…” Sunset managed to stammer. “I don’t even know…”

“WHAT!?”

Sunset was jolted out of her stunned trance at the sound of an angry, indignant yell echoing across the auditorium. Head snapping around towards the source of the cry, she saw Sapphire Prism standing in front of her chair, gripping the parchment of her scroll so tight it would probably tear any moment.

“Is there a problem, Sapphire Prism?” Lady Inkwell said as she calmly regarded the young fire-caller and crossed her arms across her chest.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Sapphire shrieked, shaking the parchment angrily. “This has to be some sort of mistake!”

“I assure you, it’s not,” Lady Inkwell said, her voice steady.

“This is an outrage! You expect me to clean the lavatories?!” Sapphire snarled. “I’m the daughter of Marchioness Ruby Prism and Marquess Amethyst Mirage, niece of Duke Highblood, and you have the audacity to suggest that I should degrade myself by cleaning up piss!? My father is friends with General Steel Sentry, and when he finds out about…”

Before Sapphire could finish, there was a sharp crack like that of a gavel as Lady Inkwell lifted her foot slightly and brought it down in a sharp stomp. Sunset wasn’t sure what Lady Inkwell was doing, but an instant later, it didn’t matter. 

Nothing did. 

Somehow, the entire atmosphere of the room suddenly felt like it was composed of one thing, and one thing only: the massive, crushing, paralyzing weight of Lady Raven Inkwell’s displeasure. Though Lady Inkwell’s expression hadn’t changed, Sunset could literally feel the anger coming off the phoenix-born, making it impossible to move. Indeed, everything had been subsumed by the overwhelming sensation that she was a tiny, baby mouse staring up at an enraged elder flame linnorm who’s maw was open and prepared to incinerate her with a searing tide of white hot fire.

Had Sunset the presence of mind to appreciate it, she would have taken some joy in watching Sapphire’s eyes go wide with pure, unadulterated terror as Lady Inkwell stared her down. But, she was not. She could only stare in mute, paralyzing dread as Lady Inkwell slowly walked forward and, folding her arms behind her back, stepped off the edge of the stage and floated down to the floor.

“Child, you clearly do not understand your place in this, or how much say you have in the matter,” Lady Inkwell said, the tone of her voice no different than her usual even calm, but each word sent crushing waves of presence out into the room, causing many of the students to gasp for breath or even pass out. “When you applied to serve at the rite, you put yourself under my judgement and my rule. Who you are, who your family is, or who you know does not matter one jot to me. The only thing that matters is that you’ve worked to prove your worthiness to serve at the birth of Celestia’s newest phoenix-born.”

“You, little girl, have failed at this.”

“I have watched your efforts, and they are barely adequate. You have put almost no effort into your studies, performed poorly on your exams, both written and practical, and barely made any attempts outside of class to make up for this deficiency. Had that been the end of it, you might have eked out a place in the balconies far from the stage serving at the buffetes for the commoners attending the rite.”

Pausing, Lady Inkwell unwove her arms from behind her back and slowly brought them around the front of her body, her left hand cradling her right elbow while holding her right hand palm up with her fingers curled into a fist.

“But, the weight of your folly goes far beyond a simple lack of performance on your part,” Lady Inkwell continued, the pressure somehow growing stronger.

“To start, you have shown complete and utter disrespect for what this rite stands for: the unity and solidarity of all Solarians,” Lady Inkwell said as she extended her thumb. “Not only did you act deplorably towards one of your peers after I expressly stated that social status and place of origin do not matter here, you attacked her in an attempt to force her out of your shared room because you considered her beneath you.”

“On top of that,” Lady Inkwell’s index finger extended, “you had the audacity to lie to me. That is something that I do not have any tolerance for.”

“You have repeatedly provoked and used slurs in an attempt to degenerate sun-gazers that I personally invited to this rite, under some deluded idea that you decide who is worthy of attending or serving,” Her middle finger uncurled as she cast her gaze around the room, “as well as encouraged others to do the same. It is not your place to decide who is worthy. It’s mine.”

“The way you spoke to me just now, and your insolent attitude for the past four weeks has shown me that you do not understand your place,” The ring finger uncurled. “I am not one of your servants to be ordered around. I am Raven Inkwell, and I have borne witness to not only the raising of Heliopolis, but the very founding of Solaria after the splintering. I am the hand of Celestia, and her voice. You do not tell me what to do, child.” 

“And finally,” her pinky uncurled, and for the first time, her brows furrowed, and the pressure in the room grew to almost unbearable levels, making them feel like they were drowning in mud. “I learn that you not only used your family’s resources to track down where the Solarian you’ve been tormenting lives, but you threatened her family in an effort to make her give up her chance to witness the rite. Including a threat to have several members of said family unlawfully executed should she bring this to my attention.”

Slowly bringing her right forearm down, she rested it across the top of her left arm.

“You have shown me no reason to consider your efforts worthy of the privilege of viewing the phoenix-rite. If I’m being honest, you should consider it fortunate that I am even willing to give you the opportunity to clean the toilets,” Lady Inkwell continued, before turning back towards the stage and floating up to its surface.

“In fact, I must say that I am very displeased with a great many of you,” Lady Inkwell said as she turned to face them. “And I am sorely disappointed by the sorry state of the people of the Queen’s holy city. I do not care where you come from. I do not care if you are noble or peasant. It is the quality of your conduct and devotion to Celestia and our nation that determines your worthiness, not your place of birth, or your status. I hope that has been made abundantly clear.”

And with that, the pressure abated, leaving everyone in the room stunned, terrified and gasping for breath.

“You are all free to go now,” Lady Inkwell said as though nothing had just happened. “Tomorrow morning, we will be heading to the Cathedral of the Sun to prepare for the rite. In two days time, the ceremony will commence. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Nobody moved.

“I said, you are dismissed,” Lady Inkwell said in a bored tone as she uncrossed her arms and gestured to the door. “Please leave in an orderly fashion.”

As if waking from a stupor, the students all began to slowly file out of the room.

“Sapphire,” Lady Inkwell said as the girl in question began to leave. “Please go to my office and wait for me. There are a few more things I wish to discuss with you… privately. Sparkler, go with her to make sure she doesn’t try anything foolish.”

A small, terrified squeak was the only acknowledgement Sapphire gave before slowly trudging out of the room, followed by a very cross looking Sparkler. As the crowd thinned, Sunset and her friends rose to their feet and began to make their way out.

“Sunset. Lily. Flower. Would the three of you wait a moment,” Lady Inkwell said gently just as they reached the door. Sunset could feel herself flinch back in terror, but Lady Inkwell raised her hand placatingly. “Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. I just need to discuss your assignments with you. Please, take a seat.”

“Yes, your grace,” all three girls said as they shuffled over to the front row desks and sat down.

A few minutes later, all of the other students had filed out of the room, leaving only the three friends sitting by themselves, still shaken by Lady Inkwell’s earlier display.

Stepping off the stage and floating down to the floor, Lady Inkwell wove her hands through the air in a short spell dance, summoning a chair to sit on. Taking a seat before the three, she regarded the girls for a moment.

“Girls, please look at me,” Lady Inkwell said evenly, the barest hint of warmth in her voice. 

All three girls looked up at Lady Inkwell. As they did, they felt a massive weight lift from their shoulders. Lady Inkwell was smiling warmly at them, her expression almost maternal. That look of warm, motherly concern drove the dread away like morning fog being burnt off by the sun’s light.

“I’m going to assume that the three of you have seen your assignments,” Lady Inkwell said levely.

“Yes, your grace,” all three replied in perfect unison.

“Well, then tell me, do you wish to accept them?” Lady Inkwell said.

“Um… / Well… / I…” the girls stammered, unsure how to respond.

“Please, speak freely,” Lady Inkwell said, her right hand making a small, palm up sweep at the youngsters.

“I…,” Sunset began, before taking a deep breath and focusing her mind through a quick meditation. Looking at her friends, she saw them give her a subtle nod, as if saying they were behind her. “Are you sure that you want me as your aide? I’m not sure I’m qualified after only four weeks of training. Shouldn’t someone from Chromos take the spot?”

Lady Inkwell simply bobbed her head as Sunset finished.

“Sunset,” Lady Inkwell said, “one of the reasons for this whole month-long ordeal was to see if someone was worthy of this position. The denizens of Chromos are devoted and know how the rite is conducted to an obsidian sharp degree, but, there’s more to it than that.

“You have earned this because you’re not from Heliopolis. Of all the students here, you have suffered the greatest adversity, sacrificed the most to attend, yet you fought through it to stand at the top of the mountain. You learned to execute all tasks I’ve set before you like you had been training most of your life to do them. When faced with adversity, you used ingenuity to overcome barriers put in your way. You forgave and extended a hand to someone who had hurt you, and you trusted in others when you were at your lowest. You were willing to sacrifice your place for your family, and were able to protect what matters to you when you needed to.”

Sunset found her face heating up.

“Thank you, your grace. I don’t deserve such praise,” Sunset stammered with a blush.

“I disagree Sunset. You do deserve it, because as far as I’m concerned, you’ve more than earned it,” Lady Inkwell said, before turning her attention to Lily and Daisy. “Flower, Lily, the same goes for you. You’ve both shown effort above and beyond what was expected, and have shown true resilience. When you arrived, you were the ones to reach out a hand to Sunset and show her friendship. You have both worked hard to perfect your skills, shown loyalty to not only each other, but to Sunset as well. Your efforts to hone your skills are no less admirable or worthy than Sunset’s and I cannot think of a better way to show my dear friend Roseluck just how devoted her citizens are than to let them show her their efforts personally.”

Both Daisy and Lily stammered and blushed, offering soft “thank you”s to Lady Inkwell.

“All three of you have proven yourselves the most worthy of all those who’ve sought to serve at the rite, and I can think of no better reward than to be given the highest honors available to you,” Lady Inkwell said as she rose to her feet and folded her hands behind her back. “So, do you accept your positions?”

“Yes! / Of course! / Absolutely!”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Lady Inkwell said with a warm smile. “Now, off with you and get some rest. The next two days are going to be intense.”

Needing no further prompting, Sunset and her friends rose and scampered out of the room, floating high on a sea of clouds.