//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Sins of One's Past // by smirker //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer trotted to where Arcana and her two friends were staying and was remembering she was never good at physical activities when she and her were rivals, she walked to her and saw the three mares, "We thought you'd show up around now, you ready to help us with afternoon training?" Robin asked, "Sure." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Well, choose your opponent." Paladin said, "Sorry, Arcana, but I'm going to have to skip you this time, I kind of remembered your main weakness." Sunset Shimmer stated, "What?" Arcana asked, "You're very weak physically." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Us unicorns of Dreaming Paradise are not trained in strength." Arcana remarked, "No, not that, you're physically weak in general." Sunset Shimmer replied, "If you think what you're saying is true, then prove it." Paladin stated, and Arcana walked forward. Arcana got ready to cast a spell and Sunset Shimmer teleported to her right side and bucked her with her hind legs, she grunted loudly as she flew through the air and landed on the ground, she began to get back up and Sunset Shimmer teleported to her and bucked her on her left side, she grunted again as she flew through the air, she fell on the ground and rolled a bit this time, Sunset Shimmer quickly teleported to her while Arcana was about to cast a healing spell, she bucked her on her right side again and Arcana grunted loudly as she rolled on the ground several times and went up in the air on the last roll and fell. Arcana groaned in pain and could not move or cast magic, "What? You go down after only three hits? You're a lot weaker than I thought." Sunset Shimmer remarked, a hoof tugged her head on its left and she came face-to-face with Paladin with Robin standing to her left, "Then why don't you try facing one of us instead?" Paladin asked, "I'll try Robin again." Sunset Shimmer replied as she pointed at her, Paladin walked back while Robin to her. Robin aimed her lipstick case at her and turned the bottom to fire a bullet, Sunset Shimmer flinched to her right to dodge it, Robin threw it away and reached into her coat with both of her front hoofs and took out two crossbows, "Really?" Sunset Shimmer asked in an unamused tone, Robin pulled the trigger up on one crossbow and fired the bolt, Sunset Shimmer grabbed it with her telekinesis and threw it back, Robin caught it with her right wing and reloaded it back into the crossbow, Sunset Shimmer's eyes widened and Robin fired the bolt again, Sunset Shimmer grabbed the bolt with her telekinesis and Robin fired the other bolt, she grabbed it with her telekinesis, she snapped both bolts in half and threw them behind herself. Robin put her crossbows back in her coat and jumped to her right when she saw a beam coming at her, she lifted up her vest and took the ballistic knife out, she flew forward and did slashes while Sunset Shimmer stepped back to dodge the slashes, she ducked to dodge one slash and kicked her with her hind right leg, Robin grunted as she slid back a little. She flew forward and tried to cut Sunset Shimmer with her knife while she teleported around with her magic, she teleported away from her and Robin aimed the knife at her, she pushed the red button on the handle and the blade shot out like a bullet, Sunset Shimmer yelped as she jumped to her right and the knife blade hit a tree. Robin reached into her boots with her front hoofs and took a knife out of both of them, she flew forward and tried to slash Sunset Shimmer while she dodged them, "Those bladed weapons of yours are getting old, Robin." Sunset Shimmer remarked as she dodged the knives, she continued dodging until she snatched them out of Robin's grip with her telekinesis and threw them behind herself. Robin reeled up on her hind legs and grabbed her own belt buckle, she detached it and revealed a knife blade under the buckle, Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes while Robin flew to her and tried to slash her again, she flung it away with her telekinesis and kicked her again, Robin slid back a little and reeled up on her hind legs again and took off her belt and swung it around, Sunset Shimmer's eyes widened she saw her belt was actually a whip. She swung it around and broke the ground twice, she tried to hit Sunset Shimmer with it and she ducked, Robin then aimed for her hoofs and she yelped as she reeled up to avoid the whip, she made the whip go up and hit Sunset Shimmer on abdomen and chest, she yelled and moved back and panted since the whip hurt a lot. Robin spun around and then hit her whip on the ground, it flew forward while breaking it, Sunset Shimmer teleported and reappeared to Robin's right, she tried to buck her but Robin grabbed her hind legs with her right wing and threw her over herself, Sunset Shimmer screamed and fell into the ground. Sunset Shimmer got back up and saw the whip coming down, she teleported away and the whip could not reach her, Robin flew to her and tried to hit her, Sunset Shimmer just teleported far away from it. Robin put her whip in her other front hoof and lifted up her belly band, she took out the pistol and aimed it at her, she ducked when she saw a beam coming, she aimed and Sunset Shimmer was not there, she appeared behind her and bucked her, she grunted as she slid forward a little, she bucked Sunset Shimmer and she staggered a little. Robin turned around while swinging her whip and Sunset Shimmer focused, she bent her back and grabbed the whip with her front hoofs, Robin aimed her pistol and she kicked it out of her hoof with hind right hoof and then snatched the whip with her telekinesis and threw it elsewhere. Robin flew forward while putting her front legs in her coat and tried to hug Sunset Shimmer with her wings, she jumped back to dodge the spiked rings, she opened her wings and revealed two double-bladed knives on her front hoofs, "How many do you have?!" Sunset Shimmer fumed, Robin held her front hoofs up and threw her front right leg forward and the double-bladed knife flew forward, Sunset Shimmer moved to her right to dodge it and the double-bladed knife went back to her hoof. Sunset Shimmer looked and saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived and were watching, she quickly moved her head back when she saw a double-bladed knife coming. Robin swung them around and the double-bladed knifes looked like they were floating around her, she threw them both forward and Sunset Shimmer tried to grab them, but they flew past her hoofs and they got cut, she screamed and saw her blood soak something, Twilight Sparkle and her friends gasped at seeing the double-bladed knives were connected to razor-sharp wires that were so thin, they were invisible to the naked eye. Sunset Shimmer growled while Robin spun around and made the wires spin with her, she ducked while the double-bladed knives went back to Robin, she threw them forward again and Sunset Shimmer grabbed the thin wires with her telekinesis, she tried to pull them apart but they did not break, "Wow, those wires sure are strong." Applejack said, "They must have a very high tensile strength then." Twilight Sparkle added, Sunset Shimmer continued to try to break the wires but could not, so she took them off of Robin's hoofs and she yelled as the wires cut her, Sunset Shimmer ran to her and bucked her, she grunted and fell on the ground this time. Sunset Shimmer growled and jumped to Robin to tackle her, but Robin turned herself around on the ground and held her hind legs up, she clicked her heels and knife blades came out of the front of her boot soles. Twilight Sparkle and her friends gasped at what they saw, "Sunset! Look out!" Twilight Sparkle hollered, Sunset Shimmer quickly cast telekinesis on herself and moved back while Robin got up and flew to her. She began doing kicks with her hind legs and tried to cut Sunset Shimmer with the knifes in her boots, she glared and removed the knifes with her telekinesis. Robin flew back and reached into her boots again and took out more guns, they looked strange, she shot one and Sunset Shimmer ducked, Robin threw the gun at her and missed, she fired her other gun and Sunset Shimmer teleported, Robin threw the gun at her, she then reeled up on her hind legs and flicked her front legs outwards and more guns came out of her sleeves, she shot one and Sunset Shimmer ducked, Robin shot it again and Sunset Shimmer cast a shield around herself and saw her throw the gun at her, she fired two bullets from her other gun and threw it at her, they bounced off of the shield. Sunset Shimmer put her shield down, "I guess you're out of weapons." Sunset Shimmer remarked, Robin reached into her coat with her wings and took out shuriken, Sunset Shimmer's jaw dropped, Robin began throwing them and Sunset Shimmer ran behind a tree and the shuriken got stuck in them, "Wow, what are those?" Starlight Glimmer asked, "I have no clue, Starlight." Twilight Sparkle replied, Robin stopped throwing and Sunset Shimmer looked, she held her front right hoof out and something came, she went back behind the tree and whatever Robin threw hit the tree, Sunset Shimmer looked and saw it was a kunai, she ran out from behind the tree and Robin began moving her front legs back and forth and threw kunai at her, she jumped over them and kicked Robin with her hind legs, she grunted as she fell over. Sunset Shimmer panted and held Robin down, she stopped when she felt something sharp on her neck, she looked and saw a kunai at her throat, "I still won." Robin said, Sunset Shimmer growled as she stepped off of her and slammed her front right leg on the ground while Robin got her weapons back. Twilight Sparkle and her friends went to them, "You only won because you cheated." Rainbow Dash said, "What do you mean I cheated?" Robin asked, "Honestly, Robin, all of these hidden weapons of yers is kinda unfair." Applejack replied, "Well, it is how I was trained to fight." Robin replied, "I bet you would lose in a fair fight." Rainbow Dash declared, "Try me." Robin challenged, and Rainbow Dash flew forward and tried to punch her with her front hoofs, Robin grabbed it and spun around while she threw Rainbow Dash away, she screamed as she fell, she growled as she got up and flew to her, she tried punching her several times but Robin blocked each punch and eventually jumped and kicked Rainbow Dash in her chin, she yelled as she fell back, she growled and flew to Robin, she aimed her hind right hoof down and was about to hit Robin, she turned to her right and punched Rainbow Dash in her chin, she grunted as she fell over, "Alright, we get it, Robin, you can win in a fair fight, too." Applejack said, and they watched Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer walked over to Paladin as she watched her, "I'm ready." Sunset Shimmer stated, "Alright." Paladin replied, and they got ready. Paladin took a crossbow off of her left hind leg and aimed it, she shot a bolt and Sunset Shimmer caught it with telekinesis and broke it, she took out a second one and aimed it with her other front hoof, she fired it and Sunset Shimmer broke the bolt with her telekinesis and took the crossbows out of Paladin's hoofs. Paladin took out a spear and swung it down, and Sunset Shimmer jumped back, Paladin lifted up the handle and jumped down while the spear came out of the ground and she swung it down again. Sunset Shimmer stepped to her right and Paladin began swinging the spear around, she eventually began spinning it while walking forward and Sunset Shimmer stepped back, she shot a beam at Paladin's armor and she grunted as she staggered a little but kept coming, she shot more beams but they only staggered Paladin and she kept walking forward while spinning her spear around, she stopped when the blade touched Sunset Shimmer's head, "I would've won now if this was a real fight." Paladin said, "Magic beams don't do much to you, do they?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Nope, they just stagger me, my armor's magic resistant, too." Paladin replied, "I see, I'm ready to see what else you can do." Sunset Shimmer remarked, "No, it's over, I got you." Paladin replied, "That kind of isn't fair." Sunset Shimmer stated, "Well, I need every advantage I can get in a real battle, discarding my weapons and armor for a fair fight would be a stupid move on my part." Paladin replied, they heard groaning and Arcana got up slowly, "When is our next match?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "This evening." Paladin replied, and she took her weapons off and carried only her sword and shield. Rainbow Dash saw a sword and got an idea, she picked it up in her mouth and flew to Paladin, "Sure, I can use another workout." Paladin stated, and she took off her shield and helmet, she unsheathed her sword and held it in her mouth. The two clanged the swords and Paladin almost knocked Rainbow Dash down with the first hit, she stood her ground and clanged the sword against Paladin's, her teeth soon began to hurt from the force Paladin was putting into her strikes, she did one more strike and knocked the sword out of Rainbow Dash's mouth, she screamed as she fell over, "You need to work on your jaw strength, come challenge me when you get stronger." Paladin said, and she put her helmet back on and walked away. Rainbow Dash got back up and held the sword in her mouth again and flew to Arcana, "Sorry, but I don't do direct combat." Arcana said, "Never hurts to try, Arcana." Rainbow Dash responded, and she flew to her and Arcana shot a blast out of her horn, "Whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as her beam shot her away, "I am willing to do target practice, though." Arcana stated, and she shot beams at the sword while Rainbow Dash flew around to dodge them, she got hit by one and she flew away, "Hmm, impressive, looks like the rumors about you being the fastest flier in Equestria were true after all." Arcana remarked while smiling, Rainbow Dash picked up the sword and flew to Robin, she landed and got ready to fight her. Robin smirked as reeled up on her hind legs and put her front right hoof behind herself and under her coat, she hid whatever she took out with her wing, she opened her digits and a loud noise was heard. Rainbow Dash yelled as something hit the sword's pommel and knocked the sword out of her mouth as she fell, she looked and saw Robin holding a revolver in her front right hoof, she blew the smoke out of the muzzle, "You still have more weapons?!" Rainbow Dash snapped, Robin reached into the back of her pants with her other front hoof and took out a second revolver, "I demand a rematch!" Rainbow Dash demanded, "Nope, you already lost." Robin replied, Rainbow Dash growled, "Rainbow Dash, if you demand a fair fight with other Pegasi in Dreaming Paradise, you will lose quickly." Robin explained, Rainbow Dash growled even more, "Wait, now that I know your weaknesses, maybe can help you three improve on them." Sunset Shimmer stated as she ran to them, "You would actually do that for us?" Paladin asked, "Sure, I know your weaknesses, Paladin, you're slow, so maybe some training can make you move faster, Arcana, you're weak physically, so maybe we can improve your strength and endurance, and Robin, uh... I don't know if she has any weaknesses." Sunset Shimmer said, "She's physically weak, too." Paladin replied, she looked and saw Robin getting her weapons in place, "Alright, well, let's see what you three can do, let's go to Sweet Apple Acres." Sunset Shimmer said, and they followed her. Sunset Shimmer and the others arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and she stood across from the three visitors, "Alright, first, take your clothes off, they're going to get dirty if you wear them for what I have in mind." Sunset Shimmer said, and they did. Paladin took off her armor piece by piece, starting with her hoofs and working her way to her body, Arcana took her shoes off first, and then her lace dress, then her white dress, Robin took her boots off first and then her coat, she took off her cravat next, she then took off her vest and her belly band, she was wearing a white long-sleeve button-up dress shirt with the collar buttoned down, she took her shirt out of her pants and unbuttoned it and took it off, she then took her two guns out of the back of her pants and then took it off, the three laid their clothes behind themselves and everybody looked at their cutie marks, Paladin's cutie mark was a double-edged broadsword and a kite shield, Arcana's cutie mark was a black pentagram with a black tome in the center of it, and Robin's cutie mark a dagger and a light blue jewel, "Alright, first, warm up, let's do some stretching." Sunset Shimmer decided, and they did. Sunset Shimmer stretched while the three mares copied her, Paladin stretched about the same length as Sunset Shimmer did, Arcana could not stretch far, and Robin stretched the farthest, "What are you three doing going through my clothes?" Robin asked, they looked and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders at her clothes, "Um... we were wondering what other weapons you had." Sweetie Belle replied, "Then don't go through my clothes, some of my stuff are sharp and will cut you by just touching them." Robin responded, and they stopped, "Okay, let's continue." Sunset Shimmer stated, and they stretched a little more, the four balanced themselves on one of their hind legs' and stretched their other hind leg behind themselves and tried to grab it with a front hoof, "Whoa!" Arcana exclaimed as she wobbled and fell on the ground after about two seconds, Paladin grunted as she balanced herself and grunted when she fell, Robin stretched her hing leg over her own head, "Wow. Well, let's try cardio first, push-ups, do as much as you can, I'll be doing them with you." Sunset Shimmer spoke, and they did. The four mares began doing push-ups but they went at different speeds, Sunset Shimmer and Robin did them at average speed, Arcana was very slow and struggling already, and Paladin was going faster than everypony else, Arcana went down on her first push-up while grunting loudly, she tried to go back up but fell, Robin fell after doing fifteen push-ups, Sunset Shimmer fell after doing twenty five push-ups, Paladin chuckled and kept going, "Alright, Paladin, that's enough." Sunset Shimmer said after Paladin did her hundredth one, and she stopped, "Alright, let's try sit-ups next." Sunset Shimmer decided, and they did. The four mares did them and Arcana was out of breath after her tenth one, Sunset Shimmer and Robin were out of breath after their thirtieth one, and Paladin stopped after her fiftieth one and was ready to do more training, "What's next?" Paladin asked, "Weight lifting, I'll need four barbells." Sunset Shimmer replied, and Arcana made them appear, "How many weights do you all want?" Arcana asked, "I'll take ten pounds." Sunset Shimmer said, "Twenty." Robin stated, "Fifty." Paladin added, and Arcana made them appear, "What about yourself, Arcana?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "No weights for me." Arcana replied, "The barbells weigh fifty pounds on their own." Paladin informed, "Oh, that is kinda heavy, well, let's begin." Sunset Shimmer declared, and they put the barbells on their backs and laid down, "Lift." Sunset Shimmer said, and they did. The four grunted as they tried to lift the barbells up, Arcana stopped when she was halfway up and fell back down, the other three stood and went back down, Robin tried to stand again but fell, Sunset Shimmer fell after her third rep, and Paladin took the barbell off of herself after her fifth rep, "Next." Paladin said, "Hold on." Sunset Shimmer replied, and they caught their breath and stood up, "Let's try running next." Sunset Shimmer stated, and they walked out to in front of the barn. Sunset Shimmer and the other three began running around the open ground, Robin was the fastest runner, Sunset Shimmer was behind her, Paladin was behind her, and Arcana was the slowest, she was out of breath and fell after twenty seconds, she got up and walked to the center while the other three kept running, "Are ya startin' to feel irritated that ya can't keep up with yer friends, Arcana?" Apple Bloom asked, "Nope, physical activity was never my strong suite." Arcana replied, "I'd be irritated if Ah was you." Apple Bloom said, "Well, you are an earth pony, so that's understandable." Arcana replied, "No, it's because Ah'd feel useless compared to mah friends, Ah have to work on the farm, too." Apple Bloom remarked, "True, I'll watch the others now." Arcana replied, and they did. Sunset Shimmer ran out of breath and panted after about seven minutes, she panted and went to Arcana and the others, Robin stopped and panted after running for ten minutes and walked back while Paladin continued to run, "Alright, so Robin's faster, but Paladin can run longer." Applejack said, and Paladin ran to them, "How much more do you have in mind, Sunset Shimmer?" Arcana asked, "Four more, pull-ups, chin-ups, pulling a wagon, and enduring how many hits you can take, we'll do the pull-ups and chin-ups at the same time." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Let's get stated." Paladin said, and Sunset Shimmer made four pull-up bars appear with her magic. The three mares walked to the pull-up bars and Sunset Shimmer stood across from them, "Let try chin-ups first, ready, go." Sunset Shimmer announced, and she began alongside Arcana and Robin. Arcana could not go up and went off of the bar while Sunset Shimmer managed to do one and jumped off while grunting, she rubbed her own back, she looked and saw Robin do three before jumping down. Paladin just stood and watched, she began doing chin-ups with one hoof after the other three fell, she did twenty five with her front right hoof and then switched to her other front hoof and did twenty five more and jumped down, "Okay, let's try pull-ups now." Sunset Shimmer said, and she began alongside Arcana and Robin. Arcana could not pull herself up and fell, Sunset Shimmer could only go up halfway and fell back down, "So you can't do them, either." Arcana remarked, "Yeah, I'm still trying in my free time." Sunset Shimmer replied, they heard Robin grunting and she managed to do one and fell while panting. Paladin began after the three finished and did pull-ups with one hoof, "Wow, I didn't know one-hoofed pull-ups were possible." Starlight Glimmer remarked, "They are, Starlight, but even though I'm an alicorn, I still can't do them." Twilight Sparkle replied, "I'm working on them, too." Rainbow Dash said, "You and Applejack don't look surprised." Sweetie Belle stated, "She and I seen 'em several times." Apple Bloom replied, "Really?" Scootaloo asked, "Yeah, Big Mac can do one-hoofed pull-ups, too." Applejack replied, "Eeyup." Big Macintosh assured, Paladin did ten pull-ups and switched to her other front hoof and did ten more and jumped down, "Good job, Paladin, let's try pulling some wagons now." Sunset Shimmer stated, and she made the pull-up bars disappear and wagons appear with her magic. she made a small empty wagon appear for Arcana, an average sized one with fruits for Robin, and a big one with weapons and armor in it for Paladin, "Alright, go ahead and start." Sunset Shimmer remarked, and Arcana could not pull the small wagon and fell over, "What? Seriously, Arcana?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Only Pegasi and earth ponies use wagons in Dreaming Paradise, I carry my things with telekinesis." Arcana replied, "Still, though." Sunset Shimmer stated, she looked and saw Paladin and Robin pulling them with no problems, "That's kind of sad, Arcana, even I'm physically stronger than you." Sweetie Belle stated, "I assume you don't use your magic for everything, then." Arcana replied, "Actually, my magic's been very weak for most of my life, it just started blooming recently." Sweetie Belle said, "Oh, so you had to do everything by hoof, I wasn't like that, my magic was powerful ever since I was born." Arcana replied, "Yeah, I had powerful magic, too, but I still had to do a lot of things by hoof before I could channel my magic properly." Sunset Shimmer stated, "That's what meditation is for." Arcana replied, "Speaking of meditation, Sweetie Belle told me what the astral plane looks like." Twilight Sparkle stated, "How does the place sound to you?" Arcana asked, "Pretty interesting, actually." Twilight Sparkle replied, they looked and saw the two were done, they went to them, "Alright, last one, endurance, I'm going to buck you three and see how many hits you can endure." Sunset Shimmer explained, she looked and saw Arcana glaring at her, "Um, on second thought, maybe somepony else should do this." Sunset Shimmer stated, "I'll do this, darling." Rarity said as she trotted to them, "Alright, then." Sunset Shimmer replied, and Rarity went to them, "Okay, this may hurt a little." Rarity warned, and she got ready. She bucked Arcana first and she grunted as she flew through the air and landed on the ground, Rarity teleported to her and bucked her again, she grunted again as she flew through the air again, Rarity teleported to her again and bucked Arcana one more time, she screamed and laid on the ground groaning in pain, "Wow, that's not very good." Twilight Sparkle said, "I'd thought she'd be stronger, too." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Alright, Robin, your turn." Rarity stated as she walked to her. Rarity bucked Robin and she grunted a little as she slid on the ground a little, she walked to her and bucked her again, Robin slid again, she got bucked again and slid farther, Rarity bucked her again and she grunted louder as she almost fell, Rarity bucked her again and Robin fell but got back up, Rarity bucked her again and Robin flew through the air a little and she did a back flip to land on her feet, "Ooh, what a magnificent display, but let's continue." Rarity said, and she bucked one more time, Robin grunted loudly as she flew through the air a little and fell on the ground and groaned with Arcana, "Seven hits, not bad." Twilight Sparkle said, "Alright, Paladin, you're the only one left." Rarity stated as she walked to her and got ready. She began to buck Paladin but she did not flinch as Rarity kicked her several times, "You're not feeling anything, are you, darling?" Rarity asked, "Nope." Paladin replied, Big Macintosh walked to her and bucked her, Paladin grunted under her breath and slid back a few centimeters, Big Macintosh bucked her again and she slid back a little, "Wow, Paladin sure is strong." Starlight Glimmer said, "Yeah, even Big Mac is havin' trouble takin' her down." Applejack replied, Robin got back up when Big Macintosh bucked her for the tenth time, she watched and Paladin fell to her knees after the thirty fifth buck, he wiped sweat off of his forehead when she was down, but she got back up after thirty seconds. Arcana recovered and got back up shortly afterwards, "I didn't think someone would actually manage to get Paladin down a little." Arcana stated, "Well, that's all of the training I had in mind for you three, and sorry, Paladin and Robin, but I would teach you two magic if you two could cast it." Sunset Shimmer said, and they put their outfits back on. The three mares walked to them and they saw Starlight Glimmer and Trixie, "This is Trixie, Arcana, she's been wanting to see you for sometime." Starlight Glimmer said, "Arcana, the Great and Powerful Trixie would like to have you as a partner for my show." Trixie requested, "I'm afraid I must say no." Arcana replied, "Do you have any reason in particular?" Trixie asked, "My magic is meant to be used for combat and warfare, not entertainment." Arcana replied, "What? Really, Arcana, magic can be used for more than just battle." Twilight Sparkle stated, "Like what?" Arcana asked, "How about doing day-to-day chores?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "I do, but that's considered secondary to me." Arcana answered, "Magic can be used for fun, too."Starlight Glimmer said, "Yeah, just like this one time when they gave me a mustache." Spike answered, "I guess that could be useful for disguising yourself." Arcana replied, "No, that was used to make me look more handsome." Spike said, "You all would actually use your spells on trivial stuff like that?" Arcana asked, "It's not trivial, I need magic to personally groom myself." Rarity replied, Arcana and her two friends glared, "You must be really lazy then." Robin responded, "*gasp* I am not, I have my hoofs full on working days, I use magic to get things done faster." Rarity retorted, "That, I can excuse, I work in customer service, too." Arcana replied, Rarity smiled, "Can I join your show?" Robin asked, "What? No! You having hidden weapons scares me! Especially that shooting knife of yours." Trixie replied, "Wait, shooting knife?" Scootaloo asked, "Her knife has this trigger on the handle that shoots the knife out." Sunset Shimmer explained, "Can I see it?" Scootaloo asked, Robin took her ballistic knife out of her belly band and aimed it, she pressed down the red trigger on the guard and the knife blade shot out, the ponies screamed, "That does it! Come with us, Robin! I've had enough of these hidden weapons of yours!" Twilight Sparkle snapped, and she carried her with her telekinesis while the others followed. Sunset Shimmer and her friends arrived at Carousel Boutique and Rarity took off Robin's clothes and went through her things, "You have a lot of things in your coat." Twilight Sparkle remarked as she looked and saw pockets for her weapons, they saw two daggers, spiked rings, kunai, shuriken, two crossbows, extra bolts, and her two double-bladed knives connected by wire in her coat, they found her derringers and more kunai in the sleeves, they checked her pants and found only the lipstick gun and the two revolvers she had tucked in the back of her pants, "What is this?!" Rarity exclaimed as she looked at Robin's belt and saw it was a whip and the buckle had a knife blade on the back of it, "How dare you! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Rarity fumed, "For what?" Robin asked, "This!" Rarity replied as she held her front hoofs out at Robin's belt and its buckle, "I can't believe you would disguise weapons as fashion! This is the worst possible thing one can do! The! Worst! Possible! Thing!" Rarity thundered, Robin and her friends just looked at her with confused expressions. Rainbow Dash looked into Robin's boots and found her knives and derringers, "What are these small things anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Derringers, the ones in my boots are one-shot, and the ones in my sleeves are two-shot." Robin explained, "How do you make the knife blades come out of your boots?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "There is a trigger built inside the heels, when I click my heels together, it activates a spring built inside that releases the blades." Robin replied, "Oh." Twilight Sparkle stated, and she used her telekinesis to hit them against one another to make the knife blades come out, she and her friends gathered her weapons together and Scootaloo noticed a third pouch in the belly band that was between the pistol and ballistic knife, she reached in and took out a stack of cards, "Be careful with those, the corners and edges are razor-sharp." Robin warned, "What are they used for?" Apple Bloom asked, "More throwing weapons." Robin replied, and they were put with the rest of her weapons, "Do you have anymore hidden weapons?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "One more." Robin replied, "Where?" Rarity asked, "Between my hind legs, inside my lady parts." Robin replied, the others looked at one another and Twilight Sparkle used her telekinesis on her and took out another kunai, she laid it with Robin's other weapons, "Is this all of your weapons?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "For that outfit." Robin replied, "WHAT?!" Twilight Sparkle screamed, "I carry and conceal different weapons for each outfit I wear." Robin explained, Twilight Sparkle's left eye twitched, "I heard you can teach me how to make potions, too." Sweetie Belle stated, "Sorry, but I've only been trained in making medicine and poison." Robin responded, "What is this silver thing you and your friends have here, Robin?" Scootaloo asked, "Oh, those, they're amulets from our home." Robin replied, Twilight Sparkle sensed them with her magic, "They're not ordinary amulets, they're enchanted." Twilight Sparkle said, "Alright, you got us, those amulets are given to those who perform best in training, the amulets enhance their powers and capabilities." Arcana explained, "What?!" Sunset Shimmer and her friends exclaimed, "You mean you three can get even stronger?!" Rainbow Dash asked, "Yeah, we've actually been kind of holding back in training." Robin replied, "What do they do?" Apple Bloom asked, "Well, my amulet is the Amulet of Magic, Paladin's is the Amulet of Combat, and Robin's is the Amulet of Stealth, I think you all can figure out what they do by just their names." Arcana replied, the others agreed, "Do ya have anythin' else besides weapons hidden on yerself, Robin?" Apple Bloom asked, Robin reached into her eyes and revealed she was wearing contact lenses, "Why do you have those?" Fluttershy asked, "Wait a minute." Twilight Sparkle said as she got a closer look at them with her telekinesis, "*gasp* They're cameras!" Twilight Sparkle shouted, "Cameras?!" Rarity exclaimed, "I use them for gathering information." Robin explained, "I wanna see what's on them!" Pinkie Pie blurted, "They're off right now, I never turned them on." Robin replied, Twilight Sparkle checked and saw they were off and she returned them. Robin put her clothes back on and took her weapons back, "We're still tired from earlier, we're going to have to skip evening training today." Paladin said, "I was thinking about trying to help you three get better at the things you're not good at." Sunset Shimmer remarked, "Sunset, I appreciate you trying to help me overcome my weaknesses, but we have schedules of our own to keep." Arcana replied, "Well, do you believe I changed for the better?" Sunset Shimmer asked, "Yes, I do." Arcana replied, Sunset Shimmer and her friends smiled, "But you still have to come to Dreaming Paradise and take and endure whatever punishment the people of my home give you." Arcana stated, "I'll do it." Sunset Shimmer replied boldly, "Alright, we'll leave tomorrow, we'll be waiting for you." Paladin said, and she, Arcana, and Robin left. Sunset Shimmer just looked on and tried to remember if Arcana ever used the amulet when she and her were rivals, "You okay, Sunset?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she walked to her, "Yeah, I'm trying to remember if Arcana ever used that amulet when she and I competed to be Princess Celestia's pupil, I actually don't recall her ever having it with her." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Did she have it when you looked into her memories?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "No, she didn't." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Maybe she didn't earn it, yet." Twilight Sparkle assumed, "Probably, that's what I was thinking, too." Sunset Shimmer answered, "Are you really going, Sunset?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "I have to, I have to get ready, I got homework to do today, too, I'll see you and your friends later." Sunset Shimmer replied, and she trotted outside. Sunset Shimmer arrived in the Castle of Friendship and was about to go through the mirror, "Sunset?" Princess Celestia asked, she turned around and saw Princess Celestia walking to her, "Are you really going to Dreaming Paradise tomorrow?" Princess Celestia questioned, "Yes, Princess Celestia." Sunset Shimmer replied, "I guess there is no stopping you, I'm going to let you know now, Dreaming Paradise is run by a caste system, unicorns are called Magicians, earth ponies are called Soldiers, and Pegasi are called Assassins, each one is highly trained in battle like Arcana and her two friends, so be careful not to cause trouble, I will also be watching from Canterlot to make sure whatever punishment they have in mind for you is not too cruel, remember that you are still my pupil, and like a daughter to me, so I will protect you if they try to inflict a disproportionate punishment or serious harm on you." Princess Celestia explained, "Thank you, Princess Celestia." Sunset Shimmer chimed while smiling, "Good luck, I'll always be watching you." Princess Celestia said, and they hugged one another and she walked away while Sunset Shimmer went through the mirror. Sunset Shimmer went home and began doing her homework, she finished and went through her belongings to see if she had any pictures of Arcana from her past, she did not find any, the day made her tired and she yawned, she walked up to her bed and fell on it and slept immediately. Sunset Shimmer woke up the next morning and almost overslept for school, she skipped breakfast and went to school, she almost fell asleep in class but managed to stay awake, she soon had lunch with her friends, "You look tired, Sunset." Twilight Sparkle remarked, "I am, I did a lot of physical activity yesterday." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Are you leaving again today?" Fluttershy asked, "Yeah, I have to go to Dreaming Paradise today, I have to take whatever punishment they give me." Sunset Shimmer replied, "Well, good luck to ya, bell's about to ring, y'all." Applejack said, and they had lunch. Sunset Shimmer waited for the school day to end and she went through the mirror when it did. Sunset Shimmer arrived in Ponyville and went to go see Arcana and her friends, "Good, you're early, let's go." Arcana said, and they got ready to go, "Wait!" Twilight Sparkle hollered, they looked and saw her with her friends coming to them, "We're going with you." Twilight Sparkle said, "You don't need to, Twilight, this is my problem." Sunset Shimmer remarked, "No, I want to see Dreaming Paradise, I've never seen it before." Twilight Sparkle responded, Paladin's, Arcana's, and Robin's eyes' widened, "Really? It's literally just north of Canterlot." Robin stated, "Well, I've never seen it, let's go now." Twilight Sparkle replied, "This way." Paladin said, and they all went to Dreaming Paradise.