What Do You Want?
The night was loud.
The master of Windstad Manor had opened his gates to the Queen’s Rangers in a way that he had been too fearful and obstinate to do for the Frost Mountain Clan, and besides opening his gates, he had opened his larder and his wine cellar, which was apparently well-stocked. Of Sunset and her companions, only Ruby had been invited into the great hall to join the master of the steading and his housecarls, Prince Rutherford and his close kin, and Sunsprite Rose of the Rangers at a feast within. Whether it was because of Sunsprite or Yona, who was attending as the prince’s niece, that Ruby had been invited into the hall, Sunset did not know, but she hoped that Ruby enjoyed herself there.
“I don’t know, Sunset,” Ruby said. “Going in there all by myself, you know?”
“You’re not going to be by yourself,” Sunset reminded her. “Yona’s going to be there, and your new cousin.”
“The cousin I don’t know?” Ruby asked.
Sunset shrugged. “Now’s your chance. Or not. I don’t know. If you don’t want to go, then don’t go, but… this seems like a big deal, someone who can teach you about your family, where you come from.”
“I know where I come from,” Ruby declared. “I come from Patch, west of Vale, and I’m the daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long.” She hesitated. “But… it would be nice to know more about where my mom came from.”
“As I said: now’s your chance,” Sunset told her.
Ruby regarded Sunset curiously. “You’re not upset about not being invited.”
“I haven’t been the sort of person to get upset by that kind of thing in… in a while,” Sunset replied.
“Yeah,” Ruby murmured. “I guess you haven’t, huh.”
Sunset frowned. “You sound… disappointed.”
“I… I don’t know,” Ruby muttered. “You did some pretty terrible things, but you knew what you wanted. What do you want now, Sunset?”
Yes, Sunset hoped that Ruby enjoyed herself inside the hall. She also hoped that she didn’t drink too much, not only for the sake of Ruby’s own dignity but also because her dad was likely to flip if she came staggering outside vomiting her own guts out.
Fortunately, Ruby wasn’t that kind of girl; she had self-control, and Sunset trusted Yona, even if she didn’t know this mysterious Rose cousin well enough to say whether she was trustworthy or not.
In any case, although the feast in the hall was only for the elite guests of the master of Windstad, there was plenty of food and, it seemed, plenty of drink too spilled out into the grounds for the clansfolk of Frost Mountain, for the Rangers, and, yes, for Sunset and the rest of her companions.
Sunset had herself eaten and drunk but little; she didn’t particularly enjoy wine - she preferred a good cider if she was going to drink anything - and this feast seemed rather heavy on the meat and a little light upon the vegetables that she would have preferred. Her stomach was not yet protesting its ill-treatment at her hands, but suffice to say, she had not stuffed herself.
Her mind felt emptier than her gut at present.
“What do you want now, Sunset?”
Ruby’s question echoed in her mind. What did she want now? Before, she had possessed ambitions, albeit rather childish ones: she had wanted fame, glory, to be exalted above all others. Even after she had formed friendships with her team, even after she had reconciled with Princess Celestia, even after all that, she had not completely sacrificed her ambitions for herself and for Team SAPR. She had simply stopped holding them supreme, to be exalted above all else.
But now… she supposed, in an ironic sense, she could be said to have achieved her ambition. She had become infamous as the Betrayer of Vale. She had ruined her life, small as that seemed when set against the larger consequences of her actions.
So where did that leave her? What did she want now?
Sunset was sat alone, on the edge of the Windstad estate, her back resting against the wooden palisade, mostly concealed from view behind a chicken coop. It reminded her a little bit of the Beacon farm, the way the chickens clucked and squawked and scampered all over the place. Sunset herself hadn’t spent a lot of time there – she had considered herself to be above such things – but she knew that Ruby, Jaune, and even Pyrrha had been fond of the place, in their own ways.
Sunset was more interested in the journal open on her knees in front of her.
Hello? Is anyone there?
Yes, Sunset, I’m here. Or would you prefer to speak to Princess Celestia?
Sunset hesitated, her pen poised, hovering over the page. I honestly have no idea.
Something’s wrong, isn’t it?
It feels like it, but why don’t we get the important stuff out of the way before I burden you with my existential crisis? Do you know of any ponies going missing recently?
Missing? Where?
I’m not quite sure. I’m afraid it could be anywhere in Equestria or beyond.
That’s a big area, and I’m not exactly running a missing persons agency. I could try and find out, but why? What’s going on?
Somepony has fallen through a portal between Equestria and Remnant, and I thought you might know who they are.
That sounds terrible! That poor pony. I can’t imagine how scared they must be, not only in a new world but in a new body, too! But why do you need me to tell you who they are? Why don’t you just ask them yourself?
Because I haven’t met them and because the other me won’t tell me their name. All they’ll tell me is that someone from Equestria came through a portal, a portal which may now be completely inaccessible from the Remnant side because of the effects of Equestrian magic bleeding through – that’s another reason why I’d like for you to look at where this portal is, by the way; that kind of magical leakage shouldn’t be happening and isn’t healthy for Remnant – but they won’t say who this pony is.
Did you just say ‘the other me’?
Sunset hesitated for a moment. Yes, I suppose I just did. It isn’t as important to you as the disappearing ponies and portals thing – or at least, it shouldn’t be – but I met the human me, the real Sunset Shimmer of Remnant.
Twilight did not reply, at least for a little while, during which time Sunset started to grow a little anxious at the lack of response. She couldn’t help but wonder what was taking Twilight so long and what the delay might mean.
Sorry about that. I just had a few things to take care of. I’ve informed Princess Celestia that there is a wild portal somewhere in Equestria, and I’ve asked Starlight and Spike to gather up as many old newspapers as possible; once we’re done here, the three of us will see if we can find any reports of mysterious disappearances that might help narrow down the search area.
That’s a smart move. It’s a pity that it isn’t easier to determine the geographical relationships between Equestria and Remnant, but the two worlds look so dissimilar, I’m not sure that there can be much of a geographic relationship.
Well, we already know that there’s a temporal relationship, but I take your point; it would be difficult to pin down any geographic equivalence, especially with only one point of data to go on. But you were saying, about the other Sunset?
I said it wasn’t important.
You said it wasn’t important compared to the disappearances, but I’ve already set things in motion on that front, so you might as well talk to me about it. What’s she like?
Guarded. It’s hard to say too much more beyond that. I don’t trust her.
Is that because you don’t trust yourself?
It’s because I know myself better than anyone else in Remnant; I was a terrible person before I met Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune; why should the other Sunset be any better?
You changed.
I was changed by good people. I don’t see any around the other Sunset.
None at all? She’s a loner then, like you?
Not exactly. I should probably back up just a little bit. We’re on our way to a town called Freeport. Freeport, it turns out, is the regional capital of a burgeoning little country that is being formed by someone called the Sun Queen. The other me, the Sunset of this world, is one of the Sun Queen’s Rangers, alongside Ruby’s cousin, Sunsprite Rose.
Ruby has a cousin?
There have been a lot of surprises lately.
How does she feel about that?
She’s pleased, or at least, she seems to be. This is a chance for her to learn about her family, about their history, to learn things that even her father doesn’t know. It’s a once in a lifetime chance; she’d be a fool to pass it up.
And how do you feel about it?
Sunset sucked on the tip of her pen. I wish I could be sure that she was trustworthy. Maybe I’d trust her more completely if she wasn’t in the company of myself, but she is, and so Sunset hesitated again. Maybe I’m being unfair. Ruby hung out with me at my worst, and it didn’t make her untrustworthy.
No, but then again, I’m not going to judge you for judging other people on the company they keep.
Sunset sighed. I just wish that I could be more certain.
Certain of what?
Certain of everything! Certain that we were on the right course, certain that I was doing the right thing, certain that I could trust Ruby’s cousin and the other me, certain that I could trust some of my companions. Certain of myself. Who am I, Twilight?
I’m afraid I don’t really understand the question.
Ruby asked me something tonight. She asked me what I wanted. And I’m not sure that I have an answer.
I thought that you wanted to reach Professor Ozpin – or his current incarnation under this rather inefficient and frankly quite cruel-seeming system – and protect him from his enemies.
I do.
Isn’t that enough?
It’s enough to be getting on with doing, sure, but it isn’t mine. It’s not something that I want for myself. Not like my ambitions, which have been burnt out of me by failure and disappointment. All I have left is duty, all else has been hollowed out.
You still have your friends.
Do I? And even if they were all here, would that be enough?
You don’t need grand desires to be complete. Of my friends, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie want nothing more than for things to continue as they are, living the lives that they enjoy. Except that you don’t enjoy this life, do you?
At the moment, I can’t really say that I do.
Have you spoken to Cinder about this?
Why would I do that?
Because she’s your friend. And because you might be surprised by what she has to say in response. At least consider confiding in her.
Cinder has her own burdens without carrying mine too.
Just think about it.
Fine. I will think about it.
I wish I could be of more help.
It’s fine.
Clearly, it isn’t.
Sunset snorted. No, I suppose it’s not. But don’t worry, I’m not going to quit just because I’m feeling burnt out in the most literal sense.
I’m not worried about you quitting, I’m worried about you reaching your limit.
That won’t happen while I have those magic rings that you taught me how to make.
Something I like even less to hear you talk like this. You realise that your ability to resist the dark magic depends in part upon your willpower, right? Is there nothing that you want? Nothing at all?
I want to do the right thing; is that enough?
I don’t know; is it enough for you?
I don’t know either. There’s a lot that I don’t know. I don’t even know what my cutie mark means.
Really?
Sunset grinned in spite of herself. I used to think it symbolised my destiny to surpass Celestia, but that obviously isn’t it. And it isn’t as if I’m raising the sun over in this world, so, yeah, I’m at a bit of a loss.
Perhaps if you’ll figure it out, then you’ll figure out what it is that you want to do once your mission is complete.
My mission isn’t the kind that will ever be complete.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have a life beyond it. I could help you try and work out your cutie mark, if you like? I know three young fillies who are very talented in that regard. In fact, it’s what they got their cutie marks in.
Sunset frowned. They got their cutie marks in understanding cutie marks?
More broadly, it’s in helping other ponies find their place in the world. Every pony’s cutie mark represents a gift they have to share with the world around them
Thank you, I have studied cutie mark theory.
And the Crusaders’ gift is in helping others get to grips with their gift so that everypony can help make Equestria an even better place. So, would you like their help? You’d have to write to me a lot earlier than this, because they have bedtimes.
Sunset couldn’t help but laugh. I will think about it. Speaking of thinking about things, have you given any more consideration to teaching me time travel?
There was a hesitation on the other end of the book. I’m afraid I still haven’t made up my mind yet.
This is going to sound awful, but I wouldn’t need to find a new purpose in my life if I hadn’t screwed up my life so badly.
Quite apart from the risks – and let’s not beat around the bush; the risks are considerable – I’m just not sure that this is the solution to your problems that you and Ruby think it is. You need to give me more time.
Are you sure you’re not just stalling because you don’t want to say no?
That’s not the kind of pony I am.
No, no it isn’t. She rubbed her eyes with one hand. Sunset: I’m sorry, Twilight. I’m just feeling a little tired.
And you’re not just talking about lack of sleep are you? But anyway, I’ll let you get some rest.
That’s a very tactful way of saying that you’re tired of dealing with me right now. Thank you.
Give some thought to accepting the Crusaders’ help; they really are very good at this. I hope you feel better. Goodnight, Sunset.
Goodnight, Princess.
“What are you doing?”
Sunset slammed the book shut as she looked up. The Other Sunset – Vesper Radiance, as she had named herself to Ruby – was standing looking down on her, her face uncovered for the moment. Her eyes glittered in the darkness.
“Nothing,” Sunset said defensively.
Vesper smirked. “Just contemplating the world?”
“Something like that,” Sunset muttered. I was wondering where I fit into it, after all. “You didn’t get invited to the feast?”
Vesper shook her head. “I’m only a Ranger; why should there be a place for me at the high table with the captain? And besides, even if I could go, I don’t think I’d want to.”
Sunset snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I know a rationalisation when I hear one,” Sunset informed her other self. Celestia knows I’ve come up with enough of my own.
“That may be,” Vesper declared, “but I happen to be serious. Feast and banquets… everyone is on their best behaviour. Everyone is wearing a mask. You learn a lot more out here, in the camp, where people feel less guarded.”
“You mean you spy on people?”
“I talk,” Vesper said. “And I listen.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. The Sun Queen hid her face, Prince Rutherford had said, and she went about wearing many guises, spying on clans and towns and steadings. “Does Sunsprite Rose know that you are her queen and not her soldier?”
Vesper stared down at her. A slow smile crossed her face. "I probably ought to be upset or make some denial, but to be honest, I'm just glad that the other me is as perceptive as I'd like to think I am." She chuckled. "Yes, I am the Sun Queen of Freeport and Estmorland, and no, Sunsprite doesn't know that. The Queen is known to many, but Sunset Shimmer to only a few trusted companions of mine, those whom I brought with me from Atlas. As far as Sunsprite knows, I am a Ranger, albeit one who serves the Queen directly and has her favour and is entrusted by her with errands and the like."
"A privilege which you use to get yourself assigned to ranging parties like this one whenever the fancy takes you and to excuse your lack of attendance whenever it doesn't," Sunset murmured.
The smile remained on Vesper's face as she sat down. "Precisely."
"Why?" Sunset asked.
"I want to find out what my kingdom is really like," Vesper explained. "I want to hear what my subjects really think."
"About you."
"About everything," Vesper replied. "Like I said, when the clan chiefs and the town headmen sit down at the banqueting table, they wear masks every bit as inscrutable as my own. They tell me what they think will flatter me or what they guess I wish to hear. I learn very little of use from any of them that way, but this way… this way, I learn a lot. And, by appearing to acquire knowledge as if I have plucked it out of the air, I spread my reputation and give myself an air of power and mystery."
"An interesting approach to rule," Sunset acknowledged. In Equestria, there were all kinds of rumours about Princess Celestia wandering through the streets of Canterlot magically disguised as a common pegasus, but Sunset had never seen it happen, and she wasn't inclined to believe it ever had. In the first place, disguising yourself like a changeling wasn't that easy, and in the second place, it just didn't seem like Princess Celestia's style. She might lament the distance between herself and the little ponies over whom she ruled, but she would never practice deception on them, spy on them when they were unaware of it, just to close that distance. She would recognise that no true closing could occur under such circumstances, and as for Vesper's reasons for hiding her identity… Sunset felt that Princess Celestia would trust her ponies to bring their grievances to her.
However, Vesper Radiance didn't have the advantage of a thousand-year reign and all of its attendant stability, not to mention the affection accrued over long years in the hearts of her subjects or the hard-won experience that piled itself high by mere existence. Vesper Radiance was, if Sunset understood the lay of the land here correctly, building a nation from the ground up, forging it out of rock and stone and hostile barbarians.
Meanwhile I am… what?
Honestly, a little bit jealous is what I am right now.
"Tell me something," Sunset said. "Why did you make yourself the Sun Queen of Freeport?"
"Aside from the fact that crowns are cool, you mean?"
Sunset smirked. "True, but yes. Apart from that."
"You know what they say: be the change you want to see in the world," Vesper said. "I came here and found a land and a people who needed somebody with vision and foresight to pull them up by the bootstraps and make something out of them, and I thought 'well, why not me?'"
"I can't imagine it was easy getting everyone to buy into your project," Sunset murmured.
Vesper shrugged. "Some came around more easily than others. The towns and steadings were frequently glad to have some order imposed, to be protected from the marauding of the clans. Once I had the resources of Freeport at my disposal, I was able to provide that protection, and they fell in line in order to obtain a piece of it. The clans themselves were slower to come around. Some of them had to be compelled to bend the knee more forcefully than others."
"The Frost Mountain Clan?" Sunset asked.
"Tried to stay out of my way," Vesper explained. "Once it became clear that was impossible, Prince Rutherford knelt rather than resist. And I daresay that my rule has not been overly harsh upon them. I have done little yet to curb their ancient ways. They can't pillage indiscriminately anymore, but they can wander where they will."
"For now," Sunset said. "After all, you did say 'yet.'"
Now it was Vesper's turn to smirk. "Yes. I did, didn't I?" She laughed softly. "You will keep my secret, won't you? I wouldn't want my real identity to get out."
"Is there any reason why I should keep your secret?" Sunset asked. "Why should I lie to my host?"
"You do want a ship to carry you across the sea, don't you?" Vesper responded. "Prince Rutherford can't give you one."
"And you won't if I go opening my mouth?" Sunset muttered. Crude blackmail. I really am looking in a mirror.
"You can't expect to spill my secret, something that you know is important to me, without repercussions," Vesper informed her. "And besides, what do you really owe Prince Rutherford?"
"Less than I owe to Ruby or Cinder," Sunset said. "I won't lie to them."
"You don't have to, as long as they can keep a secret," Vesper said airily. "They can keep a secret, can't they?"
"Yes," Sunset declared. "If it's the right kind of secret."
"This secret is the key to your success; what could be more right than that?" Vesper inquired.
"Nothing," Sunset admitted.
"That's what I thought too. I'm glad we agree."
"On this, anyway," Sunset replied. "Can I ask you something else?"
"You can ask."
"What made you leave Atlas and come to this part of the world? You cannot have already had dreams of queenship?"
Vesper chuckled. "A story for another time, perhaps."
Sunset's eyebrows rose.
"Don't look at me like that," Vesper said. "As if you've told me all your secrets. Why do you want to go to Anima so badly?"
Sunset shook her head. "A story for another time," she murmured.
"Exactly," Vesper declared, rising smoothly to her feet.
All of this, as far as Sunset was concerned, proved her right: Sunset Shimmer – the other Sunset Shimmer, the one presently calling herself Vesper Radiance – could not be trusted.
And yet, they could not succeed without her, if not assistance, then at least cooperation.
What, oh what, are we to do?
Ruby had never been particularly keen on the company of strangers.
Often, she accepted, they turned out to be perfectly fine and decent people, but it was just that effort to break through the ice that first time that was so difficult. Yang had talked about Ruby coming out of her shell, but the truth was that it felt as though she was having to 'come out of her shell' anew every single time, and it never really got easier.
Okay, it was easier with some people than with others; it had been fine with Yona, and she seemed to be – she hoped she was – getting on okay with her cousin. However, in the big, expansive, smoke-filled hall where rushes lay upon the floor and fire billowed out of the great hearth, it seemed like this was one of the harder times. The hall was loud; the sounds of dogs barking and growling and fretting their meat mingled with a minstrel's song and the laughter of Prince Rutherford and the thegn's housecarls. The thegn's grandchildren, a young boy and girl, ran up and down the hall, playing with Yona's little siblings.
Ruby sat with Yona near the bottom of the table, and opposite them sat Sunsprite. Ruby was pretty certain that Sunsprite especially – and maybe Yona, too – could have claimed a place much higher up the table, maybe next to the thegn himself, but she appreciated that her cousin hadn't done so.
"You do not care for these entertainments?" Sunsprite asked. She had an old-fashioned manner about her that reminded Ruby a little of Pyrrha, but possibly even more formal and correct.
"Parties are okay, with friends," Ruby said. "But by myself, I guess I just don't see the point."
"Ruby not by self," Yona reminded her. "Ruby with Yona."
Ruby winced apologetically. "I'm sorry, Yona; I didn't mean it like that. I just meant-"
Yona smiled. "Ruby no need say sorry. Yona understand. Yona not like this kind of party much either."
"No?" Ruby asked.
Yona shook her head. "Yona here because Uncle Prince Rutherford is Yona's uncle, and Uncle Prince Rutherford not have children. But Yona not like it. Hall too hot, and grown-ups too loud."
A gale of laughter from the drunken housecarls further up the table punctuated and confirmed Yona's remark.
Sunsprite threw back a cup of something. "You are too young, Yona, but to you, Ruby, I suggest that you drink some wine. "
Ruby frowned. "Will that quiet everything down?"
"Drink enough, and you will hear nothing at all," Sunsprite promised.
"I'm not sure my Dad would like that," Ruby replied. "Or Sunset, either."
"Perhaps not," Sunsprite agreed. "I would apologise for bringing you, but in truth, my motives were far from selfless. I find these dinners as tedious as the two of you, but as an officer of the Sun Queen, I cannot escape them. I thought that you might make it more bearable."
"Me?" Ruby repeated. "What are you expecting me to do?"
"I thought that talking about our family might be more pleasant than listening to the thegn of Winstad tell again the story of the ursa he slew in his youth," Sunsprite said.
As if on cue, the old, white-bearded thegn rose to his feet. He held a cup in one hand and swayed unsteadily. "I am reminded of the day, long ago in the flower of my youth, when I killed an ursa! With a twig!"
"The first time I heard this tale, it was his father's axe," Sunsprite muttered.
Ruby smiled, reminded a little of Professor Port and his stories at Beacon. But thinking of Beacon made her sad, and her smile faded as the memories of those halcyon days when the world seemed so much safer and yet, at the same time, boundless in its infinite possibilities, came flooding back to her.
"Is Ruby okay?" asked Yona solicitously.
"Sure," Ruby reassured her. "I just… I thought about… the past, for a second. I guess you don't have to be old to look back and wish that things had stayed the way they were before."
"Indeed not," Sunsprite said. "But time stalks us more relentlessly than any beowolf, and it will make us strangers to the world before it brings us down. My grandfather – our grandfather – no longer recognises this land. It is no longer the place he was born into. It has become a foreign country to him. No doubt, our grandchildren will say the same of us, if we have grandchildren." She paused. "I don't suppose that there is any prospect of that on your side of the family?"
Ruby laughed nervously. "No," she said. "There… there was a boy, at Beacon, but…"
Sunsprite leaned forward. "But?"
"He was happy with someone else," Ruby said. "Someone sweet and kind and caring. It would have been too cruel to her to try and take him away."
"And there was no one else?" Sunsprite asked.
"No," Ruby repeated. "Why?"
"It is a pity," Sunsprite muttered. "Grandfather would have been glad to hear it otherwise, and I would have enjoyed the respite from his nagging on the subject."
Ruby covered her mouth as she giggled. "So nothing at your end either, huh?"
"Guns are easier to understand than the men of Freeport," Sunsprite said darkly.
"Weapons are easier to understand than people, period," Ruby replied. She hesitated. "So, was grandfather a warrior too?"
"He was," Sunsprite said. "Before the years took him. When we get to Freeport, I will show you his sword and his axe."
"He fought with a sword and an axe?" Ruby asked.
"One in each hand," Sunsprite confirmed. "He attempted to teach me to do the same, but I prefer a knife in my off-hand, in case the grimm get too close."
"It's better to keep them at a distance though, right?" Ruby said.
"Of course," Sunsprite agreed. She tapped her eyepatch with her forefingers. "Although, that isn't always possible."
"So," Ruby said, "has our family always fought the grimm? I know what you said, but… has anyone from the Rose family ever wanted to do something else?"
"Are you asking me if we have a distant relative who is a carpenter?" Sunsprite asked.
"I'm asking if we've always been warriors," Ruby explained.
"To my knowledge," Sunsprite said. "To the knowledge passed down from my grandfather, who had it from his grey-haired elders, who had it – I presume – from theirs."
"But who did they fight for, before the Sun Queen came?" Ruby asked. "Who did you fight for? Were you part of a clan like the Frost Mountain clan?"
"Sunsprite never part of Frost Mountain Clan," Yona insisted stoutly. "But before Sunsprite become Ranger, Sunsprite used to help Frost Mountain Clan sometimes. Yona remember when Yona small. Sunsprite have two eyes then."
Sunsprite snorted. "Indeed. That is the answer: we of the Rose family were never part of any clan, nor were we truly part of any settlement-"
"I thought you said you grew up in New Lancaster?" Ruby pointed out.
"My mother went there to give birth and stayed there because I was too small to move," Sunsprite said. "We had no roots there and would have put down none. Our line has never had a clan or town or lord to fight for."
"Then how do you know who to fight?"
"We fought the enemies of humanity."
"But how do you know where to do it?"
Sunsprite shrugged. "Wherever would pay. Wherever we felt someone was in need. How is it in the kingdoms?"
"It's kind of like that; huntsmen get a lot of room to do their own thing," Ruby answered, wondering if Silver-Eyed Warriors had been the inspiration for huntsmen. "But the Council or Professor Ozpin can ask huntsmen to do certain things, go to certain places, if they need to."
"Like the Queen's Rangers?" Sunsprite asked.
"Not really, but… kind of, I guess," Ruby offered. "You seem more like Altesian soldiers." She hesitated for a moment. "Why is it that we never put down roots, settled anywhere?"
"There are too few of us for that," Sunsprite declared. "How can we protect humanity if we are not willing to venture away from home? It is best to have no home and be free to go where you are needed."
"That might be why there aren't very many of us left," Ruby pointed out. "Did there used to be more?"
"Yes, but not for many generations, as I understand it," Sunsprite said. "I think our family used to be larger, but… battle and death winnowed down our numbers."
"Is that how your mother died too?" Ruby asked.
"I… I imagine so," Sunsprite murmured. "She left… and did not return. It is… our fate, it seems. Just as it may be our fate to be the last of our line."
"We're still young," Ruby protested. "I'm only sixteen, and you're…"
"Twenty-one," Sunsprite supplied.
"That's not that old," Ruby said.
Sunsprite snorted indignantly. "Grandfather sees it with even less charity. I think, sometimes, he would prefer a broodmare to a warrior for a granddaughter."
Ruby sighed. "Hey, Sunsprite? If our family never settled down before, what made you want to become a Ranger?"
"Yona like to know that too. Yona used to like Sunsprite."
Sunsprite smiled wryly. "Does Yona remember that when Sunsprite came to the aid of the Frost Mountain Clan against the grimm, Sunsprite was the best warrior on the field that day?"
"Yona not see for Yona's self, but Uncle Prince Rutherford impressed," Yona admitted.
"Who will come to the aid of the clans when I am gone?" Sunsprite asked. "Ruby and I are the last of our kind."
"We're not dead yet," Ruby reminded her.
"Is there anyone amongst your company whom you would give yourself too, to bear their children?"
"No," Ruby admitted.
"No," Sunsprite agreed. "And even if we did, both of us… there are so few of us, too few. A single family of only two branches. The time of destined warriors has passed. The Sun Queen is right. For the sake of our survival, we must do as the kingdoms do: we must become our own kingdom, with rules and order and defences. Defences like the Queen's Rangers. Our world is ending, but the Sun Queen is making a new world in which those who dwell here may survive, may thrive even. And that is worth fighting for. That… that is even worth dying for, I would say."
"And so would I," Ruby agreed. "Every time."