Sunset walked slowly back to the throne room, following Isabella, and with Celestia by her side. Isabella was talking about the afternoon agenda, but all she could hear were her own thoughts, replaying the conversation over and over again. Princess Sunset Shimmer. It was a long dead dream come true and absolutely terrifying all rolled into one.
It was too late to back out now. Well, technically it wasn’t, but she was not going to do that to Twilight. The purple alicorn was giddy and practically floating on a cloud when they left the dining hall. No doubt she would begin working on the invitations or at least a list of what would be needed for a coronation. Oh, there were most certainly going to be lists… lots of them. And we just gave her the rest of the day off. What have we unleashed? After a second of imagining a bouncing Twilight with a huge, happy grin on her face going over all the lists she had in mind and then double checking them Sunset began to giggle to herself.
“Is everything alright?”
Sunset glanced up at her mother and smiled. “Yeah, I was just thinking of how happy Twilight looked. I think she really wanted this, but was too afraid to ask.”
Celestia nodded sagely. “It was like seeing the light in her heart burst to life not unlike a phoenix being reborn. You make her happy, Sunset. You make each other happy.”
“I… she’s my best friend. I’m glad to be here for her. We have history and memories, so much is just understood without requiring explanation, know what I mean?”
“I do.”
Isabella stopped before the door and turned. “As you know, the open petitions are a bit less formal, but are in a way more important that the dealings with the nobility and council aristocrats. These ponies and other creatures come from every corner, some waiting for weeks to be vetted and seen by the crown. Be gentle with them. They will return to their towns and villages and tell the tale of their experience to other citizens. That could greatly affect how some will embrace or reject your leading of the night court once news becomes public of it being reestablished.”
Sunset nodded. “Play nice, be the bigger pony, don’t scare the common folk with flaming swords. Got it.”
Isabella paused before opening the door, turning back to Sunset, bowing deeply. “Sunset, I want to apologize. You and I have never been what any creature would call friends, but I want you to know I respect your abilities and your tenacity. You have proven over the years to be resourceful, adaptive, creative, and capable of handling almost any situation with your own unique blend of grace and style. It is not how I would do things, but that is what makes you, you. I hope moving forward that you and I can mend our relationship. After all, as the princess of the night court you will eventually need your own personal assistant and I will need to be able to coordinate with them on what is accomplished so that we continue to do what is best for Equestria together.”
“Thank you, Isabella, that really means a lot because I know you are not the kind of griffon that takes these things lightly. And as far as personal assistants, I already have one,” Sunset pointed at the glass device stuck to her shoulder.
Isabella blinked. “I was expecting some creature… taller.”
“I am capable of recording everything that is spoken during these court sessions and would be happy to cross reference and discuss all aspects of the happenings with you, Miss Windsong.”
"So, that is where the voice was coming from. At least I am not going crazy."
Sunset smiled at Isabella’s befuddled expression. “I’ll explain about Raven later. Shall we?” The griffon shook her head and opened the door her for princesses to enter.
----------
The open petitions of the common ponies went off without a hitch. A few commoners balked at the sight of Sunset instead of Twilight, but with Celestia sitting next to her daughter as both a calming, familiar factor and an endorsement of Sunset’s authority things were kept civil and moved along smoothly. One filly that had accompanied her mother to petition for wagons for their town’s harvest season had asked to hug the soon-to-be newest princess, who had been happy to oblige.
Twilight, as they had correctly assumed, had used her day off to the fullest. When Sunset and Celestia had met back up with Twilight for dinner she had already assembled a few examples of the coronation invitations to discuss over along with an advertisement to be sent to all the newspapers on the return of the night court. Sunset found the most simple design that was in her red and gold color scheme and picked it because she knew she had to pick something. Twilight rolled her eyes, but let her get away with it. It was a gesture that Sunset knew meant they would be discussing the matter further in the future.
“Naturally, there will be push back from the nobility,” said Twilight as she levitated the examples away to make room for the food. “So, it will probably be best to wait two days before your first session to give them time to adjust to the idea. Plus, Luna told me she would be happy to sit in on the first few hearings much like Celestia. It helps send the message that you are endorsed and settle your nerves. I know having them next to me the first few times helped keep me from curling into a ball and crying.”
“I hope I’m ready for this.”
“You are,” Celestia replied simply.
Twilight smiled broadly. “We both know you can do this or you would not have asked me yesterday. You impressed Isa. You NEVER impressed Isa with anything even when you gave her parents and sister SunLight crystals for Hearth’s Warming so she could talk to them any time she liked.”
Sunset nodded, but did not return the smile. She lifted the golden circlet helm off and looked at it in her hoof. “Confidence is not usually a quality I lack. Most people or ponies who know me would say I’m cocky bordering on arrogant, but you know me, Twilight, you know the real me. You’ve seen through that armor I put up. Heck, you broke me once when no one else could. You know I have always strived to be the best at whatever I apply myself to, but I’m just a pony. I’ve made mistakes, Twilight, lots of them. I just... ”
Twilight smiled at a wonderful, nostalgic memory. Live long enough and you find out some conversations were circular. “We’re not flawless, Sunset. No pony is asking you to be perfect. Just be you.”
Sunset set the circlet back on her head, her confident smile returning. “Thanks, Twi… er, Twilight.”
“There is one more crucial piece of business that needs to be taken care of before we settle in for dinner.” Sunset arched an eye brown and gestured for Celestia to continue. “As the new princess of the Lunar Court you will also be officially in charge of the Lunar Guard. Luna has reserved her right to lead all Equestrian forces as General of the Armies in times of crisis, but she is technically no longer a princess, so the role as their direct superior will fall to you, Sunset. In as such, you will need to pick your own captain of the guard who will stand as equal to and be able to coordinate actions with Tempest Fury, the guard as a whole, and the other agencies depending on the situation.”
Sunset had not considered the fact that once the night court had resumed that the role of the Lunar Guard would need to expand as well. A lunar captain only made sense, would cut down on excess chain of command or a need to wake the solar officers or Twilight if crucial decisions needed to be made quickly. A smile crept across Sunset’s face as she rubbed her chin.
“I think I know exactly who to pick for such a role. He has already been leading them in his current capacity and is perfectly qualified.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Lieutenant Commander Gauge is an outstanding guard. He will make a great Captain of the Lunar Guard.” Twilight picked up all the samples and scrolls and teleported them to her study for later. She then summoned a piece of blank parchment and quickly scribbled a note onto it. With a small spark from her horn, Twilight charged the scroll with a tracking spell so that it would appear before the pony she wished to send it to. It did not have the range that dragon fire had, but would work just fine within the Palace Complex.
Luna entered a moment later followed by Lieutenant Commander Gauge. A scroll appeared before the thestral and smacked him on the side of his helmet. He blinked a few times in surprise at the unexpected paper attack.
“Oops!” Twilight smiled and blushed. “I’m sorry, Gauge. If I knew you were coming I would have just waited.”
“No harm done, Your Highness. What is your bidding?” he replied with a bow.
“Oh!” Luna’s eyes lit up as a grin spread across her face. “Perhaps Twilight is in need of your special talents?”
“Perhaps, Mistress, but I cannot imagine why she needs me to create a foggy smoke screen,” Gauge replied with a shrug.
“Oh, that’s not what I meant and you know it. I know for a fact that Her Highness has not felt the touch of satisfaction in her n-”
“NOT WHY I SUMMONED HIM!” Twilight blushed profusely, pulling her mane across her face for a moment before clearing her throat and composing herself. “We have several important announcements that will be going out into the newspapers tomorrow across Equestria, but since one concerns you I thought you might like to hear it directly from Sunset.”
Gauge removed his helmet and brushed back his bluish black mane, yellow cat eyes looking on curiously. “Lady Sunset?”
“Right, on the spot and all that.” Sunset mumbled. She left her seat and approached the bat pony. Sunset stopped before Gauge and sat with her back straight and wings slightly extended. “After some consideration and allowances by Princess Twilight, I will be accepting my royal title of princess in an upcoming coronation. Before that happens however, I will be reopening the night court for hearings and petitions so as to help clear the backlog and lighten Twilight’s schedule. I am told that by doing both of these that I will need my own Captain of the Guard. I would like you to become the new Captain of the Lunar Guard, if you would be willing to accept.”
Gauge bowed deeply without hesitation. “It would be my pleasure and my honor to serve you in this capacity, Princess Sunset Shimmer.”
“Huzzah!” shouted Luna. “This is a grand day indeed! Congratulations, Captain Gauge! Now that formalities are seen to, onto the merriment! We must celebrate with drink and fine food! Come, sit with us, friends.”
The other ponies in the room agreed and called for the staff to bring a bottle of wine with dinner.
----------
Two days passed in a blink and Sunset found herself sitting on the newly installed black throne with red rosewood trim and gold inlaid just to the right of Twilight’s larger, white marble and gold trimmed throne. Luna had taken the seat opposite of Sunset on the other side of Twilight’s throne, reserved for guest of distinction. Since it was the first night of the new court, they were not expecting a large turnout. Regardless, all security measures and professionalism were taken into account.
A young bat pony mare with shining straight red and black mane wearing a black lacey choker with a crescent moon charm and business dress top, approached to the two alicorns and bent her knees in a deep bow. “Your Highness, Mistress Luna, I am Sable Nimbus. I was tasked by Captain Gauge to coordinate between you, the guard, and the day court liaison, Isabella Windsong. If Her Highness wishes to hear my full background profile and credentials I will gladly recite them.”
“Unnecessary, my night child,” stated Luna with a pleasant smile and a wave of her hoof, “the captain and I deliberated and we both agreed that you were more than qualified for the task before the offer to you was made.”
Sunset shrugged. “Hard to argue with and endorsement like that.”
Sable smiled brightly, flashing her fangs and even winked at Luna before returning to a soldier's rigidity and well practiced neutral professional expression. “I was told you have a personal assistant, but there are some tasks she is… unable to perform?”
Sunset smiled at the thestral and pointed to the piece of glass that was sitting in a cloth cinch pouch hanging from her armor plate at her right shoulder. “Raven is my eyes and ears in court, but she lacks the ability to write on or carry parchment that can be passed on to Isabella… or walk for that matter. So, you will act as a go between and write down what she finds relevant to pass on, if you are up to the task, Miss Nimbus.”
The thestral eyed the strange device then shrugged and bowed again. “I will perform whatever task you need of me, my princess, and please, call me Sable.” Sable held up a scroll and Luna took it in her magic. The two alicorns looked over the list and found ten names to be announced. Only one was from the noble advisory council.
“Ten names are nine more than I got on my first day of restarting the night court,” Luna said with a smile. “You should feel honored, dear niece.”
“I guess my performance the other day did not endear me to the nobility.”
Luna chuckled lightly. “I can see you are a broken sea of woes about it.”
Sunset excessively pouted her bottom lip and traced her hoof down her face as if mimicking a falling tear. “Oh, woe, woe is me. I am full of woes.” The alicorns giggled quietly before composing themselves. “Please bring in all our guests, Sable, I think we have enough room for all ten.”
“As you command, Your Highness.”
Sunset sighed, her hoof reaching up to straighten her golden circlet helm even though it could not be straighter. “That’s still going to take some getting used to.”
“But you will.”
----------
Twilight Sparkle let out a pleasant sigh as she finished raising the sun and stepped back into her private study from the balcony. There were no meetings planned for this morning, which meant Twilight had a rare opportunity to actually sit down and enjoy her breakfast before court was to begin. Maybe even read a chapter or two! Only one day into their little experiment and it was already lightening her workload. Plus, she was eager to hear how Sunset’s first night of court went. Clearly nothing bad had happened or it would have reached her ears by now, but Twilight was interested in the details and Luna had promised to give her a summary of the undertaking before heading to bed.
When Twilight reached the private dining hall, she was surprised to find Celestia already there wearing an apron standing next to a serving trolley loaded with large stacks of pancakes. She was humming to herself while using her magic to set the plates. Celestia greeted Twilight with a bright smile, using her telekinesis to levitated the pancakes along with sides of fruit into an artistic plating much like she used to do when Twilight was a filly and her student. In fact, she had not seen Celestia look so spry and youthful in years.
“Good morning, Twilight, I was already awake so I decided to make breakfast myself. I haven’t had a chance to do this for you or Luna in ages!”
“Good morning, Celestia! It’s wonderful to see you up and about.”
“Much like you, I could hardly wait to hear about how last night’s session of court went for Sunset and Luna. I suppose I could have just read a report, but I wanted to hear it from my sister since Sunset is still sleeping.”
“Then you need not wait any longer,” said Luna before letting loose a splitting yawn. “Apologies, I was very busy with dreams last night. Nevertheless, I was more than happy to sit with my niece. We only had ten petitions, but Sunset treated each with the same level of respect, be they noble or common.”
The words caught Twilight’s attention as she set her fork down. “What nobles came by last night?”
“One, Lord Keystone of the guild of masons. He wanted to discuss the possibility of updating the store facades in the southern quadrant. It was trivial and Sunset agreed to have the designs and costs surveyed and a proposal presented before the crown could make a final decision on the request. The common ponies made simple requests, nothing of noteworthy. Sunset handled it all with grace. We went out for donuts then she retired for the evening while I returned to my tower for dream walking. It was quite subdue, an excellent first day.”
“I’m glad everything went well. I’ll admit I was afraid that some of the nobility would try to harass Sunset,” said Twilight, finishing up her breakfast. A moment later, the dining room door opened and Isabella stepped in and bowed.
“Good morning, Your Highnesses.” Isabella gestured to the door. “We still have time, but if you are prepared we should move to the throne room.”
Luna yawned again. “To bed for me. Enjoy your day, Twilight.”
Twilight waved to Celestia and Luna one last time before following Isabella. The griffon took note of the smile on her princess’s face and a bounce in her step. It was heartening to see Twilight in a good mood first thing in the morning. Not just professionally, but personally as well.
“Maybe we should do away with morning work meetings entirely. You seem to be in a better mood and more relaxed without them.”
Twilight smiled and tapped her chin for a moment. “They have their purpose so I would rather not strictly ban them, but I also think with Sunset’s help the workload will balance over time so they may only be needed for extreme necessity.”
Isabella nodded. “I’m glad to hear things went well for her. I had my doubts, but anything that benefits to your well being has my full support.”
“I know what you mean. I was also afraid there would be more uproar of protest on Sunset becoming a princess. The nobility only grumbled a little bit at least for now. It’s too soon to hear what the other nations have to say about Equestria becoming a ruling diarchy again. Once we have a routine established Sunset and I will be able to sit down and share more ideas on how to move things forward not just here in Equestria, but the world as a whole. This is going to be so exciting. I can’t wait.”
Isabella chuckled at Twilight’s enthusiasm. It was practically infectious. “I’m glad she is pulling her weight. It was never my place to say, but I could tell from observation that you were running yourself ragged.”
“I do have a tendency to micromanage things.”
“Just as smidge, You Highness.” The two shared a few giggles before assuming their faces for court.
----------
“Are there any other concerns or issues that need to be addressed at this time?” Twilight said loudly so that the entire court could hear her clearly. The morning had gone so smoothly, only a few issues required ironing out along with one, half hearted quip by Lord Sterling in regards to the meager attendance of the night court. Most of the nobility had seemed pleased with the idea that if they needed to bring up additional concerns they could now be address in the early evening as well. Perhaps they felt Sunset would handle more of the common ponies thus giving them more time to capitalize Twilight. Regardless, it was a good sign that small issues would work themselves out.
The purple alicorn had privately scolded herself for allowing the nobility to grind her attention down so thoroughly that Lord Quiet Trot had nearly taken advantage of the situation and exploitation, but also undermine Twilight’s integrity to do a good job. With renewed enthusiasm Twilight vowed to read everything more thoroughly and also pass some of the work to Sunset to double check her when she felt her eyes begin to cross. Everything was going so well she might even get time again to check in on students of both CSGU and the School of Friendship. Maybe even get to teach a class again!
Naturally… That was when the other horseshoe dropped.
The giant double doors to the throne room flew open, smacking both guards who had been standing at their stations. The thunderous crash caused every head to turn to the source of the interruption. Princess Flurry Heart stormed in several paces, her hoof shoes cracking the marble floor each time she stomped on it. The nobility and their aids began to murmur amongst themselves before Twilight rose from her seat, eyes locked on her niece.
“Princess Flurry Heart, court is still in session. Unless this is an emergency I think you-”
“How dare you?!” Flurry spat between her clenched teeth, eyes burning blue.
The gathered ponies looked back and forth between the two princesses, trying to make themselves as small and unseen as possible. The guards around the room clenched their polearms a little tighter, the ranking sergeant whispered for backup into a SunLight crystal he had issued to him.
“Flurry, whatever is bothering you-”
“You picked her, HER! Over me!”
“Flurry.”
The younger princess stepped forward, continuing to steamroll Twilight. “I have stood by you and for the service of Equestria for decades! I have fought monsters, protected our borders from raiders, solved friendship problems that come out of nowhere, I have done EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ASKED OF ME! And then… Suuuuunset Shimmer comes cantering back from Celestia knows where and bats her eyes, shakes her fat rump, and spews a few words and you give her a crown and the throne of the night court?! WHY?!”
Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out. “Everypony, please exit the throne room.” The gathered ponies hesitated. “Now.” The guards quickly snapped into action and began ushering the nobility out. A few protested, but their words fell on deaf ears. The princess had spoken.
“Princess?”
Twilight turned to Isabella. “You can stay if you wish, Isa, but this may get ugly.” Isabella nodded and stood her ground. Twilight’s eyes turned back to Flurry as she stepped off her throne to approach the fuming alicorn. She waited until the rest of the nobility were gone and the doors once again secured. “I know you are upset, but y-”
“Upset?! You think I’m j-”
“STOP INTERUPTING ME!” Twilight shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, the words rattling the walls and windows to the point that particles of dust fell. Flurry barely flinched, but did close her mouth and seethed. Twilight took that as her cue to continue and composed herself. “As I was saying, I know you are upset, but let’s examine a few things rationally for a moment, shall we? First and foremost, Sunset is Celestia’s daughter and older than both of us. If certain circumstances had been different, she would be the one sitting on the solar throne right now, not me. By all rights she had claim to it once it became public knowledge that she is Celestia's daughter. However, she chose a different path in life for a time, which is not the same thing as abdicating as much as just delaying her royal duties.
“Secondly, and of just as much importance, I ASKED Sunset to take the lunar throne. She did not demand it, she did not argue that she earned it through conquest or great deeds, she proved that she could handle the delicate balance of playing ruler and arbiter to the many interest that ponies have aligned themselves with. She also has both Celestia’s and Luna’s blessing and even with all that I still had to corner her into taking on a crown and title.”
“Sounds to me like if she doesn’t want the seat and the crown then she should just go back to whatever hole she crawled out of and leave Equestria to those that already take care of it.”
“The greatest leaders throughout history are those that understand the demand and weight of that tremendous responsibility. Ponies that lead because it is necessary for somepony to take charge, not because they want to or demand it. You know the old lesson: The more power one has the more likely they are to fall to its corrupting influence and we as alicorns wield more power than most beings could ever dream of. We tread a dangerous line every day. I hope you see that, Flurry Heart.”
Flurry looked to the stained glass windows portraying past great deeds, a continuation of the windows in the causeway hall.
Her eyes lingering on the return of the Crystal Empire and the defeat of King Sombra. It had stylized impressions of her parents, Twilight, and Spike. Flurry huffed and whispered under her breath, “I’m better than she is.”
“Excuse me?” Twilight demanded.
Flurry’s hard blue eyes turned back to her aunt, wings extended to their full, massive glory. “I’m better than she is. I’m bigger, I’m stronger… than both of you for that matter. You say by rights she should be on the solar throne, but I have to wonder, who makes that decision? What grounds are you basing these 'rights' on? Celestia and Luna were given their thrones because the three tribes saw their power, their strength, and knew they needed that to protect and lead their fledgling nation. Is that not how it should be? The strongest should lead.”
“You should take care with what you speak, princess,” said Isabella with a warning tone. “Your rants and complaints thus far have been on par with a spoiled child who cries about not getting ice cream while sitting before an untouched plate of dinner. While unbecoming, they are simply that, rants. Where you tread now borders on treason. Many griffon kings of old believed they were 'better' than their predecessors simply because they could successfully stab them in the back. They were all wrong and nearly destroyed our culture more than once.”
“Yeah, because griffons are greedy opportunist.”
Twilight flared her own wings, eyes glowing white. “And you are a spoiled brat who makes demands just because you were born with wings! Each time you demand something from me or the other princesses it only proves that I was right not choose you to stand next to me. You are still not ready and your mother and father would be very disappointed in you!”
At those words Flurry finally staggered back, her wings slumping to the ground while she fought down and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Flurry gnashed her teeth and left without turning back, nearly ripping the door off its hinges with her overcharged telekinesis.
Isabella took two long breaths before turning back to Princess Twilight who remained as rigid as a statue while tears fell from her sorrowful purple eyes.
----------
After the night court had ended Sunset retired to her room to work on a personal project while Luna moved to tend to the dreams of Equestria. After a few tries, Sunset had finally managed to incorporate Equestrian audio speakers into the magi-electrical transfer switch for her gaming system creating a premium surround sound system that was on par with some of the units she had customized back in Earth. The two successes back to back had felt good and Sunset had fallen asleep with a grin on her face and pleasant dreams.
The goldenrod alicorn had awoken the next day feeling refreshed. She asked Raven to play from playlist seven which consisted of many of the songs she and the girls had recorded in a professional studio for fun and because Rainbow Dash had begged on her knees and said please about forty times in a row. It was just as well and made a great birthday present for Rainbow that year. They had all agreed to participate, set up a time, and got a recording session professionally mixed of their best songs including some of their best covers. It was a excellent playlist. Honestly, it should have been playlist one or two, but Sunset had not been in the best mind space when those first few lists had been uploaded to her PAAL.
Sunset sang along to ‘Shake Your Tails’ while making her coffee and a raspberry, rice, and oat bowl to munch on. She planned to meet up with Twilight for lunch in about an hour and did not want to over eat. Then, Sable was to bring her news from the day court to cover any issues or concerns that may crop up tonight along with Captain Gauge’s report on the state of the Lunar Guard following his formal inspection. She expected that to be a fairly brief report since he had already been running his troops like a well oiled machine, but now it would be officially in writing and signed off while bearing his new captain’s stars.
Sunset chuckled to herself. “Then, I can continue dropping some hints about a certain grouchy pony that would enjoy some extra time with the new captain.” Rarity would be so proud of Sunset attempting to play matchmaker. If she thought about it hard enough, she could still hear the sound of the alabaster woman’s squee in her mind. It was nice to be able to think back to her beloved friends and smile. As Pinkie Pie would say, ‘it was nice to just smile, just because.’
An hour later, Sunset sat in the dining hall with her mother enjoying a salad with deep fried onion rings and the best marinara sauce she had ever had. Twilight was late for lunch, which was odd, but what really began to set off alarm bells in Sunset’s head was when Tempest entered with a more dour than usual expression and bowed to the two alicorns.
“Apologies for the interruption, but I bring a message that Princess Twilight will not be joining you for lunch. There was an incident this morning during court and she has canceled the afternoon session and the rest of her schedule thus far is unclear. In addition, Twilight asked not to be disturbed.” Both alicorns set their silverware down.
“What has happened, Captain?” Celestia asked before Sunset could.
Tempest sighed then removed her helmet, a scowl creasing her strong, but comely features. “I was not there to witness it, but apparently Princess Flurry Heart interrupted the end of morning session and became… hostile.”
Sunset stood immediately, kicking her chair back. “Is Twilight okay?”
“She’s fine, there was no fight, but things did become tense according to my guards. Two of them suffered small injuries when she hit them with the throne room doors. Princess Flurry made demands for your removal, Sunset, and insinuations to possibly challenging Twilight for the throne… through force.”
Sunset nodded, glancing to her mother, whose face had a similar grim expression. Sunset had no doubt her mother was probably thinking the same thing she was. Deja fricking vu. Too bad the mirror was already closed. From the sound of it Flurry could probably benefit from a timeout in another universe with no magic.
“It was most likely just angry talk and she’ll simmer down, but I am going to be meeting up with Captain Gauge after this to discuss possible drills for… unthinkable scenarios. Better to be prepared and not need it.”
Both Celestia and Sunset nodded. The captain returned her helmet and let herself out.
“Sunset.”
“Yeah?”
“Please be careful tonight.”
“You don’t think she would actually attack Twilight or me, do you? I mean, even at my worst all I did was throw a book at you, which you blocked no problem.”
Celestia nodded, but her face remained grim. “Flurry Heart is not you.”
----------
Sunset had returned to her room and tried to focus on her on duties for the day. Sable Nimbus joined her a few hours later and began to cover in more detail what had transpired during the day court. Most of the summary was uninteresting regarding the usually political dickery that occurred. The word by word details of what was said between Twilight and Flurry however sent chills down Sunset’s spine.
As much as she did not want to admit it, Sunset was a bit scared of Flurry in regards of physical and magical prowess. Sunset was no light-weight, but Flurry was in a class of her own with raw power to spare. Sunset donned her armor regalia and felt the defensive gems come to life. The warmth was reassuring not unlike her favorite motorcycle jacket that she dearly missed. Lastly, Sunset slipped Raven into her pouch and followed Sable out the door.
They had some time before court was scheduled to start so it was best to continue on with the planned agenda and meet with Captain Gauge for the post inspection report. No doubt he would also gladly discuss whatever plans he and Captain Fury had managed to pound out over the afternoon. It was then that a chill ran the length of Sunset's spine. Sunset stopped walking which in turn made Sable stop as well.
“Your Highness?”
Sunset closed her eyes and reached out with her other senses. There was something, like a tickle on the edge of her mind. A dark feeling of malice, it seethed and penetrated the pure, clean ambient magic that radiated throughout all of Equestria, but especially in a place as attuned as the palace. Someone or something was directing that hatred towards her and she could literally feel their burning disgust like dry ice on unprotected skin. It was not the first time Sunset had started to wonder if some aspect of her geode's empath powers were still with her. Like a sixth sense calling to her. And the call this time was a warning.
Sunset’s eyes opened and looked to her right. From behind a pillar and dropping a cloaking illusion stood Princess Flurry Heart, her horn already glowing with a golden light. Reacting on drilled instinct, Sable moved to stand in front of Sunset, assuming a defensive fighting stance with her bat wings extended.
“Flurry, drop the spell and we can talk about what’s bothering you,” said Sunset with as much calm as she could muster in her voice that was on the verge of quaking with equal amounts of fear and anger. Sunset was not sure if her bat pony assistant saw it, but the moment Flurry’s eyes flashed black she wrapped herself around Sable and began to conjure a defensive barrier. It had not been enough time.
The golden power blast shattered Sunset’s hastily conjured barrier and struck her in the back armor plate, singeing some of her fur and feathers. If the armor had not been enchanted Sunset was sure she would have had a hole in her spine and probably out her chest cavity as well. The alternative had not been much better. Sunset and Sable had been hurled through a large window to the secluded garden two floors below. Neither had been oriented in a way to get their wings open and struck the ground hard enough to gouge out a deep divot. Sable cried out in pain. Sunset shook her head and found the thestral cradling her left foreleg that was bent at a sickly angle. Sunset also noted several bleeding lacerations from the glass on both of them, but none looked life threatening.
“Hold still, I can heal t-” Sunset was rammed by a pink and pastel cannonball that smacked her out of the divot and through a small pine tree. The armor took the brunt of the energy and once again probably saved her life. She was not sure how many more strikes the armor could take, but judging by how hot the crystals were beginning to feel they were probably at their limit.
“You don’t deserve a crown,” Flurry spat, “Equestria needs its princesses to be strong. What have you ever done to deserve a throne? Stopped a little cloud monster from invading from another dimension? Give me a break! I bound an eldritch horror that was eating souls for breakfast and dragged it to Tartarus with my own hooves! So how about I pound you into the earth until you submit and then I'll drag what’s left of you back to Aunt Twilight where you formally abdicate and renounce your title and birthright. After that, if you still have the strength you can then go crawl back into where ever you’ve been hiding over the years and never return, you mule quim.”
Sunset rolled her shoulders and flexed her wings. Nothing was broken that she could feel, but there were definitely going to be bruises and she still had a few cuts from the glass that were unpleasant and trickling blood. “Flurry Heart, you need to listen to me. I’ve been down this road. The more you demand things the less anypony is likely to grant you what you desire. End this now and we can still talk our way out of it. We'll just say it was two adults having a disagreement. Otherwise, I start hitting back and I really don’t want to explain to Twilight why I had to smack her niece around.”
“No more talk.” Flurry fired again, but Sunset had been preparing her own counter spells and teleported away reappearing just to the left of the light pink alicorn. Sunset let loose her own blast of energy and threw Flurry across the garden, taking out a bed of flowers with her.
“Fine, you want to throw down? Mama’s going to teach you a few lessons.” Sunset was already hopping around using multiple teleports, never giving Flurry a chance to lock on. “Lesson one, raw power is nothing without control.” Flurry took a guess at where she thought Sunset was set to appear and encased the entire section in crystals. Sunset stepped out from around the crystals and tapped at them with her hoofguard.
“Nice mineral growth spell. Too bad it will probably also kill the grass and trees. The landscapers are going to be pissed at you tomorrow.”
“Shut up!” Flurry unleashed a blast of fire that Sunset redirected around herself and then up away from the palace. When Sunset looked back however, Flurry was gone.
“Where?” A block of solid ice crashed into Sunset’s unarmored flank and she was sure she heard as much as felt something crack. Once Sunset had finished tumbling, she looked at her left hip and painfully screamed as she forced the ball joint back into its socket. Flurry did not give her the chance to stop the bleeding and tried to crush Sunset into the dirt from above, but she used her own wings to push and roll out of the way. A cloud of dirt shot into the air from the impact. Flurry flew from the crater and eyed Sunset again who had just finished a quick patch on her hip. Sunset was trying to maintain control of the situation, but felt her own anger beginning to overtake her.
“Okay, you’ve proven you’re strong, probably stronger than me. If you want, I’ll even fashion you up a medal for it, but we seriously need to stop. You already hurt one of my friends and I need to get her to a proper healer.”
“Will you give up your throne?” Flurry shouted from where she hovered.
“No. Twilight asked for my help and that is why I’m staying here. You can help too, but not like this. Not with all this jealousy and ambition burning you up inside. Please, you have to stop.”
“Then I’m not done with you yet.”
“Yes, you are.”
Flurry turned her head and found Celestia hovering in the air a few feet away along with Captain Fury and a dozen of the guards on the ground all with crossbows and polearms. For the first time during the fight, Flurry folded her ears back and looked ashamed.
“Cease this at once, Flurry Heart, this is not the way we solve things as civilized ponies. I do not know where we failed you, but please, talk to us and let us help you. We love you and only want to help.”
Flurry closed her eyes, her muscles becoming tense as if she were trying to break free from some sort of restraint. When her eyes opened again there was nothing there but burning hatred behind those blue eyes. The light pink alicorn screamed and loosed another powerful bolt at Sunset, who erected a curved shield to reflect it back. Sunset’s face turned to one of horror when she spotted Flurry pulling Celestia in front of her taking the reflected blast to the chest. The solar goddess screamed and fell to the ground with a bone crushing thud.
“MOTHER!” Sunset scrambled to Celestia’s side, coming to a sliding stop in the loose soil. She quickly pulled Celestia up to her and inspected the wound. The pristine white fur had been burned away and the flesh under was red and bleeding, with some slight blackening at the edges. Celestia’s face was contorted in pain as she hissed through clenched teeth at any movement. Sunset sent as much energy as she dared to dull the pain and the angry burn lessened in intensity, but would still need a proper healer’s touch.
“Princess Flurry Heart!” shouted Tempest Fury, pulling a rod from her side that extended into a staff with sharp points on each end. “You are under arrest! Come peacefully or my troops will open fire!”
A sadistic grin that had no business being on the pretty pink princess’s face grew more disturbing. “Aww, that’s cute.” While Tempest held her ground, she flashed her teeth more when the other guards began to step back at the sight of her glowing horn.
Sunset Shimmer gently set her mother down and stepped back, extended her wings until they became hot, waving flame. When she opened her eyes the tears that had fallen burned away as steam, her teal irises had turned completely glowing red, the white sclera beginning to turn black. Before Celestia could reach out to her daughter the golden alicorn launched herself into the air like a fiery rocket and screamed a war cry.
Flurry turned her attention back to Sunset just in time for a hoof to connect with her face. Upon contact, Sunset’s eyes flashed white.
Sunset knew this sensation well. She was not sure how, but she would never forget what it felt like to glimpse into the mind of another living being with her empathic powers. It was never just seeing the memories like on a screen. She could feel what they were feeling at the time as well. All the emotions both positive and negative. Flurry’s memories, however, were clouded as if a haze was permeating across them. They felt like oily, living shadows.
One time, Sunset had felt the mind of a drunk man to try and help find someone to care for him. His brain had been a fog for so long that Sunset felt as if she would become inebriate just from touching his memories. What was clouding Flurry’s mind was similar, but there was something different, something… malevolent.
Sunset dove deeper. Somewhere in here there had to be a reason why Flurry was so angry, why she would wish harm upon others. Flurry could have easily shielded herself from that blast, easily teleported away. She chose to harm Celestia and there had to be a reason. Sunset felt the fine hairs along the back of her neck stand on end as a dark, feminine chuckle echoed about.
“This is my play thing, child. You don’t belong here.”
Sunset whirled around and four sets of glowing eyes were blocking access to Flurry’s memories. They had no shape, the different colored clouds undulating and twisting. Sunset scowled. “I have a feeling you don’t belong here either.”
“She can see us. Kill her.”
“We cannot, not here at least.”
“Well, in that case, BYE BYE!”
As Flurry tumbled back, Sunset shook her head at what she saw. Was that just Flurry’s imagination? A magical mental defense? She had read about how some mages could create such constructs to protect from mind domination. However, they, as in more than one, felt too alive to be constructs.
Sunset had questions and they required answers, which meant getting Flurry under control… or unconscious. Either would do. Sunset quickly launched a magical golden chain that wrapped around Flurry and pulled her back. She brought their muzzles together and Flurry’s blue eyes went wide at the sight of the other alicorn’s face. Sunset’s fur had darkened, her legs and half her barrel were a blood red and some of her teeth had elongated to fangs. Even Sunset’s mane began to flicker and wave wildly resembling fire just like her burning wings.
“Lesson two, never get on Sunset Shimmer’s bad side.” Sunset swung her prisoner around and slammed her into the ground forcefully, creating another crater. When the dust cleared the chain was gone and Flurry was struggling to get back to her hooves. Sunset rocketed down and summoned her flaming sword. Flurry Heart screamed in panic as the sword missed her by inches, carving a burning, molten groove into the soil. Flurry summoned her own ethereal blades, but Sunset’s sword smashed through them as if they had been made of cheap wood no matter how fast she tried to recreate them. Backing away frantically, Flurry remembered some of her father’s strongest shield spells and quickly constructed them. Sunset launched herself with another roar and cut gashes through the pink bubble as if it were made of thin plastic, the tip of the sword grazing and cauterizing a gash across Flurry’s left foreleg. In desperation, Flurry laced another layer of one of the shields with an explosive spell and when the sword cut into it the shield detonated, throwing both alicorns back from one another. The concussion blew the remaining leaves off the few standing trees in the garden and knocked the guards and Tempest off their hooves.
The echo from the blast died and Flurry Heart struggled to get back to her hooves. The tip of her horn was scorched and she had small burns and several patches of missing fur plus the cut from Sunset's sword stung terribly. Her once beautiful mane was a mess and even a few primary feathers were missing.
A few yards away, Sunset Shimmer returned to her hooves as well, leaning on the sword that was stabbed into the earth and still burning with red fire. She was also bruised and burnt in places, a trickle of blood dripping from her nose. Once steady enough, she pulled the sword free to prepare for another attack. She stopped in mid-step when Twilight landed between them and erected two shields on either side her.
“Sunset, stop!” The absolute horror and expression of pain and betrayal in Twilight’s face caused Sunset to drop her sword. She staggered back onto her haunches and looked down at her hooves, the fur under the hoofguards several shades more red than it should have been.
Twilight turned her attention back to Flurry Heart. She dropped her one shield and approached her niece along with the half dozen recovered guards with crossbows ready to fire. “What have you done?”
Flurry spat blood into the dirt, eyes glassy with tears about to fall. “I can’t believe you picked that… monster over me. I hate you.” Before Twilight could respond the light pink alicorn disappeared in a teleportation flash. Twilight steeled her emotions from reacting to the stinging words and turned back to Sunset, lowering the other shield she had erected. Sunset had already limped back over to another pony on the ground. Her coat once pure white, but the dirt had stained her fur, wings, and mane. Twilight gasped when she realized who it was. “Celestia?”
Sunset pulled her mother in close, whispering to her. Sunset looked up, her eyes teal once again, meeting wide, shocked purple eyes that stared directly back at her. She saw so many emotions in that moment it was impossible to tell which was most prevalent. Ultimately, it did not matter. Twilight had once again seen the demon that lies within. They all had. Sunset gestured with a hoof back to where Sable Nimbus had managed to crawl out of the main battlefield then teleported herself and Celestia away from the destruction.