//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: Needs, Wants And Ends // by BleuBlooms //------------------------------// THEN Passing the long strips of guards that remained breathing. Their armour gleamed gold…under…the sun. Sunset smiled, a strained thing. A wave of her hand and the runes that marked her glowed brighter still. She shook only briefly and the pain that wrecked her body made her bleed only a little. "Still not worth it. Not bucking worth it." She took a moment to unwind. She leaned against the wall. The inlay of gold flourish sparked her eye. She ignored the obvious attempt at replicating the common colours of The Celery Dus Sol Palace. She sighed. "I will never be free of the past, will I?" She looked to the body to the left of her. "I bet you didn't sign up for this. Did you?" Taking a moment to withdraw a bit of food. Smolish, a delicacy as any food made at the palace. She brought the tasty bundle of vegetables and spiced rice to her mouth. Best part of the other world…not all that other…stuff… ...people…people…Marigold. Buggle. Tora. and baby Fluffyshy She stared hard at the mare in front of her. Her face had the look of youth, all softness and baby fat. Ruffled rich blue mane and drool completed the picture. Of bucking course. You Monster. Even the sunlight seemed to gaze fondly from the high above window. Celestia's Own. The term fell like rubbing salt on a old wound. Rubbing the tense hand that carried the future of their world. She thought of how…ironic…that was. Scars Scars everywhere old mare old mare. At that she scoffed at herself. Celestia's own. Rubbing the crumbs away on her clothing…again. ugh. All this time and you didn't learn manners?…Sun-butt. "Ugh." She groaned. She meant to go down head to the train. Surely, when she would tell the story later, it would be of her daring and torturous filled run-down towards the train. Celestia herself would give chase and they would soon do battle as the fate of the world… In a blink. She found herself leaning the baby mare against the wall. She was old enough to guard…things. That moment caused her to really look at the mare. Her face was young…too young. She turned her head away. Just as mine where. "Why are you here?" She asked, Almost with her hand raised to touch her cheek. Only… You have no right. More then that you…When she awakes you will ruin her carefully world. "She's innocent" said another. Setting her hand at her side. She got up taking the moment to at least gift her with a touch of magic. For the days to come… She broke into a sudden run. By passing the body's that littered the hallway. Thrusting herself out and above a window. She meet the roof with heart beating and sweet gleaming. Dwelling in shadow. Breathing in the fresh air. She took in the fragrance of what pasted for summers here on the other-side. She took a moment to observe the outlying lands. Her eyes flicked studiously to the tall statue of a dragon child. Smaller and less defined (deliberate insult?) was a mare. A unicorn. Twilight Sparkle She stepped down to a slanted hallway. Sunset Shimmer went onto the palace grounds. Walking ahead, She leaned into a shadowed nook. She looked to her flank. She saw nothing but the worn cloth inked in the blood of Aria. She knew just as Celesta was her mother. If she parted by blade or teeth her dress, all that remained would be scars. That shiver of pain felt long over due…and it wont be the end either. With ease born of time honed skill and more then a little luck. She stepped into the shadows. Every step breathing new life into the words: bittersweet. This in truth was the part of her journey she dreaded the most. She trusted herself and knew that the later half would bare her emotions into livid relief. She was ready. She was Sunset Bucking Shimmer. Under the cover of hood and cowl her hand was wrapped around a old mares hoove. She was helping a old mare down the road. Her eyesight apparently so poor that the six foot tall (to her mind)…monster. Was in fact a skinny minotaur. Balding too. Hocking a loogie at the nearest pony in disgusted surprise. Sunset Shimmer cringed Hard. The voices laughed. The old mare leaned over. "Having fun?" Still in her guise as it was she tentatively looked around. Blinking at the sight of what surely was her old friends dream. The sheen of sweat that covered her neck, she ignored-deliberately. Many body's pressed all together yammering and walking all the while. No one was hidden away in a forest. No one had taken to living in the slums. Her throat felt dry and thick. "How are you, deary?" Her voice firm and not the wispy thing that marked some. Sunset Shimmer shifted her hunched form. She knew never to under estimate the old and the truly young alike. why do you doddle? You know what needs to be done? …I know. Only…I want to do right by them…at least a little before the end. She called the old mares hoove to her. Leading all the while towards what she assumed was her home. The sun fell into its greater sister-the moon. Rising Rising still higher till stillness made itself know. Standing in the sky for all to see the moon, its soft glow gave gentle tidings to the hearts of the many peoples of the great crystal empire. "You never answered my question…girl?" The old Mare said. A sense of things made her want to duck- to hide. To find a weapon to bludgeon the old mare to bits. If she was a younger mare, she would have. She was sure, enough. She did not. She unclenched her steel grip from the mares hoove. "Hello…Earth-Mare." Her voice gained an edge. "Hello Burnt Sun." "That's not my name." No. We wont court with names here. Or anywhere. The mare shifted then leading her towards a path unseen by her skill and eyes alone. The old shell of the student, the seeker, the ever-eager mare couldn't help it. She…Just…couldn't. "You can't burn the sun. Its already burning." The old mare just turned off into alley the clawing scent of old waste and still older bones hung loose and heavy. Taking the moment to duck under a particularly nasty overhang. The sharp of its steel looking rather dangerous in the right hands. A poke. "Come on mare. Get a move on. I don't want to be dyeing over with you wool-gathering." Another poke. And Another poke. The old Firebrand, The burning anger long since tempered into steel. That never truly went away. Whipped out with liquid steel. "Old Mare, I am doing you a favour. I don't care how old you are. you will respect me. Or…I will…tell your mother." Airs of some nebulous tension held. They continued walking past the further over hangs and through a thin crack in between buildings. As they wove through "She's dead." The old voice gave out in greeting. "I can imagine. " Mine..too. She would have said. A part that she knew in truth was right. Her mother was dead in all the ways that mattered. Only she still loved the shell, anyhow. She probably always would. Probably in other ways hate for all she did. But that strange mix of love and hate. Longing… Was it so wrong to want a home? And if she had the words. In so many ways that mattered did she ever have one to begin with?