It had been a day since Sunset Shimmer found herself pulled into the mirror. It had been a day since she stayed beside an unconscious young man who would probably have a freak out the moment he woke up. A whole day since she’d been hiding in her old room with no sign of her former mentor Celestia or her Canterlot City.
Now she got to see the latter.
“Oh my god…” Canterlot was ruined, not in the way that Earth was ruined, this was more the effects of some natural disaster than anarchy. “What happened here?”
“Something old has returned.” Pale Arts stated as Gentle stumbled to get over to the pair to take a look.
“Who, Discord?” Sunset paused. “Nightmare Moon?”
“Well, you aren’t wrong.” Pale Arts admitted. “Both have returned; yet one was sealed, and one was redeemed.” She made a noise. “But this… this is from something else.” The mare admitted before making a noise. “One sealed for just as long, and perhaps more of a nightmare than anything.”
“What happened to Princess Celestia?” Pale Arts narrowed her eyes.
“She is… well.” She admitted. “But weak.” The mare admits. “Not that I care.” She stated as she looked elsewhere. “Celestia is not my concern.”
“Then what is?” Sunset narrowed her eyes as she looked at the taller mare. “Why did you bring us to Equestria?”
“Did you not want to return home?” Sunset didn’t say anything as she just stared upward. “Although I’m certain you didn’t want to see it like this young Sunset Shimmer.” She turned to Gentle. “As for you…” She searched for her words. “… I wanted to see you.” She admitted. Gentle raised an eyebrow as Sunset stood before him protectively. “Calm yourself, I’m not your enemy.” She muttered as she smiled. “But I am not Celestia’s ally.”
“Then who are you?” Sunset asked.
“Once I was a queen.” The mare’s horn lit up as she pulled something off of and stared at it. “Once I was a wife.” She muttered as she stared at the ring. “And once I was a mother.” She continued as she stared at the ring before returning it to her horn. “Now I am just a ghost.” The mare stated as she watched Gentle shake his head before rubbing it. “And that is all I shall remain.” The mare smiled. “You two should rest. Seeing Equestria like this.” She made a noise. “It must be a lot to take it.”
“Kind of.” Sunset admitted, looking towards the window. “This isn’t the Equestria I remember, but it's not that different from the one you pulled us from.”
“Is that so?” Gentle’s nod made the mare frown slightly. “I am sorry.” She muttered before falling silent. A silence broken with the sound of a belly growling. Sunset grabbed her stomach as Gentle did the same, though he immediately started to stumble as he stood on three legs for a second. Pale Arts chuckled at the sight. “Hungry are you?” She turned towards the door. “What do you say we fill your bellies.”
“But the guards, and Celestia-”
“Neither are here now.” Pale Arts revealed as she glanced back. “Both are “elsewhere”. She chose to elaborate. “What struck Canterlot City forced them to relocate for safety reasons.”
“I see.” Sunset muttered as she stared out at Canterlot before biting her lips as Gentle put a hoof on her back to get her attention. He nodded as Sunset cracked a weak smile. “Right. I’ll show you both to the kitchen.” She moved from under Gentle's hoof as they started walking off…
And Gentle promptly fell.
“… let’s take a second to teach you how to walk.”
A few minutes later
‘How on Earth do they walk like this?’ The transformed teen questioned as he stumbled down the halls of Canterlot Castle. Gentle wouldn’t lie; it felt awkward walking on four limbs, and he almost rage quit on more than one occasion. Still as he told Ms. Luna; “Nothing worth trying to do is ever really easy.” So, grunting and some whining; he straightened himself out and walked forward, looking across the halls and the decor as he followed Sunset and Pale Arts.
“It’s hard to believe that Canterlot is so deserted.” Sunset muttered. “When I used to live here, I always saw ponies wandering about.”
“You used to live here?” Pale Arts asked. “Were you staff?”
“I was Princess Celestia’s student.” Sunset confessed as her ears dropped to the sides of her head. “But that was… before I… I ran away.”
“You ran?” Pale Arts turned to young mare. “Why? To be trained by the princess herself, that is a high honor.”
“It was.” The mare stated. “But it got to my head.” She confessed as she looked elsewhere. “I wanted more.”
“You got greedy.” Pale Arts muttered. “I see. You ran because she denied you what you wanted, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“And what, praytell, was it that you wanted so badly.”
“Power…” Sunset muttered. “Respect. Admiration.” The mare continued. ”I wanted to be worthy… to be an alicorn.” Pale Arts chuckled weakly and shook her head.
“I see.” Pale Arts murmured “Power, respect, admiration… such simple things.” She made a noise. “But they must be earned.” She looked to Sunset Shimmer as the mare looked down. “But after earning them, one must be careful. Power corrupts, and respect and admiration may breed fear.” The mare continued. “Understand, you are not wrong in wanting such things. But your methods may say otherwise.”
“I know.” Sunset muttered as Gentle tried resting a hoof on her back only to stumble and lower it. Not sure what to do then, he chose to just tilt his head and nuzzle the mare affectionately, causing her to flinch and flourish slightly. “W-what are you doing?”
Pale Arts just chuckled at the sight, choosing to watch Sunset turn into a stuttering mess as the sign of blatant affection.
Affection often reserved for one's Special Somepony.
“We’re here.” She stated as she looked at the kitchen and Sunset scurried off to get as far away from Gentle, much to his confusion. Pale Arts stepped up to the pantry seeing what remained. “Looks like they didn’t have much time to clear anything out.” She muttered. “So, what would you two like?” Sunset didn’t respond, spending too much time browsing what was available as Gentle started looking around at a more leisurely pace. Though he noticed something curious after a minute or two.
“There a meat locker?” He whispered to not strain his voice too much.
“I’m afraid not.” Sunset muttered as she came to the realization. “Fuck, I’m a vegetarian again.” Gentle gave her a confused look.
“Equestria is a land for ponies.” Pale Arts stated. “And ponies consider eating meat a taboo.” Gentle looked like he died inside. “If it makes you feel better I do take in a bit of meat on the occasion.” Sunset turned to Pale Arts faster than the mare could blink as she nodded.
“You eat meat?” Pale Arts nodded.
“And if you like I can spare a bit of jerky I’ve saved with you.”
“Please.” Sunset’s plea earned a chuckle as Pale Arts reached into a bag and pulled out three three strips of jerky for them to split amongst themselves. Sunset held it with her magic as Gentle set down and tried grabbing it with his hooves, failed and just stared at them like they had betrayed him in some way or form. “Oh right.” Sunset muttered. “You don’t know how to use magic.”
Pale Arts looked on in surprise. “Truly?”
“Gentle is a human, he can’t normally use magic.” Sunset explained as Gentle glared at his hooves before turning to the jerky and got an idea. It was a childish idea, but it worked. Leaning his head forward to take the jerky into his mouth and started chomping down. “He may be a unicorn here, but back ho- back on Earth he wouldn’t be able to use magic.”
“Hm… that sounds similar to…” Pale Arts grumbled before looking at Gentle and then Sunset. “What about you, were you able to use magic?”
“No, there’s no magic in the other world.” Sunset explained. Pale Arts just raised an eyebrow.
“Then why was there equestrian magic in your world?” Sunset stopped eating.
“What?”
“Yes, it’s quite strange you didn’t notice it. After all, you were standing across from one radiating it.” Sunset looked at Gentle for a moment in confusion before a flash of clarity crossed her face.
“Flash?” She muttered. “My ex had Equestrian Magic?” Sunset couldn’t believe it. How could Flash… it didn’t make sense, Equestrian magic was on this side of the portal, not on Earth. So how could it… She thought to the physical changes Flash had gone through the growth spurt, the red eyes, the green mist he started to radiate… “The mist…” Sunset muttered as Gentle’s ears perked up. “The mist was Equestrian magic?!” Pale Arts nodded her head. “How could it have been - ”
“Emotion Magic.” Pale Arts stated. “Particularly hatred and rage.” The older mare stated. “Someone on your side was spreading it like a plague and it is no doubt the cause of whatever happened on your side of the portal.”
“But - it shouldn’t have been able to do that! Turn Flash into the hulking… thing!”
“Hatred and rage are closely associated with the Dark Arts.” Pale Arts stated. “And the Dark Arts tend to corrupt.” Sunset made to say something but stopped as she tried finding the words.
“Yes but how? How could that much Equestrian magic slip through to Earth?” Sunset paused before staring into space. “Did I…”
“Sunset…”
g into space. “Did I…”
“Sunset…”
“Did I do it?” The mare asked. “When I first went to Earth, did I bring that with me?”
“Sunset.” The mare started to hyperventilate as she shook.
“Did I cause a worldwide pandemic!?”
“Sunset!” The mare in question froze as Gentle grabbed her, holding her as he felt her start sobbing into his chest. “Breath.” He ordered and Sunset started doing just that.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
“Sunset.” Pale Arts stated as she joined in the hug. “Did you travel across the world?” Sunset continued to breathe as she shook her head. “Then you did not do that.” The mare stated as she patted the mare's head. “What happened to your world wasn’t your doing.” She stated as Gentle nodded. “It was another's… for what reasons I do not know, but do not blame yourself for what has happened by their actions.” Sunset continued to breathe as she slowly nodded and Pale Arts backed away. “I’m going to prepare you two some food now, Gentle, stay with her.” Gentle nodded as he continued holding Sunset as Pale Arts stepped away. Found some food and returned to the kitchen to start cooking.
“Gentle…” Sunset spoke up after a while. “You can… you can let me go now, I’m ok.” She told him as he did so. Her eyes were a bit red, but she’d be ok. “Thanks.”
“You're welcome.” Gentle rubbed his neck as Sunset looked at the wound.
“You shouldn’t talk so much, it hurts you right?” Gentle nodded his head. “There has to be some other way for you to talk to me.” She muttered as she looked at the stallion next to her before glancing at his horn. “Maybe…” She began. “Maybe I can teach you magic.” Sunset asked as Gentle tilted his head in confusion. “Yeah, that sounds like an idea if you're up for it.” Sunset stated. “If I teach you magic, you can use it to form words, like how you did sign language.” The stallion made an oh with his mouth as Sunset just smiled. “It’ll be a way for us to talk and I could teach you basic spells too.” Gentle nodded enthusiastically as he stood across from Sunset and settled down. “You want to start now?” Another nod. “Why not, the sooner the better, right?”
Pale Arts hummed to herself as she continued letting her magic dance across the kitchen as it cut up vegetables and fruits without much discrimination. “This should fill up two growing ponies.” The mare admits with a light smile before taking a pause as she seemed to think. “Still…” She muttered. “It’s a shame that I brought them here at this time.” With a frown her magic started to fluctuate. “She’s come back.” The mare muttered as she glanced elsewhere. She shook her head. “I’m honestly not upset Celestia, it was only a matter of time before she was unsealed.” She paused. “But, if she has returned… we both know she will be but the first.”
It didn’t bother her that Gentle sucked at magic. After all, the former teen had (consciously) been a pony for less than a day. Honestly, the simple fact he could even scourge up some magic to use was impressive enough. Sure his ember aura was clunky and constantly fading in and out of view, but it was better than nothing. What was curious was that his “bubble” the aura he created, looked like a hand for some reason.
‘Normally our magic just takes the form of a “bubble” but that looks like an actual hand. Wonder why.” She started to review a few old lessons in her head as Gentle lost focus and it disappeared. ‘Well, we don’t have appendages like humans so a “bubble” it’s - it’s like a subconscious thing… maybe… maybe it's the same for him to imagine it as a hand.’ Gentle focused as she watched the hand flicker back into existence as he turned it over and started twiddling the fingers.Sunset chuckled as he snapped out of whatever thoughts he was having, and blushed in embarrassment. He must look like a kid doing that.
“You kind of look like how I did when I first discovered my fingers.” Sunset muttered good naturedly as she tried creating a magic hand as well. It came rather simple for her. “Still, do you think you can sign with that?”
Gentle took a minute to think and the hand disappeared to his annoyance.
“I guess you need to keep your focus on making the hand to keep it formed.” Sunset muttered as she crossed her hooves, using the floating hand to scratch her head. “Well, you can make something to grip an object, that's a good start at least. We’ll just need you to think about creating a more stable hand without you having to keep all your focus on it.” Gentle nodded his head as Sunset looked at him and tried to think. “Let's see, how to go about this?”
“How bout you start with food?” Pale Arts cut in as she carried three trays of plates behind her. “You can’t do much on an empty stomach.”
“Good call.” Sunset spoke up as they all settled on the floor and started chowing down.
“Did I miss anything?”
Pale Arts asked as Sunset nodded. “I’ve been trying to help Gentle with learning to use magic.” Gentle created a magic hand and waved with it. “I say so myself, he did rather well.” Sunset paused. “Though since this is the first time he’s “accessed” magic, I wonder if he’ll get and surges.” Gentle tilted his head in confusion as he stopped eating. “Oh right. See, shortly after your born, unicorns experience random surges of magic for a while. So sometimes their magic will spike and drop out of nowhere.” Sunset explained. “You’ve never had to go through that because you were a human your entire life, but since you’re a pony now…”
“You might experience what fillies and foals do for a while.” Pale Arts added. “It might happen, it might not, we’ll have to see to find out.” Gentle made a noise as Sunset gave the mare a skeptical look.
“We?”
“Yes.” Pale Arts smirked as she bit into some food. “You didn’t think I’d summon you here to just abandon you, did you?” Sunset opened her mouth, paused and then went cautious.
“Why… did you bring us to Equestria? How did you even do that anyway, the portal was supposed to be closed until the Fall.”
“I have my reasons for bringing you here. Partly due to a whim, and partly due to blood.”
“Blood?” Sunset got a nod. “What do you mean by that?”
“Blood is sacred, blood is binding.” The mare stated as she shrugged. “We are born of the blood, made mares and stallions by the blood.” She paused. “And of course, undone by the blood.” Gentle paused as he heard the line and looked at the mare.
“Did you just quote Bloodborne?” He asked as the mare tilted her head.
“I don’t think I’ve heard of that book.”
“It’s not a book.” Gentle muttered before turning back to his food. “It’s… forget it.” He muttered before shaking his head.
“So… you’re going to be sticking with us so long as we’re here?” Sunset returned to the topic on hoof as Pale Arts looked at her.
“Of course. That is my duty.” She paused. “Besides, I can’t just leave two adolescent youths alone to do as they please, can I?”
“No I guess not…” Sunset seemed skeptical at the mare as she looked over to Gentle who was deep in thought.
“Whatever happened to Flash?” The stallion asked as Sunset blinked and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle.
“Right, Flash is still on the other side of the mirror, on Earth.”
“Can we go back there?” Gentle asked. “The others might need our help.” Sunset looked to Pale Arts who shook her head.
“The spell I used was a one way trip, you’ll have to wait until it opens again when the anointed time is present.” Gentle made a noise but said no more as he returned to eating.
“So that means it’ll open again in the Fall.” Sunset muttered as she crossed her hooves in “That’s still pretty far away.”
“Must you return?”
“It’s home.” Was all Gentle said, as Pale Arts looked at him and slowly nodded. “It’s hell but it’s home.”
“I’d sooner trade a hell I’m familiar with than one I’m not.” Sunset muttered.
“I see. Then when the fall comes, I won’t stop you from returning.” Pale said in disappointment. “But till then, why not see what Equestria has to offer.” She stated as she gestured to the halls of Canterlot. “The nation may be in shambles, but it is still a nation of wonders in its own right.”
“I can vouch for that.” Sunset admitted as she seemed to think. “Besides, I’d like to continue teaching Gentle how to use his Magic.” The teen nodded in agreement.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Pale Arts stated as she seemed to think for a bit. “But that said you cannot stay here in Canterlot.”
“Why not?”
“The grounds are very unstable now.” Pale Arts seemed to pause. “How that’s a problem now is beyond me, who in their right mind builds a whole city all but glued to the side of a mountain?” She didn’t get an answer. “Anyway, many were evacuated, to the plains below, though there are naturally those that chose to stay up here.” She watched Sunset’s expression. “Why they choose to stay is due to simple stupidity and greed.”
“Sounds about right.” Grumbling, Sunset shook her head. “What about the mirror? We can’t just leave it here if the city’s foundation is weakened.”
“I can shrink it down to fit in my bag.” Judging by Pale Art’s expression it was no big deal, judging by Sunset's it seemed that it wasn’t. “After that we can leave.”
“And go where?” Sunset asked.
“Wherever you two desire.”