It wasn’t a no.
Sunset was unable to move, rooted to where she stood the ice that froze her veins seeped into her muscles, locking them up and forcing her to watch the display born of Tartarus unfold in front of her.
A shout came from below Daybreaker and three pegasi royal guards shot towards the alicorn. Sunset tried to open her mouth - warn them against attacking her, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Hmph.” Daybreaker’s mane - still singing the glass descended on the royal guards, striking them simultaneously and sending them headfirst into a wall. They were able to get up but did not take flight again, singe marks now across their chests serving as the only blemish on their pristine coats.
‘It wasn’t a no!’
Fire began to gather around Daybreaker, completely engulfing the alicorn in a sphere of flame before firing itself towards one of the walls of Town Hall. Ponies shrieked as they leaped out of the way just in time to allow the fire, Daybreaker, an uninterrupted shot. An ear-splitting explosion rang out, dwarfing any last screams as she blasted through the unsuspecting barrier. The sudden swaying of the building was enough for Sunset - and everypony else to jostle themselves into motion.
“Come back here!”
As Sunset pivoted around to join the others in a mad dash out of Town Hall a rainbow bullet caught her eye, disregarding the doors and rocketing out of the hole Daybreaker made. Pelting out of the unstable building’s doors, she cast her gaze up to see the last traces of Daybreaker’s fire - a trail of light - heading towards the Everfree before it receded beneath the pines.
Sunset brought her gaze down towards Golden Oaks. She grit her teeth as her hooves thundered down the dirt road, the ice-cold horror finally melting away and yielding to a much hotter and infinitely more violent feeling that had been burning in her core. Her horn flashed a blinding white as the door to Golden Oaks flew open. Said door slammed against an inner wall and was accompanied by the sound of splintering wood, though the use of excessive force proved an insufficient outlet for her current emotional state.
“As much as I desire to explain this all to you at present, this is a matter more suited for an in-person discussion.”
“It wasn’t a bucking no!”
Sunset’s vocal cords pleaded in mercy as a scream clawed its way up her throat. She made no effort to stop it, accompanying the unholy cry by rearing herself up before slamming back onto the wooden floor. Her horn flared to life, pulling a book out of her saddlebags - the brown book with her cutie mark. She scowled at it and flung it into the fireplace of Golden Oaks. Her horn stayed alight as a high-pitched whirring sound filled the room. A rapid pressure began to build in her head, one she happily channeled into her horn, firing bullets of cyan light at the offending book. Flames erupted from where they touched, sticking onto it and covering the inside of the fireplace, and it was only moments before the item was nearly lost behind the flames. She rounded off her assault by charging another beam - much like the one she’d done twice the other day, and let it loose accompanied by another unholy scream. A thunderclap sounded as her spell struck the fireplace, shaking the library as flames launched themselves from it and onto the floor, sputtering out harmlessly as they made contact with the wood.
Sunset panted as she continued to glare at the ball of fire that now more than took up the entire fireplace. Even when hiding behind the flames, she could still make out the book her mentor had gifted her. It was still intact. It would still be intact even after all of those flames burnt out. Luna had seen to that, after discovering Sunset’s… pension for fire spells.
“Huh. Never seen a pony light a fire in summer before.”
Sunset whirled around to find five ponies in the entrance to Golden Oaks; Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and interestingly even Fluttershy were all standing in front of the door, each one looking at her with wide eyes and more than a little trepidation, save for Rainbow, who was lazily flapping her wings, dangling in mid-air with an impressive amount of control and giving Sunset a calculating look. Fluttershy was cowering behind Rarity, and even from across the room it was obvious that she was trembling.
Sunset closed her eyes and inhaled. It was slow, controlled, albeit extremely shaky. The exhale was much the same though much more forceful. Opening her eyes, the pressure remaining in her head subsided slightly as the five ponies came back into view. If nothing else, it was good to see familiar faces.
“Hello.” It was strained, stilted, but it was the best she could manage that wasn’t a snarl.
“So what’s up?” Rainbow’s wings snapped to her sides, allowing her to fall gracefully to the floor. “You okay?”
Sunset bit her lip in a bit to hold back the bile climbing its way up her throat. Oh she was definitely fine. Luna was nowhere to be found and a mad alicorn was running amok in Equestria. What else could she possibly be but fine? She placed a hoof to her horn and massaged it, letting out a huff of air. No. She’d already gone through that song and dance hours ago. Sarcasm wouldn’t help anypony right now.
“No, I’m not.”
Sunset gingerly set her hoof back down and glared back at the fireplace. The flames were beginning to die out, fully revealing her book. The surface wasn’t so much as charred. Of course it wasn’t.
“I’ve been worrying about this since last morning.” Sunset said. The calculating look in Rainbow’s eyes vanished and she nodded her head. “I reread… a document… about a conflict between Princess Luna and another alicorn, who I guess was Daybreaker. To summarize; Luna used some unheard-of magic to banish Daybreaker for supposedly a thousand years. The document’s authenticity was questionable, so I was skeptical she’d actually come back but hey, buck me, I guess.”
Sunset turned her head as far as she could and ignited her horn, dragging the book out of the fireplace. Embers hissed and fell off it, landing on the wooden floor before again harmlessly sputtering out. She spun her head back around to face the five mares and brandished the book towards them.
“And the worst part? I asked her. I asked her if Daybreaker would be freed.” her voice began rapidly climbing in volume as the hold on her book began to shake, her horn flickering dangerously. The other five mares flinched at the sight, but it was hardly noticed by her.
“I asked Luna if Daybreaker would be freed and she just told me ‘go to Ponyville’! I could have helped her, but she didn’t! Bucking! Tell me!”
Sunset swirled her head in a wide arc, rearing her body before slashing it downwards. Her book followed suit, moving slightly with her horn movements and spiking into the floor. A cracking noise reverberated throughout the library as the book made contact with the wood, bouncing back up and revealing a sizable split in the floor before covering it back up again.
Silence followed Sunset’s outburst. What the other mares were thinking or doing was lost on her as she stared blankly at the book branded by her cutie mark. A small, more rational portion of her mind told her that Luna probably had her reasons, that a world-threatening calamity was something she probably wanted to shield her student from, or that Luna did want to tell her, but never got the chance. But she always could have said that yes, Daybreaker was real and explained a little further. That, and venting her frustration was a lot more satisfying. It was always easier to just be mad.
The sound of hoofsteps barely registered to her. They were quiet at first, not just because they were farther away, but deliberately softer. But as they continued, and their owner got closer, they started gaining in confidence.
An orange hoof entered her vision. Looking up, Applejack was standing right above her book. She was frowning, though not at Sunset, and there wasn’t any hardness in her eyes. She bent down and gingerly snapped up the book in her mouth before setting it onto one of the nearby chairs.
“Listen, Sugarcube.” Applejack hedged. “I can’t speak for your troubles. You know ‘em better than any of us. And the last thing I wanna do is tell you how to feel.” She sat down in front of Sunset. Despite her eyes holding no hardness, it still felt like they were boring into Sunset. Wisdom of sorts, she decided.
“But you might be the only pony right now that may know what’s goin’ on. Be honest with yourself, Sugarcube. Is bein’ mad really gonna help you? Help any of us?”
Sunset hung her head and took a deep breath. Biting back was tempting. Really, it was. It was something she knew how to do. Not… this. Not a national crisis. Grappling with powerful forces that wanted to usurp power from Equestria? Sunset had read history books. That was Luna’s territory, not hers.
‘But Luna’s not here, is she?’
Sunset let go of her breath. Exhaling she raised her head back up to look at Applejack. No longer was she wearing a frown, but instead a small, supportive smile.
“You’re right.” Sunset relented. “I know you’re right, Applejack. It’s just…” The words died on her lips.
“I know you’re stressed, Sugarcube.” Applejack replied. “But you’re not the only one who’s gettin’ affected by this. We’re all in this together. Remember that.”
“What she said.”
Sunset turned her attention away from Applejack and back to the others. All four of them saddled up to Applejack. Rainbow gave Sunset a cocky smile and slung her foreleg around Applejack, who slightly leaned away from Rainbow and arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got us.”
“I must agree.” Rarity stepped forward and sat beside Sunset. “This is quite the… unique situation we find ourselves in, Dear. I daresay nothing like this has happened in recent history. All we have is each other, so we must rely on each other.” She gave Sunset a smile. One that Sunset had no problems with returning.
“Thanks.” Sunset said. She looked over to Pinkie and Fluttershy. Pinkie also gave her a smile, though Fluttershy was still… well no, she wasn’t cowering. Just standing behind Pinkie and looking at a point just in front of Sunset.
Sunset took a deep breath and closed her eyes. This… this was nice. Granted the situation wasn’t, far from it in fact, and she could hardly call herself at peace. Staring down an eternal sun would no doubt wreak havoc on the land, ponies, and untamed parts of the globe where weather conducted itself, and her feelings about Luna…
She exhaled.
‘I’m definitely talking to her later…’
‘If I ever see her again.’
“So, Darling, do you have any ideas?”
Rarity’s voice prompted Sunset to open her eyes. The five mares had all moved directly in front of her, though Rainbow had taken back up into the air again, with her wings occasionally twitching mid-flight and resting a hoof in front of her mouth.
Sunset arched an eyebrow. “‘Any ideas’?”
Rarity nodded her head. “Yes. Any ideas on where she may have been headed, or what she’s doing, or…” Rarity winced. “Dear Luna, any way we could stop her.” The Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack, as well as Sunset herself gave Rarity a surprised look, though Rarity ignored them.
“I must admit I don’t find the idea of trying to stop a mad alicorn particularly appealing, but I suspect that soon there won’t be much of an Equestria with that ruffian on the loose.”
“Right.” Sunset put a hoof to her mouth, lightly nibbling it as she cast her gaze one by one over the others.
“Ideas.”
“First thing I wanna know is where she went.” Applejack said. She glanced out of one of the library windows, though there wasn’t much to see. “Rarity and I were both still inside after Daybreaker busted a hole in Town Hall. I saw Rainbow fly after her though.” Every head expectantly turned towards Rainbow.
The sudden - and simultaneous - shift of heads seemed to get Rainbow’s attention. She blinked a couple times as all eyes fell on her. “Wha-? Hey, what’s with all the looks?”
“If you were listenin’, you’d know we were wonderin’ if ya saw where Daybreaker was headed.” Applejack snarked.
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, don’t gimmie that, AJ! I was thinkin’ about something else!” Rainbow crossed her forelegs and turned away from Applejack. “And yes, I did see where she was headed.”
Sunset quickly took a step towards Rainbow, prompting the pegasus to turn to her. “Where to?”
“The middle of the Everfree.” The shudder that passed through the pegasus - as well as everypony else in the room save for Pinkie - wasn’t lost on Sunset. “But I dunno why she’d head there though. There’s just monsters.”
“Hmm…” Sunset frowned and put a hoof to her mouth. “Not necessarily.” Five pairs of eyes turned to face her.
“What’s that, Sugarcube?”
“I’ve read up on the Everfree a few times.” Sunset said. She moved her hoof away from her mouth and began tapping it on the floor. “There’s not a lot of concrete information on it save for monsters, but I’ve read a few books that touch on various ruins and the like. It’s mostly speculation, but hey.” Sunset scoffed.
“Daybreaker wasn’t supposed to be real. I’d bet my horn there are ruins from her time in there.”
There was a brief moment of silence as the other five mulled over what she said. Applejack cast her gaze out the window, letting out a small hum before turning back towards Sunset.
“I can’t say we have much else to go on. I’ll trust ya, Sugarcube. It’s as good a lead as we got.” Various noises and affirmations of agreement echoed from the other four.
“Okay, so that’s great.” Rainbow said. She let herself down to the floor with little flair and snapped her wings to her side, before tapping the ground with her hoof. “But what good does that do us? How the hay are we supposed to stop a crazy, evil alicorn?”
Sunset’s body sagged as a grimace wormed its way onto her face. “I know of one way.” She muttered. “But it’s as good as hopeless.”
“And how’s that, Sugarcube?”
Biting her lip, Sunset swept her gaze over the other five. They didn’t seem the type to laugh at her, at least as far as she’d seen, and the odds were that they’d take her seriously, but hay, telling ponies that a bedtime story was real was a tall order regardless.
“This is gonna sound silly, but does anypony remember the old tale of the two sisters?” Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy shook their heads.
“M-hm.” Rarity nodded. “I’ve read it to my sister quite a few times. Why do you ask, Darling?”
Sunset looked towards the ground and began sketching a moon with her hoof. Anything to keep her body occupied. “Yeah, well, it’s real.” She didn’t even bother glancing up at their faces before she continued. “In the tale the younger sister - Princess Luna that is - used some magic called the ‘Elements of Harmony’ to seal her away. It’s said that it’s the most powerful magic available to ponykind, and if we want any chance of stopping her it’s all we’ve got.” She looked back up from her invisible sketch towards the five ponies in front of her. All of their eyes were fixed on her with various looks of disbelief, save for Pinkie, who’d turned her attention somewhere else. One of the bookshelves, maybe.
Sunset let out a mirthless chuckle. “But who knows where they might be.”
Applejack’s skeptical look morphed into a frown. “And old foal’s tale, eh?” She shook her head. “Can’t say that gives us much does it?”
Sunset closed her eyes and let out a huff. “I know.” Opening them again, she stared back at the floor where she’d traced the moon. She gave the spot a little kick, pretending there was something there, that her kick actually had an impact. Not that it helped any. “And I don’t even know where to begin looking.”
“The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.”
Sunset - as well as everypony else - snapped their heads up and looked towards the source of the voice. Pinkie, instead of standing with the other four mares, was over by one of the bookshelves opposite the fireplace, looking up at one of the books with a huge grin on her face.
Sunset was only dimly aware of darting towards her. No. There was no way it was that easy. All of her senses; hearing, seeing, even touch had gone numb as her hooves thundered over the wooden floor. She skidded to a halt right beside the pink pony and cast her eyes up towards the book Pinkie was looking at. She barely read the spine of the book that was the focus of her attention, but somehow, somewhere in the far corner of her brain that wasn’t completely frozen over, the words written there checked out with what Pinkie had said.
‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide’.
Sunset wasn’t exactly sure what she was feeling as she ignited her horn and pulled the book down. She flipped over to the glossary and began scanning the words. By all rights she should be relieved that it was this easy to track down a book that was this relevant to her situation. It would probably never happen again. But at the same time, the fact that it was as easy as looking in a public library - in a rural town no less - was almost mocking.
“Last Known Location… Page 103”
Sunset flipped to the listed page and scanned over it. There was a sketch of five rocks in a pentagon formation, with a different gemstone carved into each one. All of them were connected by a line inward to a sixth rock, though this one was blank. Sunset hummed, filing the drawing away in her mind as her eyes shifted to the words beside the sketch.
“Last Seen:”
“Right here.” A smile worked its way onto her face as she turned around and made her way back to the other four, never taking her eyes off the page. She sat down in front of them and pressed her hoof next to the letters. She slowly slid it down in tandem with the words on the page as she read along.
“There are six elements of Harmony, but only five are known; Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery.” A pit began to develop in her stomach as her smile slid off her face. Her hoof momentarily froze and she let out a small huff.
‘How encouraging.’
“It is said that the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, which is located in what is now -”
Any modicum of success Sunset may have felt was lost as the pit in her gut was torn open; so much so it could have physically devoured her and she wouldn’t have been surprised. Her teeth gnashed together as she took her hoof off the page and grabbed the cover of the book. She threw her body weight to the side, flipping the cover of the book over and slamming it shut.
“Oh, of course it’s in the middle of the Everfree-bucking-Forest! Where else would it be?!”
The slam of the book blew her mane back a little as she threw the book back towards the shelves. The poor hardback slammed into a row of other books, jostling a few of them off their perch and thudding unceremoniously onto the floor.
“Darling.”
Sunset whirled around and faced the other five mares. Rarity had stepped forwards and was giving Sunset a sympathetic look.
“Pardon me, Dear, but do you think you could… ease up a little?” She bit her lip. “I think it would behoove all of us if you were to calm down.”
“W-wha-?” Sunset sputtered. She gazed wide-eyed at Rarity as her jaw flailed about, opening and closing sporadically much like a fish’s would.
“Calm down…?” Sunset rotated her whole body so she was facing Rarity. “‘Calm down’? Rarity, the elements are in the middle of the Everfree and you think I can just ‘calm down’?” Sunset threw her head back and let out a scoff. It was cold, mocking, though it did little to help her mood.
“At least when I didn’t know where the elements were I could pretend that maybe, eventually, we could get them! But this is worse! I’m sorry, Rarity, but ponies don’t just walk into the Everfree Forest! I’ve read about the place and I know that it just doesn’t happen!” Sunset punctuated her last sentence with a stomp of her hoof. When she pulled it up she could feel a slight pullback as her hoof came free from the notch it just created. Another item on the list of damages she’d inflicted on the poor library. Sunset’s heart sank as Rarity flinched and stepped back towards the other five.
“I know you’re stressed, Sugarcube. But you’re not the only one who’s gettin’ affected by this.”
‘... Oh, hayseeds. I’m doing it again.’
Sunset allowed her neck to go limp. Her head lolled about and the rest of her body was soon to follow. “Dear heavens. Look, girls, I’m sorry I shouted. It’s just…” Sunset’s hind legs slowly gave out, sending her unceremoniously into a sitting position. “It’s the Everfree. It’s big, it’s dark, and ponies just… don’t come back.”
It was a half truth if nothing else. The ever-expanding Everfree’s size wasn’t lost on anypony, especially not to the natives of Canterlot who could see the dark green haze spanning across the horizon on a clear day, and having been near it earlier, it lived up to being known as the ‘darkest place in Equestria’.
But above all, as the blood pumping through her veins washed away the last fragments of adrenaline from Daybreaker’s return, and the thought of the large imposing pines drifted to the forefront of her vision; the last fragment of her hot, burning anger was snuffed out, replaced by a familiar, icy feeling that took hold of her, constricting around her throat and freezing her veins solid.
Despite her lax posture, Sunset felt herself begin to shiver. It wasn’t cold out. It hadn’t been for months. She opened her lungs, and inhaled, but the breath was shaky.
“I just… I’m…”
She couldn’t say it.
She wouldn’t say it.
The soft, steady pitter-patter of hooves coaxed Sunset’s head upwards. Fluttershy was standing in front of her. She was completely silent as she sat down beside Sunset and slowly, tentatively, outstretched a wing and set it on her back.
Sunset stiffened up at the feathery touch, but as the wing began tracing circles on her back her muscles began to relax. Her shaky breaths began to even out, eventually becoming smooth, controlled inhales.
She shifted her head slightly towards Fluttershy, her eyes traveling the rest of the distance until she could see the pegasus clearly. Surprisingly she was smiling at her. It was a small, comforting smile, one a pony might use when comforting a foal, with no hints of trepidation nor fear anywhere in her eyes - a stark contrast from the mare that couldn’t look at her the other day, or even moments ago. It was odd if nothing else.
“S-so,” Fluttershy said, “d-do you think that’s why Daybreaker’s heading to the Everfree? To take the Elements?”
“Probably.” Sunset replied. She moved her forelegs forward, letting Fluttershy’s wing slide off her back as she stood up. “If she gets them first there’s not much anypony can do to stop her.”
“Then we just gotta find them first!” Sunset looked towards Rainbow. The pegasus was standing, wings outstretched with her mouth jammed in a line. Sunset fought the urge to glare at her, instead opting for rolling her eyes.
“You saw where she went better than any of us, Rainbow. She’s probably there already.”
Rainbow’s expression morphed into a glare. She focused her eyes on Sunset and let out a huff. “Hey, she’s probably there, sure, but she’s gotta find the Elements first!” Her glare softened, making room for her cocky smile. “We just gotta beat her to it.”
Sunset turned her head away and grimaced. Finding the Elements before Daybreaker? Considering her massive head start on them, that was a tall order at best. Considering that none of them knew the exact whereabouts of the castle, and factoring in the Everfree’s size, trying to find the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in Equestria’s most dismal forest could accurately be described as trying to find a needle in a haystack.
“Rainbow’s right.”
Sunset casted her gaze back towards the others. Applejack had stepped forward, her jaw set tight and her eyes set on the book Sunset had thrown.
“Daybreaker’s probably searchin’ for those Elements right now. Best we can do is skedaddle and try and find ‘em first.”
Applejack cast her gaze back to Sunset. Her jaw loosened, turning upwards slightly. It wasn’t a smile, but it was certainly much softer.
“Think there’s any directions in that book, Sugarcube?”
Sunset slowly made her way towards the book. Even from across the room it sported a visible dent in its bindings, some of the fake gold adorning it having been chipped off. She bit her lip, her face rising in temperature as she lit her horn, gingerly plucking the book from its spot on the shelf. Wordlessly she flipped to the glossary.
‘Please have directions, please have directions…’
“Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters… Page 105”
It wasn’t directions, but it was certainly a start… hopefully. A spark of hope flared to life in her gut - one she quickly stamped out. It was far too soon to be celebrating. Sunset bit her lip and scowled, quickly closing the book and opening it from the font, hastily flipping over page after page until a hoof-written and highly ornate ‘105’ stared back at her.
“Whereabouts:”
A small smile worked its way onto her face. It wasn’t confirmation, but the odds of there being at least something was growing. She whirled around and - for a second time - cantered back to the other five, muzzle in book.
“It might be here.”
The book floated down to the ground and tipped over onto its spine. Sunset threw a hoof onto the pages, locking it in place as the other five circled around it.
“While confined to the heart of the Everfree Forest there are still many paths to and from the Castle that persist even today.” The spark in Sunset’s gut flared to life again, though no effort was made to snuff it out as the smile on her face only grew. “Currently the closest suspected path to the Castle runs through -”
Sunset was cut off by a loud cheer from Rainbow. Turning her head, Sunset saw the pegasus unfurl her wings and lift off from the ground, doing a small loop before landing back on the ground.
“Aww yeah!” Rainbow cried. “It runs through Ponyville! Piece a cake!”
Sunset nodded, the smile on her face completely taking over as she glanced back down at the book, reading over the last sentence one more time.
“Currently the closest suspected path to the Castle runs through Ponyville.”
Lighting her horn, Sunset picked the book back up and trotted over to its proper position - the ‘E’ section - and slid the book back into place. She’d have to pay for the damages done to the book later. For now, she could at least treat it nicely.
“Sunset, Darling!”
Sunset turned her head back around. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were all standing next to the exit of Golden Oaks, all looking at her expectantly.
“Are you coming?”
Sunset bit her lip, inhaling through the cracks in her mouth, and holding her breath. No. Stars above how she wished she could say no. Never in her life did she think she’d have to set hoof into the Everfree. Ponyville was close enough to the Everfree for her. Hay, Canterlot was close enough to the Everfree. Sunset threw up a small smile and trotted towards the other five.
“Yeah. I’m coming.”
Rarity nodded and stepped aside, allowing the other four to exit Golden Oaks before giving Sunset a smile and turning around, falling in place behind the others. Sunset evolved her slow trot into a canter, drawing in another breath and holding it until she exited the library, quickly joining up with the other five and falling into place at the center of the group next to Rarity.
***
“Sunset, Darling, are you ready?”
Sunset swallowed. It did little to push back the knot forming in her throat, nor did it do anything to quell her nerves.
Even when up close - not just as close as when she’d seen it earlier on the road to Fluttershy - but standing right at the maw of the beast, not even the intensity of Daybreaker’s sun could pierce through the dense canopy of the Everfree. The blinding, aggressive light of day beating down on the rest of Equestria was only able to convince the Everfree to yield only a few meters before the stubborn shadows reclaimed their hold. Even the pathway that led into it, where the light should have been the strongest, had only been able to penetrate less than a meter deeper before tapering off into blackness. A nagging feeling started up in her gut. She should say yes. The fate of Equestria could rely on this mission. There was no time to be scared. But the more she stood up close, even with all six of them staring down the ancient pines, the harder it became to say that word. Her body sagged, though only minorly, her eyes never leaving the path in front of her.
“No…” She relented.
A body saddled up to her, prompting Sunset to turn. Rainbow’s cocky grin greeted her.
“Good thing you have us then, right?”
Sunset worked her mouth into a smile and gave Rainbow a nod.
“Yeah. Guess so.”
“Uh-huh.” Rainbow puffed her chest out and thumped it with her hoof. “Now c’mon! Daylight’s burning!
“Wha-?”
Wind ripped past Sunset as Rainbow galloped into the forest, and it took only moments before the last of Rainbow’s tail to vanish into the darkness. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all followed suit, trotting into the forest and vanishing from sight. Sunset lurched forward, throwing up a hoof after them, but not breaking into a walk.
“Hey, wait!”
A giggle prompted her to turn around. Rarity was standing at the side opposite of where Rainbow had been. Her eyes were fixed on Sunset, and she wore a sympathetic expression.
“She’s quite something isn’t she?”
“Who, Rainbow?” Sunset moved her hoof to her muzzle, pinching it and letting out a groan. “Yeah. A giant pain in the flank is what she is right now.” Rarity’s giggled increased in volume, prompting Sunset to shoot her a half-hearted glare.
“I suppose you could say that, yes.” Rarity cast a glance at the Everfree before shifting it back to Sunset. “But she is right, you know.”
Sunset fully turned her gaze to Rarity. She took her hoof off her muzzle and arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“What Rainbow’s saying is that you have us, Darling. We want to help you.” Rarity took a step toward the Everfree and beckoned for Sunset to follow along. Gingerly, Sunset her hoof down in front of her, slowly putting her full pressure down on it before pulling the rest of her body along.
Rarity gave Sunset an encouraging nod and picked up her pace. She turned her attention away from Sunset as a blue glow surrounded her horn and the darkness around her began to fade. “As your friends we’re here for you, Dear.”
Both Sunset and Rarity stopped as Rarity put a hoof to her mouth and giggled. “A sentiment I quite agree with myself, and right now we simply must get you to that castle safely. Now, come along.”
Rarity set her hoof back down to the ground and picked up her pace again. Sunset remained rooted to the ground, her eyes following the bobbing blue sphere of light as it descended deeper and deeper into the woods. A frown worked its way onto her face, and she lifted a hoof to her mouth, nibbling on it.
Friends? That seemed a little too far. Sure, maybe they were nice enough, and they’d all been more than amicable over the past day, even Fluttershy to some extent, but that hardly meant they were friends. It was supposed to take more than a few pleasantries, right? Sunset’s frown deepened and she let out a groan. It couldn’t be that easy.
‘Still, over time, maybe.’
It was a nice thought, and it’d certainly be a first. Luna had always said that Sunset would be a natural at it if she tried.
A small spark of giddiness ignited deep in her gut. While not enough to put a smile on her face, it was enough to tug at the ends of her lips. If nothing else the idea of it was exciting.
She quickly put one hoof in front of another, coaxing her body from its still position into a canter. She ignited her horn, channeling her energy into making it as bright as possible as she pushed her way through the darkness of the Everfree. In the distance, she could make out a blue glow similar to her own - Rarity - and the sounds of ponies talking. The spark of giddiness began to grow, but only slightly. Still, it was enough for her to coax her face into a smirk. Perhaps after this whole escapade she could try her hoof at it. But only after. One thing at a time.
***
There was no distinct way to tell how long the six ponies had been walking, but they’d made it out of the trees. Time wasn’t particularly measurable when not even the celestial bodies themselves were visible. But even if they weren’t, the eternal sun in the skies above wouldn’t have been a good indicator either. Still, if Sunset had to put a peg on it, she’d bet it’d taken at least an hour to navigate down the winding pathway of darkness and trees.
The six now found themselves standing at the edge of a cliff, with the rest of the Everfree laid bare for them to see. Surprisingly, none of it was nearly as dark as the pines behind them. In fact, the rest of the Everfree from a distance looked perfectly normal. There were rivers, hills, trees that didn’t look nearly as intimidating as the towering pines, and even a waterfall. It looked exactly like one of those scenic paintings Sunset had seen adorning the many walls of Canterlot’s Art Museum. Under any other circumstance, she wouldn’t have minded lying down and enjoying the sights. But trying to find the ruins of a castle amidst this?
She could feel the threads of her sanity beginning to fray.
“So, have any of you actually been into the Everfree?”
“Oh heavens no, Darling.” Rarity turned her head around and glowered at the pines behind her. “I must admit the view is quite breathtaking, but no trip - regardless of the sights - is worth wading through that again.”
“And besides.” Applejack’s hoof pointed towards the sky. A small, wispy cloud was ambling about by itself towards the sun. It wasn’t too long before it eclipsed it, though with the intensity of the light shining down on Equestria, the cloud may as well have not existed.
“It ain’t natural. Folks say it don’t work the same as Equestria.” Applejack lowered her hoof back to the ground. “I say they’re right. I never seen a cloud move on its own before.”
Sunset suppressed a shiver as she saw the cloud poke its way through the other side of the sun. Having lived kilometers away, she considered herself fortunate enough to have never been subject to the reported autonomy of the Everfree, another element that was a well-documented fact. The Everfree’s ability to operate unchecked often led to freak weather patterns for bordering towns, with the most extreme instances having obliterated them off of the face of Equestria. Being so close, Ponyville was doubtless no exception, though she’d never seen any storms from Canterlot when she glanced out her window.
Sunset grimaced as the cloud finished it's trek in front of the sun and came out the other side. Her eyes remained transfixed on the cloud as it meandered away from the sun. Every so often her eyes would dart to the edge of the cloud, searching for the pegasus that must be responsible for moving it, only to find nothing. ‘Unnatural’ was a good word for it.
The sound of coughing tore her gaze away from the cloud. Rarity had put a hoof to her mouth, delicately clearing her throat before setting it back down.
“Apologies for interrupting our staring contest, Dears.” She said. “But really, we must get goi-.”
A familiar high-pitched whirring sound started up underneath Rarity’s voice. It was soft at first, barely more than a whisper, something completely veiled by even a slight breeze, until it poked its way out from behind the surrounding noise, making its way to Sunset’s ears and causing them to flick. Acknowledging, but unconvinced they’d actually heard anything. It became harder to mishear as it crescendoed in volume, silencing Rarity and prompting her and Sunset - as well as the other four - to move their heads about, scanning the cliff top for the source of the noise. Sunset turned her head around just in time to catch Rainbow’s wings spread wide and push down, propelling her upwards a meter or so off the ground.
Suddenly - just a few meters away from the cliff’s edge - a small flash of light caught the corner of Sunset’s eyes. Her blood turned to ice as she whirled her body around, the other five joining her and Rainbow calling out.
“Hey, Sunset? What the hay is that?”
A small ball of fire, barely large enough to fit in a foal’s hoof, was shimmering right behind the group. The air rippled around it as orange-gold ribbons spawned from the ether. Magic, blowing freely in a wind only felt by itself before it was pulled into the small sun-like object.
As the ribbons fed the small sun, both its size and its glow grew with the whirring noise continuing its ominous hike both in volume and pitch. The higher it grew, the more the air began to ripple and dance, and the longer and longer the ribbons became. It wasn’t long before the sun was roughly the size of a baseball, and the ribbons of magic were being pulled in more aggressively. Instead of simply being drawn towards the small sun, they soared around it at speeds rivaling even that of a pegasus, slowly being sucked into the sun much like water in a whirlpool.
Sunset’s heart froze as the ball began to shake. She leaped backwards and ignited her horn, throwing up a cyan barrier between the six of them and the ball of fire as it continued to grow. Without warning the sun plummeted towards the ground and phased through it, leaving behind an unearthly glow emanating from the depths below, wilting the surrounding vegetation and scorching the earth.
Silence reigned for the briefest of instances in the Everfree. For a moment Sunset could swear she heard the far-off river, and the cascading waterfall heavens-only-knew how many kilometers away. For an instant, the breathing of the six of them sounded as if they could carry to the ends of Equestria, before silence’s brief, yet powerful reign was cut short.
The ground went first. Violent heavings came from the cliffside as the packed dirt and rock beneath their hooves split open. Bright yellow light shone from the cracks, threatening to blind everypony as the tremors nearly knocked them off their hooves. The cracks continued spreading throughout the cliffside, and for an instant - were it night - one would no doubt be able to see the glow from across the wall of pines, but only for an instant before the ground gave way.
As the light reached its apex the ground beneath the six of them exploded. Rock, dirt, singed grass, and the screams of the six of them bombarded Sunset as her barrier broke and she and the other five were tossed into the air. For an instant she was weightless, free of gravity’s pull, though by no means at peace. She violently twisted about in the air, flipping over herself over and over again, desperately searching for the other five as she began to fall.
Having been the closest, Applejack was not far from her, being the distance of a few ponies beneath Sunset with one hoof clamped firmly on her stetson. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were nowhere to be found, though the odds were that they had taken flight. Pinkie and Rarity?
“Fluttershy! Quick!”
Sunset looked skyward just in time to catch both a rainbow and a light pink blur shoot away from the cliff. Sunset tracked them as at once they both began a rapid descent, far faster than anypony normally could. Her eyes raced ahead of the two, spotting two dots - one pink and one white - both far below her descending into a canyon. A canyon both her and Applejack were almost definitely on target for.
Sunset flipped her gaze downward. No, actually. No, they weren’t. Instead of being destined for the bottom of a canyon, she and Applejack were on a collision course for another cliff-face, though instead of being completely vertical, this one was instead heavily slanted. If anything it looked more like a mountainside instead of a proper cliff-face. She quickly ignited her horn and concentrated her magic at a point just above the face, closing her eyes as her horn erupted in a flash of cyan light. She didn’t dare to open them again until she came into contact with what would - hopefully - be there.
“Oof!”
Both her and Applejack grunted as they came into contact with something soft and somewhat gritty. Any wind Sunset had in her system was forcefully ejected as both she and Applejack crashed into - and subsequently harmlessly rolled off the two bean bags from the library.
Sunset scrambled into somewhat of a sitting position, leaning backwards and digging her hooves into the cliffside. Try as she might not want to admit it, it did very little to help her as the edge of the slope approached fast - too fast for her to slow down in time. Sunset cursed and flipped over onto her stomach, latching onto a nearby branch, while her lower half dangled helplessly over the edge - a second true, proper cliffside. Sunset’s hind legs kicked wildly, thudding against the hard rock and desperately trying to push their owner up, though all they accomplished was pointlessly grinding against the rock, and scanning the skies yielded nothing. No Rainbow, no Fluttershy.
“Hold on! Ima comin’!”
Applejack was sliding towards Sunset. Unlike her borderline out-of-control tumble, Applejack was slowly sliding down the slope at a speed barely slower than a trot. She skidded to a halt just in front of Sunset and stretched her hooves out to her, who wasted no time in letting go of the branch she was holding on to and grasped Applejack’s hooves with her own. Instantly she could feel herself slowly sliding back up the edge, albeit painfully slowly.
The joy was short-lived, as after what had to be a minute of tediously sliding up the edge of a cliff, the already deathly slow rate of Sunset’s rescue ground to a halt. Sunset dared to take her eyes off of Applejack’s hooves and turn them towards their owner. Applejack’s eyes weren’t looking at her. Instead, they were focused on something behind - and by proxy - below her. A smile adorned her face as she turned her attention back to Sunset.
“Hey, Sugarcube?”
“Yeah?” Sunset wheezed.
“Let go.”
A fog descended into Sunset’s mind. There was no way Applejack said what she just heard. It wasn’t possible. If she let go she would inevitably fall, and there were at least a hundred meters between her and the ground. There’d be no walking away from that injury if she was even conscious afterwards.
The fog lifted and Sunset shook her head. “What?” It came out sharper than anticipated, but she wasn’t inclined to care.
“I said ‘let go’.”
Her grip on Applejack’s hooves reflexively tightened. “And why the hay would I want to do that?!” Sunset began to pull with her own hooves. It was admittedly weak, but it did cause Applejack’s eyes to widen. “There’s a canyon below me, Applejack! I’m not about to fall and break something!”
‘Or worse…’
Applejack’s eyes hardened, but her smile remained. She began to pull on Sunset again, though not nearly as strong as before.
“Sugarcube.” Her voice was commanding, authoritative, but still caring. “Do you trust me?”
Sunset gulped, and her grip on Applejack’s hooves tightened even more. It was… an odd question in the moment, but it could be entertained - if only briefly.
In the brief time that she’d known her, Applejack did seem to be very neighborly if nothing else. She’d been nothing but friendly on the first encounter and had given Sunset some food and some cider at the party. Sure, she ran a business, but not once had she attempted to hound Sunset with offers. Then, of course, there was earlier that day.
Her care and attention to Sunset could not be ignored. If nothing else she seemed legitimately concerned for her well-being, even if only to stop Daybreaker. She’d proven herself to be a rock; a pony to lean on, at least from Sunset’s perspective. Up and down she seemed to be a great pony, and perhaps, perhaps even a friend if given enough time.
Sunset took a deep breath and gave Applejack a nod. Yes, she did trust her.
The hard look in Applejack’s eyes evaporated, and her smile doubled in size. “Alright, then.” The authoritative edge was dulled, taking on a more familial tone as her grip on Sunset slowly loosened. “Listen to me, Sugarcube, Fluttershy and Rainbow are right below you. When you let go, they’re ready to catch you.”
Applejack’s grip was almost, but not completely gone. Its ghost was still there, waiting for Sunset’s grip to vanish before departing itself. Sunset craned her neck around, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of Rainbow or Fluttershy, but to no avail. Her heart rate - already high- began to increase even further. Slower, deeper breaths were exchanged for shallower and quicker ones as her grip on Applejack continued to tighten.
She flipped her head back to Applejack. Her smile was only a ghost of its former self, but still present, while the rest of her expression was completely unreadable.
Sunset forced a few deep breaths into herself. Almost immediately her heart rate began to decelerate. Her hind legs slowed their flailing and in turn - as her body slowed down - deep breaths themselves became easier. With one last inhale - one Sunset held; she loosened her grip on Applejack’s hooves entirely, and Applejack did the same.
Freefall came to Sunset quicker than desired, but nevertheless, it felt painfully slow to get there. For a moment she felt suspended, much like only moments ago when she was tossed into the sky. Unlike moments ago, however, there was no feeling of weightlessness here. All too soon, her body complied with the force of gravity, sending her hurtling down towards the canyon floor. Sunset closed her eyes and bit her lip, forcefully sucking in air through the smallest cracks in her mouth.
‘I won’t scream.’
The catch was almost immediate. Two pairs of forelegs wrapped around her, rapidly slowing her momentum before halting it entirely.
Slowly she allowed herself to open her eyes. She was descending - slowly - towards the ground. She turned her head from side to side to look at her saviors. Fluttershy and Rainbow were looking back at her, each with a smile on their face.
“See?” Rainbow said. “We got ya.”
Sunset nodded and looked back towards the cliff face. Applejack was hopping down various rocks that jutted out of the cliffside, effectively forming a set of one-way stairs, before landing on the ground safely.
“Where’re Rarity and Pinkie?”
“They’re right below us.” Fluttershy said. Her head snapped away from Sunset to look at Rainbow. “Are we almost there, Rainbow?”
“Yeah.”
Sunset praised the heavens when she finally felt her hooves touch the ground. Rainbow and Fluttershy each detached their forelegs from around her and set themselves down. Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack, all came up to the three of them and cast their gazes back up to the cliff.
“So, what the hay was that?” Rainbow asked.
Sunset shrugged. “Daybreaker, probably. I can’t think of anything else it’d be.”
“Honestly, what a ruffian.” Rarity snorted and stomped her hoof. “If she’s trying to dispose of us she could at least do it in person!”
Sunset - as well as the other four, turned towards Rarity and cocked their heads. Rarity’s gaze flipped back and forth between each of them, her face becoming a little redder each time.
“And why would you want that, Rares?” Applejack asked. Rarity spluttered before taking a deep breath, sticking her muzzle up in the air and turning away from them.
“Well pardon me for wanting to go out with dignity!”
Silence reigned for a moment before Applejack brought a hoof to her mouth and coughed, grabbing the attention of the other five.
“So uh, anyways, does anypony know where we go from here?”
Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Sunset all turned towards Rainbow and Fluttershy. Fluttershy instantly retreated behind Rainbow, who stared back at the four of them with a frown.
“What?”
“Well,” Rarity hesitated, taking a nervous step forward. “You two are pegasi, dears. Perhaps while the rest of us were… disposed of, you two may have seen something?”
“Oh.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That’s it. I see how it is.” She slightly wilted under the gazes of the other four.
“Okay, okay. Fine.”
Rainbow pointed a hoof away from the cliff. She hummed quietly as she shifted it slightly, her face contorting as she glanced up at the sun before readjusting again.
“Flutters and I saw something over there. Wasn’t lookin’ too hard, but it was gray. Could probably be a castle, I dunno.” Rainbow shrugged as she set her hoof down. “Dunno about you girls, but I can’t think of what else could be gray out here. There’s a river down that way, and it was on the other side of it.”
Sunset nodded, and a smile made its way onto her face. Considering the circumstances, Rainbow’s description had been truthfully more than she was hoping for. “Sounds good.” She turned to Fluttershy, who shrank back a little more under her gaze. Sunset did her best to make her smile as warm looking as possible. “What about you, Fluttershy? Did you see anything like that?”
Fluttershy slowly stepped out from behind Rainbow and very slightly nodded her head. “Yes.” She squeaked. “I th-think it was the castle.”
“Sounds good to me.” Sunset whirled her body around in the direction where Rainbow pointed. The shuffling of hooves reached her ears as the other five grouped up behind her. Sunset took a step forwards when a thought popped up in her mind. She froze and turned her head back towards the sloping part of the cliff. She chuckled and turned her attention to the confused gazes of the other five mares.
“Give me a second.”
She quickly cut through the other five and cantered up to the base of the cliff. She lit her horn and after a few seconds, her eyes caught sight of a bright cyan flash emanating from just beyond where she could see. She smiled and made her way back to the front of the group, departing in the designated direction and prompting the other five to join her. Rainbow quickly moved forwards to the side of her and cocked her head in her direction
“So, what the hay was that about?”
“Beanbags.” Sunset replied. Rainbow’s confused expression only grew. “I used them to break Applejack’s and my fall.” Rainbow stayed silent, glancing back towards the shrinking cliff and Sunset a few times before shrugging, her confused expression fading into one of surprise.
“Huh.” She finally said. “Cool.”
***
“And as soon as Pinkie and Rarity were safe - whoosh! Me and Fluttershy looped-a-loop around, and wham! Caught ya right in the nick of time!”
Sunset had to fight not to roll her eyes. By Rainbow’s estimate, the river was around an hour away, and the six of them had only been walking for about fifteen minutes if Sunset had to guess, and not ten minutes in Rainbow had begun to regale everypony with her and Fluttershy’s heroics. Sunset gave a despairing glance to Rarity who only returned it with an apologetic look.
“Uh-huh.” Sunset relented. “You do remember I was there.”
“Well yeah, but hey.” Rainbow shrugged and ruffled her wings. “Telling stories is fun.”
“Oh?” Sunset arched an eyebrow at Rainbow. That was certainly a surprise. “You think so?”
“Sure.” Rainbow said. She gave Sunset a grin. “Ponies love a good story.”
“As long as they’re about her, if she has any say.” Applejack called from behind. Sunset glanced back only to see Applejack leering mischievously at Rainbow.
“Hey!” Rainbow whirled around and gave Applejack a glare. “I can talk about more than just me-!” An earth-shattering roar muted whatever words were about to come from Rainbow’s mouth. Sunset’s blood froze as she whirled back around in the direction they were headed.
About twenty meters in front of them in between two rocks was one of the many monsters of the Everfree. It was big, at least three or four times the size of Sunset. It had the body and head of a lion, and its tail was long and somewhat rugged, broken up into several segments, much like a spine which culminated at the tip in a stinger one might see on a scorpion. Lastly, perched on its back was a pair of long, enormous bat-shaped wings.
“A manticore!”
Without warning the beast clumsily leaped into the air. Sunset quickly jumped to the side, but the manticore wasn’t aiming for her. She looked back just in time to see Rarity leap back out of the way of one of its paws, pivoting onto her forelegs and kicking it in the face.
“Ha!” Rarity gave the beast a smirk. “Take that, you ruffian!” The manticore’s only response was a roar. It bent down in Rarity’s face and let out a howl so loud Sunset scrunched her eyes shut and slapped her hooves over her ears.
After the roar died down, Sunset opened her eyes again. The manticore was still standing in front of Rarity, giving her an intense glare. Rarity on the other hoof seemed fine, apart from her mane, which in lieu of the roar was completely tangled, comically standing straight up, only supported by the countless knots and the manticore’s saliva. Rarity herself had seemed to notice the current state of her mane, tentatively poking it with a terrified expression.
“My hair!”
Rarity whirled around and charged in the opposite direction of the manticore, passing Fluttershy who held out a hoof towards her. Sunset’s eyes narrowed as the beast gave chase. She charged up her horn, preparing what would be her third blast of magic in two days, but she quickly cut it off as Applejack clambered onto the manticore.
It was Sunset’s turn to hold out a hoof of her own. “Applejack! What the hay are you-?!”
“Whoowee!”
Applejack was holding onto the top of its mane with her hooves, stomping down in it to get its attention. The manticore began to violently shake its head, jumping from side to side in a desperate bid to throw off the orange pony.
“Get it on, little doggy!”
A pit in Sunset’s stomach began to form as her horn glowed again. Applejack and the manticore were way too close to those rocks. Should the manticore choose to swing its head a little too far that would be it for both of them. There was no way in Tartarus whatever this was could continue. Sunset grit her teeth as her horn glowed brighter. If the manticore would stay still she could just-!
With one final, ferocious swipe of its head, Applejack yelped as she lost her grip on the manticore, flying past Rainbow on her way to the ground. Sunset flipped her head around and pointed her horn where she was destined to land. A small square of magic materialized just in time for Applejack to crash harmlessly into it. It bent and stretched, much like a trampoline. Sunset breathed a sigh of relief as she banished it, deactivating her horn just before it launched Applejack back the way she came, letting the farmer fall the last few inches - harmlessly, thank the heavens - to the ground.
Sunset turned back around to look at the manticore… or at least what she could see of it. A rainbow tornado was blowing around the manticore, kicking up the surrounding dirt and blowing her mane in front of her face. Her heart thudded in her chest as she spurred her legs into action, galloping towards the manticore, her horn igniting once again.
“Rainbow!” Sunset called out. “Stop! You could get hurt!”
The tip of the manticore’s tail peaked over the top of the tornado. The pit in Sunset’s gut tore open as she channeled more energy into her horn, concentrating it on the manticore’s tail. Just as the glow began to materialize on the tail, it swung downwards, cutting through the rainbow tornado and striking its perpetrator out of the sky. Both Sunset and Rainbow cried out as she was spiked into the ground. Sunset’s eyes were locked on Rainbow as the pegasus rolled unceremoniously to their hooves.
Sunset quickly brought her eyes back up to the manticore, fixing the beast with the fiercest glare she could muster. The manticore glared back, bringing its body low to the ground and pawing at it, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it, its eyes never leaving Sunset. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all saddled up next to her, each one giving the manticore the same identical glare she had.
Sunset’s horn roared to life and she charged at the manticore, the hoofbeats of the other four quickly reaching her ears. Her horn began to flare as cyan energy condensed around the tip of it. A blast would surely get it to go away. Now, where to strike? The paw? The tail? Sunset allowed herself a grisly smirk.
‘The head should do just fine.’
“Wait!”
The glow on Sunset’s horn died as she and the other four slammed their hooves into the ground, grinding to a halt. Fluttershy hurtled from the corner of Sunset’s vision and landed squarely between the five of them and the manticore, her wings outstretched, though no trace of bravery in her eyes. For a moment nopony - or even the manticore - moved. Sunset and Fluttershy held each other's gaze before Fluttershy turned away, trotting up to the Manticore and nuzzling its left paw.
“It’s okay.”
Sunset bit her lip, opening up her magic reserves when the manticore raised its paw. Whatever the hay Fluttershy was playing at looked far from safe. Fortunately, all the beast did was turn it over, exposing its palm to the Everfree. Sunset was dimly aware of the other five gasping when the manticore exposed its paw. Her stomach gave a violent lurch and she quickly slapped a hoof over her own mouth, forcing herself not to gag.
What should have been a large, fuzzy - and admittedly rather cute paw, despite its size - was instead a red, angry mess of boiling skin, gleaming brightly in the daylight, with no traces of fur. No wonder the beast had been mad. Hay, it was a miracle it was even able to stand on it like it did.
“You poor thing.” Fluttershy murmured. Sunset stepped to the side to see her gently holding the offending paw in her hooves. “I didn’t know this was… oh my.” She let go of the paw and spread her wings, flying a couple of meters into the air, flipping her head about wildly.
“Oh… it has to be here. Please.”
Sunset arched an eyebrow as Fluttershy began flying around the immediate area. She was searching for… something. That much was certain. Her gaze was cast downward, scanning over the vegetation.
“Please, please… ah!”
Without warning, Fluttershy swooped down and snatched up a blade of… something in her mouth. Sunset squinted, turning her gaze back to where Fluttershy came up from. Still swaying from the pegasus’ sudden assault, with a freshly cut-off leaf was… Aloe Vera? Sunset blinked and moved closer, getting to only a few hoofsteps between her and the plant and peering down at it.
‘Fleshy leaves, no stem… yup. How the hay is it here?’
Sunset lifted her head up and glanced about the surroundings of the six of them. Indeed, there wasn’t just Aloe Vera - but a plethora of plants that shouldn’t be able to grow - at least not comfortably - in an environment as mild as this one. She cast her gaze back up to the sky. Far on the horizon, deep into the Everfree were some clouds that definitely weren’t there before.
‘Strange indeed’
“There.”
Sunset turned her attention back towards Fluttershy. She was hovering in the air, gently patting the now-bandaged paw of the manticore, giving it a smile completely devoid of fear or apprehension, a smile that surprisingly the manticore returned. Using its good paw, it placed it under Fluttershy's hind legs and gave her a lick across the face, before turning away and bounding off. Sunset and the other four quickly cantered up to Fluttershy. Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack were wearing various expressions of disbelief - one Sunset herself no doubt shared in, whereas Rainbow was wearing an exasperated, but good-natured smile.
“I must say, Darling, that was absolutely stupendous.” Rarity said. Applejack nodded and gave Fluttershy a smile.
“I’ll say. Never woulda thought the fella was sufferin’ from a burn.”
“Oh my.” Fluttershy took a step back from the five of them and gave a nervous smile. “I didn’t know about the burn, girls. I just wanted to show a little kindness is all.”
Sunset’s ears flicked and her face abandoned whatever expression it held. The voices of the other five faded out of her mind as she put a hoof to her chin and glanced toward where the manticore ran - and in the direction of their destination.
“There are six elements of Harmony, but only five are known; Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty.”
‘Kindness, huh?’
This seemed… important, though she was unsure how. The Elements were still mostly - if not entirely - an enigma to all except Luna. What (or even who given how crazy this morning had been) they could possibly be was a complete mystery. Sunset’s hoof subconsciously drifted to her muzzle and she began to nibble on it. Though what they were didn’t really matter. At the moment, the highest priority was keeping them away from Daybreaker.
‘However that’s gonna work.’
“Hey, Sunset!” It was Pinkie’s voice.
Sunset perked her head up. The other five were already way past the two rocks the manticore had been in the way of, all of them looking at Sunset expectantly.
‘Oh, right.’
Sunset dismissed her train of thought, filing it away neatly in her mind, and kicked herself into a canter. First, the Elements of Harmony needed to be seen. It’d be easier to determine how to handle them then. She caught up to them again and moved back up to the front of the group. The sound of shuffling hooves kicked up as the six of them spurred into motion again.
***
“Eugh! My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck!”
It had been an uneventful fifteen or so minutes since the manticore. The six continued their journey primarily in silence, save for Rarity spending most of the time fixing her mane, and the occasional small talk that would stir up between two or three of them before dying back down after a few minutes. After a few twists and turns, the pathway had yielded to a span of terrain that at one time that; considering the general lack of immediate trees or much of any wildlife, might have been a lake. Presently, however, it played home to what had to be Equestria’s most dismal marsh. Sunset grimaced as she looked around at the stagnant brown color plaguing the vicinity. There was barely even any water present, just mud.
“Well eyes forward, Rares. I think you’re gettin’ your wish.”
Sunset snapped her attention back in the direction she was heading - something she hadn’t actually done since entering the marsh. Roughly ten or so meters in front of her was another forest, with the same oppressive darkness carried by the first one, if not stronger this time. Though that might have been courtesy of its far more decrepit look. Dotted amongst the pines were large brambles of wood - barely even trees. They sported no leaves, no animals hanging off them, not even moss was growing on them. The way their branches writhed and twisted as they desperately reached for the sky was comically similar to trees one might see on Nightmare Night. A shiver ran through her body as she made the final few hoofsteps to the maw of the forest. Or at least it would be comical if it wasn’t right in front of her.
“Oh… oh my.” Rarity’s voice sounded beside Sunset as the other five saddled up beside her. “Well, I didn’t mean that literally.”
“Well literal or not you’re gettin’ it.” Applejack said. The corner of Sunset’s mouth was tugged upwards at the sound of an exaggerated sigh from Rarity. “We all ready?”
Sunset closed her eyes and took a quick deep breath in a bid to quell her heart. She’d already ventured into a dark abyss earlier today. She could do it again. “Yeah.” She said as she ignited her horn. Biting down on her lip again, she took a few steps forward. Though her breathing hadn’t helped her heart, the sounds of familiar hoofsteps, and a second light - full blue instead of cyan, allowed her heart to rapidly slow down in its pace. A much-needed comfort as her eyes flitted about the ends of her magic’s influence.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the darkness here seemed even more oppressive than it did from the pines in front of Ponyville. Her horn’s light, which she remembered Rarity’s extending a few meters all around, was barely able to match half that, not even illuminating the edges of the pathway, and that was with Rarity’s magic as well. Perhaps it was because magic was stronger in the interior of the Everfree? It was certainly a plausible theory.
“Ohhh, why does it have to be so dark?” Fluttershy’s squeak was almost inaudible to Sunset. “It’s so suffocating, and scary… and evil.”
Sunset’s ears flicked as Fluttershy’s already barely audible voice trailed off into barely even a whisper near the end. The soft shuffling of hooves prompted her to turn her head around. Fluttershy had sided up to Rainbow and was burying her face in Rainbow’s mane. Rainbow didn’t seem to mind too much, flitting her eyes to either side before unfurling a wing and draping it over Fluttershy’s barrel.
“The Everfree has a funny sense of humor, I’ll tell ya what.” Applejack grumbled. “Makin’ the forests darker than pitch. Consarn -”
Applejack was cut off by a loud squelching noise, which drew Sunset’s own attention too. Bending a little more to look at Applejack, the farmer had one hoof up and was eying it with a bemused look.
“Oh. I think I stepped in somethin’.”
Sunset shrugged and turned her head back around to face the path again. She lifted one hoof up, poised to set it down again when an ear-splitting scream froze it in its place.
“Aaaaah!”
Sunset flipped her head back around as far as it could go, the rest of her body refusing to comply.
Fluttershy’s eyes were wider than Sunset had ever seen. Her wings were completely outstretched, and her entire body was leaning back as far as it could go. She was staring in Sunset’s direction, her eyes were locked on Sunset.
Sunset’s heart lurched. No. Fluttershy’s eyes weren’t locked on her. They were locked on a point behind her.
‘Dear heavens, what is it’
“It’s just mud.” Applejack’s voice rang out, seemingly oblivious to the object of Fluttershy’s attention. “Waugh!”
From the very edges of her horn’s light, Sunset caught a flurry of movement as Applejack leaped backwards. Sunset slammed her eyes shut and turned her head back around. Did she want to open her eyes? Nervous gasps from the others and their own cries only caused Sunset to close her eyes even tighter. Whatever it was, perhaps she could just slowly back away?
No. That was stupid. If she wanted to run she’d have to open her eyes. If she had to open her eyes she might as well understand what she was running from. Opening her lungs she took a deep breath.
‘Smoke.’
The deep breath was cut painfully short. Sunset doubled over and pounded her chest, her throat working overtime to expel the invading substance as it poured into her lungs. She scrunched her eyes shut even more, but that didn’t stop a stray tear or two from etching its way out from behind her eyelids. Throwing a foreleg over her mouth, she drank in a series of shorter breaths, each breath successfully expelling a fraction of the intruding smoke from her lungs until it was no more.
Bracing herself this time, she massaged her throat and took another deep breath, much slower than the last one. The smoke was still there, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. Letting it out slowly, she opened her eyes.
A tree stood not far off to her right - one of the dead ones with its bramble-like branches twisting haphazardly in every direction possible, except something about it was wrong. Sunset stepped closer to it, squinting her eyes as her mouth moved into a frown only to quickly recoil not a hoofstep later. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened. Her lip curled up and the need to expel something, anything boiled in her gut as she - like the others - took a step backwards, anything to get away from the tree.
A grotesque face had been carved into the tree. It wasn’t carved by knife, nor stone, nor any sharp object at all. The ‘carving’ if one could call it had been crudely branded into the tree by something hot. Fire, if Sunset had to guess. There were embers still smoldering inside the lines where the perpetrator had no doubt forcibly put out the fire after marking it with whatever tool they had used. The sight of it sent Sunset’s stomach into a frenzy. Again she clasped a hoof over her mouth, the party food from last night threatening to worm its way up her throat.
She whirled her head around, only to find another tree just like it staring back at her. This one had it even worse, with entire branches missing, still glowing red at their tips. Her eyes shot down to the ground, wildly searching for the dead branches, but only ash greeted them. Whether that was better or worse she didn’t know.
Again and again, Sunset’s head changed directions, and again and again, yet another tree - always different - would be greeting her, mutilated beyond all belief, with some barely resembling trees. Each time a step back would be taken, the cries from the others slowly evolving into all-out screams, each second of it accelerating her heart until it was barely able to be felt in her chest.
Suddenly, the sound of laughter made its way to Sunset’s ears. They flicked once, twice, bidding her to turn her head to the source. A sharp but short inhale later - should the smoke bid to send her into another coughing spree - she allowed her head to turn.
Pinkie was standing next to one of the trees, looking up at it with a smile on her face. The cries of the other four seemed to be lost on her as her expression shifted from one ludicrous look to the next, each one punctuated by a laugh.
The laughter seemed to catch the attention of the other four as well, as mere moments after Sunset’s attention was caught, the screams rapidly died down. For a moment the Everfree was silent, save for only the odd sound and the laughter of Pinkie.
“Uh… Pinkie, Darling?” Out of the corner of her eye, Sunset caught a shifting movement as Rarity stepped forwards. “What in Equestria are you doing?”
“Oh, girls!” Pinkie’s voice melded with her laughter as she turned away from the tree and turned towards Sunset and the others. Her head began bobbing, causing her mane to bounce as she began tapping a hoof. “Don’t you see?”
Pinkie’s voice changed at the end of her sentence. It moved up higher, became more carefree, and finished in time with her hoof as it hit the ground again. Sunset arched an eyebrow and cocked her head before her eyes widened. She watched as Pinkie began to move her whole body to a beat only she could hear as a thought entered her mind.
‘There’s no way.’
“When I was a little filly
And the sun was going doooown…”
Sunset bit back a snort as Pinkie struck a pose, her voice fluctuating between high and low notes as she gazed back up at the tree.
“She cannot be serious…” She muttered as Pinkie leaped over to them, siding up to her with a mischievous smile and pressing her body against the five of them.
“The darkness and the shadows
They would always make me froooown…”
“She is.” Rarity replied as Pinkie leaped away from them.
Pinkie began to lope around the five of them like a pony pogo stick as she continued her song. Sunset blinked and squinted her eyes, leaning forward as she tried to cast as much light on Pinkie’s movements as she could.
“I’d hide under my pillow
From what I thought I saw.
But Granny-Pie said that wasn’t the way
To deal with fears at aaaall.”
“Then what is?” Rainbow’s voice cut through. Instantly Pinkie was by her side, hunched over with her hooves next to her own cheeks, making a face like she was speaking to a foal. A pleasant, feathery feeling began to form in Sunset’s stomach as she watched the admittedly ludicrous display.
“She said ‘Pinkie you gotta stand up tall,
Learn to face your fears.”
Pinkie bounded away from a now glowering Rainbow who had just been the recipient of an overly affectionate nuzzle. She landed in front of one of the trees and turned her head back towards Sunset and the others.
“You’ll see that they can’t hurt you
Just laugh to make them disappear’.”
Sunset watched as Pinkie whirled her head around to face the tree, still bobbing her head to the beat and opening her mouth.
“Ha. Ha. Ha.”
It wasn’t a laugh, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was by no means less silly. Pinkie pretending to laugh at a sight that had mere moments ago been sending Sunset’s stomach into turmoil on top of the song she was singing sent the feathery feeling in her gut bubbling up her throat. She quickly clamped her muzzle shut and threw a hoof over her mouth, but it was only a half effort, and something half snort and half chuckle burst from around the cracks.
For a split moment, there was silence. Sunset’s cheeks burned as she let her hoof fall from her mouth, chiding herself for allowing such a noise to escape her lips. She was pretty sure she was getting judgmental looks for laughing at whatever Pinkie was doing but she didn’t want to check, instead turning her attention to Pinkie herself.
Pinkie was staring back at Sunset, her face wearing quite possibly the biggest grin Sunset had ever seen. She bounded over to her and grabbed one of her hooves before bounding back to one of the trees, dropping her in front of it before bounding away again.
“So giggle at the ghosties
Guffaw at the ghostly.
Crack up at the creepy
Whoop it up with the weepy.”
Sunset turned her head back around. Pinkie was pulling the other four towards various trees, either lightly nudging them towards a tree like with Fluttershy or full-on pulling them like with Applejack and Rainbow. Surprisingly, each of them when placed in front of a tree belted out in laughter. Even Fluttershy was surprisingly not daunted by the grotesque faces, and Rainbow seemed perfectly fine with it as well, despite how silly laughing at a tree was.
“Chortle at the cooky
Snortle at the spooky.”
Sunset turned her attention back to the tree in front of her. It was still smoldering, still glowing, and the scars inflicted to it hadn’t gone away. She bit her lip. It certainly wasn’t scary - not anymore, but laughing at it would be impossible. Laughing at something suffering, even if it might be dead, that didn’t sit right.
“And tell that big dumb scary face
To take a hike and leave you alone
And if he thinks he can scare you
Then he’s got another thing coming
And the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna…”
Sunset turned her head back around. Pinkie was creeping around from behind one of the trees wearing a silly expression on her face completely at odds with her posture. The laughter from the other four seemed to be getting to Pinkie as well as she had begun cracking up near the end of her sentence, giggles replacing any vowels present. The feathery feeling that Sunset had experienced not moments ago began to bubble up in her gut again.
“Laaaaugh!”
Pinkie’s last word was barely more than a laugh itself. She collapsed to the ground, rolling over on her back, and devolved into a fit of giggles with Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy joining her only moments later. Sunset cracked a smile as the feeling began to make its way up her throat once again. She couldn’t laugh at the trees - she wouldn’t. But the sight of the ponies around her enjoying themselves - and in the Everfree of all places was a perfect substitute. She allowed the feeling to escape from her throat unopposed as she cantered over to the other five, lazily allowing herself to fall over and join them on the forest floor.
***
“How are we gonna cross this?”
Pinkie had been the one leading the charge out of the woods. It was hardly an eventful journey but it was very enjoyable. As opposed to the standard trudge through the dingiest forest known to ponies (and under the direst of circumstances to boot), Pinkie had done her best to keep everypony entertained, either through one of her numerous jokes or through a story she’d either heard or made up. It was more than enough to keep a smile on everypony’s face - including Sunset’s, much to her own surprise.
That said, their train of good cheer had come to a quite literal crashing halt when Pinkie stopped without warning - prompting Sunset to crash into her backside. By the sounds of it, the chain had continued with Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy each crashing into the pony in front of them, which now found Sunset spluttering, trying to get the last remnants of pink tail out of her mouth as she peered around Pinkie in an attempt to see what prompted her to stop.
The river - which had almost certainly been calm when the six of them had seen it from atop the cliff - was now a frothing mess of water and foam. Waves tumbled and crashed into and over each other, and unfortunate twigs and branches that dared to tread too close to the raging body of water were either swept into the current or snapped in half by the sheer power of the waves. Sunset flinched and took a step back after a few stray drops flew from the river and landed on her muzzle, much too close to her eyes for comfort. She quickly raised a hoof and scrubbed it off her muzzle. Heavens only knew what was in that water.
“Ah-hoo-hoo-hoo!”
Sunset straightened up slightly as the sound of a voice reached her ears, slightly muffled by the roaring of the water, but audible nonetheless. She shifted her head, glancing down both sides of the river, each side twisting and turning in its sporadic path before bending out of sight beyond the trees, but only them and the roaring waves greeted her vision.
“I’m guessin’ y’all heard that too?”
She shifted her gaze to Applejack. The other five were sifting their heads about as well. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow all looked concerned, whereas Rarity and Fluttershy were trembling.
“Uh-huh.” Rainbow nodded her head. “What the hay was that?”
“Ah-hoo-hoo-hoo!”
Sunset’s ears flicked as the voice reached her again. Hesitantly she stepped forwards closer to the river and peered to her left, grimacing as the frothy water dampened the base of her forelegs.
‘This definitely warrants a bath later.’
Again the only things that greeted her were water and trees. Shrugging, she began to lean back towards the other five, grateful to get away from the water before a flash of purple caught her vision. Blinking, she leaned forwards again, the splashing of the water lost on her as she squinted towards the furthest part of the river visible.
Sunset bit back a yelp as a long purple tail rose up from the water, rising up at least as high as Town Hall before slashing back down. Her blood turned to ice as the tail crashed into the water, parting the frothy mess with an ear-splitting crack and sending a fresh bout of waves tumbling downstream. There were only two things something with that tail could be, and one of them would probably have no qualms about attacking them on the spot.
“What’s the matter, Darling?” Rarity’s voice reached her ears.”Did you see something?” Sunset quickly cast her gaze back to the other five and nodded her head.
“Yeah!” She called back. With any luck, Rarity could hear her over the noise of the river. Lifting her hoof, Sunset quickly pointed to where the tail had been, any traces of its presence apart from the waves left behind were gone. Lowering her hoof, she quickly backed away from the river and turned to face the other five. She flicked her head in the direction of the tail - now to her right.
“Something’s causing the waves upstream. Looks like it could be a sea-serpent.” She cast another wary glance in the direction of the creature. “...Or a dragon.” Sunset was dimly aware of the other five flinching as the last few words left her mouth. Fluttershy quickly backed up behind Rarity, rapidly casting glances in the direction Sunset gestured to.
“Oh my…” Her words were barely a whisper. “I c-certainly hope it’s not a dragon…”
“I must agree.” Rarity said, eying where the creature was with a grimace. “It would certainly not make crossing easy.”
Sunset nodded. Few things in Equestria - if any - were as scary as dragons. Known for being able to take out entire armies back in ancient times, dragons were largely territorial creatures, not known for playing hospitable. Be it in their own caves, or even out in the open, at drinking spots in rivers, they were more than willing to bear tooth and claw over even the tiniest of oversteps. They were also infamous for not getting along with ponies even in modern times, though there was currently an experiment in Canterlot involving a hatchling that was yielding some results.
“Definitely.”
Sunset bit her lip and inhaled, forcing one hoof forwards towards the trees. The creature - whatever it was - still hadn’t let up on its sobbing, its wails still echoing through the trees and crashing over the six of them. Soon enough, she was standing right at the base of the trees. From here she could just make out another clearing not too far away - about twenty odd meters or so, but the foliage was so dense that again only flashes of purple were able to be seen. Inhaling as fast as she could, she held her breath and stepped into the forest. Dragon or sea-serpent, the river had to be crossed. There was no point in checking if the other five were behind her. They were.
Sunset picked up her speed as she navigated over the forest floor, initially no more than a trot evolved rapidly into a canter as she ducked out of the way of brambles, dodged various shrubs, and evaded trees both young and old. The sounds of hoofsteps and the occasional cracking of a dead branch echoed from behind her, with the only other noise still being the uncontrolled wailing of whatever was ahead. Despite the ground covered the trees seemed determined to obscure as much of the clearing as possible.
Sunset came to halt in front of a rather large shrub that hid just behind the final few trees - easily matching her in height, and was just as wide. Fur brushed against her own as the Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all sided up next to her, each also taking care to stay behind the shrub. Igniting her horn, she wrapped the center of the shrub in a cyan glow, parting its center and peering her head through.
For the most part, the last few trees were still obscuring a large part of the creature - namely its head, though much, much more of it was visible now. As the tail continued to thrash about, its scales - freshly wet as they rose up from the river - caught the sunlight, flashing a bright white causing Sunset to flinch on its ascent towards the sky.
Sunset hummed as she ran her eyes over the creature’s tail. Her heart - previously racing rapidly began to decelerate. The edges of her mouth curved upwards as her body loosened, letting out a breath of air she’d been holding unbeknownst to herself.
The tail was long. Much, much too long to be that of a dragon’s, looking like something instead belonging to a much oversized snake. There was no hook on the end, no secondary color on any side of it, and no appendages attached. It was slender, slowly expanding from its tip and fading into the creature’s body seamlessly.
“Can you see what it is, Darling?” Rarity’s voice was hushed, barely above a whisper. The smile on her face evolved into a grin as Sunset pulled her head out of the shrub and turned to the other five.
“It’s a sea-serpent.”
The five mares in front of her all loosened up, their apprehensive expressions morphing into smiles. Rainbow silently pumped her hoof and unfurled her wings, rising herself just barely off the ground and doing a small loop in the air.
“Oh thank goodness.” Fluttershy whispered.
“Indeed. It seems we’ve found the lesser of the two evils.” Rarity said. She gave Fluttershy a smile before turning her head back to Sunset. “And you’re sure they’re causing the waves, Darling?”
“Positive.”
Sunset quickly parted the shrub again and lazily cast her gaze back towards the sea-serpent. Sure enough, she peeked through just in time to catch the tail slamming full force into the water again, sending water skyward before it arced down and crashed into the river, reforming as hills as it rolled downstream.
“Yup.”
“I see…”
Sunset cast her gaze back to Rarity. Gazing downward, her face was contorted in a frown and her hoof was on her chin. After a moment she brought her face back up and gave Sunset a sheepish smile.
“I’m guessing asking him to stop will prove difficult.”
“I’ll say.” Applejack poked her head around the shrub. “Sounds like the poor fella’s -”
“What a world!”
Applejack quickly stepped back behind the shrub as a distinctly masculine voice rang out. Sunset winced as her ears folded back, her entire body jumping slightly as the voice crashed over her and the others.
“What a world!”
While less surprising than the first time, Sunset’s eardrums still pulsed in pain as the voice hit her again before it devolved back into incomprehensible sobs. She glanced back at Applejack who returned her gaze, her face sporting a grimace as her eyes shifted between both her and Rarity.
“Sounds like the poor fella’s havin’ a rough day”
“Yes, quite so.” Rarity said. Sunset cast her gaze over to the other unicorn. Her eyes were closed and her hoof was resting on her chin. After a moment her eyes were open again, and her mouth now set in a line. “Then we must do our best to rectify it.” She quickly turned towards one of the sides of the shrub and without warning began to trot forwards.
“Rarity!” Applejack hissed. She lunged towards the unicorn and latched onto her tail with her mouth, fixing her with a glare. “Where th’ hay do you fink you’re goin’?”
“I,” Rarity hissed back, returning Applejack’s glare and yanking her tail out of her grip. “Am going to help a soul in need, Darling. Far be it from me to turn a blind eye to anypony in distress.” Applejack opened her mouth to retort, but Rarity quickly cut her off.
“And if you’re so worried about my safety, then come with me.” Rarity turned her attention back towards the shrub, sidestepping it and putting herself mere paces in front of the clearing. “Because I am not leaving this poor gentleman in distress without doing something first.”
Sunset quickly trotted up to Applejack, whose eyes were still on Rarity, her jaw slightly hanging open and her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Raising a hoof, Sunset poked her twice in her barrel, snapping Applejack out of her trance and turning her gaze to Sunset.
Sunset gave her a smile and stepped towards the spot Rarity had been moments prior. Turning her gaze to look at the other four as well, she lifted her hoof again and waved it slightly, beckoning the other four who sided up next to Applejack.
“We should probably follow her.”
Applejack slowly shook her head, closing her mouth and nodding. “Right.” She and the other four fell in line behind Sunset.
“Oh, siiir!”
Rarity’s singsong tone whipped Sunset’s head back around towards the clearing. From the shrub, she could see Rarity standing a few steps away from the sea-serpent. Trotting out into the clearing and siding up to Rarity, Sunset arced her head upwards, casting her gaze up at the creature.
The first thing that stood out about him was his hair. In contrast to his solidly purple body and head, the sea-serpent’s hair was a bright orange color, long and slicked back over his neck, imbued with yellow streaks that ran back to the ends. Both his eyebrows and handlebar mustache were the same color too, with the mustache even copying the yellow streaks in his hair.
The second thing that stood out about him was that the right half of his mustache was almost missing. Around what she guessed would have been the halfway mark, the bright orange and yellow rapidly faded to black, jaggedly spreading out in every direction and fraying at the ends. She winced as her eyes fixed on the ends of the mustache. The smoke coming off of it was still visible.
“Is something the matter, Darling?”
The sea-serpent who’d previously had his hands over his eyes lowered them, opening his eyes to stare down at the six ponies below him.
“Well I don’t know!” Sunset winced as his voice crashed down on her. While neither rude nor crass, the volume of his voice certainly matched him in size. His arms rose from the water and waved about wildly as he spoke. “I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little wisp of flame just went whiss! Past me! And burnt half of my beloved mustache clean off…” His voice was little more than a whine by the end.
“And now… I look simply horrid!”
The sea-serpent let out a wail and threw himself back first into the roaring water, creating a giant wave that towered over even the surrounding trees. A numbing sensation crept into her brain as she stared at the spot where he disappeared, barely registering the wave that crashed into her and the others, causing them to cry out and ruin her mane for the second time in two days. Shaking most of the water out of her mane she glared at where the sea-serpent had resurfaced, laying his head on the river bank with a pathetic expression on his face.
‘He cannot be serious.’
“Aww, gimmie a break…” Rainbow muttered from her side.
“That’s what all the fuss is about?” Applejack asked.
“Why of course it is! How can you be so insensitive?”
Rarity’s voice cut over both Rainbow’s and Applejack’s, prompting Sunset to turn her head. The other unicorn was fixing both Rainbow and Applejack with a glare, before turning her attention towards the sea-serpent, turning her nose up and adopting an expression Sunset had only ever seen on the stuck-up ponies that visited Luna to complain about their problems, before slowly trotting over to him. Had she been in a better mood the sight would have gotten a good chuckle out of her.
“Awwouldja lookat him?”
Sunset blinked, flicking her ears and shaking her head. Rarity’s accent and refined speech pattern had vanished, replaced by something vaguely resembling foal speak, coaxing something vile up her throat. Bidding herself to force back whatever it was, she turned her head away from the bizarre display, her eyes falling on Rainbow. The pegasus met her gaze, creeping towards Sunset and leaning towards her, face locked in a grimace as she shifted her gaze back to Rarity.
“What the hay is she doing?”
“Such lovely luminescent scales!”
In an instant, both Rarity’s normal tone and speech pattern were back. Sunset mustered a shrug towards Rainbow before turning her head back to watch Rarity. She was right next to the sea-serpent, hoof extended and running it over his chin.
The sea-serpent let out a pitiful sniff, much like - no, exactly like a foal would near the tail-end of a breakdown. He opened his eyes and fixed them on Rarity.
“I know…”
“Your expertly quaft mane!”
The pathetic expression on the sea-serpent vanished. He pushed himself up from the water and ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back a little more.
“Oh I know! I know!”
“Your fabulous manicure!”
The sea-serpent gasped and brought his hands together, shaking them for a moment as a small smile appeared on his face, before placing them on either side of it. “It’s so true!”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and flicked her eyes to the sea-serpent’s nails. He had a manicure?
“All ruined without your beautiful mustache!”
The smile that had been building up on the sea-serpent’s face fell. Once again looking to be on the verge of tears, he threw his arms over his head, bowing it and hunching down. “It’s true, I’m hideous!”
Casting her gaze down to Rarity, Sunset saw her face crossed between a glare and an expression vaguely resembling disapproval. At who or what Rarity’s expression was aimed for, the heavens only knew.
“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!”
A gasp came from both sides of Sunset as without warning, Rarity lunged forwards, grabbing one of the scales on the sea-serpent’s underside with her teeth and yanking backwards. The sea-serpent cried out as Rarity ripped the scale off of his body and held it skywards.
“Rarity!” Sunset spurred her body into a canter, fixing the other unicorn with a glare. “What the hay are you-?!”
Sunset’s eyes widened as she dug her hooves into the ground, nearly tripping over them as her body ground to a halt. In an instant Rarity had turned her head around, slashing downward with the scale still in her mouth at the same time the sea-serpent keeled over, his body sinking back into the river while his head thudded against the river bank - but that might as well have never happened as far as she knew.
Lying on the ground right next to Rarity was half of her tail, crudely severed with its ends splayed about - not unlike the burnt ends of the sea-serpent’s mustache. Rarity’s expression was unreadable as she flung the makeshift knife into the woods and lit her horn, levitating it towards the sea-serpent. Rarity grit her teeth as her horn burned brighter, the ends of her tail coming into contact with the mustache, fusing with the ends of the hair and coloring the rest of it purple.
There was a moment of silence as all eyes were fixed on the now purple half of the sea-serpent’s mustache, the sea-serpent himself staring at it with a disbelieving look. Sunset dragged her eyes away from it and turned them towards Rarity. The other unicorn was panting slightly, but wore a small smile, her now short tail sticking out in stark contrast to her mane.
‘I don’t believe it.’
“Ooh-hoo-hoo!” Sunset’s eyes were dragged back to the sea-serpent who suddenly arched himself backwards, throwing his hands into the sky, any melancholic hint gone from his voice. “My mustache!” He struck a ludicrous pose.
“How wonderful!”
Rarity closed her eyes and nodded her head, her smile growing. “You look smashing!”
Sunset took her eyes off the sea-serpent and slowly trotted over to Rarity’s side, glancing over at the other unicorn once she was next to her. Rarity’s eyes were still closed, and her expression just as unreadable as before.
“Hey, Rarity?”
Rarity opened her eyes and turned her head towards Sunset, her mouth working itself into a smile.
“Yes, Dear?”
“That was… really nice of you, giving up your tail like that.”
Rarity held a hoof over her mouth and giggled. “Oh, it’s fine my dear. Short tails are in this season.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and a frown slipped onto her face. No they weren’t. She could hardly say she paid attention to the ups and downs of Equestira’s fashions, but she liked to think she could at least spot what ponies liked to do with their manes and tails. Unless Rarity was talking about Manehattan or somewhere else outside of Canterlot, she hadn’t spotted a single short tail neither there nor Ponyville.
Rarity flipped her head around to look at her tail, her eyes scrunching up and her smile becoming strained. “Besides, it’ll grow back.” A lump formed in Sunset’s throat as she spotted a tear rolling down her cheek.
She lifted a hoof towards Rarity, but paused. Was it her place to comfort Rarity? As much as she felt she understood the unicorn, she hadn’t even known her for a day. Sure she knew how much looks meant to her, but still… it would be more appropriate for one of the others to help her, right?
“Hey, y’all!”
Both she and Rarity turned their heads towards Applejack’s voice. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were all standing by the river bank with Rainbow a good fifty-odd meters downstream. Applejack herself was waving a hoof in the air, her eyes trained on the two of them.
“River’s calmed down! Let’s skedaddle!”
“Yes, let’s.” Rarity stepped forwards into Sunset’s vision and glanced back at her with the same smile. “We do have a castle to get you to, Darling. We shouldn’t dally.” Reworking her expression into a smile, Sunset nodded.
“Sure.”
She’d have to think about it later.
The two unicorns kicked themselves into a canter towards the others. Sunset spared a quick glance at the river. Now that it was calm, the water was remarkably clear. Despite some silt still shifting near the very bottom of the bed, even the finest details in the dirt were visible through the distorted surface.
‘I’m still taking that bath when we’re done with this.’
“Took ya long enough!”
Without warning, a Rainbow shot down from the sky at a breakneck pace and landed right in front of the two unicorns. Sunset threw her hooves into the ground, nearly tripping over herself as she skidded to a halt and glared at Rainbow, Rarity doing the same. If Rainbow knew how close she had come to getting bowled over - or was aware of the ire she was receiving from the two unicorns - she didn’t show it, her face instead plastered with a huge grin.
“Come on! We’re close!”
Sunset’s eyes widened, her ire banished as she cast her gaze across the river. For the most part, it was just more trees, but there was a small path nested in between a cluster of willows that looked to go deeper into the Everfree. Curiously, this one didn’t shroud itself in shadows. She shifted her gaze back to Rainbow.
“Really?”
“Uh-huh!”
Rainbow turned around towards the river bank and jumped into the water.
“It’s just past those trees! C’mon, let’s - woah!”
Rainbow stumbled as the ground beneath her rose. Sunset took a step back as the water parted to make way for a large purple body adorned with scales - the sea-serpent’s. More of him lifted up, creating a series of arches that jutted up from the river crossing from one side of it to the other. The sea-serpent himself smiled at her and the others and gave a deep bow.
“Allow me!”
Turning his head around, he clasped his hands together and dove under, his neck (or what probably was his neck) completing the bridge.
Already on his back, Rainbow slowly moved a hoof over the scales, poking his back a couple of times before extending her wings and jumping, skipping over one of the arches and landing on the one after, leaving room for Sunset to back up a pace or two and carefully gauge the distance before charging at the makeshift bridge, kicking her hind legs and springing onto the first arch. Surprisingly, as she landed onto the soaked back of the sea-serpent, the scales weren’t slippery in the slightest. Indeed, as she tentatively ran a hoof over the scales, putting enough pressure to try and force it to slide, the scales gripped onto it as much as she gripped back. Sparing no time, she quickly crossed over the makeshift bridge, hopping from arch to arch until she landed on the other side of the river.
Turning her head back, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all making their way across, Fluttershy also hopping over every other arch, just like Rainbow. It wasn’t long before they had all hopped off the sea-serpent and joined Sunset near the river bank.
Once the other four were around her, the makeshift bridge that was the sea-serpent sunk back into the water, save for his head which rose back up. He gave them all a smile, raising one of his arms and waving, a wave Rarity returned.
“Farewell!” The sea-serpent called out.
“Farewell, Darling!”
The sea-serpent beamed before sinking back into the water and swimming away, which direction Sunset didn’t care.
“So.”
She lifted a hoof and pointed it towards the pathway. From where she was it was somewhat obscured by the local flora, but there was definitely an opening hiding amongst the plants.
“Over there?”
“Yeah.”
Sunset turned her head to her right. Rainbow had sided up alongside her, her cocky grin back on her face. She lifted a hoof and poked Sunset in the ribs, giving her a wink before unfurling her wings, taking off, and flying lazily around Sunset.
“See? Told ya we’d get you there.”
Sunset rolled her eyes, Rainbow’s infectious smile working its way onto her own features. She lifted a hoof and lazily swiped it at Rainbow who dodged it without much effort.
“We’re not there yet, Rainbow.”
‘Though we can’t be too far away now.’
“Eh, maybe not.” Rainbow continued to fly in circles. “But hey, we’re close!”
“So you say, Darling.” Rarity sided up next to Sunset, her attention towards the forest. “Just past those trees, you said?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Thank Luna.” Rarity’s body loosened as she let out a sigh. “No more nasty surprises I hope. This journey’s been eventful enough.”
“Well don’t jinx it, Rares.” Applejack said. Hoofsteps sounded all around Sunset as she, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all sided up around her. “There’s plenty to go wrong between here and that castle I reckon.”
“Hmph!” Rarity closed her eyes and turned her head away from Applejack in a near-identical expression of haughtiness to the one she’d worn earlier. “Now who’s jinxing?”
Sunset bit back a snort and turned her attention back to the forest. The pathway was still there - not that it wouldn't be, but it was almost surreal that their journey was nearing its close. Sure it was just Rainbow’s word of mouth, but she was more than trustworthy.
That said it was probably a smart idea to be going. For every moment they spent having fun was another moment Daybreaker could be getting closer to the Elements - or taking them farther away.
Sunset cast her gaze back to Rarity, then to Applejack, giving each of them a small smile.
“What say you girls we start moving?” She asked. “I don’t think we wanna give Daybreaker any more time.” Both Rarity and Applejack’s eyes widened, Rarity’s cheeks turning red and Applejack pulling her stetson down.
“Y-yes.” Rarity stammered. “That would be wise.”
“Agreed.” Said Applejack. “We best start skedaddlin’ then.”
Sunset didn’t need to be told twice. She chuckled and kicked her legs into a speedy trot, the sounds of hoofsteps and wingbeats close behind her encouraging the smile on her face to grow. It was funny, really. By getting closer to the castle she should be getting more nervous. After all, there was every chance they were too late, that Daybreaker would already be gone, and the Elements with her.
But no, she wasn’t nervous.
She cast a quick glance back to the five mares behind her. Rarity and Applejack, much like her, had their eyes set on the path to the castle. Pinkie was doing the same half-lope, half-hop she had been during her impromptu song (and probably since the trek began, now that Sunset thought about it), her impossibly big smile still on her face, and Fluttershy - while trotting much like Rarity and Applejack - kept casting her gaze about their surroundings, her eyes brightening whenever she saw an animal, with Rainbow flying lazily around the five of them.
An intense warmth ignited in Sunset’s chest, pulling her mouth into an even larger smile as she cast her gaze back to the pathway ahead. No, she wasn’t nervous, because she had them. If Daybreaker did have the Elements and had fled the castle, then these five would no doubt help her recover them. Perhaps they could even become friends along the way.
‘Yes.’
Becoming friends with these five. That would be nice.
***
“There it is!”
Sunset’s hooves froze in place as Rainbow’s voice crashed through the silence. Her head - previously turned towards the pathway itself, idly tacking the pebbles she passed - shot up towards the pegasus, her eyes quickly tracking to where Rainbow’s hoof was pointing. Her heart nearly seized up as her eyes fell on what the hoof was pointing to. About a hundred meters away, give or take, a mass of bricks decorated in green moss and ancient trees marked the spot of what was - at least at once - a castle.
‘Was’ because it undeniably had some structure to it. There were large steps, wide enough to comfortably sleep on were they not caked in moss and heavens-knew what else, a giant oak door that would no doubt take several ponies to push on at once to even open (or just one unicorn), and suggestions of what could have at one time been wings to various different parts to the castle, but ultimately that’s all it was - suggestions. Any brick above the door was sparse, continuing for barely a fraction of the height before crumbling away, and while the wings might have at one time been there, now there was little more than a stub of bricks, poking out to the side only the slightest bit before tapering away into nothingness. That said there was a half-intact spire a bit behind and to the left of it, and for the most part, the door looked fine - though to be fair that was probably because she was so far away. Were she to get any closer there might be signs of wear and tear on it. Moss, maybe, though a preservation spell wasn’t completely out of the question.
Still though, dilapidated appearance aside, there was one small problem. Sunset’s eyes narrowed as she trotted as close to the castle as she could. Her eyes trailed from the doors down the steps and onto the path towards her and the others. A perfect path, save for one small conundrum.
The castle itself was built on what could almost be described as a giant stalagmite, though that itself wasn’t entirely accurate. It was far more cylindrical in its appearance rather than cone-shaped, with the castle itself being built on the plateau. Unfortunately, the plateau itself wasn’t linked by land to the cliff where she and the others stood, the distance of which made up at least half the remaining journey, but there was a bridge.
Or at the very least, kind of. Mere hoofsteps away from the cliff itself were two stone mounds jutting up from the ground. Sunset lifted a hoof and ran them over one of the mounds. Notches of varying length and depth were carved into the mounds in rings, with rope nestled into one of them. Her eyes followed the rope from one side of the cliff to the other. There looked to be a third stone mound on the other side of the pseudo-canyon, which the rope was also tied to.
However, while there was a fourth one next to it, there was no rope attached, the rope in question hanging off the end of one of the bridge’s planks. At the very least, however, the bridge itself seemed to be intact. Both the ropes and planks - despite hanging lamely over the emptiness appeared to not be damaged at all, and there was no visible fraying on the rope nor scuff marks on the planks.
“Now what?!”
Sunset whirled around to face Pinkie who - much like the other five - had her eyes locked on where the bridge should be. Rainbow’s eyes broke away from the bridge, stepping forwards slightly and waving a hoof towards Pinkie.
“Uh, duh?”
Rainbow gave Pinkie a smile, bending down and shaking her wings, before flapping them downward and taking off into the air. Sunset’s eyes followed Rainbow as she did a loop in the air before flying over the cliff and plummeting downward.
“Oh yeah.” Pinkie said.
Sunset chuckled as after a moment Rainbow resurfaced from the depths of the chasm, the rope clenched tightly in her mouth. Rainbow stopped in the air momentarily and gave her and the others a smile before flying to the other side of the chasm next to the ropeless stone and dropping the rope into her hooves.
Sunset pumped her hoof in the air and opened her mouth to cheer, but without warning a wall of yellow light appeared in the center of the chasm, snuffing out her cheer and drawing gasps from the other four. Rainbow’s back was facing them, nor did she react, so the odds were she hadn’t noticed.
The ‘light’ itself wasn’t truly light. Extending up into the heavens and as wide as could be seen, it was far from opaque, instead looking like a glowing window pane, the light itself also reflecting the light of the sun, while it merely tinted everything beyond it a shade of yellow.
“Oh no!” Fluttershy squeaked. “Rainbow!”
“Can she hear us?” Rarity asked.
“Dunno.” Sunset took a careful step forwards, hedging as close to the ledge as she could. Some of the dirt underneath her hoof gave way, cascading down the cliffside heavens only knew how far down, and her heart began to pick up its pace in her chest, pounding away in a desperate bid to escape her as she sucked air into her lungs, expelling it all in the loudest cry she could muster. “Rainbow!”
Rainbow’s head immediately shot up, the rope in her hooves dropping onto the ground. The fear that had been closing in around Sunset quickly dispelled itself. She grinned as she quickly took a few steps away from the cliffside, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. They were still in contact with Rainbow. That was good. She opened her eyes again, and that icy fear gripped her once more.
Rainbow wasn’t looking at her.
Instead of her gaze laying on Sunset and the others - or for that matter even the yellow wall - it was anything but. Rainbow was standing up, her head hunched low and her wings outstretched, darting her head from side to side before turning it back towards the castle. From across the chasm, Sunset was able to quickly glimpse the suspicious look Rainbow was giving her surroundings.
“Did she hear us, do ya think?” Applejack asked.
Sunset quickly shook her head. “Doubtful.” An uninterrupted fifty meters wasn’t hard for sound to travel through, and on top of that, there was no wind, nor anything else to dilute her call. Rainbow continued to shift her gaze every which way, save for their direction. “Or if she did then whatever’s in front of us must’ve distorted it.”
“Blast!” Applejack muttered. “Then how the hay do we nab her attention?”
Sunset put a hoof to her mouth. “Not sure.” She began to nibble on it. “If it’s us then we can keep on calling to her until she notices us. But if it’s not,” She set her hoof back on the ground, the icy feeling threatening to choke her.
“I… really don’t know.”
After a brief pause Rainbow turned her head skyward, casting her gaze towards the castle. Sunset did her best to follow her gaze, tracing her eyes up the castle until they settled just above it, pinpointing their targets amidst the deep blue.
Three black dots were barely visible amidst the sky. Forming some form of triangle they were at first subtle, perhaps a sorry flock of birds if a pony didn’t care enough to look, but as they flew closer, their appearance became more apparent.
What looked like three birds were in fact three pegasi. First it was just their shape, but as they soared above the castle, blitzing over the ground and coming to a halt just above Rainbow, Sunset could finally make out their appearance.
The three pegasi were all various cream colors, varying from light yellows to even lighter peaches, their manes all identical; short, but windswept, like they’d been slicked back but at the same time thoroughly ruffled, but the most curious part of these ponies, however, was the uniform they all wore.
Being the personal student of Princess Luna, Sunset was privy to many a show from Equestria’s premiere aerial stunt team; the Shadowbolts. Seeing them multiple times a year in Canterlot she liked to think she knew their uniforms well. That and the simplistic nature of their design made them easy to remember.
The uniforms these new ponies wore bordered on parody. The black patch of the Shadowbolts’ attire that covered both the chest and head was matched stitch for stitch by the uniform these ponies wore, but instead it was completely yellow, and the rest of the uniform instead of being a dark purple was a light blue almost the same shade as Rainbow’s coat. Their goggles as well were almost cartoonishly large, being in the shape of dinner plates and were way bigger than the slanted, almost cocky design of the Shadowbolts’. There was also a mark on the flanks of their suit, but from across the chasm it was too hard to make out.
“Who the hay are those three?” Applejack muttered as the three ponies descended to the ground, landing in front of Rainbow.
Sunset shook her head. “I have no idea.” From across the canyon she could see Rainbow’s face morph from mistrust to surprise. The fact that Sunset didn’t like the newcomers went unspoken.
Equestria stood still as the five mares watched Rainbow talk. Sunset could swear that - were Luna here, she could have heard her using the rare, but terrifying ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ all the way from Canterlot Castle. She spared a glance at the other four around her. Indeed, their eyes were locked on Rainbow, various ranges of concern etched into their features.
Glancing back at the four ponies across the canyon, one of the three suited pegasi had taken to the sky again, floating around Rainbow in a similar vein to the way she had circled around Sunset. Rainbow’s gaze was locked on the pony flying about her, who would occasionally dip down to Rainbow’s ear and their mouth would move. Whatever was said would make Rainbow’s smile grow wider each time.
Eventually, the pegasus landed back onto the ground. Their mouth moved one more time before Rainbow’s did. Hers was unmistakably a shout, her smile rivaling that of Pinkie’s as her wings beat down, shooting her into the sky as she pumped her hoof, a sight that only served to chill Sunset further. Rainbow glanced back to the three ponies and said something else, before swooping down and landing in front of the stray rope. Her mouth moved one more time before she bent down to pick up the rope.
It was like a switch was flipped. Instantly, one of the pegasi, the one that had been floating around her, rocketed over towards the rope and slammed a hoof down on it, glaring at Rainbow, who stumbled back, the sight causing Sunset’s heart to skip a beat. The other two pegasi sided up to the first one, each giving Rainbow an identical glare. Their mouths moved one more time, with the other two capping off whatever it was with a nod. Rainbow took another step back, and her gaze flipped over - for the first time - to where Sunset and the others stood.
For a moment Rainbow froze, the only signs of movement were her eyes, leaving Sunset and the others and flying about. Her head turned only slightly as her eyes hit their corners, no doubt finally seeing the yellow barrier. It took only a moment before Rainbow's eyes narrowed, her teeth clenching together as the look of surprise on her face gave way to a look that Sunset was grateful wasn’t targeted at her.
Rainbow instantly rounded on the three pegasi, whirling her body towards them and slamming a hoof onto the ground as she took a step forward. The three ponies each took a step back, their glares shifting into the same look Rainbow had on only moments prior as she opened her mouth, and by the way she was moving; hunkered low again and wings outstretched, she was far beyond angry.
It was almost comical watching one pegasus shout down three ponies her size. The suited ponies each backed closer and closer to a nearby tree as Rainbow matched them step for step, the expression on her face getting more and more ferocious with each meter she took.
It wasn't long before Rainbow had them backed into the tree, all three of them cowering as she loomed over them, her muzzle nearly touching the windswept manes of the ponies as she berated them for reasons only privy to her
Rainbow’s onslaught - whatever it was did come to a close. Eventually, she straightened up, her furious gaze devolving into a glare before she turned herself back towards the bridge, flicking her tail so it hit the lead pegasi in the face before cantering back. While noises of confusion and relief came from the other four, Sunset kept her eyes on the three suited-up ponies. After a glare cast in Rainbow’s direction, they began to glow white, consuming any discernible features they had before vanishing in a wisp of fire, the yellow wall disappearing as well.
‘Daybreaker?’
That was probably it. Sunset shook her head and turned her attention back to Rainbow. There were various cheers from the others as Rainbow finished tying the rope to a notch on the stone, nodding at it before flying back across the bridge. Whatever stunt Daybreaker was trying to pull was gone now.
That thought in mind Sunset quickly stepped onto the bridge. She was so close. They were so close, and now it was more important than ever to move. If Daybreaker’s magic was here, then there was a high chance she was as well. Chatter from behind Sunset began to stir up as the sound of wingbeats came to her side.
“See?”
“Huh?”
Tearing her gaze from the castle and towards the source, her eyes came to rest on Rainbow. Her hooves were crossed behind her head, laying on her back as she glided beside her, and instead of its usual cockiness, her smile looked completely genuine.
“Told you I’d never leave my friends hangin’.”
Rainbow immediately picked up her pace, flying across the rest of the bridge and landing just beyond it. It took all of Sunset’s power to not stop walking, her gaze following Rainbow as her mouth morphed into a frown.
Twice now, somepony had called her a friend, but that didn’t make it feel any less strange. Becoming friends doesn’t just happen, at least that didn’t seem right. Friends were ponies who you deeply trusted, who you could open yourself up to in a way you couldn’t with others. She knew at least that much which was why Luna was the only pony she considered a friend, (though after recent events she wasn’t sure). But if two ponies had called her a friend, what then? Was she their friend now, or how did that work? Sunset hummed and a small scowl crept across her face. Perhaps she didn’t know as much about friendship as she thought.
The walk up to the door was a blur. To be fair that was probably due to the admittedly short distance from the bridge to the castle. Even still, it felt like no time had passed between stepping hoof off the bridge and climbing the last few steps to the oaken barrier. The other five were already there, having taken off ahead of her when she stepped off the bridge, all of them looking at her expectantly.
Making her way to the topmost step she cast her gaze back to the five mares. The five mares who, by their efforts, had assisted her in the trek from Ponyville to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Indeed, had it not been for them she probably would have been stopped by the blast at the cliffs near the border with Ponyville.
Hay, she might have still been in the library, fumbling about the books and getting nowhere.
“Well, go on, Darling.” Rarity’s voice broke into Sunset’s mind. “A lady does not like to be kept waiting.” Sunset chuckled and turned her attention back towards the oak door.
“Sure.”
To be truthful, she was scared. It was odd, considering she wasn’t when she’d thought about it before. She’d been surrounded by the five of them just after the serpent, and she wasn’t scared, not in the slightest, despite the knowledge that Daybreaker could very well be behind this door.
But that was just it, she supposed. That the door hadn’t been in front of her then, and now that it was terrifying. She cast one last glance back towards the five mares. If they were scared, none of them were showing it. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were all wearing smiles, patiently waiting for her to open the door. She shot them all another smile before turning her head back towards the door, taking a deep breath and igniting her horn.
‘I can do this.’ If they were all putting on a brave face, then the least she could do was extend the same courtesy.
Her cyan glow covered the crack in between the doors, slipping into the crack itself and covering where the two doors met. Slowly she began to push. It was gentle at first, but the doors were as heavy as they were large, only creaking in defiance and refusing to budge. Gritting her teeth she began to push harder. The creaking intensified as the doors bent slightly, budging only slightly before they gave way, splitting from where they had been rooted to the ground and flying open and crashing against the other side of the castle’s walls and causing her - as well as the others - to wince. Maybe she could have been more delicate. Massaging an ear, Sunset peered into the first (and from here what looked like the only) room of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. She quickly set her hoof down and trotted in.
Much to her surprise, the room she and the others found themselves in did not contain Daybreaker. Instantly Sunset’s entire body loosened, and a small sigh escaped her lips, but the relaxation was short-lived. While true it was good that nopony would have to engage in a standoff against Daybreaker, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t somewhere nearby still.
Or worse, that she’d already come and taken the Elements.
Straightening up once more, Sunset’s eyes scanned across the room. The room was in an oval shape, with the doors they’d all arrived from being one of the two apexes to the room. Along the walls; large, arching windows were periodically placed every few meters from each other, each one standing many times taller than her and was wide enough for her and the others to all stand on comfortably. At the far end of the room, across from them were a multitude of different hallways, each one marking an endpoint of what had to be Equestria’s most cramped flight of stairs, constantly looping over itself as it climbed the wall, desperate to loop over itself just one more time before it - much like the rest of the castle - tapered away into nothingness.
The most interesting item in the room though, Sunset had to admit, was a sculpture planted firmly in the middle of the room. She raised an eyebrow as she trotted closer to the sculpture. Something about it seemed eerily familiar. Stopping just hoofsteps away she arched her head up and squinted at it. Whatever it was was sitting on an ornately carved pedestal that was two times her height, if not three, though that was arguably the most intricate part of it.
The sculpture itself was far from impressive. A sphere on top of a cylinder, the cylinder itself having five different arms, each one extending out a different direction that culminated in a little stand built to hold yet another sphere. The other five spheres were notably smaller than their parent, though unlike their mother, each one had a design carved into them.
Sunset’s heart leaped into her throat as she backpedaled, her eyes falling on the designs carved into each sphere. Much like the sketch she’d seen that morning, each one bore the pattern of a different gemstone all carefully etched into their surface. She quickly lit her horn and reached out towards one of the stones. Tentatively probing its surface, she dipped her magic beneath the surface or the rock, much like a pony would dip a hoof into water. Her horn began to tingle as through the ether a pulse reached her. An undeniable, irrefutable magical heartbeat. A humongous grin broke onto her face as she whirled her head around, eyes falling on the five mares standing behind her.
“It’s them!”
“All right!”
Rainbow pumped her hoof as she took off into the air. Similar cries of happiness came from the other four as well. Sunset smiled and turned her head back towards the Elements. The hard part was done, now came phase two. She lit her horn and enveloped the six spheres in a cyan glow, only to frown moments later.
Something was wrong.
The five smaller spheres - presumably the five known elements - all lifted from their pedestals just fine. Indeed, it was a simple enough process to levitate them down to where she was, delicately placing them in front of her hooves, but the sixth sphere seemed stuck. Gritting her teeth, she focused all her magic on the larger sphere, both trying to levitate it and probing all around it in a bid to figure out why it might be stuck. The frown on her face only intensified as she tried to coax her magic beneath the sphere.
The feat was impossible. The sphere itself appeared to have fused with the pedestal it was on. Attempting to pry it off would be more likely to damage the orb than anything else.
Or perhaps it’s just a sphere. Her heart skipped a beat as the thought flitted through her mind. She hoped she was wrong. Dear heavens, she hoped she was wrong, but she had to consider all possibilities.
Sunset grit her teeth as her horn grew brighter. Once again probing the stone’s surface, she tentatively dipped her magic beneath its surface, delving as far down into the rock’s composition as she could.
But no response came.
Her heart plummeted as she severed the magic to her horn, resurfacing from the stone and turning around to look at the five ponies behind her.
“Is something the matter, Darling?” Rarity asked.
The good cheer that had permeated the room died rapidly as one by one the others’ faces fell. Sunset’s breathing began to pick up, her eyes darting to each of their faces, dreading their reactions.
“It… it’s not here.” She mumbled. “The Sixth Element. It’s not here…”
The other five gasped, Rarity taking a step forward.
“You mean it’s gone?” She asked.
Sunset nodded. Were she not so terrified, she might have rolled her eyes.
“Yes.” She said. “It’s gone.” Her breathing began to accelerate even more. It was odd. This was always a possibility, the Elements being separated or straight up gone. But as she turned her head back to look at the five stones, the realization that in some way she’d never expected it to happen struck her.
She expected they’d all be here.
“I don’t know where we’d even begin looking.”
“Well we gotta start somewhere!”
Sunset flipped her head back around. Rainbow was in the sky again, her wings beating rapidly as she whipped her head about the room.”
“C’mon, girls! If we start looking now we can-!”
Applejack quickly reached up and grabbed Rainbow’s tail in her mouth, pulling down and grounding the pegasus.
“Woah there, nelly.” She said. “Let’s keep our heads for a second.”
Rainbow gave Applejack a glare, one that the farmer ignored as she turned her attention back to Sunset, the other four doing the same.
“Now, where should we start lookin’, Sugarcube?”
Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but any words she might have said died on her lips. A flash of orange light came from behind her, reflecting off the other five and illuminating the floor.
‘The Elements.’
Whirling her body around, her eyes quickly fell on the Elements. Her already frozen blood began to drop even further, chilling her entire body as her eyes tracked a newer presence in the room.
Tendrils of orange fire had wrapped themselves around the rocks, emanating from what appeared to be a small sun suspended just in front of the statue. It stood a little smaller than her, lifting the Elements off the ground and waving them about slowly, almost taunting her as it began to pull them closer to itself. Daybreaker, undoubtedly.
Acting on instinct Sunset took a step forward. Almost immediately another tendril shot out from the sun. Unlike the others which were calm, moving about in a controlled fashion, this one was erratic. It thrashed about wildly, crashing into the statue behind it and slamming itself onto the floor, and the small advance she made was quickly rescinded.
Suddenly, without warning, the flame paused. In fact, it wasn’t just the one. Every single tendril paused, and the newest one slowly turned towards her. Sunset forced down the bile in her throat as the flame inched closer to her, almost as if it saw her.
She quickly lit her horn, but it was too late. The flame recoiled slightly before blitzing towards her. Sunset yelped as the flame wrapped around her barrel and lifted her off her hooves, hoisting her at breakneck speeds towards the sun and within moments she made contact with its surface. The screams from the other five had barely met her ears before she was fully pulled in…
…and sent crashing back onto a stone-tiled surface.
“Oof!”
Sunset closed her eyes as her body bounced over the floor, each time sending a jolt of pain through a different part of her body. She quickly threw her forelegs over her horn in a bid to shield the appendage from any damage.
Fortunately, while a painful experience it was a short one. Within moments her body rolled to a halt, leaving her lying unceremoniously on her stomach. Her legs, her barrel… everything really, while aching, was very much intact.
‘I’m gonna feel this in the morning.’
Sunset let out a groan as she wiggled her hooves under her body, slowly pushing herself up into - what she felt at least - was a halfway respectable standing position. She slowly rubbed a foreleg over her eyes before opening them. Instantly, her foreleg froze and she bit down on her lip, praying to the heavens she wouldn’t scream.
Across the room, standing on a dais stood Daybreaker, gazing down at her with an unreadable expression. Her mane, just like before, was composed of pure fire, erupting from her head and dancing skyward, further lighting up the dais on which she stood.
‘The Elements…’
Her blood ran cold as her eyes locked on Daybreaker’s mane. Grasped by the fire, oddly stationary against the roaring flames were the five Elements, each one bound in place by the same flame-like tendrils as before and shining a pure white off the flames’ light. Readjusting herself, Sunset straightened her legs, gritting her teeth as she pulled herself up to her full height.
‘I have to get them back.’
The decision barely felt like hers. She raised a hoof, suspending it in the air for a moment only to send it plummeting back towards the floor. The clack that sounded from it reverberated throughout the room, sending her heart into a frenzy and changing Daybreaker’s apathetic gaze into a bemused look.
“Curious.” The alicorn muttered.
Slowly, Daybreaker stepped off the dais, lowering the five orbs to the ground before snapping her mane back into its usual cacophony of flames.
“We have freed you from the monster of the night, and yet you seek to bring her back? How very curious.”
Sunset drew in a long breath and held it.
She really didn’t want to. In fact, that was an understatement. The prospect of going up against a crazy alicorn by herself terrified her, but should she turn tail now, she wouldn’t be the only pony who would suffer because of Daybreaker’s actions. Eternal sun would tire out the trees, throw off ponies’ sleep schedules, and bake the land alive. That would probably be only the start of Equestria’s problems should the sun stay up indefinitely. So for Equestria, Luna, and those five ponies she’d met she had to at least try. And hey, Luna still owed her an explanation for this whole mess to begin with.
So as much as her body screamed in protest, both physically and otherwise, yes. Yes she did.
Charging her horn, Sunset kicked herself into a gallop towards Daybreaker. The alicorn responded in kind, charging towards her at an equal if not faster pace. She’d probably only get one shot on the alicorn, so she’d have to make it count.
‘What should I use?’
Alicorns for the most part were an enigma. Even Luna herself knew very little on how her biology worked, save for her extraordinarily long lifespan and deep connection with the three pony races, though having spent much time near the princess Sunset had picked up on one thing; alicorns were very resilient.
Even her strongest magic when gone wrong had failed to affect Luna. Uncontrolled magical blasts had hit her mentor squarely in the chest and she had barely blinked. Daybreaker would no doubt be much the same and - if Luna’s absence was any indication - even stronger.
So she really only had one option.
"To draw on dark magic requires a pony to draw on feelings of negativity. They have to put aside positive feelings in favor of ones such as spite, envy, and greed. My elder sister knew this, but neither of us could possibly have anticipated the consequences."
Sunset’s determined look evolved into an outright glare as her magic’s glow darkened to black, dredging up her corrosive rage from earlier that day in Golden Oaks and fusing it with her hatred of this psychotic alicorn; bathing her body in a torrent of wrath as she projected her emotions into her horn. An unearthly shriek tore through her throat as a pitch-black miasma erupted from her horn, firing towards Daybreaker and catching her square in her horn. Daybreaker let out a yelp as the cloud condensed around her horn, solidifying into a glistening rock vaguely resembling obsidian. Sunset allowed herself a smirk as she sidestepped Daybreaker and continued pressing towards the Elements, dashing up the dais and enwrapping them in a cyan glow, hoisting them above her head.
‘Perfect!’ She gave herself a pat on the back as her horn began to glow brighter, covering herself, as well as the Elements themselves, in a cyan glow. All she had to do now was leave.
A bright flash of yellow light turned her attention back to Daybreaker. For a split second, yellow was all she could see before she suddenly found herself hurtling through the air for the second time that day, and for the second time, her body made unwanted contact with the ground, tumbling over itself until she came to a both unceremonious and forced halt by a wall.
‘Ugh. What in the hay?’
Sliding her legs underneath herself again, she was able to push herself into a full, but shaky, stand. Putting a hoof to her head, willing to dispel the stars from her vision, Sunset opened her eyes.
Daybreaker was once more standing on the dais, the black stone completely missing from her horn and again looking down at her amusedly. Sunset attempted to take a step back but only succeeded in bashing a hind leg against the wall.
“So ponies still practice the dark arts in this age?” Daybreaker asked. “Interesting… We thought that demon would have it outlawed as soon as she banished us. Perhaps we were wrong.” Bowing her head slightly, her horn began to glow black. Sunset gulped as she willed her hooves to move, but they were all but frozen in place.
“But that was a weak effort. This is a suppression spell.”
A dark beam erupted from Daybreaker’s horn dead on track towards Sunset. Her hooves finally unlocked, but it was too late. Clumsily lurching to the side, the dark magic just barely caught her horn, throwing her head back slightly and tripping her to the ground.
Sunset whimpered as she scrambled into a sitting position, extending a hoof to her horn. Something vile was creeping up from inside it, climbing up from the base and pressing against its surface. It felt like magic, but at the same time it was distinctly not hers.
She had to bite back a scream as the vile sensation escaped her horn, causing… something to emerge and press up against her hoof. All her breath left her lungs as whatever it was continued pressing outward from different parts of her horn.
‘What the buck is she doing to me?!’
All too soon the sensation stopped, leaving behind an alien feeling where her horn should be. Running her hoof over the strange appendage, she could feel that whatever it was was cool to the touch, smooth and angular.
‘Crystals…’
She didn’t bother trying to cast a spell. She knew it was impossible.
“There.”
Sunset’s attention was snapped back to Daybreaker. The alicorn turned her attention from Sunset and brought it - to her horror - down to the five Elements resting at her hooves.
“Enough of this foalish endeavor.”
Suddenly, Daybreaker reared up to her hind legs, holding her hooves high in the air and almost in slow motion brought them crashing back down onto the dais. Dust and stone were launched into the air as a small shock wave emanated from the point of impact, washing over the five stones and tossing them into the air, leaving behind several cracks all over their surface. For one small, terrifying moment they were suspended there.
Then they began to fall.
Sunset let out a scream as the stones hit the dais once more, their cracks connecting and darkening before violently pulling themselves apart, transforming the orbs into no more than a volley of shards and dust.
‘No…’
“Hmph.” Daybreaker turned her attention back towards Sunset, all hints of amusement gone, instead replaced by a contemptuous look. “Now you ponies are safe from that monster’s influence for the rest of your days.” She unfurled her wings, the fire that was her mane and tail lashing about wildly before shooting up into the sky.
“And ourday will reign forever!”
Sunset shrank back towards the wall, tears forming in her eyes as she gazed up at Daybreaker. They’d failed. She’d failed. The Elements were the only method of stopping Daybreaker, and now they were gone. A lump formed in her throat as her breath began to hitch.
“Su…et!”
A faint voice reached Sunset’s ears over the roar of Daybreaker’s mane. She blinked, turning her attention towards the wall on the opposite side of the dais. An archway was nestled there, leading to what looked like a staircase. She knew that voice.
“Where… yo… da…ing?”
Silhouettes began to creep up the staircase, the frontmost sporting a long, rugged mane and wings in their back, and the one behind it also sporting wings, though their mane was far more orderly.
Sunset’s blood ran cold as she pushed herself off the floor and broke into a gallop towards her friends. She had to get them out of the Everfree now. The last thing she wanted was for Daybreaker to -.
‘Wait.’
Sunset slowed herself down, bringing herself to a trot before stopping entirely. She was halfway between the dais and the archway now, and the silhouettes were coming ever closer, the voices also becoming more audible, but that barely registered to her.
‘“Friends”?’
That wasn’t right. They weren’t her friends, not yet. ‘Friend’ wasn’t just a label you could slap on a pony when you wanted to. She’d only known these ponies for two days, after all. Calling them friends now felt wrong, but she’d called them that all the same.
‘Wait a minute!’ Sunset’s eyes widened as inspiration struck her.
Both Rarity and Rainbow had called her a friend. While she hadn’t understood it then, they’d called her a friend because they believed her to be a friend, because they wanted to be her friends. Something she understood now because, well, she to be theirs. Not just them either, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, they’d all stuck with her, all pitched in when the going got rough because that’s just what friends did. It was painfully simple, yet so easily elusive.
A warmth erupted in her chest, spreading outward and filling every part of her body, a warmth coupled by an odd pulling sensation. From what she couldn’t be sure, but it felt like it was coming from Daybreaker’s direction. It was an odd feeling, but she obliged, pivoting around from where her friends’ silhouettes were and glancing in Daybreaker’s direction, letting out a gasp as her eyes fell on the shattered rock that lay at the mad alicorn’s hooves.
The shards were all wrapped in a different colored glow; pink, red, purple, orange, and blue, and even from partway across the room she could see they were shaking, even if only slightly, seemingly silent, but just active enough to appear blurred at their edges. Fortunately, Daybreaker made no inclination that she’d noticed anything wrong with the Elements. A smile made its way onto her face and the warmth that filled her body only grew.
‘Then the Elements weren’t destroyed!’
“There you are, Darling!” Rapid hoofbeats sounded from behind her, gaining in volume as her five friends quickly sided up to her.
Turning her head to the side, her smile widened as her eyes fell on Rarity. Rarity’s eyes widened as her gaze quickly traveled from Sunset’s face to her horn, letting out a yelp and gesturing to her horn with a hoof.
“Oh my! Whatever happened to your horn?!” Various noises of concern came from the other four as they sided up beside Rarity, their eyes also traveling to her horn, and no doubt the freakish crystals growing from it.
Sunset only shook her head “It’s fine, Rarity. It doesn’t matter.” Rarity raised an eyebrow at her, cocking her head. Sunset chuckled in response. “At least not right now.” She turned her attention back to Daybreaker, lifting a hoof and pointing it towards the Elements.
“Something’s happening to the Elements..”
The glow enwrapping the shards of the Elements intensified as they began to rise, catching the attention of the psychotic alicorn who towered above them. Daybreaker let out a gasp as the shards surrounded her before hurtling towards Sunset and her friends, the cloud of shards dividing themselves into five separately colored streams and making a beeline for each one of the mares next to her.
The five of them shouted in surprise as the streams hurtled towards them before veering out of the way, darting past them and looping back around to join with its tail, forming a circle around each of them; the pink shards circling around Fluttershy, the reds around Rainbow, purples around Rarity, and oranges and blues around Applejack and Pinkie respectively.
‘Are they resonating?’
“Uh, Sunset?” Applejack eyed the orange ring around herself warily. “Reckon you have any idea about what’s goin’ on, Sugarcube?”
Sunset hummed, putting a hoof to her mouth and tapping it. She cast a wary gaze towards Daybreaker, who was hunched down, wings outstretched slightly, but seemed to not be making a move yet. She cast her gaze back to Applejack.
“I think the Elements are reacting to you.” She said uncertainly.
Truthfully she didn’t know anything about the Elements, she’d made that abundantly clear, but what Fluttershy had said just after sending the manticore away had been bouncing around the walls of her mind; about showing the manticore kindness, she’d bet her horn that the Element circling around Fluttershy was the Element of Kindness.
“I think they bond themselves to ponies who demonstrate what the Element is.” Her voice began to pick up, both in speed and in volume, her heart beginning to beat a little faster and her smile evolving into a grin. “Applejack, remember when I was about to fall off the cliff, and you told me that Rainbow and Fluttershy would catch me?” The farm mare nodded.
“You were being honest - and back in Golden Oaks, when you told me to be honest with myself, you helped me calm down and sort out my thoughts.” She stepped a little closer to her. “I don’t think I’d have left that Library if it weren’t for you.”
“Fluttershy was willing to show a rampaging manticore something none of us would.” She turned her gaze towards the pegasus in question. “Through her kindness, she was able to resolve a conflict peacefully, and at a pace that violence wouldn’t have matched.” Fluttershy blushed as she gave Sunset a smile.
“Pinkie made us all laugh back in that dingy forest.” Pinkie beamed back at Sunset and gave a slight chuckle. “And she kept us in good spirits for the rest of our trip. Hay, I think we’d all’ve turned tail and fled if it weren’t for her.”
“Rarity represents Generosity.” Rarity ran a hoof through her mane, flicking it outwards and striking a pose as all eyes fell on her. “She gave up her tail to a complete stranger just to brighten his day, even though short tails aren’t in this season.” Rarity froze and her cheeks turned a bright red. She let out a couple coughs before shrinking back behind her mane. Sunset let out a chuckle as all eyes fell to Rainbow.
“And Rainbow, none of us know what happened between you and those three ponies, but whatever happened made the Element of Loyalty choose you.”
“They wanted me to leave you mares for some stunt team.” Rainbow said, returning Sunset’s smile. “Like hay I’d abandon you girls for something like that.”
“How vexing.”
All eyes turned back towards Daybreaker. Her wings had unfurled even more, and she was fixing them all with a glare. She pawed the floor with her hoof before letting out a snort. “It would appear our actions have only succeeded in creating the Elements, not destroying them.” She pawed the floor again.
“But there are six Elements, and we only count five. Without the sixth there’s nothing you can do to stop us.”
A bright flash of yellow light drew everypony’s attention skyward; a stone sphere - much like the other five Elements - was shining high above them. Much like the other Elements, this one too had a symbol carved into its surface. Squinting up Sunset realized it was a sun, heavily stylized with a small split running down its center, dividing the design into two halves, a carving of which closely resembled her own cutie mark. Spellbound, she watched as the sphere began to float down to where she stood, stopping when it came to as far as her chest.
“Is that…?! No!”
Sunset tore her gaze away from the sphere to the sound of thundering hooves. Daybreaker had leaped from the dais and began galloping full tilt towards her and her friends
The sphere - and the shards of the Elements all began to change color. Their glows dimmed, instead being absorbed into their surface, imprinting the color on the rock itself. Looking behind her, she saw the shards of rock surrounding her friends clump together in front before merging together, creeping towards the ponies and - with a flash of light - fastening themselves around their necks, leaving behind an ornate golden necklace with a gem at its center, the gem mirroring their cutie marks.
It was then she felt something fasten around her neck as well. Looking down she saw the same gold necklace around her that her friends had, this one with a sun in its center and, unsurprisingly, identical to her mark.
“We have saved you from that monster! We will not let you bring her back!”
Almost on top of her, the mad alicorn lunged, but a yellow aura enwrapped Sunset and swiftly pulled her back. Suspended in the air she glanced behind her; Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were all suspended in the air as well, each wrapped in an aura matching the color of their Element. Strangely, an odd feeling of serenity blossomed inside her. Despite the crazed deity not hoofsteps away from her, and the sudden influx of magic brought on by the Elements, Sunset felt completely at peace. Perhaps the others felt the same. A white glow began to shine all around them, and amidst its glare, she could just barely make out something shooting skyward from the six of them; a multicolored blast comprised of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple arched into the sky, before hurtling down towards Daybreaker, circling around the helpless alicorn as the glow around Sunset and her friends intensified.
She could just barely make out the energy beginning to circle faster, engulfing Daybreaker in a tornado reminiscent of Rainbow’s around the manticore. Daybreaker began to scream as the tornado picked up speed. It was alien hearing the mad alicorn shriek in terror so, but as the glow became too bright, and Sunset had to shield her eyes, it was the only thing she heard before the world faded away.
***
The ground beneath Sunset was cold.
It was hardly an astounding observation. With her lying on her side, eyes closed, presumably having only just returned from the depths of unconsciousness, there wasn’t much she could rely upon with eyesight alone.
“Ugh, my head.” It was Rainbow’s voice.
Mustering all the strength she could, Sunset rolled over onto her stomach, forcing her hooves underneath herself and pushing up from the ground. She groaned as her muscles cried out in protest, more than once her joints popping as she propped herself up into a standing position.
‘Ugh. Last time I sleep on the floor again.’
“Everypony okay?”
Sunset opened her eyes and turned towards Applejack’s voice. Her five friends were all one by one either sitting up or standing up, no doubt each just now recovering from the same bout of unconsciousness she just had.
“Oh my goodness!”
Rarity’s cry dragged Sunset's attention towards her. Her head was turned around, her gaze locked on her tail. Adjusting her eyes, Sunset followed her gaze. Where previously there had been the half-stump of hair, Rarity’s tail seemed to have regrown, now back to its previous length, complete with the curls it had before she’d lopped it off. Fluttershy walked over and gave Rarity a smile.
“It’s so lovely.”
“I know!”
Flicking her tail towards her, Rarity gave it a nuzzle, before turning her eyes to Sunset herself and letting out a gasp.
“But I’m not the only one!” She raised a hoof, pointing to a spot just above Sunset. “Your horn, Dear!”
‘... My horn?’ Sunset raised a hoof and gently brought it to the base of her horn. Very slowly, she flicked her hoof forward, fully expecting to run into the crystals that Daybreaker had planted inside it. Instead, her hoof knocked against her horn. Her smooth, sharp, crystal-free horn.
Her eyes widened as she ran a hoof along it, half-expecting to still feel a crystal somewhere stuck along it, but only for her hoof to meet nothing.
‘It’s gone…’
“So, what the hay did we do anyways?”
All eyes turned to Rainbow, but the blue pegasus was meeting none of their gazes. Instead her gaze was focused on something behind Sunset, her mouth jammed in a thin line and her wings flared. She lifted a hoof and pointed to the spot where her eyes laid.
“Because there’s a pony there.”
Whirling around, Sunset’s eyes came to rest on where Rainbow was pointing. Barely suppressing a yelp, she took a couple of hoofsteps back, inching closer to her friends, her eyes never leaving the pony in question.
Lying amidst shattered golden armor was a pure white alicorn. At first glance, she was identical to Daybreaker, both her coat to her cutie mark matching the mad alicorn’s one for one.
That said, she was significantly shorter. Hay, she was probably the size of a normal pony despite having both a horn and wings, the shattered breastplate Daybreaker had worn was several sizes too large for her. Her mane and tail also couldn’t be further apart. Where Daybreaker’s were comprised of pure fire, this alicorn’s was not, her long mane being made of light pink hair, and her tail just as well.
“Wh-who is that?” Sunset heard Fluttershy mumble.
Shaking her head, Sunset tentatively took a step forward, wincing as the clack of her hoof reverberated throughout the room, though the alicorn made no indication of having heard her - or being conscious for that matter.
“I’m not sure.”
It was a half-truth. There were two ponies she knew it could be. She just couldn’t be sure who.
“I believe I can help with that.”
Sunset’s breath caught in her throat and her heart kicked into overdrive as a voice, a voice she hadn’t heard in over a day now, came from the stairway. Nearly leaping over her friends, she whirled her body around to face the stairway, hoping, praying that she could at least catch a glimpse of the pony that voice belonged to.
Half her frame darkened in the shadows cast by the archway stood Princess Luna, her ceremonial armor glinting in what little sun touched it, and her starry mane billowing in a breeze only felt by itself. The lump in Sunset’s throat only grew when Luna stepped forward, casting the shadows off her body and bringing what perhaps had to be the biggest smile Sunset had ever seen on her into the sunlight.
“Princess…?” She whispered.
Instantly Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all dropped into a bow, their muzzles making contact with the tiled floor. Sunset hesitantly took a step forward, her eyes locked on Luna.
Silence reigned for an instant as nopony moved before she broke into a full-on gallop, lunging at Luna and throwing her forelegs around the alicorn’s chest. That same warm feeling she’d felt when using the Elements erupted once more in her chest, spreading to the farthest corners of her body as she felt a hoof wrap around her and pull her in closer to her mentor.
“I’m so proud of you, Sunset.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she smiled, tightening her grip around the princess. By no means had she forgotten about Luna keeping her in the dark, the nagging desire to step away from her and questin her mentor bidding itself to claw into the forefront of her mind, but he could be mad later. For now, she just wanted her mentor.
The hug lasted for a few moments before Sunset eventually broke away, stepping away slightly and turning her gaze back toward her friends. All of them had risen, each giving both her and Luna a varying set of smiles.
“And I’m proud of you all as well.”
The five mares jumped slightly as they turned their attention towards Luna. Sunset held back a chuckle as Fluttershy quickly hid behind Rarity, who fidgeted slightly under the princess’ praise.
“You five aided Sunset in binding the Elements together to defeat Daybreaker. That’s not a feat just anypony can accomplish.”
“So we really do represent these ‘Elements of Harmony’ then, Princess?” Applejack asked, her cheeks reddening. “To be honest I thought it was a bunch a’ hooey.”
Luna lifted a hoof to her mouth and chuckled, gently setting it back down she gave Applejack a smile. “‘Hooey’, hmm? Well, trust me, dear…”
“Applejack, your majesty.”
“Applejack, that I may finally put your fears to rest.”
Luna’s smile fell as her eyes shifted away from Applejack to something behind her. Sunset quickly followed her gaze, only for her eyes to rest on the white alicorn, almost forgotten amidst the reunion.
‘Oh…’
Wordlessly, Luna stepped forward, splitting off from Sunset and passing by her friends who all stepped aside, making room for the princess as their eyes also fell on the white alicorn.
She was stirring now, whoever she was. The golden armor surrounding her was beginning to give off something akin to steam of the same color, growing smaller and smaller as more escaped it. A groan escaped the alicorn’s lips as she slowly rotated herself onto her stomach, her hooves lazily gripping the ground, though she made no effort to stand.
“‘Tia.”
The alicorn’s eyes shot open as Luna’s shadow crept over her. Lavender iris’ amidst a sea of white, far removed from the glowing embers of Daybreaker’s that floated in a void.
So, this was her older sister; Princess Celestia.
“Lu-lu?”
Sunset slowly trotted up alongside her friends as the two alicorns locked eyes. Shifting her eyes to Luna, she saw tears slowly leaking from her mentor’s eyes, dripping down her muzzle and falling to the floor.
A light blue glow began to envelop Luna. It was soft at first, barely noticeable amidst the daylight, before completely obscuring her features, causing Celestia - as well as Sunset and her friends - to look away, scrunching her eyes shut and holding a hoof over them. When the light subsided Sunset lowered her hoof, daring to open her eyes again and look at Luna.
Her mentor had… changed. Gone was the mane that resembled the night sky, dancing in a breeze felt only by itself, in its place instead was a neck-length blue mane, a color of which resembled the sky just after the sun had set. Her coat had changed as well. It was lighter, much closer in color to her mane, but just slightly darker. She’d also shrunk in size, now being only the slightest bit taller than Sunset herself, and smaller than her sister. Different, but undeniably still Luna.
Without warning, Luna lunged at Celestia, wrapping her hooves around her sister’s neck and pulling herself as close as she could. Her mentor’s breath hitched as the tears in her eyes began to flow faster, though her smile never left.
“I missed you, ‘Tia.”
Eyes wide, Celestia slowly lifted a hoof and lay it over Luna’s barrel. Tears began to form in her eyes as well as she leaned forwards, nuzzling Luna, a small smile appearing on her face.
“We’re sorry, Lu-lu.”
Luna sniffed and gripped her sister tighter.
“Please, ‘Tia. I’m just happy you’re back.”
The sound of sniffling came from beside Sunset. Turning her head, her eyes fell on Pinkie, who’d produced a handkerchief and was blowing into it, her eyes also wet with tears. After only a moment Pinkie’s sniffles devolved into outright wailing, the tears almost jumping from her eyes as she threw her head skyward. Frowning, Sunset reached out a hoof to her, only for Pinkie to bring her head back down, eyes jarringly tear-free and a wide smile on her face. She quickly withdrew her hoof as Pinkie whipped her head around to face her.
“Hey! You know what this calls for?”
“What would that be, Darling?” Rarity asked, tentatively stepping from the other side of Pinkie.
Whipping her body around to face Rarity, Pinkie reached out and grabbed at Rarity’s hoof with her own. Rarity let out a yelp as Pinkie suddenly started dragging her towards the staircase, stumbling over herself in an effort to keep up.
“A party!”
“Oh… oh my.”
Sunset could barely make out Fluttershy’s voice over Rarity’s protests. Turning to face the pegasus, Fluttershy unfurled her wings and took off. She glanced at Sunset and gave her a small smile.
“I think I should go follow them.” She mumbled. “For Rarity’s sake.”
Sunset chuckled as Fluttershy flew out of one of the broken windows and back towards the castle entrance. A sigh - one belonging to Applejack stole her attention. The farm mare was making her way towards the staircase, her eyes cast back towards Sunset and Rainbow.
“I reckon we should catch up. No sense in splittin’ up on the trek home.”
“Yeah.”
It was Rainbow, who was looking at Sunset with her cocky smile back on her face. She began to unfurl her wings, but halted, her smile slipping into a more genuine one as they retracted slightly.
“You gonna come with?” She gestured towards Luna and Celestia. “‘Cause if not, I could stay, give ya a lift.”
Sunset followed her hoof towards Celestia and her mentor. Each still wrapped in a hug from the other, they appeared to be talking, albeit in whispers. Sunset shrugged. Whatever it was, it wasn’t meant for her ears. Besides, she’d probably see them in Ponyville later.
“Nah.” She turned her head back to Rainbow, giving her a smile. “I’ll tag along.”
Rainbow’s smile regained its cockiness, her wings unfurling fully and pushing her into the air.
“Then let’s go!”
With little windup, Rainbow shot past Sunset towards the same broken window Fluttershy had slipped out of, and arched back towards Ponyville. Sunset lifted a hoof over her eyes, blocking out a brunt of the wind kicked up from Rainbow before setting it back down. Chuckling, she turned her eyes back to the stairway. Applejack was standing next to it, her eyes locked on Sunset and giving her a smile, before turning towards the staircase and making her way down.
Kicking herself into a canter, Sunset made her way for the staircase, her Element jingling with every gait as the cold metal beat against her chest. She glanced down at it thoughtfully. In some ways this all seemed like a dream; the existence of Daybreaker, and by proxy a sister to Luna, the five mares she’d made friends with, and these Elements of Harmony. So much had changed in less than a day, but this was going to be the norm moving forwards, wasn’t it? Sunset hummed as she tore her gaze away from her Element and onto the steps, descending down them as fast as she could.
Right now she had to catch up with her friends. There was much still to learn about these Elements, but that was excitement best reserved for another day.
***
The walk back to Ponyville was significantly shorter than the trek to the Castle. Granted, there were a number of reasons Sunset could list off that would explain why it was so, but the primary reason was no doubt that the road back to Ponyville went completely unobstructed. There were no manticores, no roaring rivers, and no spontaneous blasts of fire bent on knocking them off nearby cliff sides. Even so, the trek back took nearly an hour, and that was going on the correct path this time.
But even once she and her friends arrived back in the small town their work was far from over. One quick explanation to Mayor Mare later and the entire town was milling about again with the same vigor on display yesterday, once more hanging up ribbons, creating new banners, and cooking more food. Impressive, considering nopony’d slept in over a day.
Sunset joined in on the festivities too, assuming her previous role of overseeing the setup of the ‘Welcome Back to Equestria Party’ as dubbed by Pinkie, checking up on her friends’ tasks and reporting back to Mayor Mare, who’d assign ponies as needed, pitching in where she could get away with.
Which is why untold hours later, as the sun reached its zenith, a weary-eyed, but smiling Sunset could be found standing just off the main road leading out of the small town along with its entire populace, chatting about with her friends as she routinely cast her eyes back to her saddlebags, having slung them on as soon as she got back into town, time and again hoping for a blue glow, only to find nothing.
“Look! There she is!”
Casting her gaze towards where Pinkie was pointing, her eyes fell on a large dot soaring across the sky. The dot was a carriage, that much was for certain. Cobalt-blue in color and drawn by four royal guards, it began to descend, its inhabitants becoming clearer and clearer as it did so.
Two alicorns stood atop the pseudo-dais of the carriage; Luna, who looked to be back to her old appearance, and Celestia, who looked to be much the same, though now standing shorter than her younger sister.
The hush that covered Ponyville seemed to only gain in its intensity as the carriage got closer, almost crushing Sunset as the carriage danced over the dirt pathway, each brush with the ground eliciting more and more excited murmurs from the ponies around her as it rushed forward.
Sunset’s eardrums burst when it made contact with the ground. For only the briefest of moments, she could hear the carriage’s loud thud before it was overwritten by the deafening cheers of ponies from every side. Groaning, she flattened her ears and lifted a hoof to the base of her horn, delicately massaging it. All these voices were reminiscent of the Gala, just way less quiet.
It was a nice sight though, she had to admit. As the carriage got closer, she could spot pegasi taking to the sky, extending their hooves and waving at the princesses. A smile tugged at her lips as foals clambered onto their parents’ heads, their faces illuminating as the carriage came to a halt mere hoofsteps away from them.
Princess Luna descended from the carriage and moved towards the front of it, smiling as she passed the royal guards and unfurled her wings, immediately silencing the roaring ponies. Silently thanking her mentor, Sunset gingerly lifted her hoof from her horn and set it back down, her smile fully encroaching on her features as she saw Celestia step off the carriage and join her sister.
“We thank you for the warm welcome, citizens of Ponyville.” Sunset’s eyes were drawn to her mentor as Luna’s voice rang out. “And thank you for your kindness at such short notice. Much has transpired this past day and no doubt many of you are exhausted for it.”
“But there is somepony I would introduce you to.”
Luna’s wing closest to her sister fell, draping itself over Celestia, causing her to jump.
“After a thousand years, my sister has returned to us. Many of you know her as the alicorn ‘Daybreaker’, but that mare is no more.” Luna’s eyes flickered about the crowd before continuing. “She will once again join Equestria in her duties as a princess. I would ask that you treat her with the same kindness and hospitality you would show me or any one of your peers.”
Sunset’s ears flicked as whisperings began to stir around her. Ponies were craning their heads, eyes flickering to their peers before turning back in Luna and Celestia’s direction, their expressions more curious than anything, though a quick clearing of her throat brought everypony’s attention back to Luna. The princess’s smile fell, replaced by a more stoic expression as she opened her mouth to speak.
“Our little ponies…”
Whatever Luna was about to say was cut short as all eyes - including hers - were drawn towards her sister.
Celestia stepped forward, shrugging off her younger sister’s wing and raising her gaze from the ground. Her eyes met the crowd, sweeping over them in a long, fluid motion, her eyes resting on Sunset’s for the briefest of moments before she began to speak again.
“We would… apologize for the attack this morning, and we beg for your forgiveness. We were not in our right mind, but to say it wasn’t our own actions would be a lie.” She began. “We tried to dethrone your princess, and we broke down your walls. We tried to dispose of the six brave mares who gave you back your princess numerous times.” A tear slid from Celestia’s cheek, though she made no move to wipe it away.
“We just want you to know how sorry we are.”
A gasp echoed throughout the crowd as Celestia’s muzzle hurtled towards the ground, stopping so low it might as well have been touching the road. Her body was shaking uncontrollably as the single tear evolved into a full-on stream. Luna tentatively reached a hoof out to her sister but appeared to stop halfway.
“W-we are so sorry…” Celestia continued. “We swear to you… here and now. We will never become that monster again. We promise…”
If Celestia wasn’t finished speaking she never had a chance to continue. The brief bout of silence was all the crowd needed to cut in. Sunset clutched the base of her horn again as the cheering from the crowd quickly returned. Louder even, if at all possible.
The roaring from the crowd snapped Celestia out of her bow, her tear-stained face glancing up wide-eyed at the ponies before her. A couple of pegasus foals even floated out of the crowd, clasping roses in their hooves and setting them around her neck. Luna slowly trotted forwards and once more laid her wing on Celestia, prompting the smaller alicorn’s attention. Luna then leaned down and said something to her. Whatever it was, however, never stood a chance against the cacophony of noise surrounding Sunset. Not that it mattered, she told herself. It probably wasn’t meant for her ears anyways.
“Woo-hoo!”
Sunset yelped as Pinkie leaped to her side, throwing her forelegs around her and wrapping her in a spine-crushing hug. As soon as it came, however, it passed as Pinkie darted out into the center of the road, rearing up on her hind legs and throwing her forelegs into the sky.
“Now let’s party!”
The cheers intensified as Pinkie bolted down the road back into Ponyville, its citizens pouring from the sidelines into the road and making their way towards the town’s center, where a majority of the festivities had been set up. A smile made its way onto Sunset’s face as she watched the stampede disappear, but she made no attempt to follow, instead turning her attention back toward the princesses.
The royal guards now absent, Luna was back to her younger-looking form, pressing herself up against Celestia and giving her sister a smile the likes of which Sunset had never seen. Her wing was only barely able to stretch over her older sister’s barrel, but that hardly seemed to matter to the two alicorns. It was odd really, seeing her mentor behave in such an alien way, though to be fair, Luna had played the part of a ruler for a millennia.
‘Maybe she misses being a younger sister.’ It was certainly possible.
“Sunset?”
Turning her head toward Ponyville’s entrance. Applejack, as well as Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all standing together a few hoofsteps away from her, expectant looks dotting their faces.
“You comin’, Sugarcube?”
Sunset hummed as she cast her gaze back to the two alicorns. She’d like to, really. Being outside meant it was much harder for ponies to crowd the place, but at the same time the fatigue from their adventure was starting to wear on her. Sure, pulling all-nighters was hardly foreign to her, but rarely - if ever - had she been so physically active during those times.
“In a minute.” She said, casting her gaze back to her friends. “I just want to ask the Princess something.”
‘More like a lot of things.’
“Alright then.” Applejack nodded. “You just flag us down when you see us.”
“Sure.” She gave her friends a smile before she pivoted back towards the princesses, her smile falling from her face as she trotted towards them.
Luna noticed her advance first, her eyes falling towards Sunset once she was about ten or so meters from her. Lifting her wing off Celestia, she readjusted herself, her smile changing once more, though no less loving.
“Sunset.”
Sunset tried to return her mentor’s smile, quirking her mouth upwards, but that was as far as she got. Luna’s smile vanished, quickly replaced by a concerned frown.
“Is something the matter, my student?”
‘Yes.’
Biting her lip. Sunset drew in a deep breath, mulling over her options. She could always let it go; accept that Luna had her reasons and move on. She’d get over it eventually. But at the same time, it was being stingy like this, these roundabout lessons and teachings that had caused the chasm between them years ago, and if she was going to continue as Luna’s student then Luna couldn’t get away with slipping back into her older habits.
So if there was any time to get a straight answer, then it was now.
“Princess, can I ask you something?”
‘Alone?’
Luna blinked, but nodded. Her frown lessened as she delicately lifted her wing from its place over Celestia, gently tucking it back to her side and looking up at her sister.
“‘Tia?”
“Of course, Lu-lu.”
Celestia gave Luna a small smile before stepping forwards. “We will be around.” She turned her gaze to Sunset, her smile faltering slightly as she passed her by, but quickly returning to its former strength.
“Pardon us, Miss Sunset…”
Sunset gave the larger alicorn a smile as Celestia passed by, making her way towards a tree not too terribly far away, but far enough that their words wouldn’t reach her. Turning her gaze away, Sunset spared a quick glance towards Ponyville itself, the only ponies even remotely close being her friends, who seemed to have noticed the older princess.
“Peace, my student.” Luna’s voice drew her back to her mentor. “We are alone.”
She knew it was true. After all, Pinkie had already taken the whole population of Ponyville away, but this was a conversation between her and her mentor, knowing she had privacy was comforting if nothing else. Taking a deep breath, Sunset hung her head towards the ground, exhaling as slowly as she could.
This was not going to be a fun conversation.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
There was a moment of silence before her mentor replied.
“Why didn’t I say anything?”
Sunset jammed her mouth into a thin line, looking up from the ground and towards her mentor. If Luna was going to play that game, she’d play right along.
“The Elements of Harmony, Daybreaker, everything.” Sunset listed off. She began to tap a hind hoof as she did her best to maintain the thin line she’d jammed her mouth in. “I think it’s safe to say I was your backup if you were bested by Daybreaker, and I didn’t know what the Elements were, Princess. How the hay was I supposed to use them when I didn’t know how they worked?”
For a moment Luna said nothing. Her mentor closed her eyes and hummed for a moment, her mouth also shifting into a stoic line before opening them again.
“It’s because the Elements wouldn’t have worked.”
Sunset blinked, cocking her head as she opened her mouth, only to close it again. That… barely made any sense. A spark of pressure began to build in her head as she tried to sort out the contradictory answer Luna had given her.
‘Just bucking give it to me straight, Princess.’
“Consider this, Sunset.” Luna continued. “Were I to have told you how to defeat Daybreaker, do you think you could have done it?”
Sunset arched an eyebrow, a frown slipping onto her face.
“I think so.” She said. “I just had to use the Elements of Harmony, right?”
Her mentor lifted a hoof to her mouth, not even attempting to hide the chuckle that slipped out from between her lips. Setting her teeth, Sunset did her best to curb the glare that boiled up from her gut.
“Forgive me, Sunset.” Luna said, setting her hoof down. Almost instantly her expression lost its cheekiness, the smile too vanishing. “Though I do not believe it would have worked nearly as well as you think it would.” The confusion in Sunset only grew.
“Why’s that?”
Her mentor closed her eyes, again lifting her hoof to her chin, tapping it slowly and humming for a moment before she opened her eyes.
“Consider this.” Luna said. “The Elements of Harmony signify core aspects of harmony between ponies, would you agree?”
Sunset nodded. Yeah. That was easy enough.
“Then tell me, my student, if one of the elements were to have an ulterior motive for becoming friends - say, for example, a guardspony were to demonstrate exemplary loyalty to their captain for the sole purpose of rising in the ranks and muscling their superior from their position, are they truly loyal?”
“No.” Sunset’s gaze drifted towards Celestia. The white alicorn was still huddled next to the tree, now surrounded by the other four Elements. To her friends’ credit, despite all but trapping the older princess next to the tree, they didn’t seem to be overwhelming her at all. On the contrary, a small smile could be seen on Celestia’s face as she engaged in whatever conversation was transpiring between the five of them. “But what does that have to do with the Ele-.” Her eyes widened.
“Oh…”
Another chuckle escaped her mentor. Turning back, Luna’s gaze had also drifted towards Celestia and the other five. A wistful smile was on her face as she stared out at the scene.
“Yes.” Luna said. “Had you set out with the intention of making friends to stop Daybreaker, they wouldn’t have truly been your friends; just means to an end.” Her frown returned, and she returned her gaze to Sunset.
“Would that be the case, Daybreaker’s reign may never have ceased.”
“I… see.” Sunset finally said. She glanced back towards her friends and closed her eyes. “I… guess that’s fine.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not upset about it though.” She added.
“And you have every right to be, my student.” Luna’s stoic expression shifted into a small, sympathetic smile. “It wasn’t fair to you, even if it was for what most ponies would call the good of Equestria.”
‘Well that’s one question down.’
“And Daybreaker?” The question slipped out before she could stop herself.
“Hm?”
Even looking away, she could feel Luna’s eyes boring into her. Steeling herself, she turned back to meet her mentor’s gaze and repeated her question.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Daybreaker, Princess?”
Luna hummed once more, though for a much shorter time before she spoke.
“It was for a similar reason as to why I never told you about the Elements.”
A frown slipped across Sunset’s face as the words reached her ears. Her blood heated up slightly as she took a step towards her mentor.
“‘Similar’?” She repeated. “How the hay is this ‘similar’ at all, Princess?”
Luna’s expression became stoic again. “Sunset, you know as well as I do you would have begun searching for methods to stop her the moment I told you.” Her tone was much harsher, each word striking Sunset with the force of a hammer. “Had you uncovered the Elements of Harmony you would have again tried to make friends for the wrong reasons, and heavens forbid the wrong ponies.”
Her eyes weren’t on Sunset, but her words didn’t cut any less deep for it. Flinching back as her mentor’s words bounced around in her head, Sunset turned her attention to where Luna was looking; the five mares by the tree.
“And besides, Sunset.” Luna’s voice sounded behind her, much softer this time. “I’ve known of Daybreaker’s return the day I banished her. I was not about to saddle a filly with the burdens of the end of the world.”
Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, instead closing her eyes and sighing. As much as she wanted to object, her mentor was once again correct.
“I understand, my student, if you’re angry.” Luna said. “Nopony deserves to be left in the dark. But I -.”
“I’m not angry.” Sunset turned her gaze away from the five mares and back towards her mentor’s surprised face.
“Truly?”
Sunset offered a shrug, turning her attention towards the ground and idly sketching in the dirt with her hoof. Sure, she wasn’t exactly happy with the way events played out, and that itself was an understatement, but Luna had her reasons. They were legitimate and she couldn’t be angry about that, at least at her mentor.
“I guess I’m just frustrated.” She relented. “I know you had your reasons, Princess, but I really don’t want to have a ‘lesson’ like this again.”
“And you never will.” Something soft and feathery rested itself over her back, prompting her to look up. Luna had moved to her side, giving her the same smile she’d given Celestia. “As long as I can prevent it, I promise.”
Sunset paused for a moment before leaning into her mentor’s barrel. It was strange having Luna much closer to her size, but the serene aura her mentor always managed to project was no different.
“Thanks, Princess.”
“Of course, Sunset.”
The hug lasted for a moment before Luna pulled away. Sunset watched as once more her mentor’s body began to glow a bright white that within moments dissipated, revealing the taller, more mature-looking Luna she’d grown accustomed to over the years.
“That said.” Luna began, her smile changing into one more playful. “We should probably track down that party of your friend’s. I daresay it’s a poor showing if the star ponies fail to attend.”
Her mentor’s gaze shifted, and Sunset followed it. Celestia’s smile had grown even more so than when she’d last looked, now looking up at Rarity who was on her hooves, enthusiastically pacing about and animatedly talking about… something. Whatever it was, Rainbow looked bored about, but even so she still had a smile on her face. Fluttershy and Applejack though, she couldn’t see their faces. She turned her gaze back to her mentor and gave her a small smile.
“Sure.”
***
The ‘Welcome Back to Equestria Party’ - despite being outside - was somehow louder and rowdier than Sunset’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’. To be fair Sunset herself hadn’t exactly set the best tone the other day, having nearly blasted Golden Oaks to bits, but as a counterbalance, ponies hadn’t stayed up for over a day and a half during her party, and somehow now they had more energy than ever. Maybe these ponies never slept. To be fair she hadn’t seen a pony sleep in this town yet so hey, buck if she knew.
That said the party was certainly on the wind-down now. Party streamers were everywhere, and the trash bins were packed to bursting with discarded plates and paper cups, ponies were either cleaning up or going home, and the sky was now a deep orange with the sun poised almost perfectly touching the horizon, waiting for… Celestia, now, to lower it.
Sunset - as well as her friends - was lying down next to one of the trees near where all of the action was, having parked herself there not too long after the party began. Rainbow was the first one to show up, but over the hours one by one Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and even Pinkie had all lied down next to her, passing the hours talking about whatever mundane topic came up; usually a story from Sunset’s time in Canterlot.
“Sunset.”
Luna’s sudden voice cut Sunset off midway through her story, casting her gaze towards her mentor, she saw the same cobalt-blue carriage was now parked some ten-odd meters away, the four royal guards all strapped to it, looking dutifully up at their princess. Luna was standing hoofsteps away from it, Celestia by her side, giving Sunset a smile.
“It’s time to leave.”
The smile Sunset wore, surprisingly, slid off her face. She blinked a couple times as she replayed what Luna said over in her head again.
“It’s time to leave.”
“Oh.”
She hadn’t really thought about that at all, had she? She cast her gaze to her five friends. They were all looking back at her with the same surprised, disappointed look she felt. Hay, Pinkie looked like she was about to burst into tears.
‘That’s it?’
She’d just made friends, spent two days with them, gotten closer to them than she had every other pony in her life save for Luna herself, and now she had to leave?
Sunset slowly dug her hooves underneath her barrel, slowly pushing herself up, and numbly walked towards her mentor. Her gaze didn’t meet her friends, instead targeted at the ground away from them. She didn’t want to see the looks on their faces. She’d probably start bursting into tears herself.
“Is something wrong, Sunset?”
She stopped hoofsteps in front of her mentor, her eyes locked on Luna’s silver horseshoes, an idea beginning to bounce around in her head. There was one option she had, but it would be incredibly selfish. Luna had taken her under her wing, taught her so much, and she wanted to repay her somehow. She couldn’t just abandon her.
But at the same time, she had to ask. She had to.
“Princess?”
She dragged her eyes towards her mentor. Luna’s smile was smaller. In fact, it looked almost sad. The edges of her mouth looked forced, and her posture had diminished slightly. It was barely noticeable, but she wasn’t standing as tall as she was moments prior.
‘Does she know what I’m about to ask?’
Oh, who was she kidding? It was Luna. She probably did.
“Can I stay?”
Silence reigned for a moment as Sunset desperately scoured her mentor’s eyes. For all intents and purposes, it looked like her mentor had frozen, almost completely stationary save for her mane. Hoofsteps reached her ears as her five friends sided up to her, and the smallest hint of movement graced her mentor, her eyes shifting from pony to pony before suddenly unfurling a wing, bending down and wrapping it over Sunset as she nuzzled her.
“Of course, Sunset.”
Her heart skipped a beat as her mentor’s words reached her ears. Cheers erupted from all sides of her as bodies began to pile up both on top of her and to her sides. While not exactly comfortable, it did bring a smile to her face, though a ‘smile’ was probably an understatement. She wrapped a foreleg as far around her mentor as she could, returning the hug with as much power as she could muster.
“Thank you, Princess.”
Fortunately, after a few moments, her friends decided to release themselves off of her, allowing both her and Luna to detach themselves from one another, Luna then placing a hoof on her shoulder, locking eyes and giving her a smile.
“Of course, my student. You’ve more than earned it.” Luna said. “But there is something I’d have you do for me.”
“What is it, Princess?”
Luna turned her attention towards the carriage and moved towards it, climbing onto the pseudo-dais, with Celestia doing the same, and turning her attention back to Sunset.
“Every so often, I’d like you to update me on your life in Ponyville” Luna’s gaze shifted off Sunset for a moment before switching right back on. “Your lessons are far from over, and there is much I’d still yet teach you if you’d let me.”
Sunset nodded, extending a hoof to the sky and waving it towards her mentor.
“Of course.”
“Then farewell.”
Luna gave Sunset one last smile before turning her attention to the guards, giving them a nod. In one simultaneous motion, the guards unfurled their wings and flapped down, kicking up dust as both they and the carriage took off, soaring over the tops of the houses and making its way back towards the familiar mountain of Canterlot.
“Hey.”
Sunset blinked as a hoof jabbed into her barrel. Lowering her own, she turned her head towards the source; Rainbow, as well as Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were all standing off to her side. Rainbow withdrew her hoof, setting it back onto the ground and giving her a smile.
“Thanks for not leaving us hangin’.”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Darling?” Rarity stepped forwards. “While I’m sure we all appreciate you wanting to stay with us, aren’t you giving up a lot?” Pinkie and Fluttershy both made noises of agreement.
Sunset chuckled. Of course they’d think that, wouldn’t they?
“No.” She finally said. “Not really.”
Rarity blinked, surprised. “Are you sure, Dear?”
“Positive.” Sunset cast a glance back towards Canterlot. Luna and Celestia’s carriage was little more than a dot now. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot up there; lessons, the Princess, books. I could study whatever I want to really.”
“But that’s about all there is.” Sunset turned her attention back to her friends. “And you girls taught me there’s so much more to life than just learning new spells.” She shrugged.
“To be honest, it feels like I’m giving up nothing.”
Rarity was silent for a moment before she slowly nodded, her look of surprise fading into a smile.
“I… see.” She said. She suddenly turned around, towards the direction of Town Hall, before turning her head back to Sunset. “Then let us formally welcome you to Ponyville, Darling. As a resident this time, not as a guest.”
A warmth ignited in Sunset’s chest, pulling her mouth into a grin, though it faltered slightly as a thought wormed its way into her mind.
“That doesn’t mean another party, does it?” She hedged.
There was a moment of silence before Rainbow let out a guffaw.
“Nah. I think she means getting you a house.”
“Oh.” Sunset blinked, her cheeks heating up. That would be a priority, wouldn’t it? “Right.”
“Unless you want another?”
Sunset’s heart began to race as she quickly lifted a hoof into the air, raising it halfway and making small pushing motions with it. “No, no.” She said, casting a quick glance towards Pinkie. The last thing she wanted was a fourth party, considering it was what, almost forty-eight hours up now? “I’m good, thanks.”
Pinkie heaved an overly dramatic sigh, wiping imaginary sweat off her brow.
“Good!” She said, bouncing towards Sunset, swinging a hoof over her neck, and waving the other across the sky. “Because I’m allll out of party streamers!”
Sunset couldn’t help but snort, one shared in various forms by her friends. Pinkie began to move, dragging Sunset along with her as the six of them began to make their way to Town Hall. With any luck, Mayor Mare would still be up and could help her move in somewhere.
“So, Sunset.”
“Hm?” Sunset blinked. “Yeah, Rainbow?”
“Where ya thinkin’ of moving in?
Glancing up to Town Hall, Sunset hummed. A good question. Truthfully she hadn’t seen much of Ponyville outside of the hunt for Golden Oaks. A lot of the houses were small and quaint but the odds were she’d lose herself out in the streets. She could try living somewhere on the roads a little out of town but there didn’t seem to be many - if any houses out there.
Her eyes fell on one of the few other buildings outside of Town Hall she’d set hoof in. But who was she kidding? There was really only one place she’d want to stay in. It was where she’d met the whole town, was welcomed, and where she'd already made so many memories in only two days. It was already kitted out with a kitchen and a bedroom, so long as nopony lived there moving in shouldn’t be a problem.
She turned her attention back to Rainbow, whose eyes were locked on her and her signature cocky grin was back. She probably already knew what Sunset was about to say.
But hay, it was where she wanted to start her new life, so buck if she wasn't gonna let it be known.
“Golden Oaks.”