//------------------------------// // Sunset Shimmer // Story: The Cutie Alchemist // by Visharo //------------------------------// Sunset: the apparent descent of the sun below the horizon Shimmer: to shine with a soft tremulous or fitful light ------------------------------------------------------ Two moons had past since The Fall. The world outside Starswirl's little hut was barren. The usually luscious trees were utterly naked. Their leaves lay scattered upon the ground, their vibrancy no longer visible instead, they all bore shades of brown. Careful observations of the sky proved fruitful as well, as it seemed the moon stayed in the sky longer than the sun. It was most peculiar. To make matters even worse, the surrounding temperature was dropping significantly. Starswirl, together with the hyper Celestia and Luna, led an expedition to find more soft leaves and padding to comfort their home more. It was most curious, Starswirl thought on this particular journey, how words of previously unknown meaning, came so easily. And the fillies, their joyous attitudes give him such a different worldview. Starswirl was not above admitting that without them, his life would be very mundane indeed. "Swirly?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. "Yes, Celestia? What is it?" The stallion didn't bother stopping, he wanted to gather everything he could before something even more terrible happens. He had no idea why, but a certain feeling had been resonating in his bones for quite a while now. An...inevitability, if he thought more about it. He decided he would not fight it, but he would weather it, like the trees of old. "What are we?" The white filly looked up with childish innocence. "How do you mean?" Starswirl looked at a very big piece of padding clinging to a large tree trunk. He quickly squatted down and with careful hands, he peeled the green padding off and placed it in his pack. "I mean you, Luna, me. There are birds, right? They have names, but that isn't them. They are birds! And we are...what are we?" Celestia's voice sounded very far away despite carrying a childish demeanor. Her gaze was trained on Luna as she danced amongst piles of fallen leaves. "Ponies. We are ponies." Starswirl turned to face the other filly as well. A small smile played on his lips as he watched Luna slip and fall, sending a nearby leaf pile into the air. "We roam this earth, this Equus, tending to nature, helping it as it helps us." Starswirl cringed inwardly just as he said those words. Cringe, this word holds many curiosities. Anyway, the stallion felt guilty, he hasn't given back to Mother Equus in many many moons. Tomorrow, he decided, he would give back. "We are the guardians of knowledge, the protectors of those who can not, the upholders of harmony. We are ponies." Celestia was no longer looking at Luna, neigh, her gaze was staring in awe at Starswirl. Even more neigh, this wasn't Starswirl, this was Starswirl the Bearded, the First. It took a while for the filly to break out of her trance, but when she did, she nodded aggressively. She would do her part to keep the harmony. *** Starswirl lounged on a padded rock, the new padding proved worthwhile. The fillies, both worn out from playing and hiking, were sleeping in warmed cots. This was a time for peace and quiet for the stallion, something he didn't always have the pleasure of having nowadays. Today, it seemed, was a great time to think of the new things he had learned or encountered over the past few days. As he began recalling these things, the glass cup beside him started glowing. Surprised, Starswirl started to slowly inch away. Despite it working twice already, he did not trust the object, especially when he didn't remember how the cup got there in the first place. Behind the cup, Starswirl saw the sky turn into a glorious orange with hints of red and pink. The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon, the line that divides the world of the living and the one of the doomed. Then something peculiar happened, it was so fast that Starswirl started having second doubts on whether or not he saw it. A shimmer before the sun disappeared for the day. The world was put into darkness for a second, but it quickly lit up, capturing Starswirls attention. The cup was quickly filling up with a strange deep crimson and then soon there was another stylized picture. This one a sun, similarly to Celestia. However, the closer Starswirl looked, the more he realized it was different. This one had more details as well as having two different colors. Before anything decisive could be discerned, the world lit up again. Starswirl quickly averted his gaze just in time, so he wouldn't be blinded. After the flash was done, he let himself see what was the product. An orange unicorn filly, somehow even smaller then Luna, with a shocking yellow and red mane. Then the filly opened her eyes and Starswirl couldn't hold back a gasp. Vibrant teal eyes stared at him and somehow even deeper, right into his soul. *** "SUNSET SHIMMER, PUT THAT DOWN!" Starswirl yelled with a frantic urgency. The reply came back in the form of an innocent giggle. The stallion chased the little chaotic filly around the hut, trying to grab her before she hurt herself on the pointy rock in her hand. While the toddler caused mayhem in the little home space, the two sisters watched from outside, through a crack in the wall. Celestia was watching with a curious smile, her head cocked to one side. Luna, on the other hand, was scowling fiercely. It had barely been four hours since Sunset's appearance before all hell broke loose. These thoughts raged throughout Starswirl's head as he dove once again for the orange filly but came up short. Words and emotions, all of them new, were bursting at seams he never knew he had as he tried to keep Sunset calm. After the seventh miss-lunge, the stallion collapsed to one side, his sides heaving. Celestia walked over and rubbed his back, speaking with soothing tones Starswirl never knew she possessed. Luna stood off to one side, a frown still visible on her face. "Let me, Swirly." Celestia smiled, her magenta mane sparkled with something Starswirl never seen before. It seemed today was a first for many a thing. As he tried to catch his breath, he stared at the filly before him...wait, no. He cocked his head to the side. Celestia no longer seemed like a filly, but more of a...young mare. As he stared harder, he could've sworn he saw her pink hair flicker into a rainbow slightly, but before he could take a closer look, it was gone. "Alright." Starswirl finally consented, his breath finally back. He carefully pulled himself up and dragged himself to a padded rock, easing himself downwards with a groan. "Oh, hang on. Could you, perhaps, take care of Sunset for longer? I want to go out for a while. Luna, you can come too." "Really? Yay!" The dark filly's sour mood turned bright once again. "I will try my best, Swirly." Celestia smiled again. Once again, Starswirl noticed something different in her behavior, but he couldn't place a finger on it. "You have my gratitude." With another groan, the stallion heaved himself up and prepared his pack with several food items as well as a walking stick. "Come Luna, let us go somewhere." Many countings had passed, the duo were far out in the barren forest, before Luna spoke. "Swirly? I have a question, it might be silly...but I need to ask you." "Alright." "Sunset feels wrong, right?" Luna sounded worried, her frown had returned. Starswirl blinked, he wasn't surprised by this question, in fact, he had been expecting it. Fact, what an interesting concept. "Yes, Luna. Something feels wrong, but many things feels wrong these past moons. I worry of what might happen in the future." Starswirl stopped walking and crouched down to be on Luna's level, so he could look directly into her eyes. "There may be many wrong things in this world, but that does not mean we must stop being happy. We, the ponies, have the power to be happy. It is a waste to not be what we can be. Do you understand me?" "...yes. I understand." Luna tried for a smile, but it came short. Starswirl smiled back, sympathetic. Another peculiar word. The two set off again, their feet brushing fallen leaves, making strangely relaxing crinkling noises. The tranquility lasted for many more countings before the filly asked another question. "Where are we going?" "Somewhere new, somewhere different." The stallion looked up to the sun, slowly rising up above them, he sighed wistfully. "Our duty of harmony, remember that? It has been a while since I have given back to Equus. That is what I intend to do today." "That...makes sense, I guess." Guessing, an action that holds much power, much more than Starswirl first gave credit for. *** Midday came and went, as well as their meal. The duo found themselves at the bottom of a beholden sight. Water, of massive quantities, was falling down a cliff, down into a pool of equally impressive size. It seemed appropriate to announce this peculiarity as a waterfall. "It's...beautiful." Luna whispered in awe, her eyes wide as she stared at the crushing weight of water. "And exactly what I needed." Taking his time, Starswirl made his way to the side of the waterfall, close enough to feel the spray, but not as close to getting drenched. It was times like these to let whatever possessed him, to finish the work it started. The moving of his body without his consent has happened several times over an exceptional time of moons, after the first few times, he has resigned to letting it do whatever it wills. As he positioned himself carefully next to the rocky outcrop next to the waterfall, Starswirl heard an audible gasp, even over the roar of the water, from the filly still at the water's edge. Ignoring her, the stallion raised his walking stick and struck the rock. To the outside viewer, nothing happened, at least, not in the next few countings. But inside the rock, it was changing, slowly. Starswirl smiled at the confused filly and made his way back to her. Luna tried to ask several questions, but he decided to answer none of them, instead to just continue walking back to the hut. The sun had sunk considerably by the time the duo returned and what was waiting for them was quite a surprise. Celestia talking to a sitting still Sunset with a soft but powerful voice. The filly itself was listening with her mouth opened slightly. When the white unicorn heard their approach, she stopped talking and looked back with another one of those strange smiles. "All is well?" Starswirl asked, his gaze trained on the now unarmed orange unicorn. The bundle of untamed energy was now...tamed. The stallion peered at the newly appointed young mare with fresh eyes. After several countings of inspecting, he gave up. Nothing seemed out of place, yet everything seemed different. Perhaps, a mystery for another day. "Yes! Sunset is just adorable and she showed me the most wonderful thing, her ho...look! She's doing it again!" Celestia pointed excitedly at the giggling filly. Sunset's horn was encased with a shimmering teal hue. To make matters even more exciting, the padded rock the filly was sitting on was also encased with a similar hue. As Starswirl watched to his utter fascination, the rock began to tremble and then lift into the air, Sunset giggling all the while. "This...this is incredible!"