Lost Languish
Sunset
After separating from my mare friend I could only turn my gaze inwards, no longer did I have but the barest dregs of magic at my disposal. No, now I once more held within my grasp even more liquid magic than I had after the former lord had feasted upon me, leaving me with the barest of scraps that had remained secreted away within my blood. It wasn’t worth comparing to the excess of mystical energies that commonly thrived within my liquid flame that coursed through my body, but I had been planning to brave the crypt with far less at my disposal. Now in addition to the magic I had recovered, there were the two Royal guards that would be accompanying us into the darkened depths.
They would prove their worth one way or another, I would ensure that they did. Whether that was proving what Princess Celestia saw within them, that she believed them enough to protect the newest Princess from my clutches, or they would be used by me to ensure Cadance’s safety within the crypt beneath our hooves. The former would be a pleasant change in pace in regards to the normal worth of the gilded guards who thought themselves the unparalleled defenders of the divine. The latter would be far more likely, I knew many failures of the guard. I had taken advantage of them for some time now after all. If they could give Cadance an extra moment to change a shadowed fate that approached her then their worth would be cashed in excess.
That one moment where they burned with value far beyond their base worth. That singular moment where they were comparable to a being that was utterly beyond them in every single way. They were equal in a manner to an Alicorn Princess for that singular instance where they burned away in defense of the only pony that still cared for them. That sill thought they held some semblance of worth after the Sun had decided that they held nothing of value. That for every step forward you attempted, you would be forever lost without her guidance. That it wasn’t worth her time or effort to guide you now!
Calm. I am calm. I can’t afford to lose myself. Not now. Not when I am so close to finally succeeding. Not again can I afford to fail.
Forcing myself to run through the cooling charm, I didn’t cast it, but it was a close thing. Running through the theorem I had long since memorized since I had first been able to pull my flames into reality. Where I had taken my first steps in my mastery of the arcane. Where I had no doubt declared my inevitable downfall to the one pony who had saved me… She wasn’t the only pony who had saved me.
Another glance at the pony that had utterly entrapped me with her designs. No, I had all but dove head-first into the trap that she represented. How could I have not drank from her poison? She was Love. The Love that Celestia had ordained her gilded guards be protected from the demon that I was.
Speaking of which it appears that the two gilded guards had already awoken and were content to watch Cadance and me as we lazed against one another. Our two warmth’s intermixing within our interwoven limbs, where one of us began and the other ended was a question that would go unasked. Spying an expressed emotion that was almost familiar, that I wasn’t going to waste any effort in analyzing, as it was shared upon both of their faces. It was only when Cadance began to shake me gently with her feathers did I began to extricate myself from the blissful prison of flesh and feathers I had been willingly swaddled within.
My escape attempts were made far easier with the assistance of my partner lifting her wings. Rolling my eyes at the smile that had formed on her face as I shifted off the bed. “What, you aren’t going to kiss me again?” The Princess of Love taunted me, assured of her inevitable victory. On another day I would have contested such words, such blind faith that because of her steps towards her final ascension, she was my better. Yet today was not one of those days, instead, I allowed her to claim victory, as I refused to fall for her lascivious words as I continued my retreat.
I was once more bested by the divine. Once again I was beaten by an Alicorn. This time even if I had been bested, it didn’t feel as if I had lost. The blackened claw of ice didn’t begin to strangle my throat at this defeat, no its familiar touch was replaced by a gentle absence of change. I ignored the muffled laughter coming from the two guards who were contently playing some manner of card game and completed my tactical withdrawal. Catching myself and ensuring that I didn’t stumble off the bed like my partner often did.
“Let’s get going then.” The Alicorn Amulet would be mine. “The paltry lord and the shadowed one have likely concluded their initial fighting, if we are lucky we will be able to deal with the weakened remnants with ease.” I doubted it. I knew deep within my blazing blood that there would be some manner of tribulations within the shadow-encrusted crypt that had long since held my prize. It mattered not, I would finally claim what had been kept from my claws for far too long!
Even without turning, I could easily imagine the face that my partner was making at my words. I didn’t bother to respond to the unseen provocations, instead, I focused on the two guards who were swiftly packing up their game. I managed to meet each of their gazes while they were performing this menial task and pass along a simple reminder of their task. Even as I drew back my mental touch from the deepest recesses of their minds, I knew that they would heed the command. So soft was my touch that I knew that my partner wouldn’t be able to sense it. She was a prodigy that would one day be beyond even my meager means, however, she had yet to achieve such dominance.
Turning back I was greeted by a sight that I had once thought beyond the fantastical delusions of a pony who had yet to ascend, one that would preciously be hoarded within my mind until I perished. Cadance’s splendor was once more highlighted by the gentle rays of the Sun that danced across her form as she slowly stretched upon the bed. Her Sun blessed beauty should have been forever forbidden from me. Yet I had been able to claim her as my own.
So enthralled was I by her divine form that even as she completed her waking routine and sauntered towards me, I could do nothing more than act as one of the most pathetic of peons before the nascent goddess before them. Still paralyzed by the priceless gem that now was but half of her wing away from crossing the divide that separates us, I had taken the time to commit my partner's measurements to mind some time ago, as the once wounded appendage was extended forth. Offering a pathway forth. A bridge for me to connect to on my own.
Even without the splendor of the Sun to light such a path, Love herself beckoned me to follow in her wake. Promises broken now were once more offered by one who understood what they meant. One who shared what I felt. One who saw me as something worth remembering. Even if I couldn’t prove myself her equal in ascension I would still be allowed to follow after her. No, I would walk by her side. Blazing forwards in tandem with one another. In pursuit of our joined goals. Her past is encrusted within crystal and dreams. My future, emblazoned within scarred flames. Our presents entwined, what were once separate strings of destiny now blurred together against the wishes of all who could see them dancing against the backdrop of the void.
As if beguiled by a schoolyard spell, I knew what had shackled my mind was far greater than any magic that I currently held at my disposal, I met her extended wing with my hoof. I could have asked a great many things but instead of any of those questions that grew from the embers within my mind, I asked something far more simple. Something far more real than the flames that had burgeoned forth at my mental command. Something that gave off more warmth than the infernos that resided within my flesh. “Together?”
“Together,” Cadance’s agreement brought forth another deluge of warmth that strangled the paltry remnants of frost that had been hidden within my form. I would have burned Equus to keep this moment going if even a few moments longer, defiled countless souls, sacrificed them in a grand act of defiance against time, and many more acts that would have proven me the demon that I knew I was. All in a vain effort to keep this singular piece of paradise that I had managed to find.
Yet even as the paradise that had been brought forth was shattered by Cadance as she removed her wing and moved past me to her two guards I didn’t despair. I couldn’t despair even as the whispers resounded and beckoned me to understand their burned insights. No, I knew that for as long as we were bound in both pact and… and… Say it!
We had all but slept together and I couldn’t say that word. I had claimed such a fact before… I had to have done so. I should have done so. Even if I hadn’t expressed that truth before her. She had to know. She…
Pathetic.
She was perfect and once more I proved to be nothing more than a failure of a pony that Princess Celestia was right to forget. One that deserved nothing more than to be returned to where I had been found! One that deserved the soul-crushing depths of the cold that had claimed me! One who deserved her divinely ordained punishments by the Sun! The one who had been replaced! The one who had been forgotten as the only pony I had ever Loved moved on.
I could have brought forth another star with the realization that blazed forth at the use of that word. I could claim I loved the pony that saw me as nothing more than cattle to be led to the slaughter in her perfect future. For I was nothing more than a demon. The demon that would do anything to ascend. The demon was no longer even a pony. Much less anything more than an enemy to her perfect rule bathed in the light of her Sun!
I had failed to prove my worth to the Celestial Monarch that had raised me! I had allowed my failures to overshadow my limited worth! I had been caught with my hoof within tomes that the Sun herself had forbidden me from reviewing! I had burned her guards as I escaped through the final relic that she had shared!
I had been replaced by another who had gained the Sun’s approval! Even when I had returned to claim what was originally mine before it had been stolen twice over I had been bested! I had lost, sentenced to death! Reduced to nothing more than an ember as clung on through the chains that had been affixed! I had been sentenced to never return to what had once been my home!
Not the one that I had burned and claimed my first two souls, the one that I had been brought to after being saved by the Sun. One that housed countless ponies, but which I had shared with only one other. One that I had returned to eventually. One that I had reclaimed along with its now missing inhabitant. One who had been content to forget me as but another of her failures!
I had shown her that I was perfect! I had become PERFECT! That in comparison to the parasite that I had long ago threatened- No! I can’t! She wasn’t a parasite! She was Cadance! She wasn’t the parasite! She was Cadance! I couldn’t-.
The screams that had penetrated forth from the domain that held naught but false promises were forcibly silenced as I tore them from my mind. Burned away the nonexistent tendrils that had sought to infect me. That wasn’t me. No matter the similarities, that wasn’t me.
I was Sunset Shimmer. Daughter of the Sun. Partner of Cadance. Paramour of Love. Greatest Unicorn to have ever graced Equus. The demon of Canterlot Castle.
Even if I wasn’t perfect, Cadance cared for me and I cared for her in turn. So be it if I was nothing more than a wretched demon wearing the stolen skin of a pony. So be it if I was to be alone amongst the herd. I needed no pony but myself! I was Sunset Shimmer!
I had found a pony that had saved me. Who saw me for more than the blackened stains of my coat. Who had bound herself to me. Who I had in turn bound myself in phantasmal chains of silk. We were allies, mare friends, partners. The two of us are against the world. The two of us against the finale that had long ago been written in flame and blood.
Continue.
Alighting the mixed thoughts that clashed within my mind in a melee of chaos that only the Spirit of disharmony could have hoped to comprehend much less understand, cleansing them with flames that had rended reality asunder, I brought forth Cadance’s spelled blade once more from the depths of my sack where I had stashed it before our festivities last night. Considering what creatures lay beneath, such a tool would serve her well. Complementing her crystallokinesis and allowing her that precious potential avenue of silencing her conscience when it mattered most. She would not perish. She couldn’t.
With the two living shields by her side, she would be fine. She had to be fine. Even if she was still yet mortal she was far closer to the divine than I was. She had begun her ascension in earnest and had received her deserved blessings. She was grander than I. She had to be fine.
The chilled gale of concern combusted as what possible fates awaited the pony that was my partner were conjured from the depths of my mind and was assisted in their escape by the maddening laughter that whispered red reminders. What I would have so gleefully done to her. What abuses I would have afflicted upon her soul. The molestation of her mind, body, and soul in my pursuit of the knowledge of ascension locked within. The scourge of remedies that I would have prescribed in preparation to take her wings as my own, each seeking to bring her further towards an ever more impossible appreciation of torment that I would afflict.
I had to ascend. I must ascend. I was born to ascend. I was fated to ascend. If I didn’t bridge the divide between the mortal and the divine I would be forgotten in the cold once more. What was my worth if I couldn’t pass the hurdle that had forever taunted me? What was my worth if, in a few meager eons, I had been forgotten?
Left behind by the only pony to have ever cared for me… From my blood bloomed flames at the indignation of such a thought forming once more. I was not that pathetic. I had remade myself in her image.
I held the care of two ponies. One of whom still cared for me. One of whom was willing to risk her eternity for a chance at my own. So be it if the first, no longer thought me fit to be within her Sun. In the shadow her light had cast I had found another. One who was mine.
Once more the jealous companion that had clung to me since birth was forgotten as the newcomer brought forth the grand conflagration that subsumed the previous blistering within my blood. The strange flame that I could never hope to birth myself was once more flooding through my veins. The very same flame that was birthed not by any emotion that I could touch. One that was beyond my comprehension. One that had been brought forth by an unsung prayer that had fallen from my lips.
It blazed within me. It burned brighter than any flame of mine that I had supported. Its thronging heat reminded me of Celestia. Back in simpler and kinder times, where she allowed me to pretend to be something more than what I was. Something that I now was once more embracing as the favored priestess of Love herself.
Following at my partner's side only gave the still yet unnamed flame that had taken root so deeply within my being to grow ever stronger. The fervor of the warmth that was created was something I knew my partner had to notice, after all with just one glance at the denizens that attempted to cut off the two guards behind us had ended their shadowed efforts before they could even begin. Cadance didn’t even mention the minute turning of my head, but the crystalline shards of possibilities collapsed within. Forming new constructs of her desires, ones oh so familiar to the ones that she had shared with me in the throes of passion that had nearly had us become one. Bound beyond the machinations of all within the tale that had once been told.
When we arrived at the entrance I had formed, no longer was my illusion superimposed over it. No, now it was blocked off by a half-catatonic pony that was easily the combined age of the four of us. Even being ‘escorted’ by two royal guards was not enough for the decrepit pony to ignore our presence before him. No, instead he marched forwards with only the barest traces of formality and I granted the un-whispered desire, allowing my partner to step before me.
“Halt in the name of Princess Celestia. This area has been cordoned off due to some pony deciding to dig a hole deep in the earth. It isn’t safe for any pony. Royal escort or not.” The not-so-gilded guard ponies' disdain for the two gilded guards that had been assigned to my partner outweighed the grogginess. The bastardized theorem that my partner spun together was a laughable attempt to obscure the four of us and the irate failure of a guard pony. I would have to revisit some of the principles I had glossed over in the name of making sure that she was combat ready… able to survive. As much as I cared for her she wasn’t combat ready.
She was still unable to realize the primal truth. Princess Celestia had not the chance to teach her and even traveling with me was not enough to shatter that innocence that blinded her. She still believed that there were alternatives in the heated throes of battle. She would learn in time, I would ensure that she didn’t break when the act had been performed. Until it was inevitable I would perform such actions on my own, the additional blood wouldn’t be noticed upon my hooves.
Princess Celestia for all of her illustrious light was a known killer. Yet it was she who was adored by all of her ponies. They would never dare to insinuate that she was a craven killer. But for one who had just entered into the spotlight with her ascension and soon-to-be coronation, Cadance held none of the advantages that the elder Alicorn Princess held. If she was to be caught with another's blood coating her form she could be treated the same as me. She cared for those nameless ponies and she would be crushed by their disdain. I would do what little I could to prevent her fall into the same shadows that enshrouded me.
The spell took hold of reality and the earth pony before us dared narrow its hazed visual organs at my partner as her horn flashed under her cloak. Unobsecurered suspicion was held within the creature's eyes that bled into the determined resolution of a pony preparing for its final moments. The flame that filled me begged to be released upon the creature that sought to provoke the one that was my partner. Licking at the fringes of reality as it sought to protect the one that had saved me.
“In my name, you seek to stop me?” Celestia’s voice was the mixing of both suggestion and commanding was something that no mere pony could have bound within those words. My flames faltered at the same time the so-called guard before us did. Cel- Cadance. She was Cadance. Cadance didn’t let up on the guard as she extended her wings and allowed a few white-pink feathers to poke out the bottom of her cloak. “I take it that there are no more issues?” Celestia drawled as she dared the pitiful wretch of a creature before her to defy her heavenly edict.
There was no longer any shadow of exhaustion that clung to the pony that had halted her way. Only obedience remained as the pony swiftly saluted Celestia and stepped aside. Thanking the goddess that was in its presence for her eternal mercy. Counting its blessings as it was allowed to clean the blemish it had etched into its soul. Did it realize how loved it was by the Celestial Monarch? Did it realize how much I would have sacrificed so that I would be able to cleanse myself of my sins? My failures that were embedded in my past?
Celestia pushed forth, carving a way forth for all those who would follow in her path. Ensuring that those behind her would be safe within her Sun’s warmth. Move. Her Sun was once more obscured as I slipped into the Princess of the Sun’s shadow. Follow. Just as I had so faithfully done for so long, my every moment mirrored the perfect one. Who held no blackened blemishes upon her lengthy past. If I could only be better. If I could only be more like her. If only I could be perfect she would acknowledge how I felt about her.
It wasn’t to be as I was ignored by her Sun’s light that embraced all others freely. Only when we made it to the pit that I had so carelessly burned through her lands did she halt her course. “Sunset…” My name was once more whispered upon her tongue as she turned to gaze upon the failure I had become. Even with her guiding hoof, I was nothing more than a demon. One that she would be forced to put down for the good of her ponies. So that she would once more be perfect as she discarded her greatest failure.
Just as she had saved me, she would damn me. My beginning and end were found within her, my very existence was hers to alter in her image. She was my everything and for once it seemed that I was hers. For within her Suntouched eyes was an endless concern illuminated by the rays of her Sun. Rays that had once burned were now warm reminders of gentle care.
“Yes, Princess?” I chirped eagerly awaiting the next task that she would offer to me. Another chance to prove my worth. Another avenue of success. One more way to prove that I was worth her time. The Princess of the Sun before me didn’t immediately respond to my words, instead, she stared at me. Concern dripped from the pink gemstones that were her eyes.
“...Shall we continue?” Her words were twisted malignant echoes of her hidden intentions, ones that she kept obscured from me. On another day I could have prodded the eternal leader of Equestria to remove the obscurity behind her words. Today would not be that day, for she was already gifting me with the second-greatest gift that she could.
She was assisting me ascend. Celestia herself believed that I was worthy to be eternal by her side. The flame that had once been bursting within my soul was subsumed by the love I held towards the pony that was my mother.
“Of course.” I smiled as I threw myself into the darkness, laughing as I could hear Celestia’s startled gasp. So concerned with my safety that she all but chased after me seeking to protect me from the monsters that she had long ago fought. I couldn’t help the utter jubilation that flooded through my form as she caught me within her wings before I impacted the ground. For once it seemed that the Alicorn was chasing after the Unicorn. The teacher now trailed after the student.
I wouldn’t have been harmed, if I had the feather fall charm half performed. But Celestia’s actions proved that she needed to protect me from any danger. How could I not love her? She was perfect. “Thank you, Princess!” I didn’t care how old I was, I would always be far younger than her. It had been what felt like a millennium since I had last snuggled into the pony that had raised me.
“Sunset Shimmer, what were you thinking?” Celestia asked, her tone taking a familiar edge to when she had found me sneaking out in the dead of night to be by her side for even a moment longer. When I had refused the words of wisdom given by the one pony who had seen it all before. The one who had watched as history repeated before her very eyes.
“I knew you would catch me,” I answered simply expecting a final admonishment for my actions instead I saw a sight that I thought was impossible. For upon the white cheeks of the pony that I had long since wished to be my mother was the dustings of red. It wasn’t anger, not any anger that I had been acquainted with. No, instead the pits of peerless purpose were averted from me as I attempted to puzzle out this strange change in my savior.
It was at this moment when Celestia was still cradling me as were I but a foal, that her two guards descended. Once again too late to save any pony, for their mistress of the Sun had already saved me once more. Why she pretended that they were anything more than an early alarm system I still didn’t understand. Celestia in the past had evaded that line of inquiry only mentioning that she couldn’t be everywhere herself. Ignoring the points that I had made in their entirety. But that was then and this was now.
Smiling at Celestia who had turned her head back to me after glancing at her two guards I pushed against her wings. She didn’t hesitate to part her white feathers and allow me passage from her protective shell and into the derelict crypt that held the promise of my ascension. Before I could begin my effort to reduce the crypt to nothing more than a blasted hell filled with flames that would grant both Celestia and me the advantage, grasping claws of darkness formed from the dim crypt we had entered.
Each of the numerous claws under the absence of light half blended with the darkened reality before us as they slinked forth with ill intent. I met their malice with my own, my flames erupted and caught the dark hands in a flash of blinding light that momentarily dispelled them. Failure. Yet it wasn’t enough, before Princes Celestia I once more proved what an abject failure I was. They returned the moment that the bursting light had fully faded.
I had once more proved to her that I wasn’t worth her time! I had once more proven that I was not worth her attention! Calm. I couldn’t allow myself to be lost once more before her. I was calm. I was collected. I would prove to every pony that I was more than the failure that I was. I began my trials upon these claws that emerged from the darkness and began their slow assault on us.
They weren’t obstructed, much less halted by the heat that I enshrined them within. No, it was only when I returned to crafting flashes of light did they falter. It was obvious in hindsight but considering the so far unlimited number of these hands that I had destroyed and the ones that continuously reformed there was no end in sight. It was likely that this was some manner of ritual that fed from an enlarged battery of magical energy that had been collected over years if not decades.
No arcane formula that I had come across was bereft of inefficiencies. No perfect conversion existed, that was true when it came to the sciences and magic alike. Not that there wasn’t a superior between the two but this wasn’t the time. I was second to only Celestia herself when it came to reducing the lost energy and when it came to my flames I was almost equivalent to the Goddess of the Sun herself. Unsatisfactory.
Two ways would lead to appropriate successes in dealing with this defense, the first was to locate the origin of the matrix and destroy it. However, even observing the spectral hands form within the surrounding blackness gave no insight into where it was located. This led me to the second solution, I simply had to make my light strong enough to reduce the hands back into nonexistence that they had been formed from while at the same time not burning through the flood of magic that sang through my veins.
In total, it took me a minute to destroy the hands before I was satisfied with the final formula. I knew that Celestia had already figured out the most optimal way to deal with this issue but she hadn’t interjected with her answer. No, she had allowed me to prove that I could stand on my own for hooves. I couldn’t rely on Celestia for everything, not anymore. If I did I would prove no better than every pony that relied on her to wipe their plot. I had to prove that I was perfect. This was the perfect opportunity to prove that I was worthy.
Spinning together four orbs of the light I allowed myself a momentary pause before I turned around and saw my mother watching over me with concern weighing upon her narrowed eyes as she prepared to step in should I have faltered. She cared. She cared! Willing an orb over to the pony that had raised me, I finally broke my silence. “As long as we stay within the light, the claws should be unable to attack us.” Even if the darkness was altered by the shadowed one, I could alter the formula far faster than this ritual could be manipulated. Waiting for my grade, waiting to see what she thought of the newest test I had completed. I was disappointed as instead of offering her insight on the manner she instead continued her searching through the darkness that still existed beyond the light I had called forth.
Resume.
I could lay myself low at the altar I had constructed for my mother at a later moment. I would have all of eternity to ensure that my devotion to her was shown. For she was everything. She was my Sun. She was my life. “Give me a moment to level the field.” Fully intending to reduce the crypt to nothing more than a blasted hell filled with flames that would grant both Celestia and me the advantage. Every moment that I waited was another moment that Celestia could change her mind. But against two enemies that Celestia herself had fought in ages past I would need every advantage I could gain. I couldn’t rely on Celestia for everything, not anymore. If I did I would prove no better than every pony that relied on her to wipe their plot. I had to prove that I was perfect.
Celestia didn’t contradict my statement regarding pausing the resumption of our plundering… Technically with the Solar Monarch by my side it would be considered reclamation as anything with Celestia’s domain was hers to claim should she wish. But the technicalities aside, I focused on bringing forth that kindled warmth that had flooded through my veins. Invigorating each crevice of my form with its warm splendor as I forced my heart to beat ever faster. Plucking a mote of that divine flame that she had shared with me I forced it into the rapidly heating reality.
I didn’t bother to look towards Celestia, she was perfect and at least one of the guards was likely intelligent enough to stand within my mother's shield. With the spark brought forth into reality, I began to funnel even more of my inner flames into it. Even as the shadows began to writhe and attempt to snuff my flame I was folding in upon itself. Did it not realize that with Celestia by my side it could not hope to touch me? Even as the conflagration birthed from my blood continued to swell and be shunted into the newborn star I could spy the arrival of my prey in one of the final remaining shadows.
Celestia’s magic erupted into existence as beautiful spears of crystals impaled the shadows that attempted to end me. She was a peerless master of all magics but it was not enough to snuff the shadowed assault that persisted despite my newborn star. Said assault no doubt shattered ineffectively against the Celestial Monarch's shield.
That’s what I easily presumed knowing the impossible strength of the sole Ruler of Equestria. However, the screams continued, increasing in volume as the shadowed pony opened its maw and contorted it much like a doll. Splitting my attention even further I froze as I turned back towards the perfect pony. Mine.
My star ignited with a singular half-formed thought as I ripped through reality and severed the shadowed tendrils that dared to have touched my Mother. Protect. A new burst of flames reduced the impact from my destabilized star and my shield withstood the rest of the explosion behind me. Reduce. It was nearly entirely forgotten as I stood before the pony that moments ago was my mother. Now her wings weren’t white, her mane no longer the ethereal rainbow that had clung to her. Imposter.
In that eternal moment assaulted by flames and shadow it dawned on me as I brought my hoof to her quivering wing that had wrapped around her ponies that this wasn’t my mother. Why? Where did she go? Why had she once more left me? Attack. The screaming song of battle resumed as I threw myself at the pony that had continued its assault during my explosion that had reduced a portion of this crypt to nothing more than molten rock.
“Show me student of the Sun that your flame has grown since I had so easily snuffed it!” The writhing shadows screeched out, as I matched each of its shadowed spears with one constructed of flames. Attack. I could puzzle out Celestia’s imposter at a later moment, for now even as I desired nothing more than to tear from that imposter's mind where my mother was, I would deal with this threat. Scream.
This threat that had dared best me before. Kill. That had dared defy the destiny that had been ordained before me. END! Collecting the slagged remnants forward into a great wave of magma. DESTROY! The tidal wave consumed the spears of darkness that were brought forth from the shadowed prey. How had I faltered against this so-called foe before? How had I failed against its paltry might?
Stepping forward onto the field of molten stone, I stalked toward the shadowed creature that had been unable to move under my assault. Stop. Ripping through reality the moment I could see the trap that had been lain, no a moment too soon as I was reborn by the imposter's side did the former lord step forth from the singular remaining shadow that had persisted through the harsh light that I had summoned. “Did you think that would work?” I had never been caught! I had never been caged! They would not be the ones to trap me! It was the feral shadow that responded to my question with a slow snarl in its voice.
“No, but it would have made the second part easier.” The growling resounded as within the mass of dancing shade a beautiful red glow emanated. I was so close. What was one more soul to burn? What was one more to add to the pyre I had spent eons constructing? I moved to step forward over the alabaster imposter only to feel the gentle brushing of her wings dancing across my side.
“Sunset?” My name was dripping with such concern from the lips of my mother as she cracked open her eyes, eyes which were not pink. No, instead they were replaced with the darkness of the void that had long since beckoned. “Do you plan to leave me so soon my daughter?” She-! I-! Daughter!?? HOW? Why now? What changed?
Reality melted away before my eyes as there was but only one existence before me, only one pony within the still void of entombed souls. The only one that ever mattered. She slowly stood from where she had been knocked prone until she towered before me. My heart was doing its best to escape its confines as she slowly erased the divide between the two of us.
“What are you doing?” My words were a jumbled mess that fell from my tongue. She called me her daughter. Celestia had claimed me as her blood. As her own family. Celestia didn’t provide me with any answer before she blurred.
A familiar taste of iron was upon my tongue yet it didn’t hold the same flavor as my liquid life force. Wrong! This was wrong! This was-! Pushing Celestia away from me as I gasped for the breath that had been plucked from my lungs. A single string of blood lazily danced in the void between us as Celestia smiled. It took more than I thought was within me to push beyond that smile that promised so much more than what she had already given me. “You're not Celestia!” I hissed as I stoked the flame into an even greater fervor.
“I could be, and I could be so much more.” The facsimile of my mother laughed. My flames splashed ineffectively against the impersonation of my mother. “Oh well, not this time perhaps.” I glared at the pony that dared act as my m- Princess Celestia. The duplicate didn’t have even the barest grace to falter under my gaze. No, instead it opened its mouth once more. A singular order spoken as my blood began to slow, my heart faltered, my magic ended, and the heat that rested within me froze. “Stop.”