Sunset Shimmer and Trixie were finally out of the forest, and within sight of Fillydelphia. The equine city comprised of several houses, with taller buildings in the middle. Earth ponies and pegasi resided here. They made it to the outskirts when a young filly came galloping towards them in a panic.
"Run! Run for your lives!" she was screaming. "The monster's going to eat us!"
"What monster? I don't see any--" Sunset began, when she saw a nearby house collapse. From under the wreckage emerged the same creature that she and Trixie fought on the road, bounding towards the three ponies.
"Not again!" Trixie gasped.
"Does that thing ever give up?" Sunset groaned, preparing a force field spell to repel the creature.
A pair of pegasi flew up to them, trying to intercept the creature's path. Unfortunately, they were both shaken off the creature's armored body. Sunset and Trixie were ready to flee, but the filly just stood there, paralyzed with fear. Trixie already dashed off to the side, but Sunset Shimmer took the time to get the young pony on her back, and carry her to the area opposite Trixie.
"Thank you, lady." the four-year-old filly said.
"Don't...mention it." Sunset Shimmer was breathing hard; She wasn't used to carrying heavy objects. "Now could you get yourself off my back?"
The filly jumped off, and hid next to her savior. They both saw that the creature had cornered Trixie and one of the pegasi in the ruins of the house. Determined to save her friend, Sunset Shimmer rushed towards the monster, her horn glowing along the way. Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar came from the direction of the forest. A massive claw suddenly appeared to Sunset's left, and grabbed the creature. The monster was large, but it was dwarfed immensely by the creature that was now gripping it: The legendary Ursa Major!
Sunset Shimmer and Trixie looked up in horror at the monstrous bear that towered over them all: Its aetherial fur shimmered in the sunlight, as though it were a mirage. Its massive red eyes were glaring furiously at its prey and prey-to-be, and its silver teeth were long and bared. As it continued roaring, massive globs of saliva glistened around its ravenous mouth. Trixie remembered her encounter with an Ursa Minor back in Ponyville. Now she really felt like a fool for confusing it for this mammalian colossus.
"Sunset, do you have any spells for this kind of creature in mind?" Trixie said, panicking.
But she saw that Sunset's mouth was gaping in shock and awe at the bestial leviathan that was the Ursa Major. Not even she, the former student of Princess Celestia, could hope to stand against this mountain-sized beast without a tremendous amount of assistance.
"I can't believe that those things could make it this far without being seen!" Trixie shouted to Sunset Shimmer. "Do you have any ideas how it got here?"
"I don't!" admitted Sunset. "I don't think the voice-distorting spell will scare it away, either!"
"Then what do we do?" Trixie squealed.
"We run away, and think up a strategy!" Sunset shouted back.
The Ursa Major had been digging its claws into the armored monster, and tossed it back into the trees with a screech, when it was unable to penetrate the metallic hide. Now, it looked down at the ponies that were fleeing from it. It bent down, and pursued them on all fours. Bellowing out its ghastly roar, it smashed a pair of houses with one swipe of its claw. Fortunately, nopony was inside those buildings. That did not satisfy the tremendous creature's apparent bloodlust. It actively began attacking the larger buildings, ripping entire towers in half with its long claws, and swinging the broken pillars at the smaller houses.
Trixie and Sunset Shimmer just looked on, horrified by the wanton destruction the Ursa Major caused.
"Come on, I need to think of something!" Sunset whispered to herself. "I think I read a book about dealing with Ursa Majors, but that was about four years ago, and I don't even remember..."
"Look up there!" the filly pointed her little hoof up into the sky. A cyan blur was speeding at an incredibly fast rate towards the Ursa Major; clearly a brave pegasus had decided to rise against the monstrosity that was rampaging through Fillydelphia.
"What is that pegasus doing?!" Sunset shouted, when she realized the trajectory of the cyan defender.
"What's wrong?" Trixie asked, her eyes glued to the sky.
"He's going to ram straight into the Ursa's head!"
"Oh, my..." Trixie gasped.
The bluish-green blur had just collided hard with the Ursa Major's left temple. The beast wheeled around in pain, but the mysterious pegasus was able to bounce off its head, and then slingshot himself into its broad chest. The Ursa Major fell back, crashing into yet another building. The pegasus shot straight up into the air, and came back down at blinding speed, straight into the Ursa Major's snout. Its snout were clearly broken now, and the Ursa Major was howling in pain. It got back up, and attempted to flail its claws at its winged attacker, who was now flying circles around its head.
"That is just incredible." Sunset heard Trixie comment.
The pegasus started bouncing on and off the Ursa's head, and became flying circles at such blinding speed, that a whirlwind was conjured up, lifting the Ursa Major up from the ground. But given its tremendous weight, it only went up twelve feet before its humongous build came down hard along an entire neighborhood.
"So, which one's trying to save the city, again?" Sunset asked, noticing the collateral damage was rising very high.
The Ursa Major climbed back up, and attempted to flee back into the Everfree Forest. But the pegasus still pursued it, even into the trees. It hammered up and down in rapid succession, until the Ursa Major toppled over beyond the trees, unconscious.
The pegasus then flew over to the ruined town square.
"Come on!" Sunset said to Trixie. "Let's see who this winged marauder is!"
The two unicorns ran down the road into the ransacked streets of Fillydelphia, until they found their path obstructed by a crowd of irate ponies. They were all furiously yelling at somepony in front of them all. Sunset and Trixie were able to push their way through the crowd, and saw a young female pegasus with a bluish-green coat and a slicked blonde mane bowing to the crowd, as if they were cheering her on.
"So this is that pegasus?" Sunset wondered.
"Thank you, thank you, everypony!" the pegasus was proclaiming in a dissonant, triumphant tone. "I'm glad to have helped you all!"
"Wow, and ponies say I'm a showoff!" Trixie groaned.
Then a stallion wearing spectacles and a greasy suit was trotting up close to her, an obviously angered expression on his face. The two unicorns guessed that he was the mayor.
"Lightning Dust, as happy we are that those monsters are gone..." he was growling through clenched teeth: "You also caused damage to a significant amount of our precious city with that reckless flying of yours!"
"Oh, that could've happened to anyone." shrugged Lightning Dust. "You're just overreacting."
"No, I'm not!" the mayor of Fillydelphia was growling loud enough for the unicorns to hear. "If you went around the other towns in Equestria, you'd see that whoever keeps them safe would know better than to cause potentially destructive damage to their towns unless there was no other way to do it!"
"Really? There was another way?" Lightning asked. "I just wanted to get rid of that thing as quickly as possible!"
"And you couldn't have tried luring it out of the city first?"
"I didn't want to waste my momentum on the amount of dodges I'd have to do to pull that off."
"Lightning Dust, you seriously need to think about those around you!" the mayor yelled. "If another attack like that happens, and you handle it the same way as this, we'd might as well let the attacks continue on!"
"What are you telling me, Mayor?" Lightning Dust said, now worried.
"I'm telling you to stop flying like a maniac, and either actually help us, or leave."
"Ouch. That's a bit harsh. Could you people at least be grateful I saved the city...at all?"
"Oh, what am I going to do with you?"
Sunset Shimmer was examining Lightning Dust the whole time. She suspected that she was the mare that Luna was referring to, that she would have to befriend in Fillydelphia. She approached Lightning Dust and the mayor, and started speaking.
"Excuse me, Mayor?" Sunset asked. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, and I think I'll be able to handle the recklessness of my colleague, here."
"Colleague?" Lightning Dust repeated. "I don't even know who..."
"I'm trying to help you out here." Sunset whispered, turning to face the blonde-maned pegasus.
"What do you have in mind for her?" the Mayor questioned.
Back in Canterlot, the two alicorn Princesses were sitting in their throne room. A unicorn guard had opened the door to speak with them.
"Your Majesties, the unicorn known as Red Dawn wishes to speak with you two." he told them. "He says that it involves Sunset Shimmer."
"Very well." Celestia said. "Send him in."
The reddish-orange unicorn marched in, with a bitter look on his face. He looked back and forth between the two rulers of Equestria.
"So, how's my sister doing?" he asked. "Is she doing fine? She better be doing fine!"
"I assure you, Red Dawn." Princess Luna told him. "Your sister is safe, and her mission is not a dangerous one."
"What kind of mission is it?!" Red exclaimed. "Honestly, I don't see Sunset Shimmer in three or four years, and you send her off somewhere, and expect me to believe that she'll be okay...just like that?"
"Sunset Shimmer is a superb mare, Radiant." Princess Celestia assured him. "She isn't not the small filly that you were left to raise when you yourself were but a youngster. She is extremely talented in magic, and one of the most intelligent ponies I have ever met in my long years in this world."
"Oh, yeah?" Red Dawn growled. "Well, I'm still worried that I might not ever see her again. I mean, why was she gone for so darn long, anyway?!"
The princesses looked at each other cautiously.
"Radiant, listen to me." Celestia told him. "If you knew the truth about your sister's previous absence, it might...disturb you."
"Well, if she's never around, anyway," Red Dawn retorted. "then I don't see how it could ruin how I feel about her!"
"Oh, dear." Celestia frowned. "You'll have to follow us downstairs."
"Okay, then." Red Dawn said, clenching his teeth. "I'll come along. But please, stop calling me 'Radiant'!"
Red Dawn and the princesses went downstairs to the enchanted mirror. Celestia began to explain its purposes.
"My sister and I decided to bring it back here from the Crystal Empire, shortly after Sunset Shimmer returned to Equestria...from the other side."
"The other side?" Red Dawn asked. "What's on the other side of that mirror?"
"Another world." Princess Luna said. "Inhabited by...humans."
"Humans?" Red Dawn queried, tilting his head suspiciously. "So, if I were to go through there, I'd be trotting about along with a bunch of people with two legs?"
"Yes." answered Celestia. "But based on what Twilight told me, you would turn into a human yourself as long as you were in that world."
"Really?" Red Dawn said. "And Sunset Shimmer went in there?"
"Yes." Princess Luna said. "But she returned much earlier than we could have expected."
"Earlier than what?" Red Dawn asked.
"Well, this portal opens only once every thirty moons, the last instance being a month ago." Princess Luna said. "And Sunset Shimmer was left behind on the human side the last time. Or so we thought. According to Sunset Shimmer, this portal also becomes a one-way passage between the worlds every thirty nights."
"Wait, so Sunset could have been stuck in there for two more years?" Red Dawn said. "That's terrible!"
"I am certain that Princess Twilight Sparkle could explain the rest." Princess Luna told him. "She is currently residing in the library of Ponyville."
"Okay." Red Dawn nodded. "I'll go find her, then."
When he left, Luna turned to speak to her older sister.
"Radiant?" she asked. "So, his full name is...?"
"Yes, sister." confirmed Celestia. "Radiant Dawn is his proper name. It was the name that was brought to me on his birth certificate when he enrolled in my academy, about seven years ago."
"He was one of your students?" asked Luna.
"Yes, sister." said Celestia. "He enrolled at the same time as Sunset Shimmer. But he didn't stay as long as she did."
"But why? What happened to him?"
"It's a very uncomfortable memory for me. Almost as bad as when his sister had that falling-out with me."
"Sister, I would truly like to understand." Luna said. "Could you please try?"
"I will tell you what I remember from that day." said Princess Celestia, reluctantly.
* * * FIVE YEARS, TEN MONTHS AGO* * *
It was noon at Celestia's academy in Canterlot. Sunset Shimmer had already passed her test to become Princess Celestia's student. Now she was ready to see two other unicorns prepare their exams: Pressure Point and Red Dawn.
Red Dawn kept staring at his sister, who was at Princess Celestia's side. He wanted to go over and talk to her; he was afraid that they might be separated, even if he did succeed with his test.
"Pressure Point!" the alicorn called the bluish-white unicorn with the purple mane. "It is your turn to take the test."
"Yes, Princess." the young unicorn said, calmly. "What shall my task be?"
Princess Celestia levitated a stool to her side, opposite of Sunset Shimmer.
"You will cast a flight spell on this stool." she said. "If your spell is cast properly, it will have flown itself in a complete circle for a minimum of thirty seconds. You may begin, but remember that levitation spells are not the same as flight spells. It must move without your direct control."
Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer moved away to sit down with the other judges, as Pressure Point took a deep breath, and tilted his head in circles, in order to cast his spell upon the stool. Slowly, it rose up and floated in mid-air. the colt swiveled his head a bit, giving directions to the stool. The three-legged seat flew around him in a perfect 360* radius, for forty seconds straight.
"Excellent work, young one." the princess said, proudly. "You are indeed worthy of remaining at my academy. I see much potential in your services to Equestria."
"Thank you, your majesty." Pressure Point nodded, before trotting over to the other students that passed the exams.
Red Dawn was getting very nervous about the test. His front hooves were shaking with fright, as he waited for Princess Celestia to call his name. He kept looking at his younger sister. He was so happy to know that she had been successful with her own exams. Sunset Shimmer looked back at him, giving him a wink to show her confidence in him.
"Radiant Dawn!" Celestia stated. "It is time to begin your test!"
Red felt his heart jumping up and down, and his face was cringing. The young colt was quivering all over. No matter what would happen here, this was truly the turning point of his life. If he passed this test, he would remain as one of Celestia's students, and thus be able to stay with his sister. He stopped shaking when he realized this.
"I'm on the way, ma'am." he said, humbly. "So, what do you want me to do?"
"Like Pressure Point, you shall perform a flight spell on the wooden stool." Celestia told him. "If it can fly in a circle for at least thirty seconds without relying solely on telekinesis, you shall pass the test."
"Right, then." he nodded, before adding to Sunset Shimmer. "This is for you, little sister."
Radiant stood before the stool. He felt his heart sink, and the whole room fell silent as he attempted to regain his composure. He tried desperately to remember how to perform the spell that Pressure Point cast. He was fumbling about, wincing in fear of what the judges might do if he waited too long. Seconds passed by, minutes fell through, and it was clear that everyone else was growing impatient.
"Master Dawn." one of the judges, a grey unicorn male with a silver mane said to the young colt. "It is time to cast the spell. Are you aware of this or not?"
"Yeah, yeah." Red said, nervously. "Just give me a little breathing room."
He closed his eyes, composing what he believed would suffice for a flight spell in his mind. He could feel the magic surging though his horn. He opened his eyes again, to see that the stool was indeed lifting from the ground.
"So far, so good." Red muttered to himself. "Come on, Red. Don't mess this up! Not in front of your sister! Not in front of Princess Celestia, either!"
Just like that, he felt some kind of blockage in the flow of magic. For some reason, he had some sort of uncomfortable sensation within him, as if his body was refusing to comply with what it was meant to do at this moment. He felt slightly queasy as he tried to direct the floating stool. While it indeed moved about, it did so in a very sloppy trapezoid pattern. He knew this wouldn't be good enough to pass the test. He tried harder...and harder...and harder to focus his magic on the stool.
He knew this might count as cheating, but he felt he had to use telekinesis to manually direct the stool to move in circles. He felt himself sweating all over, and his legs started wobbling. He tried to direct the stool through his magic, but the amount of subtlety it would take to pull it off without being disqualified aggravated him deeply. Every once in a while, he would chime in with his magic, so as to make sure it didn't go anywhere he didn't want it to. The amount of concentration on the spell was being harmed by his constant thoughts about Sunset Shimmer.
"I can't mess this up!" he stammered, painfully. "I can't!"
He tried too hard to keep the stool in check, and a loud boom! erupted from the tip of his horn, and he heard a crackling noise above him: the wooden stool had transformed into a mobile fireball!
Several ponies in the room gasped in horror, as the airborne flame produced smaller explosions all around it, sending red-hot ashes sprinkling in every direction. Red Dawn did his best to stop the fireball, but his stress caused the fire to expand in a burst of superheated air. Several decorations on the walls were set ablaze, and several of the students panicked.
"Help! Save me!" Red heard another of the judges cry out, as she galloped around the room, her mane and tail both on fire.
Princess Celestia quickly took off into the air, and from the top of the high ceiling, conjured a cloud that dropped rainwater down upon everypony in the room. Slowly, the fires were extinguished. She swooped down hard, and landed in front of Red Dawn.
She stared down at him with a vicious glare in her eyes. Even thought she wasn't yelling at him, it was clear to everypony in the room that she was absolutely furious.
"I'm sorry, Princess Celestia!" Radiant Dawn winced, his eyes twitching. "I lost control! I didn't mean to do that! Something happened inside me! I don't know what it was!"
Princess Celestia continued glaring at him.
"I swear that I practiced as much as I could!" said Radiant. "I wouldn't screw up this bad! I swear it!"
"Radiant Dawn, you must understand that if there were a repeat of this incident," the princess told him, with an uncomfortably soft tone in her voice. "you would risk putting those around you in danger?"
"Of course, but..." Red Dawn said.
"Then you must understand that a unicorn whose powers are as unpredictable as yours can do more harm than good?" she said.
"Ye...yes?" Red whimpered.
"And I know that it wasn't your fault." said Celestia. "But whatever is causing this amount of stress will just build up your magic and unleash devastation on this city if you don't leave and meditate on a way to control it."
"Leave?" Radiant repeated. "But can't the school help me--"
His horn suddenly started emitting red sparks, and several white-hot flares blasted forth from it, scattering all over the room. One of them nearly hit Pressure Point, and another two hit the floor on either side of Sunset Shimmer.
"I didn't do it!" he yelled quickly. "I really didn't mean to! I swear!"
Suddenly, he saw the small, familiar body of Sunset Shimmer approaching him. Red Dawn turned to look at her, confused.
"Red, just go." Sunset said.
"Sunny? What--"
"Just get out of here!" snapped Sunset, her own eyes starting to water. "You heard what the princess said! You're too dangerous to be around!"
"I'm so sorry, little sister! I failed you."
He grabbed his sister and started sobbing, as Princess Celestia stood in front of them with a concerned look on her face. After a while, Sunset attempted to reason with her brother.
"Red, you have to listen to me!" Sunset told him. "You don't have to be with me all the time. I can handle myself! I'm already Princess Celestia's star student! I'm here to learn how to handle myself! Do you understand me?"
Red nodded.
"But if you keep acting, you won't be able to help me, even if you did stay here!" she told him. "Please, Red! You'll help both of us if you just leave!"
Red looked at Sunset again, and then to Celestia.
"I promise, young Radiant." she said to him. "I will take good care of Sunset Shimmer. Under my guidance, she will be safe. I promise you."
"Thank you, Princess." he said, choking his words. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! If my sister feels safe here with you, then I won't argue with her. I only want what's best for her. All I ask in return is that you take good care of her!"
"I know you care for me, big brother." Sunset assured him with a smile. "And I love you for it."
She gave him a comforting hug, and slowly went to Princess Celestia's side.
"I love you, too...Li'l Sunny." Red said, turning to leave the academy for good. "I'll miss you so much!"
Then he left the city of Canterlot in a huff, and then departed for the outlying lands of Equestria. He was deeply afraid that this would be the last time he would ever see his beloved sister again. On the other hoof, he did leave her in good company.
"The rest of you are dismissed." Celestia said to the other students and teachers in the room.
They left quickly, leaving Sunset alone with Celestia.
"Why?" Sunset started to whimper. "Why did you have to make my brother leave like that?"
"I only did what I felt was right." said Celestia. "Being a princess isn't always easy, even for me. In order to do what's right, sometimes you have to do something you're not entirely proud of. And I can tell you that from experience."
"Then I just hope that it'll be worth it when I become a princess." said Sunset, under her breath.
* * * THREE YEARS, FOUR MONTHS AGO * * *
In Princess Celestia's class, Pressure Point was talking with some of the other students about Radiant Dawn's incident at the flight spell exam. They were all laughing obnoxiously. Sunset Shimmer glared at them, clenching her teeth as she tried hard to concentrate on her studies.
"Seriously, how dense do you have to be to mix up a flight spell with an incendiary spell?" Pressure asked.
"I heard that he tried cheating, because of how terrible he was at magic." one of his companions said.
"If he can't even get a spell right without it malfunctioning like that," questioned another unicorn. "then why bother coming here? Why couldn't he just admit that he was a lousy unicorn, and pack his sorry flank back where he came from? Was blowing up the stool his idea of an excuse? What a clumsy moron!"
Sunset was now banging her head against her open spellbook.
"And you should've seen it when Princess Celestia was chewing Red Dawn out." Pressure told them. "You could say that he was...red in the face!"
They all burst out in laughter again.
"He must've been so scared of what the Princess might do to him!" the first companion chuckled. "If it were up to me, I would've had that clumsy oaf chucked clean off the mountain for messing up that badly. And family aside, what does Sunset Shimmer see in him? He's useless!"
"Yeah, I bet he won't be invited to any of Sunset's family reunions!" Pressure Point laughed. "If he was my brother, he certainly wouldn't be invited to any of mine. I wouldn't even invite him to attend my funeral!"
"Just shut your trap!" Sunset snapped, letting her quill drop to the ground. "You don't understand what it's like to be my brother! And in fact, I don't think you ever will! Get off his case, you vultures!"
"Okay, okay!" Pressure nodded, gesturing to the rest of his group to sit back down.
Sunset moved away from her study area, and decided to sit beside Princess Celestia, who was overseeing the academy students. The princess, having heard the commotion, attempted to comfort the fuming Sunset Shimmer.
"Dear Sunset, I understand it is hard to deal with your brother leaving." Celestia said to her. "I myself have been forced to go on without my sister Luna for the past millennium."
"I don't care, Princess!" Sunset shook her head furiously. "It really isn't worth the trouble anymore! I don't want to worry about any more stupid attachments! No friends! No family! And no classmates, either! None of that! Just you, me, and your lessons!"
It was official: Princess Celestia was now regretting ever agreeing about sending Radiant Dawn away. But she knew that it was too late now, since Sunset had just declared that she no longer wanted anything to do with him. Instead, she compromised as best as she could.
"Don't worry, Sunset." Princess Celestia told her. "I promise that you don't have to stay here with the other students if you don't want to. From now on, you may take your lessons directly from me, and me alone."
"Thanks, princess." said Sunset, quietly. "The less I think about my brother, the better."
"Sunset, surely you don't mean that?" asked Celestia, shocked.
"I want to prove that I'm better off without him." said Sunset. "You saw what he did! Really, do you think I'd be making more of a difference if I stayed here in Canterlot, or if I went with Red back home to that dusty old mansion?"
"Well..." Celestia tried to counter her star pupil. "Sunset, I understand you're stressed right now. I know that you miss your brother. You shouldn't be afraid to hide your feelings."
"C'mon, princess, don't play mind-tricks on me." said Sunset Shimmer. "Now please, I'd like to go learn my next lesson from you."
"Very well, Sunset." said Princess Celestia. "But I think we should discuss these matters later..."
* * * PRESENT DAY * * *
By the time Princess Celestia finished telling the story to Princess Luna, she had a very depressed texture to her purple eyes. A lone tear streamed down her white-coated face, and she bowed her head mechanically. For a while, she and Luna were silent.
"...And that was the last time she ever spoke to anypony about her brother." said Celestia, finally breaking the silence. "I believe I already told you what happened with Sunset Shimmer herself, and how she ceased to be my student?"
"Indeed, you did." said Luna. "That is what made me so interested in her in the first place. To think that such a proud, clever unicorn like her would have such a depressing background. And I also feel rather badly for her brother. By the sound of things, the two of them seemed inseparable. To bring them apart like that clearly hurt them both deeply."
"I truly am sorry for what I did back then." Celestia said. "But I don't think that Radiant would ever forgive me for banning him from the academy. It clearly ruined the poor stallion's life. And I fear it may have somehow paved the way for Sunset's prideful, antisocial behavior."
"Sister, do you suppose..." suggested Luna. "If Red--er, Radiant Dawn had remained at the academy, anyway, he would have been able to keep Sunset Shimmer from leaving you?"
"I do not know, Luna." Celestia said, shaking her head solemnly. "But knowing how dangerous and unpredictable he was at the time, he could've just as easily joined his sister, or fled to that human world instead of Sunset Shimmer. If that were the case, I fear that he wouldn't have adapted well to that world. In fact, it may have been worse if he went there instead of Sunset."
"Whatever do you mean, sister?"
"He may have become insane within the first thirty hours on that side." explained Celestia. "Let alone thirty moons. The same would apply to if he found out that Sunset had crossed over to that world for so long, before she returned. To know that he would literally be worlds apart from his beloved sister, his only known family, for such a long period of time would drive him over the edge. He could have even died of a broken heart. All because of me."
Then Luna's eyes widened from a revelation.
"Sister, I just thought of something." she said. "He has gone down to see Twilight Sparkle. And when he learns about her previous incident with Sunset Shimmer, do you suspect that he may...?"
But she was afraid to finish her sentence. Princess Celestia, however, knew what she meant.
"He has the right to know the truth, Luna." Celestia said. "We can only hope that he takes it well."