//------------------------------//
// Return to Equestria 
// Story: Legion of Shadows 
// by Strythio 
//------------------------------//

Nearly a year earlier...


Sunset Shimmer had been hard at work in her attempts at returning to Equestria. It had been, at least in part, due to the uncomfortable atmosphere at Canterlot High. Her less than friendly relations before had turned stone cold after the incident with Twilight, and though some of the students had long forgiven her, some just would not let it go. 

The Flash Sentry of this world, oddly enough, was among them. And if he did not let it go, then that mean that few others truly would either. Twilight's friends in this world were the only ones willing to give her a chance. 

But old habits die hard. No matter how much Sunset tried, she could not tone down her arrogance and general manner of accomplishing things. Though her ego had taken a hit straight to the vitals, it made a very swift comeback once it became apparent that acceptance by the school would mean completely changing herself. 

Her final attempt had been based off of what she knew about mirrors; there was one way in and one way out. If the portal closes, then tough luck to anyone who wanted to travel inbetween. 

However, if she could force the portal back open, then there was a chance that she could slip through and get back to Equestria without having to go through the red tape of her old mentor. 

Now, in a dark, but very warm room in the middle of Celestia knows where, Sunset was beginning to regret not toughing out the remaining year and a half. A throbbing, rigid, fingerless arm ran down her underside, and even while she tried to get used to the lightning and the fact that she was a pony again, a very loud commotion outside kept her tense. 

Hot breath on her chest alerted her that she was not alone, and that whatever she was on top of, would very soon wake up. Now that she thought about it, that arm earlier did not belong to her, and was probably the first indication that she in fact was not alone.

Just before she could enact her plan of swiftly hopping from this strange place, her host aggressively shoved her off, sending her to the hard crystal floor. The darkness made it difficult to re-gather her bearings, and the change in location coupled with the effects of crossing dimensions the hard way only increased Sunset's struggle.

Dazed and disoriented, Sunset staggered, bumping into cabinets and shelves, hearing the clang of armor and metal tools upon the floor before finally coming to a stop, realizing that moving around in her state was pointless. 

Once the world stopped spinning, her adjusted eyes attempted to peer into the darkness when a lamp burst to life with light. The now blinding light source caused Sunset to wince and squint. For a few tense moments, the blurry visioned unicorn attempted to focus both her vision and her magic in case the creature wanted to continue attacking. 

"Sunset Shimmer?" the voice was familiar, and yet foreign, the tone suggesting confusion bridled with some anger, likely at being disturbed at whatever hour it was. After all, finding a mare on top of could lead to issues beyond simple awkwardness.

Sunset's vision finally came into clear focus, and laying up a wooden bed with wood was none other than Flash Sentry, pony version. Sunset would have been happy to see him were his expression a little less condescending. It was hard to be thrilled when someone stared at you as if you had committed some sort of crime.

"How did you get here?" He made no move to hop out of bed, no doubt still sizing up the situation, "I thought you were still in that other world." 

The room resembled the typical guard room, with shelves that used to be lined with armor and weapons, the article now scattered along the floor from Sunset's clumsy steps earlier. On a small table sat the lamp that had earlier blinded her, and while spacious, the room could have stood a little more decoration. She could presume that she was in the Crystal Empire, but the crystal theme all over the walls and ceiling had already gotten quite old to her.

Sunset chuckled, shook her head clear one last time, and then sat on her haunches. For now, she was not going anywhere, as there was no immediate threat to her safety. "I think the better question is, why I am here early from... banishment. You sound like you didn't miss me." 

Flash snarled, throwing the bedding from him and hopping out of bed. While he hadn't bothered waiting for his wood to burn out, Sunet would not complain; it would be easier to fight him that way if she had to. Of course, she was not making any bets that he would seriously try to fight her in his current state anyways.

As Sunset had yet to make a move, Flash's expression softened, slightly, to a more concerned expression more fitting for an old friend. "Sister, this is not the time for games. You are supposed to be arrested on sight, you realize that right?" 

Sentry spread his wings out, as if prepared to pounce. Sunset lit her horn threateningly, wanting to re-establish the sort of hierarchy that she had been accustomed to. Oh, there she went again; the hell with it, that was one habit that she just could not kick. And now that she was back in Equestria, with Flash Sentry no less, then there was no need to proceed with completely changing herself.

Though she took a step back, she pointed her horn threateningly towards Flash, just to be on the safe side. "Not so fast half brother; I am still one of the most powerful unicorns in all of Equestria, even moreso now that my only real competition are all alicorns. You won't be arresting anypony this night." 

Sentry snorted in response, though he hesitated in striking. He continued to stare Shimmer down' however, his arousal finally beginning to taper off with the threat of danger. His facial expression evened out to a more neutral tone. 

Sunset smiled, a warm feeling radiating out from her chest. This was more like it, instead of the scornful looks from Canterlot High Students. "Now then, while I would love to catch up on my carnal needs, which have been going unsatisfied for far too long just so you know, I really do have to get going." 

Sunset began backing towards what she knew was the door; after all, only doors have shiny yellow doorknobs right? "Give my regards to Daddy will you?" 

"Sunny wait!" 

Sunset stopped, Flash's hoof extended outward in a desperate attempt to keep her in the room. Though Sunset loathed being stalled, if he was willing to call her by her pet name, then either he was a glutton for punishment or had something to get off his chest. 

Realizing that Sunset was willing to hear him out, Flash requested, "Listen, we can compromise. It has been years since we last saw each other; can we at least catch up?"

Sunset was very unwilling to stay much longer, with the squawking and screeching outside reaching a fever pitch. It would only be a matter of time before guards rushed in to assess the noise, or get Flash in order to help deal with whatever was causing the issue. And without having her bearings, teleporting anywhere was not an option. 

"Make it quick," Sunset threatened, still keeping her horn tilted towards Flash, "How has Dad been?" 

"He is dead." Flash spoke shortly and rather curtly; there was no dragging it out for the sake of dramatics, not even an explanation as of yet.

Sunset's lips quivered, and her ears drew themselves back in response. Her horn dimmed ever so slightly, and she took anotherstep backwards in shock. "How, when?"

"He passed in his sleep." 

Sunset shook her head, this bit of news not piecing together very well. 

"But, that is not possible! He was still in his prime..." 

"When you left." 

Flash's gaze became more sympathetic, though still had a bit of a razor to it. He did not change his blunt manner of speech as he carried on, "I was in Saddle Arabia guarding Cadance, and you were fleeing from the royal guards at the time. Neither of us were there when things turned bad for him." 

Sunset began backing away again, her internal clock screaming that it was high time for her to leave the building. "Terminal illness?" 

"If you could call old age a terminal illness." Flash softened the edge on his gaze and took a few cautious steps forward. "Most unicorns don't live as long as earth ponies do." 

Sunset seemed stunned, and it was not until her horn completely dimmed that Flash made his move. He charged forward, using his right hoof to slam her head back into the door while his body sent the rest of her with it. That one moment where she let her guard down he was upon her, sending her back straight into the door.

He used his body to pin her, his wings to restrain her arms outward, and used his hooves to properly embed her horn into the door, which surprisingly for Sunset was made of wood and not crystal. 

Flassh hurriedly carried on while he had the upper hoof. "Either way, when I got back, Celestia told me that I was the only one left to arrange the funeral; she gave me leave time to return to Las Pegasus so that he could be buried in our home town. Sunset, you have no idea what you missed while you were gone." 

With Flash having taken advantage of her temporary weakness, Sunset, under different circumstances, would have started cursing and attempting to headbutt, despite her horn being stuck through the seemingly thick door. Either Flash had gotten stronger since their last encounter or she had been more lost in thought than she had realized. 

How could she let her guard down in front of a royal guard member? Family and old friend or not, he was still a member of the royal guard.

Their muzzles just inches from each other, a few tears welled from from Sunset, the unicorn blinking quickly in order to keep them from dropping. Was it pain from Flash's use of force? No, she had felt worse pain when she had transformed into her demonic state back then. No, those few drops of salty water were reserved as a brief memento to her now deceased father.

Right now though, she had a priority to get Flash off of her. While she doubted that he would attempt to turn her in, she was not in the mood for taking unnecessary risks.

Channeling magic through both her horn and the door, Sunset set the wood ablaze, using magic to prevent the flames from spreading directly onto her. Sentry backed off in alarm just enough for Sunset to buck him further away with her  hooves, physically with her horn using the burning door as temporary leverage. She returned to her hooves and freed her horn in the same instant

The flames licked at her mane and back, but as quickly as they had come the flames finished consuming the rest of the door, leaving behind an ashen pile and a now home free Sunset Shimmer. Lain out on his back by the kick, Sunset did not stick around for him to recover before dashing from the room and into a long hallway. 

Cursing the fact that she had still failed to ask Flash exactly where she was, Sunset blindly dashed through the brightening halls. Upon coming to a very well lit chamber with several tunnel entrances, she noticed that she had very much misjudged the time of day. It was late evening, with only about ten minutes left of daylight remaining. 

Why had Sentry's room been so dark then? And more importantly, why was he even in bed at this hour? Sunset pondered this until she came to the only reasonable conclusion; Sentry must have been preparing for the night shift. Either that, or he had been getting off for the day. 

Either way, she did not have much time to keep wondering about that; the sound of shouting ponies and clanging armor alerted her to the fact that Flash may have already organized a search party. She was definitely in the Crystal Empire, as even this chamber had that same irritating crystal design. That meant crystal ponies; which meant that she could not blend into a crowd very easily at all.

Grimacing, Sunset peeked through the window, hoping to find someplace to hide out at until she could move around in the cover of night. To her surprise, the earlier noise seemed more reminiscent of an invasion of sorts, as griffons, dragons, chimeras, and beasts of almost all natures rampaged around the city, scattered frightened ponies and fighting amongst each other and the Guard. 

"What a convenient time to return to Equestria," Sunset snickered to herself, eying the chaos, "They will be far less concerned with me than putting all of this back in order." 

Just across the street, Sunset spotted a sign that spoke words more magical than almost anything she had ever encountered in the human world. 

A library, a public one at that, that was still open for business. Sunset smiled even wider at the thought of not just hiding in the library, but actually passing time reading books she had yet to lay her hooves on; who said that fate was cruel?

The chamber had several ways out, but the earthen tunnels could lead to almost anywhere. Only a story high, Sunset measured that she could, if she wanted to, burst right through the window and levitate the rest of the way. 

"You have not practiced magic like that for a few months, do you really want to chance it?" Sunset spoke aloud, trying to reason with herself, "Not to mention even if you fit through the window, the glass might shred you..." 

The sounds of pounding hooves from the direction she had just came alerted her that she needed to get a move on. Deciding against the window approach for logical rather than practical reasons, Sunset instead galloped down one of the tunnels, hoping that it ledto the library. 

The tunnel went from evening lighting to complete and total darkness. Using her horn, Sunset lit the way, though only just barely, as she did not want to yet give away that she had went down this tunnel. 

Once some ways in, Sunset brightened her horn light, noticing that this passageway seemed quite old. The floor seemed to be descending, and before long, Sunset could tell that she was going subterranean. Though this was not her intention, it at least got her into silence, save for the pounding above. 

The tunnel stretched on for what felt like a few more meters before sharply rising again, the incline so steep that Sunset had to half levitate herself just to get up it without sliding back down. Fingers would have come in great handy there, but the benefit of magic had far more uses in the grand scheme.

Finally, the end of the tunnel came, and, removing a part of the ceiling, Sunset discovered that she had found herself in the library.

How could she tell? The books that lined the shelves, some rather new and untouched. The smell of antique dust having been flitted from books merely days prior, the lingering taste in the air of the printed word. The expansive library had that wretched crystal theme as well, although it appeared newer, as if it had previously been more of a wooden, traditional library theme.

An inner orgy caused Sunset to leap from the hole in excitement, cover the spot back up, and walk amongst the tall shelves, already lost in the possibilities.  

The library was vast, comparable to Canterlot's in sheer size and volume. Where should she start? Adventure, Romance, Comedy, Fiction, Bibliographies, encyclopedias, there were so many options to choose from, all neatly labelled and in their place. Warm in every part of her body, a small glob of drool threatened to leave her open mouth when her eyes caught sight of a particularly thick book. 

It's worn, leather back and spine showed signs of age, but the enchanted runes on it suggested preservation. Sunset's ears perked and her mouth closed, for if someone had went into that kind of effort to preserve a book, just to put it in the library for all to read over, then it must contain something very important. Maybe something important enough to aide her in future endeavors.

A wicked smile creased her lips. This would occupy her time nicely. The inner bookworm squealing in delight, Sunset levitated the book from its place, bringing it down to her hooves. When she read the cover though, she realized that reading this would likely be a challenge, simply due to the age of the book.

House of Umbra: Dark Magic. Clearly the Umbra family had not considered making an update volume in the modern tongue yet; oh well, that had never stopped a studious unicorn before, and it would not stop her now. From opening the very first page, just a twinge of fear entered her heart, as she recalled the second part of the title. 

Dark magic.