//------------------------------// // I: Prelude // Story: Thirteen Moons // by Silent_Witness //------------------------------// The sun rose slowly over the sleeping city of Canterlot. Nestled in a blanket of thick spring fog, the city and its inhabitants had yet to wake from their slumber. But though the city slept, the world outside its confines had long since awoken, already deeply immersed in its routines and motions. It was in this early hour that two people emerged from the brush on a bluff overlooking the city- the first was a boy, clad in armor of deep purple and pale green, carved to resemble a dragon. He was followed by a young woman wearing dark blue robes and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat that obscured most of her face. The young woman approached the edge of the bluff, lifting up her brim to get a better view. “We are here at last,” she said. The boy in the dragon armor approached the edge as well. “So, this is it?” “If all of my calculations are correct- and I have no reason to doubt myself- then yes. This is the epicenter.” “Huh...” The boy in the dragon armor put his foot up on a nearby rock, and leaned out to get a better view of the city. “I have to admit, it’s not at all what I was expecting. It seems so... plain.” “Places such as this most often are. Now…” The young woman turned away from the edge. “…are you ready?” The boy turned as well. “Well yeah, I’m ready, but... are you sure this is really necessary?” The girl brought up a hand. “We are faced with energies the likes of which threaten to destabilize the very structure of the world itself- a certain level of coercion may become necessary.” She closed her eyes and concentrated- as she did, a white glow appeared around her hand. “And at any rate, the chimera will sniff out and lead us to the catalyst.” She pointed, and a glowing sigil appeared on the ground in front of her, before it let out a brilliant flash of light. The two shielded their eyes; when they looked again, a massive beast stood where the glyph had been. Its four heads roared in fury as soon as it laid eyes on the two- the boy reached, and gripped the spear hanging from his back… but the beast suddenly stopped. It lifted its heads, one-by-one, and began sniffing the air. Then the chimera’s attention snapped towards the town- it snarled, before it charged forward and without hesitation, leapt off the cliff. A few moments later, the earth shook as the chimera struck the ground, but as the boy and the young woman looked over the edge, they could see the chimera sprinting towards the town, unaffected by the fall. The young boy pulled the spear from his back. “What now?” he asked the girl. “Now...” She drew a long curved dagger from her belt. “It begins.”     A piercing sound filled the air. Sunset Shimmer jolted awake and let out a startled cry, flailing wildly. It took a moment for her to remember that it was her alarm. Sunset took hold of the buzzing, shrieking cellphone lying next to her and silenced it. It was one of Rarity’s old cellphones, the kind with no touchscreen, and on which one had to slide the screen up in order to use the dial. But while it might not have had the features of newer models, Sunset had found that in this world even an old cellphone was better than no cellphone at all. Setting the phone aside, Sunset dressed herself and stepped out of her tent- the athletic fields were still covered in a heavy fog, but it would soon disperse as the sun rose. In spite of her jacket, she crossed her arms over her chest and shivered- the morning air still held the cold bite of winter, even this late into March. With little else to do, she pocketed her phone and broke down her tent, storing it in a safe place, before walking around to the front side of Canterlot High. The front of the school- normally bustling even at this early hour- was deserted, and it would stay deserted for the whole week. Spring Break had come to Canterlot High once again, and everyone who could had already left the town to enjoy their vacation. Even the others- Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy- had left town to go camping. They had invited her, but Sunset couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Canterlot even for a week. So here she was, alone. Sunset Shimmer had settled into a comfortable routine over the past year and a half: she woke up and went to classes at Canterlot High to fill up the seemingly endless amounts of free time she now found herself with. When the school day ended, one of her new friends might invite her to participate in some activity- if not, then she explored this world’s Canterlot, noting any similarities between this one and the Canterlot of her own world. She was always surprised to find more similarities than differences. At the end of the day, she returned to the school to camp out in the fields for the night (or, in the gym, during the winter). Sunset Shimmer approached the statue set at the front of the school. The statue depicted a horse rearing up on its hind legs, but her focus was not on the statue itself, but its base- specifically, on an unassuming stone slate set on the back. The slate reflected Sunset with surprising clarity, even through the water droplets that had condensed on its surface. Then, Sunset brought up her hand, and pressed it against the slate. Every morning, and every evening, she did this. And twice a day, every day, she received the same result. The stone refused to yield. Sunset looked down sadly. To be so close, to be separated from her world by mere millimeters… it frustrated her to no end. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the time she had spent in this world- she did. She would always be grateful to her friends, and remember their time together fondly. But she missed her world, her old life. She had been in this world for so long, that she could barely remember what she looked like as a pony, what it felt like to stand on four hooves. And, she missed her magic- the technology of this world, wondrous as it may have been, couldn’t replace everything. “Ya know, standin’ there starin’ at that portal ain’t gonna make it open any faster.” Sunset jumped up in surprise, not anticipating company, much less a very familiar drawl. She turned around; sure enough, Applejack was standing behind her, accompanied by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Sunset noticed that all five wore large, heavy-looking packs. “Guys?” she asked. “What are you doing here? I thought you already left town.” “About that…” Rarity began. “We all know how reluctant you are to leave Canterlot. So, we had a discussion about our camping trip and decided-” Pinkie Pie leapt forward, interrupting Rarity. “We decided to camp out on the football field with you!” Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’d… do that?” she replied, stunned. “I… that’s…” “Alright, alright, don’t get all weepy on us,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now come on. We’re gonna go get breakfast.” Sunset nodded. “Alright.” And with that, she followed her friends down the path to the sidewalk, away from the statue.   Thirteen Moons By: Silent_Witness Chapter I: Prelude   As the group walked alongside the empty street, Sunset looked to Applejack. “Hey, Applejack…” she began. “How are, um… Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh?” “They’re doin’ alright,” Applejack replied. “Why do ya ask?” “Well, I haven’t seen them around lately…” “Big Mac graduated last year, remember? And Apple Bloom just transferred to a school back in Ponyville is all. Granny Smith said somethin’ about needin’ extra help ‘round the farm.” Rarity then added, “You know, my parents transferred Sweetie Belle back to Ponyville, too. And their friend Scootaloo is gone as well.” “It’s not just them, you know,” Pinkie said. “Half the students are gone. Haven’t you noticed?” Sunset hadn’t really thought about it before then, but now that Pinkie had mentioned it, she was right. Ever since the spring semester had started, the number of students in Canterlot High had been declining, slowly but steadily- all of her classes, which had been full in January, now had at least five students who never seemed to show up. “Oh, I do hope it’s nothing too serious…” Fluttershy said. The six of them eventually reached their destination: a small diner about a block away from the school. It was normally a popular hangout for Canterlot High’s students, but with everyone gone for the week, combined with the early hour, it was nearly deserted when they entered. “Hey guys,” the young man behind the counter called. He was short and stocky, with greyish skin and dull orange hair, wearing an apron over his usual ensemble. “What can I get for you?” “Hey Snips!” Pinkie called back. “Six orders of pancakes, on the double!” “Gotcha!” He then called to the back, “Yo Snails! Six orders of flapjacks! Make it snappy!” “Since when have Snips and Snails worked here?” Rainbow asked, as the group sat down at an empty table. “Since October. They mostly work on weekends, though,” Pinkie replied. She then leaned over the table and asked, “So Fluttershy, how have things been at the animal shelter?” “Busy,” Fluttershy replied. “There’re lots of lost animals and strays around town this time of year. But things have gotten easier since Sunset Shimmer started volunteering.” “I’m glad to hear that,” Rarity replied, before she looked to Sunset. “Speaking of which, you know you can stay with any of us, don’t you, Sunset? Surely it would be better than having to sleep out on the football field every night.” “Thanks for the offer,” Sunset began “but I’d rather stay here in Canterlot. If I leave, something might happen to the mirror.” She rested her arms on the table, before resting her head on top of them. “Besides, I’m not sure I deserve that sort of hospitality just yet.” Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. “This again?” she said. “C’mon Sunset. Ya gotta stop beatin’ yerself up over all that already. I’m pretty sure everyone forgave ya by the time ya finished rebuildin’ Canterlot High’s front entrance.” Sunset looked up at Applejack. “Have you ever thought that maybe you forgive people too easily?” Applejack glared and opened her mouth to reply, before Snips interrupted her. “Here you go,” he said as he laid a plate of pancakes in front of each person, six in total. “Six orders of pancakes. Hope we didn’t keep you waiting.” “Alright!” Pinkie exclaimed, before she began shoveling pancakes into her gullet with reckless abandon. Applejack picked up her fork, and pointed it accusingly at Sunset. “Don’t think yer off the hook just yet, Shimmer,” she said, before she cut into her pancakes as well. I never did, Sunset thought to herself, as she reflected on the events of that night yet again. Destroying the school, hypnotizing most of the students, almost killing Twilight and the others… those weren’t things that were easily forgiven, if ever. If she was in Applejack’s position, she’d certainly resent her for what she’d done. Heck, she was the one who attacked Twilight and the others, and she hadn’t forgiven herself for it. However, Sunset’s introspection was interrupted as she happened to overhear the conversation at the table behind her: “Hey. Have you heard?” “Heard what?” “People say there are monsters out in the countryside. From what I heard, all the towns around Canterlot have started building walls to keep ‘em out.” “Is this another one of those ‘friend of a friend’ things?” “What- no! It’s true! The wall part is, at least. When I went up to Whinnyapolis a few weeks ago, people were building a huge wall around the whole town.” After the events of the Fall Formal, Sunset had chosen to set herself apart from the rest of Canterlot High’s students, but that didn’t mean she was unaware of the gossip that passed among them. And this was not the first time she had heard this particular rumor. As far back as the previous year, there had been persistent rumors of strange things happening in the world outside of Canterlot: eerie lights, strange creatures, and the like. Sunset had always dismissed those rumors, but the fact that they had endured for so long suggested there was some sort of truth to them. So she asked, “Hey girls… have you heard about anything… strange happening lately?” “I can’t say that I have,” Rarity replied. “Me neither,” Pinkie somehow replied through a mouthful of pancake. “Well, I’ve been hearing about a whole bunch of weird stuff on the news lately,” Rainbow said. “But I don’t think it’s anything we need to worry about.” There was an explosion. Sunset was thrown from her seat and hit the ground hard. Her vision went black, and she could hear nothing, save for the beating of her heart. But slowly, her vision returned, and she staggered to her feet. But as soon as she was upright, heavy footfalls thundered toward her, and something seized her by the throat, hoisting her into the air. She gasped, and her hands immediately shot up to the massive arm holding her. She pulled, she twisted, she flailed her legs, but the viselike grip on her throat refused to loosen even slightly. She’d been holding a fork, but the explosion had thrown it from her grasp- now she had nothing, no weapon with which she could free herself. The air was filled with a thick cloud of dust, but though it she could see a feral, bestial face glaring at her. The sound of Sunset’s heartbeats hammered in her eardrums, drowning out the cries of the others, and the deep growls of the beast. She couldn’t even cry out in pain as the massive hand tightened around her throat. Her edges of her vision darkened, and her struggles began to weaken… …until a furious cry met her ears, and a blue hand stabbed a knife into the arm holding her. A screeching, howling roar drilled into Sunset’s ears as the massive arm released her. Sunset fell onto her knees, gasping, her hand clutching her aching throat. She looked up; a thick cloud of dust swirled through the diner. But even so, Sunset could see two shadows a short distance away: a large, lumbering shadow, and a smaller, much more agile shadow. Only one person Sunset knew was that fast, and the shout that came to her ears confirmed it: “Come on, ya dumb ape! Catch me if you can!” Rainbow Dash. In an instant, Sunset was on her feet. Rainbow may have been fast, but it would only take one slip-up for that beast to gain the upper hand and end her life. And after everything Rainbow had done for her- after everything everyone had done for her, she would be damned before she let that happen. Sunset hadn’t used magic for nearly a year and a half. She’d known for far longer that the world she now lived in was one without magic. But in that moment, she forgot all of that. Her years of training kicked in- she focused, picturing a flame in her mind, oblivious to the bright wisps that surrounded her arms. She took aim at the larger shadow- not a difficult feat, as it struggled to keep up with Rainbow’s superior speed. Then, she thrust her arms forward. And Sunset Shimmer could only watch in stunned silence when a blazing fireball left her hands. The fireball shot through the air, and struck the beast. It roared in a mix of pain and fury, the discordant sound echoing in the tiny diner, and stumbled forward. Then, its attention snapped to Sunset. It let out another furious roar, and charged at her, batting aside everything in its path. There was no time to prepare another spell. And trying to fight this monster unarmed would be suicide. There was only one thing Sunset could do- she leapt out of the way, avoiding the beast’s charge, barely. As she got to her feet, she made a fairly obvious observation. There was no way she could fight this thing in the diner. And she couldn’t look for her friends while this thing was chasing her down, either. But after being hit by her fireball, the beast seemed to completely forget about Rainbow’s existence, which gave Sunset an idea- if she could lure the beast out of the diner, away from her friends, then maybe they would be safe. She looked around, spotting a large hole in the diner’s wall- presumably where the monster had entered. But of course, the beast was standing between her and the hole. However, Sunset was undeterred, and braced herself. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. “Find the others! Make sure they’re okay!” And then, Sunset began to sprint towards the hole. If Rainbow answered her, Sunset  didn’t hear it. All of her attention was focused on the beast in front of her, trying to predict its next move. The world slowed as the beast drew back its arm in preparation to deliver a bone-shattering punch. But at the last possible moment, Sunset leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the beast’s massive fist. She rolled, and in an instant was on her feet once again- it seemed all those times she’d helped Rainbow practice her soccer skills hadn’t gone completely to waste. She dashed through the hole, and out into the street. There were people there, no doubt drawn by the commotion. “Get out of here! It’s not safe!” she shouted. But it wasn’t until the sound of splintering wood and bending metal met her ears that the crowd turned and fled. And there could only be one reason why. She looked back- sure enough, climbing through the hole after her was the beast. Now that they were both in the open, Sunset could see the beast clearly. It seemed to be a mixture of several different creatures- it stood on two hoofed legs, and thick, heavy arms grew from its muscular torso. But what truly astounded her were its heads. There were three: a lion’s, an eagle’s, and a goat’s. And all three had their attention firmly fixed on her. Sunset focused, and flames appeared in her hands. The beast must have realized what she was doing, because at that moment, it charged at her again with a furious roar. But Sunset held her ground as she threw another fireball at the beast, striking it square in the chest. The beast didn’t slow, but as it thrashed in pain, Sunset was easily able to sidestep its charge. But as the beast passed, something whipped out toward her. Sunset jumped back, narrowly avoiding the fangs of a snake, sprouting from the beast’s lower back like a tail. The beast slowed itself to a stop before it crashed through the storefront opposite the diner, and turned to face her again. Sunset focused, her hands coming alight, and thought to herself, This just couldn’t be easy, could it? The beast charged her twice more; each time, Sunset conjured a fireball, threw it at the beast, and evaded its attacks. But with each pass, Sunset slowed, but it wasn’t her muscles that tired. She felt as though a thick fog had settled in her mind, clouding her thoughts; her temples ached, and each fireball she threw took more concentration to conjure than the last. It became clear to her that if she was going to survive, she had to end this, now. Sunset’s head pulsed in pain as she held out her arms and focused, picturing in her mind not a flame, but a powerful thunderbolt. The palms of her hand crackled with electricity… But the beast struck first. It charged Sunset with incredible speed and struck her with its arm, sending her tumbling across the asphalt. She eventually skidded to a stop- she was battered and bleeding, but Sunset didn’t think anything had been broken. But her relief was short-lived, as she saw that the beast was already almost upon her. Sunset tried to conjure another fireball, but none appeared- instead, she doubled over and clutched her head as a sharp pain stabbed into the sides of her head. The beast reached out toward her… Suddenly, a black streak shot into the air behind the beast. One of the beast’s head must have seen it too, because all four looked to the sky. Sunset looked up as well- there, seemingly suspended in midair, was a boy holding a long spear, drawn back to strike. As he landed he swung his spear, slicing off the beast’s eagle head in a single motion. The beast roared, hissed, and bleated in a mix of pain and fury, and charged the boy, drawing back its fist to deliver yet another bone-shattering punch. The boy jumped back, evading the beast’s fist, and swung his spear again, slicing off the beast’s arm with ease. The beast turned, and its snake head struck; the boy dodged again, before swinging his spear, severing the snake from the beast’s body. It lunged forward, the goat’s head lowered in an attempt to gore the boy with its horns; again, the boy evaded the attack, before slicing off the goat head in a single stroke. The beast drew back its remaining arm, but the boy sliced the arm off before it could strike. The loss of several limbs seemingly did nothing to deter the beast, however, and it charged again, the lion’s head roaring and baring its fangs. The boy stood his ground, and thrust his spear directly into the lion head’s face- he slid back as the beast continued to march towards him, but he did not falter. Gradually, the beast began to slow. Its roars had diminished to little more than deep, growling breaths. It dropped to one knee, and then the other. The boy pulled out his spear and stepped back- with one last snarl, the beast collapsed onto its face, falling still and silent. The boy remained motionless with his spear at the ready for several more moments, before he stood up straight, and hung his spear from his back. Now that he was standing still, Sunset could see that the boy was wearing what looked like a suit of armor, colored a dark purple with pale green highlights. And when he turned to face her, she could see that his helmet was carved to resemble the visage of a dragon. The strange boy approached. “Are you alright?” he asked. Sunset slowly rose to her feet. “Yeah, I’m fine, but…” She remembered something. “Guys?” She looked to the diner. No one else had emerged from within. “Guys!” Without another word to the stranger, she stood and sprinted to the diner. As she approached, she heard Rainbow Dash call, “Hey Snips! Snails! You aright back there?” “Yeah, we’re-” Snips’s response was interrupted by several seconds of coughing. “…we’re okay.” “Oh man… Joe’s gonna kill us when he sees this…” Snails complained. Hearing Rainbow’s voice did little to calm Sunset- she still had four more friends, and no way of knowing where they were and if they were alright. She climbed through the hole in the diner’s wall- the dust had finally settled, leaving a thick layer over everything inside. The lights had gone out. Behind the counter, Snips was on his phone, presumably calling the police, while Snails merely stared blankly at the destruction before him. But a pink blur at the edge of her vision caught Sunset’s attention- she looked, her eyes falling upon… “Pinkie!” Sunset rushed over and embraced Pinkie. “You’re okay!” She pulled away- Pinkie had a few cuts, and a few more tears in her clothes than usual, but otherwise appeared unhurt. “…Where’re the others?” “Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and I are okay. Applejack’s unconscious, but I don’t think she’s too badly hurt. But Fluttershy…” Sunset leaned in. “What happened?” “Well… look.” Pinkie pointed to the far side of the diner. The others were there. Rarity was sitting at one of the tables, resting a hand on her forehead, covered in a thick layer of dust- at her feet sat Applejack, slumped over and seemingly asleep. At another table were two boys Sunset didn’t recognize, sitting in silence. On the floor between the tables were Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. At first, Sunset couldn’t see anything wrong with Fluttershy. She did seem to be in pain, though; tears streamed from her eyes, and Rainbow sat on the floor next to her, speaking comforting words to her. But as she approached, Sunset saw the problem. A large piece of wood had lodged itself in Fluttershy’s right leg. Sunset knelt down to get a better view- the wooden fragment had pierced one side of Fluttershy’s calf, and emerged through the other. From its position, it didn’t seem to be passing through any bones, but such an injury would still be very debilitating. …at the same time, however, such an injury would be trivially easy to mend with a healing spell. Sunset looked up to Fluttershy’s face. “Okay Fluttershy,” she began, “I can fix this. But I’m not gonna lie- this is gonna hurt. A lot.” She looked over to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, I need you to hold her down.” She looked back. “Pinkie, I need you to help Rainbow Dash.” “Sunset, you’re not supposed to-” Rainbow began. But Sunset cut her off. “I know what I’m doing. Hold her.” Pinkie and Rainbow glanced at each other nervously, but complied, and held Fluttershy down. Sunset gripped Fluttershy’s ankle with one hand, the piece of wood with the other… and tore it out of Fluttershy’s calf. Fluttershy thrashed and cried out in pain, but the others held her down firmly. As she expected, blood began to pour from the wound, so Sunset wasted no time placing her hands over the holes. She focused, ignoring the pain in her head, and a white light shone from beneath her hands as she recalled Celestia’s lessons, encouraging the wound to heal- for new muscle, skin, and arteries to knit themselves into existence. When Sunset removed her hands a few moments later, the wound was gone, as though it had never existed in the first place. She looked up to Fluttershy again. “Can you stand?” “I… guess…” Fluttershy stammered. Pinkie and Rainbow released her, and slowly, she rose to her feet. She stumbled for a moment, but did not fall. “Joint stiffness is normal,” Sunset continued. “It’ll subside after a minute or two.” “What- how did you do that?” Rainbow asked, shocked, as she looked at the place where Fluttershy’s would had been. Sunset answered truthfully, “…with magic.” Pinkie looked to Sunset. “But I thought you couldn’t do magic anymore.” “That’s what I thought too…” Sunset replied. Just then, Applejack groaned, before suddenly jolting awake, shouting “Apple Bloom!” She looked around the diner, before her hand shot up to her head. “…where’s mah hat?” Rarity handed Applejack her hat as the latter stood up. “Are you alright, dear?” Applejack looked down at herself. “Ah think so… but what in the hay just happened?” The others were silent, attempting to formulate a response. Finally, Rarity replied, “A… giant monster just crashed through the wall and tried to kill us all.” “No,” a strange voice said. Sunset and the others looked to its source- standing just outside the hole was the boy in the dragon armor. “That chimera wasn’t trying to kill all of you,” he continued, and then pointed to Sunset Shimmer. “Just her.” Before anyone could stop her, Applejack strode toward the strange boy, glaring. “And just what makes ya so sure of that?” she snapped. “Hold on, Applejack,” Sunset said. “That guy killed that monster. Why would he do that if he wanted to hurt us?” But Applejack ignored her. Before the boy could answer, a woman’s voice outside the diner called, “There you are. And I see that you have neutralized the chimera.” Another person approached the hole- she wore dark blue robes, and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat which hid her face. “Does that mean you have located the catalyst?” The boy looked back. “Yeah, I think so.” “Excellent work,” the woman in the steeple-hat replied. “Now, it is time for me to begin my work.” The woman stepped into the diner and approached Applejack, putting her hand on Applejack’s forehead. “Hey what’re you-” Applejack protested. But the woman paid no attention to Applejack’s protest. Rather, she looked down at her other hand, but after a moment, nothing seemed to happen. So, she shook her head and turned away, before doing the same to Rarity, again ignoring her protests; but again, seemingly nothing happened. It was not until she reached Rainbow Dash that something happened- a faint blue glow appeared in her free hand. Her eyes, now visible in the faint glow, widened slightly in surprise, but once again she shook her head and moved on. Fluttershy whimpered as the stranger touched her forehead- a much brighter white glow emerged from her hand, but as before, the stranger turned away. Finally, the stranger approached Sunset, and placed her hand on her forehead. As soon as she made contact, a brilliant red light shone from the stranger’s free hand. The stranger looked at the light for several moments, before she pulled her hand away. “I found you at last,” she said. Sunset yanked her hand out of the stranger’s own. “What did you just do?” she demanded, as flames erupted from her hands. The stranger didn’t flinch. “Your aggression is unwarranted. I am not your enemy.” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow asked. “Then who are you?” The woman removed her hat- a length of long purple hair parted by a magenta streak fell to her shoulders. Sunset and the others could see that she was young, with violet eyes and lavender skin. And what’s more, she looked extremely familiar… Sunset stepped back, the fires in her hands snuffing out. “Wait a minute… you’re…” “My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight Sparkle said.