Sunset blinked as she found herself in a black void.
"Sunset Shimmer..." A white unicorn Saddle Arabian horse came into her line of sight.
Sunset turned and charged her horn,"Who are you?" She gasped as she saw the stallion's skeletal hoof.
"You should know who I am, Sunset." the stallion said, appearing behind her,"I've appeared in all of the old history books. I am one of Saddle Arabia’s many ancient threats, along with Mirage." He flipped his black mane,"I can still feel her magical residue in the palace."
Sunset gasped as she teleported away,"I know who you are now! Mozenwrath!" She fired a beam from her horn,"You should be dead!"
Black sand surrounded the stallion, shielding him from the blast,"Yes, that should be obvious. Surprisingly, it wasn't my boot that did me in. Luckily I put up a spell that kept my spirit on this plane." He looked down at Sunset,"Now, I'm looking for somepony to take, and you're just my type." He smirked.
Sunset stepped back growled,"Why? Why now!?"
"Because I don't want Valtor to take you first. Plus, you have near limitless mana, which would help to prevent this from happening again." He raised his skeletal hoof,"Another reason is that, well, Twilight is leaving with her friends." He smirked,"And I know exactly where she needs to go, for my boot is part of the three gates to the Heart of Worlds." He went closer to the unicorn,” Right there is the perfect place to take your body for my own. Then I'll take Twilight's power, then maybe the goddesses." He smirked,"I would've picked Twilight first, but her will's stronger than yours. You are still broken up over your mother-slash-mentor."
"Stay away from them!" Sunset fired her beam, but found nothing came out.
"Ah-ah, that's just rude. I let you have that first shot as a gesture of my good will. Besides, I'm not taking your body just yet, but I may help you. First, I'm make you go with Twilight, then I'm going to watch what you seven do. Observe your personalities in order to find better ways to hurt you. In the meantime, I can keep Valtor off of you."
"I'll tell Celestia-"
"No, if you do, I'll stop your mouth before you could get a chance to do so. Now hold still." He charged his horn as he went closer to her. Sunset screamed.
Sunset woke up in a cold sweat.
Celestia looked down at her little protege, "Sunset, what's the matter?
Sunset looked at Celestia, Mozenwrath's voice filling her head,"Just a bad dream," He said.
"Just a bad dream." Sunset said out loud.
Celestia frowned, and then sighed, "I see. Go back to bed, my little Sunset." As she watched Sunset go to bed, the alicorn looked to Luna. "Sister? tell me, have there been any intruders in the dream world lately."
Luna shook her head as she landed from the window,"Not that I'm aware of. Why?"
"Sunset woke up from a nightmare," Celestia said, running her hoof through Sunset's mane. "Valtor is looking for the heart of worlds. It would be like him to invade the dream world to find it.”
"The Heart of Worlds!?" Luna shuddered from hearing that, then she looked down at Sunset,"I could look inside her dream right now, if you want?"
"Please, and let me know what you find," Celestia nodded.
Luna's horn glowed and her eyes went white.
Luna found herself in a large room with various bookshelves around her. She heard some ruffling and turned to see an orange filly looking through a book.
"One day, I will become a great archmage, just like my mom!" Sunset grinned,"I will be really powerful and be all cool"
Luna blinked," A memory," She then felt her hair stand on end. She turned but found nothing but a door.
Luna's eyes went back to normal,"I felt something, but I couldn't see what it was." She turned to her sister,"Her mother was an archmage?"
Celestia nodded, "One of the best, Sunshine Dawn was quite a skilled mage. Her power, skill, and speed when it came to using the different mana was only surpassed by two other ponies."
"Two others?" Luna asked.
"Three, if we include your student and her skill in ilusion/dream magic." Celestia said. She nodded towards Sunset "Her, and Twilight are the two. They both easily break the Astor/Starswirl scale.
Luna blinked in surprise,"You really know how to pick your students. What happened to her mother?"
"Says the mare who picked the magician from the streets," Celestia giggled. "I don't know, she just came to my school one day while holding little Sunset in her hooves. She told me to watch over her and to guard her."
"It wasn't the streets, it was a town square." Luna corrected with a nod. She looked at Sunset,"Have you ever thought of looking for her?"
"You should ask Glyphstorm about it, he met his wife on one of the searches. For thirteen years, I sent ponies to look for her, and turned up nothing," Celestia said, lowering her head.
Luna frowned,"I will ask this Glyphstorm, perhaps I may be able to assist in finding her."
Celestia nodded in response, giving Luna permission to leave. The sun monarch then draped her wing over Sunset, hoping that she will be safe.
Twilight gently laid the still-sleeping Will on the bed as the first lights of morning came up. She frowned up at the castle,"Stupid Princess, putting me to sleep..." She muttered as she went downstairs to make herself some coffee. She began to think,"If Valtor died, who brought him back?" She asked herself as she remember what Celestia said.
Spike, ever dutiful as ever, walked from the kitchen with two cups of coffee on a plate. An apron on that read 'kiss me, I'm a gem' on it, "Thinking about something Twilight?”
Twilight grabbed one of the cups,"Thank you, Spike." She looked down,"Yeah, I'm still thinking about what Discord said about Valtor. I believe Valtor may not be the true mastermind behind this."
"Wait,what!!" Spike yelped, trying not to wake Will upstairs. "Are you saying that there is someone up h-higher than Valtor? W-w-wh do you think that?"
"Well, Celestia said that Valtor died a while ago." Twilight took a sip of her coffee,"Plus, Discord said something about him being a pawn 'even now'. I have a feeling that somepony or something, brought him back, and is manipulating him. Think about this: Why would someone bring a creature like Valtor back without a reason?"
"Because he/she is into zombies?" Spike asked.
Twilight blinked at Spike, then shook her head,"... No Spike, then Valtor would be a mindless zombie. Valtor does seem to act like he has some degree of free will. If he didn't, I think I would be able to figure it out."
"You sure?" Spike asked.
"What's this about zombies?" Will asked, walking down the stairs.
Twilight turned to her and chuckled,"Oh, Spike just had a silly thought!" She whispered in Spike's ear,"I don't want her to worry anymore than she has to. I'm not going to tell her my theory until she can get her memories in order."
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell her? I mean, this guy is huge and if there is a bigger guy waiting..." Spike shuddered.
Will happily walked to the fridge, lightly brushing Owlowiscious’ feathers before walking to the fridge, "Ok, now lets see-"
"I wouldn't go for the sandwich, Twilight has left that thing in there since she got winges," the fridge said. "I think it's become nightmare."
Will turned to to Twilight, "Uh, Twilight, I think your sandwich has gone bad."
"I'm sure." Twilight said to Spike, then turned to Will,"What!?" She walked over to the fridge and looked inside, and stuck her tongue out,"How long did I keep that in there?"
“I will swallow your soul!” The nightmare sandwich said.
Will chuckled, "Apparently since before you got wings."
"That talking to appliances power of hers, still freaky," Spike thought to himself.
Twilight shrieked,"Oh my Celestia! I'm usually more organized than that!" She took out the monster sandwich, and burned it,"I'm so sorry..."
"It's ok," Will giggled. "You should see my fridge."
Twilight cocked her head,"Your fridge...?"
"Yeah, mom always kept telling me to clean it. Especially when... my little brother was born," she let out a sigh as one of the ponies close to her came flooding back.
“Oh," Twilight said,"You're little brother must've been cute!" She said as she looked over the fridge,"The rest of the stuff's still good, thank goodness." she pulled out a few sandwiches.
"Ok, we have got to stop crowing the little future guardian," IRma joked.
"He isn't going to be a guardian, no. This is little guy is going to become king by his own hand," Will smiled, tickling her little brother
"Yeah, he is," Will sighed as she grabbed a sandwich.
Twilight looked at Spike,"Reminds me of another cute little guy."
Spike blushed and walked away, "Not that cute." he mumbled.
Will giggled, "Little brother?"
"Yeah, little brother." Twilight said with a nod.
"So, when do we leave?" Will asked.
Twilight looked at the clock on the window,"At noon. Hopefully,"Twilight headed towards the door,"Everypony will be ready."
At a little house in Canterlot, a little filly opened the door, "Oh, my gosh! Princess Luna! Daddy! Princess Luna is here."
"Honey, not every unicorn is Luna. You know that," a green pegasus said, walking up to the door. "I am so sorry. She is a huge fan of Luna that sh-sssshit! Princess Luna! My gosh, I am so sorry! Why are you here?"
Luna couldn’t help but chuckle at this"It’s alright, Glyphstorm, I’m rather glad I have such a good little fan." Luna nodded,"I’ve come for information regarding Sunshine Dawn."
"Sunshine Dawn, heh, that's a name I haven't heard of in ages. Princess Celestia sent me to Tauros to find her. Spent two years looking for her." he turned back to look at a white earth pony in the kitchen. "And all I got was a wonderful wife and a kid who loves to play Princess Luna with the fillies. What do you want to know, your highness?"
"I just needed to know all the information you have about her." Luna said.
"Well, I basically know is that she was a yellow unicorn with a red mane. Her cutie mark, interestingly enough, was a bright sun. I was chosen to look for her because I had some meetings with her, nice gal too. I don't know why she left her daughter or Equestria. When I was in Tauros, I was told that she was searching several of the libraries for some reason.
"Hmm, I'm going to take down your testimony. I think I can have somepony help with that." She wrote what he said down on a scroll and used her magic to send it towards Twilight.
"Thanks. Sunshine, she was a good mare, kind of thick headed, though. It’s so weird for her to leave her daughter like that.
"Yes, which is why I want to find her. I also want to do this for my sister's former student as well." Luna said.
Twilight was about to leave the door when Spike coughed up the letter. Twilight took it in her magic and looked at it,"Find Sunset's mother in Tauros?"
"Isn't Sunset that mare who I kind of hit with this thing?" Will asked, holding her heart
"Yes, I'm sorry for that." Sunset said as she walked up to them.
"Hey, you were evil, it happens," Will smiled.
Twilight jumped back in shock,"Sunset, what are you doing here?"
"I want to help you personally." Mozenwrath said.
"I want to help you personally, Twilight, it's the least I could do for you." Sunset said.
Celestia sighed as she looked on from her room, "Luna, dear. You student... is she available right now?"
"As far as I know, why?" Luna asked, stepping into the room
"I think I may have need o her. Tell her that its time for a show in Tauros, and Saddle Arabia," Celestia said, looking on.
Luna nodded as she teleported away.
Sunset frowned,"Yeah, it happens too easy for me..."
"Hey, it's alright!" Twilight patted Sunset's shoulder,"we still forgive you."
Sunset smiled,"Thank you."
"Still you doubt yourself." Mozenwrath said.
"Yeah, we're all friends here. The name is Will," the blue pegasus said, hugging her.
Out of nowhere, a pair of pink hooves joined in the hug.
Sunset blinked,"Pinkie!? Where did- why am I asking?"
Pinkie giggled, "Like a superhero, wherever there is depression or sadness, I am there with a hug!" the pink mare then happily pronked away.
Will turned to look at Twilight, "You know, I think I am starting to get used to her weird ness."
"THat means you are now officially a part of us." Twilight nodded as she walked with Sunset,"We're heading out to find the three gates to the Heart of Worlds..."
"And according to the book Twilight found, its in Saddle Arabia, Tauros, and Aquastria," Will said.
"Sounds like we have a lot of work to do." Sunset said,"I assume the others are getting ready?"
"They should all be at the train station." Twilight said.
Dash yelled from above, "We would be there sooner if we weren't waiting for all of you guys!"
"Yeah, you probably went there first!" Twilight shouted.
"Of course!" Dash shouted, flying to the station, her face hiding her anger at Sunset's appearance.
Twilight trotted inside the station,"Girls, Sunset's decided to join us."
"Well, howdy there sugarcube," Applejack said, holding out a hoof. "Look, Ah know what you did when ya came here, but Twilight seems to trust ya. That works in mah book for right now."
"A pleasure to meet you, Sunset," Rarity bowed and smiled.
"Um, hi?" Fluttershy said shyly. Dash on the other hand, scoffed and flew into the train.
Sunset blushed a bit and took Applejack's hoof. She sighed as sh looked to where Dash flew off.
"She'll need time, Sunset." Twilight said as she got on the train.
"Amazing how easily they trust you." Mozenwrath said.
"Shut up. You're lucky I can't tell them about you." Sunset thought.
"Yeah, Rainbow can be a little hardheaded sometimes, but her heart’s in the right place," Applejack said, walking into the train.
"Besides, you weren't yourself. IF we were angry at everypony who was under control, we would never feel right around Luna," Rarity said.
Pinkie giggled, "Besides, being mad all of the time is boring!"
Fluttershy nodded, walking in, "Even if Rainbow seems a little more mad than usual."
Twilight looked at Fluttershy,"What do you mean?"
"Well, when she came in, it was almost like she was looking for a chance to argue with Applejack," Fluttershy said as she walked with Twilight into the car.
Twilight frowned at this,"That's a little odd. Rainbow could be brash sometimes, but she never looked for a fight with any of us!" She looked at Dash, who laid in a seat away from the others"Perhaps we should go talk to her."
Fluttershy nodded, "Yes, we should."
Valtor slowly awoke, looking down at the memory orb, "Better give this a look." He looked deeply into the orb with his magic
When he opened them again, he found himself in a new body, "This is strange, guessing from the size I'm a-child?! and judging from my surroundings I'm in a-" he was interrupted by a soft voice.
"Tell me, Celestia, are you happy to finally meet your little sister?" the tall alicorn said, her green mane flowing while covered in flowers and branches.
"Celestia? Where-" Valtor began to ask when his host began to speak.
"Yes, Momma," squeaked Celestia, bounding.
"Wait, if I am in Celestia's body and that is her mother, then that must be Queen Terra. Of course," he smiled, looking at the queen's earthy brown coat.
"I can't wait for her to get a little bit bigger so we can talk to each other, play with each other, I can tell her my secrets, and we can be bestest of friends," the white alicorn said, bouncing after her mother.
Queen Terra let out a small chuckle at her daughter's excitement, "Yes, I can only imagine what my daughters can do." Putting on a serious face, she looked into her daughter's pink eyes, "Celestia, do you know why I called for you today?"
"Yes please," Valtor said while his host shook her head. Valtor got a good look at tree cutie mark of the queen as Terra turned to lead Celestia down the hall.
With a glow of her magic, Terra opened two massive ivory doors that laid at the end of the hall. The massive pink heart in the center of the door splitting in twain as the doors opened. Looking up in awe, Celestia followed her mother into the hallway, jumping slightly when the massive doors slammed behind her and disappeared. Following her mother down the hall, Celestia looked up and saw a row of stain glass windows, "Tell me, Celestia, what do you know of the stars?"
"Each one is a sun, each star has a power to give life or take it," Celestia said, as if reciting from a book.
"Yes," Terra smiled, nodding. "But there is something more, each star you see up there, is a world."
"They are?" asked Celestia.
"Yes, and on each world is a heart," Terra said, passing by a stain glassed window of an unicorn guarded by an earth pony in armor, a pegasus wielding dual crossbows, a unicorn in a hood, a zebra, and a mare singing.
"And each heart is as different and unique to their own world?" asked Celestia, looking across from the glass stain window to the opposite, seeing a picture of the grey unicorn standing alongside a mare in armor, a black alicorn, a filly, an elk, a griffon, and a pegasus.
"Yes, taking on a variety of forms," Terra said, walking forward. "But, there exists a heart of hearts, capable of drawing power from all hearts of all worlds. A heart of worlds."
"Wow," exclaimed the little filly. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yes, as it was told to me by my mother: The twin students of the sun shall find the heart in the decayed land of nothingness, the gates lay in sand, steel, and water. Look to the guardians of Fire Water Air and Earth for the gates. They will lead to you the keys to open the gates and bring you to the land of nothingness."
"The guardians..." Celestia asked, looking up at another stain glass, this one of a group of six mares holding a glowing light over a land of fire.
"Yes, now, keep this a secret, keep thi safe. Don't even tell Luna," terra said.
"Then who do I tell it to?" Asked Celestia.
"To your daughter of course," Terra said with a smile
Valtor awoke from the memory orb and looked to his servant, "My dear servant, let’s see some more of the world, shall we?"
Twilight walked over to Rainbow,"Rainbow, is something wrong? Fluttershy said that you've been acting strange lately."
Rainbow Dash,who had been resting on one of the chairs, looked up to her friends as a voice rang in her head (Don't tell them,), "Yeah, its insomanana or something like that. Haven been getting much sleep."
Twilight cocked her head,"Really? You haven't been getting any sleep?" She frowned skeptically,"Dash, did you hear a radio broadcast earlier yesterday?"
"Oh yeah, Pink’s song right?" Dash let you a chuckle, "Oh yeah, I heard it."
"Okay," Twilight said. She looked at Dash then turned away skeptically.
"I think she’s under a spell," Mozenwrath said.
Sunset gasped. She tried to open her mouth, but failed to produce words.
"Oh, no, I can't have you telling them! How would that hurt you then!?" Mozenwrath said.
Pinkie Pie bounced happily to her seat, while Will sat next to her and looked outside the window. Applejack looked straight ahead at her window, watching the town of Ponyville "And here we go, far from home."
Rarity smiled, "Oh, I cannot wait to see Tauros, I have heard so many interesting things about that place."
"Like what?" Will asked.
"Well, I have heard that they are known for their wonderful steel art, and their excellent craftsmanship making," Rarity commented.
"Iron Will told me that they also had a love of mazes,"Fluttershy added.
Twilight grinned,"Plus, it is said that the ancient minotaur god, War, once created Mimic the Wise's horseshoes. In fact..." She began to ramble as she pulled out a book.
Sunset nodded,"All that is making me more and more anxious to see this place! But wouldn't it make more sense to go to Aquastria first? Isn't that closer, and you've been there before." She thought,"I'm also afraid to go any further."
"Hey, we have to get to the port anyway to get a boat to the northern coast,so let’s start there," Dash said, looking at a little map she had grabbed.
"... And the minotaurs also created Celestia's armor..." Twilight continued.
Sunset nodded,"So what's Aquastria like?"
"Oh, I remember that place. I one time terrorized a princess sea pony there." Mozenwrath said.
"I didn't ask you." Sunset thought.
"Wet," Dash responded.
"Oh, simply gorgeous! Filled to the brim with sea coral and lovely crystalline palaces,"Rarity gushed.
"... And don't forget the legendary axe of invincibility..." Twilight said.
"I don't think Twilight's stoppin' anytime soon..." Applejack said.
"Wow, I can't wait to be there." Sunset said.
"How about Saddle Arabia?" Mozenwrath said.
Sunset shuddered,"Um, what... have you... heard about... Saddle Arabia?"
As Twilight continued to speak, Rainbow Dash passed a note to Pinkie and Applejack that read '10mins before she stops' and an amount of bits on it.
"Well, I haven’t been there myself, but, I have seen some of the wonderful silk items they have made. The dresses and the fashions there are to die for!" Rarity said.
"Oh, they are to die for alright." Mozenwrath said.
Applejack wrote down '15 mins'
"... But those are all the things I believe are there. Wanna hear about Aquastria?" Twilight said with a wide grin.
Sunset shook her head quickly,"I'm good!"
Pinkie Pie thrusted her hoof in a "Yes!" pose and took 25 bits from each mare.
Will looked to the end of the train, "So,how long until we reach the port?
"It should be about an hour from now,"Twilight said, she looked out the window, watching as the train entered the station.
Sunset visibly shuddered a bit, fearing the thing in her mind.
Somewhere, at Hoofington
"At last, the Great and Powerful Trixie returns to the stage. The power of her show will sure amaze, astonish, and shock all who see!" Trixie shouted walking out to the stage to an empty crowd, "Heh, still got it. Tonight, you're gonna wow them, honey."
"I'm afraid you're going to have to cancel, my faithful student." Luna said as she came from the shadows.
"Mistress!" Trixie said, turning and bowing before her teacher. "W-what brings you here?
"I've come with a mission, you might want to schedule a couple of shows in Saddle Arabia and Tauros." Luna said, giving Trixie a scroll.
"Trixie smiled, "I always did love the west. May Tixie inquire as to why?"
"Celestia failed to explain, but I don't think she has to." Luna looked at Trixie,"I believe it has to do with one of her former students, Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset, wasn't she the mare who took the element a few months ago?" Asked Trixie as she walked to her wagon.
"Yes, but she's been reformed." Luna said,"Much like myself."
Trixie couldn't help but smile, "Twilight does that. All right, but Trixie will need some faster transport if she is to hope to get there. That and some extra cash from her usual stipend."
Luna pulled out a bag of bits,"Will this do?" She clopped her hooves and two night guards appeared,"Pull her carriage."
Trixie grinned as she went into the carriage,”Look out world, Trixie’s coming.”