//------------------------------//
// The Hero, the Lamia, and the Pony 
// Story: A Monster's Sunset 
// by PrometheusX 
//------------------------------//

I guess I should start with the basics about my childhood. I was born in Canterlot, the greatest of all of Equestria's cities (humor me if you're still skeptical as to my origins. The fact you've stayed with me this far is proof that on some level you believe me or you're willing to indulge a madmare). I can still remember it even now, it was so beautiful. Built into the side of the mountain with tall gleaming spires painted in purple and gold. Perfect buildings made of marble and brass. Green parks and streams all throughout the city. A stunning view of the Unicorn Range, with all of its rolling hills and pastures. And a wonderful sunset every evening. Then there was the castle! The peak of Equestrian architecture. The house where Princess Celestia ruled the entire country and raised and lowered the sun and moon every day. It had a beauty all its own. The greatest of Ilias's temples couldn't compare to it in the slightest.

My family wasn't from this privileged part though. We lived in the slums, mom, dad and me. Small house, small yard and something was always broken. But at least we had a roof over our head and food to eat, no matter how small a meal.

My parents worked hard everyday to keep us above water. Long hours and mediocre jobs. On the weekdays I only saw them early in the morning and, if I was lucky, late at night before I went to bed. They spent time with me whenever they could, but...well, we never exactly had time for family bonding. I don't hate them for it though; they were willing to do anything for me and I just grew to accept it. It wasn't the perfect life, but we got by.

They died when I was little. An accident in the mountains, an avalanche on the train (think a metal carriage run by a fuel source for those not knowing what that is) we were in. I was the only one who survived, and with no known surviving kin, I went to an orphanage in the city. To think, the reason we were on that train in the first place was because we were planning on moving to a new city in hopes for a better life.

It wasn't my favorite time. It's a lot like living in a forest: The sun shines, the rain falls, and the strong prey on the weak. I was one of the weak, or rather I was seen as one. Where I come from, ponies get special markings on their flanks, a 'cutie mark', to show what our special talent is. A pony without a cutie mark doesn't know their special talent, and thus is the weakest of all.

I wouldn't say I was 'weak'; 'unskilled' would probably be the better term. My greatest problem was the fact I didn't have a lot of control over my magic. I tried exercises for control, like levitating light objects, lighting candles, or helping flowers grow, but everything blew up, quite literally, in my face.

I never realized it was because I just had far more magical power at my disposal than most foals my age, and thus I was putting too much power into it. I wasn't weak; quite the opposite, I was probably the strongest filly in the entire place, maybe even moreso than the adults who ran it. I was a dam with a leak, and nopony realized just how dangerous I really was.

But even I didn't realize that then, and so I got bullied for it by others. I wasn't…confident in myself because of my constant failures. I never made friends even before I came to the orphanage, all on account of the fact that my family was poor, and now I was even less than that. I stuck to my books, happily, desperately devouring the words and stories within in hopes of forgetting my own troubles, but they never stopped hounding me. They backed me into a corner, and they taunted me, hit me, dared me to cast a spell. So I tried to make a light spell. And I put every ounce of mana I had into it.

Funny thing about light spells: They work with almost no mana at all, and they can hold tons before they become unstable. But that just makes it worse when they do. They don't just puff into a harmless burst of soft flame and soot. And I had no control. I didn't know how much was too much. All I remember was a flash of light, an intense feeling of pain from my horn, somepony screaming...then nothing.

There wasn't much left of the orphanage. Nopony died, but a few foals got pretty badly hurt.

That was the day I got my cutie mark. It's the spell, just before it went off. It was like a miniature sun. I heard they could see it from everywhere in the city. What a way to realize your special talent, huh?

But there was one ray of light in this: That was the day my destiny truly began.

That was the day Princess Celestia took me in as her own.





Sunset cursed as she tore her way through the trees to where Luka had gone. She was really regretting the fact she never really bothered with physical conditioning. Sure, she could march with the best of them, but runs like this always left her breathless. Breath left her in ragged gasps as she followed the path that Luka had taken, her eyes picking out his hurried journey with ease. It was like following a minotaur.

"Luka, are you there?!" she shouted again, hoping that he hadn't fallen into the grip of something much more dangerous than a slime. Realizing the trees thinned out not that far ahead, she put on an extra burst of speed, gripping her staff for anything. When she finally cleared the forest, she paused to take a moment to marvel at the size of the crater before her.

It had to be at least as wide as her own house, which was a modest if cramped four-room place all things considered, and it had to be at least seven feet deep. Even now she could see dust was still settling around the hole, making it a little hard to effectively breath, but not enough that her eyesight was impaired. Besides, even if it was, she would have recognized Luka anywhere from his cape and his hair, and she could clearly see both of them down in the crater, Luka himself seemingly unhurt.

It took her a moment to realize that he was currently staring at some sort of snake-monster who seemed to be sizing him up as a potential meal or just deciding if he was worth the effort of killing.

Sunset had a fireball as big as her head already forming in her hands as she registered the fact that said monster was now looking up at her with an expression resembling both surprise and amusement, her own hand crackling with fire as well.

Worse, said magic was much more potent than her own spell from what her magically-tuned senses could detect, nearly double the power. And her own spell could easily blow a tree apart.

'Well...shit,' she thought to herself, already trying to figure out how she could hit the lamia without hitting Luka (he had gotten quite good at dodging thanks to their lessons, but not enough to safely do so with a target that close), all while making sure she didn't get hit in return. She was pretty much flameproof (a blessing given her favorite type of magic), but this magic didn't feel like pure fire...it felt darker.

"Wait! Stop, both of you!"

Luka's voice was almost like a knife through her concentration, causing her to jerk her attention back towards him (fireball still at ready of course). Her surprise turned to confusion and then dumbfoundedness when she realize he now had his hands raised up and between her and the monster, his head constantly shifting between the two of them to make sure neither did anything, his own head shaking as if he was trying to clear it. Finally, he focused back on her.

"Sunset, don't shoot Miss Monster please!"

'Miss Monster?' Sunset couldn't help but think, glancing back towards the lamia to make sure she was sure about who he was referring to. "Her?" she said aloud, gesturing with her staff.

"Yes," he replied, then looked back at 'Miss Monster'. "I-I'm sorry about my sister. She's rather protective of me."

'For good reason, idiot,' Sunset snarled mentally, but attempted to keep her face neutral. The last thing she wanted was seemingly spook the lamia into starting a fireball free-for-all.

The lamia spared Sunset a glance, likely trying to see a semblance between them. "I can see that," she said aloud, her eyes on her fireball. "Forgive me...I must have seemed rather...dangerous."

'You got that right, girl,' Sunset thought, but instead said aloud, "No problem...now how about we put away the fire?" she asked as slowly lowered her hand, allowing the fireball to dissipate. The snake-lady followed suit, but their eyes never left each other, trying to find a sign of trickery. Finally, the surge of magic that had previously built up in the clearing dissipated as they relaxed somewhat.

Luka nodded slowly, a nervous but relieved grin on his face. "Alright then..." he said, "good job, everyone. I guess we'll just be on our way now."

Sunset realized that last part was addressed to the lamia, who simply grunted and turned away. Sunset watched confused as Luka then started to climb out of the pit, feeling like she had missed something. She was tempted to ask, but it was not her voice that suddenly spoke.

"Hold on."

It was so fast that Sunset didn't even see it. One moment the lamia was standing there silently, the next her tail had snapped out and wrapped around Luka, pining him in place and forcing him to turn around while her right arm was raised, dark energy swirling around it like a whirlpool pointed directly at her.

"Don't even try anything," she stated simply. "This won't kill, but you'll be out of it for a long while."

Sunset cursed but complied, mostly out of no choice but partially out of fear. The pressure of magic she was feeling now...it was suppressed but she could feel it almost like an dark ocean. It had been a long time since she had felt magical energy of this level. Not since Princess-

"Why didn't you kill me while I was unconscious?" the monster's words completely broke Sunset out of her revelry, causing her to blink in surprise before she realized that the question wasn't directed at her. She looked over at Luka, who was just as confused.

"Wha-What?"

"You're aiming to be a lapdog of that foolish Ilias, are you not? For someone trying to become a Hero, that would have been a golden opportunity...killing a vulnerable monster like me."

Apparently this monster shared Sunset's opinions on Ilias. On some level she approved, but she was more confused by the lamia's other words. Luka killing her? For some reason, the very idea of Luka taking a monster's life was completely beyond her. Fight, yes. Kill? To be honest, Luka just never seemed like the type who could do something like that. Beat into submission, maybe, but never kill.

Now herself was an entirely different matter, as her first hours in this place had proven...

"I...I didn't have a reason to...it's not my way."

The lamia was silent as she digested that line of thought. For some reason, Sunset just felt her own anxiety rise, though that might have been contributed to the swirling vortex not wavering from her position and seemingly increasing in rotation.

"That's...an interesting answer..."

The lamia almost looked thoughtful now, and her coils seemed to loosen around Luka's body slightly. However, her eyes were still narrow in suspicion.

"But you're aiming to be a Hero aren't you? In the end a Hero's goal is to kill the Monster Lord."

"Technically it's just to defeat her," Sunset couldn't help but call out. "Most people just tack 'kill' on because that seems more heroic and awe-inspiring."

Miss Monster spared her a glance. "You're rather chatty for someone in danger of being blasted and not part of a conversation."

"What can I say? Imminent pain brings out my inner smartass."

"Well..." Luka started, getting the monster's attention again, choosing his words carefully. "that may be true, but it's not like I hate all monsters. I mean, I don't even want to kill the Monster Lord if I can. Honestly...I just want to stop her from doing evil things."

The lamia seemed almost intrigued. Sunset was impressed. She had long ago broken the record for a monster who hadn't tried to attack anyone and was now going for the permanent record. She made a vague gesture for Luka to go on.

'Oh boy, here it comes.'

"That is...my goal is to make a world where monster and man can coexist...peacefully...and the Monster Lord seems to be currently be in the way...so..."

Luka trailed off. There was total silence. It was one thing to say a idealist goal like that to your family or friends who understood you on some level and could empathize with it, far-fetched as it seemed. It was another to say it to one of the potentially hostile monsters who might be directly affected by that same goal and have no problem hurting your feelings about how foolish it is.

"...That's it?"

Well, that was certainly a better response than could be expected. Then again, Sunset was under the impression this lamia was among one of the more rational monsters around.

"Yes."

"...are you an idiot?"

And like that, Sunset had a feeling that if they weren't currently staring down each other, she could have been good friends with Miss Monster.

"What kind of dream is that? You actually believe in such a immature view of world peace, with everyone in harmony without issues? What an absurd joke..."

"I knew a place like that before," Sunset interjected. "I lived there for most of my life."

The lamia ignored her. A part of Sunset felt her respect grow, while another part really was being tempted to see if she could play chicken with a magic blast.

"As if monsters and humans could ever coexist...that is the dream of a child." Suddenly, the lamia raised her free hand to her mouth, her eyes shining with mirth. "Ha..ha ha! It's almost funny!"

'Okay, forget similarities, I hate her,' Sunset immediately decided. Nobody laughed at Luka like that when she was around. She opened her mouth to tell this monster off, not caring what might result, when the lamia suddenly uncoiled herself from Luka, dropping him in the process.

"I see. I understand now. You have the mind of a child," Miss Monster said with a note of finality, dropping her hand and dispelling whatever spell she was about to fire. She looked back towards Sunset and made a shooing gesture towards her. "You should make sure to watch your little brother in the future, Ms. Sunset. Little boys shouldn't be rushing off into danger like that."

'And snakes shouldn't be pissing off the big sisters with big sticks,' Sunset thought darkly, but resisted the urge to make an even bigger crater. The last thing she wanted to do was get Luka caught in the crossfire. That and, you know, die horribly. Out loud she just said, "I'll keep that in mind 'Miss Monster'..." she took some pleasure in the momentary scowl that crossed the lamia's face. "Let's go Luka."

Luka was silent as he slowly got up and started walking towards her, though Sunset could see he was trying hard to keep his emotions in check.

Suddenly, he broke out into a run toward her. "W-What do you know?! You're the idiot!"

With tears in his eyes he made it out and over to Sunset, but he still turned around to look back at the monster, who was watching them with curious eyes.

"I-I'll show you! I'll...I'll definitely defeat the Monster Lord!"

Sunset didn't say anything as she then lifted her staff into the air, though she did smirk slightly as the lamia's eyes widened before a flash of teal completely obscured everything. In the next instant, she and Luka were just outside of Ilias Village and just out of view of any villagers.

"...You know, in retrospect that last bit was a lot like how a child would act," she finally said.

"Shut up," Luka grumbled. "You're not helping."

Sunset looked away, not entirely certain what she was supposed to do, then slowly wrapped her free arm around his shoulders. Luka didn't push away, but he did lean into it after a second or two. "Sorry."

"...It's fine."





Luka quickly raced towards the temple of Ilias, glancing upwards to see he still have a little time before noon. After their little moment, Sunset had gone on back to her house, but promised she would be by in a little while.

A part of him wished that she could have gone with him, but it was tradition during the baptism that only the would-be Hero and the priest were allowed in the temple. It was only then the Goddess Ilias would appear to bless her chosen. Also, to see Sunset's look when she realized there really was a Goddess would have been a moment he'd never forget.

'I'll show that monster! I'll show them all!' he thought resolutely to himself. 'I will become a Hero!'

Finally, he stopped in front of the grand white temple of Ilias, which glimmered in the noon sun. Even here, he could feel the almost heavenly power from within, the proof of Ilias' existence. He himself may not have been the most religious sort, but even he could admire and respect such power. Why was it that Sunset didn't feel the same?

He shook his head, dispelling his sister from his thoughts for the moment. This was it, this was his moment. Even now he could see the priest walking out to meet him. With brimming confidence, his previous fears and doubts fading, Luka walked forward to meet him in turn, opening his mouth to extend a greeting.

"Ilias isn't here. She won't celebrate your coming of age or baptize you. Go away."

Those three sentences were so plainly said, so matter-of-factually stated that for the longest moment Luka just stood there with his mouth open. Desperately, his mind tried to ask why, but his mouth still wasn't quite up to speed.

"A...uh...ah..."

The priest paused as he turned to reenter the temple and fixed him with a slightly sympathetic face. "I am dearly sorry for this waste of your time."

Then he just shut the door. Luka just stood there for several minutes longer, mouth slowly working but no sound coming out, his eyes glazed over. He looked for all the world as if someone had just shattered his mind with sledgehammer, then went back over it with a grinder just to be sure.

A traveler stopped when he saw him stand there for about five minutes without moving, just making faint grunting noises. "Are you poisoned, good sir? Here, take this antidote grass!"

Luka just stared at the man for a moment, then slowly staggered back towards his house, nibbling on the bitter plant all the way.

'Could this day get any worse?' was his first coherent thought.





"Took you long enough."

It was a testament to how utterly out of it Luka still was that he didn't even acknowledge the lamia currently standing in the center of his house. Instead, he just plopped himself down on the couch in the corner, his expression that of a man drowning underwater yet wasn't even trying to surface for air.

"...Oi."

Breaking from his trace, Luka suddenly became aware.

"W-What?! You...!"

Miss Monster, as he realized this was the very same lamia he had met earlier, just rolled her eyes. "Notice me sooner, idiot."

"Why are you here?!" he shouted in a panic. The monster just crossed her arms.

"I just want to confirm something."

Luka jumped off the couch and began shutting the curtains. "Are you stupid?! The villagers hate monsters! If anyone finds out that you're here, you'll-" He paused and then looked back. "As a matter of fact, how did you get in the village? A slime was outside the village just this morning and everyone was getting ready for Judgement Day. And how did you know where I live?"

"I'm not some low-level monster; tricking humans is easy for me. Just who the hell do you think I am?"

'I have absolutely no idea...'

"As for how I found you...well, quite simply by your scent."

"My...scent?"

"Your unsophisticated scent was quite easy to track. The fact that this place also stinks of your 'sister's' burnt smell was just icing on the cake." She then spared the place a look-around. "To give her credit, she does know her craft. It's rare to find a human who can not only teleport, but also set up magical alert wards of sufficient power to give me trouble in effectively disabling without tipping her off. A mage of that caliber is practically unheard of in this part of the world."

"She's proud of it," he found himself replying in turn, then blinked. Why was he agreeing with breaking-and-entering monster? More importantly, why was she even here?

He coughed. "In...any case, what kind of business do you have with me? I'm kinda in the middle of sulking right now..."

A strange smile appeared on the monster's face.

"I heard about that," she replied. "Ilias was a no-show at your baptism, wasn't she?"

'How did she know?' "Yeah...but what would you know about that?"

The monster's face suddenly went back to neutral. "...I might have had something to do with it."

'Huh?'

Before Luka could even start to phrase a question about that, the lamia suddenly tensed. "Well, that was faster than I thought-"

At that very instant a flash of teal light appeared, revealing Sunset Shimmer with her scarred hand out in front with a fireball while gripping her staff with the other, her cloak billowing out behind her dramatically as what appeared to be black flames surrounded her entire body.

"Prepare yourself, thief!" she roared, "Because you've got three seconds to drop whatever it is you stole and surrender no-"

She stopped when she realized that she was staring directly at the lamia from earlier, then immediately made the fire twice as big and cocked back her arm to throw it.

"Sunset, don't!" Luka shouted, more out of concern his late mother's house was about to get destroyed than with the lamia being hit.

Sunset stopped, staring at Luka as if he had just grown a second head. She then looked back at Miss Monster, who was just staring with a bemused expression. Sunset scowled and made the flames disappear.

"Luka, you've got ten seconds to explain why you have a monster in your house, how she got here, and how she broke my wards."

"I smelled him out," the lamia answered for him before he could do so. "Along with your smoky scent. Also, your wards were powerful, but compared to me you might as well have covered the house with toilet paper."

"You wanna go, snake?" Sunset growled. Sunset's pride was the one thing no one could walk over without a fight.

"Only if it's somewhere with good food, maybe candlelight."

Sunset looked like she was about to swing her staff down on the lamia's head, so Luka took back the conversation. "Um, could you two please stop it? I still don't even know why you came here in the first place."

That last bit was addressed towards the lamia, who looked towards him with a slight tilt of her head. However, the mocking in her eyes was gone, replaced by...something else.

"...I might have said too much earlier."

"Eh?" Both Luka and Sunset asked intelligently.

She continued, her voice having lost its previous biting quality and was now much more...emphatic. "You just sounded so childish; I couldn't help myself. But don't get me wrong. I've traveled around the world and seen many things, so your idealism and childishness is, while idiotic, a welcome breath of fresh air."

"...Was that long-hand for 'I'm sorry'?" Sunset plainly asked. "Because to be honest you suck at being comforting."

"Yes and shut up," she replied without missing a beat. "But I'm also here because I'm curious about something."

"And that is?" Luka asked.

"What do you plan to do now that you've failed to become a Hero?"

"Wait what?!" Sunset shouted, looking between the two of them. "Luka, what is she talking about?"

Luka gave her a brief rundown of what went on at the temple. When he was finished, Sunset was scowling.

"Please don't blow up the church," he told her.

"Fine, I'll just deface one of the statues. That's enough petty revenge, right?"

"Continuing on..." the monster stated, getting both of their attentions. "Do you still intend to go on with your journey?"

Luka stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Even if I'm not a Hero, I'm still gonna try and defeat the Monster Lord. I mean, it's not like anything's really stopping me..." He glanced over at Sunset. "'Cept for one overprotective sister."

Sunset rolled her eyes but didn't reply. Instead her attention seemed to be split between both him and their 'guest'.

"I mean, just because I'm not a Hero doesn't mean I can't fight her...even a traveler could do it..."

Luka suddenly felt like he was saying that more for his own benefit to stay out of his depression than to pitch his case.

"So...yeah," he finished lamely.

Silence reigned god-emperor over the house, both women just staring at him.

'I've got to work on my speeches...'

However, the most unexpected noise broke the silence.

Laughter.

"Hahaha! Well, aren't you an interesting one!"

The monster girl had her hand over her mouth and seemed to be biting back chortles of laughter. Luka and Sunset just stared like she had gone crazy.

"Being a person who can say something as ridiculous as 'I want man and monster to coexist', truly you're an interesting person!" she continued between laughter. "I wonder just how long it will last though? Haha! I think I'll follow you to watch how this illusion of yours finally breaks!"

"Follow?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

Luka just paled. 'She couldn't possibly mean-'

"Why not? I've been intending to travel the world myself for quite some time now. I could use a companion," she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We're heading in more or less the same direction, so again, why not?"

"Because I'd sooner let you shoot me and steal everything I have of value than let you go with my little brother alone," Sunset answered, fixing the lamia with a hard stare. "If you think I'd let him go on his suicidal mission with you, you've got another thing coming."

The lamia simply cocked an eyebrow, completely at ease. "Well, if you're so worried, why not come with us? Are you scared?"

Luka flinched. 'Wrong word.'

"Scared?" Sunset snapped back, a fire burning in her eyes. "I'm not scared of anything! I'm Sunset Shimmer, the Witch of Ilias Village, strongest mage on this continent! There's nothing in this world I fear!" She slammed her staff-butt into the ground for emphasis. "Nothing!"

"Then why the reluctance? This way, you keep an eye on him and be protective, he gets to go on his quest and fail, and I get to sample all the food I want with entertainment on the side. It's a win-win-win situation no matter how you look at it."

Sunset growled, but Luka could see she was wrestling with the decision. It would let her keep mom's promise and she'd get away from the village like she wanted to. At the same time, he also knew how much she hated having to leave the comfort of her home for long periods of time, unable to read up on various books she had collected or perform strange studies.

"You know Sunset, I don't really mind if both of you come along," he finally stated, causing them both to look at him. "I-I mean, it'd be fun to have you around and...to be perfectly honest, I don't think even both of us working together could ward her," he gestured towards the lamia, "off even if we wanted to."

"No, you wouldn't," the lamia confirmed. "It'd be like trying to break an brick wall with eggs."

"We'll see about that..." Sunset grumbled, but then sighed. "Well, I've been meaning to get away from this godforsaken place anyways. A trip with my idiot brother and an annoying lamia might do me some good."

The lamia's expression didn't change, but the way her tail suddenly flicked seemed to indicate she might have taken offense to that last bit. Luka looked between the two of them and sighed, realizing he was in for an interesting journey now.

'Well, at least it beats going alone...'

However, something suddenly occurred to him. "Say, what's your name?" he asked the lamia. "It'd be kind of weird to call you Miss Monster all the time."

Sunset snorted. "I don't mind." She was ignored.

"Alipheese Fateburn," the lamia replied. "But you may call 'Alice'."

"That name doesn't really suit you," Sunset noted. "It's way too cutesy."

"Would you prefer to refer to me as 'Master' then?"

"Over my dead body."

"Keep it up and that might become reality," Alice answered as her tail coiled around threateningly.

Sunset's hand lit up with fire again. "Bring it, Snake Eyes."

Luka sighed. "We're gonna kill each other before we get to the first town, won't we?"