//------------------------------// // The Night She Came Home // Story: The Last Something Sweet to Bite // by Knackerman //------------------------------// Sunset pounded the ground with both of her fists as she cried, unhindered, giving full-throated voice to the feelings she'd been trying to keep in check. Those self same emotions she had tried to suppress as her friends had died one by one, taken from her in one cruel fashion after another. It's not fair, her bellowing sobs seemed to scream to the world at large, it's not right! This wasn't supposed to happen. Worse, as she looked down at her filthy cloths and bloodied hands, through tear blurred eyes, Sunset realized that she had failed once again. She was still human. While she might have escaped the Candy Mare, for now, the portal had failed. It had led only to some small, cramped, dark room that was barely illuminated by the ghost of a harvest moon. Her friends had lost their lives for nothing. Nothing! She continued to beat at the floor, sobbing and moaning. She was vacillating wildly from wishing she was dead, so she could be with her friend, to wishing that Candy would appear in front of her so that she could have something to take her rage and frustration out on instead of herself. There was something hot, incredibly hot deep in her guts. It writhed and twisted as she vented her anguish. In time it seemed to stab at her, as her tears ran dry, and she began to moan not from despair, but from waves of blinding pain that threatened to rob her of her consciousness. Struggling, hands shaking, Sunset slowly lifted her shirt exposing her midriff. Looking down, she could see that something marred her otherwise smooth belly, something dark red that seemed to wriggle and crawl for just a moment before it fell still. It was a map. Sunset had no idea how it had gotten there, but it looked as if someone had carefully and painstakingly carved a map into her living flesh... Peeling off the soft skin to etch out it's lines and curves. Instinctively, she knew that the map would lead her to another portal, the one that the Candy Mare had used to travel to their world in the first place. If she could only find it, maybe she could complete her mission after all. Maybe she could make it so that her friends lives had not been lost in vain. The map began to disappear, healing into pale scar tissue that faded into the rest of her skin. In mere moments, the map was lost, sunk deep inside Sunset Shimmer where she could no longer see it... No longer even feel it. A great emptiness yawned wide deep in the pit of her stomach as she realized what she had lost. The one chance she might have to fix things, to make things right, had vanished before her eyes. There was only one thing she could do. She needed that map. Gritting her teeth, she dug her fingers sharply into the flesh of her own stomach. To her surprise, the soft, fatty tissue yielded to her touch. Blood ran in rivulets down her abdomen as her fingers sank deep past skin and muscle. Slowly, painfully, she began to lift and peel her stomach away, exposing the dark purple and bright red organs that hid beneath. She tried not to look at them, tried not to see how they spilled out onto the floor, unwound and dangled around her legs. She had to go deeper. She had to see. She had to find what was hidden inside! Eyes bloodshot, crimson foam on her lips from where she had been forced to chew through her tongue to keep from screaming, Sunset thought at last she saw it. Somewhere in the web of veins and capillaries, she saw it! The Candy Mare's face smiled up at her from deep inside her own foul smelling, burst entrails, features stretched taught between Sunset's gore drenched fingers. "Trick or Treat!" -------------------------- Sunset woke with a start. Everything hurt. Breathing, hurt. It felt like her chest was on fire. Chances are she had more than one broken rib. Each inhalation brought a sharp pain that arched down through her abdomen and into her groin. Each shuddering exhalation brought the ghost of relief... Which only made that next breath hurt all the more keenly. It didn't help that the air was dry and dusty, forcing her into coughing fits that felt like grenades going off in her lungs. She hacked and wheezed hard enough that eventually she spat out a small black wad of something coated in mucus and blood. A piece of lung or a fragment of lunch? When was the last time she'd even eaten anything? Even had the time for anything other than running and screaming and crying? Her head was pounding. She looked around the room through blurry, sleep deprived eyes. Everything seemed to be covered in tarps and dusty blankets. Everything, that was, except for the full length mirror that Sunset lay prone in front of. As she gazed into the mirror, she saw for the first time that the source of soft illumination that had allowed her to see her surroundings was coming from her own horn. Was this some kind of trick? A false mirror? No, with rising excitement Sunset realized that her fingers and toes had been replaced with hard little hooves. Her eyes lit on the cutie mark that blazed like a warm sun on her side. The soft green glow intensified as Sunset tapped into the wellspring of magic that lay deep inside her, that was her birthright. Sunset Shimmer was home! No, she corrected herself harshly. No she wasn't home, but she was in a place very much like home, and that meant things were about to get much more dangerous. Despite what she had told Pinkie Pie before she had... before everything had turned out so badly, being here was no less dangerous than staying in the human world. If she was going to have any chance at all of doing what she had come here for, she needed to not only be cautious, but outright clandestine. She tried to slow her breathing and calm the pain in her chest. Now that she knew what she had experienced before was just a nightmare, she could focus her power on healing instead of harming herself. A soft green glow enveloped her chest, easing the pain and resetting the broken ribs. They would still take time to heal properly, but for the moment her breathing was a little less painful. Now she could focus on the hard part. If this world had indeed been overwhelmed by the Candy Mare, than she ran a great risk of detection now. If the Candy Mare so much as suspected what Sunset had been doing with the portal they had constructed, chances are that soon this entire world would be hunting her down. Sunset needed to take the utmost care that they would never find a trace of her. Focusing her magic, Sunset concentrated on a spell she had learned from forbidden texts that had previously been compiled by Tartaren witches. The spell was designed to hide a caster from those that could sense magic. So long as Sunset didn't use any large or flashy spells, she would be able to pass undetected even to the Candy Mare's senses. Or at least that's what she hoped. A sphere of vivid green energy, etched with glowing runes enveloped Sunset's form. As the runes faded to black the field turned translucent. She was now invisible, so long as magically sensitive were concerned. The next spell she cast was a much simpler and less dramatic one, something she had used long ago. One to silence her hoof steps and make it so she could pass through the night unheard. The spell after that was another she had used before, to hide her scent, enveloping her briefly in a fluffy pink cloud. While ponies had never had a use for scent camouflage for the purposes of hunting, it was still extremely useful to a field researcher like Sunset when she needed to observe a dangerous animal up close. Those rudimentary spells out of the way, she had to focus on something more delicate now. Grabbing one of the tarps off a piece of broken furniture, Sunset fashioned a Cloak of Camouflage. Unlike a true Cloak of Invisibility, this would allow her to blend in with her surroundings without giving off the tell tale aura of optical distortion that would otherwise give her away. It did mean that she would need to stand perfectly still in proximity to anyone that might see her, in order to keep from being caught, but combined with her other enchantments it would be like she wasn't there at all. Her spell work drawing to an end, Sunset took a deep breath and held it, forcing herself to listen. All was silent. A faint, listless wind howled outside. She recognized the echoing sound as it brushed passed the high spires and battlements. Feeding more magic into her sense of hearing, she realized that the storage room she was in was inside Celestia's Palace in Canterlot. Good. She was close to her goal. She held her breath a few heart beats longer, enhancing her hearing magically, listening for any hoof falls or murmured voices that might tell her if she wasn't alone. She heard nothing, but that didn't mean all was clear. Though she should be sufficiently shielded from detection, she still needed to be careful. A teleportation spell into a room she hadn't seen in years, indeed to a place that might not even exist in this universe, might just leave her with her body materialized halfway through a wall. It would be the height of irony if she made it this far only to end up killing herself. Instead, she'd have to conduct herself in the earth pony way, and hope for the best. Bracing herself, ready to duck back inside at the first sign of trouble, Sunset Shimmer leaned against the heavy oak door that led out into the Palace halls... And slowly pushed it open. Though the rusty hinges squealed in protest, a quick silencing spell muffled the noise. Outside, the hallway was just as abandoned and dusty as the storage room Sunset stood in. She couldn't quite suppress a grin as her eyes darted back and forth. This was all familiar. The element of surprise was on her side, but she didn't have a moment to lose. Without so much as a whisper, Sunset moved swift as a fleeting shadow across the dusty floor. All was dark and quiet. It was the middle of the night here, just as it had been in the human world she had left behind. There didn't seem to be any trace of candy ghouls, which was all the better for her plans. Still, the spell that silenced her hoof steps would only last for so long, but if she was fast, she could make it to the Canterlot Archives without being detected. She could sense the subtle power of all of those ancient and enchanted tomes bound not far away. But as she drew closer to her prize, she couldn't help but notice just how broken down and abandoned everything seemed. There wasn't even a hint of a breeze, a breath of air. Indeed, Sunset couldn't help but think that the edifice was not unlike a neglected tomb, a sepulcher long forgotten. Just how long ago had the Candy Mare overrun this world? With a growing sense of unease, she set hoof into the main hall, and her breath caught in her throat. The palace was a wreck. The few remaining tapestries, torn to shreds, hung limply from the walls and archways. A shimmering carpet of jagged multicolored shards was all that remained of the stained glass windows that Celestia had once cherished so dearly. Beyond those glass-less apertures lay only darkness, as if something had blotted out every star in the sky. Sunset wasn't sure if she was relieved or terrified when she discovered that the windows were merely blocked by piles of rubble. The last thing she needed right now was to be spotted by someone, or something, lurking outside that might look in. Apparently the very masonry of the palace, that had stood for millennia, lay thick enough on the ground to bury what remained of the great hall. What had happened here? Had there been some sort of attack? Some terrible cataclysm? Or had the old citadel simply been left to the ravages of the ages and now lay in the relentless jaws of entropy? Such questions would, perhaps, never be answered. Sunset doubted she'd enjoy hearing the explanation anyway. Who knew why the Candy Mare committed the horrible acts that she did. Climbing stairs that had been slowly worn smooth by water that dripped from the ceiling, Sunset carefully made her way towards her ultimate goal. The Canterlot Archives stood empty. She doubted that the Candy Mare would have any real desire for the ancient wisdom preserved within, but still, she took her time and approached cautiously. It was possible that the dormant magic within, left so long neglected, could have stirred up or attracted some arcane threat other than the Nightmare Night ghouls. Sunset had to suppress a sigh of relief as she stepped into the gloom of the Archives. While the rest of the Palace had been devastated beyond recovery, it seemed the worst damage to occur to the Archives were a few cracks in the thick canopy above that let in the distant twinkling starlight. A thick fog, much like what she had seen back in the human world, did seem to shroud the world outside... But this high up the wisps were thin, only barely hiding the milky glow of a massive harvest moon. It was more than enough light for Sunset to see that the various tomes, scrolls, and treasured books remained undisturbed on their row upon row of shelves. More importantly, the ornamental crystal hourglass at the center of it all stood unbroken. This was perhaps the riskiest part of this venture. While Sunset could hide herself, what she was about to do next would be a beacon to any nearby that could sense dark magic. She wouldn't have much time, but hopefully it would be enough. No, rather it would have to be enough. Sunset dipped deep into a well of power she had left untapped for over a year, one she had hoped to never have to call upon again. Slowly her eyes turned red, then began to glow green. A purple mist wafted from her eyes as energy of a similarly dark hue crept up her horn in a series of tiny explosions. This dark power was something she had actually learned from Celestia, a kind of black crystal magic. Sunset had been fascinated by it, and had worked to harness its power for herself. Perhaps that was where things had started to go wrong for her. Even so, she was glad she had practiced with it now, as she sent a shadowy bolt of un-light streaking towards the hourglass statue. The clear crystal clouded, absorbing the dark energy and giving off crackles of black lightning. Within, the frozen granulates of sand began to fall backwards, from the lower chamber up into the one above. As they did, time began to flow backwards in a localized portion of the floor, revealing a spiral staircase that wound down around the statue. Sunset began to sweat, the dark flames of her spell a strain to maintain this long, but she needed the stairwell to open all the way down deep into the heart of the Forbidden Archives that only the Princesses, and one errant apprentice, knew existed. She released the spell with a gasp, panting, but saw that the sand continued to flow in the crystal hourglass. This would be all the time that she'd have to find what she needed below and return to the surface before time would again flow in the correct direction and reseal the entrance. Small mercy to think she might die trapped with banned and forbidden knowledge that she had lusted for in the past rather than in the hungry mouths of the dead. She'd laugh if she wasn't terrified that it would be the first act off a very short decent into hysteria and madness. Sunset quickly trotted down the stairwell to an ominous door that waited at the bottom. If she were an intruder, she might try to use the same spell to gain access here that had been used to activate the reverse time spell. Fortunately, she knew better, and tapped into another wellspring of power she had grown to miss the longer she had been without it. Warmth flooded her body, accelerating the healing of her wounds, as brilliant light poured from her eyes. Pure white flames licked along the edges of her horn as she focused a powerful spell into the jewel that set atop the doorway. Without having to lift a hoof, the door swung open, allowing her entrance into the dim green lit halls below. As the door shut behind her, Sunset at last felt that she could breathe a little easier. Though she had been dreadfully exposed while she had been unsealing the Forbidden Archives, now that she was within, she knew that the chamber was fortified against the entrance of any creatures with ill intent or evil in their hearts. Indeed, Sunset had been terrified that she would be repelled from the room, like the last time she had tried to gain entry. But she pushed such shameful thoughts from her mind. That she was able to gain entry this time meant she wasn't the same pony she had been before, she was a new person now, and her past was not the same as today. Peeling back the hood of her makeshift cloak, Sunset used her magic to grab an enchanted candelabra from one of the wall sconces. These sealed archives had always been less than inviting, existing in a chamber of smooth and reflective black onyx that seemed to drink in and swallow even the brightest light. The many bookshelves themselves had been carved from the same substance, making it appear at first glance that the bound tomes and scrolls were floating in darkness. Sunset knew that what she was looking for would be buried far back in that soupy darkness. She only hoped that it had been left where it had been before. Naturally, there would've been no real reason to move it. The spell on this room would keep her from seeking it if she were doing so for any nefarious purpose. Though she should've felt safer now than before, especially with her goal so near, the suffocating silence in this place set Sunset's teeth on edge. Everything here had remained untouched by the ravages of time, and the rot that had seemed to take hold of the rest of the palace, but there was something here that seemed profoundly changed. There was a sickly, sweet stench that reminded Sunset only of death and a could chill not unlike that of the grave. Perhaps this is why it came as something of a surprise when she found herself standing before the very shelf she was seeking without encountering anything amiss. The book was chained to its shelf, bound and locked in cold iron as some of the other more dangerous tomes around it had been. But this grimoire was not consigned for any evil spells it contained, but rather more for a differing ideology as well as knowledge thought best left forgotten. In many ways, rival ideology's were far more dangerous to the day to day lives of the ponies of Equestria than any dread spell. And knowledge? Knowledge was always a dangerous thing, be it in possessing it or lacking it. Knowledge could end worlds. Setting down the candelabra high on the opposite shelf, Sunset reached for the book with her magic, and opened it. The pages turned back and forth before her eyes, the books old spine creaking with the turn of each page as she searched through passages dimly remembered. The book was called 'Ye Olde Tricks and Treats'. There were rumored to be copies that still existed scattered out among various libraries across Equestria, much like the one Spike had sent her references from earlier, but those books were mere copies of this original text. Much had been lost in translation from the high unicorn and low earth pony languages when the various tales held within it's pages had been translated into common Equestrian. The pegasi language had apparently been the worst to translate, as they had a habit of composing most of their stories either in grand sweeping epics that were books unto themselves, or as short poetry consisting of three phrases separated into five syllables, then seven, and finally five again, which were usually related to the weather somehow. These stories were preserved in their untranslated form in this, the original version of Ye Olde Tricks And Treats, a book bound in hard oak wood and filled with sheaves of papyrus thin paper. Sunset had to mouth some of the words as she read, working through three different languages that slowly melded into one as she searched for the story that had been read to her so long. As she had told her friends, the librarian that had done so had quickly been banished after it was discovered the kind of knowledge that she had been imparting to Celestia's favorite student. She didn't understand why then, but she think she had a good idea now. Her breath caught in her throat as, at last, her eyes lit upon the words that they had been straining in the greenish half light to find. There, in rich black ink that had faded gently until it appeared not unlike old blood blotched onto the page, the story of 'The Candied Mare'. Lost in that moment, Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin as a high pitched voice asked, "Whatcha doin'?"