Chapter 11: The Beat of Wings
"Well, Celestia certainly doesn't know how to improve security..."
Sunset pressed her ear on the vault. Her magic was working all the bolts and gears in the vault's thick door. She had already done this several times before, she it was almost a routine to unlock what was meant to be unlockable. With the skills she had, she bypassed the magical codes that protected the vault. It required careful calculations and any mess up would mean she would have to start the long process all over again.
She held her breath. The process was almost complete. Silently, she unlocked the last magical locks and one of the vault's compartments that was behind the door opened to reveal that large red gem she was so infatuated with. She practically drooled upon seeing it once more. Her magic wrapped around it and she removed it from the odd shaped container that the princess always put it in. After removing it, she hid it in the curl of her mane and casually shut the vault's compartment and left the room it was in silently.
She had to pass some Royal Guards to reach her study. The two guards were quite familiar to her by now since they had been watching her for over three straight weeks. She smiled at the, they waved their armored hooves at her, and she peacefully entered her study. Since it was now nighttime, the princess did not let them watch her sleep and had to stay outside. Sunset shut the door behind her and was left in the darkness that was her study.
The only faint light that was present was from the stained windows that had the moon shine through them. It was not much at all and only allowed her to see the outlines of furniture and books. Knowing the place by heart, she moved through the room easily, but was stopped when she heard a breath be breathed by her desk. It was the quietest of quiet sounds, but it was enough to let her know that she was not alone. She held her breath and looked up at her desk to see an outline of a pony sitting there. Two misshapen wings were on the body and the frame was that of a thick stallion. The chipped left ear showed who the stallion was.
"Haven't seen you in a while," she said cautiously.
"Hmph, then ya don't look hard enough. I've watched ya the whole week," a gruff and inconsiderate voice replied from the figure.
Sunset took some steps closer to the steps that led up to her desk. "Why are you here?" she asked with the same amount of caution.
"Nothing really, just seeing why ya wasting so much time in this lousy place."
"As you probably know, I was caught."
"Serves ya right for being such a stupid girl," he grumbled.
Sunset reached his level and took the gem out of her mane. "Ha! Well, I got what I wanted and this time, I won't lose it. Eat your words, Beats, I did the impossible."
"Huh, if that's impossible, then why do we even have the word? I could have gotten that in an hour and left without a stir. Ya lucky ya had more than one try, ya moron."
Sunset sat down and rolled her eyes. "Well, you haven't changed."
The stallion's shadowy face grinned, showing some yellow teeth. "Neither have ya. Well, mostly. I see that the princess has gotten to ya. The Sunset I trained would have stayed in the dungeon before doing anything a royal fool tells her to."
"Well, Wing Beat, she didn't let me stay in the dungeon. She wants me to be her student."
He shook his head in annoyance. "I know, lass. I told ya I've been watching ya, haven't I? Do you have ears or are ya too much of an idiot to use them?"
Sunset sighed. "Doesn't matter. I got the gem. So, if Celestia does not grant me wings any time soon, I'll just use this and escape!"
Wing Beat took the gem from her magic and looked down at it with an annoyed expression. He then looked at her expectantly, to which she answered with a confused shrug. This only aggravated him more. His stare sent daggers to her even though she could barely see his face.
"Idiot. This gem is useless," he told her bluntly.
Sunset's eyes widened. "What? That's the gem! I took it from this odd amulet thing and-"
He threw the gem at her, hitting her on the head, but it was not a hard enough throw to hurt her. "Exactly! This gem is useless without the rest. You brought the arrows, but you forgot the bloody bow! It's called the 'Alicorn Amulet' for a reason. If this red gem did the work, then why are ya still here? Ya could've blasted yaself out weeks ago. Nah, ya really are a dull unicorn lass. I thought I trained ya to be smart, not a halfwit."
Sunset crossed her legs. "But the books said that the gem was enchanted, not that black metal thing that holds it."
"Sunset," Wing Beat lowered his voice. "The gem needs a catalyst to work. That's why it is placed in the amulet. Neither can work without the other. It's a caution thing when the old unicorns made such instruments."
"Then I'll just get the amulet," she turned to leave.
Wing Beat grumbled. "Not so quick, lass. There's two guards out there, jus' waiting for ya to leave. Ya missed your chance. Ya either smoke their rotten hides or wait 'til next night."
"How about you just knock them out for me, hm?"
Wing Beat chuckled. "Nice try, but I'm done helping ya for tonight. It's ya sister that's at stake, not mine."
Sunset frowned. "How is she?" She asked in a calmer tone.
"Still holding up. Still losing fur left and right. The usual, ya know?" he casually shrugged.
Sunset took the gem, hid it in a book, and then placed the book on a shelf. "Can't believe Celestia is holding me up like this. I have to act like her little student until I get what I want. It's possible to become an alicorn without the amulet, but I gotta make up lost time. I know she doesn't have much longer. I shouldn't have waited this long to do something."
"Heh, sounds like ya actually care for her," he laughed a dry laugh. "If I didn't know better, I'd say ya actually did care for the lil' darling."
"I do care for her!" Sunset hissed. "I would have never come into this palace if I didn't."
"Keep tellin' yaself that, lass. I know the true reasons, but hey, I'm not one to give a feather 'bout it. Ya came to me, ya wanted me to train ya, so anythin' that happens is mainly ya own fault. Ya catch my drift?" he ended with a serious cock of his head.
"Yeah, yeah. If you keep this up, you old geezer, I'll whoop you when I have the amulet. You think you're the only one that has suffered in this world. Well, you didn't have an upbringing like mine."
"Kid, how many times do I have to tell ya? I've been through Tartarus. Look at my scars, look at my blind eye. I'm a fool and a weak one at that. If I made it through Tartarus, there ain't no reason anyone else can't make it. Ponies who don't make it are complainers, talkers that don't do nothing. I took ya in because ya was a doer! Doers are rare. Never seen a kid so willing to get the job done. Now go get that job done and forget anypony that stands in ya way. Other ponies are only bumpy obstacles, they aren't stone walls. Just walk over them for the Sun's sake."
"I can't just do that," Sunset turned away from him. "Not only will I probably get caught by Celestia, but I do think some of these ponies...like me. They have no reason to like me, but I just think they do. Some of me wants to stay here, but I know I can't. I have to help Dayshine. I have to have alicorn powers and save her!"
A sly chuckle left Wing Beat's crooked mouth. "Oh really? If ya want her saved, why don't ya just ask Celestia to do it?"
"Because she's-" Sunset stopped.
She had turned around to see Wing Beat, but halted. There was no figure there anymore and she was alone in the study once more. Wing Beat was gone without a trace. She looked about to make sure he wasn't simply hiding, but she only confirmed that he had left. A single blue feather was left in his stead. One of the top windows was hanging open, showing where he had escaped.
Her eyes narrowed. "I hate it when he does that."
She looked back at the book she had hidden the gem in. Nopony would ever find it there among all the other books. Well, somepony would, she thought. It had to be kept in the most secret of places. Someplace where even Celestia would not find it. Then she would, when opportunity allowed it, take the other part of the amulet. Then she shall become a master of sorcery. She would be able to use magic that even the most prestigious unicorns could not handle. It was an enticing thought.
"Oh, they'll regret when I get such powers. They'll fall before me. I shall not only rule over them, but I'll prove that Equestria does not belong to the royal bloods!" she then paused. "Oh, and there's my sister too. Can't forget that." She yawned. "Well, looks like my world domination's gonna be delayed. I'll need to keep acting as her little student and then, then I'll strike. I'll show Celestia that I'm not some toy, I'll save Dayshine, and then I'll even kick Wing Beat's hide for good measure. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. First, however, is sleep."
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I feel sorry for Sunset Shimmer. Who ever Dayshine is it is clear that she is important to Sunset but it makes me wonder what happened to her? I bet this is how the Alicorn Amulet got out in the open, but it makes me sad Celestia never moved it after Sunset's first attempt.
Wing Beat deserves a beating.
I think I'm starting to see what's going to happen with Sunset.
7165751 Isn't it great that the show doesn't go into little details so that we can exploit them and still have them make sense? Yeah...
Don't worry, you'll find out just 'bout everything. (I actually have been hacking some scenes out and rearrganing things so that the pace is better and this story doesn't drag on.)
7165753 Hm, from how Wing Beat is described, I think he's already had plenty of beatings...
7165751 I don't feel sorry for her. Did you not read the chapter? She doesn't really care about anypony but herself! She wants to conquer Equestria for entirely selfish reasons!
7165771 obviously not enough since he is still living.
Cover looks badass
7165894 It's by the amazing artist: Rain-Gear
7165920
"Of course, now lick my hooves."
7165925
"Very well, it is good to know where we stand on things. Now make me do it master."
7165753 Yep he really seems to deserve it when things are going well he showed up just to tick Sunset off, Its just like he showed up and threw a whole can of kerosene in the fire.
7165771 Wing beat needs more beating!
Well... if that's fine with you
7166529 Yup. GJ mate.
7165778
It was what led her to this point in her life. She has obviously been trampled over repeatedly in her life and obviously needs some TLC.
I don't get it. Why keep a dangerous dark magic artifact instead of destroying it? I mean, if Celestia cares so much about her subjects why keep things like the Alicorn Amulet or Discord somewhere it cause future harm? Why not put an end to such things?
7166609 Yeah...but her intentions right now are obviously evil! Even if bad things have happened to her, its obvious she doesn't care. She using Dayshine as an excuse!
7166777 Union rules.
7166777 Well, if she did that, we wouldn't have a show, would we?
Denial, denial.
You're using healing Dayshine [whoever that is] as an excuse to pursue limitless power. I mean, seriously????
7165778 Those who want to conquer a nation for "altruistic" reasons (frequently phrased as "for their own good") are very rare. And should usually be trusted even less than those who do it for the more standard selfish reasons.
7166183 Oh, definitely, "I could have gotten that in an hour and left without a stir" my arse. He wants the Amulet for himself, but he either can't get it (unlike Sunset), or he can't use it. Either way, it seems clear (to me, at least) that he want's Sunset reacting, not thinking.
So Sunset has someone who she's doing all this for. But it's at odds with her ambition too. At least I can agree with her that Wing Beat needs to have his arse kicked.
7167574
Well if you are doing a good thing for those close to you and you can aquire ULTIMATE POWER while doing it why should you not do it? Altruism for sake of being altruistic is in my mind rather dull. And in the end, Celestia TOLD her it is possible for her to get the alicornhood, this is partly her doing.
7167574
Maybe the Alicorn amulet can still give him earth pony strength, but what the heck... He is still unable cast spells
7167574 Yeah, but I was saying that because I don't feel sorry for Sunset.
7167773 Well, she does like burning things...
7167773 7167781
At least she is not burnating the countryside.
7166777 Maybe the amulet can't be destroy or requires certain rare things in order for it to be destroy.
7166777 I'm not sure myself.
It could be anything from an emergency weapon (there's no time to get the elements! We'll take the risk of insanity!) to, in fact, difficult to destroy. Then again, as cruel as Trixie got, she never actually killed anypony, and only really hurt snips and snails. As dark magic goes, forcing the Elements of Harmony to give you power when they don't want to is far more dangerous (sunset shimmer, SciTwi), and whatever sombra used was just plain nasty....
Yeah, there could be lots of reasons for not trying to destroy a relatively minor evil artifact.
hmmm the royal bloods. Judging by the name and a general punch in the dark i'm going to guess they are the rulers before the sisters. But thats just a theory with very little evidence to go on so I am most likely wrong.
On a side note I am imagining Dayshines voice to be a old raspy version of Brynjolf.
7168653
If it was created, it can be destroyed. And even the rarest materials shouldn't take an alicorn princess of a country's worth of resources hundreds of years to obtain.