• Published 22nd Nov 2015
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Gunsmoke - Wanderer D



Sunset Shimmer and Desert Mirage... what exactly is the connection?

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Chapter 12: FullDive

Gunsmoke

by Wanderer D

Chapter 12: FullDive

Breakfast was served. Copious amounts of pancakes, fresh Equestrian apples (from Sweet Apple Acres), milk, orange juice, and oats had been prepared and placed on the table, awaiting her and Twilight that morning.

Oh, how Sunset missed Equestrian oats.

"Before we start, I have something for you," Twilight said unusually solemn, levitating a scroll encased with a wax seal bearing Celestia's cutie mark to Sunset.

Sunset took it gingerly, gulping once before breaking the seal and opening it to read its contents.

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

Hello my student, it's been a long time.

Twilight has informed me that you are spending a day at her castle, and while I am very tempted to go there right now and see you, I understand it might be too much.

I don't know if you would like to see me, after all. And though it pains me, if you don't, I will not push.

I have missed you, my little pony. I have really missed you a lot. I wish you had been with me when Twilight became my student... I like to imagine what those sessions would have been like, with all three of us in my study, hot mugs of cocoa at the ready, and fire roaring in the chimney. Of course it's a fantasy, but it has been one that has warmed my heart since you left.

I'm sorry I failed you, Sunset. If you ever have the heart to forgive me, I will be happy to welcome you back home myself.

For now, enjoy your time with Twilight, and know that at I am glad you are safe and well.

~Princess Celestia.

Sunset's magic trembled, and she carefully lowered it down onto the table. "Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight nodded, a small smile spreading on her lips. "Would you like to reply to her?"

Sunset nodded. "But not right now... let me—" she sniffed. "Let me calm down a little."

Twilight's smile grew. "Of course! Do you want to talk about something else in the meantime?"

"How about you tell us more about that game?" Spike asked, taking a seat at the table.

Sunset took a sip of her juice and grinned. "Sure, why not?"

Sunset sat on her bed, waiting for her computer to finish installing Gun Gale Online.

"Okay, since we have a minute or two left, do you have any questions?" Twilight asked from her phone.

"Um, not really... I think you explained how to do most things and we calibrated the Amusphere and set up a password and everything when you built this computer for me," Sunset said, glancing at her new setup. She had to admit, it was impressive, and way beyond what her previous store-bought computer had been capable of. "And thanks to you, I have a solid idea of how to use the skill system while leveling up... I've been planning a strategy for my character's growth already."

"Really? I'm glad you did your homework! What do you have in mind?"

"A gunslinger," Sunset said. "AGI/DEX then focus on LUK/SEN and finally have my lower stats on VIT/STR."

"Hm, that's interesting," Twilight said after a short moment of silent contemplation. "So you'd be fast and with high chance of hitting and a high chance of critical bonuses, sacrificing hit points and big weapons in exchange?"

"Yes." Sunset looked at the screen that showed the page and description of skills. "I'd rather hit with finesse than miss hard."

"Of course," Twilight's voice said brightly. "But we'll have to balance you out with decent equipment or you won't last half an hour!"

Sunset blinked. "What?"

"I'll be waiting for you at the Administration Building in Glocken, which is the quasi-city you start at."

Sunset nodded, remembering what she had read about the locations in GGO, then also remembered that Twilight couldn't see her. "Yeah, no problem. I might take some time to fiddle around with my character to make her look exactly like I want to, though."

"Take your time! It's important you're happy with your character. They're you, after all. There's a big bar on level 23 of the Administration Building, you can look for me there. Do you remember my name?"

"Twilight?" Sunset replied with a grin.

"Haha. Well, do you?"

"It's hard to forget, Avalon."

"Good girl. Now, I believe GGO should have finished installing. Ready to experience a whole new life?"

Sunset laughed. "You bet! See you in there soon!"

"Enjoy!" Twilight's voice said, just as the call ended.

Putting on the Amusphere on her head, Sunset laid down on her bed and turned off the light.

"Link Start!"

A plethora of sounds and colors invaded her vision and for a moment everything went white, except for a translucent black-gray window requesting her username and password. She willed both to appear on the screen, just like Twilight had taught her, and they immediately filled out the form in the right places, after which she was allowed access.

Everything went black and suddenly she was floating, invisible, in a large room that smelled of metal, rust, smoke and oil.

In the middle of the room, floating was a feature-less, glowing female shape that resembled her body, if it were a store mannequin. A large message appeared on top of the homunculus.

Welcome to Gun Gale Online

"Please design your character to your pleasure," a friendly computerized female voice spoke up. "This avatar has been generated with the parameters of your initial calibration of the Amusphere."

Several towers of pictures suddenly scrolled around her. Some had cloth items, some others had hair designs, as well as tools for modifying every possible thing she could imagine.

She floated around her avatar, bringing up her selections to make her future self slightly taller, and chisel out her features a little... sort of what she would imagine she'd look if she was a little older as a human. She kept her hair colors, but instead of her long hair, she decided to go for a shorter cut, finishing up to her shoulders.

Sunset smiled as she gave herself a slightly darker tan. "This is going to be fun."

All things said, it had taken her about forty minutes to finish up, a fact that she was painfully aware of. 'I hope Twilight is not upset.' she thought, walking down the streets of Glocken.

It was an uncanny experience. Each step felt real, each surface had a different feel, the air smelled of different odors; the breeze felt cool against her skin unless she passed a restaurant or someplace that would create a warmer feeling.

Her curious mind wondered just how much was pre-programmed and how much was just relying on her mind's memory and interpretation of stimuli to account for the sensations. But there was ironically too much to do, too much to understand and see for her to dwell on this wonder of technology.

Her choice of leather trench coat had been a good one, since it made her mix well enough with the other players, but she had no idea what to do and had quickly gotten lost.

Finally—with the aid of a couple of questions and sign-following—she had reached the Administration Office, a huge building that split into pointy twin towers and made her way inside. Once there, she had been pointed to the elevators and hurried up to them, getting in and pressing the button for the 23rd level.

The ride took about a minute, and soon, the doors opened to reveal a classy-looking bar, with plenty of glass tables, an amazing view of the city and relatively few patrons. The music was alright, nothing memorable, but not irritating.

The moment she stepped in, she saw Twilight. Or Avalon, as she was known here.

She sat alone, having claimed a small crystal table right next to the windows. She was taller than Sunset, and had the body type of a trained soldier. Her hair was styled in a more similar to what Sunset herself had in real life, and was completely black. Her black & purple armor covered her forearms, shins and the sides of her thighs, as well as her chest back and shoulders. Her star-burst cutie mark was painted on the breastplate, and the left shoulder armor had a faded XC spray painted on it.

A large shotgun was strapped to her back, and a pistol of some sort—Sunset had read about the gun options, but wasn't really familiar enough to recognize them quite yet— was holstered at her hip.

"Tw—"

Twilight raised a hand, smiling. "In-game it's bad manners to refer to each other by our real names. I like your style, by the way, and you look a little older, but still kept the hair color, eh?" She winked. "Desert Mirage."

Desert Mirage.

That was who she was here, not Sunset Shimmer. She had no past here. Desert Mirage had never been Celestia's prized pupil. She had never betrayed anypony. She had never destroyed friendships or almost attacked her homeland. Desert Mirage was—she was... free.

"Was it really such a big deal?" Princess Twilight asked as they made their way to her study. "Not having, you know, a past connected to us?"

Sunset sighed, attempting to shrug but only managing to beat her wings. She glared at them over her shoulder before turning to Twilight.

"I have been having trouble with my self-worth since before I left Equestria, Twilight," she confessed, stopping at the door and waiting for Twilight to go in first. "Obviously that was the reason I left in the first place, but... even after all that happened, I just felt like I had to quit being me."

She grimaced and laid down in a sofa, while Twilight took a seat at her desk and Spike sat on a small pillow.

"I hated it. I hated forcing myself to be meek for fear of being rejected by my new friends. I hated being unable to keep my chin up when others whispered behind my back and glared at me when they thought I wasn't looking. I hated pretending to be happy, just to fit the status quo."

"Wow, you really wouldn't have liked Starlight Glimmer," Spike said.

"Spike!"

Sunset chuckled. "Probably not," she admitted before her smirk faded. "But... I think the thing I resented the most, was that I couldn't let myself excel at anything without feeling guilty for it. If I was too good at math, the whispers would begin. If I was great at soccer, the team would stop passing me the ball. And the worst thing? The worst thing is that I told myself every night that I deserved it. And even now, I can't say I didn't."

"Sunset..." Twilight began, but held back when the other alicorn looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"When I got to know them, the girls were really sweet," she said, holding the tears back. "I hated every iota of my being for having been such a monster to them, even more so than the rest of the school.

"When I became Desert Mirage... I was born again, this time into a world where I can't damage anyone, where I can be the best on my own merits, of my own effort and be recognized without... without jealousy. Without being mentored by the being everypony looks up to as perfect and expects the same of you. I can be a jerk there sometimes, and it doesn't define me. I can be smart, I can be cute, I can be bipolar, it doesn't matter!

"They don't see me as somepony that needs to be perfect, or that should behave in a specific way to prove she's repentant! It's the only place where I can let go of every shackle, every fear, and be free!"

Twilight stood and walked up to Sunset, wrapping her wings around the shaking alicorn and nuzzling her gently. "It's okay, Sunset. It's okay. I'm so sorry I left you behind feeling that way. You shouldn't have been alone. I should have known that you would feel like that, and—"

"You couldn't have," Sunset sniffed, cleaning the tears with her foreleg. "I didn't tell you. I pretended to be okay when you were around, and I was honestly happy when you visited." She chuckled. "How ironic that when I had the best chances to talk to you about it, I was feeling the exact opposite way." She cleared her throat. "Do you want to hear the rest of it?"

Twilight smiled and nodded, not moving from her side, and still holding her with her wings.

Sunset smiled in thanks, before looking down. "But I think... first I'd like to do something else."

Twilight blinked and shrugged. "Sure, what do you want to do?"

"I want to write a letter to Princess Celestia."

Twilight grinned. "Of course! Spike, take a letter!"

Dear Princess Celestia,

I would love to see you today before I go. I realize you must be busy, but maybe tonight, after Sun Court, you could visit here so we could spend some time talking. An hour or two won't be enough to say everything I want to say, but I think it would be a good start.

Always your student,

~Sunset Shimmer.

Spike rolled the scroll up, tied it with a ribbon and blew flames on it. The three watched the cloud of magic speed away and Sunset sagged against Twilight.

"Sunset?" Twilight asked, leaning down to look up at her face. "Are you okay? Are you tired?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. I'm just... I can't believe I finally—after everything that happened—sent her a letter." She took a deep breath. "I'm scared of seeing her, but... I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders."

"Well, she'll be receiving it right about now," Spike said with a smile. "And you can bet your new wings she'll be really happy to see that letter."

Sunset chuckled. "I can only hope, Spike."

Twilight giggled. "Do you want to tell us more of your story now?"

"Sure! Well, it turns out that Science Twilight was part of this quasi-legendary squad c-called X—" Sunset stammered to a stop, eyes wide.

Frowning, Twilight followed her line of sight to the open window, where a ball of sunlight had suddenly materialized and was slowly becoming bigger, until with a burst of light, Princess Celestia herself stood there, looking in surprise, confusion and hope at the pair of alicorns on the sofa.

They all remained quiet until Celestia smiled. "Sun Court was postponed for the day."