World 5: Chapter 11
Sunset stood stunned. The manifestation of the Charm was something she recognized—it was her magical transformation! “I’m not really sure how a Charm chooses its design, its subconscious, I think. Suri’s based off her old cutie mark, but Dust’s is based on what she wanted to be when she was a filly. Any idea what yours can do? Mine’s defense.” The Charm on Sassy’s back held up its diamond shields, readying to block Sunset’s attack. “Go ahead, give it a shot.”
The feeling strangely swerved. She could sense the way her Charm moved and the gravity it held. She could almost see through its eyes, had it not been blindfolded. Giving it a shot, as Sassy suggested, Sunset’s Charm struck the shields with all her force. Sassy’s Charm and Sassy brushed back, but neither were injured. Instead, Sunset shook her hoof. “Ah! That hurt.” She hadn’t seen it, but her Charm also rocked the pain from her hand.
“My apologies. Maybe your Charm isn’t a fighter? That’s alright. We’ll figure it out later. Right now, we should go and let Lightning Dust know you’re awake, along with introducing you to Suri Polomare. I’m sure they’ll both be eager to see what type of Charm you have.” A door opening and closing downstairs startled the unicorn. “Oh! I’ll bet that’s Suri. I hope…”
Trotting down, Sunset followed the unicorn and came face to face with an orchid-colored mare with purple hair, which was wrapped upward with a cyan ascot like a crafty headband. “They almost found me!” the mare named Suri Polomare whisper-yelled, grasping Sassy’s shoulders. “Where’s Lightning? We’ve got to move!” The mare then locked eyes with Sunset, letting out a scream.
Sassy pushed a hoof over the mare’s mouth. “Shh! This is Sunset Shimmer—she’s new and on our side.” Throwing her look over her shoulder, Sassy nodded to the alicorn. “We’ll have to move to another hideout. It’s going to be a few blocks away. You alright with following?”
With a shrug, Sunset said, “I think staying out of danger till I can figure out how to revert these Charms would be wise.”
“Revert our Charms?” Suri shot a squinting glare, only to realize the alicorn in front of her was indeed an alicorn. “Oh my! You’re a princess? Things might be on the up and up!”
Shoving her hoof over Suri’s mouth once more, Sassy commanded, “Let’s talk about this later. We need to move.”
Pressing out the back of the crystal home, Sunset was the second out. Sassy Saddles picked up their rear as they passed through grassy yards that desperately needed love and care. Suri took to the sides of buildings, reminding Sunset of Shining Armor as he led them through the battle-hardened empire of the first world. Jumping from alleyway to alleyway, they crossed roads only when necessary.
At one point, Suri opened the door to a building, pushing through to the back door, and then circling around the yard to a set of double doors. They protruded from the ground with garden equipment covering it. Brushing the tools off with one big shove, Suri opened the double doors and commanded, “Get in.”
Sunset did as she was told, trotting down into the darkness with a smidgen of curiosity. Sassy was right behind her, turning on the single light as she entered. After Suri closed the doors, she turned out the light. “No lights! You know she’ll see it. She’s always so thorough.”
“It was her? You ran into her!?” Sassy gawked.
“Yes her! She had the seductress with her. I think they were looking for the Wonderbolt, but they found me! Now hush!” Suri put a hoof to Sassy’s mouth, clearly payback for the earlier treatment.
“Who is her?” Sunset whispered, far lower than the other two. “Wait. Wonderbolt?”
Suri nodded. “Captain Spitfire. She’s not with the Puppet Master—but she’s not to be trusted. Those gang of ruffians want her for her power, and she wants the Puppet Master for…” Suri suddenly went quiet. Pushing a hoof to her mouth, Sassy did the same.
Sunset hadn’t heard it, but the two mares did, and it wasn’t until silence permeated the basement that sounds of trots echoed from above. Dust wafted down from the ceiling, though Sunset only found that out as it coated her eyeball. “Ah!” she yelped, rubbing her eye with the back of her hoof. Her cry caused the hoofs to stop their trot, and though she couldn’t see the other mares, she felt their fear.
The trotting picked up, heading for the backdoor, and then they vanished. A second later and the double doors opened up. “I should have known you would be down here!” a familiar voice yelled from the top step. “You’re supposed to put the stuff back with your Charm, Suri. It’s so obvious that the tools were freshly moved.”
“Lightning Dust!” Suri and Sassy hollered in unison.
“Who else? Come on. We’ve got to get to the castle. I can’t be away from the Crystal Heart for long,” the pegasus replied.
“Wait, how do we know it’s really Lightning Dust?” Sunset questioned, eyeing the mare with her one good eye. The other still leaked tears.
“Trust me, it’s me. But only barely. The Puppet Master’s sharks are out and about, they’re after the captain. If we contain ourselves at the castle, we’ll have a better chance to avoid their conflict, and maybe we’ll get lucky and witness them knock each other out.” She batted her hooves together. “Come on!”
Whispering to the girls next to her, Sunset asked, “Do we trust her?”
Sassy gave a nod. “The captain knows not to use her Charm on Lightning. She’s one of a kind, and we’re pretty good at telling when she’s not herself. No matter how hard she tries, Lightning Dust is Lightning Dust. Reckless, irreplaceable Lightning Dust.”
“I guess you have her in high regard,” Sunset noted, inspired by their fellowship.
“Not really,” Suri interposed. “But you take what you can get. Not like we can find the crystal ponies without her, at least.” Trotting up, the earth pony rolled her eyes at the annoyed pegasus.
With a shrug, Sassy led Sunset up and out. “It’s a pleasure to see you again,” Sunset greeted. “I heard you almost saved me.”
“If Sassy hadn’t found us, we’d end up wherever the crystal ponies are, which wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. But we can do more good out here,” Lightning Dust replied.
“You say that, but we haven’t done any good at all!” Suri shouted, almost exploding, but Sassy got between the two.
“Let’s argue later when we’re not out in the open,” Sassy bid, and the two mares simmered down. The three sets of eyes scanned their surroundings while Sunset glanced each of them over.
Without any more wasted conversation, the quartet rushed off to the castle, cowering within the shadows of the buildings. The entire city drifted to the opposite direction Sunset had seen when she first arrived. The sun and moon had fallen, which would have granted them even more darkness, except for the raging firestorm surrounding the Crystal Empire. Sunset wondered whether it was Discord’s design or something caused by the Twilight of this world. Gritting her teeth, she thought of the prideful unicorn’s arrogant speech patterns.
Maybe there’s a way I can utilize her superiority, much like Luna suggested using Rainbow Dash’s impatience. We never got the chance, but Twilight doesn’t seem to be in any rush to be near me. I wonder if she’s still lulling about in that theater. Her eyes shifted to the rooftops as they came to the underside of the castle. She knew where the theater now sat, and that would be helpful in trapping the unicorn. I’ve got to get my magic back. As intriguing as this Charm is, I doubt it’ll be as useful as my spells.
Pressing through the castle’s rooms, Lightning Dust led them down a hall Sunset recognized. Entering a bedroom that Sunset had not opened since the days of her villainy, Lightning Dust closed the door behind them. Different bedsheets and end table, but relatively the same. To think I’m now trying to help Twilight get her crown instead of taking it. She smiled, but it was cut short by the three mares shooting daggers at one another. “Is this your hideout? It seems odd to hang out in the castle itself,” Sunset said, trying to make conversation and break the tension.
“They won’t look for us here. If anything, they’ll target the Crystal Heart,” Lightning Dust replied. “And if they do, we’ll have a bigger problem on our hooves other than them finding us.”
“Do they target the Heart often?” Sunset asked.
“Not usually, only when they want to strike at us,” replied Sassy. “Since their focus is on the captain, it gives us an opportunity to search for the crystal ponies.”
“You mentioned them before. Where’d they all go?”
Sassy shrugged. Suri was the one to respond, “If we knew that, we would have released them by now. From our understanding, though, they’re still here in the Crystal Empire. The captain, she came to the empire to find someone… she says that pony is still here, but as far as we know, we’re the only ones. We’ve picked up bits of information here and there from those bragger zealots, but other than that, we don’t know anything.”
“I believe that if we find them, we can use them as fodder to take on the Puppet Master. We don’t know if she gave them Charms, or if she just imprisoned them, but what we do know is that she didn’t want them around,” Lightning Dust added. “Speaking of which, I’m going to go make sure the perimeter is secure.” In a dash, the pegasus disappeared.
“I think they’re underground somewhere,” Sassy mumbled. She was staring absentmindedly at her hoof. “Dust’s tried tunneling, but the crystal around here is too dense. There might be a way in through the theater, but it’s not like we can get in through there.”
Sunset knew of a path. I’ll keep my mouth shut about it now. I’d rather not have innocents getting involved and being used as… fodder. Though finding and releasing them might give us a distraction. I’ll need more information before I decide. “What about Twilight’s team? Who does she have working for her?”
“There’s four of them. Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moondancer. They’re all bad news,” Suri answered. “Moondancer’s the worst. She’s completely loyal to Twilight, and she won’t hesitate to throw the other three under the cart. If you ever see her, just run. It’s not worth it trying to fight. The others are capable, but they don’t stick together, so it’s usually two on one. Since neither me nor Sassy are outstanding fighters, we just manage until we can run away or Lightning Dust shows up.” With a roll of her eyes, she muttered the words, “That featherbrain is a pain.”
“Sunset’s got a Charm. If we can figure it out, maybe it’ll be helpful,” Sassy spoke up. “It doesn’t look like yours, Suri. It’s more like mine and Lightning’s.”
“Speaking of which,” Sunset cut in, “Can you two tell me about how these Charms work? They don’t play on the same rules as magic, that’s for certain. It’s all created by Twilight, right?”
“Given by the Puppet Master, inspired by ourselves.” With a glow of Suri’s six-pointed star, a small creature appeared on the earth pony’s shoulder. With six legs and shaped like a pony, a brown button replaced its head. “This is Buttons. He’s a little guy who packs a big wallop.” Hopping down from Suri, he trotted over to Sunset.
The alicorn watched as he climbed her front leg and disappeared onto her back. “This is your Charm? I’m not sure what I was expecting, but if they can be these little creatures too, that’s going to be a problem.” She felt the Charm wriggling around on her back—specifically in her backpack. “What’s he do?” She shouldn’t have asked.
Like staring too closely at running water, the world became a wave of movement. Some parts were too quick while others too slow. Sunset felt as though everything was moving, which forced her to find the nearest wastebasket.
As she wrapped up expensing her stomach’s contents, she wiped her lips and found that the world stabilized. “Wh-what was that…?” she murmured, glancing back at the earth pony. Her Charm had returned to her shoulder.
“Now you know how we get around so well. Me and Sassy are good at getting out of dire situations.” The earth pony then held up an eraser. “Buttons can infect any object. If you have that object on your person, you’ll start to feel a wave of nausea and then become really sick. Speaking of which—” The earth pony tightened a hoof around her nostrils “—the room’s about to start smelling like a hospital, so maybe I should have warned you first.”
“I’ll take it,” Sassy sighed. “Sunset can show you her Charm while I find a place to hide this.” Taking the wastebasket from underneath Sunset, the unicorn marched out of the room.
“I still don’t know exactly what my Charm can do,” Sunset mentioned as she focused. Her flank grew hot as the Charm appeared. “From what I understand, they all have special properties, right?”
“How beautiful,” remarked Suri. “It definitely has the properties of a fighter, and it’s not like Sassy’s. She’s got a special attack, but those diamonds of hers are a great defense, especially since they shield against other Charm’s attacks. Yours?” She hummed for a moment, scratching her chin as she thought. “It could do some damage.”
Sunset's shoulders tightened and shook her head. “Only damage it has done is to me. Sassy said my Charm isn’t a fighter after she made me hit those shields of hers.”
“Yeah, well, Sassy’s wrong. Hitting those diamonds, anyone, even Lightning, would be hurt. Doesn’t mean you can’t take on other Charms. But those hands—now I’ll bet that’ll help out a lot more than her diamonds. Buttons got six hooves, four to run on, and two to hold stuff. And no one else has any Charms with hands. Maybe that’s your special property, something revolving around that.” Suri finished spitting her ideas just as Sassy returned.
“Figure it out?” the unicorn asked.
“No,” Suri replied. “Hey Sassy, let Sunset try hitting your Charm without blocking.”
Sassy stepped back. “What? No! We don’t know what her Charm could do.”
“Well, it’s not like we can just throw her out to the wolves and let her figure it out on her own,” the earth pony grumbled. “Wait…”
“No!” Sassy shouted back, obviously understanding Suri’s unwise idea.
But instead of arguing, the two mares suddenly stopped. They stared at each other, and Sunset watched as their ears flickered back and forth. “What’s going on?” the alicorn asked, only to be shushed by the two.
With lightning reflexes, both Sassy and Suri jumped backward, landing close to the bed, only for the door to explode into the room. A shattering of wooden shrapnel littered the floor where the two had been standing, dust covering the now open entrance. Two shadows came forward, and as the dust settled, Sunset got her first glimpse of what the Puppet Master’s crew contained. One mare, her stature proud, was a pale beige unicorn, while the other was a cornflower blue, though this unicorn was full of spite and venom. “Not Spitfire, but they’ll do,” the beige mare said, her purple and red mane falling into her eyes.
“It’s her!” Suri growled. “Moondancer.”
“This isn’t good. I guess we’re premiering Sunset’s Charm after all. At least she won’t have to hit me,” Sassy added.
Both the unicorn and the earth pony’s Charms appeared, though neither seemed ready to unleash the first attack. Sunset, still housing her own Charm behind her, stepped forward. The silent, fuming mare with the multicolored blue mane was her focus. Two against three, yet they claim Moondancer is the worst of the bunch. If she’s so bad, she wouldn’t need backup. And it doesn’t look like that mare wants to be here. “Hey, hey. Moondancer,” she called to the proud unicorn.
“You’re that new mare. The princess. You dishonored our master, and for that, you shall pay. I’ll have Twinkleshine come up and collect your unconscious body once I render you inoperable. You’ll be of no threat in the Darkness,” Moondancer claimed, her face remaining calm as she spoke.
“Yeah?” Sunset yawned. “If you think you’re so good, why bring backup? Lightning Dust isn’t around, you’ve got these two cornered, and I’m too new to this. Seems to me like you’re scared you’ll fail.”
“Your backward thinking will not sway me,” Moondancer replied. “These two are more dangerous than you’ll have me believe. I had to throw out my favorite sweater because of that mare.” She pointed at Suri. “I haven’t stopped holding a grudge.”
Sunset nodded, unsure if that was sound reasoning. “Yeah, that makes sense. But what of your friend there? She doesn’t look too happy.”
“That doesn’t matter. Our task was to capture the Wonderbolt, and now we’ll capture you instead,” Moondancer replied, which stirred an angered glance from the mare beside her.
“Really? It seems to matter to her.”
Moondancer’s gaze fell to the blue unicorn who was grimacing. It was unclear who exactly she was upset with, but the scowling worried Moondancer enough for her to step sideways, putting a gap between the two. “Minuette. We’re here for Twilight. Do not forget that.”
“You always say Twilight—” The blue mare lowered her head to the ground, staring up at Moondancer like a snake “—whenever you want us on your side. Yet you always say Puppet Master when you’re ordering us around. I’m getting real sick of taking your orders. You think you’re better than us just because Twilight gave you the best Charm? Is that it?”
That was easier than expected. If tensions are high for Sassy, Suri, and Lightning, I’d hate to be a fly on the wall for Twilight’s gang.
“You know I only do that to guide you in Twilight’s words. We cannot fail her!” Moondancer argued.
Sunset, careful in her quick movements, rushed to the side of Sassy. “How durable is your Charm’s diamonds? Capable enough to fall a few stories?” she asked, whispering in the quietest voice she could manage. Sassy seemed surprised and confused until Sunset nodded to the direction of the closest window. “I can carry Suri.”
Sassy understood though she didn’t say a word. Without a second between speech and action, the unicorn’s Charm burst open the wall that held the window. Sunset was quick in grabbing Suri under her forelegs, dashing out as fast as she could. “Oh my Celestia!” Suri screamed as she kicked her back legs weightlessly in the air. “What about Sassy!? She’s going to plummet to the ground!”
Sunset and Suri watched as they glided down, unable to catch up to the unicorn as her Charm sped shield-first into the street. With an earth-shattering explosion, crystal shards kicked up into the air, creating a cloud around the unicorn’s landing. Reaching the ground, Sunset dropped Suri safely and flew into a jog before stopping in front of the veil. “Sassy!?” Suri called, her voice full of worry.
“That… was… exhilarating!” Sassy burst through the dust haze, a wide smile on her face. “I’ve never done anything like that! I wouldn’t have dreamed I could! How did you know it’d work out, Sunset?”
Sunset scratched her cheek. “Call it a princess’s intuition. It was either bursting out the window or bursting through them.”
“Looks like instead, you’ll be busting through me. Unfortunately, I’m not as easy as a window.” In the shadow of the castle came another unicorn. The mare was a golden grey with pale pink mane, and before Sunset could ask her who she was, she introduced herself, “The name is Twinkleshine, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Unfortunately, you’re not going anywhere.”
Out of nowhere, Twinkleshine’s Charm appeared behind her. A two-yard tall rectangle mirror, the unicorn stepped out from in front of it. For a split second, Sunset could see herself in the reflection just before Sassy forced her out of the way. A bout of light shot from Sassy’s flank, but only for a moment. Sunset looked at the mare to see what possibly changed. Suri yelled, “Sassy! You’re the worst of us to be mirrored! You should have just let the Charm mirror Sunset. We might have found out what it can do.”
Sunset didn’t understand. It wasn’t until she looked at the unicorn named Twinkleshine that everything pieced together. Behind the pink-haired mare was no longer a large mirror. Instead, a pony speckled with gems and diamond shields for hooves replaced the reflective furniture. It literally mirrored Sassy’s, only this one was black and white. “We don’t know what Sunset’s can do. It could wipe out the world for all we know! Better for her to have mine than the unknowable,” Sassy fired back.
“How precious. I do quite love this Charm, though. It makes me feel powerful,” Twinkleshine said, and like a steamroller, the Charm shot at Sassy with a mighty strength, forcing her own Charm to block. The four diamonds collided, struggling to overpower one another. “Fight me all you want, I’ve just got to hold your attention long enough for Moondancer and Minuette to arrive.”
“Then we’ll have to interrupt your fight,” Sunset said, forcing her Charm to appear.
“Unfortunately, I’m not wearing anything for that little Buttons to infect. And your Charm isn’t at all impressive. I mean, what even is that? It doesn’t look like a pony. How tragic.” Twinkleshine shoved back Sassy’s Charm, and Sassy slid with it. With a few jabs, the two Charms met blow for blow, their diamonds refusing to back down.
Sassy then chimed in, “Go! Get out of here you two! I’ll keep her preoccupied and wait for Lightning Dust!”
With an overabundance of menacing laughter coming from the pink-haired unicorn, all eyes came to her. “Lightning Dust has already been taken care of. Well, not in the general sense, but she’s preoccupied herself.” Throwing a nod in the direction of the Crystal Heart, she pointed out that the pedestal was missing its famous artifact. “Lemon Hearts has got it, and I’m sure Lightning Dust is falling for her charms right about now.”
“They’ve got us cornered! I thought they were going after the captain?” Suri exclaimed.
Sunset shrugged and hung her head forward. “This nonsense is becoming tiresome. I don't like running away either.” With a slow walk forward, her Charm was busy cracking its knuckles. “I’m not sure what my Charm can do, and I’d prefer to have my magic, but if this thing can move you out of my way, then I’m game.” Stopping to the side of the black and white Charm, Sunset glared at Twinkleshine. The unicorn was forced to be close to her copycat Charm as Sassy’s range was minimal. “Hasn’t anyone told you plagiarism is wrong?”
With a quick uppercut between the four diamond shields, Twinkleshine’s Charm was flung backward, breaking the standoff between her and Sassy. Though the Charm took the hit, Twinkleshine was forced to feel the blow as well, as if both were connected, mimicking when Sunset’s Charm struck the diamond shields.
But Sunset saw something else. It was a flash, less than half a second of data, but Sunset witnessed it. That’s what you do!
Twinkleshine retaliated, throwing a blowing right hook at Sunset’s Charm, but she ducked under it without flaw. I saw that coming! With her own retaliation, Sunset’s Charm elbowed the fake Free Fancy, but she did not glimpse the future this time. Turning, the copycat went to pincer Sunset’s Charm, squishing from both sides with the heavy gems. This gave her the opportunity to strike at the fake’s chest, hitting it straight on. With a hit from her fist and not her elbow, Sunset understood.
Limboing out of the way, Sunset’s charm evaded the second oncoming strike. “I’ve figured out what my Charm does!” Sunset yelled to Sassy and Suri. “I’ll have to tell you two once we deal with bootlegger over here.”
Twinkleshine’s Charm tried to retreat into a defensive stance, but Sunset had seen a loophole. Slipping underneath the diamond shields of the black and white fraud, Sunset’s Charm wrapped her arms around a leg and over the head, holding tight. Shifting Twinkleshine’s Charm around, she held it toward Sassy. “She’s open!”
Not hesitating, Free Fancy batted the back of the Charm, avoiding Sunset’s arms as best she could. Twinkleshine, feeling every blow, was forced onto her front knees. When the unicorn finished, Sunset’s Charm let go, letting the copycat fall to the ground. Suri rushed to Sunset and Sassy. “You beat her! You actually did it!” she congratulated. “We’ve never outright won before!”
With a groan, Twinkleshine lisped some words, though none of the trio heard them. “What was that?” Sunset asked, a smug grin on her face. “I couldn’t hear you from down there.” Putting a hoof to her ear, she asked again, “What’d you say?”
“You’ve wasted too much time.” Twinkleshine shot her own villainous smile up from the floor. “They’re here.”
“Oh, ginger snaps,” Suri murmured as they all bore witness to the two unicorns stepping out from the shadow of the castle.
“I’m not too worried anymore. Now I know what Shimmering Justice can do.” Sunset clapped her hooves together, and her Charm mimicked the motion.
Sassy asked, “Shimmering Justice?”
“Yeah, you know. Sunset Shimmer, so Shimmering. And she’s got that blindfold, and justice is blind,” Sunset answered, growing defensive. “You’re going to complain, Free Fancy?”
“How cute, you named it,” Minuette mocked, stepping over Twinkleshine’s body. “Now you’ve grown attached, though, and that’s never a good thing. Especially when you’re about to lose it.” Moondancer remained in the back. It was clear by the smirking attitude of Minuette they had resolved their issues, and with the blue unicorn stepping forward, Sunset knew Moondancer was feigning leadership to Minuette.
Leadership—and responsibility if they fail. This Moondancer… I’ve got to watch out for her.
A voice rang out from nowhere, stunning all the mares in attendance. “I always thought naming our Charms was the most childish thing in Equestria, but Shimmering Justice sounds pretty cool.”
Sunset glanced up, knowing the voice to be Lightning Dash. The pegasus in question held the Crystal Heart tucked under one foreleg, her other pushed arrogantly into her side. “It looks like Lemon Hearts was unable to maintain the affection,” Moondancer commented. “Handle these three, I’ll deal with the pegasus.” Shifting back underneath, Lightning Dust was drawn in, leaving Minuette to fight one on three.
“My pleasure.” Minuette’s Charm appeared behind her, a see-through pony made of glass. Filled with sand in the head, Sunset recognized it as a pony hourglass. “I’ve named mine too, y’know. Perhaps if you beat me, I’ll tell you what it is. Come on girls, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Sorry, we only hand those out for birthday parties.”
Though she wanted to rush forward, Sassy held Sunset back. “Don’t let her hit you or your Charm. If she hits you, it’ll be bad news. She doesn’t affect my shields so stay behind me.” Sassy trotted forward, her Free Fancy hoisting its diamonds in front of it.
Sunset did as instructed, staying directly behind the unicorn. In the distance, she could see Lightning Dust and Moondancer going at it, but as she focused on their action, she was surprised by Sassy’s rump hitting her jaw. With a pummeling plethora of fast-paced punches, the glass Charm was pushing Sassy back. Over and over, the hits were as quick and plentiful as popcorn popping on a stove.
Utilizing the unicorn, Sunset leapt onto Sassy’s back, slamming her Charm’s fist down on the glass cranium as it focused on the shields. Seeing in an instant what the timekeeper was about to do, Sunset dropped to Sassy’s side, blocking the hoof with her forelegs. Standing bipedal, Sunset held still. “Sunset! What did I just tell you!?”
“Sorry! I saw her evading and rounding to strike at you, so I blocked it.” Sunset trotted backward with her back legs, but her forelegs remained stilted. “Why can’t I put my legs down? What’s going on!?”
While Free Fancy blocked Minuette’s attacks, Suri rushed to Sunset’s aid, pulling her away from the fight. “Minuette’s Charm isn’t strong, but it is dangerous,” she explained, “Every hit she puts on you or your Charm will freeze it, locking it into place until the stamps run out.”
“Stamps?” Sunset pushed her head forward to glance at the opposite side of her forelegs, leaning on Suri to do so. Barely seeing the black hourglasses, Sunset noted half the sand had dropped into the bottom of both stamps. “Oh geez. It can freeze your Charm too?” She threw a look behind her and Shimmering Justice waved. Sure, laugh it up.
“Sassy’s shields block all sorts of Charm’s powers, so long as it’s the shields that are hit. You were smart to block it. Otherwise, it would have been her head taking that timeout,” Suri clarified.
Watching as Sassy blocked and evaded the blue unicorn’s strikes, Sunset felt a desperate need to help. Looking back at her Charm, she wondered how far it reach without her. Shimmering Justice seemed to recognize her thought as it looked back at her. Wait, it’s just like a spell! The Charm threw up its brows, barely visible above the blindfold. Let’s see how far this spell can get.
Legs appeared for the first time as Shimmering Justice stepped out from Sunset’s shadow, walking toward the action. “Sunset?” Suri whispered, just as surprised as the alicorn. “Just what is your Charm?”
Grinning, Sunset watched as the Charm appeared from behind Free Fancy’s shields, slamming both fists down on the glass Charm. “How in Equestria!?” Minuette shouted, gawking at the sight as she backpedaled. She didn’t get a moment to retaliate before Shimmering Justice struck again, this time kicking the hourglass pony backward, forcing sand to trickle down from the head into the back legs.
“You think you’re the only one with surprises?” Sunset pushed off Suri and batted her front hooves together. “Twenty seconds. I’m good at math, and that’s how long your Charm’s ability lasts. But I’m not going to need twenty seconds to defeat you. You see, I can see your moves, and I can tell you right now that your glass is about to be shattered. That’s not the only thing I can tell. In fifteen seconds—you’re going to tell me that your Charm’s name is Time’s Up.”
“What!? How did you know that!?” Minuette growled, her face became a shade of angry red.
Dodging both wild strikes from the hourglass pony, Shimmering Justice took hold of the glass neck and suplexed the Charm. For a moment, Sunset thought Minuette would travel with it, yet the blue unicorn only winced. Shifting weight on its right leg, Shimmering Justice turned and batted the Charm twice, breaking the crystal ground beneath. Kicking up with her back legs, Minuette’s Charm turned to face the golden warrior. “You think that’s all I can take!?” barked the mare. Sunset’s Charm then pointed behind Minuette, forcing the mare to turn around.
“You like sneak attacks, don’t you?” Sassy asked as Free Fancy slammed both diamonds into Minuette’s sides, trapping her like two unstoppable elevator doors. “I’m not quite sure what Sunset’s doing, but I like her style.” Minuette groaned as her Charm came to her aid, but Free Fancy squeezed harder, and the hourglass Charm stopped its movements.
Minuette cried out, “Do something! Anything!” The hourglass pony gathered its strength and went to strike from above on Sassy instead of her Charm, but the unicorn let go of the cornered mare and leapt backward. “It’s about time,” she huffed, taking in a massive, much-needed breath.
“You’d think with a Charm like that, you’d be able to get out of anything,” Sunset mocked.
“You think you’re funny?” Minuette shifted her head from side to side, rubbing her waist. “What was that about my Charm’s name? Yeah, it’s Time’s Up, and taking on those two it’d have no problem. You? You’re…” She spat on the floor. “Twinkleshine! Get up and help me! I don’t want to look bad in front of Moondancer!”
Twinkleshine rose from the ground, proving that, even though the blows and strikes looked painful, they really weren’t. No permanent damage remained other than hurt pride. “Yeah, yeah. Quit your whining.” Her mirror returned—but this time it wasn’t pointed at Sunset or Sassy. Instead, it focused on Minuette’s Charm, turning the mirror into a contrasting hourglass pony. “I would usually enjoy seeing the snot kicked out of you, but this little alicorn is a reflection of Equestria’s worst. Let’s see how she deals with two of us.”
Sunset remained stone-faced as her Charm returned to her side. “I’ve got a lot of pent up frustration from a bunch of past experiences traveling through several different worlds, and though Discord’s helped with making sense of everything, I still really just want to take a sledgehammer to that mirror of yours,” Sunset replied as she stared down her muzzle at the duo. “But since I left mine at home, Shimmering Justice’ll just have to do it for me.”
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Only one chapter this week, mostly to show that this story and myself are not dead.
Also. Huzzah! 200 likes! Thank you, everyone, for the support!
My face chapter for this world
Nice.
9217864
Thanks for continuing the story!
I found this minor mistake (missing word):
"Sunset felt as though everything was moving, which forced [her] to find the nearest wastebasket"
Your next line is, “Is this a Jojo reference?”
9218206
Thanks!
9218229
Pretty sure with the Charms, this entire Sub Arc with Twilight is a Jojo reference and Twilight is DIO.
9220569
For reference, I have never read the manga, nor have I watched parts 1, 2, and 3 of JJBA.
9222196
Yet you got the basic concept of the Stand down with the Charms, that's rather impressive. I definitely recommend checking the series out. We're also at part 4 of the Dub and part 5 is out in Japan.
9222379
Part 4 is the only part I've seen. Yes, I know that's odd.
9223293
Ah so you have seen some of it. Odd, maybe but hey some recommend seeing Part 3 first when starting the show to get into it and going back to Part 1 and 2 if you like it since that's the part where things are really interesting compared to the previous 2.
Not sure what this world is based on but i look forward to more.
You accidentally a word.
There's only one gang, right? Should be *That
And now that I'm caught up, this has been a lot of fun. Even though Act 4 felt off with the whole Tirek thing, it turns out the character development I thought Sunset would have in that act happened in this act instead. So with that apparently solved, this has been great, and I'm really looking forward to the rest! Specifically, I really wanna see how you handle Sunset meeting Starlight. And while I know you only planned for seven Acts (Flim+Flam and Wasteland presumably being the final two), I'd love to see a bonus Act, maybe as a sidestory or something, where Sunset goes to a world ruled by a Sunset who successfully returned and took over Equestria.
Speaking of the rest:
Oh come on! Of course it ends in the middle of the fight!
9475287
Glad you're all caught up and you've enjoyed it! Of course, now you've got to wait. Seeing so many errors, I decided to order a few writing books several weeks ago to help me improve. I've gotten through one and am using it to start from Arc 1 - Chapter 1 to fix apostrophes, commas, and overall wordiness. I've always felt wordiness was my biggest issue, along with the overuse of that and mistakingly using had when it didn't refer to past perfect. So, while you might have to wait a bit, I do want to thank you as I believe that inspiration and knowledge will help in making Arc 6 and 7 better than ever!
9475765
Honestly, what you've posted so far is pretty strong as is. Going back and fixing things up is admirable, yes, but I think it might be better to move forward at this point. I've seen lots of people get stuck in an endless loop of editing and re-editing and editing some more. It's a dangerous path.
But if you move forward, you can apply what you've learned to the rest of the story. Then, once you're done and the story's complete, you can go back and edit and touch things up. You won't feel the pressure to try and make it "perfect" before you get back to the story, which is how you get stuck in the loop.
That said, if you can dodge the loop, by all means, go back and edit. It's just important to make sure you don't find yourself trapped in that endless editing loop.
Also on the subject of improving, one of the best ways isn't even to improve yourself. It's to find editors and proofreaders and the like. Extra pairs of eyes can catch things even the most skilled single pair of eyes might miss. That can also be a bit tricky since it can be easy to get sidetracked by bad advice, but a good editor is a huge boon for any author.
9475806
I would almost argue it be impossible for me to get stuck in an editing loop, mostly due to how slow I am and my poor time management. Haha. I've often thought about getting an editor, but whether it's for pride or shame, I'd end up thoroughly editing before giving it out to an editor, almost defeating the purpose.
If you didn't catch my blog post, I'll reiterate the information here.
If you have previously read TWoAPW and need a refresher, this is a warning to do so now. Starting this week, the schedule below will be followed all the way to the final arc.
I do apologize for the lack of updates, but that is now over.
And now I'm finally back to where I was. Arc 5 has been a blast so far, and I'm looking forward to finally finishing it.
9223293
My comment from the previous chapter still stands
Hope Sunset can cast a spell similar to her
standcharm in the future so she can give Starlight Glimmer some Shimmering Justice!