PaP: Bedtime Stories

by Starscribe

Until Sunset

She almost left him then. Alex had already done more than she deserved, gotten more than so many others. She had met both her parents, and wouldn’t have to say goodbye to her mother for many years to come. But even still, she resisted. She looked at the Stallion who had done her so much harm, and found herself hesitating.

She could see the emptiness in his eyes, the glances back towards the bar. She already knew he wouldn’t survive two centuries, because she didn’t remember meeting him then. There were no mysterious green unicorns in her past, only a society that was falling apart and enslaved to the will of blood magic.

If she left this pony here, he would probably be dead within the decade. He would find some new pain, justify his substance of choice again. You should’ve held us tighter. Then I would’ve been looking for you. I would’ve had something in place, the way I did for Mary. But there was hypocrisy there. She hadn’t found Mary, Discord had. This was all out of her control, and pretending otherwise was a lie.

We have until Sunset… but Oracle never said it had to be in this time zone.

“I just had an idea,” Alex said. “I don’t know how attached you are to this place. But I know a place… a place that could really use your knowledge. Humans are scarce there, you see… all the ponies who live there are transplants from a far country. You know things they could use. I could set you up there right now.” Her horn flickered. “The shadows are getting long. We have… minutes, probably, until my time here runs out. But where I’m thinking of, the sun won’t set for months.” Could she cheat with Oracle’s spell? The terms of time magic were so arcane to her that she couldn’t be sure. From everything she understood, it shouldn’t be possible. Yet here she was.

“Where?” Solomon asked. “This place was pretty ignorant when I got here. They didn’t even know how to build a retaining wall. Does someone need more than that?”

“Yes,” Alex answered, her voice desperate. “You do.”

He fell silent, staring at her. That was braver than she ever would’ve been in her old life. Even now. With all her power hidden away, it felt like she should be expecting a blow any second.

But it never came. The person who would’ve hit her was long dead.

They’d attracted Ivy’s attention again with their silence. Apparently, she could see Solomon’s distress, because she had started wandering over again. Close enough that she could hear. “Why?” he asked. “Why… do all this? You moved heaven and earth. The Alex I knew didn’t want to see my face ever again.”

She didn’t look away. “I’m not him anymore.”

Solomon nodded. “I’m… sure you heard Ivy, when you got here. I’m all burnt up. I did her family a favor when there was still a little man left in me, and now she feels sorry. I’ve done all I can for Willowbrook.”

“Now hold on!” Ivy shoved her way over, pushing a few stray stools out of the way. “I didn’t say you could leave.”

“No,” Alex agreed. “I did.”

Her horn roared to life, an explosion of magic powerful enough it almost tore through her disguise. An intercontinental teleport was well beyond the power of most unicorns, but it wasn’t physically impossible. Light leaked from the edges of the illusion for a few seconds, filling the little inn and spilling out its little windows. She caught a basic attack spell from the innkeeper, and turned it away harmlessly. The mare deserved nothing ill from her over trying to protect someone that she loved.

They landed in the center of a wheat field. The crops around them had been burned to ash, but the field was large and they’d only touched a part of it. Further away, Alex could make out a distant sun drooping low in the sky. But down here, it wouldn’t be winter for some time yet.

“My god… what kind of spell was that?” Solomon staggered past her out of the portal, scraping chunks of ice from his body. “I’ve heard stories about… a teleport, but that was… I felt like my insides were on my outsides. You didn’t have to heal me if you were just going to kill me after.”

“Sorry. I… I was in a hurry, and I don’t have a lot of practice with this body. If I was myself, I could’ve made it painless. But you won’t have to feel it again.”

“Where are we?” Solomon stopped a few feet away, staring past the field to the massive crystal towers in the far distance. Beyond them all, past the shimmering field of protection, there was an endless white expanse, and snow-covered mountains as tall as any in the alps.

“Geographically, Antarctica. But obviously we didn’t come down here to freeze. This is Summerland. It’s a nation I happen to know stays safe and out of every major war for the next three thousand years. I don’t… actually know where this place is in my life yet. I had some guesses, but… I don’t get invited. You probably shouldn’t tell the princess here my name. Just… if they come here, I’m Liz instead of me.”

There were ponies coming. Down from the sky, guards in orange and red uniforms. “This is the place that needs my help?”

“Yes,” she said. “But first we’re going to need to come up with a story, because nobody’s supposed to know it exists. Also being able to come here makes one of us among the most powerful unicorns in the world. I don’t know how curious Sunset Shimmer will be feeling.”

This was dangerous ground she walked on—thin ice, even if the weather magic here had melted it all. Changing the fate of one unicorn was so small history might forget. But if Sunset Shimmer discovered that not only was she alive, but that she would one day become an Alicorn powerful enough to be sent back in time, well… she couldn’t even predict the consequences.

When would she know that Oracle’s time limit had elapsed? Sunset must be coming soon in the place she left. How much longer? “Oh, uh… before I forget…” she concentrated for a moment, wrapping many years of knowledge into a single spell at Solomon’s head. A translation spell, but not the sort most often used. Only a fluent native speaker in both languages could use this kind.

But the unicorn only looked confused. “What did you just…”

“Interloper,” said a voice from above them, as a pegasus guard landed in front of them. Like most equestrian guards, these were unarmed, though their gold armor was polished to a perfect shine and bore the stylized sun glyph of Sunset Shimmer. “We’ve been sent to intercept a powerful sorcerer. Which of you teleported here?”

“I did,” Alex said. “I bring a petitioner for the realm. He doesn’t know Summerland’s laws, but I’m sure he’ll swear his cutie mark to the realm.”

Solomon’s eyes widened. “I know what you said.” He was speaking English—doing otherwise would still take great effort, even with the spell. It was much more about understanding, and less about communication. That would have to come later, with far more of his own effort.

“One petitioner,” The guard said, raising an eyebrow. “Not you? Summerland needs skilled sorcerers.”

“Not me,” she repeated. “I can only stay until summer’s end. Will you permit us to speak with the princess?”

“She knows all about us,” called one of the other guards.

“She’s also speaking our language,” the first guard called back, annoyed. “A skilled mage not here to join, who won’t swear to Sunset. What kind of pony does that make her?”

“One who shouldn’t’ be here,” she said. “But I’m not what you’re thinking. I’ve never touched necromancy in my life, and I never will. I’m no runaway cultist. Sunset Shimmer will tell you that.”

The other pegasus landed beside his companion. “You speak like a citizen, but I can see from your mark you aren’t. Accent isn’t… quite right either. Maybe we shouldn’t let you in. You could be a danger here. Sent you out onto the ice so you can go home.”

“Do what you want to me,” she said. “But please, not until after we meet your princess. My father will swear her oath. If you cast me out, I’ll never see him again. Please.”

That worked—these ponies might not look any different from the ones that humans became, but there were subtle, internal differences. Their compassion was practically compulsory. It was the same reason they didn’t wear weapons. In their own country, surrounded only by others who were as peaceful as they were, they just weren’t necessary.

It’s a good thing we don’t learn where this place is for centuries. My survivors would eat you for breakfast.

Soon enough they were walking, Alex and Solomon with a handful of guards alongside. A few ponies stopped to stare as they passed, mostly farmers.

“What was all that about?” Solomon asked, as they made their way onto a cobblestone road. “Did you promise something for me? I’m… not sure I connected all those dots.”

“Sortof,” she said. They were speaking English, but that didn’t mean they weren’t being overheard. Guards sent to intercept a teleport into her realm would probably be bilingual. “Summerland isn’t like anywhere else on earth. It’s ruled by an immortal called an Alicorn. Her magic is… incredibly powerful. She requires everyone who lives here to make an agreement with her. That’s why all their cutie marks have similar color schemes. They change when they make the Summerpact. Yours will too.”

And she’d been right. The first guard was watching them with comprehension on his face. She couldn’t tell if he was hearing just her proper nouns, or understanding everything. Either way, he looked away as soon as she saw him. He wasn’t going to confront her, then. Just tell Sunset in private when we get there. But what the hell am I supposed to tell her?

“That sounds… satanic,” Solomon said. “I may never have done with a priest told me, but I know you don’t make a deal with the devil.”

“She’s not!” Alex cut in, before he could go any further down that road. “Sunset Shimmer is one of the best ponies I’ve ever met. She’s honest, and compassionate, and faithful. Look at the way she rules her kingdom. If the devil was in charge, wouldn’t it look more like hell? This is Elysium.”

“Yeah,” Solomon said. “I… feared it might be. Meeting you, after all this time. Find me at my worst, make everything bitter… take me here. They say your family’s supposed to come for you, don’t they? And now here we are… green fields. Angels in golden armor. I’m not sure I deserve it.”

“I’m not the judge of that. Neither are you. How about you let Sunset decide?”

---

It wasn’t a short walk into Sunset’s modest capital, and their escort didn’t seem eager to have them cut the trip short with a teleport. The guards watched them closely, but didn’t try anything so barbaric as restraining them. They were still ponies at the core, ponies who hadn’t even drawn a weapon in the time since they’d arrived.

Because they don’t have them, or because they know a knife isn’t going to do anything against a unicorn with the power to teleport across continents?

Sunset had war-mages, she’d met plenty of them. Her entire reason for staying on Earth hadn’t been to create a little slice of Equestria no one knew about, it had been to fight monsters. The spirits of the void took powerful magic to combat, and it didn’t come from nowhere.

But she hadn’t sent them to fight the strange visitors, even when they’d teleported directly into the center of her lands. Maybe penetrating her defenses proves we’re friendly. There were shield spells that could intercept teleports, and probably ways to make them do more than just stop the spell from working. But Alex had felt nothing—if there were defenses in place, they weren’t targeted at her.

All the while her father stared at everything they passed—first the green fields, eventually a growing hamlet of homes even more primitive than the ones ponies had been living in back in the wreckage of the Dark Ages. But where those places had been dirty salvaged bricks, or shacks constructed of sheets of scrap metal, these ancient style houses were clean and charming, with fresh paint on their windowsills and heart shapes over the doors. More and more ponies watched them go by, even waving politely as they passed.

“Are you new?” Asked a little black unicorn, leaning on the edge of the fence around his house. Their escort followed a little closer, eyeing Alex suspiciously as she approached.

“We are,” she said, grinning at him. “I hope you’ll be nice to us.”

“Duh,” the foal answered, turning away in annoyance. “Everypony’s nice around here.”

“How can I understand them?” Solomon asked from beside her, as they set off on the trail again. “It feels like they’re speaking English, but I know they’re not. It isn’t like when your mother used to babble in…”

“Spanish,” she rolled her eyes. “No, it isn’t. I’ve shared my memories with you. I have… a uniquely powerful memory. But you don’t, so… you will need to be as social as possible with these ponies. Talk to them, get to know them, and cover as many subjects as possible. Do that, and your mind will cement your own version of my knowledge. If you don’t, the memories will fade, and you will only remember that you knew, not anything useful about what you knew.

“Still, that’s… incredible. You really do come from a better age. The survivors I’ve been living around mostly just used magic to move things around. I met an old stallion once who said his father had been a doctor in… someplace.” He looked away, obviously straining against his memory. “He could mend a broken leg with magic. Nothing like what you did, though.”

She shrugged, though there was something about getting praise from this pony that made it hard to be rational. Despite everything that had happened—despite the way she’d seen him, and how many times she’d been abandoned. There was something buried there, something that didn’t care about logic.

The palace grew larger in the distance. It looked to be made from crystal at first, but a closer inspection proved it was something else—ice. Ice built atop a stone cathedral. This wasn’t here last time I saw this. Whatever had inspired this design, it clearly hadn’t lasted to modern day.

“We’ll be going in soon,” Alex said, her voice urgent. “I don’t know if Sunset will let me go with you. She has… she likes to make sure everyone in her society fits. But I’m not from here, so I can’t. It’s imperative you remember what we discussed.” She couldn’t say more, not with the guards following close enough to hear every word. “If Sunset doesn’t let me stay… that will probably be goodbye. If I leave this place, I know I’ll return to… where I came from.”

“I already feel like a new man,” he said. “I remember… remember what it was like. Who I was. I was so much more. I want to be him again.”

“This is the place. These ponies have a way of making more out of you, you’ll see. You can leave a legacy here, and be confident that ponies will find it.” Alex said.

She pointed at the stone palace. “There is a crypt under there, built into the storage rooms of MacMurrough base. If… say… there were a cave-in down the line, they’d be sealed completely. Someone could use it, leave a message.” She could feel the eyes of the guards on her again. She obviously knew more than she should. “I know it would be found, shared with the right people.”

Solomon nodded. “You think… think someone would do that?”

They reached the icy gates. Surprisingly, the air didn’t feel cold to her. All around the castle were ponies in strange robes, guiding young students through their lessons. There were more ponies in armor, and others patrolling along the walls. Most lacked weapons.

“This is the place,” said their escort, in English. “You will see the princess on your own. She is already waiting for you.”

She ignored the guard, leaning forward to embrace Solomon as though she would never see him again. “If I don’t… if it doesn’t work… I want you to know. I forgive you.” There was more she wanted to say.

But then something pulled them away. She saw tears on Solomon’s face as the guards firmly escorted him up the palace steps. “I love—” and he was gone, through the massive doors.

A new palace guard joined her by the gate, one wearing blue and purple armor instead of gold.

“Did you know who that was?” Jackie asked her, staring up the steps at the back of the palace door. “I swear I just saw a bucking ghost.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Alex.

Alex didn’t let herself move—hardly let herself think. This bat was not supposed to be here, was she? How am I supposed to know what she got up to during the apocalypse? She’s not dead, I don’t have her memories.

It took her great effort to speak without crying. She took a deep breath, swallowed, and turned away from the bat. If she’s here, I’m screwed. I can’t lie with my dreams. A problem for another day. She had to get past Sunset Shimmer first. And maybe Oracle too.

“Hello, stranger? Earth to unicorn… come in.” she sighed, sitting back on her haunches. “Why are the pretty ones always dumb?” She cleared her throat, then switched languages. “I thought you were refugees. Was I wrong? Or maybe just from another part of the world. God, why didn’t I think of that… you probably can’t understand me.”

“I can understand you now,” she said, speaking each word slowly. She tried to sound as high-pitched as she could, relying on her transformed body. But she couldn’t even talk much around this pony—she would catch on eventually.

Even a few words had attracted her attention. Her eyes narrowed, and she glanced back at the steps. “Who was that stallion?”

“Aren’t you just here to guard me?”

Jackie shrugged. “I can talk and guard at the same time. Unless you think you’re gonna escape. I wouldn’t try, by the way. I’m faster than I look, and a hoof to the horn really hurts from what I hear.” She smacked it against the dirt. “Who was that stallion?”

“Someone I hated,” she said. The key with Jackie was simple enough—she had to be honest. This bat would smell a lie before it was even out of her mouth. There was no chance she could pull anything over on a master manipulator like this. “I’ve been planning for this for a long time. Making sure he knew how much of a failure he was, how much he hurt me. Really shove it in his face that I kept things going in spite of him, you know?”

The bat circled around her, stepping right up in front of her face. There’d be no hiding from her slitted eyes when she was only inches away. “You really let him have it,” Jackie said. “You made sure you punished him. But that doesn’t add up with bringing him here. I heard you teleported straight in from North America. I know what things are like in that shithole. Not exactly a punishment to come here right now.”

Alex shook her head. “I didn’t say anything I imagined. I just… when I saw what had happened… it didn’t matter anymore.” She didn’t look away, even when she was crying. “I didn’t want justice. I only wanted to… to help, if I could. Remembered… and here we are.”

“That’s very interesting,” Jackie sat back on her haunches, glancing once at Alex’s phony cutie mark. “If you remembered this place, that’s alarming. So far as I know the only ones who remember it are ponies who have lived here. My wife and I are on a very short list who left without being on Sunset’s payroll, and I know we never narked. Who does that make you?”

The palace doors opened, and the same guard came galloping out. “Pony Liz, Princess Sunset Shimmer has finished with your father and is ready for you. Come promptly, we don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Jackie rose again, then spread her wings, as though she were about to take off. “We’ll talk again, ‘Liz.’ I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.” And she lifted into the air, up onto the wall.

Alex hurried over to the gate before she could change her mind. The guard was already turning, so she had to hurry to catch up. “My father… did the princess accept him?”

He nodded. “You did not lie when you said he would accept her conditions. Unfortunately, the princess isn’t enthusiastic about a new pony who refuses to join with the court of Summerland. You will have to make a case. Otherwise, you may wish to change your mind. Citizenship is better than the dungeon.”

“You don’t throw ponies in the dungeon,” she snapped, probably bolder than she should have. “It’s a bunch of empty rooms there to scare fillies on school trips.”

“Yeah?” He stood a little straighter. “Don’t think we wouldn’t dust it off for you. It’s plenty… dark. Nice strong metal bars. We could use it for more than drunk ponies on festival days if we needed to.”

The great hall was just ahead, through a massive set of stone doors that had already been opened before her. She could see the distant throne—Sunset Shimmer rested upon it, younger than she remembered by far. Probably the same age as Alex herself. If this comes down to a fight, I’m screwed. We’re equal in strength, except I’ve been blowing magic all day, and she’s fresh. The other alicorn could cut through her illusion like paper if she ever thought it might be there.

Bright orange light came in through half the windows, stained into intricate shapes. It was exactly like Equestria—they depicted mythical scenes in the history of Summerland. Heroes who had fought off monsters. The other were just made of ice, and stained the floor blue.

The guard stopped beside her at the threshold, nodding. “Go on then, Pony Liz. Let’s see how brave you are with the princess. If you want to see your father again, you’ll have to satisfy her.”

She nodded and stepped through.

---

The world tore itself to pieces around her. But she’d felt pain like this, exactly once before. Pain that shredded her unicorn disguise, and probably would’ve shredded her skin too if she wasn’t prepared for it. She was being stretched, pulled, compressed down an axis of movement she knew nothing of. This was Oracle’s territory, not hers.

And suddenly, it ended. She hadn’t moved in space—this was still Sunset’s palace. Her old palace, in a forgotten coastal city of Summerland with little modern political relevance. A quiet museum to the capital of an earlier age. The doorway behind her was shut, the lights were out, and white sheets had been draped over moved furniture. But the stained-glass windows were still there, showing the bright orange light of sunset.

Oracle stood beside her, expression pensive. “I did warn you.”

“Until sunset,” she chuckled. “Clever.”

“Your touch was already heavier than it should’ve been. There would be paradox erupting on every street corner if time were your domain instead of mine.”

She shrugged. “If time were my domain, I would have a lighter touch.” She strode down the hallway to where she would’ve met with Sunset Shimmer. Finally—now that it was done, she reached back into her memory.

She was the Archive. She knew about Solomon’s death, and thus knew all that he knew. But she hadn’t tried to see it until now.

“Where are you going?” Oracle asked, trailing behind her. “You can’t go back… there’s no threat you can make that would convince me to send you to see an Alicorn. She would’ve sensed your magic in an instant.”

“I know,” she said, barely listening. She passed through a set of doors behind the throne, disabling a magical lock there with a flick of her horn. The museum was closed today, as it was most days. Only ceremony would get its doors to open now.

This was where he had stood, hopefully and confused. She could see him there, scanning the room with desperation, but finding no way out.

“I’m afraid we have a conundrum on our hooves, Refugee Solomon,” Sunset Shimmer had said. “The pony who brought you here appears to have gone. The greatest artifice of my craft cannot trace her sympathetic threads. Can you explain?”

The room had been well lit then, with glowing crystal lanterns whose brackets were now empty and covered with dust. The ground was polished clean and the air smelled of the perfumed snacks eaten here. But neither Sunset nor Solomon were eating any of them now.

“I can’t,” he said. “I wish she hadn’t gone… but I knew it might happen. She warned me.”

“It was her intention all along, then? And you still insist she was your daughter?”

“Yes,” he said, stubbornly. “Maybe this is revenge. Leaving me here like this.” He sat back on his haunches, expression returning to that same, defeated pony she’d seen in the bar. No alcohol was necessary this time. “She runs off, and I take the punishment. Exactly what I deserve.”

Sunset Shimmer frowned. “Refugee Solomon, there is no punishment for you. You have become one of my citizens—you are a pony of Summerland. I would know if you were lying to me, and you aren’t. These questions are not to decide your fate—they are to protect your new home. If your daughter is a danger to us, then for the same of every pony in Summerland, we must know how she will strike. I swear we will deal with her justly—we are kind to all criminals here.”

“She won’t be back,” Solomon said. “L-Liz… was clear about that. She wanted to find… well, some people put their parents into a home, some check them into a fairytale kingdom in Antarctica. You know how it is.”

Sunset Shimmer didn’t even blink, but Alex smiled. His jokes never had gotten any better.

She watched years blur by, and for once Solomon had nowhere to run. Summerland had only a few little towns, and though he tried to flee between them, he found much the same ponies would be in the next one as the one he left. Ponies who lived in the Equestrian way, intimately concerned with their fellows’ well-being and profoundly forgiving of mistakes.

It was a better life than many refugees got. Not a spectacular life—he hadn’t defeated any demons, or revolutionized anything about Summerland’s irrigation system. But he had made friends, and something like a life. Ponies lived long enough for second chances.

She turned on her heels, straight for a neglected set of stairwells with an iron padlock. She flashed through to the other side, ignoring Oracle’s shouts from behind her.

“Temporal sickness shouldn’t affect you…” he was saying. “You’re an Alicorn, your constitution should’ve quickly corrected to life in—”

“I’m fine,” she said. I’m just… remembering. There’s something I want to see.”

“You shouldn’t,” Oracle said, grumbling. “This entire trip should’ve been impossible. I thought… maybe it was something to do with your relation to your target. But if you remember him, you should’ve been inexorably intertwined with his causality. Unable to touch against events you have already seen.

“I never looked,” she said. “Not this far. I saw him… doing what he did the first time, and I couldn’t look any further. I didn’t want to see how it ended.”

“Ah,” Oracle no longer sounded upset. “Then my trip wasn’t for nothing. Are you sure you never learned time magic?”

“Sure,” she made her way down the crypt, past the graves of many of the best loved ponies in Summerland. Solomon was not one of those—he had been no hero.

“My work is done,” Oracle said, his voice distant. “I can see you’re busy.” He vanished.

Solomon had obeyed her advice all those years ago, and sunk his way in one night with a singular mission in mind.

He was much older in her mind, gray haired and frail. But unicorns could still be powerful when they were weak. He carried a stack of something—sheets of metal, each one intricately carved. Stainless Steel by the look of it, perhaps scavenged from somewhere in the ruins of the ancient arctic base.

“They said this stuff was immortal,” he muttered to himself, removing a loose brick from the wall in a place long prepared. She would’ve had an awful time finding it, if she didn’t know where to look. But the brick was still there. “I know you’ll find it,” he muttered, apparently to himself. He had brought no others on this little break-in. He slid his tightly-wrapped bundle inside, then secured the brick in place with a little fresh mortar. Then he left, without a backward glance.

He died a few years later.

Alex knocked the brick aside with a hoof, finding it quite loose now with the years. The organic material it had been wrapped in blew away in her hooves, but the metal underneath was almost exactly as it had been all those years ago, save perhaps a thin layer of tarnish. Stainless Steel wasn’t quite immortal, but very nearly so in somewhere as dry and stable as this.

Not quite etched into holographic glass, but his tools had been limited.

“To my family,” it began, in handwriting that had not been improved through centuries of life. “I want you to know that I love you…”

And she did know. She wouldn’t ever forget.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

If you dont know how your present was reached, then in the future you can have many ways to affect your past.

[AyanamiRei]

Wow. What a powerful couple of new chapters I just read. Quite the interesting story. Interesting to see something so far removed from the plot as a whole, just a little side story. Though I quite enjoyed this touching story about forgiveness <3

[FanOfMostEverything]

Satisfying time travel logic and emotional closure. A winning combination. Though certain comments about what Alex would or wouldn't ever do...

Irony's a funny thing in a tale told achronically.

[Yami Vizzini]

Huh, guess I was wrong.

At least with one less paradox weighing on me, I can appreciate this as a relatively self-contained bit of catharsis.

[Alicorn Capony]

That was really nice.

I didn't pay as much attention before - maybe it just wasn't mentioned as much until now - but your conception of Equestrians as being compulsorily compassionate and nice is so cute.

[Easysnuggler]

Aww that's touching.