The Day We Rediscovered Hope
I was there the day we rediscovered hope.
Walking into a pool of molten metal was probably one of the most insane things I’ve ever done, and that’s including all the time I spent wandering the wastelands talking to myself. But when you were one of the only living beings left on a dead world, who could say what was and wasn’t crazy? I didn’t think it was crazy. Rarity and Rainbow didn’t think it was crazy. Ergo, it was a completely sane and reasonable thing to do.
If you really wanted to talk about insanity, what was crazy wasn’t going into the pool of molten metal. It was the fact that a couple hours later, I walked back out of it. Withered flesh and brittle bone had been swept aside, replaced with stronger materials. Now my bones were made of adamantine, and instead of failing organs my body moved with pure magic. Green fire flickered across my new form, my power all but overflowing its container.
It felt ... good.
All the aches and pains that I’d grown used to after too many years of life were gone, and their absence was one of the sweetest pleasures I’d felt in years. Climbing the steps out of the basin didn’t take any particular effort or leave me short of breath. I felt like a young mare again, fresh and full of energy. No, better than that; even when I’d been in my prime, I’d never been this strong. Not to mention I had the experience to appreciate it now. No wonder so many necromancers decided to do something like this to themselves.
And, of course, there were other advantages to my new form. A curious sensation shot along my back, and my new wings snapped open. Not the feathery wings of an alicorn as I’d once dreamed of, but they were wings nonetheless. “Interesting.”
Rarity cautiously approached me, warily looking over my new body. “Your Highness—Sunset, are you okay? You said you would come out of the ritual looking different, but I wasn’t expecting such a radical change...”
I flexed my new limbs, reveling in the strength I felt within them. Yesterday, I had struggled to move my own chair. Now, I could probably punch through a stone wall. “Yes, I’m fine. No, more than that. I’ve never felt better.”
Rainbow whistled softly. “That’s ... I don’t know if it’s amazing or if it scares the horseapples out of me. That still you in there?” She laughed, though it came out a bit forced and her eyes were nervously darting back and forth. “Please be you in there. ‘Cause if it’s not, I got no clue how to fix this. Quick, tell me something only Sunset would know!”
“You snore,” I answered instantly. “I don’t know how that’s possible when you don’t even need to breathe, but somehow you do.” For that matter, I’d been a bit surprised she needed to sleep too. After I’d done some research, I at least understood that—even if her body didn’t need the downtime, her mind still did. Most intelligent undead would eventually lose their mind and turn feral without some sort of regular dormancy period.
Rarity cleaned up the ritual implements I’d left out, using the movement as an excuse to finish her inspection of my new body. “It’s going to take quite a while to get used to this. I wasn’t expecting quite so much of a ... I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I think I’ll miss the old Sunset Shimmer.”
I grunted and nodded. “I thought about using one of the less extreme rituals, but we are about to go to war with someone who could match Celestia in a one-on-one fight.” Not to mention some of the extreme measures I’d needed to use to tie everything together. If there’d been more time and if Celestia had been alive to go over everything with me, I probably could’ve turned myself into a proper successor to her. Too bad I didn’t have any of those, and with decades of experience at necromancy I’d naturally fallen back on it to fill the gaps.
Maybe that was for the best. After all, Celestia hadn’t been made of solid adamantine.
Rainbow looked between my own metallic skeleton, then down at her own mostly organic body. “I don’t suppose you could … look, I’m not saying I wanna go full-on metal skeleton, but if you can make me even more awesome than I am already, then why not?”
I’d been expecting her to ask for something like that. “I’ll see what I can do. I assume you’ll want lighter metals than what I used, so you can stay fast.”
“Duh.” Rainbow spread her wings and tossed her mane. “And don’t mess up the colors. If you take away my rainbow or my dashing, then I’m not Rainbow Dash anymore am I?”
“You’re not wrong,” I allowed before shifting my attention to Rarity. “For what it’s worth, I should’ve listened to you sooner. It’s ... even without the war, it feels good just to not be old anymore.”
Rarity smiled and gave me a quick pat on the shoulder. “Your Highness, it would hardly be ladylike to rub it in and say that I told you so. But I did tell you so.”
Why did I have a feeling I’d be hearing that a lot in the coming years? I could just imagine it: every time I disagreed with her advice, she’d bring this up again. For a mare who insisted on following protocol and treating me like a princess, she could be very sassy when she had a mind to. With that in mind, I thought it prudent to throw her a bone to reduce the severity of future naggings. “Once the war’s settled, we might want to look into some cosmetic tweaks.”
Rarity’s eyes sparkled, and I knew I’d hooked her. “Oh, I would simple adore helping you with that. Helping design the armor and uniforms for our army has already rekindled my inner artiste, and the chance to help establish the entire visual style of a new princess—before the war I dreamed of doing that kind of thing. This might not be exactly what I saw in my dreams, but it’s ... good enough.”
Rainbow snorted skeptically. “I dunno, she looks pretty awesome the way she is.”
I shrugged. “Being a massive flaming metallic skeleton works great for fighting a war, but we should probably tone it down a bit for day-to-day.”
“What day-to-day?” Rainbow demanded. “It’s not like you have to worry that you won’t look at the next Grand Galloping Gala or whatever. What difference does it make what you look like? I mean, maybe it means you’ll have to hold books further away when you read ‘em, but that’s not a big deal.”
Rarity frowned and cleared her throat. “We still have to consider what to do with ourselves if we win this, Rainbow.”
Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re kidding, right? The way you’re talking, you’d think we have something to look forward to after this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want that bastard Sombra dead, but after that ... seriously, what’s left? It’s gonna be the same old dead, empty wasteland with nothing left alive. What’s there to look forward to? Camping trips where we roast marshmallows over Sunset’s flame-head?”
“Rainbow!” Rarity scowled balefully at her. “I know you’re a bit uncouth, but honestly!”
I had the exact opposite reaction. Whatever part of my brain was responsible for coming up with mental images had apparently survived the transition just fine, because now I was imagining myself with marshmallows and carrot dogs speared on my head-spikes, slowly roasting in the open flame. That was too absurd not to laugh at, and before long I’d completely derailed the growing argument between my two friends. They both stared at me as if I’d completely lost my mind, until I conjured up a quick illusion to share the joke.
Rainbow snorted and fell onto her back, her legs twitching as she started laughing like a madmare. Rarity held out for a bit longer, trying to look dignified and above it all, but she couldn’t hold out for long, especially when both of us were already laughing. It was just so ... so perfectly absurd.
We all probably would’ve laughed until we were in tears if any of us had been capable of crying. As it was, we just slowly petered out. I smiled, or as close as I could manage with my new face. “It's been too long since we had anything to laugh at.”
“Too right, Your Highness.” Rarity sighed, then tried to recover a bit of her dignity without losing the grin on her lips. “Well, it seems we’re already doing better. After the war is over, you can get around and do all those things you didn’t feel up to doing once age started catching up with you.”
“That’s true.” I spread my wings contemplatively. “I suppose I can get around the world quite a bit faster now. There are a lot of places I never got around to visiting.” Just going back to Freeport without having to try the madness-inducing walk across the Dead Sea would probably be a good idea, let alone checking more exotic locations.
Rainbow’s ears perked up, and a tentative grin worked its way onto her lips. “Hey, that’s right, I’ll have a flying buddy now. Or at least, I will have a flying buddy—don’t suppose that ritual included lessons on how to use those things?”
I frowned and shook my head. “I’ll have to learn the old-fashioned way. I suppose we should work in some flight training while we build up the army.”
Rainbow nodded eagerly. “Lucky for you, you’ve got the best flier in Equestria to teach you.” She paused for a moment, then clarified, “To clarify, I meant that I was the best flier before everypony else died, not ... you know, the winner by default.” She tried to get back on track. “No offence, but you’re probably gonna need more than just flight training. It’s ... well you still kinda move slow and careful like an old lady with a bad back and sore hips. It’ll probably take a bit to get used to your new body.”
“Considering she was one yesterday, that’s no surprise,” Rarity murmured. “The habits one has built up over many years are not easily broken. Fortunately, we should have time to see to Her Highness’ flight training and anything else she might need. Even with the foundries working as fast as the facilities and staff can manage, we’re likely a few months away from being ready to move out.”
“That will be enough time,” I agreed. I headed for the door, moving a bit awkwardly as I tried to shake off all the the little subconscious habits I’d developed to make walking safer and less painful. “Shall we begin?” Rainbow frowned uncertainly, so I continued. “We have a war coming up, and I want to be at one hundred percent when we face Sombra. The sooner we start training, the sooner I’m done. Besides, I want to see what my new body can do.”
Rainbow led the way out the door. “Alright, no problem. We’ll start with making sure you’ve got all the basics down, then...”
Even after decades of time storms and the total collapse of civilization, the Crystal Empire was still beautiful. Sombra’s corrupting influence had altered the city, reshaping it into hues of black, red, and purple. Despite the heavy weight of dark magic hanging over the city, it was still an amazing sight. Maybe not even all of Sombra’s influence could destroy the city’s natural beauty ... or maybe decades of playing with necromancy had dulled my aversion to dark magic.
Just outside the city proper was a massive structure, probably even bigger than Sombra’s royal palace. A dozen huge crystal pillars soared into the sky, slowly curving inwards around a single central structure. The whole thing was pulsing with so much magic that I could feel it from kilometers away. I pointed it out to Rainbow. “Well, I guess we know what Sombra’s been up to. Why didn’t you mention he’d built that thing?”
Rainbow shrugged. “How was I supposed to know it was something new or special? I’ve never been here before, and I don’t have one of these.” She lightly tapped my horn. “Besides, soon as I saw Sombra was around, I bailed. Kinda figured that trumped everything else.”
“It might not have been as large when Rainbow was here,” Rarity pointed out. “Those pillars are still relatively fresh.”
“So it could be something he came up with to use against us,” I concluded. That seemed even more likely when I got a good look at Sombra’s army. He had it set up in a half-moon formation around the new structure, leaving his capital wide open. I couldn’t imagine Sombra’s ego would allow him to leave his palace undefended, so either he’d set a trap or that new building was so important that it overshadowed his royal palace. Neither of those boded well.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Sombra’s new army. Part of me had hoped that he might have a bunch of mind-controlled ponies we could free from his influence and use to repopulate the world. Unfortunately, all I saw was crystalline constructs that reminded me of my old golems. Rebuilding those would have been nice, but all my infrastructure for golem manufacture was in Freeport. Moving it to Canterlot and getting everything up and running would’ve taken months I didn’t have to spare.
Thankfully, I had plenty of other things to work with. The bulk of my army consisted of basic skeleton soldiers, carrying weapons and armor similar to what the Equestrian Royal Guard had borne in life. Pikes, halberds, swords, axes, and hammers had all worked just fine for the army in life, and they would suffice in death. I’d conjured up a few wraiths for scouting and flanking, while the center of my army had the largest, best-preserved corpses armed with much better gear than the basic steel the standard troops relied upon. I’d mixed in a few other nasty surprises to keep things interesting, like the squad of undead bears. Pity most of the more impressive monsters were much harder to bring back. Coming to the Crystal Empire with a couple dozen undead dragons would have made for a brilliant entrance.
A small force of crystal golems broke off from the bulk of his army, slowly marching into the middle of the field. Then they did something that really surprised me—they held up a white flag. Apparently Sombra wanted to parley. “Huh.”
Rarity scowled down at the flag. “How utterly ridiculous. Surely you don’t want to talk with that beast after all he’s done?”
Rainbow snorted and shook her head. “I say let him get close enough, then we let him have it. Sure, it’s truce-breaking, but it’s not like we’re gonna face a tribunal when this is over. Besides, he’s probably planning to backstab us anyway.”
“It’s a pretty safe bet he’s up to something,” I agreed. “However, he’s successfully piqued my curiosity. Let’s see what he has to say. If we play our cards right we might figure out what he’s up to and be in a better position for the battle. Not to mention...” I nodded to Rainbow, not quite agreeing with her suggestion, but not shooting it down either.
Rainbow grinned and pounded her forehooves together. “You got it. Give the word and I’ll kick him right in his crystal balls.”
Rarity pointedly cleared her throat, sparing a disapproving glare at Rainbow for her crudeness. “Perhaps should I stay back with the army? Having an extra set of eyes far enough away to spot any dangerous activity would be worthwhile, and ... in a straightforward brawl, I am the least useful out of us.”
“I would’ve suggested it if you didn’t.” If I’d actually anticipated serious negotiation, I probably would’ve been better off trading Rainbow’s hotheadedness for Rarity’s poise and charm. As it was ... yeah, I probably needed a warrior more than a diplomat. Not to mention... “You’ve got almost as much experience with controlling a lot of undead as I do. Congratulations on your promotion, General Rarity.” I passed control of the army over to her.
“Oh dear...” Rarity bit her lip uncertainly for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Yes, of course. No sense putting him in a position where he could decapitate our entire army with a single blow.”
I nodded as well. That had always been one of the insurmountable weaknesses of undead armies: without a necromancer to control them, an army became nothing more than a huge mass of undead mindlessly milling about and eventually crumbling into dust. Of course, the same was likely true of Sombra’s army of crystal golems.
Rarity took a deep breath, then reached up and squeezed my shoulder. “Be careful, Your Highness. You too, Rainbow.”
Rainbow snorted and rolled her eyes. “Why am I an afterthought?”
“Because you’re not royalty, darling,” Rarity answered primly, her hoof lingering on me for a few more seconds before slowly dropping.
I tried to smile reassuringly, but I’m not sure how well it worked with my new face. “Don’t worry, I can handle whatever Sombra throws my way.”
Once we’d improvised a truce flag of our own I headed out to the open field, surrounded by some of my elite skeleton warriors. Rainbow took point, her eyes darting left and right as she searched for any sign of an ambush or whatever dirty trick Sombra doubtlessly had in mind.
We were about halfway there when I saw Sombra himself. He still looked exactly the way he had in the history books, or the newer pictures from the war itself. To all appearances, being trapped in an inhospitable wasteland with only a few signs of life hadn’t been nearly so hazardous to his health as mine. Perhaps that shouldn’t have been a surprise; Celestia had mentioned that his time imprisoned in the shadow dimension had changed him. If he’d managed some sort of partial transformation into a shadow demon, he’d probably moved beyond the usual mortal needs for things like food and drink.
I glowered down at him. “Sombra.”
His eyes traveled up and down me, a smug smile on his lips. “My my my, who are you? I had no idea there was anyone else left on this world, let alone such a talented necromancer. The vessel you’ve constructed for yourself is magnificent, if you do not mind me saying so.”
“Actually, I do.” I saw no reason to waste time with pointless pleasantries. “If you wanted to negotiate, let me make our first and only offer: if you surrender, your execution will be quick and painless, and you’ll receive a proper burial.” Not that I especially wanted an undead Sombra hanging around my army.
Sombra chuckled and shook his head. “Short and to the point, aren’t you? Though honestly, quite rude about it. You could at least do me the courtesy of a proper introduction before you demand my surrender and execution.” He cleared his throat. “In better times, a herald would have seen to this for me, but ... I am Emperor Sombra the Ever-Victorious, first of my name;Dread Master of Crystal Empire, King of the Yaks, High King of the Caribou, Rightful Master of Ponykind, Lord of the North, Protector of the Realm of Ice and Snow, Inheritor of the Crystal Empire, the Smokebound, Coryphaeus of Wisdom and Benevolence. I am the Breaker of Vanhoover and the Ravager of Coldharbor; the Son of the Arctic Winds, the Morning Star of the Empire, the Iron-Willed Commander of Those Who March South; the Grand Emperor Who Is A Perfect Incarnation of all that an Emperor Should Be; the One Who Stands Alone in his Utter Perfection, and the Greatest Lord and Master Who Ever Was or Will Be.”
Rainbow and I sat there in silence, a bit stunned by just how long Sombra had gone on. Rainbow finally broke the silence with her usual tact. “You done?” She waited a bit longer to make sure he wasn’t going to start spouting off more ridiculous accolades, then stepped back and pointed to me. “This is Sunset. She’s the Princess.” She thought it over a moment, then clarified, “So that's Princess Sunset Shimmer, to you. You should probably kneel.”
Sombra’s eyes widened a bit, and he grinned. “Ah, Princess Sunset Shimmer, is it now? I thought you were an Archon, but I suppose it’s no surprise you’ve taken Celestia’s title for yourself. Most interesting. Tell me princess, was this transformation born out of the necessity of survival, or did you do this to yourself just for me?”
I scoffed and shook my head. “If you think I want to make small talk with you, you’re wrong. You have my terms; either accept them or stop wasting my time.” I pointedly looked back over my shoulder. “You might’ve noticed my army. You might also have noticed that it’s bigger and better-equipped than yours.”
Sombra threw back his head and laughed, deep and rich. “Oh what’s the rush? Surely you realize the situation we’re in? Unless there is some pocket of survivors somewhere out there that neither one of us has discovered, we’re the last sapient beings left on this world. If we slay one another, then there is nothing left. I’m sure the philosophers would love to talk about how it only took two living ponies on the planet for us to decide it wasn’t big enough and go to war.”
“I couldn’t possibly care less about the philosophical implications,” I growled.
“I’d gathered as much.” Sombra grinned at me. “A mare of action. Still, it seems a pity to think that there will only be one living pony left when this ends.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “Don’t worry, you won’t kill me.”
“I do not wish to.” Sombra waved a hoof magnanimously. “If you would hear me out, I have a counter-proposal: become my glorious empress and we will rule this world together, and rebuild it in our image. I have great plans, and your help would be priceless.”
Become his empress?! That had to be the most insane idea I’d ever heard. “I’d say that I’d rather die, but at this point that would be redundant.” That got an amused snort out of Rainbow.
Sombra was far less amused, but he still shrugged off my rejection easily enough. “That’s a pity, but I suppose I was being a touch too optimistic. However, I would suggest you think very carefully before taking any rash action. There is so much potential for what we could accomplish together. You’ve already thrown away the shackles of imposed morality that Celestia tried to put on you.” He nodded to my new body, and then my undead army. “You know Celestia would never have approved of this. She was a mare of narrow, limited vision. Anything that did not fit within her antiquated morality should be cast aside and forced to conform. She kept the ponies of Equestria docile and weak, little better than drones mindlessly obeying her whims.”
Rainbow scoffed. “That’s pretty rich coming from a guy who used mind-control helmets to make his soldiers fight for him.”
“That’s the natural order of things,” Sombra answered. “There are a few truly exceptional beings, such as myself and Sunset, and then the teeming masses who exist solely to carry out our wills and provide a large enough audience for our grandeur to be witnessed. The only difference between myself and Celestia is that she is a liar, while I am honest. I am glad to see that you’ve broken free of her foolish rules to forge your own path.”
“I didn’t break free of anything,” I growled. “I’m not some deranged lunatic like you. The rules I’m breaking existed in a different world, and we’ll never know if Celestia would’ve approved or not. She’s dead. You killed her when you broke the world.”
Sombra’s head cocked to the side, and a huge smile slowly split his lips. “Ah, now I see what this is really about. You think I did this?” He waved towards the blasted wastelands. “I suppose I should’ve expected you would blame me for every hardship you suffered. After all, I thought you were the ones responsible for the temporal anomalies when the first time storm struck the Crystal Empire. I thought Equestria had finally gotten so desperate they unleashed some new ritual that they lost control of, or one of your Freeport Magi dabbled in dark magic without fully understanding how to use it.”
“So you’re saying you didn’t do it?” Rainbow snarled, and I had to put a hoof on her shoulder to hold her back. “What a load of horseapples!”
Sombra shrugged, letting the accusation roll off his back. “Why would I lie? The world has already cast me as the villain. What is one more atrocity on top of all the others? Especially when I could claim such a decisive victory over all my enemies? But no, this calamity is not of my making, I only seek to take advantage of it. I would have gladly burned Canterlot to the ground and enslaved its citizens, but I still wanted something left to rule over. This absolute annihilation is simply madness.”
“LIAR!” Rainbow roared, struggling against my grip. “My friends, my family, my godkids, all of them are dead because of you! Don’t try and pin your horseapples on the Princess!”
I pulled Rainbow back, and tried to take back control of the conversation. “Even if I believed you—which I don’t—that would just mean you’re only responsible for millions of deaths instead of billions. It changes nothing. You’re still a monster, and I’m bringing you to justice.”
Sombra smirked at me. “Oh, you small-minded little mare. Don’t you see? It changes everything. Since unlike Celestia, I am not a liar, allow me to share the truth with you. You’ll find no pleasure in it, but sometimes the hard truths are the ones we need most of all. I assume you’re familiar with the infinite multiverse theory, Your Highness?”
I grunted and nodded, humoring him for the moment. If he wanted to give a big speech where he revealed all his evil plans, I would play the cooperative audience for him.“Right, the idea that every time something happens, it splits off into different parallel universes where it plays out differently.”
“Exactly.” Sombra grinned, falling into the role of orator. “Whether it’s a small difference like me having something different for breakfast, or something massive like my own birth never happening. Now, it seems that we had our universe’s timeline cut out from under it. A pony by the name of Starlight Glimmer attempted to alter the past, only to have a Princess Twilight Sparkle come back to undo the changes she caused. However, our timeline existed because of the changes wrought by Starlight, and once she reversed those changes ... its past no longer existed. An unsolvable paradox, but it seems that the fabric of the multiverse has an easy solution for such occurrences: it simply discards the entire universe.”
He turned his eyes upwards. “It makes a pony feel small, in a way. Our conflicts seem so great, but then you realize you're so tiny in comparison to what’s out there. We didn’t even do this to ourselves, not really. It just ... happened. And only here. In a million other worlds, the grand war plays out exactly as it should have, with no foolish meddling time travelers destroying us all.”
“I don’t suppose you can actually produce those time travelers?” Rainbow demanded. When Sombra didn’t immediately answer, she scoffed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Reminds me of when I got in trouble as a kid. I’d just make up the biggest, craziest, most insane story I could manage. Got my parents so wrapped up with the crazy that they forgot what I did.”
“Fascinating,” Sombra answered boredly. “Though really, revenant, you should be silent while your betters are speaking. As for my explanation, it is the truth. By all means, take a few years to thoroughly research it. I have no desire to fight a meaningless battle over an empty wasteland. If you retire I will stand down until you find out the truth for yourself.”
“How very generous of you.” I nodded towards the huge structure. “Though maybe it’s not so much generosity as buying time to finish whatever you’re up to with that.”
Rainbow snorted. “All those big pillars, makes me wonder if maybe you feel like you need to compensate for something.”
Sombra ignored her, putting all his attention on me. “As I said, I have plans.” He pointed towards the gigantic structure. “Think about it: there are a theoretical unlimited number of universes out there. Imagine the possibilities. We are free to do whatever we wish, now that I’ve realized that the nature of reality means nothing really matters. For every decision there is a split, another universe to exploit as we desire. Go to one universe and murder everypony there. It doesn’t matter, because in a thousand more they’ll all survive. In another one, I heroically save their lives from a deranged ax-wielding madmare. In a third, none of them were born to begin with.”
“So what?” Rainbow demanded. “You’re just gonna hop around the multiverse being a massive jerk to everyone you can find?”
Sombra spared a contemptuous glower her way. “You are a small mare who cares only for small things of limited vision. As I said, such things have no purpose. No, if we want to find an action that truly means something, it must be ... more. You see, I had something of a revelation in my years of isolation. An epiphany, inspired by the very broken world we stand upon.”
He turned his back on me, gesturing grandly as if he were speaking to a massive crowd. “Think about it: none of our choices matter. Our world was destroyed, but another lives on. Why? It doesn’t matter. A million and more worlds lay broken while a billion more go on to be paradises for no real reason, because choices were made. Choices that don’t matter because all choices have been made. I could be a prince or a pauper, a king or a courtesan—they’re all equally valid possibilities, and all equally meaningless.”
Rainbow slowly rotated a hoof around her own head, letting me know exactly what she thought of his theory. Privately, I agreed; Infinite Multiverse Hypothesis had long been rejected by just about every reputable magical and philosophical scholar. However, no sense in pointing that out when he was in the middle of explaining his massive evil plan. “Okay, let’s say just for the sake of discussion you’re right about that. So what?”
Sombra let out a frustrated snort. “Don’t you see?! The logic behind it all is really quite simple. If none of our choices really matter, then there can only be one real choice that actually matters: the choice to end all choices. Did you ever wonder why all the temporal storms ended? Because I ended them. What you see behind me is a device has absorbed all the energy produced by the temporal storms. Soon it will have enough power to unleash a temporal cascade that will ripple across time and space, hitting every dimension and timeline with the disaster that struck our world until everything is gone. All of it. I will deliver the entire multiverse from the pointless banality of an existence without meaning!”
“You’re nuts.” I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised Sombra had gone crazy. I’d been pretty loony after a long time without speaking to anyone, and Sombra had been alone for a lot longer than I had. Not to mention he’d been pretty unstable before the apocalypse had gone off. He’d probably cobbled together this whole crazy theory as a way to avoid accepting responsibility for all the destruction he’d caused.
Sombra threw his head back and cackled like ... well, like a pony who thought that blowing up the multiverse was a perfectly logical and rational thing to do. “Who cares?! Saint or monster, sane or insane, life or death! It’s all different sides of the same coin. If I don’t make the choice to destroy everything, then I will make the choice to destroy everything. It’s simple logic!”
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, and pink zebras are logical if you’re stupid enough to accept that all zebras are pink.” She frowned, then leaned in and whispered, “Seriously though, is there anything to what he’s saying as far as blowing up other universes?”
“Infinite Multiverse Hypothesis was generally regarded as junk science,” I murmured back. “And even if it was true, I doubt whatever he’s trying would work. However ... it’s still a huge magical construct that’s been absorbing temporal energy for years. I don’t know what’s going to happen when he turns that thing on, but it won’t be good.”
“Gotcha,” Rainbow grunted. “So ... feather diplomacy?”
“Feather diplomacy,” I agreed.
Rainbow charged the crystal golems with an excited battle cry, slamming them aside. I focused on the big boss himself, hurling a ball of green fire at him for my opening attack.
Sombra conjured up a wall of black crystals to stop me, and started laughing again. “You still don’t understand, do you?! It doesn’t matter! You’re not saving anything! Even if you manage to stop me here, there’s another alternate universe where I’ll succeed! There’s probably one where you joined me and you’re helping me right now!”
“If that’s the case, why are we still here?” I countered. “If all it took to blow up the multiverse was a single lunatic with little magic, don’t you think someone would’ve done it already?”
Sombra froze for a moment, then snarled and hurled a wave of black crystal shards at me. That was probably as close as he could get to actually admitting I was right.
I swept his attack aside with a burst of wind, and Rainbow kicked one of the crystal golems into the redirected attack’s path, shattering it. She quickly shot up into the air and signalled Rarity, and with a sound akin to an incoming thunderstorm my army began advancing. That done, Rainbow turned and shot downwards, a mach cone forming around her as she powered into the rest of Sombra’s escort.
I didn’t waste any time playing around or feeling out his defenses, I went for the quick kill. “It’s over, Sombra.” I stomped on the ground, and a huge spike of ice erupted from the earth, skewering him.
For a moment I dared to hope that I’d won the battle, but then I noticed the grin on his lips. A second later Sombra’s body collapsed into a mass of shadows, dissipating on the breeze. A quick tracking spell confirmed my suspicions. “Damn, that was just a sending. The real Sombra’s back with his army!”
Rainbow snarled and finished off the last of Sombra’s golems. “Should’ve known he’d be too spineless to come out and face us himself.” She bolted into the sky, heading straight for the center of Sombra’s army.
I followed behind her, but even after months of training I couldn’t match her speed. “Rainbow, stop! You’re by yourself!”
Rainbow smirked and poured on even more speed. Then she tucked her wings in and fell into an insanely fast dive that probably would’ve turned me into a heap of broken bones (or liquified metal, now) if I ever tried it. At the last possible second she pulled off a ridiculously sharp turn, slamming into the front ranks of Sombra’s army with blistering speed. The first few crystal golems she hit simply shattered, and dozens more got sent sprawling by impact force. By the time any of them had recovered, Rainbow was already back in the air and coming around for another pass.
Meanwhile I threw out every scanning, tracking, and detection spell I could think of to try and find Sombra himself. At the end of the day, the battle would come down to either taking him out, or him getting me and my friends. Both our armies would go completely inert without their leaders. It didn’t matter if I lost most or even all of my skeletons, as long as I got Sombra in the process. It’s not like the world had a shortage of dead bodies.
I finally spotted Sombra hovering in the skies, the lower half of his body a huge shadowy mass. His attention seemed to mostly be on Rainbow, as he unleashed black lightning bolts on her with a snarl. Rainbow spotted the attack coming before I’d even called out a warning, tucking in one of her wings to roll out of the line of attack. Not only did Sombra’s spell miss her completely, but the lightning bolts went on to tear jagged holes in his own army.
“Damn you!” he roared, turning his next spell upon my own troops. The attack was far less focused than his first one had been the blasts hitting more-or-less at random. However, they were still powerful enough to do some damage to my forces even if they were hitting at random.
No way I was going to let him get away with that. Fortunately, necromancy did have a few advantages when it came to dealing with casualties. “Rise.”
My damaged soldiers reassembled themselves and rejoined the battle line.
With Sombra revealed, I made my move. “I’ve had decades to read through every single one of Celestia’s spellbooks. Let me show you what I’ve learned!”
My horn lit up, and something amazing happened. For the first time since the breaking of the world, the sun rose and the moon set. Sombra’s shadows writhed as the sun’s rays tore at them. After decades of twilight, he probably barely even remembered how to handle the might of the noonday sun.
Sombra nearly fell out of the sky before he managed to redouble the strength of his shadows to support his weight. “Oh really, you learned Celestia’s spells? And you think that gives you an advantage against me? Fool! Surely you don’t think I survived going horn to horn with Celestia without knowing how to counter her?!” Inky darkness spilled out of his horn, breaking up the sunlight and covering the battlefield with shadows.
“You’re right—you’ve learned a lot about how to fight Celestia. But you’ve overlooked two things.” The sun punched through his barrier of shadows. “First, Celestia knew just as much about how to fight you, and you better believe she included that info in her notes.” The shadows writhed as I took control of some of them, bending them to my will. “Secondly, I’m not Celestia. If you knew anything about how my magic works, you would’ve realized this battle was over before it even started. The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.”
Sombra gaped as I stole away some of his shadows. “That’s not ... how could you...” He sent a wave of shadowy tendrils towards me, trying to snatch me out of the sky.
I scoffed and conjured a blade of pure light to smash the attack aside, gathering up the tattered remnants of his shadows and adding them to what I already controlled. “You don’t get it, do you? Celestia didn’t just leave me with an empty title and a few old books. She left me everything. All I needed to do was reach out and take it.” More sunlight crashed through his shadowy barrier, illuminating me and filling my body a fresh surge of power. “The sun and moon are mine, Sombra. The darkness and the light both serve me, and I was always good at combining opposing forces.”
Sombra’s eyes widened as the full implications of that settled in. “To what end? Why does it matter what power you have? You are a princess without a principality, ruling an empty wasteland. What do you hope to accomplish?”
“This.” I unleashed my full power upon him in a single titanic beam of magic, the darkness and light winding around each other and blending together. The ground shook and the Crystal Empire trembled, many of the smaller structures cracking from the sheer force of the attack.
Sombra conjured up a massive shadowy bubble around himself. Then he made a second barrier to protect the first, and conjured up almost a dozen more layers to his defenses. It was one of the toughest, hardest to crack magical shields I’d ever seen.
It didn’t even slow my spell down.
When the dust cleared, Sombra lay at the bottom of a massive crater. Apparently all those defensive spells had been good for something after all, because they’d kept him alive. I landed in the crater and checked him over. Still alive, but it was a little hard to tell for sure after all the changes he’d made to himself. He wasn’t moving or fighting back, so I was pretty sure I had him beat. “It’s over, Sombra.”
He scoffed weakly, turning his back on me. “It doesn’t matter.” He chuckled humorlessly. “So what will it be? Immediate summary execution? A show trial where you serve as judge, jury and prosecutor? Or perhaps I should bend the knee and swear to loyally serve you instead?” He cackled. “Oh yes, that would be a perfect farce, but it’s as valid a choice as any, isn’t it?”
Rainbow landed next to me. “How about this for a valid choice, you big jerk?!” She kicked him right in the crystal balls. “Tell me that doesn’t matter!”
Sombra didn’t manage much more than a pained whimper by way of reply.
I looked down at him, and came to a decision. “You know what? You will serve me.” Rainbow blinked in shock, and Sombra’s jaw dropped. I placed a single hoof on Sombra’s forehead.
Then, with a single spell, I reduced him to nothing but a charred skeleton.
“Oh,” Rainbow murmured. “That works.”
“Rise,” I said to the bones. “Serve.”
The skeleton started standing up, and I almost instantly noticed something about him. A gleam of intelligence in his empty eyes that none of my other servants had. I closed my eyes and dove into the web of spells controlling him, almost instantly recognizing a few familiar patterns. Just like Rainbow and Rarity, this undead had sapience.
I tore the spells apart with a gusto I never would’ve dared with one of my only friends, shredding the energy holding Sombra together just to learn a bit more about how it worked. In mere minutes, I learned more about the creation of truly sapient undead than I’d gathered in all my decades of passive research.
Finally, I uncovered the greatest secret of all: a tiny spark of ... something. That indefinable energy that was the difference between an empty shell and a sapient being. Something Sombra, Rainbow, and Rarity had all possessed, but none of my ordinary soldiers had. And now that I’d found it, I could start properly searching for anyone else who might have it.
“Fascinating.” With a simple thought, I snuffed out that potential, condemning whatever was left of Sombra to the oblivion of true death.
Rainbow carefully poked the still-smoking skeleton. “Anything left of him in there? ‘Cause I really don’t want to have to kill him twice.”
“No, he’s just another empty shell.” I decided not to mention everything I’d learned yet. I was cautiously optimistic, but I didn’t want to get their hopes up and then have nothing pan out. Maybe once we had some more results.
Rainbow looked over the skeleton for a couple seconds, then grunted and shrugged. “Whatever, then. Make him do something really stupid and demeaning, I guess. I don’t care. He’s dead and beaten, and we won.” She stared at the skeleton for several seconds, then scoffed. “Justice and revenge. Woo-feathering-hoo. So what do we do now?”
I frowned and looked over the inert army of golems, and the Crystal Empire beyond them. “I’ll go over whatever Sombra left behind. Might get something useful out of it. Maybe even catch a break on the research into fixing everything.” I nodded towards the huge crystal structure Sombra had created. “Not to mention there’s a fresh mystery to unravel.”
Rainbow snorted. “At least you have something to do, then.”
Rarity trotted over to us, looking rather disheveled with a few bits of bone and crystal in her mane. “It seems we’ve all managed to survive. Are you both okay?”
“Looks like it,” I answered. “You?”
“I’m ... well alive isn’t exactly the proper term, but it’s close enough. I’m afraid I’m not really fond of the battlefield, even if a lady must manage sometimes. I do think I at least did a passable job of managing your army.”
I checked her over to make sure she hadn’t been damaged, then gave the army a quick look. “You did good, Rarity. Real good.”
She smiled appreciatively. “Thank you, Your Highness.” Her eyes flicked down to what was left of Sombra. “I must say, it is ... satisfying to see that we’ve destroyed that monster once and for all. Whatever was he ranting and raving about?”
I shrugged and tried to sum it up. “Something about using his giant crystal tower thing to destroy the multiverse, because life was empty and meaningless and none of our choices matter.”
Rarity sniffed and glowered down at him. “Well, I can understand why some might feel that way after everything we’ve suffered, but he’s wrong. I know our lives were ... a long way from ideal, but I still have some fond memories of our time together. I am glad I met both of you, and that my life did not end when so many others did.”
“I’m just glad Sombra’s done.” I slowly wrapped my one wing around Rarity, and after a moment’s consideration Rainbow stepped in range for my other wing. “Thanks, both of you. I couldn’t have done this without you.” Even if I could’ve beaten Sombra alone, without them I probably would’ve gone just as crazy as he had.
Rarity smiled and leaned into my touch. “You know we’re here for you, darling. We’ll be at your side until the end.”
Rainbow snorted. “I think we’re past the end, so ... yeah. We’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere. Guess you’re stuck with us.”
“I’m ... glad I’ve got you both.” I took a deep breath, a distinctly unnecessary bit of body language I hadn’t quite shaken. “This ... I think this is a good start.”
Rarity met the news with a raised eyebrow. “A good start, is it? So does that mean you have some grand new plan for what to do next?”
“What the hay’s left to do?” Rainbow grumbled. “We killed the bad guy, all that’s left now is a whole lot of hanging out with a bunch of stupid zombies and skeletons.”
“Maybe not,” I murmured. “Sombra probably has the best collection of books on dark magic outside of Canterlot, and almost certainly has ones we either never had a copy of or were lost in one of the time storms. It might be what I need to make a breakthrough. Plus I’d like to study that huge crystal thing Sombra’s built, and I think I can probably help you two become more than you currently are.”
Rarity frowned uncertainly. “What exactly did you have in mind as far as Rainbow and I are concerned, darling? I admit that while it might sound a bit vain and shallow, I would like to be a bit less ... corpsey.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something.” I looked Rainbow over and pondered what she would want. “I can probably help you be a bit more independent, and now that I have wings and I’m not old and crippled, we can go on more expeditions together.”
Rainbow nodded, and the barest hint of a smile appeared on her lips. “Yeah, exploring is a lot more fun when it’s not just me all by myself. That’s why most adventurers have sidekicks and stuff.” She paused, then smirked. “Plus now that you have wings, we can both carry the chariot with just Rarity in it, instead of me needing to haul both of you around. Though Rarity always was the heavi—”
“You do not want to finish that sentence, darling,” Rarity cut in with an entirely too sweet smile.
Rainbow swallowed and prudently kept her mouth shut. “Right, got it. Anyway, I think Sunset’s right—we’ve got a lot to do. No sense moping around when we can be out doing stuff.”
“Exactly.” My eyes flicked back to the huge crystal palace. “I wonder if there was anything to all of Sombra’s talk about different timelines and universes.”
Rarity frowned and nodeed. “He might have some notes in his palace. Assuming they’re not all insane scribbles.”
Rainbow thought it over, then shrugged. “Maybe you should look into it. At the very least, it’ll probably tell you more about his big crystal vanity project. If he was a total nut and there's nothing to it, all it cost us was some wasted time. But if he's not wrong...”
“It’s worth checking out.” I agreed. “Containing the time storms will help a lot with rebuilding. Plus if we can hop into an alternate universe we could at least get some help with rebuilding. And ... well if Sombra didn’t break our world, someone did.”
Rarity shook her head. “Do you really think he wasn’t the one responsible for all of this? Who else is insane enough to cause the destruction of a whole world?”
“I’m pretty sure it was him,” I conceded. “But we’ve got all the time we could possibly want, and I was planning to look into that crazy crystal thing he built anyway. If he was just nuts, we’ve still got something that’s containing the time storms. If he was a bit saner than he looked, we can get help from somewhere else. If he was right about someone else attacking us ... then they’ll get the same treatment he did.”
Rainbow scowled and nodded. “Damn right they will.”
Rarity nodded firmly. “Agreed, but that’s a remote possibility. Not to mention we have quite a few other things to concern ourselves with.”
“Quite,” I agreed. “We have a lot of work to do, and an entire world to restore.” I smiled as best I could at both of them. “At least now I feel like we can actually do it.” I turned my eyes to the rising sun. It was nice to see it properly once more—perhaps I should get a normal day and night cycle going again. “This is our world now. We should take care of it.”
This probably wasn’t what Celestia had in mind when she asked me to take up her crown, but I would rule her world to the best my abilities. If the world had been reduced to ashes, I would be the rising fire that led to its rebirth.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Chengar Qordath · 36k words · 501 12 · 6k views
- Ponibius · 167k words · 316 11 · 3.3k views
- Ponibius · 98k words · 289 5 · 2.1k views
- Ponibius · 28k words · 386 5 · 4k views
- Ponibius · 137k words · 232 6 · 2.6k views
- Chengar Qordath · 28k words · 272 20 · 3.1k views
- Chengar Qordath · 42k words · 387 8 · 3.8k views
- Chengar Qordath · 86k words · 347 25 · 3.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.182 seconds
Total duration
696 users online
1,019,539 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
That was AWESOME. This chapter and everything that built up to it.
Sunset's undead army--which is a thing that needs to exist--was really cool. And Rainbow Dash getting to kick Sombra in the crystal balls was beyond gratifying. Also enjoyed Sunset's ruthless pragmatism.
I can't wait to see more done with these characters as they interact with your Sunset and others in the Freeportverse.
More, please?
Well, as sad as I am that this is a prequel, it's a pretty bang up story. It makes me hope that Rising Fire will become something more than a overzealous villain slain by the "true" Sunset.
Maybe a talking head kept in Sunset's fridge?
Or I guess oven in this case.
Please tell me Chengar Qordath is there going be more of this because i’m enjoying it.
Oh dear. Sombra went full Nihilist Rick, and the closest thing he has to a Morty is his golem army.
In any case, suitably enough for a story that hinges on time magic, we come full circle. Great stuff all around, though the uplifting note does come off a little sour when one takes into account what becomes of these instances of Sunset and friends. Still, a gripping read through and through. Thank you for it.
8522785
You should probably read the prequel story.
Considering its Halloween this ended more optimistically than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. I guess in another few years/decades/centuries Sunset finds out just how much of Sombra’s story was right. We know how Rising Fire and Rainbow Dash feel about that, but I’m curious what happens to Rarity along the way.
Ah, the simple “how come everything hasn’t ended yet” question can usually shut up nihlists. Interesting look at what happens after the end of the world, though glad it wasn’t too long a story, considering how dark it is. I kind of hope that’s the last of Rising Fire we see, it might be better to just let what’s left of their world rest.
Despite him being an absolute megalomaniac (which probably would've been the sane reaction to a cataclysm of this nature if he hadn't already been one), a part of me is really disappointed that Sombrowlman is dead.
Ah....looking through the comments helps. I didn't realize this was a prequel to "Blood and Iron". Curious how Sunset comes up with the name "Rising Fire" in the meantime, but I see the connections now going back and forth.
There's something to be said about having a body made of solid adamantine.
If he's one of the few other 'alive' creatures on the planet, talking is better than the alternative if that is an option.
Ehh, on the other hand, maybe talking isn't so great. Then again, his 'great plans' might be useful to know about.
Ahh, so Sombra did all the research to find the root cause. Not bad.
Okay, yeah, that's probably enough information about his plans.
Nice!
Ooooo, an experimental target at long last. Sombra, useful in the end. Since Sunset has an eternity to search, there's plenty of ponies she might be able to find and raise now that she knows how and what to look for.
There we go.
Huh, did Sombra end up building the Dalek reality bomb from Journey's End? It seemed to have the same function despite being a bit smaller, not needing 27 planets to get it to work.
Now I'm curious if Sunset ever did anything with Rarity and Rainbow. We know from the previous story RD was still 'Corpsey' but I wonder if she had more luck with Rarity? Or did she find other ponys with that missing spark needed.
I'll admit, I'm kinda disappointed Rising Fire is Sunset. It makes Rising's dialogue from Blood and Iron a little stranger.
8522926
I’ve got some vague plans for next halloween.
Sunset's transformation had been a bit anticlimactic. Then again, not everything has to be grand and flashy - I quite liked how this was done. One ritual, go in, get out upgraded a few hours later.
Sombra never stood a chance. It was still fun seeing him go down, and hey, he was useful to Sunset in the end after all!
We know how that will all ultimately end (unless the lich in the original story was an AU of this one), but I'm still looking forward to the rest of the road there.
Aawwww shit! Im guessing this Sunset is going to be the Rising Fire of Blood and Iron? Oh this is going to be so epic!
8525335
Can’t wait for it.
You want another three-paragraph spiel about temporal mechanics and quantum physics?
...What do you mean, 'no, thanks'? Tough, you're getting one.
The thing is, Sombra's wrong. He's making an amateur mistake in temporal theory - he's conflating infinite possibilities with infinite realities. The same thing that brought this timeline crashing to a halt is the same reason he's wildly off the mark - quantum entanglement. It's theoretically true that every single instant of time contains a bunch of possibilities, and that when two things differ there's going to be divergence. However, if the timelines do not diverge sufficiently - if they are still too similar - then the two will remain entangled and whichever has the higher probability of occurring will win out and everything will immediately collapse again. It happened an infinite number of times while I was typing that sentence, but since I typed the same sentence in all of them and the sentence changing would have had little impact on our timeline's future, it functionally did not happen at all. While it is theoretically possible that the carbon atoms in my fingers miraculously aligned into a crystal lattice, it had such a low probability of occurring that it was simply drowned out by the far more probable outcome where I finished the sentence in relative peace, and all those timelines collapsed into one as quickly as they arose so no new 'branch' timeline was created.
Sombra could have chosen to become anything he wanted - "a prince or a pauper, a king or a courtesan" - but it was most probable, given the events of this timeline, that he went mad, declared himself ruler and became a Big Bad Evil Guy. Only two possibilities could have altered that; an event with exactly even probability of going either way, where random chance was not sufficient to tip the probability one way or the other, or interference by (and therefore entanglement with) something uptime. Of the two, uptime interference is actually the far more likely.
So Sombra is wrong about free will and choices. It's not true that every choice is meaningless. Rather, the opposite is true - while not every choice we make matters from a quantum perspective (one is unlikely to spawn a parallel universe by having barbecue sauce instead of ketchup on one's lunch, for instance) we do have free will, and it is important. Even if our future has already happened from the perspective of those uptime, it happened that way because of our choices, because of what we elected to do.
Sombra's full of horseapples, is what I'm saying.
To be honest, if I hadn't read the story before this I would have thought that since they spoke of alternate timelines. Sunset and the undead would invade the timeline where the Starlight that time traveled is located in.
needs an "a"
"All the Myriad Ways" (Niven)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Myriad_Ways
The whole collection is good
Sombra's speech made me think of a sub-plot in the webcomic "goblinscomic.com" (warning, it's extremely violent):
a crazy Psychic (a D&D class) wanted to achieve perfect oblivion, as if he had never existed. so he entered a strange dungeon where many versions of him, and the main characters, were competing. (in case i was unclear, he's an alternate version of one of the main characters)
since this strange dungeon is in a small pocket dimension, he was able to actually change the physical laws, to create "pockets of oblivion" that would destroy objects that fell into them so completely that nobody would even REMEMBER THAT THEY HAD EXISTED!
after a fierce struggle, and lots of lucky flukes, he was finally foiled in an amusing way.
one of the rules of this dungeon is that you can keep competing over and over until you win, but you can only win once, then you can never come back...so the main characters tossed him over the finish line, thus effectively banishing him from the pocket dimension.
8574357
Reminded me more of Owlman from the DCAU Crisis on Two Earths, but PsyMax from Goblins was just as nihilistic...
I didn't read this story, I simply read the last chapter. At least we know where the Necro-Alicorn came from. Looks like its going to be Sunset vs Sunset.
8525335
I'm curious what could happen because this Equis is dead.
8716330
Huh, an interesting change of pace from the usual Shimmer channel. I would love to read more about it. ^_^
8719097
I mean the only inhabitants are zombies and we also learn what happened to this future version in one of the other stories so yeah this Equis is doomed.
Is this cannon of The Freeport Venture?
Because with some of the stuff that happens in Blood and Iron it doesn't make sense to me if it's the same universe.
For example Archon Sunset not recalling her fight with Rising Fire (she could have forgotten, but that is kind of a stretch). Or Rising Fire's attitude towards herself, like trying to kill her, specially since she should have realized she was in the past (unless she *completely* forgot).
It would make more sense if the Sunset from Blood and Iron and the Sunset in Come and See are from different timelines. Rising Fire never received a visit from another Rising Fire in her youth as a magus-for-hire. Rather, Rising Fire traveled to another timeline successfully and visited the other young Sunset Shimmer there.
Or maybe I just want a happy ending :(
I mean, I really like this story (Come and See) and all, but... everyone is dead... feels like all the stuff before amounts to nothing... I could see this being a spin-off, I would really like to see what happens next; but have the other universe where we have Sunset the Magus having her adventures struggling to make Freeport better, creating her academy, eventually becoming Archon or even Princess.
Or is this cannon in the way that it "did" happen, but in another timeline and this Sunset is not the Sunset we know and love; but rather this is the backstory of Rising Fire in Blood and Iron?
This was quite the unique twist on things. Excellent work!
I... I hate this. But I couldn't stop. I knew the ending from the beginning. I have enough stress in my life already. I knew I should've stopped. But I couldn't. You're just too good a writer. No matter how much I told myself I'd regret this for weeks, I kept going. This book is as temping as a challenge of eating 10 gallons of your favorite ice cream for 100 dollars, and no matter how much you know you'll hate yourself, how little enjoyment you'll actually get out of any of it, you keep going. And I can't blame anyone but myself and my own lack of self-control. *yay* you for being such an amazing writer.
It feels like the Halloween Freeport stories are getting progressively grimmer with each instalment. I shudder to think what you'll come out with next. But I'm glad to finally get the full story on Rising Fire. Looks like the theories on the previous story were right, but I don't suppose that was hard to predict. What I didn't expect was all the smaller stuff. Dinky's death was a pretty shocking way to kick off the grimdark time-collapsing stuff, given how familiar we already are with her through other Winningverse stories. And everything with Sunset and Twilight, or with Sunset and Celestia, seemed like set-up for longer character arcs until their sudden deaths cut it all short. It's really effective. And I didn't expect the ending either, both in the general events of Sombra's survival, and in the strangely optimistic tone it sets, given we know how badly it all ends.
It leaves a lot of lingering questions, too, which I can only assume that a future sequel will answer. For one, Blood and Iron finally kills off these versions of Sunset and Rainbow, but we still don't know what happened to Rarity. And even after everything that happened to her, Sunset at the end of this story still seems recognisably like Sunset, rather than like a cold-hearted killer who would execute an innocent mare for crimes an alternate version of her committed, or who would terrorise said mare's neighbours with zombies and fight her own past self for not allowing said execution. There's some unseen character development between those two states that we're so far missing, and I can't help but wonder what must've happened to Sunset to provoke such a change in her.
I'll also say I liked the insight this story provided into Sunset's possible future in the mainline Winningverse. Even though that version of Sunset has already gone through different experiences than the one in this story, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that they would turn out pretty similarly, and I look forward to eventually seeing Sunset become the Archon of Freeport and set up her academy. Since Northern Venture is the only story left in the series I haven't read, and is still in progress at the time of this comment, I'm assuming that we're not there yet, but I hope I'll get to read about it one day.
9211168
I think it's likely that this story is set in a different AU than rising fire's universe. Rising Fire would have come from a universe where either sunset's name was 'rising fire' from birth or she went so insane that she forgot her own name. I get that she says she will be the rising fire in the last sentence, but she seems to not recognise Sunset as her past self.
After all, the Rainbow revenant in Blood and Iron kept talking about her Friends (rather than her family comrades) , which hints to the mane six having been a thing in that universe. In the come and see universe they didn't all meet up because twilight failed to use the elements.
9352972
I don't agree with that, but it's interesting interpretation.
9353362
I'm inclined to agree it's still another timeline, though partly because Rising Fire shows up in the "non-show baseline". I suspect that's happening because there's no practical way to reach the Starlight Glimmer who's Rising Fire's actual target without first wrecking the available realms and offing other Starlights, and the simple existence of a version of Rising Fire's timeline where the Elements of Harmony are still barely functional is the anchor keeping Rising Fire from getting at the right Starlight. And that timeline's being protected by the not-quite-evil version of Rising Fire, who by now knows how to do it, leaving the lich nowhere to go for vengeance but into the "main" Freeport.
That's the critical point. As long as the Elements of Harmony still exist, whether they have jewel-seeds or are just qualities of personality in beings, Equestria's rebuildable in some form and the universe isn't going to go bye-bye. Whether it'll stay self-sustaining or actually make contact with others and root itself is questionable, ...Whether it's possible for a necromantic being calling itself Rising Fire to make healthy contact with practically anything related to any Equestria (maybe barring the Oversatured verse, which isn't likely to be close by) is also dubious. But it's not hopeless as long as you can laugh about it.
...Would like to believe Sunset made sure to save a genetic sample of her original body, or that Rarity thought to preserve hair follicles or the like. Options for the future are nice.
Oh my god this one was good.
While I'm not going to be reading the Freeport part of the series, I have to give major kudos to the name of this story. A number of people won't get it, but the apocalyptic vibe was nailed immediately with 'Come And See', especially given how rare it is to find anyone making use of it.
"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters".
Well, sh
t. Sunset fought herself. Poor Sunny. =(
Interesting how in Blood and Iron, Freeport Sunset was capable of defeating this Sunset (sure with a fuck ton of help) but from what I'm getting here, this Sunset is like... literally a God. My best guess is at that point she was just... sick of existing, and was barely even putting in a token effort, even if it was subconscious exhaustion on her part. Although this does make me wonder where Rarity was in the confrontation... hmm maybe something that will reappear later.
Also, it seems the key change in this world is the loss of the Elements of Harmony, a common factor in most dystopian alternatives, but I can't really see how they failed? Is it just that Twilight failed at making friends or something? Cause I don't see any other real thing that would cause it to fail.
Though Twilight recounting Applejack does make the idea that she tried to go alone the most likely.
Oh, I love this. Though getting attached to these characters is a sad thing when the Sunset of the main timeline killed this one. But perhaps she survived in some way. A master of necromancy with command of sun and moon should have some tricks, after all.
10337109
This was a setting in which the Sonic Rainboom never happened; consequentially this Twilight never hatched Spike's egg. She still was a potential alicorn and visible to Celestia as such, and still became her personal student, but when she went to Ponyville none of the five mares she was sent to meet felt any connection to her and having no interest herself in making friends, Twilight ended up going completely alone into the Everfree to stop Nightmare Moon. She failed completely, forcing Celestia into the backup plan (here at least) of rescuing Twilight and killing her younger sister. (None of this would make the Elements of Harmony especially available in the future.)
10492505
Ah. Thank you for clearing that up.
One thing I noticed is that Sunset calls changelings Free Minds here. That's a nice little detail, shows how she grew to respect their kind.
Well, the lack of a prosthetic legs and the mention of this being the first time Kukri has seen Canterlot make clear this is not the same future that the Prime Freeport Sunset will deal with, but it implies this would have been if not for Rising Fire going back in time to try and stop Starlight, since all those things are a result of those events leading to Starlight being cast out of her commune and getting picked up as Blackfyre's lacky.
I'd likely have to go back to Blood and Iron to see what's what with Rising Fire. I for one feel that RF is from a different timeline where Rarity and RD didn't get resurrected, at least not until Sunset went totally loco in the coco.
Multiverse hypothesis is a fascinating thought experiment but as for hard science yeah, I kinda agree with Sunny.
From the looks of things This story's version of RF might just succeed in fixing things, or at least making for a good pseudo-Equestria.
RIP Twilight Sparkle, Dinky, Kukri, HRH Celestia, and everyone else.
That was a good story.
You can has review!