• Published 9th Sep 2018
  • 1,660 Views, 131 Comments

Divergence - RQK



The many facets which once checked a now-dead ancient evil are now gone, and a shred of that evil has returned. And now its former prison threatens to steal all magic from everywhere. The complications grow from there.

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4 - Sunset

Starlight Glimmer scratched her head and then took a sip from her jasmine tea, noting its mellow taste. The small, circular table that she sat at hosted only the tea set that she and Celestia (who sat directly opposite her) used and a plateful of gems for Spike on her left.

Tempest Shadow, who sat to her right, raised a hoof into the air. “Just so I have this right… The Nameless… was able to tether to Twilight because she stepped into the chamber. And if it had spent enough time tethered to her and had taken enough of her energy, it would have been able to escape. Right?”

“I think so,” Spike replied before biting into a ruby.

“I think she mentioned on the train that the tether distance was from the center of the chamber to the wall, didn’t she?” Starlight asked.

Spike snapped his claws. “Yeah, exactly.”

Celestia took a delicate sip from her teacup, her eyes closed as she lost herself to the flavor. She paused for a moment before setting her cup down and sitting up straight. She then opened her eyes to look at Spike. “I seem to recall you saying that on the night that she performed The Answer, the six of you went to the tower in order to take her to the opera. Don Giofilly, I think.”

Spike grinned and flashed her a fingerbang.

“But,” Celestia continued, “from what you told me, she was sitting immediately on the other side of that door when you went. You were so very close to each other and yet you were not tethered.”

“Yeah, because there was a door between us and her.”

“And what about this future Twilight that popped up near the end?” Tempest asked.

Spike shrugged. “Well, she was time traveling. She would be safe.”

“I don’t believe that would necessarily destroy the tether,” Celestia said. “I think of it more as going someplace that the Nameless can’t make use of it.”

Spike crossed his arms. “Well… maybe. But future Twilight never stepped into the chamber either, so she wasn’t close enough to get tethered anyway. She wasn’t there long enough either.”

Celestia hummed. “How long would one need to be near a tethered pony to become tethered themselves?”

Spike crossed his arms. “Uhhhh… I don’t know. I think Twilight said that it depends on how close you are to them.”

“Seconds or minutes?” Starlight asked.

Spike pointed up at her. “Yeah,” he replied simply.

Celestia, after a moment of silence, simply smiled and nodded. “I see.”

The four of them sat in silence for a while. The windows outside showed a nighttime sky with the countless candles mounted on the walls and in chandeliers lighting the room for them. A small number of lights slowly meandered their ways across the grounds and the air above; guards on their nightly patrols. The city sounds had since died and the castle itself had nothing to say, so the four of them sat in silence.

And then Tempest sat up and turned her gaze toward the window. “Those two have been down in that chamber for a while,” she said.

Starlight leaned forward and rested her head against the table. “Yeah, I know. I’m getting worried.”

“Do you think that we should check on them?”

Spike frowned. “I really want to. But Twilight would probably throw a fit if we got in the way of her map mission.”

“I’m sure she’ll let us know if she needs us for anything,” Starlight added.

“We can only hope that she learned from last time,” Celestia said. “In the meantime, there was an experiment later on that determined that the worlds were periodic. And our world is both the beginning and end of the cycle.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. You know, in every other world, they were all working on the spell right up until Twilight had to go to the door. But in our world, Sunset actually completed The Answer.”

“And I would suspect that you felt very good about all of that. But then the Twilight from the world above you started talking, correct?”

Spike nodded.

“And,” Celestia continued, “she said that our Twilight had nothing?”

“Yeah, so we spent a while trying to figure all that out.” He picked up a gem and pointed at Celestia with it. “’Cause, you know, she was basically saying that Sunset went back in time and gave Twilight nothing.”

Starlight blew a raspberry. “Yeah, that’s weird. Wasn’t the whole reason you were doing all of that was to save Twilight’s life? It’d be kinda weird to not go ahead and give her the thing that would do it.”

“I know, right?”

“So wait,” Tempest piped up again. “In every other world, Sunset Shimmer time traveled to give Twilight information. And that kept building and building. How is it that she didn’t do that and yet these worlds still follow each other?”

Spike sighed and rested his arms against the table. “Gosh, that was a doozy. Sunset and future Twilight spent a lot of time talking about it. And they eventually realized what was going on and kinda set it up, even.”

“And what did Sunset do?”

Spike picked up a sapphire off his plate. “What she ended up doing was she wrote some clues into a book but didn’t put any actual data in there. So it was like she was giving Twilight nothing.”

“But, in doing so, she preserved the loop of events, right?” Starlight asked.

Spike nodded.

“Sunset Shimmer time traveled and met up with Twilight Sparkle after all, hmmm?” Celestia asked.

Spike nodded. “That’s right.”


Sunset Shimmer hit the dirty ground. She took a moment to regain her bearings, bringing her splayed limbs back in. This form was human still. After ascertaining that, she looked up.

She recognized this large cavern. She recognized the jagged crystalline ceiling. She recognized the monolithic rock structures with their bioluminescent circuits that brightened and dimmed in rhythm. She could see some new rock-tech embedded in the ceiling, each relaying large amounts of energy to the next and also into a lone crystal that floated between all of them.

A very large entity stood in the center of the cavern where the pedestal had once been. It was an entity of black slime and Sunset could even spot a red light in its middle. But unlike the messy blobs that had been the Nameless as she had seen it before, this entity had a quadrupedal build and held itself together very well. It stood at several times her size; Sunset guessed that this quadruped had to be the size of a small house.

It couldn’t be the Nameless, could it? This entity looked like the ones she had seen carved into the entryway of the Nameless’ chamber.

The dark-toned alicorn stallion from before stood opposite the entity. Sunset spotted the pedestal from before much further back against a wall. A rectangle made of light floated right in front of him. It looked like a screen containing a bunch of pictures and graphs.

Sunset tried to walk forward and, surprisingly, her body obeyed. She walked until she could see what looked like an identical screen floating in front of the Nameless-like entity (although it was much larger in its case).

The crystal that the beams shot magical energy into began to glow, and that was when the entity and the alicorn shared nods. It was then that the entity hit a large red button on their screen. The four large towers lit up and shot their beams of energy into the crystal now.

And, almost immediately, the crystal cracked and energy spewed in every direction. Both the entity and the alicorn flinched as a bolt tore across the ground. The alicorn cried out and pointed toward the ceiling as more bolts lashed out.

The Nameless-like entity started jamming at several digital buttons on the screen and the alicorn soon followed. However, even once the towers ceased shooting their energy beams and then the rocks in the ceiling after that, the crystal continued to spew energy in all directions.

Sunset cried out and even backed away from it. A stray came within a meter of hitting her and she hit the dirt in response. The alicorn in the chamber also hit the dirt, screaming all the while. The space around them began twisting and warping.

And the Nameless-like entity jumped up and tried to pull the crystal out of its place. It managed to grab a hold of it but that only served to pump all of that energy into its body. The entity screamed and spasmed as bits of magic arced across its blobby skin and innards. The entity only managed to hold on for a few moments more before a shockwave blasted it across the room.

And, yet, a single beam of energy connected it still to the now flailing crystal. Space continued to twist and distort with greater intensity until it seemed like it would finally rip apart. Beams of energy continued to rip through and scar the chamber and Sunset couldn’t move anymore.

Finally, the entity, with rogue energies still coursing through it, gave a mighty shriek. The space twisted together and then pulled apart, separating into several pieces. And Sunset’s world, for what she saw, collapsed.

And then she screamed and shot up from a laying down position. Sweat dripped off her brow as she fought to find her breath again. The room she found herself in was shrouded in darkness and a thick blanket covered her from the waist down.

It took her a moment to recognize the rest of her room. And the bed she lay in. And the night sky outside. But, once it all came to her, she managed to sigh and lay her head in her hands.

It had been another dream.

* * *

Sunset splashed some water on her face. And, when that didn’t do it completely, she splashed herself again. After that, she contented herself with steadying herself against the edge of the countertop and letting the water continue running.

She took several deep breaths and even reached up to wipe her eyes. And then she took a moment to look at her reflection in the mirror. She saw the bloodshot eyes and the tangled and messy hair and the pale face.

And Sunset saw herself shaking. Not strongly, but enough for her to notice.

If the Nameless fragment isn’t sealed away, Equestria dies, she thought.

Today made day six. Time was almost up.

If it isn’t sealed away for the rest of eternity

She looked at her reflection some more and then reached out and turned the water off. Eventually, she turned.

She emerged into her living room again, partially lit from some of the bathroom’s light. The stairway leading up to the loft containing her bed remained to her right. Her couch, which faced a large television, lay right in front of her.

But it was to her left that she saw her pet leopard gecko, Ray, pressed up against the glass of his terrarium. He stared at her intently, a small frown visible on his features.

Frowning herself, Sunset stalked over toward his terrarium and she reached a hand inside. Ray climbed onto it and allowed her to lift him out.

Sunset walked over to the couch and took a seat. There, she spent a few long moments just staring into space. With the city outside idle and the building equally so, the two sat in a deafening silence.

Her eyes fell on the message journal which lay dead center on the coffee table in front of her. She wondered about writing to Twilight. Maybe it was time to do so.

But she thought about her dreams. She thought about how Twilight had acted. She thought about what she had seen in that brief moment that she had grabbed Twilight’s arm during their skirmish.

Ray crawled into her lap where he could better look up at her. She responded by stroking a finger across his head.

Her eyes drifted toward the message journal again and, while she continued stroking Ray with one hand, she reached forward with her other and picked the journal up. She stared at its cover, weighing her options all the while.

* * *

Spike squinted as he looked into a morning sunbeam. The library had a golden glow to it that illuminated all of the strung-up articles weaved over the entire library.

Twilight Sparkle wrote some words into her message journal with her quill and then set that journal down right beside her. With that, she turned back to her chalkboard.

Starlight Glimmer, who sat across from him, stared at a sheet of paper in front of her. She had a disgusted frown on her face as she wrote some symbols down on it.

The double doors opened and Tempest Shadow walked in. She immediately spotted Twilight and then the two of them. She drifted toward the table and took a seat.

Starlight examined her work, snorted, crumpled it up, and flung it across the room where it landed amongst a small pile of crumpled sheets

The sound of it hitting the pile prompted Twilight to look and see where it landed. Her bloodshot expression remained unfazed as she considered it and then turned back to the chalkboard.

Tempest leaned across the table. “Anything?” she whispered.

Starlight shook her head. “Nope.”

“This is going nowhere, then.”

The three of them turned their heads toward Twilight and watched her in silence.

And, finally, Starlight punctuated it with a simple “Yeah.”

“We gotta think of something,” Spike said. “Y-you know, we got time, and…”

“Right. It’s not over yet,” Tempest said, nodding sagely.

They sat there and watched Twilight as she worked. For her part, Starlight made no attempts at grabbing a new sheet of paper. At one point, Twilight took to the air and physically followed some of her strings around the room. She hovered in front of one hanging sheet of paper in particular. She stared holes into it and then eventually lit her horn and floated up a stack of papers that sat next to her message journal. She flipped through those papers, intently scrutinizing their contents. As she continued reading it, she glided toward the ground and eventually touched back down. Twilight’s gaze flip-flopped between her documents and her scribbles on the board.

And then Twilight groaned and slammed the papers onto the floor. She cradled her head in her hooves and sighed.

The room hung within a palpable silence.

Twilight’s message journal began buzzing. All eyes turned to it but no one moved. Eventually, however, Twilight glanced between them and eventually landed on Starlight. Starlight, in turn, motioned to the journal.

Twilight sucked in a breath and levitated the journal over. She opened to the most recent page and began reading in silence. Her face paled further with every bit that she read. She started shaking and she even placed a hoof across her chest as if trying to steady her own heart.

Spike took a few steps toward her but couldn’t find anything to say.

Eventually, Twilight looked up and found him and she tentatively stood up. “Spike… I…”

“Twilight?” he asked.

“I… I need you to take a letter,” she croaked.

The whole room fell silent again. Eventually, Starlight and Tempest also turned their gazes to Spike as well.

And Spike sucked in a breath and produced both a piece of parchment and a quill, just as he had probably a thousand times before.

And Twilight began dictating.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

“I got a note from Sunset. She says that she knows the truth. She says she knows about where the Nameless fragment actually is.

“She says, ‘She wants to do it. She wants to do her part to end all of this.’

“Please give me some advice on what I should do at this juncture. I do not know how to proceed.

“Yours,
“Twilight Sparkle”

Spike’s quill stopped but he didn’t move much after. He merely looked up at her. He spent that moment processing what he had just written for her. He spent that moment processing what Sunset had said.

After a moment’s pause, Starlight swallowed. “N-no…”

“Send it,” Twilight said.

Spike frowned but nonetheless held up the scroll and spat green fire onto it. The resulting embers flew toward one of the cracked windows and disappeared into the world beyond.

And that left them to silence once more.

What seemed like an eternity passed, during which no one moved. They all stood there in stricken silence. They stood there as they soaked reality in.

Starlight trembled. Spike stared into nothingness. Tempest’s brow furrowed.

All color disappeared from Twilight’s face.

Spike gagged and then burped out some green fire. Said green fire materialized into a scroll that immediately fell into his waiting hands. Spike unfurled it and gave it a quick once-over. He then turned it and held it up for them to see. The letter itself only contained a few choice words:

I am on my way.

* * *

Sunset dipped her spoon into the applesauce in the corner of her tray before bringing it up to her mouth. She rested her head on her other hand while staring out the nearby window. This window didn’t offer much of a view as it simply opened to more of Canterlot High’s interior, but it would do.

She set her spoon down and rested her hand on her message journal. She would get something soon, that much she was sure of.

“Sunset, dear?” Rarity, who sat across from her, asked. “Are you alright? You’ve barely touched your food.”

Sunset took a quick glance at the untouched hamburger on her plate and she shook her head. “I’m not hungry…” she murmured.

Her other five friends, who sat at the table with her, looked on with frowns. And then Pinkie Pie returned to staring at the crystal ball in the center of the table. The crystal ball showed Princess Celestia’s unoccupied bedroom. The lighting outside indicated daytime.

The rest of the cafeteria carried about its business. Countless conversations blended together with the pwops of plastic trays hitting wooden tables. Flash Sentry and a few of his friends strummed on their guitars at their table in one corner of the room.

“Ah’m sure they’re doin’ their best to figure all this out,” Applejack said reassuringly, placing a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

Sunset grunted in response.

“I’m sure too,” Twilight seconded as she jotted some equations into a notebook. “Although it’s been six days now and they haven’t made any breakthroughs. I’m getting worried.”

Rainbow Dash leaned against the table. “You said it. I hate this waiting.”

“Eh, there was that speedup with the ball that Sunset found,” Applejack suggested.

“Yes, there’s that,” Twilight replied. She turned to Sunset. “Actually, any news on that?”

Sunset sat up and nodded. “Actually, yeah. Princess Twilight and I ran more measurements over the weekend. And… uh… it sped up again.”

The entire table turned to face her with wide-eyed shock.

“It what now?” Applejack asked. “What’s it doin’ now?”

Sunset stirred the applesauce within the tray. “It was doing a hundred and fourteen percent before. These last few days… We’ve been getting a hundred and twenty-seven percent.” She looked up. “It got faster.”

After a moment of silence, Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “...Why?”

Sunset shrank down again. “Heck if I know. And Princess Twilight doesn’t know either. We tossed some ideas around, but we have nothing. So it’s… whatever.”

Rarity snorted and shook her head. “This whole business is just… too strange. Too strange indeed, “she said as she repositioned her own burger on her plate. She turned in apple around, looked at it from a distance, turned it again, and then sat back with a nod. And then she held up her phone.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Really, Rarity? You’re harpin’ on Sunset for not eatin’, but here you are takin’ pictures?”

“Oh please, you know how important it is for me to keep up with the trends,” Rarity shot back.

Rainbow Dash, who had bitten into her burger, said, with a full mouth, “Nop, thaf’s stufid.”

Rarity lowered her phone and scowled at Rainbow Dash. And, when the rest of the table (sans Pinkie Pie and Sunset) displayed similarly disdainful expressions, she scowled at them too.

Sunset cracked a smile. “No. Let her take her pictures. It’ll make her happy, won’t it?”

Applejack smacked the table with her hand. “Ya can’t be serious. You’re okay with this, Sunset?”

Sunset shrugged. “It makes her happy.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna enter through the rear doors and stop to chat in the doorway.

“I take pictures of my food all the time,” Pinkie Pie mused. “Cause then I get to look at them later when I don’t have food and I can remember how good the food was.”

Sunset tilted her head so that she could see down her table. Her eyes drew over her friends and she watched them bicker in silence. Here they were, engaging in and taking their stances on the trends and fighting over it like the best high school friends would. It was something they would likely forget in about an hour and then, perhaps, they would fight over this again tomorrow, right before talking about what movies they would want to see together.

Watching it made her smile. She herself had been in those conversations once; not today, of course. She didn’t remember them, but she knew she had had them.

These girls, after all, were the ones she had gone on sleepovers with. These were the girls she had performed in a band with. These were the girls she had gone camping with, been in a movie with, got stuck in a magic mirror with, and fought monsters both of this world and the other with.

And they were happy, as they were meant to be.

And then Sunset heard a door creak open and looked around. The sound didn’t match any of the cafeteria doors and none of them were open anyway. And then she looked into the crystal ball and saw Princess Celestia stepping through.

And Pinkie Pie, who had been watching the whole time, suddenly perked up. “Hey, look who showed up in the ball!” she exclaimed.

Everyone else, save Sunset, leaned over the table to examine the room inside the crystal ball.

Princess Celestia trotted toward a shelf which had a tea set laying on top of it. Some steam billowed out of the spout. She approached it and took hold of the teapot with her magic, simultaneously setting down a stack of papers that she had brought up with her. “Would you like any tea, Twilight?” she asked.

Sunset blinked. Wait. Twilight is there? she thought.

The seven of them craned their necks and saw that a second alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, had followed her in.

And Twilight shut the door behind her. “Yes. Tea sounds fantastic right about now.”

And the human Twilight at the table adjusted her glasses and then picked up the ball and held it close to her face. “So that’s what my counterpart looks like in her own world. That’s incredible!” she wheezed.

Celestia poured two teacups full and then trotted over to Twilight, allowed Twilight to take one from her with her magic, and then she trotted toward the window. She took a sip from hers and watched the daylight.

“Yes, dear. But could you put that back down?” Rarity asked with a toothy smile. “Some of us want to watch too.”

Twilight blushed and set the ball back down in the middle of the table with a giggle. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I know you all have met your pony counterparts when they were ponies and… this is the first time I’m seeing mine as a pony.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “Twilight, I do not know about you, but I am still in awe at how far Sunset Shimmer has come along.”

Twilight took a sip from her own cup. “Oh, absolutely. Of course, you would know how she was better than I did, but when I first met her… for the few days I knew her then, she was… she was very mean and self-centered.”

Sunset lowered her head. “Yeah…”

“But now she’s one of the kindest, smartest, compassionate ponies that I know,” Twilight continued.

“Yes,” Celestia replied.

Applejack rubbed Sunset on the back and flashed her a smile. Sunset smiled in return.

“Certainly… I caught wind of it back when we faced the sirens together. But when she saved my life… I… was certain of it.”

“And I as well. I’ve probably said this before,” Celestia said, “but back when she was still my student, her ambition was to be a princess. Well, I’m sure you know all about this.”

“I do.”

“Of course, yes, she was not ready for it yet. She wanted it too much and, for as gifted as she is… she did not have the attitude for it. She was in it for the power. I doubt that she was prepared for the responsibility that came with it.”

Sunset nodded solemnly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she’s capable of being a princess now?”

The entire table watched in silence as they waited for the reply.

Celestia sighed and cracked a smile. “Of course I do, Twilight. I know that she would make a wonderful princess.”

Twilight grinned from ear to ear and even did a little hop. “I knew you’d agree! I think so too.”

Sunset chuckled at the display.

“I can’t say I haven’t spent time imagining it,” Twilight said before nervously chuckling. “I think her and I would do such a good job together. I don’t know if she wants it anymore, but just imagine if she was there, right by my side, and the two of us…”

Now everyone sat up in their seats and leaned forward to look at the scene more closely.

“It sounds like you have somewhat of an attachment to her, Twilight,” Celestia said.

Twilight blushed. “Well… we’re a lot alike in so many ways. She’s smart, helpful, kind… and after everything we’ve been through together… I don’t see why not.”

“Oooh,” Rarity cooed as she looked up at Sunset. “Do you hear that?”

Sunset grinned and lay her cheek on her hand. “Yeah…”

Rarity batted her eyes. “And? Tell me, Sunset, what do you think about Twilight?”

Sunset chuckled. “Well… she’s right about everything, really. And she is the most important person in my life. Pony or otherwise.”

Fluttershy, who sat at the opposite end of the table, silently squeed. Pinkie Pie followed albeit slightly louder.

Sunset’s smile faded. But that just means… if I am right…

Inside the crystal ball, Twilight stood up straight and, after taking another sip of her tea, returned to a more somber expression. “Princess Celestia…” Twilight began. “I don’t think you called me up here to talk about Sunset Shimmer, did you?”

Celestia stood facing the window for a few moments more as she drank her tea in silence. And then, after finally downing it, she then sighed and turned to face Twilight. “The reason I called you up here is that I have a very good idea of how this is going to pan out, Twilight. And you aren’t going to like it.”

“Really?” Twilight replied with a tilt of her head. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, “I am very much certain about the whereabouts of the Nameless fragment. I have already figured it out.”

A long and pregnant pause passed between them as the seven considered what had just been said. Their mouths slowly began hanging as their eyes slowly met each other’s.

Twilight gasped. “Oh! So… we could solve all of this right away.”

Celestia nodded and started walking a path around the bed that took up the center of her room.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew out of her seat. “They knew!?”

“For land’s sakes!” Applejack exclaimed, similarly standing up.

“Unbelievable!” Rarity exclaimed as she slammed the table. “So this whole time they’ve been dragging their heels on this!”

“Girls!” Twilight exclaimed with a pointed tone. “Keep it down!”

“You heard what she just said!” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed toward the ball. “They know where the Nameless fragment is. They’ve probably known for days now!”

Pinkie Pie puffed her cheeks out. “Yeah! What’s the big idea!? Huh? They could have saved their world a long time ago!”

“So why the hell aren’t they!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Sunset swallowed. Is this… is this what they talked about? Was this the conversation that Twilight had with Princess Celestia?

She bode her own body to stand up, but it disobeyed. That conversation was… six days ago. And it’s happening right now!

Sunset glanced up. The rest of the cafeteria had fallen silent, with all eyes now locked on their table. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna now shuffled in their direction.

“Quiet!” Twilight barked. “I am trying to hear what they are saying!”

At that, the six of them leaned over the ball again. Sunset meanwhile, lent her ear but put all of her other efforts on just steadying herself in her seat.

Princess Celestia approached the desk where the tea set sat and she replaced her cup there. “While you were down in the chamber, I spent time reacclimating myself with the events that you have lived and died through. And then, of course, I spent this past couple of hours pondering how a fragment of the Nameless might have gotten past us.”

Twilight shook her head. “Me too. And, I can’t think of how. I can’t think of any opportunity the Nameless or any part of it would have to get out.”

Celestia’s eyes trailed toward the documents laying beside the tea set and she considered them for a few moments. And then she solemnly shook her head. “Twilight… I think there was one such opportunity.”

Twilight blinked and then floated her teacup back to the tray as well. “Really? Do tell?”

Some of the nearby tables began whispering amongst themselves.

“You think they would have gotten right on this with their world being at stake,” one of the whispers said.

“Look, it’s natural selection at work,” another whisper said, gaining some stifled giggles in the process.

Sunset scowled as she considered the conversations around them. She then climbed to her feet and tried reaching across the table to take the crystal ball away. “Maybe I should go somewhere else for this,” she said.

“Nonsense,” Rarity scoffed. “We’re all interested to hear what they have to say.”

Twilight swiveled in her seat and noted how the entire cafeteria silently watched them (or, rather, listened in on the conversation in the crystal ball). “Yeah. I think everyone is. Come on, Sunset.”

Sweat started falling down Sunset’s face. “No, really.”

“There is one key question we have to ask when we consider where it might be: why is it only now that the seal is detecting it at all? Why did it not detect it when you were tethered to the Nameless? Why did it not detect it right after the unponies disappeared? Why now? Celestia paced in place. “It occurred to me that this had to be something which only recently became detectable. Do you agree with that logic, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded. “I do.”

“Don’t you wanna know where this Nameless fragment is?” Applejack asked.

“Yes… but…” Sunset replied.

“Then sit down and watch already,” Rainbow Dash hissed. “Geez. You’re being really stupid like Princess Twilight was being.”

Sunset grimaced. But… I think I already know what’s about to happen. I’m not sure… but…

Fluttershy, who was looking right at her, glanced at the others, and opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again.

“It is not merely Nameless energy because, otherwise, the unponies would have consumed it,” Princess Celestia said. “And it cannot be something from before whence you found and destroyed it because the Nameless would have escaped a long time ago.”

Those that were standing took their seats with Applejack more or less leading Sunset back down into hers. Sunset sighed and lay her arms on the table and watched.

“The way that you described the Nameless’ tether to me once was as an extension of the Nameless itself,” Celestia continued. “It is just a small part of that larger entity. A fragment, if you will. But a tether by itself is not enough to trip the seal. That much I am certain of.”

Twilight blinked. “Yes…?”

“But even a tether, given the right conditions to grow and fester, could become something pronounced enough to detect.”

Twilight blinked again and even wobbled in place. “But… I don’t understand how that could be right. I mean… The Nameless’ tether to me was broken when I died… and I was so sure to not tether onto anypony else. Not when I was flying to the cavern, at least. I don’t see how any tether could have made it past that point.”

“But you see, Twilight, that is exactly what I am getting at. A tether did survive past that point.

Sunset grabbed the table again and used it to push herself to her feet. But she only found enough strength to make it to the nearby window where she steadied herself against that instead and gazed into the hallways beyond.

“How could that have happened?” Twilight asked.

“I am of the mind that if you go someplace outside where the Nameless could have done anything to you, even if you were tethered, you would be safe but the tether would be unbroken,” Celestia said. “So, what would happen if, say, somepony spent several minutes closely in your presence, perhaps unknowingly became tethered in the process, and then traveled someplace or, rather, sometime beyond the Nameless’ reach?”

Sunset felt her heart drop twenty meters inside her chest.

Twilight looked like she had forgotten to breathe. She stared holes into Celestia now.

“And then,” Celestia continued, “perhaps, its host underwent several transformations since then. Perhaps she powered up. Or perhaps her body was transformed entirely. Perhaps that dormant fragment morphed with each transformation, slowly having a more pronounced impact on its host, until, finally, it causes her great pain whenever she transforms, and it causes her to see what she should not.”

Twilight’s eyes flickered over every inch of the room and she even stroked her chin in thought. And then her jaw dropped and she looked at Celestia again only to find a solemn frown.

And then Twilight let out a gasp so sharp that it could have very well been a scream.

The six still sitting at the table exchanged glances, briefly considered Sunset as she managed to lift herself off the window and stand up straight, and then practically pressed their faces into the ball.

Sunset closed her eyes and steeled herself for what came next.

And Princess Celestia nodded. “There’s a reason she is seeing the Nameless in her dreams. There is a reason she can feel a thing inside her tearing her apart.” Celestia pointed at her chest and thundered, “That fragment of the Nameless… it lives… inside of Sunset Shimmer!”

Every little whisper died at that moment as everyone in the entire cafeteria glanced between each other, sharing expressions of dropped jaws and wide-eyed shock. Some eyes turned to Sunset now.

Sunset’s friends didn’t even dare to tear their eyes away from the ball but, all at once, all of the colors drained from their faces.

And Sunset tensed up. There it was.

Twilight failed to find her voice for several long seconds. All that escaped her were some pained grunts and wheezes. Finally, she managed to get out, “S-so… when all of this is said and done… we have to seal Sunset Shimmer away for the rest of eternity?”

Celestia nodded solemnly and averted her gaze. “Yes. Yes. We must… seal her away.”

Rainbow Dash, now trembling, looking so pale that it was as if the life had been sucked out of her, slowly and shakily stood up; she, however, could not do so without steadying herself against the table.

Twilight began shaking her head; slowly at first, and then with greater ferocity. “No… no no no! There must be some kind of mistake! It’s not Sunset! The Nameless fragment isn’t in her!”

Celestia finally lifted the stack of papers off the desk and held them up. “Then look at this, Twilight, and tell me that what is inside her does not match the Nameless’ signature. Tell me that the data is wrong!”

Twilight took them and began flipping through the pages. Her practically scanned them at a breakneck pace but, as she continued along, and as she considered the numbers, diagrams, and tables within, she began shaking her head. “No… No… I can’t…”

“Twilight.”

“I can’t. I’m not going to seal Sunset away. I can’t do that.”

“We might not have a choice!” Celestia bellowed. “We cannot allow Equestria to be destroyed. Not ours, not the others either!”

Twilight stamped the ground. “No! I don’t accept this! I…” She wiped some forming tears from her face. “I will… I will find another way.”

Sunset’s friends now looked up at her. Sunset, meanwhile, didn’t even flinch, much less turn around to face them.

“Another way?” Celestia said. “What do you mean by ‘another way?’ The Nameless fragment is what the seal wants, Twilight. The seal wants her.”

Twilight expression firmed up. “No, it doesn’t. It wants what’s inside her. There has to be a way to give the seal what it wants without having to put Sunset away.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”

Twilight searched the floor for answers. “I-I-I… I don’t know… I’ll… I’ll think of something.”

“You really want to try?”

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed, standing at her full height. “I-I’ll find a way! I’ll find a way to save her! I know I will!”

Celestia sniffled, and after a few moments of watching Twilight’s expression deteriorate, she stood up straight. “Twilight… you are a very capable mare and I won’t do anything to stop you from trying. And, truthfully, my deepest hope is that you can succeed.” Celestia’s expression tightened up. “But Twilight… what happens if you can’t do it?”

Sunset shuddered. And she hasn’t. And she can’t, she thought.

“What then? What happens then?” Celestia asked.

A few more tears started sliding down Twilight’s face and, while she remained audibly composed, she made no effort to wipe her face either. She eventually found the strength to meet Celestia’s stare. And she swallowed. “T-then…”

Applejack removed her stetson and held it against her chest. The Twilight who sat next to her reached under her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

“Then… we must seal her away,” Twilight croaked.

Celestia’s face paled in response but she nonetheless nodded. She silently trotted toward an archway and disappeared into an adjacent room. Twilight remained rooted to her spot all the while. Celestia reappeared a few moments later with a crystal ball floating in her magic, although to those at the table, it appeared a pure white.

Celestia set the crystal ball beside Twilight and then made it a few steps toward the door. She then paused. “We both know what must be done in the meantime. I will take care of things here,” she said as she opened the doors with her magic. “The papers over there are yours. Do what you will. And keep me updated.”

Twilight vacantly nodded.

Celestia trotted into the doorway and stopped. She looked over her withers at Twilight and gave a simple, “Good luck,” before she trotted into the castle beyond.

And Twilight sat there for several moments as tears continued falling down her face. Several seconds of silence passed by before she finally chanced a sob. She then chanced a few more sobs. She let her face fall into her hooves and she silently cried.

The cafeteria’s rear doors opened and a couple of girls—Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo—shuffled in. They both had their phones in their hands and their eyes immediately fell on Sunset. They exchanged horrified glances with Apple Bloom who, as she sat at a table near them and thus looked up, acknowledged their entrance by placing her own phone back on the table.

The rest of the cafeteria remained deathly silent.

Inside the crystal ball, Twilight finally wiped her face and took several long and deep breaths to compose herself. Her eyes had already puffed up. She slowly stood up straight, wrapped her magic around the crystal ball sitting beside her, and then trotted toward the door herself. Finally, she too left the room, leaving it completely empty and still.

The school’s ventilation blanketed the cafeteria with a constant low whisper, but one could have easily claimed to hear a pin drop somewhere.

The human Twilight that sat with them finally stood up. She had one hand clenched into a trembling fist while the other gripped the table for dear life.

And Sunset still couldn’t face them. Her own expression, which she could see in her reflection, remained distant. She knew they were all looking at her now, and it was just as likely that word was already spreading around the school.

She heard some sniffles from within the crowd. She heard a sniffle or two from the table immediately behind her where her friends gathered. And, yet, she felt none of what they felt.

She mulled over her next words because they would break the silence. They had to.

“The truth is…” Sunset began with a calm tone, “I kind of knew about it being inside me… the Nameless fragment. I just… I didn’t want to believe it.”

She briefly looked over her shoulder before staring into her reflection again. “I didn’t expect to see that conversation today, let alone now. That’s… I didn’t want you all to find out this way.” She shook her head. “Honestly… I didn’t really want you to find out at all.”

She sighed and hung her hands on the pockets of her leather jacket. “But here we are. I’ve… I’ve had some time to think about this over the past few days. And I’ve asked a lot of you about this, and practically all of you said the same thing. Everyone is depending on me now. Everypony, everygriffon, everydragon…”

Sunset mulled over her next words. She knew what she was about to say, but that was not what caused her to hesitate. If the conversation they had all just witnessed was the coating of fuel, what she would say next would be the lit match that would ignite it. She could no longer afford to not face them. And so she turned.

The entire cafeteria stared back at her, holding its breath.

Sunset Shimmer sighed through her nose. “I can’t let this happen. So… I’m going to give myself up to them.”

And, immediately, Rainbow Dash replied with a pointed, “No!”

And several sets of eyes turned to consider Rainbow Dash, including Sunset’s.

“You…” Rainbow Dash trembled. “You can’t. You can’t do that.”

“I have to,” Sunset replied.

“No, you can’t.”

Applejack set her stetson on the table and she stood up. “Don’t you be hasty now, Sunset. There’s gotta be somethin’ that can be done!”

“Yes!” Rarity cried. “There has to be!”

Twilight sniffed and rubbed underneath her glasses again. “Didn’t my counterpart say that there was some power that could destroy the Nameless?” she asked.

“Yes! The Rainbow Power!” Pinkie Pie shrieked.

“It won’t satisfy the seal,” Sunset countered.

“Are you kidding me!? That’s fucking stupid!” Rainbow Dash growled.

Rarity, now with her own tears dragging her makeup down her face (creating black streaks in the process), looked between all of them and then back to Sunset. “W-what if they got the Nameless fragment out of you somehow and…” Rarity stammered.

Sunset shook her head. “I spent this morning messaging Twilight back and forth. She was trying to come up with a way to do just that. And she doesn’t think that she can do it.”

Applejack punched the table with such force that the entire table cracked down the middle (her geode shone in that brief moment), also causing the trays on it to jump. “For land’s sakes! There’s gotta be somethin’!”

Sunset, after a moment of silence (especially as she examined the now buckling table), sighed. “No, Applejack. I don’t see a way out of this one. It’s either I give myself up or Equestria dies. And not just mine, either.”

“But…” Rarity croaked.

Sunset’s features darkened. “You all told me that if I had to choose throwing down my life for the good of everyone else, that I should do it.”

“But…!” Twilight exclaimed. “Sunset, what you’re talking about is a fate worse than death!

And that verbal punch practically knocked so much of her strength out of her that she reeled against the window. She turned to look at her reflection again, saw the fear in her own eyes, and nodded. She then let her head thump against the glass. “I know…” she croaked. “I know.”

The cafeteria fell quiet again, although now a small scattering of her fellow students were now openly sobbing despite their best attempts to muffle themselves. Many of the girls held each other close while many of the boys tried, with varying degrees of success, keeping straight faces. Granny Smith watched from the kitchen window, tried cleaning out her ear again, and then frowned as she considered the overall catatonia. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna appeared frozen in place, unable to even respond in the slightest capacity.

The message journal on the table began glowing and vibrating. Many sets of eyes turned toward it but no one moved. It rang a second time and then a third time.

Sunset stood up straight and approached the table again. She reached down with one hand, opened the book to the most recent page, and began reading.

And, after a few moments of that, she flipped it shut again and looked at her friends again. “I told Princess Twilight that if there really wasn’t anything else that could be done… that she was to come and get me.”

Sunset swallowed. “That was her just now. She’s… here.”

A loud bang shattered the silence as all the air rushed out of Pinkie Pie’s frazzled hair. It now lay perfectly straight. She wiped her own face free of falling tears but more quickly appeared to take their place.

Twilight, still pale-faced, shuffled around Applejack and came face to face with Sunset. And, yet, she looked everywhere but Sunset herself. “S-so… this is it, then? You’re… leaving us? This will be the last time we ever see you?”

“This isn’t how I wanted it to go, but…” Sunset nodded solemnly. “Yeah.

Fluttershy made an unnaturally high squeak as she too fought her tears.

“I’ll… I’ll…” Twilight tried.

Sunset’s frown deepened.

“Just…” Twilight took her glasses right off her face and wiped her eyes with her entire arm, taking a moment to sob a couple of times in the process. She then, still with glasses in hand, looked back up at Sunset. “I’ll… I’ll… I’ll never forget you!”

Sunset felt some water welling up in her eyes. “Never,” she replied.

At one of the nearby tables, Wallflower Blush flinched.

Twilight flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around Sunset. Sunset remained in a catatonic state at that moment and failed to return the hug, especially with Twilight trapping her arms.

Applejack stumbled forward and wrapped her arms around them. Fluttershy stood up and followed suit. Rarity, now with all of her makeup now running, hobbled around the end of the table and hugged Sunset from behind. Rainbow Dash started forward, helping a bawling Pinkamena Diane Pie to her feet along the way, and the two of them joined the huddle.

And then several of the other students in the immediate vicinity came forward and joined the hug. Soon it was ten, then twenty, then thirty. People from the other side of the room hobbled forward to join in. Those who didn’t remained vacant and glazed.

And it seemed like an eternity passed in that room.

Eventually, the pack loosened up enough that Sunset’s friends could let go of her.

Sunset straightened up. She picked up the message journal and presented it to Twilight. Twilight, in turn, accepted it and held it close to her chest. She then picked up the crystal ball and tucked it under her left arm.

Sunset then started forward. Her friends, and then some after that, followed behind her.

* * *

Principal Celestia shuffled forward in a daze, half-convinced that she was in a bad dream she couldn’t wake up from. The words she had heard still rang in her ears. All of her capacities busied themselves with trying to process what had happened and what was happening and what was going to happen; her walking forward was merely an autonomy.

Her sister, Vice Principal Luna, shuffled along right beside her. Several students walked beside them with the same wet and dazed expressions that they themselves wore.

Looks ahead revealed more students towards the front of the procession, and then Sunset Shimmer’s friends, and then Sunset Shimmer herself.

The hallways were an arrhythmic pitter-pattering of steps that no one really heard. There weren’t many classrooms on this route to the foyer—the broken, boarded-up, and caution-taped cafeteria front doors (courtesy of a football as she recalled) that normally opened to the foyer forced them to take this route—but all of their doors were open with the classes inside standing in the doorways, watching them go by with some even falling in line.

The procession rounded a corner and finally the foyer came into view. This hallway opened up into a circular room two floors high, sporting balconies and two sets of staircases that flanked the front entrance. Sunset stopped for a moment to examine the flags and banners that hung from the upper railings as well as the trophy cases recessed into the curves of the wall, and then she turned toward the front doors. She opened them, paused for a long time in the doorway, holding a hand over her mouth for a little bit as she stared at someplace in the distance, and then stumbled out.

The rest of the procession slowly followed her out.

Many clouds hung above Canterlot High, casting the entire front yard with grey light that desaturated everything and everyone that it touched. Several windows, especially on the upper floors, lay open with several bodies hanging out in order to properly view the proceedings.

Several individuals stood in silence in front of the Wondercolt statue on the far side of the lawn. Most were figures that Celestia recognized. Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Starlight Glimmer was not as familiar but she had been to the school once or twice before. And then there was, of course, the unfamiliar one with the scar across one of her eyes, wearing a tank top, camouflage jeans, and some heavy-duty boots. Tempest Shadow, perhaps.

But it was the final person that caused all breath to leave her.

A tall figure about her own height stood behind the rest of the Equestrians. Her long, flowing hair looked just like her own, containing a mixture of cyan, sapphire blue, aquamarine, and mulberry, and her purple eyes had the same sheen Celestia saw when she looked at her reflection in a mirror. Even the light magenta-ish skin tone matched. But what really caught her eyes was the long, flowing, elaborate gown that she wore, bearing golden adornments, which fluttered in the calm breeze.

It was her counterpart, the princess. And she was here.

Luna made a strained gasp and then steadied herself on her sister’s shoulder. Celestia herself had no words.

Sunset walked down the steps and across the lawn. She swerved toward Tempest, Spike, and Starlight who received her with open-mouthed shock (the former less so than the latter two). Sunset presented the crystal ball to Starlight, which she took without so much as even looking down to recognize it was there. Spike, who was a dog in this form, trotted around her backside to look at her more closely.

Sunset took a few steps toward the portal which brought her right beside Twilight. Twilight herself wore a grim face and couldn’t even bring herself to look at Sunset when she stopped right beside her. And Sunset didn’t look at Twilight either. Sunset did, however, exchange glances with Princess Celestia who remained stone-faced the whole time.

And then Sunset took one last look back at everyone that had followed her out. Everyone did some combination of sobbing quietly, hanging onto friends for dear life, failing to take breath, wiping their wet faces, or fidgeting. Sunset’s friends remained so tightly packed that not even a knife could part them.

For all Celestia knew, Sunset was about to die to them, right before their eyes. Her knees buckled and it was only because Luna had already grabbed onto her for support that either of them was able to remain standing.

And seeing Sunset’s blank, defeated expression was daggers through her.

Sunset sighed and turned back to look at the Wondercolt statue. Straightening up, she walked forward, right into the base. And then, with a flash of light, Sunset Shimmer was there no more.

Starlight sucked in a breath and then led Tempest toward the portal as well, with Spike trotting dutifully behind. They too entered the statue’s base. Princess Celestia glided toward it as well and disappeared soon after that.

And Princess Twilight finally found the strength to look up at all of them, but her expression made her appear like she had seen a ghost with how ghastly she looked. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find words but nothing ever came.

She averted her gaze and then, finally, slunk into the portal as well.

Everyone stared at the empty courtyard. Everyone stared at the idle statute.

And then one of Sunset’s friends, Rainbow Dash, made a shrill cry. She broke away from her group and stumbled down the steps before breaking into a sprint. She rushed headlong into the statue’s base where the portal was but ended up colliding with its face.

And Rainbow Dash began banging on the statue base with both fists and then started outright punching it. She punctuated every hit with a frustrated and irate cry.

Applejack broke away from the group as well and ran after Rainbow Dash.

Pinkamena and Fluttershy fell to the ground, cradling each other as their shrieks pierced the heavens.

Rarity collapsed by herself, still bawling her eyes out.

Their Twilight Sparkle managed to remain standing but she now had her glasses folded up and hanging from her collar; her hands now cradled her face as she cried.

Celestia herself felt increasingly numb and now had to contend with her own tears and sobs. Luna clung to her now, being in a similar state of despair.

Applejack finally caught up to Rainbow Dash and tried to wrestle her away from it. Rainbow Dash continued punching it and, when Applejack pulled her far enough away, kicking it. The two then toppled over and it was then, as Rainbow Dash began cradling her hand, that her agonized screams reached a crescendo.

And countless others gathered on the front steps, inside the foyer, and in the windows now broke down and openly cried.

Canterlot High School’s wails of anguish and sorrow carried into eternity.