• Published 1st Nov 2021
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No One For the Gallows But Me - Coyote de La Mancha



To prevent an innocent girl being punished for her own crime, Sunrise Shimmer returns to the human world.

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2. Trial by Stone: Stillness and Orbits; Sculptures, Moonlight, and Shadows.

She sat alone in her concrete cell and tried not to be afraid.

It was Sunday morning in Canterlot Courthouse and Corrections, and she was very lucky. That’s what the cops had said. Lucky that she could speak English. Lucky that she hadn’t resisted arrest. Lucky that Canterlot didn’t keep scum like her in prison while awaiting trial, like a lot of places did. Lucky that, at her age, the judge would probably go easy on her. Lucky that the girl she’d shot had survived.

Lucky that she was only looking at a few decades in a cage, instead of life.

Lucky that her life was over.

But her mom was going to be okay, she reminded herself. And if she was shivering, she thought, it was because of the cold. They had the air conditioning cranked up too high or something.

She’d be fine. She’d get through this.

Covering herself with her blanket, she rolled onto her side, facing the wall. And, unseen by any who might peer in, clutching her knees to her chest, Aurora Borealis silently wept.


“Sunny! Slow down!”

The bike wove madly between lanes, between cars and trucks. Twilight hoped no one noticed the glow of her magic, desperately maintaining her position on the bike's seat while she held her phone in one hand and clung to Sunset's waist with her other arm.

Sunset was shaking her head, shouting over the wind. “No! We’ve got to get there before—”

“I just heard back from Rainbow Dash! She’s got this!”

“How does she—oh.”

“Yeah! So slow down!” Twilight squeezed a little tighter. “Please?”

Sunset began easing off the accelerator, bringing their mad weaving in and out of afternoon traffic to something Twilight considered at least bearable.

“Sorry, honey,” Sunset said.

“It’s okay. I get it. Just don’t get us killed. Kinda makes it all pointless, you know?”

“Yeah, okay. Though, it looks like we’re almost there.”

“Great,” Twilight said into her girlfriend’s mane. “Wonderful. Outstanding. Which means we can go back under the speed limit, right?”

Sunset smiled a little sheepishly as she continued to decelerate. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Thank you.”

“Sorry, hon.”

Another squeeze. “It's okay.”


Rainbow Dash looked at the sky, the school, the damaged plinth. She sighed. Sure it was great to be there early, for just in case. But… what were they hoping to accomplish, exactly?

Twilight had been pretty vague on that part. Sure, the other Sunset was coming back to face the music. Somebody else was taking the fall for her, and she was going to make it right. Or, at least as right as she could. That only made sense. For all that Rainbow didn’t like the girl, it wasn’t like she was evil.

I mean, after all, she did the crime, she thought, absentmindedly kicking at a tuft of grass. Whatever the courts hand her, it’s not like she doesn’t have it coming.

Then she sighed, her mouth thinning, and looked up again at the clouds.

The again, we were ready to do the same, she admitted to herself. Worse, really. After all, Twilight survived. She almost didn’t. If Sunset had made a different call…

Rainbow shuddered a little, despite the summer heat, and started pacing. That night, at the beginning of summer, she’d had no questions. ‘How’ hadn’t mattered. Neither had what would follow. Only retribution, revenge for the friend they’d nearly lost. Only Fluttershy'd had doubts.

But since then, the blue girl with the rainbow hair had given the matter a lot of thought. It had been a dark time for all of them. She’d never thought it possible to feel that kind of hatred. She’d never thought she’d had that kind of… thing within herself.

But it turned out that she did. They all did, in fact. And that night their shadows had taken them all by surprise, all but Fluttershy, swept them up and carried them away.

Many times since then she’d wondered, could they have gone through with the aftermath of something like that? Dump the body in a pig pen, maybe in a land fill?

And after that just… what? Pretend they’d never done it?

And then, what about when Twilight woke up?

Rainbow grimaced, hugging herself and spinning to lean against the plinth. One of the first things Twilight had wanted when she’d awakened the second time was to talk to the other Sunset. Her scary brain had already figured out who her assailant had to have been. And of course, Twilight had wanted to know why. Why a crying, human-born Sunset had tried to take Sunny’s life. And, true to form, Twilight had wanted the other Sunset to know it was okay.

What would they have told her, if they’d gone through with it?

She’d never have looked at us the same way, Rainbow thought. Even Sunny. After all, Twilight had faced her own inner shadow before, back in the Friendship Games. Maybe they could have stayed together after that. Maybe not. But no matter what, something between them would have died along with the other Sunset.

She tried to imagine what that world would have been like. Assuming they’d never be caught, they themselves never suspected for their crime. Which, considering how messed-up records were between Sunset and Sunrise (as Sunny said she was called now), wasn’t an impossibility. Assuming the body was never found, no one would know she was even missing.

So, assuming all that…

To live with that always looming over you, she thought. Not just the possibility of being caught, even twenty or thirty years later, or more, but just the fact that you’d done it at all.

Rainbow Dash let out her breath in a huff, sliding down the stone, still thinking about that other timeline of what-if. Forget about years or decades. If they had murdered the other Sunset, would they all still be friends today?

She made a sour face. Maybe. Fluttershy would’ve been as supportive as she could, but they’d have crossed a line she couldn’t really forgive. Rainbow could imagine Twilight and Sunset heading to different colleges in the Fall, using the distance as a passive excuse for what they’d both know was coming. AJ would do her best to live with it head-on; Rarity would do her best to forget. So, anything between them would probably be shot, too.

But above all else, they’d all be powerless to help the girl under arrest right now, accused of the other Sunset’s crime.

Which brought her to today.

Rainbow pushed herself off the plinth, stood, started pacing again. Twilight had said that the other Sunset was coming back to turn herself in, because the cops had grabbed the wrong girl and squeezed a confession out of her. And, despite her personal dislike for the girl, Rainbow had to admit that at least she wasn’t a coward.

At the same time, what were they supposed to do about it? If the cops already had a confession, would they listen to a bunch of kids who were almost in college? Even if one of them also confessed?

She snorted. Probably not.

And even if they did, what then? Save the other Sunset somehow? From something she probably deserved anyway?

But once again, hadn’t they all been ready to do far worse?

Rainbow Dash sat down in the grass with her chin on her fists and sighed. She wished she’d brought her soccer ball or something, anything to distract herself from the thoughts that kept spinning inside her.

As if on cue, the cracked stone before her started to glow with an otherworldly light. That was fine; better to be angry than conflicted any day. Rainbow Dash stood again, eyes narrowed and mouth thinned into a determined line. With clenched fists, she strode towards the ancient plinth and the figure emerging from it.

“Okay, let’s get one thing straight right now,” she started, jabbing one finger at the figure emerging from the gate. “You’re doing the right thing. I respect that, and I’m here to help. But don’t read too much into that, got it? I am not your friend. I’m… I’m…”

Her voice trailed off as she stopped and stared upwards at the figure gracefully straightening herself. The overhead clouds seemed to swirl, embracing her arrival in a depth of shadow uncharacteristic for the summer morn, even as the gateway illuminated her in a cool silver light.

Perfectly poised on black stiletto heels, black fishnet stockings against midnight blue skin. The figure’s mini dress was ebon-coloured leather, covering her from just above her knees to mid-sternum, emphasizing her figure without embellishment. Her jacket was loosely woven black silken lace, allowing the contrast between clothing and flawless skin to dance before the eye as she moved, even as it gave somehow the impression of both mist and gossamer wings.

Her hair cascaded past her waist in varying shades of sapphire, azure, and Persian blue, coiling and dancing slowly in the late summer wind. Across her throat, a black leather collar, bearing in silver the varying phases of the moon. Her cyan eyes taking in and measuring all the world against an eternity of wisdom.

There was nothing regal about the woman who stood before the astonished teen, drowning her words into silence with her very presence. Rather, this was a deity, a goddess before whom the kings and queens of old could have knelt and worshipped with neither hesitation nor remorse.

Then, as the magical light faded and the clouds parted again, the moment passed. The towering, divine figure was merely a woman, although a beautiful one, only slightly taller than the teenager before her, her agelessness settling into something akin to her early twenties.

Princess Luna’s smile was warm as she stepped forward into the late August sun, taking the younger woman’s hands in both of her own.

“You must be Rainbow Dash,” she said.


Thanks to most of the band living closer to CHS, the remaining six friends arrived at about the same time. Approaching the school, they’d been expecting to see Sunrise, of course. And regardless of their varying opinions of her, they were all, more or less, expecting to see her uncertainty. She was, after all, looking at taking a prison sentence to keep someone else from taking the fall. And they’d been expecting Rainbow Dash to already be there. Because, well, Rainbow Dash.

The elegant woman with Sunrise, however, had not been expected.

Pinkie Pie was the first to recover, of course, leaping forward happily with her arms open and a “Hiya, Princess!”

“Greetings, Pinkie Pie!” the princess laughed, catching her in mid-air and spinning her around. Then, setting the teen on her feet, she turned to the rest, saying happily, “And now I get to meet all of you!”

Sunrise and Rainbow Dash made the few remaining introductions needed, and there were hand clasps and smiles exchanged while they did. Meanwhile, Sunset simply stood, staring, her mouth hanging open. With a knowing smile, Twilight reached over and lifted her jaw, closing her mouth with an almost audible click.

Then, the pair of them stepped forward, and for several moments no one spoke as there was a long, comforting embrace between the four family members. The breeze picked up again, and a few early leaves rustled quietly along the sidewalk. Eventually, almost as one, Twilight, Luna, Sunset and Sunrise sighed and looked at one another.

“Would that this meeting of ours had a happier cause,” Luna said, her smile tinged with sorrow.

“Yeah, well,” Sunrise said, looking down, “we might want to get in as much time together as we can.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Sunset replied. “We just need a plan.”

Then, looking around, “Who’s for our place?”

“Actually, I know someplace that might be more ideal,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Who’s for coffee and research?”

At Sunset’s quizzical look, she explained, “I used to hang out at this place, back in Crystal Prep. The owner knows me, and it has about a million books. Well, okay, technically closer to ten thousand. But we can order whatever isn’t already there. And I think we’re going to need to do a lot of reading on this one. None of us are lawyers. Or know any.”

“That all sounds perfectly splendid,” Rarity pointed out. “But it’s also Sunday. Are you quite sure they'll be open?”

“I, um, kind of texted ahead on the way here,” Twilight said uncomfortably. “He said he could have the place open for us if we wanted. And he’s got books there that you can’t find on the internet or in a library. And if we’re going to do this…”

“We need to do it right,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah. Good call, Twilight.”

“We might also want to ask Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna if they could join us,” Rarity pointed out. “And Shining Armor as well. The more friendly minds we have working on this, I think, the better.”

“Shining’s on shift right now,” Twilight said, “I’ll have to fill him in later. As for the Two Sisters…”

“They did say t'call 'em if we ever needed help,” Applejack pointed out. “I think this qualifies.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. That was my thought, too.”

There was a chorus of general assent, and they all began their way along the sidewalk, back towards the front lot. Then Twilight frowned and turned to Princess Luna.

“Hey, it just occurred to me,” Twilight said. “I don’t know how much things have changed since you were here last, but what kind of technology did they have then? Are you, um, culture shock proof? This might be a little jarring.”

Princess Luna cocked her head, saying, “It was within our counterparts' lifetimes, so I should be fine. But tell me, how did you know I’d been here before?”

“You’re walking on heels.”

A slivery laugh. “Ah! Of course, I should have realized.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “You were wearing heels on your first visit?”

Luna grinned. “Tragically, horrifically, and against my consent… yes.”

Wow,” Sunset said. “I am so sorry.”

There was some more welcome laughter at that, and the group began to meander towards the front lot. But Twilight hung back slightly, and, curious, Sunset matched her pace. After enough space had grown between the pair and their friends for privacy, Twilight gave Sunset a teasing look.

“So… Vice Principal Luna, huh?”

Sunset blinked. “What?”

Twilight gave her a friendly elbow. “You know.”

“What? No! C’mon, I was all… you know…” Sunset gestured awkwardly. “World-conquesty and stuff.”

At her fiancé’s increasingly amused look, she rolled her eyes, adding, “Okay, maybe I did have a little crush when I first got here. A little. But I was, what, fourteen?”

Then she looked away, quickly adding. “And anyway, I didn’t have time for any of that. Like I said, I was busy.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sunset turned back to her with a sly look. “So… what about you? Any crushes I should know about?”

“You mean, besides Timber Spruce?” Twilight smiled and blushed, taking Sunset’s hand and squeezing it. “Only one.”

Sunset squeezed back, also blushing. “Aw…”

Upon reaching the lot, they found their friends still waiting for them. Most of them were good-naturedly leaning on vehicles, while Pinkie Pie sat cross-legged on her car’s hood.

“Don’t do us much good leavin’ if we don’t know where we’re goin’,” Applejack grinned.

“Oh! Right! Sorry,” Twilight said, whipping out her phone. “I’ll Eris you the address…”

“You could just tell us the name of the place, darling,” Rarity pointed out. “We’ll find it on Bazillion Map.”

There was the slightest pause as Twilight recalled that other people did, in fact, sometimes use maps to get around their own city.

“Sure, no problem,” she said with a sheepish smile. “It’s called Lectern’s New and Used Books.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh, yeah! I know the place!”

“Well, alright then,” Applejack smiled as she opened her truck’s door. “We’ll see you there.”