The Girl Who Orbited the Sun

by Dee Pad

Chapter 12 - Invaders

The Girl Who Orbited the Sun
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 12: Invaders

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"Mommy, why does Celie get to move the sun?"

"Luna, dear, it's not that she 'gets' to do it. You both have important tasks that you must perform. Raising the moon is just as important as the sun."

"And Mom and Dad named you Luna, so it'd be weird if you were in charge of the sun."

"Not the point, girls."

"Your father's right. We're teaching both of you how to raise both the sun and moon. The point is that you must work together. If day and night are not in balance, it could cause problems. You are both going to have to support each other in this endeavor."

"But..."

"Are you saying you like the sun better, Luna?"

"No, Dad..."

"Listen, I know it might seem less glamorous, but you will also learn to manage the stars in the sky. One day, you might even get to form your own constellations. How would like it knowing that people will one day look up and recognize the cosmic art you've created?"

"Mmm... Can I make one that looks like a bunny?"

"Uh, sure, if that's what you want, moon pie, haha."

"Celestia, Luna, you both have a lot of responsibility that will be thrust upon you. Just as we are teaching you, this world will be looking to you for guidance eventually."

"Why can't you guide them, Mommy?"

"Because we will not always be here."

"That's why we need to teach you girls these things. Eventually, the light we've created will go out, and the people will need a new light to follow."

"Do you think you two can set aside your differences and work together to make this world a better place?"

"Yeah, of course, Mom. Lulu might be a pain sometimes, but she's still my little sister."

"Hey!"

"Celestia."

"Mmm... Sorry..."

"Ha ha, nothing wrong with a little sibling rivalry. It'll keep the two of them motivated."

"So long as they remember at the end of the day that they will always be there for each other when they need one another. Isn't that right, girls?"

"Yes, Mom."

"I can raise the sun for Celie if she wants me to."

"Good to hear. But just try to remember that the moon has just as much importance and beauty as the sun."

"I will, Daddy."

"So, can we practice more now, Mom?"

"Of course, Celestia. Luna, do you want to go with your father?"

"Um, can we all practice together today?"

"I've got no problems with that. A day of magic training with my three favorite ladies sounds like a great day to me."

"Come on, Celie! I'll race you!"

"Yeah, like you can beat me! Try to keep up, Lulu!"

***** ***** *****

Celestia's eyes opened slowly, but she did not move, allowing herself a few moments for her vision to adjust to the darkness in her room.

Another dream. She'd been having dreams about her past every night since she had banished Nightmare Moon, all of them about she and Luna. It was obvious that the guilt and regret were gnawing at her subconscious, though she didn't need her dreams to tell her that; she'd been quite visibly distraught over the whole thing since it happened a few days ago.

Celestia stared wearily at the alarm clock beside her bed. There was only a few minutes until she was supposed to raise the sun, yet she didn't make to jump out of bed to do her duty. Instead, she remained swaddled in her bedsheets, her mind still too drowsy and her dream still fresh in her mind.

Reliving those moments from her past filled her with bittersweet nostalgia. At Celestia's age, it was hard to remember things that had happened so long ago, so she was thankful that those memories were still preserved in the back of her mind. On the other hoof, it just made her miss her sister even more. For as much as the two often bickered over the years, they still loved each other very much. Their sibling rivalry had lasted for as long as Luna had been born, but Celestia believed it was that rivalry that brought them so close and kept them together through all those years, especially after their parents passed away.

And that was another constant within those dreams. It wasn't just memories of Luna that her mind had conjured up, but their mother and father, as well. Unfortunately, just as Celestia had told Sunset when she was a filly, she could hardly recall what they looked like. The dreams, as lucid as they may have felt, were completely dark. Celestia could only hear the voices in her mind, but they were so distinct it was as though her parents were right there beside her again. Her mother's voice melodic and soothing, like wind chimes in a gentle breeze. Her father's voice deep and strong; they always felt safe when they could hear his voice.

How much had they forgotten over the years? While their parents' voices were clear as day in her head, the words were sometimes fuzzy when Celestia tried to recall them. Perhaps that was the purpose of these dreams: to remind her of the lessons they'd forgotten. The people they had become was a result of their parents' teachings and guidance. Celestia and Luna ruled Equestria together under those morals and virtues, but if they had kept those teachings in their hearts all this time, then why did this all happen?

The bells on Celestia's alarm clock shattered the wistful silence in her bedroom, and finally prompted the princess to rise from her mattress. She shut off the alarm and somnolently sauntered over to her balcony. The cool, morning air blew through her aurora of a mane, feeling both refreshing and chilling at the same time. She stared up at the moon in the sky, and the moon stared back. Celestia had found herself hesitating every morning since then, knowing that every single day for the next one thousand years she would have the embodiment of her guilt gazing down upon her.

But regardless of her personal feelings, she had a job to do. The moon was pulled down over the horizon, and the sun emerged to take its place, ushering in the morning for another day. And with that done, Celestia needed her morning cup of tea. After a brief stop at her vanity to make herself presentable, Princess Celestia made her way down her tower to head for the dining hall. Normally, Rosehip would bring her tea to her room, but Celestia had given the order that she'd like her mornings to be a little more private for a while.

Upon reaching the halls and starting toward her destination, Celestia was surprised to see somepony else wandering the halls this early, and it wasn't Sunset Shimmer. Rather it was Sunset's father. He happened to be passing by as Celestia stepped out of the breezeway, looking lost in thought as he didn't immediately react to the princess's presence.

"Good morning, Starswirl," Celestia greeted as amicably as she could manage given that she was still coping with the loss of her sister.

Her voice snapped Starswirl out of his ponderings, looking up at the alicorn and putting on a friendly smile behind his curly, white beard. "Oh, good morning, Your Highness. How's the wing this morning?"

Celestia glanced at her left wing, still supported by the medical sling. While her sprained leg and some of the wounds she'd received had healed over the past couple of days, her wing still needed some time. "More or less the same. My sleep is somewhat restless if I end up inadvertently rolling over onto it, but it's at the very least manageable."

Starswirl nodded. "Well, I suppose that's as much as we can hope for. We should thank our lucky stars that your injuries were not more severe."

"So, what are you doing up this early? You've always been more of a night owl."

"Yes, well, given recent events, my sleep has been somewhat restless as well," he admitted. "I was about to get myself a cup of coffee to stave off my tiredness, but ended up getting distracted by my musings and..." He glanced around to confirm where he was. "Wound up on this side of the castle somehow. I suppose this is what happens when you combine sleepiness, a busy mind, and caffeine withdrawal."

"Well, I was just headed to the dining hall for my morning tea. If you'd like, you can join me," Celestia offered with an inviting smile.

Her smile was returned graciously by the stallion. "That sounds lovely. Perhaps an engaging conversation along with a hot cup o' joe is just what I need to wake myself up."

Her offer accepted, Celestia gladly escorted Starswirl to the dining hall. There, they found that Rosehip was already waiting for the princess, a platter holding a teapot, cups, a bowl of sugar, and a small pitcher of milk already upon the long, elegant dining table. Rosehip was always enthusiastic about her job—if a bit scatterbrained at times—and kept a chipper demeanor despite the situation regarding Luna. And upon seeing that Starswirl was with the princess this morning, an added eagerness grew upon her face.

"Good morning, Your Highness!" Rosehip greeted cheerily, the volume of her voice perhaps a tad higher than was appropriate. "And to you, as well, Mr. Starswirl."

"Yes, good morning, Rosehip," Starswirl greeted back as he approached the table. There was a bit of reluctance in his voice, though Rosehip likely didn't notice—she never did. Even after all these years, he hadn't had the heart to remind her that her tea wasn't his... well, cup of tea. However, he thought it odd that there were already two cups on the platter. "Were you expecting the princess to have company?"

"Hm?" Rosehip glanced at the two cups, as though she hadn't realized the second one had been there. "Oh. Guess I'm still not used to Princess Luna not being around."

"Even so, how often did Princess Luna join her sister in the morning for tea?"

Rosehip blinked blankly. "Umm..."

"It's fine, Rosehip," Celestia assured her. "Besides, Luna was more of a coffee person anyway, as is Starswirl. So, would you mind putting on a pot for him?"

Rosehip turned to Starswirl, looking almost hurt. "No tea?"

Starswirl forced a smile to try and make her feel better. "Not today, thank you."

The maid nodded, quickly pouring up Celestia's tea just as she liked it before scurrying off to prepare Starswirl's coffee.

Celestia and Starswirl took their seats, the alicorn at the head of the table, and the stallion to her left side. The princess took a dainty sip of her tea. However, although Starswirl knew that Celestia usually enjoyed her morning tea, he couldn't help but notice the listless look in her eyes as she sipped, not savoring the flavor of the steaming beverage as she normally did. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was on her mind.

"I see you're still fretting over your sister," Starswirl assessed rather bluntly.

Celestia lowered her teacup, placing it back on its saucer with an almost inaudible clink. She let out a weary sigh. "A few days is nothing for somepony like me. This is going to be on my mind for the next millennium. But truth be told, there's something else bothering me."

"Sunset?"

Celestia looked up in surprise. Starswirl was gazing back at her, his eyes full of concern.

"I'd noticed she'd been acting odd lately," the stallion mentioned. "I've especially noticed that I haven't seen her by your side as much. I haven't inquired about it since she didn't seem upset herself. She's actually been in a rather chipper mood the last couple of days."

"Is that so? I see..."

"What happened exactly, if I may ask?"

"Sunset and I had an... argument," Celestia told him, turning her eyes away remorsefully. "On the day I banished Nightmare Moon."

Starswirl pressed a hoof to the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Don't tell me, is this about her training?"

Celestia nodded.

"Honestly, that girl... Why would she dredge up an old argument at such a sensitive time? There's a difference between 'dedication' and 'single-mindedness.'"

"I'm afraid I didn't handle the situation as well as I could have. Sunset now seems to be under the impression that I've no faith in her abilities."

"Then perhaps you should clear this up. You weren't likely in your right mind at the time."

"I fear she wouldn't listen to me. As you said, she hasn't come to me for anything at all since our argument. I think she may be purposely avoiding me."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Celestia quirked an eyebrow, puzzled by the assertion. "What do you mean?"

Starswirl smiled with the pride of a father. "Because I've raised her since she was a precocious, little filly. As well behaved as she was most of the time, all children have their rebellious side. Whenever Sunset and I had a disagreement, she would do everything in her power to avoid confronting me. It's actually kind of cute that she'd do the same with her mother-figure."

Celestia's eyes widened, her cheeks flushing red and her heart rate suddenly picking up. "M-Mother-figure...?"

"Of course," Starswirl chuckled. "Sunset's mother abandoned her after she was born, I told you about that. Without a significant female role model in her life, it's no surprise she clung to you. You've been perhaps the largest source of inspiration in her life—even more so than I."

The princess blinked, this revelation sounding like a foreign language in her head. "You think Sunset sees me as... a mother?"

"I see no reason to suspect otherwise. You've raised her just as much as I have."

Celestia took a moment to let that sink in, but eventually shook her head in disbelief. "No, you must be mistaken. Sunset isn't a little filly anymore. There must be another reason outside of childish stubbornness that she would act this way."

"Do you think so?"

The alicorn remained silent for several moments. Was that right? Was that what she thought? If that was what she truly believed, then why did she say the things that she did to Sunset?

"You know, just because she's grown up now doesn't mean she's mature," Starswirl continued. "She's still practically as rambunctious as she was as a filly. Honestly, I'd almost say she hasn't changed much at all over the years, not that that's a bad thing; she's always been wise beyond her years, though perhaps that would mean that wisdom hasn't advanced much in the meantime. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that she's still my little filly, no matter how old she is."

"She's still your little filly..." Celestia repeated those words in quiet contemplation, attempting to decipher what it meant to her. Perhaps the issue here wasn't with Sunset, it was with herself.

Starswirl observed the look on Celestia's face. The princess was deep in thought. She hadn't since touched her tea, and the steam was beginning to fade as it cooled. "Your Highness?"

A few more moments passed before Celestia responded. "Apologies, my friend," she started, slowly getting up from her chair. "I... have a lot to think about right now." And without another word, she stepped out of the dining hall.

Starswirl stared at the door for a few moments longer after she had disappeared behind it. Her expression had been one of deep contemplation. Based on that and what she'd said, he deemed it unlikely that she was going straight to talk to Sunset about this. If that was the case, then perhaps it would be for the best if he did so in the meantime. So, with that in mind, Starswirl followed suit and headed out of the dining hall.

Now that the room was empty, the door to the kitchen opened, Rosehip reentering with a pot of freshly brewed coffee. "Your coffee is ready, Mr. Starswirl." However, she was met only by silence, glancing around in confusion and slight disappointment. "Oh... My coffee's not that bad, is it?"

***** ***** *****

The door to Sunset Shimmer's bedroom opened cautiously, however, only the amber unicorn's head poked out. Her teal eyes scanned the hall carefully, then, upon seeing that the coast was clear, quickly slipped out of her room and shut the door behind her in one fluid motion.

Sunset put on a smile—almost prideful—and started making her way towards the castle's entrance. However, she didn't even make it out of the staff wing before she was interrupted.

"Sunset, good morning," came her father's voice from down the hall behind her.

"Oh, uh, hey, Dad. You're up early," Sunset greeted.

Starswirl picked up his pace to catch up to his daughter, walking alongside her to wherever she was headed. "How are you this morning, sweetie?"

"Mmm, pretty good," she responded with a genuine grin. "Why? Any reason why I shouldn't be?"

Starswirl hesitated for a moment, scrutinizing the expression on his daughter's face. "You aren't trying to play dumb, are you, Sunset?"

Sunset quirked an eyebrow. "Why would I play dumb? And to what?"

"Well, I just had a rather... enlightening chat with the princess. I know about the altercation between you two the day of Nightmare Moon's banishment."

"Oh, that. Right."

Starswirl was a touch befuddled by her rather unperturbed response to the subject, given what Celestia had told him of her reaction that day. He cleared his throat, intent to get right to his point. "Sunset, I feel I shouldn't need to remind you that these things take time. Yet as often as you say you've come to terms with that fact, it feels like you bring up the topic every couple of years."

"Look, all I can say is what I told Princess Celestia that day: I just want to help her," Sunset said resolutely.

"I understand that, but perhaps that's not the type of help she needs right now. This argument is only piling on to the distress that the princess is having to deal with. At the very least, I think you should apologize."

Sunset smiled compassionately. "Yeah, you're right."

Starswirl blinked, unsure if he'd heard that correctly. "Oh. Really? Hm, I thought it would take a bit more coaxing."

"I've had some time to think about it, Dad. I shouldn't have lashed out at her like that, and I will apologize."

Her father nodded, though there was still a bit of disbelief in his eyes. "Well, alright then. But what exactly made you realize that you were in the wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm not admitting I was wrong. I just think I shouldn't have put that pressure on her."

Starswirl was puzzled and a little concerned by that answer. "What do you mean?"

"I'm still gonna help Princess Celestia, and I'm gonna learn to raise the sun. But who says she needs to be the one to teach me?"

That explanation sounded a little disconcerting to the concerned father. "Sunset, you're not implying that you're going to be attempting to raise the sun without the princess's permission, are you? I shouldn't have to remind you of what happened last time you did that."

Sunset chuckled at her father's rash assumption. "No, Dad. I just mean that I'm going to take my training into my own hooves. If she's got other more important things to deal with, then I'm not gonna bother her. It's not like I haven't been observing her for the better part of thirteen years. I'd like to think I've picked up a thing or two on my own over the years, so what's wrong with doing a little solo training?"

Starswirl thought about that for a moment. Something about the way she'd worded that sounded odd, but as long as she seemed happy and not spiteful and was willing to apologize, he saw no reason to argue with her. "I suppose there's nothing wrong. Just make sure not to overdo it, alright?"

Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk. "You two have been telling me that for years. Will you relax? Trust me, I've got this figured out," she said, tapping her temple confidently. "Anyway, I was just on my way to get some more training in actually, so I'll catch you later, Dad."

"Ah, very well, then." Starswirl waved somewhat halfheartedly as Sunset galloped down the hall. Admittedly, that conversation had not gone how he'd expected, but he wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing. It went almost too smoothly. But that last thing she'd said was perhaps the strangest: what exactly was it that she had "figured out"?

Sunset hurried off to the castle's entrance, eager to get back to training herself. As she told her father, she'd learned more over the years than just what Celestia had taught her. If anything, Celestia being emotionally indisposed could be seen as an opportunity. She'd heard that nagging warning from both of them for ages now: "Don't overdo it." But how could she overdo it when there was always somepony breathing down her neck? This was a chance to truly discover what she was capable of without having somepony looking over her shoulder the entire time. And she wasn't worried about going overboard. By now, Sunset was confident about her limits. And now, something felt different, but in a good way. Lately, it felt as though her magic had "evolved" somehow. She wasn't sure how or why, but she'd already proven to herself that it was exactly the breakthrough that she needed. Now, it was just a matter of honing it so that Princess Celestia could see she was ready for bigger and better things.

The eager mare hurried through the now-cleaned-up throne room, down the entrance hall, and only slowing her pace upon reaching the front entrance. She opened the doors and stepped outside, trotting briskly down the stairs to make for the sculpture garden.

"Good morning, Sunset."

Sunset nearly tripped down the short, stone steps at the sound of the unexpected voice. She glanced over her shoulder to find Scabbard shutting the entrance doors that she'd neglected to close behind her. "Oh, hey, Scabbard. Sorry, didn't see you there."

"You seem to be in an awful hurry. Why the rush?"

"Hm? No reason, I guess. I'm just off to do some magic practice. You know how it is."

Scabbard nodded, with a slight grin. "Aiming to improve yourself is a commendable endeavor in my eyes." However, his grin faded, and his eyes drifted to the other side of the doors, opposite his post. "Speaking of which..."

Sunset followed his gaze, but the spot at which he was looking was empty. "Where's Lance today? Does he have the day off, or something?"

Scabbard shook his head. "No, he took his brother and some other guards into the Everfree Forest to run some drills."

Sunset blinked, a little befuddled by that statement. "Lance? Running drills?"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised. Actually, Lance has been acting a lot differently ever since the Nightmare Moon incident. He's been taking his job a lot more seriously lately."

Sunset smirked coyly at the stallion. "What, don't tell me you miss the old Lance?"

"Don't get me wrong. I always thought Lance was a bit of a layabout, but if he wasn't a dedicated soldier, he'd have never made it out of boot camp. But he's been taking this whole thing pretty hard. It almost feels as though he blames himself for what happened to Princess Luna."

"Well, you can't say you didn't warn him."

"I've no intention of rubbing salt in the wound. As often as we'd argued with one another, I do consider Lance a comrade and a friend."

"You're worried about him, huh?"

"I can't blame him for wanting to bolster security around here—our efforts will be necessary if another crisis crops up—but he's... not himself." Scabbard shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe he's right when he says I'm too uptight. Maybe when this whole situation blows over, he'll be back to his usual lax self, for better or for worse."

"Get in the castle! Now!"

Sunset and Scabbard were caught off guard by the voice shouting from across the ravine. A squad of half a dozen soldiers were rushing their way out of the Everfree Forest in a panic. Lance was supporting Halberd as the brothers hobbled across the bridge.

"What's going on?" Sunset called out as she and Scabbard ran over to the bridge to meet them. However, once she got close, she noticed the trail of red liquid being left behind them, leading to Halberd's right hind leg. The silver coat around his leg was stained crimson with blood. "Hal! What happened?! Are you okay?!"

"There's no time!" Lance insisted. "We have to get inside! They're right behind—!"

His warning was cut short by the sound of unnerving snarls coming from the forest. A group of five bizarre creatures emerged from the woods, baring their fangs menacingly. They had the appearance of wolves, but their bodies seemed to be made of wood, like logs and branches stuck together to form an animal-like shape.

"What the hay are those things?!" Scabbard asked in shock.

"I don't know, they just came out of nowhere and attacked us!" Lance answered hastily. "Come on, we have to get inside!"

Sunset stared at the mysterious creatures, then to Halberd. His face was contorted in pain, and he was losing quite a bit of blood. She gave Lance a determined look. "You get Halberd inside. I'll take care of these things."

"Sunset, you don't understand, they're—"

She cut off Lance's warning with a confident smirk. "I can handle this. Just leave it to me."

"But—"

Ignoring any further precautions, Sunset simply set her sights on the wolf-like beasts. They were creeping toward the bridge, malicious looks in their glowing, green eyes and growling viciously. An aura of cyan magic swirled around Sunset's horn for a brief moment before she unleashed a bolt of magic straight across the bridge and striking the beast in the center of the group. The blast struck with enough force to completely shatter the creature's body into pieces, leaving shards of wood and bark littering the bridge. The remaining four took a step back cautiously, but kept their eerie, green eyes focused on the amber mare.

Sunset cast a cocky smirk back at Lance. "See? They're not so tough."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Wait for it..."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, turning back to the creatures. The splintered remains of the one she'd blasted began to glow with ethereal, green magic. The pieces shuddered and began to converge where the whole beast once stood, and it magically reassembled itself as if nothing had even happened, only now it seemed to be thoroughly ticked off, letting out a low, bestial snarl at Sunset.

"Oh..."

"We tried fighting them off, but physical force doesn't work!" Lance explained.

Sunset remained still, continuing to stare at the creatures as they menacingly started their approach across the bridge. They appeared to be acting cautiously in the face of their new threat, but blasting them with magic was only to going to slow them down at best. Whatever these creatures were, they appeared malicious, as though their only intent was to kill. If that was the case, then it was possible that even if Sunset could get rid of them—like tossing them over the side of the bridge and into the ravine—they may very well just come back. On top of that, the castle wasn't even entirely safe. After the damage that Nightmare Moon had caused, there were holes in the castle's walls that these beasts could sneak into. She needed to deal with them here and now to protect the castle and everypony in it.

To that end, she had an idea...

Sunset's horn lit up again, the intensity of her aura causing it to shift from cyan to deep red, flickering like a flame.

"Sunset, don't!"

Sunset stopped at the sound of Halberd's voice. She turned back to see the panic in his hazel eyes, and she, too, realized what she had been about to do. Under normal circumstances, anypony would agree that the best way to deal with something made of wood would be to burn it, and that's what she intended to do. However, Halberd realized the consequences of such an action before she did. If she had set them on fire, it was possible that they would rush back into the woods in a panic and set the entire Everfree Forest ablaze.

"Forget about it, Sunset!" Lance called out again as he carried his brother to the castle. "Just get inside and we'll get the princess!"

Sunset's mind raced. She couldn't just leave these creatures to their devices. She had to do something, or everypony she cared about could be in danger. Sunset backed up as the beasts inched closer, wracking her brain for anything she could think of.

With an aggressive bark, the five creatures suddenly broke into a sprint across the bridge, their sights set on Sunset.

Something in Sunset's mind prevented her from moving. Whether it was fear, or her dedication to protect everypony, she couldn't determine, nor did she have time to think about it. Instead, Sunset just acted without thinking.

The entire bridge was suddenly surrounded by a cyan aura. The wooden beasts halted in the middle of the bridge, confused and cautious of what was happening. Then, Sunset applied as much force as she could, causing a thunderous crack to echo through the air. Large fissures snaked all along the stone bridge, and once Sunset released her magical grasp on it, it began to crumble away. The wolves had nowhere to run as the bridge fell out from under them, collapsing into the ravine below and taking the creatures with it in a chorus of surprised yelps and whimpers before crashing loudly at the bottom.

Sunset approached the edge of the ravine where the bridge used to connect, a little shaken by the experience. She gazed down at what remained. Shards of splintered wood lay amongst the pile of rubble, not even one of the creatures remaining intact. However, just as expected, even such an impact was not enough to keep them down. Just like before, the wooden remains all reformed back into their wolf-like forms. They stared back at Sunset from below, continuing to snarl and growl indignantly. One of them let out a howl before the pack took off down the ravine in search of a way out.

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. That situation was admittedly terrifying to her, but at least she knew it was unlikely that they'd be able to find a way up on the castle side of the ravine.

The doors to the castle swung open, making way for Princess Celestia, followed by Starswirl and Quill, who hurried outside to where the group of soldiers were gathered.

"What's all this commotion?" the princess inquired. Her eyes then immediately fell on the injured pegasus being supported by his brother. She let out a shocked gasp at the blood running down his leg. "Halberd! Are you alright?! Quill, fetch the doctor!"

Quill promptly nodded, rushing back inside.

"Get him inside, quickly!" Celestia instructed.

Lance was about to do just that, but Scabbard stepped up to him instead. "Lance, I'll take him. You need to report what happened to the princess."

Lance hesitated for a moment—this was his brother they were talking about, so he felt it was his obligation to see that he was well, but not wanting to argue about it, he just did as suggested, carefully handing off Halberd to Scabbard and entrusting him to his care. Scabbard then escorted the injured stallion inside.

"Lance, what happened to him?" Celestia asked with concern.

The guard took a breath to collect himself. As worried as he was for his brother, Scabbard was right: it was important to tell the princess exactly what happened. "We were running drills in the forest when these wolf-like creatures made of wood showed up and attacked us, unprovoked. We tried to fight them off, but even if we broke their bodies apart, they'd just magically rebuild themselves. Hal was clawed by one of them as we were trying to escape."

"I've never heard of any such creatures inhabiting the Everfree Forest," said Starswirl.

"Nor I," added the princess. "Where are these creatures now?"

"They'll probably head back into the forest once they find a way out of that ravine," Lance answered. "You can thank Sunset for taking care of them."

Princess Celestia finally looked over to where Sunset was standing, staring back at her from where the bridge used to be. And it was only now that Celestia noticed that the bridge was gone, hurrying over to assess the damage. "What happened to the bridge?!"

"I'm sorry, Princess!" Sunset apologized profusely. "I-I... I froze up! I didn't know what to do, so I just did the first thing that came to mind and..."

Celestia stared at her student incredulously. "Sunset, did you destroy the bridge?"

Sunset turned away, her face full of shame. "I... I was sure I could handle it. But then when they reassembled, I was suddenly out of ideas, and I was scared. When I was a kid, I said I wanted to be a hero, but now, when I actually had a chance to be one, I panicked. I'm sorry..."

Celestia observed the shame and regret on her student's face sympathetically. She turned to the group of soldiers that stood by, watching from a respectful distance. She gently placed a hoof under Sunset's chin, turning her towards her so she could see the reassuring smile the princess was giving her. "Sunset, do you see any of those creatures here now?"

Sunset wiped any shameful tears before they had a chance to dampen her face. She stared up at the princess, confused by the question. "Huh?"

"Your decision to destroy the bridge, while perhaps a bit rash, ensured the safety of everypony here. That's sounds pretty heroic to me."

Sunset continued to gaze into Celestia's comforting eyes with a newfound hopefulness. "You're not mad?"

Celestia simply shook her head. "No. The well being of my subjects in more important to me than some old bridge. I could repair it in little time myself if I wished, though with those beasts out there, I think it's better off in the ravine for now." Celestia looked out to the Everfree Forest with a more serious expression of contemplation. "But the very existence of those creatures is disconcerting. I'd like everypony to gather up all the castle staff to meet in the throne room. I wish to make an urgent address."

***** ***** *****

As the princess had instructed, everypony within the castle had congregated in the throne room. Princess Celestia had not yet arrived as there was a matter she wished to check up on first. Many of the staff were curious and concerned as to what this address would entail. Those who were not present for the situation earlier—such as the kitchen staff and servants—were given a brief rundown of what happened by the soldiers, giving them an idea of what this was going to be about, but also instilling worry as to what such news implied in regards to everypony's safety.

They had only been waiting for around ten minutes or so before Princess Celestia finally returned, taking up her usual position in front of the thrones to address her employees. "Thank you for your patience, everypony. I assume you've all been informed of what happened this morning."

The staff members that were not present nodded to confirm the princess's assumption.

"Very well, then I suppose I should get right to the point..."

However, before she began, Lance stepped forward worriedly. "Your Highness, before that... How's Hal? Is he alright?"

Celestia had expected Lance to inquire about his brother's condition, and considering how concerned he was, she figured it best to give him peace of mind; the only reason everypony had been left waiting was so that she could ascertain Halberd's condition. Celestia nodded sympathetically. "Halberd is fine."

Lance breathed a deep sigh of relief to hear that.

"His injury is not life-threatening in any way, though the gash he'd received was rather deep. He may have difficulty walking for a while. As such, I will be giving him a leave of absence from his duties until he has sufficiently recovered."

Lance hung his head in slight disappointment. "That's understandable. It's just a shame it had to happen so soon after he joined the guard. But as long as he's okay..."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat. With that out of the way, she shifted her focus back to the original topic. "Now then, as you've all been informed, Halberd's injury was caused by unknown creatures that have suddenly appeared within the Everfree Forest. The question on everypony's minds is: where did these creatures come from?"

"Indeed," said Starswirl. "The Everfree Forest has always been such a peaceful place. The very existence of these beasts is unprecedented."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "Yes. In all my years living here, I've never heard of such creatures existing within this kingdom, let alone the Everfree Forest. Which leads me to believe that they didn't 'come from' anywhere."

"How do you mean?" Quill inquired. "You sound as though you have a theory, Your Majesty."

The princess lowered her head slightly with a forlorn sigh. "I do. And unfortunately, it all comes back to Luna..."

"Princess Luna?" Starswirl echoed with a raised eyebrow. "You're saying your sister is responsible for this?"

"Not Luna per se. Specifically, Nightmare Moon and my sister's transformation into her. Based on the accounts of both the soldiers and Sunset Shimmer, these creatures appear to be magical in nature. The Everfree Forest is host to copious amounts of natural, magical energy. That magic has always been extremely malleable and easily affected by outside influence. It's magic is so tangible, one can practically feel it in the air around them when traversing the forest. Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon was a result of my sister and her magic becoming corrupted by the negative emotions roiling within her. It is my belief that that corruption may have leaked into the Everfree Forest and tainted its magic as well."

"So, what do we do about this?" Quill asked. "Can we purge the corruption? Can perhaps your magic counteract it before it spreads too far?"

Celestia shook her head shamefully. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. As I'm sure I mentioned after my battle with Nightmare Moon, to purge such magic, I would need the full power of the Elements of Harmony. Even then, I would need a source to focus on, but I've never been able to locate any such source within the Everfree Forest throughout the years. Unfortunately, it would seem the forest is a lost cause..."

"What do we do then?" Starswirl inquired. "Those beasts may eventually find a way across the ravine, or worse, other malevolent creatures may spawn from the corrupted magic."

Celestia nodded resolutely. It was clear that the princess had already made a decision. "Which is why it us unsafe for us to remain here any longer. For the sake of everypony's safety, I am ordering that we expedite our move to Canterlot Castle. I wish for us to have evacuated this place by tomorrow."

Concerned murmurs broke out among the crowd of ponies.

"T-Tomorrow?! B-But, Your Highness—" Quill stammered.

"I realize this is asking a lot, but this a royal decree," Celestia stated seriously. "I will hear no arguments against my choice, so I suggest you all pack your belongings today in preparation for the move tomorrow. Are there any further questions?"

"But construction is still underway!" Quill reminded her. "Is it even safe to move in so soon?!"

"Safer than here, I would imagine," was the princess's answer. "The living quarters of the castle have been ready for some time, so I see no reason why we can't move in now. All that remains of our rooms is the furnishing, and most of the construction left is relegated to the outer walls. Anything else?"

Sunset stepped forward sheepishly. "Um, how exactly are we gonna get everything to Canterlot? I... kinda destroyed the bridge."

"Even if the bridge were still there, it's far too dangerous to travel through the Everfree Forest anyway," Starswirl added.

"I will arrange to have a company of pegasus movers transport all of our supplies to the new castle," Celestia told them. "Quill, that will be your task for the day."

Quill nodded with a nervous gulp, unsure if one day would be enough to prepare for such a big move.

"I've got one more concern, Your Highness," Scabbard spoke up. "We may be safe here for the time being with the bridge out, but what's to stop these 'wolf' creatures from attacking the people of Canterlot?"

"Admittedly, that is a grave concern," Celestia agreed with a sigh. "Personally, because these creatures are attuned to the magic of the Everfree Forest, it is my belief that that connection should confine them to their territory, and thus they should not be able to leave or their magic would fade. However, I do not actually have any basis for this theory as of yet, so until we can confirm that, we will likely have to post patrols along the path between Canterlot and the forest. Thankfully, due to the city's location, there's only one way in." There was a short moment of pause in the throne room following that, indicating that there were no more questions. "Now then, with that cleared up, I would suggest that everypony start packing. Tomorrow, we're moving to Canterlot."

***** ***** *****

Starswirl wiped his brow, exhausted after a long day. He was wearily making his way back to his room to do as everypony else was doing: grab his things and leave.

Following the princess's command, everypony was in the process of vacating the Castle of the Two Sisters. The previous day—when the incident with the creatures occurred—everypony had spent pretty much the rest of the day packing their bags for the move. Now that the day of the move had arrived, things were moving along. As the princess had instructed, a team of pegasi had been hired to airlift any heavy cargo, like furniture, and had been flying back and forth all day with everything that those who had lived in the castle wished to take with them. Starswirl didn't envy their job; heavy lifting was never a forte of his, and he was worn out just helping lug things outside for the movers, even with his magic.

This is what the better part of the day had been for everypony so far. Since the crack of dawn it's been nothing but ponies running back and forth with their belongings. The evening was approaching now, with the sun beginning to make its descent and the blue sky fading to an incandescent amber. It was only now that things were starting to wind down, with most of the heavy stuff already taken care of. For the most part, it was just a few ponies and their suitcases that were left; even the majority of the castle's staff had already been taxied to Canterlot for the day. There were only a few servants left, as well as several pegasus guards—preparing to give the remaining staff a lift to the city when they were ready—Quill, Starswirl, Sunset Shimmer, and, of course, Princess Celestia herself.

But as the end of their efforts was swiftly approaching, Starswirl was relieved that this would be his final trip through the castle. Though the more he thought about it, that notion was also rather bittersweet. This truly was the last time he was going to step hoof into this castle. He had little doubt that Canterlot Castle would be an even better place to live, but the Castle of the Two Sisters would always be an important place to him; it had been his home for the better part of thirteen years.

And Starswirl had to wonder how his daughter felt about all this. If anything, this place was more important to her than anypony else, save Princess Celestia. She must have been broken up about having to abandon the home she shared with her idol and mentor. He figured it may be best to check up on her before anything else, to see if she needed anything.

Having arrived at the staff quarters, Starswirl turned down the hall where his and Sunset's rooms were, stopping at his daughter's door first along the way. He knew she had gone ahead of him to finish her preparations, so she should still be there. He opened the door slowly, poking his head inside. Sunset was seated on the floor by her writing desk, her back turned to the door. It appeared she hadn't noticed him, and was packing her saddlebags. But something odd caught Starswirl's eye: there was a soft, iridescent, orange glow around Sunset, though he couldn't see what the source of it was because she was in the way.

"Sunset?"

"Gah!" Sunset jumped with a start, hastily closing the flaps of her saddlebags which resulted in the mysterious glow disappearing. She spun around to see her father at her door and held a hoof to her chest with a long sigh. "Geez, Dad, could you knock or something? You scared the horseapples outta me."

"Sorry, I'll keep that in mind," he apologized with an awkward chuckle. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"How I'm doing? I'm fine, why?"

"Oh. I just thought you'd be a little more reluctant to leave this place given its significance."

Sunset glanced around her room, then gave a dismissive shrug. "I mean, sure, I'll miss this place, but you've seen Canterlot Castle—that place is amazing! And I've got my own tower and everything! How cool is that?!"

Starswirl chuckled again to see his daughter in high spirits. He shouldn't have been surprised, really; Sunset wasn't really upset when they moved out of Canterlot when she was a filly either. She was the sort of person who could be happy anywhere, so long as Princess Celestia was there with her, he imagined. "I suppose that is pretty 'cool.' Perhaps I should have requested a tower of my own," he laughed jokingly. "Anyway, I think we're about ready to leave. The movers are loading up the statues from the sculpture garden as we speak, and after that, we'll be officially moved out."

"Great," Sunset said with a chipper grin as she threw on her saddlebags. She grabbed her packed suitcase from off her bed with her magic and headed for the door. "Then let's get this show on the road."

"Go on ahead, dear. I just have to grab my things first."

"Sure. See you outside."

With that, Sunset made a brisk trot down the hall. On her way, she took a moment once she reached the throne room to look around again. It was a odd thing to think that this throne room was the place where she first met Princess Celestia, but eventually became a battleground between Celestia and her sister. Maybe she was going to miss this castle more than she first thought.

Finished with her brief reminiscence, Sunset headed outside. Just as it had been since the sun came up, the area in front of the castle was still busy with people hauling cargo. A team of about two dozen pegasi were loading up large, wooden carts with furniture and securely hitching themselves up to the sides of the carts, two ponies to a side. It took a lot of muscle to lift all this stuff from one castle to the other, and as burly as all these movers were, the long day of work certainly looked to be taking its toll on them.

But the work wasn't finished quite yet. As Starswirl had said, they had moved on to loading up the statues from the sculpture garden—perhaps the most taxing endeavor yet, and maybe something that should have been done first before everypony was all worn out. But, the crew showed no signs of complaint, perhaps even seeing the job as a challenge. Or maybe they just didn't want to fuss and moan in front of Princess Celestia.

The princess was supervising as the movers hauled the statues from the gardens, even helping out herself by using her magic to effortlessly lift them onto the carts. As the first set of statues was being loaded, Celestia approached one of the movers. "Now, please be careful transporting these. I'd rather not see them damaged." At that point she noticed that the next statue coming up was the imprisoned Discord, furrowing her brow at the mere sight of him. "Except him. In fact, if his ride happened to be a little extra bumpy, or if some birds wanted to use him as a toilet, nopony would have to know." Celestia then discreetly passed along a few extra bits to the stallion, which he happily pocketed before the movers loaded it on.

"Princess."

Celestia saw Sunset trotting over to her and gave her student a smile. "Sunset, all ready for the move?"

The amber mare held up her suitcase. "You bet. Everything almost ready out here?"

"Just about. There are only a few more statues left to move."

"You know, you probably could've spaced out this sort of stuff over the course of a few days instead of all in one go. The statues aren't that important, are they?"

"From a material standpoint, no. But they hold sentimental value to me," Celestia answered wistfully. "The sculptors were friends of Luna and I back in the day, so they hold more meaning than just what they represent historically. When you live as long as I have, you know that your relationships are not going to last forever."

Sunset stared sympathetically as she watched Celestia's expression become somewhat crestfallen. However, the princess quickly shifted back to a small smile.

"That's why I make a habit of keeping mementos of the people close to me. I believe I mentioned long ago about how I wish I'd thought of that back when my parents passed away."

"Yeah, I remember. I understand," Sunset said quietly. She thought about all the odds and ends that had lined the shelves of Celestia's bedchambers. Given that that was where the princess had thought to keep the paper-mâché sun that she'd made for her way back when, Sunset had to wonder how many of the other trinkets were mementos of people she once knew.

"In any case," Celestia continued, "the other reason is certainly more pressing: I think it's imperative to get everything moved to the new castle as soon as possible before the corruption in the Everfree Forest spreads further. It's only been a few days since Nightmare Moon appeared, yet those creatures showed up so soon afterward. If we wait much longer, who knows what other sorts of beasts will manifest? Something avian would make transporting this stuff significantly more dangerous."

"That's true," Sunset agreed. "Anyway, I'm going to hitch a ride with one of the guards so I can get a head start decorating my room."

"Sunset, wait!"

Sunset had barely made it two feet before the princess had called out to her. There was a pensive and remorseful look on Celestia's face.

"I... I want to apologize."

"For what?" asked Sunset.

"For the way I acted the other day. I was in a very emotionally fragile state, and I just want you to know that what I said meant nothing in regards to my faith in you as my student or your potential. I want you to succeed at everything you put your mind to. That's my duty as your m—" Celestia caught herself mid-sentence, then quickly corrected herself. "M-Mentor..."

Sunset let out a long, shameful sigh. "Look, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should've been more considerate of your feelings and kept my mouth shut so you could grieve. I've had some time to think about it and I've decided that it's not that important for you to focus on me right now. You said you trust me, right?"

Celestia blinked. While Sunset was grinning at her reassuringly, Celestia couldn't help but notice a bead of sweat running down her face, though perhaps she was still worn out from all the running around today. "Y-Yes, of course."

"Then you can trust me to make you proud," Sunset stated confidently. "I know that with all the guidance you've given me over the years, I can hold my own until you're ready to help me get back into the swing of things."

Celestia smiled softly at her student. It was like watching her grow up and mature all over again. She wasn't certain where this sudden shift in perspective came from, but who was she to argue? "I very much appreciate that, Sunset. And I will help you with your training once I'm feeling up to it again. I'm just not sure if my heart would be one hundred percent in it given everything else that's happening now."

"Take your time. I'm not in any rush. Except to deck out my new tower! See you at the castle, Princess!" Sunset bid her as she hurried over to where the guards were stationed with their chariots.

Celestia gave her a wave as she mounted a chariot and was carried off toward Canterlot. Admittedly, that was a load off her mind. Given everything she was dealing with lately, having one less source of stress was relieving. Honestly, it was surprising to her that Sunset had been so willing to reconcile, and it made her wonder why she'd been seemingly avoiding her these past few days if she'd been so ready to apologize. But she wasn't about to question it; she was just happy that it went so smoothly. Really, the only problem she had with that conversation just now was with herself.

She couldn't bring herself to say it. Even if Starswirl was so confident about how his daughter viewed her, Celestia hesitated to accept that it was the case. And despite what she'd told Sunset just now, there wasn't any point where she said she was wrong about feeling as though Sunset wasn't ready for the responsibilities ahead of her. But this may have been all the more reason to try and get her own act together and actually help Sunset out. After all, if Celestia had gleaned anything from their argument a few days ago, it was that she may not be the only person that Sunset is emulating, whether her student realizes that or not. Perhaps it was about time to prepare her protégé for the future that awaited her.

***** ***** *****

After a long day of running back and forth, hauling this and that with them to and fro, finally everypony could take a breather.

Everything had been successfully transported to Canterlot Castle, and every member of the royal staff had relocated. As Celestia had stated the day before, the new castle was still undergoing some construction, but thankfully that should be wrapped up within the next few weeks. Canterlot Castle was livable, and that's what mattered right now.

Unfortunately, it had taken all day just to move their things to their new home, so by the time the whirlwind had died down, it was already well within the evening hours. For most people, furnishing their personal chambers would have to wait until tomorrow at least, so the only thing everypony bothered with was getting their beds to their rooms. Even then, some were so wiped out from the move that they opted to only bring in the mattress and a few sheets and pillows, choosing to spend the night on the floor of an empty bedroom. It was at times like this that the staff envied people like Lance and Halberd, who didn't even live in the old castle and could just stay at home with their families; they barely had anything to move, though it wasn't as though Halberd was in any shape to do so.

Despite his injury, Halberd was in high spirits. While he wasn't too keen on having to take a leave of absence so soon after getting into the royal guard, Princess Celestia was kind enough to allow him to visit the castle anytime if he so chose, and he was exercising that privilege right now. Traversing Canterlot Castle's expansive halls with an impaired leg wasn't fun, but at least there was plenty of space to fly, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. He had offered to help anypony who was still moving stuff around, but, not surprisingly, everypony respectfully declined, not wanting to put the injured stallion out and risk him hurting himself. So, before he packed it in and headed home for the night, he figured he'd make one last stop.

The Castle of the Two Sisters only had two towers—those belonging to the princesses—but this new castle had several. Of course, there were towers established for the princesses as well, though obviously one of them would go unoccupied now. One tower was a dedicated reading space, intended to be a sort of private library for the princesses. Another would supposedly be used as the castle's treasury: a place to store the princesses' most valuable possessions.

But one tower in particular stood out, not in design, but in purpose. The living quarters of Sunset Shimmer, which was where Halberd was headed. He wanted to check and see if there was anything she needed before he left. He was also curious as to what the place looked like, since he hadn't been up there yet.

He entered the base of the tower, being met with only the elegant, spiral staircase leading up to the top. Given the condition of his leg, stairs right now were almost as scary as those beasts that had attacked him.

"Sunset?" he called out from below. "You up there?"

The fiery mane of his childhood friend poked down from the opening in the roof. "Hey, Hal! You still hanging around here? I figured you'd've gone home by now."

"Just wanted to check to see if you needed help with anything."

"Nah, I'm all good here. But do you wanna see what I've done with the place?" she offered.

"What, you've decorated already?" Halberd said in surprise.

"'Decorated' might not be the right word, but all of my stuff is here."

"Alright, I'll be right up." He glanced at the staircase again with a grimace. "Uh, you mind if I come in through the balcony?"

"Sure."

Halberd stepped back out of the tower, flying up from the breezeway to the tower's balcony. Sunset was waiting for him behind the glass doors, throwing them open to let him in.

"So, whaddaya think?"

Halberd had a look around the mostly-circular room. True to her words, the place wasn't exactly "decorated," as all the furniture was rather haphazardly arranged here and there. There were several bookshelves already lined with tomes of all sorts, a couch and a coffee table, a writing desk, and even a small tea table with matching chairs off to the side.

"This stuff is all yours?" Halberd questioned skeptically.

"Truth be told, the shelves, couch and coffee table were already here. I just added a few more shelves since my collection's gotten a bit out of hoof, and the tea table was a gift from Princess Celestia, but I can't exactly see myself using it. But my bed and vanity and bedside tables and all that are already in my bedroom," she said, pointing to the lone door in the room.

"You got all that stuff up here so fast?" Halberd said, somewhat stupefied by her efficiency.

"Hello? Student of Princess Celestia here," Sunset quipped with a smirk. "This stuff isn't anywhere near the heaviest stuff I've lifted. Plus, teleportation spells are pretty handy."

"Fair enough," the pegasus chuckled awkwardly. "I can barely move a chair in my condition."

Sunset's lighthearted demeanor suddenly shifted to concern and sympathy as she turned her attention to the bandages on Halberd's right hind leg. "How's your leg anyway?"

"It still hurts," he replied with a sigh. "The doctor said I shouldn't even be flying, but I don't exactly want to hobble around everywhere. They also wanna keep tabs on it. Since those wolf things were magical, the doctor wants to make sure there are no magical effects on me, but he said it seemed fine. They're just being extra cautious since we don't know anything about those things."

"That's good. Sorry you had to go through that. Must've been scary."

"Well, that's the kind of thing we're trained for. I mean, sort of. We weren't exactly prepared for creatures that could magically rebuild themselves."

"Never knew you could be so brave," Sunset chided with a mocking smirk. "You were always pretty quiet growing up."

Halberd straightened up, trying to look stoic and professional. "You have to be brave to be a royal guard. You of all people should know not to judge a book by its cover, right?"

"Right. I'm just glad you weren't hurt worse." Sunset leaned in to give Halberd a hug, prompting an unseen blush from the stallion as he accepted it.

"Well, I-I mean, you did your part, too," he said, slightly flustered as she released him. "Everything could've been worse if you hadn't stepped in. I might even say I owe you my life a second time."

"Now your exaggerating," Sunset claimed modestly. "Actually, I panicked back there. And if you hadn't said anything, who knows what damage I could've caused." She turned away from him in slight shame, her ears drooping.

With his thoughts brought to the fire that Sunset was going to utilize, it reminded him of their conversation from a few days ago, prompting him to change the subject out of concern. "How exactly are things between you and the princess now? Are you still mad at her?"

Sunset sighed, but managed a smile. "No, not really. I had a chat with her before the move and apologized. But I'm still determined to show her that she has no reason to doubt my abilities," she said with a confident smile. "To be honest, I've actually made some significant progress in these last few days."

"Seriously? What kind of progress are we talking here?" Halberd inquired curiously.

"Let's just say I've learned a lot from Princess Celestia over the years. Maybe even more than she'd expect. There's a lot one can learn through observation alone," Sunset hinted with a coy grin.

Halberd raised an eyebrow at how vague she was being, but if she was willing to share her exact meaning, she would have, so he chose not to question her further and trust in her judgment. "If you say so." He glanced out the balcony doors, noting that the purple veil of twilight had graduated to the deep blue of night. "Anyway, I should probably head home before my parents start worrying about me. They've been having a fit since they heard I was injured."

"Alright. I'm probably gonna turn in for the night, too. See you later, Hal."

Halberd bid her goodnight as he took off from the balcony again, gliding down from the castle to head home.

Sunset shut the glass doors behind him, keeping out the chilly night air. She let out a tired yawn as the day's efforts were finally starting to have a noticeable effect on her. She was looking forward to spending her first night in her personal tower, the thought of sleeping so high up an oddly serene notion to her.

Not bothering to spend anymore time rearranging furniture, she headed to her bedroom. She had laid it out mostly the same as her room back at the old castle, though there was marginally more space in her tower, giving her more room between her large bed and her writing desk and extra bookshelves. Also like her old room, there were no windows, but that didn't bother her as much as it had at the old castle; being able to watch the sunrise from her own balcony was more than enough reason to ignore the lack of bedroom windows. However, despite the absence of windows and the fact that it was nighttime, Sunset's bedroom was bathed in a rather soft, amber light.

Sunset stretched her legs with a satisfied moan as she hopped into bed, throwing the plush, purple sheets over herself and snuggling into her soft, feather pillows. Before trying to drift off to sleep, she thought about the day's events. Not necessarily the move, but her interactions with people. She spoke of the same thing with her father, Halberd, and even Princess Celestia about the argument she'd had with the princess a few days ago. Everypony seemed to be concerned about it, and, admittedly, so, too, had she been. She tried her best to convince them all things were fine, but she didn't fail to notice the hints of skepticism they gave her. The issue that caused the argument in the first place was Sunset's assertion that Princess Celestia didn't have faith in her. As upset as she was at the time, she knew now she was being childish—she didn't need the princess to tell her that. But Sunset felt no need to lose sleep over the issue. They may have been concerned or have doubts about her, but in due time she was going to show once and for all that she earned the right to be called Princess Celestia's protégé.

Sunset rolled over onto her side, staring at her bedside table. A proud smile creased her lips. "They don't have to worry about a thing," she whispered to herself. "They'll realize that soon enough."

Sunset closed her eyes, letting the warming light soothe her as she drifted off to sleep. Sitting on the bedside table was a glass jar, and inside that jar was the source of the amber light filling her room: a tiny, ever-burning fireball.

Comments

[DDDDDDDDD23]

How much do you want to bet that the sun needs earth pony and pegasus magic to keep it stable and sunset's sun is just a bomb.

[Rhawkas]

Only made it to about halfway through chapter 6 and gotta stop. Not saying it's bad, I actually enjoyed what I read quite a bit. Unfortunately, I just don't see this story having a happy ending for anyone and didn't sign up for a sad or tragic story.

I guess my main complaint about the story is with Celestia. It's hard to like her when she's so manipulative. It would be one thing if she was just that way in the past, but the present-day interactions Twilight has with her show that she hasn't changed as much as I had hoped she would. She takes the whole situation with Luna and Sunset and turns Luna into a fairy tale villain and completely scrubs Sunset's existence from history. Hard for me to want to read about a character like that.

[WolfFurr]

"Now, please be careful transporting these. I'd rather not see them damaged." At that point she noticed that the next statue coming up was the imprisoned Discord, furrowing her brow at the mere sight of him. "Except him. In fact, if his ride happened to be a little extra bumpy, or if some birds wanted to use him as a toilet, nopony would have to know." Celestia then discretely passed along a few extra bits to the stallion, which he happily pocketed before the movers loaded it on.

Hahah this got me good

[DanaO]

I'd be inclined to think events proved Lance's side of the security debate than Scabbard's, but it's subject to interpretation. (At this point it's plausible the petty criminals all thought it was too cold to be out and took the day off, and if the guards had been mingling they just might have noticed the more serious threat coming from entirely law-abiding and peaceful citizens.) But it's fiction, some events are probably inevitable, and this origin from Nightmare Moon probably did less damage overall than how it would have been forced to go down if everybody had been paying attention.

And, um. You equate Discord with both chaos and evil (whether accurately or not isn't even relevant here), equate yourself with optimism and harmony and good, and assume the appropriate ways to address his statue, prison, and person will come from disgust, hatred, and whimsical and petty malice? It's not even that you end up doing it anyway (we all have emotions and aren't always rational), but that you actually seem to believe it's a good idea? It's not just Luna who has unexplored holes in their philosophy.

[Dee Pad]

10100131
Maybe it's just the way you worded this, but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. When you say "you" and "yourself," who exactly are you referring to? Me, as the author, or a character in the story? Because I feel like with your wording it's unclear.

I'm honestly just curious because I want to try and understand whether this is just you making a comment, or if this a complaint or critique about the story.