• Published 8th Apr 2019
  • 1,605 Views, 216 Comments

The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Book II: Synchronicity - Shinzakura



Book II of The Golden Age of Apocalypse. Humanity and ponydom have finally encountered one another, and in the days leading up to Sunset's coronation as a princess of Equestria and the Alicorn of Earth...how will either species fare?

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Day Two, Evening: Effect Without a Cause

The three Hooves watched as their counterparts put away the last of the equipment they had after today’s horrific display of battle prowess by the three human girls. An awkward silence had fallen between the two trios, and the ponies knew why: despite all their training, all their ability and service as Princess’ Hooves, they had never taken lives and had rarely been in combat. They hadn’t even been in Canterlot when the changeling invasion occurred four years ago, instead having been on leave and visiting their parents in Hoofsdale. And yet their counterparts showed zero fear in battle, dispatching the lives of several griffins as if it were just another day for them.

It unnerved Adagio Dazzle more than she could think. She looked at her own counterpart as she jotted something down on one of those strange “tablet” devices of theirs and it made her wonder if she could ever be like that.

Finally, the human Aria announced, “Okay, that should be the last of them. We should have enough ammo reserves still and if not, we can always run home for another round, though I think we should be good.”

“That’s good to know,” her older sister said, as she turned to their guests. “Okay, we’re done now. What’s up?”

Three sirens looked at three SIRENs as they all stood there, waiting for the next action. Finally, one of them spoke. “We thought….” Sonata Dusk began, kneading her hooves into the ground nervously. “We thought you three were just joking! I mean, we knew that you had military training, sure, but not—”

“It’s just unnerved Nata slightly,” Aria said, patting her sister on her withers. “She’s the most sensitive of us.”

“But when you were reaching for your swords that one day,” pony Adagio asked, “you weren’t really reaching for swords, were you? You were going for your shootsticks.”

“We call them sidearms, though the technical term is a pistol,” Adagio explained to her counterpart.

Aria looked at her own counterpart. “But you told me that whole thing about your crossbow and—”

The middle pony sister shook her head. “Yes, I was trained to be a ranger, sure. But in the end, really, we’re medical support Hooves, not front-line combatants,” she explained. “We…we really don’t have the skills that you do, and so you can see why, given that we’re really healers and not fighters, that we were freaked out by your talents. We thought you were the same.”

Adagio withdrew her pistol, handing it out towards her counterpart. “We trust you three, just like you trusted us,” she said. “We could train you.”

The pony Adagio reached out to it…then withdrew. “We’re…not that kind of siren,” she said. “We have the training and ability…but we’re not the same as you. There are others that do it better than we do.”

“We understand,” Aria said, bending down so that she was eye to eye with their counterparts. “We never wanted this for our own lives either, yet the decision was taken from us, both because of our past and because we love our cousin and want to protect her.”

Sonata put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “We had a chance to give it up and we couldn’t. Even when we were little, we somehow knew what our fate would be.”

“We chose it willingly for our princess,” Adagio said, walking over and hugging her sisters. “But for our cousin? We’d do it again and again – whatever it takes.”

Three sisters looked at three sisters, who looked back. And in that silent gaze, there seemed to be something communicated that couldn’t be said verbally.

Finally, Sonata shook her head, her mane flitting back and forth. “Well, it’s almost dinner time. Shall we head home? I think I’ll make Ria’s favorite dish tonight: baked halibut.” She then turned to the three humans. “Would you three care to join us?”

“You eat meat?” human Sonata asked her counterpart.

“Of course we do! We’re sirens, so eating fish is just a part of what keeps our scales looking nice and sleek!”

“Trust me,” the smaller Aria said to the human trio, “my sister makes the best fish dishes out there, hooves down.”

“Besides, we can talk about other things. I mean, we’re not always warriors 24/7, right?” pony Adagio insisted.

The oldest of the human triplets looked at her sisters, then nodded. “Sure, we’d love to join you.” With that, the three siren sisters started walking towards their shared home, with the three SIREN sisters falling right in step.

Today did not go well, Jewel decided. Here she was, the mare that was going to be the love of Princess Sunset’s life, and she hadn’t spent any significant length of time around her. What kind of fillyfriend did that?

I mean, yeah, she’s been busy all day and I’ve been taking care of a lot of the paperwork, but seriously, what kind of mare just forgets all about their fillyfriend?

She needed to make plans for them to head out to a hot restaurant. Maybe Chez Trotte, or Spurgos, or even that hot little Bitalian place that Jewel could never remember the name of.

She jotted down a quick note to the princess, asking her out to dinner that night so they could “talk about paperwork”. That was a nice way of getting the hoof in the door, right?

But a split second later she got a note back saying that she would probably be too busy to do it that night, but to schedule something in the morning and they could talk about it then.

Jewel sighed. She wouldn’t have the chance tonight to prove her love to the princess, but at least tonight she’d be able to work on getting a hot little saddle from Softspoken’s Special Somepony Store. Then maybe some of those magical chocolates from Irresistible Taste’s Mystic Chocolates and More store – the ones that just let your special somepony feel magical when around you? And then maybe at the end of the week, she could plan for a getaway for them both to someplace like Neighagra Falls or Hoofalulu, where they could spend some time planning their wedding.

Jewel shivered in delight; she couldn’t wait for that!

I wonder what her favorite color is?

As the door opened again, Datestamp ushered a new human into Velvet’s office, Softwing noted. She looked younger than the human Velvet, but unlike the first alien, she had a long ruby-and-gold mane and cyan eyes that glittered like aquamarines. However, it was the aura of magic she gave off that bordered on the impossible – only Princess Twilight might have had a magical aura that strong. Given that humans were apparently a non-magical race, the fact that this human was radiating enough power to match an alicorn said one thing: Softwing was in the presence of the new princess-to-be, Sunset Shimmer.

Never doing that again!” she groaned, going over and hugging the human Velvet. “The Saddle Arabians were sooooooo eager to show me their Jasmine ceremony that they even did an encore!” The look in the girl’s eyes was as haunted as could be. “It was like the time Fluttershy wanted to go through It’s a Small World over and over again.” She shuddered. “Good thing I’m an alicorn or else I might never recover. As it is, my new secretary wanted to have a talk with me over dinner – probably a working meeting – but I had to re-sked that.” She looked at the older human. “Anyway, did you want something, Mom?”

Velvet, in turn merely gestured to the griffoness.

“Your Highness!” Softwing said, bowing deeply. “What brings you here?”

“Please stand,” Sunset told her. “And don’t feel that you need to be so formal around me. You can just call me Sunset or Sunny. What’s your name?”

“I’m Softwing, your most humble….” She saw Sunset shaking her head and took that as a cue to change it up. “I’m Softwing, Your Hi…I mean, sorry, Sunset. I’m Softwing.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Sunset said, offering her hand. She then turned to her mother and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Just giving you another opportunity to meddle,” Velvet said with a grin before going into a brief explanation of the conversation between her and her counterpart and giving Softwing a chance to explain her side of the story.

The pony Velvet added, “And I’ve sent word to Celestia, and Softwing will be staying here at the palace for the night while you figure out what to do next. Apparently, your mother – well, your pony one – would like you to resolve this issue.”

“Really?” Sunset drolled.

The human Velvet gave her daughter a soft smile. “Parental prerogatives, dear.”

“I figured that,” Sunset responded. She then looked at Softwing. “I’m sorry to hear what happened to you, and I promise that I will do my best to protect you from all of that. If you have time to meet tomorrow morning at breakfast, we can talk it over then.”

“Don’t you have a meeting with your secretary then?” Velvet asked her.

“I don’t think she’ll mind if we move it,” Sunset said. “From what little I know of her, she seems very by-the-book and professional.” Sunset turned back to Softwing. “Anyway, would a morning meeting work for you?”

Softwing, who was surprised by this level of attention by the newest princess herself, could only nod in stunned wonder. After a few seconds, she recomposed herself. “That would be fine, Your H…sorry, Sunset.”

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to,” Sunset replied with a grin. Turning back to the Velvets, she said, “Sorry I can’t stay longer, but I’m already late for a meeting with Kibbitz. He’s presenting a list of potential candidates for my seneschal, and I want to make sure I have enough time to properly vet the list.”

“A seneschal?” human Velvet asked.

Sunset nodded. “I’m a princess, which means I’ll have an office here, even if my duties are mostly back on our world. Actually, specifically because of that, I’m going to need an individual who is very out of the ordinary, who can act on their own and be far more flexible than their counterparts.”

Pony Velvet gestured towards the griffoness in the room. “Then perhaps you may want to look at Softwing. She was originally scheduled to be my daughter’s seneschal, until political issues here prevented that.”

“Political issues?” Sunset asked.

“I would say racism,” human Velvet added, “but I don’t know if that word exists here.”

“It really doesn’t, but there are equivalents, such as tribalism or specism. Either way, I get your point.” She then looked at Softwing and saw pony mannerisms. Clearly, she was more than just a griffin subject of the Crown, and to Sunset, it was obvious that the griffoness had been raised by ponies.

“She’s a mage,” Velvet explained to her daughter. “Apparently she was valedictorian of her graduating year at the Magic Academy.”

“And Twi turned you down? That doesn’t seem likely,” Sunset admitted. “She was just telling me the last time I was here that she really needs a seneschal and she hates that she’s using her little brother as a de facto one, since he’s too young.”

“It wasn’t her fault, Your Highness,” Softwing said sadly. “Perhaps if I explain a bit more, things will be clearer.”

“Sure. That actually sounds faster than doing it tomorrow at breakfast. I need to get to my meeting, but….” Sunset thought about it for a second. “Tell you what: I was going to go out for dinner tonight, but instead I think I’ll just arrange for the palace to set things up in my quarters tonight and we can talk then instead of in the morning,” Sunset suggested. “Just…nothing jasmine. Please, nothing jasmine at all.”

“I’m sorry, Tavi,” Sunset’s voice said on the other end of the phone conversation.

“It’s okay, Sunny, really. We’re here for you and I knew you were going to be busy,” Octavia said, slightly disappointed about not spending time with her cousin and sister figure. “We have a whole week for you to make it up to me.”

“I will, I promise. But I gotta go now. I have a meeting I need to be in and I’m already late. I’ll talk to you later.”

As Sunset hung up, Octavia felt a flash of worry for Sunset’s sake. She was the local and had so far spent pretty much no time to herself since her arrival; meanwhile, she and the others, who had been here to be her support, had done nothing but go out and have fun. Still, that was probably the point, given that Sunset wanted the ponies to see them as she had: people who were normal and simply walked on two legs instead of four.

In any case, since she knew that her other family members would be unavailable, Octavia decided that she would be a bit adventurous and go out to eat on her own. It took some cajoling with Whiskey to get her to agree to come into the restaurant with them, as well as to find a restaurant that would be okay for both of them to eat at, but after Amabile did some inquiries with ponies she knew, the three of them decided to head to a “Bitalian” – what the teen assumed was the local equivalent of Italy – restaurant.

And now, the three were in Paglia e Fieno, one of the hottest Bitalian restaurants in all of Canterlot. Started by Straw and Hay, a pair of brothers from Roam who had started with nothing (or so their story went), they had turned a ramshackle hole in the wall in Southern Canterlot into the best ticket in town, as evidenced by their new location here in the downtown portion of the royal capital, as well as the highest restaurant rating from none other than Zesty Gourmand, Canterlot’s most influential food critic. Though neither Octavia nor Whiskey knew who the other ponies were, it was clear that they were nobility, celebrities and other movers and shakers, the crème de la crème of the pony world. To be seen here at the restaurant was usually an indicator that you were the talk of the town.

Today, however, the restaurant was anything but, with half of the restaurant patrons staring at them as if trying to burn a hole through their heads, while the other talk was about the “barbaric display of violence” that human soldiers had used against Guard forces just hours earlier. The level of fear and hate was palpable in the room and needless to say, it was having an effect on their dining experience.

“I’m sorry, Tavi,” Amabile apologized, her ears levelling out in shame at the actions of her own people. “Canterlot ‘polite society’ – quote unquote – can be anything but.”

Whiskey stiffened in umbrage. “These curs have no honor,” she hissed. “To insult Lady Octavia because of what she is? That is the lowest of the low.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Octavia told the others, giving her tablemates a comforting smile. “I know this isn’t a true reflection of ponies,” she told them. “In fact, if the situation were reversed, I’m sure you wouldn’t think the same of humans.”

“If all humans are like you, then I’m sure they’re not,” Amabile replied.

“I would suspect that most humans are as noble and kind as my lady,” Whiskey insisted. “She is a true blossom of grace and elegance and I feel ashamed that I ever intended to raise my blade against her.”

“Look, it was a mistake, Whiskey,” Octavia told her. “Please don’t beat yourself up over that anymore. You’re with us now and amongst friends.”

But the kitsune shook her head in disagreement. “I cannot be,” she said dutifully. “A lowly retainer deserves nothing, save to serve her masters until they give her a just reward for her successes. I must earn my third tail to prove myself worthy of being yours and Her Highness’ vassal, Lady Octavia.”


“E…excuse me….” The trio turned to look at the waitress, who was shaking on her hooves as she approached the table. “I…I have…I’ve just….” Her eyes started to tear up. “Please, please! It’s not my fault!”

Amabile approached her. “What’s the matter?”

“The owners…they want you to leave!” The waitress looked worried as if Octavia would lash out at her at any moment. “Please, it’s not me, really!”

“Just…just calm down and tell us what’s wrong,” Octavia said, trying to get the poor mare to relax.

I’ll tell you what’s wrong!” an aged earth stallion with a beige coat and a balding green mane and bushy mustache approached them. He wore a white chef’s jacket with the name STRAW embroidered on it. “You humans are monsters, and I want you out of my restaurant!” Behind him, though he didn’t say anything, was a twin stallion, with his colors reversed but otherwise identical, save for the word HAY embroidered on his.

“What?” Octavia stated.

Hay spoke. “We were walking past the parade grounds this afternoon when we saw that barbaric display! Your soldiers killed pegasi!”

Straw interjected, “Snuffed them out as if they were nothing!”

Hay started again. “So much for you being peaceful! Now I want you both out of this restaurant and never come back!” He then turned to Amabile and said, “And you! You’re a pony, and since you got in, it means you have connections, so you should know better! You should be ashamed of yourself to associate with this…beast!” He then looked finally at Whiskey and said, “And take your pet dog with you, too!”

“How dare you….” Amabile hissed at him. “The humans are guests of the Crown and you would insult our Princess by ejecting them?”

“Why in Equestria would Princess Celestia risk our peace by reaching out to fiends like these?” the first stallion told her. “We already had to deal with those damnable gargoyles and their ilk fighting against Tirek, and now we want these foal-eating, beady-eyed bastions of darkness walking our streets? What, did Princess Luna turn back into Nightmare Moon while nopony was looking?”

Amabile’s face contorted into a grimace. “You had best watch your tongue about what you say,” she warned.

“I know my rights!” the first one shouted. “I want you three miscreants out of my restaurant, and at this point if Princess Celestia herself were to come here, I would tell her that she’s as unwelcome as that…that thing is!” He thrust an angry hoof at Octavia, anger in his pink eyes. “Get out!”


“ENOUGH!” Whiskey leapt to her feet, her paws going to her swords. “How dare you treat my lady this way!” The two brothers started backing away as she withdrew her blades. “She has done nothing but treat me better than I deserve and I will not stand for any cretin who does not treat her with the utmost respect!” She advanced on them, ready to attack.

“Whiskey! Don’t!” Octavia shouted. Amabile rose from her seat, ready to take down the kitsune if she needed to.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t needed, as the vixen suddenly found herself slammed hard against the wall by two meaty fists. She was then thrown across the room into a nearby set of tables. From where she’d been standing a second ago, a larger than normal minotaur, wearing a sauce-stained apron, snorted and flexed his considerably muscular arms. “Calves should learn when to behave themselves,” he snarled at her. “Now get out of my restaurant, or I’m going to have to teach you another lesson, you heifer, or my name ain’t Great Flavor!”

“Just in time!” Straw told him, cheering him on.

“Yeah! Pound those three as flat as Eggplant Parmaresan!” Hay agreed.

Flavor adjusted his toque, grinning and giving his bosses a thumbs-up. “You got it!” he said.


Patrons frantically galloped towards the doors as a fight had suddenly broken out in the restaurant. Tables got knocked over and dishes and glasses shattered everywhere as ponies did what typically occurred when something of this nature happened.

“You!” the minotaur accused Octavia, pointing a finger at her. “You did this! All ponies wanted to do was eat in peace, and you caused all this! Humans are the worst!”

“I didn’t do anything!” Octavia told him.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson!” he roared, rushing at her without rhyme or reason. As he moved on her like lightning, Octavia knew there was no way she was going to survive this. She shielded herself as best as she could, getting ready for a world of hurt.

Amabile immediately sprung into action, leaping towards the minotaur and slamming into him at a high speed. Landing on the ground, she immediately flung her knives at him, and he was only able to block by pulling a table in front of him as a shield. He then immediately threw the table at her, sending her flying out a window. Given that they were on the second floor, the landing immediately meant injuries.

“Nopony is going to ruin Great Flavor’s job!” he snarled, flexing.

“Get ‘em, Flav!” both brothers cheered.

He then would have given a reply back…had it not been for the sudden knee he got in the face. Whiskey delivered a bone-cracking blow to him, and as he staggered, she leaped up and slammed him on the back of the head with her elbow, sending him crashing to the ground.

She immediately withdrew her blades. “You will not touch Lady Octavia as long as I breathe!” she hissed.

“That won’t be long,” he said, only to scream out in pain as Whiskey lashed out with her swords, cutting off both his horns. They fell to the ground, useless.

“Do you know how long it took me to grow those!?” he snarled, his eyes turning red with rage. Seeing that their employee was about to lose control, both Straw and Hay did the sensible thing: promptly run for their lives, doing as their customers already had and ran down the stairs, abandoning the restaurant.

“Better your horns than a hair on Lady Octavia’s ma—” Whiskey suddenly found herself grabbed by the tails and slammed repeatedly on the ground as if she were a toy suffering the results of a child’s tantrum. She felt her teeth rattle and her blood splatter as the now-out-of-control minotaur had control of the battle. She tried to break free, but couldn’t; while she had been expertly trained, none of that training had been focused on how to deal with a minotaur in the midst of a berserker rage.

Finally, he stopped, the kitsune laying still and battered to a pulp. He picked up her swords, snapping them in two with glee, the blood running through his fingers as the blade sliced them open. He then turned back towards Octavia, murder in his eyes. “And now for you,” he intoned ominously, rushing towards her.

She screamed.



The world turned white.

Seated at dinner in her tower, Sunset and Softwing ate a delectable Zhuanganese stir-fry prepared by the kitchen, while the former looked over the latter’s rather impeccable resume. Sure enough, Softwing had been at the top of Kibbitz’ recommendations, and now, based on the dinner she was having with the griffoness, she could see why.

“Honestly, looking at this, for the life of me I can’t see why anypony would think you’re a danger to your fellow Equestrians. If anything, you’re an asset – somepony with your accolades isn’t an individual to dismiss so lightly.” She rapped her fingers against the papers. “Well, they might have forced Twi to turn you down, but as the nobility will find out soon, I don’t play the same game as my fellow princesses. So, frankly, if you want the position as my seneschal – as soon as I figure out what that role entails – then it’s yours.”

Softwing’s eyes lit up. “Really? You mean it?”

“I do. It’s just…if you accept this position, have you been told what the biggest change will entail?”

“I’m afraid not, Pri…er, Sunset,” the griffoness answered. “I’m honestly at a loss as to what you mean.”

Sunset gestured at herself. “This is my everyday form: that of a human. I live on Earth with my adopted family, serving as both Alicorn of Earth and a future ambassador for ponydom, should a meeting between our two worlds ever formally come to pass. If you become my seneschal, for both your safety and for everyday duties, you’ll have to live on Earth like me – as a human. Furthermore, because we are trying to give a positive example of humanity to dispel centuries of myth, whenever you’re in Equestria, you would have to do a lot of your duties here in human form as well.

“I’m not asking you to completely give up who you are forever; that would be selfish of me and unfair to you. And obviously if you take vacation here on Equus you are welcome to take whatever form you please. But I know it’s a lot to ask, so I’m letting you know this ahead of time.” Sunset then added, “Additionally, there’s another condition as well.”

Softwing looked at the princess; the requirement she laid before her was a pretty big one, even if it came attached to her dream job. But there was another issue? “Please, go on.”

“If you can’t meet the other criteria, I assure you, it has nothing to do with the fact that you are a griffin.” Sunset paused as if to gather her thoughts before continuing. “Because there have been no official meetings between humanity and Equus, we cannot accept applicants whose human counterparts have ties to the Canterlot Metro Area or who have criminal connections. We’ve had at least two incidents where counterparts have or potentially could have run into one another, and we cannot risk any further ones. Furthermore, it would be worse if you were in a position where you would have to explain yourself even if you had nothing to do with any illegal activity your counterpart may have done, if that’s the case.

“But if you pass, you will have a new identity on Earth and a chance for a normal life as a human, for the most part. No one will know your secret except for me, my family, my court and guards, and the Equestrian government. And if you choose to leave my employ and live the rest of your days on Earth as a human, that’s fine.”

“Why would I do that?” Softwing asked.

“Haven’t you ever thought about love? To find someone to call your own?” Sunset gave an awkward smile. “I did…briefly. But the point is, if you find someone and decide to live a normal life with them outside of working for me, I wouldn’t stop you. I don’t feel I have that right.” Sunset took another bite of her food, then continued. “Either way, if it works out, your problems here will be solved and you need never worry about being hunted by griffin agents again. I will make sure of that, even if you do not end up working for me. You have my word on that.”

Softwing paused before saying something; clearly, it was a lot to take in. Seeing the look on the griffoness’ face, Sunset added, “Take your time – as much as you need. It’s clear that you have a lot to think about and I know I loaded a lot on you. I know I’d be overwhelmed if I were in your shoes. As it is, I already am, to some degree.”

Softwing looked at the princess and how comfortable she was in her human form. If she didn’t know the truth, she figured that the alicorn before her was actually a born-and-raised human. “I have a question, if I may,” she broached.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Is it…easy being human? Is it any different than what we are?”

Sunset shook her head. “Other than mannerisms and some mindsets, not really. Sure, you’re not going to get all the cultural references; even after living on Earth for half a decade, I still don’t quite understand everything and I still miss a lot of things. But I have friends and loved ones and a life where people don’t know me as Princess Sunset Shimmer of Equestria. They just know me as Sunset Shimmer.”

“So day to day, I would just be Softwing?”

Sunset nodded. “You would be whatever your cover identity has you as, and as long as you work within those parameters, you can be whatever you wish to be. It will be a challenge in some cases, admittedly; some days I would rather fly or teleport than to have to drive to school or work, but humans don’t have access to either for the most part, so I have to go without. Regardless, though it may be a trial at times, it’s also a worthwhile opportunity that no other seneschal will likely ever have.”

“I see. Then I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, Sunset,” Softwing said as she rose from her chair. “Thank you for both your offer and dinner. Actually, thank you for everything, really.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Sunset said as both humans went to the door. “I would protect any mare that needs it. And besides, if you accept the job, I’ll be the one thanking you. In any case, I hope to talk to you soon.”

Halberd gave Sable a grin as he tapped a hoof on the dossiers he was about to give the human. “You do know that once your little secret becomes known to the general public, it’s going to change everything that ponies have known about our world and its geopolitical order, do you not?”

“I can’t answer that, sir,” Sable told him. “I’m still playing catch up with the politics of this world. Probably a worthwhile endeavor, though.”

“Smart stallion, er, man,” the pony told him. “One of my predecessors, Long Campaign, once stated that only privates and fools do not keep track of where the politics blow, because that is what moves the Army.”

“Sounds like a smart suggestion and something similar to my world. The saying from mine goes, ‘Sergeants study tactics, captains study strategy, colonels study logistics, and generals study politics.’”

Halberd chuckled. “I may have to remember that. In any case, Admiral, these are my recommendations, and I understand that Capt. Arrowswift has already passed you the Guard’s. While I doubt that Mage Essence will be of any help to you, I have taken the liberty to contact Archmagus Beryl on your behalf – though I understand you already know her – and her office will likely send you something by courier in the morning. Of course, your Fleet personnel will likely be taken care of by Adviso. She’s a good pony, by the by. If you stand by her, she’ll stand by you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” Sable said as he took the dossiers. “Thanks.”

Softwing walked through the palace grounds, her mind aswirl with the choice before her. Moving past an indoor fountain, the water dancing within, she stopped to watch it, contemplating her future as the jets of water moved on different trajectories, an aquatic ballet thanks to the superb craftsponyship of whoever had built the display.

The griffoness looked into the pool at the base of the fountain, seeing her reflection. Can I give up who I am? I may not want to see my father ever again, but in the end, I’m still a griffin. A griffin that’s supposed to set an example for our kind to ponydom. She then looked out the window towards the city of Canterlot and its thousands of residents. Somewhere down there was the home she’d once shared with the aged ponies that had raised and loved her regardless of her species. And then there’s Goldleaf and Silvervein to think about. I was never their foal, not really; but they treated me as though I was, and if they had their way, I would have been.

She held a claw up, summoning a ball of grayish-green magic. She’d had dreams of using her magic to help her adopted homeland. Her father, on the other hand, had first dreamed of using her as a weapon against his rivals and ultimately as a bargaining chip for more power when his star had begun to wane. He had never given her a thought and she had no idea if her mother even knew if she was still alive. Goldleaf and Silvervein, however, had taught her to chase her own dreams and to be the best she could be – not the best griffoness or mare, but the best individual. She loved them for that.

Softwing, once Grizelda Greatsword, knew the choice before her and the path behind her. Somepony out of hate or spite or fear had blocked her path. Now, by a Celestia-blessed miracle, Princess Sunset Shimmer was offering her a new chance, a way to chase her dreams in a means she’d never even thought was possible.

But would the price be worth it?

“So how was dinner with your counterparts?” Sunset asked Adagio, glad to have a casual conversation with her cousin and sister figure for a change as the two chatted over coffee and dessert; since their arrival, it had been all business, which bothered Sunset slightly.

“They’re nice girls, though very different from us. And Sirenian Coast baked halibut is probably one of the best meals I’ve eaten since we’ve been here, no offense,” the golden-haired girl replied. “Just like Soni tends to be the best cook out of the three of us, Nata apparently seems to be for her sisters. Needless to say, Soni made sure to get the recipe.”

Sunset chuckled. “Not surprised.”

“Yeah, I suspect that’s going to be on the dinner menu the first night we’re back home. Anyway, got your text. What’s up?”

Sunset tapped her phone, sending Adagio a file. “Need you to look into a new person in your clearance database. She’s not going to be a SIREN, though.” Sunset explained everything and when she was done, Adagio nodded.

“You know, I remember Cady saying last week that the apartment next door to them is available for rent. Maybe that might be a good place for her to start out?”

“Sounds reasonable,” Sunset agreed. “While I don’t think she or Shiny would mind, it means that they would have to help Softwing into human life. That shouldn’t be much of an issue for Cady, but with Shiny’s new job at the FBI that could cause him some headaches.”

“You’re underestimating him. He’s had our backs since forever, and that’s not going to change.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. In any case, it would make sense for whoever takes the job to have a place nearby, so that they can access the portal yet still not have to be at my beck and call 24/7.” The flame-haired girl scrunched her face in thought. “Maybe I should ask my aunt and Twi about building a second portal. They’ve both been heavily researching the spell, so if they make one in my offices here in Equestria, they can tie it to a mirror on Earth that can be at her home there.”

“Your call. In any case, I’ll have Derpy run the info through the wringer and see what we come up with. You should probably call Shiny when you get the chance and have him look into securing that apartment somehow. Maybe he can tell their landlord he knows someone who’s interested or something. That’s going to be the case for whoever ends up with the job.”

“It’s going to be Softwing,” Sunset said with a smile that indicated she was certain. “I’m pretty sure of it.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched,” Adagio said with a laugh. A second later, she said, “Or griffins, I guess – do they hatch from eggs?”

“Sorta – griffonesses lay eggs if they’re giving birth to chicks, which is the female of the species. However, they give live births to cubs, the males.”

“Weird.”


There was a knock on the door, and Adagio went to answer it. Softwing stood there, looking at them both. Bowing deeply, she said, “I’ve decided, Your Highness.”

Sunset folded her arms and looked at the griffoness. “That didn’t take long.”

Softwing nodded. “I never really knew my mother, and my father intends to use me as a tool for one manner or another should he ever get his claws on me again. The ponies that truly thought of me as their own are gone, and I am alone. All I can do now is to honor their last wish – and that was for me to be happy. And I can’t do that if I stay here where I’m in constant danger.”

“I sense a ‘but’,” Adagio said to no one in particular.

“You’re right,” Softwing told the stranger. “In the end, it’s more than just the fear. It’s a challenge. I love ponies – I consider this land mine, and if I had my way, I would be a mare and not a griffoness. Regardless, I want to be a good example for both griffins and Equestrians. And if this means that I take a job with a challenge like none other, because the Crown has need of me, then I shall do it. I wanted to work with Princess Twilight, because of the unique opportunities and trials it would present, but that’s not possible. But now I see, working with you, Princess, it will be even more of an adventure – and that’s what I want.” She smiled as only a griffin could. “So if the position is still open….”

“Only if you stop calling me Princess,” Sunset said with a smile.

“Just being formal for the occasion,” Softwing said, uttering a purring sort of laugh.

“Welcome to the club,” Sunset said, offering her hand. Softwing took it in her claw and shook.

“Well, I’d better go rush this,” Adagio said as she stepped out the door. “I’ll give you a call as soon as I get a response from Derpy.”


“Sunny! Sis! We have an emergency!” Aria skidded to a stop before Sunset’s door, breathing heavily as she’d apparently run the length of the palace from the guest wing to Sunset’s tower.

“What’s going on, sis?” Adagio asked her.

“We need to get to the infirmary.” Sunset knew she wasn’t going to like those words; the last time she’d been in a hospital situation, it had been for her own injuries after she’d been stabbed.

“What happened?” the flame-haired girl asked.

Sure enough, the middle triplet’s next words froze both Sunset’s and Adagio’s blood: “Tavi was attacked in a downtown restaurant – Uncle Night’s already on the way over and Soni and Aunt Velvet just left. I came here to get you two!”

No words further were said as Sunset teleported all in the room towards the infirmary.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Vinyl Scratch’s Wubsarena, a sizeable crowd had arrived to watch a musical sensation far beyond their wildest imagination perform. She’d only been here for two days and it seemed that Fluttershy had become a rock star amongst ponies, catching their attention.

“Don’t look ahead, there’s stormy weather,
Another roadblock in our way
But if we go, we go together –
Our hands are tied here if we stay”

Her friends in the audience cheered her on, both pony and human, and Fluttershy took to the stage. Thanks to some minor assistance from Princess Twilight, the teenage sensation, backed by a band of ponies, played a mixture of both pony and human songs, and based upon the large crowd dancing, everyone, regardless of species, was having the time of their life.

All except for one.

“Oh, we said our dreams will carry us,
And if they don’t fly, we will run
Now we push right past to find out
How to win what they all lost”

Seated on the balcony, listening from a distance and nursing a Sweet Apple Acres Premium Reserve, a young woman with deep rose hair stared at a mountain in the distance with a desperate longing. She didn’t want to be bothered by anyone right now, save for one person. A person she hadn’t seen in days, and desperately desired.

“Oh-ah, Oh-ah
We know now we want more
Oh-ah, Oh-ah
A life worth fighting for…”

She reached for her purse, pulled out the brown bottle and popped a pill, chasing it down with the alcohol. If she were home, she’d probably would have gotten grief for doing that – she probably would have been in trouble just for drinking the hard cider. But currently she didn’t care. All she wanted was a pair of luscious lips against hers, to fall asleep in strong arms and to smell the familiar fragrance of roses that had seemed to be ever present in her life since the day she first knew her feelings.

She laughed bitterly to herself. Rainbow, currently writhing on the dance floor, probably would have made a tasteless joke that Pinkie really needed to get laid. Unfortunately, her preferred candidate for that was well over a hundred miles north of here.

She took another swig of the cider. She knew she should be down there with her best friends, supporting Fluttershy. But at the moment, all she wanted was for Sunset to throw her down to the ground, rip off her clothing and….

If there was a way for Pinkie to feel utter lust and utter shame at the same time, she’d just discovered it.


She wasn’t the only pink-follicled individual with strong feelings right now.

“That…that…human!” an angry pegasus with a short magenta and neon-blue mane seethed. She had a virgin-blue coat and a neon-blue lightning bolt and G-clef for a cutie mark; she also wore a pair of earphones around her neck. She turned and glared at the other person in the office overlooking the stage. “How could you do this to me?”

Vinyl Scratch shook her head. “Grace, you should be glad you’re getting the time off, okay? That human mare is the flavor of the day and as you’ve noticed, I’m not even performing right now.”

“Well, that’s your fault, Vinyl!” Gracenote shouted. “I’m the best DJ in Equestria—”

“I beg to differ,” the DJ and owner of the venue interjected.

“—and to be upstaged by this…human! I won’t stand for it!”

“Nonetheless, that’s how it’s going to be. The crowds want to see her play, and she’s a friend of Princess Twilight’s, so she’s got the stage for every night this week except tomorrow. You can play tomorrow, if you want.”

“I can’t! You know I have a gig in Cloudsdale tomorrow!”

Vinyl shrugged. “Then you’ll just have to live with it until she goes back to her world, Grace.”

Gracenote stomped towards the office door, then turned and looked at Vinyl. “Mark my words, Vinyl: you’re going to regret giving her the stage for the whole week! And when she bombs, you’re going to beg me to come back and play!” She then departed, slamming the door as she bailed.

Vinyl Scratch removed her sunglasses and polished them against a rag she had on her desk. Rolling her eyes at the departed musician, she groaned, “And I thought Octy was a drama princess.”

Seated on a minotaur-size cot that was usually used by the alicorns whenever they were present, Octavia crossed her arms and looked at the nurse. “I’m fine! I was blinded for a moment, sure, but otherwise I’m okay, I promise!”

“As long as you’re sure,” Night asked her, worry in his eyes. “The Guard is looking over the place with a fine-tooth comb in case it was a terrorist incident.”

“From what our official investigation so far has uncovered, it was just several patrons unduly panicking about Lady Octavia’s presence,” a guardspony present stated, “and a couple of specist restaurateurs who are out one restaurant, as well as their cook, who we’ve arrested. As for the magic blast, we think it may have been a random spite attack by a departing patron. We’re doing magical forensics right now to see if it matches any known wellspring profiles.”

The nurse looked at Octavia, then at Night. “She checks out, but given that she’s not a pony, I recommend that she remain overnight so we can make sure that you had no long-term effects from magic due to your lack of it,” the nurse advised.

“I’m not worried about me,” Octavia told her. “What about the others I was with? Are they okay?”

“I don’t know if confidentiality would allow me to tell you, my lady,” the nurse said.

“Please – I have to know if they’re okay.”

Seeing the human’s concern, appreciation overrode the nurse’s caution. “Miss Heart has a pastern fracture, two broken ribs, and a contusion; she also landed on a spiked fence, so there were some puncture injuries as well. The kitsune, however, refused any medical treatment, so I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss what they found,” the nurse told her.


“Tavi!” The girls, followed in short order by Velvet, immediately filtered into the room.

“It’s okay; it was only a scare,” Night told the others. “They’re going to keep her here overnight for observation, but apparently there was no long-term harm done.”

Meanwhile, Sunset went up to her cousin. “This seems familiar, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Octavia agreed with a grin. “But maybe next time Twily can do this? It’s probably her turn anyway.” She then saw the triplets there and said, “Hey, would you three do me a favor? Apparently, Whiskey skipped out on her medical check, and I’m worried about her.”

“We’re more worried about you,” Sonata told her.

“Look, the nurse said I’m fine, so I’m fine,” the raven-haired girl assured them. “Meanwhile, Whiskey is probably out there, bleeding and thinking that she failed me. Don’t you think that’s a dangerous mindset?”

The triplets got the hint and departed immediately.

Sunset sighed. “As much as I wish I could stay, I need to prepare for a briefing with the Royal Financial Office tomorrow to determine how much my setup is going to be. I suspect because most of my ‘lands, duties and responsibilities’ are on Earth instead of here, they’re probably going to try to give me the bare minimum even if the other princesses suggest otherwise. I suppose Mother will try to give me a rule of a small area where I can easily access it via the mirror or something.” She shrugged. “Either way, I need to go hit the books.”

“You go do that,” Octavia told her.

“I know I sound like a broken record, Tavi, but I’m sorry I haven’t had much time to spend with you,” Sunset said sadly. “I’d promised you I would, and I’ve made a mess of it.”

Octavia hugged her. “Maybe, but I understand. You go do what you gotta do, Sunny. Like I said, we still have plenty of time to spend together, right?”

Sunset nodded, grateful to have such an understanding pseudo-sibling in her life. “Yeah, we do,” she said in a warm tone.


It didn’t take long for the triplets to find Whiskey. Seated in the infirmary’s garden, looking as though she was utterly destroyed, they found her, bleeding and not caring.

“You know, there’s a hospital right here,” Adagio told her. “Injured people tend to use them to get healed. So what’s your excuse?”

“I no longer have my swords, so I cannot commit jigai honorably,” she said in sad tones. “So the best I can hope for is to sit here and bleed to death. I have failed Her Highness and I have failed Lady Octavia as well.”

“She sent us to look for you, you know,” Aria told her. “She’s worried about you.”

“Why? I am just a retainer, and a pathetic one at that. I have lived for 286 years and I am no closer to getting my third tail than I was yesterday. I have failed my duty to my lady again and I have gravely insulted the honor of both Lady Octavia and Princess Sunset as a result. Small wonder that Prince Fujitsu cast me aside and so shall Princess Sunset once she knows what has happened.”

“You know, I find that completely insulting,” Sonata told her. “Sunny’s not like that, and for you to say that…as her cousin, that really pisses me off. She always sees the good in people, and unless you’re a homicidal maniac with megalomaniacal ambitions, well, let’s just say she’s very forgiving. So don’t you dare say she’d give up on you!”

Whiskey turned to look at the three. She knew they were younger than her, chronologically speaking, but she was probably around their age in terms of maturity. And yet…as she inspected their countenances, they reminded her so much of her mentors and trainers throughout the decades, fine tods and vixens with wisdom and demeanors far beyond their years. This trio of humans towered above her, even though they had none of her magic, her age or her vixenish beauty or strength.

“Please….” she said, her voice a whisper, tears beginning to fall down her furry face. “I don’t want to die alone and forgotten, a shame to all of kitsunekind. I don’t want to be a failure and bring shame to generations of my ancestors. But I don’t know what to do.” She looked at them, tears in her eyes. “If you are truly Her Highness’ most trusted and valued retainers, please, help me.”


Adagio looked at her for a moment, studying the broken creature at her feet, just waiting to die, even if that wasn’t what she wanted. Whiskey was trapped by tradition and she didn’t even know why. Adagio recalled a time that didn’t exist when she’d been that way as well.

No more, she vowed. No more letting someone else’s rules dictate someone’s future.

“Sis?” Aria asked her.

Adagio reached for her phone and dialed. “Sir? It’s Capt. Dazzle. I have a question for you,” she asked. “Did you still have a lead on an RDC to get our candidates up to snuff?”

“I do, but I thought we were going to settle on candidates after our first vetting, Captain,” he told her. “I take it something has changed?”

“Something has, sir,” she said. “We’d like to discuss it with you tomorrow at breakfast, if that’s okay with you.”

“That’s fine. We need to discuss my planned meeting with Vice Adm. Adviso tomorrow, as well as the preparations for the upcoming test of potential candidates.”

“Understood, sir. I’ll see you tomorrow morning then. Capt. Dazzle, out.” Hanging up the phone, she looked at Whiskey. “On your feet,” Adagio said, her tone changing from that of a teenage girl to that of what sailors since ancient times called that of “The Old Man”.

The kitsune looked at her, confused.

“As of this moment, unless otherwise dictated, you are now in the Royal Equestrian Navy, and you are now the first candidate for the Special Initiative. And as such, your first order is to get into the infirmary and seek medical attention, do I make myself clear?”

To the amusement of Adagio’s sisters, they had never seen an injured individual move so fast before. Sonata swore she thought she saw the hint of a relieved smile on the kitsune’s muzzle.

Bleary-eyed, Sunset looked at the time on her phone. Ugh. It’s not even midnight yet and I feel exhausted. Between the yaks’ audiohell, the seven-billion-hour long Jasmine ceremony, the whole thing with Softwing (thought that turned out to be a bright note) and finally Octavia’s hospitalization and the triplets taking care of Whiskey, it had been one hell of a day. And now brushing up on what she would need for the next day’s meeting, she felt as though her remaining energy had been completely sapped. She was sure at this point she could mainline the sun into her veins and it wouldn’t be enough to keep her conscious.

Funny, for an immortal creature that supposedly doesn’t need sleep, I really can’t think of anything else but that right now, she thought, stifling off a yawn just as a knock came at the door.

“Coming,” she yawned, hoping that her exhaustion would translate to a very short visit.

As she opened the door, a Guardspony gave her a salute, holding a bound report under his wing. “Princess? Capt. Arrowswift asked me to bring by a copy on the preliminary findings on the attack earlier today and—”

As he heard his voice, her shoulders sagged. Great – I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, she told herself, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen now. The alicorn-in-human-form looked at the pegasus in barding standing before her. His mane and eye colors haunted her and his voice brought back memories, both good and bad. Well, best to face the music now, as if I have a choice.

“Hello, Cpl. Sentry,” she said with a tired voice.

“Uh, do we know each other, Your Highness?” he asked her. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met.”

“Oh, I know who you are, Flash Sentry,” she said sadly, and he winced at her tone. Seeing that made her feel guilty, and she added, “It’s…it’s nothing personal. Well, not against you, anyway, but rather—”

His ears folded. “My human counterpart. I…know about him. I met with Lady Twilight – that is, the human Twilight Sparkle….”

“Yes. My sister sent me a message about that.”

Flash looked worried. “She didn’t tell me much, but from what little she said, and combined with your reaction….” He looked reluctant at first, but then steeled himself. “I feel that I need to—”

“No – do not apologize,” Sunset insisted, a bit forcefully. He took a step back and she winced; she was doing this all wrong, she knew, but it had to be done. “You did nothing wrong, my little pony,” she said, trying to take a cue from her mother’s playbook.

She bit back a groan; this was in no way, shape or form going to be an easy conversation.

“Please, come in, Corporal,” she told him as she opened the door, fully. “I think you should hear the full story.” As he walked in, she bade him sit down in a seat, then she took one next to him. “How well would you say you trust me?” she asked him.

“Implicitly,” he answered automatically. “You are one of the Royal Family and I am yours to command, Your Highness,” he began, getting ready to practically recite the Guardspony’s Credo, but Sunset stopped him.

“I mean pony to pony,” she clarified, mentally chuckling at the irony of her being in a human form at the moment. “And please, drop the formality. You address Twi – that is, Princess Twilight – by her name, right?”

“I did,” he admitted, “but…things have been tense between us lately. I wasn’t really sure why, but now I realize what it was.”

“Well, please, just call me Sunset or Sunny,” she told him. “I would appreciate it.”

“I understand,” he told her. “Well, in that case, I would trust you as much as I would any other pony I just met – why do you ask?”

“Because for me to explain the full story, you need to do something. Please, give me your hoof.” When he looked at her oddly, she added, “Trust me, it will be clear in a second.” He then offered his hoof, and she took it. The moment she did, a huge corona of spellfire enveloped him.

Flash instinctively flinched, pulling his hoof back…

…only to find out that it was no longer a hoof, but a hand. He looked at it, momentarily panicking. “What did you do?”

She summoned a mirror for him to look at himself. “Now you look like him: Bradley. Or as he likes to call himself, ‘Flash Sentry’.”

“Bradley?” the pegasus, now a boy, asked as he looked at his image in the mirror.

“It’s a very old name in both English and Equestrian; an old word meaning broad wood. However, he hated it, so he took the name of a 1930s fictional adventure character. He told enough people that was his name and eventually they believed him, and then continued to call him that even after the truth came out. It was,” she told him, “only the first of the lies he’s told.

“When I first moved to Earth, he was one of the very first that I met. I couldn’t help but find him charming and sweet and though we were both young – in my human form, I was thirteen at the time – I became infatuated with him and eventually we started a relationship.” She paused for a moment to calm herself. “Eventually, that relationship became sexual, and that turned out to be a mistake. I take it you’ve been informed of why I live on Earth?”

He nodded. “I have to applaud your bravery, Sunset. I don’t think I could leave my family to take on duties to go on a highly-secret mission for Princess Celestia, especially given that you’re her daughter. Doubly so, considering that the story the public was told about your disappearance and how you were so unfairly villainized for a long time.”

Sunset wasn’t sure about what to say about that, so she left it be. “In any case, Flash and I broke up shortly before Twi – that is, Princess Twilight – came to Earth for her own mission. Shortly after that, I came into the care of the human family that adopted me. However, the thing that you need to know is that during Twi’s time there, they met and became attracted to each other. Unfortunately, given that Twi is the counterpart to Twily – by that, I mean my sister, the human Twilight Sparkle – those two came across each other and even though Flash didn’t remember meeting a Twilight Sparkle, he was attracted to her enough that he wanted to use her for his own ends. Moreso, once he realized that she was my younger sister, he knew it would be a way to get back at me as well.

“I should also add at this time, he was a part of a group called The Club. It seems like an innocent enough name, right? It might have been…except that the club had access to a drug that removed a person’s will to act.” Seeing the confusion on his face, she explained further. “Think of it as a mind control potion or spell, and then think of the worst ways possible that it could be used.” Her eyes shrank to narrowed slits of anger as she continued. “He used it on Twily, nearly turning her into his plaything. As it was, hundreds of girls were impacted and he was one of the ringleaders, so he was clearly as guilty as sin. He was eventually caught and arrested, but thanks to some political connections and good lawyers, he avoided his fate, and came out smelling like a rose.”

Flash was shocked; he could feel the abject hatred that came from Sunset, inadvertently directed at him…but it was nothing compared to hearing what his other self – his counterpart – did. It was unspeakable, a monstrous atrocity that shook him to the core. “How?” he asked, his mouth feeling dry just from inquiring. “I…I can’t imagine that! How could he get away with it?”

“A lot of money and popularity, combined with parents that don’t care. How old are you, Flash?”

“Twenty-four, why?”

“Your counterpart turns seventeen next week. Even though I’m a thirty-year-old mare, as a human, I just turned seventeen a couple of months ago. And where we live, you’re a minor until you’re eighteen, which means Flash’s parents are responsible for him.” She shifted in her chair as she let that sink in before proceeding with, “In all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never met his parents. There were whole weeks where it was just the two of us in his house, which is frankly immoral if not outright illegal.

“I only know three things about his parents: that they’re rich, that they only truly care about him when he does something that could come around to backfire on them, and that this inattentiveness created a monster. I suppose that makes them monsters as well, but I hope that’s not the case. I don’t believe it, however. And that’s really the gist of it,” Sunset finished. “A guy that I thought I loved turned into a monster, but the truth was, he’s pretty much always been.”

Not that I was any better, she accused herself.

“You loved him?”

“I hate to admit it, but…I’ve had plenty of time to think about it. I think in hindsight that I did. I had other reasons for being with him, but let’s be honest: I would not have stayed with him as long as I did unless that wasn’t the case. I think it made it harder when I found out he’d been cheating on me with another girl that’s since become a close friend.”


Flash sat there for a few minutes in thought, digesting everything he’d been told, and none of it was good. It was a horror story, but a thousand times moreso: it was the story of how he could’ve been had his life been different and had he not been blessed with a loving family. He looked once more at the strange image in the mirror that was his current reflection, and he found it twisted for more than just the obvious reasons.

After a few seconds of more thought, he spoke: “Sunset…what can I do to make up for what he did? I know I’m not him, but I am Flash Sentry. It’s not just a name I took on, I was born with it, so I am that pony. Still, to hear my name dragged through the mud like that is galling and I can’t help but want to make up for what has been done.”

“You can’t,” she told him. “The price is too high. For one, he fathered a child with a friend of mine named Blossomforth that he doesn’t care about; while he and I had our relationship, at the same time he’d been cheating on me with her, and neither of us knew about it. My friends and I have helped Blossom and her family with Sunset Blossom, but being a teenage mother and a single parent is hell. Then there’s his reputation, that’s still somewhat in tatters even if he never went to prison.” She looked at the pony-as-boy and said, “That is what you would have to fix: to marry a girl you’ve never met, be a father to a child you aren’t responsible for, and to live with the shame for things you never did.”

He looked at her sadly. “I don’t know how you managed, and everything you were accused of is false. This Flash Sentry sounds like a monster, like everything I could never be and would never want to be.” He sighed. “I don’t think I could ever step into those horseshoes.”

“I didn’t expect you to, but the fact alone that you’re willing to admit that puts you leagues above Brad.” She then added, “If you truly want to redeem your name, then continue to be the stallion of honor and integrity that you are. That is something your counterpart will never be capable of, and each day you are makes your name that much brighter where it counts: to those who know and respect you for who you are.”

He looked at the mirror once more, seeing the strange reflection looking back at him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to be changed back to normal. I don’t want to cause you any more pain.” She blinked and he said in a soft tone, “It’s obvious: somepony you loved hurt you and that pain won’t go away easily. If I may, I would suggest talking to Princess Cadance. She helped me get over my issues when I realized my feelings for Twi were unrequited. But now I at least know why.”

“Okay, gimme a second to change you back.” Closing her eyes, Sunset cast the amnimorphic spell once more, returning him to his normal form.


A few minutes later, she escorted him to the door. “Thanks for listening, Flash. I appreciate it.”

“No, thank you for explaining it to me,” he replied. “I know that can’t have been easy for you. And if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“I will, thanks.” Giving her a salute, he then walked off towards his appointed rounds.

Sunset closed the door, then shuddered. For a moment, she thought, I thought I saw the guy he might have been. Not the monster, but the guy I loved. Tears came, unbidden and she hated herself for it. She used Flash for her own selfish needs and vice versa, but there had to be a point where they’d been a real couple – hadn’t there?

Out of nowhere, she felt a wing embrace her. She turned to look, and was surprised to see her aunt standing there, a soft look on her face.

“You might not be asleep right now,” Luna said softly, “but I know the heart’s pain when it occurs. I will stay with you this evening, my niece.”

“It’s okay,” Sunset sobbed. “There are others who need you more than I, Aunt Luna.”

“That’s not true,” Luna told her. “I may not understand your experiences, but I know this much: whether as an adult mare, or a broken-hearted girl, we could always stand to use somepony in our corner.”

Sunset responded by burying her face in her aunt’s neck, while Luna wrapped her wings around her niece, letting her know that she was loved.

In a quiet corner of Back Cut’s Pool Hall, a kitsune and a griffin looked across a table at one another. The former was refined and polished, a gentletod in every way, while the latter could hardly be called anything remotely like that. But still the two met, and business was had.

Gunther Granitewings took a swig of his cider. It tasted like dirty laundry water, but he hadn’t come here for the drinks. No, he’d come here for the job offer from the kitsune sitting across from him, the fox that had given him no name but a business opportunity that was of the order that he would have to be insane to turn down.

“So, let me get this straight,” Gunther snarled. “Your master wants me an’ my boys to catch one o’ those humans for you—”

“One particular one,” he said, passing over the image that showed the human in question. “This one, and no others.”

He looked at the image. “Fine, whatever. So we get this one for you and bring her to your airship, and you’ll pay us our weight in gold?”

“Easily,” the kitsune told him. “My master wants this human female for his…well, let’s just call it a collection and leave it at that. You don’t need to know the details, only that we want her unharmed and on our airship in two days. You do that, and we’ll have your money waiting for you.”

He thought about it. With this money, he could easily force his fat-ass uncle and cousins out of the reeve and become highreeve of Clawson Reeve. It would be a first step towards real power, not just being a lackey mercenary with nothing to call his own save his sword and armor.

“Fine,” he said, holding up the picture of Octavia Melody. “In two days, this human’ll be bound and on your ship.”