Nightwatch: Getting the Scent
Celestia raised her head on hearing her door open. The moment it did, she caught Sunset Shimmer walking in, almost with a strut to her step, making her way directly to the chair across from her desk. As was normal now, she no longer wore her full uniform. She had swapped out her tunic for a looser coat and changed out her footwear for newer shoes; both despite the fact she should have had no access to getting new attire. Her hair was no longer tied back in any of the academy styles but was far looser; accentuating her flame-like coloration.
When she reached the chair, she practically reclined in it and crossed her legs, as if Celestia's office was no more than a lounge. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Celestia stared at her a moment. “Sunset, I believe the academy rules clearly state you are to knock prior to entering the Headmistress’ Office, but nevermind that.” She leaned back in her chair. “Do you remember when I called you in four weeks ago?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
The casual, dismissive tone made Celestia’s eyes narrow momentarily. “Yes…well, in that case, I suppose you remember full well what we discussed. About your behavior, both in terms of your treatment of other students as well as, frankly, your attitude.”
“I don’t understand what the problem is. I’m just trying to push the other students along.”
“And how exactly did hanging one student by a tree branch 30 meters in the air help ‘push her along’, as you say? Or trapping three students in a corner surrounded by flames?”
She shrugged. “They should have mastered telekinesis and freezing spells by now, right? I’m just giving them a bit of real-life experience.”
“What it sounds like you’re doing, Sunset, is being a bully.”
Sunset’s casual smirk turned into a frown as, to a bit of Celestia’s surprise, she leaned up in her chair. “I’m not being a bully…I’m being bored. I’m tired of being in the same classes as them. I surpassed them all over two years ago, yet I'm still stuck with kids who can barely pull off cantrips on command. I’m afraid I’m going to start forgetting the more advanced spells the longer I’m in there with them.”
“I see. Well, just because ‘you’re bored’ doesn’t give you an excuse to treat other people that way. Especially not in situations that could have gotten them hurt or left them feeling humiliated or scared.”
“Then how about you do your job and challenge me with something new?”
The sharpness of her voice, to say nothing of the insubordinate tone, was enough for the headmistress to break her position-of-authority appearance for genuine surprise. “Excuse me?”
“I’m tired of relearning lessons I have already mastered. I’m sick of acing every exam and practical. I’m doing nothing in this academy but wasting my time. You told me I was meant for more. I want more. What I’ve learned so far can’t be anywhere near it, or I wouldn’t still be here. Where’s the real magic? Where’s the material you really want me to master? How much longer am I going to have to make-believe being as pathetic as the others?”
Celestia stared; her mouth slightly ajar. Sunset stared right back without changing her expression. The clock in the room slowly ticked away a few seconds.
Finally, the headmistress closed her mouth. Taking a moment to compose herself, she resumed her previous appearance as she touched a series of papers on her desk. “That’s actually part of the reason I brought you in here today. I’ve had some plans on what direction you should take your next semester.”
At this, she pushed the papers across to Sunset. Her eyes flicked down upon them. As Celestia leaned back, she reached out and held them up to start looking them over.
She only got a page before raising an eyebrow. “A semester abroad?”
“I think you’ve been working a little too hard at the academy. You say that this material is a waste of your time, and I keep telling you that you aren’t grasping the true nature of the lesson.”
Sunset didn’t answer. She continued to slowly flip through the papers. They included tickets, brochures for fancy hotels, pictures of lovely cities and monuments, and just about everything one could possibly want in a long excursion across Greater Everfree.
“I think you’re missing the forest for the trees, Sunset. You’ve been focusing so much on your normal routine of studies that your thinking has locked in. You haven’t even set foot outside of Canterlot in years, and this will be a great opportunity for you to both broaden your horizons as well as refresh yourself. It will all be paid for, of course. You’ll be staying at some of the nicer cities in Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale, Mount Aris… You’ll even have a chance to see some of the outlying places of the world. Ones that are wilder with more interesting people. You could learn a lot from all of this. More than you’d be learning here for-”
“What is this?”
Celestia froze. Her face had been growing warmer and smiling until now. Now it was immobilized, and slowly lost its enthusiastic look. Sunset, on her part, regarded the papers with the same look one might regard an unusual crack in a slab of pavement. She glanced back up to her.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“This. What is it supposed to be?” Sunset answered, her tone a bit sharper.
A pause. “It’s exactly what I said. A semester of studying abroad. Practically a continental vacation.”
“Alone.”
“Well, as you said, Sunset, you are the top student at the academy. I thought you were just saying how you didn’t care about the company of the rest of the students.”
Sunset’s look remained the same. After a moment, she blinked and leaned back in her chair. Her arms crossed.
“Is it not to your liking?”
“It’s a bit confusing.”
“How so?”
“You’ve been giving me nothing but lectures on how I’ve been treating the other students, being antisocial, and acting insubordinate every time I don’t wait for you to spoon feed me something. Now you’re practically rewarding me with a trip? Not to mention, this isn’t exactly what I asked for, is it?”
Celestia’s own eyebrows narrowed a little. “Well, you didn’t exactly ‘ask’ just now. You sounded more like you demanded it…”
She groaned. “The bottom line is I don’t see how this is supposed to make me better at magic. Or using the Promethian Sigil. I thought by now you’d be teaching me how to get an Anima Viri…”
Celestia closed her eyes and exhaled as she rose from her seat. “I’ve told you many times that there’s more to using this power than just being skilled at magic.”
“Yes, and at this point, I’m wondering why you just won’t tell me what’s so important…”
“That is the reason for this trip.” She began to walk around her desk. “Getting away from school might help you realize what when you’re not surrounded by books and lessons. When you’re back in a world without magic. The world where all of this is still fairy tales.”
Sunset looked to one side and frowned. “I still remember it well enough. Dirty, noisy, smelly, hard, cold, and covered with soot grime.”
Celestia reached her side and rested one of her hands on her shoulders. Sunset didn’t look up.
“This is important, Sunset,” she spoke more quietly. “I know you don’t always believe me when I tell you how valuable these lessons are, no matter how commonplace they might seem, but they are. You’ll see at the end of this.”
Sunset sighed. “This isn’t the first time you’ve told me that…”
“Please. Just try this out. Take some time to relax, and come back to us a new young woman.”
The girl kept staring to the side for a bit longer. Her eyes then glanced back to Celestia’s hand on her shoulder. She looked at it a moment before looking back to the papers. With a long exhale, she finally reached out and reluctantly took them from the desktop.
It was impossible for anyone in the hidden room to not hear the sounds of the stone pillar rotating from within the study. No security measure of any other kind would have been necessary as the seemingly immobile stone masonry swiveled about, opening a passage within the granite blocks that led into a descending spiral staircase. They would know someone was coming. Nevertheless, Celestia didn’t show any anxiety as she readily stepped into the opening and made her way down.
She saw a light at the bottom long before reaching it; flickering across the old, somewhat-warped, stone floors and walls. It looked like half of the lamps had been lit. It grew cooler yet, surprisingly, neither dirty nor musty despite lack of use. The only sound was the crackling of the tiny oil flames. On reaching the bottom at last, she turned to the threshold and walked into the chamber.
Being an interior room, the ceiling was much lower here. This part of the castle’s secret chambers was supported by numerous columns, which themselves acted as furnishings by having stone shelves mounted into them. Both them and the walls were surrounded by books. Most of the volumes, however, were nothing more than conventional literature and basic science. A precaution Celestia had taken long ago to help obscure the truly valuable ones.
One of the special ones, however, had been withdrawn and was open at the reading table in front of the fireplace. The fire itself was out, as the smoke in the chimney would have been a dead giveaway, but two oil lamps were placed on the table over it.
And standing behind it at her chair, looking not only unapologetic and unafraid but even angry, stood Sunset Shimmer.
Until that moment, Celestia's face had been hard and firm--the picture of her more authoritative and disciplinarian side. Yet the moment she saw the book and recognized its shape and volume, realizing exactly which book it was in her collection, her face momentarily flushed in true panic. In a snap, her hand performed a gesture, and she let out a quick spell from her lips. A golden sigil later, and the book instantly snapped itself closed and flew through the air right into her waiting hand.
“Nice to see you again, headmistress,” Sunset practically spat; ignoring her move.
“What did you just read from this?” Celestia instantly retorted; her voice cold, grave, and serious.
She snorted. “Why should I tell you? Why should I ever be honest with you again, when you were hiding so much from me?” Her eyes narrowed. “After you didn’t even have the decency to try and throw me out of the academy yourself? That you tried to trick me into walking out and changing the Glyphkey?” She crossed her arms. “I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I never left to begin with. I’ve been keeping an eye on things here for the past month. It’s great to see how things work when they’re not worried about being hidden behind my back.”
Celestia stiffened a moment, taking a few breaths to maintain her composure before she slowly set the book down on a shelf nearby. “You have no idea what danger you just put yourself and everyone on this entire world in by reading from this book just now… I need to know how much you read.”
“I think you’re going to answer my questions first, Celestia. For once. Why did you try and get rid of me?”
The older woman took in a deep breath, forcing herself to calm further. “I didn’t. I meant what I said. The trip would have been good for you-”
“You tried to change the Glyphkey. You did the moment I left. I saw it.”
Celestia was silent at that--her face that of one caught red-handed.
“And that’s not all I saw. I’ve been listening in on you. You’ve been looking over the other students. You’ve been trying to find a ‘successor’…a new ‘star pupil’. And it sounds like you found one too. I even overheard you saying some of the same little nuggets you used to feed me.”
Celestia stiffened further, pursing her lips. As for Sunset, her teeth began to clench.
“So which is it, ‘headmistress’? Did you betray me? Or did you just feed me lies all along?”
The chamber was silent for a moment. Celestia closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly released. “No…it was never a lie.”
“Oh, I learned that much,” Sunset sneered back, uncrossing her arms. “Right from that book. You were preparing me for great things. Things that would change the world forever. Having me actually be a god. And then what did you do when it was time to take me to the next step?”
Her eyes blazed with anger as her hands curled into fists.
“You lied. You held me back on purpose. This book…all of this!” She gestured around. “There’s no telling how many secrets in here you still haven’t shared with me! After all the work I’ve put into this! After all the times I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me!”
Celestia exhaled again. “Sunset…”
“Haven’t I always aced every challenge you gave me? Haven’t I passed every bar you set higher? Didn’t I prove I was the best at magic? That if there was any power in the world out there for me to discover that I could handle it? You knew all along what I was meant for! What I was born for!”
“Sunset…”
“But you wouldn’t give it to me! And not only did you hold me back from it, you tried to drive me away! You tried to keep me from ever getting what was mine! What I was born to have!”
Celestia began to quiver.
Sunset started to step around the desk and toward her. “And on top of all that, you tried to replace me! You tried to cheat my own fate and have someone else take it from me! After everything you told me! Everything you promised me! You tried to take my life…my birthright…and throw it in the trash! You tried to ruin me!”
Suddenly, Celestia’s eyes snapped open, her face tightened in anger, and she wheeled on Sunset.
“Yes! I did!”
The girl was stunned into silence by the sudden retort, recoiling. Celestia’s eyes continued to blaze into hers.
“Do you want to know why I did? Because you test out control and torture charms on your classmates. Because you threaten and browbeat every student who starts getting grades close to yours. Because you tease and humiliate your peers in front of crowds. Because, to you, there are no other people in the world. There are only potential threats you need to grind down under your heel. I have no interest in your ‘birthright’, Sunset. I don’t care about what your destiny says. I care about what you are going to choose to make yourself. And as the years have gone by, I’ve watched as I’ve seen you twist and curl up inside into a coward and a bully who needs to be the biggest person in the room so that she feels good about herself. And while I blame myself, and I’m even angry at myself for letting it happen, it doesn’t change the fact that it has happened.”
Sunset’s anger began to return here; her body stiffening again.
“You mastered magic and power, but you never mastered anything that truly mattered. Empathy. Loyalty. Humility. Mercy. Simply seeing someone’s…anyone’s…welfare as more important than yours. That’s why I sent you on that trip. I thought there was a chance that maybe if you weren’t so focused on just getting better at using your power and instead focused on other people that maybe you’d learn to appreciate them more than yourself. That maybe you’d learn what the real purpose of your power was meant to be. You could have had that destiny you wanted, but you don’t deserve it. You haven’t earned it. And if you had fully understood what was in that book, you’d realize that’s why I can never let you have that power.”
The silence, far more tense and even cold this time, hung in the chamber. Celestia stared firmly at Sunset, whose own rage continued to build. Her face slowly turned into a sneer as her entire body tensed up. The Promethian Sigil on her own hand slowly began to gleam.
“Well, if that’s what you wanted, then you made one big mistake, Celestia,” she slowly growled as the sigil gleamed brighter. Her hand began to raise. “The fact that you tried to secretly get me to leave without just throwing me out means one thing: you’re scared of me. I think it’s time for me to show you just how much I've learned.”
Celestia’s face remained stony. Her own hand began to rise; her own sigil with all six emblems gleaming as well. At once, Sunset crossed her arms in front of her and began to trace them; performing what Celestia recognized as a defensive spell.
She simply shook her head at it. “No, Sunset. You’re the one who made the mistake. I honestly hoped that you wouldn’t ever reach this point…”
Only a single finger of her own moved.
Sunset’s casting was interrupted as she heard a ripping of fabric from her pocket. She looked down, but it was too late. There was already a hole in it. Shocked, she snapped her head forward just in time to see her Glyphkey sail right into Celestia’s waiting palm. She started to gasp on seeing the headmistress’ fist begin to gleam.
“But for some time now, deep down inside, I expected you to.”
Sunset’s eyes shrank into pinpricks. “Don’t-”
She was cut off as, with one last show of power, Celestia’s cast energy flowed into the Glyphkey and shattered it into a thousand pieces.
Sunset’s mouth still hung open, her hand reaching out in vain in front of her, when she found herself no longer anywhere in the study but in the middle of an empty forest. She blinked a few times, her mind getting her bearings as the close, cool feelings of the basement were replaced with those of an open, hot summer night. The silence was broken by cheeping of insects, and the moon shone down above through the tree branches.
She finally snapped around, looking about herself. There was nothing to see. Nothing but woods, grass, and rocks. She turned all the way about and saw she was on a bluff. She actually ran forward a few steps at that, trying to get through the tree line, but she stopped as soon as she saw a clearing. She truly hadn’t gone far at all. She was on the ridge that overlooked Canterlot Castle. Only there was no castle there now, nor signs there had ever been one. She saw it the same way everyone else in the world now saw it--as nothing other than what its master wanted them to see.
She stared at the empty valley for half a minute. Feelings of betrayal, hurt, and, more than anything, rage painted her features. Hot, hateful vengeance filled her eyes. Her teeth gnashed and her face tightened in fury.
At last, she arched her head up and screamed as loudly as she could at the valley; loud enough to echo for miles.
“I HATE YOU!”
Out of all five magistrates that were still conscious, only one of them wasn't huddled in terror. That one looked out defiantly and hatefully at Sunset as she stared at her. It brought a somewhat sad smile to her face at the memory it had elicited. As if she wondered if she had once looked the same way. However, she soon turned her attention away from that.
Sunset, her knight, and her retinue of steam soldiers had taken over the small jailhouse of Flaxonville. Most of the magistrates were lying in smoldering or frozen piles throughout the various rooms, having been systematically put down one after the other when they stormed in. The front doors of the building were gutted with fire, as were several of the doors inside the building proper. While one or two soldiers were treating themselves for grazing bullet wounds that had gone off and looked somewhat stressed, Sunset herself, as well as her knight, showed no signs of exertion.
She smirked as she placed her hands on her hips, gazing down at the current object of her full attention. She was standing just inside a holding cell; the bars of which had been melted into slag and were still gleaming. Cowering rather pathetically at her feet was a white-haired street magician. Sunset's mood seemed to be somewhat improved on seeing her cringing.
“So,” she smirked, “I hear you’re the one who killed a Light Eater over in Appleloosa. At least you’ve been bragging about that all day, haven’t you? The ‘Loud and Obnoxious Trixie’, wasn’t it?”
She could do nothing but take the insult as she swallowed. “Act-actually…it’s…th-th-the Great and Powerful…”
“I see. So, Ms. Great and Powerful…” She held up the palm of her hand. Beneath her glove, her sigil gleamed once before a ball of fire materialized into it. “Why don’t you show me some of that power you used to kill that Light Eater? Judging by the fact you look about to wet yourself, you got a good long look at what we can do when we came in here.” She snickered. “But that’s nothing to someone who killed a Light Eater, right? How about you teach me a lesson?”
The woman swallowed. The fireball began to grow larger.
“I’ll give you to the count of three to make the first move. One…”
She got no farther. “Ok, I admit it! Trixie is just a street performing magician!” the white-haired woman practically shrieked in panic. “I got really jealous that this other street magician was doing so much better than me and making my usual crowds get bored! I heard that people were saying they saw a street magician kill a Light Eater so I went with it to try and get more business! That’s all!”
The fireball dimmed a bit, but didn’t go out. “Oh? So you didn’t kill a Light Eater?”
“Of course I didn’t!” she screeched. “How in Greater Everfree would I kill a Light Eater?! With fireworks?! Nobody can kill a Light Eater! Come on! If I could kill a Light Eater, do you think I’d still be stuck pulling my own show cart all over the country trying to drum up whatever spare change I can get?!”
Sunset turned her head slightly, seeming to study her while enjoying the desperate, fearful look in her eyes.
“Well,” she finally admitted, “you certainly look weak and powerless. Not really capable of amounting to anything other than some loudmouth nomad. I’d say completely pathetic in every way.”
She could tell Trixie hated hearing that, but she could do nothing. Only wither under her gaze and take it.
After a moment, she snapped her hand and dismissed the fireball. “Of course…I don’t really need to be chasing red herrings. There’s always a chance you’ll take up boasting again and make things harder on me. Maybe I should just get you out of the way right now…”
Sunset grinned on seeing Trixie begin to shake like a leaf, drawing further into herself. She relished it for a moment before her hand suddenly snapped out. The magician cried as she found her hand roughly seized and snapped up, so that Sunset could get a clear look at the back. She almost snickered on seeing nothing but smooth skin.
“Then again, you’re really not worth the effort, are you?” She cast the hand aside like useless garbage. “There’s only one thing you’re good for now. This other street magician you mentioned.” She turned her own hand over and pulled her glove up slightly, so that Trixie could get a good look at the back of it. “I don’t suppose she had a symbol like this on her hand, did she?”
Trixie, just now getting relief at being spared, could only blink and stammer for a moment. “Well…I, uh…that is I think she kept her hands covered… At least I think so…um…” She began to look thoughtful. “Did I see a symbol like that? I thought I’d seen it before. Maybe I’m only thinking of one of my tarot cards…”
Sunset’s smile ebbed. She lowered the glove, then turned her hand back over to raise her palm.
“B-B-But she was about your height!” Trixie quickly cried. “And she wasn’t nearly as boisterous or impressive as Trixie! She had purple eyes and long, purple hair with just a streak of pink in it! She ran around everywhere with a dog! That’s all I know! I promise!”
The smile returned. “I believe you.” Looking into her eyes the whole time, Sunset reached over, plucked up the magician’s star-covered, wide-brimmed hat, and pushed it down on Trixie’s head enough to go over her nose. “That’s why you’re going to live to be loud and obnoxious for many other audiences for many years to come.”
She rose to her feet and turned around, not giving the magician on the floor another look. Instead, she began to walk for the exit, raising a hand and snapping her fingers to her group as she went. They quickly fell in behind her, especially her knight at her side.
On leaving the cellblock and entering the main room beyond, however, she saw several members of the other airship group. Among them, helmets off and looking both ashamed and afraid were Snips and Snails. Sunset's smile immediately faded on spotting them. She walked up to them both, causing either one to look down and take a nervous step back, before crossing her arms and frowning.
“I suppose I should have known better than to trust you two idiots with something; even if it was so simple,” she nearly sneered.
“S-S-Sorry, Lady Sunset…” Snips whimpered.
“At…at least we got one person who had a symbol on their hand, right?” Snails ventured with a hopeful smile.
“After letting two others get away and after getting a beating from a sigil-bearer who didn’t have a single Anima Viri to her name!” Hissing a bit, she rubbed her hand against her forehead. “I don’t know why I bothered giving you two those weapons. It’s like trying to teach pigs to sing…” Putting her hand back at her side, she looked up to both of them. “You two just make sure those descriptions of the two of them are spot-on so that we kill them on sight next time we see them. From what you said about the one with rainbow hair, she does have an Anima Viri. And if you two couldn’t get rid of her when she didn’t even know how to use it properly, she’ll crumple you up like a pair of tin cans once she finds out.”
“Um, yes sir…er, ma’am!”
“You bet, Lady Sunset!”
She glared at the both of them as they stood there, both saluting and staring at her. Her sneer returned. “Well, what are you two doing standing around here? Get back to your ship and keep heading toward the rendezvous!”
Both gulped together, and quickly put their helmets on so fast that both of them put them slightly askew. Neither seemed to notice as they turned and ran for the doorway.
As it turned out, they barely managed to make it to the threshold when another soldier came in the opposite way. They ended up waiting for her to pass before rushing out, only to squeeze themselves in the opening. As they struggled to push through, the new soldier quickly ran forward and saluted.
“Lady Sunset, we have a group coming to the station right now. I don’t think we can make it back to the Rising Sun before they get here.”
She crossed her arms. “Is it the Appleloosan 16th?”
“No. It looks like the mayor and another group of magistrates.”
Sunset paused a moment and thought this over before finally smirking. “Well, that’s handy.”
The soldier was confused at that. “Ma’am, we can wipe out this entire group without a problem if they try anything-”
“Get back out and tell your group to hold their fire.”
The soldier now seemed very puzzled, but only opened her mouth slightly before closing it again. She knew full well not to argue with her, and quickly turned to go and do as she was told; pushing Snips and Snails through as she did.
The knight turned his own helmet toward her. “You’re standing down?”
“This mayor is either being bold or foolish by trying to stand up to us after all we’ve done. I think rather than any more unnecessary doctor visits and potential corpses, we can make him work for us.”
Without another word, she began to stroll toward the entrance. The knight hesitated a moment before following in her footsteps, and the rest of the soldiers inside quickly began to form up and follow suit.
Crossing the outer threshold and descending the entrance steps of the sheriff's station, Sunset passed back onto the main road of the town. There were a few traces of melting ice crystals, flames, and a handful of spots stained black that had an almost burnt-fish-esque smell — the result of needing to disperse crowds when the local magistrates tried to stop them from walking in. Most of the people out there were her soldiers, rapidly lining up to either disembark (including Snips and Snails) or awaiting her command.
However, the group in question that had been announced was rapidly approaching. In true Appleloosan fashion, they were brandishing their weapons, squaring their jaws, and marching up boldly as if daring one of the soldiers to take a shot at them. They at least had a size advantage now. About 30 of them were all together, being led by an older man in glasses who already had his own revolver drawn—just enough to make them outnumber Sunset’s own group.
She never lost her smirk as she came down to meet him. They both halted about twenty feet from one another in the middle of the road. Sunset was bold enough when she stood there alone, but it wasn't long before the knight was at her side and shifting his lance to the ready. The rest of her force fell in behind her soon after. As for the older man, who she assumed was the mayor, he glared at her while the others behind him aimed their weapons, although they held their fire.
“Trottinghamites…” he practically growled. “If this was your attempt to start a war, you should have brought more soldiers. I don’t know why you thought you could just come in here and do what you want in our town, but if you thought we’d just roll over for you then you didn’t learn much from the last war. We’ve already got messengers running out to spread the word to the military. Your regent will be hearing about this very soon and you better believe Appleloosa will make her pay for everything you’ve done here. Now throw down your arms and get on the ground before we put bullets in your heads.”
The soldiers behind Sunset tensed at that, beginning to raise their weapons. However, neither Sunset nor her knight flinched.
After a moment more, however, her smile waned as her face grew innocent and apologetic, and she wrung her hands together. “Oh…I’m so terribly sorry. I know this doesn’t quite make amends for this, but we, and the entire government of Trottingham, apologize terribly for this entire fiasco. Please, this entire situation got terribly out of hand. While I will admit we overstepped our bounds on the current treaty, I strongly urge you to reconsider. None of us wants another war to start over this misunderstanding.”
The mayor’s eyes widened incredulously. “Mis…misunderstanding?! Is that what you call this? A ‘misunderstanding’? 28 people have been seriously injured and one is dead! Misunderstanding…did your little lap dogs just ‘accidentally’ take off that woman’s head? And who the hell are you anyway?”
“Oh, forgive me… Captain Sunset Shimmer of Trottingham, Lady of Queen’s Lynn,” she introduced, even throwing in a small curtsy on top of it. “And I do most sincerely apologize for what transpired. I specifically ordered my subordinates to not use their weapons on anyone unless fired upon first, although it has come to my attention that some of those under my command disobeyed. Rest assured, they will be dearly punished for such a casual attitude toward safety of civilians.”
By now, Snails was looking up from his group and appearing confused. He nearly said something, but Snips quickly elbowed him before he could make a sound.
“As for the victim who lost her life, am I correct in saying that she was confirmed to not be a citizen of Appleloosa?”
The mayor, caught by that, hesitated. “Well, no, she wasn’t…but citizen or not-”
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page before I started to explain myself. Didn’t want any misinterpretations,” she answered, throwing in a half-snicker. “Anyway, as I was saying, this was an important mission from our government. Normally I’m not supposed to let anyone in on matters of state, but, seeing as your citizens have been hurt and you’ve confirmed that the one responsible was not of your government, I suppose it’s only appropriate to let you know.”
She folded her hands again, looking just a tiny bit anxious.
“You see, over the past two years we’ve experienced insurgent attacks. Very large and very deadly ones. Ones that have claimed lives. Dozens of lives in some cases. And always committed by the same individuals: ones who bear this symbol on their hands.”
At this, Sunset leaned down to the ground. Some of the magistrates stiffened, but none of them did more on seeing her simply poke her finger into the dirt and debris on the road. She drew a hexagonal symbol on it, matching the one on her still-gloved hand.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen this symbol on the hands of any of your citizens, have you?”
The mayor regarded it for a moment, but kept his jaw tightened. “Maybe I have and maybe I haven’t. Why should I tell you either way?”
“Oh, it’s not for our sake I point it out,” she innocently answered as she rose again. “People who have symbols like this? We’ve noticed random citizens with them in our country for some time, but no one thought to speak up about it. That is…not until they started going insane.”
The mayor crooked his eyebrow. “Insane?”
“Until they started killing everyone around them in acts of pure bloodlust. Then we all noticed them. Especially since those who tried to hold them down ended up having their heads smashed in or their throats ripped out. Especially since they ignored the bullets we tried to put into them. Especially since they did things that make all this…” She gestured around her to the damage all about. “Look like a missed catch breaking a window.” She shrugged. “We’re not really sure why they started showing up. Only that it seemed to happen around the time of the Lunar Fall. Our going theory is they might be related to the Nighttouched.”
A few of the people around looked uneasy, although most of them regarded Sunset with continuing suspicion and distrust. The mayor was one of them. “And what does that have to do with what happened here?”
“Well, while that was the going theory, another one was that it was some sort of new weapon. That somehow our neighbors had found a way to turn people into living engines of destruction, and were sending them back into our country to wreck havoc as insurgents. So we were sent to find out. Now, I believe if you examine the body of that woman more closely, you’ll find she was the only one we cornered. However, two more that we located escaped, and they’re nothing compared to the one we’re trying to track down.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember what I said about dozens of lives? There’s one in particular who did just that. Completely leveled an entire town as well as the regiments we sent in to stop her. We found out she got away by masquerading as a street magician and fled the country. We thought she might have made it into Appleloosa. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors?”
The mayor paused; some of his composure cracking. “What rumors?”
“The ones that are streaming out of Fillydelphia, last I heard. About how someone supposedly killed a Light Eater by themselves? Supposedly a street magician? Sounds like it fits our description to a tee. Believe me, after seeing what she left behind…” Her face grew anxious as she shook her head. “There’s no one else who could have done it. That’s why we’re using all of this latest weaponry. We developed it specifically to handle the kind of threat these individuals represent. Anything less? Doesn’t stand a chance.”
Now the unease was visible on the group’s faces. Even the mayor was beginning to break. As for Sunset, she raised her hands in an almost pleading gesture as she stepped in closer, and by now the people didn’t react to her as before.
“I truly am very sorry for all of this, and I’ll make sure that whatever compensation you want for the damages, both to people and properties, is relayed straightaway to Regent Cinch as soon possible. However, if Appleloosa isn’t responsible for these people but you had them in your territory, then my guess is whoever is putting them out will soon be attacking your country as well. It’s very important that we find out who and where before then. So important that I’m afraid I’ll have to be departing by your leave or without it.”
A moment of silence passed over the group. Sunset never broke her pose as she looked back at the mayor.
“How did you know they’d let us leave like that?”
Sunset, her face having returned to her sly smirk now that they were nearly to the Rising Sun, let out a small chuckle. “If they had really thought they had the upper hand after what we had done, they would have just killed us. They wouldn’t have tried to get us to surrender first.”
The knight walked on silently after her a moment. “That makes sense. I know you normally keep everything you know about whoever has those symbols silent, though, even though those were half-truths at best. Do you think he’ll believe them?”
“It doesn’t matter. Only that word starts going around, and people act on it. One way or another, they’re going to realize that Trottingham wants people with that symbol on their hand. Either they believe what I said and start doing our job for us, or they don’t believe me but start rounding them up into more obvious places until they find out what we want with them. Either way, their make our lives easier.”
“I should have known better…” the knight muttered. “That sort of trick has you written all over it.”
“The last group in Greater Everfree that tried to act ‘honorably’ to their enemies had their country wiped out overnight. I’ll stick with what works. All that matters to us right now is we have two fugitives on the run and now we have a description of our likely real target. We need to hurry on to the rendezvous and hopefully knock out those two while we’re at it. And unfortunately after the mess that those two oafs made, we’re going to have to be just a little more discrete about it. Just because I want these people taken out doesn’t mean I want to have to blast through several countries worth of armed forces to do it.”
The two reached the gangplank and began to walk up and into the airship’s interior. The knight’s head lowered. “If even one was enough to give our forces some trouble, I’m not sure we’ll be able to take out two without causing more of a scene.”
“With those two handling it? I’d have to say you’re right.”
She turned to the knight with a wide smile.
“But who said I’m going to be relying on them?”
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Dang,. this is a brilliantly written version of Sunset!
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Thank you. I hope it wasn't too confusing in this chapter, but the flashback in this one was set earlier than the one in Sunset's previous appearance. You might notice a trend starting...
A Sunset whose lust for power was never tempered and she ended being power-mad, though not enough to lose any major sensibilities. I haven't seen a Sunset Shimmer like that since Sunset Of Time, (though that Sunset was power-mad). Being in a variation of the Equestria Girls universe makes all the more interesting.