• Published 12th Jan 2019
  • 2,982 Views, 106 Comments

Per Speculum in Aenigmate - Shrouded Lunes



Sunset Shimmer has a plan... steal some powerful Equestrian artifact, come back to the Human World, raise an army, and conquer Equestria. But now, her home is nothing like she remembers.

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In the Halls of the Night Princess [Princess Luna]

Author's Note:

I want to toss this in now, so that there's no confusion. Most chapters will be from Sunset's perspective. Sometimes, a small teaser that I want you, the reader, to see will come up and I'll add it in as a third person blip like at the end of the first chapter. Other times, however, I want to really flesh out a conversation or event that Sunset would have no way of knowing. For those times, I'll use a different POV character, but it will be tagged in the chapter title as to who the POV character is. It will also, likely, be a shorter chapter than normal as it's more of an oversized scene. Now then, enough of my flabbergabbin'. Let's see what our dear moon princess has to say about recent events, shall we?

"We believe you were asked for an update, General Sparkle."

I leveled a glare at the smaller, purple alicorn walking beside me. This was not what I needed right now. Mere days away from the one thousandth celebration of the Midwinter Moon Festival, and those Celestia-worshipping Knights of the Sun had, apparently, managed to find a way to infiltrate our castle. I missed my elder sister... I missed her dearly, but four years of war was not something our beloved little ponies needed. Not now, but certainly not one thousand years ago. No matter what these terrorists might think.

"My apologies, your highness. Reports are of an amber unicorn with crimson and yellow hair somehow managing to appear in restricted section... CM-010/CC. Sergeant Indigo Zap, along with Privates Sugar Coat and Lemon Tart, were the nearest to the area and were overpowered by a vibrant flare spell. She then-"

"And her current location?" Irritation seeped into my voice as I cut her off. As wonderful as my former pupil is, she had a habit of getting bogged down in the details.

"Ah... well... yes... umm..." Twilight stuttered a bit, the gears in her mind taking a second to be brought back up to speed. "She was last spotted headed towards the... southern store rooms. Oh no..."

I let out a sigh, instantly realizing what Twilight was worried about. "We have told you many times, General Sparkle. He has been tamed, you have no need to fear more than a few weak pranks from Discord."

"But chocolate milk should not be able to hold cohesion outside of a glass like that! Never mind the impossibility of glass being drunk!"

The corners of my mouth threatened to curl up into a grin. I couldn't deny that was downright genius. "Then We suppose the good captain shouldn't just be able to appear out of thin air when her mere existence is evoked?"

Captain Pinkamena "Pinkie" Pie popped her head around the next corner to wave a greeting, just as Twilight's eyebrow started to twitch.

"Meddle not in the ways of the chaotic, dear Twilight. For logic has no place there."

"Y-Yes, Mother." Twilight's soft voice barely even reached my ear as I allowed myself a moment of affection to drape a wing over her barrel. We both stopped when a scroll suddenly appeared in front of us. Quickly grabbed in Twilight's magical aura, she read out the report.

Unknown unicorn apprehended. Turned over by Discord. Identified by Discord as Daybreaker's daughter upon transfer.

Twilight seemed to pale as she read the message. "Daybreaker had a daughter?!"

It was almost impossible to hide the confusion in my features at the reports. "Send a report to your troops, General. Order the prisoner brought before the Night Court. I wish to discuss some matters with her." A message was hastily written and sent to those that had accepted the prisoner transfer as we made for the throne room. "And, to answer your question from before, We were aware of a daughter... Though, it would be more fair to young Sunset Shimmer to refer to her as Celestia's daughter. As We recall, she was a brilliant scientist, working with Star Swirl the Bearded to create a form of teleportation portal that ran along leylines, allowing long-distance transport for even non-magical ponies. She disappeared during one of the early tests, only a year or two before the Celestial Civil War began."

Twilight seemed to instantly come to the same conclusion I had almost a millennia ago. "Then, the apparent death of her daughter was one of the driving factors to the birth of Daybreaker?"

"That is, at least, what We believe. Alas, We never had the chance to speak with her about it. Our sister became more withdrawn following the disappearance of Sunset and, by the time We managed to get through to her, she had already gone mad. There are two things that bother Us, however."

"What are they?" Twilight asked, her interest clearly piqued.

"First, why is Sunset Shimmer only just now returning, after over one thousand years gone?"

"And the second?"