The Elements of the Crystal Empire: Season One

by star-girl

Chapter Two: Boast Busters - Tuesday, June 29th

"Okay," Sunset muttered to herself. "You can do this, Shimmer. You can do this."

Sunset was trying to acquire the highly talented skill of self-levitation - a skill that only the most powerful unicorn mages could master. Ever since she'd become the Element of Magic, Emperor Sombra had raised her to Elevated Magical Curriculum, which meant that her lessons progressed a lot quicker. It also meant that Sunset had set higher standards for herself and self-levitation was one of her newly self-imposed classes.

Lighting up her horn, Sunset clearly envisioned the spell matrix and her soaring in the clouds like pegasi in her mind, clearing her mind of all else. Emperor Sombra had described the feeling to her in great detail: she had to clear her mind of all else, and wait until she felt a tingly feeling in the middle of her chest. The feeling would spread through her entire body (kind of like a toned down version of the feeling she had when she placed the crown on her head) and once this happened she would be levitating. The trick was to not think of the ground at all, because if she did she would find herself on the floor faster than you could say "ouch."

I'm as light as a feather, free as a bird. I'm part of the sky and I can fly. This was the mantra that she had found produced the best results.

Light as a feather . . .

There it was! The tingly feeling! She couldn't get distracted now.

. . . free as a bird . . .

Every part of her body felt like it was being electrified. Her coat stood on end and her determination increased (as did a mild headache).

. . . part of the sky . . .

Tears of determination leaked out of Sunset's eyes. Lemon Zest walked in and went quiet. She decided to get the rest of the Bearers. Sunset stretched on her tiptoes, her entire being tugging her upwards.

. . . I can fly.

Her feet lifted off the ground and into the air. She soared upwards. Hardly daring to believe it, Sunseet opened her eyes to find herself six moons off the ground. She gasped with happiness and flew out an open window, smiling down at her cheering friends. Ponies pointed upwards, open-mouthed, as the fiery unicorn enveloped in a turquoise aura laughed out loud and swooped through the cloud.

I CAN FLY!!!!

---

Sunset groaned to herself. "Curse this headache," she moaned. Sour Sweet chuckled.

"Well, that is what you get for overexerting yourself," she chided. Sunset sighed.

"Why do you have to be so insufferably right about everything?" she asked.

"Hey you guys!" Indigo announced, poking her head into the door of Sunset's suite in the Crystal Palace. "There's a traveling caravan in town!"

"But there are always magic shows in Crystallia," Sunset said, puzzled. "How's this any different?"

"Well, she's probably a fraud, but her skills seem to be pretty good. We should at least go check her out!" Indigo argued. "Besides, Sunset said herself that she didn't specialize in illusion magic."

"No," Sour said firmly. "Sunset needs to recover."

"I can just cast a spell," Sunset reasoned.

Sour raised an eyebrow. "We both know that when it wears off, you will have two times the migraine."

Sunset hesitated. "Ah, come on!" Indigo complained. "Everyone's going!"

"Fine," Sour sighed. Sunset, grinning, cast the spell and sighed with relief.

Indigo nodded approvingly, and the three Bearers trotted out into the sunlight. Little did they know that things were about to go very, very wrong.

---

Ponies from all over Crystallia assembled in the town square, and this alone had them impressed. The square was a hard place to book, and a show there was bound to be good. Unfortunately, the only thing there was a decrepit old wagon. Uneasy muttering broke out. The tickets hadn't been cheap, and no one wanted to be conned.

The crowd parted to let Sunset and the Bearers through to the front. As if the wagon had been waiting for this, with a flourish of fireworks it turned into a stage. Sunset raised her eyebrows. The spells themselves were very simple, but the way this magician had woven them together was ingenious.

Of course, she herself could have done it better.

Stop thinking like that, Sunset! she scolded herself. Some things never change.

A stage extended from the machine of transportation and with a poof of pink powder, a light blue mare came on the scene. "Welcome, Crystallia citizens!" a disembodied voice sounded. "Please give thunderous applause for the GREAT AND POWERFUL STARLIGHT GLIMMER!" A lilac mare appeared in a poof of pink onto the stage. No one was really impressed by this, but Starlight knew she could change at least some of their minds. "Let me tell you the story of how the Great and Powerful Starlight got my Cutie Mark! It was a dark, cold night in Sire's Hollow, Starlight's hometown, when there was a commotion down Main Street. Starlight poked her head out the window, and was horrified to see a huge Ursa Major rampaging down the street! Starlight valiantly ran outside with her wand and cast a spell, and the Ursa Major was vanquished!"

No one except a few small foals believed her. "That's a load of horseapples!" somepony in the crowd shouted.

Starlight mock-sighed. Sunset raised her eyebrows. If she didn't know any better, she would say Starlight was giving off the complete aura of telling the truth. "It's up to you to decide what you think," Starlight said, "but Starlight hopes she at least got your attention. The show starts now!"

Sunset watched with interest as Starlight performed no shortage of tricks. I always thought that illusion magic was a waste of time, Sunset thought begrudgingly, but she's pretty good, and even if I don't use it, it may be a good skill to have.

"For her next act," Starlight said, "the Great and Powerful Starlight will need a volunteer from the audience. We will duel, and the Great and Powerful Starlight will show just how Great and Powerful she really is!"

Come on, Sunset. You know that you could crush this bug with the stomp of a hoof. Show her what true power is!

Go away! Sunset thought. I don't want to be a braggart. That was my old life. I wouldn't be any better than Starlight if I did.

Sunset got the distinct impression that the voice in her head facehoofed.

Starlight chose a random unicorn from the crowd and completely totaled her. Though, Sunset thought, spying the mare's Cutie Mark, Starlight chose a mare with such a specific special talent that there's no way she would have been beaten. Smart mare.

Sunset wasn't sure if this was the voice in her head or herself, but either way it disturbed her. The mare ran off in tears.

After the show, Sour Sweet was enraged. "How dare she do that to that poor mare! Someone needs to get her off her pedestal!" She turned to Sunset. "Please, Sunset! You're powerful enough to challenge her - and she couldn't say no to someone of your status!"

Sunset shook her head, ignoring the pleas of the voice in her head. "That's exactly the kind of pony I'm trying to get rid of, Sour," she told her friend. "I don't want to go back to the pony I once was."

"B-but-" Sour sputtered.

"I need to go," Sunset said, and she turned and ran.

---

That evening, two unicorn fillies were bouncing around the forest on the outskirts of Crystallia, looking for flowers to give to their grandmother, who was sick.

"Don't go far!" their father said. "If you get lost, use that flare spell I taught you, okay?"

"Okay, Dad!" the elder said, beaming. They'd begged and begged and begged for this, and their father - against his better judgement - had finally relented. He just hoped they wouldn't get lost.

They got lost.

"Pearl, I'm scared," the younger whimpered, edging closer to her sister. "Cast the spell Dad said, please?"

Pearl swallowed and tried to remember the spell matrix. Come on, come on come on come on COME ON!

She managed to only get a small spark out of her horn, which barely made it a few inches upwards before petering out. She tried at least twenty times, but each time it only got weaker.

"You said you were good at it!" the younger accused.

Pearl flushed. "I lied, okay? But that's not important. For now, let's just find someplace to sleep and wait for morning."

The younger whimpered again, but didn't voice any complaints as they set off in search of shelter. Soon, they came upon a cave. It was quite dark. "Hey, Pearl, can you cast that light spell - that is, if you didn't lie about mastering that, too?"

"Don't sass your elders!" Pearl snapped. "And, for the record, I can do that one." She scrunched her face up in concentration. The ball of light flickered for a few seconds, but soon it had a steady glow to it.

"Great job," the younger said sarcastically.

Pearl didn't even dignify that with a response - because she was too terrified. "Um, Peony?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Peony slowly turned to see what her sister was looking at. "A-an UrSA MAJoR?" Her voice went through multiple voice cracks.

The bear cracked its eyes open and roared in fury at the two sisters. Too terrified to be still, the girls bolted away, their hooves somehow carrying them back to Crystallia, the pissed bear right behind them. "D-didn't that show mare - Starlight - say she vanquished an Ursa Major?" Pearl asked.

Peony wordlessly changed their course to the showmare's wagon.

Screeching to a stop, Pearl furiously knocked on the door, on the verge of breaking it down when Starlight, an eyemask hanging crookedly off one ear, poked her head out the window. "What the buck is wrong with you? What do you-"

She was cut off by a roar, which had many ponies hightailing it out of their homes and converging near the Crystal Castle, watching in twisted awe as the great bear destroyed their homes. Starlight's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Did you SUMMON that thing? Again I ask, what is wrong with you?!"

Pearl huffed. "We would never! But you said you'd vanquished one!"

Starlight put her head in her hooves. This is what you get for lying, she thought. Well, she could at least try to hold it off until real help got here.

Gulping, she stepped out of the wagon and used her magic to have a rope slither up and mesmerize the bear. She then got it to tie the bear's two front legs together, making it fall. Then she summoned a thundercloud and had lightning scorch the bear, but it didn't do anything.

Please, let help come soon.

---

"Sunset! Sunset!"

Sunset was shaken awake by Indigo Zap.

"Ugh, what is it?" Sunset whined. "I still have the stupid headache!"

"Well, stop bitching and take a painkiller because we need your magic," Indigo snapped. "This is important, Shimmer."

Sunset blinked but she didn't argue. Casting the spell again, she galloped out of the castle and stared, horrified, at the Ursa Major.

Letting out an unholy screech, she galloped forward and went to Starlight, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll take it from here."

Starlight swallowed and nodded, stepping back.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

Gritting her teeth, Sunset lit her horn and a haunting lullaby drifted through the streets, seemingly carried by the wind. Ponies started pointing at Sunset, whispering about the Bearer of Magic. Ignoring them, Sunset continued. She levitated the water tower - causing a layer of overglow - and stored the water safely away before filling it with milk and giving it to the sleepy bear, who began sucking on it. Then, she levitated the bear itself, forming yet another layer of overglow on her horn. She moved it back to its cave and into the grasp of its mother, before taking back the water tower, refilling it with water, and settling it back. Then she cast a healing spell over Crystallia, fixing all the buildings. When she finally released her magic, she leaned into Sugarcoat, who was by her side first.

Everyone started cheering.

"Sunset? Are you okay?" Sugarcoat asked.

Sunset groaned and summoned a piece of paper and a quill, and started scratching out a message.

Dear Emperor Sombra,

Today a showmare named Starlight came to town, and she humiliated a mare. My friends urged me to knock her off her pedestal, but I was so afraid of reverting back to how I once was that I didn't have any confidence in myself.

I learned that true power means nothing if you don't have any confidence, but having that confidence doesn't mean being a braggart.

Your faithful student,
Sunset Shimmer

Starlight was standing in front of Sunset with a sheepish expression. "I'm sorry about lying," she muttered.

Sunset shook her head. "It isn't me you should be apologizing to, Trixie. Apologize to the mare." She turned her gaze to Pearl and Peony and raised an eyebrow.

The fillies squeaked and ran to their parents, apologizing profusely.

The spell wore off and Sunset swayed, leaning into Sugarcoat again. "Sunset?" she asked again.

"With great power . . ." Sunset stifled a yawn. "Comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up never."

Sugarcoat shook her head, grinning.

Comments

[DavisSentoV5]

Interesting... Trixie was an ego, but its not hilarious huge like the show.

[Comickook]

Excellent work on this latest chapter. I love the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, general wrap-up and future chapter set-up. I love how the reason for Sunset's reluctance was appropriately altered, how those two fillies' waking the Ursa MINOR was by ACCIDENT rather than deliberately hunting the Ursa like Snips and Snails in canon AND how Trixie actually apologized first to Sunset and then to the fillies (A LOT sooner than she would in canon [at least no mess with the Alicorn Amulet was required for THIS apology]).

All in all, I will VERY certainly be looking forward to more.

[GRYFFINDOR123456]

"With great power . . ." Sunset stifled a yawn. "Comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up never."

Love the Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian reference! Go Nico Di Angelo!

[Snowdrifter]

Starlight became Trixie partway through the chapter. That's the real trick!