Ch 10 - The Choosing - Braving the Gauntlet
Dear Sunset,
How’re you doing sugarcube? After your last couple of letters, we’ve been worried. We’re just glad that things have settled down for you.
For one, I’m glad you and that Orange Spice girl buried the hatchet, though from what you’ve told us, I’d say you owe Lady Inkwell a big heap of thanks. Still, she sounds like she’s turned over a new leaf, if her running interference for you says anything.
I can’t believe the rite is in a couple days. I know you’re probably looking forward to it, but, really, we just want you back. It’s not the same without you here Sunset.
Sun splinters, I’m getting all choked up. Look, you just take care of yourself, and come back to us in one piece. Pinkie’s been getting all twitchy, saying stuff about a “doozy” about to happen to you. No idea what she’s on about, but you know how she is. And how she’s usually right about that kind of thing.
Anyhow, I’ve got to wrap this thing up. Mac and Granny need my help getting everything together for the Summer Solstice Celebration.
With love,
Your sister, Applejack
P.S. - Rainbow says that she owes you a headlock for the crack you made about her being allergic to work. I’ve got five radiants on you getting the drop on her when she tries, so don’t let me down.
*****
The sound of soft scratching stone filled the quiet, early afternoon air as Sunset slowly drew the hardened ceramic tip of her etching pen across the surface of a small slate disk. Gently sweeping the stone dust away with a small, horse-hair brush, she lifted the stone to inspect the fine details of the newly carved rune. Satisfied, she consulted her diagram again, before setting the slate back on the surface of her bench and resuming her etching.
“Sunset,” Daisy said from behind Sunset, “you’ve been at that for almost an hour now. Can you give it a rest? We’re trying to study.”
Setting down her etching pen, Sunset twisted in her chair to look at her friends. Both girls were perched on their beds, surrounded by a pile of notes, their training manuals firmly held in their hands. Both looked utterly exhausted, almost to the point where Sunset was afraid they’d collapse.
“Sorry,” Sunset said as she rose from her desk. “Just trying to settle my nerves a bit.”
“It’s fine,” Lily said, her tone a little more snappish than usual. “Just… Can you find something else to do? We’re smouldering on grass right now.”
“Sure,” Sunset said, before an idea came to her. “Tell you what. How about I go to the dining hall and see if there’s any tsujara left? It’ll help you focus.”
Both Daisy and Lily perked up and looked at Sunset, their eyes pleading.
“Yes, please!” Twined tired yet grateful voices intoned, the prospect of steaming mugs of the spicy, sweet beverage bringing them back to life.
Sunset found herself chuckling at the expectant, pleading looks on her friend’s faces.
“Okay. I’ll be back in a bit. Try to stay out of trouble,” Sunset said as she rose from her desk and made her way to the door. Stepping out into the hall and feeling the locking runes engage, she turned and started down the corridor.
As she walked, a tired sigh escaped her throat.
Lessons had officially ended two days ago. That meant no morning lectures or afternoon practicals. Indeed, Lady Inkwell had told them to take the time to study and relax before the exam. In Lady Inkwell’s own words, she would be “making her final assessment of who was the most worthy of being placed closest to the hatching when the time came.”
Worthy…
Those words still echoed in her mind like the howl of a storm.
When she’d first arrived, she’d only wanted to attend the rite. To show that she could stand tall on her own, like Meadowbrook. That she was more than just some girl from the country.
But now?
Now she was aiming for the top. She wasn’t just hoping to attend the rite. No. She wanted to be front and center when the egg hatched. She wanted the top place, not just to see the newest phoenix hatch, but to show that she had proven herself the most worthy of Lady Inkwell’s, and by extension, Queen Celestia’s approval.
And she had the Heliopolans to thank.
Almost four weeks of abuse, name calling, and bullying on not just herself, but her family, had hardened Sunset’s resolve. She was going to stand at the top, but to put the Heliopolans in their place. To show them that they were beneath her. Not the other way around.
Then, things were turned on their head. She thought that her worthiness was her performance. But, her encounter with Orange Spice in the first exam, and Lady Inkwell’s subsequent admonition, brought things into focus.
Worthiness wasn’t just about how well she did on her exams. How well she performed her duties.
No, it was also how she conducted herself. How she treated those around her. Which included not just her friends and family, but her enemies.
A soft chuckle escaped Sunset’s throat as she neared the dining room.
She still couldn’t believe that Orange Spice had been willing to accept the truce, or that she’d managed to uphold it as well as she did. Sunset knew that Sapphire still had it out for her, but at least Orange was doing what she could to deflect it.
And she was grateful for that to no end. Sapphire and the other Heliopolans were still giving her a hard time, but it wasn’t the constant barrage that she’d been dealing with. And that brief reprieve gave her enough breathing room to make it through the day.
The goal was still there to prove her worth, but now it was tempered with understanding. She was still looking forward to showing Sapphire her place though. Even if she couldn’t rub it in her face like she wanted to.
And she really wanted to rub it in Sapphire’s face.
Sunset’s thoughts were interrupted by the delightful scent of cooking food. Looking up, she saw that she’d arrived at her destination. Chuckling at getting so lost in thought, she reached up and opened the door to the dining hall. If she was spacing out this badly, maybe she could use some tsujara too.
*****
A few minutes later, and Sunset was treading the same path back towards her bunk, a small tray balanced on her upturned fingers, with three large, steaming mugs of tsujara on top. Sunset kept a steady pace as she walked, the tray barely swaying or bobbing as she made her way down the hall.
With every step, the spicy scent of the hot beverages wafted through the air and tantalized Sunset’s nose, but she kept her focus. She could be patient. It’d make the eventual payoff of savoring the drink back in her room all that much sweeter.
Rounding the corner of the main hall, she made her way towards the dorm rooms.
“Sunset.” A familiar voice whispered off to the left said. “Sunset. Stop.”
Slowly coming to a halt, Sunset looked over in the direction of the voice. To her surprise, she spotted Orange Spice, her head poking out of the door to a water closet.
“Wha…” Sunset began, but stopped when she saw Orange Spice lift a finger and put it to her lips, signaling that she should be quiet.
“Shh, don’t say anything,” Orange Spice whispered as she gestured for Sunset to come closer. “Just… come here real quick.”
Lowering her arm and transferring the tray to two hands, Sunset walked up to the other girl, her brow furrowing with confusion.
“What’s going on?” Sunset asked.
“It might be nothing, but… I think Sapphire’s up to something, I just don’t know what,” Orange said as she glanced down the hallway towards her own room.
“What?” Sunset growled, her voice dropping dangerously. “What’s she planning?”
“I don’t know. Look, all I know is that she got a letter yesterday, and suddenly got excited. When I asked her about it, she said that I shouldn’t worry, only that she had the solution to ‘the dirt-eating vermin problem’,” Orange said, her brow furrowing.
Sunset’s knuckles went white as she gripped the tray, her rage seething.
“And that’s all you know?” Sunset growled.
“Sorry, but yes, that’s all she’s told me,” Orange said, her eyes hard yet sympathetic. “I’m taking a big risk telling you this Sunset. If Sapphire finds out, I’m screwed.”
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Sunset’s expression softened.
“Okay. Sorry,” Sunset said, giving Orange a grateful smile. “Thank you. I’ll watch my back.”
“You’re welcome,” Orange said, her expression softening.
“I better get going, before someone spots us talking,” Sunset said as she backed off and re-balanced the tray on her fingertips. “And, thanks again.”
“Of course,” Orange said as Sunset turned away and resumed her trek to her room.
*****
“I’m back,” Sunset called as she re-entered the room, closing the door behind her. Hearing a pair of grunts of acknowledgement, she walked over to the room’s common table and set the tray down, grabbing one of the mugs for herself. Taking a fortifying sip of the spicy drink, she took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly and plopped down on the edge of her bed to think, her brow furrowing.
“Thank you,” Sunset heard Daisy say, her tired voice now laced with relief as she rose from her bed and grabbed a mug. “Lily, you want me to bring yours over?”
“Please?” Lily said, not having moved from her spot.
“Can do,” Daisy replied, grabbing the remaining mug and starting to head back to her bed. She was about half way back when she stopped. Sunset could almost feel Daisy’s eyes on her, but her mind was too far off to care. “Sunset, what’s wrong? You look… ticked.”
“What?” Sunset said, her head snapping up to look at Daisy. “Oh, um…”
As she looked at her friend, and the concern in her eyes, Sunset found she couldn’t muster the energy to lie. There was a time and place for deception and half truths. But, this wasn’t one of them.
Not to her friends.
Not after they’d helped her make it this far.
Hanging her head again, she sighed and, holding her mug in both hands, took a long, bracing drink. Mind clearer, she forced herself to speak.
“I ran into Orange Spice…” Sunset began to say.
“And what did she want?” Lily asked, interrupting Sunset, her voice suspicious. “If it’s upset you like this, it’s bad.”
“Maybe…” Sunset said as she tried to keep her irritation in check. “She didn’t have any details, but she think’s Sapphire might be planning something for tomorrow. Something that will solve the ‘dirt-eating vermin problem.’ Which if I’ve learned anything about that butt-sniffing cow, that means us. Or… just me.”
Looking up, she saw the worried looks on Daisy and Lily’s faces.
“Have you told Lady Inkwell?” Lily asked, having set down her book.
“No,” Sunset said, gripping her mug angrily. “What could I tell her? That I think Sapphire’s going to try something based on some vague thing that she told Orange Spice?”
A humorless chuckle escaped Sunset’s throat before she took another sip of her tsujira.
“Lady Inkwell wouldn’t do anything about something like that,” Sunset continued as she shook her head. “No, she’d want evidence. Which I don’t have.”
Sunset paused
“And,” Sunset said, lowering her head and sighing, “if I told her anything, I’d be throwing Orange Spice to raptorians to be turned to glass.”
“So?” Daisy asked. “She’s been helping Sapphire make your life miserable. Just because she’s playing nice now doesn’t mean that she’s made up for that.”
Sunset laughed humorlessly at that.
“It’s true, she hasn’t,” Sunset admitted. “But, she’s trying. She didn’t need to tell me Sapphire’s planning something… but she did. Look, even if I don’t tell Lady Inkwell, I know she’s got something up her sleeve, so I’ll just have to be ready.”
“But you don’t even know what she’s planning,” Lily protested.
“I know,” Sunset said evenly. “But, knowing there’s a snake waiting for you is better than not knowing. If Sapphire tries something, I’ll be ready.”
Both Daisy and Lily shared a skeptical look.
“Are you sure about this Sunset?” Lily finally asked. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell Lady Inkwell? She’d probably believe you. It’s not like Sapphire’s given her a reason to trust her over you.”
Sunset simply shook her head.
“I know what I’m doing Lily,” Sunset said confidently. “Just, trust me.”
Both Daisy and Lily shared one last look, but simply nodded and went back to their studies. Despite her air of confidence, Sunset was worried. But, she wouldn’t let that worry stop her. She was close. And, no matter what Sapphire tried, she would find a way to come out ahead.
*****
The next morning found Sunset, Lily and Daisy at their usual table, each working through their breakfast. The chaos of the dining hall was at an all time high, the pre-exam nervous energy so palpable that Sunset was sure that all it would take for it to ignite was just one tiny spark.
In only an hour, the final exam would begin.
And an hour until she suspected Sapphire would make her move.
Despite her earlier show of confidence, Sunset was nervous. She’d spent most of the night racking her brain, trying to figure out what Sapphire was up to. But, in the end she had to admit she couldn’t. Her only option was to just go on with her day, and keep an eye out for whatever Sapphire was planning.
“Okay,” Daisy said, taking a bite of toasted bread and honey before suddenly pointing at Sunset. “When serving a baron his after-dinner tea for a type five main course, which style of tea-cup do you use?”
“Grey porcelain with brass-filled hawk shaped filigree, served on a white porcelain saucer,” Sunset replied reflexively. “The cup should be 5 cm across, 4.5 cm tall, and be placed 10 cm to the NNW of the dessert plate before the dessert is served.”
“Good. And how much error is allowed for such placements?” Daisy followed up, this time pointing at Lily.
“For a baron, up to 1cm of error is permitted,” Lily said after only a moment’s hesitation.
“Yes!” Daisy cheered. “Right. Sunset, your turn.”
Taking a deep breath, Sunset wracked her brain.
“From baron to phoenix born, what metals are used for their utensils?” Sunset said, pointing at Lily.
“Baron and viscount… steel; Earl and marquess… brass; Duke… bronze; Archduke… gold with hardened bronze for the tines of the forks, and blade of the knives; Phoenix-born… um, tungsten?” Lily said.
“Good,” Sunset cheered, then turned to Daisy. “Same question, but for baroness through phoenix-born.”
“Baroness and viscountess… steel with brass filigree; countesses and marchionesses get brass with pearl insets; duchesses have… um… bronze with sunsetone insets? Archduchesses get gold with hardened bronze for the tines of the forks, and blade of the knives and ruby insets; and phoenix-born… phoenix-born… they have… they have?… tungsten with ruby and jacinth insets!” Daisy said proudly.
“Almost perfect. The phoenix-born utensils are made of cast tungsten, with gold embossing and topaz, ruby and jacinth insets” Sunset said, before giving Daisy an encouraging smile. “Still, that’s pretty much all of them right, so good job.
“Thanks.” Daisy said, smiling at Sunset. “Those last three always trip me up.”
“It’s okay,” Sunset said reassuringly. “Alright, you’re up Lily.”
“Okay,” Lily said, her attention drawn to something behind Sunset, and her expression darkening. “What has gold and blue hair, blue skin, needs to be paddled until she can’t sit every day for the rest of her life, and is walking this direction?”
Sunset suppressed a groan as she lifted her hand to rub her brows in an attempt to stave off an approaching headache.
‘Are we really going to do this now? At breakfast?’ Sunset moaned internally.
“Sapphire Prism…,” Sunset growled under her breath.
“Fraid so,” Lily whispered.
‘Well, here it comes…’ She thought as she mentally braced herself.
“Good morning Sunslip Stumble,” Sapphire’s arrogant voice lilted merrily. “How are you?”
Sunset didn’t respond.
“I wouldn’t ignore me if I were you Sunslip,” Sapphire said with the same merry tone. “In fact, you should be so grateful that I’m even deigning to talk to you instead of going straight to Lady Inkwell, you should get down on your hands and knees and lick my shoes like the dirt-eating mongrel dog you are.”
Focusing her mind on her meditation techniques, Sunset did her best to stay calm. She wasn’t going to rise to Sapphire’s bait, instead choosing to continue pretending Sapphire wasn’t there.
“So that’s how it's going to be, eh?” Sapphire tittered. “Really now, Sunslip, didn’t Tender Heart teach you any manners?”
All around Sunset, the world came to a screeching halt and the bottom dropped out of her stomach, as raw, boiling, white-hot rage flooded her mind. Barely able to breath and her ears ringing, she bolted upright from her chair, and whipped round to face Sapphire, whose face was plastered with a smug, superior grin.
“You…” Sunset growled.
“No. Bad dog,” Sapphire said as she pointed a finger at Sunset as though disciplining a pet. “Dogs that bark their masters get punished. Touch me, and I’ll make sure that Tender Heart will curse the day you were born. Well, more than she probably already does, you worthless sack of pig guts.”
Sunset balled her fists and glared at Sapphire, her anger on the verge of erupting like a volcano.
“Who’s Tender Heart?” Daisy asked, her voice filled with concern at Sunset’s obvious distress.
“Oh, Sunslip Stumble didn’t tell you?” Sapphire said with an arrogant smirk. “Well, let me…”
“No!” Sunset shouted, her eyes going wide as she lurched towards Sapphire, drawing the attention of the nearby tables. Consequences be damned, she couldn’t let her finish the sentence she was about to say.
“…she runs the orphanage where Sunslip lives.” Sapphire said loud enough to be heard not just at Sunset’s table, but at the others nearby.
The silence that fell on their side of the dining room was both immediate and deafening.
“What are you talking about?” Lily said as she placed her hands on the tabletop and got to her feet, her brow furrowing as she looked between Sunset and Sapphire. Sunset’s heart sank when she saw the look on Lily’s face; she couldn’t be sure if Lily was glaring at Sapphire… or her.
“So what’s the big deal if Sunset’s mom runs an orphanage?” Daisy chimed in, her face twisted with confusion.
“Oh, nothing so benign,” Sapphire continued, taking advantage of Sunset’s stunned silence to continue her assault. “Sunslip doesn’t have a mother. She’s an orphan. And not just an orphan, a foundling.”
“What!?” Both Lily and Daisy shouted, drawing more eyes to their table.
The tables around Sunset and Sapphire got quiet as all eyes turned to glare in their direction. Through the ringing in her ears and the fog of lightheadedness that had settled on her brain, Sunset could hear whispers of “Orphan?” “The dirt-eater’s an orphan?” “Did I hear that right? She’s a foundling?” “She doesn’t have a family!?”
Sunset took a step back, her rage extinguished and completely replaced by raw, primal fear as she felt the ambient hostility in the room skyrocket. Of all the scenarios she had imagined, none of them were this; Sapphire knew she was an orphan, and where she lived.
“Yup. No parents. No family. Just an unwanted, parentless dog, left on at the door of a house for mutts,” Sapphire sneered with obvious relish. “Isn’t that right, Sunslip Stumble?”
Swallowing hard, Sunset looked to Lily and Daisy for support. To her horror, both of them closed their eyes and looked away.
“What do you want?” Sunset managed to ask in a trembling voice.
“Oh, not much…” Sapphire said as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, a vicious smirk spreading across her face as she stared triumphantly at Sunset, who took another step back. “You are going to fail the final exam Sunslip Stumble, and you’re going to fail it so spectacularly that Lady Inkwell will have no choice but to put you on garbage duty, if not toss you out completely. Refuse, and I’ll have my daddy have that dirty orphanage you’re from demolished. Or, I could just tell every noble at the phoenix-rite that you’re some familyless mongrel.”
Taking a step forward, Sapphire folded her hands behind her back and leaned into Sunset’s face, her vile smirk getting even wider.
“Did you know, Sunslip, that in Heliopolis, mongrels like you have no rights? I mean, you’re not even a person here! Just garbage masquerading as a person,” Sapphire continued, the smugness in her voice nearly drowning Sunset. “Why, if I wanted to, I could have my servants beat you to death, and nobody would lift a finger to help. Well, help you. They might join in to help me though. So, I suggest you do exactly as I say.”
Glancing at Daisy and Lily, Sunset could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes, but did her best to fight them back. Neither of them were looking at her. In fact, both of them had scooted their seats away.
“Nobody’s going to help you, mongrel. Not even Lady Inkwell. And even if she, by some miraculous chance, would actually help you, if you go to her, I’ll have everyone at that orphanage you call home publicly executed,” Sapphire said with false pleasantness, before reaching up to pat Sunset’s cheek. Sunset flinched back at the touch, but otherwise was too stunned to respond. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash my hands before I get myself something to eat. So, you have a wonderful morning, you miserable mutt, and remember, you’re going to fail your exam, or you and everyone you care about will regret it.”
And with that, Sapphire turned on her heels and walked away, her mocking laughter echoing in Sunset’s ears. Chancing a look at her friends, Sunset’s heart sank even further; even after Sapphire’s departure, neither were looking in her direction.
With a pained sob, Sunset fled the dining hall, running as fast as she could as the tears she’d been fighting back finally broke free.
*****
The front doors of the school burst open as Sunset slammed into them, her feet carrying her outside and across the lawn in front of the academy. She didn’t know where she was going. And she didn’t care.
All of it was coming crashing down around her. And it was all because of one person. No. Not a person. A monster.
Sapphire Prism… that miserable, Discord touched, pig offal eating donkey’s butthole!
As she ran across the academy’s front lawn, she slipped on the grass, still wet from the early morning dew, and fell, barely managing to catch herself before impact. After a second to collect herself, Sunset slowly rose to her hands and knees, her fists grabbing at the green carpet. With a pitiful wail, she tore at it, her tears streaming down her face.
“Moon loving, shadow worshiping, chaos spawn! Damn her! Damn her to the chaos!” Sunset swore as she ripped up more and more of the carefully manicured lawn. “Aaaargh!”
Sniffling, she curled up on herself, resting on her forearms and knees.
It was one thing to make her miserable. Sunset could deal with that. But threatening her family, that was going too far. And, making it worse, there was nothing she could do about it. Sapphire held all the bones in this game. She was nobility. She could make good on her threat, and nobody would stop her. And, Sunset realized, if she knew about the orphanage, she probably knew about Bronze, and her oath sisters, meaning there was nothing to stop her from going after the rest of her family too.
“Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow… I’m sorry. Please,” Sunset whimpered, another choked sob escaping her throat, “help me…I need you.”
As she continued to sob into the grass, Sunset was only peripherally aware of the sound of soft footfalls approaching.
‘With my luck, it’ll be Lady Inkwell,’ Sunset moaned in her head, ‘and she’s coming to exile me.’
The footsteps drew closer, until they stopped about an arm’s length from her head, the stranger’s shadow blocking the sun. Sunset couldn’t find the strength to look up, only curl up a little tighter. After what felt like an eternity of whoever it was looming over her, there was a slow hissing of fabric as whoever had just approached squatted down to bring themselves closer to her level.
“Well, kid, you look like crap,” A familiar, jovial yet condescending voice said. “I’d ask if something was wrong, but since you’re on the ground, crying like a baby, that’d be rhetorical.”
Sorrow began to rapidly boil off, only to be replaced with anger. Snapping her head up, Sunset caught sight of the mysterious sky-runner that had brought her to the academy. The woman in question had her hands resting on her bent knees as she balanced on the balls of her feet, while her expression was that same smug smirk she’d worn when Sunset had arrived in Heliopolis.
“There, that’s better,” She said with an amused chuckle as Sunset glared at her. “There’s the fire that I was hoping to see.”
“What are you doing here?” Sunset growled, her anger settling down to a low smoulder. “Did word already get to Lady Inkwell and now she’s sent you to get rid of me?”
“Raven didn’t send me. I just happened to be in the area, and saw you having your little meltdown. But why would Raven do something like that?” The woman asked as she tilted her head to the side, her expression never losing its amusement. “Did you set anything on fire? Or maybe let a bunch of rats loose in the baths? Heh, her face the last time that happened was priceless.”
“What?” Sunset said, her anger subsiding, only to be replaced by confusion.
“Long story that involves way too much sparkberry cognac, several bags of very hungry rats, an uptight earl, and a ruined party. That was a good night,” The woman said with a grin that made Sunset feel like she was a mouse staring up at a hungry falcon. “So, why are you out here tearing up the school’s lawn instead of getting ready for your exam? Unless this is some western study strategy that I’m not aware of.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sunset muttered as the gravity of her situation came back to her in full force, her head dropping back down. “I might as well not show up. I have to fail either way, so not showing will at least let me save some of my dignity.”
“Oh come on, kid. I doubt you’d fail this thing,” The woman chortled. “From what little I’ve seen of you, you’re way too smart if you’ve been putting your mind to it.”
“I don’t have a choice. I have to fail,” Sunset said, her fists grabbing handfuls of grass as she curled in on herself and hunched her back.
“Somehow, I doubt that kid. Why would you need to fail?”
Sunset whimpered, and crawled away a little.
‘I can’t tell her,’ Sunset thought. ‘If I do, she’ll tell Lady Inkwell. And if she tells Lady Inkwell, and Sapphire finds out…’
“I just… can’t do it,” Sunset said shakily. “I’m too scared to attend. So… I have to fail so Lady Inkwell won’t make the mistake of letting me take part in the rite.”
Sunset looked up at the woman, hoping that she bought the lie. One look at her face and Sunset’s heart sank.
“Kid, cut the crap,” The woman said, her eyes flinty, while her voice uncharacteristically serious. “I may not be as good as Raven is at picking up a tall tale, but don’t think that you can bullshit me. I know nerves, and I know despair, and this isn’t nerves. So, I’m going to ask again, and this time, you’re going to tell me the truth: why do you think you need to fail the exam?”
Sunset looked the woman in the eyes, and saw nothing. No compassion. No humor. No mercy. Just a cold, dead desire for the truth. A truth that her glare was threatening to all but tear out of her.
‘I’m screwed. I’m so screwed.’ Sunset thought as she swallowed hard, her mind desperately trying to figure a way out of the situation.
There were none.
She could tell the woman before her what happened, and face the consequences when Sapphire found out. Or, she could try lying again, and risk being dragged to Lady Inkwell. Either way, she was caught.
With a pained sigh and sob, Sunset lowered her head and stared at the ground.
‘Beter the umbrum you know…’ Sunset thought as she made her decision.
“There’s a girl. Her name’s Sapphire Prism… She threatened to have my home destroyed if I didn't fail.” Sunset said as she curled up again, before relaxing a bit. “She… found out where I live. Told me that if I didn’t throw the exam, she’d have her father destroy my home.”
“Did she now?” The woman said, her tone turning cold and frightening. “Well, I’m pretty sure that Raven wouldn’t allow something like that. Why didn’t you go to her when this girl threatened you?”
“Sapphire told me she’d have my family executed if I did,” Sunset whimpered. “And, Lady Inkwell wouldn’t take my side. Nobody will. No after what Sapphire said in the dining room.”
“Again, unless it involved bags of rats or something worse, I doubt that,” The woman said in an unusually serious tone. “Why wouldn’t she help you?”
“I’m an orphan…” Sunset whimpered.
“Sorry, couldn’t hear you in the back of the room,” The woman said. “What did you say?”
“She won’t help me because I’m an orphan!” Sunset shouted as she lifted her head to glare at the woman, before deflating again. “Sapphire told me in the dining hall. As soon as word gets to her, I’m doomed. Orphans don’t have rights in Heliopolis…”
Sunset could swear she heard a short, angry growl escape the woman’s throat.
“Kid, look at me,” the woman said firmly.
Slowly, Sunset lifted her head back up for the third time, and met the woman’s eyes.
“That doesn’t matter,” The woman said plainly, but firmly. “Raven knew you were an orphan before you even showed up.”
“What?” Sunset said, her tone confused. “She already knew? But… how?”
The woman gave Sunset a half-lidded glare that practically screamed ‘are you stupid?’
“Kid, she vetted every one of the applicants personally. And, in case you’ve forgotten, I delivered your invitation to you, by hand,” The woman said, a slight smirk returning to her face. “The invitation that Raven personally signed and had me deliver directly to you at your address. How could she not know?”
“But… if she knew, why am I here? I’m not a person,” Sunset whimpered as her eyes stayed locked on the ground. “I’m garbage. I have no rights.”
To Sunset’s surprise, the woman reached down and grabbed her face in a one-handed cheek pinch. Sunset was too stunned to respond, and could do nothing as the woman lifted her face, her eyes burning with a cold fire that all but paralyzed her with fear.
“First off, that’s not even the slightest bit true, kid, so don’t I ever hear you say that again, you understand?” The woman said as she held Sunset’s face. “You are not garbage. You are a sun-gazer, and a Solarian. And unless you break some very serious laws, nothing’s going to change that. Clear?”
“Yes ma’am,” Sunset muttered through her pinched cheeks.
“Good. Now, on to the other bit of misinformation you’ve got rattling in that little fire-caller brain of yours: you do have rights,” the woman continued, letting go of Sunset’s face. “And if Raven finds out someone’s trying to take them from you, they’re in for a world of trouble.”
“But Sapphire said…” Sunset began as she got off her forearms and sat back on the grass.
“She doesn’t make the rules here. Raven does,” The woman said, cutting Sunset off. “Let me guess, this Sapphire girl’s from one of the rays, yes?”
“Yes, she is,” Sunset nodded dumbly.
“Which one?”
“I think she said she’s from Aurorias,” Sunset said.
“Aurorias…Aurorias. I thought that name sounded familiar. That certainly explains a lot,” The woman said tersely. “Okay, kid, here’s the deal. Out there in the rays, those piss drinking ass ticks might get away with anything they want, but we’re not in Aurorias. We’re in Chromos. And here, Raven’s word is law. If she didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here. Simple as that.”
Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but the woman continued.
“Second, Raven doesn't have much patience for those who openly abuse their authority, or so blatantly flout the law,” the woman said cooly, “especially those she’s trusted with noble titles. If what you’ve said is true, this Sapphire Prism girl has just put not just herself, but her family in a very bad position. Especially since she was dumb enough to do it publicly.”
“Are… are you sure,” Sunset asked, a little hope returning to her voice.
“Sure as Raven’s hair’s done an impression of a torch for almost two thousand years,” The woman said as she got to her feet and offered Sunset her hand. Slowly, Sunset took it and was gently pulled up. “So, why don’t you tell me exactly what happened, and I’ll pass the details on to Raven. Honestly, if that little tart threatened you in the dining room, Raven’s probably already caught wind of what’s going on. So, I suggest you go in there, clean up, ace your exam, and enjoy the show when Raven gives her a wakeup call.”
Sunset was dumbfounded.
“Why are you doing this?” Sunset asked quietly.
“Doing what?”
“Helping me? Why are you sticking your neck out for me like this?” Sunset asked as she stared up at the sky-runner.
“That’s something you’re just going to have to wonder about kiddo,” she said, her signature cocky smirk returning as she ruffled Sunset’s hair, earning an angry glare from the younger girl. “After all, you have an exam in a bit, and you don’t want to be late.”
*****
The low creak of the exam room’s doors filled the air as Sunset pushed the heavy oak slabs open and slipped in. Unlike prior, the room lacked desks, leaving the other students free to mill about in groups doing some last minute cramming. Yet, as she closed the doors, there was a palpable change in the atmosphere similar to that of the dining room at breakfast as dozens of hostile eyes locked onto her, venomous whispering of “dirt-eating orphan,” “mongrel” and “familyless filth” soon drifting through the air.
It was her phoenix-rite test and early days in Heliopolis all rolled into one miserable package.
‘Looks like word spread quickly. Just get through this Sunset.’ Sunset thought as she spotted Lady Inkwell on the stage, talking with Sparkler. Sunset noted that Dylis was conspicuously absent from Lady Inkwell’s shoulder, meaning he was probably lurking about somewhere. ‘You dealt with this when you first got here, so you can deal with it now.’
Trying not to appear nervous, Sunset scanned the hall for signs of her roommates. It took a few painful seconds, but she eventually spotted a pair of distinct patches of lime green and amber hair off near the edge of the crowd.
On the other side of the hall.
If she wanted to reach them, she’d have to make her through the other students. And with the atmosphere in the room, she was quite sure she wouldn’t make it without at least a few bruises.
If she was lucky.
Of course, Sunset wasn’t sure if they even were her friends anymore. They’d made it clear that they were just like the Heliopolans when they wouldn’t look at her after Sapphire told them she was an orphan. That told her everything she needed to know.
‘Guess they’re fairweather afterall,’ Sunset thought sadly as she leaned against the back wall of the room away from the other students to brood. ‘I’m really on my own now…’
“Attention everyone!” Lady Inkwell’s voice called, drawing Sunset out of her melancholy. Soon, the room quieted down, and all eyes turned towards the royal seneschal, who was now standing alone on the elevated lecturing platform at the head of the classroom, her hands clasped behind her back as she stared down at the students imperiously. “Today marks the final leg of your training. This exam will have two parts. The first part will test your raw knowledge of all of the materials covered so far. The second part will be a practical where you will be performing a mock dinner for a selection of different ranks of nobility, and will be judged on how well you manage the settings, how well you conduct yourselves, and your speed in completing your tasks.”
“Your performance today, combined with that of the last month, will determine where I place you for the phoenix-rite,” Lady Inkwell continued as she walked to the far end of the stage. “This is your last chance to impress or disappoint me. Do your best, and show me how much you’ve learned.”
Rising into the air, Lady Inkwell floated off the stage and landed next to the large set of double doors that led to the exam room.
“In the next room, you will find desks for the written portion of the exam. You will be entering in groups of ten,” Lady Inkwell said as the doors opened. “On the other side of the door, there is a large urn of ceramic tokens, each with a number which corresponds to a desk. As you enter the exam room, take a token. At the front of the room, you’ll find a seating chart. Please find your seats as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once everyone is seated, we will begin.”
“Are there any questions?” Lady Inkwell said as she gazed across the mass of students.
A blue hand shot into the air.
“Yes Sapphire?” Lady Inkwell said.
“Is it possible to fail so badly that you’ll get kicked out of the rite?” Sapphire asked, her tone smug.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed as a wave of venomous giggles passed through the hall, with a few of the students glancing back at her and smiling cruelly. It was obvious Sapphire was talking about her ultimatum, and was trying to twist the knife deeper.
An image of Sapphire being swarmed and dismembered by hundreds of vethris briefly flickering through Sunset’s mind as she glared at the other girl. She brushed the thought away as soon as it came. As satisfying as Sapphire getting eaten alive by ravenous, flesh-eating hornets would be, the chances of it actually happening were infinitesimal, so there was no reason to dwell on it. No matter how pleasant the image was.
“It is possible,” Lady Inkwell replied evenly. “Though, you would have to completely fail at comprehending several key concepts for it to happen. At this stage, unless you have been performing particularly poorly, at worst you will be placed somewhere that you would not be able to view the rite.”
“Thank you, Lady Inkwell,” Sapphire said with a bow, “that was just what I needed to know.”
Sunset watched Lady Inkwell, but saw no indication that she knew what Sapphire was implying.
‘Not that we’d know unless she wanted us to.’ Sunset thought.
“Are there any more questions?” Lady Inkwell asked. “No? Very well. The ten nearest the door can enter now.”
*****
Sunset made her way towards the doors to the exam room. The other students had entered and had found their seats, leaving her the last one to approach Lady Inkwell.
“Well, Sunset, this is unusual,” Sunset heard Lady Inkwell say as she approached the urn. “Last minute nerves?”
“Something like that…” Sunset said noncommittally.
“Well, whatever is bothering you, I don’t want you to worry about it. All you need to focus on is your exam, so I expect you to give this your all,” Lady Inkwell said as she stared down at Sunset, before a knowing smirk touched on the edge of her lips. “Am I clear?”
“Yes ma’am,” Sunset said.
“Good girl. Now, find your seat,” Lady Inkwell said as she ushered Sunset into the room.
As she scanned the floor, Sunset spotted one last open desk near the middle of the floor.
‘Great…’ Sunset thought as she saw who would be sitting behind her for the exam. There, right behind her desk, was Sapphire Prism. ‘Is this part of the test? Have cow-pie-for-brains behind me the whole time?’
With a sigh, Sunset began to make her way to her desk. As she passed the rows of other students, she heard a few whispered insults hurled her way. Clenching her fists, she ignored them as best she could. They didn’t matter.
It took a painful minute of walking and dodging a few attempts to trip her, but Sunset reached her desk. Before she could take a seat, she felt a hand grab her wrist and twist it slightly. Stopping and looking at her arm, Sunset saw Sapphire holding her wrist, glaring balefully at her with a cruel smile as she dug her fingernails painfully into her flesh.
“Remember, you better fail, or I swear to Celestia, I will make you regret it,” Sapphire trilled. “Do you understand, mutt?”
“I do,” Sunset said, not bothering to keep the hate out of her eyes or expression, before wrenching her wrist free of Sapphire’s grip.
“Such an obedient mongrel,” Sapphire cooed as her sneer grew. “I would hate for anything to happen to that doghouse you come from.”
With one last hate filled glare, Sunset walked past Sapphire and took her seat, resting an elbow on her desk. With a sigh of frustration, her eyes drifted to the ceiling, only to stop when she spotted something in the rafters of the room: a splash of fiery red and yellow.
‘Dylis,’ Sunset thought as she stared at the phoenix, a small smile starting to work its way onto her face. ‘Well, that explains why he wasn’t with Lady Inkwell.’
Looking at the phoenix, a thought occurred to Sunset, one that drastically improved her mood. If Dylis was up there, chances are he saw Sapphire grab her wrist. And if he saw it, then so did Lady Inkwell. And that meant that Sapphire might have just been caught breaking Lady Inkwell’s command not to lay a hand on anyone. True, it wasn’t a sure thing, but the thought of Lady Inkwell coming down on Sapphire chased off some of the gloom surrounding her current situation.
“Attention everyone!” Lady Inkwell’s voice cut through the air. Sunset’s attention snapped away from Dylis, and to Lady Inkwell, who was now standing at the head of the examination hall.
“Now that we’re all here, I would like to inform you all that this exam will be a little different from what you’ve come to expect. In your desks are a packet of papers, an inkwell, and a set of quills. Do not take these out until you are told to!” Lady Inkwell said, emphasising the second part as she saw a few students move to pull out the items in question.
Many of the students froze and withdrew their hands from the cuby with guilty expressions on their faces. Once she was sure she had everyone’s attention again, Lady Inkwell resumed.
“Now, as I was saying, this exam will be conducted differently than prior ones. To start…” Raven said, before beginning to short spell-dance, which she ended by stomping her right foot and sweeping her right hand upward into the air. As she did, a line of light-grey raspberry colored light shot out along the ground from her foot towards the students. As it neared the first row of desks, it split into a perfect 10 x 10 grid, each cell containing a desk at the center. The moment the grid was complete, four perfectly smooth, two meter tall walls made of the same marble as the floor erupted from below, isolating each student in an individual, open top cell.
Sunset could hear cries of surprise all around her. Sunset, on the other hand, was too fascinated by what she was seeing to panic. What Lady Inkwell had done was very high level transmutational magic. Even master spell dancers would have a hard time performing such spells on the scale Lady Inkwell did, let alone with the precision she’d displayed.
‘I wonder if she used a spell derived from the one Queen Celestia used to create Heliopolis,’ Sunset thought as she continued to marvel at the summoned walls. Hmm, I think the space of this box is smaller than the base grid. Does that mean…’
“Everyone, be quiet!” Lady Inkwell shouted from above, cutting through and silencing everyone’s panic. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Sunset looked up and saw Lady Inkwell floating above the cells, reclining as though she were sitting in a chair, her hands resting on her lap. “On the wall in front of your desk, you will be given a question on an aspect of the phoenix-rite. Write your answers on the paper provided. Once you’re satisfied with your answer, circle it, and you will receive the next question. The exam ends either when you’ve answered fifty questions, or when noon arrives.
“Be aware, this exam is adaptive,” Lady Inkwell continued. “Answer correctly, and the next question will be more challenging. Answer wrong, and the next will be simpler. Your final score will be determined not just on the number of correct answers you give, but on the difficulty. Once you’ve answered fifty questions or your time for the exam is up, the wall will stop showing questions, and you will have a break before the next part of the exam. Those who finish sooner will be able to begin the second stage before the others.”
Lady Inkwell paused briefly, before lifting her right hand above her head. Snapping her fingers, a pulse of Lady Inkwell’s magic erupted in a ring from her hand and washed over the walls of her cell. As the light passed, black runic text formed on the wall, forming the question: What is the proper honorific used when addressing an earl?
“Begin!” Lady Inkwell commanded.
Dutifully, Sunset pulled out the paper, quills and ink from her desk, and set to work.
*****
How many grains of short grain teterrelii go into the main course of a phoenix-born’s dinner if they are being served a type three meal (poultry, rockfish and conch)?
Sunset’s brow furrowed as she wracked her brain, trying to remember that particular detail.
‘Let’s see,’ Sunset thought as she stared at the question on the wall, and at her paper. ‘Type three meals are served with a mixed long and short grain teterrelii risotto. The total grain count is somewhere in the 950-970 range, the ratio is 5:4 of long to short, and does not have any fractions of a grain. Meaning that the number of grains must be evenly divisible by nine. That means either 954 or 963. Ugh, I don’t remember which one…’
Sunset propped her head on her palm and rested her elbow on the desktop, staring at the paper before her as she drummed her fingers.
‘Wait. All of the digits in 963 are multiples of three…’ Sunset thought. ‘That’s it. The risotto has 428 short grains.’
Writing her answer on the parchment and circling it, Sunset let out a deep breath, dropped her quill back in the inkwell and rubbed her eyes. She was spent. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been at it, but she knew she was smouldering on grass, so she hoped the exam was nearing its end. Her exhaustion wasn’t helped by how hard the last few questions were. The only consolation she had was that with the difficulty ramping up like it had been, she was probably doing well. But, the level of detail she was being asked to recall was seriously kicking her butt.
Chancing a look at the wall for her next question, she almost shouted in glee at the sight of the two words on it: Exam Complete.
‘Thank Celestia!’ Sunset thought, leaning back in her chair, her head dangling over the headrest, her eyes closing and a groan of relief escaping her throat. ‘Now I can take a break.’
Her relief was short lived as the wall began to scintillate with different shades of red, yellow and orange. When she turned her attention back to the surface, a new set of words appeared.
Put your papers into the box on the side of the desk and stand. You will be allowed to go to the break room momentarily.
Doing as instructed, Sunset slipped the papers into the box and stood. As she did, the wall to her left began to ripple, then pulled open like a curtain.
‘That’s… wow,’ Sunset thought as she watched in awe as the stone of the wall flowed like water. ‘The level of transmutational magic needed to pull that off… I really should stop being surprised by what Lady Inkwell is capable of.’
Please exit immediately, and head to the exit adjacent to the south wall. You will have a 30 minute break before the next stage of the exam.
Coming back to her senses, Sunset shook her head and walked through the opening. Once outside, Sunset found herself in a small pathway between the walls of the cells.
‘Well, this explains the differences in the grid vs. cell size,’ Sunset thought as she exited the cell. As soon as she fully stepped clear of the cell and onto the pathway, the wall sealed behind her. Looking back at the now solid marble surface, she shrugged, turned to the left, and headed towards the south exit.
As she walked down the path, Sunset briefly heard a frustrated groan from within the cell directly behind to her own. From the sound of it, Sapphire was having a hard time with the exam.
‘I hope you’re enjoying yourself, jerk,’ Sunset thought bitterly as she resumed her walk. ‘Actually, I hope you’re suffering and that you want to carve your own eyes out with your quill.’
Resuming her walk and picking up the pace, Sunset exited the forest of marble cubes, and headed straight for the exit.
‘One down,’ she thought as she pushed the doors open, finding herself in a large room. Scattered around the room were assorted sofas, chairs, and tables. On the wall to her right, there was a large bookshelf, while the other had a table next to it covered in bowls of fruit, plates of breads, meats and cheeses, as well as several pitchers of what she was sure were beverages. Smiling to herself, she walked to the table, grabbed a plate, and began to collect refreshments.
‘One to go.’
*****
Taking a long sip of her tsujara, Sunset let out a deep sigh as the hot drink warmed up her insides and calmed her nerves. Setting her mug down, she picked up the book she’d been reading; a collection of recent short stories written by some Heliopolan author named Heart Pain Lovesmith. When she first saw the book, she had planned to pass it over for sounding like it might be some sort of trashy romance. Yet, some strange curiosity prompted her to pick the book up, and she found herself intrigued by the cover art depicting some sort of Grogaran abomination rising out of the ground surrounded by other, strange creatures.
It was odd enough to get her attention that she’d decided to check it out. After finding a sofa to read on, she refilled her mug of tsujara, and settled in. Yet, after the first few stories, she found herself developing mixed feelings about the author and his creations. While she couldn’t deny the man had a strange, vivid and colorful imagination, he was clearly as blatantly classist as the other Heliopolans, if not more so, and it showed in his stories.
Still, it was something to pass the time until the next part of her exam. And, most of his protagonists met pretty awful ends, so there was at least something to be enjoyed watching them get eaten by monsters or driven mad.
Squirming a little to get comfortable, she picked up where she left off on a story about a degenerate town of inbred, Grogar worshipers from the western territory and the chaos-born abomination they were attempting to summon into the world. Yet, as she got comfortable and started becoming immersed in the story, her focus was broken as she heard the doors to the break room open and two new students come in, chatting in hushed voices.
It wasn’t the first time the doors had interrupted her reading. By this time, several other students had finished, come in, and after spotting her, gave her a wide breadth, sans some unpleasant whispering and occasional insult. Sunset was grateful for that at least. She didn’t feel like dealing with anyone right now.
But this time, the voices immediately drew her attention. Because they were very familiar voices. Voices she didn’t want to hear right now. Pinching her eyes shut, she had to fight down a scream.
It was Lily Valley and Flower Wishes.
Of all the people she didn’t want to deal with, her former friends were high on the list. Right up there with Sapphire Prism, Luna or Sombra. Hunkering down, Sunset brought her book back up to her face and tried to get back into the story. She’d take Lovesmith’s blatant classism and horrific abominations over dealing with Lily or Daisy’s hypocrisy.
Yet, the sound of approaching footsteps told her that the other girls had different ideas.
‘And so, we get to deal with another headache,’ Sunset thought as the footsteps got closer. ‘Can’t I have a moment’s peace?’
“Sunset?” Sunset heard Daisy say, her voice unsure and sad.
Sunset ignored her and hunched further into her book.
“Sunset, please, we just want to talk,” This time, it was Lily that spoke, her voice firmer, but still remorseful.
Taking a deep breath and huffing out through her nose, Sunset flipped the bookmark ribbon attached to the spine of the book between the pages she was reading and closed the book. Setting it down on the table, she rose to her feet and turned to face Lily and Daisy.
“So you want to talk? Okay, talk,” Sunset said tersely.
Both Lily and Daisy looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in place as though unsure of what to say. Sunset glared at them for a minute in silence, before plopping back down on the couch and reaching for her book.
“Good talk. Please leave me alone,” Sunset growled. “Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t change the locking runes on the door. I may be garbage, but I at least have enough honor not to do something that deplorable.”
“We’re sorry, okay?!” Daisy desperately shouted.
Sunset paused and put her book back down.
“Sorry for what?” Sunset asked in a sarcastic tone as she swiveled on the sofa to look at them. “I’m familyless garbage, right, so why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Sunset, please don’t talk to us like that.” Lily said firmly. “I know we could have handled it better, but can you blame us? You live in an orphanage.”
“So you’re uncomfortable being friends with trash, huh?” Sunset continued.
“Sunset, you’re not trash,” Daisy said, a sad expression on her face and in her voice. “We were just… shocked to learn that you aren’t part of a family, okay, and we didn’t know what to do.”
“Cut the bull,” Sunset said, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I thought you were my friends, but it looks like I was wrong.”
“No, Sunset, we are your friends, we swear,” Lily protested. “We just… don’t understand. Why are you still living in an orphanage? Why hasn’t someone taken you in yet? Why aren’t you part of a family?”
“What are you talking about?” Sunset said as she wiped her eyes. “What’s wrong with living in an orphanage?”
“What do you mean? The only kids that don’t get adopted into a family from an orphanage have dishonored their families or are the children of the dishonored,” Daisy said, looking at Sunset. “But, you’re not a bad girl Sunset. A little sarcastic and temperamental, sure, but you’re not bad.”
“Wait, are you serious?” Sunset asked incredulously.
Both Lily and Daisy nodded.
“But that’s crazy!” Sunset shouted. “Orphans don’t get adopted by just one family. Your town is your family.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked, a look of confusion spreading across her face. “That’s not how things work.”
“Yes it is,” Sunset replied, her tone still irritated but much calmer. “Orphans don’t get adopted into one family or another. Instead, your town is your family. I have my oath sisters, so I’m closer to them and their families than I am to most of the others, but as far as Golden Tree is concerned, me and all of the others living in the Golden Tree orphanage are just as much a part of the town’s family as any other child. If not family in blood, then in spirit.”
Both Lily and Daisy continued to stare at her, as though expecting her to suddenly say she was secretly a shadow-stalker.
“But… that’s not how family works,” Daisy protested. “Family is your house, your clan and your bloodline. How can your town be a family?”
“Because… that’s just how things are. Back home, you depend on the rest of your town to stay alive. We need each other. And since we need each other, we’re family,” Sunset said, the gears slowly turning in her head. “So, the reason you didn’t say anything to Sapphire was because you thought that I was in an orphanage because I’d been thrown out of my family.”
“Well, yea,” Daisy said guiltily. “Even foundlings get taken in, unless they do something to dishonor their new clan, and they are exiled to an orphanage. But… when we stopped to think about it, that didn’t sound like you.”
“So, we tried to find you, but couldn’t,” Lily continued. “We’d hoped to find you and apologize for falling for Sapphire’s trick, but then the exam started, and you were nowhere to be seen.”
As Sunset watched the two Easterners, her heart was filled with conflicting emotions. Anger, sorrow, regret, shame, and, almost strong enough to blot out all of the others, relief. And a horrid realization that she’d nearly ruined her friendship, not because Lily and Daisy agreed with Sapphire, but because what being an orphan meant was different in the East.
“Oh Celestia, I feel like an idiot,” Sunset said as she hung her head. “So, we almost ruined our friendship, because things work differently in the East and West?”
“I guess so,” Daisy said with a small, humorless chuckle. “It’s just… your town is your family? No clans? No houses? And nobody thinks that’s strange?”
“Yes, no, no and no,” Sunset said with her own humorless chuckle. “There are different levels of family. There’s your town, your blood, and your spirit families. I mean, sure, I’m part of my oath-sisters’ families, but I’d never be brought into a single one like that. Our sisterhood oath is enough to be considered family to all three of them. Being formally brought into just one… I can’t even imagine.”
“You’re telling us,” Lily said. “This is just… I don’t know… it’s a lot to take in.”
All three girls simply nodded as they regarded each other.
“So, now what?” Daisy asked. “What happens now?”
“I don’t know,” Lily said. “But, I do know that Sunset’s our friend. That much is true.”
Smiling, Sunset felt lighter than she had all day.
“And, I’d like to think you two are still my friends too,” Sunset said as she approached her friends and pulled them into a hug, which, after a few seconds, they returned. “I won’t say that it didn’t hurt. Because it did. But, I can put it behind me. It’s what family does.”
“Family?” Daisy asked. “You think we’re… family?”
“Of course,” Sunset said, hugging them a little tighter. “Family is not just blood. Family’s the people you care about. The people you love. And, I would be happy to call you family, if you’re willing.”
There was an awkward pause as Daisy and Lily mulled it over.
“I… I don’t know. Family is clan, house and blood. That’s the way it is, and the way it should be,” Lily finally said, her voice unsure. Yet, as she felt Sunset shrinking away, she tightened her hug, preventing her from escaping. “But…”
“But…” Sunset echoed, her voice cracking a little.
“But, even if I can’t call you family, I’d be happy to call you chat-lecti,” Lily said.
“Me too,” Daisy said, hugging Sunset tighter. “I’d be honored to call you chat-lecti Sunset, if you’re willing.”
“Chat-lecti? I don’t know that word,” Sunset said, relaxing her hug and taking a step back, but still holding onto Daisy and Lily’s hands.
“It’s a kirintal word that we use back home for someone that’s not family, but is more than just a friend,” Lily said as she looked at Sunset, a wan yet hopeful smile on her face. “Does that sound alright, Sunset?”
“And not just you Sunset, but you too Lily,” Daisy said, a watery smile on her face as a few tears of joy began to form in the corner of her eyes. “I’d say we’re all chat-lecti. Right?”
“Right,” Sunset said with a tearful laugh as she pulled them back into the hug, her own tears of joy breaking free as she held her Eastern friends. “Chat-lecti, eh? I like the sound of that.”
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So how many more until the big event?
10230112
I swear to Gaia, I'm not trying to drag this out. The original plan was for this to be the last chapter of the academy arc, then we could get to the rite. But, after writing the last part, it felt awkward to continue the chapter after such a good stopping point.
Hopefully, the next chapter won't get away from me, and we can wrap up the academy arc.
10230112
Ikr
This was good, can't wait to see Sapphire on garbage duty.
Interesting cultural differences between east, west and the City. Curious if there is a "north" and "south" as well or if those are exclusively Sombra (north) and Luna terms, at lest from the Sun Gazer point of view.
Sapphire has to not only truly believe the crap she is saying, but honestly believe the law is truly on her side to say that out loud. The fact that no one spoke up against murder, well there are very disturbing implications about just how deep the rot goes with the so called "Nobles" under Celesita's Sun.
How did she ever let it get this bad?
10230112
Looks like at least one maybe two at a minimum. We're looking at the practical portion of the exam, The resulting announcement, and then there is the key reactions.
10230125
10230144
The shadow-stalker and Selenian cultures are very different from that of Solaria.
There's a bit to unpack here. Much like in a feudal system, nobility does have more rights than non-nobles. At the national level, there is an expectation that the nobility acts with noblesse oblige, and conduct themselves with honor. Unfortunately, this has deteriorated over the years, particularly in many of the ray cities of Heliopolis. In most of the ray cities, orphans are treated as non-entities. Even if this is legally not the case, unless the rulers of a particular ray enforce the law, it is ignored. Combined with the classism, and the very deeply ingrained familial bias in the city (blood family determines your worth. You don't have a blood family, you're a non-entity), Sapphire does not consider Sunset to be a person at this point, made worse by the fact Sunset has been openly defying her.
That's also a bit of a can of worms. I guess the best way to consider Celestia's perspective is like this: does someone who raises ant colonies really understand what the ants are thinking? Celestia's so far above the sun-gazers that she might as well be someone tending to dozens of "pet" ant colonies. Its part of the reason she needs her phoenix-born. They act as an intermediary to translate "ant" to her. She has "let" the rot get this bad because she doesn't really comprehend the tiny, mortal issues that brought it about. And as for Raven, even with as much authority as she wields and resources at her fingertips, she's still only one woman.
10230125
I agree
10230125
I don't think Sapphire will get off with "just" garbage duty.
@Author, I've been wondering: did you get all those serving and tableware rules from somewhere, or are you making them up?
About that...
About that...
I've mentioned it before, but I love idioms used for subtle cultural world building.
Ah, irony. Right up there with helping to fulfill a Delphic prophecy by trying to avert it. Though it is good to see Sunset moderate that ambition with compassion. And vice versa.
I love the uncertainty of Orange's warning. Especially the possibility that she's exploiting the truce to throw off Sunset's game with a nonexistent threat.
Oh. Or it could be a very real threat instead. Megaton oof. However...
... Yeah. It may be a secret among the students, but the faculty did have to know where to send her
Hogwarts letterinvitation.Fascinating presentation for the first part of the exam.
Also absolutely terrified of almost everything.
The capital isn't the only place where things work differently.
Wonderful resolution between the friends... though as has been noted, this paints a very distressing image of at least one ray. Sunset's in for a rough time in the future, especially if her lack of biological family gets further publicized. But that's a matter for later. For now, I'm looking forward to the mock dinner... and wondering if the latnirik are a thing.
I so look forward to Sapphire Prism getting what's coming to her.
And my Bionicle OC would certainly take her punishment further by out right humiliating her while making it so that she'd be unable to trace it back to him and while he's at it, he might tear apart her house while enjoying every moment of it while sometimes being amused at their humiliation yeeess...
But in the small chance she does find out sometime after everything's done like a year or so or even a decade, this would out the encounter would go.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember any of it.”
“What?”
“For you, the day I tore apart your house was an important day of your life, but for me, it was Tuesday.”
Edit: instead of disliking you could tell me to remove my addition.
Oooh, I can't freakin' wait to see what's gonna happen to Sapphire.
... that, and having read the original way back when it first came out, I am very anxious to see how things play out in this version during the Rite, as well as what happens afterwards.
When Sunset was getting threatened I just had to get up and walk around a bit. I can't help but wonder why it's never occurred to that girl that Sunset wouln't be there if she hadn't been sponsered by someone powerful enough to get here there?
I love how you write this. Not only story is so intresting also unprodektable.
English is my secound lanuage so I don't know some words.I thought that "chat-lecti" mean something so I google translate it and it say that is a Latin. So I translate it from latin and it mean "local disease" (that what it translate on my lanuage). I was very confuse.
And again I love it.
I honestly cannot put into words just how I love this story. It’s so amazing I’m so many ways, and really just one of the best things I’ve ever read.
That being said, I am so excited to see Sapphire’s reaction when you know what happens at the rite. It’s gonna be so so good to watch that little punk get that slap to the face.
I am also so very glad that Daisy, Lily, and Sunset talked things out and made up. Your world building is truly incredible.
Regional cultural differences in an insular, or even semi-insular, society will get you every time.
I concur with 10230271 in "yay more casual idioms". Not enough authors come up with good unique idioms for my tastes. Too many fall back on Earth ones for familiarity. And they don't even have to be too fancy either, but really simple things like replacing yanking one's chain with hawser in a pre-industrial society (as long as there is enough ship useage to warrant it), or not calling it a red cent if they don't use copper coins.
AJ and Rainbow better watch out, that doozy is really gonna be something.
Oh, and just as a general thing. I really think that you've put something together here, that if you changed the characters' names and nothing else, it would easily stand up as original fiction.
I keep finding myself in two minds on these chapters. On one hand is all the
Sunset has to be put through for the final payoff. I mean, seriously, what kind of depraved mind/society seriously thinks this kind of behaviour is ok? (But i know that's just my own personal enlightened Western bias showing through.) On the other hand is there sheer amount of Schadenfreude bliss Prisms fall and Sunsets ascension is going to cause. At this point though I'm starting to wonder of Prism and her family are going to survive the fallout. And I mean that in a literal sense. 
I like this story and all but it really feels like you might be draging this arc out a bit longer then it needs, i feel like we should have reached this point several chapters ago...but thats just me...it feels like alot of what were given here was filler, everything that hapend in sunsets village flawless perfect great world building, the trip to heliopolis also incitefull, the first 2 chapters of the training...great, everything after that has felt like filler...hammering home the same points repeatedly when we got the point the first time.
10230221
Was more asking about if there was a North and South, like there is an East and West, or if the North is always Sombra's people and the like.
My biggest gripe isn't that Sapphire thinks it, it's that not a single one the other noble children stood up against her. She was talking about killing people in the West not her Ray City. She was talking about going into someone else's holdings and killing their serifs. That no one stood against this means it's far deeper than just some of the spurs off the main city who thinks like this.
Things like this can only come from the top, and that means that not only have the nobles mostly failed in their duties, but most of the Phoenix Born as well. Raven can only have a handful of her peers that are worth two craps.
i can't wait for Sapphire to be put in her place by Lady Inkwell
Also, kudos to Sunset. I'm a really relaxed test taker and I don't know that even I would want to be reading HP Lovecraft stories in between my theoretical and practical final exams.
Boy, Solarian society desperately need some big changes, and those rarely happen with out getting... bloody.
I can't wait when Sunset ascends. When Saphhire realize who she had been tormenting. It will be fun.
10230420
I'm hoping Sapphire's actions have kicked the proverbial hornet's nest and result in a chain of events that ends with her family stripped of their status and exiled from Heliopolis, forced to live among the "dirt eaters".
Your worldbuilding is to intricate for this story lol
10230264
Most of it is stuff I'm making up. Mind, pretty much everything Sunset et al. are learning is specifically for the phoenix-rite. Normal events are not nearly this precise. The reasoning is that this is a celebration of the ascension of a new demigod, while honoring the current ascendants.
10230276, 10230464, 10230275
I hope not to disappoint.
10230298
Well, regarding Sapphire, a big part of it is that Sunset, a commoner, had the gall to stand up to her. Unlike Orange Spice, she honestly doesn't care at this point. Sunset slighted her. She has to pay. But, also keep in mind that she's around 10 years old, and what she thinks she can get away with and what she actually can get away with, are two separate entities.
10230356
Actually, I just made the words up. Didn't realize they actually meant something. eheh heh.
10230371
Well, even with everything said and done with the difference in setting, fundamentally, I'm trying to keep to the idea that "Friendship is Magic".
10230405
It's something that I try to be mindful of. Culture and subculture can seriously affect how one see's the world, and I'm trying to keep that particular lens in mind. After all, Solaria isn't a small kingdom. How many times have things gone wrong because someone doesn't realize that what is a cultural norm where they come from doesn't match what is in another. Especially in a age when there is no internet, tv, radio, etc.
That might be a bit of my own preferences for leaking in a little: I find authors like HP Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, and Junji Ito relaxing. But, I also acknowledge that I'm kinda weird.
10230432
Solaria is on the southern end of Impracordia, so their territory is a bit wider than tall. From the map I've drafted (but not finished), Solaria occupies only about 7-8% of the continent, and is on the Southern end. Selenia occupies about the same volume, but is on the Northern tip. Meaning there's a heck of a lot of continent between the two nations. The shadow stalkers don't really have "occupied territories", by virtue of being nomadic, but there are enclaves near both Selenia and Solaria.
The question regarding what Sapphire said is whether or not she can do something like that. Because, again, she's around ten years old here. Her perception of what a Marquess like her father can actually do may not actually match up with reality. Also, consider that she might be trying to trick Sunset by lying to her and hoping that she's not going to get caught in the fib. After all, when you were a little kid, did you ever exaggerate or lie to someone to get what you want? I know I sure did until it came back to bite me in the butt. But what's important is that Sunset does not know that.
10230420
Sapphire may have been overstating what she is capable of for the purposes of intimidation. Or, she may think she can do those things, but she can't. Again, I emphasize that at this point, she's about ten years old, and very spoiled by her parents. She's used to getting her way, because she's a marchioness. But what she can legally do, and what she thinks she can do, are not necessarily the same thing.
10230421
Fair enough. I'm aiming to finish the academy arc up next chapter. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this to take as long as it did. I thought I'd be through the academy arc four chapters ago, but things kinda… grew beyond expectations as I wrote.
10230271
They are indeed quite fun to come up with.
Yea. Orange is pretty well on the up and up now. Sapphire, on the other hand…
And that, my good Fan of Most Everything, is where the perception of children, and the perception of adults, differs.
Things are bad, but perhaps not as bad as they seem. Don't get me wrong, the plight of orphans in Heliopolis isn't good, but how a spoiled child used to getting what she wants thinks what she's capable of, and an adult that knows what would happen if they stepped outside their legal capability to such a degree are very different things.
As for the latnirik, they may exist out there, somewhere.
10230549
There's also the question of whether the actions of a few very spoiled children are representative of Heliopolis as a whole. The reality of the situation may not be the same as what a bratty little girl used to getting everything she wants matches up with the bigger reality.
10230575
It all depends on whether they're also culpable.
10230584
Thank you.
10230221
Even if it isn't what I was expecting I still want to see it. *secretly hoping that author knew where I got part of the conversation from*
10230598
I took this:
To mean that they might already had Sapphire's family on the crosshairs for some reason or other, and that this might give be the final push/excuse to begin a proper inquiry.
It's entirely possible I was reading too much into it however.
10230588 10230356
It's generally a good idea to look up made up words just in case.
[Chat-lecti] when I ran it against Google to translate, lecti on its own did come out as sicknes. It doesn't want to translate Chat right now but I can give you two other potential translations. The first being the obvious meaning to converse. The second translation comes from French and means cat. As for lecti, it will also translate to bed, couch, lounge, sofa, or bridal bed. If we take certain French idioms into consideration "chat-lecti" becomes something akin to a close - read that very close with benefits - friend. ;) ;) nudge nudge, know what I mean?
10230588
When things get down to how granular some of those rules are, especially when you have to have specific grain counts, which no reasonable person would ever really notice, to me I just kind of laugh because it really seems like the nobles are these immortal beings that are just incredibly petty. A lot of those kind of rules, of which fork to use when, of the order of appetizers/entrees, were all made by old money families so that they could snub newer money families as lesser. It all really fits, but I hope you don't mind this plebeian just glazing over exact measurements, I mean no disrespect by it.
10230634
Sapphire's behavior hasn't done her family any favors, that's for sure. If anything, it's put them, and Aurorias, on Raven's radar as a "thing to look into more intensely." At this point, she doesn't know if Sapphire's family is behind her or not. But, she's going to find out.
suddenly the implications of Sapphire's threat become much more dire
such an action could cause a civil war
10230662
I'll keep that in mind in the future. But, I suppose it could be appropriate, because a chat-lecti is a "very close and important friend". Just not "naked snuggles" level friend. Besides, "friends with benefits" is more a Selenian thing than a Solarian one.
10230667
Most of the hyper anal-retentive level stuff is exclusively for the phoenix-rite, not every day life. The phoenix-born get this level of treatment at the rite because their position is so high in the Solarian hierarchy. They sit just below Celestia in status. To use a crude Christian angelology comparison, if Celestia is God, then all of the phoenix-born sans Raven would be Second Sphere Virtues and Dominions, while Raven would be a Throne from the First Sphere.
10230588
it felt like with saphire you were tring to chanel diamond tiara, her mother, nightmare moon, and pre reform starlight glimer's personalities all into the same being btw
i mean there is bigotry and then theres straping a blindfold on and runing headlong into a vat of hypocrocy and bullshit so deep that you would never see the sunlight again.
I'd say that such a level of bigotry is an imposiblity but human history says otherwise...i wonder how celestia would react if i showed her imagies of the third reichs atrocities and said 'thats basicly what your obility has become' ad pointed out all the paralels....that might be enough to get her to drop the sun on her capital right there....
10230687
Of course, the question is whether or not she actually could follow through with that threat, or if she just thinks she can. Bullies are prone to saying things to keep their victims cowed after all. Whether or not they can back them up is another matter entirely.
10230711
also just as an aside let me say its epic af that you take the time to respond to so many of these comments, your a good pony...voice....from a puddle....thing...kinda...um....you know what i mean.
10230598
True, she's just a spoiled kid, but death threats? Maybe I don't know too much about kids, but this is messed up. Isn't that a sign of sociopathism?
And there's the matter of Who told her that Sunset is an orphan. She would need an adult with some connections for that.
10230706
How about giving us a non-canon interlude where Sunset looks it up and gets the wrong answer?
oh Sunset you have ZERO idea how you are not only going to the top, but also throw a MASSIVE wrench into the whole Rite (and probably a LOT of nobles' secret plans!)!
and with that, Sapphire Prism just crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed! and in my personal opinion, is completely irredeemable. i hope just to spite that *insert string of deragotory expletives here* Sunset rockets to the top of the exam leaderboard!
10230764
It's definitely not healthy by our standards, but I wouldn't say it's sociopathy. Rather, Sapphire firmly believes Sunset to be a non-entity because she's without a "proper" family. Try thinking about it this way:
Where Sapphire is going to run into problems is that while this particular attitude is not uncommon, what she doesn't understand is the difference between what she believes, and what she can legally get away with. If Sapphire were a decade or so older, and had begun to participate in the high court, she would have learned that there are things that while socially acceptable in private or among like minded individuals, are not legally acceptable as a whole. Or even something that she'd be able to do in the first place.
I hope this helps.
10230776
Maybe when she's of legal age. Also, consider that phoenix-born hair has some… interesting properties.
10230709
Indeed. I mean, up until not to long ago in the United States, someone could go out, kill Native Americans, scalp them, and get paid by the government.
From Celestia's point of view, it would be like showing her a nature documentary on ant colonies fighting. Don't get me wrong, Celestia loves the sun-gazers, but she's not like the Celestia in canon. This Celestia is less "super powered but relatable pony" and more "benign eldritch abomination". To her, the sun-gazers are more like beloved pets that she needs to take care of than anything else. She loves them. She thinks of them as her babies, but in the same way as one might think of a cat or a parakeet as their baby. Fundamentally, she doesn't understand the actions or motives of mortals, which is why Raven and the phoenix-born are so vital to her. They act as a sort of intermediary that can relate to her "pets" on a more equal level.
10230823
She's definitely dug herself into a pretty deep hole with this one.
I really enjoyed the presentation and structure of this first half of the exam! Such a unique setup.
The H.P. Lovecraft allusion was a bit heavy-handed for my tastes, but still a fun detail. Lots of cool worldbuilding in this chapter, honestly.
It's going to be very interesting to see where Sapphire ends up. The moment she started openly threatening Sunset's home and family—in public—I knew she'd messed up. I'm more worried for her than for Sunset, if I'm being honest. The ramifications on her family might be pretty severe. Even if her father could make good on her threats, doing so would likely be the last thing her family ever did—even factoring in the rampant classism, I find it unlikely that many Solarian nobles get away with straight-up genocide.
The worst part is that Sapphire believes she's entirely in the right. Not only does she legitimately think that Sunset is worthless and inhuman, but Sunset has also been openly hostile to her, earned Raven's favour for no reason that Sapphire can comprehend, and literally assaulted her. In her mind, destroying Sunset's home and family is more than justified. It's what she's been conditioned to believe, and she's never had anyone challenge that belief or offer a different perspective. See: Raven's conversation with Orange Spice.
I'm still hopeful for Sapphire's redemption at some point, but that seems like a real long shot now.
I just had a thought in most 'solar empire lunar republic' type setings theres a third neutral group, the peace corp/harmony coelition something like that, is there a small nation/state or anything somewhere near the border between solaria and selenia that serves that function here, somewhere where those who don't quite agree with the extreams of etither kingdom can go ?
10230907
Thank you. If you've ever taken the GRE (Graduate Retention Exam), the experience should be somewhat familiar.
That's fair.
Sapphire did most certainly put herself in a very bad spot (and potentially her family if they were actually culpable in what she was threatening). At this point, I'm not sure if she's going to get full on "redeemed" so to speak, but there's a good chance that she's going to learn a lot from the repercussions of her actions. Whether she comes out a better person at the end has yet to be determined (mostly because I haven't outlined that far ahead yet).
10230856
Yeah, I understand that, it's just such a waste of energy. Especially now, that they're about participate in very complex rite. So unpragmatic, she gains nothing from bullying Sunset. Could be that she feels threatened/worse than her because Sunset is at the top of their class but I'm don't think she's self-aware enough for that.
10230906
Looking at the situation like that, it would make Sombra the most grounded of the Centaurs. He had a mortal lover and possibly a friend. Though, we still don't know how Luna feels about her subjects.
Neat
10230946
Well, she's probably lost sight of her original goal in her zeal. Its not like revenge has ever blinded someone to the big picture. Sunset showing her up probably doesn't help the matter.
Well, recall that in the legends, before Umbra became Sombra, his role was that of "the cunning protector".
Oooooh Sapphire has overplayed her hand, huh? Looking forward to thata. Also Inkwell is insanely good with magic. I look at Sunset making nails, to what Inkwell did during that exam? Daaaaaaaaamn.
10230953
Thank you.
10231001
Yea, Sapphire done goofed. What lessons she takes away from the fallout, well, that's TBD.
That's what well over a millennium's worth of experience and being taught by one of your world's living gods will do for ya: (earth-weaver geomancy + sky-runer aeromancy + fire-caller flexibility) * (a massive inner flame)^(hundreds of years of experience) = very powerful and capable mage.
10230906
This Celestia seems quite different from the original Celestia in the two-shot then.
10230946
Given Luna's belive that personal acheivement outstrips birth she probly has a more down to earth mindset and is more observant of the individual, i think the ant thing is a good analogy, celestia sees the solarians as a whole, she has 'big picture' fixation and unfortunately that precludes her from seeing the effects that certain things have on individuals...the rampant classism in heliopolis honestly has very little direct impact on the lives of most indaviduals as most residents of heliopolis are just that, residents of heliopolis and the residents of places outside of it rarely, if ever, interact with them so there views have very little impact on society as a whole
Luna on the other hoof is likely the exact oposite, she has likely a 'very' narrow focus, seeing each indavidual in a vacume based apon there skills, and holding them up to her own brightly burning candel as an example...only the most worthy and skilled deserve to stand by her side, shining stars in the night sky, but she also knows that you cant judge worthiness from birth, potential maybe but all the potential in the world means nothing if you dont have the drive to grasp it...so yeah luna probly is more relatable to the common selenian and might even get iritated if she is put on a pedistal that holds her higher then she actualy is (for example if someone tried to say she was equal to her mother she would probly get mad at them for one blasphiming her mother like that and 2. for giving her credit for something that is objectivly not true)