Sunsets Wild Ride

by glory_dawn

Ch.1 The unfortunate beginning

It was a stormy night in Canterlot and it was silent in the royal castle. Everypony was in their rooms and all guards were in their positions for the night. The night shift had started a while ago and as the guards did their shift change that was when Sunset made her move. Sunset moved quickly using a stealth charm for her move into the castle.

She had been Celestia’s pupil and relished every moment of it till a few months back when she felt she was ready for more advanced teachings, Celestia shut her down quick. She even went so far as to try and teach herself through some of the books in the library but went too far when she dipped into the forbidden section of the library. Celestia was furious when she found out by walking on her performing a forbidden time manipulation spell. The princess’s anger was something to behold as she sent a bolt of lightning towards Sunset to stop her.

This injured Sunset and left her broken in more places than one. She was immediately removed from the premises and taken to a nearby hospital where she was informed that she was no longer to be under the tutelage of Celestia. It was two blue stallions wearing armor that came to the hospital to inform Sunset, it didn’t make it better that they came to dump her belongings from the castle there into the hospital room. Before they left, they warned her that of she was to pursue
dangerous magic that there would be legal ramifications. All this was so sudden and left Sunset in shock.

She had been Celestia’s star pupil and wanted and had done nothing but did her best to stay on top of every other pupil in the program. It was her whole life and now it had all come down to her being kicked out of the castle and from Celestia’s side. What was worse was that Celestia had really given it to her when stopping her from performing the spell to completion. She was burnt all over and couldn’t feel her left side of her body.

After the ordeal in the castles forbidden section of the library, it took Sunny weeks to recover and even then she still didn’t have complete control over her left front hoof. She the days all melted together into one as they moved along with her therapy going on side by side. She had found out that her recovery was being paid for by the royal foundation which was just Celestia’s private funding organization. This should have been an olive branch meant to let Sunset know she wasn’t hated or despised but she didn’t see it that way. She saw it as a slap to the face.

She took her therapy in stride but as the days moved along Sunset began to become more and more bitter. Bitter at the fact she was booted from Celestia’s program, bitter at her broken body, bitter that the world kept moving as far as she was concerned. This stewed in her soul till all she could see was nothing but vengeance. At first, she just wanted to lash out but after catching her breath from being so angry she settled on stealing some forbidden books from the royal library. Some real juicy tomes that held gateways to knowledge she only toyed with in her wildest dreams.

The royal library’s forbidden section was known to have some books written by ancient ponies, long lost arts subjects that were deemed too radical by the powers to be, or so the legends went. Sunny knew first hand that the legends were true from what she initially saw in her time in there before being blasted to kingdom come. Sunset spent her days plotting non stop as she gathered her materials and strength.

From what she knew already she knew how to expand her powers but only so far so she needed some more help. That’s when she went to the local underworld of Canterlot to find the knowledge the required. She had found a mare willing to teach her special item morphing meditation that helped her gather her magical strength. It was an exercise that she used day in and out. She would sit in her dilapidated lodgings concentrating her focal point as she morphed a cup into several different cups as she breathed slowly. This went one till she could perform a lot of spell with easy. By the time she knew it she was teleporting and stunning passersby’s at random.

She soon felt she was ready to infiltrate the royal library and get what she was after. If she couldn’t rise to greatness the official way then she was just going to take that right for herself. She was friends with a lot of the staff of the castle and new their comings and goings. She would usually be in the kitchen in her spare time munching away with the castle help on her time in between classes and before bed time. She especially knew about what the procedure was when it came to the night shift as she would often sneak out of her room at night to venture to either the kitchen or the library.

She was no stranger to the kitchen late at night and that gave her an advantage as she would often hide and steal pies slices as the kitchen staff cleaned up and let in the night shift guard to have a meal. And that guard eating his usual nightly meal was her way in. In the back near the giant freezer there was a door to the outside that a guard stood outside of all night. This guard would enter and have a quick meal before going to stand at attention outside the kitchen back entrance.
On the night Sunset would go inside and get her prize she stood behind a giant cart of supplies that had a giant tarp over it. She stood there and waited for the shift change to happen as she stared at the stallion standing at attention.
“Cmon, hurry up already! This guy’s late!” Sunset said under her breath as she was getting annoyed.

It had started to rain and it really picked up leaving Sunset getting soaked even though she brought her cloak with her. Eventually the shift change took place and the next guard came to take his place at the doorway. The stallion nodded to the one he was relieving and then stood at the doorway. The moon was high in the sky and Sunset waited for the ritual to take place as both her and the guard waited for the relieved guard to finally get out of ear shot and view.

Once the other guard had left completely Sunset moved her attention to the stallion standing there in his armor. It wasn’t long till the guard looked back and forth and then turned to knock three times back entrance door. After a little waiting, someone from the kitchen staff came and opened up the door. The kitchen stallion was a grey stallion wearing an apron.

“Right on time Carl, I was worried you were not gonna show, finally! Thought you would be halfway across town chasing that mare your so found of! HAhaha!!” the guard said as he laughed at the kitchen stallion who looked unamused.

“Just get in here and eat your soup already” the kitchen stallion said as he ushered the guard in with his hoof.
“Oh, it’s soup tonight! Can’t wait!” the guard said as he made his way inside.

Sunset saw this and after a little while made her way to the closed kitchen back door and put her ear to the door. She whispered a spell and conjured up a concentrated hearing spell that enveloped her ear and increased the volume in which she could hear inside through the door. She held her position as she tried to distinguish the two stallions in the kitchen.
Once located she listened for the familiar clatter of plates and silverware as the kitchen stallion fixed up the guard his soup. Once the noises hit sunset retracted her ear from the doorway and began to concentrate on the magic required to open the door. It was a tricky spell that required the user to concentrate at the upmost since they slight falter could lead you to start over again. It was a spell that let you see the inner working of the doors lock in your mind and so you had to work the pins in the exact delicate order to open the door without having to start again.

Once Sunset had the door open and heard the pleasing click of the lock opening up to her magical touch did she carefully push the door open with her magic. She saw that the little corridor held no one so she slipped in and closed the door silently behind her. She slithered along in her damp black cloak that obscured her features and came along where the two stallions where around a kitchen counter top. The guard was slurping away at his soup as the kitchen stallion used his magic to keep cleaning the counter tops with a rag. Sunset took this in and sneaked through the shadows around the kitchen using stacked chairs as something to hide behind. Once she was about to leave the kitchen and make her way through an open doorway into the rest of the castle did she stop as she heard the two stallions speak up loudly.
“AAAARGH!!” the guard could be heard yelling.

“What?? What is it??!” the kitchen stallion shouted as he was caught off guard.

“There’s turnips in this!!! I hate turnips blegh!!! The stallion let out.

“You had me worried there ya dumbass! Don’t do that!!” the kitchen stallion responded.

Once Sunset heard it was just something over the soup itself, she moved along in the rest of the castle. She made her way down winding corridors with practiced memory as she knew these passages like they were burned into her mind itself. She made her way this way and that as she tried to stay out of sight from patrolling guards and staff making their way to do their duties. Sunset found it easy enough to stay out of sight as she hid behind the many suits of armor and statues that lined the dimly lit corridors.

Once she was out of the way and into the library where only one guard stood watch did she let down her guard somewhat. She evaded the guard with his lamp once he turned to go towards the fiction section of the library. She made her way to the back end and once again did her magic on the door leading down towards the libraries basement where the good stuff was held. She worked quickly as she could feel her goal within her reach as it was just beyond the staircase down.

Sunset practically flew down the dark staircase with nothing but her horn giving off light. She went so fast that at the end she tripped on her own hooves and fell down the two steps at the bottom. She felt like a fool but picked herself up quickly hoping that no lost ancient ghost saw her fuck up as badly as she did. After dusting herself off she reignited her horn and moved forward to the back wear the caged bookshelves were. Once at the forbidden shelves she looked up and summoned the ladder with her magic as she read the titles in her view.

A tome on each level of time dilation, a book on being blood control, another on light necromancy, it was all here. Sunset was beside herself as she climbed the ladder and looked on at all the forbidden knowledge in front of her. There were books on so many things that were said to be taboo and off limits. Some books even being locked entirely with a latch in front of some of them. Sunset took down many books with her magic and onto the floor. She was ecstatic to be around such literature but got side tracked as she opened one book and started to read from it.

She read and read letting time get away from her as she let the glow from her horn take her away from all the recent pain she had been experiencing.

Author's Note:

Lemme know how it goes.

Comments

[Pinkies Imagination]

Ah a fellow turnip hater