30. [Sunset Shimmer] The Heartstone
The next day, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Mission Control gathered in Rig 17’s R&D section around the Ommoran Heartstone Sunset, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had extracted the day before.
“Alright, Shimmer, here’s your Heartstone,” Mission Control said, folding his arms. “This had better be worth it.”
Sunset took a deep breath and approached the Ommoran Heartstone. She’d purposely had the others handle it so she couldn’t accidentally use her mind-reading powers before she was ready. Now it was time. Her hand reached out, hovering just over the Heartstone’s ridges.
The Heartstone radiated a kind of heat that drew her in like a moth to a lamp. Its glowing golden surface looked attractive, beckoning for her to touch it. But still she retracted her arm in hesitation.
“It’s alright, Sunset,” Twilight said. She patted Sunset’s shoulder. “You’re okay. You can do this.”
Sunset reached forward and held her breath. Her palm pressed against the surprisingly smooth surface…
---------------------------------
“Who… are… you…?”
Sunset looked around. She stood on nothing but something, surrounded by only empty air bathed in a soft late-evening light. In front of her floated a golden ball similar in shape, size, and appearance to the Heartstone itself.
“Who… are… you…?” the strange, booming ethereal voice repeated.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“You are… everywhere… and you are… nowhere. You are… between what is… and what may be… between what has been… and what will be. Who… are… you?”
Sunset cleared her throat. “My name is Sunset Shimmer. I was the pupil of Princess Celestia of Equestria until I turned away from her guidance, but I was brought back by her next student, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”
“I am One… but I am also All… Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… why do you come here?”
“My friends and I work for Deep Ro--”
“DO NOT MENTION THAT NAME HERE! Those creatures who associate with it endanger one… and so they endanger all. I will ask again… why do you come here?”
Sunset took a step back at the sudden outburst, but she quickly stopped herself from cowering in fear. This was all in her mind. It couldn’t hurt her. She looked back up at the orb.
“I am searching for my friend,” she said.
“Your friend… is with you.”
“No. Fluttershy is down there, on Hoxxes, and I’m going to bring her home.”
The orb was silent for a moment, then said, “Fluttershy… is not of One… but is of All… yes… she is of All.”
“I want to bring her home. Where is she?”
“Fluttershy… moves… she is in Fire… but also in Water… she is here… but also there… she is of All.”
“Am I of One? Am I of All?”
The orb pulsed. “Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… you are of One… but not All… you will be of All… all will be of All… in the end.”
“Sunset!” someone’s voice called from the ether. It sounded like Twilight. “Sunset, let go of the Heartstone!”
“You are One… you will be All… all will be All.”
Sunset took a nervous breath. “What must I do?”
“You must be… One… and All.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means something… and everything… and nothing… you will be All.”
Sunset felt something jerk at her arm.
“Sunset, let go!”
The orb’s glow brightened. “Sunset Shimmer, pupil of Celestia… you must be Sun… and you must be Moon… you must be Fire… and you must be Water… you must be Life… and you must be Death… you must be All.”
Sunset shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You must be Help… and you must be Harm… you must be Day… and you must be Night… you must be All.”
Sunset’s shoulders heaved. “Alright,” she said. “I will be All.”
The something-but-nothing around her became filled with black cracks of empty space. The orb pulsed again, keeping the cracks from growing further, and continued:
“You will be All… Fluttershy must be One… and you must be All.”
The cracks broke free of the orb’s influence and overwhelmed her, and her mind retreated.
---------------------------------
“Sunset, what happened? Are you okay?”
Sunset felt herself being picked off the metal deck as she blinked away the strange feelings clouding her mind. Someone set her in a chair, and she shook her head to clear it fully.
“What’s wrong?” she asked Twilight.
Twilight held Sunset’s head in her hands. “What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG? The Heartstone was setting off every radiation alarm in the station, that’s what’s wrong!” She shook Sunset’s head. “We could’ve lost you!”
“Jeez, Twilight, calm down.”
Twilight looked like she was about to go on another rant, but Mission Control set his hand on her shoulder.
“Shimmer is right, Sparkle. Let’s hear what she has to say.”
Sunset gulped. “Thanks, sir. The Heartstone did tell me something. First, the bugs absolutely hate DRG. It said you endanger one, so you endanger all. No clue what it means.”
“What else?” Mission Control asked calmly as he typed notes on his touchpad.
“It said Fluttershy is not of One, but is of All. Again, don’t know what it means. Apparently, I’m of One, but I’m not of All.”
“Did it tell you where Fluttershy is?”
Sunset frowned. “Kinda. It said she moves. She’s in Fire, and also Water. She’s Here and also There. It also kinda told me how to find her, but it’s one of those weird riddles, too.”
Twilight pulled out her phone and turned on its camera. “Okay, tell me exactly what it said to do.”
Sunset cleared her throat. “It said that I must be Sun and Moon, Fire and Water, Life and Death, Help and Harm, Day and Night. I must be All.” She sighed. “I hate riddles.”
“Did it say anything else?”
“Fluttershy must be One, and I must be All. Seriously, Twilight, what is this hivemind crap?”
“It’s our answer,” Twilight replied. “It obviously doesn’t want us to find her--at least, not immediately. It’s like we have to prove we’re worthy of something. Or, more specifically, you have to prove it, Sunset.” She turned to Mission Control. “I’ll need time to unpack this. For now, I recommend we keep the Heartstone locked away in a secure place in case we need it again.”
“I concur,” Mission Control said. “How long do you need?”
Twilight shrugged. “No clue. It could be hours, days, weeks, months, even years. This is the interaction between Hoxxes and Equestrian magic--which is already from a parallel world--and although I’ll have some help on the other end, I can’t give you a specific time.”
“Very well. I will inform Management of this development. Sparkle, I imagine you will require resources beyond what your rank and position normally provide.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then that will be explained as well.” He paused. “Shimmer, Sparkle, what occurred in this room will remain confidential on a need-to-know basis. Tell no one of this without proper authorization. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Twilight replied.
Sunset nodded. “Yes, sir, it is.”
“Excellent. Resume your normal operations tomorrow. Until then, rest.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
768 users online
676,681 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well that was exciting
Going on an adventure eh? Have fun!
So the bugs want to assimilate people, eh? Gives a new meaning to the name "spitball infector"
As for Flutters being in both fire and water, and being of All... Yeah, she's almost certainly a part of the hive-mind now. A 'commander' for the bog and brimstone segments, I imagine, intelligence spread over the segments.
The hivemind wants Sunset in her place, perhaps so it can start conducting psychic attacks on DRG?
I notice that she didn't tell Twi that she agreed to become All. Maybe some brainwashing. Spooky...