Away from the crowd, stony face half-hidden in shadow, she stood alone while the cleric murmured their words over the dead.
Twenty-seven caskets, all but two for Guards, stood open to the sky. It had taken the full three days Razzaroo had warned, but at last the memorial service was going ahead, all the city (though that wasn't much) coming out to mourn the dead. Soon, they would be interred in the city cemetery, and they could finally turn back to the matter of Starlight.
Her fist clenched. If Shining had taken her advice, they'd've been in pursuit days ago, maybe even managed to catch up to her. Any agents she'd left behind in the capitol would be easily overwhelmed by the reinforcements from Crystal City if they showed their faces, either that or drawn away to help their master. There was no need for Shining's game of hide-and-seek, a game which had cost them two valuable days of pursuit. Yes, more reinforcements had been able to arrive in that time, and brought the materials needed to repair the Guard's damaged vehicles, but nothing was worth delaying their pursuit of Starlight; a rebel in all but name had more or less attacked Homestria, almost certainly kidnapping several important citizens in the process, she needed to be stopped before she did any more damage.
The priest gave their censer another shake over one of the coffins, the one containing Adagio. Her face darkened as she remembered the autopsy report; the Siren's back had been a nightmare of scars, welts, and burns, while the rest of her body showed signs of malnutrition and starvation. The gash torn in her throat was one of the least ugly things about her. They still didn't know exactly who'd made that gash, but with her previous treatment at the Unmarked's hands it didn't take a genius to realize the most likely suspects. Of course, those they'd managed to take captive protested, saying that Starlight wanted Adagio alive, but she took their opinions with a grain of salt; even if they weren't lying, there were other Unmarked than their leader, who might have been lying to them about what she wanted done with the Siren.
"...and may your perpetual light shine upon them," the priest concluded. "May they rest in peace. Marsine."
She didn't join the crowd's echo; she understood religion, of course, and she believed that there was something out there, something beyond death, but she also knew that whatever it was wouldn't, couldn't, be intelligible to her. She couldn't understand whatever was out there anymore than an ant could understand her, or a piece of paper understand three-dimensional space. The qualitative jump from the mortal world to the world beyond death was too big to cross.
Music began to rise up again, a dirge keening from the crowd's throats. She kept her eyes firmly forward, fighting against the urge to roll them with all her might; saying that the dead had died too soon or that one hoped they'd found peace did nothing. Without using words of command, speech was empty air; if you truly wanted to help someone, you needed to act. What good did telling someone "Find peace" do? Did saying that make them find peace? Were they unable to find peace until you spoke it into being?
Thunk went the first spade of earth over one of the lowered coffins. She nodded approvingly; the gravediggers were really helping the dead, actually doing something for them instead of just talking. Some might argue about whether you could actually help a corpse, whether there was anything there to accept and appreciate that help, but there was too much evidence, circumstantial and otherwise, that the dead were aware and could act for her to believe otherwise. Countless stories, and a surprising number of records, said that the passage to whatever lay beyond death wasn't one-way. And even if she was wrong, even if the dead were beyond their power to touch, the ways the dead had touched their lives had earned them at least a hole in the ground.
Thunk went the last spade of earth over the last coffin, and then the crowd began to disperse, some heading straight away from the cemetery, others spending some time near one or another of the new headstones. She remained where she was, half behind a statue, for several moments, only leaving her place when the last of the mourners had departed. Boots crunching the grass and gravel, she marched over to Adagio's grave, tracing a gloved hand over its few words:
Here lies Adagio Dazzle,
506-532 A.U.
May you sing unto eternity
That was it. No titles, no personal achievements, not even her real age (they couldn't let the public know just how old she'd really been, not yet; the autopsy report, which said that biologically speaking she was the equivalent of a 26-year old, gave them their cover story), just her name, a lie, and a stupid phrase that could've been on a greeting card. Even with her past with the Siren, she felt that it was wrong; there had to have been more to her than that, something beyond her magic and schemes. But both of her sisters were still missing, and the only other person who might've been able to tell her what life to record lay beyond life now.
Tears threatened to leave her eyes, and she fought them back with an iron will; she wouldn't cry, she wasn't a little filly anymore. Death didn't make her sad anymore, it made her angry: she raged, not grieved. She wouldn't cry for Adagio, that wouldn't do anything except dehydrate her a little bit. Words and tears did nothing; it was action she needed. Saying that Adagio didn't deserve to die the way she had, murdered and buried in a liar's grave, would only fill the air. Catching and punishing her murderer, bringing them to justice, would do far more good.
"I will avenge you," she whispered to Adagio. "Whatever differences we might've had, nobody deserves to die the way you did. I will fix this, I promise you."
"That's a very mature way of looking at it," startled her, causing her to whip around to look at the speaker. Principal Cadance stood behind her, a soft smile on her face, Razzaroo standing at her side. The Guard held her helmet under one arm, the last missing piece in her war gear; even though Shining was leaving her and a few others behind, she wasn't letting her guard down. Until Starlight was caught, the Guard in Castellot was going to be more militarily disposed.
That would be a lot sooner, she darkly thought, if Shining took more people with him. Out loud, though, she merely said, "Hey, Cadance. You here to see Shiny off?"
"Partially," the Principal shrugged. "Someone asked for my help up here, too. They wanted me to see if I could help someone with some... emotional problems."
"Well, if anyone can help them, it's you," she smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go help see Shining off." I should've seen him leave days ago.
"Oh, so do we," the Principal smiled. "Why don't we head over together? With Miss Razzaroo with us," she clapped the Guard on the back. "we should be able to get a good seat."
I don't intend to sit and watch Shining leave, Sunset thought with a shake of her head. "Sorry, Cadance," she replied. "I'm going to be sitting with Radiance and the rest of the government." Lie.
"Well, we can at least walk over together," the Principal shrugged, causing Sunset to grit her teeth. "Who are you going to be sitting next to, though? I'll try to keep an eye out for you."
"You probably won't be able to see me," she frantically replied. Truth. "Radiance said something about putting me with the Senate staffers," Truth. "and they're going to be behind the Cabinet, almost off-stage. I doubt you'd be able to even notice this," she tugged a strand of flaming hair. "back there." Lie.
"All the more reason for us to walk you over, then," Cadance smiled, stepping towards her. "If we're not going to be able to see you after the event starts, we should make good use of the time beforehand. However bad they might otherwise have been, these last few days have taught me the importance of spending time with those you love. Come on," she stretched out a hand, preparing to wrap it around Sunset's shoulder. "let's-"
"Don'ttouchme!" Sunset hissed, dodging Cadance's grip.
Cadance withdrew her hand, a startled expression on her face, while Razzaroo's hand went nervously to her sword hilt.
"My magic's been growing stronger lately," she hastily explained. Lie. "If someone even touches my clothes, now, I'm able to read their mind." Lie. "It's not that I don't want you to touch me, Cadance," Lie. "it's just that you deserve your privacy."
That last point was more of a half-truth; Cadance did deserve her privacy, yes, but that wasn't the main reason Sunset didn't want her touching her. Any touch threatened to feel through her billowing black mourner's robes, feel through to the borrowed (Truth, actually) Guard armor underneath and reveal her plan.
Shining Armor didn't want her to help him stop Starlight? Then she, Sunset Shimmer, wouldn't go with him. Dire Helm, though, the new recruit who kept her helmet on at all times, hiding her face and distorting her voice, would help him, and if it turned out to be Sunset Shimmer under her helmet, so what? Would Shining Armor really send an eager soldier home when he needed every Guard he could scrounge? So long as she kept her identity secret long enough, she could help Shining, help stop Starlight and bring her to justice. All she needed to do was lose Cadance, find the cache where she'd hidden whatever equipment she couldn't hide under her cloak, and rush to join the coming muster, and she'd be able to execute her plan; watch Shining leave, yes, but while standing in the midst of his host, not sitting on the sidelines.
The trumpet calling the troops sounded. "Sorry to leave you like this," she blurted out to Cadance. "but Radiance is probably expecting me," (Lie; she'd told the professor she wouldn't be going to Shining's departure, she couldn't have her absence commented on) "I should get going." She turned to flee-
-but before she could, Cadance's hand lashed out and grabbed her arm, causing the mail underneath her robes to clatter.
She winced as the clanking echoed through the graveyard, the unmistakable sound of Guard armor spelling the end of her hopes. She tried to escape Cadance's grasp, desperately hoping that she and Razzaroo would simply ignore the noise, but to no avail; the Principal had an iron grip, and the expressions on their faces made it clear that they wouldn't just ignore the sound of her plan.
Unexpectedly, the Principal's immediate response seemed to be to laugh at it, though an undertone of sadness laced through it. Eventually, the sad chuckling faded away, and she said, "Looks like I owe Chip fifty bits."
Sunset swallowed. "What for?"
"I thought you would simply sulk after Shiny ordered you to stay here," Cadance replied. "Chip thought you were going to try to defy him, find some way to sneak after him. Looks like she knows you better than I do."
"Shining needs everyone he can get," Sunset protested. "Starlight's proven herself to be a danger to the realm, going after her half-heartedly isn't going to be enough. We need to treat her like the threat she is, and that means not holding anyone back. We need every man, woman, and child to do their part to bring Starlight down, and for those able to fight," she untied her robe, casting aside her last vestiges of cover. "that means going with Shining."
"But what about those who can't fight?" Cadance asked. "What are they going to do if something attacks them while all the able-bodied are away?"
Sunset swallowed; this was going to be hard for Cadance to hear. "Whatever happens to them," she said quietly, gently. "it won't be as bad as what'll happen to them if Starlight isn't dealt with. We can't let a bird tapping at our window distract us from the bear trying to break down our door."
"That's why you need to stay here," Razzaroo piped up. "Starlight's trying to distract you from the real problem, magic's return. Whatever good you do going with Shining, it's going to get undone by magic in your absence. You're going to save some people's lives, yes, but then they're going to lose those lives because we have no clue what to do about magic because our expert's missing."
"Until we defeat Starlight and get Rarity back," Sunset snapped. "your expert's not going to be able to do her best anyway, and not just because of the distraction; without Rarity, I'm not sure how strong mine and the others' magic is going to be, I'm not even sure how much of it we'll be able to use. Whether she knows it or not, Starlight dealt Homestria a huge blow, potentially a crippling one. Until we get Rarity back, your expert isn't sure how much much good she's going to be able to do, which is why your expert is going with Shining to get her back."
"Whatever good you can do teaching us," Cadance replied, bringing her back to a halt. "however little it may be, is good that no one else can do. Someone can take your place with Shining, no one can take your place with Radiance, and we need as many places filled as possible now. Homestria is on the brink of multiple crises: like you said, we need everyone to do their part, to do as much good as they can, and you can do the most good by staying here."
Sunset turned back to glare at her. "I will not," she said, voice heavy with anger and menace. "stand by while one of my friends needs me. Rarity's in danger, and I am going to help her. Me staying here is out of the question. So what will it be?" she asked as she took up a fighting stance. "Will you help me? Or are you going to stand in my way?"
"This is ridiculous," Cadance protested. "Sunset, we're all on the same side."
"Are you?" she retorted. "If you stand in my way, you'll be stopping me from stopping Starlight. That makes it sound like you're on her side, not mine. Which is it, Cadance? Are you with me or against me?"
Cadance bit her lip, clearly debating with herself. When the second trumpet call sounded, she sighed. "I'm with you," she decided.
Sunset curtly nodded, then began marching away. It would be close, but if she moved fast, she would still-
"-so please forgive me for doing this," was the last thing she heard before the wind sliced by her ear, a hand cracked into the side of her neck, and she fell into darkness.
Honestly, I can't blame Sunset for mistrusting everyone, since all the "help" they give her comes with a lot of condescending attitude, even from the start with Chip.
Nice touch. I do love the idea of Sunset investigating paranormal phenomena in her quest for this world's magic.
Princess Celestia's students never do seem to learn the lesson of delegation until it's too late, do they? And I can't imagine this will make Sunset any more cooperative in investigating magic's resurgence. But there's really no good answer to this one; every choice comes with its own set of drastic downsides. We'll see how she handles this once she comes to.
10920261
It wasn't just in this world: Equestria has its own stories of ghosts and the dead returning. In my headcanon, Equestria is quite open to the idea of religion (magic makes it kinda hard to ignore the idea of something being out there) but for a lot of ponies that's primarily expressed as, contradictory as it may sound, a religious agnosticism (they believe that there's something above and beyond them, but that they can't know anything else about it). Sunset, as she herself said, may not know what to believe, but she knows, scientifically speaking, that there is a significant possibility that the dead still have an impact on the physical world. Paranormal phenomena aren't "weird" to her; they're potentially valid data points for a significant hypothesis.
That's the problem with having the beacon of ponykind as your mentor and role model. There are other reasons for Sunset to feel this way, though, that Cadance will discover shortly.
10920058
The problem is Sunset is naive about a lot of the things they're talking about, and it's all too easy for naivety in the student to inspire condescension in the teacher. To their eyes, they're trying to teach a child, and so they treat her like one.
And condescension, to me at least, isn't a valid reason to mistrust someone. If you have reason to suspect that they're withholding information "because you're not ready," that would be a valid reason to mistrust them; if their condescension is leading them to actively attempt to hinder you, that's another valid reason. Condescension in speech alone, though, isn't enough for me; it's possible to dislike someone for talking down to you but still trust them, while trusting someone who's acting like you're incompetent is much harder.
10920421
And that is the problem they have with Sunset, and why I find Chip to be an utterly hateable character despite genuinely trying to help. They're trying to fix emotion with logic. Which is the equivalent of trying to tame a wolf by beating it with a zoology book.
Chip goes behind Sunset's back to get information about her and force a change in her attitude for their own benefit. Cadence tries to stop a mourning Sunset with 'from Sunset's point of view' useless work and bureaucracy that is actively going against her. She has achieved nothing on their side so she obviously sees her own as the more productive.
Even if they haven't done anything 'to her face' to make her distrust them, they haven't done anything to build trusts or a cooperative stance. "We need to work together or people will die" can only go so far as motivation when people die regardless or sometimes because of 'the greater good'.
In short, these idiots are treating Sunset like a child, telling her how unimportant or detrimental her opinions and values are, while assuring her that doing what they need is the best.
I agree with Fans back there, they need to get someone who actually knows how to treat people like people, not just tools for a cause.
10920413
Funny how little you ever hear about the orcs' beautiful singing voices...
10920436
Okay, so first off that metaphor is brilliant, I am going to pillage it for my records. Second, good point; appeals to logos are difficult when the audience is primarily focused on pathos. The only problem is this is also one of the most important times to use logos, to try to bring an audience out of an emotionally-charged state and remind them of what objectively needs to be done.
Yes, Sunset's angst's impact on her work was part of the reason that Chip went behind her back, but another part was genuine concern for her emotional health. It's not just that Sunset's grief was dragging down her performance, it was also causing her great personal distress, something which Chip, perhaps unclearly, genuinely wanted to help relieve.
As for Cadance, I will admit that at a second glance her interruption of Sunset's remembrance of Adagio was a bit callous, and Sunset's work in the capitol has been about as fruitful as Sisyphus pushing his boulder. But, as Cadance's bet with Chip indicates, the government was aware of her plans to, strictly speaking, abandon her post, making the genuineness of her mourning (rightly or wrongly) suspect: for all Cadance knew, she might've been just acting, trying to convince anyone watching her that she wasn't at Shining's departure out of grief. And regarding her boulder-pushing, it's still doing some good, good that, as Cadance pointed out, they need done and only Sunset can do. Relatively speaking, Sunset can do the most good, can do her part for the realm, by continuing her consulting with the government.
Good points.
I'm not sure that they've been so out-of-hand dismissive of Sunset's opinions and values, I would actually argue that Cadance tries to steel-man Sunset's argument here, but I can see where you're coming from.
Hopefully Cadance can make up for her initial mistakes.
10920470
Go ahead
The problem is that emotions don't care about objectives. They want to be expressed in whatever means they have available. If you don't do something to help vent those emotions, they'll stonewall your efforts or self-destruct if contained for too long (talking from experience)
I do know that they want to help, but they're doing it in the worst way possible. When Sunset realizes what Chip has done, any trust Chip manged to build up will crumple into dust. From Sunset's perspective, if Chip is willing to go behind her back to "help her", what won't they do to control her?
A government that has been admitted to not want to help her, that it's leader will torture Sunset because of her past, and that Chip said Sunset should trust because "at least one person might be good". Not laying the best foundations for a good work environment.
Also, this is a bit of a personal thing, but since we the audience don't get to see any progress or even what Sunset could achieve if things went right, it's difficult to find worth in those efforts.
I was talking mostly about Chip here. I don't know what you mean by steel-man the argument.
In my opinion, Cadance won't be enough. Sunset needs a therapist, not a teacher. And the first rule of therapy is to get the patient to accept the treatment willingly. Otherwise, you'll only get stonewalls and distrust. That step was already lost with Chip and their explanation of politics and digging into her past (well intentioned or not).
10920802
With every point you make, Chip looks worse and worse in my eyes. Quick question, though; does it just seem like Chip made a lot of mistakes/errors, or do they look like a poorly-written character?
Thank you for this, I'll try to remedy this (at least somewhat) next chapter.
It's a debate technique I learned of a while ago, where you try to prove your opponent's argument instead of disproving it, basically the opposite of straw-manning. It's brilliant; either you discover that your opponent's argument has merit and thus manage to grow as a person, or you prove that it doesn't and they can't rebut your argument because you made their argument your argument.
The government is more misguided/ignorant than actively malicious (Sunset and Radiance have been trying to teach them about the dangers magic's return poses, but habit, bureaucratic inertia, and good old-fashioned ignoring inconvenient truths have been hampering them), but your points are valid. Where else would she go, though? Magic's coming back everywhere, so her response needs to be as widespread as possible. What other methods of dispersing information about magic to those who can make use of that information are there? The government is horrible, yes, but to me it looks like the least worst option for Sunset.
Sunset's trauma dates back to her time in Equestria, a length of time long enough for a reasonable person to assume she was offered therapy; it is still affecting her, indicating that either she refused said therapy or it didn't resolve her issues. She refused to talk about her past and didn't look into therapy, a combination which I would argue could be construed as a refusal to seek clearly needed help. Under these circumstances, and with its disruption of her critical work, I would argue that an intervention is warranted, which is what Cadance is (very roughly) attempting to do. I will not say that she is doing it perfectly (she might have been able to prevent Sunset from going with Shining without having to knock her out, for instance), but I will say that, under the circumstances, an intervention of some kind appears to be warranted even if Sunset doesn't want it. I understand your point about needing to accept therapy, and I would probably support you in the real world, but in this story, when so much is riding on Sunset, the needs of the many who her going with Shining would potentially harm outweigh her wants. I am not proposing to overrule her willy-nilly, only to recognize that her actions and inactions have significant impact on others and that she should, for the common good, adjust her course of action accordingly.
10920887
The way I see it, Chip is a character that has one big flaw; they're too smart for their own good. Chip thinks they know Sunset because they can see her problems and predict her actions to an extent (what someone who has read a lot about psychology would be able to tell, at least), but there's a big gap between that and knowing Sunset as a person and how to act and speak to get the best response from her.
What told me this from the start was simple; the first thing they did when they realized Sunset had hidden trauma was to call Celestia and dig into her past. That is the logical course of action that would get the quickest solution for Chip. But that course of action completely disregards Sunset's feelings outside of the trauma. Chip thinks that as soon as they have the answers, they'll logic Sunset down to a solution by themselves, which will fail spectacularly because they don't know Sunset as a person. Chip needs someone who knows Sunset. Chip had six of these people, and one just got captured.
They're not badly written, just have a huge flaw that will doom their role as Sunset's "teacher" in this world.
Oh yeah, I heard of it, just not called steel-man. The name suits it.
But once again, Cadence doesn't know Sunset. Any of Sunset's friends would've told her that Sunset wouldn't use someone's death as a con to escape Chip. Or that she wouldn't sulk at the loss of lives and one of her friends being captured.
That's the thing. It isn't the least worst option for Sunset.
From her perspective, the answer to that first question is simple; Starlight.
Magic is returning, yeah, but Sunset has no idea how to deal with it, doesn't have her friends, and has basically zero cooperation from the only thing that would come close to help with the issue. Staying with the government is time spending on the promise of a solution to a problem that isn't immediate, and that even if it worked, may even be for nothing.
Instead, going for Starlight would be a solution to an immediate problem that has already claimed lives, free more troops for the fight against the return of magic, bring back the elements to full force, and if done quickly and effectively, still leave time to deal with the government.
Doesn't mean that it'll work, but considering the odds, for Sunset, one option is clearly more worth pursuing.
Good luck getting her to cooperate after that by the way.
And this is the problem with Cadence's approach.
You can tell Sunset that her going with Shinning will get people killed, and Sunset will point you to the 25 bodies and say the same to you about staying. Sunset stayed and people got killed because of her inaction, so she won't stay put any more.
Cadence and Chip can wave the flag of "the needs of the many outweigh those of the few", but unless they can back up their claims, they'll fail.
Sunset said it right there, if Cadence will knock her out to make her stay and obey their needs, they're her enemy.
Also, about the intervention thing; As someone who has been sent to a lot of professionals due to a bunch of unresolved trauma over years of my life, interventions like the ones Cadence and Chip are doing don't work.
10920991
Sorry to hear that. Hope you're doing better now, for what it's worth. And thank you for all your responses; they've given me a lot to think about.
10921735
I'm doing much better now, don't worry, and I enjoy this type of discussions, specially with this kind of story.
I''m waiting to see what next chapter brings us.