Class Five
A few hours later, there was another knock at the door of Izzy's cottage, and she once again opened the door, and was greeted with the concerned faces of just over a dozen unicorns, most of whom had books either in their hooves or saddlebags.
"Izzy? What's going on? Who was that new unicorn? The one that went into the Tea Room?" Jasper asked.
Alphabittle came out to join Izzy outside her home, and risked seeing the lives he had carelessly endangered. Thankfully, he didn't see any looks of judgement, only concern and sharing Jasper's question.
Izzy took a step forward.
"I know we're all a little spooked after the accident, everypony. But don't worry. Sunset Shimmer... She's a unicorn from a far away land, and she knows more about ancient world magic than anypony me or my friends have met. I'm sure she wants all these books in one place so that accidents like the fire aren't repeated. She said she'd be back soon, and I'm absolutely sure she'll let us know what to do with them."
The unicorns present seemed to accept this. With their minds a little more at ease, they filed into the cottage one by one and set their gathered books in a stack next to the couch. Several minutes later, Izzy and Alphabittle found themselves alone again.
"How's the headache, Izzy?" Alphabittle asked as the pair went back into the cottage once the crowd had headed back into town.
"I can't believe you're worried about me. You're lucky to have all your coat after that flare-up. Since you asked, it's finally starting to let up a bit. It'll probably be awhile before I practice anything again, though. Sunset is right; these things are incredibly dangerous."
"But if you hadn't been reading up, who knows how much of the forest we would have lost."
"I'm sure Sunset can tell us more when she gets this all figured out. I'm sure she knows what she's doing."
Sometimes Sunny liked it quick and simple, and today, she was taking her lunch break with a quick peanut butter and jelly and a bag of chips. She had arranged with Cinnamon to take half-shifts at the museum until they had gone through everything they had gathered from the Crystal Empire. She'd make sure everything was in its place after lunch, then head over to CanterLogic. She was just about done with her sandwich when her phone began ringing and vibrating on her desk. She glanced at it to see who it was, and quickly picked it up, sliding her hoof across the screen.
"Hey, Sprout. What's up?" Sunny asked as she put the phone to her ear before taking the last bite of her sandwich.
"Hey Sunny. Just calling to make sure I'm not crazy. We did drop Sunset off yesterday in between Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood, right?" the stallion on the other end of the phone asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because she's sealed herself in the loading bay and she's been tearing through the crates for about twenty minutes now."
"She's there? Right now?"
"She hasn't said a word to anypony, and won't let anypony in. She seems a bit agitated."
"I'll be right there," Sunny said, hanging up the phone.
Leaving the remains of her lunch where it was, she immediately got up, hung up her curator's vest, threw on her saddlebags, and headed out of her office.
"Cinnamon, I'm headed out! Emergency at the factory!" Sunny called moments after exiting the Guardians of Harmony wing.
"Got it, hope everything's okay!" Cinnamon called back from his office.
Once out of the front doors, Sunny broke into a gallop towards CanterLogic, racing up the front concourse, and swiped her badge at the front doors, unlocking the doors. Understandably in a hurry, she merely nodded cordially at Sweets before going straight for the elevator, entered the lift, and hit the button for the bottom level. Sunny pranced in place uneasily. They had gotten back to Maretime Bay late last night and hadn't even had time to unload the trailer before everypony turned in for the night. How had Sunset gotten back here on hoof so quickly? How had she gotten into one of CanterLogic's most secure locations?
The lift reached the bottom level and the door slid open. There stood Sprout, and a few other CanterLogic employees, staring mystified at a gigantic magical field, dome-shaped, that encompassed nearly the entire large room, including the Scouticus Maximus, the trailer, and all of the crates they had unloaded.
"What in Equestria...?" Sunny said as she stepped up to Sprout.
"It's completely impenetrable. It might as well be a solid wall," Sprout told her as the earth mare approached the magical shield. She squinted her eyes to have a look inside. It was a little blurry, but there was Sunset, among all the crates that had been unloaded from the trailer, and it looked like she had surrounded herself with all the books that had been recovered. They were either in stacks near her, or most of them were levitating up in the air as they slowly rotated around her in a circle.
"Sunset, can you hear me?" Sunny called.
"We think she can, but she seems pretty focused on whatever she's doing in there," Sprout told her.
Sunny took a moment to think, and could think of no other option.
"Everypony stand back," she told Sprout and the others, who immediately stepped back towards the elevator. With that, Sunny turned towards Sunset's glowing shield, and closed her eyes in concentration. She took a deep, quiet breath, and held it for a moment.
When she exhaled, glowing golden translucent wings and a horn materialized on her body. Both the wings and the horn glowed brighter as she brought the wings around, shielding her front.
"Sunset, if you can hear me, I'm coming in."
With that, she took slow, purposeful steps towards the shield, and her glowing wings pressed against it, and began to pass through, as if they were a hot knife through butter. Sunny kept her pace steady, and felt her whole body pass through Sunset's shield. When she looked back, and saw that she was clear, she lowered her wings back down to her sides, and indeed confirm that Sunset sat in the center of the room, and had surrounded herself with the stacks of books they had collected from the Crystal Empire, and were floating several dozen more around her with what she could only assume was some kind of sorting spell.
"Sunset?" Sunny asked, taking a few steps towards her.
At last, the unicorn turned her attention to the earth pony, for only a moment.
"Sorry, Sunny. I had a feeling Sprout and the others wouldn't understand. Nopony in this generation has any idea how dangerous some of these books can be. I just saw firsthand what happens when the inexperienced get their hooves on these."
"What are you talking about? I thought you were headed towards Bridlewood."
"I was. I made it to Bridlewood, and was there for about twenty minutes. Alphabittle got his hooves on a Class V spell tome, and nearly burned his business down."
"What? Oh my stars..." Sunny said, her eyes widening in shock.
"Nopony was killed, thank goodness. I'm just double checking for Class Three through Five spell books. I told you they were locked away... Buried... For a reason. No matter where they're put... I'm afraid they'll be found eventually. I don't know what to do with them. I'm hoping to find a way to destroy them."
Sunny's heart skipped a beat.
"What? Sunset, you can't!"
Sunset turned to Sunny again, magically opening her saddlebags, and pulled out a book, and opened it.
"This is the tome I found in the scorched interior of the Crystal Tea Room. You want to know what the spell was that he thought would be okay to try in a crowded interior?" Sunset asked incredulously, flipping pages rapidly with her telekinesis. "Ignis tempesta. Fire storm. I doubt anypony alive today can completely translate the ponish from ancient times; if they could I doubt they would have even opened this book. You know what this book is, Sunny? Offensive spells written by battlemages. For war. Don't you get it? Conjuring balls of fire to rain from the sky. Streams of flames to shoot from the tips of your hooves. Spells to make your enemies bones spontaneously combust, incinerating them from the inside out. You think things like that should be left intact?"
Sunny felt a lump in her throat. She hadn't seen Sunset this emotional, this stressed, since she first met her in the cell of Zephyr Heights Castle.
"I understand your concern and your caution, Sunset. I do. But that's history. You shouldn't destroy history, or it's lost forever."
"History can be dangerous. History can get ponies killed. All it takes is one errant book, one inexperienced unicorn, and the next thing you know homes and businesses are up in flames!"
Sunny felt her throat tighten as her fear began to take hold, and her ethereal horn responded.
"You can't do this!"
She wasn't sure if she wanted exactly what happened to happen, but a beam of light shot out from her horn, and surged towards Sunset. It didn't do anything to her physically, but her concentration was broken, and her shield dissipated, and the dozens and dozens of books rotating around her dropped to the metal floor.
For the very first time, Sunny saw Sunset glare at her in anger and frustration. The unicorn's horn lit up again almost immediately, and Sunny raced towards her.
"Sunset, stop!"
A new shield began to materialize at the tip of Sunset's horn, and it rapidly expanded outward, and Sunny was knocked back as it expanded to surround the unicorn and all the books again. The earth mare hit the floor, sliding back to where Sprout and the other employees stood in shock. Sunny quickly got back up to her hooves, and saw Sunset through her new shield, her horn sparking in anxiety.
"I'm sorry, Sunny. You just don't understand. You'll never understand."
"Sunset!"
The unicorn's horn glow intensified tenfold, and there was a blinding flash of light. Sunny and the other occupants in the room brought up their hooves to shield their eyes. When the light faded seconds later, Sunny lowered her hooves, and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her.
Sunset Shimmer and all the books were gone.
TWO chapters in one day?!
Why, I haven't done that in years! Thanks for reading!
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Now sunny with have depression over some booksBook horse 2.0! Now in g5!Nice chapter! Keep up the good work
Like there are worst threats out there that you aren’t going to be able to rely on a certain group of heroes to save the day. Forgotten history can lead into a dangerous situation for the people of any country.
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Please. You clearly have no idea how much Sunset art I have in reserve!
11325791
Two chapters in a day:
...they both hit in the angst area:
I understand Sunset's impulse to destroy such things, however it is also short sighted. sure, she can destroy them but that is not in any way the final end of it: someday far into the future a spell could be rediscovered as a 'new' invention someone else crafts. without the knowledge of such spells, there would be no known ways to reverse such damage a rediscovered spell can cause, costing time while those ways are also rediscovered.
granted this is a rather vague 'what if?' thought, but it still should be talked over with level heads. also, why didn't the Princesses of Old destroy the books themselves but instead stored them in guarded archives? a question Sunset should also wonder.
Did Sunset just pull the Celestia? She need to learn from her mentor's mistake and learn to trust the new generations more.
Sunset Shimmer has a vary good point,,, but this is not the way to handle things.
Why not just send the spells from books into Sunny mind ( carmina memoriae)
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i agree
great chapter
Sunset, calm down
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Hahaha that's what I was thinking honestly. Maybe to make it hard for her, have her have to figure out how to pinpoint exactly how far into the past she needs to go, figure out where she should cast the spell so she arrives in the same room as Twilight, and make sure whatever she says doesn't harm the future in any way(so...I'm guessing she should neglect telling Twilight that the ponies have all been divided for eons and the world seems to be empty of other magical creatures)
oooh, Sunset....that is too short sighted. Sunny is right, destroying things and making sure others don't learn about them isn't the way to go. If we don't know about our history, we are doomed to repeat it...or however the saying goes. What the ponies need to learn is the historical usage of these spells, how awful they were, and how terrible things were back when ponies used those types of spells.
That went easier than I expected.
She didn't go by hoof, it was by teleportation.
Finally, been waiting to see this again!
Yeah, now it makes sense why those books shouldn't exist.
As much as I hate to say this, sometimes it's a good thing that stuff from the past shouldn't exist today, even if it's bad or not.
Wonder where she could of possibly went?
Yes, Sunset. History can cause pain in the present.
That is precisely why we keep records around. If we don't keep records around, unredacted, we don't just forget what happened. We forget the lessons to go with the history. That is why those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it; because they make the exact same mistakes as those who came before them.
And the absolute greatest mistake anyone can make is believing, without a shred of doubt, that they are smarter and know better than everyone else. Nothing is waiting at the end of that road but darkness and shadows.
Sunset, stop being a dumb ass!
Some creature is going to eventually figure out the spells. Period. End of matter. Tdying to hide them is just going to make things worse.
The problem is that your ex-mentor and your replacement, being graded A plus dumbasses themselves, hoarded that knowledge to "keep others safe". With the result being that someone reinvented/ discovered said spell either a) but without the knowledge of its downsides etc, (aka what happened to Alpha) or b) had less than good intentions and no one knew how to counter it because all the knowledge was locked away due to stupidity, and helicopter parenting on a national level.
Hiding knowledge is never a good idea for just this reason. Instead you TEACH others how to learn and use it safely, ethically, and how to counter it.
Please Sunset. Do not be like Celestia and Twilight and keep screwing up due to arrogantly believing only you can save the world.
Huh. I was expecting some sort of reaction from Sunset with regards to Sunny going Alicorn. As far as I know, that hasn’t been mentioned to her yet.
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Oh gods please no.
I HATED Twilight after the first arc. She went from a somewhat interesting and snarky pupil willing to question her teacher and even make her own decisions, to a damn teachers pet of the worst sort.
Turning into Toolight 2.0 would kill her characrer.
This will make Discord easier to understand when they meet him.
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I thought he disappeared long ago...
Yikes. Definitely a very emotional chapter, but quite appropriately so. While I can understand Sunset's fears, she's going about it the wrong way. The way to do it is to educate the modern ponies rather than destroying the books, Not just the magic, but also the history behind the magic. The better they learn about the origins of those higher level spells, the less likely they are to try to use the magic without proper training. Hopefully, Sunset will come to her senses before she gets around to actually destroying the books (maybe from seeing Zipp educate some of the other Pegasi on flying before launching the fire spell and getting the realization concerning education over destruction). I mean, yes, there IS the possibility that somebody could be nasty enough to deliberately use that sort of high-level magic for cruel purposes after they have been properly educated, but they will hopefully be outnumbered by those who use the teachings responsibly and are skilled enough to keep their nastier counterparts in check. Still, definitely appreciated the dialogue between Izzy and Alphabittle as well as Sunny trying to reason with Sunset (after using her "training wheels alicorn" abilities to get through Sunset's barrier).
Still, really good job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Definitely looking forward to more of this.
Oh dear this is really not good she's not thinking too well okay so Sprout told Sunny about Sunset came back into town pretty early today and she at Canterlogic so she went there to talk with her but sunny that explain about those books that Izzy found we're dangerous and so many spell books are used for war and because of this generation they don't understand and she thinks destroying these books will protect them but Sunny thinks this is not the way she cannot let those books be destroyed just because of one incident but Sunset don't think so out of frustration she teleported somewhere so she can find a way to get rid of the books once and for all oh dear once again this situation really got serious I wonder what's going to happen next I guess we'll find out next time
Sunset, your heart is in the right place but your head is not. There are all kinds of things in history that can be dangerous, but it's imperative that they are preserved. The only way we learn not to do things is through documented experience. If the knowledge is destroyed, there's nothing to prevent a disaster when nopony knows what they're up against or how to combat it.
Love the story so far
Sunny, i love ya. but i wouldn't recommend trying to take on Sunset Shimmer
11326414
Maybe not FIGHT her, no. But REASON WITH HER? Yes, Sunset DEFINITELY needs to be reasoned with.
11326414
Thing is Sunset is still a unicorn.
Powerful, until someone sneaks in a sucker-punch or a kicked rock to the head. Then she's just as easy to drop as any other pony if the other side doesn't stop wailing on her until shes out cold.
No apostrophe needed here.
Sunset's never met Alphabittle before in the story, right? She mentioned him as if she already knew who he was, but I don't remember Alphabittle and Sunset introducing each other before.
Fires and new spells.
I see nothing wrong with letting foals play with guns.
UNLEASH THE ANGERY SUNSET SHIMMER
The short answer: Yes.
The long answer: Yes. Because knowledge and facts and stuff, and because we can use it to
burn the hereticsdo neat parlor tricks.