Sunset in the gods

by red-sun

Act II – Fallen Gods – Chapter 13

Celestia often worried that her student couldn't make friends. The princess knew that Sunset's life in Griffin society made it more difficult to integrate with the ponies. She had even worried about the bias she had against Cadance, but suddenly the two of them had gotten together every morning to study, which gave the princess relief and also gave her hope that Sunset could make friends.

But one day something happened, an accident that seriously hurt Sunset. Celestia was worried, she couldn't deny the affection she felt for her student and seeing her in such bad condition in a hospital bed hurt her. When her student was more stable Celestia went to Cadance's room.

“I want you to tell me what happened.” Despite how severe the white alicorn sounded, Cadance could notice the sadness and concern in the princess' voice and she couldn't blame her. Sunset Shimmer was in the hospital, in serious condition.

“Sunset was teaching me magic like always and…” Cadance could barely hold back her tears. “Usually she uses the spell before teaching me how to use it and…”

“I understand... this book...”. Celestia levitates a thick book. "I remember I had it stored in my room, I don't know how she took it out without me noticing, but the spells and magic in the book can only be learned by alicorns, if a unicorn tries to use any of these spells... they would only hurt themselves.”

“I just wanted to learn and Sunset wanted to learn it first to see how it works and teach me.” Tears began to well up in Cadance's eyes. "It´s just that, as I thought you would turn her into an alicorn in the future..." After saying those words Celestia interrupts Cadensa.

"Cadance...Sunset will never become an alicorn...she shouldn't become an alicorn." Those words surprised the young alicorn. “Sunset is a powerful unicorn in her own right, if she sets her mind to something she will achieve it no matter how difficult it is, but that is not her destiny.”

"She has always worked hard to improve herself, she always tries her best, the way you teach her... I thought you were preparing her for something big."

"I'm sorry...I can't tell you." The pink alicorn saw Celestia's sadness. Cadance knew that the princess loved Sunset as if she were her own daughter but she also knew that she couldn't give her special treatment beyond being a personal student of hers. “I need to know something…what spell did Sunset use?”

---

PRESENT

Sunset was levitating several stones at once, spinning them around her and then shooting them directly at a large rock that was there and destroying the stones. Sunset was satisfied with the result until she started bleeding from one of her eyes and between her nails.

“Your Majesty, you should be more careful.” Twilight said as she cleaned up the blood.

"I don't know what kind of power you're using, but it seems like it's hurting you." Said Rarity, who had been accompanying Sunset since Sunset wanted to learn more about demons, and had noticed that demon society was kind of like a mix of equestrian and griffin society.

“You don't have to worry too much, my body is already getting used to it.”

"I hope so". Discord had just arrived and looks at the destroyed rocks. "This will break Maud's heart... I found out how thw others were doing in their own training sessions."

“And what did you find out?”

“Timber says that most of you would have no problem fighting an ordinary soldier, although Shining Armord and Flash Sentry have become experts in swordsmanship. As for the aura training, although everyone is progressing satisfactorily, even though you just learned how to materialize a dagger, just as Diamond Tiara had said, at least everyone progressed with their respective training."

"Almost, Twilight, although she has good aura, she sadly lacks physical fitness and Diamond Tiara says she has little imagination." Discord laughs a little as he remembers something. "Which is funny because she always imagines a lot of destructive scenarios just because she can't find a book or a scroll."

“I follow logic too much because I must first know an object in detail if I want to materialize it.” Twilight excused herself with a pout. "And you have no idea what disasters can happen if even one book is missing."

"I'm sorry to say this, dear, but you could barely materialize a pen and that's only because you were desperate for nothing to write a list with." Rarity said.

"And we searched the entire camp only to discover that what you lost was the list of a list... at least you have materialized something, Applejack, although she has absorbed a lot of aura for some reason she is the only one who has not been able to materialize something... .and with Pinkie Pie it's hard to know what's an aura and what's not." Sunset replied.

Then Discord changes the topic. “There are four months left until the deadline is met.”

“Yes… I wonder how difficult it will be” Sunset said knowing that in that time she would have to return to Canterlot. “What will the demons do during that time?” She asks to Rarity.

"As far as I know, Starlight Glimmer has already consolidated her power in Tartarus, the next thing she's waiting for is Fluttershy and Wallflower's response so she can continue with her own plans."

“They already accepted.” Discord responded.

“Out of curiosity, why does she need them?” Twilight asked.

Rarity was debating whether to tell her or not, but Discord spoke up. "Don't worry, she is trustworthy."

Then Rarity responds more calmly. "There are few portals to enter and exit Tartarus, Almost all of them are small where only one or two demons can pass through at a time, but there is a portal... the gates of Tartarus, it is the largest portal and the only one where an army can cross with no problems, but it is currently guarded by Cerberus, an ancient beast… and it is not easy to defeat.”

“It was a nightmare to capture that animal, he was unpredictable, it took us fifteen years to tame it and have Cerberus stand guard at the gates of Tartarus.” Discord said frustrated.

“But Fluttershy has the ability to calm the animal and then we could go through the door. As for Wallflower, with his unique ability we will be able to get closer to the sacred lands without the gods noticing.”

"Do you realize that many things can go wrong?” Twilight replies. "That plan is crazy in itself."

“You don't have to worry dear, the Supreme Queen already took care of the small details.”

---

Sunset and Discord returned to the camp, leaving Rarity to continue explaining the details to Twilight.

"Knowing Twilight, she's so busy trying to figure out all the details of the plan that we´d never notice." And Discord laughs at Sunset's response.

Then Discord stops "Tell me something... Do you want to continue?"

Sunset didn't understand the question. "What are you talking about?" She asked seriously.

“Since I cleared my last vision I have been able to lighten my divine power a little, and from time to time I have small visions when resting, this morning I had a vision.” Discord walks over to a bush, pulls out a bag and a saddlebag, and shows Sunset the contents.

When the former unicorn sees the contents, she can make out travel equipment, supplies, and many other related objects. "Discord...why are you showing me this?"

"Because this is your last chance." It was the first time Sunset had heard Discord speak so seriously. “I'm not going into details about what I saw, but what I know is that if you take this equipment and leave now without looking back you will be able to return home without problems... but if you decide to stay it will be a long time before you can rest ...this is your last chance because if you stay you will have no choice but to fight until the end.”

“Did you stop having hopes for me?” the redhead asked.

"No, but soon your real fight will begin and you may suffer in more ways than one... I'm just giving you the chance to leave before it all begins, before there is no way back."

“Would the sunset shimmer of this world have given up?” Discord just remains silent without answering the question. "Discord... from what I understand, this all started with the vision of a possible future, and the truth is that..." Sunset looks towards the camp where the former slaves she had freed were set up. “I don't want to abandon them, you know? In a certain way I have come to appreciate them, not as subjects but as….” Sunset didn't know how to say it.

"As friends?" Discord said with a smile.

"I mean, I was going to say comrades but… Discord, I'm going to continue with this, no matter how difficult it is… I made a deal with my other self but…” The girl remains silent, not knowing what to respond. "I better get back." And Sunset goes back to camp.

"I didn't know you had a habit of eavesdropping." Discord says as he looks at Gloriosa comming out from behind a tree.

“I barely heard anything and I wasn't hiding anyway, if you had paid more attention you would have noticed me faster.” Gloriosa responded. “But I'm curious, why did you say that to the human? I remember you always got excited when you said how she would change the world.”

“I am concerned about Sunset's progress, I originally wanted her to stay for at least five years and then go out into the world to rebuild Equestria and help overthrow the authority of the gods and All Master. But when she said her conditions I had to accept because forcing her would make the future change, and since I erased my vision I don't know if I'm on the right path... I don't know if she would save the world...but she'll bring big changes, and probably..." Discord looks into the distance as Sunset arrives at camp and is greeted by a cheerful Pinkie Pie who probably wanted to show off her new version of the party cannon. "Nevermind... I was just rambling".

"I have also noticed that for a normal human she has made good progress but... she does not seem to have the ability to fight against a god, when you told us about your vision I imagined that she would be like an aura master before the purge".

Discord had a tired expression as if he felt the weight of the world. “Do you think I'm selfish?”

"Yeah". Was Gloriosa's response. “You do what you want, you barely listen to other people's opinions, you never ask permission for something…” The goddess sighs and continues. “But… I don't think you're a bad person… you just don't want humans to suffer.”

"It's good to talk to you Gloriosa." Discord said with a smile.

---

“Are you sure it's around here?” Sweetie Belle asked.

"Of course, after all, I was the one who brought food to the previous guard." Scootaloo responded.

"That doesn't mean they'll still be here, the guards are always on the move to protect more ground." told Silver Spoon who was a little upset about being late with the food.

"I want us to hurry back to the camp and eat, it's already getting dark." Diamond Tiara complained.

"You know, I was curious to know what the gods ate and I was really surprised that it was almost the same as humans." Apple Bloom said as she carried a basket of food.

“What do you mean by almost the same?” Diamond Tiara asked.

"Scootaloo told me that gods don't eat vegetables."

"Gods can eat pretty much the same things humans eat, Scootaloo just doesn't like vegetables, my dad and I have dined with the goddess Chrysalis many times and I've never heard her complain about the food." Diamond Tiara said.

"And what do demons like to eat? Is it true that they eat raw meat?" Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.

"We can eat almost anything, the environment of Tartarus means that our species had to get used to all types of food." She says with a wide smile but then puts on a serious face. "But the raw meat thing only happened once!"

“I guess it doesn't matter what you eat…” Then Apple Bloom trips and falls to the ground.

"Are you okay? You should be more careful." Silver Spoon said as she helped Apple Bloom up. "There's almost no light now, you should be more careful..." Silver Spoon falls silent as she sees something on the ground.

“It's the guard! What happened!?" Apple Bloom said scared when she saw the corpse of a god.

Sweetie Belle walks over to examine the body. “It looks like someone broke his neck, I would say they took him by surprise.”

"But he was from the fighting faction, the gods of that faction are supposed to be physically the strongest and have instincts sharp enough to not be taken by surprise." Scootaloo said. “Unless the one who killed him…”

"We must alert the camp!" Diamond Tiara said and then everyone ran towards the camp without realizing that they were being watched.

“Should we stop them?” asked a god who was watching from a tree.

"No, let them go, the attack group is in charge, our job is only to prevent the rebels from escaping alive."