Sunsets Shattering

by 719276

Courage vs Cowardice (Round 1 Arc)

"A new historical theory posits that the modern equestrian pantheon and its predecessors was inspired by the legendary feats and tales of real Mages that were mythologized and exaggerated overtime. If this theory hold true, than it is guaranteed that Twilight Sparkle would be the chief god or devil of any new religious movement”

― Empress Celestia

Sunset Shimmer awoke to the sound of prayer and the scent of religious candles. With no small amount of grumbling, Sunset tossed away the rich fur blankets and got off the comfortable bed. She had never slept in such a soft and well-made bed beforehand, so having to part with the experience proved an annoyance.

The dorm Sunset lives were divided into utterly distinguishable halves by Fluttershy and Sunset's clashing tastes.

On Sunset's side, the lefthand area, the walls were used by Sunset as a canvas for an intricate and massive painting, though some would call it graffiti, of the late Queen Belladonna Brown of the Novgorod during the 3rd battle of Chardieau. In the center of the image was the Queen, clad in a regal white coat and sky-blue dress, with a golden crown and scepter. Her hair was as dark as obsidian, her eyes as green as a forest, and her skin as white as a polar bear. Around the Queen was an army of dragons of different sizes and colors, frozen in a solid sheet of white ice by the Queen's magic.

On Fluttershy's side, the right-hand area, the pictures and paintings of a dozen Septem saints and holy figures hung on the walls like earrings on an ear, while the walls themselves remained austere and unpainted. On the ground, seven large, scented candles illuminated the statues of the seven goddesses, the Divine Septem pantheon. There was a statue of Callidus: Goddess of Knowledge, Trickery, and Books; Misericordia: Goddess of Empathy, Justice, and Leadership; Probitas: Goddess of Honesty, agriculture, and strength; Liberalitas: Goddess of Generosity, Beauty, and Dreams; Risus: God of Happiness, festivals, and Alcohol; and in the center of the assorted array of statues stood one of Fidelitas: Goddess of Loyalty, Warfare, and Weather, towering over the others in size. In front of these idols was Fluttershy, prostrating herself for the goddess.

"She must be a very devout Fidelititist," mused Sunset, noting the difference in the statues' sizes. A part of her wanted to get to training with Sunny and leave Fluttershy to her own devices, but the other, more curious, part of her desired to understand the mystery of Fluttershy Francisco. Despite having a higher CE than Sunset, by Sunnys' estimation at least, Fluttershy had the backbone of a wet tissue paper and only spoke to agree with someone else.

"Hey, do you want to train with me with Sunny? My old principle always taught me that training with peers is more effective than training alone," questioned Sunset as she bent her body toward the still-praying Fluttershy and tapped her shoulders.

"Wha--Uh," asked Fluttershy, as dazed and confused as an alcoholic after a particularly hard hangover. Such was her confusion and startlement that Fluttershy tripped on her orange robes when trying to get up and tumbled onto the hard ground.

"Sorry about spooking you. Are you okay?" Sunset inquired as she extended a hand to the dazed Fluttershy, helping her back up.

"I'm ... fine," whispered Fluttershy, so soft that even a light breeze could muffle the sound, as she gently shook the dust off her religious attire." What did you ask me to do? I am so sorry; I got caught up in my prayer."

"You don't have to apologize. I just wanted to know whether you wanted to come to train with me," repeated Sunset, a bit of annoyance at having to explain herself again creeping into her voice.

" Okay, I'll go," muttered Fluttershy, seemingly content with letting others decide what she should do for her.

"Just follow me." proclaimed Sunset, slightly exasperated by Fluttershy's utter lack of a backbone, as the two teammates made their way to the training area.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Entering the training area, Sunset and her teammate found themselves in a pure white room of interlocking cubes on all sides. In the center of the cubed room stood Sunny, sitting on a chair made of the cubes, with a large, reddish-orange Phoenix perched on her right hand.

"I'm glad you decided to come to Sunset. Better yet, you managed to bring Fluttershy with you, though I doubt that was hard, given Fluttershy's meek personality. Hopefully, seeing you train would motivate Fluttershy to stand up for herself more, and in any case, Fluttershy could help aid in my lesson plans," Sunny states in a flurry of speech that nearly overwhelmed Francisa but was easy to understand for Shimmer. If Fluttershy took offense to Sunny's words about her, she did not show it, though doing so would be out of character for Fluttershy.

"Sup, teach. I assume the Phoenix is for the lesson plan," stated Sunset as she pointed to the bird standing on Sunny's bare arm, its claws digging into her hardened skin.

"You would be right, Miss Sunset, but this bird is no ordinary Phoenix. She is called Philomena, and she is Celestia's pet. I got tasked with taking care of this cutie-pie while Celestia is away, so I decided to use her for your training," replied Sunny as she gently petted and snuggled with the affectionately chirping flame bird.

"Good, then let's get started," Sunset spoke hasty, the excitement and nervousness at the prospect of training with Sunny overcoming her for a brief moment.

"Very well, before we can create Phoenix fire, we must first understand how Phoenix fireworks and what makes it distinct from normal flame," states Sunny as she poked Philomena on her forehead.

Instantly, a bright golden flame engulfed the Phoenix. With a twirl of her right index finger, Sunny striped the golden flames from Celestia's pet and condensed it into a globe of healing fire as bright as the sun. With a twirl of her left index finger, a dark-red ball of destructive fire, akin to a contained explosion, forms in the palm of her left hand. Summoning two floating cubes with telekinesis, Sunny placed the two flames next to each other said cubes so that Sunset could better analyze and compare them.

"Use your pyrokinetic abilities to sense both flames and tell me the difference between the two," instructed Sunny Skies as she pointed to the two fires.

Obliging, Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and slowly stretched her hands to nearly touch both magical bonfires. Clearing her mind of all thoughts and emotions but the magical aura of the flames before her, her face contorted in grim discomfort at the utter wrongness of the Phoenix flame. Sunset stood like that, in her meditation-like trance, for ten whole minutes before a feeling of understanding washed over her, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"So, what did you see?" inquired Sunny as she saw Sunset look at the Phoenix fire with the intensity of a predator watching its prey.

"It was ... like comparing an exothermic reaction with an endothermic reaction, and if my magical senses are right ..." Sunset began as she plunged her right hand into the Phoenix fire "... The fire from the Phoenix is cold., not hot" Sunset finished as she pulled her hand out of the fire.

" Very well observed, Sunset; as you know, in normal magical fire, the material is destroyed and consumed to fuel the fire, which then expels Quelle as heat. Phoenix fire is, in its most basic form, the inversion of normal magical fire; in Phoenix fire, Quelle gets consumed to fuel the flame, which recreates and heals any material it touches. In layman's terms, regular magical fire destroys material to produce Quelle, while Phoenix fire consumes Quelle to fix material." Sunny teaches, and Sunset listens intently while Fluttershy vibes in the background.

"To create a healing flame, I would have to find a way to reverse my Spell Matrix," Sunset stated matter-of-factly.

"You are correct yet again, my student, but before we can even begin to create a Healing flame, we must start with basics," informed Sunny as she began to manipulate the golden flame into a dozen different shapes; she turned it from a sphere to a cube, to a pyramid, and a doughnut, all while moving it around the entire room. Eventually, Sunny molded the golden flame back into a sphere and set it down on the cube. " The ability to manipulate magical flames is far less complex than the ability to create a magical fire, but fire manipulation is a building block for fire creation. Once you can easily control phoenix fire, we can begin with attempting to produce it," Sunny instructs as she dissipates the normal magical fire with her left hand.

" Then let's get started," replied Sunset as she closed her eyes and began trying to invert her pyrokinetic field.

10 hours later:

After ten hours of constant practice and the ever-helpful advice of Sunny Skies, Sunset Shimmer was nearly ready to crack the code for manipulating phoenix fire.

" I need to increase the Quelle output a bit more and reinforce the support for the twisted matrix, " Sunset muttered to herself as she put all her magical ability into manipulating the Phoenix flame in front of her. At first, the golden fire remained as stationary as it always was, but as Sunset's frustration grew, so did her focus and drive. Sunset grits her teeth and begins to pour all her remaining Quelle reserves into twisting her Fire manipulation matrix backward, like a blacksmith attempting to forge a chunk of dirty rock into a shiny dagger. With one final, massive push of Quelle into the matrix, it snapped into the desired shape, and the previously stationary Golden fire leapt from the cube and onto Sunset's hands.

Sunset marveled at the radiant fire as she contorted and shaped it to whatever shape she desired . . . for a good ten seconds as the spells matrix she had used to manipulate it snapped due to the stress, similar to a rubber band that got pulled too far and the Holy Phoenix fire splattered onto the bare floor like a bowl of chili, dissipating instantly.

In response to Sunset's success, Sunny began clapping her hands vigorously." Contradulation Sunset, you managed to invert your spell matrix on a small scale and manipulate Phoenix fire."

"It didn't feel like a success," muttered Sunset dejectedly. "It took me ten hours and constant guidance to manipulate Healing Flames for a grand total of ten seconds. Perhaps if I practice for the rest of the tournament, I might just be able to hold the Golden Fire long enough to heal a paper cut on my arm."

"Don't sell yourself short, Sunset. It always takes a lot of time and effort to learn a new spell, but once you break past the initial barriers, your skill and mastery over the Spell will increase exponentially. In fact, out of all the people I have taught, you figured out how to manipulate golden fire in the least amount of time, which is no small feat given my old age. The previous fastest Elf took ten days to do what you managed to do in ten hours. You have a long way to go to survive even a second against Twilight but take pride in your successes," advised Sunny Skies as she summoned a glass of lemonade for the exhausted and sweating Sunset as a treat for her hard work. Sunset, visibly uplifted and motivated by Sunny's speech, took the Lemonde and drank it in one sitting before wiping the sweat from her brow with her free hand.

It was at Sunset's small moment of triumph when a storm, or more accurately, a Tempest, came to ruin the good mood.

"So this is where the oh-so-interesting Sunset Shimmer has been hiding this entire time," Tempest Shadow sneered from the entrance.

Being the first to notice Twilight's bodyguard, Fluttershy had quietly moved behind Sunset in a blur of speed that stunned the fire mage. Sunset knew Fluttershy was strong but seeing an elf as short and chubby as Fluttershy move at such speeds seemed too comical to visualize until now.

"How quaint," Tempest chuckled. "For a being of greater power, to hide behind a weaker team member is cowardly and dishonorable. It is akin to an Elephant hiding behind an elk, utterly shameful."

"What do you want, Tempest Shadow? If you're here to pick a fight with me and my teammate, you should know I would gladly accept. If you're not ready to throw down, then stop insulting my partner, or I will burn your tongue to a cinder," Sunset growled out as she instinctively spread out her arms to cover Fluttershy as marched right into Shadow's face with a few quick steps.

"Fight you, don't make me laugh. I have no need to prove myself to a weakling like you. No, I am here to give you a message," Tempest retorted with enough vitriol and venom to kill a blue whale.

"And what message is that?" Sunset asked in a low voice as she used every ounce of self-restraint in her body to prevent her from frying Tempest's face to a crisp then and there.

"Give up. You cannot beat Twilight or me, so there is no point in trying to grow stronger. All you can hope to accomplish is getting yourself maimed or murdered by following the delusional idea that a low-born could beat someone of such noble birth as Twilight."

Everyone in the room, including Tempest Shadow, expected Sunset Shimmer to lunge at Tempest due to that final insult to her pride.

That is not what happened; instead, Sunset, honest to the goddess, fell into a fit of pure, uncontrollable laughter.

"BHWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. You can't be serious. Are you serious?" After Sunset confirmed, due to Tempest Shadows' grim expression, that she meant what she said, Sunset began to laugh even louder, angering Tempest more than any attack ever could. "BHWAHAAHAHA. Let me clarify a few things with you," Sunset continued after regaining control of her laughter. "I was orphaned at a young age after my parents died due to some rich noble asshole deciding that his workers deserved to inhale toxic gas without their knowledge, and because of that, I had to spend my formative years in an industrial factory, melting iron and steel. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life working in a factory, so I m frequently starved myself in order to afford money to buy books on magic to get into the local school. Malnourished and undereducated, I managed to get in. Then, I worked my ass off to become the strongest in the entire school before studying all day and night for a month night, so that I could pass the entrance exam to get into the University of Canterlot, where I promptly got stabbed by a thousand light swords. Right now, I just managed to break a record and manipulate golden flame after spending ten consecutive hours and my entire magic reserve, with no breaks for food and water. If you still think that something as insignificant to me as maiming and death can even hope to dissuade me from climbing the path that I have already sacrificed so much to climb, then you must be a bigger Braindead imbecile than even Trixie!"

The entire room was stunned silent as Sunset took the opportunity to catch her breath after her off-the-cuff rant.

Fine then," growled Tempest, visibly affected by Sunset's rant. "Don't blame me when my master shatters the path you walk like a hammer to a glass window." With that final threat, Tempest left with a huff of annoyance as she felt a deep unease creep over her as she left the room.

"I am surprised you didn't slam Tempest into a few walls. You seemed like you really wanted to," Sunny observed with a slight bemusement.

"I am not strong enough to beat Tempest yet, and there is no point in fighting Tempest now, given my first match is against her; I'd rather save my aggression for the fight that actually matters. I might be hot headed and have anger issues, but I am not an idiot." Sunset retorted as she looked to see an utterly flabbergasted Fluttershy with her jaw, metaphorically, on the floor. "Are you okay, Fluttershy? You are looking at me like my head cut off."

"You... What... HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Fluttershy screamed hysterically, marking the first time Fluttershy had raised her voice in Sunset's presence.

"It's called, "yelling at a bitch to make her shut up"; even toddlers can do it," Sunset replied dryly.

"She was Twilight's bodyguard, and you just told her off. What if Twilight takes your disrespect to her servant as disrespect to herself? You don't understand the level Twilight is on! She is literally Callidus in mortal form; even Celestia knows that Twilight will one day surpass her," screeched Fluttershy as tears flowed from her eyes.

"So what," Sunset replied with a nonchalant bluntness that Fluttershy had never seen before."My goal's to surpass Twilight Sparkle anyway, so we are already bound to clash."

"DON'T YOU CARE THAT TWILIGHT COULD KILL YOU!" yelled the now thoroughly exasperated Flutterly in Sunset's face.

"I don't particularly care about dying young. What matters in life is how you spend it, not how many years you have. I would much rather die young, with my dignity intact, following my dreams and helping as many people as possible, than live a long but pointless life," Sunset replied with an uneasy amount of comfort for someone talking about their possible death.

"Nothing will stop you from getting to Twilight, will it?" Fluttershy asked, having given up attempting to dissuade Sunset from her current path.

"NOPE!" Sunset replied with a loud pope in her voice.

"Well, now that all the training and drama is over, I would recommend you to take a nice long rest to get ready for the intensive training tomorrow, but before you go to bed, I would also advise you to head down to the cafeteria to eat a triple dinner as you promised quote un quote "to not eat until I manage to make the golden flame move an inch." I appreciate the dedication to training, but I am against starving yourself. One must eat and sleep plenty to be able to train effectively after all," Sunny instructed Sunset after being tactfully silent during the drama between her students.

A loud growl from her flat stomach convinced Sunset of the validity of Sunny Skies' advice, so she decided to start walking to the cafeteria as Fluttershy began her journey back to the duo's dormitory.

Author's Note:

It should be noted that Fluttershy isn't scared of Tempest, she is sacred of Twilight deciding to back Tempest.

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[David Silver]

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