A Shimmering Intellect

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 13

Sunset couldn’t help but be impressed with Flash’s ability to set up a campsite without magic. He’d set the tent, started the fire, and boiled snow for a soup, all without magic or fingers. He stumbled a few times, dropped his tools once or twice, and burned a feather or two, but considering he’d been in that body for just under a week, he’d done amazingly well.

Once they set up the camp, Flash reverted to the first week they started dating and wouldn’t let her lift a proverbial finger herself. It had been a long time since she’d been pampered like this, and a small part of her felt guilty for it all over again.

She wanted to tell Flash to stop but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Every time, the words would get caught in her throat or make their way to the tip of her tongue before dying away.

Sunset quietly cursed her weakness but didn’t say anything as Flash passed her a bowl of soup.

“Here,” he said, holding the bowl carefully in his wings. Sunset took it in her magic and set it on the tent’s floor before her. Flash sat beside her, picking up his own bowl of steaming lentil soup.

The fire was blazing, and it almost made the tent too hot to bear, but given that they’d be freezing within minutes of it dying, Sunset didn’t say a word. Instead, she welcomed the sweat building on her forehead before the cold took its toll.

She spooned some of the lentils into her mouth while her mind wandered about Flash and her past.

She needed to move on. Really, she did. Spending her days thinking about how she mistreated everyone would stress her to an early grave. Despite that, she couldn’t help but think about how innocent Flash had been in those first few weeks of their relationship. Every time she looked at him, she couldn’t help but see a man who gave her more of his trust than any other person in the human world.

And she took that trust and shattered it.

Tore it to pieces.

He didn’t deserve all of that.

Again, that early grave, Sunset.

She spooned another mouthful of lentils into her mouth.

“Did these always taste this good, or is this my pony body?” Flash asked, breaking the silence like a window pane.

Sunset processed the question for a second before answering. “It’s your body. Even in humans, much of our sense of taste depends on what nutrients our bodies need. Certain foods taste better if they give you the right vitamins, minerals, carbs, or proteins.”

Flash nodded. “That makes sense. I’ve read about people who were lost at sea and started to crave fish eyes like candy after a while.”

Sunset glanced at him, a little confused, but he was face-deep in his soup and didn’t notice.

Sunset took another bite herself.

“Are you doing alright, Flash?” she asked before her mind could stop the words from leaving.

He looked up at her, confused. “Me? You’re the one that nearly got crushed by the mountain.”

“Yes, but…” Sunset began before stopping. She could let this die and not worry about it.

“I mean, I’m not injured or anything,” Flash continued, keeping the topic on life support. “I was ahead of you. Nothing fell on me. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Sunset said, trying to smother the conversation with a pillow.

“Right. Since when do you do things without a reason?” Flash asked, performing incredible CPR.

“I just wanted to be polite,” she said, trying to stab.

Flash gave it a knife-proof vest. “That’s not your ‘trying to be polite’ voice.”

“Just forget I said anything,” Sunset said, going for the shotgun.

Flash had a body double. “Sunset, if something’s wrong, I need to know. You should tell me if you see a bruise or anything.”

Sunset suppressed a groan and dropped her head to the ground. “Flash… you’re impossible sometimes.”

“What?” he asked, exasperated.

Sunset gave up. “You’re going through a lot of effort to ensure I’m taken care of. You haven’t done that in a long time.”

“Oh…” he said.

The wind whipped past the tent.

“I…I dunno. I’m just trying to be better.”

Sunset looked at him. “You? Why do you need to get better?”

“Because you are, and I can’t let you for some reason.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“You’re trying so hard to leave the past behind you, and I want you to,” Flash said. “I want you to leave the person you were behind and be this new Sunset everyone loved in high school. I just…I just can’t, and I don’t know why.”

Neither said anything for a long second.

“So, I dunno. Maybe I’m trying to make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me? Flash, I betrayed you.”

“I know you did. But that was also the old you, the one you’re trying to bury, and I respect that, but I can’t bring myself to let it go, even though I’m trying.”

Silence echoed in the tent.

“I’m sorry, Sunset. Don’t…I don’t want to drag up your past, especially since you’re working so hard. I don’t open up old wounds. Despite that, a part of me will never let me forget. I don’t know how to deal with that. My head knows you’re doing everything you can, but you have such a hard time separating the two anywhere else.”

Sunset didn’t reply for a long time. Instead, she let Flash’s words hang in the quiet between them for a minute too long.

“I see,” she said at least, though her voice sounded hoarse in her own ears as she said it. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

Sunset hated how stiff she sounded.

The wind blew outside, howling into the darkness.

She couldn’t leave it there. Flash’s uncomfortable quiet told her he’d used much of his courage to tell her that, and if she didn’t respond appropriately, this could do more harm than good.

“You’ve done a good job so far,” Sunset said, mentally wincing at how awkward that sounded. “Honestly, I think this is the best we’ve worked together since…well, since forever, I think. We’ve never gotten along this well, and that can’t be all on me. You have given me another chance, even if things between us still aren’t quite right yet.”

“Yet?” Flash asked, some playfulness returning to his voice as he slowly returned to normalcy.

“I hope we can get there,” Sunset said, matching his tone to encourage him more. “Getting over your massive ego may take some time,” she smiled, hoping it wouldn’t hit a nerve.

“My ego?” Flash said, smiling back. “You’re one to talk. You may have been chipping away at it for a few years, but you’re still working with a mountain.”

“That just means I’m an expert in recognizing it. After all, it’s much easier to see from the top of Mt. Arrogance.”

Flash chuckled a bit.

Sunset smiled as a tension she didn’t know she was holding unwound in her back. It felt right that these were the tangible first steps into building something better. She had wanted this from Flash since the night she’d been broken by the Elements of Harmony and taken from the path of attempted world domination.

“Can I ask you a question?” Flash asked once he finished laughing.

“Sure,” Sunset replied.

“Were you really going to lead an army of teenagers into Equestria to take it over?” he asked. “Like no offense, but I don’t think we would have done much against spears and armor.”

Sunset frowned. “I’d…rather not after we just made some progress in dealing with my past.”

“If it helps, I’ll only judge past Sunset, and she’s a bitch. You’re way better.”

Sunset shook her head. “I was hoping to use the Princess’s kindness against her,” she muttered quietly. “Either she wouldn’t want to hurt the kids, or she’d show everypony that she was hypocritical and cruel the way I knew she was.”

The tent went quiet again.

“Man,” Flash said. “Old Sunset was a super bitch. I’m glad she’s gone.”

“I know what you’re trying to say. That old me and new me are totally different people, but it kinda still feels like you’re talking about me.”

“No. You’re cool, honest. You…you try a lot, and I respect that.”

Sunset nodded, and silence took over the tent again.

She didn’t mind it so much this time.

---♦---

Sunset cast Emerald’s Erastz Senses a second time and frowned. Her second casting of the spell didn’t change what she saw, and that only made this worse. Emeralds Ersatz changed how she perceived the world. Specifically, the sun appeared as a ball of pure, unadulterated magic. Its magical signature provided no light because Emerald’s Ersatz didn’t take light into account at all, yet the sun hurt her eyes despite that.

However, staring at the mountain around her, she found a matching energy signature burning in a tunnel.

She knew logically that it wouldn’t match the sun’s energy level even if it were the Crystal. The relative distance between the two was partially to blame, but she couldn’t help but feel awe at the thing.

She dropped the spell again and sighed.

“What did you find?” Flash asked.

“I think I found our gem,” she said.

“Really?” Flash asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“I mean, that’s good, right? We found it and the place where all these golems are being made.”

“That last bit is what I’m worried about,” Sunset said.

“Fair enough. So, how do we want to do this? Bring the roof down on them again? Stealth through? Gather the peasants and form a mob, complementary pitchfork, and torch included?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, but the question under his joke did need to be addressed.

“It’s probably better that we don’t get into any fights. Fighting a few golems will be dangerous enough without walking into the place where they’re being made.”

“Alright, Bravo Six, going dark,” Flash said. “Of course, in my experience, half of the time, a stealth mission only stays a stealth mission when you kill all the witnesses.”

Sunset sighed. “Yes, there is a chance that will happen. So let’s try to not get caught, alright?”

“Sure. Do you have anything to help us with that? Like an invisibility spell or something?”

“Invisibility spells aren’t reversible. If I cast one, I’d have to rebuild your visible form from scratch. So, unless you want my hooves all over your body, it’s not happening.”

“It’s not like it’s anywhere they haven’t been before.”

Sunset planted her face into a hoof. “Flash.”

“Hey, it’s true.”

Sunset sighed. “Besides, if I can get to my other point?”

“I won’t stop you.”

“Chances are the golems also see in different spectrums besides visible light.”

“What, like infrared?”

“Sort of. There’s no human-world equivalent because of the lack of magic, but it’s the same basic idea. It’s just magical auras instead of heat.”

“Alright.”

Sunset smiled. “You know, I’m kinda glad the humans have the technology they do. It’d be impossible to explain this to you otherwise.”

Flash shrugged. “You’re welcome, I guess.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Okay, let’s move carefully, stay low to the ground and close to the walls, try not to get out of sight.”

Flash nodded and followed closely.

Sunset moved into the cave, keeping her own advice and hugging the right-hand wall. She stayed low, her knees bent as she crawled into the tunnel. The walls were smooth but not cut like the previous tunnel. Stalagmites and stalactites sprouted from the floor and hung from the ceiling, respectively, revealing a hint of the ancient cavern’s age.

At first five feet across and barely wide enough for the golems, the tunnel widened to a massive size, revealing rooms that could have held houses. The smallest ones were perhaps the size of broom closets, but most were no smaller than her apartment back in the human world.

And walking in those rooms, patrolling back and forth, were golems. After seeing three separate rooms, they found the first golem, walking around the latest, apartment-sized room in wide circles.

Sunset glanced about carefully and waved Flash to join her. He slipped up beside her without saying a word or making a noise.

Sunset pointed to the golem and tried to figure out how to tell Flash they would get behind it without using any words.

He nodded to show that he saw the golem, but when she tried to pantomime getting behind it, he looked at her confused.

She grimaced and pulled Flash to the side, hiding behind a stalagmite as the monster came around to face them. As the golem lumbered toward them, Sunset hoped they’d stay hidden and glanced at Flash, trying to tell him what she meant a second time.

Flash shook his head in confusion.

Sunset sighed before glancing back at the golem and waved to Flash to follow her as it turned its back on both of them. She moved up right behind the golem, giving maybe three feet of distance, and glanced back to Flash.

He’d followed her without a complaint.

Sunset stuck as close as she dared, leaving just enough space behind the golem so it wouldn’t see her if it looked behind itself. It lumbered forward, crossing the room with the single-minded determination Sunset expected of a magic robot, before coming to the far side of the room, which narrowed into a natural corridor between.

And lumbering up from that corridor was another golem, staring straight at them.

Sunset jumped to the side, trying to hide behind a stalagmite, and Flash followed after, staying as close as he could without slamming into her.

Both golems turned to face them.

“Run!”

Sunset didn’t realize she was the one who said that until she was already halfway across the room. The golems rushed the two ponies, who ran for the cave mouth to try and get out as fast as they could.

One golem dropped to all fours before rolling up into a ball. It picked up speed horrifyingly quickly and rolled past both Flash and Sunset, lodging itself in the doorway.

Sunset realized a terrifying half-second later that it was keeping them from escaping so she couldn’t collapse the tunnel on them. She skidded to a halt against the smooth cave floor and turned. Flash took off, hovering in the room and trying to look for a different angle of approach.

Sunset looked at the golem behind them. It slowly approached, arms up and ready to strike, moving purposefully but cautiously. The golem in the passageway back to the mountainside didn’t move and remained curled into a ball. She turned to face the one that was still uncurled and ready. If that one was taken down, the one blocking the door might have to stand and fight them.

“Every time,” Flash said. “Every time I do a stealth mission, I always wind up pulling out the rocket launcher.”

“Less video games, more present, Flash,” she said. “Here’s the plan. We take out this guy, which should force the one in the door to try and stop us. That’s our way out.”

“Think we can do it?” Flash said.

“Sure,” Sunset said. “It’s just one golem.”

Flash frowned grimly. “Sure. I guess we can do that.”

A third golem came into the room, fists clenched.

“Okay, we need to fight two at a time,” she said, hearing the confidence draining in her own voice. “We’ve done that before.”

A fourth arrived.

“Sunset,” Flash said. “Why don’t you stop there.”

She didn’t reply.

A fifth arrived, and the four active golems all began to surround the pair of ponies.

“Do you have a plan?” Flash asked.

She didn’t. A thought passed through her head, but she couldn’t cast that spell and keep Flash alive. A wave of Destroy Mind could kill all the golems here. Without directing the spell, it would take out every gem at once, but it also would take out Flash.

A part of her hated her for even thinking that.

“I’m working on it.”

The four golems were closing in. Flash tried to dive-bomb one before a second golem grabbed him from the air and tossed him to the ground. Flash landed hard, rolling past Sunset as the four golems kept getting closer to the pair.

Flash had gotten back onto his hooves; he mainly appeared unharmed, but Sunset wasn’t sure he’d do much better hale than if he had a broken leg.

The golems moved closer still, raising fists and ready to bring them down.

Sunset ran through a handful of spells. She could start with a shield, which would buy her time, but if her defense broke, the magical backlash would foil any other attacks she could prepare. If the guard didn’t break, she might be able to use a Control Matter to dig into the ground and—

No, dig into the ground first. That way, the earth would protect her. She’d lose line of sight on the golems, but it would probably—

“Sunset,” Flash called.

“Working on it,” she said.

Dig into the ground. Morning Glory’s Mage’s Eye would let her see the golems, and then she’d have to try and break the golems to pieces. She’d have to use matter spells, but she didn’t have the pure magical strength to—

“Sunset,” Flash called again as the golems moved closer still.

“Working on it!” she yelled.

She’d need leverage, but she couldn’t summon any pillars without destabilizing the ground further, and the golems knew to break them anyway. She’d have to come up with something to—

“Sunset!”

“I need time!”

The golems were on top of them, arms raised and ready to pummel them both into a red paste.

Sunset’s horn began to glow; she needed time, but first, she had to live.

“What is going on in here?”

Comments

[Noobblue]

Here we go, the big reveal of who's been up to the shenanaganry

[MoonlightRift]

“I’m sorry, Sunset. Don’t…I don’t want to drag up your past, especially since you’re working so hard. I don’t open up old wounds. Despite that, a part of me will never let me forget. I don’t know how to deal with that. My head knows you’re doing everything you can, but U have such a hard time separating the two anywhere else.”

you

Wonder who the person will be.