Chapter VII: Event Horizon
Chapter VII: Event Horizon
Crisis in Cloudsdale!
Princess Twilight Sparkle and Bearers of Harmony nearly fall to their deaths! First Library of Cloudsdale destroyed!
What started as a normal day in Cloudsdale descended into pandemonium, as pegasi witnessed the destruction of one of the city’s oldest buildings.
“It was awful!” One eyewitness stated. “I just saw the library turn dark, and start expanding into a thundercloud! Then, the entire structure just fell in on itself!”
Within the destruction of Cloudsdale’s most treasured store of knowledge, every book inside was tragically burnt to ashes. While nopony was killed, librarian, Milky Way was severely burnt during the incident. He was not available for comment.
Newly coronated princess, Twilight Sparkle, who had just rescued her friends from the abnormal fire had this to say:
“I am truly sorry for Cloudsdale’s loss of literature and culture. My friends and I will do everything to make sure this crime does not go unpunished!”
When pressed for further details, Princess Twilight said, “Well, to put it frankly, it was a terrorist attack by a pony named Vesper Radiance. She... well, uhh, all I can really say is that she’s trying to usurp the throne.”
When asked how or why, the princess would not give a direct answer.
Not long after Princess Twilight had left the library and met up with her friends, the rest of the Bearers of Harmony, eyewitnesses reported a mysterious red light hitting all those who did not have wings, and watching them drop through the cloud base.
“It was so odd, one second they were there, and the next, they had just vanished!”
Cloudsdale natives, Rainbow Dash, best known for being the only pegasus to be able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom, and Fluttershy, along with the princess, dove after their friends in a heroic act of rescue. What happened beneath the clouds is a mystery, but all ponies and dragon came back up, safe and sound, afterwhich they had a brief encounter with the pony calling herself Vesper Radiance, whose appearance was completely obscured by her cloak. The enigmatic pony then proceeded to teleport away, and the Elements of Harmony left Cloudsdale without giving any comments on the situation.
No doubt Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will have more to say about this dangerous turn of events. Who is this Vesper Radiance? How far is she willing to go for the Equestrian Throne? Where will she strike next? In the meantime, all cities are advised to take extra security measures and all citizens should report anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.
Princess Celestia sighed and folded the copy of the evening paper, laying it on the dining table with the picture of Twilight standing in front of a black storm cloud facing up. She put her forehooves together, gathering her thoughts.
“Well,” Applejack said, her voice cutting through the silence, “on the bright side, all of Equestria will have their guard up. Might make it a little harder for that snake to hide.”
The seven ponies and Spike were gathered at the table with Princess Celestia, having arrived a few hours ago to tell her and Luna personally what had happened in Cloudsdale. After Applejack had revealed what they discovered in the museum, Luna excused herself to the library to do some research of her own.
The dying light of the evening sun fell through the glass windows of the dining hall, bathing it in an orange glow. Empty dinner plates sat around the table; the earlier events of the day had left everyone with an appetite. Celestia’s small dinner salad, however, remained untouched. She was too busy digesting everything she had been told. She knew Twilight and her friends had been in dangerous situations before, but that didn’t stop her from worrying about them. However, in hindsight, forcing Twilight’s friends out of the sky seemed like an almost amateur move. There were several other ways the situation could have been handled. Anypony getting gravely injured was a high improbability. Was it merely a test from Vesper Radiance to see what she was up against?
Celestia sighed again and opened her eyes, focusing on nothing in particular. “That may be true, Applejack, but we still don’t know what she looks like. Taking off the the amulet, she could easily blend in with the crowd.”
Applejack deflated a bit. “Right.”
Unclasping her hooves, Celestia raised a hoof to her head and massaged her temple. “Lifetimes of literature destroyed, and a terrorist on the loose. The governors and tabloids are going to have a field day with Luna and I.” She looked at each of them in turn. “Regardless, I’m grateful you’re all safe. And, we have a lead to where the Tempest Crown lies hidden.”
Twilight nodded. “Los Pegasus, or at least somewhere in that general area. But, it’s a start. Hopefully we can find some trace of Captain Gale’s descendant. If my hunch is correct, he’s an heir to Commander Hurricane, since only his family lineage knows where the crown is.”
“Your hunch is correct, Twilight Sparkle,” a formal voice called.
Luna stepped back into the room, a thick book floating behind her. She stopped at the front of the table and dropped the book open to a page showing an old picture of Captain Gale. He was a deep shade of blue, and had an impressive brown goatee to match his mane. Luna slid the book over to Twilight, who turned it around and began reading the biography next to the picture.
“After you told us of what transpired, I thought to do some research of my own,” Luna said. “The records show that Gale is part of Hurricane’s bloodline. If you turn the page, you’ll see that it continues on even further, ending about one hundred years ago.”
Twilight flipped the page, finding smaller articles about some of the children and grandchildren that came after Captain Gale. They had lived less than extraordinary lives, and thus, did not get a whole page to themselves. When she got about three generations down, to a mare named Dizzy Duster, the entries on his bloodline stopped. Dizzy Duster had died almost a century prior, and bore no foals. Twilight quickly flipped back and forth through the book, trying to find any other relatives, distant or close, who carried on to their current time. Unfortunately, she found none. Twilight looked up at Luna, hoping she had additional news to share.
Luna, however, shook her head. “That is all we could find, Twilight. Every saga must come to an end somewhere.”
“Great,” Twilight groaned, closing the book. “All this confirms is that Gale and Hurricane are related, but no one from their bloodline is alive today.” She sighed. “So, unless we can find a way to talk to one of them, we’re stuck.”
Spike poked Sunset in the shoulder. “You don’t think we could use your hourglass to go back in time and ask where the Tempest Crown was hidden, do you?”
Sunset lifted the timepiece onto the table and frowned. “You wanna ask it? Because I tried to use it when we were falling and it ignored me. I’m starting to think I may have made a one-way trip.”
“Don’t worry, Sunset, we’ll get you home,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. “But right now we need to focus on the present. Even if we go to Los Pegasus, what do we do from there? Assuming that everypony in the Hurricane bloodline told their children where the Tempest Crown was, that would potentially put Dizzy Duster as the last to know. And even if she did tell somepony, that pony could be anypony, anywhere!” Twilight threw her hooves in the air. “Ughh! And something tells me Vesper Radiance already knows where to go!”
“Well then, why don’t we just follow her?” Pinkie asked.
The room fell silent, as everyone turned to look at her. Celestia lifted her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Why, Pinkie Pie, that idea is so simple, it just might work.”
Rainbow took pause from flexing her recently recovered wings, and skeptically asked, “It could?” When Celestia had seen Rainbow’s sprained wings, she quickly healed them with a glow from her horn before doing the same with Fluttershy’s. Celestia had offered to heal Sunset’s cheek, but Sunset had refused.
Rainbow continued. “No offense, Your Highness, but you said it yourself: if Vesper takes the amulet off, finding her in a big city would be impossible!”
“If she took it off. And even if she did, she would keep it near her at all times, which may be the best way to track her.” Celestia stood up from the table, noting Rainbow Dash’s—along with everyone else’s—face of confusion. She walked over to the main window of the dining hall that gave a view of the statue garden and the Royal Hedge Maze, her ethereal mane waving softly as she stepped. “You see, Rainbow Dash, magic always leaves some sort of trace, or even a beacon at times.” From the corner of her eye, Celestia saw Twilight and Sunset’s mouths make ‘Os’ of comprehension.
Celestia smiled at the brilliance of her two students. For everyone else’s benefit, she continued. “Every magic has a signature that can potentially be followed. Almost like the way a dog could follow a particular smell back to a familiar place. If you went back to Cloudsdale, you would probably find Vesper Radiance’s, or rather, the Alicorn Amulet’s magic signature all over the cloud that once was the library.”
“Oh, I get it!” Rainbow grinned. “We just have to follow the magic trail to Vesper Radiance, and bam! We got our terrorist!”
Twilight raised a hoof. “Not quite, Rainbow. You see, the only way magic would leave an actual trail is if Vesper was blasting spells every few feet from here to Los Pegasus. But,” she added, seeing Rainbow’s expression turn bitter, “like Celestia said, magic does leave a trace, some more powerful than others, and some traces take a while to disappear. Magical artifacts often leave very strong beacons of magic that take a while to vanish. It’s like a hot stove that takes a while to cool off.”
Sunset was grinning from ear to ear. She said in an excited tone, “If we use a homing spell, we could find the amulet’s signature and find Vesper Radiance!” She turned to Twilight. “That’s what you meant when you told me to ‘follow the Alicorn Amulet!’ If we get to Los Pegasus and put our magic together, we could create a target field that could cover the whole city! There’s no way she could hide from us!”
“Wait, why can’t we just do it from here?” Applejack asked.
Luna answered, “One can only hone in on magic from so far away. Regardless, it is a most sound plan, and for now, the only one we have.” She looked over at Pinkie. “Magnificent idea, Miss Pie.”
Pinkie looked up from the bowl of ice cream she had just received from one of the kitchen staff ponies. “I have my moments,” she said, before diving back into her dessert, face first.
“Indeed,” Luna said, ignoring Pinkie’s poor table manners. She stood up and joined Celestia by the window, watching the last rays of the sun’s light sink below the horizon.
The light from Celestia’s horn faded, as the sun completed its transition. Luna then lit her horn with a soft blue light, and one by one, the stars lit up across the night sky, coating the black canvas like glitter. Somewhere on the other side of the castle, the moon had risen to replace the sun, bathing the world in its soft glow.
Castle servants quickly came into the dining hall and lit the candelabras along the wall, before clearing the table of empty dinner plates.
Celestia turned and faced the ponies sitting at the table. “Well, now that we have the next part of our plan, I suggest that you all go and rest up. Tomorrow we can—”
“Uh, actually, Princess,” Sunset interrupted. “I think we should leave tonight. As soon as possible in fact.”
“Really?” Celestia asked, surprised at Sunset’s eagerness to leave. “You don’t think you should wait until tomorrow? You’ve all had quite a rough day.”
“No,” Sunset said curtly. “Waiting would only give Vesper Radiance more distance between us. It’ll take almost a day to reach Los Pegasus by airship. If we left tomorrow, she would have a two day lead, by which, she could already have whatever information she needed and be on her way. We have to keep pace.”
Luna looked from Sunset to Celestia. “She is right, sister. If we tarry, we risk the chance of losing her, which is not something we can afford at this point.”
Celestia looked Sunset in the eyes, whereupon Sunset quickly looked away. Celestia raised a curious eyebrow, but dismissed Sunset’s behavior, addressing the rest of the group instead. “Well, it is the most sensible course of action, unless any of you have any qualms you wish to discuss?”
They all looked at each other in turn, silently asking if any of them had an issue with the plan. When no one said anything, Celestia made for the door, motioning for everyone to follow her. “Very well then, let us make haste. Hopefully we can still find an airship captain willing to fly at this hour.”
The carriage ride from the castle to the airship dock was a quiet one, and had taken two carts to transport everyone. Sunset sat with Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy in the back carriage, not wanting to sit with Celestia. The whisper in Sunset’s head had already thrown a hissy fit during dinner. The carriages rattled along the dirt road, departing from the city proper, and heading towards a more remote location. The scenery changed from luxurious purple and gold tiled houses, to quaint cottages and scattered trees. The road eventually began to run along the mountain face, turning the view into nothing but rock.
Sunset pulled away from the window facing the mountainside. “So...” Sunset tried breaking the quiet atmosphere, though she could tell her friends were growing tired. “Have any of you guys flown in an airship before?”
They all shook their heads, and Applejack said, “Nope. Anywhere I need to go, I usually just take a train. Besides, those things cost a fortune to ride in.”
“And it’s kinda pointless when you have these,” Rainbow said, showing off her wings. “Why, have you ridden in one?”
“A couple times actually,” Sunset said, remembering fondly. “My parents liked to go on vacation every summer, so we’d take trips to different places. We rode an airship to Baltimare, and to Neighagra Falls.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely,” Fluttershy cooed. “I heard the view from the falls is breathtaking.”
Sunset nodded. “It really is. One of the best views in Equestria. If I had my pictures, I’d love to show you guys...”
The carriage came to a halt in front of a cathedral-looking entrance into the mountain. It was all white marble with steps leading up to a tall bronze door. An alicorn statue stood embedded into the rockface on both sides.
The guards who had been pulling the carriage unhitched themselves and opened the compartment door, helping the mares out. Sunset stepped out and walked over to the other side of the road, peering over the cliff. Down below her was an enormous steel platform that curved around the mountain. Tethered to tall, metal poles along the edge was a flotilla of airships, ranging in size, shape and color.
“This is the Canterlot Air Dock,” Sunset heard Celestia speak. Everyone else had joined her along the ledge, all of them fascinated by the view. Beyond the marina, Equestria stretched out in front of them, cloaked in the blanket of night, the outlines of hills and mountains barely visible.
“Come, this way,” Celestia said, heading towards the large bronze door. Beyond it was a large lobby, brightly illuminated by a chain of golden chandeliers. The floor was a reflective marble, much like the type in Canterlot Castle. Sofas, tables and potted plants decorated the interior, giving it a homely feel. Blue ribbons hung from the tops of the white columns lining the wall.
Celestia stepped up to the mahogany desk, where a young pink mare with a yellow mane was sitting, filling out paperwork. Celestia cleared her throat, and the mare said, “I’m sorry, but we have no more outgoing flights for the night.” She hadn’t bothered looking up from her desk.
“Yes, but this is a royal emergency, Miss Airheart,” Celestia said gently.
Airheart looked up and stammered, “P-Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight! Please forgive me, Your Highnesses!” She swept the papers off her desk and put her hooves together, giving them her best smile. “How may I help you this evening?”
“We need the fastest airship to Los Pegasus. I know this is short notice, but as I said, it’s an emergency.”
“Oh no, Princess, I’m sure we can get something arranged. Uhh, just wait here, Your Majesties.” Airheart quickly scuttled from around her desk and ran down the hall, disappearing behind one of the many doors.
Rarity shifted on her hooves, looking nervous. “I know it’s a little late to be bringing this up, but... is flying an airship at night really safe?” She looked between Luna and Celestia.
“Fear not, my little pony,” Luna answered. “Flying at night is no more dangerous than flying in the day. You shall have the stars to help guide you, and the expertise of a well trained captain.”
Airheart soon returned with a new pegasus trotting behind her. He was dark blue, almost black, with a purple mane and a compass for a cutie mark. He gave the ponies a quick smile which, in Sunset’s opinion, almost looked like a grimace.
“This is Sky Chart.” Airheart gestured towards him. “He’s agreed to fly you to Los Pegasus. He’s one of our newer captains, but he’s certain he can get the job done.”
“New?” Rarity asked, her voiced laced with apprehension. “How ‘new’ are we talking?”
“I graduated from school last year,” Sky Chart answered.
“I see. And, by chance, have you ever piloted at night?”
“Well, not on my own, no....”
Rarity nodded. “Yes, I see. Listen, darling, you look like a nice colt and a promising captain, but we’re running a very delicate operation, and, no offense to you, dear, but I’d feel a touch bit safer if we had someone with a little more experience escorting us.”
Airheart frowned. “I’m sorry, miss, but Sky Chart here is the most experienced captain we have on staff right now. Everypony else has gone home, I was lucky to find him still here.”
Rarity folded her ears. “Oh, I see.”
Sky Chart flashed her another smile. “Don’t worry, I promise I can get you where you need to be.”
Rarity didn’t look all that reassured, and Sunset couldn’t fully blame her. Sky Chart seemed nice enough, but exuded an aura of newness that made Sunset feel like perhaps he wasn’t up for the job. Sunset tried assuaging her fears. It’s one simple flight, and most of it is over flat land anyway. What could possibly go wrong? I really hope I didn’t just jinx that.
“Well, if nopony else has any concerns, follow me to the marina so we can get prepped and ready,” Airheart said, leading them down the blue carpet.
They entered through a large door, and began descending down a spiraling ramp that exited out onto the cliffside platform where the airships were docked. The wind moaned loudly across the deck, creating a cold draft that made most of the ponies shiver.
Airheart took them over to a small, blue ship with gold trimmings and a standard oval shaped balloon. Two large, fin-like wings extended from both sides of the ship, and propellers lined the back. It floated over the open valley, moored to the metal pole behind it. Painted on the hull in gold letters was her name, Blue Moon.
Sky Chart nodded to Airheart and flew up to the ship, disappearing behind the railing. Airheart turned to everyone else. “He should be finish with the preparations shortly. I’ll contact Los Pegasus and tell them your arrival time should be in about eight hours. Is there anything else you need?”
Princess Celestia beamed at her. “No, Miss Airheart, you’ve done a wonderful job, thank you.”
Airheart bowed. “Of course, Princess.” She added a bow to Luna and Twilight as well before retreating back into the building.
Twilight stepped around to Celestia’s front. “Here, Princess,” she said, levitating her saddlebag off her back. “Could you look after these for a while?”
“The Elements of Harmony?” Celestia asked, looking genuinely shocked. “You don’t want to take these with you?”
Twilight shook her head and looked at Princess Luna. “You said it yourself, the elements might not even work on the Dark Regalia, and after what happened in Cloudsdale, I think they’ll be safer with you. Besides, we can’t just hit Vesper Radiance with them—”
“We can’t?” Rainbow asked.
“No,” Twilight said flatly. “She should be brought to justice and tried for her crimes first.”
Celestia smiled at her, taking the bag into her magic. “Spoken like a true leader.”
A gangplank lowered from the ship, and Sky Chart called, “All hooves on deck, it’s time to set sail!”
“Safe voyage, Twilight. Be sure to send us a letter when you arrive,” Celestia said, embracing Twilight in a tender hug.
“I will, Princess.”
Sunset felt a combination of anger and envy boil in her stomach, before a deep sense of longing replaced it. A brief vision of her and Celestia hugging like that filled her sight, before Twilight replaced Celestia. Sunset shook it off, holding back a growl of frustration. Wanting to be alone for a minute, she walked up the gangplank and onto the deck of the ship. It was an open space that rose up at the bow where Sky Chart stood, waiting at the wheel. Toward the stern, two sets of stairs led up to a small quarterdeck. In between them was a door to the cabin, while another trapdoor sat in the middle of the deck, leading down into the interior of the ship. Above Sunset, the balloon floated, tethered to several points on the ship and casting the entire deck in its shadow.
Sunset walked over to Sky Chart. “So, this thing can get us to Los Pegasus, right?”
“Hopefully...” Sky Chart muttered under his breath. “I mean, yes! Don’t worry, miss, I’m confident we’ll make it there just fine.”
Sunset gave him a highly doubtful look, but said nothing. Behind her, the rest of the group trotted onto the deck, taking in their surroundings.
Sky Chart flew over and raised the gangplank, then undid the anchor, allowing the ship to drift away from the platform. He flew back over to the wheel and spun it to the left. “Alright, next stop, Los Pegasus!” The soft hum of the ship’s propellers filled the air, along with the flapping of the ship’s wings. The Blue Moon floated further and further away from Canterlot, but Sunset could still see Celestia and Luna standing on the marina, waving farewell.
Applejack gave a loud yawn. “Say, Sky Chart, is there any place we can hunker down for the night?”
Sky Chart gestured to the trapdoor. “There are some cabins down below. Make yourselves comfortable.”
“Well, Ah don’t know about y’all, but Ah’m headin’ to bed. Not much to do around here anyway.” Applejack flung the door open and trotted down the steps, disappearing in the darkness below.
“Yeah, sleep sounds good right now,” Rainbow said, stretching her wings one more time before she followed Applejack downstairs.
One by one, Sunset watched them descend the staircase, agreeing that it had been a long day, and a good night’s sleep was something they all needed. Sunset, however, did not feel sleepy. She was tired, but not in the drowsy kind of way. She just wanted to sit and think.
Twilight stopped halfway down the steps and poked her head up over the doorframe. “Aren’t you coming to bed, Sunset?”
“In a little bit. I just want to... admire the view for a while.”
Twilight hesitated for a moment, then said, “Alright then. Good night.”
“Night, Twilight.” Sunset heard Twilight’s hoofsteps fade out, and knew that she and Sky Chart were the only two left on the desk. He was whistling an unfamiliar tune as he steered, paying little attention to Sunset. She actually preferred it that way. She didn’t feel like talking.
Sunset walked along the edge of the ship, looking down to the dark world beneath her. Off to the side, she could see the tiny flickering lights of Ponyville, growing fainter with each passing second. She left the railing and headed towards the cabin door, curious to know what was on the other side. She opened it up and found a cozy lounge, no doubt used for upper class gatherings. There was a couch shaped in a semicircle around a glass table, a bowl of fake fruit sat on top as a centerpiece. Cider goblets and polished plates were neatly arranged in a glass cabinet off to the side.
Sunset made her way around the room, shuffling her hooves along the soft carpet that blanketed the entire floor. She hopped onto the couch and laid down, looking at her face in the reflective glass table. She put a hoof up to her bruised cheek. Now it only hurt when she thought about it. Part of her wished she had taken Celestia’s offer to heal it, but her newfound hatred for Celestia had urged her otherwise.
Deciding that she needed some air again, Sunset headed back outside and up to the quarterdeck, feeling the cold wind against her fur. She stopped at the back of the ship and looked at the stars as they drifted past. On a normal night when she couldn’t sleep, Sunset would go up to the observatory in Canterlot Castle and look at the constellations. Once, she had found Luna up there, looking at them as well. They had had a short conversation before Luna departed, saying she had important things to do.
Sunset hadn’t minded. Part of her liked being alone sometimes. There was nopony to distract her from her thoughts. She could meditate, and concentrate on whatever problem she was dealing with. Now, her thoughts were the problem. Ever since she had come back to the past—no, ever since she had met with Celestia, something was amiss inside her head.
She had tried to deny it, blaming it on anxiety or lack of sleep. But Sunset knew it was getting worse, and she was running out of excuses. She hated Celestia. It was like a fire burning through her soul that no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, just hearing Celestia’s name would reignite it.
And yet...
Running through Sunset’s head were faint memories of a kind and loving Celestia. Sunset could see herself as Celestia’s student, impressing her, being praised by her. She was like a mother figure.
But Sunset hated her.
Add to the fact that these memories were out of place anyway. She was Twilight student, she was very sure of that. In fact, some of the memories with Celestia were very similar to memories she had with Twilight. She could swap one with the other, and they’d be practically identical. None of it made any sense to Sunset, and thinking about it only made her want to scream.
She rested her chin on the back railing and let out a long sigh. Maybe I am just losing my mind. I did inhale a lot of smoke while I was running away. Could that mess up my brain? Maybe the future Vesper Radiance did something to me? Well, I don’t have an insatiable lust to destroy everything, so maybe not. Did traveling through time do something to my memories? Maybe I’m somehow remembering things that haven’t happened yet. Wait, I was a filly in that dream last night, so there goes that theory. Besides, that wouldn’t explain why I want to rip that fake loving smile off of Celestia’s face!
Sunset threw her face into her hooves. What is wrong with me? She sat like that, trying to ignore the whisper of hate in her head, and instead concentrated on the gentle rocking of the ship. She had always loved the swaying of an airship. It was like a lullaby trying to bring her to sleep. Sunset wasn’t sure how long she had stayed in that position, all she knew was that sleep would not come to her this time.
When her legs began to cramp up, Sunset stood and stretched before throwing her forehooves across the railing and sighing again. She stared out at the dark horizon, focusing on the black line marking the boundary between land and sky, like it held all the answers to her questions.
“Sunset?”
Sunset jumped at the voice behind her. She turned around to see Twilight walking up to her, rubbing her eyes. “I thought I might find you up here.”
“Twilight, what are you doing up?” Sunset was always glad to see Twilight, but right now, she still didn’t feel like talking to anypony.
“I was having some trouble sleeping, and something told me you probably were too.” She took a seat next to Sunset and looked out at the view. “I can kinda see why Luna wanted ponies to appreciate her night. The world has a kind of beauty that can only be seen at night sometimes.”
“Yeah,” was all Sunset could think to say.
Twilight turned her head, looking Sunset in the eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Sunset looked away, rubbing her good cheek with a hoof. “Nothing’s wrong. I just like sitting out here. It’s nice.” A particularly cold gust of wind blew against Sunset, forcing her teeth to chatter.
“Sunset, you’re like an open book, and trust me, I know a lot about books. Something is bothering you, it’s written on your face.”
Sunset opened her mouth, then closed it again. How was she supposed to tell Twilight what was on her mind? Sure, Twilight might believe her if Sunset told her about the memories, but Sunset doubted she would have any useful advice. And then there was the matter of Celestia. How was Sunset supposed to tell Twilight that she despised the Princess of the Sun? Twilight held Celestia in the highest regard.
“It’s nothing, Twilight, really.” Sunset was hoping Twilight would eventually just let it go.
Twilight placed a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Please, Sunset. I just want to help.”
“And I appreciate it, I really do,” Sunset said sincerely. “But, there’s nothing to talk about.”
Twilight started to say something else, but stopped, lowering her hoof. She sighed. “Alright, Sunset. But, if you want to talk, I’m always ready to listen.”
Sunset nodded absently, inwardly cringing at the disappointment in Twilight’s voice. As much as she hated disappointing her mentor, Sunset just couldn’t bring herself to talk about her mental troubles. Instead, the two of them sat together, under the shadow of the balloon, neither of them saying anything.
Sunset closed her eyes, still trying to calm the turmoil that was her thoughts. Her body was tired, but her mind was wide awake. She wondered what it had been that had kept Twilight up. She thought to ask, but decided it wouldn’t be fair, since Sunset herself didn’t want to talk about her own problems.
“Sunset,” Twilight said, “do you mind if I ask you something else?”
“Technically, you just did,” Sunset quipped, an automatic reflex usually saved for her friends, not the princesses. She was about to apologize, when she heard Twilight began to chuckle.
“Good one. Princess Celestia would pull that one on me a lot when I was small.” Her laughter subsided. “But, really, may I?”
Sunset shrugged. “Sure.”
Twilight pointed down. “Your cutie mark, I’ve been wondering what it means. How did you get it? If you want to tell me that is.”
Sunset looked down at the mark on her flank: an eight rayed sun, four red, four yellow. In the center, the two colors circled about each other in a seamless duality. She smiled, remembering the story she had told to the crowd in the park the day she had arrived in the past.
“My cutie mark represents my ability to tap into the streams of energy the sun releases, and convert it into magic,” Sunset explained.
“Wait, what?” Twilight folded her ears back, a perplexed look on her face. “You can turn sunlight into magic?”
Sunset let out a soft laugh. “No, not sunlight. The arcane surges from the sun that fill all things with life. I can kinda intercept them and turn these energies into magic. I guess it kinda is like photosynthesis, only with less light and more magic."
Twilight blinked at her, mouth open. “That... that sounds amazing! Can you give me a demonstration?”
“I’d love to, but I can only do it during the daytime... and it’s a little dangerous,” Sunset added in a soft undertone. “You see, I’m tapping into pure solar energy. When it runs through me, it heats up my body pretty fast. I have to be careful so I don’t do any permanent damage.”
“Incredible,” Twilight whispered. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like it. Using a natural resource like the sun as a magic booster. It must take a tremendous amount of focus.”
Sunset nodded, remembering all of the headaches she endured trying to master her talent. “It took years of training to get where I am now, and it’s still hard to do sometimes, so I try not to use it often.” She squinted her eyes. “Actually, now that I think about it... I’ve only really used it once outside of training.”
“And when was that?” Twilight asked.
“The day I got my cutie mark.” Sunset’s smile widened. “I was about nine, and I dragged my friends to the Everfree Forest, thinking that if we slayed some monsters we’d be heroes. I know, I know it was stupid,” she added, seeing the look on Twilight’s face. “But I was little. I had a lot of stupid ideas. Anyway, we found a pack of timberwolves and decided that maybe our little mission wasn’t a good idea. We tried to leave quietly, but one of us stepped on a branch and woke all of them up. I’m pretty sure that was the fastest I ever ran that day,” Sunset laughed.
“But,” Sunset’s tone grew a little more serious. “As we were trying to get out of the forest, my friend Ruby tripped on a root. The wolves stopped chasing us and decided to go for her. They were about to get her, and I just...” Sunset squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I got so scared, and mad at myself for bringing her there... I’m not really sure what happened. I just remember feeling really hot and telling the timberwolves to leave her alone. There was a bright light, and when I could see again, all of the timberwolves were just... dust. Ruby was in the center of it, shaking, but still alive.
“And that’s when this appeared,” Sunset gestured to her mark. “And shortly after that, you showed up to rescue us.”
“I did?” Twilight’s eyes widened with curiosity.
“Yep. Our parents had been really worried about my friends and I, so they personally went to you.” Sunset scratched the back of her head, looking sheepish. “We were in so much trouble when you brought us back home.”
“Well I would imagine so,” Twilight said. “You ran away from Canterlot all the way to the Everfree forest. Why would you even do something like that?”
Sunset played with her hooves. “To be like you,” she said softly.
Twilight fell silent.
“It kind of worked,” Sunset continued. “After that, you took me as your apprentice. It was the happiest day of my life.”
“Sunset...” Twilight looked misty eyed. She cleared her throat. “You... you should really just try to be yourself.”
“Yeah, I know that now. I told you, I was small and filled with dumb ideas. I just grew up with all these stories about how you saved the world. I wanted to be brave and strong like you.” Sunset slapped a hoof to her face. “Gosh, this sounds so sappy.”
“No, Sunset, it’s great that you have a hero.” Twilight blushed. “I just can’t believe that hero is me. I’m really not all that brave, at least, not on my own. I only run towards danger because my friends are with me, or because they’re in trouble. If anything, I admire you, Sunset.”
Sunset looked at her. “Really, why?”
Twilight gestured outward with a hoof. “For trying your hardest to save all of this. You risked a lot of things to come back and try to save the world. And you were about to do it on your own too.”
“I wasn’t being brave,” Sunset protested. “I was stupid, thinking I could solve this on my own. I doubt I would have even made it this far.”
Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “You really shouldn’t doubt yourself so much. I’m sure you would have figured something out. But... I am glad you decided to trust in us instead.”
Sunset bowed her head. Yeah... trust. She clenched her teeth, deciding to tell Twilight the truth now before she chickened out. “Twilight, listen... I... well...”
“What is it, Sunset? You can tell me.”
“I know. It’s just... I’ve—” The entire ship gave a violent lurch, and Sunset hit the railing with enough force to send her toppling over the edge. A hoof grabbed her, and for the second time that day, Sunset found herself being caught by Twilight.
“Sunset, don’t let go!”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen!” Against her better judgement, Sunset decided to look down. Racing up past her face was a ball of red energy, larger than a cannonball. It continued skyward, narrowly missing the balloon, but it was quickly followed by another one, this time hitting the bottom of the ship.
Twilight hauled Sunset back onto the deck, as the Blue Moon moaned in pain. “What’s going on?” she asked frantically.
“We’re under attack! Somepony is trying to blast us out of the sky, and I’ll give you one guess who it is.” The ship rocked again, as another magic missile slammed into its side, and the smell of smoke began to fill the air.
Sunset and Twilight ran back down to the main deck, just in time to see Sky Chart crouched against the deck with his wings spread out, like he was about to take off.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Sunset yelled.
Sky Chart turned and looked at the two girls. “Anywhere but here; I did not sign up for this!” He jumped into the air. “Everypony for themselves!” he shouted as he took off into the night.
Sunset was about to scream obscenities at him, but instead let out a gasp of horror when one of the magic blasts hit him from underneath. His body was briefly illuminated against the night sky, before the light of the magic faded, and Sky Chart plummeted to the ground below.
Twilight screamed, covering her mouth with her hooves, tears pouring down the sides of her face. Neither her nor Sunset had time to mourn, as the ship was hit yet again. The sound of splintering wood echoed through the night. The smoke curling off the ship was now visible even through the dark.
The trap door swung open, and five ponies and a dragon burst onto the deck, looking frazzled. They were all thrown to the floor as another blast tore into the ship, causing it to tilt forward. Sunset looked up and saw that the balloon had caught fire, and a hole had been torn through the fabric.
“Twilight!” Spike cried, “What do we do?”
Twilight looked about, as if an idea would float by her. “Uh, I don’t know! Can anypony fly an airship?”
They all looked at each before shaking their heads.
“Just throw one of your force fields around us!” Rainbow said.
“If I did that, the smoke would eventually suffocate us!” Twilight shook her head. “But, get close to me! Maybe I can—”
“Look out!” Pinkie cried, pointing at a large crescent shaped blade of energy flew towards them. Everyone jumped out of its path, landing on different sides of the ship, as the ethereal sickle ripped it in half, like it was no more than paper.
Sunset landed towards the back, watching the front half of the Blue Moon fall away, with half of her friends still on it. Her own half tilted back, and Sunset fell with it, crashing into the cabin door and continuing on towards the wall in the back. Her groan of pain was cut short by Applejack falling on top of her.
“Ow... Whoops, sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she rolled off of Sunset.
“Applejack, Sunset, are you girls okay?” Rainbow called from outside.
“Don’t worry, Dash.” Applejack got to her feet and said, “We’re both fi—aghh!”
Applejack and Sunset flew towards the side, as a final blast hit the ship. Sunset slammed into the wall head first, while Applejack crashed through the window and fell out of sight. The last thing Sunset remembered was weakly calling Applejack’s name, before the pain in her head caused her to blackout.
Sunset woke up and yelped at the pain running through her. It felt like her insides were on fire, and a tremendous pressure was building at the tip of her horn, giving her a horrible headache. She stumbled out of her chair, and away from the desk she had been sitting at in her new room. She placed a hoof on her temple, feeling her burning forehead. Sunset tried opening her eyes, but the sunlight coming into her room became too intense for her sight.
She collapsed to the floor, unable to move from the pain she was in. Sunset whimpered as the pressure increased, like somepony was squeezing her horn. The fire burned through her, eliciting a scream of pain. The light grew in intensity until she could see nothing but white. Finally, she felt the magic release from her horn in a wave of energy that threw her back to the wall. A fiery, white light poured from her horn, wildly dancing across the room, lighting everything it touched on fire. When it ended, Sunset’s room was entirely engulfed in flames.
Opening her eyes, Sunset gasped at the sight in front of her. She tucked herself against the wall, relieved that the pain was gone, but now terrified by the blaze in front of her. She looked towards the tall window next to her burning desk, wondering if she escape through there. Sunset‘s stomach plummeted, as she remembered that she was on the fifth floor of Canterlot Castle.
Smoke wafted through the air as the flames encroached upon her. Sunset tried to cast a water spell, but was only able to summon a tiny trickle. Her magic was exhausted from accidentally setting her room on fire.
“Help!” Sunset yelled, over the crackling flames.
As if hearing her cry, Celestia burst through the door, flanked by two royal guards. Without a word, her horn lit up in a magnificent gold hue. Water flowed forth and spread like a blanket, covering all of the fire until it was extinguished. She then forced the window open, and with a single flap of her wings, expelled all of the smoke out into the afternoon sky.
“Sunset, what—”
Sunset ran over and hugged Celestia’s leg, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
“Shh, Sunset it’s okay, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” Celestia reassured, resting her wings over Sunset in a soothing embrace. “Just tell me what happened.”
“I-I don’t know! I just fell asleep while I was studying, and then I woke up, but I felt really awful, like there was fire inside me, and my horn hurt. Then, everything was on fire....” She looked up at Celestia, afraid of what her teacher would say. Sunset had only been here a week, and she had already done something wrong. Celestia would never keep a student who couldn’t control their magic.
Celestia looked at the charred room. Everything had been burned to a crisp, save for the small corner of the room, where Sunset had been huddled. There was nothing salvageable amongst the piles of ashes. Luckily, Sunset hadn’t brought much from the orphanage.
“Princess, what should we do?” one of the guards asked.
Celestia regarded them. “Please go get the royal carpenters and tell them we need a room refurbished. I would like to speak to Sunset alone.”
The guards saluted and quickly marched down the corridor, leaving Sunset alone with the princess. She began shaking, fearing what Princess Celestia wanted to say to her. This is it. I burnt part of her castle, now she’s going to send back to the orphanage, Sunset lamented.
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but Sunset beat her to it. “I’m so, so, sorry, Princess! It’ll never happen again, I promise! Please don’t hate me and send me away!”
“Send you away? Sunset, it was an accident. Please calm down, I’m not sending you anywhere.”
Sunset hiccuped and wiped her eyes. “Really?”
“Well, I’ll have to give you a new room until this one is fixed,” Celestia joked, trying to ease the tension. “But, I’m not going to dismiss you over an accident.”
Gripping Celestia’s leg harder chanting, “Thank you, thank, you, thank you, thank you!”
Celestia smiled and stroked Sunset’s mane with her free hoof. Something caught her eye and she looked down and gasped, “Sunset, look!”
Sunset followed Celestia’s eyes and let out a shrill scream of glee. There on her flank was an eight rayed red and yellow sun: her cutie mark. “I can’t believe it! It’s here, it’s really here! I’ve got my cutie mark!” She broke away from Celestia and began hopping around her burnt room. “Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes... wait.” She stopped and looked at it again. “But... what does it mean?”
Celestia looked out the window, a look of uncertainty on her face. “I... I’m not sure, Sunset...”
Sunset felt an arid wind roll over her. Shifting her body, she could feel the rough tickle of sand underneath her stomach. Her mouth felt dry and dusty, and she noticed a heavy weight on her back. Opening her eyes, she was greeted to the light of the morning sun, rising over a vast stretch of yellow sand. Lying in front of her, miraculously undamaged, was her hourglass.
She unsuccessfully tried to get up, the weight on her back pinning her down. It groaned and changed positions, and Sunset saw a tuft of rainbow hair drop into her vision.
“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset called.
Rainbow groaned again, slowly stirring out of her unconscious state. “Ugghh, where are we?” she asked groggily.
“Well, judging by the sand and the heat, I’d have to say the San Palomino Desert.” Sunset squirmed, trying to get out from underneath Rainbow.
“The desert? How’d we end up here?” Some energy returned to Rainbow’s voice.
“I don’t know. The last thing I remember was hitting my head,” Sunset said irritably.
“Oh, I remember now! I had to fly down and save Applejack ‘cause she fell out of the airship! Then I had to circle around and save you and Pinkie... but I think something hit me in the head too, ‘cause I don’t remember landing.”
“Well, at least we’re alive.”
“Yeah, but where are the others; do you think they’re okay?”
Sunset sighed. “I don’t know, Rainbow. And as much as I’m enjoying this quality time we’re spending together, could you please get off my back!”
“Whoops, hehe, sorry,” Rainbow said with a laugh, as she got off of Sunset, stretching herself out.
Sunset stood up and arched her back, feeling a few pops from her spine. She took a better look at her surroundings, seeing the gritty landscape stretch out all around her. A group of mountains peeked out in the horizon in front of her, and another set was close behind her. To the right, she could see the wreckage of the back half of the airship.
“Geez,” Sunset muttered, slipping the hourglass back around her neck. “I can’t believe our luck.”
“What? The fact that we fell out of the sky again, or the fact that we’re alive?” Rainbow asked.
“Both.” Sunset started heading towards the crash site, hoping to find other survivors. Catching on, Rainbow took to the sky overhead, following close behind. They didn’t have to walk long before a figure appeared in the distance, running towards them at an impressive speed.
“Girls, thank goodness I found y'all!” Applejack cried. She skid to a stop and pulled Sunset into a powerful hug, knocking the wind from her, before jumping up and doing the same to Rainbow. “Do either of you know where we are?”
“The San Palomino Desert,” Sunset said with certainty. “Judging by the position of the mountains, I’d say somewhere in the northeastern half.”
“That don’t sound too good,” Applejack said, letting go of Rainbow. “Have you seen anyone else around?”
“Not yet,” Rainbow said, rubbing her chest. “But Pinkie should be around here somewhere. I was carrying her with both of you guys when I blacked out.”
Applejack nodded. “Well, then, Rainbow, you search the sky, and me and Sunset will look from down here.”
“Got it.” Rainbow took off high into the air, kicking up a small cloud of dirt. She had only been up there for a second before she shouted, “Found her!”
Applejack and Sunset followed Rainbow’s pointing hoof west. In the far distance they could see a small, pink figure that seemed to be struggling. They all took off toward it, leaving a trail of hoofprints in the sand.
The three ponies found Pinkie Pie stuck headfirst in the sand, flailing her hooves.
“Pinkie, are you okay?” Rainbow asked. A muffled noise came from underneath the dirt. “Right, we should probably pull you out first.” Grabbing her by the tail, Rainbow gave a powerful tug, and Pinkie popped out of the sand and onto her haunches.
“Hi girls! Look, I made new friend!” She pointed to the rather large scorpion pinching her nose with its claws. “Isn’t he neat?”
Applejack and Rainbow facehooved, and Sunset said, “Pinkie, you know scorpions are poisonous, right?”
“I know that, silly. But he wouldn’t sting me.” As if it had been challenged, the scorpion raised its pointed tail high, preparing to sting Pinkie.
Sunset quickly levitated the scorpion off of Pinkie’s face and onto the ground away from them, where it clicked its pincers angrily before burrowing into the sand. “Okay, we need to find the others and get out of here,” Sunset said.
Applejack nodded in agreement. “The other half of the ship couldn’t have fallen too far from here. We should be able to find them in no time if we head in the right direction.”
“Yeah, but which direction is right?” Rainbow asked.
Sunset was quiet for a moment, thinking. “Well... Los Pegasus is west of us, almost directly so. Since we were heading in that direction when we crashed, hopefully the front end of the airship should be that way.”
“Makes sense to me,” Pinkie chirped, hopping off across the desert.
“We better hurry up and find them, ‘cause Ah didn’t see any water in that wreck, and it’s only going to get hotter,” Applejack said grimly.
Sunset turned and looked at the morning sun, climbing higher into the sky. She swallowed the tiny bit of spit she had in her mouth. She could tell it was going to be a long day.
There was a loud thud as something heavy landed on top of what used to be the main deck of the Blue Moon. The sound of flapping wings filled the air, as four more figures dropped out of the sky, landing around the first. The sun was now high in the sky, casting a heat that made the center figure ruffle his black feathers in irritation. He clicked his beak and reached into the leather strap around his chest, pulling out a small grey stone with his talons.
The griffon squeezed the stone hard in his palm until it began glowing in a multitude of colors. There was a sound like static emitting from it before an irritated voice could be heard on the other side.
“What is it, Razor?” a cold, feminine voice asked.
“Your Majesty,” Razor responded in a deep tenor voice. “We found the crash sites, but they’re both empty. The rats must’ve scurried off already.”
“Well then, looks like you’ll get your chase after all. Just remember, I want Twilight Sparkle alive.”
“Aye, but what about—”
“The girl who thinks she’s Sunset Shimmer?” the voice cut in. There was a long pause before her voice came out of the stone again. “Make sure her death is prolonged and painful, then bring her body to me. The rest of them you can bury in the sand.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Razor said, squeezing the stone until it was grey again, and sticking it back into his pocket. He looked at the four griffons surrounding him, all of them armed with a variety of weapons. “Well, come on you lot, we got a job to do!” Spreading his wings, he took off into the sky, screeching a loud battle cry.
His followers joined him, all of them calling to the heavens, as they jetted towards the horizon.
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I'm already drawing similarities between this story and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's just from the description alone. Was that part of your inspiration?
i appreciate the fact that you've gone for 'classic villain' rather than 'high school bitch' as far as Vesper's characterisation goes. Having Sharpay take over Equestria would have been more pathetic than anything else.
And christ, Sky Chart, way to be a credit to the company! In a strange way I find him more contemptible than Vesper at this point.
Am curious to know what she did to make the griffons call her 'Majesty'?
If Vesper Radiance were voiced, what would she sound like? Also, will Discord be appearing in this story?
3041185 Care to elaborate?
3041474
Rebecca Shoichet, of course.
Ah deserts. Nothing brings out the best in characters like blazing heat and dehydration.
3041480 In YGO 5D's, the world is in ruins about 200 years into the future. The series' final antagonist, Z-ONE*, travels back in time to erase the Momentum Reactor** from existence, thereby preventing the future of ruin from ever occurring. Yusei Fudo, the series' protagonist, denounces Z-ONE saying that the future can be saved without harming the present***, while Z-ONE counters that Yusei was there in the future and yet was unable to save the world from ruin****. Knowing all of that, and after reading the story's description, it's easy to draw comparisons between the two. I'm not saying that's bad, of course, because YGO 5D's was AWESOME!!! Which, in turn, would make this story AWESOME!!!
* - Z as in last, and ONE as in human. Therefore, Z-ONE means "Last Human".
** - Think Skynet from The Terminator.
*** - ZONE's plan endangered the lives of everyone living in Neo Domino City.
**** - Inspired by records detailing Yusei's remarkable talent for bringing out the good in everyone he came to know, Z-ONE used future technology to transform himself into a near-perfect doppelganger of Yusei Fudo, hoping to rally people to his side to save the world from the Momentum Reactor's army of Machine Emperors (again, think The Terminator). However, he failed to reach out to everyone before the reactor self-destructed, causing widespread ruin to the world and wiping out almost all of humanity.
3041185 Nope. I stopped watching Yu-Gi-Oh after GX. I was trying to be as original as possible, but I did draw a little inspiration from a few things.
3041274
...DEAR GOD, THE IMAGES!
3041474 That's hard to say. I can hear her in my head, but I don't know who to relate to. So, yeah, I'm going to say Rebecca Shoichet just take away the attitude.
DUN DUN DUN!
Man I can't get enough of this tale. Action and adventure in equal measure! C'mon Sunset, spill the beans the Twilight. She likes to help with stuff.
3041990 ...You didn't answer my other question. Will Discord be appearing in this story?
3041990 Boy, you missed out on supreme awesomeness.
TOOO SHORT!!!!
MAOR!!!!
plz
3042372
You say that, but it was hella long to edit. DO YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE LOSING A PIECE OF MY SANITY BY EDITING LONG CHAPTERS?!
Good because I like it as well.
I really like Sky Chart's instant karma. Don't be a coward and you'll live longer.
Anyway, I love your story, keep it up!
I just realized, vesper radiance and sunset shimmer mean the same thing....
well, twilight sparkle is also similar, but that doesn't matter as much.
3042235 mmmm. can't say for sure. But don't count on it.
3043370 this confirms it they are one in the same.
3043441 How? I was talking about Discord.
3043533 no sunset and the evil sunset
3041990
Twilicorn? This is not what I want, this is not what I planned, and I just gotta say I do not understand!
So! New theory: Two Sunset Shimmers. One lived in the past, got taught by Celestia, and somehow or other gets corrupted and becomes Vesper Radiance. I can't say for sure, but Celestia's trepidation at the sight of filly!Sunset's new cutie mark might be a big hint. The second is our protagonist. She lives in the future, got taught by Twilight Sparkle, et cetera et cetera.
The duality in Sunset's cutie mark itself seems to support my theory. But as for why there are two Sunset Shimmers, I'm not exactly sure. Reincarnation seems most likely, since our protagonist seems to be getting glimpses of what amounts to a past life experience.
However it goes, I'm looking forward to reading more! Keep it coming!
Seeing all your comments helps motivate me to keep on writing. So a big thank you to everyone! I really appreciate you guys!
Very glad that I got around to reading this. Nice characterization, and decent mystery too. Some parts drag quite a bit, but nothing serious enough to really damage the pacing. Sunset Shimmer is a little Mary-Sueish at times, but again, nothing too serious.
Quite good so far, enough to make me curious to see how this will develop.
3162295 Thank you, I'm glad it caught your interest. I'm trying really hard to avoid the mary-sue part. Any advice?
3162387
Like I said, it is not particularly bad, but there are a bunch of annoying little details that add-up to that, from her relationship to other ponies to her position in the world. Some specific instances, from the top of my head:
– She is revealed to possess dominion over a previously unknown field of magic, as well as special knowledge about future events – both things nopony else can relate to.
– Applejack would rush over to hug her, whom she had only met a few days earlier, and only then Rainbow, her long time friend and rival, after an airship crash.
Generally speaking, she has an issue where her relationships tend to fall only on extremes (other ponies tend to only relate to her as allies or antagonists, she has few "average" interactions). They also tend to develop quite suddenly, say with Rainbow, whom goes from indifference to hate to friendship in a very short period of time.
While she has a nice balance of positive and negative traits, it also seems like her flaws tend to be related more to her role in the story than anything else. It is kinda hard to pinpoint, but, for instance it sometimes feels less that she is a pony that has a hard time opening to others, and more that the story requires that sometimes she has a hard time opening to others.
It is not a single thing, and most of them aren't even bad things (it is in character for Rainbow to swing so quickly in her relationship to Sunset), but I think it was the interaction between those that contributed to create that feeling.
I should also say that this became more noticeable at later chapters. At least, I don't remember having that feeling during the first 3 or 4 chapters. Maybe it wasn't an issue then, maybe the little things are adding up now.
Well there goes the descendent approach.
The plots are really staking up now aren't they?
3054802 Obviously they're twins. Vesper, being the evil twin, has a goatee.
Airheart, huh? I see what you did there.
I can't believe their horrible luck. What I want to know, though, is how exactly Vesper knew where they were, as well as their heading. Was she spying on them? Can she use the Alicorn Amulet to sense their locations at will?
Keep it up!
This so great!!! Can't get enough of this.
Why did Sunset refuse?
How many acts will this story have?
"Of course, we could have gone to save them, but we didn't want to deprive Dash of a workout" the lazy Pegasi explained
Shit is about to go down people!
Even cutie mark by causing accident... for some reason, she tends to destroy things, regularly...
Interesting, what (would have) happened with Vesper after she caused the catastrophe... she might have been trying to fix things a bit after she found nothing around her...
I totally should have noticed the name similarities... Vesper Radiance... Sunset Shimmer. Vespers being evening praying that take place around sunset/dusk and then there's shimmer vs radiance.
Hopefully, 'Sunset' doesn't screw up the past beyond repair. It would be useful to know how things went in the past of whenever Sunset Shimmer came from.
Sky Chart is credit to team.
And griffons? Exciting!
Um, no, spoken like a true idiot.
Let's review. You know what Vesper will do if unchecked, you know what happens if you use the Elements on her at full power...and you'd rather wait til she gets to that point to finally use the big guns?
Which is more likely to work, zapping her at full power, or zappiing her at 1/3 to 2/3s power? Since we already know option A leads to world destruction, the smart move would be option B...as in blast the Bitch now while you have the chance.
5528132 I had similar issues with this line. The threat that is posed by this character is far too great to warrant a trial. Twi and co. never seemed to have too much of a problem with blasting away at will before. Yes, a leader needs to be level headed and determine the facts before acting, this entity has outwardly attacked a princess and has clear intentions of further attacks.
I think my big qualm about this story is the sheer power you attach to these artifacts. A small group of rebels using dark magic 2,000 years ago to imitate Celestia and Luna managed to create a set of regalia so powerful that it can not only overpower all four real alicorns, the Elements of Harmony and whatever else was defending equestria, but then destroy everything with fire and brimstone like the four horsemen themselves are running down the world? Celestia and Luna are literally forces of nature! If it were that easy to create something to take them down, the world would have ended millennia ago.
5528132
The real question here though, was he right? As a result of that logic, they committed xenocide--they brought an intelligent alien species to extinction. But they did keep humanity from extinction. The road you describe is a very slippery slope, and the horrors that lie at the end of it are beyond my imagination. As readers we can clearly see that as the correct action, and the characters probably can too. But after the first time, how long until it only takes the slightest suspicion to blast anypony with harmony lasers?
She has more then one?
6037836 I just had an image of Twilight-Hydra.
...why is Fluttershy still here?
They are bringing Fluttershy along, chasing an enemy willing to use lethal force. And they left the Elements of Harmony behind.
This can only end well.
Ah, young Sunset, you show wisdom <sage nod>
So, alicorn amulet-powered Vesper vs. Solar/Nuclear-powered Sunset, place your bets!
Hints (and general consensus in the comments) seem to be that Sunset and Vesper are the same pony. That means if Sunset wins <fingers crossed>, she'll go back to a future where she is the only one who remembers the apocalypse, and with the knowledge that she (in a weird metaphysical way) is the one who murdered the world ... I hope Equestria has a good mental healthcare system, because poor Sunny is liable to be badly damaged
5902707 While blasting first (or in Vesper's case, going straight to summary execution) does set a precedent with horrible abuse potential , the precedent is already there (the Mane 6 made no attempt to talk down Nightmare Moon or Discord, after all). Furthermore, planeticide to, well, anything else is a very long slope (even genocide is several orders of magnitude less than what Vesper is trying to do).
It should not be something done lightly (and given ponies' ingrained need to forgive and redeem, it wouldn't be), but it seems to be the only answer here (we already have confirmation that the Elements are only a temporary solution, at best). You are completely right though, that once that jack is out of its box someone will be trying to use it for their own ends.
I can tell you're a pretty big fan of the cliche of someone about to reveal something important to another character, only to be interrupted mid-sentence. That's twice it has happened to Sunset.
And again with the terrorism! I swear it's some sort of complex or something for americans.
I mean, really, one can imagine a bystander asssuming it was a terror attack, despite living in a country that had no history of such thing or enemies, outer or inner that use terror tactics. A mistake, and a weird one at that, but ok, i can believe that.
But really the protagonists should know better. Vesper is not, in any way a terrorist. She does not rely on fear an sudden attacks on civilians to sow fear achieve her political goals. She may be a rebel, a murderer, a thief, traitor to the crown - whatever, but she is not in any way a terrorist.
Ugh
Really, terrorists are indeed bad guys who blow shit up, but not all bad guys who blow shit up are terrorists,
Okay, first time reading through, just got to the introduction of sky chart, and I'm calling it right now.
Something goes wrong. Because it's just like with video games. Nothing ever goes right on an airship.
I don't like these current turn of events, especially for future Sunset.
Flawless ending of act one. I managed to suffer trough all of the exposition chapters because i knew this would turn out to be something good and now i am thinking this would be even better than i expected. Looking forward to reading more :)
Alright next up.....
As I noted last chapter kind of, there are so many better ways she could have done this if her whole goal was to end a potential threat. Line of intense fire directly through one of the Mane 6's hearts and 'poof' no need to fear the Element's. But as more of a "Don't fuck with me, I'm super serious!" type posturing, trying to prove she's better then them... that works, and also fits in very well with both what we've seen of... seriously going by the comments, by this point EVERYONE knew who Vesper was so, why hide it? Given what we've seen of her through Shimmy's memories, her mindset, and also, just how Shimmy was in EQG, this tracks. She doesn't just want to win, she wants her foes to KNOW they have been beaten, that she is better then them, to be afraid of her, to acknowledge she is superior and they should cower before her.
AKA, yet another Pony villain that has never heard of the Evil Overlord List.
Ohhhh boy this line, comments I see a lot of talk about the morality at play.. did not even really consider that aspect, mine was more on how stupid that idea is just from a pure mechanics perspective. And also that this was the reason given they already HAVE a perfectly valid reason not to zap her. namely, they know that's what they did the first time, and that just went and caused the end of the world fifty years later. So they know doing that is a bad idea.
But more.... if they could capture, subdue, and hold her safely long enough to HAVE a trial..... they would not need to use the Elements in the first place. The Elements are their trump card against foes to powerful to deal with any other way. But if she's powerful enough that using the Elements is a viable option... then how the bucking tartarus does Twilight think they stand a chance of taking her down and arresting her without them? Add to that, using the Elements isn't a matter of 'justice' it's a matter of "Stop the uber-powerful evil that is trying to fuck everything up" it'ds about PROTECTION, not 'justice'. Just... Twi... did you like, hit your head during the fight scenes earlier?
Next oddity.... why don't the Princesses have their own personal airship to use in cases like this? Or, just if one of them wants to travel to some city that's a bit to far to ask pegasi to carry them in a chariot? Seems like the sort of thing that would be in place.
Now the whole Sunset dealing with her sudden issues with Celestia, nice to see her acknowledging them, and hopefully she actually tries to confront them and tells Twi about them after they get back together. It's a rather important thing and, yeah this is something that needs to be dealt with, thought about. But I do get why she's hesitant as well. Just, great stuff here, hopefully she follows through later.
Though her memory of past her first utilizing her talent feels... odd. She was already Celestia's pupil, and the reasons given were good enough and worked. But really, seems like it would have worked better if it was more a case of, Sunset had this accident in school, that while trying to pull off some spell, she tapped into this power and let loss the inferno, and it was this that attracted Celestia's attention, wanting to help Shimmy learn to control this new power. Hell might even play in well with her whole resentment, feeling like Celestia was really trying to limit her, to keep her in line, to keep her from growing into her true potential, rather then trying to teach her control. That she saw Sunset as a threat and so moved to place her more directly under her hoof.
Like I said by no means bad, and it works quite well, but just feels like that might have worked a bit better.
And then we have the airship pilot..... meh. He was bland enough I can't say I was surprised, shocked, or really affected at all by what happened. More just wanting to
at him and move on.
I'm guessing Vesper overheard them mention the museum, put two and two together, maybe already noting what they saw, and figured their next move would be to get to Los Pegasus, and just laid an ambush rather then try to beat them. It makes sense, and shows she's not a complete idiot, just filled with the same overwhelming ego and sense of superiority and need to dominate others and make them acknowledge she is better then them as so many MLP villains.
Plus, she's got griffon mercenaries working for her, that is awesome!
Overall, great transition chapter that sets up the next leg of their trip, few bits of character stuff, and then on hell of a HOLY SHIT! twist and ending.
Act 1 overall... SO MUCH EPIC! It does a great job of setting up the stakes, at making clear just how BIG this story is, how epic, making sure to set the scale and tone. Getting the required backstory set up, getting everything in place. Main failing part was how obvious it got at times in moving things where it needed them to be rather then having them come together naturally, see again the whole thing in chapter 4. But, the getting things in place is often one of the hardest things to do naturally, especially for something as epic as this, and while that was an issue, it pales compared to just how much pure AWESOME is set up. Act as a whole, I'd say really good, but not amazing, but it contains MORE then enough hints, set up, and signs that this is going to be one hell of a freaking epic story. This was just the slightly bumpy initial climb up that first slope before the roller coaster takes off on one incredibly thrilling ride.