There's Always a Choice

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“Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”

I felt my heart wrench inside me. How could she do this to me? I was the strongest unicorn in Equestria! I’d passed every test she’d thrown at me with such high marks that I’d broken the grading scale entirely! I wasn’t just trash to be thrown away! I fought back tears and glared at her across the books of dark magic and forbidden history between us.

“We’ll never get past this because you aren’t seeing how great I deserve to be!” I spat angrily on the floor between us. “Is that really all you have to say to me?” It took everything I had not to cower before her. I’d never seen her this angry before, not even when I’d burned down practically half of the castle with a spell gone haywire.

“No,” she said. I had just enough time for a glimmer of hope. To think she’d reconsidered her rash decision. Then she followed it with “The guards will escort you out.”

She didn’t even trust me to leave on my own.

“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life,” I muttered, as the guards flanked me and forced me out of the room. If she said anything after that, I didn’t hear it. I was too busy looking at my own hooves as I walked out of the room, feeling like I couldn’t breathe.

I was strong, though. I managed to get around the corner and out of her sight before I collapsed.

It was the first panic attack I’d had since I’d left the orphanage all those years ago. It was like my heart was going to tear from my chest, like I was drowning. For a few moments I thought I might be dying on the spot, as if Celestia had put a curse on me to get rid of her embarrassing failure. I’d had plans of overpowering my guards and running for the mirror, but they were washed out of my mind with that wave of terror overtaking my senses.

One of them - and I’m not sure what his name was, they all look the same to a casual observer - gave me a shoulder to lean on while I tried to control myself. He didn’t say anything, but it was more kindness than he owed me, after Celestia’s orders to have me thrown out.

“I need to-” I started, gasping for breath as my throat started to close. He gave me a few moments to compose myself. “I need to get my things before I… before I leave.” I whispered. It was as loud as I could manage, having to force the words out.

“You can send for your personal effects after you’ve left the castle,” the guard said. I felt a surge of anger, but it was quickly squashed by growing despair. What was I going to do, fight him off just so I could get a few books and bits of clothing? It would be stupid.

And I wasn’t stupid. I was Sunset Shimmer. The strongest unicorn in the world! I wasn’t going to get thrown into the dungeon. I needed to make a plan, and that meant stepping back and getting control of myself. I hadn’t been in control since I’d seen Celestia.

I nodded and let them escort me out. I tried to keep my expression neutral, and the guards thankfully weren’t treating me like a prisoner, so nopony seemed to notice anything was odd. The guards were just doing their job, and they were treating me with the respect I deserved. When it came time to take blazing vengeance on Princess Celestia for what she’d done to me, I’d have to remember to minimize casualties.

So there I was, forced outside the castle, with my escort waiting at the door to make sure I didn’t try to get back in.

And... I wasn’t sure where to go.

I had no home. No family. No friends to turn to. This was the one time when having the friends Celestia had kept bugging me about would have been useful, and I didn’t have them. Of course, given the circumstances, I couldn’t have faced them anyway. If this was her way of teaching me a lesson, it was working.

But even if it was working, I had my pride - I wasn’t going to go crawling back to her for forgiveness. She was the one who had been holding me back. She was too used to ponies just bowing to her authority when she decided they weren’t ’ready’ for something.

I felt the fear really start to fade, replaced by anger. It was something to hold onto. Something to keep me moving. Fear and regret would only make me useless. Anger, though, that could drive a mare, give them something to live for.

I wasn’t banished from the city of Canterlot itself, not yet at least. I could get a room at an inn until I’d figured out what I was going to do. I looked back at the guards and took a deep breath

“I’m going to get a room at the Fanciful Unicorn,” I said. I knew they had rooms, and they were relatively cheap. Celestia had taken me out on the town a few times, even when I’d rather have been studying in the castle. We’d get food there, my muzzle buried in a book and hers in a cake. I think it was mostly because they had a big dessert menu. “Could you have my things sent there?”

The guard nodded without saying anything, and one of them left, presumably to do just that. I trotted down the street, trying not to think of anything at all. I was on the edge of another panic attack. I had to keep it under control. I would be fine. I was strong. Stronger than anypony else.

I managed to get all the way to my room before having that panic attack. It was almost a victory, except for the part where I completely lost all control and collapsed just inside the door in a pathetic, weeping wreck. (The strongest weeping wreck in Equestria, though.) My life was over - Celestia had thrown me out, I was never going to become a Princess, and I had absolutely no one to turn to.

I also had no money, which was going to make for an interesting discussion with the innkeeper in the morning.

I was jolted back to my senses by a knock on the door.

“One minute!” I yelled, frantically wiping the tears from my face before I opened it. A guard was standing there with my saddlebags. He gave them to me wordlessly.

I opened them and glanced inside. I’d never really owned a lot of stuff. Things had just been lent to me as I’d needed them. When I was finished, they’d be taken away. I’d have to do an inventory of what they’d grabbed for me to see what I had to work with.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, not meeting his gaze. He nodded and left. I closed the door after him and threw the bags next to the bed. I’d go over them in the morning. I was exhausted after everything that had happened, and I needed rest. I wasn’t going to be able to think clearly enough to start coming up with a plan until I’d slept.

I fell onto the hard bed, not even bothering to pull the covers over me, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

For a few seconds in my half-asleep state on waking up, I forgot about everything that had happened. I was happy. Then it all came crashing back down on me with an intensity that had me crying into the pillow for a few hours.

I was fine after that. Definitely fine.

I pulled the saddlebags open and dumped out their contents. The first thing that caught my eye was a bag of bits. That would be useful. At least I wouldn’t have to end up washing dishes to pay for my room. A cursory glance told me… well, I wasn’t sure how long it would last. I had never worried about money before, so I’d have to figure out how to stretch out my funds.

A little clothing; my black raincloak, a dress I’d worn once, socks I’d gotten as a gift. Books, though half of them belonged in the castle library. I didn’t feel like returning them. And my journal, emblazoned with my cutie mark. There was a spell on it so the text in it would be copied to a duplicate in Celestia’s room. Rather useless to me now, since I didn’t have anything to say to her. Maybe it was just supposed to remind me of my past lessons. Or she’d given it to me out of spite to needle me with the fact that I wasn’t her student anymore.

I threw it across the room. It was enchanted too heavily to be damaged by rough treatment like that, but it made me feel better.

There wasn’t anything in the bags aside from that. I’d never cared much about stuff when I could just borrow what I needed. Magic had been infinitely more rewarding, real skills I could learn, to prove to myself any everypony else just how strong I was.

I had to decide what to do next. Get a job? I’d never had a real job before. I wasn’t even legally an adult. I looked out the window, and saw the spires of the castle.

I closed the curtain, feeling like the castle’s windows were all filled with eyes and judging me for what I’d done. I knew then that I wouldn’t be able to stay here in Canterlot, not with the Princess potentially waiting around any corner. I couldn’t bear to see Celestia again, and in Canterlot I might run into her at any moment. Even if I didn’t see her myself she was always a constant topic of conversation - and I would be, too. I hadn’t had any friends, but I was well-known. I could only imagine my classmates gossiping in the halls about how far I’d fallen from grace. I was going to have to leave the city for good, and go somewhere nopony had ever heard of me.

I grabbed one of the few books I had at my disposal and paged through it to a map of Equestria. It was time to start making plans.

You’d think being a genius meant I’d be able to bounce back quickly from little snags. The problem is that I wasn’t used to snags happening at all. My usual response to something getting in my way was to go right through it (with fire), but brute force wasn’t going to get me more bits.

Well, actually, that wasn’t quite true. Brute force and fire magic could definitely get me more bits, but I wasn’t going to start going around and mugging ponies. Part of me briefly considered joining the Royal Guard. At least then I’d be able to put my talents to use and immediately get food and boarding.

On the other hoof, it meant I’d have to deal with Celestia again at some point, and I wasn’t ready to do that. Every time I thought about her I felt sick. She’d just gone and tossed me aside like I was nothing, just because I wouldn’t blindly submit to her authority. She’d been everything to me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to hold me and tell me it was going to be alright or if I wanted to set her mane on fire.

My stomach growled like an angry manticore. I hadn’t eaten in… well, I wasn’t sure how long it had been. It had been at least a full day. I’d forgotten to have breakfast or lunch before my little study session in the restricted archive. That was probably for the best. With all the dry heaves I’d suffered through, I’d have an empty stomach anyway and make a mess in the process.

I knew I wasn’t going to get much planning done while I was distracted. I was already miserable and upset, and there wasn’t much point in suffering even more. I walked downstairs and paid for my room with the bits I’d been so generously given, then left to find something to eat. The Fanciful Unicorn was a great inn, but the food wasn’t cheap. I needed to make my bits last as long as possible. Besides, I always thought better on my hooves.

Canterlot was Celestia’s city. You could see the castle from every street. Guards were on every corner, and I was suddenly aware that ponies probably knew me and were going to ask questions the moment the news broke that I’d been kicked out. Not a lot of ponies had been present for my eviction, but it wasn’t going to take long for the rumor mill to fire up to full speed. I’d probably be front-page news this time tomorrow.

I could feel eyes on me. Ponies watching me from across the street, behind me, glancing out of windows and looking away when I tried to catch them. When I was on top of things I would have loved the attention. They weren’t fawning over me now, though. They were mocking me. I felt my chest start to tighten.

I ducked into an alleyway, getting off the street for a moment. I could feel my heart pounding like it would tear from my chest. I knew it was stupid. The news wasn’t out yet. I forced myself to calm down. It only took a few minutes with the help of a garbage can and some dry heaving.

“Are you alright?” asked somepony behind me. I almost fell over in shock, losing my balance as the surprise made me jump. I looked back to see a white unicorn with a long blue and red mane. I’d seen her around at the school, though her name escaped me.

“I’m fine,” I spat. Literally. I needed to clear the awful taste of bile from my mouth.

“You don’t look okay,” she said, stepping closer. “I can go get Princess Celestia and-”

“No!” I yelled, stumbling back and knocking the garbage can over. “I said I’m fine! Just leave me alone!” I turned and ran. I’m not proud of it. It was the first time I’d run from anything, and it wasn’t some deadly foe or a disaster I was fleeing, but instead a pony trying to help me. Hardly my proudest moment. I was a few blocks away before I calmed down enough to stop, and by then she was long gone.

“Great work, Sunset,” I mumbled. “Maybe next you’ll have a flare and burn down half of the city.” It wasn’t likely. I’d learned to control myself at full power a while ago - it was one of the first things Celestia had taught me. But if I was this emotionally unstable, there was no telling what might happen. Losing control was a bad thing when your special talent was exceptional magical strength.

I took a few deep breaths and looked around. I was outside a cafe. One I’d never eaten at before. Maybe getting food in my stomach would help me feel better. I sat down at a table and grabbed a menu. Everything looked good. There weren’t many other patrons there. A blue unicorn with a yellow mane. A white pegasus with a shockingly bright mane in yellow, green, and red. I resolved to ignore them.

“Are you ready to order, or do you need a few minutes?” Asked a waitress who seemed to come out of nowhere. I managed to avoid making a fool of myself, but the table helped hide as one of my legs kicked out in surprise.

“Just get me…” I scanned the menu. “A daisy sandwich and a side of hayfries.” It wasn’t the cheapest thing on the menu, but I wasn’t up to staring down a bowl of boiled oats. “Just water to drink.”

She went off to get my order, and I found myself with nothing to do but wait. I didn’t have a book to read, or anypony to talk to. I was just alone with my thoughts, and they weren’t pleasant. I could feel them going around in circles. All the plans I’d had for the future were derailed so badly that I couldn’t even see the tracks from where I’d landed. I was supposed to rule at her side. Cadance had already thrown a wrench into my plans, but if I’d been able to become an alicorn…

It wasn’t worth thinking about. I wasn’t ever going to wake up with wings stapled to my sides. It hadn’t even been an issue until Cadance showed up out of nowhere with some crazy story about defeating a witch, and she was instantly welcomed and loved and Celestia had even adopted her. She’d never even talked about adopting me, and I’d lived with her for most of a decade. She’d dragged me out of a burning orphanage herself to be her personal student, and it was Cadance that she thought of as a daughter.

I considered putting my thoughts down on paper just to help me structure them, and dismissed it almost immediately when food appeared in front of me. My sandwich was as beautiful as any I'd seen before, and I started eating ravenously. It really had been too long since I’d eaten. I barely even tasted it as I wolfed it down, my confidence growing.

I didn’t need to plan. I was Sunset Shimmer, the strongest unicorn in Equestria. Planning was for ponies who didn’t have the strength to just do what they wanted. I could do anything.

The first thing I needed to do was get away from Canterlot. If Celestia didn’t want me, I wasn’t going to stay here in her shadow. If she wanted me to come back, she’d have to beg me for my forgiveness!

I threw bits on the table, just enough to cover my tab, and left. I wasn’t going to spend another night in this city. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but the important thing is that it wouldn’t be here.

It felt good. I’d made a decision. I was taking action. The more I distanced myself from this failure, the better I’d feel. I’d just grab my stuff, then go down to the train station and take the first train away. It didn’t matter where it went, I’d be in a better position than I was now.

It was a long walk back to the Fanciful Unicorn. Despite my bravado, I still felt like there were ponies staring at me. Sweat trickled down my neck as I picked up the pace. It was stupid. There weren’t ponies following me. That was impossible.

Or was it? Celestia was the head of the government. She always knew everything that was going on. She had plenty of spies working for her. Would she have ponies watching me? Did she think I was going to run in and try to burn down the palace in revenge? Actually, that sounded exactly like something I’d do. It had a sort of spiteful attraction even now. I didn’t fancy becoming part of the statue garden, though, and I’d only escaped it because I’d been her student. Anypony else looking at the books I’d read would have been a perch for pigeons by now. Maybe she was looking for an excuse to make my sentence more geological.

No, that was stupid. I was just getting paranoid. There weren’t spies watching me.

I got back to the Fanciful Unicorn and opened the door to my room. Had it looked like this when I left? Did I really leave the books scattered around like that? Did somepony come in while I was gone? A maid would have cleaned up. A spy would have tried to leave things where they were. Probably.

Before the sensible part of my mind could stop me, I’d thrown down a basic scanning spell over everything I’d been given. My journal had a twist of enchantments on it, but they didn’t seem to have changed, and I’d looked at the enchantments enough times trying to decipher the complicated spellwork to notice if there was a difference.

The library books had basic spells to protect them from damage, and to alert the librarian if they were overdue. Nothing strange there.

My saddlebags had a tracking spell on them. I felt my heart lurch. It was still fresh. was I paranoid or not paranoid enough? My bits had the same spell on them. The two things I’d be least likely to leave behind. My blood ran cold. All those feelings of being watched, and I’d been right all along. I shattered the spells. They’d alert the caster, but I didn’t care. I knew a few ways to avoid divination spells, and I was going to use all of them.

I threw everything except my cloak into my saddlebags, then pulled the dark, heavy, oiled cloth over my body. I’d still stand out, but I had to make at least some kind of attempt to hide. A nondetection spell would keep my safe from scrying attempts for at least a little while. I walked downstairs calmly, looking around the room.

Blue unicorn with a yellow mane. White pegasus with a mane in a riot of colors. The same two from the cafe. Our eyes met. They knew I knew. I bolted for the back door, running through the kitchen. I heard the chef yelling in annoyance, or maybe just warning me not to run on the wet tile floor. Either way I wasn’t listening.

I had to get to the train station. It was the only way out of Canterlot that didn’t involve hiking down a mountain. I looked back and saw the two ponies chasing me. I had a good lead on them, but it wasn’t going to last. I had to admit, I wasn’t in shape. I’d spent most of my life reading or casting spells. Usually the latter. I liked to learn by doing, even if it meant some amount of collateral damage while I worked on my pyromancy.

Since I couldn’t run forever, I needed a distraction. I ducked into an alleyway to get out of their sight and gathered magic around my horn. I couldn’t maintain two spells constantly, and the nondetection spell was more important for the moment, so whatever I cast was only going to last a few minutes at most.

I ran right into a mare. On purpose. My horn flared as we collided. She yelled something rude as I got up and kept moving, trying not to look like I was fleeing. After all, I didn’t look like me anymore. When we collided, I’d thrown out a mirror image illusion, swapping our appearances. It wouldn’t last long, but it was a good enough likeness for as long as it did.

I heard yelling behind me and got out of sight, walking into a florist’s shop. I tried to act casual, watching out of the corner of my eye as the two ponies I’d spotted before ran right past the door. I counted to ten, then walked out and started in the opposite direction from where they’d gone. I’d have to circle around the long way to get to the train station, but it would be worth it if I could avoid ponies watching me.

It did beg the question of just why they were stalking me, though. My most paranoid thought was that they might just be waiting for me to mess up so they could drop the hammer on me and have me thrown in the dungeon. It was equally likely that Celestia wasn’t quite as cold-hearted as she’d appeared and was making sure I could take care of myself. It would be just like her to offer mercy anonymously, like the bits that had been in my bag.

Either way, I didn’t want her looking over my shoulder. If she didn’t want me as a student, I didn’t want her in my life.

“One ticket to Baltimare,” I said. I put a few bits on the counter and glanced back. I knew I was being watched. I could just feel it. It was why I’d abandoned the cloak. I wanted them to see me right now. I took my ticket and walked towards the train platforms. In this crowd it would be impossible to tell who was actually following me.

I ran through a series of plans in my head. I could just get on the train and hope for the best. I’d probably get to Baltimare safely, and there’d be plenty of time to shake anypony after me once I got there. It would mean they knew where I was, though.

I could jump onto another train, or even leave the Baltimare train early, jumping out between stops. If somepony followed I’d know for sure that they were after me. An easy way to make them blow their cover, if nothing else.

The Baltimare train was leaving in ten minutes. Another was going to some tiny town only a few hours away. That seemed like a safe bet. Even better, it was already starting to leave the station. I looked back at the crowd. It would be interesting to see who followed my lead.

My horn flashed as I teleported to the moving train, putting myself down in the safest place I could see, the back of the caboose where there was enough room to stand. A few ponies in the crowd turned in shock or alarm. It wasn’t every day they saw a pony with that kind of magical talent.

“Goodbye forever, Canterlot,” I sighed and opened the door, walking into the train car. It was only half-full. Evidently Ponyville wasn’t a popular tourist destination. I took a seat where nopony was likely to bother me.

And then the back door opened again, and a pony in guard armor stepped inside. I felt my stomach twist into a knot. There was only one reason for him to be here. I stood and backed away from him.

“Sunset Shimmer,” He said, slowly. “I need you to come with me.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, my horn lighting up as I blinked into the next car. Ponies there were even more surprised by my arrival. I locked the door with a flicker of magic. It wasn’t like I could hold him off for long, but I needed to think of something.

I looked around at the scared faces surrounding me. Something that didn’t involve fire, unfortunately. Even if Celestia wanted to turn me to stone, I wasn’t ready to kill everypony on board just to secure my escape.

“Sunset, calm down. We just want to talk.” I spun around to see that blue and yellow unicorn. Maybe my plan wasn’t as clever as I thought, if they were able to get this many ponies involved. “We were going to watch you from a distance, but that isn’t working out. We’re just keeping tabs on you for-”

“I don’t care,” I said, cutting her off. “I don’t care who you’re working for. I don’t care if the Princess ordered you to make sure I didn’t get myself killed, or if she wants you to put me down the second I step out of line. I don’t answer to you, or Celestia, or anypony else! She cut me loose, and I’m my own master now.”

“Things will be a lot easier for you if you just cooperate!” The mare snapped. “We have orders to make sure you don’t cause trouble.
There isn’t anywhere to run, so you can either listen peacefully or we can do things the hard way.”

I almost decided to give up. Then there was a crack, and the sky itself shattered. All of us stopped what we were doing and looked up as a shockwave of rainbow colors flashed across the sky. The rumbling sound stilled my panicking heart, and I suddenly knew what I had to do.

“There’s always a choice,” I said. “As long as you’re willing to accept the consequences.” I flared up my horn for a third teleport. I had a terrible idea, but it was my idea, and the last thing they’d expect.

I teleported out of the train. We were on a bridge, over a deep gorge and a roaring river. I managed to see the surprise evident on my pursuer’s face as I plunged towards the water.

It was a really stupid decision, in hindsight.

The Mightiest Mare Appears in Tartarus

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There was good news and bad news. The good news was that I was alive (somehow), after a long drop into freezing cold water, horrible pain, and blacking out as I fought to keep my head above water. The bad news, aside from the aforementioned pain, near-drowning, and freezing temperatures, was that I was lost.

I tried to stand up and discovered worse news as a wave of pain almost made me pass out again. I looked down at my right foreleg. It was twisted and crooked, already swollen, with bruises discoloring my skin. I wasn’t a doctor, but I was pretty sure it was broken. Not to the point where bones were tearing through my skin, but badly enough that I wasn’t going to be putting weight on it, which meant my pace was now reduced to how quickly I could hobble on three legs.

“I should have just given up,” I mumbled. My heart skipped a beat. They were still after me. That they hadn’t found me while I was unconscious was nothing short of a miracle. I didn’t like to think I was only free because of luck. I got away from the river bank as quickly as possible, which wasn’t all that quick at all. It gave me plenty of time to look around, though.

I was on the outskirts of some forest. That was good, actually. A forest would make it almost impossible to spot me from the air. I could find plenty of food and water and-

A jolt of pain from my broken leg made me almost topple. I wasn’t too proud to admit that I didn’t have a very high pain tolerance.
“I could just… let them find me,” I mumbled. Talking was helping the pain. “They have to be looking after I did that. I can start a fire, and send up a flare and…” and then what? My voice trailed off to nothing as my thoughts whirled.

If they found me I’d be dragged back to Canterlot, put in a hospital to recover, and then if I was lucky Celestia would tell me how stupid and disappointing I was. And that’s if I was lucky. More likely, I’d be put under a strict guard and never allowed any real freedom again. I couldn’t live like that, stuck in some safe and boring life and kept away from anything that might help me improve myself. I’d die first.

I leaned against a tree, wiping sweat from my brow. The pain and stress were taking a toll, but there was something about the pain that was helping me focus. That or... I was going into shock. Maybe both. I’d never hurt myself this badly before. The closest I’d come was when I’d burned myself with pyromancy, but that had only been a few blisters. Nothing like the sharp pain of a broken limb.

I looked into the forest. It was dark, and from here at the outskirts, it seemed endless. I stumbled in, feeling like prey walking into a predator’s den.

Which is exactly what I was, even if I didn’t know it yet.

“Well, at least this is a little more comfortable…” I groaned. I’d found a dry cave to take shelter in, and had heated a few rocks until they were almost glowing red hot to provide some heat. I couldn’t risk open flame, not while ponies were searching for me. I’d already left the river bank far behind. I’d been a mile into the forest before I’d even considered erasing my tracks.

Maybe the rain would help wash away my mistakes. It had rolled in after I’d entered the forest, forcing me to find shelter quickly. I had already been soaked from near-drowning in the river, and with how tired and injured I was, I would be lucky if I didn’t end up getting seriously ill.

I looked out of the cave into the woods. I’d grown up in Canterlot, and I was used to gardens, not forests. I couldn’t believe how overgrown it all was, dense and jumbled. It was the perfect place to hide. I was already starting to make plans about how to improve my current shelter when I heard movement in the undergrowth.

It was my first lesson about the forest. If there was shelter, something was using it. The other animals had kept away because they were smart enough to know not to walk into a monster’s lair, so I was officially stupider than the squirrels currently running for cover.

A manticore stepped into the clearing before the cave. It was the first time I’d seen a real one. The pictures I’d seen really didn’t do them justice. They’d looked more like slightly-odd cats in most beastiaries, but in the real world they were, in a word, terrifying. Especially to an already-wounded mare.

Wounded, but not helpless. I was Sunset Shimmer, the strongest unicorn in Equestria, and I wasn’t going to let something like a stupid manticore stop me. I admittedly hadn’t had a lot of training in how to deal with wild animals, but I was sure I could handle it. I stood up on three shaking legs, picked up one of the hot rocks with my magic, and threw it into the monster’s face.

I was pretty sure that hitting a manticore in the nose helped establish dominance.

The manticore roared and charged at me, its muzzle burned where the rock had struck it. It didn’t look cowed or like it had any respect for my obvious power.

Come to think of it, maybe I was confusing manticores and landsharks.

I sort of froze up at that point. I blame Celestia for that. She’d made me work hard to get away from a habit of just blasting things that scared or annoyed me, so now when I really needed it, I found myself hesitating.

The manticore didn’t have etiquette lessons or reservations about hurting others. It batted me away with a huge paw, its claws leaving deep, bleeding cuts across my shoulder and chest. The good thing was that the shock meant I wasn’t passing out from pain and blood loss yet. The bad thing was that I was in shock and probably about to get killed and eaten by a monster.

I threw a firebolt at it, and the charging monster shied back from the open flame.

“You’re not going to take me down that easily,” I panted, out of breath and shaking from the cold and pain. “Do you know who I am? I’m Sunset Shimmer! I burned down half of a stone castle! I threw myself out of a train because I don’t let ponies tell me what to do! I blew up my professors on purpose as part of my mid-term! You’re just a stupid monster and you don’t have a snowball’s chance in Tartarus against me!”

It was less than impressed.

I tried to teleport away as it lunged, and my spell failed as it reacted more quickly than I did, a stinger sinking into my flank. My back hooves went numb almost instantly, and I collapsed in a heap. I’d gone from three good legs to one. This just wasn’t my day. What was worse was that manticores liked to play with their food.

It batted me away with a claw, my good leg taking most of the hit, though a line of pain opened from my jaw almost all the way to my eye as it caught my face with the tip of a talon. I flipped in the air, coming down hard enough on my broken leg that everything went white for a moment from the pain.

At this point, I had two obvious choices. Try to escape, though teleportation was my only option for moving at all, or try to find some way to defend myself. I took pride in always finding a third option. A teleport wouldn’t get me far away enough to keep it from finding me. A shield spell would eventually fail and I’d just be buying time.

Option three was that I blew both of us up with a fireball. It sounded crazy, sure, but I was more or less fireproof thanks to some permanent enchantments I’d bound to myself, and I was pretty sure the manticore wasn’t.

“Choke on this,” I spat, the cut on my face stinging as I spoke. I put all of my power into one spell and just let it explode, aiming for the ground between us instead of bothering with trying to hit the agile predator directly.

Fire magic was my favorite subject, and learning it had taught me a lot about power. There were four basic elemental types - earth, air, fire, and water. Fire was at a disadvantage against all of the others. Sand will put out a flame. Candles get blown out. A bucket of water douses a campfire. But give a fire spell enough power, and you can melt steel, boil water, and it will eat up the air and leave it stagnant. To master fire, you had to master putting force behind your actions. No fire mage could afford half-measures, and so I’d learned to leverage my special talent to blow away my problems with brute force.

Brute force saved my life this time. The heat turned the rain into steam and boiled the muddy ground until it was dry. The manticore exploded into flames as its coat caught on fire and was blown back into the rock wall of the cave we’d been fighting over, collapsing in a heap too still to be alive. I was fine, of course. Like I said, fireproof.

It was the first time I’d killed anything, intentionally or not. I tried to stand, but my back legs refused to work, and my only good leg in front was covered in deep lacerations. I slumped over, exhausted. At least I was warm now, with the steam and residual heat making the clearing sauna-like.

As blackness overtook me, I heard the brush moving behind me. If I had the strength, I would have cursed the last bestiary I read for saying manticores were solitary predators and being wrong. I closed my eyes and fell limp, unable to keep fighting.

Waking up after that was a surprise in and of itself. I had expected to be eaten, but instead I was… well, I was in a bed. And not a hospital bed. It took a few minutes for me to come to my senses, and I was left with a pounding headache, but I was pretty sure hospitals had fewer ceremonial masks on the walls, and usually had antiseptic and tile instead of cauldrons and mysterious bottles.

“You are lucky to be alive. I was afraid you would not revive.” I sat up quickly as I heard a pony with an odd accent speaking. I turned to look, and blinked in surprise. A young zebra, probably only as old as I was.

“Oh, um… Sawubona, Sanusi,” I said, trying to remember the formal greetings for meeting a shaman. I’d only met Zebrican ambassadors once before, though Celestia had made sure I was prepared to be respectful to them. And I was. She’d bugged me about being nicer to the other students at the School for Gifted Unicorns, but she never seemed to appreciate that I was nice when it counted - to ponies who had authority and mattered. It wasn’t my fault most of the students at the school were useless layabouts who couldn’t even be counted on to do their homework.

“It has been some time since I have heard the language of my homeland.” She smiled and came closer, checking the bandages wrapped around my hooves. “It is good to find another pony I can understand.”

“I guess you must have found me in the woods,” I mumbled. “Thanks.”

“It was nothing.” She checked my front hooves. “This is badly broken and will need a sling.”

“Trust me, I know.” I laughed a little. “And I can feel my back hooves, so I guess that means you had an antidote to its venom…” I looked around. “Where are we? I didn’t know there were any shamans in Equestria.”

“I am far from my tribe, to learn what kind of plants here to prescribe.” She gestured around the room at the bottled samples. “In the Everfree there are many kinds of herb, and I am studying them to find the most superb.”

“The Everfree?” I sputtered. “We’re in the Everfree?! No wonder I ran into a manticore. This place is crawling with monsters.”

“There are many kinds of creature dire, but you seemed to have scared them away with your fire.” She trotted over to her cauldron and stirred it before using a ladle to pour some of the contents into a cup, giving it to me. I looked down at the brown liquid and sniffed.

“Tea?” I asked, amused. “I don’t think most witches use their cauldrons to make a spot of tea for cold mornings.”

“Those witches would be fools to not make the best use of their tools.” She poured herself a cup as well, sipping at it. After she’d had some, I felt safe enough to drink it myself. Not that I was worried about it being poison or anything - it would be silly to save my life and then kill me later. I was just feeling paranoid after everything that’d happened to me lately.

“My name’s Sunset Shimmer,” I sighed.

“Zecora is what I go by. And I am a shaman, as you imply.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you like this. As soon as I’m able to walk I’ll be out of your mane.”

She nodded. “Your broken leg needs to be set. Ponyville Hospital is where you should get.”

“No!” I yelled. “I’m not-” I groaned and laid back, putting the tea down. “I’m not going into town. I can’t let anypony know I’m here.” I looked at Zecora with a sudden fear. “I’m not a criminal or anything-” Technically. I was pretty sure I had to be convicted first. “I just… I have personal reasons.”

“Then you shall stay here until you are well,” she said, without missing a beat. “And no other pony will I tell.”

“That’s… more than I deserve,” I said quietly. “Thank you. How can I repay you?”

“For now focus on getting rest. Recovering fully will pay be back the best.” She smiled.

Zecora was probably the only reason I survived. I don’t just mean from the injuries, either. Sure, in theory a forest was full of food for ponies who knew how to find it, but I wasn’t a pony who knew how to find it. While I recovered, she taught me what plants were good for eating and which ones would kill me so dead even scavengers would leave my corpse alone.

In return, as soon as I was well enough to join her on her expeditions into the deeper parts of the Everfree, I went with her and blasted just about every monster we found. She wasn’t entirely happy with it, but turning problems into craters was my favorite way to deal with stress, even if my math teachers hadn’t liked it much. Not to say I wasn’t a genius at magical theory and complex equations, I just really hated trigonometry.

I also finally had the time to look over my few possessions. I’d been lucky. My saddlebags were almost entirely waterproof, and my books had been enchanted against the minor damage of what water and dirt had gotten through. Even my clothing was more or less intact, and the thick black cloak served well to keep the briars and unpredictable rain of the Everfree at bay.

I’m not too proud to admit that it also helped me hide the scars. The wounds I’d gotten from the manticore had scarred badly despite Zecora’s help. When she told me how close I’d come to dying from them, I had a few more panic attacks right in a row.

“What are you planning on doing?” Zecora asked. It had been a few weeks since she’d found me. I’d healed enough that I didn’t need bandages except across my shoulder where the cuts were deepest. “Every night you sit there rueing.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, shrugging and ignoring the tightness in my healing shoulder. “I was just… running away from a bad situation. One that was partly my fault. I didn’t have a real plan. I was just going to get as far away as I could and then… well, then figure things out.”

“You have certainly gotten far away, though the price was one you didn’t expect to pay.” Zecora stirred the smaller cauldron that contained our dinner. She was a far better cook than I. I’d learned how to make food, but I was used to doing it in the castle’s well-stocked kitchens. Out here in the forest, almost everything I made turned to bland boiled mush. Zecora’s food was far better for both of us.

“No kidding,” I snorted.

“Why did you run, even when you were so close to being undone?” It was the most blunt she’d been about asking why I’d shown up in the forest. I knew she didn’t mind me being there, for the most part. I think she appreciated having some company. I had to admit it was nice having, well, a friend. Or something close to it.

Hey, like I said, I showed respect to ponies who were worthy of it. She was definitely worthy of respect. Anypony who could both save my life and cook qualified.

“It’s not exactly…” I tried to find the words. “I guess the truth is that it’s mostly my fault. I’m not a very good pony.” I sighed. Zecora waited for me to continue, not saying anything. “I was Princess Celestia’s personal student for eight years. I had a magical flare in the orphanage where I grew up and almost leveled the place. She taught me to control my magic, and she pretty much had to do it herself, since I was stronger than any of the professors at the school even when I was a filly.

“I really…” I shuddered as I took a deep breath. “I really miss it. She was like a mother to me.” I fought back tears, mostly successfully. “I used to think she saw me as a daughter, but the older I got the more I realized just how much she was holding back from me.”

“What do you mean? She is quite open from what I have seen.” I took hold of the spoon Zecora was using and stirred the food absently.

“Wrong. She hides almost everything about herself. I can count on my hooves the number of times I’ve seen her without her serene little mask on.” I looked up at the leaky roof, sighing. One of those times she’d been banishing me from the castle. “She’s… she talks about making friends, but all she does is manipulate ponies! Every day, I saw how she’d use little white lies and half-truths to get what she wanted. Ponies thought she was just trying to teach them a lesson, but I saw what it really was. She doesn’t really care about anypony. They’re just pieces on a chessboard to her.”

I was quiet for a few minutes.

“I think that’s how I started to see ponies, too. Looking at them more for how I could use them instead of who they were. I mean, you learn a lot from your parents. No matter what she said, I could see the truth. She kept everypony at a distance, she manipulated them, she didn’t have any real friends - and in turn she was powerful, loved, the ruler of Equestria!” The spoon bent as my magic started to flare up. I took a deep breath to calm down and unbent it as best I could, leaving the handle crooked.

“You wished to be like your surrogate mother,” Zecora guessed. “And this led to friction between one another.”

“Yeah, that’s putting it mildly,” I snorted. “She was manipulating me too, you know? I could see it, once I’d learned how she did things. She’d dangle half-lessons out in front of me and expect me to learn the rest myself, because she wanted me to go through the motions instead of just telling me the answer. It forced me to be self-motivated if I wanted to keep up with her. And I learned a lot! It just wasn’t because of her. It was because of me. MY motivations. MY drive and desire. My passion!” My voice got louder and louder until I was yelling at the top of my lungs.

“All she was good for was… was reminding me that there was still more to learn. She was more like an index or suggested reading guide. She’d only teach me something practical a few times a year, and even then it was only when she didn’t want me experimenting without supervision. Like teleportation. If you don’t learn the spell correctly you end up missing parts when you teleport.” I sighed. “Then she shows me a mirror with some kind of enchantment on it. I saw myself with wings and a crown, like I was an alicorn. Like I was really her daughter. And then Cadance shows up and...” I bit my lip, refusing to cry.

Zecora waited for me to continue. She was remarkably patient. That, or I’d finally gotten my monologuing skills high enough that ponies wouldn’t try to interrupt me. Great news if I ever decided to turn evil and needed to make a villainous speech before putting my enemies in an easily escapable deathtrap.

What? I happen to like the Bearer Bond: Secret Agent series. Some of the techniques I’d used to try and evade the guards in Canterlot had come from reading those books. I was surprised they’d worked in the real world.

“I got desperate,” I admitted. “She adopted Cadance and wouldn't talk to me about what I saw. She said she would ‘when I was ready’. But if that was the case, why show it to me? Why not wait? So I thought this was just another test. Something I had to study and learn on my own. I scoured the archives for clues, and they all pointed in the same direction. The forbidden section. As Celestia’s student, I had access to it, though I was supposed to get permission from Celestia first. I knew she’d just tell me I had to wait, so I went in without that permission.”

“If there was such a forbidden book, why did she keep it where anypony could look?” Zecora asked.

“She didn’t believe in destroying books,” I explained. “It was something Starswirl the bearded told her. ‘Once you start burning books, you’ll be burning ponies next.’ She took it to heart.” I scratched at the scar on my jaw. Zecora gently batted my hoof away. My bad habits at scratching my wounds were one reason they’d scarred so much. “Sorry. Anyway, I cracked open a bunch of books looking for what I needed, including ones on dark magic. That’s part of the danger of being so driven and, well, easily distracted. I like learning new spells.”

Zecora started laughing. I raised an eyebrow. She shook her head. “Once you called me a witch. That you’re the one who knows dark magic I find quite rich.”

“I haven’t used them!” I protested. “I just know the theory.” And with a near-photographic memory I totally could use them if I had to. I just didn’t look forward to it. I was already persona non-Grata in Equestria. The last thing I needed to do was end up as a maleficarum as well. “But the librarian got Celestia, and well… she was angry.”

That was an understatement, but she hadn’t banished me to the moon or anything, so maybe furious was too strong a word.

“I sort of started yelling at her,” I admitted. “I found a book that described in some very vague terms how a regular pony could become an alicorn. It wasn’t nearly enough for me to do it myself, but Celestia was an alicorn already, so she had to know how to do it. I wanted her to give me wings. She kicked me out for disobeying her, disrespecting her, and breaking the rules.”

“She must have kicked you quite hard, if you got all the way to my yard.” She started ladling out the roasted roots, which had browned well in the oil she’d pressed out of some otherwise-inedible seeds and mixed with finely sliced herbs and green onions.

“That was mostly my fault. There were guards following me around.” I frowned at the memory. “I don’t know why. They were probably making sure I wasn’t going to break into the castle. Maybe Celestia was worried I’d throw a tantrum and burn down half of Canterlot.” I looked down. “Or she could have been kind enough to make sure I was going to be okay, and had trusted ponies looking out for me. I don’t know.”

I levitated a chunk of tuber into my mouth, chewing sullenly.

“I don’t care, either. Whatever reason she had, I wasn’t going to play by her rules. If she wants me out of her life, than she doesn’t get to stick around and be part of mine!” I grit my teeth in anger. “I got away from them. Almost. They managed to catch up to me when I was leaving the city by train. We were going over a bridge at the time and… I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was being spiteful and stupid. I teleported out and fell into the river. It’s how I broke my leg.” I held up the slightly twisted leg. It hadn’t healed correctly, as Zecora had warned me. I was going to walk with a limp for the rest of my life.

“That is quite a tale,” Zecora said. “Certainly better than the one I had imagined where you were running from an abusive male.”

I snorted with laughter. “Please. I’d have blown a pony like that into giblets if they laid a hoof on me.”

“Much as you did every other beast,” Zecora agreed. “Your magic is certainly strong, at least.”

“Of course it is! I’m the strongest unicorn alive!” I reared up dramatically. It just made Zecora laugh. I huffed and ate my dinner. She laughed again as I tried to keep frowning, and I lost it, joining her in mirth. It was the first time I’d felt happy since Celestia had thrown me out.

For a Few Apples More

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I limped through the forest. I was about as healed as I was going to get, and the monsters of the forest were slowly learning not to go anywhere near me lest they become charcoal. I had to admit, I was sort of in a rut. I didn’t have any real direction. Zecora was working to discover the mysteries of the Everfree’s unique flora and fauna, but that was her quest, not mine.

My purpose in life had been to study whatever Celestia put in front of me. That obviously wasn’t going to work now. Zecora said that Ponyville was just outside the forest, and I could get there in a few hours even with my limp. If I remembered correctly, that was where the train I’d hopped onto had been going. It’d certainly be one of the longest delays between starting a train ride and completing it.

I was still apprehensive about it, though. I was pretty sure that any search for me had been called off. It had been a few weeks, after all, and even the attempts to scry my location had stopped. It might have had something to do with the Everfree itself. Even my divination spells went haywire in there. It was ironically the perfect place to hide from Celestia, and I’d stumbled into it on accident. Maybe Harmony was working out for me after all.

Anyway, I was mostly wasting time and trying to decide what to do with myself when I heard something unusual. A voice, and not Zecora’s. I used a simple illusion to cloak myself in shadows and stalked towards it, moving as quietly as I could. Zecora was able to move silently and without disturbing even the leaves on the trees. She was like a ghost, and I had no idea how she did it. It wasn’t quite magic, I think. (Or it was secret Zebra magic and I’d never be able to learn it.)

Either way, the pony didn’t hear me coming. I decided to hang back and watch. Zecora had always encouraged it when we went out, though I was more the type to make a lot of noise and get my point across with force. It was way more fun.

A filly, no more than seven or eight, was stomping through the forest and making a lot of noise. Probably a good thing I didn’t immediately blow her up. I mean, I might be a powerful sorceress living in an enchanted forest in a twisted home with a cauldron, potions and… okay, look, I admit I was basically a witch, but I wasn’t the kind of witch who eats foals. I preferred carrots. (And bacon, but that was a guilty pleasure.)

“Come out here an’ fight me!” The foal screamed. Tears were running down her face. She was orange, with a long straw-colored mane in a loose braid. She had a hat on that was much too large for a filly, and either I was closer to the edge of the forest than I thought or else she’d managed to get really far into the Everfree without being eaten by anything.

She wasn’t going to stay uneaten unless I did something. I sighed and stepped out of the brush behind her. I wasn’t used to dealing with foals. The last time I did was in the orphanage, and I don’t think the methods I used there were really appropriate. The orphanage had been tough. You either stepped on somepony else, or you got stepped on. I didn’t feel like bullying the kid, so I was going to have to get her out of here by being nice to her.

I didn’t relish my chances. I was awful at nice.

“Hey,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. She almost jumped out of her skin, spinning around so quickly the hat came tumbling off her head. She went to grab for it, forgetting about me in her panic. I grabbed her and the hat with my magic, setting the hat on her head before letting her go.

“W-who are you?” She asked, rubbing her running nose. “I ain’t never seen you in town.”

“I don’t go into town,” I said. “You shouldn’t be here. The forest is dangerous.”

“I know it’s dangerous!” She yelled. “I can take care of myself!”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. For all I knew, she could. And I sure wouldn’t have wanted an older pony telling me I was too weak to do anything back when I was her age. I still didn't like ponies trying to tell me what to do. “But your parents are probably worried about…” I trailed off. At the mention of parents, she'd started to bawl, breaking down into pathetic little sobs.

I’d said the wrong thing, clearly. Did I mention I wasn’t good with foals?

“I don’t got parents no more!” She yelled. I was starting to get worried that we’d attract something looking for easy prey. Even if I was the strongest unicorn in Equestria I still didn’t want to get ambushed. There were beasts that could kill before you could react, if you were careless enough to let them.

“Okay, kid. Sorry.” I trotted over to her and picked her up with my magic. “I didn’t mean to upset you. If it makes you feel better, I didn’t have parents and I…” I trailed off. “You know what, never mind. I’m a bad example.” I sighed, putting her on my back to carry her more easily.

“Ma and Pa got attacked by timberwolves and…” she sniffled. “I ain’t gonna just let them get away with it! I’m gonna make them pay for what they did!”

Oh great. Her bucking life story. I really didn’t care, nor did I want to hear it. I just wanted her out of the forest so I didn’t have to worry so much about her getting killed by something. I started down the way she’d come, but before I’d gotten far, she hopped off of my back and bolted.

I rolled my eyes and snagged her with magic. “What are you doing?” I sighed.

“My granny said this - Never go nowhere with strangers, on account of you don’t know if they’re good ponies.” She frowned at me. “An’ you’re definitely a stranger.”

“...Well, she’s not wrong.” I grimaced. “But this forest is more dangerous than your average stranger. Your parents wouldn’t want you getting eaten, and even a scary forest witch like me isn’t going to let you get hurt if I can help it.” I laughed a little, trying to lighten the mood. Or at least trying to get her to stop crying. Crying was a sure-fire way to get something like a basilisk coming around to see what was injured and in need of being eaten.

“I can’t,” the foal mumbled. “I gotta do somethin’. Them timberwolves keep hurtin’ my family. First Grandpa,then Ma and Pa…”

“What’s your name?” I kept my eyes open. Maybe the predators were smart enough to stay away from me. Maybe not. I'd be stupid not to keep looking out for them either way.

“Applejack,” she said. “An’ I’m not leavin’. Not until I get that timberwolf.” She gave me a determined look, the kind only a foal with no sense of self-preservation could have. I was pretty sure I’d given ponies that exact look a few times.

“There are dozens of timberwolves in the forest,” I said. “You going to try and kill all of them? They’re pretty tough.”

“I only gotta get th’ one that got Ma and Pa.” She sniffled. “Big Mac said it’s bigger ‘n the others and all colored white like a birch tree.”

I winced. I actually knew what she was talking about, and I’d only been in the forest for a few months. There was one main pack of timberwolves, and the Great White Wolf, as Zecora had called it, was the pack alpha. She was bigger, meaner, and smarter than the rest of the wolves. Even I didn’t want to go after her. We gave each other distance, what with the both of us being scary forest monsters.

“You know where it is!” Applejack gasped. “You gotta tell me!”

“Kid, it isn’t safe.” I tried a stern look on her. Celestia had given me plenty, so I was pretty sure I could give a good rendition. It didn’t work. Applejack dug her heels in more and just glared back at me.

“If you don’t tell me I’ll… I’ll…” She stomped a hoof.

“What? You’ll run into the forest full of monsters and witches?” I snorted.

“I just…” She shivered and started crying again. “I need t’... I need t’ do this. I can’t just let th’ monster go! Granny’s too old an’ Big Mac’s scared of th’ forest! I’m th’ only pony who can get revenge fer Ma and Pa!”

I sighed. “I can’t let you go alone. You need an adult. At least to keep you out of worse trouble.”

“Yer an adult!” Applejack said. “You even know where th’ monster is! You can take me!”

“Woah, woah.” I waved my hoof, backing up from the sudden enthusiasm. “I’m a stranger, remember? And I’m a scary witch of the woods!”

“I told you my name. What’s yours?”

“Sunset Shimmer. But don’t let that-” She ran over and grabbed my hoof, shaking it.

“There! Now we know each other and ain’t strangers! You can take me to th’ monster so I can buck it apart fer Ma and Pa!”

“No way,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t…” And she started giving me the saddest eyes I’d ever seen. I was pretty sure they’d melt a Windigo at thirty paces. “I don’t work for free,” I finished, lamely. “In fact…” I turned away, raising my nose into the air. “I’m the strongest unicorn in the world. It costs a lot to hire me.”

“I only got ten bits,” Applejack muttered. “It’s everything I got saved up.”

“I’ve been offered a lot before, but never everything.” I put a hoof on her head and stroked her mane. “Alright. I’ll help you.”

“...and remember, if I tell you to run, you run.” I kept walking. I thought I’d need to keep the pace slow, but Applejack was following easily. I was starting to feel like I was the only pony who had problems getting through the thick brush.

“Right, Miss Witch,” she nodded, her hat almost falling off as it snagged a twig. I almost corrected her, but it was probably safer for her to just think of me as a witch. The less she used my name, the less she’d spread it around town.

“I’ll take care of the wolf. Even if you are strong, I’m not going to let you get maimed by a monster.” I used my magic to raise my cloak up. “It really sucks, trust me.” Her eyes went wide as she saw the scars across my body.

“How’d you get all that?” She looked surprised. I couldn’t blame her. I’d never seen a pony as badly wrecked as I was, though maybe that had more to do with living in Canterlot.

“Manticore. Trust me when I say this forest is dangerous.”

“You said you were strong!” She frowned. “If you couldn’t even-”

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” I growled. “That was after I fell down a ravine, nearly drowned, broke my leg, and got lost in the forest. And in case you were curious, the manticore ended up as dinner after I blew it up.” That part was a lie. I’d definitely cooked it with that fireball, but I hadn’t actually eaten it. Couldn’t hurt to remind the kid that I was supposed to be a scary witch, though.

“Oh.” She paused and dug at the ground with a hoof. “Sorry about implyin’ you were…” She trailed off.

“It’s fine. I’ll just prove it the old fashioned way.” I smirked, feeling confident. I mean, they were only timberwolves and I was a pyromancer. If there was one thing I knew, it was that monsters made out of wood were pretty much doomed if they decided to mess with me. I’d sent a few running with their tails burning into cinders, but they’d be dangerous to a pony with less talent at setting things on fire.

“Is it true that y’all witches eat foals and cast dark magic?” She asked, still on my heels. At least her constant talking meant that I wouldn’t have to keep checking to make sure she wasn’t left behind.

“No. Foals give me an upset stomach and there’s no point in using dark magic when you’ve got fire.” I kept my eyes open, looking for marks on the trees. Zecora had showed me that timberwolves would strip bark from trees to repair patches on their hides, and it left very distinct marks on the tree trunks. I stopped and examined one tree closely. the bark was just gone from a wide strip, with no sign of rot or damage to the tree itself. We were going the right way, as long as a pony was willing to call ‘right into a den of timberwolves’ the right way, which it usually wasn’t.

“Granny said that you shouldn’t fight fire with fire because you just end up with more fire an’ you didn’t want it in the first place,” Applejack said.

“Granny is wrong,” I snorted. “Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire.”

I walked into a clearing, and felt my hair start to stand on end. Something was wrong. It was almost completely silent. The birds had stopped singing, and even the omnipresent insects and frogs were quieted. I held out a hoof and stopped Applejack, looking around.

I didn’t see anything moving right away. No twitching brush, not even leaves moving in the wind. There were just the trees, the fallen limbs at their base, and-

And I realized where we were. The ‘fallen limbs’ started moving on their own, because they weren’t just dead wood. They were living, angry, hungry wood, in the shape of large canines, and we were surrounded like idiots.

Well, Applejack was surrounded like an idiot. I wasn’t an idiot. I was a pyromancer, and to me, this was a target-rich environment, not an ambush.

They started circling us, cutting off retreat, intent on making us into dinner. I wasn’t sure exactly why they needed to eat, since they were just hollow beasts made out of wood. Maybe they were just doing what a normal wolf would do, going through the motions even though it didn't matter. I guess we had that in common.

Applejack grabbed my back leg, hanging on and whimpering.

“They’re all around us!” She wailed.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one who wanted to go right into their den. What was your plan, again? To buck them apart?”

“That was my plan ‘fore I hired you!” She said, looking up at me. “Do th' magic thing!”

“As you wish,” I snorted. My horn lit up with cyan magic as I focused. This was going to be more difficult than usual, because I had to avoid accidentally turning the foal clinging to my leg into ash. I was a little spoiled by being fireproof, and had been for so long that my reflexes had changed. I hadn’t thought much of dropping a fireball at my own feet, or reaching into hot coals, or setting everything around me on fire.

I traced a pattern through the air, and sparks flew in spiral patterns as they searched for their targets, the red-hot motes biting into the circling wolves and burrowing into their wooden bodies, setting them alight and refusing to go out on their own. It wasn’t a spell I used much, because a rain of burning phosphorus was typically overkill when dealing with just about any foe you could name.

The timberwolves howled in pain, rolling in the dirt to try and extinguish the flames. It put them out for a few moments before the phosphorus started burning again.

“That’s awful…” Applejack whispered.

“They’re not even really properly alive,” I noted. “They’re just spirits that act like wolves. I don’t think they can really feel fear or pain. They just pretend, because it’s what wolves would do.”

“It still ain’t right,” Applejack said. “I just wanted t’ get revenge fer Ma and Pa, not t’ make all of them suffer. Some of them prolly ain’t never hurt nopony…”

“Fine,” I sighed. I lit up my horn and ended the spell, the burning motes vanishing back into the nothingness I’d pulled them from. It was technically a conjuration spell, instead of the more common evocation effects that- the details aren’t important. If Applejack was a unicorn, she might have appreciated my genius and skill.

The timberwolves bounded away, howling in fear, their hides blackened and burned. A few were still dimly burning.

All of them except one. A great white wolf stood across from us, glaring at me with undisguised hatred. Apparently the target of Applejack’s little hunt wasn’t happy with the way we’d kicked its pack in the flank. I had to admit, though, that even I was a little intimidated. It stood so tall that it could reach the top of a tree if it reared up on its hind legs, and the white branches and logs of its body formed a framework around a glowing core of green magic.

Maybe it was just the nightmares I’d been having about a huge, glaring white princess that made me feel a twinge of fear inside. Or maybe I was finally getting some common sense.

I didn’t have time to ponder it before the huge beast pounced. My first instinct was to teleport, but the foal squeezing my leg was a reminder that I didn't have that option. I couldn’t teleport and leave her to get eaten by a timberwolf. Well, I could. I’d just have to be a real witch to consider it.

I slapped a shield together, a wall of heat and fire that made the huge wolf balk and come up short. It bought me a few seconds to put together a more complex spell.

“Take this, you birch!” I yelled, a series of orange spheres launching in a high arc from my horn, bounding across the field of trampled grass and bouncing as they closed in on the wolf. Fireball was my favorite spell, and I’d learned every variety ponies had ever invented. This was the best of them all, in my humble and absolutely correct opinion.

I watched with a smile on my face as the Bouncing-Betty Fireballs homed in on the wolf. The first time I’d cast this spell I’d made a slight mistake in the target acquisition part of the spell and ended up running away from my own fireballs while I tried to remember the counterspell. Not my finest moment. The long hours of practice (and the time I’d had to reflect on my mistakes and learn basic masonry while helping repair the entrance to the ballroom that I’d blown up while trying to evade the spell) had paid off.

The wolf didn’t know what to make of them until the first blew up in its face, blasting fang-like thorns from its maw and knocking it back on its heels.

I’m not going to pretend it was even fair. it might have been a big, tough alpha, but it was just a forest monster, and I was one of the most powerful beings in all of Equestria, coming right after the Princess and a few of the larger dragons. I watched with glee as wooden flesh was blasted from the beast, the wolf growing smaller and smaller as it reformed with what remained.

“S-stop it!” Applejack yelled, tugging on my fetlocks. I really needed to trim them at some point. It wasn’t like I could do much grooming in the woods.

“I thought you wanted revenge,” I said, firing a ray of heat that slashed across the timberwolf’s legs, knocking it over as it tried to escape.

“I-” Applejack bit her lip. I looked down at her. “This ain’t right. Just because it’s a monster don’t mean I have to act like one too.” She looked through the wall of fire to the prey we’d been hunting. “It’s just an animal, an’ even if it weren’t, Ma and Pa wouldn’t want me hurtin’ it for no reason.”

I followed her gaze to where the timberwolf was lying on its side, whimpering in obvious pain. Now I was starting to feel bad about it, too.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “You’re right.” I lowered the wall of fire so I could walk closer. Fire spells weren’t great for mercy killing. Fire was powerful and dangerous, but it was also extremely painful.

“A bad animal gets put down,” Applejack said. “Like when my dog Roxanne got rabies. Granny put her down, and she made it quick an’ painless.”

“Quick and painless…” I muttered. Not something I was good at. “Stay back. I don’t want you to get burned.” Applejack backed away from me, finally letting go of my leg. I circled closer to the wounded monster. If it had been a real wolf instead of a spirit animating a bunch of wood, I’d know what to do.

I reached into the timberwolf with my magic, trying to figure out what to do. The timberwolf wasn’t that different from a normal magical construct. It was a spirit, sure, but it was tied to a physical body, and the way it constructed itself, healed, and grew wasn’t all that different from a come-to-life spell that had spiraled out of control.

The thing about spells is, even if you didn’t know the counterspell, you still had a few options on how to deal with them. If I kept hitting it with fireballs, eventually there wouldn’t be enough left of it to animate, but it would be cruel. Or at least as cruel as you could be to something that was just a self-propagating spell.

I traced along the lines of the spell, and found a knot of magic too complicated to unravel, as overgrown as the forest itself. Maybe it was closer to being alive than I thought. I could feel it pulsing, drawing magic from the ambient chaotic energy of the Everfree itself.

I couldn’t unknot it, so I did the next best thing. I ripped it apart, sundering the magic's pattern. The wolf was too weak from how badly I’d burned it to really resist. The magic exploded out of it in a green flash, the wood bursting into shrapnel. I shielded my face with a hoof and said some very unkind things as I was pelted with splinters.

“Ugh. I just can’t catch a break,” I sighed, pulling slivers out of my skin. Applejack trotted up next to me. She’d managed to avoid any kind of injury, luckily for her. I was going to be picking splinters from my hooves for weeks.

“It’s over,” Applejack sighed. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy…”

“I told you, I’m the strongest unicorn in Equestria. Of course it was that easy. For me. It would have eaten you alive.” I snorted. When she didn’t rise to my teasing, I looked down at her. Oh, right. it had killed her parents. That was probably the wrong thing to say. “Are you okay?”

“I thought it’d make me feel better,” Applejack whispered. She rubbed at her eyes and sniffled. “But it ain’t gonna bring my parents back, is it?”

“Sorry, kid,” I said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She leaned into me. That put a little too much weight on my bad leg, and I almost tipped over.

“I just wanna go home,” she whispered.

I decided to just carry her out of the forest. She was only a filly, and after the timberwolf had been dealt with, the drive that’d been pushing her to go on had faded. By the time I got her to the edge of the Everfree, where the trees started to thin out, she was sleeping on my back, holding onto that hat of hers.

I’ve never been good with foals, like I’ve mentioned before. But there was something about Applejack that made me, I don’t know, care a little more. Maybe it was just because she and I had something in common. I’d never known my parents at all, and she’d lost them about a year ago, apparently only a few months before my daring escape from Canterlot.

I could just see the lights of the town from here. It was almost night, which made me feel a little better about the whole thing. When the sun went down, the forest was a lot more dangerous, but at the same time I didn’t feel like Celestia was watching me from above. I knew it was a silly superstition, and she’d told me herself that it didn’t work that way, but it just felt like when the sun had dipped below the horizon and the moon rose that I was safe from discovery.

“Hey,” I said, poking the filly on my back. “We’re out of the woods. If you want a ride home you’re gonna have to tell me where you live.”
She groaned and opened her eyes, blinking at me in confusion for a few seconds before remembering where she was. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with a hoof and pointed. “Th’ farm is that way. It ain’t too far from here. If we just go a little more we should walk right into th’ west orchard.”

Not in town, then. That was good news. I might have felt a little safer, but I still didn’t relish the thought of going into town. I’d stand out no matter where I went, and in a tiny place like this the news would spread quickly and I’d have the guards searching the forest in no time.

I started trotting the way she’d pointed and used my horn to give us a little light. It was less than a minute before we found a broken fence, and beyond it were orderly rows of trees, though with how overgrown they were it was clear this orchard hadn’t been used in a while.
It reminded me of Canterlot. Celestia had made sure I went outside every day, and I took to studying in the gardens. They were pleasant, quiet, everything in its place. This was a lot like them, though with dirt paths instead of carefully laid stone.

“Hold it right there,” said a pony in the darkness. “You’re one silly apple thief, bringin’ a light like that what I can see all the way from the house!” I turned to face the scratchy, elderly voice, and found a green pony who was so old it was impossible to tell just how old she actually was. You know the type, where they hit a certain level of wrinkliness and just stop visibly aging. Her eyes still looked strong, and I had a feeling she could buck me right back to the woods if she wanted to.

“I’m no thief,” I said, picking Applejack up from my back and holding her in front of me. “Actually, I came to return an Apple, not take any.”

“Applejack!” the mare gasped. “We thought you’d run off again! Where’ve you been all day?! Yer brother and I’ve been worried sick!”

“Sorry, Granny…” Applejack muttered, looking down. “But there was somethin’ I had to do. I made sure that timberwolf ain’t never gonna hurt nopony again.”

I guess this was the Granny she’d mentioned before, then. She looked shocked, then a flash of vindication showed on her face for a moment before it was swept away by a tide of disapproval.

“That’s a darn fool thing you did, Applejack,” She said. “You could’ve been killed! After losin’ Johnathan and yer Ma, I just couldn’t…” she took a shuddering breath. “I couldn’t handle losin’ you. My heart’s seen too much ache for that.”

“I’m sorry, Granny,” Applejack said. I put her down, and she walked over to her grandmother, hugging her. I took that as my cue to leave, and turned to limp away. I didn’t get very far.

“And where do you think you’re goin’?” Granny asked. I sighed and turned to face her. “I don’t recognize you from around these parts.”

“I live in the woods,” I said, shrugging. “Unless you make a habit of running into the dangerous parts of the wilds like this one-” I nodded to Applejack. “There’s not much reason for you to have seen me.”

“The Everfree is all dangerous,” Granny said. “There ain’t no safe places.”

“True,” I agreed. “Anyway, now that she’s safe-”

“You gotta come to the farm house!” Applejack put in. “I ain’t paid you yet for helpin’ me with the timberwolves!”

“You encouraged her?” Granny frowned.

“It was that or let her do it alone,” I snorted. “She’s a stubborn pony. I can respect stubborn. A pony has to be willing to dig their heels in and fight for what they want.” I didn’t mention that it often didn’t work out. Like when I’d tried being assertive with Celestia.

“She is that,” Granny agreed. “Well, come on, then. I can’t say I agree none with her spending her allowance to hire mercenaries, but she made a promise and she has to keep to it.”

“I’m not a mercenary,” I said. “I mean, technically I did take money in exchange for my services in fighting a bunch of wolves. But that doesn’t mean anything!”

“Them’s splittin’ hairs, I figure,” Granny said, as we walked towards the farmhouse. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it was a lot bigger than I had pictured it. I’d been prepared for some one-room log cabin, but instead it was the size of some of the larger homes in Canterlot. I followed them to the door and stopped as they went in.

The only home I’d been inside in close to a year was Zecora’s, and even if she was my friend I was feeling bad about always being in her hair. I knew what it was like to try and get research done with some annoying pony constantly asking questions or just being there when you wanted quiet and solitude. I hated being that annoying pony.

Her home, though, at least felt like a lab. (Or a witch’s hut, but I was basically a witch at this point anyway. All I needed was a broom to ride around on and a pointy hat.) I felt comfortable there. This was a kind of home I’d never been in before. The orphanage had been like a prison, with the same pecking order of predators and prey as the forest, even if the food chain was social and filled entirely with ponies. The castle was a place where people worked, with no real expectation of privacy, not a real home to anypony. I don’t even think the Princess felt entirely at home there.

This, though. This was different. It was a real family home. And I was an outcast. I didn’t belong here. I strongly considered just teleporting away before a little orange hoof grabbed mine and pulled me inside.

“Come on, Miss Witch! Stop all the lolly-gaggin!” I laughed a little to myself as I allowed her to drag me through the threshold. It was warm inside, the wooden floors polished to a sheen with decades of hooves wearing down the rough spots and loving applications of wax and oil to keep them from rotting.

Everything smelled like apples. I hadn’t had any in months now, since I’d found odd-colored ones in the Everfree and had some bad experiences. Apples weren’t supposed to be spicy, and they definitely weren’t supposed to change the color of your mane and tail. At least Zecora seemed to like the samples I’d brought back, even if we hadn’t had any luck with growing them ourselves.

Applejack let me go after she’d escorted me into a dining room, instead running up to a colt not much older than she was and hugging the worried-looking pony. I guess it was the brother she’d mentioned.

“Granny, can Miss Witch stay for dinner?” Applejack yelled towards the kitchen.

“Wait, wait,” I said, waving my hooves. “I don’t want to impose. I should get back to forest… stuff.” I mentally facehooved. Great work, Sunset. Forest stuff. That definitely sounded like a real thing and not like an excuse at all.

“I ain’t never gonna send somepony home hungry,” Granny said. “Y’all just sit down at the table and I’ll get you somethin’ warm to put in your bellies. I know little Applejack must be starved after bein’ a durn fool from sunup to sundown.”

I snorted at that and sat down. I was in too deep now. I’d have to suffer through a hot meal. Terrible fate, really.

“Does your whole family live in th’ forest?” Applejack asked, as she sat next to me.

“I don’t have a family,” I shrugged. “You’re lucky, you know. Even if your mother and father are gone, you’ve got ponies here who care about you.” I'd never had that much. I used to pretend I did, but that stopped when I learned Celestia was perfectly willing to adopt ponies. They just had to be alicorns.

“I know,” Applejack said softly, looking down at the table. “After Ma and Pa died I ran away from everything and went to th’ city for a while. Didn’t sit right with me, though, like I wasn’t bein’ who I was supposed to be. Then I saw this big light in the sky, and it reminded me that my family here was most important, like it was where I belonged. It was how I got my cutie mark!”

“Big light in the sky?” I raised an eyebrow. “Like, a huge rainbow flash?”

“You saw it too?” Applejack blinked up at me in surprise.

“Yeah,” I snorted. “It was right before I threw myself off a bridge and ended up doing this to my leg.” I raised my twisted hoof. “It worked out, though. I’m free now. No more manipulation or rules. I do things my way, just how I want it.”

Applejack watched me for a while, then suddenly hugged me. “I’m sorry you ain’t got no family, Miss Witch.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” I patted her on the head and she took it as a signal to let go. Thankfully. I was afraid I was going to have to use a crowbar. For such a little filly she had an incredibly strong grip.

Granny walked into the room, Applejack’s brother helping her carry in plates of food. “Supper’s ready! We got apple-cinnamon bread, baked apples, grilled apple sandwiches, and carrot loaf.” She paused. “With applesauce.”

“I sense a theme,” I joked.

“When you live on an apple farm y’ better learn to love apples,” Granny said.

Dinner was quiet, but Granny Smith was probably the best cook I’d ever met. I had no idea how she did it, but she managed to keep the dishes from blurring into each other. There were tart apples, sweet apples, mealy apples, and she used all of them with a firm hoof exactly where they’d go best. I was very impressed - I'd eaten food from the finest chefs in Canterlot, and this was miles better.

“You’re goin’ back to th’ forest?” Applejack asked. I was helping clean up after eating. I wasn’t going to make Granny do all the work.

Between that and saving the filly, I was going to have to blot out the sun or curse a few wells to get my witch reputation going again. I was dangerously close to becoming a nice, humble pony. With incredible cosmic power. Okay, maybe not humble, then.

“It’s where I live,” I shrugged. “Besides, I’m safer there. There are ponies after me, and they’ll never find me in there.”

“Why are you runnin’ from them?” Applejack asked. “You blew up them timberwolves real good. You don’t seem scared of nothin’.”

“Some things are scarier than monsters,” I muttered.

“It’s harder facin’ your mistakes than somethin’ you can wave your horn at, you mean,” Granny said, as she scrubbed down a pot. “You got the look of somepony on the wrong side of the law. I don’t pretend to like that, but you saved my grandfoal’s life and did somethin’ fer her that I couldn’t do myself.”

“I didn’t commit any real crimes,” I said, stopping what I was doing. “I just…” I considered what to say. “I made mistakes. You’re right about that. I don’t even know what would happen if I got caught. Maybe nothing. Maybe ponies aren’t even looking for me. I know things can’t ever go back to the way they were, and with how things were at the end… I don’t deserve it, and I wouldn’t want it even if it was offered to me again.”

“I don’t get it,” Applejack frowned.

“You know how you said you weren’t being true to yourself when you were in the city?” I asked. Applejack nodded. “I know what that's like. I tried for years to be a good, happy little pony for somepony that mattered more to me than anything else in the world.” I wiped at my eyes. Something was bothering them. Probably just the onions. “I thought I was happy, or that I was special, or that I mattered to somepony. I was wrong, though. I was just a mistake.”

Even Granny had stopped working. Great. Now I had an audience.

“That’s the difference between family and… what I had,” I said. “Your Granny knows you made a mistake, but she was worried because she loves you and didn’t want you to get hurt. She’d never throw you out on the street, and she wouldn’t dangle some prize in front of you and then refuse to ever give it to you.” I started washing dishes again. I hadn’t broken anything. I was definitely making progress. Last time I’d ranted about Celestia (to myself) I’d ended up throwing a tree far enough with my magic that I didn’t see it land. I was halfway sure I’d managed to launch it right into the sun.

“Well… even if you are a witch, and you live in the woods, y’all can come here any time you want,” Applejack said, firmly.

I raised an eyebrow at that.

“But if you want any of Granny’s cooking, you gotta work for it,” she continued. “We got plenty of chores that need doin’.”

“You expect the Witch of the Everfree to do chores?!” I reared up, using a little illusion magic to make lighting flash around me and mystical smoke to pour from my cloak.

“If you want Granny’s apple pie, yeah,” Applejack nodded, completely unimpressed.

“You make a solid argument,” I admitted, settling down and letting the smoke and lightning vanish. Both of us managed to keep a straight face for a few moments before we broke out into giggles.

In retrospect, part of me felt more fulfilled than I ever had as Celestia’s student. Back then, I’d had everything important taken care of for me. I’d been given food, shelter, books, anything I really wanted had been at my beck and call, and it had left me with nothing but a terrible hunger for power, power that I’d thought would be enough to impress the Princess. I’d wanted her to be the family I was missing, but she never was. She was always distant, even to me.

Here with the Apples, though, I saw what a family should be like. No need to impress each other. No need to constantly fight to earn love that Celestia would never give.

If I’d still been her student, where would I be now? Locked up in a tower full of books, having to outdo myself in a series of endless, pointless tests? I’d been happy to be at the Princess’ side, but I’d never been content, and I’d never been part of a family. I just hoped nopony had made the same mistake I did in becoming her student.

Student Becomes Teacher

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I touched the two gold bangles around my neck, a gift from Zecora in recognition of my continuing education with her. They always made me feel better. She’d proven to be a better teacher than Celestia, in some ways. She never lied to me, or kept a secret, and even explained things without asking just because she thought I’d be curious. There were things I’d never really learned, like how to pass through thick plants without disturbing them, or her astounding sense of where plants and animals were around her.

I was making do with magic, and she encouraged me. She liked it when I came up with my own solution. It was why I respected her, and why she was my friend. She didn’t judge me.

A pony across the street glanced at me. I suddenly felt self-conscious, turning away and walking quickly. I hated going into town.

I pulled my cloak more tightly around my body. It was ragged after years of living in the forest, and even with the sewing lessons Granny Smith had given me, the thick material was worn through in places until it was almost like cheesecloth. I wasn’t a vain pony, and I was starting to get more comfortable coming into town, but I really didn’t want other ponies looking at me.

Today was special, and I’d have to put up with it. I knocked on the door and glanced at the building I’d come to. It might have been the strangest place in town, like a giant version of the gingerbread castles ponies would make around Hearth’s Warming Eve. The door opened wide, quickly enough to surprise me.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” I found myself looking down at a bouncing pink pony, whose exuberance quickly drained as she looked at me. She squeaked and bolted, running away. I could hardly blame her. I was a scary witch, after all.

I let myself in and looked around. The party was in full swing, and everything smelled like sugar. I didn’t plan on staying for long, but I’d promised that I’d show up. Applejack had grown a lot in the last few years. She was nearly as tall as I was, and she’d only just become a teenager. I trotted over to where she was laughing with a few other foals, probably from her class at school.

Ponies had started to notice me. I heard the chatter die down as I stalked across the brightly-lit room like a living shadow.

“Applejack,” I said, using a minor spell to give my voice echo and depth. I saw ponies start to cower. “I have come for you.”

“It’s the Pony of Shadows!” Screamed the pink one, running upstairs.

“Oh, hey Sunset,” Applejack said, totally unperturbed. She held out a cup. “Want some punch?”

I snorted with laughter and dropped the voice spell, lowering my hood so I didn’t look quite so much like the pale pony of death.

“Nothing scares you, does it?” I took the cup, and put a wrapped box in her hoof. “Here. Happy birthday, Applejack.”

“You didn’t have to get me nothin’, Sunset,” she smiled. “I’m just glad we got you to come outta those woods for a spell.”

“For a spell? Nah, mostly I do my spells in the woods,” I retorted. “Besides, it’s your birthday. I didn’t want to be the pony who shows up with empty hooves and gets free snacks out of it.”

She started unwrapping the box. It had taken me a while to get everything together - I don’t exactly do a lot of shopping these days. Inside was a sealed wooden box, the edges coated in wax.

“It’s a Zebrican harvest charm,” I explained. “I know you don’t like mixing apples and magic, but this is more like a tradition for good luck. If you plant it in a field, it’ll help protect the trees from rot and insects.”

“That’s a mighty thoughtful gift,” Applejack smiled. “But it wouldn’t have nothin’ to do with when you took an apple from the wrong bushel and found a worm in it, would it?”

“I can still taste it,” I shuddered. It had almost put me off apples, until Granny Smith had made her famous apple butter and peanut brittle sandwiches for lunch, after which I found I rather liked apples again.

“Thank you, Sunset,” she said, hugging me for a moment. “We’re just about to cut the cake. You wanna stay and do th’ honors?”
I shook my head, looking at the candle-lit cake. I didn’t want to be anywhere near cake. Too many bad memories. “Sorry. I should go before I scare the rest of your guests off. You enjoy yourself, Applejack.” I gave her a quick hug in return before turning to leave, replacing my hood as I walked towards the door.

I heard conversations start again as I walked outside. It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t like they were ponies I knew. It was just a reminder that I wasn’t like them. I was almost a decade older and an outsider.

I sighed and tried not to think about the pink pony that had run away from me. I should have enjoyed it. I was trying to cultivate the image of a big, scary witch after all. I shook my head and trotted quickly, pulling shadows around myself to try and hide as I made my way out of town and back towards the safety of the Everfree.

It didn't hurt.

Four years. I’d been imposing on Zecora for almost four years now. I needed to find my own place. Zecora had explored more deeply into the woods than I had. There was a dense core to the Everfree, a center where all the twisted leylines and chaotic magic centered. I’d gotten close a few times and seen the ruins of a castle, but had stayed away.

Today, I was going to overcome that fear. I wasn’t going to build some shack in the woods if I could find existing shelter to use, and the old castle might just be what I needed. With all of the strange magic around the place, though, I was going to have to be careful.

Being careful, today, meant finding my way through the brush without burning it down. A few firestorm spells would definitely had made it easier, but in this case maybe easy was going to take a back seat to caution.

One thing it would have helped with, though, was seeing more than two hooves in front of my face. I growled and tried to push through the thick fronds of the ferns in front of me, got my bad hoof painfully tangled in vines, started cursing, and lost my balance when I tried to pull myself free.

I twisted and rolled, having hit a downslope, tumbling down the incline and fighting to slow myself as rocks and branches bruised me. Then I was abruptly free. Free-falling, I mean. I squeaked as I realized I was falling into a deep gorge, started to panic, and decided I’d rather go out with a bang than a splat.

I charged up a teleport spell and flung myself towards a rickety-looking bridge strung across the ravine.

I wasn’t sure what surprised me more - when the spell worked or when the bridge held my weight. Teleport spells failed too often for comfort in the Everfree. I’d appeared a few hooves above it and landed so heavily on my back I was sure I was about to go right back down into the gorge I’d escaped. Somehow, the wood and ropes didn’t break, and I was left holding onto them for dear life as the unbalanced bridge swung back and forth from the force of my impact.

“Why can’t I ever catch a break?” I whispered, as I waited for the oscillations to cease. The pendulum-like movement slowed, and I nearly felt safe, though it still creaked and twisted slightly in the wind above the steep drop.

“Okay, Sunset. It’s just a bridge,” I said, taking a deep breath and standing. Everything shifted and moved, and I squeaked and threw myself down again. I edged along, almost crawling, and made a critical mistake. I looked over the edge.

It’s funny - I don’t remember being afraid of heights before I left Canterlot. Maybe a long fall and a near-death experience does that to a pony. I felt dizzy as I looked at the drop into darkness, the bottom too far away to make out in the gloom.

I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed the guide rope.

“Just keep moving,” I told myself. “You’re more than halfway across, the only way out is through. You’re the strongest unicorn. Even if you fall, you’ve got plenty of ways to save yourself. You can use a feather spell. Or summon a bunch of pillows! Or even use a precisely timed fireball to break your fall-” My hoof slipped as I tried to step onto a board that had gone missing.

I screamed.

“Why did I ever want stupid bucking wings in the first place?!” I yelled, to no one in particular. I gave up on the bridge, vanishing in a burst of light and reappearing on the other side. Unfortunately, I had been upset and not thinking too clearly when I cast the spell. I came out on the other side upside-down and covered in soot.

I landed on my face.

“Ow,” I said, softly. All my major organs seemed to be in place, and I was across the gorge. Two good pieces of news. “Note to self: replace old bridge with something sturdier. Made out of stone.” I shook myself and looked back at the bridge. Now that I wasn’t busy being terrified, I could see that it was incredibly old. If it wasn’t for the enchantments I could see on it, it would have fallen to dust long ago.

Seemed like a sign that I might be on the right track. You didn’t build a bridge like that unless it led somewhere.

“Speaking of tracks…” I mumbled, digging at the ground. The undergrowth here was different, all moss instead of grasses and ferns. I found out why very quickly. The moss was a thin layer over cobblestone. I smiled and followed the path, the moss making a clear trail. It was actually surprisingly pleasant. There weren’t any signs of huge predators here, and there was a certain sense of quiet contemplation.

As the castle came into view, though, I shivered. I wasn’t afraid of it. I wasn’t afraid of anything (excepting the Princess, and the various ways the Princess might find me). But the way it was ruined, that sense of serenity… it suddenly felt like I was walking through a graveyard. Maybe I’d learned more from Zecora than I’d thought. She’d often spoken of a spirit world, a place of dreams and death, and if there was such a place it felt like it was very close at hoof here.

As I walked, I saw other paths branching away, stones and heaps of rubble around me and hidden among the small trees. Had it all been a city once? I didn’t remember hearing anything about a major city here.

I scanned the area for magic as I made my way to the castle. There were traceries of old magic, more like ghosts of titanic spells than anything still active, lingering traces of what must have been apocalyptic sorceries.

Getting into the castle was easy enough. There were no guards, the doors were open and unused, and even if they hadn’t been, the roof had crumbled away long ago. There was a complex network of wards stretched across it, mostly spells of preservation, the more powerful wards having worn away over time until their strongest effect was to push dangerous animals away.

Things were looking up. If the wards would keep me from being eaten in my sleep, this was definitely the place to be.

I pushed a door open, the hinges giving out. It crashed to the ground with a sound like thunder, raising a huge cloud of dust.

“Home sweet home,” I said to myself. It was some kind of foyer area, dominated by an odd stone orrey. Amazingly well-preserved, but I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to represent. Maybe it would make sense to a classical art scholar. I walked past it and through a hallway almost entirely open to the elements, the wall having crumbled to nothing.

When I pushed the next door open, I started laughing. I couldn’t help it.

“Of all the places to go…” I snorted, walking inside. It was a throne room. And hanging from the walls were images of a bright sun and a white horse. Of course. It was just my luck. Try to escape from Celestia and end up in her old home.

“It’s probably the last place she’d look,” I muttered, looking at the ancient tapestry. Even the spells hadn’t preserved it perfectly, the colors starting to fade and the edges turning ragged. I was so absorbed by melancholy thoughts that I didn’t notice something strange until I turned around.

There were two thrones. And for every image of Celestia, there was one of another, her equal and opposite. Lunar images instead of solar symbols. I trotted up to the thrones and looked at them. They were nearly equal.

“Two thrones… two princesses?” I muttered. “What does that mean?”

It wasn’t something I was going to solve staring at rocks. I explored the rest of the castle and quickly found something that made me almost faint. A library. Thousands of books, impossibly well-preserved. And they’d been abandoned for ages. They were mine. All mine.

“I might just be the luckiest pony alive,” I said to myself. I started looking through the books, not taking any yet. I’d have all the time in the world for that. “There’s the Ponype Scriptures! And the Book of Megan! They’ve even got the Clover Manuscript!” I grinned widely as I danced down the aisle.

There was nothing that could ruin my day.

Or at least that’s what I thought, until my saddlebag started buzzing. I reacted with the appropriate grace of a mighty sorceress, apprentice shaman, and scary witch. That is to say, I made a choked squeaking sound, threw my saddlebags across the room, and ran for cover like they were about to explode.

Look, it made sense at the time. I’d been mixing a lot of potions lately, and when your potions started shaking and glowing and you didn’t expect it, you either reacted quickly or you ended up turning green for a week. Or into a stallion. I didn’t want to even think about that incident if I could help it.

When I realized what the noise actually was, I got even more worried. I’d kept my journal because, well, it was one of the few things that was really mine. It was stupid, sentimental, and if I wasn’t in the Everfree, Celestia probably could have used it to find me in seconds. She hadn’t written to me since I’d left, either.

Had she found me while I was in town? Had I made a critical error? Why would she try to contact me now?

I didn’t move for long minutes, watching the sky and the doors. If it was the precursor to an ambush of some kind, I was going to be prepared.

Sweat dripped down my face and neck. My saddlebag still vibrated and buzzed softly. No sign of any teleportation. No alerts being sent from the ancient castle’s broken wards. There was nothing to do but see what the Princess had written.

I kept my guard up and dragged the book out of my saddlebags from as great a distance as I could manage. I opened it to the last page and… there was nothing there.

Was the book broken? Had the strange magic of the Everfree messed up the enchantment somehow? I flipped through it, confused. That’s when I saw it. Notes written in the margins, in hoofwriting I didn’t recognize.

It seems this is the journal of a previous student. Possible study guide?

Pyrokinesis? The princess hasn’t taught me any fire spells yet. These notes on proper usage should be useful for independent study.

This only happened a few years ago! Where is this ‘Sunset Shimmer’ now? Why didn’t the princess ever tell me about her?

There were a few other technical notes, mostly around where I’d copied useful information scavenged from different books together into easily-referenced tables. It was pretty obvious what had happened. I’d been replaced. Again. And this time she wasn't even pretending it was something else, like when she'd tried to make Cadance and I get along.

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I just thought it would take more time. I rubbed at my eyes. Yeah, I was starting to cry. I mean, I knew I’d messed up, but I still thought it would take more time than that. So much for when Celestia had told me that power like mine only came around once in a generation.

I admit, part of me still cared. I mean, the Princess was the closest thing I had to a family, and now that she had a new student it was like… like I’d lost even that. Maybe I’d just been paranoid because I still wanted to think I mattered to Celestia. Clearly that wasn’t as close to the truth as I’d like.

I put the book down, watching as more notes appeared. What to do? Throw the book away? It’d be the smart thing to do. If the Princess had a new student, it had to mean she wasn’t looking for me anymore. I could make a clean break of it.

I tried to get back to cataloging books, but it wasn’t helping. That feeling kept nagging at me, the sense of loss and resentment. I went back to the journal. Part of me wanted to hate this nameless replacement. It would be easy. She’d taken what should be mine and- and…
I groaned and collapsed onto the floor.

“What’s the point?” I mumbled. “She doesn’t even know who I am. It’s Celestia’s fault, not that new student’s. She probably kicked me out because she already had a replacement in mind.” I rolled onto my back and looked up at the sky.

I couldn’t ignore it. I had to do something.

I pulled the book over and flipped back to the blank page I’d checked before.

“It’s been a long time since I did this…”

I wouldn’t use this as a study guide. You’ll just make the same mistakes I did. And don’t tell her about this. - Sunset Shimmer

I sighed and closed the book, immediately regretting it. It was stupid to think that the Princess wouldn’t find out about it. She’d probably given her new student my journal in the first place. I’m sure she’d be telling her all about how I’d gone into dark magic and that I'd been so disappointing that she'd ordered everypony to forget about me.

I was surprised when there was a reply a few minutes later.

I didn’t know this was a communication tool! I’m sorry for writing in your journal. I took it from the Princess’ room without asking. I thought it was a spellbook but then I started reading and it was a journal and I thought it would be a way to actually get ahead of the Princess in lessons and I’m sorry!

I snorted. At least she’d taken it without permission. It meant the Princess might not find out for a while. I was starting to calm down when another message appeared.

Are you another student? I didn’t know the Princess had other students. My name is Twilight Sparkle.

I could have just ignored her. Should have, really. I was kind of amused, though.

I was. She kicked me out after I failed a test. If you don’t want to get kicked out, you probably shouldn’t tell her you contacted me.

That was actually solid advice, as far as I was concerned. Celestia seemed to like her students to stay in the dark. The less this Twilight Sparkle wrote to me, the more likely she wouldn’t be thrown out onto the street.

Just because you failed a test? Why would she do that? What happened? I promise I won’t tell her I just have to know!

Her hornwriting was becoming more and more scratchy. I could barely read it towards the end of that message. I was in pretty deep now. A second message came in while I was deciding what to do, another almost indecipherable plea for help. Seems like I’d have to give her at least something to go on.

I’m a bad pony who did bad things. We had a fight. If you want to stay on her good side, just take whatever she gives you and never ask for more. I wanted things I wasn’t allowed to have, and she kicked me out just like that, and she hates me enough that she wouldn’t even tell ponies about me. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.

There was a long delay after that. I put the book down. Maybe she’d finally come to her senses. I didn’t feel much like reading today, though. I tried to think about other things I could do. Should do. I needed to let Zecora know I’d found a place to stay, I needed to start sorting the books, I needed to get a bunk together.

All I could do right now was just sit, though. I didn’t want to do anything but curl up and not do anything. A message came through the book. I glanced at it, and my lip curled into a smirk.

If you’re a bad pony, does that mean you’d give me answers to test questions?

Diamonds and the Rough

View Online

It’s amazing what you can do with a few simple enchantments. All you need is one spell to automatically transcribe what you say, one to read new text as it appears, and a powerful magic book that instantly sends messages across the world.

Well, not across the world. Canterlot isn’t even all that far away - if not for the trees and the mountains… well, actually the trees and the mountains were pretty significant. The point is that I could have, in theory, seen the tallest spires of the castle if I got above the treeline of the forest. If it was a clear day.

“I tried that technique you told me about,” Twilight said. Or, more correctly, wrote. It was almost as good as speaking. I was sure we could get a voice link going if we wanted, but it would take more advanced illusion magic than I knew. Right now, since I had no idea what Twilight actually sounded like, the book was speaking using my voice.

“Did it blow up in your face?” I asked. I’d shown her how to force some extra mana into simple spells. I’d developed it myself based on some hypotheses and notes from the Clover Manuscript. The famous unicorn had been well-known for exceptional mastery of basic spells and their applications instead of relying on more complex spellcasting. The problem was, the more mana you threw into them, the more likely they were to turn into an improvised fireball.

“No. I estimate I got about five percent more effect, and kept it stable.”

I frowned at that and looked across the room at the book.

“Five percent?” I ran some numbers in my head. I admit I wasn’t the best at magical theory. Twilight had shown that she was better with the math than I was in the two years since we’d started writing to each other. I was more about the application. Doing was the fastest way to learn, as far as I was concerned. “That means you barely added more mana at all! I told you, it’s safe to go to fifty or sixty percent!”

“I’m afraid to push it that much. It’s not safe.”

Safe. I rolled my eyes. Who cared about safe? I closed the book I’d been reading.

“Twilight, I keep telling you, if you don’t push it to the limit, you never learn where the limits are.” I sighed. “When I was your age, the Princess took me out into the mountains and made me learn how to use my power safely.”

‘When I was your age.’ I was starting to sound like an old mare. I picked up a stack of books I’d been meaning to put away. I was starting to get lazy about it. You developed strange habits when you lived alone.

“That reminds me. The Princess is going to Saddle Arabia for another meeting with their leaders.” The deadpan tone was unavoidable, but the total lack of inflection was starting to bug me. I needed to get a little more variety in the spell’s voice. “She keeps suggesting I take a vacation. I want to visit you.”

I dropped the stack of books I’d been holding, and yelled as I was buried in an avalanche of aging paper and binding.

“What?!”

“An’ you said yes?” Applejack snorted. I groaned and leaned against an apple tree. It was probably named Rupert or Jackanape or something like that. I didn't name trees. I didn't want to get too attached to anything as flammable as wood.

“I couldn’t say no!” I protested, as I stacked the bushels into the cart with her. She didn’t like me picking apples from trees with telekinesis, but never seemed to have a problem when it came to avoiding harder labor. “She already had it all planned out. She even sent me a copy of her checklist.”

“For a witch you’re an awful doormat when it comes to foals." That was only half true. I usually managed to say no when Apple Bloom wanted me to use telekinesis to let her fly around her room, or to make an apple taste like a chocolate cake. "I don’t suppose you plan on throwin’ her into an oven when she shows up?”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Why? If I wanted to eat a filly, Apple Bloom would be just the right size for my cauldron.”

“She’s too much trouble to eat. Prolly give ya a stomach ache.”

I laughed at that. “Yeah. Look, you’re good at the whole… hospitality thing.” I waved a hoof vaguely. “I need some tips on how to be polite to a guest. Like...entertaining tips for hosting a get-together at the ruins of an ancient castle.”

“If you’re so worried about makin’ a good impression, not looking like you roll around in the mud might be a start,” Applejack said. “I heard some mare’s just opened a fancy clothin’ shop in town. You could get a new cloak. One not made outta granny’s old rags.”

I looked down at myself. My cloak was in bad shape, to the point that the black had faded to dirty brown and grey, and it was liberally patched with polka-dots and pinstripes, all random scraps that Granny had had on hoof. It was comfortable in the way that all well-worn garments were, and it wasn’t like I had a lot of choice of outfits anyway.

“I guess I have the bits to spend…” Not going into town and living by hunting and gathering made it pretty easy to save money up. I still had almost all of the bits I’d gotten as a parting gift from Celestia, though I’d gotten rid of all traces of the tracking spells that had been on them. “Alright, where is this place?”

I never would have found it on my own. The building looked less like a store and more like a carnival attraction. It was tall and decorated almost to excess, though with all of the carousel images it made me wonder just what they specialized in. I wanted to impress Twilight, or at least look less like a homeless mess. I didn’t want to seduce her.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened almost instantly with a glow of magic, and I found myself being pulled inside.
A young white unicorn pranced from where she’d been lying in wait. I was amused. She’d clearly been preparing this grand entrance for some time. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!” She had a strong Canterlot accent. I had to hope she wouldn’t recognize me, if she was really from Canterlot. Then again, there was something forced and fake about it.

“...Right,” I muttered. “So look, I need-”

She gasped as she finally really looked at me. “Darling! Your cloak!” She grabbed it before I could say anything, the clasp breaking as she roughly removed it. “What happened to it?” She held it up, the light from the windows showing through the worn fabric.

“Six years of living in the woods,” I said, getting annoyed. “Look, that stupid thing may be ugly, but it kind of means a lot to me and-”

Her eyes went wide. “I didn’t… I’m so sorry, dear.” She lowered my cloak. “There’s only so much I can do for it. I suppose I could fix the hemming and re-dye it, but a cloak is only one piece of fabric and I can’t undo the wear…” She looked up at me.

“I figured. I wouldn’t mind repairs to this one, but at this point I need something new.” The mare was studying my mane, and I caught her looking over my scars.

“You really should take better care of yourself, darling. Why, you’re even filthier than the farm pony I went to school with.”

“Applejack?” I guessed. “You look like you’re about her age.”

“You know her?” the mare looked surprised. “No doubt she spoke at great length about me. After all, everypony remembers Rarity, the most fabulous and stylish pony in school!”

“Sort of. She suggested I come here.” That seemed to make Rarity happy. She reminded me a lot of the ponies from Celestia’s school, between her fake accent and the way she craved praise and attention and admiration… It made me feel sick. Maybe because I’d been the same way when I was her age.

“She gave you excellent advice, then!” Rarity pranced around me. “Now, what did you have in mind? Something functional, I suppose?”

“Well…” I bit my lip. It was awkward, but Applejack had impressed upon me the importance of just saying what you want instead of beating around the bush. If you weren’t honest about what you wanted, you didn’t get it. “I’m meeting a friend of mine in person for the first time. I want to make a good impression.”

Her eyes sparkled. I was suddenly afraid. She had the same look a predator did when it caught sight of easy prey. “It sounds like you need a makeover~”

I’d lived in Canterlot castle. I’d dealt with the nobility almost every day. They’d invented dozens of products to take care of one’s mane and coat. Polish for hooves and horns. Makeup for every possible situation. I’d lived under the personal care of what many considered the most beautiful pony alive.

And yet even Celestia didn’t have the sheer variety of beauty products and makeup Rarity had at her disposal.

“And this will help get this bounce back into your mane!” She said, excited. She’d dragged me to her bathroom and was rubbing things into my mane. Mostly without my permission. I’d stopped fighting. She clearly knew what she was doing and, well, it was really nice to be pampered again.

“This is the first bath I haven’t had to heat myself in years,” I said, as she worked. I kept my eyes squeezed shut as suds washed over my face. It was actually really, really nice, even if we’d had to drain the bathwater once already after it had turned into thin mud around me. I had maybe let personal grooming slip out of my daily routine bit by bit over the years.

“I can tell,” Rarity noted. “I do wish you’d let me trim your mane, or at least do something about your fetlocks. You practically look like a stallion.”

“They make me look wild and untamed,” I said. “Besides, they’re hardly the first thing anypony would notice about me.”

“True. You have striking eyes, and your mane is incredible! Or at least it would be if it wasn’t currently a filthy mess.” She dug her hooves into my scalp as she massaged my head.

“You and I both know I meant my scars,” I sighed. They hadn’t faded in the six years since I’d gotten hurt. Picking at them had been a pretty stupid thing to do.

“Dear, there are two kinds of problems,” Rarity said. “There are the kind that you can do something about, like your mane, and there are the kind that you can’t do anything about, like your scars. The key to happiness is to learn the difference so you can change the former and accept the latter.”

“I have accepted it,” I said, trying not to move as she used her magic to rinse my mane.

“You’re hiding it behind that cloak,” she said. “Trust me when I say you are a beautiful mare. Whatever stallion you’re trying to impress is going to love how you look, and hiding it seems like such a waste.”

“It’s a mare,” I corrected. “And we’re just friends.”

“Oh yes. Just friends. And that’s why you’re getting your first makeover in years.” Rarity giggled. “That’s fine, dear. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

I felt my cheeks burning red. “I mean it. Just friends. We’ve never even met in person. She’s just…” I searched for the right term. “She’s my student. I’ve been tutoring her.”

“Ah!” Rarity gasped. “Forbidden love! The most delightfully taboo romance!” She swooned. I could hear her swooning. Even Blueblood was less dramatic, and I once saw him faint because a bee got into his carriage.

“You’re really not going to let this go…” I sighed. “How long will it take to finish?”

“Just a few minutes, dear. Styling will be a bit longer.”

“Not my mane. I meant the cloak.” I struggled, trying to remember which day of the week it was, and totally failed. “She said she’d be coming into town on… Friday. So that’s only two days from now? I think?” Probably.

Rarity stopped what she was doing. “It’s Thursday, dear. If your friend is coming on Friday, that means you need it done tonight!”

“Oh.” I paled a little. Rarity helped me out of the bath and started drying me off. “I’ll pay extra, or at least what I can. Turns out being a witch isn’t a high-paying position.” I was starting to worry I’d have to get a real job. I didn’t exactly have a lot of practical skills, and if I had to wait tables, well, I’d rather fight more timberwolves. I'd gotten a few bits from the Apples from time to time, but I didn't like taking their money. They needed help, with Granny being too frail and Big Mac being the only one old enough to work the farm full-time. Applejack was a big help, but she kept overextending herself and I was worried she'd get hurt.

Not like I was one to talk about that.

“Hmm…” Rarity seemed to be thinking. “I wondered if you were the Pony of Shadows that Pinkie Pie goes on about. I had thought she was just making up stories, like about her rock farm.” Rarity snorted. “I may not know much about farming, but I’m sure it’s not how you make boulders!”

“That’s me,” I said, holding my head high. “The most dangerous thing in the Everfree.”

“Excellent. Then I know just the way you can pay me for this work!”

“I’m glad we decided to do this after you spent an hour fixing my hair,” I complained, as Rarity led me through the scrublands. There were quarries and sinkholes all around us. My hooves were already filthy again from walking through the dust and dirt.

“Darling, I wouldn’t be seen with you in public otherwise,” Rarity said, with all the haughty bearing of a Canterlot noble.

I looked around us. “Rarity, we’re literally the only ponies within miles.” I gestured to the wasteland. “We’re well out of town, nopony goes this way unless they need rocks, and…” I hesitated. “And I have no idea why you actually wanted to come out here.”

“Rocks, of course,” Rarity said. “Oh, don’t give me that look. Not just any rocks. Gems, darling. My special talent is finding them, though actually digging through the dirt is such a bother. You seem reasonably strong, so you should be able to handle the physical labor, no?”

“As long as you don’t mind me digging with magic,” I shrugged.

“Excellent. We will make an exceptional team.” Rarity’s horn lit up, and she changed direction. I followed her. Part of me felt stupid. I was being led around by a pony only a little more than half my age. Then again, I lived in the woods and apparently had twigs in my mane that I hadn’t even noticed, so maybe I wasn’t quite as independent and awesome as I thought.

“Sure,” I sighed. “Exceptional.” We walked for while longer, until Rarity stopped, her horn pointing downwards.

“Right here,” Rarity said, making an ‘X’ on the ground. I motioned for her to back away. Then I motioned for her to back up more when it looked like she might still be in the blast radius. Forty paces seemed safe enough. I charged up my horn, and I saw her eyes go wide with alarm just before I threw a bunker-buster fireball at the target. The bright mote burrowed into the ground and exploded with a plume of dirt and fire reaching higher than Rarity’s boutique.

“There you go,” I said, proudly, waving to the crater with my bad hoof. “That has to be at least twenty paces deep. Should be easy to get the gems now.”

Rarity glared at me. She was covered in a fine coat of dirt. “There aren’t any gems.”

“You said-” I started, though she didn’t let me finish.

“There aren’t any gems because you blew them up!” Come to think of it, that coat of dirt had some bright sparkles in it. “A lady should show restraint and grace, not brute force!”

“Hey, you wanted a hole, I made a hole!” I frowned.

“I wanted to carefully dig and find the gems!” Rarity stomped in frustration, then gasped as she chipped her hoof. I sighed and rubbed my temples as she fished things from her bag and started polishing it.

“Rarity, I’m not some refined lady. I wasn’t even that when I lived in Canterlot. I’m a witch, and I blow things up.” I gestured to the crater. “I blow up timberwolves for Applejack. I blew up an old beaver dam as a favor to one of Applejack’s friends. I even blow myself up for the sake of research.”

“What about landsharks?” Rarity asked.

“I’ve never blown up a landshark,” I said, confused. She’d dropped her bottle of hoof polish and was looking behind me. “There’s a landshark, like, right behind me, isn’t there?” She nodded. I slowly turned to look, and saw a mouth big enough to swallow me whole, ringed with teeth like stalagmites. Or stalactites. Depending on if the were on the upper or lower jaw, I suppose.

My idle thoughts about speleology ended as it roared, blasting me with a wave of rancid air like a cheap griffon buffet.

I reacted with my usual aplomb, and threw a fireball down its throat. I was too surprised to focus, and so it was a weak sputtering burst of wet flame. The landshark backed off, and I saw its whole body, a shape like an arrowhead supported by six stumpy legs and girded with armor that the Royal Guard could only dream of. It was as strong as a hundred ponies, able to dig so quickly through soil and soft stone that it could almost swim in the earth like a shark.

And I’d just made it very, very cross.

Having learned survival strategies from a zebrican shaman, I already knew the perfect strategy, an ancient art of putting one hoof in front of the other and moving as quickly as possible away from the danger, while making a loud noise to alert wildlife and ponies near you that you were in danger. It might have looked a lot like I started running away while screaming, but that was just because they didn’t understand the subtle differences. (And if I was running away while screaming, it was from an angry landshark, and was entirely justified.)

“Blow it up!” Rarity wailed, running with me and, I noted, easily outpacing me. Curse my twisted leg! I couldn’t even leave her behind as a distraction!

“What happened to being delicate and lady-like?” I panted, struggling to keep up.

“I don’t want to be a lady-like meal!” Rarity snapped. “Use your witch powers!”

I couldn’t argue with that, especially since I was going to be eaten first. The landshark was already after us, diving under the dirt and swimming through it at our heels. I tried to remember what I’d learned about them in school, but either I’d forgotten or, more likely, I’d assumed I’d never run into one.

I ran through options in my head. Another bunker-buster fireball? It would probably work, but the modified spell was more for cracking rock than attacking monsters, and by the time I had it charged and fired, we’d be in the blast radius.

Well, it was a better choice than teleporting and watching it eat another pony. My horn lit up as I gathered power, struggling to focus as my heart pounded in my chest and my twisted hoof ached. I turned my head and fired behind us, the fireball burning into the sandy soil almost midway between me and the landshark.

I tried to grab Rarity and throw her before it went off, but she was still in the air as it burst behind me, and I felt myself thrown into the sky by the shockwave. Pebbles bounced from my skin and a larger rock hit me painfully right near my cutie mark. I fell heavily to the ground, rolling to a stop and groaning in pain.

“Well that was a pain in the ass,” I grumbled, trying to get the dirt out of my eyes. There was enough salt in the soil to make it sting more than it should’ve. I got a glimpse of where the landshark had been. There was a crater with a disturbingly red puddle forming at the bottom. It wasn’t going to be chasing anypony ever again.

“Darling, are you alright?” I could feel Rarity checking me over, moving part of my mane. “You’re bleeding!”

I checked it with a hoof. There was wetness behind my left ear. Wonderful. “I’m fine,” I sighed. “I’ve had worse than this.”

“Just because you were hurt before doesn’t mean you’re fine now,” Rarity admonished. “Come now, we must get you cleaned up. Injuries to the head are no laughing matter. The hospital isn’t very far, and they’ll be-”

“No hospitals,” I snapped, with more force behind it than I’d intended. I took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m not angry with you. I’m angry at me for getting hurt. I just can’t go to the hospital. If I start leaving a paper trail, I’ll be found for sure.”

Rarity sighed. “Dear, whatever you’re running from, I promise that the doctors will be discreet. You’ve heard of doctor-patient confidentiality, no?”

“Just… I can’t,” I sighed. “Sorry.”

“You’ll at least let me do what I can, won’t you?” Rarity said. She brushed some of the dirt from my coat.

“It’s just a few bruises and cuts,” I shrugged. “Besides, we need to find some gems, don’t we?”

“I can get gems some other time.” Rarity helped me stand. I was feeling a little shaky. Maybe the hit to my head had been worse than I’d thought. I hadn’t even felt it, but the growing headache was rapidly drawing all of my attention.

“Rarity, in case you’ve forgotten, I need those to pay you,” I said.

“Hush. I’m not going to let a pony sit there and bleed just because I’d like a few extra sapphires and rubies. You got hurt saving me from being eaten, and that’s more than enough payment.”

I sighed. “Thanks.” I didn’t feel all that thankful, though. I felt more like she was taking pity on me. I also felt like somepony was trying to crack my skull with a hammer, so I wasn’t in a real position to argue.

“If you feel that badly about it, I’ll still need help in the future. Perhaps for a portion of the gems we discover?” Rarity smiled. “They’re practically as good as bits, and it would keep you from needing to find a more… visible job? I expect you’d object to waiting tables, if you won’t even go to the hospital.”

“That… would be good,” I admitted. “There are a few things it would be nice to have…”

“Of course. A mare like you doesn’t deserve to languish in poverty.” Rarity turned up her nose. “You don’t have to live in the woods, you know. I have a spare room, and I’m sure Applejack could help if you wanted to stay further away from town.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I like having a castle to myself.” That made Rarity stumble for a step.

“A castle?” Rarity looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.

“Oh yes,” I yawned. “You know how it is. An ancient castle, preserved magically against the ravages of time. Full of ancient tomes and artifacts that would keep an archaeologist busy for a lifetime, all in the middle of an enchanted forest.”

Rarity watched me, frowning, before turning away and sighing. “Well clearly you don’t have any ancient soap or shampoo, darling. But if you ever needed, say, an interior decorator…”

“You’ll be my first choice if I need somepony to come and dust off my ancient ruins,” I said. “Now let’s keep moving. Landsharks almost never travel alone. There could be more around here, and they’ll smell the blood.”

Rarity’s eyes went wide, and she started almost running.

But not so fast she that she’d leave me behind.

“Black,” I said again. “I don’t care if blue would go well with my coat color.”

“Dear, black is going to make you look like you’re going to a funeral!” Rarity sighed. “A decade ago, yes, black went with everything and was appropriate for all occasions. But current fashion is bright colors, accents that pop, and flowing lines!”

“I live in the woods,” I groaned. “Bright colors are going to fade and it’s going to be impossible to keep clean. Black hides stains.” Especially burns. I might be mostly fireproof, but my clothing wasn’t so lucky.

“I suppose,” Rarity sighed. “It just seems so… dull. A cloak with no bright colors, no patterns, just flat black? You might as well buy off the rack at that point.” She shuddered.

“Restrictions breed creativity,” I countered. “How can you consider yourself a fascist if you can’t make a cloak?”

“Fashionista, darling. Not fascist. They’re completely different,” Rarity paused. “Well… perhaps not different in Prance.” She tapped her chin, thinking. “I suppose you’re right, though. Even a cloak can be made beautiful with excellent use of materials and fitting.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said. Rarity herded me onto a stage surrounded with mirrors, pushing me with rolls of fabric. I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. Sure, my mane was the best it had looked in years, but my body was still broken. The scars from the manticore attack had never really faded, and my twisted leg was obviously bent. I wasn’t as scrawny as I had been, at least. All the running through the woods had helped me get in shape.

“Maybe something sheer… no, that will never hold up to rough usage,” she sighed. “I suppose wool is the best material, though it doesn’t do well when wet.” Rarity juggled bolts of fabric, pulling swatches from them and holding them against my coat. I waited, avoiding looking at myself in the mirror.

She tilted her head and looked at me.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

“It’s nothing,” I lied. I was starting to get annoyed that a filly was speaking to me like she was older than I was. I was totally unprepared when a rolled towel swatted my flank.

“Don’t lie dear,” Rarity sighed. “I told you before, you’re a beautiful mare. I’d love to design a few dresses for you. It’s rare that I see a unicorn mare who isn’t either a little twig of a thing or so rotund that Applejack would mistake them for her harvest should they be painted red.”

I snorted at that. I knew exactly the type she meant. “So what does that make me, muscle-bound and stallion-like?”

“I’d prefer to say well-built,” Rarity corrected. She held up more swatches. One brushed against my coat and I blinked at the odd sensation.

“Was that leather?” I asked, looking back.

“Yes,” Rarity said. “I have a small store of rather more exotic materials like leather and synthetics. Leather is a difficult material to work with, and most ponies dislike it for the same reason they dislike eating meat. If you’re uncomfortable with it, I can assure you it isn’t necessary for a cloak. I was merely going through all of my options.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “It just felt…” I struggled for the word. “Nostalgic. A griffon ambassador once gifted me a leather jacket when I was a filly. I wore it almost every day until I outgrew it.” I smiled sadly.

“A griffon ambassador?” Rarity seemed intrigued, just like she had been with the mention of a castle.

I sized her up. She didn’t seem like the type to keep secrets, and this was a small town. That said, it wasn’t like ponies weren’t starting to get to know me, even if most of them didn’t know my name. Her eyes got bigger as she sensed my debate on if I should answer the question or not, giving me the same kind of sad, teary look that Applejack’s puppy sometimes did.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Don’t tell anypony, but I used to be Princess Celestia’s personal student.”

“You know the Princess?!” Rarity gasped. “Darling, you must be incredibly well-connected! No wonder you live in a castle! If you could just mention me and maybe wear a few of my dresses-”

“Slow down,” I sighed. “I said ‘used to be’. We had a… a falling out.” I looked down at my twisted hoof. It had been a very long, painful fall. And mostly my own fault. “I’m living in the Everfree because I don’t ever want to see her again.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Rarity said. “I suppose I got ahead of myself. It must have been quite something, though, living with the Princess.”

“It was… something.” I shrugged. “It wasn’t bad. It was better than the orphanage, but there was always this feeling like if I didn’t keep improving, I’d be sent right back. She never had much time for me, and when she did, she treated me more like a project than a pony.” I saw the look on Rarity’s face and tried to correct myself. “I don’t mean she was mean or anything. Just distant, and she had everything carefully planned out. Sometimes I felt like I didn’t have a choice.”

“Well, a teacher usually doesn’t give their students an option of what to learn,” Rarity noted.

“I guess. But she always made it seem like I’d chosen to do something, even when she was manipulating things to keep me in line. Like, she once asked me if I wanted to have a lesson inside or outside. When I said I’d rather be inside at night, she gave me a lesson on astronomy because I needed to learn to appreciate the night sky more. But I found out from the servants that I would have gotten the same lesson even if we’d gone to the gardens. It was all smoke and mirrors and forced choices.”

Rarity was quiet while I spoke. Maybe I’d managed to convince her that the Princess wasn’t as perfect as everypony thought.

“I wanted her to treat me like I was a person, but all I was to her was a pet. Scolded when I did something she didn’t like, praised when I jumped through her hoops, and never anything like an equal.” I rubbed at my eyes. “Then thrown into the street when I refused to do any more tricks for her.”

I was surprised when Rarity hugged me. It was a little awkward. It was clear she wasn’t used to doing it. I still appreciated it, leaning into her and trying to keep my sniffling under control.

“I promise I won’t tell a soul,” Rarity said. “I won’t even tell them if the Pony of Shadows herself needs a shoulder to cry on. I know what it’s like to have to put a face on in front of ponies, dear, and that high society can be… cruel.” She sighed. “I know it too well.”

I left the boutique with a new cloak. Rarity had almost stitched it into place, draping fabric over me and cutting it to shape. I had to admit that her magic was more impressive than I thought. It wasn’t as powerful as mine, of course - not that anypony was as powerful as me - but she had an amazing level of control with her telekinesis. I’d tried sewing myself, but I couldn’t manage to make the delicate, repetitive motions without ripping something. It was one reason I’d been having Granny Smith patch my cloak up.

She’d put my old cloak in a box after a few repairs, and the oddly heavy package was weighing down my saddlebags as I finally got back to the castle. I’d been smart enough to set up an arcane mark, but because of the castle’s ambient wards, I’d had to put it nearly at the bridge, so it was still a long walk, especially since my hooves were tired from joining Rarity on her little quest today.

I took the cloak off and carefully folded it. I didn’t want it to get wrinkled before the big day tomorrow. An old fireplace lit with a motion of my horn, logs bursting into flame. I had a lot of cleaning to do before Twilight got into town. I’d never been good at it, since I’d had a largely-ignored rotating cast of servants to clean up any messes I’d made. I had to start somewhere, though, and if I started with books I’d get distracted and forget the rest.

I grabbed my saddlebags and started dragging them towards the room of salvaged furniture that I called my own. The room across the hall was in good enough condition for Twilight, though the roof leaked a little where the weatherproofing enchantment refused to pick up the slack.

The box Rarity had given me was still oddly heavy. I pulled it out and opened it. My old cloak looked… well, not brand-new, but in better condition. The frayed edges had been re-hemmed, and an application of dye had smoothed out the worn colors to a warm dark grey.

The broken clasp had been repaired, and there was a new lining sewn in around the shoulders to make it warmer. I smiled. Rarity hadn’t just done what she could to repair it, she’d made sure it was still useful.

I pulled it the rest of the way out of the box, and saw why it had been so heavy. Rarity had put something else into it without telling me. Nestled into the bottom of the box was a jacket. A leather jacket. I put my cloak on the side and removed the jacket, my eyes going wide. A sheet of stationery fluttered to the ground, tastefully watermarked and penned with graceful hornwriting.

A gift for a new friend. It won’t wear out as easily as cloth, and you will both appreciate it more than the ponies in town and deserve it. Remember to visit so I can see how it looks on you. - Rarity

I felt myself start to tear up, and I hugged it to my chest, burying my face into the jacket. It smelled just like the one I’d had as a foal, like the good times when I used to think I was special. I collapsed onto my bed, still holding it, and wondered where it had really all started to go wrong.

Hex

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I waited in the shadows, watching the train. It was the express from Canterlot, and Twilight was sure to be on it. My new cloak felt good, the dark fabric disguising how nervous I was. I really, really hoped this wasn’t a trap of some kind. If it was, I was falling for it like an idiot.

The train slowed, whistle blowing as it pulled to a stop at the station. A small crowd of ponies entered, only a few leaving. The express didn’t make many stops, thus the name, so its main business was ferrying ponies to the capital. Ponyville was almost unknown in comparison. Even I hadn’t heard of it before I’d ended up here, and I’d lived close enough to see it from my window at the castle. Then again, I’d never paid attention to much aside from my studies.

Among those exiting the train were a distinctive lavender unicorn and a purple dragon that was barely more than a toddler. I almost stepped out to greet them when I saw something that made my blood run cold. A mare with a bright blue coat and yellow mane. The same mare that had chased me when I’d been trying to get away from Canterlot.

I felt a surge of anger. Right at that moment, I held her life in my hooves. I could strike her down with righteous anger and reduce her to ash and dust in seconds. It was her fault that I’d gotten hurt.

There was a tiny voice inside somewhere, telling me that it wasn’t her fault. I’d chosen to throw myself out of the train instead of cooperating with her. I’d made the decision, and that meant accepting the consequences.

And if I did kill her, it’d probably prompt a new investigation into the area. She’d get to live (for now).

She wasn’t watching me, though, and from a distance like this I could see how she was keeping Twilight in sight. It seemed Celestia was keeping close tabs on her replacement for me. I pulled a quill and scrap of parchment from my saddlebags and wrote a quick note before floating it towards her, trying to use as little power as possible to make it difficult to see the magical aura.

The paper hit the young mare in the face. Twilight stumbled and pulled it free. I saw her lips moving and she looked around in surprise.

I had to hope she’d follow instructions.

Her horn lit up, and she vanished in a flash of teleportation. I saw the blue mare start to panic, running to where Twilight and her dragon had been. I snorted with laughter before casting the spell myself, vanishing into the teleport.

I reappeared inside Sugarcube Corner. I’d given Twilight directions on how to get there, but she wasn’t familiar with the town, so I probably had a few-

The door burst open. Twilight ran in, closing it behind her and panting with exertion. She looked like she’d run a marathon. Or maybe just a hundred-yard dash, considering how quickly she must have moved to get here already.

“Twilight Sparkle,” I said, using a spell to lower the ambient light and make my voice echo. “So it has come to this!”

“Sunset, please stop scaring the other customers,” Mister Cake said, from behind the counter. “I don’t care if you’re Applejack’s friend, ponies are trying to eat.”

“THE PONY OF SHADOWS!” Pinkie Pie screamed, running away from where she’d been waiting tables. I wasn’t sure where she went. She seemed to have an ability to appear and disappear at will that surpassed teleportation. Maybe somepony would study her someday.

“Aaaaand there goes my waitress,” Mister Cake sighed. “You two need to stop playing this game.”

“...What’s going on?” Twilight frowned, looking at me.

“Well, I was trying to make a big, dramatic entrance,” I sighed. “So much for that idea.”

“And the pony running away?” Twilight tilted her head.

“She does that,” I shrugged. “She thinks I’m a crazy witch who lives in a ruined castle in the woods. Silly, right?”

“...You are a witch who lives in the woods,” Twilight pointed out.

“I didn’t say she was wrong. She does overreact, though.” I lowered my hood, shaking out my mane. Rarity had been right about her hair products. My mane was bouncier than it had been in half a decade. I had to remember to ask how she knew so much about removing tree sap from manes.

“So, um,” Twilight swallowed, running a hoof against the floor. “I guess you’re Sunset Shimmer. I-it’s nice to meet you in person. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I-”

“We’ve been writing to each other for years,” I said. “I think it’s safe to say I know your name.” I fought down my nervousness and smiled at her. She didn’t seem like a secret agent of the Crown, here to investigate and arrest me. Good start.

“Right! Um, yes!” She grabbed a scroll from her pack. I watched as it unrolled all the way to the floor and kept going. “I-I consulted several books a-and my caretaker to make an appropriate list of questions and topics to cover.” She grabbed a quill. “I can check off arriving in town and introductions…”

I watched as she mumbled to herself. The baby dragon on her back hopped down without her noticing and wandered over to the display case.

“Looks like someone wants a treat!” Mr. Cake said, smiling down at the dragon. I had a feeling I’d be waiting for a little while, since Sparkle was re-reading her checklist, so I tossed the dragon a bit. He promptly bit it. I should have remembered that toddlers will put anything they can get their hooves on - or talons in this case - into their mouths. I tried to take it back from him and discovered that taking gold from a dragon was not as easy as it sounds - and it didn’t sound easy to begin with.

“Just keep it,” I sighed, after a third tug failed to rescue the bit. I levitated the next one to Mr. Cake. “Can you give him something better to chew on?” I didn’t think it’d damage his teeth or anything, but I wasn’t sure if dragons could digest metal. Mr. Cake gave the dragon a cupcake, and the little guy dropped the bit to devour it. I put the coin up on the counter and out of his reach.

“Right!” Twilight said, finally speaking up. “S-so the next order of business…”

“Twilight, calm down,” I sighed. “You know I’m not like Celestia. I don’t care about formality. You wanted to learn a few of my tricks, right?” She nodded. “Great. We’re going to go to my place. It’s a long walk, and we need to get out of town without being seen. No telling when your tail is going to bring reinforcements.”

Twilight blinked and looked at her butt. “My tail?”

I facehooved. “There was a pony following you. One of Celestia’s spies. It’s why I had you teleport before you came here, to throw her off.”

“Celestia’s spies…?” She frowned. “But… why would she follow me?”

“You mean aside from the fact you’re her student?” I snorted. “Come on, Twilight. I know you’re smarter than that. She’s probably been reading the journal. It’s why I didn’t tell you where I was living.” I looked out of the window to the street. “I’m lucky she didn’t show up herself.”

“That’s why you didn’t meet me at the station,” Twilight said, thinking. “You wanted to make sure it wasn’t a trap.”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “For all I knew, you were lying or she’d send the Guard in your place to take me into custody. You got everything you need for a while?”

“I brought some of the books you asked for, and a number of others you might need,” Twilight opened her saddlebag. “I also brought extra ink, quills, and enough parchment to write a thesis in triplicate!”

“I was thinking food, bottles of water, a bedroll…” I sighed as I saw her start to blush with embarrassment. “You’re not used to roughing it, I take it.”

“I… brought bits!” Twilight said. “Just in case I needed to pick up something I didn’t have! See? It’s the last item on my pre-trip packing checklist!” She pulled out another scroll. I pushed it away.

“Calm down,” I said. “It’s fine. It’s not like I won’t feed you. I’m just… not a good cook, so fair warning there.” I laughed a little. “Come on. We should get going before Celestia shows up herself wondering where you went off to.”

“Do you think she might do that?” Twilight’s eyes were wide with fear. I guess the thought of Celestia being disappointed affected both of us the same way.

“Not really. But if she does, I’m throwing you at her and running.”

“This is further out of town… than I expected,” Twilight panted, struggling to keep up with me. I took a tiny sliver of joy from that. A long time ago, I’d been sweating that much trying to keep up with Zecora.

“We’re almost there,” I said. “I can carry some of those books for you if you’re having problems.”

“N-no, it’s fine!” Twilight said. “I put an enchantment on my saddle bags to make them lighter and give me more room! It’d actually be more weight for us to carry if you took some of them.”

“That’d be a handy spell to learn,” I mumbled.

“I can teach you!” Twilight said, excited. “And you can teach me how to get more power out my my spells! This is going to be the best study-cation ever!”

“...Study-cation?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a portmanteau of study and vacation,” Twilight explained. “It’s appropriate because while I’m getting a vacation and out of the palace like the Princess had been hinting at, but I also get to keep studying so I can get ahead of my lesson plan!”

I shook my head. “I can’t even remember when I cared that much.”

Twilight was quiet for a while. I thought she was just catching her breath, but as we reached the gorge, the ruined castle just visible on the other side, she surprised me by starting up again.

“Why did you leave?” She asked. “I couldn’t ask the Princess about it directly, but some of the castle staff mentioned you but… not why you had to go. You said it was because you failed a test, but there’s no way she’d kick you out just for that.”

“Really?” I snorted. “I thought she’d make sure you heard the story.” I sighed. “Look, I’ll tell you, and if you want to go back to Canterlot after that, I won’t blame you. I told you I was a bad pony who did bad things, remember?” She nodded. “I meant it.”

“What was it?” Twilight asked, almost whispering. “Necromancy? Blood Magic? Chaos Magic? Double Chaos Magic? Necro-romantic spells?” She said the last with particular fear. I couldn’t blame her.

“Wow,” I said. “Your imagination went right to some really dark places when I said I was a bad pony. I’m not a monster, Twilight. I was just a jerk. I wanted Celestia to turn me into an alicorn, and we got into a fight over it because she was holding me back from my real potential.”

“Holding you back?” Twilight tilted her head. “But she’s always pushing me to be better.”

“Well from what I hear, miss ‘five percent extra effect’, you hold yourself back just fine.” I snorted as Twilight’s ears folded back and she looked down. “Sorry. I didn’t mean… Just trust me when I say you’re going to have fun.”

“That’s not it,” Twilight said. “It’s just that the only time she ever tries to get me to slow down or stop is when she’s afraid I might hurt myself.”

“You know what her favorite phrase was with me? ‘You’re not ready.’” I laughed. “I heard it every day. ‘You’re not ready to know about the mirror.’ ‘You’re not ready to become a Princess.’ But you know what she meant? She meant ‘I don’t trust you.’ She didn’t trust me with anything, including the truth.”

“The… truth?”

“The truth about what she wanted from me!” I yelled. “She didn’t just take me on for fun, Twilight! She never does anything without a reason. And whatever her reason was in using me, it didn't include actually following through on her hints that she'd turn me into an alicorn. She just wanted to dangle it in front of me like bait to make me jump through her stupid hoops for years on end! Cadance didn't have to do anything! But me?! I was never good enough for her!"

“Cadance is nice,” Twilight muttered.

“Whatever.” I sighed. “Do you want me to break out into a cackle and tell you how I’m going to prove them all wrong? Maybe about how Celestia will rue the day she trifled with me?”

Twilight giggled. “If you do, maybe Daring Do will swoop out of the sky to stop you. I mean, we’re going to be in ruins in a dangerous wilderness.”

“Daring Do?” I frowned.

“You know, from the book series! The second book just came out!”

“Twilight, I live in a castle in the woods. All of my books are a thousand years old.” I paused. “And I don’t get out much.”

“Well, I can tell you about it on the way in! See, Daring Do is a pegasus archaeologist…”

“...and then she gave the stones back to the villagers to restore the harmony they enjoyed, and it ended with a rainstorm forming and ending the drought!” Twilight finished. We'd arrived at the castle an hour ago, more than long enough for me to remove all the tracking spells from her things. She'd been talking the whole time, and I don’t think she took a breath since she'd started getting into the book’s plot. I wasn’t sure I even needed to read it now that I’d heard all of it.

“Mm…” I made a noncommittal sound as I stirred the cauldron. “Do you take milk or sugar with your tea?” I checked my icebox. Whoops. “Never mind. I don’t have either.”

“That’s fine!” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia never takes sugar in her tea-”

“And you want to be just like her.” I rolled my eyes.

Twilight bit her lip, confirming my assumption.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” I said. “I tried to imitate her, too. I thought if I was just like her, she’d treat me like...” I trailed off, biting my lip. “Anyway, it’s important to be yourself, too, but you have your whole life to figure out how to do that.”

“You’re a lot nicer than the servants said you were.” Twilight blushed and covered her mouth.

I laughed. “Yeah. I used to be a total bitch. Then I nearly died and I only survived because of the kindness of others. It sounds lame, especially since I’m trying to be a witch. Everything that happened kind of… filed off my rough edges.” I used a ladle to pour a cup of tea for Twilight. She took the cup and looked at it curiously.

“What is this?” She floated it over her head.

“I made it myself. I know it’s a little ugly.” I poured myself a cup in a similar glass. It was rough, the glass not even close to transparent. “I made them while I was practicing with fire magic.”

“That’s impossible. Spells can’t make heat that high.” Twilight frowned at it. “This looks like a fulgurite.”

“My fire magic gets that hot,” I boasted, drinking down the boiling tea. Twilight sipped and squeaked with pain. “Clearly you haven’t made yourself fireproof yet. That’s quite a weakness.”

“It’s not a weakness,” Twilight said, frowning and touching her scalded lip.

“You might disagree soon. You ready for your first lesson in using your full power?”

“Of course!” Twilight smiled. “So what are we doing first? Meditation?”

“Meditation?” I snorted. “No. The first thing we’re doing is going somewhere we can’t break anything.”

“What? But we just got here!” Twilight groaned.

“I guess if you’re too tired to learn…” I said, trailing off.

“I’m never too tired to learn. Sometimes I don’t sleep for days!”

“I usually sleep at nights myself. Now let’s get moving. I want to see just what Celestia found as a replacement for me.”

Two hours later, I stopped walking. Twilight collapsed next to me, covered in sweat. I smirked down at her and prodded her with a hoof. “You’re not dead, are you?” Her dragon helped me poke her, mimicking me like, well, a baby.

“I want to be,” Twilight managed to gasp, between breaths.

“Such a complainer.” I sat down and waited for her to recover. “Anyway, this should be far enough from the castle that we won’t collapse anything time and the weather haven’t managed on their own.”

“We’re miles out!” Twilight complained. “We could have just gone down the path a little.”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “But you need to push yourself more. When was the last time you really hit your limit?”

“I…” Twilight trailed off. “I guess it would be my last midterm. I didn’t sleep for almost a week. I practically collapsed right in front of everypony!”

“Okay. That’s a start.” I nodded. “We’ve got you exhausted physically, so now we’re going to work on getting you exhausted magically.”

“According to all the books I’ve read, being magically exhausted doesn’t-”

“Your books are wrong,” I interrupted. “You’re going to tell me that it’s not like a muscle, right? You don’t get stronger by just using magic until you pass out.” She nodded and opened her mouth to continue talking. I put a hoof on her lips. “That’s true for most unicorns. But most unicorns hit their limit without even trying.”

“...So why are we different?”

“Because we’re powerful,” I shrugged. “Twilight, Celestia wouldn’t have taken you in unless you had a lot of potential. Do you know how I got my cutie mark?”

“You said there was some kind of… accident at the orphanage.”

“Orphanages are just like this, Twilight.” I reared up and spun around, spreading my front hooves to encompass the forest around us. “The sun shines, the rain falls, and the strong prey on the weak. And a foal that doesn’t have their cutie mark? They’re the weakest. I had a lot of trouble using magic when I was young, Twilight. I tried all those little things they do to teach young unicorns. Levitate this feather, light this candle, help this flower grow.”

I laughed. “I was terrible at it. Everything I did blew up in my face. Literally. Now, Twilight, what’s the most common reason for a spell matrix suddenly deciding to explosively release its energy as light and heat?”

“Usually… it means the pony is putting too much mana into the spell.”

“Wrong! The most common reason is because the spell matrix is malformed. But you never had problems with that, Twilight. Neither did I. That’s why we’re alike. Both of us have power to spare. When we blow up a spell, it’s because normal spells are too delicate for us. That’s not true for normal unicorns. They struggle to have enough strength to get the matrix going at all for much beyond basic levitation and things where a cutie mark talent assists.”

Twilight blushed, but didn’t interrupt my story. She sat and held Spike, keeping him from running off. I was going to have to break her of the habit of listening to monologues. It might save her life at some point, or at least it might surprise Celestia, which was almost as good. I’d love to see her face if Sparkle stopped her in the middle of a lesson and said something about her hypocrisy.

“Now,” I continued. “I didn’t know my problem was because I was putting too much power into it. Foals almost never have that problem! And I got bullied for it. I wasn’t… confident in myself. They backed me into a corner, and they taunted me, hit me, dared me to cast a spell. So I tried to make a light spell. And I put every ounce of mana I had into it.”

Twilight paled. She seemed to have figured it out already.

“A light spell is a pretty tough little thing, you know?” I shrugged. “They work with almost no mana at all, and they can hold tons before they become unstable. But that just makes it worse when they do. They don’t just puff into a harmless burst of soft flame and soot.” I shivered. “And I had no control. I didn’t know how much was too much. There… wasn’t much left of the orphanage. Nopony died, but a few foals got pretty badly hurt. Celestia found out what happened and took me in. Maybe she thought nopony else would, or that if she didn’t do something I’d be an even bigger danger.”

“So she taught you to moderate your power,” Twilight guessed.

“Yes, but she did something else too.” I lit up my horn. “She taught me how to use all of my magic safely. She said that I’d probably never need to use it, but that I had to learn, because if I didn’t know my limits, if I didn’t push them, the only restraint I knew would be the restraint of a straightjacket - handicapping myself instead of controlling my magic.” I turned and lifted my cloak to show Twilight my cutie mark. "I got this when I blew up the orphanage. It's the spell, just before it went off. It was like a miniature sun. I heard they could see it from everywhere in the city."

Twilight nodded, wiping sweat from her brow. I could swear she wasn't sweating that much before I'd shown her my flank. “And she did something like this. She took you someplace nopony would get hurt, and had you just… use everything.”

“Exactly. In my case it was the north face of Canterlot mountain. You can’t see it from the city, but there are a few craters there. The forest is just as good.”

“Won’t we hurt animals and plants?”

I rolled my eyes. “Twilight, if there are any animals around here, they’re going to try and eat us. I suggest you put on a good show to make sure they’re terrified.” I fired the spell I’d been holding on my horn, throwing a fireball that duplicated in midair into a storm of blazing blue comets, crashing into a tree and smashing it into red-hot coals.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she focused, firing a burst of magic into the air, where it blew up in a flash of cold light, snow falling around us and extinguishing the flames I’d summoned.

“You could have killed us!” Twilight yelled. “Using fire in the forest is going to… you know! Start a fire. A forest fire. In the forest.”

“Eloquent,” I snorted.

“It’s not like you gave me time to think of something clever to say,” she mumbled, blushing.

“You’ll have to learn to think of quips on your hooves,” I said. “It’s an essential part of being a powerful sorceress. You can hardly threaten to poison a well or blight crops unless ponies are going to take you seriously, and that means having clever things to say.”

“...I’m not going to poison a-”

“It was an example!” I groaned.

“It’s just that if you do those kind of things there might be a reason why you and the Princess got into a fight…”

“Leave this place, foul despoiler of the land!”

I looked at Twilight. She hadn’t said it. I hadn’t said it. We both turned around, and I groaned. It was a deer, who both considered themselves the true rulers or caretakers of the Everfree - despite the fact that ponies had been there first - and also didn’t like overt magic very much. Needless to say, we didn’t get along. I hadn’t seriously hurt any of them, but I didn’t like them much either.

How was I supposed to know they'd hold such a big grudge just because I'd burned down a few acres of their 'sacred grove'? They hadn't even put up a sign!

“I’m not a ‘foul despoiler of the land’.” I made sure to say it with the right emphasis to make the quotes obvious. I wasn’t sure if the deer understood sarcasm. “How about you take your stupid little useless antlers and scamper back to your tree fort?”

“You…” he growled and dug at the ground with a cloven hoof, lowering his head like he was getting ready to charge.

“Yes, me!” I yelled, stomping and raising my head to look down at him. My cloak billowed out as flames surrounded me in a corona of blinding light and heat. It was more real than illusion, though I had to be careful not to burn my cloak. Rarity would kill me. “The Witch of the Everfree, the Pony of Shadows, the strongest mage in all of Equestria! Woe to those who would align themselves against my power! Retreat now or fall to your knees in worship, for any other action leads only to your own destruction!”

I’d had that speech ready for a while. I wasn’t going to win any beauty contests with the ragged scars across my skin, so I’d settle for making ponies wet themselves in terror on command. There might have been a little spite and fantasizing about confronting Celestia’s guards someday, too.

The deer’s ears folded back at the display, and he turned tail and started running. I threw a weak fireball as a warning shot at his rear to make sure he didn’t stop.

“W-was that necessary?” Twilight asked. I turned, and my expression of triumph fell. She was terrified of me. I’d wanted to scare the deer, not her. She was my friend, or my student, or my pen-pal, or whatever we were now. She shied away when I took a step towards her. Spike seemed confused but happy. Probably because loud noises and fire were comforting to a dragon of any age.

“I didn’t-” I looked down, dropping the flames around my body. “I’m sorry…”

“You could have really hurt him. Is that how you treat everypony?”

“No! He was just a jerk and… I wanted to scare him off.” I sat down heavily, looking at my hooves. I felt like a liar. Here I was, all preened and nice looking, with polished hooves and a new cloak and my hair washed, pretending that I was always like that, instead of the messy beast that I really was. “I warned you that I wasn’t a good pony,” I muttered. “You should have listened.”

I didn’t notice her moving until she had pulled me into a hug. She was still smaller than I was, not quite fully grown. Her body was warm and soft, and I tried not to make a sound as a tear ran down my face. I didn’t even know why I was starting to cry.

It was a long while before I felt anything like normal again. I guess if there was one thing Celestia had never managed to teach me, it was how to put on a mask. She was a master of it. Sometimes even I couldn’t read her, and I’d spent almost my whole life around her.

But me? I carried my emotions on my shoulder and I couldn’t help it. My talent for power might really be more accurately described as passion. Passion for learning, for using my power, for everything, really. And sometimes it bit me in the flank.

I watched Twilight cast spells one after another. She’d suggested teleportation, but we’d both agreed that wasn’t safe. We wanted her to get tired, and teleporting while exhausted was a quick way to get yourself killed.

So she was lifting weights. Boulders as big as ponies, almost a dozen of them at a time, and holding them until her aura gave out and they crashed down. It was slow and crude, but at least she was getting something done. Spike had already fallen asleep, curled up around a pouch of bits on the moss.

“I can’t carry any more!” Twilight complained. “How is this teaching me?” She lost her grip on all but one rock, sweat dripping down her body.

“Catch!” I yelled, throwing a rock at her. She grabbed it with her magic. I raised an eyebrow. “Can’t carry any more, huh?”

“That’s…” Twilight blushed.

“You’re stronger than you think you are,” I said, giving her a weak smile. I still felt like I was failing her as a teacher. “What’s the most difficult spell you’ve been taught?”

“The most difficult?” Twilight considered, the rocks orbiting her. She probably didn’t even realize that most unicorns couldn’t manage boulders of that size at all, much less after straining themselves all day. “It would probably be the Creation spell. It makes matter out of nothing. Most ponies mistake it for the Apparate spell, but that actually pulls matter from somewhere else as a summoning effect.”

“Twilight,” I smiled, more genuinely this time. Her little lectures put me at ease. It meant she wasn’t quite as afraid of me. “I know what the spells do. Celestia taught me too, though… she only ever taught me how to make-”

“Cake,” Twilight sighed. We shared a look and broke out laughing.

“Alright, you’re in charge of dessert, then,” I smirked. “Make me your biggest, best cake.”

“Not literally you, since that would be a Transmutation spell instead of Creation.” She giggled. “But if I turned ponies into cake, they’d start calling me a witch too!”

“You could join me and Zecora,” I suggested. “We could all get around the cauldron and make prophecies. It’ll be great! We can tell ponies about how they’re going to be kings and stuff.”

“I’ll remember to bring my own cloak,” Twilight said. “Okay. Stand back. I’m so tired I’ll be lucky if this does anything at all.”

I gave them some distance and let her put the rocks down. She still had enough control to put them down softly onto the mossy ground. She really wasn’t pushing her limits very far yet. Her horn lit up, and I saw sparks of raw mana fly from the tip, a sure sign she was pulling from the depths of her mana well. I liked that. It meant she was taking me seriously.

I could feel the magic in the air starting to come together. The aura on her horn flickered.

“Twilight! Push harder!” I snapped. “You can give it more than that!” The aura solidified, shining a bright white. “That’s it!” She was starting to flare, magic pouring out of her body. It was beautiful, a perfect expression of power.

The cake took shape in a flash, appearing all at once and steaming with heat like it had come right out of an oven. I grinned and clapped my hooves.

“See? Now that’s pushing your limits.”

“I can’t believe I did it…” Twilight grinned up at me, then her eyes crossed and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I limped over to her and picked her up. And the cake. I freed a slice from it and tasted it.

“Yellow cake with fudge icing. Just the way Celestia likes it.” I sighed. “I should have guessed." It was good, but gave me pangs of nostalgia. It wasn’t just the way she liked it, it was the same cake she’d taught me to make. And now she’d taught Twilight how to do it in my place. She’d replaced me, but I could replace her too. This memory, teaching Twilight, that was how I wanted to remember this cake from now on.

Author's Notes:

Hex! Get it? Because it's chapter six? And she's a witch? Never mind.

A fulgurite is sand fused into glass by lightning. Or in this case, by fire magic hot enough to do it.

The mare who was following Twilight was quickly reassigned to something completely different, as she was clearly unqualified at keeping Celestia's students in line.

As a note, I see Sunset and Twilight with very different casting styles. Twilight is very methodical, and casts spells like she's solving math equations. Sunset throws power at the universe until it's easier to give in and let her spells happen than it is to resist. Twilight has the advantage of being much more efficient with her magic, and being able to maintain multiple effects more easily. Sunset goes from 0 to 110% in the time it takes you to blink, and is much better at reacting quickly.

Rarity, as a note, is better than either of them with delicate, detailed work.

Ponies of a Feather

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“You must clear your mind,” Zecora said, sitting with her legs folded. “To find your spirit guide you must first unwind.”

I tried to ignore the pain in my hind legs from the uncomfortable position I was sitting in, trying to mimic her. That wasn’t too hard. I ignored the throbbing pain from my twisted front hoof all the time. The strange smells and sights of Zecora’s hut were like a second home to me, and didn’t worry me at all. Clearing my thoughts was difficult, though.

Twilight had gone back to Canterlot, and part of me was still worried that the fear I’d seen in her would change things between us. So I’d gone to Zecora to see if there was anything she could do to help. She’d suggested I try to find my spirit guide. Apparently it would help me see myself as others saw me, and help me if I really wanted to improve myself.

“Clear my thoughts…” I mumbled. The drink she’d given me was helping me relax. Everything was swimming around me, and I felt warm and detached. It was nice. I just hoped it didn't give me a hangover like Granny's apple whiskey.

Zecora started chanting. I took deep breaths, and I started to drift away, into that place between dreams and wakefulness. I let myself go, and everything around me faded to an indistinct blur.

There was a timeless interval. It could have been seconds or minutes or hours and I wouldn’t have known.

Things started to come into focus. White marble and gold. Elaborate windows.

I knew where I was. I knew it instinctively, the same way you know everything in a dream. I was in Canterlot. Fear seized at my heart, and the sky outside of the windows turned cloudy, obscuring the sun. I felt like an interloper. I didn’t belong here. I was an outcast. Celestia had banished me, and this place wasn’t my home and never would be again.

There was a sudden heat behind me, like an oven opening. I turned, and my eyes went wide.

“Sunset, you don’t look pleased to see me~” It was me. I knew it was me, even as warped as it was. Nearly as large as Celestia, with a red coat, black eyes, a mane and tail of fire, and huge bat-like wings. It was what I’d wanted to be, but horribly twisted.

“T-this isn’t what Zecora said I’d see!” I stammered, taken aback. I’d been expecting to see a bird or a turtle or something and have it say something vague and prophetic. Maybe about how friendship was magic, or about how only I could prevent forest fires, or something like that. I wasn’t prepared for… this demonic copy of myself, whatever it was. It stepped closer, and I was frozen to the spot I stood in.

I’d had nightmares before, where I was powerless, not even able to run or hide. I was having one now. I couldn't move my hooves from where they were stuck to the ground, my limbs refusing to respond.

“She said you’d get in touch with your innermost self,” the demonic duplicate said, grinning and showing long fangs. “That’s me. I’m what you’re really like, Sunset. Or should I say the terrible Pony of Shadows? You want ponies to respect you. Well, really, you want them to fear you. Respect has to be earned, but you can just MAKE them fear you! It’s so much easier!”

“No!” I shouted, shivering. “That’s not true!”

“Isn’t it?” The demon loomed over me. I could feel the heat of the flames from its body. I shouldn’t have been able to even feel that. I was protected against heat, even magical flames. Celestia herself would have a hard time making a fire spell stick.

“I’m not a monster. I’m not like you!” I glared, trying not to let the fear show on my face.

“You keep telling everypony how bad you are,” she said. I could almost smell the brimstone on her breath. “You want this. You want to be me. You want to use that power you’re so proud of! And the best way to use it is to destroy everything that opposes you! Make ponies bow before you in terror!”

“No!” I screamed as her hooves found my neck, the sharp edges digging into my skin and-

“You must wake!” Zecora said, her hooves on my shoulders as I started to come out of it, the demon dissolving into the nothingness it had come from. “You were beginning to shiver and shake. What did you see that made you quake?”

“I saw…” I swallowed. “I saw myself. I should go.” I stood up, almost falling into a shelf before Zecora steadied me.

“And it frightened you so?” Zecora frowned. “We should talk before you go.”

“No,” I said, cutting her off. “I just need to… to be alone for a while.” I sniffled. “Zecora, am I really…” She waited for me to finish. I shook my head. “Never mind. I’m just going to go back to the castle.”

“Be careful, Sunset. You are not fully yourself yet.”

“Good,” I whispered. “Maybe I can keep it up.” I walked out of the hut. I couldn’t look at Zecora now. I’d asked for help and found, what, that I was beyond helping? That monstrous thing I’d seen - had it really been me? Was that how other ponies saw me? Was that how Twilight really saw me, too?

Part of me wanted her to fear me. To make her admit that I was more worthy than she was, that she was an interloper that had taken my place. Just like Cadance had.

When I helped her, though, it was like I was almost back in Canterlot. When I'd be praised for passing a test, I was on top of the world. With Twilight doing the same tests, learning some of the same spells, being asked the same questions... it was a rush. I'd feel good for a while, because she was as passionate about learning as I was. She'd get excited, I'd get excited, and then it would all come crashing down when she told me how proud Celestia was of her. Of her. Not me. She didn't even talk about me, like I'd never existed.

I wiped tears from my eyes. I really hoped a manticore or chimaera or something would jump out at me. I’d probably just let it eat me, at this point.

What I didn’t expect was a bolt from the blue. Or, more accurately, a blue pony trailing rainbows, coming in at high speed. I looked up just in time to see the expression on her face just before she slammed into me and both of us were sent crashing to the ground, everything going black.

Looking back at it, I guess I was lucky. I didn’t have any dreams about meeting my other self, which would have made things even worse. And I didn’t get eaten while I was unconscious, which in the Everfree was frankly a miracle. I’d seen animals get gnawed on just for moving too slowly.

I sat up and rubbed my head, immediately finding the bruise. It was swollen, but thankfully not bleeding. I started looking around for the train that must have crashed into me.

“I don’t feel so good…” complained another, scratchy, high-pitched voice. I turned to glare at it. A sky-blue pegasus stood up, trying to shake the impact and having a worse time of it than I was. Her hair was a riot of colors, reminding me of the Zap Apples that Applejack harvested from time to time.

“Of course not!” I snapped. “You just crashed into me like an idiot!” I picked her up with my magic, the pegasus squirming against it.

“No, I mean I crashed because I’m sick!” She sniffled and sneezed, though I wasn’t sure if it was genuine or if she was just demonstrating her ‘sickness’. “I thought I was okay to practice, but… I guess I wasn’t.”

“You’re not much of a thinker,” I snorted. I shook her a little, watching her twist and try to free herself.

“Wait a minute…” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re the Pony of Shadows! Pinkie Pie told me all about you!” She grinned widely. “This is so awesome! Do something cool with your magic!”

“Shouldn’t you be terrified of me?” I flipped her upside down. “Pinkie Pie is.”

“Huh?” the pegasus looked confused. “What do you- oh! Because she always runs from you. Nah, she just does that because you like it.”

“Because I... like it?” I shivered. Did I really like ponies running away from me?

“Yeah. She thinks you’re awesome. She said it’s like a game you play.”

“Well…” I smiled. “She’s pretty awesome too, then. Next time you see her, tell her she doesn’t have to run. Maybe I’ll buy her a cupcake.”

“The last thing she needs is more sugar,” the pegasus laughed, her laughter turning into deep, wet coughs. Maybe she wasn’t faking after all.

“Okay, kid. Let’s get you home.” I started walking towards the town.

“My name isn’t kid. It’s Rainbow Dash.” She puffed up her chest, despite being both sick and upside-down. “And I’m the fastest thing alive!”

“...Sure you are, kid,” I snorted. “Fast enough to nearly kill me. I’m not gonna leave a foal out here alone.”

“I’m not a foal. I'm almost fifteen and I live on my own!” She coughed again.

“Great. I’ll get you some orange juice or something, then.” I shrugged. Zecora could probably do something for her, but she also didn’t like to intervene unless it was really necessary. If Dash just had a cold, it was better for her to sleep it off.

“Um… I kind of live in a cloud house,” Dash said. “So you might have some problems, you know… getting there.”

“Great,” I sighed.

“My best friend is sort of a doctor. Well, a vet. It’s basically the same thing except you know, fewer ponies and more dogs and stuff. She lives in the Whitetail Woods, so it’s even closer than my place.”

Most ponies could tell you where the Everfree ended and the Whitetail Woods began, but none of them could point it out on a map. There wasn’t some hard divide like a river or gorge. Instead, the Everfree ended where the wild magic that defined it faded out. Earth ponies could sense the difference in the soil. Pegasai could feel it in the wind. For me, it was like walking out of a fog, my magic suddenly clearing up.

The Whitetail Woods was quiet and nice and calm, but I felt exposed. The trees were far enough apart that sunlight streamed between them. No brush or shadows to really hide in, no magical haze to keep me safe from scrying.

I mean, it wasn’t like I was really worried about tracking spells anymore. It had been years since I’d vanished, and if Celestia really wanted to find me, she could have done it.

Dash sneezed and went into a coughing fit above me.

“Fluttershy’s house is to the west of here,” she said. “I recognize this part of the woods. Before we get there, could you maybe lose the cloak? She, um, doesn’t handle scary things very well, and no offense, but you’re a little scary.”

“...Yeah, I can do that.” I pulled the cloak free from my shoulders and folded it before shoving it into my saddlebags.

“Woah. What happened to you?” Dash asked, her eyes wide as she stared rudely at my scars.

“Accident with a manticore,” I said. “Right after my own flight practice.”

“Unicorns can’t fly,” Dash said.

“I figured that out on the way down,” I grinned, waving my twisted hoof at her. “Yeah. Do me a favor and practice somewhere less dangerous than the Everfree. You might not get as lucky as me.”

Dash’s friend lived in what seemed like a nice little house, though it was a long way from town. Getting up the hill to her front door was more of a challenge than I’d like to admit. If not for carrying Rainbow Dash, I would have just given up and teleported.

I knocked. And waited.

“Maybe she isn’t home” I guessed, after a minute.

“She’s not really great with meeting ponies,” Dash said. She coughed to clear her throat. “Hey! Flutters! It’s me! Open up!”

There were quiet sounds from the other side of the door. It creaked open, and I saw a yellow pony for a moment before she squeaked and ran back inside, slamming the door behind her.

“...That went well,” I snorted.

“Just put me down and let me handle this,” Dash said. I shrugged and plopped her down on her hooves. She knocked with a hoof. “Fluttershy, it’s okay! I think I’m coming down with something, though and-”

Before she finished, the door opened again, and the yellow mare popped out, her eyes wide.

“Oh no! It’s not the Moult Mange, is it?” Fluttershy grabbed one of Dash’s wings with her teeth and tugged the feathers, testing them. “No… not the Moult Mange. Rainbow, were you doing that… thing with the thunderclouds again? I told you before that I can’t help with Electro-Gonorrhea and you need to go to the hospital and get burn creams and antibiotics.”

Rainbow Dash turned red and looked back at me. “Fluttershy! No!” She started hissing through her teeth, trying not to let me hear. “You promised you wouldn’t bring that up!”

“I’m just trying to take care of you,” Fluttershy said.

“It’s just the Feather Flu,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “I need a place to crash until I get over it. Well, you know. A place to not crash. I already did that once today…”

“You were flying with the Feather Flu?” Fluttershy frowned. “That’s very irresponsible. What if you hurt yourself? Or somepony else?”

“She did,” I said. “She crashed into me.”

Fluttershy gasped when I spoke up, and rushed over to me, grabbing me with surprising strength and looking over my old wounds. “This looks like some kind of animal attack! And this poor leg…”

“Yeah, I broke it pretty badly a few years ago. I still can’t put much weight on it.” I shrugged. It was just part of my life now, even if it sucked eggs.

“The only recent injury is this bump on your head… which I’m guessing is from Rainbow.”

“Good guess,” I snorted. “I’ll be okay. It’s just a bump.”

“Don’t you have problems walking with your leg like this?” Fluttershy frowned and touched my twisted hoof. I winced. “The muscles are partly atrophied and the bone didn’t set right…”

“Well, that happens when you don’t go to a real doctor,” I shrugged.

“You need physical therapy,” Fluttershy said. “Otherwise this is going to keep hurting forever.”

“Hey, you could help her with that!” Dash said, grinning. “Right? I mean, Pinkie Pie said the Pony of Shadows doesn’t like coming into town- and that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen Fluttershy vanish.”

“Great,” I sighed. “Fluttershy! I’m not some scary witch!” I coughed. My chest was starting to feel oddly tight.

“...Oh mare. I hope I didn’t give you the flu.” Dash winced.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m a unicorn. We can’t get the Feather Flu.” Probably. I’m not a doctor. At best I’m a witch doctor, and an apprentice at that. I wasn’t going to tell Dash that though. I wanted her to think I was at least somewhat competent.

“It can be really serious when it does happen, though…” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes just appearing from the doorframe, the rest of her hidden inside.

“I’ll be okay,” I waved off her concerns. “If I do get sick, I know some herbal stuff that can help.” Tea was technically an herb, right? And staying warm and sleeping it off was the best way to fight a sickness.

“I-if you want to come by for physical therapy, um… maybe on Thursdays? That’s when I help animals that have problems…” She swallowed, looking up at me like I was going to scream in her face and say it wasn’t good enough. I gave her a meek smile.

“That would be great. I promise I’m not scary.” That was a lie. I was definitely scary. “I can’t pay you much…” That part was, however, true.

“You don’t have to pay.” Fluttershy smiled, coming out of the door a little more. She reminded me of a wild animal, cautious and fearful around ponies. It was going to take a long time to earn her trust. “I just can’t stand to see anypony in pain.”

“I’m not bad with animals,” I suggested. It was mostly true, as long as you were very generous and extended ‘not bad with animals’ to include, say, blowing monsters up with fireballs. “Maybe I could… help you take care of them?”

Fluttershy nodded, hiding her face with her long hair. I shrugged.

“See you Thursday, then. Dash, it was… interesting meeting you. Never crash into the Everfree again unless you want to get eaten. You got lucky.”

I waved to them and left, limping down the hill. Maybe physical therapy was a good idea. My leg had been hurting more and more these days, to the point that I was starting to tell the weather by how much it ached. As much as I liked the Apples considering me part of the family, I didn’t want to have that much in common with Granny Smith.

By the time I got back to the castle, I had revised my estimates. Not only could I get sick with the Feather Flu, it was really bad. Everything was heavy around me, I was getting hot and cold flashes, and my vision was starting to blur. Worst, I felt like I really needed to preen, but I didn’t even have wings. I kept finding myself nibbling at my quills and getting ink on my face.

I tapped the quill on my journal, activating the enchantment so I could send messages to Twilight. I wasn’t sure if she was anywhere near it, but I didn’t feel up to doing research myself, especially since my library was a thousand years out of date. Great for researching ancient magic, terrible for researching recent history or medicine. I didn’t want to look up my symptoms and find the recommended treatment was leeches and brandy.

“Twilight, I’m feeling a little under the weather. Actually, really sick. Can you check to see if unicorns can get the Feather Flu? If you’re not there, don’t worry too much. I’m just gonna try to sleep it off.”

I started a fire and put a pot on to boil for tea. I started to shiver. I was probably running a fever. Considering I was fireproof, I could always sit in the fire pit and get warm that way, but I’d end up filthy from the ashes.

“Sunset, I’m looking it up now. It will just be a few minutes while I find the right book. Don’t go to sleep yet.”

I smiled. I should have known she’d still be awake and studying. She got out even less than I did, and I lived in a ruined castle in a spooky forest. The book spoke with her voice now, after I’d updated the spell while she’d been on hoof. Now I didn’t sound like I was talking to myself. I let the tea steep and started sipping it, finishing a cup before Twilight got back to me.

“Sunset, are you sure it’s the Feather Flu?”

“I was helping a sick pegasus today who had it,” I said. “I probably got it from her.”

“Only the strongest unicorns can get the Feather Flu,” Twilight wrote. Said. Said is probably more accurate. “It’s possible you have it, but the symptoms are highly variable. It could be very serious.”

“How serious?” I asked, getting myself more tea. “Like, should I start writing a will out, or is this just going to be me laid up in bed for a while?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. There was no inflection in the voice, but I could imagine that she was actually starting to panic. “I need to check more books.”

“Twilight, don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be fine. I’m just going to stay warm, drink a lot of fluids, and maybe eat the rest of that cake before it goes bad.” It wasn’t going to go bad. Celestia had taught me the stasis spell used in the National Equestrian Cake Reserve that kept cakes fresh indefinitely. Twilight’s cake had, in fact, been delicious.

That wasn’t a metaphor for anything. We didn’t do anything strange. She was half my age!

“If it gets any worse, or if your mane starts falling out, you should contact me immediately. And get a lot of vitamin C. Or D. The recommendations are somewhat conflicting. Do both. They don’t cancel each other out.”

“I will,” I promised. “I’ll write you in the morning. I’m going to turn in early.” Very early. The sun wasn’t even down yet. I yawned and finished the tea, then tossed more wood into the fire pit, grabbing some blankets and making a nest in front of it to sleep in.

I looked at the clock, the modern device an anachronism in the ancient castle but too useful to do without. I’d been trying to sleep for hours, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. Worse, in my half-asleep state, I was starting to get flashbacks to the vision I’d had with Zecora. Those things that my duplicate had said had stayed with me.

I’d close my eyes, and see that horrible thing, and feel a panic attack start to come on, and my eyes would shoot open again. I was so tired, and I just couldn’t rest. It was so frustrating that I started to cry. I just wanted to rest, sleep through the night and this terrible chill and the cold, and wake up feeling more like myself.

I saw a flash of fire and heard an echo of dark laughter.

Feeling less like myself, maybe. More like the pony I wanted to be, but I didn’t even know what that was anymore.

I buried my head in my hooves and wept. All of my joints ached, and my scalp itched, and I was trying to ignore it because scratching only made it worse. The night felt like it was going to last forever. There were hours and hours to go before dawn, and every minute felt like a century. At least my duplicate hadn’t actually shown up yet. Just thinking about her appearing made my cold sweats even worse.

I’m not sure when, but at some point I started to hallucinate. Maybe it was because I was so tired, maybe it was the fever messing with me. First I started to hear things. Hoofsteps, which was impossible since I was alone and nopony except Twilight knew where I was. Then I saw flashes of white and gold.

The cold vanished, and I was surrounded by warmth.

“Sunset…” I shivered at the too-familiar voice and curled up, trying to hide. This was even worse dream than the twisted, demonic copy. It sounded just like the Princess.

“Go away…” I mumbled, my voice muffled by my hooves. “You don’t care ‘bout me. Just let me try an’ sleep in peace…”

“Twilight is very worried about you. So worried she almost told me about you.” I felt a wing cover me like a blanket. “I miss you, Sunset.”

“No you don’t,” I said, sniffling. Just because I was stuffed up. I’d save having a panic attack for if I ever ran into the real Princess. “You replaced me the day after I left, and never even told Twilight about me.”

“Sunset Shimmer, you can’t replace a pony. Yes, I took her as my student, but she didn’t take your place. You’re special to me.” Celestia settled in closer to me. The hallucination or dream vision or whatever it was, it even smelled like her. Like a warm field of lavender. Like a summer day. I really must have been out of it. “In all my years, I’ve known thousands of ponies well enough to call them my friend, and none has ever replaced another. Love isn’t something so limited.”

“Love? You never loved me.” The sniffles came again. I could barely talk. It was a good thing I was alone, because otherwise I’d have really looked like a mess, crying and sniffling and talking to myself like a crazy pony. “I thought you did, but you just never trusted me at all. I knew you almost my whole life and you never treated me like more than a pet!”

“That’s not true.” Celestia almost sounded hurt when she said it.

“Yes it is! Sure, you took me in and took care of me and occasionally dragged me to some social occasion or another, but that’s what you do with a pet. That’s not how you treat another pony. I mean, look at what we got into a fight over! A stupid magic mirror!” I uncurled, rubbing at my eyes and refusing to look at the illusion. “You dangled it in front of me, then refused to talk about it no matter how much I begged!”

“You weren’t ready to know about it,” Celestia sighed.

“Then why did you show it to me?!” I snapped. “You knew I was going to ask questions! You knew refusing to tell me was only going to make me find the answers on my own! What in Tartarus was so difficult about saying ‘It’s an intermittent gateway to another, alien world, and in its inactive state it has a minor illusion that shows the pony their greatest desire?’”

“I…” Celestia sighed. “I made a mistake showing you. I thought you would see a family, or friends, and I could use that to help guide you. But you only saw the product of your ambition. Boundless power, both magical and political.”

“And you wouldn’t even talk to me about it,” I whispered. My voice was getting hoarse. “I just wanted to be like you. I did learn a lesson from it. I learned that you kept secrets from me, I learned that you didn’t respect me, and that no matter what, I’d never be good enough to be your daughter like Cadance was.”

“Sunset…”

“You'd give everything to somepony who showed up out of nowhere with wings and a horn, but one moment of defiance and I was on the street and told never to return! That’s how important I was to you. So important that I could be discarded in a heartbeat.” I curled up on myself again, trying to pull my body into a ball and get away from the hallucination. “That’s why I wanted to be an alicorn. So you’d love me like you loved her.”

“I didn’t throw you away,” Celestia whispered. “I thought you needed to understand how serious I was. I’d let you get away with so much… do you know how many reports I’d gotten from teachers at the school for gifted unicorns about the way you treated the other students?”

I was silent at that. I had no idea. I’d mostly ignored the other students when I wasn’t busy boasting or telling them to leave me alone.

“I thought you would mature and you’d start treating them with the respect they deserved. But no matter how much I taught you, you refused to change. And then you even lost your respect for me. You went against my orders, you argued with me, and then you made demands for things you hadn’t earned.”

“I know,” I whispered, through the tears.

“I was going to let you think about what you’d done for a few days, and then allow you to return, with certain restrictions. It was supposed to be a lesson in humility, and how important it was to have friends to turn to. But instead…”

“Instead Twilight happened, and you forgot about me,” I mumbled.

“No!” Celestia gasped. “No, Sunset. I didn’t stop looking for you for almost a year. And I only stopped then because I knew you didn’t want to be found. When the guards told me how you fell into that canyon…”

She trailed off into silence.

Then I heard her sniffle above me, and hooves wrapped around me, pulling me to her chest.

“I never thought I would see you again. You can’t imagine what that’s like.” Tears fell into my head. This had to be a dream. The real Celestia would never have lost her composure like this, and she definitely didn’t care about me this much. “You were like my own foal. I was so proud of how much you’d learned, and so scared about what kind of pony you’d become. I never stopped loving you, Sunset, and I always wanted what was best for you. Why did you do it, Sunset? Why did you have to run like that?”

“I just… I didn’t have anything left,” I whispered. “I couldn’t bear to be around you when it hurt so badly to think about you. And then all those guards were following me, and I had to get away and I just… I panicked. I had to get away. I messed everything up so badly that I’d do anything except face you again.”

“You could come back with me, Sunset. You could come back right now, and study with your friend, and everything will be just the way it used to be.”

I shook my head, sniffling and trying not to make a mess as I nuzzled into Celestia’s chest. “No. I can’t go back. Even if I did go back, it couldn’t ever be the same again. I’m an awful pony. I abuse my power and scare other ponies and… and…” I sobbed. “Even Twilight was scared of me.”

“You’re not a bad pony, Sunset,” Celestia said. “And you know why? Because other ponies matter to you. You care about what Twilight thinks of you. A few years ago you wouldn’t even understand why abusing your power would be bad. You’ve changed.”

“No I haven’t,” I whispered. “I’m a monster.”

“You’re not a monster, Sunset. You’re just sick, and scared, and going through a lot of changes. I won’t make you come back with me, but the castle doors will always be open to you.” Celestia rested her face against my head. It all felt so real. “You need to sleep so you can get better, Sunset. Do you remember what I used to sing to you to help you rest?”

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I relaxed, feeling everything drift away from me. The tension and anxiety disappeared, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I groaned as sunlight fell across my face, and opened my eyes half-expecting Celestia to be there. Instead, I found myself wrapped around a rolled-up blanket and hugging it tightly, another covering me the way I’d imagined Celestia’s wing had been. Everything was clammy and damp with sweat and tears.

I rubbed my eyes, sniffling a little and just laying there for a while, gripped with a deep bittersweet melancholy. I knew it hadn’t really been her, but part of me wanted to think she still loved me. Or at least that she ever had loved me.

But it hadn’t been her. It had just been a fever dream, or maybe another visit from this spirit guide Zecora had been trying to help me find. Was this the wisdom it was trying to give me? Showing up as a demon with my face to show me just what I looked like to other ponies, then as Celestia to remind me of what I’d lost?

I didn’t have answers. All I had were my mistakes, and I was going to have to start learning from them.

Shades of Pink

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I paced in the alleyway, trying to gather myself. Despite how I’d acted last time, Twilight had almost begged me to let her visit again. She claimed I’d taught her a lot about high-energy spellcraft and, maybe more importantly, that I was the only pony she could talk to about more esoteric and experimental parts of magical theory.

It had been months before she was able to find a few days where she could get away from Celestia without having to explain where she was going. It had been nearly enough time for me to stop having panic attacks about the vision I’d had of the Princess. I’d spent almost a week doing every magical scan I could think of, and as far as I could tell, it had all been in my mind.

Of course, I’d also learned every magical scan I knew from the Princess, and she’d been able to avoid them before. Even if she’d taught me everything I knew, she’d never taught me everything she knew. It was only paranoia if you were wrong.

I’d ditched the cloak, for now at least, and left it in the castle. I still wasn’t comfortable without something to at least cover up the worst of my scars, though, and so I was wearing the jacket Rarity had made for me. It was comforting, like an old blanket, the soft leather and faint scent from the tanning process reminded me of the good times.

The train pulled into the station. I’d discussed with Twilight how to make sure to leave her trail behind, so I wasn’t expecting a lot of trouble. She’d meet me in the alleyway, we’d teleport a bit to throw anypony off, then grab some lunch and go up to the castle. Safe as houses. Normal houses. Not my house. The old castle was full of traps, which was the opposite of safe.

I might have been starting to panic a little already. Anxiety does that.

“Sunset! I know this isn’t exactly what we talked about, but I can explain!” I turned around at Twilight’s voice, smiling and wondering just what-

There was another pony with her. A pink one. With long, striped hair. And wings. And a horn. She looked shocked. I expect I had almost the same expression, though I didn’t see her for long enough to confirm that, because I then used my amazing natural talent to cast a teleport spell in record time.

I was across town in, literally, no time at all.

“Cadance?!” I hissed, from my new hiding spot in somepony’s backyard. “She brought Cadance here?! What in the world was she thinking?!”

I had to examine this logically and decide on a measured and thoughtful response. I could go back to the castle, grab some essentials, and make a break for the Griffon Kingdoms. There weren’t travel restrictions anymore, and we didn’t have an extradition treaty with them. They’d probably be quite happy to have me, though I’d likely have to serve in their military.

That made me a little sick to think about. They were, as always, involved in brush wars in Zebrica. I don’t think I’d have the stomach to burn crops and ‘keep the peace’ with the natives, especially not after studying with Zecora.

So the Griffons were out, but Zebrica wasn’t a bad choice on its own. As a shaman, even if only in training, I’d automatically have quite a bit of respect. Unfortunately, the tribes didn’t have a unified government, and Equestrian agents could carry me away in my sleep.

There was always the Badlands if I just wanted to get lost. There was more wild magic there than in the Everfree, and rumors of terrible creatures, shapeshifters, and huge beasts the size of city blocks.

Scratch that. If I just wanted to be miserable and put my life in danger, I’d turn myself in to the Guard and have a comfortable cell.

I just couldn’t understand why Twilight would betray me. Unless… unless I’d really underestimated how badly I’d scared her. Unless she hated me, and thought I was a threat to Equestria and the Princess. And in that case, why only bring Cadance?

“It just doesn’t make sense! Why would she only bring Cadance if she was trying to capture me?” I shouted, losing my temper.

“Um. Actually… I just couldn’t get away from her. She kind of asked to come along at the last minute and I didn’t have time to warn you or make excuses.” I spun around to see Twilight, alone, and looking sheepish. She gave me a smile. “I was able to leave Spike in Canterlot with my parents, but…”

“She’s going to tell Celestia all about this!” I snapped. “She’s going to tell her where I am, and there are going to be guards everywhere, and… and she might even end up getting you in trouble.” My vision started to blur as my eyes watered. I couldn't even blow Cadance up. I was pretty sure she was immortal.

“She won’t!” Twilight said. “She’s kind of… my foalsitter. Not that I need one anymore! But she still comes to check on me sometimes. She saw me getting ready for the trip, and invited herself along for some reason!”

I rubbed my temples. “Sparkle, you’re so smart and yet you have zero common sense,” I groaned.

“I’m sorry…” Twilight mumbled, looking down. I took a deep breath and limped over to her and gave her a quick hug.

“I know. But this is still a disaster. She and I never got along, and I’d be surprised if she wasn’t telling Celestia all about it right now. Just… tell her you couldn’t find me. Keep her busy looking for a few hours, and I’ll clear my things out of the castle.” I let her go and started pacing, thinking.

“You’re just going to run?” Twilight’s expression managed to fall even further.

“What else am I supposed to do!? Wait for guards to show up and arrest me? Drag me in front of Celestia so I can get stern warnings about corrupting her student and how I keep disappointing her? Maybe she’ll just saw my horn off to make sure I don’t cause trouble for anypony!”

“She’d never do that!” Twilight gasped.

“I’m not going to take my chances.” I shivered. “Twilight, this isn’t your fault.” Actually it was. It was all her fault. With a little warning I could have done something clever like not shown up at all, or some kind of disguise.

“Sunset, Cadance is like a sister to me. Maybe… you could give her a chance?” She looked up at me with big, hopeful eyes. “If you talk to her, you might be able to convince her not to tell Celestia!”

“Talk to her?” I snorted.

“You said you wanted to change, right?” Twilight smiled weakly. “Doesn’t that mean trying things a different way?”

This was the stupidest thing I’d ever done, and I had a long life full of doing stupid things. I should have been running as fast as I could manage on three legs and one stupid twisted hoof. Instead, I was following Twilight towards the cafe where we’d agreed to meet for lunch, which was exactly the opposite direction of where I should have been going.

There was only one nice thing about the whole situation. With Cadance in town, ponies barely even noticed me. Not having a spooky cloak might have helped, too. A few ponies stood outside of the cafe, looking in through the windows and hoping to catch a glimpse of the Princess of Love.

“It’ll be fine,” Twilight whispered, gently pushing me as I hesitated at the door. I stumbled inside. The cafe was empty, except for one booth in the back. Cadance was facing away from the door, so all I could see was the back of her head. Maybe she’d done it on purpose. If I’d walked in and seen her judging eyes, I might have fled already. No, wait, I'd have thrown a fireball at her. I tended to blow things up when I was spooked.

Twilight went ahead of me and sat down in the booth. I took a deep breath and followed her, sitting across from Cadance. I looked down at the table instead of at her. This was the most awkward dinner I’d had since the time I’d gone to a meeting with griffon ambassadors despite Celestia’s warnings and ended up with a plate of steak and bacon.

As an aside, bacon is amazing, though I still can’t look at Applejack’s pigs without seeing them as delicious food instead of truffle hunters.

“So…” Twilight said. “Um…”

“You’ve been living here all along?” Cadance whispered. I couldn't tell if she was angry or just shocked.

“Not here, exactly…” I mumbled. “I live in the woods.”

“I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead! Do you know how many ponies were looking for you?” Cadance was suddenly up and out of her seat and before I could do anything to stop her, I was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. I didn’t know Cadance was that strong. Sharp pain shot through my weak leg. She didn't notice me starting to charge a fireball spell, but Twilight had. I felt a counterspell clamp down on my mana. Between that and the pain, I didn't blow up the building in surprise.

“S-stop!” I gasped. “My leg-” Cadance let go, and I groaned, rubbing my twisted hoof.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine,” I said, cutting her off angrily. “It’s an old injury. It just hurts when a lot of pressure is put on it.” I took a deep breath as the pain faded back to a dull throb. “Look, I just want to get on with my life. I know you hate me-”

“I don’t hate you.” She cut me off that time. “I never hated you.”

“Then you’re a better pony than I was,” I mumbled. “I was always jealous of you.”

Cadance sat down. “Of all the ponies Twilight could have been coming to see, I wouldn’t have guessed in a thousand years that it would be you.”

“Please don’t tell Celestia,” I said, lowering my head. “I don’t want Twilight to get in trouble because of me.”

“Why would she get in trouble for it?” Cadance smiled. “Sunset, if she knew you were alive, she’d be the happiest pony in Equestria. When you died- when we all thought you’d died- she cancelled court for a week because she couldn’t hold herself together.”

“I guess I was a bigger disappointment than I thought.”

“Stop that,” Cadance said. “You weren’t a disappointment. All Celestia ever talked about was how proud she was of you. Even if you were... kind of a jerk to me.”

“The biggest jerk.” I snorted with laughter. “I was so jealous of you. You had everything I ever wanted, so every time I saw you I kind of… took it out on you.”

“You two know each other already?” Twilight blinked. “I guess I should have expected that. You both lived in the palace at the same time…”

“We… weren’t friends,” I sighed.

“Celestia kept trying to make us get along,” Cadance said. “But she was jealous of what I had, and I was jealous of how close she was to the Princess.”

“How close I was?” I blinked. “What are you talking about? She was much closer to you. You were literally her family! She adopted you!”

“She adopted me, but spent all her time with you,” Cadance countered. “She’d give you private lessons every day. I was lucky if I had a few minutes with her alone to discuss Court proceedings.”

“You’re already an alicorn. It’s not like you needed training.” I rolled my eyes. “Celestia just trusted you enough to know that you wouldn’t embarrass her if she left you alone.”

“I wish I didn’t need training,” Cadance sighed. “She sent me to Canterlot High to take magic classes. Do you know how that felt? I was stuck with foals half my age and had to put up with them laughing at the Princess who couldn’t do magic!”

“You’re an alicorn. You’ve got way more magic than I do.”

“I was born a pegasus, Sunset. I barely know how to use this thing.” She tapped her horn and laughed. “Maybe if I’d had private lessons with Celestia I’d be as strong as you, but Twilight has been better with magic than me for years. Do you know how hard it is to foalsit a pony who can break through your magic without even noticing?”

I snorted, imagining Twilight at the same age as Applejack’s little sister and throwing Cadance around in a tantrum. Picturing Cadance helpless and on fire made me feel a little better.

“But she gave you lessons instead,” Cadance said quietly. “She said it was because you had a lot of potential. I thought that meant I didn’t have the same potential. I think if… we’d actually tried being friends instead of just glaring at each other in envy, things would have been different.”

“Maybe,” I whispered. “But I couldn’t have done it. I was a jerk. I wanted her all to myself. I wanted to be her daughter, and her student. Just being one of the two wasn’t enough.”

“You’ve changed a lot,” Cadance said. She reached over and touched my hoof.

“We’ve only been talking for a few minutes.” I shook my head. “Maybe I’m just having an off day as a jerk.”

“No, you’ve definitely changed. The old Sunset Shimmer would never have helped Twilight with her studies. And you never would have admitted you were wrong about anything.”

“Of course not,” I laughed. “I was too proud and stupid. And now I sound like an old mare talking about her childhood.”

“More than anything, though…” Cadance grinned. “You never would have made friends. I don’t know what changed you, but you seem like you’re in a much better place. A few years ago, if we sat down like this, we never would have actually spoken to each other.”

I’d spent a lot of years almost hating Cadance. She’d never really returned it, but I’d scared her off enough that she’d avoided me.

“Wait a minute,” Twilight said, returning to the conversation after a few moments deep in thought. “Aren’t you and my brother dating?”

“Yes?” Cadance said, confused by the question.

“And you met in Canterlot High. Where… you said all the foals were half your age.” Twilights expression narrowed. “How old are you, again?”

“Hey! Wow! They have lava cake on the menu!” Cadance said, changing the subject so rapidly the whole conversation got whiplash. “Let’s get a round of those, and I’ll let you have coffee if you stop asking questions.”

“Celestia says I can’t have coffee after the accident with the west garden.”

“That’s why it’s bribery, Twilight.”

“...Deal.”

It was the first time I’d ever seen a pony almost literally vibrating. I’d lost count after Twilight had gotten a third refill of coffee, and I was starting to worry her heart might give out.

“This is amazing! I should have coffee all the time! Do you like coffee, Sunset? It’s way better than tea!” Twilight grinned widely at me. “I feel so great and my mind is going so much faster and I probably never need to sleep again!”

“I see why you aren’t allowed to have coffee,” I snorted. “Take it easy.”

“She’ll be fine,” Cadance smiled. “You know, the reason I came along with her was because I thought she had a secret coltfriend that she was visiting.”

“I don’t think she’s interested in anypony that doesn’t have both an appendix and an index, and I’ve only got the one,” I laughed.

“Oh! I get it!” Twilight said, bouncing in her seat. “It’s a book pun! An appendix is an organ but also a part of some books and-”

“It’s not funny if you explain it, Twilight.” I shook my head and smiled.

“It’s okay! I know more book puns! Hundreds of them! And they’re all about books! Like, um, um, my therapist said I had so many issues that I was carrying the whole back catalog!”

“She’s almost as bad as the pink one when she’s got coffee in her…” I muttered.

“Pink one?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not you. There’s this one pony in town- never mind. Anyway, I’ve never heard Twilight talk about any colts. Or fillies. I didn’t even know she knew you.”

“She’s a lot like you,” Cadance said. “Obsessed with studying and magic.” She reached over to ruffle Twilight’s mane. “She didn’t have your confidence, though. I think part of the reason Celestia took her in was because the two of you were so much alike. She held out hope that you’d come back and the two of you could be friends.”

I smiled a little at that. “You’re right about the two of us being alike. Except Twilight is smarter than me.”

Cadance blinked at that. “I didn’t think you’d ever…”

“What, admit somepony else is better than me at something?” Cadance’s expression told me everything. “Yeah. I know. It wasn’t easy for me to get over being replaced, either. And she’s way better with magical theory than I am. I never liked doing the math.”

“That’s not true,” Twilight said. “You’re great at the math! You just taught me about high-energy thamatological decay products last week!”

“And that’s pretty much the limit of my magical theory,” I admitted. “And that’s with a decade more experience than you have. You’ve learned it twice as quickly as I ever did, and you know more spells than I do.”

“Well… I…” Twilight hesitated.

“I don’t think there’s much more I can teach you.”

“No!” Twilight shouted, standing up with her front hooves on the table. It was a good thing we were already causing a scene just by being there, because otherwise we would have caused a scene. “You can’t just- but I learn faster with you helping!”

“Yeah, too fast,” I joked. “You’ve pretty much outgrown me.”

“T-that’s not true! You’re the only one that I can talk to! And you…” Twilight stopped, blushing. I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have a lot of friends and…”

Well that made sense, at least. If she was anything like me, she probably ignored the other students. In retrospect, maybe that was partly my fault. She’d spent a lot of the last few years either writing to me or findings ways to make sure our arrangement was kept secret. I might have unintentionally ended up making her even more of a recluse than I’d been. Great. One more thing for my conscience.

“You know,” Cadance ventured, interrupting my internal monologue, “Just because you don’t have anything left to teach her doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends.”

“I just… don’t want things to change,” Twilight muttered.

“Sometimes change is good,” Cadance said. “Remember when you were so scared about your application for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? You didn’t want to leave home, at least until you saw their library.”

“But teaching is what we do when we get together! And… I like it when Sunset helps me.” She stared down at her coffee cup, clearing just using it to avoid meeting either of our gazes.

“Sunset, you probably don’t have access to newer textbooks or magic publications,” Cadance said, turning to me.

I shook my head. “I don’t have anything newer than a thousand years ago. It makes for fascinating reading on history and a few hidden gems, but lousy for modern studies of magic as a science instead of an art.”

“That’s what I thought. But you know, Twilight has access to everything. If you wanted to stay up to date…”

“You want Twilight to start teaching me,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I guess it makes sense.”

“Unless you have something against being taught by somepony younger than you are…”

“No, it’s not that,” I said, smiling at Twilight to reassure her. “I just don’t want to put pressure on her. Twilight, you’ve got your own studies to worry about-”

“It’s fine!” Twilight said, almost shouting. “I mean, teaching something is the best way to make sure you really understand it, right? So it’s fine.” She looked between me and Cadance. “I, um. I’ll need to start working on a teaching plan, and a chart…”

“Just remember to focus on your own studies first,” I said. “I don’t have to worry about midterms or finals.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at me. “You will.”

We managed to get away from the crowd after Cadance distracted them with some autographs and giving some discreet romantic advice to a few ponies. Twilight and I sat near the lake, waiting for her, though she seemed nervous about things.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I said. “It’s not like she’s afraid of attention.”

“I know,” Twilight groaned, rubbing her head. “I’m just… coffee makes me jittery and I’m already getting a headache from the caffeine. And I’ve never taught anypony. How am I supposed to be a good teacher if I’m still a student?” I saw the signs of panic starting. It was easy to recognize, since I was pretty much an expert at having panic attacks.

“You’ll be fine. Just be patient with me. I’m not as smart as you are.” I smiled at her. She blushed and looked away.

“That’s not true. You were Celestia’s student.” Twilight sighed. “Besides, I’d know if you weren’t smart.”

“Yeah…” I sighed. We were quiet for a while. Normally it was comfortable. Neither of us were really outgoing ponies, and the last time she’d come up, we’d spent hours in silence just reading books with each other. There was a tension now, though.

“Do you ever regret leaving?” Twilight asked. “I mean, Cadance isn’t wrong. You could come back, I think. I haven’t actually asked since, um, since I don’t want Princess Celestia to know that I know about you.”

“...Yeah,” I said, shrugging. “Sometimes. But it’s not that I regret leaving as much as I regret being such a disappointment. Even if Celestia would forgive me, I just can’t face her again.”

“Why?”

“By the time I really realized what I’d done, it was too late to say sorry. I was afraid for a long time that she would arrest me for breaking into the forbidden section and learning dark magic without permission or supervision.” I bit my lip. “I know she won’t, now. But it’s been a long time, and whenever I think about seeing her… well, you know what panic attacks are like.”

Twilight nodded. I looked up at the sky, flinching when I saw the sun.

“The worst part is that because it’s been so long, I get anxious about apologizing because it’s been so long and… it’s like some kind of stupid feedback thing. Because I’m an idiot. See why I’m not afraid to say you’re smarter than I am?”

“I don’t feel smarter,” Twilight said. “I almost messed everything up because I couldn’t come up with an excuse for Cadance.”

“Actually, I’m glad she came,” I said. “I was able to get a lot off my chest when I was talking to her. There are a lot of ponies that deserve apologies from me.”

Twilight sighed and leaned into me. “I just wish we had more time to spend alone. She kept bugging me about if I had a coltfriend the whole way here.”

“AJ has a pretty cute older brother if you want me to set you up with a date~” I joked. Twilight glared up at me.

“Don’t. Cadance keeps trying to get me to go on dates, too. Last time it was with Prince Blueblood. He’s nice enough, but we didn’t have anything in common.”

“Blueblood?” I laughed. “I remember him. He was cute. Really annoying, though. He only talked about himself and his family line. The second he heard I was an orphan he didn’t want anything to do with me. It was the only time I set a pony on fire that Celestia didn’t scold me.”

“You set ponies on fire more than once?”

“I told you I was a witch, didn’t I?”

Twilight sighed and leaned into me more. I hoped I wasn’t depressing her with my stories.

“You used to tell me all the time that you blamed Celestia for what happened. You know, because she wasn’t good about actually being straightforward with anything.” Twilight dug at a patch of grass, her tail flicking. I waited to see where she was going with this. “Lately you’ve just been blaming yourself. Did something happen?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “You know how I’ve been taking lessons from a shaman?” Twilight nodded. “I went on a spirit journey thing. There’s a Zebrian word for it, but I can’t remember it. I saw…” I shuddered, remembering the demon thing that had worn my face. “I saw how awful I was, inside.”

“You’re not awful!” Twilight nuzzled my neck. It made me blush. I was going to have to teach her about personal space. Or have Cadance do it.

“Twilight, I saw how much I scared you last time you were here. And don’t pretend I didn’t. There are parts of me I don’t like, and I have to admit they’re there before I can do anything about them. Yeah, I had myself convinced that Celestia just didn’t trust me - because she didn’t. Because I didn’t deserve it. Tartarus, after I went to bed with that fever I had a dream where…” I shook my head. “Never mind.”

“What kind of dream?” Twilight asked, oddly cautious.

“It’s not important. It was stupid. It just… it made me realize even more that I was at fault. Or that both of us had been. Celestia and I both made mistakes.” I smiled down at Twilight. “I don’t think she made the same ones with you, though. You turned out a lot better than I did.”

“I’m a nervous wreck all the time,” Twilight said. “I’m always making lists because it’s the only way I can deal with the stress. You think you’re awful, but when I look at you, all I see is that you’re confident and smart, and you’ve got more experience than I do.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but I stopped when Twilight moved closer, burying her face in my neck.

“That’s why I don’t want you to stop teaching me or being my friend or- or…” She sniffled. “You don’t have to come back to Canterlot. I don’t mind visiting you here.”

“I won’t stop being your friend,” I said, pulling Twilight into a hug before she collapsed. The last thing either of us needed was a panic attack. “I promise.”

She squeezed me, and we just held each other. Twilight slowly started to calm down and sighed.

“This is probably the only time we’re going to get alone,” she said. “Um… there was something I wanted to ask you, but I didn’t want to do it with Cadance around. It’s too...personal.” She looked up at me, her cheeks red.

“Better ask me now,” I said. “There’s no telling how long before she escapes the crowd.”

“It’s just, well, I-I did a lot of thinking and research on related subjects, and I even asked Cadance a few things, though I don’t think she’s really figured it out based on her responses-”

“Just ask, Twilight,” I laughed a little. “If it’s about strange feelings in your horn, that’s just because the core changes a little as you get used to using more mana at once.”

“It’s not about my horn! I mean, my horn does feel strange sometimes, but I’d ask a doctor about that, not that I need to since I have reference guides but, um, this is more about other strange feelings.” She took a deep breath, steeling herself.

The branch above us rustled.

We both looked up and saw Cadance sitting there with a wide, catlike grin.

“Ignore me!” she said, excited. “Keep going! You were practically at the good part!”

Twilight and I hastily broke the hug, much to her disappointment.

“How long have you been there?” I asked. Twilight was too busy trying to recover some semblance of pride and composure to say anything.

“Not that long. I just didn’t want to disturb you.” Cadance hopped down. “If you want, I could go get us some drinks, maybe take the scenic route back, give you another hour or so to talk by yourselves…”

Twilight shook her head. “N-no. It wasn’t anything important. Hey, how about we go check out Sunset’s castle?” She smiled, sweat dripping down her neck. I got the hint. She just wanted to drop the subject completely. I’d have to wait for her to get comfortable enough to ask whatever it was that was on her mind, and that probably wouldn’t happen if Cadance was hanging around.

“...Yeah,” I said. “We can head up there. If you’re going to spend the night, though, I’ve only got the two beds. We’ll need to-”

“It’s fine!” Twilight said. “Cadance can have the guest room, since she’s a princess! We can, um, work something out. Definitely.”

“...Okay,” I shrugged.

“You know, I could use a few magic lessons,” Cadance put in.

“I was giving Twilight help because she needed it. You’ve got more magic than both of us put together.” I snorted. “Besides, weren’t you just telling us about that great education Celestia made you get?”

“Well, I wasn’t studying magic as much as… other subjects.”

“Like anatomy?”

“Sunset!” Cadance actually blushed a little at that.

“That makes sense,” Twilight nodded. “Dad always said that Cadance was tutoring my brother on anatomy. I guess they’re required to know first aid in the Royal Guard…”

I fell over laughing, as Cadance turned bright red and covered her face. Maybe today wasn't all bad.

Legend of the Millennium's End

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I have to admit, between Twilight’s smarts and Cadance’s raw power, I was starting to realize just how out of line my ego had been. I was still the strongest unicorn in Equestria, of course, but if it really came down to it, the three of us were more or less equal. Cadance might eventually surpass us, if she ever used her horn for anything other than making ponies kiss.

I was surprised by how little that really bothered me. I guess once you’d already bowed out of the race, it didn’t matter who won in the end. Celestia had chosen my successor well, at least.

“Sunset! Something terrible is happening and nopony is taking it seriously except me!”

I take that back. Twilight still had some rough edges. Like her tendency to get worked into a paranoid panic at the slightest provocation.

I rubbed my nose before answering, turning to look at the book and calming myself down.

“Twilight, this had better not be like those readings you took on the statue garden that had you convinced some piece of art was a secret chaos god about to break free and kill us all.” She’d tried to get me to go to Canterlot to confirm her readings. To the castle. I wasn’t sure if she’d been planning something, or if she just genuinely was that crazy.

“Those readings were real! But this is more important, and I’m not going to argue with you today. Celestia’s kicking me out of the castle!”

That made my mane stand on end. I ran over to the book to make sure the text-to-speech spell wasn’t messing up. When I saw that she’d really written that, my breath caught in my throat. Was this my fault?

“What happened?!” I could feel a panic attack coming on. “Was it my fault? Did she find out? Just apologize and- and blame it all on me! I’m a terrible influence! I take full responsibility!”

“She wants me to go out and make friends instead of studying!”

I slumped to the floor with relief. So Twilight had finally gotten to the point of her lessons where I’d started making my own big mistakes. Thankfully, I knew where I’d gone wrong, and I could make sure she didn’t end up like me.

“Do what she says,” I sighed. “Trust me. It’s a lot easier than arguing with her, and having friends is nice. If it wasn’t for you and the other ponies I met, I’d have gone crazy by now.” Of course I did live in a ruined castle and I was talking to a book. Maybe I’d gone right past crazy already and not noticed it.

“You don’t understand either! The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration!”

I waited for the other horseshoe to drop. It didn’t.

“...And?”

“And according to this storybook, that means Nightmare Moon, the Mare in the Moon, will return and bring eternal darkness to Equestria!”

I stood up and brushed myself off. I had a pretty good idea of what was going on now. Twilight had found a scary story and was overreacting. Again. I knew how to deal with this - just keep her distracted and away from anything explosive and wait for her to realize she’d been wrong all along. At least this time we wouldn't have to find a spell to quickly regrow her mane before anypony realized she'd been set on fire.

“Look, Twilight, don’t you think that maybe if that was true, Celestia would already know about it and have plans in place? She’s not stupid.”

“I tried to contact her first. She brushed me off! Me! Instead of taking this seriously, she wants me to go and get the celebration preparations done for her.”

“Well, go and do that, then.” I sighed and started back to what I’d been doing. I’d been brewing a potion and making lunch and I’d completely forgotten which was which. Some days I was an awful witch. Hopefully the cauldron on the right was my lunch, because otherwise I was going to turn blue for a week.

“I don’t have much of a choice. At least you can give me a hoof with it.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Twilight, you know I don’t like to travel.”

“No, that’s the good news! It’s in Ponyville!”

“Celestia is coming here?!” I dropped my spoon.

“Should I have mentioned that first?”

I paced back and forth in front of the library, clutching my cloak tightly around me. I had a hard decision to make - wait for Celestia to show up before I ran away, or go now so I could get a head start? I hated to admit it, but I was sort of attached to the town, and it was going to be hard to find a place safer than the old castle.

Well, safer to avoid detection. There were plenty of places safer than enchanted ruins in the middle of a forest so full of wild magic that most unicorns couldn’t even enter without giving themselves splitting headaches. And that didn't even cover the traps. I'd decided to leave most of the castle alone after a hidden slide had almost dropped me into the ravine outside.

I just needed to calm down. I looked up at the sky.

And saw Royal Guards.

“Nope!” Calming down was cancelled for the day. Time to have the rest of that panic attack. I teleported away before I lost my composure. Unfortunately, I was awful at actually aiming teleport spells while in blind panic mode, and ended up in the branches of the library-tree. I’d make a joke about the local branch not having any good magic books, but I was curling up into a ball and trying to stay still so the Guards wouldn’t see me, arrest me, drag me off into a dungeon, and do other horrible things to me.

“Sunset Shimmer?” I distantly heard my name. “Where is she? She was supposed to meet us here…”

My hooves started to slip. Ponies weren’t really built to be arboreal creatures, as my rapidly weakening grip proved. Like an overripe, terrified fruit, I fell, plunging towards the ground until my drop was arrested by the grip of another unicorn’s magical field.

“There you are!” Twilight said, all too-happily. “What were you doing in the tree?”

“What were you doing with the Royal Guard?!” I countered, shivering. She put me down on my hooves and bit her lip.

“I told you we should have taken the hot air balloon,” Spike grumbled, hopping down from Twilight’s back. “Don’t worry, Sunset. They’re gone. Twilight just didn’t think ahead about what it would look like.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. It wasn’t easy.

“I have a plan detailed out,” Twilight said, a checklist appearing in her grip. “We’re going to go through the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, then as soon as that’s settled, we’ll research the Elements of Harmony, since they’re the only thing that can stop the Mare in the Moon!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Elements of Harmony… I’ve heard of those somewhere before…” It seemed like the kind of thing I should have known about.

“What about the other thing the Princess wanted?” Spike asked. “You know, about making friends?”

“Spike, the fate of Equestria does not depend on me making friends! Besides, I have friends. There’s my brother, and Cadance, and Sunset!” She pointed to me. “See? Plenty of friends!”

“I just mean, friends who aren't your sibling or foalsitter or teacher... Never mind.” Spike sighed.

“Here,” Twilight said, passing him the scroll. “You’re in charge of the checklist. What’s first on the list?”

“Um… number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres.”

Sweet Apple Acres. It had probably been the same since Ponyville was founded. Most of it, anyway. The barn ended up being replaced every year or two. It was bad enough that Applejack had made me cast spells to see if there was some kind of ancient Deer burial ground under it, or a gypsy curse, or gremlins. I hadn’t found any curses, but I had found termites. Which had led to the barn being torn down and rebuilt. Again.

“Hey there sugarcube!” Applejack yelled, waving her hoof as we approached the farm. There was a lot of activity, and from all the ponies I could see, it looked like she’d brought in the whole family to help with festival preparations.

“Hey Applejack!” I yelled back, smiling. We hugged as we met, Twilight trailing behind us.

Twilight coughed. “Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle and-”

“Well howdy-doo, Miss Twilight!” She grabbed Twilight’s hoof and shook it. “A pleasure makin’ your acquaintance! I’m Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like making new friends, and any friend of Sunset is a friend of ours!”

“So you two… know each other?” Twilight frowned.

“Shucks, Sunset is practically a member of the family with how much she comes out here so much.” She wrapped her hoof around my shoulders. “So, what can I do you for?”

“Costs more than Cadance, unsurprisingly,” I muttered. Spike snickered at that.

“N-no,” Twilight sputtered. “I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. According to the agenda, you’re in charge of the food?”

“Sure as sugar! Care to sample some?”

Twilight didn’t look sure, so I coughed. “Trust me, they’re the best cooks in the town.”

“Well I suppose-” Twilight started. Applejack pulled her away and started introducing her around. Spike sighed and sat next to me.

“Why don’t you go get something to eat?” I asked. “The fritters are really good, and I know a certain somedragon who loves fried food.” I grabbed one off of a tray with my telekinesis and levitated it over to him.

“Thanks, Sunset.” He bit into it, making happy sounds. “This is really good!”

“That’s what I said,” I snorted. “She hasn’t forgotten to feed you again or anything, has she?”

“Are you kidding?” Spike rolled his eyes. “These days I have to make sure she eats. She gets so obsessed with research that she’ll forget to eat anything for two days in a row!”

“That does sound like her,” I sighed.

“Hey, y’all wanna stay for brunch?” Applejack asked, shouting over to me.

“Sure!” I said, before Twilight could say no. No sane pony refused a free meal.

“Food’s all taken care of,” Spike noted, checking the box off on the checklist. “Next is weather.”

“I think I’m going to explode!” Twilight groaned. “I ate too much pie…”

“Most of it ended up on your face,” I laughed. “I thought you learned table manners from the Princess.”

“I have excellent table manners!” Twilight protested. “In Gryphonia, it’s considered the height of manners to eat quickly and messily, because it shows your appreciation to the cook.”

“Unfortunately we’re not in Gryphonia,” I said. "This is Equestria, where unicorns invented silverware just so they wouldn't have to pick up their food directly with magic."

“The local weather manager is named… Rainbow Dash,” Spike said, reading off the list.

“Yeah, she just got promoted a few weeks ago,” I said. “The old manager was slacking off and almost got a lot of ponies hurt. Dash managed to save the day, as she’ll no doubt mention repeatedly since you haven’t heard the ‘awesome story’ yet.”

“Well she isn’t doing a very good job,” Twilight said, gesturing up at the sky. It was still dotted with clouds from the rainshower the day before.

“She’s probably taking a nap somewhere,” I sighed. “Most of the weather team has the day off for the Celebration.” I stepped away to look at the nearby clouds for a burst of color, and narrowly avoided a rainbow-colored streak. Twilight wasn’t so lucky, tumbling head over hooves into a grimy puddle.

“Gah!” She shouted, sputtering. I had to laugh at the sight. She was covered head to hoof in a coat of mud.

“My bad,” Rainbow Dash said, picking herself out of the puddle and shaking off the water like a dog. “I was aiming for Sunset. I owe her for the prank she pulled on me with the exploding hoops.”

“It wasn’t supposed to explode, Dash. I told you before that you were too close to the edge, and the fire spell was picking up some kind of charge from your flight magic.” I still hadn’t figured out just how. Either I’d done something wrong, or Dash was putting out enough magic to set records.

The hoops had been pranked, of course. They were just supposed to turn her feathers white and make her voice sound like a chicken, not blow up. I’d get it right next time.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dash snorted. “I’ll be right back.”

She was off in a flash. Twilight turned to me and glared.

“Are you sure she’s the manager and not just the local troublemaker?”

"I'm the local troublemaker," I said. "Comes with being a witch."

“Hold still!” said a voice from above. Rainbow Dash was looking down at us from a mostly-used raincloud. She hopped up and down on it, and a torrent of water poured out as she released the cloud’s payload all at once, drenching Twilight.

“...That’s better than mud, I suppose,” Twilight sighed.

“No, wait, I can totally fix that,” Dash said. She zoomed down and circled Twilight quickly enough to form a miniature tornado, drawing the water away and leaving Twilight dry.

“Um…” I looked up at her mane. “Nah, never mind.” She looked like a giant hairball. I doubted she cared.

“Not bad, right?” Rainbow Dash looked at me for approval.

“Let me guess, you’re Rainbow Dash,” Twilight sighed.

“The one and only. Let me guess, Sunset told you all about me.”

“What I heard is that you’re supposed to be in charge of the weather,” Twilight said, rubbing at her temples. Even I could see she was starting to get a migraine. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dash waved off her concern. “I’ll take care of it.”

“There’s no time to take care of it!” Twilight yelled. “This needs to get done today!”

“No time?” Dash grinned. “I’ll show you ‘no time at all’!”

She took off, smashing through the scattered clouds. I watched her trail bounce from nimbus to cirrus and back again, turning them into vapor (well, into more scattered vapor than a normal cloud) with the slightest touch. She was back before you could say ‘Wonderbolts’ ten times fast. Which I was halfway sure she did while she was flying just to get herself pumped up.

The last cloud exploded, and she glided back to us with a smirk on her face.

“There!” She said, panting. “Totally clear! What was my time, Sunset?”

“Ten and a half,” I said. Dash’s expression fell. “I’m kidding. Nine point eight. And you’d cut more off if you didn’t do the loop-the-loops.”

“I gotta do the loop-the-loop,” Dash said. “It’s about style and speed. We’ll hang later!” She waved and took off again.

“She’s amazing!” Spike said.

“She’s lazy,” Twilight sighed.

“She’s working with a handicap,” I said. Twilight and Spike turned to me, so I continued with my explanation. “If she’d gone into the Guard or ROTC, she’d probably be a Wonderbolt already. She dropped out of school to come here instead.”

“Dropped out of school?!” Twilight’s expression was a mask of abject horror.

“Dash wanted to stick close to her best friend. Fluttershy nearly died in an accident and… Dash sort of blamed herself for not being there. She told me once that to her, really being a good pony and a friend means just being there, every day, no matter what.”

“That’s still no reason to drop out of school,” Twilight said. “I mean, how could anypony respect somepony-”

“I dropped out, as you’ll remember. Literally. Into a river canyon.”

“But that's… different,” Twilight mumbled, blushing.

“I’m gonna have a quick word with Dash about something. I’ll catch up to you two.” I smiled. Twilight nodded and trotted off, looking down and muttering something.

I caught up to Dash near the town square. She was grabbing a hayburger and fries, like she always did after she showed off.

“Hey Sunset!” Dash yelled, waving as she spotted me. I frowned and walked faster.

“Dash, I’m trying to keep a low profile. You know that.” I glared at her. “That doesn’t mean you should shout my name across the town, especially if Celestia has secret agents looking for me!”

“Yeah… I still think you’re, like, super paranoid about that.” Dash rolled her eyes. “Speaking of strange ponies, your marefriend is kind of a jerk.”

“Twilight’s not a jerk,” I said. “And she’s not my marefriend.”

“So that’s your order of priorities, huh?” Dash laughed.

“Look, Dash, I need you to do me a favor,” I said. “You’ve got storm clouds in for a big thunderhead to clear up all the loose weather magic, right?”

“It’s scheduled for next week,” Dash said, shrugging. “But yeah. Cloud Kicker and Thunderlane wrangled them into the storage area yesterday. Then spent the rest of the day wrangling each other~”

“Dash, I super don’t want to hear about that,” I cut her off. “You know that favor you owe me?”

“What favor?” Dash frowned.

“The one where I pretended to be your supervisor and said you’d gotten shocked by a faulty supercell so you didn’t have to explain why you had electrical burns, you know-”

“Shut up!” Dash hissed. “Ponies are looking! Yes! Fine! Favor!”

“Great,” I smiled. “Now let’s talk about those rain clouds…”

I heard a scream, coming from inside Town Hall. A scream of terror and woe, what some scholars might refer to as the sound of ultimate fabulousness. I’d heard it a lot over the last few years, and walked into the building, not terribly worried.

Rarity was recoiling in abject horror. “Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?!” She pointed to Twilight’s mane. Twilight glanced up at the ruined style and shrugged. She cared about her mane the same way I did - as long as it stayed out of my eyes I could usually care less.

“My mane? That’s kind of a long story. If you could just sign off on a few things, I can get out of your hair.”

“Out of my hair? What about your hair? No, I simply must fix this. It’s even worse than when Sunset Shimmer showed up on my opening day with a mane that had several small animals living in it.” Rarity paused. “Is this a common problem for witches?”

“I’m not a witch,” Twilight protested. “The Princess sent me from Canterlot-”

“From Canterlot?!” Rarity gasped. “Oh we’ll have so much to talk about!” She pushed Twilight, dragging her away towards what I could only assume would be a fabulous new manestyle.

Twilight looked back at me, reaching out for help. I shook my head. There was nothing I could do. I sat down as Rarity dragged her away, and looked around at the town hall. Banners and decorations were everywhere, and Rarity had cleared the place of other ponies so she could work.

I grinned. I didn’t really believe Twilight and her story about Nightmare Moon, but I was pretty sure Celestia was going to be around. I knew I couldn’t match her power, but I knew exactly where she’d be standing, and I had at least a few hours while Rarity molested Twilight’s scalp.

I rubbed my hooves together and got to work.

I’d snuck a look at Twilight’s list, so I had a pretty good idea of where she’d be. Fluttershy was the last name on it, and with any luck, they’d be quiet and introverted at each other enough that Twilight would be in a better mood by the time she got back to the library, if she was even able to find Fluttershy in the first place.

I was wrong. Oh, how I was wrong.

“...and that's the story of my whole entire life! Well, up until today. Do you wanna hear about today?” Spike smiled. He hadn’t stopped talking. Fluttershy trotted along behind Twilight, enraptured by the baby dragon. I wasn’t all that surprised. She loved meeting new animals, and she’d always liked the more exotic ones like dragons or chimaerae.

“Oh yes, please!” Fluttershy said, happily.

Twilight glanced up at the library. “Sunset! There you are!” She spotted me and gave me an exhausted and somewhat manic smile. “Well, this is where I’m staying and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep.” She shoved Spike towards the door hard enough that he stumbled. “He’s so tired he can barely stay on his feet. Sunset, how about you help me get him into a nice, quiet, bed where we can do research and stop the world from ending!”

“I don’t know if beds really help with stopping the end of the w-” Fluttershy started. Twilight shot her a look that made her meep, then walked inside.

“Sorry about that, Fluttershy,” I said. “She’s just kind of on edge. Twilight doesn’t deal with pressure well, and… well, you know what that’s like.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I hope she feels better before the celebration.”

“I’m sure she will,” I said, breaking out into a smile. “Just don’t expect me to be there after Celestia shows up.”

“I understand,” Fluttershy smiled. “I’m sure if you ask nicely, Pinkie Pie will save some cake and punch for you.”

“Come to think of it,” I said, looking around. “I haven’t seen her all day. And I’ve been with a pony she hasn’t met before. I guess preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration must be taking up all of her attention.”

“SURPRISE!”

“Never mind,” I sighed. “I think I have a pretty good idea of where Pinkie went.”

“Should we…?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Might as well. Maybe I can keep her from using a Concussive Blast spell to throw everypony into the Badlands.”

It turned out I didn’t really have to worry about that at all. Twilight escaped the party all on her own, retreating up into one of the offices. She wasn’t terribly polite about it, either. We really were a lot alike.

“Do you think she doesn’t like this music?” Pinkie asked, worried. “I can put on something else! Maybe some polka?”

“She’s just not feeling that good,” I said, putting a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. Of the ponies I’d gotten to know in Ponyville, she was the one I understood the least in some ways. But I did understand how hard she worked to get things just right. “It’s a great party, Pinkie. She’s just… you know how Fluttershy is with new ponies?”

Pinkie Pie nodded in understanding. “I get it. We just have to be patient, right?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “She’s overwhelmed and worried. I know a party is how you like to unwind, but she just needs to be alone for a bit.”

“But…” Pinkie bit her lip.

“How about I bring her a cupcake? Nopony alive can resist anything you bake.”

Pinkie brightened up at that and gave me a cupcake with purple icing. “This one should be perfect!”

“It’s even the color of her coat,” I laughed. “I’m sure she’ll feel a little better after she eats, too.” I walked upstairs and knocked on the office door. It opened almost instantly with Twilight’s pink magical glow, and slammed behind me after I entered.

“No offense, Sunset, but your friends are all crazy.”

“They’d have to be,” I snorted. “No sane pony would be friends with a witch, right, best friend, and thus most crazy pony?”

“Well that’s- that’s different!” Twilight grumped. “Do you know what time it is?! They should stop partying and go to bed so I can read!”

“It’s the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration,” I said. “They’re all staying up so they can watch the Princess raise the sun. Here,” I offered her the cupcake. “Eat this. You’re getting grumpy.”

“Yes, mom,” she huffed, taking the cupcake and biting into it. Her ears perked up after the first taste and she shoved the rest into her mouth so quickly I was worried she’d choke. “Oh wow, that’s really good…”

“Of course it’s good. Pinkie Pie made it. She’s better than the Cakes at baking, when she isn’t trying some bizarre new flavor experiment, and they’ve got baking cutie marks. Goes to show that hard work sometimes trumps cutie mark talents.”

“And where were you all day?” Twilight frowned. “I thought you were going to help me! If we’d split up and each taken half of the list, we could have been here hours ago and already finished our research!”

“I had a few things that I needed to get ready, and it took a while.” I just hoped nopony looked too closely at the decor in the town hall. They probably wouldn’t set anything off, but I wouldn’t want to get caught in what I’d prepared. “Look, Twilight, let’s be logical about this,” I said, climbing up to sit next to her as she looked out the window at the moon. “You’re assuming a lot of things.”

“It’s the thousandth year, Sunset!” She grabbed a book from her saddlebags. “Listen: ‘Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.’ That seems pretty cut and dry to me!”

“First, the book only says it’s a legend,” I pointed out. “Second, all the old prophecies say a thousand years. If they were all true, do you know how many disasters would hit all at once?”

“Around fifty,” Twilight muttered.

“Exactly. Both of us know back in those days, it was fashionable to say a thousand years when they just meant forever, or a really long time.” I shrugged. “And even if it was right, the calendar itself might be wrong. The griffons adjust their dates every four years because of some crazy wind calendar they use.”

“That might be true,” Twilight admitted.

“Who would be the one pony who would know best if it was true, and if a thousand years had really passed?” I asked.

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, deflating. “Who told me to stop worrying and to make some friends.”

“Exactly,” I said, putting a hoof around her. She nuzzled up to my chest, starting to calm down. “You just got carried away a little. I don’t think some evil Princess of Darkness is going to show up and declare eternal night.”

“But what if it does happen?” Twilight asked. “We haven’t even had time to research the Elements…” She groaned and leaned into me, her flank pressing against mine. She was quite a hugger. “I just… she never ignored me like this, Sunset.”

There was the real issue.

“You want to know what I think?” I asked. Twilight looked up at me. “I think she does have something planned. Think about it. She decided to hold the Celebration here, and who does she have do the planning? All of my friends.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You think she knows you’re here!”

I nodded. “Ever since I saw that list of yours, it’s what I’ve suspected. It makes sense, doesn’t it? She’d probably spent years researching it. She might even have sent you that book just to make sure you were too distracted to think about what she might be doing herself.”

“...That would make sense,” Twilight admitted. “And if she’s inviting all of your friends… she’s probably trying to show me that making friends isn’t a bad thing.”

“Exactly!” I smiled. “Of course, both of us saw right through it once we put our heads together. I bet she didn’t tell you because she wanted to keep it a surprise from me.”

“I feel so stupid!” Twilight groaned.

“Don’t. We actually figured out her plan before she could spring her trap.” I nuzzled her, laughing a little. “There are very, very few ponies who can say that.”

“I guess,” Twilight sighed. “So what do we do?”

“We don’t have time for a real plan, but knowing there’s a trap means you aren’t going to get caught so easily.” I smiled. “I’ll find somewhere to hide until she leaves. I know a few illusion and counter-scrying spells that I’ve been wanting to try out anyway.”

“Wait!” Twilight said. “I don’t… if something does happen with the Mare in the Moon, I need you to be there!”

“Why?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Because I’m not going to trust Charity-”

“Rarity,” I corrected.

“-Rarity to help me banish some ancient evil! I doubt she even knows how to cast a fireball spell!”

I sighed. There was no way I was going to get out of this one. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll hang around, at least until the Princess shows up. If she’s really looking for me, actually being in the room with her might be the last thing she expects anyway.” Not that I’d be visible. I was still planning on hiding well enough that Cerberus himself wouldn’t be able to sniff me out. And I’d made arrangements just in case.

Twilight grinned and hugged me again. “Thanks, Sunset. I just… I don’t think I could deal with this alone.”

“Twilight, I’ll make a bet with you,” I said. “When no ancient evil shows up, you admit you were wrong, and you have to bring the newest edition of the Compendium Magika with you next time you visit. If one does show up, I’ll admit I was wrong and I’ll owe you any favor you want.” Not that it would matter, since if the Mare in the Moon did show up, it was basically the end of the world. Sort of a win-win situation since I’d never have to pay out. But only sort of, since the world would be ending.

“Deal,” Twilight giggled.

“Hey girls!” Spike yelled, opening the door. “It’s time to watch the sunrise!”

Power Failure

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I triple-checked my spells. I’d used a combination of several methods to try and avoid detection. First, I had an area-of-effect Background Pony spell running, which would divert attention away from me and everything around me. Eyes would just pass over me like I was the least interesting thing in the world. It did have the unfortunate side effect of making the crowd seem to repeat as eyes skipped over details and the back few rows nearest me were entirely lacking detail.

Second, I was invisible. I was going to have to stay fairly still for that to stay up, but I needed to avoid sudden motions to keep the Background Pony spell working anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.

Third, I was hiding. There was a nice shadowy corner behind a banner and I was using it. It might not seem like it, but it was actually a very important step to take. A lot of unicorns relied entirely on illusions to disguise themselves, and were only one dispel or true seeing effect from being exposed.

So ponies shouldn’t have noticed me, shouldn’t have been able to see me, and I was hiding well enough that a casual observer wouldn’t have discovered me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Pinkie Pie had found me in seconds.

“Hey Sunset, do you want another cup of punch?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Sure,” I sighed, taking the cup from Pinkie. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“You’d have more fun if you came out here with the rest of us,” Pinkie teased.

“I’m only sticking around until the Princess shows up,” I said. “After that, I’m going to make myself scarce.” Pinkie’s eyes widened and she gave me a sorrowful look. “If you can avoid blowing my cover, I’ll even tell you when my birthday is.”

“Really?!” Pinkie gasped. “Then we can have a real birthday party for you!”

Unlike the ones she threw once a month or so based on guesses about when my birthday might be. She'd nearly gotten it right at one point. I think she enjoyed it. It was the only time a party planner could be surprised herself at a party she threw, after all.

“Just make sure the Princess doesn’t notice me,” I said. Pinkie nodded quickly and skipped away. I could already tell she was planning things for my party, despite not knowing when it was. I'd have to prepare myself for cake and balloons soon.

Music started, and I glanced towards the stage. Mayor Mare walked out, the lights dimming as a spotlight was focused on her.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” The crowd cheered. Twilight was busy looking out the window, obviously worried. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!”

I took a deep breath, preparing my teleportation spell. If I was careful about it, I could teleport without a big, flashy display, and get away without anypony noticing. And if I waited for Celestia to start raising the sun, I’d have at least a minute or two as a head start, more than enough time to teleport a few times and cover my tracks.

“And now, it is my great honor to introduce you to the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…” I braced myself. “...Princess Celestia!”

Rarity pulled open the curtains, revealing…

Nothing.

I blinked. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On the one hoof, Celestia was missing. On the other hoof, I hadn’t been looking forward to seeing her anyway.

Mayor Mare bit her lip, smiling and wiping sweat from her brow. Rarity ran backstage, obviously looking for her. Maybe the Princess had just missed her cue. It would be amusing to see her stumble all over herself.

“Remain calm, everypony. There must be a reasonable explanation!”

Pinkie Pie hopped up. “Oh! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?”

Rarity ran back out onto the balcony. “She’s gone!”

Pinkie Pie nodded. “She’s good at hide-and-seek.”

A tornado of sparkling indigo magic erupted in the balcony. Twilight looked back towards where I was hiding, and I met her gaze. Part of me distantly realized that I had definitely lost that little wager of ours, and now I was kicking myself for not researching the Elements of Harmony like she’d wanted.

A dark shape took form as the mist cleared, an ebon counterpart to Celestia, with the same astounding size and radiant power, pressing against my magical senses like ocean waves washing over me. Where Celestia was warmth and light, this dark horse was cold and glared down at us with barely contained anger.

Maybe Celestia showing up wasn't the worst thing that could have happened today.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces.” She smiled with thin lips, the amusement not reaching her eyes, which looked more like a dragon’s eyes than a pony’s.

“What did you do with our Princess?!” Dash demanded, flying up before Applejack grabbed her tail and dragged her down.

The dark mare laughed. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?”

“Oh! Oh! More guessing games!” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air excitedly. “Um… Hokey Smokes! No? How about… Queen Meanie! No, wait! Black Snooty! Black Sno-” She was, thankfully, cut off by Applejack shoving some fruit into her mouth. I was going to have to thank her later for keeping my least-intelligent friends from getting atomized by an angry goddess.

“Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?” She asked, pacing around the room, changing shape and flitting from place to place like a ghost. “Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”

“I did,” Twilight said, stepping forwards with at least some of the bravado I’d tried to instill in her. “And I know who you are. You’re the Mare in the Moon - Nightmare Moon!”

I was really going to have to apologize to Twilight after this. I was making a bad habit of being wrong with really important things.

“Well, well, well…” Nightmare Moon hissed, smiling and showing fangs. “Somepony who remembers me! Then you also know why I’m here.”

“You’re here to… to…” Twilight lost her nerve, shaking and shivering.

“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last! From this moment forth, the night will-”

And that was when Twilight Sparkle shot Nightmare Moon in the face. The dark princess sputtered, taken completely by surprise. I’d taught her well, and the moment she was busy monologuing, Twilight had thrown a forcebolt at her.

I threw the banner I’d been hiding behind aside and followed up Twilight’s blast with one of my own, a beam of radiant heat that sliced through Nightmare Moon’s hair and played across her body with a hissing sound like water on a hot griddle.

“Twilight!” I yelled. “Cross the streams!”

“But crossing the streams is bad!” Twilight yelled, even as she tilted her horn. Her beam of force hit my red beam of fire, and the magical auras twisted and started to fuse, a ball of unstable mana forming.

“Bad is good!” I yelled, grinning madly. When two spells intersected like this, the results were typically pretty unpredictable except for one thing - there was always collateral damage. The windows shattered as a shockwave tore through the room, knocking ponies over as the wiser few bolted for the doors.

There was a flash of light, and Nightmare Moon stumbled back, stunned. Twilight stepped forwards, and I pushed her back with a hoof.

“Get out of here,” I said. “I got something ready in case Sunbutt showed up and tried something.”

“...Were you planning on assassinating Celestia?!” Twilight gasped.

“What?” I was taken aback by that. “No! No. I wouldn’t do that!” I was pretty sure it was impossible anyway. Besides, I didn’t hate her. I just had very complicated emotions that I had never addressed, and hopefully would never need to. “I just have an exit strategy.” I glanced around the building. “But it would be better if they weren’t in the blast radius.”

“Exit strategies don’t have a blast radius!” Twilight hissed. Her expression changed in an instant to deep worry. “Just… be careful.”

I nodded, and she ran off, escaping with the rest of the crowd, some pegasai fleeing through the broken windows as the rest poured out of the doors.

“Hoping to face your defeat and humiliation alone?” Nightmare Moon asked, calmly watching the ponies leave. “It’s what my sister did as well. She couldn’t face being bested by my power. She even sent her guards away and refused to fight me.”

“She probably thought she could reason with you,” I said, turning to look. “But I’m not as nice as she is.” I let my cloak flutter around me. “In case you hadn’t heard, I’m the strongest unicorn in Equestria, and I’m villain enough for this town. I’m going to send you back to the moon in pieces.”

“And how are you planning on doing that?” Nightmare Moon asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re somewhat amusing, I admit, but hardly a threat.”

“I didn’t believe Twilight when she said you were returning, but I was pretty sure Celestia was going to show up.” I smiled. “And with Rarity keeping everypony out and dragging Twilight away, I had hours to prep a few surprises here.”

“So what is it? A bucket of water to pour over my head? Are you going to throw a cake at me? Or are you just going to stall for time while your friends cower in fear?”

“I’m going to do this,” I said, and clapped my hooves twice. At the command, the lingering spells I’d put on all of the decorations snapped into focus. What had looked like slight discolorations or odd waves in the fabric weave tightened into letters and sigils.
Nightmare Moon’s eye was drawn to the nearest, and she started muttering as she read it aloud.

“I prepared explosive runes this mor-”

I teleported out as everything went white.

Town Hall was lit up like a bonfire, fireballs and crackling arcane energy reaching for the sky as the chained spells triggered each other. I’d mixed in explosive runes, snake sigils, symbols of fire, more explosive runes, and something I’d put together on the fly that would create blinding light and sound. One of those went off as I appeared next to Dash, light shining through the smoke like a camera flash.

“Woah!” Dash gasped. “Overkill much, Sunset?”

The entire upper half of the Town Hall was gone, reduced to ashes. There was no sign of the Mare in the Moon.

“Overkill?” I snorted. “This isn’t a game of kick-the-parasprite, Dash.” I nodded towards the flames. “Go and grab those storm clouds I had you stash, and let’s put the fire out before it spreads.”

“What was it you said?” Twilight asked, giving me a look. “Fight fire with fire, because you should fight everything with fire?”

“In this case I’d rather use rain, but it works, doesn’t it?” I shrugged.

“Occasionally,” said a voice from behind us. My hair stood on end as I spun around, only to see a swirl of sparkling mist condense into the shape of Nightmare Moon. “But not every time, I’m afraid.”

“Buck,” I said, succinctly summarizing the situation.

“You caught me off-guard with that,” Nightmare Moon admitted. “I hadn’t expected you would be practical enough to sacrifice the building to try and stop me. You’re a very dangerous pony, Sunset Shimmer.”

And she knew my name. I was bucked. More bucked than Applejack’s trees. More bucked than Cloud Kicker.

“Oh yes, I know all about your dreams, your aspirations, and your fears.” She hissed the last word. “You’ve made two critical mistakes, Sunset Shimmer. You stood against me, and you failed to strike me down when you had the chance.” Nightmare Moon paused, looking thoughtful. “Not that you had a chance to begin with, but you still wasted a prime opportunity.”

This was the time when I really needed to come up with some kind of clever quip, to really let her know that I was still on top of things.

“Well… Forgive me for underestimating you,” I said, flipping my mane with a hoof and trying to disguise my fear. “It seems like I’ll have to make an actual effort to get rid of you.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” Nightmare Moon asked. “After all, you fear Celestia even more than you fear me.”

“Maybe,” I said, looking at the other ponies. The ones who hadn’t fled, anyway. There was still a respectable crowd around us. Nothing brings ponies together like watching a building burn down. “But you know what? I’m pretty sure all these ponies want her back, and foiling your scheme seems like the perfect way to remind them that I’m the strongest unicorn in all of Equestria!”

I only had one real chance. My first strike had been a critical mistake, but I hadn’t missed. I’d totally underestimated her natural magical presence. Every creature had a certain amount of magic inherent in them, just from being alive, and the more powerful a creature’s magic was, the more easily it would resist spells. Nightmare Moon was surrounded with an aura of magic so powerful that my spells weren’t even reaching her, just quenched by her might like throwing a torch into a river.

Against something like that, I had to do something stupid and put enough mana into one spell to break through to her. My normal fireballs would never reach her, no matter how many of them I overlapped on her at once.

I was going to have to take Clover’s Compression to its theoretical limit and put so much mana into a spell that something was sure to explode. If I was really lucky, it wouldn’t be me.

I compressed every bit of free mana I had and threw it at Nightmare Moon. I didn’t hold anything back - I could feel my horn burn red-hot as the feedback started to overwhelm even my own protective enchantments. A bolt of white and gold plasma flew at her, and I saw her eyes widen with surprise just before it hit.

There was blinding light, and I heard Nightmare Moon scream.

“There! How do you like that?” I panted. “That’d be enough to… to…”

“To burn my mane,” Nightmare Moon hissed. As my eyes cleared from the flare, I could see that she was seething with anger, and that I’d managed to shorten her mane considerably. It was way less damage than I’d expected to do. I had a sinking feeling that maybe, just maybe, trying to fight something that could beat Celestia was out of my league.

“I think it might be time for my other secret technique,” I said. I looked at the others and smiled weakly before turning and running. I made it almost across the street before Nightmare Moon grabbed me with the ragged remnants of her mane, lifting me off of the ground and dragging me back towards her. I didn’t even have enough magic left to pretend to put up a resistance.

“Well I think I’m going to make an example out of you,” Nightmare Moon growled. I felt something like ice crawl up my horn, a terrible cold numbness. It was like having a magic restraining ring on, but dirty and awful feeling. I tried to look up towards it.

She grabbed my head and forced me to look into her eyes. “I know just the place to put you,” Nightmare Moon said. The ground dropped out from under me. Even with my horn feeling deadened, I could tell that she’d opened a portal.

I met Twilight’s eyes as I sank into the black pit below me, like falling into a pool of tar. I’d never seen fear like that on a pony’s face. I think she was even more afraid than I was. I tried to reach out to her, but the shadows overtook me before I could do more than raise my hoof.

I groaned as I woke up with the biggest headache I’d had in years. This was good news. I wasn’t dead yet, and I swore a promise to Harmony itself that I was never going to complain about a hangover again if it meant I’d get out of this mess alive.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a cell. Wonderful. There was barely any light, and I could only just see my hooves in front of my face.

I reached up and touched my horn. It was still there. With the cold and the feeling of wrongness, I’d been afraid Nightmare Moon had simply torn if off. It still being there was good. The crystals growing out of it, however, were distinctly bad.

There was only one way to find out how bad it was. I took a deep breath. I’d start with a simple light spell. If it worked, I’d know I could still do magic, and I’d be able to see my cell.

“Casting spells will only make it worse,” warned a voice said from the shadows behind me. I froze up at the familiar, calm tones.

“Celestia?” I whispered, almost paralyzed with fear. No wonder Nightmare Moon had thrown here here. If she really knew my fears, she’d hit the big one. The one that had dominated my whole life for a decade.

A mote of golden light appeared, and there she was, reclining in the darkness with apparent calm and ease, despite the black crystals growing from her horn and the cell we were both trapped in.

“This isn’t- I didn’t-” I backed away from her as she stood up to her full, imposing height, looming over me, big enough that her horn almost scraped the roof of our shared cell. I didn’t get far before she was on me, and I closed my eyes in terror, not wanting to see.

“Oh Sunset, I’m so sorry…” Celestia sighed, as she held me. Warm wings wrapped around me, and I felt her chin rest on the top of my head, the Princess nuzzling into my mane. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

This was the moment I’d been dreading for years. The time when all of my sins were going to come back to haunt me. Part of me had been preparing for this for as long as I could remember. There were a million things I wanted to say. Thousands of conversations I’d had with myself in the dark. Hundreds of justifications for what I’d done.

All of it shattered along with my composure.

“I-I’m s-s-sorrryyy…” I sobbed, bawling my eyes out and hiding my face in my hooves. Celestia held me tighter to her chest and rocked me like a foal.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Celestia said. “I’m proud of you. You’ve become the type of mare I always wanted you to be.”

“I-I didn’t listen to you, a-and I was an awful student, and I-I ran away and hid instead of admitting that I’d done anything wrong!” I sniffled.

“You’ve grown up a lot since then,” Celestia said, almost whispering. “The hardest thing was not being there with you to see it, but you needed to find your own path, and I am very, very proud of you for doing just that.”

I sniffled and rubbed my nose so it wouldn’t smear all over my former teacher’s coat.

“I… I missed you a lot, too,” I admitted. It was a difficult thing to say. “But I couldn’t face you after I failed you…”

“When a pony doesn’t learn, it’s the teacher’s fault just as much as the student’s,” Celestia said. “I wasn’t able to help you understand why having friends was so important, and the way you were treating other ponies, you were turning out just like…”

“Like Luna?” I guessed. “Or Nightmare Moon, I guess, now.” I’d learned a lot about her from the books in the castle, though not about what they’d actually fought about. The castle had been abandoned before those books had been written, I suppose.

“No,” Celestia shook her head. “Luna valued friendship and love far more than I did. She was close to her subjects. You were turning out the way I used to be. Self-centered, arrogant, paranoid, and caring more about numbers and statistics than ponies. I had to lose the most important pony in my life before I realized how far I’d fallen, and then spend almost a thousand years alone, trying to make up for my mistakes.”

“B-but…” I couldn’t imagine Celestia like that.

“I’m glad you were able to make friends, Sunset. I didn’t want you to end up as lonely as I was.” Her voice caught, just a little. Other ponies might have missed it. Only a hoofful had spent enough time with her to tell how she felt when she was trying to hide it.

“We should focus on how to get out of here,” I said, trying to pull away. I wasn’t sure I could handle her getting emotional. I wasn’t sure I could handle her at all.

“Escape is close to impossible,” Celestia sighed, taking a deep breath and putting her calm mask back on securely. “Unfortunately, this prison was built to contain an alicorn.” The mote of light she’d created brightened, and I could see we were in a spherical chamber, roughly hewn out of some dark stone.

“I’m not even sure where we are,” I muttered. “I’ve never seen stone like this.”

“We’re on the dark side of the moon,” Celestia said. It took me a few moments to process that.

“T-the-” That was bad. So bad I was finding it difficult to articulate the sheer badness of it. Even if I had all of my magic, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back on my own. “We’re doomed!”

Celestia laughed lightly. “We’re not doomed.”

“We’re stuck in a prison on the dark side of the moon, our magic is almost entirely sealed away, and your evil, all-powerful sister is trying to destroy the world. In what way are we not doomed?!”

“Don’t you trust that your friends will find a way to save you?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“With what? The Elements of Harmony? Nopony even knows where they are! ...Except you.” I hesitated. “But that doesn’t help Twilight either. It’s not like she can pop up here and ask.”

“Well, I left them somewhere out of the way,” Celestia coughed. “You might have seen them before.”

“What?” Now I was confused. She leaned down and whispered into my ear, as if afraid others would overhear. “MY FOYER?!”

“Technically my foyer, though property law might disagree since you’ve been living there for so long.” Celestia laughed gently.

“And you just left them there?! What if she went and smashed them?” I huffed and lowered my head to rest it on the floor. “You need to stop leaving ancient artifacts lying around where anypony could stumble across them.”

“It does get to be a bad habit,” Celestia admitted. “But the Elements are special. They can’t be so easily destroyed or misused. I’ve had a thousand years of experience with them that she lacks, and I learned just enough to know to trust them.”

“I guess,” I groaned. Celestia pulled me into another hug, squeezing me like I was a soft toy instead of a full-grown mare.

“You know, I was convinced you were dead for the longest time,” Celestia said. “And then I saw your journal buzzing, and I almost dropped the sun right into the ocean, which would have been quite embarrassing.”

“Have you ever…?” I trailed off.

“Once. It was after Luna left, and I was a little… tipsy. I’d been drinking with Emperor Zephyranthes to try and forget, and I dropped it into a valley. It took two days to find it again and two more to dig it out of the rock that it had melted into. It was the final straw in ending the solar cycle for measuring the day, and when clocks started to become more popular than sundials.”

“You’re kidding,” I snorted. “There’s no way that happened.”

“It’s true!” Celestia said. “Ever since then, I’ve hired maids who were sworn to make sure I woke up on time. The first century was the most difficult. I’d been raising and setting the sun whenever I wanted, and to suddenly be expected to follow a schedule, well, I didn’t like it very much at all.”

“You made me get up at five in the morning every day!”

“If I have to get up early to raise the sun, so does everypony else,” Celestia huffed. I couldn’t help but start laughing again. For just a little while, it was like all those years hadn’t happened.

The air was starting to get stuffy. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been trapped. A few hours, maybe? It couldn’t have been more than half a day. My head was pounding, and it was getting hard to concentrate. Celestia just held me, and I wasn’t sure if she was even breathing. Did an alicorn need to breathe? Nightmare Moon had been banished here for a thousand years, and she was obviously still alive.

Then again, Nightmare Moon had presumably had her magic. If I had access to my magic, running out of air wouldn’t have been an issue. I could have created air - a pyromancer had to make sure her flames could burn, after all, and I’d only made the mistake of using fire magic in an enclosed room once.

I started coughing, choking on the stale air. Celestia rubbed my back until the fit passed.

“P-princess…” I gasped.

“Shh.” She put a hoof on my snout, silencing me. “Don’t speak. Save your strength.”

“N-no,” I said, trying to focus through the pain and haze. “I n-need to say this, in case I don’t get out of here.”

“We’ll be fine,” Celestia said, holding me tighter.

“I’m prolly gonna pass out soon, and then…” I shivered. “I just… I love you, a-and I wish you were my real mom.” I sniffled and wiped my eyes. “I’m sorry I messed things up a-and that I didn’t listen to you! If I’d tried making friends with Cadance a-and other ponies like you told me, none of this would have happened!”

“You’re right. None of it would have happened,” Celestia said, running a hoof through my mane and trying to calm me down. “But you’re not just the product of your successes, Sunset. The mistakes we make turn us into better ponies, as long as we learn from them. If you hadn’t left Canterlot, you might not have ever met your friends.”

“But I messed things up with you…”

“And as soon as we’re back, we can start fixing that.”

“In another hour-”

“No worrying about that,” Celestia said, firmly. “You’re going to be fine, Sunset. Harmony wouldn’t bring us together like this just to play a cruel trick.”

I bit back a response to that and curled up, trying to relax. I knew if I went to sleep, I’d use less air and, well, maybe I’d just fade away instead of struggling. It would be easier on both of us. It wouldn’t be so bad, and at least in the end I’d made peace with the problems I’d caused.

That was when the bright, shining light almost blinded me, and I felt the cold crawling sensation along my horn fizzle out with a static pop.

There should have been some kind of fanfare or warning. Instead I found myself falling face first into a stone floor. It looked familiar, though my vision was still blurry and everything was painfully bright. Then I got to see it up close. Thankfully I hadn’t fallen far, and my pride was wounded worse than my nose.

“Ow,” I mumbled, rubbing at my snout.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia sighed with relief. “I knew you could do it.”

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. We were in the old court room, in one of the more ruined parts of the castle.

“At least I got a free ride home,” I muttered.

“Sunset! Princess Celestia!” I turned and had no time at all to prepare myself before Twilight threw her hooves around me and tackled me in a hug. “You’re okay!” Behind her were five other ponies, kneeling to the Princess. I was shocked to see all of my friends there. Even Fluttershy, who I never thought would go into the Everfree.

“Of course I am,” I said, my voice cracking. “It takes more than an evil goddess to take me down for good.” I decided not to tell her how close it had been.

“Both of you told me it was only an old ponytale,” Twilight frowned.

“I’m willing to admit I was wrong,” I shrugged. “About a lot of things.”

“Twilight, I didn’t say you were wrong,” Celestia smirked. “I just said you needed to make some friends. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, and I knew you had the magic inside you to make the Elements of Harmony whole again. However, you would never be able to unleash it unless you let the magic of friendship into your heart.”

Twilight looked back to our friends. I must have been more out of it than I thought, because I only just noticed then that she had a tiara, and that the others all had rather elaborate necklaces.

“I don’t remember those hanging around the castle,” I said, raising an eyebrow and looking at my old teacher.

“The Elements have taken on a new form, now that their magic has been rekindled,” Celestia explained. “I’m sure Twilight will want to do quite a bit of research on the significance of that, and on the magic of friendship.” She looked towards the throne, where the dust of some massive magical blast was still clearing. “And there’s another pony here who needs a hoof of friendship extended to her more than anypony.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t mean me.

“Princess Luna,” Celestia said, flapping her wings to clear away the sparkling dust. “It’s time we put our differences aside.”

Among shattered bits of armor and fading embers of magical debris, a pony cowered from Celestia. She didn’t look like the strong equal that the tapestries and books depicted. Luna seemed like little more than a terrified foal.

A terrified, powerful, immortal foal, mind you. But still a foal.

“We were meant to rule together,” Celestia said, stepping towards her.

"Wait!" I yelled. "That's one of the places I-"

Celestia's hoof came down, and a circle of runes lit up. Her eyes went wide. I wish I had a picture of her expression at that moment, her defenses totally down as she stepped into a trap she hadn't expected. I'd never once surprised her like that as her student.

"GET TO COVER!" I screamed, diving behind an overturned table. Twilight put up a magical shield, something she was better at than I was. Of course, I was a lot better with explosive spells. We were about to see just which talent was stronger.

The runes exploded under Celestia, and the roof caved in above her. A wave of fire and broken rock slammed into the table I was hiding behind, the ancient wood shattering. I did the only thing I could think of, and threw a fireball down at my own hooves, blasting debris away from me. I wasn't kidding when I said that you had to fight fire with fire sometimes.

"What I was saying was, that was one of the places I trapped in case you came looking for me," I coughed, rubbing with a hoof to try and clear the dust and ash from my face. Sunlight poured into the room through the broken walls and roof, the explosion having reduced a significant part of this wing to rubble. "So much for my castle..."

"I'm okay!" Twilight yelled, as she pushed rubble away. Celestia pulled herself out of the rubble from where she'd thrown herself on top of Nightmare Moon. Or Princess Luna. Whatever she was, now. Celestia was scorched and disheveled.

"Well," Celestia said, adjusting her crown. I'd managed to actually dent it. "I think perhaps we should continue this somewhere else? Perhaps in town? I remember a festival being prepared before these rather interesting events."

"Assumin' Sunset didn't blow all of it up along with Town Hall," Applejack muttered. Dash snickered behind her, patting her on the back.

"Maybe a little too honest, AJ," Dash said.

"I bet I know somepony who can put a party together with what ponies will donate and what we can salvage," Rarity said, smiling at Pinkie.

Pinkie gasped. "Is it me?!" Rarity nodded. Pinkie bounced up, grinning. "I'm gonna make it the best party ever!"

Epilogue: You Can Go Home Again

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The next few hours were a blur, largely because I was still recovering from oxygen deprivation, magical exhaustion, and being locked in a small room with Celestia. Still, I found a way to enjoy the celebrations, despite my home being largely reduced to rubble. I'd have to see how much damage the ancient castle had sustained later. I hadn't wanted to go and look with Celestia there. I was embarrassed about it. I didn't want her to see me salvaging my things from the rubble.

“So then I threw a book at her, and got kicked right out of the castle,” I said, grinning. The foals sitting in front of me gasped. I only recognized two of them. Rarity and Applejack’s sisters were among the group, and I could have sworn I’d told Apple Bloom this story already.

“Were you a Princess like Celestia?” asked a pink foal with a purple and white mane.

“Nah, I was just her student, like Twilight is now...” I glanced past the crowd. I could see Celestia from here, despite all the ponies between us. Her size made her rather hard to miss.

“Why aren’t ya with Applejack an’ the others?” Apple Bloom asked. I looked back at the foals and smiled at her.

“They’re the ones who saved the day, not me. I was just an innocent bystander. If they hadn’t figured things out, it wouldn’t have ended well for me.” I coughed, and continued in a near whisper. "And I might feel a little guilty about almost killing them."

“Nay, Sunset Shimmer. 'Tis no need to be so modest.” The voice was fragile, raspy, and unfamiliar. The foals looked past me in surprise, and I turned to see Princess Luna. Apparently she’d slipped away from the crowd. I couldn’t blame her. They were all cheering for the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and that couldn’t have been comfortable to be around.

“Princess Luna,” I bowed slightly.

“Don’t,” Luna said. “We do not deserve such supplication from thee. In truth, We came hither to speak with the mare whom is apparently Our niece.” She looked... nervous. She wouldn't meet my eyes as she spoke.

“I’m not-” I sighed. “You must have gotten the wrong impression. I’m just a former student. And not a very good one.”

“Tis not the impression We got from Our sister, whom spoke most fondly of thee.” Luna sat next to me, face turned away. “We wish'd for thee to ken that We were most impress'd with thy spellcraft. We did not expect alicorn-level magic from a unicorn, and thou came closer to defeating us than thou realizes.”

“When I ruined your hair?” I joked.

“Aye.” Luna touched her limp, sky-blue mane, the edges crispy from where I'd burned it. “‘T’will take some time to recover, more e’en than We will. Sooth, Our sister did not put up half as much resistance. We retreated from this town licking Our wounds, though We dared not show how much thou had done.” Luna coughed demurely, covering her mouth with a hoof with what I recognized as disguised trepidation. “We also wish to apologize for trapping thee on the moon.”

“It was interesting, at least,” I smiled. “I guess it was supposed to be some kind of ironic punishment for Celestia?”

“Exactly so,” Luna muttered.

“Ah, Luna, I see you and my daughter are getting along.” I jumped a little at the voice. Celestia had come over while I wasn’t paying attention. She still intimidated me - being scared of her was a difficult habit to break. I was at least going to pretend I wasn’t afraid, though.

“Princess, I’m not…” I shrugged. She knew what I meant. "It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

“When I said we were going to fix things, I meant it,” Celestia said. “Once the celebration here is over, I’ll be taking Luna back to Canterlot. I want you to come with me. You’ve spent a long time running, Sunset. I just got my sister back, and I’d like you to be there too. It's partly my fault that your home was destroyed, and the least I can do is welcome you back to where you belong.”

I hesitated. “I… I hurt a lot of ponies in Canterlot. I didn’t even think about it at the time, but I never treated any of the castle servants like they were real ponies, and the other students at the school…” I trailed off.

“A lot of those students are still around, either with their families or continuing their studies,” Celestia acknowledged. “You’d have to apologize to quite a few ponies. But they’re owed apologies no matter where you decide to live.”

“Sunset!” Twilight yelled, running up to where we were talking. “Princess Celestia’s going to let me stay here in Ponyville! I know it’s not really that much closer than Canterlot, a-and you don’t live in town, but, um…” She trailed off, digging at the ground with a hoof. "I've been thinking about that favor you owe me."

"I guess you were right about the ancient prophesy thing..." I admitted.

"I want you to go with Celestia," Twilight said. "Part of me wants to be greedy and ask you to stay here with me, but then I remembered something."

"What? Some other prophesy thing?"

"No," Twilight said, narrowing her eyes. "I remembered that you dropped out of school! I'm not going to let my best friend ruin her life because she didn't get a proper formal education! I'm calling in my favor, and I want you to go back to Canterlot and stay with Celestia and finish learning from her." She blushed and looked at the Princess. "I-if that's okay with her."

"Of course it is," Celestia laughed.

“You got me there. Applejack would kill me if I welshed on a promise. Guess that means I’m going to have to visit you for a change,” I said, standing up. “Think you can take care of the town while I’m gone? They’re gonna need a pretty powerful unicorn to hold the place down.” I looked around the streets and mumbled. “It seems like there’s a new disaster every week around here.”

Twilight smiled. "I know I can. And I want you to take care of Princess Celestia."

"Aye, she nearly 'took care' of Our sister quite permanently," Luna said, quietly. "Perhaps 'tis best to keep her close at hoof, as long as she can avoid turning Canterlot into rubble as well."

“I might have gotten a little paranoid over the years,” I admitted. “But you need to learn from our friends, and I need to…” I took a deep breath. “I need to stop being a scary monster in the woods and actually get on with my life. It’s been on hold now for a long time because I was too afraid to face what I’d done.” I limped a little as I walked over to Twilight to hug her. “It took a lot of ponies to drag me back into the world. Especially you, Twilight.”

“It won’t be the same without you,” Twilight whispered.

“Are you kidding?” I snorted. “Twilight, I’m going to be a few hours away by train, and we won’t have to try and go behind Celestia’s back to see each other. Do you know how much easier it’s going to be to hang out?”

“Twilight,” Celestia said gently. “True friendships can’t be broken by distance, time, or even the mistakes we made, as long as we don’t give up on them.” She leaned down to nuzzle Luna.

“You’re right, Princess,” Twilight smiled. “I guess I was just excited to finally be open about Sunset. I’ve been hiding it for so long and… I’m sorry I never told you.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Twilight,” Celestia said. “But, as part of your official studies on friendship, I think the crown can manage to pay some minor travel expenses. Say, a pass for the train to and from Canterlot?”

Twilight brightened up at that. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

“I wouldn’t want to keep my little one from seeing her friends either~” Celestia teased, picking me up with her magic and pinching my cheeks. I groaned, my ears flattening against my head with annoyance.

“Celestia! I’m supposed to be a terrifying, mysterious witch!” I complained. Whined, really. The whole town was looking at me. I blushed as red as Big Macintosh.

“I think it’s time we started heading back,” Celestia said. “We have a lot to prepare for your and Luna’s arrival.” She started walking, still holding me in her magic like I might try to escape. As we started towards the chariot waiting for us, I saw my friends, waving to me.

“Can I just… say goodbye to everypony first?” Celestia put me down without argument, and my friends crowded around me.

“Don’t be a stranger, sugarcube,” Applejack said, as she squeezed me with the incredible strength she’d developed over the years.

“You simply must invite us to the castle,” Rarity put in. “Not… your castle. It was… interesting, I suppose, but rather in disrepair. Canterlot castle. Please don't blow it up.”

“Come on, Rare,” Dash snorted. “This isn’t the time to be asking favors!” She lowered her voice and whispered into my ear. “But if you like, get in close with the Wonderbolts, drop my name a few times and let them know I’m awesome. Just be honest.”

“I’m glad that you’re, um, that you’re doing better,” Fluttershy added. “I’ve been worried about how sad you were sometimes and… I’m glad you aren’t now.” She smiled.

“This calls for a going away party!” Pinkie shouted.

“We’re already at a party, Pinkie,” Twilight sighed.

“How about a homecoming party for when I come back,” I suggested.”That way you’ll have time to think about how to make it really, um…” I looked at Dash. “Awesome?” Dash nodded in approval.

“We could have a pinata!” Pinkie gasped. “No - the world’s biggest pinata! Filled with smaller, Maretyoshka pinatas!”

“Is that a thing?” I tilted my head.

“I will need to do party science to find out,” Pinkie said, very seriously. “I’ll need five hundred pounds of paper mache, two bags of glitter, an old priest, and a young priest.”

I shook my head at that. My other friends stepped aside as Twilight embraced me.

“You will come back, right?” Twilight asked. “I’d feel really stupid if I moved here to study friendship and ended up losing my best friend at the same time.”

“Twilight, it’d take an escaped god of chaos to keep me away.”

I felt really stupid about saying that, later, but that’s a story for another day.