Sunset wanted some time to relax after the Nightmare Moon fiasco. The return of an old rival changes her plans.
It's been a long week for Sunset Shimmer. After defeating Nightmare Moon, she's chosen to live in Ponyville. She assumed it would be nice and easy from here on out, with a few distractions from her new friends.
She didn't expect an old school rival to appear and cause trouble. Of course, given that it's Tuesday, it should have been a given something was going to show up to ruin her day.
"Finally," Sunset huffed, laying down in her refurbished bed that was themes after her. "It's over."
It had been nearly a week, but Sunset’s move was finally complete. It would have taken only a couple of days for a normal pony, but Sunset was a princess. She had a lot that she needed to bring, not to mention a few lab supplies. She made sure those were a bit discrete so she wouldn’t have her friend Quickfix hounding her about them. She wasn’t ready to deal with a crazy inventor, even if she was supposed to be getting along with her and the others. She needed a bit more time to get used to having friends first.
She wasn’t going to worry about that now. All Sunset wanted was to relax and forget about Nightmare Moon and everything else. The princess need only two things: a good book and her brother. Oh yes, she usually read alone. She did want to, levitating a book called ‘The Fluff’. It was a classic tale about a little fluffy pony, or rather a Fluff as they preferred, going on an epic quest. She honestly found herself enjoying the rather simple tale, what with the Fluff’s cleverness and the dragon Smite.
However, before she could open the book, she frowned. ‘Spike always loves to read Smite’s lines aloud. Even as a kid, he would and...would it be right to read it without him?’ She’d read it a couple times on her own, but it wasn’t as fun. She wanted to dismiss this, but her heart clenched. She nearly lost her brother a week before. She almost never had the chance to read anything with him again. To never see his teasing grin, or hold him against her. She took him for granted and she wasn’t going to do so again. So she trotted on downstairs with a pep in her step. The book levitating overhead.
“Spike, I was thinking we could….” Sunset groaned as she saw her brother chatting up a couple of female workers in the library lounge.
Spike was laughing with them. “You certainly know how to spin a yarn.”
The one mare, some tan earth pony with a duel blue mane and three slices of apples as a cutie mark, nodded. “Oh you won’t believe the kind of stuff that happens in Ponyville.”
“Well, I’ll try to keep an eye out for such events.” Spike smiled. He turned to see a seething Sunset. “Sunset, you came just in time. Miss Ambrosia here was just about to tell me this story about, what was it, Poison Joke as you called it?”
The mare laughed. “Oh yes, nasty plants those things are. They-”
“Play a joke on you pertaining to your favored skill,” Sunset snorted. “I know enough about Poison Joke, thank you very much.”
“Sunset, don’t be rude.” Spike frowned. “They’re guests.”
“Not anymore,” Sunset’s horn lit up. Little sparks of fire flew about, dissipating in the air before they touched something. She wasn’t going to burn her beloved tree library. “Get out.”
“Umm…” Ambrosia and the other mare were frozen in terror, unable to move.
“OUT!” Sunset quickly levitated them into the air, marched over to the door and threw them outside. Closing it behind her with a loud ‘thud’, she snorted. “Now then, let’s get down to business.”
“And what business is that?” Spike grumbled. He was used to his sister hogging him to herself. She was a little overprotective when it came to other mares.
“This,” Sunset pushed the book into his scaly snout. “You’re going to read it with me.”
Spike quirked a scaly brow in question. “Any real reason?”
“Do I need a reason to read with my own brother?” Sunset quirked her own eyebrow to match his. “Spike, you know I can’t get Smite’s voice right.”
Spike chuckled. “I don’t know. You’re just as fiery as that old drake.”
Sunset snort. “Pfft, as if. Now let’s get to reading. I don’t want to waste anymore time.”
“We have all day,” Spike said. “I don’t see the rush. Perhaps we can-”
“No,” Sunset cut him off. “We’re reading. I’m going to spend as much time with you as I can and make up for everything. So move that tail of yours upstairs.”
“Make up...Sunset, what is this about?” Spike frowned, crossing his arms.
“Nothing,” Sunset barked.
Spike sighed. He quickly pulled her into a hug. “We’re fine, Sunset. It’s over, okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
Sunset sniffed and nuzzled him. “I’m going to make sure of that.” Before she could drag him upstairs, the doorbell rang. She groaned and pushed herself, reluctantly, out of her brother’s hold. “If this is another darn mover, I swear…” She let the threat hang in the air as she opened the door.
“Hey,” it was none other than Shade, the former warlock. His eyes widened when he saw Sunset. “Oh shi-”
“Finish that word and I’ll barbecue you,” Sunset growled. “What do you want?”
“Fiddlesticks said this was where the local library was,” Shade gulped, chuckling nervously. “She had a couple of books she needed to turn in, but she was busy. ‘Sides I wanted to check out some myself.”
“Wait, Fiddlesticks reads?” Sunset blinked in confusion. “Huh.”
“Wow, harsh.” Shade cringed.
Sunset frowned, before her eyes widened. “I didn’t mean it like that, Gah!” She smacked her forehead. She wasn’t supposed to be such a pest like that anymore. The last thing she wanted to do was drive her only friends away. “Just forget I said that.”
“Done,” Shade trotted in as Sunset stepped aside. “Hey Spike.”
“Hey Shade,” the two males fist/hoof bumped.
“You two know each other?” Sunset asked. ‘No way my brother would befriend this heretic.’
Spike nodded. “Of course, I paid Fiddlesticks a couple of visits and found this chap living there. Apparently Fiddlesticks convinced the rest of her family to let him sleep in one of their barns if he did some chores around the farm in compensation.”
“Turns out we both love Hoofball,” Shade grinned. “Almost as much as Big Mac.”
“He has quite the collection,” Spike nodded.
Sunset was lost and she really didn’t want to question what they were talking about. “Whatever, just make this quick. Spike and I were in the middle of something important.”
“Well excuse me princess for just talking with...a pal?” Shade gulped as Sunset’s horn lit up. “Wait, I have books!” He levitated his satchel in front of him like a shield.
“You get to live this time,” Sunset snorted, cancelling her fireball spell. She wasn’t about to hurt her tree or the books around her.
The train whistle rang out, signaling the arrival of the local Friendship Express. Trains were a recent endeavor so they weren’t present in many smaller towns. Ponyville was just lucky it was so close to Canterlot to warrant one. There were efforts to fix this, but for now, Ponyville was a large center of trade and tourism. It helped that the Elements of Harmony lived here too. Business was certainly booming.
Several ponies hurried about on and off of said train. Of said ponies, were two unicorns. One of them, who held herself as one would expect a noble woman, pushed her way through the crowd with a little aid of her magic. IIt helped that she was a bit taller than the average mare, coming close to a stallion’s height. She was ginger with a dark brown mane. Her cutie mark was a gingersnap.
The other was a more petite yellow unicorn with pinkish hair. Her horn was flared as she carried a rather large light green holding case in the air above them. Her cutie mark was a saddle.
“Ugh,” the ginger mare grumbled as she made her way through the crowd. “They seriously couldn’t come up with a better way to herd us about? I can’t even see three hooves in front of me without somepony butting into me.”
“It’s not so bad,” the other mare commented as they finally made their way out from the crowds. “At least a large crowd means we’ll get a large audience.”
“A simple deduction from a simple mare,” the ginger snorted. “Giddilee, I am not just some hack. I am the Stupendous Gingersnap. I deserve an audience of caliber and so far I’ve nearly been trampled to death by these ponies.” She side stepped another rush of ongoers. “I just hope the pay is worth it.”
“I’m sure it will be, Gingersnap.” Giddilee smiled. “You’re the best magician in the world...barring Presto of course.”
“And soon, even the Great and Powerful Presto will kneel before my splendor.” Gingersnap smirked, placing a hoof on her chest.
“And how are you going to do that?” Giddilee tilted her head in confusion.
Gingersnap groaned and rolled her eyes. “Just follow the routines and we’ll do swimmingly. Won’t be that hard to win over an Earth hick town.” She pulled out a little map out of the bag her companion was carrying with a spell. She scowled. “Great, this doesn’t isn’t begin to tell me where the Mayor’s office is? How is anyone supposed to do anything properly if they don’t have decent maps?” She crumbled it with her magic and threw it away. She snorted. “We’ll just give them a bit of a taste of what I can do today. A little market will do for now.” ‘It’ll probably be some disgusting backwater kind of deal,’ she thought to herself.
“Is that before or after we buy a new caravan?” Giddilee asked, earning a glare from Gingersnap. The petite mare gulped and flinched back. “I mean, we can’t keep faking tickets for free rides on the train.”
“We’ll buy ourselves a new caravan with today’s earnings,” Gingersnap smirked. “Ponyville is going to love me.”
“Then let’s get to it,” Giddilee smiled and trotted over to a blue filly with a bow and arrow cutie mark and another little tan filly with a red mane and glasses. She was a blank flank, just as the both of them were Earth ponies. “Would you mind telling us where the market place is? Maybe a large open space to perform?”
“There’s a market close to town,” the blue filly spoke up. “What’re you going to perform? Is it archery? I love archery. I just got my cutie mark for it. See.” She proudly showed off her cutie mark. Given her enthusiasm, Giddilee rightly guessed the filly only recently got her cutie mark.
Giddilee giggled. “No, we’re magicians?”
“You don’t look like magicians,” the second filly said. It was clear she had a thick lisp as her ‘s’s sounded like ‘th’.
If there was one thing Giddilee loved, it was children. There was just this air about them that made her smile. “Oh? And how do you know what a magician looks like?”
“They have capes and pointy hats,” the filly responded.
“You mean,” Giddilee’s horn lit up and she jumped to her front hooves. Instantly, she was wearing a yellow cape and pointy hat that bore Celestia’s holy sun mark. “Like this?”
“Yeah,” the archer filly nodded. “You really are magicians. Ooh, can we have front row seats? I’ve always wanted to see Presto’s stuff, but my parents don’t have the money to take me.”
“We’ll see,” Gingersnap trotted over and magicked off the cape and hat in a flash. “I can assure you. Presto’s tricks are child’s play compared to my own. The Stupendous Gingersnap is unequal in the arts of magic.”
“Like Princess Sunset?” The lisp pony spoke.
Gingersnap’s right eye twitched and she restrained herself from snarling. “Yes, like Princess Sunset. Although, I can assure you that I’m better than her in every way?”
“Prove it,” the archer filly snorted. “She took down Nightmare Moon. That’s awesome.”
“But did any of you see it?” At the shaking heads, Gingersnap mock gasped. “Oh dear. Then Princess Sunset Shimmer can’t claim the title of the greatest magician in the land. Fret not, I won’t make the same mistake. All of Ponyville will see my magical talent and be in awe. I am, of course,” she stomped the ground and fireworks seemed to blaze around her, spelling her name out above her. “The Stupendous Gingersnap!”
“Awesome,” the archer filly grinned. “Come on. There’s plenty of good places to show off in the town square.”
“Proceed,” Gingersnap nodded, grinning. The two unicorns followed the little earths, giving them a bit of distance so they could talk freely without being overheard. “That went better than expected.”
“Yeah,” Giddilee nodded. “You usually don’t do well with children.”
“I don’t care for them, but they have their uses.” Gingersnap snorted. “I’m just glad they’re Earths. It’s easy to appease them. Just show them a simple fireworks spell and they’ll eat it up.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit tribalist to say?” Giddilee frowned.
“Like I care,” Gingersnap said. “‘Sides, it’s not like I’ll say it to their faces. I need their money after all. A mare’s got to make some bits and if I happen to upstage a certain princess, then that’s just icing on the cake.” ‘Do you really think you’d get to have all the attention, Sunset? No, you can’t forget about me. I’ll make sure of that.’
Now as anyone can tell you, ponies are a herd species. When they feel threatened, they tend to stick close to others for comfort. Family would seek out each other and never leave the other’s sight. If there was danger about, or they felt threatened in anyway, they’d stick to their loved ones like glue. For this reason, Sunset was walked close to Spike as they made their way through the marketplace. Several guards trotted around them and she had a plethora of spells at the ready. The ponies were giving them a wide berth for good reason.
“Sunset,” Spike spoke up. “I do believe this is a bit excessive.”
“Excessive?” Sunset snorted. “No, definitely not. You want to go out and ‘peruse’ the local market and I’m just keeping an eye on you. You know, like we could have done safely at home with a good book. No, you want to ‘peruse’. So this is fair. It’d be excessive if I put that tracking collar on you.”
“It scares me that you have one my size,” Spike grumbled.
“Helps when I need to find you on our diplomatic missions,” Sunset quipped. “Like when you’re chasing some tail around some city.”
Spike just sighed. He just knew Sunset would be on edge about going in town. He just really thought it would be best for her to get out. “I don’t need you to hold my claw anymore, Sunset. I’m fine and if anything, you’re hurting yourself by pushing everyone away.”
“I’m not pushing,” Sunset huffed, before using her magic to push a stallion that had wandered too close to the group away. At Spike’s accusative stare, she rolled her eyes. “One time, Spike.”
“Uh-huh,” Spike chuckled and nuzzled his sister.
Sunset allowed him that one display of public affection. He deserved a little treat. She’d just make sure he didn’t do it again. So she gave him a little nuzzle of her own. A part of her still couldn’t believe he was larger than her now. ‘When did he grow so big? He used to ride on my back and we’d run around the park together. He used to crawl on my head and nom on my mane. I miss that.’ She may not be the ‘big’ sister anymore, but she was going to still be his older sister no matter what.
“Princess Shimmer” A little colt’s voice yelled out. All the guards tensed, raising their weapons. Ponyville was still under investigation and scrutiny after the attack and there were rumors that a few straggling cultists may have slipped through.
Sunset herself prepared to incinerate whoever that voice belonged to. ‘How dare they? How dare they ruin a moment with my brother? These hayseeds aren’t even supposed to talk to him until this town is safe.’ Then something bumped into her leg. Looking down, she depowered the spell she had in the waiting. “Huh?”
It was a little white and brown splotched colt. He somehow was able to sneak past several guards and herself without anyone noticing. Most likely that was due to his very small stature. “Princess Shimmer, hi.” He waved happily. A small saddlebag at his side.
“...Hello?” Sunset awkwardly waved. Children never just said hello with a warm smile. If they ever did it was because she was Celestia’s daughter and the smiles weren’t that sincere. “Can I help you?”
The colt nodded. “Yep. My name’s Pipsqueak and I wanted to give you something for saving my family.” He had a clear Trottingham accent.
‘That was more of a byproduct than a wanted result,’ Sunset lamented. She did feel a bit bad that she couldn’t care less what happened to Ponyville. A little and that’s only because she had some friends here. “That’s sweet, but…”
“Let him say his thanks, Sunset.” Spike chuckled. “It wouldn’t hurt to accept a few praises.”
Sunset smirked. “Of course not,” she turned to the colt. “You’re very welcome. Though, it was obvious I would save the day. I am the greatest unicorn to have ever lived, daughter of Celestia herself. The outcome was obvious.”
“You’re also best princess!” Pipsqueak squealed and hugged her leg. He sniffed. “Thank you for helping us.”
“Uhh…” Sunset looked to her brother. He was much better with kids than her and...She wasn’t a huggy sort of mare. Her brother, Celestia, and Hikaru. The last one because he was like her, but a boy and fluffier. ‘Curse his cute fluff!’ Spike was just snickering to himself. She made sure to do something to get back at him for that. ‘No sapphires for a week.’
Thankfully for her, Pipsqueak pulled back before she needed to do anything. He pulled out from his saddlebag a necklace. It was just a simple pearl necklace that Sunset had seen worn by middle class mares. “I bought it with my allowance. I was saving up for an arcade, but I thought it looked pretty like you and you’d like it.”
Sunset frowned and was about to say no to the gift, then stopped herself. It was a gift after all, even if it was terrible. “Thank you,” she gently picked it up with her magic. She wouldn’t have to wear it though. “I’ll pay you back for this.”
Pipsqeuak shook his head. “It’s a gift, Princess Shimmer. You don’t have to give me anything. You’re the best and most awesome princess, so you deserve it. You can out magic anything.”
Sunset beamed. As Celestia’s daughter, it was acceptable for others to praise her so. It wasn’t done so much though. The Inquisition was a bit fidgety with anyone being praised more than Celestia herself, even her daughter.
“That’s not true,” a blue earth filly spoke up. A tan, red maned one was beside her. “The Stupendous Gingersnap is the greatest wielder of magic ever!”
“Yeah,” the other filly spoke up with a lisp. “She showed us all sorts of tricks and she’s gonna show everyone how awesome she is.”
“You’re lying,” Pipsqueak spoke up, stomping his little hoof. “Princess Shimmer is the greatest, right princess?” He looked up to see Sunset frozen.
The princess’ irises were pinpricks and she looked stunned for a second. ‘Gingersnap? No, it can’t possibly be that mare.’
“You broke her,” Spike blinked in shock. “You said the ‘g’ word. Tell me, was she a brown unicorn?”
“With a gingersnap cutie mark?” The blue filly asked. At Spike’s nod, she smiled. “Yep and she’s performing right now just a ways ahead. We can take you there if you want and show you how awesome she is.”
Gingersnap was smirking as she looked past the curtain at the awaiting audience. She was thankful the town had some cheap wagons perfect for her performance. Of course, she knew they would. Small towns had plenty of cheap, simple stuff. “I bet half the town’s already outside, waiting to see me-” She pulled back from the curtain and put a triumphant hoof on her chest. She currently was wearing her yellow cape and point sun magician hat. “-the Stupendous Gingersnap in action.”
“I’m sure they’re going to love it,” Giddilee was wearing a form fitting green dress. It was low cut so she wouldn’t have any trouble navigating certain tricks and such.
“Of course they are,” Gingersnap snorted. “These backward hicks will eat up anything we throw at ‘em. Trust me, Giddilee. We’re going to be drowning in bits by the end of this.”
“I’m just thankful I don’t have to steal anything this time,” Giddilee sighed in relief.
“We don’t want them suspecting us,” Gingersnap said. “And we made enough from the last town, so we’re good. Besides, this is a small earth pony town. It’s not like they have that much we want anyways.”
Yes it was true that Gingersnap would often have her coworker pickpocket a pony or two during a performance or so. She reasoned that they needed to make a living. ‘They won’t miss a watch or a couple of bits.’ Thinking about stealing made her blood boil. She wasn’t a low class thief. She was a top tier magician. One of the greatest unicorns to have ever lived. That’s what her parents had told her and that’s how her grades from Canterlot’s finest schools had shown her. To be reduced to this. ‘You’ll pay, Sunset Shimmer.’
“You won’t have to do much with the first performance,” Gingersnap spoke up. “Just follow my lead and please don’t get distracted again by something cute or a boy, or both.”
Giddilee blushed in embarrassment and giggled nervously. “I’ll try.”
Gingersnap rolled her eyes. Her friend was certainly the definition of an airhead. A part of her wondered if she really was a pegasus in disguise. Before she could voice an insult or reprimand, her little hummingbird clock dinged. She grinned. “Show time.” ‘I’ll give this town the show of a lifetime. I’d like to see Sunset top this.’
“Why am I here again?” Quickfix groaned. She hated being out in the open. Given that she was a pony of the north, her fur was a tad bit longer and thicker than everypony else’s. She did cut it down to where it wasn’t that noticeable, but still. The sun, blessed that it was, wasn’t being that forgiving as it bared down at her.
“To see the magic show,” Fiddlesticks smiled as she shook with excitement. “Ya really needed to come out of yer cage, Quicky.”
“Fiddlesticks,” Quickfix huffed. “It is not a cage. It’s a laboratory. Just ‘cause it can function as a cage if’n somethin’ goes wrong, doesn’t mean it’s a cage fer me.”
Fiddlesticks rolled her eyes at her friends attitude. The two were the best of friends, given how they were outcasts when they first arrived, but Fiddlesticks honestly felt her friend was still an outcast. She’d been able to make friends with the town around her. Quickfix stuck to her lab and only came out for supplies and when the farmer literally dragged her out to have fun. “Wouldn’t kill ya to come out more often.”
“It could,” Quickfix pointed out. “This is Ponyville. We’ve got a forest of monsters next door. A bunch of zany ponies runnin’ around and now some cultists about. Did ah also mention it’s Tuesday? That’s a cursed day it is.”
Fiddlesticks just chuckled in response. “Wish Sunset was here. She’d love a good magic show.”
“How are ye supposed to know that?” Quickfix asked. “She’s a might uppity, if’n ye ask me.”
“Taint nothin’ uppity about her magic,” Fiddlesticks snorted. “She’s mighty good and that’s cause she loves it so much. Ah may not be a love guardian or whatever, but ah know love when ah see it.”
Quickfix shrugged. “If’n ye say so.”
A quick flap of wings and a ‘boom’ was all the two mares had in warning when Lightning landed beside them. “Okay, what’s up.”
“Magic show,” Quickfix quickly said.
“Oh, neat.” Lightning nodded and got herself comfortable. “So who’s the magician.”
“Some mare called ‘The Stupendous Gingersnap’,” Quickfix spoke.
“Never heard of her,” Lightning said.
“Well ya heard of her now,” Fiddlesticks pointed out with a smile. “Ah bet she’s great.”
“Everypony deserves a chance to prove themselves,” Fiddlesticks said. She turned to see Sunset and Spike march on over with several guards in hoof. Sunset looked furious, while Spike looked around nervously as he walked. She waved them over. “Hey, we saved ya a few spots.”
Sunset growled as she made her way over. It almost looked like she wanted to blaze everything away with her gaze alone. “Is the show started yet?” Her voice oozed with venom and fiery rage.
Fiddlesticks didn’t notice it, so she kept smiling. “Nope, but it’s about to start. Y’all just made it in time.”
“Good,” Sunset’s eyes locked on to the stage. “I want to see what this ‘Gingersnap’ has to offer.”
“Whoa,” Lightning pointed a hoof at her. “Somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
“I was having a good day until something came up,” Sunset said. “Something long since left in the past.”
“Cryptic,” Fiddlesticks chimed. “Ah like it. A good mystery really gets the blood goin’. Did Shade get the books to ya on time?”
Sunset nodded. “And somehow, he survived.”
“Good to hear,” Quickfix said. “Ah heard he’s kind of resilient to a lot of pain, maybe even fire. Been thinkin’ of givin’ him a job.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sunset waved her off. She was entirely focused on the stage.
A familiar yellow unicorn mare popped out from the curtain. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am Giddilee, The Stupendous Gingersnap’s assistant. I want to thank you for coming here today to witness The Stupendous Gingersnap in action. What you’re about to see will amaze you and blow your minds.” She stepped away and the curtains blew up in green smoke. “I present to you, THE STUPENDOUS GINGERSNAP!”
Fiddlesticks noticed how Sunset and Spike tensed. ‘Is somethin’ wrong?’ She frowned in thought, just wondering what this ‘Gingersnap’ would bring to the town. She just hoped everything would work out well.
There were many things you could call or say about Gingersnap: Mean, Tribalist, and vain. Yes, Gingersnap is many things. She’d never admit them. That wasn’t her, for she believed herself to be the best. That’s how she was raised and that’s just how she lived. She is many things, but one of the few she will admit to is her talent.
Her talent is what drew in the crowds. Her talent was what made them love her. At the end of the day, her talent was one of the few things she had to herself. It’s what got her into Celestia’s own private school for the gifted. ‘I earned my spot there and I’m going to get it back.’
The mist enveloped the stage. The audience couldn’t see anything at first, until a sun halo appeared in the mist.
“You’ll never believe the things that you’ll see~” That’s when Gingersnap struck. Her golden cap swept aside the smoke, revealing her to be standing dramatically before the sun.
“You say it’s fake-” Gingersnap’s form pops like a balloon, revealing the real her behind with a pin in hoof. “-but it’s real to me~”
And now you all will get to see~”
Gingersnap could see the sparkle of wonder in their eyes. It made her feel so good. So perfect. For a moment, that’s all that mattered. She was the center of the world. There was no Sunset Shimmer here.
“Some real magic~
You will believe it, my talent tops~” She waved her hoof and the front row found themselves holding bouquets of yellow roses.
“You will believe it, I am the star~” She tapped the stage with her backhoof, causing a giant star to explode into being behind her.
“What's this all about?
Follow me and don’t you doubt~”
“I can do magic,” Gingersnap reared up on her back legs and the star behind her exploded in a shower of harmless sparks. “None can do better than I~
Magic, the Stupendous Gingersnap will blow your mind~
You know darned well when I cast my spell~” The sparkles circled around her, her horn lit up in her excitement.
“I will get my way when I leave you all in a daze~” The sparks lit up in several colors, causing the audience to mutter words of wonder.
“Now let’s start off this show in a blaze~” The show mare reared back. The sparks shot out, swirling into one orb before exploding once more in a show of fire. In its place was a sun, engraved with the words ‘The Stupendous Gingersnap’ inside.
The audience went wild. Of course they did, she told herself. They always loved her magic. She took off her hat with her front hoof and bowed. “Thank you. Thank you. The Stupendous Gingersnap is humbled by your praise.” She straightened herself up and placed her hat back on her head. “It is an honor to perform before such brave ponies. This first performance will be free of charge. A gift to those who fought bravely against the night in honor of the sun.”
“Praise the sun!” Several ponies cheered. They stomped their hooves again, shouting for her to continue.This was what she wanted. Their love and attention and she was going to keep it.
‘Sunset, I hope you’re watching. You’re seeing how a true unicorn works her magic.’
“Who does she think she is?” Sunset sneered. She hated this. She hated keeping herself out of sight from that wannabe magician. She hated not being able to roast Gingersnap to a crisp. She just wanted to relax. ‘Guess I can’t do that anymore’.
“Just some magician,” Quickfix snorted and crossed her forelegs. “Don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a bit of a light show.” It is no secret that Northerners pride themselves with their magic and talents. All ponies do, but to the North, showing off was wasting said talent. You had to be tough and use it to survive. Anything less and you were dead meat. Everything had a purpose and the only time magic was used in a showy way was bards when reciting tales of the Northern glory.
“Style nothin’,” Quickfix said. “If’n yer good at magic, ye don’t waste it goin’ about it showin’ off. Ye southern ponies are weird, wastin’ talent like this.”
Sunset blocked them out. Her friends senseless bickering didn’t matter. They could argue however they wanted. What mattered was the mare on the stage. ‘After all this time, why now Gingersnap? What’s your game?’
“I know you all are quivering in anticipation over what’s to come,” Gingersnap smirked. “I know I am. The Stupendous Gingersnap aims to please, but be gentle with me. I have travelled long and hard over the country to visit such a prestigious town. I may not be up to par.”
“That’s not true,” a blue earth filly, Archer as Fiddlesticks called her, ran up to the stage with Twist in hoof. “You’re awesome. I mean, you took down a dragon singlehoofedly.”
Sunset could see Gingersnap’s smirk widened ever so slightly. “That is true. I could not let that vicious monster destroy the fair citizens of Springfield.” Her horn lit up and a spectral version of a drake appeared, swooping over the crowd. Some of which cried out in surprise. The drake flew up over the stage and roared. It was three times the stage itself in size. “Many ponies would run in the face of a dragon. I didn’t. I knew I had to step in, for only my magic could defeat the beast.”
“You’re awesome,” Twist cheered.
“Yes, I am.” Gingersnap chuckled and the spectral dragon roared. It charge, only to be pushed back by a blast from her horn. “I fought the dragon to a standstill until it was sent running with it’s tail between its legs.” The drake charged once more and she teleported out of the way. A whip formed from magic formed around her horn. With one flourished lash, it wrapped around the drake’s midsection and pulled back. The drake was thrown about in the air, until she forced it to crash into the stage.
Of course, given its spectral nature, the stage was unharmed. “It was inevitable. I am the Stupendous Gingersnap. My magic tops all.” The drake raised its head and tried to lunge at the audience with a massive roar. Gingersnap smashed it to pieces with a single spell to the head, causing a bright and splendid shower of red sparkles about. “That is a fact.” The audience went wild with applause.
“The Stupendous Gingersnap’s the best unicorn ever!” Archer shouted.
“If’n ye really as great as ye say,” Quickfix spoke up, pushing her way through the crowd. “Then why are ye wastin’ it on these shows?”
“Quickfix,” Fiddlesticks pushed on after her. “I’m sorry, Miss. She’s from the North and, well…”
Gingersnap raised her hoof. “Oh I know. I could tell by the way she holds herself. The North is a great place, but they don’t hold to the values that make us all so great.”
“What did ye say?!!” Quickfix growled, trying to move closer only to be held back by Fiddlesticks.
“I mean what I say,” Gingersnap said. “There is no offense meant, but to question my livelihood? I would call you rather mean spirited, amongst other things not to be heard by the young ones if I was petty. Perhaps I will one day visit the North and show them the true worth of talents.”
“Ah’ll show ye some worth right here,” Quickfix broke out of her friend’s hold and jumped onto the stage.
Sunset quirked an eyebrow as the Northerner’s horn lit up. ‘What is she doing?’ She had to give it to Quickfix for taking this series of actions. She was a bit jealous. ‘I wanted to show her up.’
Several pieces of steel formed around Quickfix. She muttered to the machine god as she quickly got to work. The steel and various other part she was using bent and molded the pieces until they made a large fan. “See? Simple and practical. No nonsense.”
“So fitting with its simplicity,” Gingersnap laughed and her horn flashed. The fan turned on Quickfix and turned on, blowing her off the stage. Given how tough she was, and how Fiddlesticks caught her even if they tumbled a bit, some ponies good naturedly chuckled at the display.
“Whoa,” Lightning sped onto the stage and poked Gingersnaps in the chest. “That was uncool.”
“And you must be Lightning Dust,” Gingersnap quirked an eyebrow. “I heard you’re captain of the local weather team.”
“Of course,” Lightning puffed out her chest. “The best that ever was.”
“Then that’s why there’s a bunch of clouds hanging about,” Gingersnap shot a single spell into the sky, clearing all the clouds around the town square. “Fixed that for you. Free of charge.”
Lightning growled. “Is that how it’s going to be?” She didn’t give the other mare a chance to answer, before she sped off. Quick as Lightning, leaving her signature trail in her wake, she performed several loop-de-loops, speeding around a windmill, zipping about the town. Eventually, she came to a stop before Gingersnap, hoofing her a daisy bouquet. “A treat to the lower.”
“Sorry, I think these daisies suit you more.” Just as she said that, her horn flickered. The daisies shot out, wrapping themselves around Lightning. “Now is anyone else going to rudely interrupt my performance?”
Nopony said anything. They just murmured amongst each other.
“This is getting out of hoof fast.”
“Those mares are ruining the show.”
“She’s a bit snooty, but this is fun.”
Sunset growled. ‘How dare she mess with my friends? I know I shouldn’t be so attached, but I can’t fail mother. I have to stop this. Rubbing victory in that smug mare’s face is an added bonus.’ “I do.” Sunset stood up.
“Sunset, no.” Spike spoke up, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t do this.”
“I have to,” Sunset hissed at him. She promised herself she’d get him an extra bucket of ice-cream after this. Something for dragging him to see this.
For an instant, Gingersnap’s face was stretched in a terrible scowl. That was gone in a flash, when she smiled and bowed. “Princess Sunset Shimmer,” the word princess, while spoken so lovingly, had an icy feel to it. “A pleasure to see you again. However, I think that this wouldn’t be prudent. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of everypony.”
“She won’t be,” Pipsqueak spoke up. “She’s super strong and talented and she’s the bestest unicorn ever.”
“Is that so?” Gingersnap’s eyes narrowed as she straightened herself upwards. “I know you are the supposed Element of Magic, but that is a rather large claim, Sunset.”
“Hello kettle, you’re looking rather black today.” Sunset snarked.
Gingersnap snorted. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Neither have you,” Sunset growled. “What are you doing here?”
“Performing for these good ponies, of course.” Gingersnap snickered.
“And messing with my friends.”
“Friends?” Gingersnap looked confused, which made Sunset even angrier. “You have friends? I’m astonished, but of course a princess has many friends.”
“Give me one excuse not to burn you,” Sunset’s horn lit up. She could almost see Gingersnap’s burning corpse now. ‘So beautiful. Fire brings out the best in anyone.’
“I am here on peaceful terms,” Gingersnap held up a hoof to try and quell her anger. “I am a magician now. So let’s not bring up the past. This is the present.”
“Yeah,” Twist spoke up. “She’s super duper. She’s great with magic.”
“Princess Sunset’s better,” Pipsqueak spoke up.
“Gingersnap,” the two fillies said.
“Sunset.”
“Gingersnap.”
“Sunset.”
“I think my fans outnumber yours,” Gingersnap giggled.
“Maybe,” Sunset snorted. “Perhaps we should settle this once and for all. Let’s show this town who the real magician is.”
“That is I,” Gingersnap put a hoof to her chest and smirked. “A duel?”
“An hour from now,” Sunset’s glare almost pierced the other’s hide. Gingersnap did a good show of not flinching under it. “Be there or I’ll find you and burn you where you dare to hide from me.”
“I’m shaking in my cape,” Gingersnap said. “Now, shall I continue my show?”
“Do whatever,” Sunset got up and moved away.
As they made it some distance, Spike finally said something. “This is too reckless. You know she’s strong.”
“I’m stronger,” Sunset spoke up.
“Maybe,” Spike sighed. “But you could get hurt. Hurt over something so stupid as the past.”
“You know what she’s like,” Sunset growled.
“I know,” Spike shivered. That movement made her want to kill Gingersnap even moreso. “But this duel isn’t going to help anyone.”
“Pfft, says you.” Sunset snorted. “I think it will be plenty helpful.”
“Well, what about checking on Lightning and Quickfix?” Spike asked. “They are your friends.”
“They don’t matter right now,” Sunset said. “Besides they’re fine.”
Spike rubbed a claw onto his forehead and sighed. “If you say so.”
Normally, Giddilee would be smiling after a performance. Well, sometimes she would. She hated stealing, but it was all to help her friend. Gingersnap needed her, she’d tell herself. They needed to survive and those ponies wouldn’t miss a few trinkets. It was hard to sleep at night when she started out, but she had been getting better.
Now she only had sleepless nights once a week. The unicorn mare had thrown herself a one mare party for that achievement.
Giddilee was a happy pony. It was in her name:giddy. She loved to make ponies smile and brighten their days. She wasn’t smiling now. If anything, she was afraid now that the show was over. All the ponies had gone back to what they were doing and they had gone about moving their caravan to the outskirts of the town. It didn’t take long to find a place to put it and they were about to retire. “Don’t you think that was a bit much?”
“What?” Gingersnap smirked. “Turning their own attributes on those two infernal mares? Making the three of them out to be insensitive fools before an adoring crowd? Please, I didn’t do anything they already did themselves.”
“But they’re Element Bearers,” Giddilee gulped. “They took down Nightmare Moon and wield power that only Celestia, may she reign forever, has ever held. They’re national heroes.”
Gingersnap laughed. “Heroes they may be, but Sunset Shimmer is still that pathetic little orphan I remember all those years ago. I’m going to show the world that and no one is going to call the Stupendous Gingersnap second rate again!”
Giddilee sighed. Her friend was too boastful for her own good. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw something. “You’re bleeding.”
A trail of blood was running down her nostrils. Gingersnap growled and used a hoofkerchief that she had stored in her cloak’s hidden pocket to wipe it away. “There. All gone.”
“Have you been taking your medicine?” Giddilee wasn’t liking this one bit.
“It doesn’t matter,” Gingersnap growled. “I’m the Stupendous Gingersnap. I shouldn’t have to take it, besides, I took some not long ago. That feather-brained pegasus just hit me with some strong winds is all.”
“Gingersnap…” Giddilee started, but Gingersnap brushed past her as she stormed inside.
“I’m perfectly fine,Gingersnap.” She grumbled.
Giddilee sighed. ‘Please, please don’t hurt yourself anymore than you already have.’
Gingersnap had always been a proud mare. She had been born into an all unicorn family, specializing in the finer things. Clothes, jewels, the arts, they were the best. She had pulled the short straw of the bunch. Her cutie mark was a gingersnap. It was obvious, but she couldn’t bare it. She was of House Razorsharp. She had to be the best. A lowly cook was not that, so she trained. Trained to be the best. She was.
‘But that orphan girl…’ She couldn’t help but hate her. Sunset Shimmer was given everything on a silver platter. She didn’t work for it. ‘I worked for everything. EVERYTHING! Does anyone do me any favors? Am I a princess? NO!’
It didn’t help that she wasn’t in the best shape at the moment. It was a trivial thing. Not important. She would get past it, just like she got past everything else. So here she was, in a small caravan, looking herself over in a mirror. She grabbed her hat in her hooves and took it off. “Ugh, my mane is a mess.” She put the hat down on the counter and untied her cape. The little bones in her hoof helped out, though they weren’t as nimble as fingers. Still, they did their job.
“Damn featherbrain,” she snorted and grabbed a brush in her hoof. She stroked out the splitends and other imperfections. She always had to be perfect. She was the Stupendous Gingersnap, heir to the House Razorsharp. There was no middle ground here. She would beat this bad hair like she would beat Sunset Shimmer.
In fact, why was she using her hoof like a Mud pony? She was a unicorn. No, she had to relax. She couldn’t use magic right now. She’d need a little medicine first. ‘But not now. I’m fine. I can use a bit more magic.’ She took the comb up in her magic and kept at it. The mare sighed in relief. “Much better.” She finished with a flourish. As she held the brush out, she couldn’t help but feel little pricks of pain stabbing her at the base of her horn. It was worse than before, but she paid it no mind.
Placing it back down on the cupboard, she smirked. “See, I don’t need it. I’m getting better on my own.” Using her magic, she opened up the mirror cupboard to get a few beauty supplies. Her looks needed attending. Ponyville would be watching her best Sunset. She would look her very best while doing so.
The pain was getting worse, but she ignored it. ‘I’m getting better. I’m getting better. I’m getting better.’ She repeated to herself as she powdered her nose and plucked her eyebrows.
‘Getting better.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Better and better.’
‘Failure. Family failure.’
“Shut up,” Gingersnap growled. It was just voices. Was it her own voice? She knew they weren’t. Just random thoughts springing up. That always happened when she had a headache. ‘Maybe I should get just one pill. NO! I’m getting better.’
She did her best to block out the random thoughts, the dizziness, and pain. It didn’t matter how blurred things were getting. She was getting better. She was a unicorn. Magic was hers to command. ‘My magic would never poison me. Preposterous.’ She thought she felt something wet fall down her face. She didn’t pay it any mind. She was lightheaded. Her imagination was getting the best of her.
So Gingersnap closed the cupboard. The glass was strange to her now. There were several wobbly versions of herself. ‘Or just one? No, it’s just a trick of the eyes. I mean, it looks like I’m crying. Heh.” She wiped the ‘tears’ away and frowned. They weren’t clear. They were red as the blood falling from her snout. “That can’t be good….”
‘Good? No good. My magic fine….Hard to think.’
“I am a Razorsharp,” she growled wiping away more blood leaking from the corners of her eyes and nose. Her horn was pulsing, almost like it was trying to drown her in pain. “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. I am The Stupendous Gingersnap. Stop it!”
‘Can’t stop…’ She peered at the mirror and, for a second, she swore she could see Sunset Shimmer. “STOP IT!” She shattered it with a spell, knocking herself off her hooves with the pain. She laid there for a few moments, growling. “Stronger...I’m stronger….” She gradually pushed herself up. “Just...one dose will do.”
“Gingersnap?!!” Giddilee’s voice spoke up from outside the doorway. “Are you alright? I heard some shouting and crashing.”
“Alright…” Gingersnap shook her head. “Just fell down.” Her vision was unclear. Everything was hard to think about. The most pressing thought was about the pain, but she did her best to ignore it. She took a step closer to the sink and only barely caught herself from falling. She tried to reach for the shattered door, but her foreleg wouldn’t lift that high. “Stupid leg…” So she tried her magic and…
Fell down, spasming on the ground. The unicorn mare couldn’t stop. She could make herself go still for a few seconds, before her horn pulsed again. She opened her mouth in a silent scream.
“GINGERSNAP!” Giddilee smacked into the door. “Ow.” Quickly fumbling with the lock, the mare rushed into the room. She grabbed a syringe out from cabinet with her magic. The blue liquid sloshed around inside as she quickly tore off the cap and plunged it into Gingersnap. The unicorn mare’s breathing went back in order and the bleeding stopped. Giddilee sighed in relief, holding her friend’s head up so she didn’t drown in her blood. “Now that was a close one.”
Gingersnap shakily rose to her hooves. Her friend tried to help her, but she kept pushing her away with her hoof. “Now…” She wiped away the blood from her face with a towel. “I thank you for that, but I think I can take it from here.”
“But you just had another ‘attack’, Gingersnap.” Giddilee’s voice quivered. “You know you have to take your medicine or else stuff like that happens, maybe worse.”
“I’M FINE!” Gingersnap shouted, taking an aggressive step forward. However, this put her off balance and she used the sink to keep herself up. “See? I’m still here. This isn’t going to bring me down.”
“No,” Giddilee sighed. “Not now anyways. You need help. Ever since you broke your horn-”
“Don’t remind me,” Gingersnap didn’t want to think about that incident.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Giddilee pleaded. “Just call off the duel, or at least push it to tomorrow.”
“What?” Gingersnap rolled her eyes. “She’ll think I’m scared. That I’m just buying time, because I’m unprepared. I’m ready, Giddilee. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be and I will not appear weak to her.”
“You were spasming on the ground, bleeding out as your own magic was killing you.” Giddilee shot back, narrowing her eyes. She rarely got angry. This was one of the few times she did. “You are in no condition to duel anypony and by Celestia, I’m going to keep you from doing something so stupid...AGAIN!”
Gingersnap blinked in shock. Her friend rarely ever raised her voice, well except for times like this. “Fine. Tomorrow morning. I’m not waiting any longer than that.”
Giddilee smiled and hugged her. “Thank you.”
Gingersnap reluctantly hugged her back. “You’re welcome.” She grumbled.
“Now,” Giddilee pulled herself away. “I think we both need a bath.”
Lightning Dust snapped another strip of flesh from the pigeon before her. She hated pigeon, but for some reason, they made for great comfort food. Perhaps it was just because they were so common. Of course, given how she was devouring one as she sat on a cloud, there was a slight risk to it. As in, ‘Red Rain’ wasn’t something the more ground based tribes weren’t familiar with. “Who does that mare think she is? Messing with me? I’m more awesome than she’ll ever be.”
“Lightning Dust,” Cloudchaser huffed as she landed beside her. “We’ve done all you asked for and even lapped around Ponyville ten times.”
“Do it again,” she growled, baring her fangs.
“Look, I’m sorry for chuckling.” Cloudchaser grumbled. “It was wrong of me, but you didn’t get hurt and you kind of had that coming.”
“Twelve laps!” Lightning Dust shouted. “And move the remaining cloud in an oval shape surrounding the town.”
“Oh come on,” Cloudchaser threw up a hoof in exasperation. “I’m your friend. Can’t we just forget about it already? Princess Shimmer is going to mop the floor with her anyways.”
Lightning Dust wickedly grinned. “I know. It’s going to be so epic, which is why you’re going to get the popcorn.”
“Why do I always have to do everything?” Cloudchaser groaned.
“Because I’m your boss,” Lightning said. “Stop being so dramatic. It’s not like I make you guys do all the work like this that often. You know I’m usually the one busting most of these clouds on my own.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Cloudchaser smiled. “Doesn’t mean I can’t complain now and again.” The two chuckled. Lightning and Cloud had become fast friends the moment Lightning moved to town. Of course, Cloudchaser was her only friend up until Nightmare Moon came. It was horrible, but Cloudchaser had to admit that it was nice to see her friend with others.
“HEY!” A vaguely familiar voice from below grabbed their attention.
“What?” Lightning peered over the side of the cloud and narrowed her eyes. It was Gingersnap’s assistant. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to pass on a message,” she yelled. “The duel’s been moved to tomorrow morning.”
“Whatever,” Lightning snorted. “Sunset’s still going to kick her butt.”
“We’ll see,” the mare shouted before running off.
Lightning growled. “We’ll see?” She clamped her jaws around the pigeon’s head and crushed it in one fell swoop. She shook her head, tearing it away and throwing her head back to swallow. “Oh, we’ll see alright.”
Princess Sunset Shimmer would never harm her tree or her books. Sure, she’d throw her books around and sometimes they’d get bent. When she was in the ‘zone’, her house would become random piles of books. She’d always get her servants to clean up and fix the books afterwards. However, this wasn’t one of her studying binges.
She was angry beyond belief. That’s why she had triple checked the fire wards on her beloved tree library. She was a fire based unicorn, so as her temper flared, so did her flames. Every step she took, a small puff of flames shot up and died quickly. “Does she really think she can get away with this? I oughta just throw her out of town now.”
“I don’t think mother would approve,” Spike was leisurely lying on his back across the couch, flicking to the next page of his book. “Friendship is magic, remember?”
“Oh!” Sunset set him up with a nasty glare. “Friendship. I’m sure it’ll fix this problem in no time. Why didn’t I think of this before?”
“You don’t have to be sarcastic.”
“You don’t have to be dumb, but we have to live with what we’re given.” Sunset grumbled.
“You wound me,” Spike rolled his eyes. “You need to relax, sis. As much as I don’t like this whole thing, you still outclass her.”
“I know, but she’s always been a tricky unicorn to work around.” Sunset huffed. In all her years, Gingersnap had proven herself to be quite the nuisance. It helped that she was an accomplished unicorn, being the second best at Celestia’s school for the gifted. Sunset was the first, of course. Her competition might be cocky, but she wasn’t stupid. Gingersnap never went up against anyone unless she was certain she had a chance to win. Whether by playing fair, or fighting dirty.
Spike put down his books and sat up. “You know, you could always just call this off. Gingersnap is strong, I’ll give her that, but she’s not you. I’m afraid about you going overboard with this.”
“Overboard?” Sunset snort. “Pfft, as if. If anypony is going overboard, it’s her. I mean, making my friends look like foals? Daring to be proclaimed the greatest unicorn in the land? That’s me, Spike.”
Spike pinched the bridge of his snout. “Sunset, you need to learn to control your ego. One day I fear it’s going to blot out mom’s sun and I don’t think she’ll very much care for that.”
“Oh shut up,” Sunset huffed. ‘Stupid Spike and his stupid advice.’ Her ego was not a problem. If someone had a problem with it, too bad. They could all be burned to ash for all she cared. She’d make sure not to say that too her ‘friends’ though. It still felt odd thinking of them like that. They were ‘close’ in a manner of speaking, but she hadn’t really had much time to hang out the last week. ‘I’ll do that later and write a letter. I’m sure that’ll make mom happy.’
Friends weren’t important right now. Now she had to duel her ex-rival. Ex, in that the princess really didn’t consider her that anymore. She was just some washed up has been. Made her smile a bit inside, if only temporarily. She needed to bring her A-Game. So she had to bulk up, as it were. ‘A little fuel can go a long way,’ she thought, eying some candles. She took a few steps and literally slurped up the flames.
Elemental magic isn’t uncommon. Most ponies can use an element or two. However, there are others who find it much more natural to do so. These are Elementals, who naturally harness select elements with ease and power that can’t really be matched. Elementals aren’t uncommon in society, except for one subclass: Blood Elementals. Blood Elementals are the strongest type, giving them access to powers and abilities that normal Elementals couldn’t dream of gaining. The most important being attributes said flames carried.
The candles didn’t give her much power, but they made her coat shine a bit. The inherent nature of the candles flame was to give light to a room. That’s what Sunset had copied. Made her seem a bit more regal, if that was possible. She was Celestia’s daughter, of course everything about her was regal.
Sunset grinned deviously. “Do you honestly think you can beat me, Gingersnap? Me?!! I am Princess Sunset Shimmer, daughter of Celestia, the sun goddess, the immortal ruler of Equestria. You were doomed from the start.” Her mane took on a wispy, fiery appearance similar to a blazing candle. “I’ll make you regret ever crossing me. I’ll make you regret the day you were born!” She laughed, which could honestly be mistaken for a villainous laugh with how creepy and vicious it was. “Nothing will get in the way of our duel!”
The door slammed open. “Gingersnap moved the battle to tomorrow,” Lightning called inside.
“BUCK YOU, GINGERSNAP!” Sunset’s Canterlot Voice shook the entire library.
“Drama Princess,” Spike mumbled, catching a fireball to the face.
“Hey Sunset,” Fiddlesticks casually trotted in behind Lightning. “Are ya still upset?”
“Upset?” Sunset snorted. “Why would I be upset?”
“Ya were more ornery than a rattlesnake in a thunderstorm,” Fiddlesticks deadpanned. “It looked like ya wanted to burn that unicorn right then and there.”
“Tempted,” Sunset admitted.
“That ain’t right, Sunset.” Fiddlesticks said.
“Why?” Lightning frowned. “She’s a jerk. She has it coming. Didn't you see what she did to me? To Quickfix? Sunset’s gotta hate her for a reason.”
“Ah just don’t want ya to go rushin’ off and fight is all,” Fiddlesticks mumbled. “Ya could get hurt.”
“Relax,” Sunset said, a bit touched that Fiddlesticks was thinking of her. “It’s a Magic Duel. We aren’t going to trade blows, unless somepony steps up their game.” ‘I know that mare will. I’ll just have to smash her first.’
“Maybe ya can sort this whole thin’ out without duelin’ at all,” Fiddlesticks smiled.
“That’s very optimistic of you,” Sunset rolled her eyes. “But that’s not going to happen. You don’t know Gingersnap like I do.”
*Previously, in the life and times of Sunset Shimmer*
Little Sunset was growing tired of all the parents coming over. It just wasn’t fun to run around and hope they’d pick her. That was becoming a fool’s hope. The filly tried not to cry. She was strong. That didn’t stop her from crying to herself some nights. The other children didn’t dare disturb. A few severe burns had taught them that. So Sunset was just lying down in her bed with a blanket over her head to cover up her red eyes.
“Hey you,” a new voice, a filly about her age from the sound of it, spoke up. “Get up.”
“Huh?” Sunset poked her little head out from the sheets. A brown filly was looking at her with a slight glare. “What do you want?” She matched it.
“Why are you in your bed?” The filly asked, stomping a little hoof. “Mommy and daddy want me to have a sister or brother. You should be jumping at the chance.”
Sunset scrunched up her muzzle as if she had tasted a rotten fruit. She didn’t like other kids taking that tone with her. “Why would I?”
“It’s because we’re House Razorsharp, duh.” Gingersnap’s tone made it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re one of the longest, purest, bestest unicorn families ever.”
“Good for you,” Sunset huffed and turned her head. She was going to ignore this loud filly. She wanted to be alone.
“Yes, good for me.” Gingersnap giggled. “It could be good for you too, if mommy and daddy accept you.”
“They won’t,” Sunset growled.
“But you’re a unicorn,” Gingersnap said. “We’re the best and mommy and daddy want another. Mommy says she’d gut dad if he tried to make another with her. I don’t want that to happen, because I love my daddy.”
Sunset wanted her to go away more than anything. ‘Rub more salt into the wound, why don’t you?’ The filly sniffed. “Nobody wants me.”
“You’re silly,” Gingersnap chuckled. “They could and it’d be an honor. We’re Razorsharps.”
“That doesn’t mean anything to me,” Sunset turned her head to glare at her. “It’s just some stupid title.”
“Stupid title?” Gingersnap narrowed her eyes. “We’re the bestest unicorns ever. We earned that title.”
“What did you do to earn it?” Sunset asked. “You don’t even have your cutie mark.”
“Neither do you,” Gingersnap snapped back. “At least I have a mommy and daddy. You’re just a mean orphan.”
Sunset snarled, standing up. That was the last straw. She was tired of all this ‘mommy and daddy’ nonsense. Why couldn’t this filly see that and just go away and leave her alone. “I’m a mean orphan? You haven’t seen me mean, jerk.”
“I have and mommy and daddy wouldn’t like it,” Gingersnap pointed her snout up into the air and walked off. “You could have been a sister, but too bad. I’m going to tell mommy and daddy not to take you. Enjoy being alone.”
She didn’t know why, but Sunset felt a little of herself break at that comment. She wanted to have someone love her like family. Tender Care loved her, at least she thought she did. However, she wanted a real mommy. Tender just looked after her and all that because she had to. “That’s not fair.”
“Why?” Gingersnap turned and snorted. “You don’t wanna see them, ‘cause you’re too busy hiding under your blanket. A real Razorsharp never hides from anything. We’re brave.”
“I’m brave,” Sunset jumped off the bed.
“That’s not what I saw,” Gingersnap said. “I want a brave sister, not some coward.”
“Shut up,” Sunset’s horn sparked. She was no coward.
“Coward, coward, coward.” Gingersnap smirked. “Is that bothering you? Maybe you should go and hide in your blanky.”
“You’d make a mean sister.”
“Take that back,” Gingersnap snarled, stomping a little hoof. “I’d be a great sister.”
“You’re being mean to me.”
“You’re not my sister.”
“I could be.”
“No,” Gingersnap scrunched up her snout. “I don’t want you.”
“But ah just wanted to put a little positivity into the flashback,” she whined.
“Any flashback with Gingersnap in it is not positive,” Sunset said.
“Trust me on that,” Spike sighed as he put down his book. “Let’s just hope they don’t break much this time around.”
“Didn’t know that you two went that far back,” Lightning chuckled. “Sounds like you two could relate.”
“I have nothing in common with her,” Sunset groused.
“Except your tempers,” Spike pointed out, to which Sunset pounced on him with a snarl. Spike just laughed as his sister tried to beat him up. Given how he was an earth dragon and she was just a unicorn, her punches and kicks did little, if anything. Spike traded ‘blows’, mostly by either tickling a spot or light snacks. The two tussled about, until Sunset was laughing.
“Why can’t I beat you?” Sunset smiled.
“Because I’m the tussling champion,” Spike chuckled, pinning her down underneath him. “Also, these.” He lifted a clawed hand and twiddled his fingers in the air.
She narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I do,” Spike’s assault was without mercy. The mare underneath him squirmed and laughed as his fingers did their magic. “Surrender.”
“N-never! Help!”
“On it,” Fiddlesticks was not one to leave a friend in trouble. So she tackled Spike to the ground and tried to tickle him. Needless to say, she quickly found herself to be his next victim. “H-help!”
“I’m staying out of this,” Lightning smirked.
“T-traitor,” Sunset huffed, trying to ease her breathing after all that tickling. Of course, Spike had wormed his tail around her while she wasn’t looking. Within seconds, it was wrapped around her and the tip went to work. “N-not fair.”
Pizzelle wouldn’t call herself a master musician. She had met a number of them on her travels in her younger years and wouldn’t dare to compare herself to any of them. So she wasn’t too skilled in the arts of singing, but she was certainly good at humming. It wasn’t anything too great, but it was fun to humm with her friends as they baked the day away.
Love Tap and Ditzy Doo were helping her bake a few cakes for the upcoming sale she had advertised. Her little stint of baking had mostly been with cookies. She needed cakes and lots of them. Thankfully, she had two fellow master bakers in hoof. It was also rather convenient that her home also served as her store, so she didn’t have to worry about upkeeping two buildings.
“You know,” Love Tap spoke up as she added some cherry icing to a three layer cake. “It’s been far too long since we’ve just baked together.”
“It’s only been a week, Love Tap.” Pizzelle smiled, checking the timers.
“I know,” Love Tap chuckled. “It just feels like forever.”
“A lot of things feel like ‘forever ago’,” Ditzy piped up. She was over by the sink, cleaning her hooves of excess dough. Given her tone and how she was gazing outside, it was obvious she was talking more to herself than to anyone. She was currently wearing a pair of thick lined, green crystal glasses. They helped her eyes remain focused and kept them directly where she wanted them to be. Magic lenses, like hers, were rather common, especially in chaos sects, where mutations were numerous.
“Oh no you don’t,” Pizzelle wrapped a wing around Ditzy’s shoulder. “No sulking is allowed in my house.”
Ditzy rolled her eyes. “I was not sulking. I was just thinking about something really hard.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Pizzelle chuckled and removed her wing. She took in a deep breath. The smell of fresh cake was invigorating. Exhaling, she smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth. Her fangs weren’t as pronounced as most pegas. She inherited a bit more of her earth pony mother than her pegasus father. “I think we’re almost done for the day.”
“So soon?” Love Tap pouted. “It was just getting to the good part.”
“Oh hush,” Ditzy snorted in mirth. “We still have to set up the cakes up front.” She eyed some of the rather tall ones that seemed a tad bit flimsy. “Which might take a bit more work than I thought.”
“Hmm,” Pizzelle tapped her chin. “Perhaps I should have made them larger. It was very silly of me to think they’d be fine. Very silly. Oh that reminds me of the time I baked in YakYakistan. The cake toppled over a couple of warriors and me and Presto had to run for our lives.” She laughed. “Oh those were the days.”
Just then, there was a little chime at the door. “Seems we have company.” Love Tap spoke up. “I’ll go and do the talking. You two can finish up here.”
“That’s a-” Ditzy started, but was interrupted by some shouting in some foreign language from upstairs. She sighed. “Dinky’s beaten him again.”
Pizzelle quirked an eyebrow. The trio always brought their kids along for little playdates when they went on baking sprees. Love Tap was generous enough to give her some of the newest ‘gaming console’ things so they could play. She honestly preferred good old fasioned board games. ‘I’m just glad Hikaru will have somepony to play with regularly.’ “What did he say this time?”
“You don’t want to know,” Love Tap’s brow was furrowed and she had a light blush. “Honestly, I don’t know...I’ll have to talk with his brother later today. Seems he forgot one of mommy’s rules.”
“I’m glad my Amethyst doesn’t talk like that,” Ditzy shook her head as she walked upstairs.
“Gingersnap, what are you doing?” Giddilee huffed as the two made their way through town. It had been a couple of hours since the ‘incident’ and Giddilee was still on edge. Gingersnap’s steps were off and her stance wobbled with each one taken. She had to support her along the way, but Gingersnap was always a stubborn mare. “You should be in bed, resting.”
“What I need is a good snack and some excersize,” Gingersnap snorted. “I’ll get some rest later. The duel isn’t till tomorrow morning, so I have plenty of time to do what I want.”
“Gingersnap…” Giddilee sighed. “I know I’m not as smart as you, but-”
“You’re right,” Gingersnap huffed. “You’re not as smart as me, so shut up and do what you’re told.” The two walked in silence for a bit. She looked over to see her friend’s head lowered and her ears splayed sideways. There was a foreign little jolt that ran through her chest, making her sigh. The showpony softly nuzzled her friend. Ponies were a physical race, so a lot of their emotions and thoughts were conveyed through touch. “That was wrong of me to say. I didn’t mean it, Giddilee. I know you’re clever.”
“I know you know,” Giddilee snorted with mirth, returning the nuzzle. “I’m just happy you said it out loud.”
“I compliment you all the time,” Gingersnap glared at her. “I’m not that big of a jerk, you know.”
“Well, maybe you should show others a bit of kindness like that.” Giddilee suggested, before wilting under Gingersnap’s narrowed gaze. “Shutting up now.”
“Other ponies are what got me into this, Giddilee.” Gingersnap snarled. “You’re the only one who’s stuck by me, so sorry for only showing you a little kindness. That’s such a travesty. Total strangers couldn’t go a day without me being a little nice to them.”
“You don’t have to be sarcastic,” Giddilee muttered.
Gingersnap chuckled and they continued. That is until Gingersnap stopped by a large house that seemed to co-function as a bakery. She didn’t find it that odd. Many ponies made their homes their shops. Her stomach rumbled and she thought a little bite wouldn’t hurt. ‘As long as Sunset doesn’t show her ugly mug, I’m sure it’ll go just fine.’ She pushed open the door and a little bell chimed over head.
Out from the kitchen, stepped a cream colored earth pony. “Hello and welcome to ‘Swift Bakes’. I’m Love Tap and how can I help you today?”
“Two gingersnaps,” quick and to the point. Gingersnap would usually try and act a bit nicer to shop owners. That way she could weasel out discounts and perhaps a free treat or two after a performance. However, she wasn’t feeling all that well right now so she didn’t care how she acted. “Make it quick. I have a busy schedule today.”
Love Tap nodded. “Two gingersnaps coming right up,” the mare reached down and pulled out a couple that were sitting on display in the glass case. She put them on the table. “That will be one bit, please.”
Tossing the bit onto the counter, Gingersnap snatched the two up with her magic. Making sure to give the other one to Giddilee, she took a bite. Immediately, her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and she spat out the offending pastry onto the ground. “You call this a gingersnap?”
Love Tap frowned. “Well yes. We’ve never had any complaints before with them.”
“I think it’s nice,” Giddilee put in, but her friend ignored her.
“Nice?” Gingersnap’s left eye twitched. She knew that she shouldn’t overreact to this. She shouldn’t. She needed to calm down and think this through… ‘BUCK IT!’ She lit up her horn and in a single teleport, switched places with Love Tap and rushed into the kitchen. There were two pegasi inside who turned to give her an inquisitive stare. She didn’t give them a chance to respond when she lit up her horn and teleported them outside with her friend and Love Tap.
Gingersnap nodded in satisfaction. She turned to look over the kitchen and frowned. ‘How long has it been since I’ve been in a kitchen? It feels like years...Maybe it was.’ She had been on the road for so long that she forgot what it was like to have a kitchen to herself, or just being able to enter one. On occasion, she had been able to walk into one, but she never got to stay long or do anything inside.
She walked over to the over and just looked at it. A small, genuine smile spread across her face. The mare was elated. “It’s been too long.” So she go to work.
Her grandpa wasn’t feeling well. He just laid in bed all bandaged up. The little filly knew someone had hurt her grandpa. ‘Those meanie griffins break a lot of ponies. Why’d they have to break my grandpa?’ Gingersnap never understood why the griffins were so aggressive and why they kept attacking. Maybe they were just a race of bullies.
That didn’t matter. What mattered is that her grandpa wouldn’t play with her anymore. He was too weak. Gingersnap never felt so low. Her parents never played with her. They were too busy and the other ponies in class weren’t on her level. They were too stupid or just peasants. She couldn’t play with them. Her grandpa was rich, smart, and nice. He always took her out to do fun stuff.
Now he couldn’t do anything and she was bored. The fancy toys didn’t interest her anymore and she’d read all her books. She huffed. “At least that brat isn’t here.” She and that ‘Sunset’ filly had argued for a while and that had put her in a sour mood. She knew that she was never going to see that filly again, so she shouldn’t worry about it.
After spending another moment in perpetual boredom, Gingersnap decided to sneak out of her room. Her parents wanted her to keep practicing her ice spells, but she already had a knack for them and it was getting old. They were running out of spell varieties, sports, and combat practices for her to try and her parents were getting desperate. She excelled at most, but she still didn’t have her mark. ‘It’s not my fault I don’t have a cutie mark.’
It was relatively easy that day. Her parents were out and most of the staff were at home with their own families. She thought they were lazy, since this house was supposed to be their priority. That’s what her parents had told her. They were help and if they weren’t doing their jobs, they were useless.
Gingersnap didn’t have to go far to find her grandpa’s room. It was slightly ajar, so she decided to easy it a bit more open and poke her head inside. Her grandpa was laying on his bed as usual. His body was mostly bandaged and his backlegs had casts over them, similar to the metallic one over his broken horn. She couldn’t help but cringe at that. Unicorn horns were special. If you broke it, you could very well die. Unicorns were fragile like that. Well, they were fragile in general.
He was just lazing about. His eyes glazed over as he just stared around him, even more bored out of his mind then she was. He was a soldier. He fought the bad guys. If he didn’t get to fight, what good was he? That’s what Gingersnap knew and that made her sad. Her parents kept talking about sending him elsewhere. ‘I don’t want grandpa to go.’
She thought for a moment on what she should do to make him happy. Then an idea struck him. ‘Gingersnaps!’ Her grandpa loved gingersnaps. He even pretended to eat her on occasion, tickling her into submission as he played the big bad monster. She’d make him some and then he’d be happy again and get better.
The little filly rushed through the house, eventually running into the kitchen. Several staff members found themselves nearly falling over as the little filly, or little terror as they called her, rushed on by. Gingersnap stopped after bursting through the kitchen doors. She looked around in amazement. She’d never been in the kitchen room before. Her mother said it wasn’t their place. She didn’t care about that now. She had a gingersnap to make.
The cook blinked in shock. “Can I help you, mistress?”
“I want a gingersnap,” the little mistress proclaimed, stomping a hoof on the ground of emphasis. “I want it now and I want it to be the best gingersnap ever.”
“If I do recall,” the cook spoke in turn. “I already gave you enough gingersnaps not but an hour ago.”
“This isn’t for me, stupid peasant.” Gingersnap scoffed. “This is for grandpa.”
“Oh,” the cook nodded in understanding. “Him.”
“Yes, him.” Gingersnap said. “He’s been really sad and he doesn’t play with me anymore. I want him to be happy again, so I want a great gingersnap.”
“I’m afraid ‘great’ gingersnaps require an extra secret ingredient,” the cook smiled.
“What’s that?” Gingersnap tilted her head to the side in curiosity.
“Love.”
“That’s stupid.”
The cook laughed. “Oh you’ll see how ‘stupid’ it really is.”
“YOU STUPID, LITTLE FLANKHOLE!” Love Tap shouted as she bucked the magically shut doors once more. She had been doing that for quite some time.
“Love, language.” Pizzelle pipe up.
“Right,” Love Tap ceased bucking and groaned. She was growing tired and her back legs ached. “Sorry. Got caught up in the moment.”
“It happens,” Ditzy shrugged. It should be noted that she single-hoofedly fought off a dozen nightmare cultists that had tried to hurt her daughters, including pulling one of their legs off with her jaws. Ditzy was a nice mare, but she the epitome of overprotective mothers. Of course, she also once threw Lyra through a wall once just because she accidently spilled her drink in Dinky’s face. Yeah, it was a double-edged sword.
“Don’t worry mom,” Button Mash poked his head out from the hallway. “I’ve heard you say way nastier stuff.”
“Go to your room, Button.” Love Tap gave him a stern gaze which only a mother can give. Button, being the wise gamer he was, rushed back upstairs to his other friends.
“You shouldn’t really worry about Gingersnap,” Giddilee spoke up. “She wouldn’t do anything to harm your kitchen. She’s not a bad pony.”
“She just threw us out of our own kitchen and locked it with her magic,” Love Tap growled.
“I’m sure she has a her reasons,” Ditzy said.
Just then, the magic ceased to be. “Finally!” She burst into the kitchen. “Listen here you little…” Her voice died in her throat as Gingersnap hovered over a batch of gingersnaps. There were tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh dear.”
Pizzelle was the first to act, rushing over and checking up on the mare. “Are you alright, dearie? If something’s wrong, I’m sure we can help. Is it the onions? I knew I should have put better seals on them. That blasted thing won’t properly seal right.”
“No,” Gingersnap wiped away the tears with her foreleg. “I’m fine. Don’t you dare start pitying me or something. I’m fine.”
Pizzelle frowned and looked to the gingersnaps. She gently smiled. “They look lovely.”
“...Thank you,” Gingersnap’s mouth seemed to twist a bit, as though those words were a bit foreign to her. “These are basically how I got my cutie mark, so of course they’re the best you could ever taste. I am the Stupendous Gingersnap for a reason. Even my pastries are to die for.”
“Sunset, I can tuck myself in thank you very much.” Spike huffed as his sister made sure the bedsheets were securely placed around him.
“Yes, but I do a better job of it.” Sunset smirked as she finished her work. “There, that wasn’t so bad.”
“Did you have to place a seal over the doors and windows?” Spike quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s a bit excessive? Mom’s placed enough wards and soldiers about town that I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about anything messing with Ponyville short of a dragon attack.”
“I’m just taking a few extra precautions,” Sunset was going to protect her little brother, whether he liked her methods or not. Well, she knew he didn’t care for most of them, but that didn’t bother her. As long as he was safe, she’d be happy. She magicked a book over to them. “Now, let’s get started shall we?”
“I think it’d be easier for us to read together if I was on the bed instead of it in it,” Spike pointed out. “It’s kind of hard to turn...or move at all.” Which was true. Sunset had enhanced the bedsheets to be incredibly durable. For his protection, of course.
“I’m going to be doing the reading,” she lightly bopped his nose with her hoof. She was going to read to him just like their mother would when he was a babe. “You just sit back and enjoy the show.”
“But Sunny…” Spike pouted, giving her his best puppy dog stare.
“No…” Sunset huffed and opened the book. She turned to see that he was still looking at her like that. She growled. He knew that look always worked on her. Not this time. No, she was going to withstand it. She was the better mare. The older sister. She was going to… ‘BUCK IT!’ She teleported Spike out from under the covers so that he was laying next to her. “I take point.”
“No objects here,” he chuckled as he nuzzled her. She would allow it, since they were alone. “So, normal voices, or ‘character’ ones.”
“Are normal voices ever interesting?” Sunset quirked an eyebrow.
“Point taken,” Spike chuckled. “Just so you know, I think I outdo you on the ‘kissing’ noises though and since this book has plenty of that, I think I should take point.”
“No, I’m your older sister.” Sunset pointed out. “I’ll take the lead.”
“I’m bigger than you and can breathe fire.”
“I can eat fire and twice as smart as you’ll ever be.”
“I can withstand lava.”
“I can perform magic.”
“My face is better than yours.”
“No, mine is.”
The two of them did their best to stare down one another, before they burst out laughing. “I almost forgot you had a sense of humor.”
“Funny,” Sunset snickered. “I almost forgot you had one too.” She snuggled up against her brother and started off the book. She loved him and there was not a damn thing anyone could do to take him away from her again.
Gingersnap was not a morning pony. She preferred to sleep in and get her daily dose of beauty sleep. She had to keep up her beautiful appearance, after all. So when she was roused from her slumber by somepony knocking at the door, she was infuriated. Her mane was a bit of a mess and her eyes bloodshot. She trotted over to the door and answered it herself. Normally, she would have kicked Giddilee and forced her to do it. This morning she was too lazy, so she did it herself. GIngersnap had a strange definition of lazy.
“Who dares wake the Stupendous Gingersnap?” She looked about and couldn’t see anyone. ‘Was this some sort of prank?’
“Down here,” she tilted her head down to see a little, skinny pegasus colt. He was tan with brown hair and had buck teeth. All in all, she thought he was ugly. He held out a letter in his hoof. “I have a message from Princess Sunset Shimmer for you.”
Gingersnap scowled. Normally, she would show restraint. The more anger and conceit she showed for bumpkins, the less money she got. However, this was anything but normal. She grabbed the letter out from his grasp and ripped it open. Reading it to herself, she scowled. “A farm? She wants to fight on a filthy farm?” ‘Fitting for her.’
“Umm,” the little colt spoke up. “Could I have my bit now?”
“Get lost, feather brain.” She shouted in his face before slamming the door behind her.
“Wha?” Giddilee was jolted awake by the noise. “What’s going on?” She drearily rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Was it about Sunset?”
“Who else could it be?” Gingersnap snorted, tossing the letter into her ‘friend’s’ face. “Santa Hooves?”
“It’s not nice to use his name in vain,” Giddilee pouted as she gave the letter a quick read through. “Oh this is nice. I always did like going to my aunt’s farm.”
“Good for you,” Gingersnap scoffed as she got in front of the mirror and combed her hair with her magic. “I’m sure you can wallow in the mud with the pigs and all that while I put Sunset in her place.”
“You know,” Giddilee frowned. “The more we talk about it. The more I think this is a bad idea.” At Gingersnap’s scowl, she gulped. “I mean, she’s a princess, daughter of Celestia herself. She has a lot of magic and if you did beat her, well, stuff could happen to us.”
“Nothing will happen to us,” Gingersnap scowled. “We’ll be fine. Just trust me on this, Giddilee. I’ve always kept us safe."
Giddilee nodded. "I know. You're my friend and that'll never change."
"And don't you forget that," Gingersnap smiled, before it turned wicked. "Now go get me my cape and hat. I have a duel to win.” A low giggle bubbled in her throat before it grew into full blown maniacal laughter. Said laughter was halted by the knocking at the door. “Who the blazes is that?” She teleported over to the door and opened it.
“Hello,” the armor clad stallion nodded. She noted he was rather cute. “I’m Private Shade. I just so happened to be passing by when I heard some evil laughter on the premises. I’m not sure if you knew, but this town can only have so much evil laughter. I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay up.”
Gingersnap blinked in confusion. “Um...what?”
Shade roguishly grinned, which caused her to blush slightly. “Don’t worry. I think we can work something out.”
‘Is he asking me out on a date?’ Gingersnap thought and immediately her mind went into a state of panic. She rarely got asked out these days and here was a perfectly good looking unicorn on her doorstep doing just that. Blushing, she stuttered, “Ummm...well…I suppose-”
“SHADE!” The Captain of the local guard, Thunderlane, marched on over. “What did I tell you about using that uniform? I already kicked you out of the guard. You have no right to wear that.”
“Well, I was just making sure this lady felt comfortable in town.” Shade’s ears fell back and his head lowered in submission and fear.
Thunderlane stopped before Shade. His larger, muscular frame was a tad bit overbearing. “You’re lucky you were given a royal pardon by her royal majesty, Princess Celestia, or I’d have you executed for disrespecting the guard. I want that set of armor back in the barracks by sundown, or so help me, I’ll mount your head on my wall. Am I understood?”
The now shaking Shade nodded. “Y-yes sir.”
“Good,” Thunderlane snorted, before trotting off.
Shade sighed and then smiled as he turned to her. “So, about later?”
Sunset had only been on a farm once in her life. That once was around a week ago when she first met Fiddlesticks. She really didn’t want to go back, but, as was typical of magic duels, it was standard procedure to take them outside of towns and such. There was always the risk of something going wrong. Still, she wanted an audience. Plenty of ponies were bound to show up later.
She’s have to endure. No matter how disgusting farms were. No matter how degrading it was for a princess to be found practicing her magic around pig styes. She would endure. ‘But if a single beast even thinks of slinging their excrement my way, I’m going to burn this place to the ground. I’m sure I can reimburse the Apple family later.’
Some of said beasts were a domesticated herd of Placerias. The brown and green mottled mammal-like reptiles waddled about as Winona, the family’s small pet sheepdog, and the Apples herded them away from the field. Placerias were a common farm animal, kept because of their meat which pegasi adored. Pigs were still common as well, more so because they bred faster.
“Sorry ‘bout them, Sunset.” Fiddlesticks spoke up as she watched the herd trek on. “They like to roam about and since ya didn’t say which field ya wanted….”
“It’s fine,” Sunset rolled her eyes, though she made sure to steal a few glances to the firm hunk that was Big Macintosh. Given his form, it was only natural. “It was last minute. Hopefully, that idiot will get my message.”
Fiddlesticks frowned. “Why’d ya have to call her an idiot? She seemed well enough on stage.”
“Maybe on stage,” Sunset said. Her mind flickered to dozens of instances between her and Gingersnap that left a bad taste in her mouth. “But in real life? I’ll tell you this. She’s no saint.”
“If’n ya say so,” Fiddlesticks sighed. “Just go easy on her. Maybe she’s changed.”
“Pfft, as if.” Sunset scoffed. She watched Quickfix trot over. The scientist mare was holding up some strange kind of rod that had a fluorescent blue light at the end. ‘I will never understand that mare.’ “So, are you done doing...whatever it is you’re doing?”
Quickfix nodded. “Just about done, Sunset.” She tapped the rod and the light went out. “Area seems safe. No excess spells or crystal stuff that’ll mess up yer duel.”
Sunset shrugged. “If you say so.” ‘It’s Quickfix. Don’t question it. Besides, it’s very much likely she just tweaked a specialized crystal to work inside the metallic rod,’ she reasoned with herself. She felt something bump into her and glanced back to see a young Placerias. “Beat it.”
“Aww, he’s just tryin’ to be friendly.” Fiddlesticks cooed, walking over to the young beast. Nuzzling it, she guided it back to its herd.
“Yer mighty high-strung aboot this,” Quickfix quirked an eyebrow. “How far does this whole feud go?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sunset snapped at her friend. “I’m going to show that upstart who’s in charge and that’ll be the end of it. Besides, I’m not high strung. I’m perfectly collected.” Something smashed into the ground. “DIE!” She wheeled around and let loose a powerful fireball.
“Yipe!” Shade shouted as part of his tail caught fire. He quickly used a spell to blow it out. “Don’t do that.”
“Shade?” Sunset’s eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”
“Let’s just say,” Shade deadpanned. “Today’s just not my day, sweet cheeks.”
“...And then I remember you’re a damned heretic,” Sunset’s left eye twitched, readying another blast of fire. “I told you not to call me that.”
Shade grinned. “I know,” he jumped to his hooves. “So, what’s happening?”
“She’s duelin’ some new unicorn in town,” Quickfix summed up. “Seems like she and Sunset don’t rightly get along. Ah ain’t one to blether aboot others, but that’s what ah gathered.”
“That’s none of your business,” Sunset growled. She was one step away from roasting the two of them. She didn’t need them prying or anything like that, friend or not.
“Easy now,” Quickfix held up a hoof in defense. “Don’t mean anythin’ by it.”
Just then, thankfully for their sakes, Lightning Dust touched down next to Quickfix. She gave a little mock salute and smirked. “Skies are clear, Sunset. There isn’t a flier for miles that is going to miss this beating.” She snickered.
“Good work,” Sunset huffed, cutting off power to the spell she was charging. ‘It would seem my friends can be of some use.’ “Now we just have to wait for that witch to appear.”
“Speak it’s name,” a familiar voice chuckled, before Gingersnap and Giddille ‘winked’ into being right before their eyes in a shower of sparks and stars. “And it will appear. Don’t you remember that old saying, Sunset?” The unicorn had an ever confident smirk on her face. She turned, smacking her tail in Sunset’s face. “Of course you didn’t. You were always poor in spoken incantations. Why should you be any better now?”
“Can I shoot her?” A bolt of electricity sparked across Lightning’s wing. She lifted it up and pointed a single feather Gingersnap’s way.
“It won’t do nothin’,” Fiddlesticks called over, having noticed Lightning’s action.
“I’ll make me feel better,” Lightning muttered.
Gingersnap laughed. “What interesting friends you have, Sunset? So rude, crass, and barbaric. They fit you oh so well.”
Sunset grit her teeth. That ticked her off worse than she thought it would. ‘I really shouldn’t let this get to me. They’re my friends, but I don’t know them all that well. Is this what friendship means? You get defensive of them?’ She pondered thought to herself, but stored it for later. “It’s Princess Sunset Shimmer to you.”
“You are not a princess,” Gingersnap scoffed. “Not by birth and that’s what matters. I intend to prove that today.” She clapped her hooves, her horn shimmered, and her stage appeared a ways off. “When I best you, the whole of Equestria will know that I truly am The Stupendous Gingersnap, heir to the Razorsharp lineage.”
“Razorsharp?” Quickfix scowled. “Shoulda known. Ye no good tribalist scabby bassa.”
“I very much don’t care for your northern slang, Miss Quickfix.” Gingersnap snorted. “Just because my family has had such luck up north doesn’t mean we don’t share it.”
“Ye take our gems and sell it to us fer double what they’re worth,” Quickfix’s horn lit up as she lowered her head. “Tell me why ah don’t just beat the tar out o’ ye?”
“Poor form,” Gingersnap looked at her hoof as if it was much more fascinating. “That and your father’s experiments might get put on indefinite hold. A few choice words and he might even get thrown out of his little village, or said village won’t be getting any supplies in the coming future.” She grinned. “And whose fault will that be?”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Sunset held up an accusing hoof. “Your family may have power, a lot of power, but you forget I can overrule any decision they make.”
“Actually, that would be your mother.” Gingersnap smirked. “Such things on that magnitude must be brought to Princess Celestia’s attention. By that time, I don’t know what will happen.”
Quickfix lunged and both Lightning and Fiddlesticks caught hold of her. “Let me go. Just let me go. It’ll be over quick.”
“Temper, temper.” Gingersnap waggled her hoof.
Giddilee gently touched the hoof and brought it down. “I think that’s enough, Gingersnap.”
Gingersnap sent her a withering glare that had Giddilee quivering, before she sighed. “You’re right. Time to put my bits were my mouth is.” She grinned. “It looks like our audience has arrived.” Sunset turned her head to see a bunch of the townsfolk trotting up to the farm. Some of them even had picnic baskets. “Do you wish to withdraw now? Nopony will think less of you, Sunset.”
Sunset grinned and sent her a challenging stare. “No, this is perfect. I’m going to rip that mask of yours off and show the world how horrible you are. They’ll throw you out of town, just like you were thrown out of your family, Miss Razorsharp.”
“Oh dear,” Giddilee shrunk back.
Gingersnap scowled. “How dare you, you little orphan brat?”
“It’s not nice making fun of other pony’s like that, is it?” Sunset smirked. “It’s not fun being an ‘orphan’ now is it?”
“At least I can go talk to my birth parents,” Gingersnap snorted in pure rage, pawing at the ground. “They’ll take me back. They know better. That’s more than I can say for you and your little reptile.”
Sunset froze in place. “Did you just call my brother a reptile? A cold blooded beast?” She was thankful that her brother was off helping Rarity and Coco with some dresses. She didn’t want him here to see what was going to happen.
“Maybe I did,” Gingersnap twirled around on the tips of her hooves and sauntered off. “See you in a few, Sunset.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. If you looked closely, you could see faint flames of absolute rage within them. “Yes, see you soon.”
Celestia’s School for the Gifted, several years ago
Gingersnap was always early for class. It gave her more time to study and relaxation before all the other students arrived. Even though they had made it into this school, most of them weren’t worthy of her time. Her family’s lineage deserved only the best of friends. Since she didn’t have any friends, that just proved how much better than everyone else she was. Perhaps she’d meet somepony someday who fit the bill.
So far, the only other being present was the teacher. He was someone new. The old one had scolded her for bad behavior. Her family had seen to her dismissal from the school. Gingersnap knew she was perfect as is. Her family wasn’t so sure of that, but that was understandable. A gingersnap cutie mark isn’t exactly something a Razorsharp is supposed to have. She’d just have to make do.
It was at that very moment that the last pony she ever thought she’d see in the flesh walked into the room. Both she and the teacher stood up and bowed. “Princess Celestia,” the teacher spoke. “I didn’t expect to see you here. I apologize for not preparing something worthy of you.”
“My visit was more of a last minute decision,” the solar goddess remarked. The goddess seemed to glow with motherly warmth and security, putting her at ease. Her wings had formed a dome over her back, like she was protecting something there. “So you have nothing to apologize for. If anyone must apologize, it is I. The past few days have truly been tiring for me, so it simply slipped my mind to send you a message.”
“Of course,” the teacher nodded and stood up. “What can I do for you today, my princess?”
“I want you to take on another student,” Celestia said. “While I’ll be handling most of her studies, I want her to socialize.” There was some giggling from underneath her wings.
Gingersnap quirked an eyebrow. ‘Is somepony under her wings? No fair. I should be under her wings, cause I’m a Razorsharp.’ When Celestia unfolded her wings, the little Razorsharp gasped in shock.
“I would like for you to meet me daughter,” Celestia peered over and smiled. The yellow filly from the orphanage was tickling a baby dragon. “Sunset Shimmer.”
The teacher’s jaw dropped. “Y-you want me to teach your daughter?”
Gingersnap couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A part of her didn’t want to believe. ‘It’s that brat from the orphanage. Why is she Celestia’s daughter? She isn’t worthy. She’s just a stupid orphan.’ She couldn’t help but feel frustration and a little anger. She was more worthy to be Celestia’s daughter, not some brat who had no one. She didn’t even have a family title.
“Of course I do,” Celestia nodded. “Your record is exceptional. I have every bit of trust that you’ll treat my daughter well.”
“Of course I will, Your Majesty.” The teacher smiled. “Your daughter-”
“Because if you don’t,” Celestia’s smile never left her face, but the whole room started to warm up considerably. “I will know.” The teacher gulped. “Now,” she picked up Sunset, the little orphan, with her magic and placed her on the ground. She gave her a little nuzzle. “Be good for the teacher.”
“Okay mommy,” Sunset seemed giddy when she said ‘mommy’. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” Celestia seemed to be tearing up a little, before she turned to leave. “Now my little spikey wikey, it’s just us too for a little while.” The little drake reached out for Sunset. Celestia placed her muzzle in his claws, causing the drake to smile and giggle as he grabbed it. “Don’t you worry about your sister. Mommy will make sure her little ones are safe.” She trotted out of the room.
“Now miss Shimmer,” the teacher began.
“That’s Princess Shimmer to you,” Sunset stuck her snout in the air, like she was actually worth something.
‘She’s not,’ Gingersnap scowled. ‘She’s just a stupid little orphan. She doesn’t deserve any title. Somepony needs to remind her of her place.’
“This is the day you finally learn your place, orphan.” Gingersnap straightened her collar as she stared at her reflection. This was her moment of glory. Just mere minutes from now, she would show the world how worthless Sunset Shimmer was. She grinned. “The Stupendous Gingersnap always comes out on top.”
“Gingersnap?” Giddilee trotted inside with a look of pure dread. “The Princess-”
“She is not a princess!” Gingersnap cut her off.
Giddilee sighed. “Sunset’s ready and waiting for you.”
“Well she shan’t wait any longer,” Gingersnap jumped to her hooves, giddily. “Her better is ready.”
“Gingersnap,” Giddilee frowned. “Don’t you think you’ve been pushing this whole feud long enough? Please, just reconsider this. No one will think of you any less if you back down.”
“Reconsider?” Gingersnap whirled around and glared at her friend. “Reconsider now? When I’m so close to fixing everything? No! I’m going through with this and you should support me, Giddilee. We’re not going to have to wander anymore after this.”
“Beating Sunset won’t change anything,” Giddilee implored her friend. “Please, just reconsider. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Gingersnap chuckled. “I’m not the one in danger of getting hurt.” She tugged at her cape. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve, figuratively speaking.” ‘Giddilee is annoying sometimes when she thinks I can’t handle something. It’s charming, but I know I can win this. I’m the superior unicorn.’
“I just think you’re taking this a bit too far,” her friend said. “Somepony could get hurt, like what happened back at school.”
Gingersnap scowled. “So what if I accidently knocked her brother into a raging river with her. They survived, besides, it was a good swimming lesson.” ‘The look on Sunset’s face was priceless.’
“No it…” Giddilee sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this. “Alright, but… just watch yourself out there.” She pulled Gingersnap into a hug, which surprised the performer.
‘Why is she taking so long?’ Sunset thought as she paced around the duel site. The field, thankfully, wasn’t that green so the little flickers of fire that came to life at her hooves as she paced didn’t catch on. Of course, she wouldn’t let them. As a Fire Blood Elemental, she could control her flames but they would sprout with her temper. Her scowl was evident on her face.
“What’s your deal anyway?” Lightning piped up, snacking on an apple. Fiddlesticks had started to give out a few free samples here and there to the oncoming spectators. “You’ve got this.”
“It’s just some tricks,” Fiddlesticks piped up. “No one’s going to get hurt if you win or lose.”
“This won’t be about simple tricks,” Sunset scoffed. “This is a Duel of Magi. Gingersnap wants to pummel me into the ground. She won’t be happy with just out-classing me, not anymore.”
“Or us,” Lightning commented, before she started to look around. “Hey, what happened to Quickfix?”
“She went back home,” Fiddlesticks sighed. “She needed to fix some of her inventions, or something like that. She took Shade with her, for some reason.”
“Good riddance,” Sunset scoffed.
“On the contrary,” Gingersnap’s smug voice caught their attention. They turned to see her saunter over to the dueling area. “I thought he was quite welcome. He fit you so perfectly, Sunset.” She stopped just a few meters short of Sunset, smirking all the while. “One lying fool deserves another.”
Sunset scowled. “Do you want to die now?”
Gingersnap just laughed. “Perish the thought, orphan. You’re being rather overconfident. It almost saddens me to know that it won’t last for long.”
Sunset took a step forward, but Fiddlesticks put a hoof against her chest. “Now, now. Let’s not get all huffy like. Yer just duelin’ fer a bit. This ain’t the time fer such talk.”
“Fiddlesticks,” Sunset huffed and pushed Fiddlesticks away from her. “I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense. I have a duel to win.”
Fiddlesticks frowned and nodded and shooed everypony away. Sunset felt a tad bit bad for telling her off like that, but she had more important things to worry about. ‘I’ll buy her another orchard or something. That’s what you do when you hurt a friend? Buy them stuff?’ She shook her head. She didn’t need to worry about friendship right now. Only glory. She passed by Thunderlane, who was holding up the equestrian flag.
“Alright,” Thunderlane called out. “This is a Magic Duel. You will fight till your opponent is unable to fight or forfeits. This is not to the death and if such a thing occurs, you will be court-martialed and shot. Do you understand?” Both mares nodded. “Good, Fight!” He lowered the flag.
The second the flag lowered, Sunset fired a blast of magic. Gingersnap nimbly dodged, firing a blast of magic herself. Sunset blocked it with a shield spell, before firing once more. She had to admit, that blast had stung a bit when it impacted. She wasn’t going to let that dissuade her.
What did dissuade her a tad, was when instead of dodging the strike, Gingersnap caught the blast in her hoof. It condensed into a ball with it and her hoof covered in a layer of magic. “Sticking magic. Quite hoofy, don’t you think?” With that said, she pushed her hoof outwards. “Return!” The ball of energy shot out quick as a whip.
Sunset teleported out of the way of the ball. To her amazement, it veered back on course. She turned and erected a shield. This time, however, her shield cracked as she was pushed back a few feet from the blast. ‘What the hay? I know I’m not the best shield expert, but that shouldn’t have hurt.’
Unfortunately, the moment she turned off her shield spell, Gingersnap had teleported behind her, grabbed her tail with her magic, and threw Sunset across the ground. She bounced a few times, before teleporting herself to her hooves. “Return! is such a nifty spell. It causes an opponent's own attack to seek out their owner with two times the strength.”
“What is this?” Sunset moved her shoulders to get out the kinks. “A lecture?”
“A demonstration,” Gingersnap stood up on her hind legs and pulled her cape over. She thrust it away dramatically, her horn glowing. Several star like projections appeared around her. “Seering Stars!”
She didn’t have time to do anything but dodge. The stars streaked by, one coming so close it seered some of her mane.
Sunset needed to turn the tide of this battle and she needed to do that now. Gingersnap wasn’t going to win this if she could help it.
Gingersnap laughed. “What’s the matter, Sunset? Do you wish to give up already?”
“No,” Sunset’s horn lit up as she prepared a spell. “If anything, I want to ask you to give up now. I don’t think you want to get your fur singed.” She quickly fired a spell that smashed into the ground in front of her
“And what do you think-” Gingersnap’s comment was cut short when Sunset’s disappeared, only to appear in front of her with her leg’s reared back. The show mare shrieked as she felt the two hooves smack into her chest, sending her flying. She smashed into the ground. “You-” Her eyes widened when she saw a huge fireball come her way. Quickly, she wrapped herself in her cape. The flames flowed over it harmlessly. She laughed as she threw her cape to the side when the flames cleared. “You think I wouldn’t remember your flames? You think little stunts like that will help you win? Face it, you’re-”
Sunset cut her off with another teleport-buck. “I don’t need my flames to buck you.” Gingersnap shot another beam of magic. Sunset just smirked, smacking it away with a hoof covered in a layer of magic. “Pathetic.”
“How dare you call my magic pathetic,” Gingersnap snarled. “Barrage Blast!” With that, several beams of pure energy that swerved about in order to confuse her.
Sunset jumped out of the way, teleporting a distance here or there. The barrage of blast kept at it, sometimes smacking into the ground whenever she erected a shield or pushed it away. She jumped away from a secondary blast when Gingersnap teleported nearby. Sunset smirked as she directed one of the blasts into the show mare.
Gingersnap shrieked as she was pushed back, but disappeared in a flash. “Magi Blade!”
Sunset was hit by a long curved arc of magic. She was thrown off her hooves, but caught herself, allowing her magic to levitate herself in the air. “Do you have to call all your attacks?”
“Seering Stars!” Gingersnap’s attack whizzed by, with Sunset narrowly dodging them. “It’s a valid battle style. You’d know that if you actually paid attention.” She fired a bolt of magic, which Sunset blocked. “No, you had everything hoofed to you on a silver platter just because the princess picked you. Barrage Blast!”
Sunset took the blasts, reflecting them away with strategic shields. “I earned my place.” She fired a blast of fire magic, which Gingersnap side-stepped.
“No you didn’t,” Gingersnap grabbed Sunset in her magic and slammed her into the ground. “You are just some stupid orphan, but you got her love! You got attention! You didn’t deserve a bit of it.”
A bubble of solar magic burst out from Sunset, sending Gingersnap skidding on the earth with pained huffs. ‘Oh, I didn’t know how much I needed to hear such pain.’ Sunset grinned. ‘Karma, Gingersnap.’ “Oh please, is that all? You think you can criticize me when you made my life a living Tartarus?!!”
Gingersnap snarled as she pushed herself off the ground. “Someone had to remind you.”
“Remind me of what?” Sunset snarled as she stormed over to her, fire blazing from her horn.
“Your place!” Gingersnap spun around, her hoof pointed right at Sunset’s head. “Light Switch!”
Sunset’s world went dark. She couldn’t see anything, not even a smidgen of light. ‘But it’s the middle of the day? I can still feel the sun. What did that damned mare do now? Why can’t she just roll over and lose already?’
“Barrage Blast!” Before Sunset could do anything, she felt the first one smash into her side. Then another sending her flying into the air. She grunted as she was tossed this way and that, desperately teleporting, but finding herself smacked around like a pin-ball. Gingersnap’s mocking laughter resounded in her ears. “Truly pathetic, but not surprising. How you ever beat Nightmare Moon is beyond me? Perhaps she wasn’t as strong as we thought, if all it took was an orphan and some inferior races.”
“She does know we can hear her, right?” Fiddlesticks whispered to Lightning.
“No, but I’ll gladly remind her.” Lightning snarled.
“So how about we end this now,” Gingersnap snorted as Sunset tried to teleport away, only to get blasted again. “This is getting rather sad.”
Sunset kept trying to get out of the way, but she couldn’t properly see where she was going. She needed something to clear her sight, but whenever she tried to think of a spell or such she was thrown about. It was frustrating. It was humiliating. It was-
“Sunset!” She heard Spike call out to her. He was supposed to be away from here. It was dangerous.
“Well if it isn’t the dra-a-a~” Gingersnap’s eyes widened as she saw Spike, her cheeks tinted pink. “Well someone grew up.”
“This isn’t fair and you know it,” Spike stood his ground, glaring her down.
Gingersnap narrowed her eyes. “Fair? Fair? FAIR?!! What do you know about fair, dragon?” She got up close to him. “You’re just some stupid, wretched,” she looked him up and down. “Sexy thing, but that’s...I’ve lost my train of thought.”
Spike rolled his eyes. “I ask you again. Release my sister.” His tone was confident, but if anyone was paying attention, his legs were shaking a bit.
“Or what?” Gingersnap snorted. “Do you really think some pampered monster is going to stop me? I can do this all day if I want.” When Spike thrusted his arm out for her horn, he found it being held in an aura of magic. His eyes widened in fear. “Maybe someone needs to remind you of your place.”
The moment she heard those words, something in Sunset snapped. ‘No one. No one harms my brother except me when he’s stupid!’ Her magic flared, this time even hotter than before, incinerating the spells in a burst of sun magic. Landing, she found her eyesight was back, the spell having been broken. “Get away from him, you bitch!” She fired a stream of flames.
Gingersnap ‘eep’ed and teleporting away, leaving Spike to be hit by the attack. As ever, the flames just passed over him. “Really?” He deadpanned.
Sunset ignored him. “GET BACK HERE, WITCH!” The crowd scattered, screaming as they tried their darndest to get out of the princess’s warpath. ‘I’ll burn her to a crisp!’
Gingersnap wasn’t going to comply. The showmare frantically called up every spell she could think up, but the blazing mare burned them away. ‘What the hay is she?’ Gingersnap couldn’t help but think to herself. She didn’t expect this response, or this much anger. A part of her thought she should have, but she thought she could handle it. Right now however, she was desperately trying to get away, ducking into larger groups whenever she could.
Sunset threw any unlucky bystander away with a quick burst of magic, singing a number of hairs as she fired her flame spells. She could just see that mare, standing over her then younger brother with a wicked smile. That memory made her blood boil. “Stand still!”
“Barrage Blast!” Was Gingersnap’s reply.
Sunset lowered her horn and a literal blazing shield flared up around her, cancelling the oncoming attacks. She then focused her spell into a single ball of flaming energy. Grinning, she tossed it. “Catch!”
Gingersnap had only enough time to bring up her cloak. The explosion sent her rocketing into a nearby grove, smashing through the trunk of a healthy apple tree. She coughed, trying to regain her breath. “What the hay is wrong with you?”
“You grabbed my brother,” Sunset advanced on her. “You think I’m just going to stand by and let you hurt him again? You think I’ll let anyone ever hurt him again?!!”
“What is so special about that dragon?” Gingersnap snarled as she stood her ground, her horn flaring. “What makes either of you so special to the princess, huh? Just some silly orphan and a damnable dragon.”
“Because we’re family,” Sunset’s eyes glowed yellow as she prepared a spell. “And you don’t mess with family.”
“What do you know about family, orphan?!!” Gingersnap teleported, sending a missile spell that smashed into Sunset’s side. The princess grit her teeth as she was pushed along the ground, but remained upright. “They aren’t your blood. They’re not real to you, so how can you lecture me about family?”
That was the last straw. Sunset’s eyes twitched in rage, glaring at the other mare so intensely that she recoiled as if it burned her. “I’ve had enough of you.” Her next blast was thrice as thick, causing Gingersnap to shriek in fear as she shielded herself. The nearby trees weren’t so lucky.
Gingersnap pulled her cloak away, “Seering Stars!” The blazing stars shot out, missing their mark when Sunset teleported. Instead they seered another group of trees during their path. She screamed as flames smashed into her, sending her flying. She smashed into the ground, inadvertently putting out the flames on her fur.
Sunset took a deep breath, her body glowing as she allowed the sunlight to pour into her. She had an innate affinity for heat. While fire was much better and faster, sunlight could offer some nourishment if she focused on it. “Solar Beam!” With that, she pointed her horn and a lazor made up of solar magic belted towards Gingersnap. The fallen mare didn’t have time to act as she was sent flying into even more trees.
She teleported over to the battered mare. Gingersnap whimpered as she raised her cloak as if to protect herself. “I surrender. I surrender!”
“No,” Sunset snarled. “You don’t get it. You never got it! You made my life Tartarus and scared the hay out of my brother for what? Nothing, because you’re nothing.” Flames flared around her horn. “No one would even miss you if you were gone.”
“Sunset,” Lightning pulled her back. “You beat her.”
“No I haven’t,” Sunset whirled around to glare at her friend. “I haven’t beaten her yet. She’ll just get up and start this whole thing over again. Don’t you see? That’s all she’s ever done.”
“But burning her to a crisp?” Lightning balked at that. “I know I take competitions seriously, but this?”
“I’m teaching her a lesson.”
“Well you’ve certainly taught her one so far,” Lightning looked at the beaten mare. “I’m sure Fiddlestick’s going to love that explanation.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. “What does Fiddlesticks have to do with this?” Lightning tilted her head and Sunset looked over. Her eyes widened. A section of the apple grove was broken to pieces, with a large fire starting to take root. The remnants of the crowd and the local guards nearby were combatting the flames.
“More water,” Thunderlane called out. “If you know any water spells, use them now.”
Sunset gulped as she felt, for one of the few times in her life, a seed of guilt settle inside her. Her ears lowered in shame as she saw an openly weeping Fiddlesticks trying to combat the flames, using her speed to gather as much water from a watering hole. “I… I… I didn’t mean to.”
Sunset honestly didn’t know how to feel right now. In all her years, with all her training, she just didn’t know what to do right now. She felt useless. A part of herself was furious about that and how this all happened. ‘This is Gingersnap’s fault,’ she told herself, but a part of her knew better. That and she couldn’t blame the show mare right now. Gingersnap and her assistant had left some time ago, before the fires were finally put out.
She could still hear Fiddlesticks weeping. The farm mare was hugging a down, crispy tree like it was a dead relative. “Rootbeard, I’m sorry. I… I didn’t get the water soon enough.” She kept weeping, hugging it like a lifeline.
Sunset couldn’t help but feel something inside her break at the sight. She didn’t want this. Of course, before she could go any further with this line of thought, she felt someone sit next to her. “What is it, Spike?” She grumbled. ‘Oh great, he’s going to lecture me.’
“Oh nothing really,” Spike commented. “I just wanted to check to see if you’re conscious is eating away at you. Looking at you, that’s probably so.”
“Why does that matter?” Sunset snarled.
“Because it means you feel sorry about what you did,” Spike booped her nose. “You never did that with strangers.”
“That’s because she’s my friend,” Sunset snorted. “Well, kind of. I’ve only known her for a few days.”
“Does it matter?” Spike asked.
Sunset shrugged, grunting in frustration. “I… I don’t know. This whole friendship thing still doesn’t make much sense to me.” She laid down on the ground. “Maybe mom shouldn’t have listened to me and just taken me to Canterlot. Fiddlestick’s farm wouldn’t have been burned if I wasn’t here.”
Spike sighed, “Look, Sunset-”
“Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?” Sunset turned on him with a glare.
Spike blinked in confusion, “What? I’m just trying to help.”
“And that has nothing to do with you going to the psychology class,” Sunset sarcastically quipped. She narrowed her eyes. “Wait a moment. You’re just trying to write a paper for that cute teacher, aren’t you?”
“Oh now you’re just making things up,” Spike huffed, blushing slightly. He crossed his arms, “I don’t need a paper to woo her. I’m just trying to help my big sister understand ‘feelings’.”
“I don’t need to understand ‘feelings’,” Sunset snorted.
“Well that’s apparent,” Spike quipped. “Maybe you should go over and talk to Fiddlesticks, see about calming her down.”
Sunset’s ears folded back as she heard her friend’s whimpers. Again, her heart felt like someone was crushing it. “I… I don’t know what to say. I basically burned down a portion of her farm, because…” She growled. “Because of that witch, Gingersnap. This is her fault. Why, if I ever see her again, I’ll make her pay.”
Spike face-clawed, “Sunset, that’s exactly what got you into this mess.”
“But she was going to hurt you,” Sunset snapped, her body shaking slightly with rage. “Don’t you remember? You were shaking. What was I supposed to do?”
“How about not going off the deep end?” Spike said. “I’m not a baby dragon, Sunset. What was she going to do to me? Blast me? You’re a top tier magic caster and even you have trouble casting magic on me. What was she going to do, huh?” He sighed. “Yes, I was scared. She scares me, Sunset and I can change that.”
“See,” Sunset grinned. “You see my point. I had to take care of her.”
“Killing her wouldn’t do anything,” Spike growled, glaring at his sister. “I’m scared of her, but I don’t hate her. You know why? It happened years ago. It was in the past. Why should I care anymore?”
“You should care,” Sunset snarled. “You can’t just forgive someone at the drop of that hat.”
“And why not?” Spike threw up a hand in exasperation. “Equestria would be a hay of a lot more peaceful if ponies just did that. Condemning someone eternally for stuff that happened beforehoof is stupid. Did she kill anyone? No. Did she destroy anything? You’ve done worse. We’re all jerks at one point in our life and do crazy stuff.”
“You don’t understand,” Sunset shook her head.
“Yes I do,” Spike said firmly. His eyes softened. “What happened with Nightmare-”
“I ALMOST LOST YOU AGAIN!” Sunset screamed in his face, her eyes shimmering as they swelled with tears. “Do you know what it’s like? To almost lose your sibling twice in your life and you could have done something about it.”
“The river incident was an accident and we were kids,” Spike laid a hand on her shoulder. “And those dark sorcerers got the drop on us. We couldn’t do anything about it.”
Sunset scoffed, “Yes I could. Besides, you should have stayed home.”
“You wanted me to come with you,” Spike growled. “And even if you didn’t, I would have anyway. I can handle myself, just like you should handle yourself.”
“I….” Sunset stopped as she heard Fiddlesticks whimpers hit her ears once more. She glanced around again at all the devastation. “I… I…” Her eyes watered with tears. ‘I burned my friends farm. It was an accident. It was that witch. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my fault… Why can’t I believe that? It’s the truth…. I…’ With not a word, she ran off crying. Even her brother’s pleads did nothing as she teleported out of sight.
There was never a peaceful moment in the Everfree Forest. There was always something dying. There was always another predator stalking its prey. Hate and fear ruled this place and the mares trodding through it now had an abundance of both.
Gingersnap scowled as she limped through the forest. Her burns were still healing. Thankfully, she had some potions she had bought from a zebra on the shore to help with them. Zebras were masters at potion making, so it would fine on her. The cuts and bruises were bandaged up and they were only slightly red now. That was good. The less blood that a predator could smell, the better. “Come on, Giddilee. It’s not far from here.”
“Umm,” Giddilee gulped as she helped Gingersnap from falling over. The wounded unicorn had to sometimes lean on Giddilee’s side. All the while, she kept hearing all sorts of monstrous sounds. “Gingersnap, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
The show mare scowled, “Why not?” She turned her head to glare at her friend. “What do I have to lose? That fake princess Sunset is going to go to her mother and say this is all my fault. What are my parents going to say to that? What is anyone going to say to that? I have to prove I can do something, anything, to get them off my back. That I’m not a hack.”
“And what is this plan?” Giddilee asked, scared about her friend. The look in Gingersnap’s eyes was maddening and confused.
Gingersnap grinned and pulled out a paper from her bag with her magic. She coughed slightly, painting the ground slightly red with her blood. “I’m glad you asked. You see, before we came to Ponyville, I decided to do some research. It turns out that a couple centuries ago, there was a treaty signed with a dragon that lives within the forest.”
Giddilee’s eyes widened. “And what does this have to do with us?” ‘Please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me,’ she thought imploringly.
“If I’m going to clear my name,” Gingersnap grinned maliciously. “I need to kill a dragon.” When Giddilee tried to protest, she held up a hoof. “Ah, but I don’t have to kill a dragon to kill a dragon.”
“...What?” Giddilee was beyond confused at that.
“I just have to make everyone think I’ve killed a dragon,” Gingersnap giggled. “Collect a few scales, maybe a horn and some blood and I’m as good as any hero. My family will just be begging to take me back. Hay, maybe the princess will even take me as a personal student.”
“I’m not sure-”
“We’re here,” Gingersnap cut her off, gesturing to a deep, dark cave. There seemed to be currents of air blowing in and out of the cave at regular intervals, almost like it was breathing. Gingersnap giddily walked into the cave. It seemed the pain killers were finally kicking in, or she just didn’t care about the pain at this point.
“I really think we should head back,” Giddilee quickly caught up to her after hesitating. “We can’t fight a dragon.”
“Ah, but it’s sleeping.” Gingersnap smirked, looking rather proud of her intellect. “Dragons take long sleeps that can last over a hundred years. It’s healthy for them, so this should be easy.” She grabbed a long sword that she had stashed in her ‘endless bag’ and slashed it in the air. “I have to thank my late uncle for this.”
“What happened to him?” Giddilee quirked an eyebrow.
“He woke up a dragon and it ate him,” the showmare answered nonchalantly. “I’m not as careless as he was.”
“That’s the painkillers talking,” Giddilee spoke. “You’re not in-” She was silenced with a glare and the two carried onwards.
It took them a few moments, but eventually they came across a giant hollowed out chamber. It was so large that they guessed it could house the entirety of Ponyville. However, it’s size wasn’t what caught their attention. Glittering like the sun above, was a mountain of jewels. It had everything: gold, rubies, sapphires, etc.
Gingersnap grinned, “Jackpot.”
“This is a bad idea,” Giddilee shook in fear.
Gingersnap snorted and trotted over to the hoard. She started putting as much as she could into her sacks. “Stop complaining and help me here. We won’t go hungry anytime soon with a place like this.” There was a sudden growl that caught their attention. The hoard shifted as a scaly snout poked its way through. Gingersnap’s eyes widened as it came within a short distance with her. She was about to bolt away when she noticed the eye was still shut. The dark green creature’s breath came in long intervals, signalling it was still asleep. She laughed softly, “Oh this is beautiful.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Giddilee whispered as loud as she felt she could.
“A horn and some scales,” Gingersnap looked the dragon’s head over with greedy eyes. “That’ll do it.” Her horn glowed and a hue enveloped her body as she levitated herself. Self-levitation was actually easier than many thought it was. As long as you had the strength and endurance, you could even fly. Not for very long and you definitely wouldn’t win any speed contests, but it could be useful. She held up her blade and held it close to a draconic spike.
“Well thief,” a deep masculine voice spoke up, shaking her concentration. “I have to say, you are quite daring. A dragon’s treasure is one thing. Shearing parts of his body off while he slumbers? Most amusing.” The drake’s eyes opened.
“I…. I…” Gingersnap stuttered as she shook in fear. Her horn gave out and she fell on her rump. She tumbled down the hoard until she hit the ground. She jumped to her hooves, turning around to face the drake.
The jewels cascaded down like a waterfall as the dragon lifted his head. Opening his large maw, he yawned. It gave the two mare’s the creeps, especially since one tooth was larger than their own bodies. “However, no matter how amusing this all is, you woke me up from such a wonderful dream.” The drake narrowed his eyes. “For that, you will burn.”
“Wait,” Giddilee spoke up, immediately regretting it once the dragon looked at her. She did her best to steel herself, even though she knew she was shaking like a leaf. ‘You can do this.’ “We… We didn’t mean to hurt you or anything. My friend-”
“Is a thief,” the dragon growled, standing up. As the gold and other jewels fell away, the creature’s massive size became apparent. “If there is one thing I hate more then anything, it is a thief. This treasure is mine. These spikes are mine. This whole place is mine and you dare to think you can take any of it away from me?”
“And who do you think you are?” Gingersnap snapped, snarling at the drake. She apparently still thought quite highly of herself, if she believed snapping at a dragon was a healthy activity.
“I am Ragnok, The Terrible.” the dragon glared at her. He spread his wings out wide, which they nearly spanning the same length of his body. “The blazing death of countless cities. I laid low thousands of your warriors and you thought I would roll over while you took something from me?”
“Well….” Gingersnap’s resolve seemed to bolster as her anger got the better of her. “You don’t need all of this. It’s just laying around doing nothing. At least I’ll make something of it.”
‘Gingersnap, for the love of Celestia, shut your mouth.’ Giddilee whimpered.
“Do you know who I am?” Gingersnap stomped her hoof in anger. “I am the Stupendous Gingersnap, heir to the Razorsharp house. You will heed my words or you will face the might of the Equestrian army.”
“And pray tell,” Ragnok chuckled. “How will you tell anyone of this if you’re dead?”
“I will best you myself,” Gingersnap held out her sword. “They’ll reward me handsomely for your defeat.”
“Ah, so this was all for glory.” Smoke billowed out of Ragnok’s nostrils. “I am just some prize that you’ll lord over others heads just to make your pathetic existence worth something.” Before Gingersnap could react, a tail shot out from the hoard and smashed her into the wall. “I am no prize, pony. I am Ragnok, the Terrible.” He walked out from under his hoard, causing the cave to shake slightly. He picked up the sword she had dropped and crushed it. “No blade can pierce my hide.”
Gingersnap shakily stood her ground, “I am the Stupendous Gingersnap.” She coughed up a few goblets of blood. “I shant go down that easily.”
“A pity,” Ragnok growled. “If you had, it would have been painless. So tell me, Gingersnap the Stupendous, how do you wish to die?” Fire licked his lips as he glared down at the unicorn. Right before his fire blazed away Gingersnap, Giddilee tackled her, getting them both out of the way. “You know,” he commented as the flames died away. “I was thinking about letting the timid one live to tell of your demise, but now I think I’ll just kill you both.”
“Please,” Giddilee stood up before Gingersnap. “We weren’t going to take anything more than a few scales. She needs them. Do you know what it’s like to have the whole world hate you? To have them look down at you like your nothing? She just wants something to make them proud of her.”
“Is this supposed to move me?” Ragnok snorted. “She wants to be a hero by pretending to slay me? ME?!!” His roar nearly defeaned them. “I have killed ponies for less. Why do you think some little story will change my mind.”
“Because….” Giddilee shook in fear. Death was literally staring her down. His snout was just a few meters away, so his breath kept blowing her mane back and forth. “She’s my friend. I just want her to be happy.”
“And gaining the respect of her peers will make her happy?” Ragnok quirked an eyebrow, glancing at the battered and cowering unicorn. Giddilee nodded. The dragon smiled. “Well then, I’ve changed my mind.”
“You have?” Giddilee smiled. ‘Maybe this is a nice dragon.’
Ragnok nodded, “Of course. If she wants fame,” he snatched the two of them up in one hand, ignoring their screams of fear. “Then I shall make her famous. Everyone shall remember your name, Gingersnap. The name of the pony that brought fire and death to Equestria.” He stormed out of the cave, keeping them close.
“Please no!” Giddilee screamed, trying to get his attention. “Ponyville didn’t do anything.”
“So that infernal town is still around,” once outside he raised himself on his hindlegs and took a deep breath. He smirked, “Yes, I can still smell them. Perhaps that bothersome Smith is still alive.” He chuckled. “What was that saying you ponies have? Kill two birds with one stone?” He took off, roaring into the sky.
‘What have we done?’ Giddilee whimpered. She didn’t know how to teleport and Gingersnap wasn’t in any shape to do so. The blow from the dragon had shaken her up and it would take a bit for her to get out of it. They were all doomed.
Thunderlane resisted the urge to groan as he made his rounds of Ponyville. The town had to be under constant vigilance. They couldn’t have another incident like with Nightmare Moon. Normally, he wouldn’t be out so late. Oh yes, he did his fair share of the work, but he was more of a day pony. It was that with the battle and ponies moving away, his forces had been depleted considerably. Add in several of them were helping the Apples clean up the burned patch of the farm and he was forced to do the night rounds.
‘I wish the Princess would just go home,’ he secretly dared to think. If he ever muttered that aloud, he could get charged of ‘offending the crown’ and executed. Well, if there were any ponies here really serious about the whole executing thing. Time Turner was a rather laid back Inquisitor and understanding. Bon Bon was uptight, but she was never cruel. She was even smiling again these days. Perhaps that event with one of the Element bearers and their kid helped her get through her troubles.
So he didn’t have to fear saying it as long as Princess Sunset didn’t hear about it. Thunderlane didn’t want to think about that happening. He even shivered slightly at the mere mention of it. Thankfully, the Apples wouldn’t really face any real loss this year. They’d collected enough of their stock to get by and their orchard is massive. They were hardy Earths, so they’d make due.
He yawned, using his wing to cover his mouth. ‘Maybe I should grab a cup of coffee. Yeah, that sounds nice. Nothing’s happening tonight anyways.’ There hadn’t been any signs of Nightmare cults or that chaos rumor going around. The native loyalist chaos worshipers found it a bit offensive, but they weren’t that numerous in Ponyville so nothing came of it. Ponyville was going to receive a shipment of soldiers soon to secure the town, so Thunderlane didn’t have anything to fear. As long as he could remain in charge, it was all good.
That’s when he heard it. Resounding beats that sounded like the start of a hurricane. Thunderlane didn’t think much about it. It was obviously coming from the Everfree Forest. That place was far too strange. Yet the sounds kept getting more and more fierce and closer.
‘What the hay is going on?’ Thunderlane couldn’t help but fluff up his wings in anxiety. He had to make his way to the Weather Team. They might know what was going on. Before he could however, a shout carried its way around town:
“DRAGON!”
Thunderlane’s eyes widened, “Dragon? There aren’t any dragons around here except Spike and… Oh no.” He remembered the tales of the green drake of the Everfree, but he thought the dragon was long gone. ‘I guess I was wrong.’
The wing beats kept growing stronger. Several ponies had gone outside to see what was the noise and at the shout, many of them fled screaming. Thunderlane had to take off to get out of the way of several ponies. When he did, his jaw dropped. In the distance and closing in on the town, was a green fire drake.
“Sir,” one of three town militia that had run up to him and saluted. “Your orders.”
Thunderlane could hear the fear in the soldier’s voice. The way it quivered. Dragons weren’t something regular militia handle. That was something for dragon slayers or the Equestrian Guard. They were too spread out and didn’t have any substantial numbers. He didn’t know what to do.
“Sir, orders.” The soldier said again.
“I...I…” Thunderlane stuttered.
“What are you standing around for?” Cloud Kicker, a recently promoted member of his militia for her actions against Nightmare Moon’s forces, shouted. “Get your asses in gear and get everypony out of town.”
“Yes, sir.” They said before taking off.
Cloud Kicker smirked as she looked at Thunderlane, “So captain, how’d I do?”
Thunderlane shook himself and glared at her, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Saving the town, mister grump.” Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes.
“How dare you address a superior officer like that.” Thunderlane scowled.
“What can I say?” Cloud Kicker shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. “I grew up in a family of merchants. We’re known for our skilled tongues.” She lightly licked her lips.
Thunderlane rolled his eyes, “If you keep that up, you’re luck’s going to run out one day.”
“Oooh~” Cloud Kicker smirked. “What are you going to do? Hold me down and teach me a lesson?” She leaned closer to him. “Because I’m all for that.”
Thunderlane blushed and kept his glare centered, “Get to your post, now.”
Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes, “Fine, but I’ll get you one day.” She took off.
Thunderlane sighed and shook his head. ‘What am I going to do with her?’ A roar shook the air so much that many of the nearby windows shattered. “Oh right, dragon. Almost forgot about that.”
Spike stood in front of the door, hesitant to enter. He could hear his sister’s muffled sobs from inside and it ate away at him. Sunset was always so strong and to hear her cry was too much. He wanted to barge in and pull her into a hug, telling her it was okay. She’d probably chuck him out the window, which is why he hesitated. ‘Oh, don’t be such a wimp. She needs me.’ He told himself.
Carefully, he opened the door and poked his head inside. The sight before him wasn’t one he could stand. Sunset had her head buried in a pillow, sobbing almost continuously. Spike wouldn’t stand idly by while she cried. He pushed the door open further, “Sunset?”
“Leave me alone, Spike.” Sunset moaned into her pillow. Her voice sounded so broken.
“Can’t do that,” Spike softly smiled and walked in. He knew she wasn’t going to throw him out. At least, not right now. He climbed into bed, making sure not to disturb her. “A dragon has to watch over his princess after all.”
He could hear Sunset snort and then sniffle. “Your Princess?” She raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying, just adding to how pitiful this all was. “I’m the one who’s supposed to watch over you, you idiot.”
Spike chuckled and pulled her into a comforting hug, “Well, it’s my turn now.”
“You don’t get turns. I’m older.”
“Well I’m bigger,” Spike shot back with a smirk, earning him a snort and nuzzle.
“I miss the days when I could scoop you up in my arms,” Sunset giggled. “It made me feel so big, holding a dragon all on my own.”
“Look on the bright side,” Spike smiled down at her, gently wiping away the tears on her cheek. “How many ponies have a big, handsome dragon as a brother?”
“I don’t know,” Sunset sniffed. “There aren’t any handsome dragons in my life.”
“Ouch,” Spike feigned hurt and put a hand to his chest. “That hurt, you know.”
Sunset laughed and nuzzled him, “You can take it you big baby.” She frowned, “Does Fiddlesticks hate me?”
Spike quickly shook his head, “She told me to tell you that you two were still friends.”
“Why?” Sunset looked confused. “I burned some of her crops. I made her cry. She should hate me. She should want to break my face or something. Why would she forgive me?”
“Because that’s what friends do,” Spike explained. “They forgive each other.” He booped her nose, causing her to scrunch it. “Now you just need to forgive yourself.”
Before Sunset could respond, a shout carried through one of the open windows. She had forgotten to close it after chucking out Shade earlier that day. After what he did for Pizzelle, she thought it was fair to not throw him through glass.
“DRAGON!”
She narrowed her eyes at Spike, “Who did you sleep with?”
Spike rolled his eyes, “No, that wasn’t an angry shout, Sunset. That was a shout of panic...Panic?” His eyes widened before the whole place started to shake.
Sunset sighed, “I feel like we’re never going to have any peace around here.” She stood up. “Come on, Spike. Let’s go kick some dragon tail.”
“Wait,” Spike spoke up, standing with her. “Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to do anything. You spent way too much energy on Gingersnap. The local guard can take care of this.” Sunset gave him a deadpan look. “...Right, let’s go.”
Ragnok slammed into the ground, causing the whole of Ponyville to shake. He loved hearing the screams of equines. It had been far too long since he had last gone on a rampage. He cast his gaze at the fleeing ponies. A few guards shakingly stood their ground. He grinned, then he roared. The ear splitting roar caused them to turn tail and run.
He laughed, “Oh this is too easy. I had forgotten how pathetic you ponies are.” He gently put the two mares down. “Stay out of my way and you’ll survive this.”
“You can’t do this,” Giddilee spoke up. “Please, they haven’t done anything to you.”
“Did you forget that I am a Fire Drake?” Ragnok growled, narrowing his eyes. “You dared to disturb my lair. You dared to challenge me. I will show you all what happens when you dare upset a dragon.”
“Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot,” Gingersnap snarled and pointed her horn at him. “You’d have just killed me and went back to sleep. Did you not think of that?”
“Kill you?” He laughed. ‘These ponies are so laughably strange.’ “SO brave. You’re willing to die for them?”
“No,” Gingersnap said. “I just said that’d be the smart thing to do. The army is going to kill you.”
“Let them try,” Ragnok snorted, blowing them back with a plume of smoke. “I grow tired of this conversation. My vengeance will be known now.” His tail smashed into the small buildings. Given a dragon’s strength, it was so easy for him to smash through the stone and enchantments. He just needed a few guards to chew on and his night would be complete.
“HALT!” A stallion’s voice called out. He looked on over to see over twenty guardponies standing in formation. He smirked. “Dragon, you are trespassing on Equestrian territory and damaging Equestrian property. You are to leave immediately.”
Ragnok blinked in confusion before he tilted his head and belted out a laugh, “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more stupid, you ponies surprise me.” He took a step forward. “I will not leave this town until it is burned to the ground. If you were smart, you would leave. If not, then I will gladly swallow you whole.”
“Then come on then,” the stallion smirked and drew his sword. “Try it.”
Ragnok narrowed his eyes. ‘Does this pony think he can fight a dragon? Does he truly think he can fight me?!! He dares to think I am weak?’ He growled. It was no secret that dragons took challenges very seriously. He started to walk towards them. Running wasn’t necessary. He would find them no matter what. “What is your name, pony.”
“Thunderlane, Captain of the Local Militia.” The pony still smirked at the drake. He raised his arm, “And your doom, FIRE!”
Ragnok quirked and eyebrow before he felt two cannon balls smack into the left side of his face. They didn’t do any lasting harm, other then annoying him. Dragon scales were amongst the toughest hides in the world after all. He turned to see a few cannon crews working to reload. He wasn’t going to give them a chance. He let loose a blazing inferno. Unfortunately, the ponies were able to get out of the way. Their cannons weren’t and the nearby buildings were set ablaze. “Do you think this is a joke, Captain?”
“Partially,” Thunderlane said. “I might have actually been scared if Nightmare Moon hadn’t shown up not long ago. You aren’t as scary as her.”
Ragonk blinked in surprise, “The dark one has returned?” Even dragons knew of Nightmare Moon. The name held a sense of dread and a shiver of fear went down the drake’s back. He wouldn’t admit it, of course. Still, she slew the strongest family of drakes in existence. Perhaps after he was done, he’d find a new cave far from here.
“Returned and best by us,” Thunderlane pointed his sword at the drake. “So leave and this can end peacefully.”
Ragnok couldn’t believe that. He chuckled, “You? You best the dark one? Oh this is certainly rich.” He took a step forward. “I think I’ll give you a quick death for that.”
“Try it.”
“Such courage,” Ragnok snorted. “Such bravado in the face of death. Why…” He smirked. “You’re distracting me. This is just to buy time for the rest of this pathetic town to escape. Bravo, Captain. It almost worked. You just forgot one thing.”
“What’s that?” Thunderlane tensed.
“I’m a dragon,” Ragnok’s maw opened and a torrent of fire was unleashed. After a few seconds he stopped. His smirk fell the moment he saw a bubble of magic surrounding the soldiers. Noticing the mare who performed the spell, he snorted. “You ponies are pathetic, willing to sacrifice yourself for each other.”
The mare known as Giddilee panted as her shield fell. Dragon fire had a negative effect on magic. It destabilized it and made enchantments useless over time. “I… won’t let you hurt anyone.”
Ragnok reared up and clapped his hands, “Bravo, but it’s all for naught. No pony can stand against a dragon, alone.”
“She’s not alone,” Thunderlane took a step forward, putting himself beside her. The rest of the soldiers did the same. “Ponies never fight alone.”
Ragnok smirked, “That’s what makes it so fun. The more soldiers you send, the more I get to burn. The delicious aroma of burnt pony is something I haven’t smelt in ages. I miss it so.”
“You really think we’re going to go down that easy?” Thunderlane scowled. “You have no idea who you’re messing with. We are the militia, standing forces of Princess Celestia herself. No matter what you do. No matter if I’m squashed, burnt, or swallowed whole, I will fight and my soldiers will follow. You can take on one pony, but you’ll drown in a hundred.” He raised his sword up to the air. “Soldiers of the Sun Goddess, will you fight with me?”
“Yes, sir!” Was the collective answer. Swords, spears, and muskets pointed at the great fire drake.
“Will you show this dragon the might of Celestia?”
“YES, SIR!”
“Then make her proud!” Thunderlane called out, pointing his sword at the great fire drake. "Attack!"
Sunset and Spike raced through the streets of Ponyville. Dragons were very well known for their stamina, so this was easy for Spike. Sunset was never one to be best in any category. When she wasn’t studying, she was exercising to keep in shape. She could outrun most of her colleagues at school and made sure to keep ahead of her brother. She was still the eldest sibling after all. It was her duty to lead him.
They skid to a stop when they came across Inquisitor Time Turner and Vinyl Scratch. The chaos sorceress was pushing a large, black stereo on wheels. “Yo, how much longer do I have to push this thing?” Vinyl huffed and then turned to Sunset, “Oh, what’s up, Princess?”
“What’s going on?” Sunset asked sternly.
A loud roar shook the town, “Dragon.” Time Turner answered. “A really upset dragon.”
“I know that already,” Sunset scowled. “I think they heard that all the way in Canterlot. I want to know what’s being done.”
“We’re evacuating the civilians,” Time Turner gave her a quick salute. She was still his princess after all. “They’re outside of the dragon’s range and Captain Thunderlane is currently keeping it preoccupied.” A loud crash could be heard. “For how long he can keep it up is anyone’s guess.”
“Then what are you doing about it?” Sunset said, glancing at the jukebox. ‘I didn’t take Time Turner for a music junkey.’
Time Turner grinned, “Well I’m glad you asked. You see-”
Vinyl stopped in her tracks and turned, “Oh that’s easy. Lil’ Timey here wanted my sweet jams to help him beat that dragon. I didn’t have anything better to do so-” she shrugged, “-I said ‘what the hay’. So he picked out my little beauty and we hit the road. I gotta say, I didn’t take him for a music junkey.”
“I know, right?” Sunset grinned.
Time Turner gave them a deadpanned gaze, “As I was saying, I needed to borrow this sound device in order to stop the dragon.”
“And pray tell,” Spike scratched his head in confusion. “How is a boombox supposed to help?”
“It’s a stereo, not a boombox.” Vinyl corrected.
“Yes and-” Time started up again.
“Though it can turn into a boombox,” Vinyl added.
“Awesome,” Spike smiled. “I’d love to check out your apparel, Miss Scratch. They seem extroidinary.”
Vinyl flipped her mane with a hoof. A small blush peppered her cheeks, “Oh it’s nothing special.”
Sunset just rolled her eyes at him, ‘Typical.’ “Can we please focus?”
“Thank you,” Time Turner pulled out a strange screwdriver. “Now you see, Vinyl’s equipment is outfitted with chaos magic. Regular magic doesn’t effect drakes. Well it can, but we lack enough powerful magicians or a magi cannon large enough to strike the beast. Of course, this stereo isn’t strong enough to blast the dragon on its own. However,” he stuck the screwdriver into a socket. “If we amplify it considerably, we might be able to get somewhere.” He pressed a button on the little device and it emitted a strange sound. Time charger technology was incredibly advanced, so Sunset didn’t question how it could do that.
“How long’s it going to take?” Spike asked.
“Oh not long,” Time said. “Normally, this should be simple and quick. This is chaos magic though. It takes time to fiddle with.”
Vinyl smirked and leaned against the stereo, “You don’t say, Lil’ Timey. Why don’t you fiddle with something livelier and find out.”
Time Turner stopped and glared at her, “First off, I could have you executed for such talk. Second, that was bad and you should feel bad. Third, stop calling me Lil’ Timey. I’m far older than you and a hoof’s length taller.”
Vinyl chuckled, “Because it’s fun. Geez, I’m a chaos sorceress. You’d think stuff like this would happen around us.”
Sunset huffed, “You do this thing and I’ll go deal with the dragon. Come on, Spike.” She took off.
After Spike took off, Vinyl turned to Time Turner. “Be honest with me. It’s the glasses isn’t it.”
“That has nothing to do with… ugh!” Time smacked his head against the stereo.
Thunderlane laid Giddilee down against the side of a crushed in building. The dragon wasn’t looking their way, so they were safe for the moment. The mare was panting heavily, having used too much magic trying to effect enough shields to stop the drake’s attacks. “That was very brave of you, ma’am.”
Giddilee gave him a weak smile, “It’s… the least I could do,” she took in sharp breaths every now and again. Her horn sparked.
‘Her horn’s going to break if she keeps this up,’ Thunderlane gave it a worrying glance. A unicorn’s horn was an essential part of them. It kept them healthy and allowed them to access and expel magic. If it broke, they’d literally fall at the seams, with their magic tearing their body apart. It was an excruciating process. It was treatable, but Thunderlane didn’t want to take any chances. “And I couldn’t be more thankful, but you need to take a rest.”
“But-”
Thunderlane put a hoof against her chest, “You’re going to kill yourself if you keep this up. Ma’am, you’ve done more than enough for us tonight. It’s because of you that we haven’t lost anyone.” ‘Yet.’ There had been several injuries, but Giddilee’s well placed shields had saved a dozen or so lives. “You’ve done Celestia proud this day. Rest. We’ll take it from here.”
“Do you think you can keep this up for long?” The dragon roared, flames spewing from his maw. “This game of cat and mouse? Well I’ll tell you something, ponies. This cat has had enough of this game.” He used his tail to level a few more buildings. “I’ll kill you and track those ponies you worked oh so hard to protect. It won’t be hard. A dragon never abandons their quarry. So come on out and maybe I’ll be lenient.”
“Oh like we’d believe something like that,” Thunderlane called out.
Ragnok chuckled, “It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. I’m a dragon and you’re a pony. Defeat or surrender are your only options.”
“How about you surrender and we’ll talk about it?” Thunderlane said. “We have you surrounded.”
“And nary a scratch is on my hide from all the cannons and arrows you’ve shot at me,” Ragnok smirked. The great fire dragon was searching the town for the noise. The fire and smoke clouded his nostrils. “That little unicorn has been a nuisance though. I grow agitated the longer I go without bloodshed. Come on out and fight me. You did challenge me, didn’t you pony?”
Thunderlane was quiet for a moment. ‘I shouldn’t be doing this,’ “And what if I win?”
“I’ll leave this town and won’t harm a hair on a single pony’s head for a generation,” Ragnok clawed through a semi-burning building and snorted as he turned up nothing. “That is if you can beat me.”
‘He’s obviously lying,’ Thunderlane ground his teeth together as he mulled it over. ‘But I don’t have a lot of choices. If I don’t take this, my soldiers are going to start dropping like flies. Giddilee can’t handle much more shield spells she can cast.’ Before he could answer however, another voice spoke up.
“I accept your challenge,” Sunset’s voice rang out in the Traditional Canterlot Voice. The princess walked past him with a hesitant Spike behind.
“What are you doing?” Spike hissed at her. “You can’t beat a dragon.”
“Pfft, says you.” Sunset strode forth towards her opponent. “Stay with the others. This shouldn’t be long.”
“This is a bad idea,” Spike groaned.
Thunderlane couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Few ponies ever dared to take on a dragon and the ones that did always had been in groups. Doing it alone was suicide. “She’s not really going to fight it alone, is she?”
Sunset Shimmer wasn’t one to balk at a challenge. She’d dueled a few unicorns in her time and she never once lost. ‘Nightmare Moon doesn’t count. I beat her with rainbows in the end… I’m glad no one saw that. I got way too emotional.’ As well, being a Fire type blood mage meant that fire based creatures were her speciality.
Ragnok tilted his head curiously as he looked her over, “And who are you that would stand against me?”
“Princess Sunset Shimmer of Equestria,” she stated, her Canterlot Voice still present. “Daughter of Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and deity of the sun. I command you to leave this town at once.”
Ragnok blinked in surprise, “So she actually took a suiter? Interesting. I wonder if your death would remind of her place.”
Sunset’s left eye twitched, “Excuse me?” Fire played at the bottom of her hooves.
“She was the one who made a pact with the dragons of old,” Ragnok snorted. “For thousands of years, she’s lead herself to believe she’s kept us at bay, hasn’t she? That dragons are too afraid to take on a pretender.”
“Pretender?!!”
Ragnok smirked as he watched her rage, “Yes, a pretender. The sun is fire incarnate and it is we dragons who truly inherit the title ‘lord of the sun’. No equine has that right, especially not the one you all worship. Your death will remind her of her weakness.”
Sunset glared up at him, “We’ll see about that.” With her Canterlot Voice disabled, her horn flared up. Heretical talk aside, family was something Sunset held dear to her more than most. “How about you make the first move.”
“I would be delighted,” Ragnok balled up a fist as he stood up on his hindlegs. “I only need one.” With that said, he punched right where Sunset was. The moment he did, large, thick vines shot out from around her. They wrapped themselves around his fist and up over most of his arm. “What is-” They suddenly pulled him forward, smashing him into the ground. He growled, “Druid magic.”
“Tried and true,” Sunset smirk. “I’d advise you to leave now or things’ll get messy.”
“Messy?” Ragnok narrowed his eyes and turned towards the roots. With one burst of fire, he burned right through his restraints. “I shall show you a mess worth remembering, pony.” He charged, wanting nothing more than to crush her.
Sunset smirked and took off. She needed to get him out of town as quickly as she could. ‘I’ve cost Ponyville too much already,’ she inwardly winced as she remembered Fiddlestick’s burning farm. ‘I’m not going to pick a fight in town.’ The trick was to keep his attention and not get squished. Teleportation could help her, but it would cost her too much energy. Unlike with Nightmare Moon, where the dark witch’s energy level was rather weak so Sunset could expend some energy to use them, this was a dragon. She needed as much magical energy as she could when facing it.
So she needed to stop him. The problem is that she didn’t have a plan. ‘Damn it. This is something Lightning Dust would do…. Wait, where is she?’
As if on cue, a lightning bolt smacked into the dragon’s forehead. It didn’t injure it, but it got him to stop. “Take that scalie,” Lightning Dust smirked as she loomed over the dragon.
“Lightning,” Sunset yelled up at her. “Get out of here.”
“What?” Lightning scoffed. “And leave all the action to you? I don’t think so.”
Sunset just stared up at the pegasus as if she had grown a second head. ‘What the hay does she think she’s doing? Lightning on that scale wouldn’t do anything to a full grown dragon, unless she hit its eyes or mouth. Even then it wouldn’t be anything major. This is stupid. Why is she helping me? I burned down the farm. I’m… not the nicest of ponies, I admit. I won’t admit that out loud though.’
“I thought you wished to take me on by yourself, Princess.” Ragnok growled. “But of course, you ponies are too cowardly to do anything on your own.” As he grinned, a lasso roped itself around his jaw, closing it.
“That’s ‘cause we ponies are stronger together,” Fiddlesticks replied, holding the lasso with her tail. “Else life’d be pretty borin’. Don’t ya think, Sunset?”
Sunset couldn’t believe this, “But… but your farm.”
“We’ll survive,” Fiddlesticks grit her teeth as she kept ahold of the rope. “Ain’t like we got no more trees. We don’t use that orchard that much anyways.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Sunset shot back.
“Maybe,” Fiddlesticks said. “But we’re still friends.”
“....Why?” Sunset shook her head. She couldn’t believe this. Fiddlesticks had to hate her after what she did.
“‘Cause we all make mistakes,” Fiddlesticks said. “It’s not like you meant to burn them down. Don’t get me wrong. Still mighty sore about it, but ah ain’t gonna stop bein’ yer friend just like that.”
Sunset’s mouth hung open, “I… I….”
Before Sunset could say anything, Ragnok flicked his snout up into the air. Fiddlesticks yelped as she was yanked off her hooves and smashed into Lightning. The pair tumbled into a part of town. Growling, Ragnok flexed his jaws and snapped the lasso. “Do you think such feeble attempts will stop me?”
“No,” Sunset seethed. Fire leaked from her horn in spurts. “That won’t stop you, but it sure as bucking hay infuriates me.”
Ragnok laughed, “And I should care, why?”
“Because no one fucks with a princess’s friends,” without a second thought, she charged. They weren’t in the center of town anymore and she could always push him out further. Right now, she just wanted to shove his head into the ground and break his wings.
Ragnok took a deep breath and let loose a torrent of flames. Sunset ducked and rolled out of the way of the blast, narrowly avoiding his swiping claws. The dragon swerved around to bite her, but Sunset teleported just in the nick of time. Appearing over his head, she pooled her magic into one flaming orb about her own size and smashed it down on his noggin. The dragon’s head hit the ground with force. Landing on his scaly hide, she quickly jumped off and gave herself some distance. That strike took too much out of her and she berated herself for it and the teleport. She just really wanted to smash his head, even if it really didn’t do much.
Ragnok pulled his head up and glared at her. The dragon roared, which nearly blew Sunset off her hooves. Then he charged once more, this time even faster. She didn’t have the distance she had the previous time, so she did her best to weave around the dragon’s strikes. She hated to admit it, but she was thankful she was small compared to this beast. She just needed a plan and fast.
The only sound Gingersnap could hear in the empty classroom was the slow page turns from their professor. The little unicorn filly was supposed to be spending her time studying for a series of pop quizzes for the semester. She mentally scoffed at that. ‘Why am I being punished? For calling that orphan out? Oh please, everypony knows she’s really stupid. She’s cheating somehow.’ She didn’t care to remember some other unsavory acts, because she felt they were justified. So having to take an additional set of quizzes for the semester made her blood boil.
The teacher would occasionally give her a glare when he stared up from his book. Being mean to Celestia’s kid would get you those types of looks. Gingersnap was used to them. ‘They don’t understand. Sunset shouldn’t be her daughter. Celestia should be teaching me. She should be paying attention to me. She should have taken me!’
She glared over at the reading teacher. Usually they would make students do something to make up for their misdeeds. She did have to worry about the new quizzes, but doing nothing right now? That was torture. She already knew everything in the text books before her. She was the smartest being in this school, if you were to ask her.
She gave the teacher a snooty gaze as he walked out. She was going to have to pull through this. She’s show them that she was great. She didn’t have to fear anyone here. Her parents would… she started to seize up at that. ‘I got detention. I got detention. Oh Celestia, please no. They’re going too… they’re going too…’
“Hey,” a hoof bumped against her shoulder. “Are you alright?”
Gingersnap turned to look at a yellow filly beside her, “Wha- who are you?”
“Giddilee,” the filly smiled. “I got in trouble when I threw a pie into the teacher’s face, which was on accident mind you. Then I saw you looked like you were having a fit, so I wanted to know if you were going to be alright.”
Gingersnap narrowed her eyes, “Why do you care?”
“Why can’t I care?” Giddilee asked in return.
“Just leave me alone,” Gingersnap turned away from her and back to her books.
“Are you sure?” Giddilee asked. “Well, maybe you are. I’m sure your friends are worried about you and they’ll make you smile.”
“I don’t have any friends,” Gingersnap snorted. ‘Friendship is stupid. It holds you back.’
She was startled nearly out of her seat when Giddilee gasped. “No friends? That’s terrible.” She gave her a serious expression. “From here on out, I’ll be your friend.”
Gingersnap cowered in the remains of what was once a home. She held her hooves to her ears, trying desperately to block out the sounds going on outside. She could have used a spell to block it out, but she was too scared to properly think straight at the moment. ‘It’s not happening. It’ll be alright. It’s fine.’
The crashing and burning kept happening around her. She just kept pressing harder and harder into herself as she kept up this mantra. She wouldn’t think about this. It’d go away. That’s what she told herself, at least. It would go away and she’d be fine. ‘Yes, fine. Fine. Fine. FINE! GO AWAY!’
Yet the fighting seemed to go on. Sometimes it would stop and she’d slowly get to her hooves, before jumping to the ground it started up again. The dragon kept shouting. ‘SHUT UP!’ She kept trying to think of herself somewhere else. Somewhere safe.
To which the world gave her a resounding crash as something smashed through the wall. “WHAAAAAA!” Gingersnap looked up to see that it was a soot covered Sunset. Sunset shook most of it off and glared at the now empty hole. “Is that the best you’ve got?!! My mother could hit harder in her sleep.”
“S-Sunset?” Gingersnap stuttered.
Sunset looked over at her, “What are you doing here, Gingersnap? I thought you’d have ran for it the moment you had the chance.”
What was left of Gingersnap’s pride pushed her back onto her hooves, “I wouldn’t run away from an overgrown lizard.”
Sunset snorted, “That’s what you say. I don’t even know why he’s here anyway. This dragon was supposed……” Sunset’s eyes widened as she looked at Gingersnap. “Did you bring the dragon here?”
“I….” Gingersnap gulped.
“You did!” Sunset jabbed a hoof at her. “What the hay is your problem?”
“How did you know?!!” Gingersnap stared at her.
“I didn’t,” Sunset smirked. “I guessed and you just confirmed it. I mean, you happen to show up in town and not but a few days later the dragon that’s suppose to be asleep for the next several decades wakes up? Did you really think I wouldn’t suspect anything?”
Gingersnap gulped and nervously smiled, “Coincidence?” Sunset gave her a deadpan stare. “Okay! I tried to fake a dragon kill and he got angry. So what? It’s not like I asked him to come here and burn down the town.”
“That’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard,” Sunset shook her head. “And I don’t have time for you. I have to go back out there and clean up your mess.”
“Why?” Gingersnap snarled, stomping right over to her. “So you can be the hero again? So you can be Celestia’s prized daughter with all the glory to yourself.”
“What is the matter with you?” Sunset glared right back at her. “This isn’t about us.”
“It’s always been about us!” Gingersnap shouted in her face. “It’s always been me and you. ALWAYS! You’re the prized student. You’re the beloved daughter. You’re everything and look at what you’ve done to me.”
“Done to you?!!” Sunset pushed her back with a scathing glare. “Do you know what you did to me and Spike when we were growing up? How much you put us through?”
“Do you know what you put me through?” Gingersnap snapped. “I lost everything because of you. My reputation, my earnings, even my family. No one wanted me when they could have the pretty, perfect little unicorn.” She spat at Sunset’s hooves. “You didn’t earn it. You didn’t earn anything.”
“Oh my mom!” Sunset facehooved. “You’re really doing this? Right now? There’s a dragon outside torching the town, trying to kill us.”
“Well it wouldn’t have happened-”
“IF WE WEREN’T TWO BITCHES!” Sunset shouted, accompanied by another crash and facing a female diamond dog. “No offense.”
“None taken,” the dog dug down into the ground.
“Uhhhh,” Gingersnap blinked in confusion.
“It’s one of Rarity’s dogs,” Sunset nonchalantly explained and then sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened. I’m not going to say I regret what I did specifically to you, because I don’t. I enjoyed tossing you around and beating you in tests. ”
“Thanks,” Gingersnap snorted. ‘I hate her so much.’
“But we can’t go on like this,” Sunset said. “It’s not us that’s just being hurt by our feud. Everyone is.”
“I don’t care!” Gingersnap snarled, closing her eyes. She tried to block out the pain, but tears started to pour down her face. “I don’t care about anyone. I don’t. No on cares about me, so I return the favor. I want to beat you. I want to show the world I matter. That I don’t live in your shadow. I want out of it! I want to live in the sunlight for one moment! Is that too hard to ask? Is a little appreciation too much?!!”
Sunset was silent for a moment, “Giddilee cares.”
Gingersnap looked at her in surprise, “W-what?” Sunset didn’t say anything and ran out after the dragon. Gingersnap was rooted in place. ‘I… but that doesn’t count. Giddilee is just Giddilee. I want more. I want… she’s the only one who’s cared about me, but she’s not my family. She’s not the world. She... ‘ She put a hoof to her head as it started to ache. Her medine should have been still active.
She walked over to the whole and watched Sunset fight the dragon. From magic blasts to vine whips, nothing really worked. Sometimes, someone else would try to help. It was either the dogs or guards, but they didn’t prove to be much of a challenge to the dragon. ‘This is hopeless. They need to run. I need to run. They can distract it long enough… but they could die… That doesn’t matter. They don’t matter…. What if they do?... Shut up and run!’
Sunset didn’t run. She was racing around the dragon, teleporting and slamming a hard-knock spell into the dragon’s tail and fists when it came down. She didn’t seem afraid. She was a hero. ‘I should be the hero. I want people to see me for once. Is that too hard to ask?’
Her inner turmoil blinded her to the danger. The dragon had noticed her. He wanted to keep that one alive, but he was so frustrated he didn’t care at this moment. He just wanted to kill something. “You’re still here?” The dragon snorted. “Pitiful. Oh well, perhaps I’ll leave some of the peasants alive after all and remind them of the one who brought my fury down upon this disgusting little town.”
“HEY!” Sunset shouted, “It’s me you’re-” She was cut off when the dragon’s tail wrapped around her legs and smashed her into the side of a building. Gingersnap couldn’t help but wince at that.
She didn’t get to do much else when the dragon brought up his fist and went to smash her sideways with it. It didn’t really matter where or how he hit her. She was a unicorn and in a sorry state at that. Sunset could survive because she was using little shield spells. ‘This is how I go?’
The blow never hit her. Instead, it smashed into the barrier Giddilee put up the second she jumped in front of her. The unicorn’s magic gave out within seconds, but it was just long enough to stall the attack and save Gingersnap. Giddilee wasn’t so lucky as she screamed as the blow sent her flying.
“Giddilee!” Gingersnap screamed louder than she ever had before. She raced on over as the dragon started to laugh. Her fallen from had almost smashed clean through a building and was lying on the ground. Her body was covered in bruises and blood trickled out from underneath her. Sitting down, Gingersnap gently picked her friend’s head in her hooves. “Giddilee, why? Why did you jump in front of me?”
Giddilee gave her a weak smile. Her face twitched in pain as though the simple gesture was agonizing. “Because that’s what friends do.”
“B-but…” Gingersnap choked on her words. Her cheeks were matted with tears. Some of them trailed downwards onto her friend. She couldn’t believe it. Even as she felt her friend go colder and colder. “I….”
“W-we had a lot of fun…” Giddilee coughed, spraying a few droplets onto Gingersnap’s face. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Gingersnap sobbed. “Please don’t. Please don’t ever say you’re sorry. I’m… I so, so sorry. It’s my fault and… you shouldn’t have done that. You should have let me die.”
“Never,” Giddilee said without any hesitation, causing slightly. “Y-you’d do the same for me.”
Gingersnap didn’t move. She didn’t say anything. ‘Would I? Would I do that? She’s my friend, but… But? BUT?!!’ Gingersnap felt sick to her core. She hated every ounce of who she was at this moment and she just wanted to disappear. “Don’t leave me…Giddilee?” Her friend wasn’t responding. “GIDDILEE!”
“Oh how sad,” Ragnok, the great green dragon, chuckled as he loomed over the pair. “To think, if you had just listened to me, she would be okay.” He leaned his head down. “To think, if you had actually been smart and left my cave, she would be fine.”
Gingersnap didn’t answer with anything more than a choked sob. ‘He’s right. She’s gone because of me. My only friend… GONE!’ She felt her whole world shatter around her. Her heart beat like a wildebeest, smashing against her ribcage as it fought to escape the pain.
“Such a waste of life,” Ragnok mocked. “She could have lived to a golden age, but now?” He chuckled. His snout almost touched them. His piercing gaze cut right through her. “I am a merciful dragon. Let none tell you differently. You’re suffering. Agonizing.” He pulled away and Gingersnap couldn’t think of what he meant by that. “This day has been interesting and I have wished to soak myself in pure carnage for too long. I have to thank you for this. So pony, I shall give you a choice. How do you wish to die?”
When the mare didn’t respond, he grinned. Flames licked his lips as he took a deep breath and fired point blank at them. Ragnok grinned through the fire and death and cut off his attack to see the damage. However, he didn’t expect to hear a sucking noise. He really didn’t expect to see that pony, Sunset Shimmer, actually eating his flames. She was sucking them into her mouth and didn’t stop until they were gone. “What is this?”
Sunset patted her belly, “Now that’s the stuff. Woo, I need to try out some more of your flyers because your flames are so spicy~” ‘Oh I’ve got to ask mom if we can visit the dragon lands again some time soon.’
Ragnok scowled, “You dare consume my fire, pony?”
“I do dare,” Sunset smirked. “Thanks for the snack. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make the next few minutes of your life a living Tartarus.”
Ragnok laughed. “Oh really? You think you can take on a dragon? You’re nothing more than a measly fire mage.”
“Pfft, says you.” Sunset’s eyes blazed with righteous fury. Fire licked around her body. “I happen to be a Fire Blood Elemental.” When the dragon’s eyes widened, Sunset chuckled. “Oh yeah, you’ve done it now.”
The fire’s growing around her suddenly grew into an inferno that consumed her form. They shaped themselves to make her out in the blaze. Said form shifted and grew. From its back grew two wings and a tail fought its way out from behind. As soon as it was finished, the flames were gone. Instead of a regular unicorn, there stood a being thrice her size. She paled in comparison to the dragon still, but she could give a full grown Knight a run for their money. Draconic wings flapped about, sending small little embers flying about. Her tail slashed across the air. Her body was covered in furry plates of armor, like a mixture of a dragon’s and a pony. Her eyes were rather much like a dragons and her large fangs confirmed the mixture.
“Do you think this is funny?” Ragnok snarled. “Taking the form of a dragon? You disgrace the very name ‘dragon’. I will make sure you die slowly.”
“You can try,” Sunset flapped her wings. Like a rocket, she bolted up from the ground, striking the dragon underneath his chin. Her large hooves and newfound strength sent waves of pain along the dragon’s jaw as he was forced upwards from the strike.
Ragnok was stunned for a moment. He couldn’t comprehend a pony actually hurting him like that. Him! A dragon. Before he could process this fact, Sunset zoomed right smack dab between his eyes. She hit him with enough force to send him knock him down to the ground. She pulled up higher into the air and shot fire from her both into the sky. Her horn glowed, spewing another jet of flames. The two jets came together, fueling a large ball of flame that grew large enough to encase the dragon’s torso. Grinning, she fired the ball right into the dragon as he tried to get up.
Needless to say, it smashed him into the ground. While normal flames were useless against dragons, these were imbued with dragon essence. It wouldn’t severely damage him, but it would hurt and that was enough for Sunset. She just needed to stall him until Vinyl and Turner came. ‘Hurry up, you two.’ She was also glad everyone else had run for it after a while. The guards and Rarity’s dogs were too tired to do much of anything at this point. Rarity and most of them were with the civilians, so they didn’t have the numbers to help her. She was on her own. So she charged up another blast.
Ragnok quickly spun around and fired a plume of fire straight at her. The flames momentarily blinded her, but did nothing but give her another boost. As she slurped the last bit of it, she smirked. “Thanks for-”
A massive hand gripped her tightly and plunged her into the ground. The blow knocked the wind right out of her. Ragnok wasn’t about to let her catch it again, so he smashed another fist into her and then another. He kept at it, grinning maliciously as he tried to pummel the mare into paste. Pulling back, he snorted. “I assumed the daughter of Celestia would have been smarter than this.”
“She is.” Inside the crater, Sunset smiled up at the dragon. After the second or third punch, she used her magic to form a shield around herself. While she wasn’t that skilled with shields, she was able to mix it with dragon essence to strengthen it. Many of her scales were broken and bleeding, but she was fine overall. The magic of the shield zipped into a tiny sphere in her hoof, before she jutted it out. Instantly, the ball was the size of his eye and knocked him back with energy he hadn’t felt before.
Teleporting up to his eye level, she sent a wave of magic with a flap of her wing that smacked the side of his head. Reacting quickly, Ragnok gave her a good backhanded slap that sent her flying into a building. She groaned as she laid in the rubble for a few seconds. ‘I can’t keep this up. I know he won’t use any more of his fire and he’s faster than I thought he’d be. Smarter too.’ She got up and glared out at the charging dragon. ‘But I’m not going to quit.’
Gingersnap glanced over to see the dragon smash into a large barrier of magic. The dragon roared in pain and fury as he rubbed his head and was pushed back by another blast to his chest. It didn’t topple him this time. ‘She can’t keep this up. She’s using too much power in her strikes. She’s not going to win.’
Gingersnap closed her eyes as rivers of tears cascaded down. ‘I’m going to die. I’m… I”m…” She opened them up again to look at Giddilee’s still smiling face. Every laugh. Every hug. Every joke. She remembered it all. ‘Giddilee never abandoned me. She… was my friend and I treated her like dirt.’ “I never told you how much you mean to me, Giddilee. You were like a sister and I….” She choked up on those words.
Until the dragon roared again. Something inside her snapped. She wasn’t going to run. Not anymore. She glowered at the dragon and gently laid her friend’s head down. “I’ll be right back.” She levitated herself slowly into the air. With each passing second, she poured more and more of her magic into her horn. She watched as the dragon pressed his attack against something.
Sunset was giving the dragon Tartarus. One of the dragon’s hand was bent out of shape after Sunset set a timed explosion inside his fist. Still, he wasn’t going to relent and unless Sunset got a lucky hit, this wasn’t going to go well for the unicorn. Gingersnap was going to change that.
She stopped the moment she could look the dragon in the eye. She wanted to savor this. “RAGNOK!” She hollered. He looked over at her. “You took my friend from me! The only one who ever cared about me! You’re going to pay.”
Ragnok laughed, “Oh really? Pray tell, what is a unicorn like yourself capable of? A few magic tricks to frighten me, perhaps?”
“No,” was all Gingersnap said. A sigil formed before her and she shot out her hooves as her magic reached its climaxed. “Watch in awe as the Stupendous Gingersnap performs her greatest feat: TWIN SERPENT STRIKE!” Her horn flared and out shot a beam of magic straight through the sigil. Through the air, the beam split in two, becoming serpent like.
Ragnok didn’t have any time to react as the energy serpents slammed into him. The resulting blast knocked the wind out of his sails, so to speak, letting Sunset gain some needed distance. “Why you little-”
Sunset took the opportunity to smashed a hoof into his jaw, “Don’t forget about me.”
Ragnok roared, throwing them both back in the air. They caught themselves before they could fall. Out from Ragnok’s tail erupted several long spikes. “I’ve had it with you ponies. This ends now.” With that, he charged. It honestly sounded more like an earthquake, a real force of nature moving their way.
Sunset looked over at Gingersnap, “You with me?” She reached out a hoof and in between the two of them, formed a sphere of magic.
Catching onto what she meant, Gingersnap smiled. “Of course.” She reached out as well and the ball grew exponentially.
“Just don’t call this attack, okay.” Sunset quipped.
Gingersnap laughed, “Fine, just this once.” With that said, they let the ball fly forward, turning it into a beam of magic from the base of their horns. The beam struck the dragon, causing him to roar in pain. Yet, he wouldn’t stop advancing. He wasn’t running now, but he was steadily pushing through the attack.
“KEEP IT UP!” Sunset yelled.
“I’m trying,” Gingersnap was. She was giving it all. The mare could even feel blood starting to trickle out of her nose, mouth, and ears with this constant pressure. ‘I’m going to kill myself. Why am I okay with this?’ That’s when she remembered.
“From here on out, I’ll be your friend.”
‘For her.’ Gingersnap gave a roar of her own as she put everything she had into this blast. The dragon finally started to buckle and finally they sent him flying several yards. The dragon crushed a few buildings underneath his body. ‘I… did it.’ With that, she fell into darkness.
Sunset gently lowered Gingersnap’s body to the ground. She smiled as a few of the remaining guards took her and Giddilee away. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe she’s not all that bad.’ She flew over to the dragon. She knew he wasn’t dead, but maybe now he was in the mood to talk. “So, are you ready to surrender?”
Ragnok didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His tail shot up from the ground and one of his spikes snagged her wing. She screamed in pain as it was torn from her, falling to the ground. Her eyes widened when the dragon’s fire was depleted. In a flash of white, she was herself again.
Ragnok chuckled, “Impressive display, I have to give her that. However,” he raised himself up. “It’s all over now.” He lunged forward, ready to sink his teeth into her at last. He didn’t get the chance.
Spike struck the dragon’s jaw with his fist. Thanks to him being an Earth Dragon, it actually worked in diverting the death blow. “Don’t you dare touch my sister.”
“Your sister?” Ragnok’s fire blazed in his mouth as though he was cleaning out a foul taste. “You dare associate with these ponies?”
“I do,” Spike narrowed his eyes.
“Traitor!” Ragnok struck again. Spike had his strength, but he couldn’t keep himself from being eaten for that long.
He didn’t have to.
“VINYL, NOW!” Time Turner’s voice shouted over the battle. A beam of pure energy struck the dragon’s chest. It was far stronger than any previously seen that night, which is why it took the dragon off his feet without any effort. Ragnok let loose a cry of agony and anger as he was sent hurtling into the Everfree Forest.
“OH YEAH!” Vinyl let out a cheer. “That’s what happens when you mess with Ponyville, jackass… No offense.” She called over to an older donkey named Matilda who was watching over Giddilee.
“None taken,” she waved it off without a care.
“S-Spike?” Sunset looked up at her brother. “I thought-”
“I wouldn’t abandon you,” Spike gingerly picked her up in his arms as he walked upright. He was thankful he could do that with ease. He smiled down at her. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”
Sunset nodded, but then looked over at Gingersnap and Giddilee. “Not all of us are though.”
“You actually care about those two?” Spike questioned.
“I… I’m in no position to judge.” Sunset sighed.
“Wow, that’s actually really mature of you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you’re the real, Sunset?”
“Ask me that again and I’ll drop you from a ten story building.” Sunset glared up at him.
Spike laughed and nuzzled her, “That’s my sister.” Sunset could help but nuzzle him back.
Sunset was thankful hospital beds were so comfy. If not, she’d have been tempted to burn the whole place down. Not literally though. Well not anymore, but she was agitated. She was covered in several bandages that covered injuries that still stung. Her powered-up form had kept her from the worst of the dragon’s blows, but she knew she’d be feeling the pain for a few weeks.
She let out a soft groan as she opened her eyes to stare at the blank ceiling. She hadn’t been able to get any sleep. Even as exhausted as she was, she felt… so empty inside. She knew she had to fix it, but the moment she even thought about why, she felt like breaking. She knew Fiddlesticks had forgiven her. ‘She couldn’t hate someone forever even if she tried.’ She couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
“Seems like somepony is chipper this morning,” her mother’s voice surprised her.
Sunset looked over at her and gulped. ‘I’m in for it now. She knows what I did. This is all my fault. She’s going to banish me. Send me away from my friends… She won’t want me anymore. Stupid, stupid Sunset.’ She could feel the coming tears.
“Shhh,” Celestia pulled her into a comforting hug. “It’s alright. It’s all over. You’re safe.”
“B-but it’s my fault,” Sunset sniffed as she held her mother close. Her mother’s fur alleviated some of her sorrow, but she had much more to spare. “This all happened because of me and now you hate me and never want to see me again and you’re going to send me away and-”
“Sunset,” Celestia pulled back and looked directly into her eyes. “I would never send you away, nor can I have hate you. You are my daughter and I will always love you. We all make mistakes and we must live with them.”
“But… but I burned down my friend’s farm,” Sunset sniffed. “I-”
“Hogwash,” Fiddlesticks popped up from the other side of the bed. “Ah forgave ya already. Get that through yer skull, princess.”
Sunset blinked in surprise, “Fiddlesticks? How long have you been there?”
“Slept in,” Fiddlesticks tipped her hat to Celestia in a sign of respect. She returned the farmer’s nod. “Wanted to make sure ya were okay. Now what’s this about you crying over those trees?”
“I burned them,” Sunset squeaked out. ‘Why isn’t she throttling me yet?’
Fiddlesticks nodded, “And ah forgave ya already. It hurt to see them burn, but ya didn’t mean it. Besides, ah can’t hold a grudge against a friend.” She smiled and patted her shoulder, “Yer payin’ fer the damages though.”
“It will be paid in full by the end of the week,” Celestia answered.
“Mighty kind of ya, princess.” Fiddlesticks bowed her hat again and took off. “Ah expect to see you at the farm. Maybe ya can help out a bit and make it up.”
Sunset sighed as she watched her friend leave, “Why did she do that?”
“Because that’s what friends do,” Celestia nuzzled her daughter. “A true friend can learn to forgive someone, no matter what they’ve done. Dwelling on the past aids no one, except harming oneself and your future.”
Sunset sniffed and nuzzled deeper into her fur, “But what if I do it again?”
“Do you regret your actions?” When Sunset nodded, Celestia kissed her head. “Then you won’t. Just try to be more careful next time, alright Sunset?”
Sunset nodded once more, “What about the town? The dragon wrecked the place to kingdom come.”
“I have some of Equestria’s finest engineers and workponies on the job,” Celestia answered. “They should have the place back to normal in no time. To those who’ve lost homes and possessions, all I can offer are my condolences and reimburse them on their losses.”
Sunset sighed in relief, “Well at least that’s out of the way.”
Celestia nodded, “Now, about this Gingersnap I’ve been hearing about…”
Sunset wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping. A few hours after the fight, Gingersnap had shakingly woken up from a dream. She couldn’t really remember the dream itself, but there was fire. ‘Fire everywhere. Take it away. Take it away.’ She couldn’t though. Every time she closed her eyes, she could have sworn she saw it. Every time she swore she heard her friend screaming. ‘And it’s all my fault.’
So she watched the doorway. Not the curtain beside her. Not the ceiling above. Neither of them could distract her for long. No, she kept her gaze locked on the door. She knew what was coming. Any moment now, guards would bust in and they’d take her away. ‘Probably to be executed. It’s what I deserve.’ She wanted to argue that point. She really did, but every time that happened, Giddilee’s brutalized body popped into mind. Every time, she remembered the doubt.
‘Would I do the same?’
Her heart was already broken into a million pieces, but it felt like it was trying to break even further apart. She put her face in her hooves and cried. ‘I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this. WHY?!! Why did this have to happen?’ She pulled back and scowled. “This is my fault. This is all my fault and now look. I just wanted… I just wanted……” She let out a angered cry as she turned around and smashed her face into a pillow. It drowned out her shouting.
“Gingersnap?” A familiar voice spoke up. Gingersnap rolled onto her back and her eyes nearly bulged right out of their sockets when she saw who it was: Sunset Shimmer. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
A part of her wanted to apologize right then and there. ‘But even if I say it, I don’t think I’ll mean it… not yet anyways.’ So she crossed her forelegs and glared at her. The action caused her to grit her teeth from the pain. “I’m fine.”
Sunset sighed, “Look, I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve come to make a truce.”
“Truce?” Gingersnap quirked an eyebrow. “Truce?!! After all these years? After what you did to me?”
“Says the one who spent her years bullying me instead of getting over it,” Sunset snarled right back, causing Gingersnap to wince. Sunset shook her head. “No, I don’t want to argue. We need to stop this right now, or we might do it again.”
“No we wouldn’t,” Gingersnap said.
“Stop contradicting me,” Sunset glared at her. She trotted over to the side of the bed closest to the curtains that almost sliced the room in two. “We’re both in the wrong here. We’re both stupid and we both caused this. Ponies have been hurt and lost their homes because of us. We’re the ones at fault and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of ponies being afraid of me.”
“Nopony’s afraid of you,” Gingersnap rolled her eyes. ‘Now she’s lying.’
“My temper,” Sunset started to list off facts. “My habits of setting things and ponies aflame. My brother’s a dragon. My mom’s a goddess. Add that all up and you have a nation that won’t look me in the eye. The only ones who care about me are my mom, brother, and my six new friends and I almost lost them yesterday. I know I upstaged you, but you made it hard Gingersnap. No one wanted to be my friend in the first place, but…”
Gingersnap looked away. ‘I did sort of act like a bully.’ She wanted to smack herself. ‘Sort of? SORT OF?!! If you were nicer to her, Giddilee would be alright.’ She couldn’t stand this anymore. She wanted to be in the right. She wanted everypony to fess up about mistreating her, but now? Maybe she was the problem all along. She hadn’t noticed that she was crying until she tried to talk. It came out a little garbled, “I-I’m sorry. I just wanted… I didn’t know…”
Sunset quickly pulled her into a hug. “I forgive you. I just hope you can forgive me.”
“I…” Gingersnap gulped as she struggled to say it. “I do.”
“Good,” Sunset held the hug for another moment. “Oh and also you’re not allowed to set a hoof in Ponyville again or you’ll be thrown in jail.”
Gingersnap groaned, “I guess it could have been worse.” She pulled back and smirked. “Soon enough, The Stupendous Gingersnap’s fame will be so grand, they’ll be begging me to come back.”
Sunset shook her head and chuckled, “Anyways, I think somepony else wants to have a word with you.”
Gingersnap looked at her inquisitively. Sunset pulled the curtain back with her magic and right there was a sleeping Giddilee. The machine attached to her was still picking up a pulse and she could even see her chest rising and falling. “Giddilee? GIDDILEE!” She didn’t care about how much pain she was in. She jumped out of her bed and hugged the mare.
“Ow,” Giddilee weakly said before looking up at Gingersnap. “Y-you’re alright?” Her voice was hoarse and shaky but this was better than no voice at all.
“Never better,” Gingersnap laughed. Then, she remembered the question that had been plaguing her. Looking at her friend, she had an answer. “I’d do the same, Gingersnap. I’d do the same in a heartbeat.”
Deep within the Everfree Forest, Ragnok grew weary. Normally, he was the most menacing thing in the forest. No creature would dare stand in his way. That’s what he told everyone and they believed him. The truth was there was something in the forest that even unnerved dragons. Something ancient and powerful.
Something angry.
Ragnok thought it would leave him alone. He hadn’t tried to harm the forest, just the ponies outside of it. Yet as he walked home, he couldn’t help but feel something watch him.
He was being hunted.
Ragnok snarled. Dragons were always top of the foodchain. Nothing could surpass them, aside from a few gods. Celestia was one of them, but he gambled on the knowledge that she wouldn’t enter the forest. Gods and civilization weren’t welcome in old places like this. So he didn’t have to worry about the sorry state he was in. He’d heal after another hundred year nap. They’d forget all about him. ‘I didn’t even get to kill anyone.’
That moment, he heard something stirring. He paused and looked around. “Who’s there?” He did his best to keep the small, nagging fear inside. “Who dares stalk, Ragnok? Show yourself and I may let you live.”
The forest went still for a moment. He smirked and kept going. ‘Cowards.’ Then the forest came alive. Vines thicker than tree trunks wrapped around his legs and pulled him to the ground. They wrapped themselves over his body, keeping him firmly in place. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Meaning?” An ethereal voice spoke up all around him, slightly chuckling. It was comforting but hungry at the same time. “Oh I don’t know. Perhaps the meaning of this has to do with your little ‘trip’ to Ponyville.”
Ragnok snorted, “Why should you care what happens to Ponyville?”
“I don’t,” out from the shadows, a figure walked elegantly towards him. She was a tall mare, able to look Celestia in the eyes without any effort at all. Her long, flowing pink mane was intertwined in elegant patterns with vegetation. The same for her cream yellow body. Her eyes were similar to his own as were her draconic wings. Her fangs were large, jutting out from her upper jaw over her bottom lips. She held such a captivating visage that he couldn’t help but look at her.
She was the spirit of the Everfree Forest. She was its champion and living vessel. She was something between mortals and the gods themselves. All that and now she was staring down the dragon.
“Then why chain me to the ground with these accursed vines?”
“Because the ponies care,” the figure narrowed her eyes and his blood went cold. “They care when a dragon comes into thier towns and cause nothing but destruction. Do you know what they do afterwards? They march on after the dragon. Said dragon lives in my forest and they will do everything in their power to get to you. I will not allow a single pony into my forest. They will only bring destruction here.” She stopped right in front of his snout as if unafraid of the prospect of burning to death.
She was right to be unafraid. Ragnok was too petrified by the being before him to do anything.
“So what to do?” She tapped her chin in thought. “I could just kill you and place your head at the forest’s edge, but ponies might want to check. They might think someone’s living here. Maybe chaos cultists? Oh they won’t care, because I know there are some that want this land for themselves. They’ll want to burn it to the ground just to check. No, I have another plan.” She scowled, causing the dragon to shiver. “I don’t like this plan.”
“It will be over soon enough,” another voice spoke up. This time it was Celestia who walked out of the shadows. She bowed her head to the figure. “It is nice to see you again, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy simply nodded, “The same.”
“It’s been too long since we’ve last met,” Celestia sighed. “I apologize for that. I should have set aside some time to meet with you.”
“I understand, Celestia.” Fluttershy responded. “Your ponies can’t survive a day without you, the loathsome lot they are.”
“One day you’re going to see them in a different light,” Celestia smiled. “Perhaps I’ll even get a letter about your first friend.”
“I highly doubt I will be making any ‘friends’,” Fluttershy seemed to shiver at the word like it was putrid. “With any ponies. Ever.”
“Aren’t we friends?”
“You’re an exception,” Fluttershy growled. “So shut up and deal with the dragon or I’ll throw you out of my forest. You might be a friend, but I still don’t like you being here for so long.”
Celestia sighed, “Well you can’t say I don’t try.” She turned back to the dragon. This time, he felt a different chill run down his spine. Fluttershy made him afraid.
Celestia made him want to burrow into the deep earth and never come out. She wasn’t even glaring at him. She just looked at him without a trace of emotion whatsoever. Yet it was those eyes. Those eyes that cut right through him. Those eyes that held so much power they could consume the entire world in fire and death if she wanted to. “Now what to do with you.”
“Celestia,” Ragnok started. “You must understand-”
“I understand completely,” Celestia cut him off. “Someone woke you up from your rest so you thought it would be a good idea to burn down the nearest town to make that pony look bad. When you found out my daughter was in town, you continued anyways. Just to slight me. I am not stupid, Ragnok.”
Ragnok gulped as he tried to search for a way to get out of this situation, “Then give me another chance. I didn’t kill anyone. I swear.” ‘Not for a lack of trying.’
Celestia nodded, “You are correct. Everypony got out of it in one piece. The town, however, did not. A lot of ponies lost their homes and everything they had because of you. We can rebuild them, but we can’t rebuild the memories placed within those walls.” She put a hoof to her forehead and rubbed away a little headache. “Of course, this isn’t anything new to Ponyville. They’ve lost houses before to other monsters, but on this scale? Never.”
“There’s something I can do to make up for this,” Ragnok pleaded.
Celestia looked him over, stopping to stare at his wings for a moment, and then his face. “I believe everyone deserves a second chance, even a third chance if possible. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t try and apply that here. Who knows? Perhaps you too will understand the magic of friendship one day. I will let you live, Ragnok.”
Ragnok sighed in relief, “Thank you, Celestia. You truly are as benevolent as the tales say.”
Celestia nodded and turned her back to the dragon. He felt his fear start to melt away. She walked past Fluttershy and stopped. She turned her head and nodded to the Forest Spirit. The vines wrapped around this wings hoisted them up without warning. Ragnok didn’t have time to say anything as Celestia twirled around, her horn ablaze with magic. A sheet of Light Magic sliced through his wings.
Ragnok screamed in pain and agony as they fell to the ground. Celestia slammed his jaws shut as she stormed right over to him. Stopping to glare into his very eyes, she scowled. “If you so much as lay a claw out of this forest without my say so, Ragnok, I swear I will make the last few seconds of your miserable life nothing more than the worst agony imaginable. Do you understand me?” Ragnok weakly nodded. “Good.” She ended her magic. “I’m sorry about this, Ragnok. Truly I am, but perhaps one day you’ll understand my fury. The pain I felt when I saw my daughter covered in bandages and learning she was nearly killed for the second time in less then a month. You should consider yourself lucky that all I took from you were your wings.”
“Celestia,” Fluttershy hissed. “If you let your emotions get the best of you, you’ll burn down my forest.”
Celestia closed her eyes and took in deep breaths, “You’re right. I should take my leave before I do something I’ll regret. Take care of Ragnok. Make sure he lives a long and happy life.”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “He’s not a puppy.”
“You’re right,” Celestia chuckled. “A puppy’s smarter.” Just then, a letter popped into existence. “Oooh, my daughter wrote me another friendship report.” Unfolding it, her smile brightened. “Oh Luna’s going to love this one. Wish me luck.” She teleported away.
Fluttershy shook her head, “I will never understand her.” She looked over at the whimpering dragon and patted his snout. “There, there. Mama Fluttershy is going to take good care of you from now on.”
