> The Huntress
>  by The Quiet Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 0: That Which Thou Seest is Neither This nor That
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Once upon a time, there were two sisters.  The two sisters loved one another and together, defeated monsters.  And the peoples loved them and to them pronounced them to the throne of the land.  And they loved the sisters much.

        But the younger sister became jealous, wounded in her heart and she, too, became a monster, so much so that the older sister banished the younger, sealing her within the great moon above, with four stars as her wardens.

        But the elder was pained, for she had lost her loved one.  And now she would rule alone upon her marbled throne.


Years passed.
Decades passed.
Centuries passed.


        Eventually, the older sister became a scholar, warrior and queen in her own right.  She had nurtured fine minds and brave souls, turning a ravaged land into a wondrous paradise.  Yet she still felt her loss, and each day the wound grew.

        But then, one day, the queen became, much to her surprise, a mother.  Walking through the streets of her capital, she came across a child, a ragamuffin whose parents were unknown.  The scamp was possessed of a cheeky nature, a limitless ability to learn, and a power that far outstripped those well beyond her peers.  Seeing these talents, the queen took the child under her wing.  The child grew from a street urchin into a scholar and magi, and into a beloved daughter.

And thus the queen was content.

        However, the daughter’s ambitions would not be quelled; and strangely, neither would her love for her mother, the queen.  She yearned to be with her mother and to prove worthy of the queen’s love.  But she did so through the wrong path, taking measures that were best left forgotten and actions that were bordering on evil.

        The queen saw what was happening and the wound in her heart ripped open once more as she confronted her daughter.  Mother and daughter dueled, though with words instead of war, and once again the queen knew sorrow as her beloved child departed, exiling herself to lands unknown.


        Years passed again and the queen took two students.  In time she grew to love her students as daughters as well, though these students’ parents still lived.  The elder student would succeed where the queen’s first daughter did not, ascending and moving to the side of the queen.

        But it was the younger student who had done the incredible: She had returned the queen’s sister to her side, despite the odds, finding faithful friends and all becoming the queen’s sworn warriors, bearing the land’s greatest treasures.

And as the younger sister – the princess – moved to the side of the queen, it would seem the wound in the elder sister’s heart would finally resolve.

        But fate is a cruel force of nature, and the wound did not go away.  Instead, it festered, growing stronger even as the queen herself did not notice it.  And though her other would-be daughters, in time, found their own places in life as queens of other lands, and her sister struggled to adjust to a world that was not her own, the queen persevered, denying the growing wound in her heart.

        That was, until the queen’s daughter returned.  In a foolish stunt, she stole the crown of the younger student, returning to the land she’d hidden in.  The younger student gave chase, and after an adventure, changed the heart of the daughter and caused her to see new perspectives and a new way of life.

        Eventually the daughter changed, becoming a benevolent warrior in her own land and leading her own band of heroes in justice in her new home.  And the peoples of that new land grew to love the daughter as the long-ago peoples of the other land loved her mother.

        Heartbroken by her daughter's absence, the queen’s heart continued its infection, even as she’d heard of her daughter’s new ways.  And as the daughter decided to make her home permanent in the new land, the queen’s heart fell…
...and it fell to the corruption.


        The queen decided two things that day: One, that she loved her family with all her heart and soul, and would do much for them.

        And two…

        ...that humanity must burn.
> I: These Things Last Till Tomorrow, O Death, for They Wear Out This Vigor of All the Senses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

CANTERLOT, CALIFORNIA
June 4, 2016


        One eye shut from a cut above it and her movements unsteady from a twisted ankle, Sunset Shimmer all but plopped down on the floor in what used to be the front lobby of Canterlot High School.  Used to be, in the sense that there wasn't much left of it.  Last time the damage had been this bad, it had been her doing.

        But now….  Sunset winced as she tried to stand on her wounded leg, only to yelp as she collapsed to the ground.  Now there was danger, far more than she'd experienced before since her change of heart.  Far more than just power-hungry sirens, a confused teenager turned psychotic, or even the weirdness of the Everfree Forest.  She looked around as tears of pain came to her eyes.  Did someone declare war on this country?  Was it terrorism?  Or, worst of all: did a new monster come from Equestria, hell-bent on carnage and chaos?

        She could hear explosions in the distance.  Closer to her, she could also hear the whimpering of Lyra Heartstrings against Derpy’s shoulder – the former’s lover, Bon Bon, had been one of the first to die, right next to Principal Celestia.  Celestia herself had been completely incinerated by the blast that had come from seemingly out of nowhere.  That had been the start of the panic that had gripped the city in the past few minutes since.

        Forcing herself back to her feet, and feeling momentarily wobbly for it, she staggered over as close to the doors as she dared.  Outside, the school grounds were an abattoir, with dozens of dead people, many of which she knew.  Her hand went instinctively to her mouth in a shocked gasp as she saw so many she knew among the lost.

        Then a fiery beam came down from the heavens and struck the statue in front of the school – the statue that housed the portal to Equestria.  It registered for a split second that with the statue destroyed, there would be no hope of rescue from Equestria – even if Princess Twilight could create a new portal in time, there may not be survivors to appreciate the assistance.

        The second thing she registered, as she saw the blur flying towards them was that the donation was strong enough to cause a blast wave – and she was only mere feet away from it.

        Turning and diving towards what she hoped would be safety, she barely managed to scream “WATCH OUT!”  A fraction of a second later, she was thrown by a wave of white and heat….

        The last thing she thought before darkness claimed her was that today, of all days, was not supposed to be like this.


~*~


        “Awww yeah!” Rainbow shouted as she put on her gown.  “Time to graduate!  Bye-bye, CHS!”

        “Rainbow Dash,” Rarity chastised, “how could you think that such an event is a joyful occasion!  We’re graduating, and in a few months, we’ll be headed off to our respective colleges.  We won’t see each other on a regular basis again.”

        “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” the rainbow-haired athlete grumbled, accepting the admonishment.  “It’s just … y’know, I’m looking forward to heading to State University!  In fact, I’m looking forward to heading there in late July to get ready for soccer season.  What about you guys?”

        One by one, they answered: Rarity’s family was spending the summer in Europe before she started school in Manhattan.  Fluttershy, who was attending college locally at the University of Canterlot, had already started working as a vet’s assistant.  Pinkie and her boyfriend Cheese Sandwich were taking a roadtrip around the country before they both started school at Cloudsdale U.  Applejack was going to be studying agricultural sciences at nearby Ponyville Community College, and would probably commute back and forth from Sweet Apple Acres.  And finally, Twilight was starting early classes at Everton University – she’d be leaving in a week.

        “I notice I didn’t hear any of your plans,” Twilight said as she adjusted her glasses.  “What about you, Sunset?”

        “I’ll be attending UC along with Fluttershy … but I’m taking a year off,” she admitted.  When her friends looked at her curiously, she gave a soft smile.  “I … I need to make things right with my mother.  Princess Twilight has asked me to come back and see my family, and I agreed.”  She sighed.  “I have so much to make up for.  I need to apologize to my cousins Cadance and Blueblood.  Plus, I’ll probably go see the Sirens and see how they’re adjusting to living back in Equestria.  Plus I've missed so much while I've been here – it's time for me to go catch up.”

        “Tell ‘em we said hi!” Pinkie chirped.

        “Well, don’t you dare forget about us,” Rarity said, wrapping Sunset in a hug, which the latter had reluctantly accepted.  Things had been awkward between the two of them over the past few weeks ever since Rarity had confessed her feelings to Sunset.  Sunset had never seen her friend in a romantic light, and it hurt the one-time unicorn to turn down someone she loved.  But she loved Rarity as a friend, not as a romantic interest.  Rarity had since said she accepted it, but sometimes Sunset wasn’t too sure.

        “I won’t,” Sunset promised.  “I never could.”


        “Excuse me, girls?”  They all turned to see Principal Celestia, standing there in her educator’s robes.  “It’s almost time to start, but I wanted a minute to talk to you all in private.”

        “Are we in trouble again?” Rainbow asked, and the older woman giggled.

        “No, not at all, Miss Dash.  Truthfully … well, I will miss you all.”  They all gave her an odd look at that, and the principal gave them a beatific smile.  “Things have been interesting in the years you were here, and though things will be quieter with you all no longer around, I must admit that CHS will be a poorer place without your presences.”

        “Thank ya, Principal Celestia,” Applejack said with a grin.  “I feel plum appreciative that you said that.”

        “Well girls,” Twilight looked at those assembled.  “Let’s go get graduated!”


~*~


        “SUNSET!”

        The teen came to, realizing that she was laying on the floor of Fluttershy’s van.  However, given the roar of the engine and the rattling, it meant the vehicle was racing at high speeds and the driver was most likely not Fluttershy.  

        Sitting up, the first thing she noticed was Flash Sentry at the wheel, with Applejack seated shotgun – literally so, given the rifle that sat in the farmer’s hands, obtained from who knew where.  She noted those facts only to hear the screech of the tires and inertia taking over quickly as she was slammed hard against the side of the van’s cargo space.

        “Hey, you okay?”  Sunset blinked and looked into Twilight’s eyes.  The girl’s glasses were cracked, and she looked like she’d been thrown around once or twice, but was otherwise okay.  Peering closer, the Asian girl added, “You don’t look like you have a concussion.”

        “I’m fine,” she said, waving off her friend.  “What happened?”

        “There’s been an attack,” Twilight started, before going into larger detail: “Nobody really knows what happened, but it started at CHS, and the police are telling us to get out of the area and the National Guard’s on the way….”  She shook her head.  “My parents….” she sobbed, and crumpled into Sunset’s arms as her friend comforted her.

        “I’m sorry,” Sunset said, holding Twilight close while she cried.  She was too shell-shocked to hear about Twilight’s parents.  She’d met them a few months back; both of Twilight’s parents were second-generation Japanese-Americans, their parents having immigrated from the old country a while back.  To think of them as gone, as well as so many others….  It was a crushing blow in an already painful day.

        “Hey, Sunset, good – yer awake.”  Sunset looked up to see Applejack looking at her, a grim look on her face.  “We’re headin’ to the mall – cops are usin’ it as an emergency and evac site.”

        “What’s going on?” Sunset related, not sure if she really heard Twilight correctly.

        “We were attacked,” Flash said.  “We don’t know what it was or who did it, but it decimated CHS and the area around it in minutes.  As you can guess, several of our loved ones are gone, as are most of the staff – and most of our classmates.”

        “Fluttershy?  Where’s she––”

        Twilight sobbed.  “She … she didn’t make it.  Her, or Pinkie.”  The younger teen let out a sob that wrenched from the heart.  Sunset pulled her friend closer as she began to cry once more.

        “Rarity’s behind us in her car,” Flash continued.  “She's got Vinyl and Trixie with her, but that was all she could get.”  The wail of a siren interrupted him as a police car raced part him, followed by a SWAT can.  “Anyway, we should be safe at the mall.”

        Applejack cut him off as she looked at the sky in the distance.  “Those storm clouds don't look natural.”  

        “Wasn't it supposed to be clear all week?” Flash asked, incredulity slipping into his voice as he saw the clouds start to twist and turn.  A second later, to his and Applejack’s horror, the clouds suddenly turned into a tornado that suddenly barreled down Canterlot’s main street, flinging anything in its path to the literal four winds.  A few seconds later, this included a beat-up Chevy Astro and a soon-to-be formerly pristine Toyota Camry, as well as the vehicles’ occupants.

        As soon as the world stopped spinning, Sunset crawled forward, ignoring the pain and the bleeding. She barely noticed the van was upside down, or that behind her, Twilight lay forever still.  A desperate need carried her on, moving inch by inch towards the driver’s seat and towards Flash.

We were going to my homeland together, was all that filled Sunset’s mind.  After graduation, Flash was also taking a year off so they could travel Equestria together and rekindle their relationship, restarted after the incidents at Camp Everfree.  Sunset had been looking forward to introducing her mother to the guy who’d stolen her heart, and she was planning to surprise Flash that she’d been a lesser princess all this time – a princess in title, like her cousin Blueblood, but not a ruling one, like her cousin Cadance.

But all that was lost now as she saw Flash’s lifeless form slumped over, held only in place by the seat belt.  Sunset’s eyes filled with tears, though she couldn’t cry yet; she had to make sure that she survived to remember him.  Only then, when she and others were safe and that she could make sense of this senselessness, could her tears fully come and she could mourn the loss of the man she loved.

Pausing only to give Flash a final kiss and a whisper of “I love you,” Sunset felt herself yanked violently out of the van. She was about to scream when she heard a voice say, “Calm down, Sugarcube.  There ain’t no good freaking out right now.”

“Applejack?”

The blonde nodded.  She was bleeding profusely at the moment, but she held her rifle steady.  Next to her stood Trixie, looking worse for wear, but at least still alive.

“But what about the others?” Sunset asked.  A few seconds of silence followed, and the hard line that was Applejack’s mouth was the only answer that she would get.

“Sunset … please,” Trixie pled.  “Trixie doesn’t want to lose any more friends today.”  Sunset hid the shock at the other girl’s words.  She and Trixie had never been friends; the closest they came was in the wake of Camp Everfree, where they agreed to let bygones be bygones.  But Trixie and Sunset were never friends.  So for her to make this declaration….

“Sunny … we gotta go,” Applejack murmured.  “We still got about a quarter mile ‘till the mall.”  Sunset nodded and taking one look back at the wreckage of the two cars and the friends – and lover – she would leave behind, the three slowly made their way towards the mall, ignoring the cacophony of noise around them.

As they moved down the street, a block away Sunset could see military vehicles, confirming her worst fears: something had invaded, and it was strong enough to have done serious damage to her adopted homeworld.  Had Discord gone back to his old ways?  Or was it Tirek, or Grogar or any one of a hundred villains, all of which claiming the powers of a god and with a bone to pick with Equestria?  And if so, why here, on Earth?  

Unless they’re after me, Sunset thought with a bit of panic.  That would make sense: she was the daughter of the ruling princess and in a place where she was relatively defenseless, magically speaking.  Sure, humans had weapons that were horrifying by the standards of her native world, but you had to be able to use those weapons in order to “pacify your enemies”, as the saying here went.

But my friends and Flash….  Sunset fought the tears again.  She would not shed a tear until she was able to.  And once she did, she would find a way to contact Equestria and send for help.  And her mother would send aid, she knew it.  

She only had to survive long enough to write for help.


~*~


Finally, the trio reached the outside of the mall.  Various cars surrounded the place, given that everyone tried to make their way here.  Within, Sunset could see two heavily-armed SWAT officers guarding the entrance to the mall, while a third uniformed officer ushered in everyone.

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief.  “Good.  C’mon, girls, we need to get in.”

Applejack nodded, glad to see safety at last.  “You don’t have to tell me twi––”  Her words suddenly ended, and when the other two girls turned to look, they could see the hole right between Applejack’s eyes that burned completely through her head.  The cavity sizzled, as if whatever had gone through self-cauterized on the way, and with a wide-eyed look, Applejack slumped to the ground, dead.

But before either girl could react to this newest death, the mall exploded in a massive detonation of fire and smoke, debris and bodies strewn everywhere.  Both Sunset and Trixie were thrown by the blast, in different directions, with Sunset crashing through a store, finally colliding against a bookshelf and slipping into brief unconsciousness.

Finally coming to – and biting off a scream as she looked down to see her right arm bent at an unnatural angle – she looked around to see dozens of people dead…

...and something out of her worst nightmares. Floating in the air with a field of light blue magic around her was Trixie.  She was choking, her hands going to her neck in the instinctive way people did when they were suffocating.  And doing the choking…

...was a mysterious, alien creature.  Fully clad in black armor that seemed to absorb the light of the sun itself, the figure was bipedal but certainly not human.  Its hands shone with the unnatural energies that could clearly only be magic, unless it was a science far beyond current human technology, even the experimental projects.  Sunset tried to comprehend further, but couldn’t concentrate on much at the moment, given the searing pain of her broken arm.

WIth a twist at an unnatural angle, the magic wrenched Trixie’s head, killing her instantly.  The look on the girl’s face was one that would haunt Sunset for the rest of her life  But with Trixie’s death, everyone she’d known and loved – or at least tolerated – was now dead.

Sunset at that moment snapped.

A second later, buoyed by her magic, so did the head of the offending being.

She walked out of the bookstore’s shattered facade, her eyes alight with power and her broken arm dangling uselessly at her side.  In her other hand, however, she held a ball of witchfire, the magic force in her hand radiating like a turquoise star.

She looked around, searching for other attackers.  Her mind was no longer on trying just to survive, but to take down as many of these bastards as she could.  If she died, at least her friend Princess Twilight would know, and she’d let Sunset’s mother know.  And though Sunset would be dead, woe be to those would challenge the might of Equestria’s Sun Goddes––

A blast of incalculable power hit her from behind, slamming her through a pillar and sending her to a painful crash several feet away.  As she tried to force herself up, she could see the remains of the mall, aflame and with the black soot rising to the sky.  Looking above, she could huge clouds of birds in the sky, flying into the scattered clouds, turning them into thunderheads….

Wait – birds don’t have that ability, a part of Sunset’s mind informed her.  The only one who could weaponize clouds are….Despite the pain, Sunset looked at the sky, discerning shapes as some of the “birds” flew lower.  Pegasi?  They’re pegasi!  But why would pegasi be doing this unless….

No! her mind screamed.  No!  It can’t be!

Her question was answered a second later as she felt herself being pulled up by the neck.  The magic felt horrifyingly familiar to her, and as shapes came out of the smoking wreckage of the mall, Sunset wished that what she witnessed wasn’t happening.

But what came out of the smoke only verified that fear.  Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, all wearing variants of that strange black armor.  One figure similar to the earlier one also appeared; without helmet, and Sunset immediately recognized it as a diamond dog.  Other creatures, all from Equus appeared, and the truth was known: Earth was being invaded from beyond the dimensional veil, as Equus’ species came to destroy her new home.

And then the reason for it walked through.  A huge white mare, her eyes a burning red like rubies, glared at Sunset with utter hatred.  Her mane and tail were pure flame, though no smoke came from them.  With her wings and horn she marked herself as something far more than a mere pony, if that had for some reason been in doubt.  Finally, the burning red sun emblem on her flanks, visible despite the armor, left no doubt as to the alicorn’s identity.

Hope wilted within Sunset. She’d heard the stories of her aunt’s fall to darkness and the years Celestia had to sentence Luna – then Nightmare Moon – to her namesake, in order to protect all of Equus.  Sunset knew that temptation well; she’d been corrupted by it herself, and she’d seen two other humans fall under its sway.

But this….

This….

It took everything for Sunset not to wilt as she realized her mother, Princess Celestia, was now under the sway of the Nightmare Force.


~*~


Nightmare Star hefted the unnatural creature before her.  Unlike most of the humans Nightmare had encountered, with their feeble toys that failed to protect them from her wrath, this one held magic.  This human was a magic user, and from the looks of things, had already killed one of her forces.

“You will die, human,” Nightmare Star pronounced, “but I will grant you a boon, so long as you tell me true: Where are you filthy creatures keeping my daughter?”  Though the Nightmare herself couldn’t see it, the look in her eyes was crazed and filled with madness.

“Mother….” the human gasped.  “It’s … me.  It’s––”

“YOU LIE!” Nightmare roared, taking the human in her magic and slamming her against the ground.  Both air and blood exploded from the human’s mouth, and tears of pain and sorrow erupted from her eyes.  Noting the broken foreleg, the Nightmare picked the human up from that, eliciting a wild scream of pain from the creature that was music to her ears.

“Last chance, human,” she said, muzzle to shrunken, misshapen muzzle.  “Tell me where my daughter is, or your world will burn.  It will burn anyway, for defying a queen and holding my foal hostage, but I will be benevolent and spare you watching your world be consumed in witchfire.  Now speak true, or suffer the consequences.”

“Mother, it’s me,” Sunset spoke, using the last bit of strength to touch the alicorn.  “It’s you––”  But Sunset said no further as a unicorn rushed forward, slamming into the human girl and goring her with his horn.  The girl collapsed in a heap on the ground with a huge hole where her heart used to be and a massive pool of blood spreading out beneath her.

“You will never touch the Queen again, creature!” the unicorn ordered, then turned to his regent.  “Are you well, your majesty?”

Red eyes briefly turned lilac…

She held the filly in her forelegs, nuzzling her.  “My precious daughter.  You will always be my light.”
Sunset cheering as she mastered spell after spell, with her proud ruler of a mother cheering her on.
The princess’ heart broken as  she argued with her daughter, before Sunset disappeared into the mirror.
Twilight reporting to the senior princess what had happened to Sunset when she retrieved the Element of Magic and how Sunset would be in a better place now
Sunset, with three other mares in tow, embracing her mother as they all met in Twilight’s castle.  Sunset had brought these sirens with her, promising they would change their ways if they returned to Equestria.
Later that night, Sunset surprising her mother by saying her home was in the human world now, and though she would always come to visit, she would forever live on the other side of the mirror.

...as the last vestiges of Princess Celestia died.

Nightmare Star’s eyes filled with flame as she screamed at her foal’s death.  She then fixed her eyes on the offending unicorn, and before he could utter a word, he instantly incinerated, turning into nothing but sun-scorched component atoms before everyone’s eyes.

“BURN THIS WORLD!” Nightmare Star pronounced.  “BURN IT ALL!!!!!”


~*~


Opening her eyes for the final time, Sunset felt numbness as her lifeblood slipped away from her.  The brief moment of clarity in Nightmare Star’s eyes had shown her proof: Deep within, there remained some part of her mother, fighting for control.

“I forgive you, Mother,” were the last words Sunset Shimmer ever spoke.

Minutes later, the city of Canterlot, California was consumed in what appeared to be the largest nuclear detonation mankind had ever known.
> II: There is That Doubt, When a Man is Dead — Some Saying He is; Others, He is Not
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

RUINS OF CANTERLOT, CALIFORNIA
June 4, 2770

A small, geometric object wafted in between the crumbling husks that made up this artificial canyon, the dirt-encrusted remains of what was once the fifteenth largest city in the nation.  Centuries ago, Canterlot had once been a vital, booming town, filled with millions of humans and technology as far as the eye could see.  Now, all that remained were memories of a once-great civilization, brought low by the events that had occurred centuries ago.

The geometric object knew about this as it darted to and fro amongst the rusting hulks of cars, bypassing the scrub that grew where streets once stood and occasionally spooking the few animals that laid claim to the sand-scoured wreckage. It was clearly searching for something, though a casual observer could not discern what, exactly it or its purpose was.  Periodically, it would fire a conical beam of light from its lens, as if prospecting for whatever it was searching for in this memorial to a civilization long gone.

After a few minutes of floating down what was probably the main thoroughfare, scanning the wrecked cars and shattered storefronts, the object finally came to a stop, hovering over a large, glassy crater.  Baked into it was the vague shape of a human being.

⟪Is it possible?⟫ the object said aloud in a soft, girlish voice, though no speaker grille seemed to be available.  After a few seconds, the object expanded into a blue ball of energy, its component parts swirling around it like electrons in an atomic shell.  After a few more seconds, it retracted to its original shape.

⟪Found you!⟫ the object giggled, releasing a blast of energy as it vanished.


~*~


⟪Hey, wake up!⟫ a voice cooed.  ⟪Wake up, Guardian!⟫

Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes and sat up.  She felt like she’d suffered the worst hangover ever, because the dream she had––

She looked around.  She was in the middle of what looked like the corner of 14th and Steeplechase … but everything looked wrong.  Broken.  Abandoned.

“What the fuck?” she voiced, as she finally noticed what she was wearing: a mishmash of leather, body armor and gloves.  A second later, it dawned on her that she was wearing a mask – no, a helmet of some kind.  She reached up to feel something covering it.  By guess, it was a hood. She pushed the hood back, then felt around her head for the helmet’s seals….

⟪It worked!  Hey, you’re alive!  I did it!⟫  Sunset turned in the direction of the voice to find an object floating in the air.  It looked like one of those drones that Twilight occasionally used in one of her experiments, except … it didn’t seem to have a propeller, or any other kind of method to keep it airborne.  If so, how was it doing that?

At that point, the back of Sunset’s head began to itch.  She began to fumble around for the helmet’s seals once more....

⟪Don’t do that!⟫ the voice called out again, and Sunset turned, in surprise, to the only thing that could have spoken: the weird drone thing next to her.  It’s blue diamond-like lens flickered on and off briefly as if it seemingly blinked, and it spoke again: ⟪Look, it’s not safe here.  This is dog territory – well, most of the world is, actually, but this area’s one of th–-⟫

“You can talk?” Sunset gasped.  “What are you?”

⟪Oh, that’s right!  Whoopsie, my bad,⟫ the drone said, floating down to about where they were face to lens.  ⟪Now, lemme see if I remember that speech Dinklebot said we all had to say to KinderGuardi … oh, here it is!⟫  The strange drone seemed to take on a more serious tone, more akin to a girl reading lines from a textbook.  ⟪I’m a Ghost.  Actually, now I’m your Ghost.  And, well … you….  Well, you’ve been dead a long time.  So there’s a lot of things that you’re not going to understand.⟫

“Dead?” Sunset asked just before a loud howl split the air.

⟪Oh, man – it’s the dogs!⟫ the Ghost replied.  ⟪Look, we gotta get out of here!⟫  The Ghost spun on its axis, seemingly looking left and right.  ⟪There!  Head that way – we can hide out in that building!⟫  With a slight movement, the Ghost gestured in a direction and Sunset looked, to see a burnt-out husk of a building a block away.  The windows were shattered, cars were stacked around it as if they were some sort of barrier, and everything was carbon-scored and sandblasted.  The barest hints of a sign could be read on the building’s facade: CA  T  RL  T  M  LLS   AL .

Sunset stood up, then started running towards the building.  Surprisingly, she felt lighter and faster, as if she were in perfect shape.  Granted, she wasn’t overweight or anything like that, but she was certainly no Rainbow Dash….

Rainbow!  Where’s she?  Or….  Sunset suddenly recalled the Ghost’s words: that’d she’d been dead for a very long time.  The impossibility of her being resurrected being impossible alone, if that was true, then … how long was long?  Everything around her had the look of buildings abandoned for a long time.  But in the scope of human – and pony – lives, “dead a long time” could be somewhere between a small span of years to centuries.  Rainbow could be––

Her brain felt like it seared for a second, then reached into nothing.  There were no memories there, nothing beyond names and basic descriptions of people she knew: Rainbow.  Twilight.  Applejack.  Pinkie.  Rarity.  Fluttershy.  Flash – the lone guy that came to mind.  What did it mean and who were they?  Was Flash her boyfriend?  Or her brother, or….

⟪Quickly!  Into the building!⟫  The shout from the Ghost brought Sunset’s attention back to the here and now.  With a burst of speed, she pushed forward into the darkness of the great building without looking back, though she could hear the howls behind her increase.

After a few steps, she moved into darkness.  The Ghost ahead of her began to glow with a soft white light.  ⟪We need to keep quiet,⟫ the Ghost advised.  ⟪A building this big is probably a major dog warren.  Let’s see if we can get into the central core of the building – I should be able to power up the systems … assuming that’s still possible, that is.⟫

Sunset and the Ghost moved on, moving quietly and carefully through the building.  Something crunched underneath the soles of Sunset’s boots, and the visor of her helmet was giving her telemetry feeds: her health status at top, represented by a white bar, with a compass rose of sorts to the bar’s left representing movement of some kind, if the red wedges were accurate.  The thing was, it should have been completely new to her: but it wasn’t.  Strangely, it felt completely natural to her, as if she’d been doing this her whole life.

Or if I’d been born – or reborn – to do it.  “Uh, Ghost?” she ventured.

The Ghost replied, but not in the way Sunset had expected.  ⟪Okay, you stay here.  There’s a central power junction right over there, and I’m going to turn it on – once that’s done, we’ll get our bearings and proceed from there, okay?⟫

“Is that a good idea?  If this is a warren….”

⟪Relax, Guardian!  I got this!⟫  The Ghost moved forward, grunting in a low tone, ⟪Geez, only alive again for a few minutes and they think they know everything.  Darn KinderGuardians….⟫  The light that the Ghost provided went out as it approached a larger geometric shape, and after a few minutes, there was a loud hum, and after a few minutes, the lights flickered on.

What they revealed would have once made Sunset very ill.  As it was, at the moment it put Sunset on alert, as her hand immediately went to her side as if she was reaching for a gun.  Another action I’m not used to.  What’s going on?

However, it paled before what spread out before her: the central geometric structure before her turned out to be the building’s central fountain, and surrounding it – and just everything around it – were bones.  Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of bones.  And if that wasn’t enough, many of them were human as well.  Too many, Sunset thought.

And then the howls came.  Much louder, and from every direction.  She could see creatures in armor, cloaks and sashes, wielding knives and guns, looking like a motley of pirates.  But the illusion ended when one pointed a gun at her and opened fire 

The Ghost rushed over to Sunset’s side.  ⟪I think we wore out our welcome here!  Quick, up the stairs!⟫  Sunset didn’t need further urging and as blasts of electric energy pulsed around her she raced up the rusting escalator, stomping through layers of aged bones and the remains of people long gone from the world.

Sunset raced down the promenade, passing storefronts from a time long past.  Part of her mind wondered if she’d ever spent time in these stores, as many of them looked passingly famil––

“Oh, Sunset, darling, you look absolutely marvelous in that shirt!”
“Thanks, Rares.  I appreciate you going shopping with me for a new outfit for my date with Flash tomorrow.”

–-iar.  Still, she pushed on, gunfire erupting around her.

⟪There!  Ahead of us!⟫  The Ghost used a tight beam of light to point towards a skeleton ahead.  Dressed in the ragged remains of what had been his uniform, he had been exposed to the elements over countless years by the broken skylight window above him.  Next to him, however, was a beaten up, but still intact case.

The Ghost floated next to the case.  ⟪This … this is modern technology!  Nothing more than a few years old!  Why’s it here?⟫  The Ghost looked up at Sunset, explaining ⟪This is a weapons crate – it’s used for Guardians on long patrol, which means that there was a Guardian here in the relatively recent past.⟫  The Ghost then looked where they’d been, noting the dogs coming towards them.  ⟪You might want to open it.  Meanwhile, I’m going to scan for some more technology.⟫

Sunset didn’t argue.  She popped open the case, revealing what looked to be an assault rifle, and a sniper rifle.

⟪Wow, looks like a Omolon Pulsar MSe and a Hakke Pompeii LR-2.  Good stuff.  You know, I–-⟫

“Not right now,” Sunset ordered, and the Ghost shut up.  Sunset quickly slipped the sniper rifle around her back, just as some of the electric gunfire from the diamond dogs started to erupt around her.

⟪Quick, or we’re done f–-⟫  The Ghost suddenly became dumbfounded.  ⟪How…?⟫  It seemed to blink.  ⟪Wait – you know how to fight?  And good, too!⟫

Sure enough, the moment she got her hands on the pulse rifle, Sunset loaded it and fired, three rounds leaving the muzzle and tearing across the space, right into the head of a diamond dog.  WIth a spray of blood, he went down, much to the surprise of his companions, who weren’t used to a target that could fight back.  But that didn’t last long as Sunset began racing forward towards her quarry, then hit the ground and slid, raking gunfire across the two surprised diamond dogs – that moment of surprise turned out to be a fatal mistake.

As she stood up, another bullet whizzed past her ear, and she could hear the sizzle of ozone as the round passed by.  She looked, and the distance, another diamond dog was taking aim.  Another round was fired, and this one hit Sunset, knocking her back.  She could feel the suit pump something into her to dull the pain and heal the wound as the self-repairing nanites began to fix the damage to her armor – And how the hell do I know all this?

Another round moved past her and Sunset moved into action. Diving behind what had once been a set of benches, she swapped out one rifle for the other, and took quick aim.  She pulled the trigger on the Pompeii, with a soft sound, the round blasted through the air, hitting the diamond dog square in the head and sending another corpse back to the ground.

Sunset stood up, turned…

...and a second later, a flash of turquoise energy erupted from her hand, turning into a knife buried into the diamond dog that was about to sneak up on her Ghost.

⟪Wait….  Did you just…?⟫  The Ghost turned to look at the dead diamond dog beneath   ⟪You just threw a Light Knife – but that shouldn’t be possible for your development yet!⟫  The Ghost seemed to groan.  ⟪I knew I should’ve paid more attention to Dinkle or Nolan’s datastreams, but I spent too much time reading old Earth literature….  I’m such a moron….⟫

Sunset, meanwhile, slung the sniper rifle back into its position and removed the pulse rifle from its magnetic holsters with a natural ease that confused her.  “Look, I want answers to some questions, but we’re not going to get any if we get killed here.  Find us a way out of here.”

⟪Roger that!⟫ the AI chirped.  The Ghost glittered for a bit, then said, ⟪There’s a shuttle on the roof.  Getting a basic signal from its navcomp, but no other data.  I wonder where its Guardian went?⟫

Gunshots began around them, and Sunset returned fire.  “Worry about that later – find us a way to the roof!”  That being done, they raced down the pathway, returning fire as they went.  More and more diamond dogs showed up, and the building started to echo with their howls.  Sunset solved that by adding grenades to her arsenal, though to the Ghost’s surprise, she’d shown some uniqueness there as well.

⟪That’s not possible!⟫ the Ghost yelped.  ⟪You are not scientifically possible!⟫

“Look, Twilight,” Sunset said on automatic.

⟪Who?⟫

“Look, nevermind.  What are you talking about?”  As Sunset lobbed another grenade.  It detonated, leaving a small swarm of miniature homing missiles which targeted a half-dozen dogs with lethal success, sending bodies flying.

⟪You threw a lightknife earlier, but it didn’t look like any kind of energy I’ve ever seen before.  And now you just threw a swarm grenade – but you’re clearly a Gunslinger class!⟫

“Not making any sense.”  Sunset emptied her last rounds into another diamond dog, then dumped her magazine, quickly pulling another white module from underneath her cloak and slapping it into place.

⟪Look – you threw a knife earlier, which is the sign of a Gunslinger.  But the grenade type is that of a Bladedancer, which is a totally different specialty for hunters!  It takes practically a lifetime to master one.  Two’s practically impossible!⟫

“Have you found a way to the roof yet?”

⟪Not yet.⟫

“Keep looking!”


~*~


Finally, after running through half the wreckage of the upper floors and some agile maneuvers – the Ghost cheerfully referred to them as “jumping puzzles”, which Sunset did not appreciate, given she was the one jumping while gunfire blazed around her – the finally made it to the remains of the building’s administrative section and one of the few intact areas leading to the doorway.

After busting down the doors, what they found did not improve matters at all.  The remains of a huge battle had occurred in the small location, and the battle had occurred some time ago, given the rotting condition of the diamond dog bodies.  But most shocking was what was in the center of the decomposing battlefield: broken weapons, a heavily-damaged Ghost, and next to it, as if trying to protect the AI with all its life was an armored….

“Pony?” Sunset gasped,  Images flickered in her mind, dark images that made her wince in pain, forcing her to close her eyes to ward it off.

⟪A True,⟫ the Ghost said sadly as it poked at the armored corpse with a shaft of light.  ⟪A titan, too – must’ve been here, looking for something.⟫

“A True?” Sunset parroted.

With a motion that seemed to emulate a nod, the Ghost continued. ⟪Trues are the ponies who sided with mankind when the Taken Queen invaded.  They were instrumental in saving most of the humans that were Taken, and indirectly responsible for the creation of the Awoken.  They helped build the City, and are mankind’s most fervent allies.⟫

“The Awoken?  The City?”

⟪I know there’s a lot of things you don’t understand right now, Guardian, but trust me, I promise that it will all be clearer once we reach the city.⟫  The Ghost looked down at the fallen titan, then back at Sunset.  ⟪Guardian, please take his Ghost – we’ll need it to override the security locks on the ship upstairs.⟫

“Sure,” Sunset replied.  Picking up the Ghost felt more like she was touching a dead body than all the bones she’d run through earlier or even the fetid cadavers around her, and she couldn’t help but shudder at that.  “Can’t we bring him back to life?  I mean, if you brought me back to life….”

⟪Ghosts can only bring back their Guardians and only their Guardians,⟫ the AI explained, ⟪and once a Ghost is dead, so is its Guardian.⟫ There was a sad tone in the Ghost’s voice, and Sunset felt sympathy for the little robot.  It had, after all, seen one of its own dead, and that was never a good thing.

⟪The door’s this way, Guardian – let’s get out of here.⟫


~*~


Once they reached the roof, Sunset was only mildly surprised to find a starship – a Kestrel EX model, the Ghost had explained – sitting on the roof.  Roughly about the size of an executive jet she’d seen at South Canterlot Airfield, the ship seemed more real than life and a sign of how much her life had changed in the past hour.

The Ghost zapped the ship repeatedly with a beam.  ⟪There – code’s been reset, and the ship is now yours.  It’s gonna be a tight fit, though since it was set for a True body, but you can get that overhauled once we get to the–-⟫

A roar split the air, and both human and AI turned around.  Crawling out of the door was a massive alpha dog, with several of its flunkies right behind.  The dog meant business, and no sooner than it climbed up did it start firing both its shock pistols at the pair.

The Ghost vanished immediately.  ⟪Take cover – the transmat system looks like it was damaged and it would take too long to lower the gangplank.  I can get this thing fixed in a jiffy, but you’re going to have to take cover.⟫

Sunset, meanwhile, acted on instinct: standing up and looking at the alpha without a trace of fear, she pulled one arm back as she held the other forward.  A bow of energy suddenly appeared in her hand, and with the flow of a practiced archer, she let the blast fly, quickly followed by two more.

The first bolt hit the alpha, tethering it to the doorway enclosure.  The second one slammed him back, bowling some of his lackeys backwards and down the stairs.  But the third one hit true, burning through the alpha and turning him into a cloud of turquoise elctromist.

⟪YOU’RE A NIGHTSTALKER, TOO?!⟫ the Ghost gasped.  ⟪And this was supposed to be the easy job….⟫  A second later, something beeped.  ⟪There, transmat’s fixed.  Bringing you in!⟫

Sunset felt the tingle of energy surround her, and a second later, the outside had turned into the very cramped insides, with her in a near fetal position.  “This is not comfortable,” she complained.

⟪Best we can do at the moment.  I’ll fly us to the City, since you’re somewhat … incapacitated.⟫  The command inputted, the Kestrel floated up, away from the building and the enraged diamond dogs firing everything they had at the ship’s hull.

“Is there anything we can do to stop these things?”

⟪Kestrels were civilian ships,⟫ the Ghost explained.  ⟪They didn’t come with armaments of any kind, so destroying the building will be hard.⟫  A pause.  ⟪Unless….⟫

“Unless what?”

⟪I can rig the NLS drive to overload, and it will act as a sort of bomb.  But if I do, we’ll only have reserve power onboard.  That should be enough to get us back to the City, but we’ll have to go scrounging for a drive later.  Plus, it’ll pretty much level the town.  HIstory says this place was hit with a nuke back during the First War, but it seems pretty intact–-⟫

“Do what you have to do,” Sunset said softly from her uncomfortable position.  “There’s nothing left for me here anyway.”


~*~


The ship climbed miles above the sky and well out of the range of dog fire.  When it was high enough, a slot opened up underneath the ship and an object the size of a car tire fell towards earth, the object flickering with varying energies.  The Kestrel moved on its way, and NLS drive hit the building, crashing amongst the few dogs shaking their paws at the retreating ship.

There was a flash of bright light, and for the second time in its history, a mushroom cloud climbed over Canterlot.  But this time the energy dome enveloped the city, stretching out for miles in each direction, incinerating everything and every creature within its path.  A massive wall of white noise blasted in all directions, shaking various settlements of varying species that lived nearby.

Finally, the light and heat vanished and all that could be seen for miles around was nothing but black glass, a “black glass parking lot”, as military theorists had referred to the concept centuries past.  But now, this massive field of melted fulgurite would forever be the resting place of the hundreds of thousands who had died in Canterlot on that fateful day in the past and the dark creatures that had been slain even now. 

In the end, as nighttime came and the moon started to climb over the sky, silence came over the place once known as Canterlot – a fitting final silence for a city whose remains had long been disturbed.

> III: Fire Enters Into the Houses, When a Brâhmana Enters as a Guest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

SKIES ABOVE NEPAL
June 5, 2770

⟪Rise and shine!⟫ the Ghost chirped.  ⟪We’re almost at the City!⟫

Sunset opened her eyes, sore as hell.  She been sleeping in a pony position for who knew how long, and while it was comfortable for ponies, it certainly wasn’t for humans.  I… I know I was a pony once, then became human later on.  I remember names, but nothing much more than that.  I know I lived in Canterlot, but I don’t know why.  As she blinked away the tiredness from her eyes, she realized there were far too many questions to be asked.

Time to get some answers, then.  “Ghost?” she spoke.

⟪Yup!  Right here!⟫ a voice cooed.  ⟪Right now we’re about 320 klicks east of–-⟫

“Klicks?”

⟪Oh, that’s right: in your time people used to use older units.⟫   Doing a lightning-quick conversion, the Ghost continued. ⟪We’re about two hundred miles – about 320 kilometers, or “kicks”, in military parlance – east of the City.  We’re above what used to be Tibet … or maybe still is; the mapping system’s a little different than when you were first alive, Guardian.⟫

“Guardian?”

⟪Yeah!  You’re a Guardian!  A resurrected warrior of the Light, brought back from the dead to protect the City and to stop the Darkness.⟫

“LIght?  Darkness?  That sounds a little too much like sci-fi,” Sunset stated.

⟪I suppose so, but what was science fiction back in your time is just science here,⟫ the Ghost explained.  ⟪Do you remember what the date is?⟫

“We left at sunset,” Sunset said with a slight smirk at the mention of her namesake, “but you said I’ve been dead for a long, time, and based on the condition of the city, I don’t think it’s 2016 anymore, is it?”

The Ghost sighed – or in as much as an AI without lungs could do.  ⟪I guess I’ll have to break it to you the hard way: the local time in the City is 13:20, June 5 … 2770.⟫


The answer stunned Sunset.  2770?  I’ve been dead for seven centuries?  No wonder Canterlot looked like it was abandoned – it probably was!  But questions still remained.  Why?  What happened?  And why couldn’t she remember much of anything?

⟪Hey, Guardian,I know this is a lot to take in, and there’s going to be a lot more still,⟫ the Ghost said.  ⟪But I’m going to be here right with you every step of the way.  We’ll be like peanut butter and jelly!  Or zap apple jam and apple butter!  Or water and sodium!⟫  A pause.  ⟪Okay, forget about that last part.⟫

“Don’t call me that,” Sunset said.

⟪Don’t call you … “Guardian”?⟫

“Yeah – I have a name,” the girl said, turning her head as much as she could to face the Ghost.  “It’s Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.”

⟪Okay.  So … I should call you “Sunset”?⟫

“I’d appreciate it if you did.  By the way, what’s yours?”

The Ghost seemed to frown. ⟪I don’t have one,⟫ she admitted.  ⟪Ghosts are usually given names by their Guardians, and there are some famous ones, like Dinklebot and Nolandroid, who keep working for the Tower even though their Guardians retired from active life.⟫  There was a period of silence, and the Ghost took that as a sign for her to continue, so she did.  ⟪Dinkle’s Guardian used to be one of the best warlocks out there, but she’s retired to run the Tower’s bar.  Nolan’s titan got tired of all the killing and quit active duty to go live in the City as one of the lower City’s guards.  Nolan still comes up from time to time to help train us newly awakened Ghosts, though.⟫  The cheerful voice of the Ghost started to sound like a whine.  ⟪I hope you’ll give me a good name.⟫

“I’ll think about it,” Sunset replied.  “How much longer do we have until we get to this City?”


As if to answer Sunset’s question, a voice came over the comm channel.  “Inbound ship, this is City Control.  Please transmit identification.  And don’t be too worried about the Hawks in the area – we had a scare over in the European Resettlement Zone and we had to get some forces out there pronto.”

Before Sunset could ask, a holographic screen appeared in front of her face.  It showed the external view of her ship, flanked by a bunch of sleeker ships with massive engines at the end of their wings.  Given that she was told that the Kestrel was originally a civilian ship, the Hawks around her were clearly military units, as they bristled with guns and missiles.

⟪City Control, this is Flight PS4-20148T.  Arriving from the Western US Sector, specifically from the remains of Canterlot, California.⟫

There was a chuckle over the line.  “Okay, so that explains the massive explosion over there.  Should’ve figured you’d be behind it, Palamedes.”

⟪This … this isn’t Palamedes,⟫ the Ghost replied.  ⟪This is Ghost Registry Number 3451-PP-A362.  I was on KinderGuardian pickup in Canterlot, and after I got my package, we came across Palamedes’ body … and his dead Ghost.  We had to use his Kestrel to get out of town, as it was on top of a major dog warren.⟫  The Ghost sounded sad, as if she was admitting to failure, and something in Sunset wanted to reach over and cuddle the little artificial lifeform.  ⟪We had to overload our NLS drive to take out the warren, but … well, we kinda overcompensated.⟫

“I see.”  A pause on the line, and then the speaker continued.  “Zavala will no doubt want to know.  Anyways, you’re clear for landing at Bannerfall.”

⟪Bannerfall?⟫

The tower control grunted.  “Yeah.  We’ve got a lot of damaged ships and extra personnel, so we’re turning Bannerfall back into a residential tower.  Shaxx is not happy about that in the slightest, but sooner or later he should’ve known that someone would take away one of his toys.  Anyways, land at Bannerfall and there’s a transmat station there that will send you to the Tower.”

⟪Roger that,⟫ the Ghost replied, though in an unsure voice.  ⟪Flight PS4-20148T, out.⟫

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked.

Even with a static visage, the Ghost somehow didn’t seem to look too thrilled.  ⟪The City has two towers from which the Guardians operate: the east tower, which everyone just calls the Tower; and the southwest tower, known as Bannerfall.  A long time ago, there was a huge uprising between two political factions, or something like that – I can look up the database entry, if you’d like.⟫

“No, that’s okay.  Go ahead.”

⟪Anyway, for a long time, Bannerfall was under the control of the Crucible -Live fire exercises, bulletholes everywhere; you get the idea, right?  Apparently a few weeks ago, the Vanguard took Bannerfall back from the Crucible.  Apparently we’re overmanned.⟫

Sunset thought about it.  “That’s not bad, is it?”

⟪Objectively, no.  But usually a great number of Guardians are resurrected when there is a great crisis at hand.  The last time was about five hundred years ago, during the Second Taken War – that’s what lead to the creation of the Guardians in the first place.  All the colonies were destroyed: the research structures on the Moon, the vacation villas on Mercury, the great cities of Mars – everything.⟫  The Ghost then saw the look on Sunset’s face.  ⟪We … should be there in a few minutes.⟫


~*~


        As the ship pulled above the City, Sunset momentarily forgot her discomfort as she looked in amazement at the City’s size.  She’d read somewhere that Los Angeles, the city a hundred or so miles to the west of Canterlot, was the largest in America in terms of square footage, while New York, on the other side of the country, was the largest in terms of population.  While she wondered about the population of the City, given how it looked, it was huge.  Two towers – the Tower and Bannerfall, she reasoned – stood to the east and the southwest, respectively.  In between that, ringed by a massive wall that the towers were part of, was the City.  Buildings, train transports, and so many other things were down there.

        But what hung above it was just as astonishing.  A massive six-pointed diamond, glittering and spinning slowly, seeming to glow with an inner warmth that reminded Sunset of something, though she couldn’t exactly put her finger on it.

        ⟪That’s the Element,⟫ the Ghost explained.  ⟪It’s a major relic from the Second Taken War. It was said that seven heroes sacrificed their life to spurn the Taken Queen and shove her into Saggitarius A – that’s the black hole in the center of the galaxy.  Anyway–-⟫

        “Would you mind telling me later, Ghost?” Sunset asked.  She looked at the Element, and for some reason it called out to her on a personal level, as if it were speaking directly to her soul.  She couldn’t explain it, and she wasn’t about to, given the company – things were already wierd enough as is.

        ⟪I understand,⟫ the Ghost replied, setting up the landing procedures.


        As they approached Bannerfall, Sunset felt the curious sensation of being teleported outside of the ship.  It didn’t feel like anything she was familiar with, though; and a second later she didn’t have any more comparison, as she found herself painfully landing on the floor, face first.

        ⟪Uh, sorry about that,⟫ the Ghost replied.  ⟪I guess I shoulda warned you, first.⟫
        
        As she stood up, Sunset looked around.  To her left was a maple tree, in bloom and looking wonderful.  Before her was a sea of steel and concrete, with an odd triangular symbol painted here and there.  As the Ghost had specified, bulletholes were everywhere, and, repairing them all, was a very simple robot, as far as design went.  Given the robot next to her, however, Sunset figured she was probably completely wrong.

        The robot then saw them and turned around.  It looked battered and with a bullethole and a couple of scorchmarks.  It also held in its hands what looked like a construction tool of some kind.

        \\Oh dear oh dear,\\ the robot said in a voice that somehow reminded Sunset of Ms. Cheerilee, CHS’ English teacher and school librarian.  \\Oh my, I thought I told them that the facility is not ready yet.  Oh dear, so many repairs to make….\\

        ⟪I guess we showed up a little early?⟫ the Ghost asked.

        \\A little too much,\\ the robot mourned.


        A second things became clearer.  “Ghost, Guardian, eh … sorry about that.  Standby for trasmat to the Tower.”   Less than a second later, Sunset felt the strange sensation of teleportation and she was sent over.  This time, fortunately, as she had enough warming, she managed to land on her feet.

        As much as it could, the Ghost gestured.  ⟪Wow, you got the hang of that fast,⟫ the Ghost replied.  ⟪Anyway, welcome to the Tower – the home of the Guardians, the protectors of the last safe City on Earth.⟫

        This time, the view was vastly different.  Sunset stood on a marble deck that that said ATRVUM PROPVGNATORVM – “Hall of the Guardians”, if Sunset remembered Old Unicornian – or Latin, its human equivalent.  There were fluted columns filled with ivy and ferns, symbolizing the importance of life here.  Flags gaily fluttered in the wind, providing an angular compliment to the spires that reached to the sky.  To the left, what looked like one of those beachside kiosks sat, while to the right, were another series of festooned columns, underneath which looked like a bunch of ATMs.

        ⟪Well, we’re here,⟫ the Ghost told her.  ⟪Let’s go take you to see the Vanguard – they’re the military leadership here.  You’ll be directly reporting to Cayde – he’s the Hunter Vanguard rep, though Zavala and Ikora might assign you things from time to time.⟫

        “I see,” Sunset replied, following the Ghost as it floated up the steps and towards the tunnel in the middle of the structure.  As they walked around, she noted plenty of humans going about their business, followed by ponies, many of which waved or nodded at her.  She wasn’t sure of how to take it.  She then noticed the people with strange skin colors and glowing eyes.  “What are those?” Susnet whispered.

        In an equally hushed tone, the Ghost replied, ⟪They’re the Awoken.  They’re the descendants of humans that were Taken by the Queen.  They were rescued before the effect could completely occur, but they were stuck in a halfway phase – neither fully human or fully pony.  Some of the first Awoken had tails and pony ears – even vestigial wings and horns – but generations since have bred those out of their gene pool.  The eyes and skin remain as is, though.  Plus, unlike baseline humans, they have magic.  Only human Guardians have magic, and that’s probably due to the Light the Element provides.⟫

        “So I should treat them as human?”

        ⟪Absolutely!  They’re like Trues – deserving of your respect.  In fact, most of the Awoken consider themselves very much like humans.  Well, at least the Earthborn ones.  The Reef, well….⟫

        The pair walked down the corridor, headed toward a huge open room in the back.  The large room itself had a window in the back, and before it a large globe of Earth.  Various computers and crates lined the wall, and in a depression in the middle of the room, was a table with three people standing around it: a lithe human black woman dressed in magenta robes, a huge blue Awoken man dressed in red and gray armor, and a turquoise pegasus with light blue eyes and a light gray mane, dressed in armor and covered with a black cloak with red accents.

        ⟪Cayde?⟫  the Ghost spoke, addressing the pegasus.  ⟪This is Sunset Shimmer, the Guardian I found in Canterlot.  Sunset, this is Cayde, the Hunter Vanguard–-⟫

        “Yeah, unfortunately for me,” the pegasus said.  “Anyway, I’m Cayde, and these two here are the lovely Ikora Rey––”  Cayde gestured towards the woman, who smiled and gave a slight bow, “--and this stone-face is Baldy.”

        “Baldy” groaned while Ikora suppressed a grin. “Cayde, for once would you show some military bearing?” Zavala asked gruffly.

        “Sure, sure, it’s on my list.  Anyway, welcome to the Vanguard.”  He put up a hoof, and she bumped it.  “Ah, a girl who knows how to hoofbump.  I’m impressed.”

        “Oh, I used to be a pony as well, so I know how it is,” Sunset said affably, and all three looked at her oddly.

        “You don’t look like an Awoken,” Ikora said with a look on her face that Sunset had seen before, though she wasn’t aware of how.  Somehow the name Twilight got attached to that look, and her unease increased further.

        “I’m sure there’s a good explanation,” Cayde said with a shrug.  He then looked at Sunset.  “Is there a good explanation?”

        ⟪Well, I hate to interrupt, but she still needs to meet with the Speaker and get her billeting and other things.  Then we need to analyze the data from Palamedes’ Ghost.  Sunset, do you still have it?⟫

        Sunset reached into a pouch and handed it to Ikora.  “Here.  I hope something can be recovered.”

        “So do I,” Ikora replied.

        ⟪Oh, and I need to pass some of the classified data I have with me.  Cayde, would you escort Sunset to the Speaker?⟫

        “Sure – I could use a coffee break.  Anyone else want?”  He looked at his counterpart.  “Ikora?  Mr. Grumpy?”

        “Coffee would be lovely, Cayde, thank you.”

        “I could use some as well, thanks.”

        “Sure.  Let me swing Sunset here by the Speaker, then I’ll hit up the bar.  Won’t take but a moment.”  He looked at Sunset.  “Now, if you’ll follow me….”


        Ikora waited until both Cayde and Sunset were out of earshot before she looked at Sunset’s Ghost.  “Obviously you know that you just have to upload classified data on an encrypted channel,” the warlock told the Ghost.  “So it’s pretty clear you wanted my attention for something.”

        The Ghost did its nodding motion. ⟪I’m afraid so,⟫ the Ghost said, looking both at both Ikora and Zavala.  ⟪I’m going to upload my data regarding from the point I revived Sunset to the point where we left in Palamedes’ ship.  There’s something … unusual about her.⟫

        Zavala bristled.  “Do you think she’s a present danger to the City?”

        The Ghost turned back and forth as if shaking a head.  ⟪I don’t think so.  If anything, from what I can tell, she felt sorrow when we came across Palamedes and his Ghost.  I don’t think she’s a danger, but … we might want to investigate her.⟫

        “Especially with her comment about being a pony earlier.  She could be a Taken sleeper agent,” Zavala stated.

        “Or worse, the Queen’s found out how we reversed the process and is creating a new kind of combatant,” Ikora added.  

        ⟪Um … didn’t anyone listen to me when I said I don’t think she’s a danger?⟫

        “We heard you,” Zavala told the AI.  “We’re just Guardians, after all – we have to look for every eventuality.”

        “Even the distasteful ones,” Ikora agreed.


~*~


        “Soooo…  What did you mean when you said that you were a pony originally?” Cayde asked as he and Sunset walked to the Tower’s northern wing.

        “It’s … it’s what I remember, but I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, sorry,” Sunset admitted.  “I could be wrong … but I don’t think I am.”

        The stallion laughed.  “Hey, and here I thought I was the only one who underwent anything strange like that.  You see, I used to be human.”  Sunset gave him an odd look and he laughed again.  “No. I used to work for Clovis Bray back during the Second Taken War and I ran up a lot of debts.  It was during that time that I volunteered to have Bray wipe my debts out in return for being changed into a pony.  This was around the time we found out about the Taken and were trying to figure out how to reverse the process.

        “Well,I got changed into a pony – pegasus, yes, I got style – but for some reason, they couldn’t change me back.  Personally, I think Bray was just being an asshole and lost my original genetic mapping.  But, I was told that the experiments helped find a way to change captured Taken into Awoken, and later on they perfected the process.”  Cayde waved at a woman setting up shop by the stairs.

        “All in all, I’ve adjusted.  Heh, met a few cute mares, too.  But sometimes I miss my humanity.  Remind me to tell you about it sometime – I had some pretty rollicking adventures back then.  Maybe someday I might even tell you about the Dare.”

        “Sounds like a plan,” Sunset said with a grin.  She liked Cayde already and definitely thought she could easily work with him.  The other two were questions, but she could sort that out later, she was sure.

        Finally they reached a Spanish-style tower, with what looked to be a huge telescopic setup attached to the inside.  “Anyway, here’s the Speaker’s Office,” Cayde told her.  “Meet me at 0800 tomorrow and we’ll go over your first mission.”

        Sunset hoofbumped him again.  “Will do, Cayde.  Thanks again.”  She waved as he took to the air and flew around the outside of the Tower, while she entered the large pergola.  “Hello?” she knocked on the side of the opening.

        A calm and somber voice sang out, “There was a time, when we were much more powerful.”  Sunset turned to see a figure in white walking down the stairs.  She could not tell if the figure was male or female, as the clothing was too loose and shapeless, and the speaker wore an equally featureless mask.  Even the Speaker’s voice gave no clue; it sounded male, but at the same time, also sounded like it was being run through a voice-changing device.

        The figure descended the stairs, continuing the speak, as if the lines had been memorized and said countless instance upon instance, a scripted speech welcoming new Guardians.  “But that was long ago.”  The figure finally came to a stop at the stairs, adding, “I am the one who speaks….”  The words suddenly stopped.

        Sunset looked at the Speaker, who seemed to be frozen stiff, as if “he’d” – Sunset was going to use the male pronoun for now – seen a ghost … and not of the technological kind, either.  “Excuse me … are you okay?”

        “Sweet stars above,” the Speaker said, the voice now different – female.  “It’s you.”
> IV: Nakiketas Said, "I Know That What is Called a Treasure is Transient, for That Eternal is Not Obtained by Things Which Are Not Eternal."
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Sunset was completely surprised as she was suddenly glomped by the Speaker.  “I didn’t want to believe,” the Speaker said.  “I didn’t want to have my heart broken, but the prophecy came true!”  Sunset could hear the Speaker sobbing behind her mask, and she woodenly embraced the stranger.  “I never thought in my wildest dreams it would be true!”

        “I’m sorry,” Sunset asked, pulling away from the unexpected hug.  “Do we know each other?”

        “Very much so,” the Speaker said, reaching for both the mask and the hood that covered the rest of the head.  The Speaker then revealed a face that was familiar to Sunset: tanned skin, eyes the same color as hers, and hair that seemed to be two shades of midnight blue, catching the light of the sun at points as if it were filled with stars.  The woman looked to be in her late twenties, but Sunset had always known the owner of the face was older than she looked and carried her age well.

        “Vice Principal Luna?” Sunset said, completely shocked.

        “No, I….”  Luna chuckled.  “It has been so long that I forgot I once had a counterpart here on Earth.  Perhaps this will give a better answer, Little Light?”

        Sunset froze at that statement.  “Little Light.”  I know that phrase!  I know it, but where do I know it from?

        Meanwhile, the Speaker’s body began to shimmer and shift, like it was made of putty.  A second later, the human was gone, and in its place was a pony.  But not just a pony.  No, this one was taller than Cayde by far, with a coat of midnight blue, wings and a horn.  

        Princess Luna looked up at her niece – even an alicorn of her stature was still shorter than a human – with tears of joy in her eyes.  “Perhaps you recognize me now?”

        “I…?” Sunset gasped.  “Princess Luna?”

        “Yes,” the lunar alicorn said, a wide, loving smile on her face.  “Your aunt.”  Luna approached her niece once more and tried to hug her as a pony, though it was much more awkward.  “And Harmony has brought you back to me when you are needed most, my Little Light.”

        
Sunset’s head began to swim as something in her mind exploded.  Memories began to rush in like a flood, things she couldn’t remember a moment ago.  Memories of a happy life ripping into her, becoming a mental tornado of sorts.

Sunset let go of Luna, backing away and clutching her head, wincing from the pain.  “Make it stop….” she moaned.

“Sunset?  Are you okay?” Luna asked, worry creeping onto her features.

Sunset collapsed to the ground and screamed as her eyes opened, revealing solid orbs of glowing cyan power. Sunset screamed once more, and Luna backed up for a second, momentarily afraid of what was going on.

The world crashed in a blanket of aqua.


~*~


On holographic screens, Ikora and Zavala watched the recording of Sunset Shimmer’s first battle against the diamond dogs.

“She’s manifested all three hunter training regimens at once?” Zavala asked, incredulous.

“I know we tend to joke about the hunters as having no discipline whatsoever,” Ikora told him, “but in truth, they’re just as disciplined as my forces or yours.  It takes a lifetime to master the Gunslinger, Bladedancer or Nightstalker schools of methodology, and most only stick with one – it’s rare when you see a hunter with two of them.”

“And unheard of with a hunter with all three,” Zavala agreed.  “But what about that power she's manifesting?  That doesn't look like any solar, arc or void magic I've ever seen.”

Ikora smiled with the certainty of someone who knew a vast and ancient secret.  “Surely as an Awoken you know what true magic looks like?”

Zavala looked at his companion as if she were mad.  “That's just a myth, and you know it.  Sure, we Awoken can use magic with more versatility than humans, earth ponies or pegasi, but even ours follows one of the three principles of magic, just like unicorns.  So-called ‘true’ magic is merely the stuff of legend.”

“Then would you care to explain what we've just seen?”


Before Zavala could answer, there was a booming explosion that rocked the Tower.  Alarms shrieked throughout the complex, while a blast door slid over the external window and and the normal warm glow of the overhead lights changed to the glaring red of emergency running lights.

“What was that?” Zavala boomed.  “Are we under attack?”

It was his Ghost that supplied the answer: ⟪I'm picking up a large unknown spike of energy in the North wing.⟫

Zavala and Ikora looked briefly at each other before the titan slammed a fist on a touchscreen recessed into the table.  “All Guardians in the Tower, to the North wing immediately.  Use of lethal force is authorized.  This is not a drill!”  Ikora then grabbed him, and showing her power as the Vanguard’s top warlock, blinked both towards the Tower, their weapons at the ready..


~*~


With a bottle of amaretto in one hoof and a cup of coffee in the other, Cayde chatted along merrily with the bartender.

“Oh, that new girl?  Man, what I wouldn’t do to be human again.  Seriously, she’s hot.  Almost makes me wish I was in the field and carefree again.  Heh – maybe I can talk Cawley into the Dare next time he checks in––”

The bar shook, knocking the hunter off the stool and spilling his coffee.  Worse, spilling the precious amaretto.  A second later, alarms sounded, followed quickly by Zavala’s order.

“Awww, fuck,” Cayde swore.  “There went my break.”


~*~


“I don’t feel too good,” Sunset moaned.

“On the contrary,” Luna said, her voice tinged with pride.  “You have never felt better, my beloved niece.”

“Trust me, I don’t.”

“Trust me, you do.”


The discussion was ended a second later as about fifty Guardians suddenly appeared, all of them pointing a variety of weapons right at Sunset.  Titans, warlocks and hunters, all of them aiming right at a single individual.

        Luna reacted immediately.  She threw up a violet shield, just in time for an impressive array of firepower to slam into it.  Sunset jumped back by the amount of ammo crashing against the protective barrier, but it held firm.

“ENOUGH!” Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice, a tone that she hadn’t used in centuries.  “CEASE NOW OR I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!”  All the Guardians present suddenly realized that shooting at a being that could shout louder than a rocket engine was probably a bad idea and they set down their guns.

“Speaker Luna!” Zavala shouted.  “What is the meaning of this?”

“What is the meaning of what, Commander?” Luna said, her eyes angry.  “I hope you remember that you serve at my pleasure.”

“You are not a princess anymore,” Zavala replied, “and you said you were the only alicorn left!”

“I was elected to serve the people,” Luna responded, “and that means I am in ultimate command, my old title notwithstanding.  Furthermore, I never said I was the only alicorn left.  I said it was likely that I was the last remaining!”  She the looked at the rest.  “Please, all, stand down.  My niece is of no harm to any of us, I assure you.”

“Your niece, Speaker?”  This time Ikora spoke up.  “Sunset – assuming that’s her – said she’d been a pony before she’d been human.  She’s an alicorn?”

“I’m an alicorn?” Sunset asked, a stunned look coming onto her face.  Ignoring everyone, she walked over to a nearby puddle of water, looking at her reflection.  The image revealed Sunset, for the first time in ages in her pony form … and with wings on her side.

She turned to Luna.  “I’m an alicorn!  I’m finally an alicorn!”

“Yes,” Luna said, lovingly.  “Starswirl’s final prophecy is coming together.”  Luna approached the younger alicorn and nuzzled her.  “You are the last good thing in this world that Celestia ever did.”

“WHAT?”  A new voice shouted from the back, stentorian and angry.  “That … thing is Celestia’s daughter?  The spawn of Nightmare Star?”  The speaker strode forward, revealing himself as Lord Shaxx, the head of the Crucible.  In one hand he held his shotgun, while in the other, his helmet.  His uncovered features revealed a weathered, craggy face with stringy blonde hair and deeply inset green eyes.  “I demand answers, Speaker!”

“You are in no position to demand them,” Luna replied.  “Sunset is my niece.  My family has all but been decimated, and my sister is the evil the universe hates – would you dare rob me of somepony I love so?”

“You said it yourself – she’s the daughter of the Taken Queen!  Darkness is in her blood!”

“Except she was adopted, not birthed by my sister,” Luna snarled, “and this whole mess – all of it – started with Celestia murdering her own foal!”  At that pronouncement, the area fell into uncomfortable silence, with Sunset suddenly finding the floor very interesting, while the Guardians had no idea what to do.  Zavala and Shaxx glared at Luna, who returned the challenging stare, and Ikora’s features were unreadable.


As if the situation needed desperate defusing, Sunset’s Ghost suddenly floated down from where it had been.  Floating in between the dozens of Guardians and the two alicorns, the Ghost said, ⟪Hey, you might think I’m going out on a limb here, but … I like Sunset.  She protected me even before she knew Ghosts were vital to her existence.  And she felt sad – really sad – when we came across a dead Guardian and his Ghost.  She’s one of us, I know it.⟫  The Ghost turned slightly back and forth, as if addressing the group before her.  ⟪All of you are Guardians now … but you weren’t always that.  How many of you remember parts of your lives?  And if you do, were those lives worth it?  I’m sure one or two of you have a skeleton in your closet.  So why blame Sunset for what her mother did?⟫

Ikora thought on that logic, and a smile crossed her face.  “Speaker, I’m sorry we took up so much of your time,” she said.  “Enjoy your family reunion, and if you need me, I’ll be back in the Hall of the Guardians – and given your niece’s abilities, I know you’ll be needing me soon enough.”  With that, the warlock holstered her infamous shotgun, Invective, and calmly walked off towards the central spire.  A few other Guardians lingered, but they eventually left as well, the looks on their faces showing various emotions.  The ponies amongst them all looked with an instinctive awe at the new alicorn, but seeing the look of anguish on Luna’s face, opted to leave their historical leader be for the moment.  Finally, with a sense of wariness, both Shaxx and Zavala departed, neither putting their weapons on safety as they left – and making a very clear statement in that way.

As they walked off, Luna watched them leave.  “Forgive them, Sunset,” the elder alicorn stated.  “To all of them – even ponykind, now – alicorns cause nothing but hardship and pain.  Sometimes I suspect even I’m merely tolerated because I abandoned my title and have lived as a human all these centuries.”

“Is that why you gave up your title?”

Luna nodded.  “I am not the Princess of the humans or the Awoken, and furthermore, my throne – my realm – is gone, destroyed by Nightmare Star’s inequine crimes against life.  I….”  Luna shook her head, and with a flare of her horn, her body shifted once more, becoming the human woman once again.  “Little Light, there will be time to discuss everything later.  You will need to know all that has occurred … and much of it isn’t pleasant.  But for now, I wish to spend time with the only family I have left.”

Sunset looked at herself, still in her alicorn form.  “Um … help?”

Luna smiled.  “What, Celestia never taught you amniomorphic spells?”  When Sunset shook her head, Luna chuckled.  “Changing forms is natural, Sunset.  Just let your magic flow and think of your human form.  The rest will come naturally.”

Sunset nodded, closing her eyes, and letting her horn flare.  A second later, she felt her body warp and woof in unnatural ways, and when the sensation stopped, she felt taller and thinner – a sign she was in her human body once more.

⟪Wow, that is seriously awesome!⟫ the Ghost replied.  ⟪See?  I knew you were special!⟫

“Of that I have no doubt,” Luna answered.  She then turned to her tower.  “Tiberius?  Please cancel the remainder of my appointments for the day.”

A golden Ghost floated out of the entryway, looking at Luna.  ⟪Speaker, you have the weekly meeting with the factions at 1530.  And while I’m sure you would love to avoid it, it gets to be a madhouse with–--⟫

“Yes, with the Three Stooges there,” Luna said, shaking her head in disgust.  “Contact Belard and ask her if she would chair the meeting for me.  The Three Stooges absolutely hate her, and the minor factions will be too busy trying to curry favor from her to care what Hideo, Lakshmi or Jalaal think.”

Tiberius nodded.  ⟪And if they get out of hand, she’ll just Fist of Havoc the table?⟫

Luna laughed.  “Well, she is a large earth mare for a reason.  Anyway, my niece and I are off to the city, and then to my personal residence.  Finish up here and catch up with us there.”  Tiberius nodded his assent, and with that, Luna escorted Sunset across the way to the Tower’s transmat station.
 

~*~


A few minutes later, the two were walking the streets of the City.  Sunset looked around in amazement at the mélange of cultures and styles that reflected the nature of the last major civilization on Earth.  Gleaming steel spires stood adjacent to sedate brick buildings.  A bodega and a Japanese tea house shared the same artificial pond, and no one commented on the dichotomy.  An Arabic-styled building sat next to an Equestrian treehouse – that is, a tree grown into a house.  Open-air markets existed next to shopping malls, and in the center of it all was a massive domed building that sat on a mesa directly underneath the ever present, monolithic Element.  It was, needless to say, breathtaking.

The people of the City, as well, were a sight as well: humans of every ethnicity and culture.  Awoken, in a rainbow of colors, matching the ponies that walked or flew about.  At one point, Sunset even thought that she saw a zebra, dressed in the robes of a warlock.  Oddly, it was what she didn't see that concerned her: no sign of bat or crystal ponies, griffins, or many of the other species from her homeworld.

But one thing that did catch Sunset’s eye was the change in Luna.  From the previous times she'd met her aunt, the lunar alicorn came off as timid and retiring, much like Fluttershy on a good day.  But now, Luna was laughing and smiling, taking frequent pauses to talk to those that approached her, gave candy to the various children she came across, and generally being more open than Sunset had ever known her to be.

As if discerning her niece’s thoughts, Luna voiced, “I know I'm more open than I used to be.  But the peoples of the City need a leader who guides them and is close to them, not a distant ruler who only counsels them in dreams.”  Luna looked to the sky and added, “Besides, the dream realm is forever closed to me now, in any case.”

“You lost…?  But how?” Sunset asked, completely surprised that Luna was calmly discussing the loss of one of her main duties as if it were a mere trifle.

“I've had centuries to grow used to its loss, dear.  Besides, its loss forced me to engage people and speak to them on an individual basis.  It made me a better leader, and so it's a trade I have learned to live with.  Besides, until now we've all had to learn to live with the Shattering.”  Luna have a wistful look.  “It was the only way Twilight could save the world.”  Luna put up a palm, and three balls of magefire appeared in her hand: blue, orange and purple.  “I still have magic, it’s just … well, that will be part of my explanation tonight.”

“So what now?” Sunset asked.

“Well, I’m sure you haven’t eaten in quite some time – about seven centuries or so, if my guess is right.  And I thought it might be nice to pick up some lunch and take in some shopping before we sit down for a long, long talk.”
 

~*~


The sun had begun to set over the horizon as Sunset’s dinner grew cold.  She could feel the giant star moving over the sky, part of her nature as a unicorn and an alicorn.  But as she looked at her aunt with tear-stained eyes, her heart was shattering into a million pieces.

“You’re lying,” Sunset said, more out of reaction than actual belief.  “You have to be lying.”

“I wish I was,” Luna said, her own cheeks wet with lacrimation.  “Little Light, if it could change what happened over these hundreds of years, I would happily admit to lying through my teeth.  But that won’t change anything, Sunset.”

Sunset’s Ghost looked at Tiberius.  ⟪Is it true?⟫

Tiberius nodded as only a Ghost could.  ⟪I have served my lady since the day I first came into being, and I cannot count the number of nights she’s openly wept, or lost sleep because of what happened, or nearly had a breakdown.  Yet she perseveres, and that makes me proud to be her Ghost.⟫

Ignoring their robots’ conversation, Luna looked at her niece.  “Do you understand everything I’ve told you over dinner?”

Sunset shook her head and hugged herself.  She could practically feel the warmth draining out of her.  “I … I don’t want to understand.”  She then wiped her eyes.  “But I have to.  So explain it again.”

Despite her sorrow, Luna couldn’t help but smile.  “You make me proud, you know that?”  Sunset nodded, and Luna reached over to a worn, hide-bound book.  “It started the day after you returned home from Twilight’s castle….”
> V: And That Whence the Sun Rises, and Whither it Goes to Set, There All the Devas are Contained, and No One Goes Beyond
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        In her new bedroom, Sunset didn’t sleep.  She really didn’t need it, now that she was an alicorn, but it was something that came naturally to her and something, as Luna said, kept them anchored to the living world.  So she sat there on her new bed, in her new floor of the Speaker’s Estate, looking down at the parts of the City that existed in this district.  In the distance, lit like a sentinel at hand with lantern, was the Tower.

From here she could see some people walking around in the early hours of the morning, tending to whatever business they had in this strange new world Sunset had awoken to.  And it was a world she was still adjusting to, a world she wasn’t sure she wanted to be a part of, but had no choice in the matter..  

It had only felt like scant hours ago that she had been with her friends, graduating high school and getting ready for the future.  Sunset’s future in particular involved the guy whose heart she’d lost and rewon, Flash Sentry, as they were going to spend a year together in her native Equestria.  That turned out to not happen, as there had been a horrifically sudden attack on Canterlot – and eventually all of humanity – that had been orchestrated by Sunset’s own mother.

Her friends had died.
Her lover had died.

Sunset herself had died.

        And now here she was, seven hundred years later, in a world devastated by her mother’s forces, protected from above by a giant diamond with a horrific secret and with armies of savage, scavenging diamond dogs and who knew what else at The City’s metaphorical doors.  Despite their happiness, there was an edge of wariness on the faces of the citizenry, as if they knew “the last safe city” was anything but.  About two million humans, ponies, Awoken and other races, trying to survive the path of the monster bullet that was the inevitable third coming of the Taken Queen.

Nightmare Star.

Sunset’s, mother, Celestia, the former queen of Equestria – now a nation and a world that no longer existed, murdered by Nightmare Star’s treachery.

        Sunset wanted to cry.  She desperately did.  But she couldn’t.  Whether it was because she was in too much shock, too much disbelief or anger that her mother had done this, she wasn’t sure.  She wanted to cry as freely and painfully as her aunt Luna did … but Luna had centuries to have adjusted to her lost husband and family, her lost life and her lost worlds.  Sunset had only a relative handful of waking hours to adjust to this waking nightmare.

        So she sat in the sleeping attire Luna had purchased for her with glimmer – not even credits, like something out of a sci-fi film, but “glimmer”, like something out of the dumbest parts of the Equestrian dictionary – looking at the string of lights that were the other buildings draped in night and then occasionally to her hunter’s uniform, and the significance of her new life: no longer a budding student looking towards the future, but a soldier on the front lines of a war she hadn’t known existed until a few hours ago.  A soldier who, if Luna was to be believed, had the fate of the world in her hands.

        Sunset reached over for the ancient, worn copy of Star Swirl’s journals, flipping through the pages to the back of the book … then past the false backing, towards the ancient unicorn’s last prophecy:

“It is said that when the sun goes mad and turns against all she loves, the moon will call forth a bright blue star to aid her.  The blue star will call to six, that will call to seven that will call beyond a baker’s ply, and a fort’s host against the one will bring forth infinity.”

        Sunset read the passage once more, and she couldn’t understand any of it.  The only things she could glean from it was that the sun went mad and turned against all she loved.

        My own mother murdered me.  She didn’t really do it, but she didn’t realize who I was until I touched her, and that was just after her lieutenant ran his horn through my heart.  She pulled off her top to look for a massive wound, but other than her exposed front, her skin was unblemished and perfect.  A bittersweet smile finally came to her as she could practically feel Flash’s caress.

        They’d made love the night before graduation. He’d already been spending a lot of time at her apartment, and his parents knew they would be a permanent item.  It didn’t matter that as someone supposedly the same age as he she was living on her own already, or that they’d never met her family.  Back when she’d been rotten to the core, she’d fooled them into believing she was a sweetheart.  Then during the time they’d broken up, whenever she’d run into Flash’s mother at the supermarket or somewhere, the older woman had considered their breakup just a growing phase between the two.  When they finally got back together, Flash’s parents said they knew this was coming, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

        Had they known the girl I always would be even when I wasn’t?  Sunset asked, feeling a sting in her eyes.  Flash, did they know from the beginning that if none of this would happen that we would have been together forever?

        She could practically feel the taste of his lips again, feel the press of his body against hers.  Flower petals opened in anticipation, and she yearned to feel his touch.  But it was a phantom pain, and as two parts of her body felt wetness, Sunset cried in great pain at what she’d lost and what had been done to her.  What her mother had stolen from her and the world.  What she wanted back and could never have.  She’d long given up on being an alicorn.  Even now, she couldn’t give up on being the girl Flash would have married.
        

        ⟪Sunset?⟫  The girl forced herself to look up and she could feel something being rubbed against her cheeks. She soon identified it as a tissue, being moved around by a very tiny tractor beam of blue, coming from an AI floating at face height.  ⟪I know I can’t really ever understand what you’re going through, but I’ve talked to other Ghosts, and they all say the same thing: how heartbroken their Guardians are when they realize they’ve lost something.  But it’s worse for you, because you remember everything and the Speaker does, too.⟫

        But then the little AI seemed, as much as it could, to move in what seemed to be the best approximation of a smile that it could.  ⟪But I want you to know that I’m always going to be here to support you.  I’m your Ghost and you’re my Guardian, and we’re always going to be together, because that’s how it is.  But even more than that, because I want to be.  So no more crying, okay?⟫

        Sunset smiled.  “Okay.  But keep in mind that I’m going to need you from time to time.”

        ⟪That’s what I’m here for!⟫ the Ghost said cheerfully.

        Sunset looked out the windows, to see the first edges of sunlight creep over the walls of the city, bathing the Himalayas in a wash of golden warm light that somehow reminded Sunset of better times and of a white alicorn that Sunset loved immensely.

        I have to believe there’s something still there within Mom, Sunset thought to herself.  If this book is right, there has to be a way to bring Mom back from the brink.  And it starts somewhere out there.  Sunset looked at her Ghost.  And I have her to thank in part.  She’s been like a ray of light all this time.

        The girl grinned.  She finally knew what to call the AI.


~*~


        “I’m sorry,” Luna said as Sunset came down for breakfast.  She was dressed in normal clothing for the era: a russet-colored tunic, dark gray cargo pants and suede boots.  Luna herself wore the robes of her station, and around the table, robots set plates of fruits, meats and eggs.  

        “Why?” Sunset asked as she sat down, reaching for a croissant and what looked like honey butter.

        “Because I know what you were going through last night.  I went through the same when Alex died, and then when my children passed and one day, I just cut ties with my descendants.  It wasn’t until I got here to the City that I found some still lived and I renewed those ties.  But you went through it last night, and I wasn’t there to help you when I should have been.”

        “No, it’s okay.  Dawn was there for me,” Sunset said, gesturing to the AI floating above her right shoulder.

        ⟪Of course!  That’s what Ghosts are fo–-⟫   Suddenly there was that eerie pause, akin to that of a living being, where words seem to have gone into terminal failure.  ⟪What did you just call me?⟫

        “Dawn,” Sunset said with a soft smile.  “That is your name, right?”

        The AI was silent for a second.  Two.  Three.  Then with an exuberance usually associated with hyperactive children, the Ghost zipped around the room at high speeds, slaloming around the frames, who seemed to take the whole thing in stride.  ⟪I GOT A NAME!⟫ she sang at the top of her audio emitters.  ⟪I GOT A NAME!⟫


        Tiberius, however, seemed to take a more contrarian approach.  ⟪You should behave yourself!  You are a Ghost and your demeanor reflects that of your Guardian!⟫  If there was a way for a Ghost to float with irritation, Tiberius had mastered it.

        “Let her have this moment,” Luna scolded him.  “Each Ghost is as different as people are.  You shouldn’t expect Dawn to act like you.”

        ⟪As you wish,⟫ Tiberius acknowledged with what sounded like a tone of resignation.
        
        “So what’s next for you?” Luna asked while Sunset chewed on a piece of bacon.

        Sunset finished and looked thoughtfully.  “Somewhere out there, there’s a way to bring Mom back from the brink.  I’m going to find it.”

        “Don’t make the mistake of assuming just because you and I were saved from the Nightmare Force, that everyone can be.  Nightmare Star is far more vicious than you can imagine and there might not be anything left of Celestia in there.  I want my sister back, too, but I don’t want you to fight a Quixotic war that will only leave you heartbroken.”

        “I know,” Sunset said, “but I recall an old human text I read once, and the line that has always meant a lot to me.  It was, ‘Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?’”  Sunset took a bite of an unfamiliar fruit and added, “I’ll save Mom, no matter what it takes, Aunt Luna.  With or without Starswirl’s prophecy – I’m going to save her.”

Luna looked at her niece, and in those turquoise eyes, the older alicorn could see her sister’s determination.  You should be proud of the mare you raised, sister, Luna said to herself.  And you should fear that she’s coming and I don’t think there’s going to be anything to stop her.


~*~


The transport craft passed by the northern edge of the Tower, and two figures transmatted in, leaping to the ground easily.  “And here’s where we part for a while, Little Light,” Luna told her niece.  “I have a government to run and you have a long task ahead of you.”  She then hugged her and said, “I believe you’ll be up to the task.”

“I am, I’m sure of it,” Sunset said confidently.

Luna hugged her niece once more.  “Then I will see you when you get back from your first mission.  But until then, I will miss you.  Now go; I’m sure Cayde is waiting for you at the Hall.”  A thought then came over Luna.  “But before you go….”  She reached into a pocket and produced a small wafer of plastic.  “Give this to the Gunsmith when you get a chance.  It will be of use to you.”

“Will do,” Sunset replied, and shoved the wafer in the pocket.  As she walked off, Luna couldn’t help but worry.  Stars keep you safe, Sunset, she mused, and that they bring you back home.


As Sunset walked along, looking at the painted hallways and waving to the few civilians that worked in the Tower, she said to Dawn, “So, wonder what we have in store?”

⟪Not a clue,⟫ Dawn replied, ⟪but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a starter run somewhere on Earth where the dogs are causing problems.  Maybe the European Resttlement Zone, or the archeological operations at the Russian Cosmodrome.  Or maybe we’ll get lucky and get assigned a run at one of the other archeological spots.⟫

“Archeology?” Sunset asked as they walked past a kiosk where an Awoken woman with a wide smile and a need to call out like a carnival barker was clearly selling wares.  Sunset waved at her, but continued walking down the tiled path towards the Hall of the Guardians.

⟪It’s seven centuries after you last lived, Sunset.  Everything you ever knew is archeology now.⟫  The pair went down the stairs, past the man in the armor that seemed to be glaring at her and the robot – “Frames”, Sunset reminded herself.  Gotta remember the bipedals are called “frames” – that appeared to be going out of its way to be unassuming while it sold a variety of weapons and armor.  Sunset paid neither heed as she entered the Hall of the Guardians outright.

Cayde noticed her in a heartbeat.  “Well, well, well – our newest Guardian, completely out of uniform!”  He turned to his counterparts and said, “And you say I have no respect for protocol.  Girl here’s taking after my own heart.”

Zavala’s eyes narrowed.  “Do you seriously think you’re going out in that?”

Ikora, though just as disapproving, was a little gentler in her admonishment.  “Sunset, generally Guardians are usually in armor unless they’re specifically off-duty.  Please don’t let your relation to the Speaker color your judgement.”

Sunset had the good grace to blush in embarrassment and snapped her fingers.  Less than a second later, she was attired in her hunter armor, though helmetless and with her hood down.  “Sorry,” she blurted.

Cayde waved it off.  “Don’t worry about it.  KinderGuardian mistake – you’ll grow out of it.  Anyway, I have your first mission for you.  We have a group of Guardians missing in the European Dead Zone, just west of the Widow’s Court Crucible area.  It’s out of the Crucible boundaries, and there are no reasons for civilians to be there, so I want you to investigate it and eliminate any potential problems.”

Ikora spoke up.  “The Consensus is considering expanding the European Resettlement Zone into that area, so it is imperative to know if there’s anything there that could either impede those plans or cause us to abandon them entirely.”

“You mean like a place next door where gunfire is going all over the place?” Cayde cracked.

“Cayde, now is not the time for your humor,” Zavala snapped, then turned to Sunset.  “We’re uploading the information to your Ghost.  Once there you are to report to Safford.  He’s a titan and already on the scene.  He will evaluate your progress and report back to us.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed.  “Great.  A babysitter.”

Cayde spoke up. “Listen, Sunset, it’s not like tha—“

“It is very much like that,” Zavala interrupted.  Turning back to Sunset, the Awoken man added, “We trust the Speaker implicitly after everything she’s given up and done for humanity.  But you are an unknown and for all we know, a plant specifically designed to throw her and us off – and I will not risk the City for that.  So until we can trust you, you will have to live with a ‘babysitter’, understood?”

“Not really, but you guys don’t care about my opinions in the matter, do you?”

The look on Ikora’s face was sympathetic.  “I understand how you feel, but look at it from our point of view: we have to protect the City and its peoples, and we have to make sure any unknown becomes a known, whether friendly or not.  Right now?  You’re an unknown element, Sunset.  And while I’m looking forward to having you eventually be a known quantity, we cannot discount the possibility that you mean harm to all of us.  I’m sure the idea of a sleeper agent existed in the warfare of your time, didn’t it?”

“I wasn’t a soldier back then, but I’ll concede your point.”

“Good,” Cayde interjected.  “So we’re all on the same page.  Now get going, Sunset.  I saw that writ from the Speaker in your pocket, so report to Banshee for some new stuff.”  Sunset nodded and departed.

As she left, Zavala looked at Cayde with anger.  “She had a writ?  What is the Speaker thinking?”

“Same thing any mama bird does, I guess,” Cayde answered.  “Luna wants Sunset safe, and if it means an on-spot promotion, we can’t argue with that.”  Zavala bristled at the pegasus’ words; despite the fact that the Guardians were a relatively rankless organization, an informal command structure came upon the color and quality of their weapons based on the engram’s color, from the lowest-ranked white-colored “common engrams” to the near-general “exotic engrams”, gold in color.  The writ Luna had given Sunset was to upgrade her weapons and gear to the green uncommon ranking.

“Still, I think Luna is putting us all at an unnecessary risk for a new alicorn that might just be one of Nightmare Star’s traps,” Zavala grunted.  “At least I trust Safford.  He’s one of the best titans I have out there right now.”

“Yes, I just hope he doesn’t stomp all over our newest Guardian.  He has a way of doing that,” Ikora cautioned.

“Well, if he does,” the titan Vanguard answered, “then she clearly deserved it.”


Meanwhile, Sunset followed Dawn to a kiosk where it looked like weapons were actually being built.  An impressive array of guns of all different types were mounted on the wall in the back of the store, and in the left corner what looked like a large 3D printer was assembling a series of weapons as a laser sliced through industrial-grade steel.  A couple of other Guardians were browsing new weapons to potentially be bought, and at the center of it all was an earth stallion, his blue coat standing out against the light colors of the gun shop. His golden mane was styled in a ridge of spikes that seemed to be emblematic of antennae, and in his mouth was something that looked vaguely reminiscent of a cigar.

“So, you’re the new kid,” the gunsmith growled in a raspy voice that seemed to remind Sunset of smoke-filled pool halls with hard-drinking men.  “Name’s Banshee and I run this little shack,” he added, putting out a hoof to bump, which Sunset did.  “So, what can I get ya?”

Sunset handed over one of the writs.  “Here.”

Banshee took it and looked it over.  “Well, well, well.  Either ya got some pull with the Speaker, or ya bent down a few times for Cayde.  And since you’re human, I’m not gonna guess the latter,” he laughed with a deep bellow.  “I’ve known that asshole for years and he ain’t getting his humanity back.  Anyway, all I got in the way of armor is some engrams you’ll have to have Salt Boy over there decrypt.”

“Salt Boy?” Sunset parroted.

Banshee laughed again and pointed at a man in robes by tented pavilion just a few yards form him.  “Yeah.  That’s Rahool, the leader of the Cryptarchs – they’re a combination of archeologists and mad scientists.  Anyway, Rahool has a rep of being a swindler … or at least he did until Cayde brought him a sack of doorknobs to decode.  Salt Boy got the message fast – or at least he did once he got out of the infirmary.”  The stallion waved it off and said, “But guns?  Guns I can get you.  What’s your regular?”

Again, Sunset was confused.  “Regular?”

Dawn, thankfully answered this question.  ⟪He means your regular weapons loadout.⟫  The Ghost turned to Banshee and added, ⟪Sunset’s new to all this, so all she has is a pulse rifle and sniper rifle.⟫  Sunset got the message and laid her arms out on the table for Banshee to look at.

Banshee looked both weapons over.  “Looks like this sniper’s gotten more use than the pulse.  I’d say keep the pulse for now, but I’m upgrading you to a better sniper.  Since you’re still entitled to a new primary, though, I’d recommend a scout rifle – just got a new batch of Jigoku SR3s in, and they’re pretty popular with those who want low spit but high spank.”  Seeing the look of confusion once again on her face, he clarified with, “Low rate of fire but high impact.”

“Oh.”  He set one down on the counter, and she picked it up.  She brought it into a firing position, and she instantly liked the feel.  She could practically feel herself pulling the trigger and splitting a dog’s head apart like a melon.  She felt brief revulsion from that thought, followed by a mild surprise that she’d thought the whole concept made sense to begin with.  “I’ll take it.”

“Smart girl.  I broke down your old sniper into parts, so you’ll need those to upgrade your weapons.  As for your new long dick—“

“What, is everything profane with you?” Sunset asked.

“Listen, kid, I’m a gunsmith.  I ain’t paid to be nice and I wasn't much of a nice stallion to begin with.  If you dislike me that much, when you get to purple class, there are two other gunsmiths in the tower that you can get guns from, as well as those assholes in the major factions.  But until then, you’re stuck with me and whatever you can get Rahool to decrypt for you – assuming he doesn’t steal it from you, first.”

Sunset got the message.  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”

“Naah, don’t sweat it, kid.   I know you’re a Guardian, which means you probably came from some time in the past where people were nice and friendly, never swore and everything was fucking sunshine and rainbows.  Got it.  Anyway, you might like the JLL-19.  Decent impact and pretty good range.  You’ll be popping skulls in no time.”  Banshee set a green sniper rifle down.

“I just noticed none of these guns have camouflage,” Sunset added.  “For that matter, neither does my uniform.”

“Kid, when the enemy has infrared and ultraviolet sensors and better natural vision than humans, Awoken or even us ponies, camouflage doesn’t count for jack shit. Staying alive is more important than being a corpse nobody can find, so nowadays outgunning them counts more than stealth – well, unless you’re one of those Bladedancers, but that’s a different story.”

Sunset hefted the sniper rifle briefly and liked the feel, so she accepted it.  “The writ says I get a heavy, too,” Sunset asked.  “What’s that?”

“Well, what’s your preference?  Big fucking booms or a storm of bullets at the enemy until they’re nothing but bloody chunks of Swiss cheese?”  He set a heavy machine gun on the table, followed by a rocket launcher.  “Xerxes-C and a Butcher SA/3.  Both for the discerning kind of killer,” he said with a laugh.  “Take one; we’re low on heavies right now and I don’t get a new shipment until next week.”

“Um, I’ll take this,” Sunset said, picking up the rocket launcher.  She wasn’t sure whether or not she was sold on it, but she didn’t want to wear out Banshee’s patience; he didn’t look like the sort of stallion who had loads of it, anyway.

“Good for you.  Now get going; I got other customers to deal with, and you gotta go see Salty there for those engrams.” Without warning, he leapt up on the counter and shouted, “HEY, RAHOOL, YOU RIP THIS GIRL OFF AND I’M COMING OVER THERE TO KICK YOUR ASS, GOT THAT?”  The Cryptarch seemed to ignore him, so Banshee grinned and said, “He got the message.  Now go do your thing and let me know how you like killing with your new toys.” 


~*~


Sunset didn’t spend much time with Rahool; he reminded her way too much of the landlord she had back when she was first alive and lived in Canterlot.  That man had practically undressed her with his eyes and back during her less-behaved days, she used that for all it was worth until he left the job and was replaced with a no-nonsense woman.  Rahool, on the other hand, seemed only to care about the engrams and the scientific data he could glean from them.  Still, his face and voice reminded her too much of that man and she departed as soon as it was polite to.  She did get improved armor out of the whole deal, though her knew cloak was a mid-length that only went towards her waist.  She’d already seen some with full cloaks that went all the way to the ground, and she was mildly jealous for some reason.

So now, as they were headed to the hangar, she could see a ship with a fantastic design coming in for a landing; the thing pretty much looked reminiscent of that X-shaped Starfighter from that sci-fi franchise Flash had been so fond of.  Plus, there was the matter of what ship she’d have.  She’d been brought her in the ship of a dead Guardian, but it was configured for a pony Guardian, so it was a cramped and uncomfortable journey.

She walked through the complex, following Dawn, until she came across a woman in her early twenties, with short hair, green eyes and a laconic smile that reminded Sunset of Applejack.  “Hey, you’re the new Guardian?  Name’s Amanda – Amanda Holliday. I’m the Tower’s shipwright, and I have your ship all set for you.  Worked on it myself.”  She pointed at a purple ship down the line that was decidedly not the one she’d used earlier.

⟪That doesn’t look like anything I’m familiar with,⟫ Dawn said.

“Yeah.  New design – Spindle Demon, CX-20 variant.  Just recovered her from an old spacedock in the Scotland sector.  I spruced her up, and now she’s yours.”

“But what about the other ship I was in?” Sunset asked.

“Oh, that one?  We had a new Guardian process in last night.  He was assigned to the Cosmodrome, so we gave him your old ship, since he was a pony.  It was set for a pony flight configuration anyway, so it’s not like you’re missing anything, right?” Amanda said with a wink.  “Plus, I wanted you to have this Spindle Demon.  Worked on it myself, because I couldn’t trust anyone else with it.”

“Why not?”

Amanda smiled slightly.  “Because of Granny.”  When Sunset put on that confused look she seemed to have entirely too often as of late, the blonde chuckled.  “I’m a Holliday.  Which means that the Speaker – that is, Princess Luna – is my great-great-great-who-knows-how-many-greats-grandmother.  She prefers me to call her Luna, but I call her Granny when I want to tease her.  But anyway, if you are who you say you are, then you’re her niece, which makes you and I whatever-to-the-nth-power-cousins.  And if there’s anyone who cares about family, it’s a Holliday.”

Yeah, she’s just like Applejack.  “Thanks.  I mean that.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get mushy on me, cuz.  Just go out there and take back our home and tell me about it when you get back.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to start work on taking apart a dog ketch we captured just outside of the New Delhi Sector.”  Barking orders, Amanda started walking over to the far side of the hangar, leaving Sunset and Dawn alone.

“Well, let’s go check out our ship,” Sunset suggested, walking towards it, admiring the sleek black and purple paintjob, as well as its pristine outer hull; chances were, it wasn’t going to stay that way for long.

The two walked up the gangplank and into the cockpit area.  ⟪Wow, state of the art,⟫ Dawn said, punctuating it with an artificial whistle.

Sunset sat down in the pilot’s seat, and before she even realized what she was doing, she was closing the gangplank and powering up the vessel, her hands moving with a muscle memory she wasn’t even aware she had.

⟪I guess piloting comes naturally to Guardians, huh?⟫ Dawn asked.

“No clue,” Sunset said, as she pressed a button.  “Tower Control, we are ready for departure, please give me an outbound plan, over.”

“This is Tower Control.  Catapult Two is clear, so taxi there.  We will need a callsign, over.”

Sunset thought about that for a moment.  “Any ideas what we should call ourselves?” Sunset asked.

Dawn replied, ⟪What about Sunset Princess?  If you’re the daughter of a queen, doesn’t that make you a princess?⟫

“The Equestrian throne doesn’t exactly work that way, but you’re probably right.”  Flicking on the comm channel again, she said, “Tower, callsign is Sunset Princess, over.”

A response came after a second.  “That’s a negative.  Sunset Princess is already registered – and before you ask, so is Princess of Sunset.  Please select a new one, over.”

Sunset was about to ask Dawn for another suggestion, when a memory came to her mind.


“Honestly, Rainbow, that’s incredibly crass of you!” Rarity scolded.  “You should apologize to Sunset right this instant!”

On the ground and laughing to the point where her sides hurt and tears were at the edges of her eyes, the black, rainbow-haired teenager gasped, “But she’s got bacon-colored hair, and she’s the daughter of Princess Celestia!  That makes her the Bacon Princess!”

“Whatever,” Sunset groaned.


        With a nostalgic gleam in her eye, she said, “Tower, callsign is Bacon Princess.”

        There was an odd pause as the Tower controller said, “Oh-kay, your call.  Bacon Princess is registered.  You’re clear for Catapult Two.  Good hunting.  Tower out.”

        As Sunset wheeled the Bacon Princess over to the catapults, Dawn looked at her.  ⟪Are you sure about this?⟫ the AI asked.

        Sunset felt a chunky, metallic sound underneath her ship – the sound of the catapults connecting – and she smiled.  “Yeah.  It’s a memory from a happier time, Dawn.  And right now, I could use all the happy memories I can get.”

        ⟪Roger that!  Let’s go make some new ones.⟫

        With that, Sunset instinctively watched the red lights flicker to green, and as the massive catapults of the Tower thrust her ship forward, she gunned the thrusters at full, tearing them into the air.  With a quick course correction they quickly blasted towards, the west and whatever future awaited them.
> VI: This is the Best Support, This is the Highest Support; He Who Knows That Support is Magnified in the World of Brahmâ
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

EUROPEAN DEAD ZONE, EUROPE SECTOR
June 6, 2770

        With only its running lights operating, the Bacon Princess came to a floating stop above a set of crumbling buildings.  Two objects transmatted from the ship, and with that, the Bacon Princess rocketed off, to who knew where.

        “You sure the ship’s not going to leave us behind?” Sunset asked her Ghost.

        ⟪Of course not!⟫ Dawn explained, her voice filling the audio pickups in Sunset’s helmet, as the AI had slipped into the subspace storage pouch all Guardian outfits had.  ⟪The ship’s autopilot will keep it in the area until you call for extraction or it runs out of fuel, which would take weeks.  Honestly, the only way it’s going to disappear is if a dog ship shoots it out of the sky.⟫

        “That’s comforting,” Sunset muttered as she slowly and quietly made her way to the door.  She tested the knob, then asked, “Think you can get this open?”

        ⟪It’s just a simple mechanism.  Piece of cake!⟫ Dawn answered as she hit the keyhole with a beam of light, causing the door to slide open, revealing stairs.  ⟪Guess we should get going.⟫

        “Yeah,” Sunset agreed, summoning her scout rifle in a flash of cyan light.  “We should.”

        The two made it down the stairs with no effort, emerging into what looked like the ruins of an old store; from the size of it, it was a large one and either a supermarket of some kind or a department store.  In the dim light of sunrise this far west, she could see rusted items, blades of grass pushing through the store’s broken floor tiles and a small pile of bones; a closer inspection indicated that the human had died naturally ages ago and not of anything else.

        Sunset picked up a metal box that, amazingly, hadn’t rusted away or crumbled.  Reading the cover of the box, she voiced, “Gedenkschachtel Pralinen, um die Weihung des Tempels der sieben Seraphim zu feiern.”

        ⟪Which means?⟫ Dawn asked.  ⟪I didn’t take the time to download a German-English dictionary, sorry.⟫

        “It means, ‘Commemorative Box of Chocolates, to Celebrate the Consecration of the Temple of Seven Seraphim.’  But I shouldn’t be able to read any of this.”  Sunset looked around, seeing the other faded lettering and reading it as she recognized what was going on.  “Wait – there’s sympathetic magic here!”

⟪Sympa-what?⟫

“Sympathetic magic.  It’s a branch of magic that’s largely used for healing and communication, like first-aid heal spells and basic magic translation.  But that should be impossible!” Sunset told her Ghost.  “If what Luna said was true, then there shouldn’t be any magic anywhere in the world save for Guardian and Black magic.  Furthermore, sympathetic magic has to work when two sources are in resonance.”  Sunset holstered her weapon and stood up, thinking about it.  “Luna says I’m the last font of true magic left in the world, so I could be one source….”

Dawn realized it instantly.  ⟪Then there’s a piece of pre-Collapse magic or magitech present!⟫

“It has to be this Temple this box is talking about.  We gotta find it.”


Sunset and Dawn then heard the stomping of something metallic on the ground.  Both turned to see a huge, heavily-armored pony applauding them as they stood there; his armor was a mix of jade green and tarnished silver and he had a minicape covering his right flank.  “Well, la dee fucking da.  Found you two.  Don’t know if I should shoot you for being so fucking stupid or congratulate you for finding a piece of the puzzle. I’m Safford, your babysitter.”

        Sunset nodded in response.  “Sunset Shimmer.  And I guess you heard about that, huh?”

        “Yeah.  Zavala and I go back some ways, so we talk about everything.  And I mean everything.  And you know?  He told me this wild story about a second alicorn and shit.”  The pony’s tone was dangerous and there was anger in his eyes.  “He said that you caused an explosion in Tower North and threatened the Speaker.  And I take a very dim view of that.”

        “I’m sure you do,” Sunset said, tensing.  If she had to, she could prep a fireball, if she could remember how.  If not, hopefully her reflexes were faster.  Against an experienced Guardian, right.  

        So it was to her surprise that the stallion then removed his helmet, revealing an earth stallion with a beige coat and a short orange-and-brown mane that enhanced the pony’s golden eyes.  He then stated, “So I spoke to Speaker Luna herself, and she told me something that I don’t know if I believe: she said that you’re the Queen’s missing daughter, the one all this started because of her death.  But I honestly have to ask: are you her?  Sunset Shimmer, Daughter of the Sun, the Wandering Princess?”

        It had been a long time since Sunset had heard those words, written by some unicorn poet trying to curry favor with her mother.  And the sound of Safford’s voice was far less gruff than it had been just seconds before.  She removed her helmet, revealing her two-tone hair and cyan eyes.  “What do you think?”

        “I think I need to know the truth about whatever’s going on, whatever it is.”  He looked at her intently.  “Is it true?”

Sunset looked into Safford’s eyes, to see if there was any sign of insincerity or deception present.  Despite his earlier demeanor, he had the eyes of a pony that wanted to believe in something, though she wasn’t sure what.  Still, she took a chance and with a flash of aqua energy, the girl was gone and before Safford stood the alicorn mare.  “Yes, it’s true.”

        “I didn’t believe it.”  To Sunset’s surprise, Safford bowed deeply.  “Before I was chosen to be a Guardian, your highness, in my last life I was an Amity priest – one of Queen Twilight’s clerics.  But with the exception of the Unconsecrated, all clerics serve the alicorns save for the Taken Queen.  Please, your highness, forgive my ever doubting you.”

        Sunset returned to her more familiar form and recalled her formal training.  “Rise, holy one,” she said, her voice even due to her training from long ago.  “Neither Princess Luna or I have need of priests.  We need brave souls willing to fight for the survival and safety of all.  And that is why you were clearly chosen to be a Guardian.”

        ⟪Smooth talking, Sunset,⟫ Dawn commented, but Sunset ignored her, kneeling to grab Safford’s left foreleg.

        “We are Guardians, Safford.  There will be time later to be whatever else there is, but right now I need help to stop my mother before she returns to destroy everything.  I need to bring her back from the brink and I need all the help I can get.  Can I count on you?”

        Safford looked up at her.  “You have my sword, my Princess.”

        “I’d prefer it if you called me Sunset, instead.”

        Safford nodded.  “If that’s what you prefer, then that’s what’s gonna happen.  Well, you’re in charge, here, so where do we go?”

        Sunset looked at Safford. Dawn had explained the informal ranking system to her, and sure enough, Safford was gold-class.  Slipping on her helmet, she inspected his gear and found that it was a mix of the highest quality pieces possible.

        ⟪Wow, is that a SUROS Regime?⟫ Dawn asked, looking closely at his auto rifle while Safford’s Ghost pop into view.  ⟪That thing’s amazing, Sunset!  Only thirty models were ever made, and they were said to be the best auto rifles ever!  Type One or Type Two?⟫

        ⟪Type Two, dummy,⟫ the other Ghost retorted.  ⟪Type Ones were made for hands, not hooves – learn to read the database!  I swear, KinderGuardians….⟫

        “Cornerfire, behave yourself,” Safford told him.  “We are in the presence of royalty.  May I introduce to you Princess Sunset Shimmer and her Ghost.”  Cornerfire, apparently embarrassed at his admonishment, lowered himself and nodded in a sort of bow, but said nothing else.

        “Well, we’d better get searching for this Temple,” Sunset told him, “plus there’s the matter of the missing Guardians.  I’ll bet if we find the—”  A loud roar above them suddenly cut off her speech.

        “Oh, shit,” Safford said, slipping his helmet back on.  “That’s the sound of a skiff, or my name isn’t Summer Rose or some shit.”  Both Safford and Sunset moved just out of the store to see a trio of skiffs flying above, with the rearmost one being the most disconcerting.  “Oh, fuck me sideways,” he swore.  “That last skiff is carrying a walker – heavy armored tank, only with legs instead of treads.  Heavily armed and they don’t fuck around.  The dogs love their toys.  But why are they here?  C’mon, we’ve got to get out of here.”

The two slipped across the way, out of the view of the skiffs and into the relative safety of another building.  As they did, Sunset asked, “Why is your name Safford, anyway?  I would have expected Summer Rose, or at least Summer Thorn, since you’re a stallion.”

        “We moved to another world,” he explained, “and when our world was destroyed, we couldn’t go back.  The old ways were dead, and we adjusted.  Nowadays, most ponies have mononyms based on human surnames, unless you’re from one of the few noble families that stuck with the Trues, in which case you’ll end up with a binominal name that still sounds more human than traditional pony.”  Safford shrugged.  “It was gone long before I was born, and I never knew it.”  A massive sound of metal impacting the ground rang out, followed by the building shaking briefly.  “Looks like they dropped off the walker, but what would it be do—”

        ⟪Widow’s Court!⟫ Cornerfire suddenly shouted through their helmet pickups.  ⟪The Court is just a few blocks away, and with the training going on, it’s making enough noise for them not to hear it!  The walker could fire artillery shots from here and kill the Guardians and their Ghosts!⟫

        Safford didn’t have to be told twice.  “Tower, this is Pillar of Autumn.  Patch me through to Crucible Command, pronto!”  The sound of static filled his comm channel.  Shit – there’s something interfering with the signal!”

        ⟪Skiffs have engaged Bacon Princess and Pillar of Autumn.  Per safety protocols, both craft are moving out of the danger zone,⟫ Dawn stated, and Sunset knew what that meant.  Without their ships to relay their comms, the Tower would have no way of knowing that their training ground was about to become a slaughterhouse.

        “Okay, here’s the plan,” Safford told her.  “I’m going to take down that walker.  You get into the Crucible zone.  They’re designed so that in the event that someone unauthorized ends up on the training field, all combat stops immediately.  Once you do that, drag them all over here.”  She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he added, “Who knows?  I might not have killed the damn thing by the time you all get here.”  With a jaunty salute he unsheathed his shotgun, rushing off in the direction of the walker.

        Dawn gestured towards the northwest.  ⟪The Crucible zone should be back this way.  C’mon!⟫  Sunset didn’t need to be told twice, and as the start of gunfire started to roar in the distance as Safford engaged the walker, the alicorn-as-human started to race down the street, hellbent on getting towards her objective.

        Gunfire rang out around them, and Dawn immediately jumped into Sunset’s subspace storage.  ⟪Oh, no – they’re behind us!⟫  With a natural ease that Sunset couldn’t explain, she whipped out her scout rifle, turned and jumped through a hole in the side of a nearby building, firing as she did so.  The rounds flew true and two diamond dogs felt to the ground as their wire rifle shots went wild, blasts of azure energy flying well past Sunset’s location.  

⟪Two down!⟫ Dawn sang out.  ⟪Go up the stairs, and we should be able to hop the roofs the rest of the way!⟫  Heeding her Ghost’s advice, Sunset rushed up the floor and kicked the aged door in, the rotting wooden frame giving way to the blow, allowing them to reach the roof.

In the distance, Sunset could hear the sounds of gunfire from two directions: the first behind her, and as she turned around she could see Safford holding his own against the dogs and their walkers, though their airborne drones were moving around to flank him.  Sunset wasn’t about to have that.

Calling up her sniper rifle, she looked through the scope and, standing as stock still to brace the weapon, fired three shots.  Red bolts burned away from the muzzle as it belched flame, spitting the trio of bullets down at supersonic speeds.  The rounds did their jobs and connected with brutal power and speed, lancing through the three shanks as if they were made of tinfoil.  Minor explosions ripped in the air, followed by three combat drones falling harmlessly near Safford’s hooves.

Without taking his eyes off his target, he spoke through the mic, “What, felt the need to show off, Sunset?”  His voice sounded as gruff as usual, but she could hear the undercurrent of gratitude from him.  Waving at him, whether he could see it or not, she then started hopping the roofs, pushing forward.  

⟪Sunset, I’m picking up additional acoustic signatures,⟫ Dawn warned.  ⟪Things might get really hairy real fast.⟫  Sure enough, two more dog skiffs roared through the air, and one of them carried an additional walker.  The two skiffs dropped off their payloads, and a second later, another nearby street was filled with diamond dog soldiers, shanks and a walker; additionally, a huge orb, glowing with violet magic, floated nearby.

⟪This is not looking good!  They’ve dropped a second walker, which they rarely do.  And they put a servitor down there as well!⟫

“Servitor?”

⟪The purple sphere down there.  Servitors serve as support units for dog forces, doing broadcast power charging and can lay down heavy suppression fire on their own.⟫   As if to prove Dawn’s point, the servitor noticed them and started firing immediately, huge bolts of void magic tearing through the air, slamming into the buildings and tearing great chunks out of the structure.  Sunset cleared one building, just to see the perch she was on crumble to the ground a second later.

The mystical and technological missiles continued to rain through the air, and as Sunset kept pushing forward, briefly pausing to take out a dog sniper or two, Dawn continued her line of thought.  ⟪Something very big is going on here, Sunset.  A walker is when they get serious.  Two walkers are unheard of.  But two walkers supported by a servitor is bad news.⟫  The AI halted in thought with a pause pregnant enough to have twins. ⟪I think they might be here on an assassination operation,⟫ the Ghost announced.

“You think they’re after me or Safford?” Sunset asked.

⟪I don’t think so.  You’re too new to have any reputation about you spread to the enemy.  And Safford is a big deal, if my gleaning through the newsfeeds are enough, but they wouldn’t use that much hardware on him.  No, whoever they’re after has got to be the best of the best – one of the top Guardians in all of the Vanguard.  Let me check the Crucible Roster.⟫  As Dawn checked her theory out, a copy of the information flashed on the HUD in Sunset’s helmet: 



WIDOW’S COURT CRUCIBLE MATCH // MAYHEM CLASH
Current Score Standings // Time Remaining 5:37 
NAME                 	RACE/TRIBE   	           SUBCLASS 		       	TEAM  		              SCORE
Lily Diamante  	        Human           	           Voidwalker     		Alpha		              324550
Arv Crossack              	Awoken                		   Striker   		        Bravo     			      161110
De Souza                	Unicorn    		           Sunsinger   			Alpha          		      160050
Gonzalez                	Pegasus            		   Bladedancer      		Alpha     			      158900



        Sunset ignored the rest of the names; it was pretty obvious who was on top in that match.  “What’s Diamante’s profile like?” she asked.

        Dawn quickly read through her record.  ⟪She’s one of the best, needless to say.  Activated as a Guardian 150 years ago somewhere in the Western US Sector.  Veteran of over a thousand missions.  She’s been through the Trials flawlessly sixteen times, and has the highest kill record at the Crossroads Crucible Zone.  Full gold layout, prefers to use a handcannon she built herself called “Style and Grace”; Tex Mechanica apparently wants to buy the rights from her so they can make a mass-production model, if the newsfeeds are correct.  She blasted a skiff out of the sky with a single axion bolt, so she’s seriously powerful.  And, if Ikora decides to step down, she’s one of the leading candidates to be the Warlock Vanguard.⟫  Dawn let out a whistle and commented, ⟪If they’re here for someone, it’s her.⟫

More engines sounded out in the distance; Sunset didn’t even have to look.  “Another walker?”

Dawn did a scan.  ⟪What makes you think that, besides the obvious?⟫ she asked.


Sunset continued to race along the building, while the walker and servitors targeting her from making it to Widow’s Court continued to fire, leaving massive holes in buildings where Sunset had been just a few seconds before.  Sunset continued to fire when she could, moving in acrobatic patterns while firing that would have inspired a circa-2000s action film director had he ever seen these moves.  

As Sunset fired her scout rifle, cutting down a dog sniper, completed her somersault and then caromed off a wall before it could be vaporized in servitor fire she shouted out, “What am I looking for?”  Sunset continued to zigzag back and forth, moving from one spot to another and practically running along the walls to confuse her opponents.

⟪A block away; you can’t miss it.  Huge, meter-thick walls made out of starship hull plating, pretty much designed to keep any fire from the Crucible accidentally getting out.⟫

“I really doubt it’s going to hold up against sustained fire from these walk—”  She heard the roar of another set of engines and turned to look.  “Okay – four walkers?  That’s gotta be some kind of overkill!”

Dawn immediately scanned them.  ⟪Those last two walker sets are Kings,⟫ she explained.  Knowing Sunset wouldn’t be up on the politics of the enemy, Dawn continued with, ⟪Most of the dog clans don’t get along.  For example, Earth is mostly overrun from Dogs from the Devils faction.  The Kings are also on Earth, but they tend to focus on attacking the City more than focusing on the rest of the planet.  There are other factions out there as well – the Exiles on the Moon, for example – but none of them work well together; Nightmare Star made sure of that.  So for one faction to even back up another is a very bad sign.⟫

Sunset didn’t answer, but continued to pour on the speed, especially now that she had the Kings firing at her.  They certainly appeared to be better trained, given that their shots were closer to the mark than the others were; they were also smart enough to start firing at her with the main batteries from their skiffs.  One thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to be able to dodge much more of this.

⟪There!⟫ Dawn called out, and ahead of her was a massive steel wall, easily fifty feet tall.  The emblem of the Crucible was painted on it, along with several lines in several of Earth’s languages that trespassing was dangerous and to see the Assistance Station in the south … which the markings explained was at least another kilometer away.

“Hang on,” Sunset snarled, “we’re going in.”

⟪That’s gonna be kinda hard to do.  There’s not a building left that’s high enough to jump from, and even in the best of situations, you’re not going to be able to get even halfway up much less over!⟫

“Who said anything about over?  We’re going through!”

⟪What?  How? ⟫  It was clear that Sunset’s idea had completely confused her Ghost.  Even with all process threads firing, Dawn couldn’t comprehend that comment, even if it were metaphor.  ⟪Look, blinking doesn’t work that way and your suit doesn’t have transmat capabili--⟫

The hunter rocketed forward, nearly becoming a blur of khaki and dark gray, moving towards the boundary walls of Widow’s Court at a blinding speed, rounds of various energy and metal just inches behind her.  There was a massive flash of energy—

—the ordnance slammed against the barrier wall with enough force to make it ring like a bell and shudder, though it still held—

—and a corresponding blast of energy spat Sunset out on the other side, where she crashed painfully into two other Guardians, bowling the three over, sending weapons, arms and legs flailing in all directions.

As a crumbling brick wall cushioned her stop – by means of her colliding with it with enough force to crater the façade, Sunset forced herself to her feet, ignoring the ringing in her ears and the sensoria in her eyes.

Meanwhile, on all frequencies, Shaxx’s booming voice rang out: “Unauthorized presence in the Crucible!  Match immediately ended – Victory to Alpha Team.  All Guardians are to clear the field immediately while the problem is investigated.”

⟪How … how did you do that?⟫  Her head still spinning, Sunset hadn’t even noticed that Dawn had moved out of subspace storage and was now scanning her for medical issues.  ⟪There’s no way we should have been able to do that!  It’s impossible!⟫ 

“Blind teleport,” Sunset replied, gritting her teeth as her headache still remained; sooner or later her suit would pump some analgesics into her system – hopefully.  “Extremely dangerous, because it requires a huge amount of superluminal speed to quantum tunnel.  Controlled teleports, like transmatting I assume, can be done slowly and carefully, or at least with a sense of familiarity.  But with a blind teleport, you don’t know what’s on the other side, so you’re essentially jumping to light speed and decelerating while still just starting the jump.  Rips your molecules apart, so it’s nearly lethal.”  She then risked opening one eye and said, “But it got us here, right?”

“Yeah, but if you’re not a pony, then how the fuck did you do it?” a voice to her side said.  Sunset turned to see a warlock dusting herself off.  She wore a black, featureless helmet, silver bracers, black robes that had an iridescent spiderweb design on the front that changed color across the cool shades of the spectrum, and black boots.  In her hand she held an ornate platinum-plated handcannon upon which purple gems were inlaid.  Lastly, she stood there with a stance that seemed to utterly emanate the concept of irritation.  “And what the fuck was so important that you had to ruin my streak?”

Another person, a titan of either human or Awoken origin, patted the woman on the shoulder.  “Yeah, because you weren’t completely embarrassing my team, were you, Lil?”

The woman pulled her arm away from the titan’s gesture.  “Go fuck yourself, Arv.”  She then wheeled on Sunset.  “You just ruined an important bet between me and this girl I was going after.  So, unless you plan to spread in her place, start talking.”

Sunset paid attention to the attitude-filled woman in front of her.  “You must be Lily Diamante.”

The woman shook her head, then turned to the others.  “Wow, hey guys, we got a regular genius here – practically the second coming of Queen Twilight!  Tell me, O Wise One, what made you come to that difficult realization?”

⟪Wow, has she got an attitude,⟫ Dawn muttered.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Sunset replied to her Ghost, then crossed her arms as he looked back at Diamante.  “You know, I’m almost tempted to let the walkers come and kill you, but your ego’s so big that it probably acts as a deflector shield of its own.”  She then looked to the rest of them.  “The rest of you, however, might want to get ready.  There’s four dog walkers inbound, and they’re all here to kill Ms. Humble here.”

Diamante started to laugh.  “Look, I know I’m good, but that’s just bullshit, little girl.  Do you really think the dogs are going to waste that kind of hardware trying to take little old me ou—”


The boundary wall suddenly exploded, and a second later, a pony in heavily-damaged armor collided into the same spot Sunset did a second earlier; the wall gave way this time and collapsed on him.  Out of the smoky remains of the steel plating a servitor floated through, and with mechanical precision fired a blast of void energy, slamming into Safford.  The stallion barely had time to scream before his body vaporized into nothing.

“SAFFORD!” Sunset screamed, not noticing that Cornerfire appeared above where Safford had died, splitting apart and turning into a sphere of energy.

“Holy fucking shit,” Diamante replied, seeing the first walker and the silhouette of the second one close behind.  “You weren’t kidding.”

“Glad to see you were paying attention,” Sunset said, rushing for cover, unlike the rest of the clearly experienced Guardians.  

“Sonnuva….”  Diamante, clearly the senior person on station, began barking orders.  “Alpha Team!  You have first walker.  Do not let it get onto the Crucible grounds.  Bravo Team, use the emergency transmat emitters to get out of the zone on the south side, then flank the farthest one.”  She looked at one of the members of Alpha.  “Giovanni, pick up Safford, or else he’ll be there for a few seconds reconstituting, and that’s time we don’t have.”

“I take it you guys got the middle ones?” Crossack asked.

“Don’t you know it.”  Diamante went over and grabbed Sunset’s butt, earning a glare from the former unicorn.  “Me and this cute little piece of tail here especially got the third.”  She then turned to Sunset and said, “You know, you were brave enough to dodge the firepower of all that hardware while it was coming this way, which means you’re probably hella quick and nimble.  You like that in bed, too?”

“Can we not have that kind of discussion right now?  And for fuck’s sake, I’m straight.”

“Oh, every woman says that until they’re with me.  Trust me, one night with diamonds, and you’ll want to be my favorite jewel.”

“Wow, you know what ‘Diamante’ means.  So you have brains.”

“And a stamina and libido to go with it, too,” Diamante cooed.  “Seriously, though, I know Safford, and if a walker just melted him like that, they’re sending top of the line equipment.  This is not going to be easy.”

Safford immediately joined them.  “That’s the thing I hate about being rezzed by another Guardian,” he grunted.  “The energy shock sends a spike to your head and voila!  Migraine city.  Anyway, how you doin’, Lil?”

“Oh, you know me: Always ready for a fight and always ready for anything else.  You free later?  Thought you and me could take her for a spin,” Diamante said, hooking a thumb at Sunset.

“Trust me, Lil, she’s a headache you don’t want.  Tell you later, but you do not want to mess with her.”

Though it was still unclear due to the featureless visor of the helmet, apparently Diamante looked at Sunset with new interest.  “Oh?  Now you really have my attent—”  A servitor fired at the warlock; she deftly sidestepped the blast and pulled her handcannon.  “You know, it’s rude as hell to interrupt someone while they’re flirting!” she yelled at the machine.  Fanning the hammer, she sent a swarm of void bullets right back at the servitor, turning it into an explosive set of metallic chunks.  “Stupid piece of shit.  Wonder how dangerous they would be if the dogs gave them brains like they do their Prime models.

“Anyway, as I was saying: if you’re that interesting, then let’s go make some music with that dog toy.  Then afterwards, we can make more music and I’ll make you sing like a soprano.”

“You’re not listening to me, are you, Lil?”

Diamante shrugged.  “Do I ever listen to anyone?”

“Ikora?”

“Because I haven’t cracked that nut yet – working on it still,” she replied and Sunset could almost hear the grin.  “Anyway, serious business time: Safford, you take the second walker.  My new bed partner and I will deal with the third.”  Before either of her companions could object, she added, “Okay, enough chitchat.  We got a job to do.”

“‘Bout fucking time,” Safford said, pulling his auto rifle while Sunset switched her scout for her pulse rifle.  With that the three rushed off, heading towards their targets while they watched Alpha engage their own.  As they passed by, they briefly strafed dogs transmatting in to support the walker; each one met a bloody doom at the end of the trio’s gunfire.  

“Safford, pull yours down that alley; Sweetass and I will dance with our partner over here,” Diamante barked.  “We need to give the warsats enough time to transmat the damaged wall out and shove a new one in.  We’re working against the clock, so let’s do this!”  Safford summoned a rocket launcher and fired a round right into the wirelauncher to get its attention.  The rocket hit true, detonating against the side and setting off secondary explosions as the clusterbombs did their job.  All of its weapons immediately turned onto Safford and he barely dodged the volley as he galloped down the street.

“Good, my turn,” Diamante said, and summoned a heavy machine gun.  She pulled the trigger, raking solar fire across the hull of the walker.  “Let’s see if I got its attention….”  As expected, the walker turned on them, and they hustled down the street as the walker, followed by a flight of shanks, pursued.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Sunset asked as a blast of electric energy hit the crumbling storefront to her right.

“Just getting its attention, because I want to see what makes it tick,” Diamante replied.  “On the rare occasions when walkers hunt in packs, the third one is always the command vehicle.  Means we’re dealing with a captain- or baron-ranked dog in there.  Means if we capture them, we just might find out why they’re after me.”

“So getting it to hunt us down was the option?”

Diamante laughed as a round barely went over her head.  “Looks like I got you hot under the collar.  Good; we live through this and tonight I’ll make you hot and bothered in the sheets.”

“Do you ever stop?”

“Well if I did, you wouldn’t have as much fun tonight, would you?”

Sunset ignored the vamp and turned the corner…

…only to run into a dead end.  ⟪That does not bode well,⟫ Sunset could hear Dawn state.

“Good,” Diamante hissed. “Now the bastards can’t run away.  I’ll take the right, you take the left.  Go on my mark.  One, two, thr—” Diamante’s words were cut out by a massive lance of vermillion energy that hit her hard, slamming her against the nearest wall.  Two more shots immediately hit her, and her Ghost immediately appeared, ready to go into reconstitution mode if need be.  But a fourth energy blast hit it dead on, dropping it to the floor in a shower of sparks.

Sunset moved to her side.  She could see the blasts did serious damage: most of Diamante’s robes were burned away, and Sunset could see down to the skin; she could smell the stench of charred, third-degree burnt flesh.

“Fucking scorch cannon,” Diamante hissed.  “Kid, get out of here.  You’re not strong enough to….”  A deep, booming laugh filled the air and the warlock said, “Too late.”  Sunset heard the laughing again and turned towards the walker.

There, standing on top of it, was the largest diamond dog she’d ever seen.  Bulky, dressed in heavy armor complete with cape and carrying a pieced-together cannon that glowed like a miniature sun, the dog’s scarred face was the virtual emblem of malice.  Sunset could see that its left eye was missing and replaced with a hastily-made cybernetic replacement; it made the dog’s maimed face look all the uglier.

“Vaksis….” Diamante murmured.  “I took his eye about three years ago during an op in the South Africa Sector.  Looks like he wants payback.”  Forcing herself to sit up as much as she could, she reached for her handcannon.  “Okay, Vaksis, just you and me, for once and for all.”  She then turned to Sunset.  “Get out of here, kid.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Sunset insisted.

“He just popped my Ghost.  Means I’m not long for this world,” Diamante coughed.  “Look, get out of here, go have a happy life, go fuck a girl or two for me, okay?  I’m going to make sure this bastard doesn’t walk away.”  She turned back to Vaksis.  “Okay, asshole, ready to do this?”

Sunset was about to walk away, when Vaksis fired a warning shot at her.  The point was clear: either Diamante was going to save both of them, or it wasn’t going to matter.  And in the shape the warlock was in, chances were, it would be a very fatal stalemate.

Not taking her eyes off Vaksis, Diamante murmured, “Looks like we’re headed for eternity once more.  Sorry, kid.”  Sunset almost didn’t hear Diamante’s final words: “She’s got a cute voice, too.  Sounds kinda familiar, too….”

Vaksis grunted, charging up his scorch cannon for one final blow.

Diamante nodded, cocking the hammer back for one do-or-die blast.

Both enemies pulled their triggers…

        …and Sunset’s eyes burned.

        “You made a big mistake using that around me,” she said in a tone that was unnatural as the area filled with solar fire.

> VII: But He Who Has Understanding for His Charioteer, and Who Holds the Reins of the Mind, He Reaches the End of His Journey, and That is the Highest Place of Vishnu
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Since her rebirth, Lily Diamante’s life had been a study in contrasts.  From the very first moments her Ghost, Persia, resurrected her in the desert wastes outside of Tucson, Arizona, she yearned to know who she was.  Her name had come from a jewelry store where she'd found the police revolver that formed the basis of her now-famous hand cannon, Style & Grace.  She'd spent those earliest of days dealing with scavenging diamond dogs, roving bandits and making sense of herself in this shattered world.

        Eventually, the road led to Tombstone, a town once known as a lawless villa of the Old West but now a heavily-fortified settlement fending off daily dog attacks.  It would be the place where Lily would find a sense of purpose defending the people with her weapons and her surprising talent at void magic.  As more survivors flocked to Tombstone, Lily began to build a legend for herself, earning scorn from the dog archons in the area and praise from the locals, who praised her as their guardian angel.

        She'd also earned a bigger prize as well: the heart of Martina Sache, the Awoken girl who ran the local bar.  A beauty with fiery red hair, yellow skin and glowing turquoise eyes, Lily almost felt as if it were her destiny to be with her.  Their nights had been passion-filled and the days loving, both of them a family along with Martina’s human brother Minal.  As they settled into a familiar life, it was a joy they hoped would last forever.

        It went without saying that it didn't.

        Twenty years after her arrival, as Martina and she settled into the lives of a happily-married couple and Minal had grown into a charming young man catching the eye of every girl in town, the House of Bones attacked, swiftly and mercilessly.  A minor dog warren trying to make a name for themselves, they thought to raid the remains of Tucson for technology and eventually turned their teeth towards Tombstone … for food.

        The battle that commenced rocked the local area.  Dog skiffs rained cannonfire on the walls of Tombstone, while the defenders desperately fought back.  Lily herself sallied forth from the walls, meeting dogs with her weapons and giving no mercy.  It had been at this time that she'd thrown a nova bomb spell at a skiff, intending to break its guns.  Somehow, she'd set off a chain reaction with that cracked the starship in two, and with the help of Persia, became a one-woman instrument of war.  And yet the dogs still came, hellbent on capturing the town at all costs, as if their very lives depended on it.

        Defenders fell, and so did civilians.  Lily had become so busy that she hadn’t eaten, slept or seen her family in days.  Granted, Guardians were more than capable of such actions, and as a warlock, she had proven to be an incredibly skilled one, but she was only one, and the dogs numbered by the hundreds, if not thousands.  And in the distance, laughing as he sent waves of troops to the slaughter, was the Alpha, the leader of the warren, Kardhel.  A huge monster of a mutt, he easily towered over Lily sizewise, but was too much of a coward to wade into the battle directly, instead preferring to lead his troops from afar.

        Finally, on the seventh day, when Lily felt too weak to continue on.  As she regenerated from the second time she’d died – she hated herself for that, not because of her own death, but because of the lives lost in the time it took for Persia to reconstitute her – she checked her ammo, found that she was almost completely depleted.  Persia had used all her transmat stores of ammo, and couldn’t generate any further. She was left to her magic, and from her exhaustion, that wasn’t a source that was going to be used anytime soon.

        Smelling victory, Kardhel ordered his ketch in, the massive starship soon eclipsing the sun with its sheer size.  With that, the monstrous ship began firing large bolts of voidfire on the town, ripping it to shreds even as dozens of servitors began to boil away from the starcraft.  With the condition Lily was in, there was no way she could fight them off and no way to stop them.

        A second later multiple explosions ripped through the ketch, seriously damaging it and making it list to the side as its gravity well partially failed.  Kardhel ordered a retreat lest his last weapon be lost, and as he disappeared, four new Guardians – another warlock, two titans and a hunter – appeared.  Using an array of weapons she’d never seen before they began to push back the House of Bones, bloody corpse by bloody corpse.  And when it was over, the warlock hit them with an electrical storm the likes of which Lily had never seen.

        Eventually the newcomers introduced themselves.  The hunter was a small human woman by the name of Alkhaest; she only went by the mononym and claimed that any other names she had in the past were just that – the past.  The first titan was a jovial Awoken man by the name of Kiyl Sahndars; he wore the mark of the Sunbreakers, which Persia explained was a reclusive sect of titan warrior monks. 

The second one was an earth pony, something Lily had never seen before.  They were aliens from another world originally, but had settled here on Earth after the destruction of their home reality by the Taken Queen and now were no different than their human or Awoken counterparts.  He was a retiring type, and he referred to himself as Saint, strangely enough referring to the warlock at his side as his “mother”.

But it was the warlock that had captured Lily’s attention.  From the look on the faces of some of her fellow villagers, they had seen a vision of the divine, and the young warlock soon found out why: this was Princess Luna, the alien goddess from another world who had given up everything, from her lands and station to her homeworld and even her pony form, to defend humanity from her own sister.  Her name was legend amongst the species on Earth, and in the centuries since Nightmare Star had all but extinguished the light of humans, Awoken and Trues, she had tirelessly wandered the world, a traveling knight in a reality gone horrifically wrong.

Once the smoke had cleared, the town’s defenders started looking amongst the rubble of Tombstone for survivors, of which there were few.  Ghosts, similar to Persia, flitted around the town and broke apart into energy sphere, discharging a powerful blast of energy into the corpse.  Persia helpfully explained that they were chosen to be Guardians such as herself, selected to wield the light against the forces of Darkness.

But no Ghosts came to choose Martina or Minal.  And as Lily arrived at the saloon/home she shared with her wife and brother-in-law, it wasn’t long before she found their bodies.

Lily didn’t remember much after that.  She vaguely recalled others burying her loved ones.  Or that Princess Luna offered the survivors a chance to live in a city far from this hell of a place, a shining city where Guardians bristled and her other child Ana led the defenses.  Lily had nothing here, nothing left of anything, save for Persia and an outfit that Martina made for her, something Lily had never worn before because she considered it too precious to sully with dog blood.

So it came to a shock that without a singular care in the world, Lily stripped down to nothing in front of everyone – she knew the looks she was getting, but she was too broken-hearted to care – and slipped on the armor and white robe with inlays of gold and silver that seemed to burn with the sun.  The moment she slipped it on, however, as if reflecting her heart, the garment became as black as the darkness they fought, the metallic strands changing to neon codas of blue and green.

She’d cried that night and for many afterwards.  She became lonely, lost, and tried to find herself in the arms – and occasionally forelegs – of so many lovers, searching for something she knew she’d never find.  And as the trail of spent bullets and forgotten lovers grew miles long, Lily had amassed a legend around herself as mystical as anything else had become in this blighted world.  Legends that she’d been there at the last stand of Luna’s children, as Ana Bray and Saint fell at the battle of Twilight Gap, and that she’d avenged her friends with a bloody trail that still stained the walls of the Crucible Zone now known as Frontier.  That she was generous to a fault, with her charms to her friends and bullets towards her enemies and that sometimes there didn’t seem to be much of a difference between the two.  And that since her loss, the only one she really loved was her Ghost, Persia, because the AI was the only family Lily really had left in this world.

Still, Lily fought on, knowing that if there would ever be peace, it would be a world that she didn’t belong in and didn’t deserve.  And if she would ever find peace for herself, that would be even less possible, because in all the lovers she’d taken over the decades, not one of them ever really made her feel as Martina did … or a mostly-forgotten memory from even earlier, one she couldn’t identify even now.

If there was one thing that Lily kept to herself, even away from comments in confidence even to Persia, it was that in the little girl she must have once been whenever ago, Lily Diamante believed in miracles.

But she’d never thought she’d see one.

Until now. 


~*~


Lily opened her eyes, wondering why, exactly, she could – the scorch cannon should have rendered her into component atoms.  And a second later, she saw why.  And gasped.

There, standing before her as, well, a Guardian, was the newbie Hunter whose pants she planned to get into later on, blocking the solar blast as if it were nothing.  Indeed, the bolt of energy sat in her hand, as if the hunter had caught an arrow.  Sure, Light allowed one to hold mystic energies in the palm of one’s hand, but catching it was a whole different thing!

“What.  The.  Hell?” Lily said aloud, her voice dripping with incredulousness.

Not looking at her, the hunter said, “Glad to see you’re okay.  Look after your Ghost.  I’ll finish this.”

“You’re going to take on an Archon and a Wa—”

“Trust me,” was all the huntress had to say, actually ignoring the dogs long enough to turn to look at Lily…

…and then she moved. 


~*~


From the moment she put motion into her first step, Sunset knew she had very little time to stop all this.  She’d already risked a lot by catching the solar bolt as if it had been nothing, but she was still growing into her power as an alicorn, and she had to stay alive long enough for her to fully master it.

Ignoring the warlock behind her, Sunset reached into herself and called forth something that was instinctive to her: a gun made of pure magic, ready to fire bolts of highly-destructive energy towards its target.  Hunters usually created this out of solar energy – the Golden Gun.  It was the strongest ability available to the hunters who had mastered the school of warfare known as Gunslingers, and Sunset, having somehow learned this skill without ever having gone through the paces, followed through as had every Gunslinger ever done.

But no Gunslinger had the ability of Sunset’s true magic, and so this was no ordinary Golden Gun.  Burning with the turquoise magic of Sunset’s own innate powers, it was far more valuable than mere gold and far more potent – a Celestial Gun.  With a practiced ease that she still didn’t understand how it came to her, she pointed the gun and fired.

The first shot slammed into Vaksis, knocking him off his perch and sending him flying.  A second shot immediately followed, this one punching right at his head and knocking him out.  The Archon incapacitated, the hunter then trained her Celestial Gun on the Walker.

Another shot rang out, blasting the armor off of one of the legs.  As the mechanized tank stumbled, Sunset jumped onto its head as the cooling vents behind the sensor head opened up, glowing a bright orange as they discharged excess heat into the air.  From there, she rained down fire from her Celestial Gun, pouring one aquamarine blast after the other.  Three shots were on average the number of rounds most Gunslingers could do before the exhausted themselves.  Four was for the absolute best or those who had augmenting armor that enhanced that skill.  Yet Sunset kept going: five, six, seven eight, until after the ninth shot, when she could hear something cracking within.  She jumped off the walker, barely dodging the electric blasts that came from its secondary guns, diving behind a long-rusted car as the walker went up in a blaze of glory, detonations rupturing the object as if it were a bombardier beetle whose internal mixture went horribly, terribly wrong.

Sunset moved over to where the unconscious Archon was, Sunset summoned her shadowbow, but it too glowed with her power and was unsuited for the void-sounding name.  With casual grace, she pinned the dog commander to the ground, the glowing teal bolts holding him fast in a magical tractor beam.  Satisfied as she’d disabled him, she walked towards where Lily was, breathing heavily and bleeding profusely from the wound in her side.

“What are you?” Lily panted, looking as though she was on her last legs.

“The hunter who’s going to stop Nightmare Star for once and for all,” Sunset said as she bent down to inspect the wound.  “The Taken Queen will someday know I’m coming and when she does, there’s not a thing she can do to stop me.”

“What?”  In the distance, another Walker exploded, but neither woman paid much heed.  Safford and the others would take care of the other two, Sunset was sure of it.  But for now, all that alicorn could do would be to take care of her fellow Guardian.

Sunset nodded, then took a look at the wound.  “This is more than I can fix, I think.  I’m not a doctor, so I really don’t know more than first-aid.  Let me see if I can fix your Ghost.”  She called to her side.  “Dawn, gonna need your help.”

“You can’t fix a Ghost!” Lily insisted.  “Nobody can fix Ghosts!”

“I’m sure I can,” the hunter said with certainty.

Meanwhile, Dawn came out of Sunset’s subspace pocket.  ⟪She’s right, you know,⟫ the Ghost said with a melancholy truth.  ⟪Tiberius told me that after the battle of Twilight Gap, Speaker Luna nearly drove herself mad with grief trying to repair her children’s Ghosts in the hopes they would come back to life.  Apparently she even turned to Osiris for help.⟫

        “Who?”

        Lily, however, caught that.  “Osiris?  He’s a madman!  Why would she?”  Seeing Sunset’s confusion, Lily explained.  “Osiris was once the Warlock Vanguard and an old friend of the Speaker’s.  But they had a falling-out over tactics related to fighting Nightmare Star.  He took his followers, and they resettled at the Reef and Mercury.  The Cult of Osiris sponsors the Trials, and I’ve won a few of those,” she said, pointing at her bond, encircling left forearm.  “I’ve even been to the Lighthouse, which is said to be his home.  But I’ve never seen him there, or for that matter, any of his followers at the Lighthouse.”  Her miniature speech clearly winded her, as she fell back, panting.

        Meanwhile, Sunset picked up Persia.  Inspecting it, she said, “Somewhat intricate piece of magitech, for sure.  But there’s something familiar about it, something I can’t put my finger on.”

        At her side, Dawn groaned.  ⟪Please don’t refer to us as machines,⟫ the Ghost insisted.  ⟪I know we’re not biological lifeforms, but we are living.⟫

        “Sorry,” Sunset admitted with a slight embarrassment.  Holding Persia in one hand, she began to gently tap him, each percussion of her finger flickering with her power.  After a few minutes, she let him go, and the AI floated in the air of its own accord.  “There, that should do it,” she said, and as if to punctuate it, the third Walker detonated, and a cheer sounded from the Guardians continuing their attack.

        Persia’s optical emitter flickered to life, and she looked at Sunset.  ⟪How?  Why?⟫ the Ghost asked, and Sunset in turn pointed at Lily, who reacted accordingly.  ⟪Mistress!⟫ she bleated, immediately firing healing beams to assist Lily’s suit.  ⟪Are you okay?  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to assist you immediately.⟫

        Lily felt a new wave of comfort and Light wash over her and she got to her feet unsteadily as the final Walker exploded in the background.  Looking at Sunset, she said, “I … I don’t know what you did, but I can’t thank you right now.  But I will thank you later tonight,” she purred.  “I’ll thank you in ways that’ll show you just how grateful I am.”

        
        “Down, Lily,” Safford said as he rejoined them.  Cornerfire could be seen zapping his armor here and there, making small repairs to the smoking-but-still-functional titan gear.  “We took the other three down,” he reported to Sunset, “and I see you fed that last one its own exhaust vents.  Not that I should be surprised in the least.”

        Lily, however, sounded miffed.  “How do you know I didn’t do it?” she asked the pony.

        Safford laughed.  “I don’t need to be a unicorn to feel true magic, Lil – a pony knows it in his bones,” he told her.  “Plus….”  He pointed to where Vaksis was still pinned down with shots from Sunset’s skyshot bow.  “Shadowshots don’t last anywhere near that long, and you aren’t a hunter.”

        “Fine, fine,” Lily admitted.  “I don’t need to know how talented someone is at war when I sleep with them.”  Safford glared at the warlock, and Lily gazed back.  “You know, you’re being awfully protective of her.  Thought ponies usually didn’t go outside their species for comfort.”

        “Except with you,” Safford stated.

        “Yes, except with me.  Your point is?”

        “My point is that you wouldn’t sleep with the Speaker, would you?”

        “I would if she wanted to, but she seems to be that kind of all-distant matriarchal figure that I’m trying to get Ikora away from imitating,” the warlock said, matter-of-factly.  “Someday, I might just pull it off.  Anyways, you still haven’t explained what the deal is with you and that girl.”

        Both watched as Sunset walked towards the dog Archon.  “Then let me make it clear: On my honor as an Amity cleric, Sunset Shimmer is not to be touched, got that?” Safford warned.

        “‘Sunset Shimmer’?  With a name like that, she sounds like a holoporn star.  Now I really need to get to know her better.”  Moving past the earth stallion, she walked over to where Sunset was picking the dazed Archon off the ground and was flanked by a trio of Guardians, all pointing their guns at him.  As she approached, Vaksis snarled at her, barking something in the incomprehensible language that dogs spoke.  “Nice to see you, too, Vaksis,” she said offhandedly.

        Sunset looked at the diamond dog and his look of utter hatred at Lily, then said, “She’s not important.  I am.”  The dog suddenly looked at her, his face full of contempt, then spat a gob of spittle at her, laughing and jeering in its language.

        ⌠You know, you’re just about as ugly to me as I am to you, so cut the crap and pay attention!⌡ Sunset snarled in his language, and to everyone’s surprise – Vaksis included – she merely gave a smile.

        “You speak the dog language?” one of the Guardians said with shock.

        Vaksis was no less surprised.  “Pony speak Eliksni?” he asked in English.

        “I speak many of Equus’ languages,” she told him, “and do I look like a pony to you?”

        “Bah, human, pony, all same thing.  Is Eliksni food, is resource for Eliksni,” Vaksis laughed, especially at the body language of the Guardians.  “You just smart pony, is all.”

        “Eliksni?” Arv Crossack spoke, intrigue in his voice.

        “Eliksni is their native term for themselves,” Sunset explained.  “Diamond dog is the pony term, based on their love of gems.  Humans adopted the term, and that’s just how things are.”  She then turned back to Vaksis.   “Okay, fun’s over.  Now, you’re going to tell my why you’re here.”

        “Vaksis no tell pony nothing,” he insisted.  “Smart pony is smart but not that smart.  And ponies not ruthless like Eliksni.  No can make Vaksis talk.  Vaksis Archon of House of Devils, not easy position hold.  Only strong hold and Vaksis strongest of strong.  Vaksis so strong, Vaksis not fear that pony,” he said, pointing to Lily.  “Vaksis no fear you.”

        “Oh, I assure you, I can and will make you fear me.  Last chance to do this nice way, Vaksis.”

        “Hah.  Stupid pony,” he told Sunset as Lily drew her gun.  “Only thing stupid pony can do is friendship and die.  One is useless, other is food.  So do Vaksis favor and kill pony self.  Vaksis feeling hungry.”

        “Why, you….” Lily said, angrily pointing her gun at the Archon.

        “You had your warning,” Sunset said, exploding into power.


        The area went into pandemonium as Vaksis was brought muzzle-to-muzzle with an alicorn.  It shocked all present, save for Safford, who behind his mask had a wide smile of pride.  Meanwhile, the alicorn looked at Vaksis, her wings spread proudly, standing ramrod straight and her eyes burning with power.  “NOW DO YOU FEAR ME?” Sunset intoned, her voice ringing through the concrete canyons that used to be this town.

        Vaksis merely whimpered.  “Alicorn!  No!  She-Who-Rules-All-Alphas said you all dead!  She said she only alicorn!”

        “The Taken Queen is wrong,” Sunset told him.  “We alicorns live … and we are angry.  Our people and our allies, those from Equus and this world, have been hurt, and we will not countenance this.”  She fixed a baleful stare at him.  “Your life is forfeit, Vaksis, Archon of Devils.  You now live at my whim.”

        Looking at Safford, Lily stammered.  “You knew?”

        As if on cue, Safford spoke up.  “All, you are in the presence of Princess Sunset Shimmer, she who is the Wandering Princess, niece of Princess Luna and daughter of Princess Celestia.”  

        “WHAT?” someone shouted and it wasn’t easy to tell whose surprised gasp that was.

        Sunset looked at all of them, the folded her wings back.  “I am here to fight for humanity, for ponydom, for Awokenhood and all the other races allied with the Light,” she said firmly.  She then bent her head down, so that her horn was pointed at Vaksis’ remaining eye.  “And I will do anything to protect my allies.  So unless you want me to discover a new and improved way for you to suffer as horribly as possible – because death will be a mercy I will not grant you – then talk.  Why are you here?”

        Vaksis was silent for the longest time, as if weighing his options whether it was safer to commit to betray his people or to suffer whatever horrific punishments a pony with the same power as the Taken Queen could inflict.  Finally, he said, “Scouts report magic source here.  Powerful magic source, only strong when ponies present – real ponies, not other ponies.”

“Real ponies?” Arv asked.

“I think he means the True,” another Guardian suggested.  “If we’re all just ponies to him, then the True must be ‘real ponies’, quote unquote.”

As if not paying attention, Vaksis continued.  “Magic react to real ponies, powerful magic.  Alpha decide wants magic for House, make House stronger.  So makes deal with Kings to share magic with King Alpha, send force to take over Pony Practice Area.”

“The Temple!” Sunset said aloud, and looked at Safford.  “The Temple has to be in the Crucible Zone.”

“Yeah, but the only thing in Widow’s Court is the Lutheran cathedral….” Safford began, then stopped.  “You think?”

“What is going on here?” Lily asked.

It was Dawn that answered.  ⟪Sunset found an item in one of the old buildings that talked about the Temple of Seven Seraphim.  We don’t know what it is, but it was clearly something of prominence here.  And if this dog thinks it’s in the Crucible Zone, then the only logical place has to be the cathedral.⟫

“How so?”

“I feel like an idiot for not piecing it together at first,” Sunset said, “but now I do.  You see, there were six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony – two pegasi, two earth ponies, and two unicorns, though Twilight Sparkle eventually ascended to become an alicorn.  But the Elements require balance – they are Harmony, after all – and Princess Twilight selected her pupil, Starlight Glimmer to wield Friendship even as Twilight remained the focus of the whole magic aspect.”

Her words caused a moment of insight in Safford.  “And the Bearers were considered holy ones, just as you and your fellow alicorns are our goddesses,” the earth stallion stated.  “And there were seven … seven holies!  Seraphim is a type of angel in the Christian religion, so….”

She nodded.  “So the cathedral has to be the answer,” Sunset insisted, changing back to her human form.  “Alpha Team, continue to make sure our guest goes nowhere.  Bravo Team, follow us.”  To her surprise, a member of Alpha rendered her a salute, and the others drew their weapons and moved to protect her.

Meanwhile, Vaksis laughed.  “Go and leave, pony.  Vaksis kill your ponies, escape.  Then he come for you.”

“I don’t think so,” Sunset replied, and lit her hand with witchfire.  She tapped Vaksis on the forehead, and he suddenly fell into a deep slumber.  “There,” she announced. “That should make your jobs easier.”

“Yes, ma’am!” one of the Alpha members said, her voice sounding with relief.

⟪All ships returning to the area as per protocol,⟫ Dawn announced.  ⟪Bacon Princess standing by.⟫

Safford looked at a Bravo member.  “Nguyen, contact the Tower and tell them what’s going on – or as much as you know; we’re still figuring it out.  Have Zavala send out a Shrike so we can take our new buddy to the stockade.  And have Ikora and Rahool send research teams; I think we’re gonna need some.  Lastly, tell Shaxx that the Court needs to be shut down until further notice.”

“He’s not going to like that,” Arv noted.

“True, but he’ll like destroying something that we could use to win the war even less,” Safford replied.  “Besides, he’s been looking for a reason to reopen the Memento Zone, so now he has an excuse.”  Nguyen laughed, nodded and started to contact his ship for a relay to the Tower.

The rest of them looked at Sunset.  “Well, you’re in charge here, Sunset,” Safford told her.  “Make the call.”

“We get in there and start looking,” the alicorn-as-human told him.  “We get in there.” 


~*~


“Wow, it’s a wonder this thing is still standing,” Sunset said as she got her first good look at the cathedral.  The inside was blasted through and through, with almost nothing left of the floor or the pews, save for the opposite end, where a portion of the altar and dais remained, most of that as destroyed as the rear wall was.  Centuries of lakeside weather had eroded much of the exterior and the exposed interior, yet some of the majesty remained.  Curiously, the majority of the stained-glass windows still remained intact, including massive round one near the entrance.  As for the remainder of the internal décor, that had long been replaced by Crucible recording devices and the remains of dog computers and other equipment.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Safford said, his respect for another faith clear.  “Shaxx considers this a perfect area for training, but personally I hope we can turn this back over to the people someday to restore its grandeur before our weapons complete what the dogs did to it.”

“That it is,” Sunset admitted.  “I remember the cathedral in Canterlot – the Canterlot here on Earth, that is.  It was designed in the style of the old European ones and was a vast thing of beauty.  One thing about it was the great round window, which told the story of humanity in such a small space.”  She looked up at the window and its depiction of the crucifix, clouds, and the holy spirit floating above in its representation as a dove, holding a scroll upon which Latin was written.  But it was the symbols at the seven topmost frames that caught her attention: seven cutie marks, of which one she knew very well.

That’s Twi’s mark, Sunset thought.  And if I had to guess, the rest are the other Bearers.  I think we hit jackpot.   “Dawn,” she asked her Ghost, “can you float up there and take a look at that window?”

⟪On it!⟫ Dawn assured her.  The Ghost headed upwards, poking at the window several times before it started to flicker with arcane energies, becoming a pool of light.  ⟪Sunset, this thing is a miniature portal!  Looks like minotaur technology, too!⟫

“A portal?” Sunset asked.  “Can you see where it goes?”

Without answering, the Ghost started to poke at it again.  Several minutes passed as Dawn continued to tinker with it.  ⟪I think it’s safe,⟫ she announced.  ⟪Like I said, it looks like it was made from minotaur technology, but it’s entirely made from Earth equipment, and the location is pointing about a half-mile under the Earth.⟫  When everyone gave her odd looks, she added in a sort of verbal shrug, ⟪That’s what the data says.⟫

“Think we can trust it?” Safford asked Sunset.

The hunter nodded.  “Yeah, I think so.  I’m going, and I have a feeling you’re going as well.”

“Not even if you told me not to, Sunset,” he said, a grin evident in his tone.

“I’ll go as well,” Arv added.  “The rest of Bravo can lock down the place and notify us if something comes up.”

“I’ll go as well,” Lily commented.  “Might be a place Sunset and I can get to know each other a little better, right?”

Sunset seemed to deflate.  “You do know I’m not interested, right?”

“All nos are just delayed yeses,” Lily commented.  Sunset and Safford shook her head and she merely shrugged.

“Okay, looks like there’s a slight ledge over there,” Arv pointed.  “If we boost up there, we should be able to scuttle over the ledge and into the window.”  To demonstrate, the titan hit his boot’s jumpjets, flying up towards the ledge, then began to shimmy down the walkway until he was on the other side of the portal.  “I’ll go in and set up a rally point,” he said.

“That walkway’s not going to work for my body,” Safford grumbled.  “I’ll see if I can get some of the others here to help me push enough boxes in place that I can just jump directly through the portal.”

“Means I’m next,” Lily commented.  She blinked, her body turning into a brief comet of violet energy, and a second later, she appeared on the ledge.  She then blinked over to the portal, coming out of her quantum phase just long enough to dive through the window.

Sunset helped the others push enough boxes for Safford to get through and the two looked at each other.  “Ready for this, Saf?” she asked.

“Been doing stuff like this for a long time, Sunset,” he commented.  “The unknown doesn’t get any easier.”  With that, Safford hopped up to the top box, then queued his armor’s jumpjets to push him through.  Sunset followed suit, her enhanced jump letting her jump halfway up, then through the portal. 


~*~


As Sunset came through the portal, she saw the others looking around.  While their weapons weren’t ready, they were out in case something was wrong.  Arv and his Ghost, Scholar, were studying the place.  And as inexplicable as it could be, there was much to study.  

The four were in a massive chamber, painted with the colors of the sky and bathed in light and warmth from sunstones, magically-imbued gems designed for that purpose.  They stood on a tiled walkway that sliced its way between grassy areas that teemed with lush foliage and vibrant flowers, all seemingly well-tended.  Birds from both Earth and Equus flitted through the area, singing merry songs as if they didn’t seem to realize that they were essentially prisoners in this massive area.  As for the walkway, it split halfway down where a beautiful fountain made water dance and burble.  The pathway continued on towards a large acropolis in the distance, like something from long-lost Cloudsdale, only solidified in stone.  The whole of the place looked like utter paradise, something none of them had seen in a long, long time, if ever.

⟪Initial scans indicate that this area is a kilometer in each direction,⟫ Scholar stated, firing scanning beams to and fro.  As the other Ghosts appeared, he said to them, ⟪I could use some assistance in scanning the area for anything … untowards.⟫

Everyone caught the implications of that.  “Corner, you go with him,” Safford told his Ghost.  “We’ve dealt with enough dog electronet mines and laser tripwires that he’ll know what to look for.”

“Good idea.  Persia, please render whatever assistance you can,” Lily told hers.  “We can rely upon Sunset’s Ghost if anything comes up.”

Dawn nodded at that.  As her fellow Ghosts headed off, she told the three, ⟪Air is completely breathable.  No traces of any unusual gasses, foreign objects or traces of dark miasma.⟫

“Yes, yes, everything is absolutely fucking perfect,” Lily commented.  “That’s what worries me.  It’s like something out of the Golden Age or before the Fall of Equus.  This is storybook bullshit.”  She turned to Dawn.  “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?  There could be something in the air affecting you as well, as hard as it is to believe.”

“Dark magic doesn’t play by the rules,” Sunset voiced, repeating the old mage’s mantra.  “Still, there’s nothing here that feels wrong.”

“We’re not going to get answers standing here, folks,” Arv told them.  “Need to go check out that temple.” He brought his pulse rifle to the ready.  “We ready?”


“I promise you, that won’t be necessary,” a new voice said.  The four turned around to see a figure walking towards them: a large lavender alicorn, wearing a mixture of armor and white fabric, giving her the look of a warrior princess, which was apt.  She wore a spiky golden crown on her head, and the look in her purple eyes was warm and friendly.  Her mane was of a deep eggplant color, with violet and fuschia highlights.

Sunset looked at shock, as if seeing a ghost – the literal kind.  “Twilight?” she asked, as the others bowed.
> VIII: When Thou Understandest That Fire-Sacrifice Which Leads to Heaven, Know That It is The Attainment of the Endless Worlds, and Their Firm Support, Hidden in Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle, former queen of Equestria, Element of Magic and Leader of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, looked at her shocked friend and those bowing.  “Please, please rise.  I am not worthy of your respect, at least not in that regard.”  She then looked at Sunset.  “You see, I’m not Twilight.  Well, not exactly.”

Sunset looked at her.  “You’re not?”

“Twilight” shook her head.  “No.  I’m a magitech construct created by her to tend to this sanctuary until the day you would return and find one of us, Sunset,” she replied.

“You know who I am?” Sunset asked, surprised.  She was wearing her helmet and armor, and with that, it was hard to assume she was anything other than a thin, small human, much less a human woman.

The construct giggled.  “I have always known my friend.  Or is that her friend?  I honestly don’t know anymore; I was programmed with a portion of her soul in me, and so in a sense I am Twilight, though you know what happened to the, ahem, ‘real’ Twilight.”  The alicorn looked at the human with sad eyes.  “I … can change to a different form, if you’d prefer.  I was created to have an alternate mode in case this disturbed you.”

Sunset lowered her hood, then took off her helmet, shaking her red and gold hair out, fixing the sad alicorn with aqua eyes that began to brim with tears.  “No….” she whispered as she dropped her helmet and went over, embracing the alicorn, tears shedding from her eyes.  “No, please don’t.  I’ve already lost so much – I don’t want to lose you, too.”  Sunset hugged the construct harder, and even though she knew it wasn’t Twilight, not really, she didn’t care.  Just the construct’s presence reminded Sunset how desperately she missed her friend.

The construct wrapped its wings around the girl, embracing her just as much as she could.  “I missed you too, Sunset.  She misses you.”

“Well,” Safford said, reaching up to remove his helmet, “if she thinks it’s safe, then I guess it’s safe.”

“Well, I’ve done stupider things in my life,” Arv said, removing his helmet, revealing stone-gray skin, neon-green eyes and short, mauve hair.  He sucked in a breath of the atmosphere, and sighed.  “Almost tastes sweet.  Reminds me of my childhood.”

“You remember your childhood?” Safford asked.

“I remember a childhood.  Then again, it could have been what the Fallen bastards implanted into me when they were trying to turn me into a Taken.”  He shrugged.  “It’s a nice memory, regardless, so I don’t question it.”

Lily, however, did not reach for her helmet.  “Just the same to you, I’d rather not take a chance.  One of us has to be the cautious one.”  She then looked at Sunset, and her words seemed to stop.

“You okay, Lil?” Arv asked her.  To his surprise, Lily said nothing and instead turned away.

Meanwhile, Twilight turned back to Sunset.  “Now that you’re here, we have much to discuss.  We can take this inside, if you like.  The temple is very comfortable, and the Lutherans who helped us build it were more than kind enough to provide furnishings.”  With a wing, the alicorn gestured.  “This way, please.”  Sunset followed, along with Safford and Arv.  Lily, however, stood in place.

“I think I’ll stay here, all things considered.”  She pointed towards the glowing wall from which they’d stepped through.  “Just in case.”

“Actually, Lil’s got a point,” Arv said.  “This place looks safe enough, but we want to make sure that we’ll be able to stay in contact with the outside in case the dogs send reinforcements.”

“I monitor everything within twenty kilometers of this temple,” Twilight told them.  “I assure you, you are in safe hooves.”

“All the same, Queenie, I think I’ll remain here,” Lily said.

Arv shrugged.  “Someone’s got to keep her company,” he replied.

“Suit yourselves,” Twilight said pleasantly.  “If there is anything you need, all you need to do is say it aloud, and I’ll have it transmatted to you.”

“Sure, sure,” Lily said, plopping down on one of the benches, then reaching into her subspace storage for a digitab.  “I’ve got a book to catch up on, anyway.”  Arv sat down next to her, but said nothing.  Satisfied that they were content for the moment, Twilight and her charges continued into the temple, enjoying one bit of needed respite.


The interior of the temple itself was as unique as the outside.  While the outside screamed “Cloudsdale 4Eva!” the inside was far more modern.  Golden-age computers processed various functions continued their operations.  A well-stocked lab was in the corner, with the most advanced equipment of that time.  The rest of the temple was a sort of studio apartment, built for an audience of one, though more likely a couple could live here.

“This place was built as a getaway for Queen Twilight,” Twilight explained, “whenever she wanted to get away from the rigors of ruling Equestria.  She built this place in secret, with an entryway guarded by a church – there are seven of these locations in the Solar System, each run by a construct based on one of the Bearers.”  She gave a smile to Sunset.  “And now these places belong to you, Sunset.”

“Me?” the hunter asked.  “Me?  Why not Luna?”

“Luna, Cadance and Twilight, though a family that loved each other very much, all saw things very differently when it came to their plans to fight Nightmare Star.  Cadance turned the Crystal Empire into a warrior nation that rivaled the great military states of the past: Pegasopolis, Rome, London, Berlin, Moscow, Washington, all of them.  Luna turned towards turning the human realm into a place that would be able to withstand a second onslaught against the Darkness.  But Twilight….”  Twilight chuckled.  “Well, you know how I can be at times.”

Sunset nodded.  “So you – er, Twilight – found Starswirl’s final prophecy and told Luna?”

“Luna found that?” Twilight said with some surprise.  “Good for her.  And no, that wasn’t Starswirl’s prophecy … it was mine.”

“Yours?”  Sunset wondered.  When the construct said it was hers, did she mean Twilight, or literally the construct herself?  And in either case, it made no sense – Starswirl lived thousands of years before Sunset did.  How could he know that she would be the key?

“Because I – well, Twilight – told him,” the construct alicorn explained.  “Using her magic, Twilight reached through time … and it almost broke her.  But she discovered Nightmare Star’s return and that there would be no way to stop her this time.  So Twilight did the only thing she could: She looked amongst the magics of the various cultures of our two worlds in the hopes that she could find something that would save everyone.  And then she found it, ironically, here.”  Twilight reached over with her magic, and brought up a book, passing it to Sunset.

“The Hero of a Thousand Faces,” Sunset said, reading the title.  “I remember reading this book my junior year in high school.  Campbell knew his stuff, and a lot of it even mirrors mythologies from Equus.”

Twilight nodded.  “It did.  And in the early 24th century, Campbellism became a small religion practiced by various species, all searching for the Eternal Hero that the prophet Joseph Campbell had discussed.  Various members of the religion had written papers upon papers about it and after Twilight read them, she became convinced that somehow, you were the key to stopping all of this.  After all, you were also the key that started this.  You’d become the alpha and omega in her mind, and she was determined to find a way to bring you back.  And as the war started, even as Equus was lost and the minotaurs switched sides, as the griffins were all but extinguished and most of ponydom was destroyed by Nightmare Star, she continued to search for the answers to bring you back.

“And you know what?  She succeeded.” 

~*~

As both sat outside, finally Arv had enough.  “The coast is clear, Lil.  You can quit the bullshit girl of steel crap now.”

“Fuck you, Arv.”

“If you’ll recall, you have.  At least three times, one of them a threesome with this hot little Awoken number that I never saw again.  It just never really lasted because you’re clearly not the relationship type, and well, as for me, I’m chasing in another direction, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Point.  And you never saw Asta again because she died during the Moon Offensive thirty years ago,” Lily said in a dead voice.  “You know?  The day before she shipped out, she said she wanted to make our relationship more permanent.  I told her I’d think about it, but the truth was that it was just a line to get her off my case about it.  And then she went to the Moon and died, just like the thousands of other Guardians who went there.”  Lily was silent a long time before she added, “I keep thinking about if she’s alive still, trapped like Eris Morn was, no longer entirely of the Light but trying to crawl back to me somehow.”

“Hey, don’t think that.  For one, Morn’s a creepy as hell bitch.  How she’s still alive even after her Ghost was destroyed is beyond me.  And those eyes of hers….”  Arv shuddered.  “She’s no normal person, that’s for sure.  And with that ichor that constantly pours from her eyes?  I have to honestly wonder if some day she’ll turn on us, even if Ikora says we can trust her.”

“Look, I don’t give a damn about Morn,” Lily told him.  “I just think….” She sighed.  “Even if it wasn’t true, I should’ve said yes to Asta.  That way she would have shipped out happy, that her last thoughts would have been good ones – that she would have thought she had a girlfriend to come back to.”  Lily chuckled, but there was no humor in it.  “Maybe it would’ve kept her alive.”

“Lily, look at me for a second,” Arv told her.  She turned to look at him, and said, “Without the helmet, Lil.  And don’t say it’s a matter of safety.  I knew that was a lie from the moment you said it.”

“You so sure?”

“When you spend a week bedding the same girl, even if you know it’s not going to go anywhere you still get to know a person.  And I’d like to think that for someone who’s probably the closest thing you have to an ex, that I know you well enough.”

“I told you I’m a widow, that I lost my wife before I joined the Vanguard.”

“Yeah, and I’m still having a hard time believing that.  Not calling you a liar, it’s just that I don’t see it.  You’ve never been the relationship type, and to hear that you were one once … it just doesn’t add up.”  He gave her a smile.  “So please take off the helmet?”

“Fine.”  She reached up, disengaged the safety seals, and removed the helmet, revealing a fair-skinned human face with beautiful blue eyes.  She had short-cropped hair in a vibrant shade of purple, and her face was one of classic beauty.  “Better?”

“Yeah, thanks.  So you want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“The fact that you still suck in the Crucible even after all this time?”

“You’re being defensive again.  Stop.  For me, okay?”

Lily set down her helmet and nodded.  “That girl, Sunset.  She … reminds me of Martina.  My wife.  I loved Martina more than anything, and her loss still cuts me, even nowadays.  I’ve tried for decades now to get over her loss, and I haven’t.  No matter how many men, women, stallions, mares, whatever, I still can’t get over losing the woman I loved.”

“Lily, far from me to say this, but maybe sleeping with others might be the problem over losing the person you loved?  I’m no psychiatrist, but even I know that when a relationship ends in a bad way, you tend to rebound off someone, hoping that they’ll change things.  But it won’t, and it doesn’t, and for most people they need time to cool off and let the world move on before they try to love again.  Maybe I’m crazy, but I know you well enough to know that the trail of bodies you’ve left behind you – and I’m not talking about the fuckers you’ve killed – is probably because you can’t deal with Martina’s death?”

“Arv, you’re a dear friend, so please, just fuck off.  You think you’re the first one who told me that?” Lily said, her fury replacing her grief.  “Do you know how big my therapy bills are?  I’ve been through everything from psychiatrists to clerics to tantric experts.  I’m still fucked up, and that’s all I’ll ever be.  Maybe the only way for me to get over it is to be the person I was in my previous life, but I don’t remember that and I hope I never do because with my luck, I’d probably be the kind of person that hates the person I am now.”

“Well, if you want my opinion—”

“Which I don’t.”

“—and so I’m going to give it to you anyway,” Arv told her.  “Martina wouldn’t want you to torture yourself like this.  You might not think you’re torturing yourself whenever you’re thigh-deep in someone, but I’ll bet ten to one that there’s a little part of you saying to yourself that maybe he or she will be just like Martina, that maybe he or she or they or whatever will love the person you are, because you can’t love yourself.”

“Arv?”

“What?”

“You say one more word to me and I’m going to make sure you go back up in a bodybag, do I make myself clear?” 

~*~

Sunset looked with confusion at the spitting image of her friend.  The holographic intelligence was so uncanny, the girl wasn’t sure how to react.  She then looked at Safford, and knew his thoughts were just as jumbled.  Perhaps even more so, given that he had served the original Twilight as her cleric.

“What do you mean she succeeded?” Sunset asked.

Twilight smiled.   When she and the other Bearers sacrificed themselves and the Element sealed Nightmare Star into Sagittarius A, she and the others cast one final spell: she called to the spirits of the dead – ponies, humans, Awoken, griffins, all who had died at the Taken Queen’s hooves – and animated them into new forms.  Forms that could work to undo the damage caused by Celestia and to work towards a future.”

Safford understood instantly.  “The Ghosts,” he said.

Twilight nodded.  “All of them had orders to find souls of sterling caliber and to bring them back to ready for a new war that would come someday.  Twilight knew that someday that meant the trail would lead back to Earth’s Bearers, and eventually, towards the most important soul of all...

“…yours, Sunset.”

Sunset looked around, looking at Safford and then the electronic spirit of Twilight Sparkle.  “But why me?  I was never worthy.  Why not Twilight?  Or my friends?  Hell, even Trixie deserved this more than I!”  She sat on the ground, looking forlorn.  “I am not a hero.  I am just a girl who lost everything.”

“But you’re wrong,” Twilight told her.  “You were always my hero, Sunset.”  The redhead looked up to see the alicorn smile, tears in her eyes.  “You moved past your corruption and defeated the Sirens, Midnight Sparkle, Gaia Everfree, and countless others.  You found love and happiness that was more important to you than the crown you once wanted.  Being yourself was more important than anything.”  She turned away.  “When I lost Blueblood … I turned purely towards the war.  We loved each other and I ruined it because I couldn’t balance what you could.  So yes, you are a hero to me … to her.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything, other than that you’ll save this world.  It’s all we have left, and the peoples of the worlds deserve to be free of the hell that is the Taken Queen and her followers.”  Twilight reached over and embraced her friend.  “Be the hero your mother would have wanted you to be, even after all this.”

The two were silent for the longest time, holding one another as old friends did.  Safford said nothing, noting the two goddesses and family members needed to work things out through their own way.  They were deities, after all, and it was not his place to say anything.

Finally, Twilight looked up at Sunset and said, “You have found the first of the temples, Sunset.  In each of them is a weapon, especially crafted for you and the other Bearers of Earth, and only you seven.  But they are more than just weapons: they are keys to bringing about the defeat of the Taken Queen.

“But you must find them and find them soon, my friend.  The Taken Queen will know that you awake once more and she will turn her attentions to us, either to turn you or destroy you.  There is nothing left of Celestia and her corpse is nothing more than the Nightmare Force’s plaything.  Nightmare Star is not your mother, Sunset.  You must keep that in mind.”

Sunset shook her head.  “I disagree.  Maybe I am wrong, but I have to have hope, Twilight.  I have to know that my mother is in there somewhere.  Just like I knew that there was my Twilight in Midnight Sparkle, like you knew that I was trapped in the She-Demon and that Mom knew Aunt Luna was trapped in Nightmare Moon.  She’s a prisoner and a victim, Twilight, just like so many of us.  I have to save her.”

Twilight was impassive for the longest time.  Then she finally nodded and said, “It is time for your First Key – the Weapon of Magic, the item that will aid you in times of need.”  She began to walk away and said, “Come with me.”

Sunset looked at Safford, who bowed.  “This is a matter of divinity, your highness,” he said in a formal tone that conveyed the gravity of the situation.  “I cannot aid you in this matter.  It is too weighty for mortals such as I.”  Sunset chose not to point out the Ghost-enabled immortality Safford had and instead silently followed Twilight until they reached a wall.

“In there is your test,” Twilight told her.  “I cannot follow and I cannot help you.  You must do this alone.”

Sunset looked at her friend, then at her outfit, and shrugged.  “Here goes nothing,” she said to herself as she walked through the wall.

~*~

“Mommy?”

Sunset looked at her precious little daughter as they sat on the balcony of their palace, overlooking Luna Bay, in Equestria.  She and Flash had moved here after graduating from university and deciding that a life in Equestria was better than that on Earth.  Here, he commanded her Eclipse Guard and had made friends with both his counterpart and Shining Armor.  As for her, she was busy overseeing her newest project: with this part of Equestria nearly abandoned, she’d convinced many of the homeless of the human world to give up their lives there and to live here in paradise.  Very few had turned her down, and as Princess of Humanity, she took her job seriously.

“Mommy?” she heard the voice call again.

Sunset ruffled the cobalt and ruby curls of her daughter, Solar Eclipse.  She had her father’s eyes but had inherited her mother’s human looks, and was enjoying being one of the very few human girls in this world, at least for right now.

“Mommy, cousin Skyla wants to know if I can go to the Empire and play with her.”  Sunset thought about that; Shining and Cadance’s younger daughter had been born the same time as Solar and the two were fast friends, much to the chagrin of Flurry Heart, who often had to play babysitter.

“That’s okay, dear.  Were you going to spend the night?”  When Solar nodded, Sunset laughed.  “Only if it’s okay with your aunt and uncle.  Cadance is a busy mare, you know.”

What?

Sunset watched as her daughter ran past her husband, pausing only to hug his leg briefly.  Prince Flash Sentry, Prince Consort of Humanity, ruffled his daughter’s hair and let her go on her way.

Sunset looked at her husband, who filled in the human-style military uniform quite well.  Unlike the other Guards of the EUP, the Human Guard was entirely composed of humans dressed in human military uniforms and using human military weapons.  Due to the vastly different tactics humans used, they had become the defacto special forces of the EUP, much to the vexation of the other EUP divisions.

Sunset went over and kissed her husband.  “I want another child,” she announced.

No….  This never happened.  As much as I wanted it to, it never happened!

“What brought that on?” he asked her.

“Oh, Twilight and Blueblood just announced they’re having a boy, and Mom said she would love to have a grandson, given that you, Shining and Blue are the only stallions around the palace.”  She giggled.  “I think I could definitely arrange to have a boy this time around, if I plan it.”

Flash smiled and put an arm around her.  “Your wish is my command, my love.”

“Well, Solar is going over to the Empire, so we’ll have the night all to ourselves,” Sunset said softly.  “That should give us enough time to get the ball rolling.”

No!  This never happened!  I wanted it to!  I wanted Flash and I to be together!  But it never happened!

“I love you, Sunny Buns,” he said, using his old nickname for her.

“And I you, my heart’s desire,” she said, caressing his face.  In turn, they began to kiss, pausing just long enough for Flash to walk over and close and lock the door.  A few minutes later and clothing started to be shed and two bodies entwined on the bed.  And as Sunset moaned in ecstasy….

NO!!!!!!!!


Sunset stood in a black, empty room, looking at the other nude Sunset.  “You loved him,” the reflection told her.

“What you just did … is what I wanted.  I wanted his children.  I wanted a future with him,” Sunset sobbed, wiping tears from her eyes.  “I loved him more than I could say.  He was more than just my boyfriend – he was my best friend as well, and I would have been with him for life.”

“He loved you as well, more than he could ever say,” the reflection replied.  “What you saw?  It is a future.  Not the future, obviously.  But a future, from the Infinite Forest.”

“The what?”

“It will make sense someday,” the reflection replied.  “But for now, know this: so long as you don’t forget him?  He will always love you.  Celestia can never take that away, no matter how corrupted she’s become or how twisted her mindset is.  As long as you live, Flash will forever love you.  That … is Magic,” the doppelganger said as she vanished into violet particles, leaving behind a hexagonal box.  “And you are its Bearer.”

Sunset looked at the hexagonal metal box, an amber-colored box that was engraved with a cloisonné version of her cutie mark.  She stepped up to the box and it opened, light flared from it.

She reached in and as she did, she heard an ancient voice say, There is one more thing.

She pulled forth a weapon whose power she could feel instantly.  A weapon from another time and space, a weapon that didn’t seem like anything before.  She’d seen its like before; the firearm looked like Hard Light, the Omolon-built autorifle that built highly-reactive bullets.  Her aunt Luna had one, apparently the prototype.  

But this ... this had a selector on the side and as she triggered the selector, the weapon changed polarities.  And unlike Luna’s Hard Light, this didn’t fire instantly-printed bullets, but actual lasers, each of a different element.  And where the Omolon logo would have been was a small violet gem in the shape of her cutie mark.

She immediately holstered the weapon and went back to reality.  She had a war to fight and her mother to save – and she wasn’t going to do anything like that by standing there. 

~*~

Sunset emerged from the nowhere, carrying her new Hard Light, much to the surprise of both Dawn and Safford.  “Is that a Hard Light?” Safford asked.

“No – it is beyond that,” Twilight answered with a smile.  “And speaking of beyond, it’s time for me to go.”  

Hearing that, Sunset reacted as if she’d been shot.  Dropping to her knees, she fiercely hugged her friend.  “No!  I need you still, Twilight!  I need you to guide me, to be my friend and to show me what I need to do!”

But the hologram shook her head.  “I can’t.  I am only a fragment of the real Twilight and she still waits out there for you, Sunset.  You might not need me anymore, but she needs you.  They all do, and you’ve taken the first step to be with them, Sunset.”

“But you—”

“Are just a semi-autonomous AI who, in the end really isn’t as complex as your Ghosts are.  But for what it’s worth?”  Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes.  “I – meaning me – am going to miss you.  When you come back, I won’t be Twilight anymore.  That subroutine is designed to delete and be replaced with a vastly different backup.”

“So you’re going to die?”

Twilight sadly shook her head.  “No, I don’t think so.  I’ll just be … different.  And besides, she will need you.  She still does.  So go and find her and when you do?  Tell her that I deserve my own life, too when this is all over.” 

~*~

As Sunset and the others walked out of the main acropolis that was her new getaway from home.  “Dawn, let the other Ghosts know that we’ll be leaving soon,” she advised her little partner.  “We’ll have to file a report on this place as well and let the Speaker know it exists and why it does.”

⟪Roger dodger!⟫ Dawn replied as she jetted off to find the others.

“Well, that was melancholy,” Safford said softly.

“I hope you realize that wasn’t your liege,” Sunset cautioned.

“I know.  I would know my Princess anywhere, no offense meant, Sunset.  But I knew that was only a fragment of the true alicorn that she is, not the reality of it.”  He sighed.  “Still, I wish she would not hurt, and I am glad that she will be able to be her own AI now.”

Sunset nodded.  “Agreed, though ‘Failsafe’ is a kind of weird name for an AI, but then again, Twilight came up with it, so….”  She shrugged.  “But now the hard part begins.”

The titan nodded.  “I still have no idea where Princess Twilight or the other Holies are, though I hope that we will be able to find them and put a stop to this evil.”

“We will,” Sunset said with an assured smile.  “We will.”  

The two approached the place where Arv and Lily were sitting and somehow, neither was surprised to see the two making out.  “Can’t keep it in her pants, I swear,” Safford muttered.

“Well, didn’t you say that you slept with her once?”

The stallion rolled his eyes.  “Don’t remind me,” he groaned, facehoofing.

It took a few minutes for the tonsil-hockey pair to realize they had people amongst them.  Somewhat embarrassed, Arv said, “She … uh, had something in her eye.”

“I wasn’t aware your tongue was that long, Arv,” Safford joked.

“Well, he was just keeping me busy while I was waiting for the main event,” Lily commented with a grin.  “And so now that I’m warmed up, time for me and you to adjourn ourselves to a bedroom.”  She looked at Arv.  “Care to join us?”

“Naah, I have other things to do.  Maybe next time?”

“Count on it.”

Sunset looked at the face before her.  She looked different and yet there was something so familiar.  “Rarity?” she voiced.

Lily grinned and purred, “Oh, I’m quite the rarity.  Five minutes in bed with me and I’ll show you just how special I can be.”

Sunset walked up to her, recognition dawning on her face.   “No.  Your name is Riley Bell, but you never really liked that, so your friends all called you Rarity!  Because you’ve always been a gem!”

Lily looked at Sunset oddly.  “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sunset – it is Sunset, right?  I can see you’re upset about something, but I’m not this Riley person you’re talking about.”

“Yes, it’s you.”  Sunset reached out and grabbed her hand, to Lily’s surprise.  Summoning magic into her own hand, Sunset began to read the warlock’s palm.  “You don’t remember who I am – or who you are!”  She turned to Safford.  “Why can’t she?”

“Not my place to say, Sunset,” he said gruffly.

Meanwhile, Lily snatched her hand back.  “Okay, this shit is too weird for me.  Congrats, you are now the first girl I’m turning down, mainly because I don’t sleep with crazy.  Thank you for saving my ass, but I don’t think I want anything to do with you after all.”  She turned to Safford.  “You did warn me, so yeah, I deserve that.”  At that point, her Ghost showed up.  “Okay, time for me to go.  Spanglemaker, this is Diamante.  Standing by for transmat.”

But Sunset wasn’t done yet.  Summoning a ball of magic into her hand, she reached out with it to touch Lily’s forehead.  “I need you to remember, Rares.  Please.”

The moment the sphere of energy entered Lily’s forehead, she screamed.