With the gulf between Sunset Shimmer and Princess Celestia growing wider by the day, Raven makes a desperate bid to connect with the young prodigy before things spiral even further.
With the gulf between Sunset Shimmer and Princess Celestia growing wider by the day, Raven makes a desperate bid to connect with the young prodigy before things spiral even further.
Knowledge of the previous stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline is encouraged, but not required.
Beta Reader & Editor Credits Cursori: Reader of Many a Pony Word Beltorn: Commenter-at-Large on FimFiction Carabas: Author I Totally Didn't Fangirl Over
It had been one week since Hearts and Hooves Day and Raven could still see the signs in Princess Celestia.
“Thank you,” the Princess said from her throne as she smiled down at the formerly-bickering delegates from Fillydelphia and Baltimare. “I’m delighted that the two of you could come to an understanding.”
Raven added three addendums to the minutes of what would become a new trade agreement between the two cities. While the Office of Inter-City Affairs would create the initial draft for the official document, High Strung preferred copious notes. Raven knew it was in Equestria’s best interests—and her best interests—if High Strung remained as happy as possible.
As the delegates bowed and left the throne room, Raven pondered what she could do to improve Celestia’s mood, if only for a little while.
The doors closed, leaving the two of them alone, save for a small squad of armored Sun House Guards. Raven ignored them. Her attention remained on her Princess.
To most of the ponies in Equestria—indeed, most creatures in the world—Celestia appeared as she always had. Her regal white coat was immaculate. Her golden regalia, from crown to horseshoes, remained resplendent as always. Her multicolored mane flowed in the eternal solar winds only Celestia could sense. She was tall, strong and powerful.
To the untrained eye, she appeared every inch the perfect pony princess.
She almost always did.
Almost.
“Is everything prepared?” Celestia asked, her eyes staring at the ornate double doors without seeing them.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Raven replied. With a flash of her magic, she teleported the meeting minutes to OICA, as well as another copy to the Royal Treasury Department. A second later, those notes had been replaced by Celestia’s itinerary. “Your chariot is waiting on the eastern landing platform. I’ve arranged for a full military escort the entire way.”
“You’re being overprotective again, Raven,” Celestia chided. On the surface, she used the familiar teasing tone Celestia Raven knew so well. But she had worked with the Princess of the Sun for too long to be fooled by such veneers. “You know very well what happened the first time I encountered Dragon Lord Torch.”
“That depends on whose account you’re reading. Most Equestrian histories record it as being an entirely peaceful affair.” Raven gave a ghost of a smile while Celestia continued to stare at nothing. “The dragon records report that you were locked in savage combat for seven days and six nights. Only after one week did the Dragon Lord deign to acknowledge you equal to his might and offered a truce to recognize your skill in granting him such a glorious contest.”
Raven rolled her eyes. Dragons could be so overdramatic.
“I must speak to him about that.” Celestia hummed. She still didn’t look up. “After all, I distinctly remember bucking him into an active volcano.”
“That is of little consequence to a dragon of his stature.” Raven pointed out, forcing some semblance of mirth into her voice. “I doubt that would have given him much pause.”
“It didn’t,” Celestia replied. “But afterward, he laughed so hard, I didn’t mind. Especially after he tried to drown me in molten lava. Apparently, it hadn’t occurred to him that, as the Princess of the Sun, I have a unique relationship with fire.”
For a few brief moments, the hint of a smile crossed over Celestia’s elegant features. Then, it collapsed behind the mask thickening for the last three months.
“At least you coaxed Philomena into joining you,” Raven offered. “That in and of itself—”
Celestia sighed quietly and got to her hooves. The Sun House Guards in the room stood a little straighter. Raven frowned as Celestia stepped from her dais and walked around to her aide’s side. “Walk with me to my chariot, Raven.”
The small smile she wore remained as false as the civility the two delegates had shown to one another upon entering the Audience Chamber. Only Celestia’s own training prevented Raven from frowning at it.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Raven dismissed her clipboard, gesturing for Celestia to take the lead.
Celestia slipped through one of the side doors, Raven at her side. Almost a full minute passed of quiet hallways and dim passages before Celestia stopped and studied a wall sconce.
Raven found herself unable to remain silent.
“Princess, you saw her yesterday—”
“Yes, I did.” Celestia studied a nearby wall sconce. Her horn flared and she straightened it by half a degree in a burst of golden magic. “She… said she had a good time.”
“I’ve spoken to Surprise several times, Your Majesty. She is a good pony. Probably one of the best Wonderbolts we’ve had in fifty years, save for perhaps Spitfire.”
“No mention of Wind Rider, Raven?” Celestia commented idly. “If memory serves, you had a bit of an interest there.”
Raven blushed faintly, but when she really listened to the voice behind those teasing words, the blush faded instantly. The warmth in her voice, the gentle prodding and cajoling that so often accompanied Celestia’s words when she spoke with those closest to her… All of it was gone.
Raven sighed softly. “Princess…”
Celestia took a few more steps beyond her aide and then came to a halt. She didn’t turn around. Instead, in the silence of the narrow servant’s corridor, Celestia’s head bowed as if the weight of the entire world rested upon her shoulders.
The worst part was… it did.
“Ever since that night, Raven…” Celestia whispered. The magic in her hair seemed to fade, leaving it limp and far more pink than usual. “We watched them play in the snow. We watched them enjoy themselves out on the ice. I remember her looking up to the balcony. What I saw there…”
For the briefest of moments, Raven found herself concerned. Yes, she was Princess Celestia’s confidant and friend, but she was also her aide. And it wouldn’t do for a servant or messenger to come bustling through to see the Princess of the Sun near tears. In the worst-case scenario, the rumors alone could shake the very foundations of Equestria.
Raven decided she didn’t care.
Instead, she stepped beside the large alicorn and rested a hoof on the shoulder of her friend. It wasn’t a gesture one could do to a monarch. It was too familiar. But this wasn’t a time for formalities.
If Celestia was right—and Raven had no reason to doubt her Princess—then this was a time for friendship, more than any other.
“Every day that passes, my fear grows,” Celestia whispered. “In my desperation to prepare Sunset Shimmer for her future, I have sacrificed her present.”
“Princess,” Raven said softly, conjuring a bubble of silence around the two ponies. Just in case. “We spoke of this six weeks ago. Doubt or no, you have to see this through. Your experience—”
“My experience means little in the present situation.” Celestia’s voice cracked only a fraction before she regained control. She’d practiced too long to allow herself the comforts of mortal ponies, such as crying. “I have planned for the coming day for centuries, Raven. And now… she tears herself apart before me, wracked by guilt, because of a few words spoken out of fear.”
Raven hesitated. “Have you considered… intervening?”
“It would shatter their unity.” Celestia shook her head, her faded multicolored mane twisting this way and that. “If I step forward, it will unbalance all three—and likely the rest as well. They won’t be ready. Sunset’s friends may yet pull her back.”
“She’s distancing herself from them, Your Majesty.”
“I know.”
“They won’t be able to reach her if she doesn’t let them.”
Celestia finally met Raven’s eyes. There was a hint of amusement in her gaze, a tiny ember of the fire that burned within her Princess.
“Somepony’s gotten bold, Raven.”
“I learned from the best.”
“I daresay you did.”
“So, what do you intend to do?”
Celestia took a deep breath and seemed to shake away some of her melancholy. She stood a little straighter, her mane once more gained its usual color and luster.
“You’ve asked me that several times since Twilight Sparkle came back into Sunset Shimmer’s life, Raven. Yet my answer remains the same. I must trust her. I know Sunset’s heart and it is a good one.”
“I know, Your Majesty,” Raven replied. “But good hearts can become corrupted if isolated.”
Celestia physically winced at that and Raven blanched as she realized her error.
Her heart hammering in her chest, Raven quickly said, “Your Majesty, I—”
“Said nothing that wasn’t true,” Celestia said with a sigh, her eyes tight and closed, almost like a filly hiding from the monster under the bed. “She is tearing herself apart before us and all know it. Her friends, us… even herself. I fear… She walks a familiar path. I can’t lose her. I won’t. Not like I lost—” She hesitated again. “And still, I don’t know how to save her from that snake that lurks in her mind.”
“Perhaps somepony else should try.”
Celestia chuckled morosely. “She has many friends, Raven. All have tried. All have failed.”
“I haven’t,” Raven replied quietly.
Celestia paused for a moment, staring again at the wall sconce.
“You know your chances of success are low.”
“There is no true success in these matters, there is only the road leading to it,” Raven replied. “You taught me that, a long time ago.”
“So I did,” Celestia smiled wanly. “Where would I be without you, Raven?”
“Likely on time to your chariot,” Raven said in what she considered to be a rather sad attempt at humor.
Celestia shook her head, then looked closer at the sconce. With a flare of her magic, she adjusted it back to the slightly crooked angle, though it did little to adjust the light in the room.
“Princess?”
“A reminder to myself,” Celestia mused, almost as if speaking to herself. “A reminder that a thing does not need to be perfect to do its job. Or to be beautiful.”
The Princess of the Sun licked her lips and once again strode down the corridor. “Come Raven. I must be on my way. Otherwise the flight crew will become cranky. We do not want that.”
Raven hurried after her. “As if they’d ever say anything. You’re the Princess.”
“Speaking of which,” she said as she marched through the door and onto the landing platform. “Do you know where I put the documentation regarding the Regent proposal? I wanted to make several revisions to the length of time I had to be incapacitated before the bylaws took effect.”
Raven flushed and almost stumbled as the flight crew and the Fourth Pegasi Squadron saluted the Princess.
“I couldn’t say,” Raven said, lying through her teeth.
“Oh well, I’ll have to find it when I get back,” Celestia replied in an all-too-casual voice. “Hopefully nothing comes up while I’m gone.”
Raven ground her teeth together. She knew all too well about that cursed document. Because there was only one name listed on it for potential candidates.
Hers.
Celestia finally turned back around and smiled down at Raven, but once again, Raven saw the mask.
“Try to help her,” she whispered. “Please.”
Raven couldn’t overtly comfort the princess here, but after so many years together, she knew more subtle ways. With a simple spell, she pressed down on Celestia’s shoulders in what she knew would feel like a hug. Celestia smiled in thanks, her eyes shining in the sunlight.
“I shall do everything I can, Princess,” Raven said. “You have my word.”
“I know you will,” Celestia replied. “You always do.”
Then, the Monarch of Equestria boarded her chariot and departed with a single wave to Raven.
Raven stood on the landing platform long after Princess Celestia, the chariot and the escort had disappeared into the distance. Her eyes wandered over the city of Canterlot, noting the spires, towers and buildings of ivory and gold.
Then, she looked out over the Everfree Forest in the distance. She shivered and turned away, heading back into the Castle.
“You sure you want to keep doing this?” Lieutenant Sunny Day taunted her opponent in Magic Ring Seven. “Surprise might kick my tail if I give you a bruise in the wrong spot.”
“Don’t worry about her,” growled the unicorn in lightweight amber-tinted spellarmor on the other side of the ring. “Worry about me, Day.”
“Suit yourself,” Day replied with a shrug. “If you really want to go best out of twenty, I’m not going to stop you. I’m having fun!”
With that, Day unleashed a blazing wave of fire across the ring.
Raven winced from her spot in the shadows beneath the spectator stands as Sunset Shimmer barely dodged the blast by rolling across the sand. But Day wasn’t about to give Sunset a chance to regroup. In an instant, the wave became a massive rainstorm of fire. Every bolt that cracked into the floor turned the sand to glass. Sunset dodged and weaved, but even she wasn’t fast enough. She yelped when one of the bolts slammed into the back of her armor. The impact almost drove her to the ground.
As Sunset finally escaped the rain of fire, Raven studied the armor. She remembered it all too well. Princess Celestia—and the Captain of the Guard at the time—had insisted Raven learn basic combat magic, as her position made her a prime target. She’d been promised that the armor had been breezy and light, hardly worth noticing. Despite the claims by the Guard Research Division, it had felt like wearing a leaden coat. The helmet--little more than a knockoff of a fencing helmet with a hole for a horn--had been so stifling she’d barely been able to breathe.
Sunset used a concussive shockwave to send the sand spiraling into a wall between them, but Day just laughed and blasted a narrow lance of fire through the dust.
“Sunset, you’re usually more fun than this! Come on! Where’s the banter?”
“Right here!” Sunset used Day’s beam to get a bead on the other unicorn, then sent a thick bolt of teal force straight through swirling sand.
Raven couldn’t see Day behind the dust wall, but she did hear her yelp.
Sadly, she also heard Sunset’s yelp when a lance of fire swept across Sunset’s chest.
Yes, the spellarmor definitely protected against spells, but Raven winced when Sunset took a second shot to the chest. Still, it was training armor, so its primary purpose was to protect the user while providing a live combat-style experience. Hence, some genius had enchanted it to make the wearer feel any spell that made direct contact.
Meaning when somepony in armor got hit with a firebolt, the impact felt like a punch from a very angry minotaur.
“Enough!” Sunset bellowed as she rolled through the barrage of fire, dropping her dust shroud. She fired six shots—three comets of fire and three shards of ice—and charged straight for Day. Seconds after her spells hit, Sunset herself struck. The attack was so unexpected, Day couldn’t respond in time. Raven gasped as Sunset’s hooves smashed her opponent in the chest and sent the other unicorn stumbling backward into the sand of the ring.
“Magical contact only, Shimmer!” barked the drill instructor. “Last warning! Do it again and I’ll ban you from the ring for a week!”
Sunset muttered something Raven couldn’t make out.
“What was that?” demanded the instructor.
“Yes, sir!” Sunset shouted back, though Raven could hear something dark in Sunset’s voice.
“Hey, Sunshine, look… we don’t have to do this…” Day’s posture became placating, almost pleading as she got back up to her hooves. “We can call it even! Even try a tiebreaker round after hours! Eh? Eh?”
Raven blinked a few times. In her experience, the battlemage of the Sun House Guard was not one to try and call off a fight. In fact, she was the exact opposite. How long had they been sparring?
Then again, the barely-concealed innuendo was exactly what she had expected from Sunny Day.
“Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy! This is happening!” Sunset bellowed back as she planted her hooves in the sand. “Let’s just…”
“Sunset?”
Sunset paused as if gasping for breath, then reset her stance. “Just don’t you dare pull your punches.”
“You’re sure, Sunset?”
Sunset snarled and a staff of teal flame flashed into existence beside her. “Yes!”
Raven gaped. When had Sunset learned how to conjure magical weapons?
“Hold up...” Day sounded worried. She even took a few steps back. “Sunset… this isn’t a good idea. This isn’t like you.”
Raven had worked with Sunny Day numerous times before. The happy-go-lucky mare was one of the best and brightest in Celestia’s Sun House Guard. A bit of what was once called a ‘prancer,’ but still, a good pony. More than that, she loved her work as a member of the Royal Guard. She lived to protect others.
But the tone in Day’s voice told Raven one critical thing: she was worried she might not be able to protect Sunset.
“Come on, Day! Stop holding back!” Sunset shouted. It was almost a shriek.
“Dammit, Sunset…” the mare muttered, her voice barely loud enough to be heard outside the ring’s magical shields. “Have it your way.”
At those words, Sunset launched her assault. With another bellow, she charged Day again, this time with her staff clutched in her magic grip. She spun the staff up and swung down hard as if going straight for Day’s head. There was a splash of light as Day blocked it with a conjured pike of golden fire.
Raven blinked. At her last report with Commander Orchard, Lieutenant Day had only been capable of fire-based blasts and lances. Apparently, something had changed.
The two mares grunted as their magics strained against one another. Then, there was a flash as both went for concussive blasts to their opponent’s right sides. The resulting explosion sent them spinning through the air in opposite directions.
Day landed with the grace of a dancer, spinning her pike in her magic before taking a defensive stance. She barely looked winded.
Sunset tumbled and rolled, sand flying everywhere, her helmet coming loose, her mane flying around her as she jumped back to her hooves. She didn’t bother with a stance at all.
“Let’s see if you deserve your title, battlemage!” Sunset screamed as she chucked the flaming staff at Day and charged forward once more.
Day snapped her pike up to deflect the staff, then met Sunset’s charge, the two mares colliding in a reverberating blast of shield magic. The two clashed in the magical equivalent of a drunken barroom brawl, the spells flying almost too fast for Raven to follow.
Day’s fiery shockwave crashed into Sunset, but Sunset conjured a shield of ice that melted to slush in an eyeblink. Sunset’s staff swung back and tried to sweep Day’s legs, but Day caught it in time with the butt of her pike and tossed it over her head. That gave Sunset an opening. Celestia’s prized student unleashed a battery of golden crystal shards at the battlemage. Day staggered, but threw up a shield of fire, causing each crystal to explode on contact. Day tried for a stunning blow against Sunset with her pike, but Sunset conjured a second weapon—this one a blade of midnight-blue ice—and deflected the blow. Sunset laughed as she brought the blade around and slammed it down toward Day. The blade shattered against Day’s shield, but so did the shield itself.
The explosion pushed them apart, before, for the third time, Sunset’s staff flew back to her. She screamed as the teal fire reignited to a pure shimmering golden flame that could only be one thing.
Sunfire.
“Oh, Sunset, no,” Raven whispered as she took a step forward, her blood turning to ice as she gaped.
“Try blocking this!” Sunset roared as she swung her sunfire staff hard, aiming for Day’s left side.
She didn’t seem to notice that Day had done the precise same thing with her pike. The other mare didn’t bother with any quips or comments. She just reacted as any member of the Sun House Guard would. Her new sunfire pike snapped into a textbook shield maneuver. She blocked the blow easily.
Staff met pike and a miniature sun went nova between the two.
The resulting explosion shattered the ring’s magical shields and blasted Raven—and everypony else in the vicinity—off their hooves in a wave of smoke and ash.
Raven hit the ground hard, but she’d taken worse in her time. Despite the ringing in her ears, she scrambled to her hooves. Coughing and ignoring a few little scrapes, she rushed forward, blasting away the leftover smoke with a quick wind spell.
Raven reached the ring before anypony else. The sight that waited for her made her heart lurch. In the center of the ring lay a massive scorch mark, as if somepony had loosed a fireball directly into the ground.
Sunny Day lay on the far side, her helmet gone, scorch marks along the sides and flank of her spellarmor. The golden unicorn coughed up a few wisps of smoke and glanced around blearily with bright green eyes. The blast had singed her autumn-colored mane in a few places. Before Raven could say anything, a medic rushed to Day’s side.
Raven’s eyes desperately scanned the ring… only to finally see Sunset Shimmer lying just a few feet away.
Sunset’s helmet had shattered into little more than scrap under the force of the tiny nova. Half of her spellarmor had cracked, revealing too much of her singed amber coat. What hadn’t cracked had been burned so badly it was peeling. Her whole body was limp, but her chest still rose and fell. Raven breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Raven fell to her knees and pulled Sunset into her hooves. The motion woke the young unicorn mare with a start. Sunset pushed her fiery red and orange hair out of her face and looked up at Raven with angry teal eyes.
“Where is she?! Where’s that damn… Wait… Raven?” Sunset coughed a few times, blinking away tears. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and she had thick bags under her eyes. “W-what are you doing here?”
“I came to watch you,” Raven said soothingly as she focused and wrapped Sunset in red streams of magic. This kind of magic didn’t come naturally to Raven, but hopefully, the numbing spell relieved some of Sunset’s pain. “The Princess asked me to look in on you.”
“Picked a really bad time,” Sunset muttered as another medic scrambled over. The entire arena milled about, looking confused and lost as if the explosion had muddled their senses. “I was busy.”
Raven pulled her hooves back so the medic could do her work, but she didn’t let go of the younger mare. The medic—a lanky earth pony stallion with a brown coat and a rust-colored mane—looked like he might object. Then, he took one look into Raven’s face and decided against gainsaying her.
“How is she?” Raven said, shoving her calm and collected demeanor over the panic raging within. It took far more effort than she expected.
“I’m fine,” Sunset muttered as she tried to sit up.
Raven snapped her magic around the mare and held her in place before the medic could even say a word. He nodded in thanks and he did his work as Sunset huffed.
“Let me go! She didn’t tap out!” Sunset cried. “The fight is still on!”
“This fight is over, Sunset,” Raven said.
“She’ll need to get checked over by magi-medical,” the medic said with a sigh. “But it looks like a cracked rib and a bruised hip. Some burns along the chest. She might have a minor concussion.”
“Woo. Another head trauma,” Sunset muttered as she waved her hooves in the air. “If I get one more, do I automatically get a Guard rank? Seems a requirement.”
The medic shot Sunset a dirty look.
“Somehow, I don’t think the Guard is going to want the pleasure of your company for a time,” Raven said as she caught sight of a rather imposing looking gray unicorn in full armor striding through the remains of the ring.
“Huh?” Sunset blinked a few more times and squinted into the haze. “What are you talking about?”
The medic glanced up, reminded them to check in with magi-medical and then fled before the newcomer could arrive.
The armored mare was easily at least half a head taller than Raven, with a short-cropped pink mane, a rather sizable scar along her left cheek and the expression of a very displeased officer.
“Hello, Commander Lightning Force,” Raven said in her most diplomatic voice.
“Raven,” Commander Force said with a nod. “Did you happen to see the end of Miss Shimmer’s latest bout?”
“I did, Commander,” Raven glanced down at Sunset.
“I could have taken her,” Sunset muttered, staring at nothing. “She didn’t tap out yet! I can still do it!”
Force ignored her and shook her head.. “Then you know the rules using unique powers—especially one like sunfire—in my rings.”
“I can pay for damages!” Sunset growled, glaring up at the commander. “Just let me at her again! I’ve wanted to pound that prancing unicorn pansy into the dirt for years! Always so damn perfect. Always so damn… popular.”
“I doubt Sunny Day would describe herself in either of those terms, Sunset,” Raven chided quietly.
Force continued to ignore Sunset’s tirade. “If you were anypony else, I’d ban you for a year. However, Lieutenant Day seems to have a soft spot for you. She requested I grant you leniency.”
“I don’t need any favors from her!” Sunset roared, but immediately winced and held her side. The numbing spell hadn’t been as effective as Raven had hoped, apparently, but that didn’t stop Sunset from making sure her voice was heard. “I don’t!”
Force considered Sunset for several long moments, then met Raven’s gaze. While Sunset couldn’t see it right now, Raven knew what was going on behind the commander’s dispassionate eyes. She also knew the real reason for Force’s leniency.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff—which included the Royal Guard and Commander Force—had been briefed as to why Princess Celestia had placed Sunset in a unique training regimen with the Guard.
More or less. Emphasis on the less.
The story was a fabrication of course, but a probable one. During the meeting, Celestia had announced that Sunset was being groomed to become the head of a new magical rapid-response team that would operate both in and outside of Equestria. Their mandate would be to contain and—if necessary—suppress any high-level magical threat beyond the normal scope of the Guard or any other branch of the Equestrian military.
Due to Sunset’s special role in this, she required knowledge of military special operations methodologies in addition to extensive combat training. During the initial briefing, the Joint Chiefs had been ecstatic to get a unicorn of Sunset’s power and skill, not to mention somepony trained by Celestia herself.
Raven sighed as she looked from Force to Sunset, who pouted in Raven’s lap, glaring daggers at Lieutenant Day across the ring, already out of her spellarmor and being tended to.
For years, Sunset had enjoyed the challenge of her unique course of study with the Guard, pitting herself against far stronger earth ponies, far more nimble pegasi and multiple high-level unicorns at once.
And then, nearly half a year ago, things had changed. And from the expression on Force’s face, Princess Celestia and Raven hadn’t been the only ones to notice.
“I’m not giving you a break because of Day. I’m doing it because you’re a useful asset.” Commander Force replied icily. “You know your position within the Guard, Shimmer. You still take orders from the brass, including me.”
Sunset glowered at her hooves.
“A week’s suspension from the ring or any Guard-related magical training. Two weeks of physical training starting tomorrow at dawn at the Galeforce Training Center, Field B. Get yourself checked out by magi-medical before you leave. They may delay your PT, but not deny it. You’re dismissed for the day.”
With that, Force gave Raven one more nod and marched off.
“I hate that bossy old goat,” Sunset muttered under her breath, though Raven couldn’t help but notice that she did so after Force was out of earshot. “I could have taken Day!”
“Sunset,” Raven said quietly as Sunset pulled herself away and forced herself into a sitting position, wincing again. “You lost control. That hasn’t happened in a long time.”
“I made things more interesting,” Sunset insisted.
“You struck with sunfire. Spellarmor could never withstand that. Sunset, you could have killed her. And yourself.” Raven tried to keep her voice even. “Why?”
Sunset swallowed, not meeting Raven’s eyes, but not looking at Lieutenant Day either.
“If you’re here, help me to magi-medical,” Sunset muttered. “Maybe another numbing spell will be enough to get me there.”
Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. But, she did as Sunset asked and wrapped the mare with a numbing spell once more. It gave Sunset enough control to get to her hooves.
Without saying another word, the young mare started limping toward a medical tent the Guard had set up nearby. Raven glanced back to Lieutenant Day, only to find the young unicorn guard staring straight at her.
Day looked to be in far better condition than Sunset. She was already on her hooves, talking quietly with a few other members of the Sun House Guard. Day gave Raven a little nod of respect, which Raven returned. Then, Day’s eyes slid to the retreating form of Sunset Shimmer. Her lips formed a thin line.
In her time as an aide for Princess Celestia, Raven had learned to read others very well—pony or otherwise. What she saw in Sunny Day’s expression told her everything Raven needed to know.
Day wasn’t worried about Sunset. She was terrified for her. Day had noticed Sunset’s slow slide in recent months too. Unsurprising, as the Sun House Guard battlemage was the only unicorn who could actually match Sunset blow-for-blow. Day’s face twisted into a mask of pain, then she pointedly looked at Raven.
Day’s expression made it very clear what she wanted Raven to do. It just so happened that was what Raven had intended on doing.
She gave Lieutenant Day a single nod. The mare returned it. Then, Raven turned and trotted to catch up with Sunset.
“I’m fine, Raven!” Sunset snapped as she shoved open her front door hard enough to make it crash against the entry wall. “I’m just pissed I didn’t get another shot at her.”
“Your last ‘shot’ destroyed an entire practice ring,” Raven pointed out behind her, levitating a few bags in her magic. “It shattered the magical defense field that can normally withstand the focused arcane beams of five Sorcerer-level unicorns.”
Sunset groaned, rubbed her face with a hoof, then trotted up the stairs. Her tail flicked in annoyance. “It’s done! It’s over! I’ve got my punishment! I get to run laps for Harmony-knows how many hours every day for the next two weeks! Why don’t you leave me alone? In fact…”
She paused on the stairs. Without looking back, she yanked the bags out of Raven’s magic and floated them over to her. “Thanks for the help, but I’m fine. Have a nice day.”
Raven tried to contain the sigh, but couldn’t quite manage it. Still, she closed the door behind her and followed Sunset up the stairs.
The sight alone was enough to give Raven pause. For the normally fastidious Sunset Shimmer, the place was a disaster. Piles of books in enormous heaps on most of the couches and sofas, the arcane forge hissing away on what Raven hoped was a self-regulating spell and even a few jackets laying here and there. The bags Sunset had carried home lay in a heap next to a sofa, part of the blackened spellarmor suit visible.
None of it did anything to detract from the view of Canterlot beyond Sunset’s window or the magnificent hourglass that dominated the room, but it said much for Sunset’s state of mind. It said even more about how well Sunset’s friends were handling the situation.
“I told Princess Celestia I would check in with you,” Raven said evenly, watching as Sunset reemerged from the kitchen with a glass of water. She immediately sighed on seeing Raven. “And that’s what I’m doing.”
Sunset crossed the room and tossed herself into a couch, all signs of her cracked rib erased through the medic’s spellwork and a couple of potions. She glowered at Raven before throwing a hoof over her face.
“I don’t need checking on,” she muttered. “I’m fine.”
Raven took another deep breath, but they seemed to have less and less effect with each repetition. She needed to try a different avenue of approach. This wasn’t her area of expertise, after all. Being a confidante to Princess Celestia was nothing like being a confidante to… well, anypony else. Still, there were similarities that warranted exploration.
“I reviewed your training file while you were being seen by the healers,” Raven said idly as she wandered around the hourglass.
“Uh-huh.” Sunset didn’t bother to even look up.
“In the last three months, you’ve tripled the length of time spent in combat training, both martial and magical. You’ve apparently learned how to conjure magical weapons, a technique rarely used by anypony other than Magical Special Forces.”
“Sounds about right.”
“You’ve also studied and practiced nearly every combat spell available to every division of the Guard,” she continued as she adjusted course toward the sofa. “With a focus on those employed by MSF. You were reported to be using MSF-classified spellcraft two weeks ago in the ring.”
“MSF doesn’t like to share,” Sunset waved a hoof, sounding bored, but keeping her face covered. “Somepony should tell Captain Trace I’m one of the good guys.”
“Why?”
“Because I am one of the—”
Raven came to a stop standing over Sunset and glowered down at her, even though Sunset couldn’t see her.
“Why are you putting yourself through this, Sunset?”
“I don’t need to tell you,” Sunset replied.
“No, you don’t,” Raven admitted. “But I would appreciate knowing anyway. Not because of the Princess. Am I not your friend, Sunset? We’ve known one another for years. I was the one who escorted you to Princess Celestia when you first came to study under her. It doesn’t seem so long ago when I escorted a young blank-flanked unicorn filly to her favorite duck pond on a daily basis.”
Sunset’s hoof finally came down. “That’s a low blow, Raven.”
“It’s the truth.”
Sunset hesitated for a moment before shrugging. “You probably already know.”
“Then remind me.”
Sunset blew air through her teeth, then grimaced. “You know about the bookstore incident?”
Raven did, indeed. She’d been the one to contact their Ambassador in Saddle Arabia to help smooth things over. That alone had taken nearly three weeks' worth of paperwork. She’d also performed a quiet investigation on several of the locations mentioned in the report Celestia had provided her with after prying the story out of Sunset and Twilight.
However, none of that was information Sunset needed to hear right now.
“I know of it,” Raven replied.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “You just want me to just spill it all out for you, don’t you?”
Raven sighed yet again. “Sunset, it would help both of us greatly if you stopped hedging.”
“Is that right?” Sunset sat straight up, fire in her eyes. “Okay then, Raven. Do you have any idea what we saw that night? What we had to endure to get that book for Princess Celestia? What we had to fight?”
While Raven matched the younger mare’s glare with a cool expression, she couldn’t help but hesitate. After all, the Princess had discussed the creatures encountered within the magical leylines with Raven while working on the report. She hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep for nearly a week after that conversation.
“I have… some idea.”
“‘Some idea’ isn’t good enough,” Sunset spat. “Not even remotely good enough. And neither am I.”
“I’m sorry?” Raven frowned. She didn’t like where this was going.
“I’m not good enough, Raven. Not yet.” Sunset shivered and tightened her jaw as if she were fighting back tears. “You didn’t hear it. You didn’t hear her screams. Her begging for help, thrashing on the ground, right freaking next to me!”
“Twilight,” Raven said quietly.
“Twilight,” Sunset nodded with a sniffle. “That image is burned into my head, Raven. Forever. After we got out, I swore I’d never let that happen again. Not to her, not to any of my friends. Worst of all, I have a nagging feeling that no matter what I swear, it won’t matter at all.”
“Why’s that?” Raven found herself somewhat nervous.
“Did you know that Twilight has a theory about Princess Celestia?” Sunset smiled, but her eyes were hard as diamonds. “About how she’s using me? Preparing me for some special purpose. That she’s actually using all of my friends—including Twilight—for that purpose. I don’t suppose you’d like to comment on that?”
“I think it would be better if you asked that question to Princess Celestia, Sunset,” Raven replied, years of training allowing her to say those words without inflection. “She would be best.”
“I thought you’d say something like that,” Sunset sighed before flopping back down on the couch. “There. You have your answer. I’m training hard to fight monsters. That’s it. No other reason. Go away now!”
Raven knew better than to fully accept that explanation, but no good would come out of continuing that approach. Yet another tactic was needed.
“Sunset, I thought you considered me a friend.”
“You already said that and I do!” Sunset snapped, throwing her hooves into the air, her water floating over her head in her magic. “And usually, friends respect other friends’ privacy! And they know when to take a hint!”
“Is that so?” To this, Raven could only chuckle faintly. “And what would happen if you said that to Minuette? Or Moon Dancer? Or Cheerilee?”
Sunset lowered her hoof and glowered at Raven once more. “Cheap trick.”
“Not cheap. Effective.”
Raven glanced behind her at the book-covered plush chair. A flare of magic floated the books into a neat stack near the closest bookcase.
“I didn’t offer you a seat, Raven,” Sunset said, her eyes narrowing.
“I didn’t ask, Sunset,” Raven replied as she sat down. She adjusted her cravat with her hooves and her glasses with her magic. “Why do you hate Sunny Day?”
“I don’t hate her,” Sunset replied instantly.
Raven raised an eyebrow, forcing herself not to draw her own conclusions. Through the years, Celestia had taught her the importance of a pony coming to their own conclusions with a minimum of outside interference. While Raven believed Celestia occasionally took that philosophy too far, it still held merit. As such, she kept her own counsel and her silence, leaving only her eyebrow to speak her opinion on Sunset’s response.
“You’re going to keep doing that until I confess something, aren’t you?” Sunset growled, shaking her head and running a hoof through her still-singed mane. “You’re just like her. Well, so am I. I’m her personal student, remember?”
“You have not stood by her as I have, Sunset,” Raven said quietly. She found herself looking off into the distance and shivering. “I’ve seen far more than you can imagine. Seen more than I ever would have wished.”
“Then surprise me,” Sunset snapped. “If you’re so perfect, tell me something I don’t know!”
“If not for the intervention of one Professor Inkwell, some years ago, Princess Celestia may have fallen in battle, as well as most of Canterlot.”
Complete silence filled the space between them. Raven refocused her stare onto Sunset, keeping her eyes steady.
“What?” Sunset whispered. She slowly put her glass on a nearby coffee table and sat up fully. “That’s impossible.”
“I’m sure you’ve read the accounts of the Shadow Incursion of 918,” Raven said calmly.
Sunset frowned, shrugging. “Of course. It’s part of The Complete History of Canterlot. There’s a small fountain in the Castle Gardens commemorating it. Princess Celestia fought on the front lines, accompanied by the Sun House Guard while the entire Royal Guard shored up defenses around the city. Celestia and her team were backed up by an emergency militia and defeated a still-unknown enemy.”
Raven nodded slowly and stared through the hourglass to the castle beyond. “Details are lost in history books, as well you know. For all its claims, The Complete History of Canterlot is far from complete. Many details were left out.”
“Details like Princess Celestia falling?” Sunset demanded. “If this is a joke, Raven, it’s not funny.”
“I never claimed it was.” Raven sighed. “Princess Celestia did indeed fight on the front lines during the siege. As the enemy had struck just after dark, she conjured a shield of pure solar light to save the city from bombardment. Yet the shield wasn’t perfect. The things in the shadows managed to get through or around the shield. They threw themselves at her, only to be rebuffed by the Sun House Guard. Several Sun House Guards nearly died that day. If not for the skills of our medics, they would have, though the injuries they sustained ensured they would never serve in battle again. We were lucky to have those medics with us that night. The battle raged all night, until a few hours before dawn.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know,” Sunset insisted. “That’s when the emergency militia was called up.”
“Yes and no.” Raven waved a hoof in the air slightly. “You see, that’s also when Celestia’s shield nearly failed. Too many attacks against her had found their marks. Too many blasts had crashed against her shield. She had nothing left. Even her power is not infinite, Sunset.”
Raven paused to let that sink in. From the way Sunset leaned forward, it was clear the young mare was engrossed in the tale. She allowed herself a tiny internal smile at the fact that she could still tell a story as she once had so very long ago.
“As such,” Raven continued, “monsters surged forward. Shadows leapt for her, trying to consume her. She told me after what she sensed of their hunger, and those words I will not repeat. The key is that Princess Celestia is an intensely powerful being, but even she can’t wage a defensive war forever, especially during the night.”
“That’s… not in the histories.”
“My words exactly,” Raven replied with a shrug. She leaned forward to peer at Sunset over the rim of her glasses. “While the Royal Guard were engaged across half of Canterlot and the Sun House Guard were being overwhelmed, Professor Inkwell herself led the charge of the citizens, throwing her magic into Celestia’s shield and sharing the burden of protecting the city. In so doing, she gave the Princess enough power to maintain the shield and eventually lead a counterattack, routing the invaders, who disappeared into the shadows before dawn broke.”
Silence descended for a short time around the two ponies.
“The… the same Inkwell at GU?” Sunset said. Her eyes were pointing forward now, a sure sign she had been fascinated by the story. “The one who’s in her nineties, and teaches first-level magical defense?”
“The very same. Several militia groups did fight that night, but none were at Celestia’s side until the last moment. Inkwell had no squad or team. If I recall, she was seeking her brother in the chaos. Still, she was a single pony willing to stand beside another to drive back the darkness.” Raven smiled faintly as a hint of memory played through her mind. “Her act encouraged dozens of other citizens to join the fight. Her bravery inspired both Celestia and her fellow ponies to rise up. If not for her, Celestia likely would have been struck down by the next bombardment. Canterlot would have surely followed.”
Sunset took a few deep breaths, her eyes wandering to the massive hourglass in the living room, almost as if she were seeing the past in those slowly-flowing grains of sand. Raven regarded the young mare, curious as to how she would react to the truth behind a minor classified historical event. Most of the truth. There was far more to the story than what she described, but Sunset wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
“I know what you’re doing,” Sunset said, not looking at Raven. “Don’t think I didn’t catch your little line about ‘shouldering the burden.’”
Raven shook her head. “You asked for proof that I knew Celestia better than you. That story is the proof I chose to provide. Of course I would pick an example that links to your current situation, Sunset. To pretend I did otherwise is an insult to both of us.”
Sunset’s head snapped around and she fixed Raven with a stare so intense, Raven couldn’t help but jerk back a little. “Why? Why are you so insistent? I don’t believe for a second that you’re here just because Princess Celestia ordered you to check in on me. She sees me four days a week for my graduate studies. She had plenty of time to say something. Why you?”
Raven hesitated, but only briefly. In these matters, the truth was her ally. “Because you frightened me today. And I am not alone in my fear.”
Sunset looked incredulous. “You’re joking. Come on. Things got intense. But that shouldn’t scare anypony. And that’s not even a tenth of the answer to my question.”
“You are correct. It’s not.” Raven put her hooves together and sighed. “You are… important, Sunset. You are easily the most powerful unicorn of your age. And when the most powerful unicorn of an age starts to throw around sunfire in what should be a training duel, that is cause for concern. And that is why I asked why you hated Sunny Day.”
“I don’t hate her!” Sunset shouted. Her horn flared, but the color seemed to be wrong for a moment. There was a brief spasm of magic in the air and Sunset’s glass fell over, splashing water over the empty coffee table. “She’s… just reminds me of things I’d rather not deal with! She’s the only unicorn I can properly duel with, Raven! She’s the only one! And now she has a… a…”
Raven blinked, took a breath and leaned back. “She’s started to see Lieutenant Soarin, Wonderbolts Fourth Squadron. He asked her out on a date during Hearts and Hooves Day.”
Sunset looked ready to explode, then she suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. “Yes.”
Part of being a confidante was knowing when to take a risk. Raven did so now. “But are you not seeing Surprise, who is also a Wonderbolt, attached to the Third Squadron?”
Sunset hung her head but nodded all the same.
Raven watched her for a short time, but Sunset didn’t say anything further, forcing Raven to act once again.
“Sunset, I must ask… does what happened today have anything to do with Sunny Day, Soarin or Surprise?” Raven asked, her voice as gentle as she could make it.
“No,” Sunset answered quietly and succinctly.
“And if I were to ask further questions on this topic…” Raven began.
“Then I would throw you out of my house by any means necessary.” Sunset’s voice was eerily calm. “No matter how long I’ve known you.”
“Have you said the same to your friends? After all, I’ve known you longer than them, though I have trouble seeing you say those words to those closest to you.”
Sunset finally looked up at her. Her mask was almost as good as Celestia’s. “Raven… I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to happen. If I have something I need to work through, I’ll do it myself.”
Raven winced despite herself, her ears going flat. “Sunset… the last time you tried to go at it alone… you almost lost everything.”
“I don’t need a history lesson, Raven!” Sunset snapped, her entire body going rigid with indignation as that mask revealed itself for how brittle it really was. “I know what happened in the past. I know what kind of pony I used to be! I was just a filly, but I still destroyed the ponies who got in my way. To this day, I don’t understand why Celestia let me get away with it. She shouldn’t have. She should have thrown me out on my tail! I know what happened during that stupid alchemy final! I know! I relive it every damn day!”
“And who helped you on that day?”
“Raven, you’re starting to really tick me off,” Sunset warned, her ears flat against her head.
“Very well,” Raven conceded. “Then why haven’t you seen her in weeks? She lives within twenty minutes of this very tower.”
“She’s usually with Twilight,” Sunset muttered.
“Then what of Minuette? What of contacting Cheerilee, Coco or Coloratura? You know any one of them would drop everything and come to your aid in an instant. They did it before. Why do you not talk to them about this?”
“Raven, you really don’t want to do this.”
“But I’m going to do it anyway,” Raven insisted. “Why?”
Sunset rubbed her eyes, stood up and then stared at the older mare.
“Because I don’t deserve them.” She said, her voice once again eerily devoid of emotion. “I don’t deserve them, Celestia, you, or anyone else. You don’t know the things I’ve considered doing. The things I could do with a snap of a spell. You said I’m the most powerful unicorn of my age. You’re right. I am. And I was raised by two ponies who taught me to take anything I wanted. I’m a ticking time bomb. Every single one of my friends is better off without me.”
“That’s a rather bold statement,” Raven replied her own voice calm despite the chill running through her body at Sunset’s words. “Do you actually believe that?”
“If I didn’t, Moon Dancer would probably not be dating Twilight Sparkle right now,” Sunset said in a shadow of a whisper.
“You can’t say that,” Raven admonished her. “You cannot know what would have happened between the three of you. Life is rarely that simple. The Moon Dancer I’ve seen once defended you against the Dean of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. And she’s done far more for you since then. Twilight Sparkle stood by your side in your… adventure the night before Hearth’s Warming Eve. Not to mention—”
“Stop,” Sunset said, licking her lips. “You don’t understand, Raven. No one can. I’m dangerous. I hurt ponies. Some part of me knew what was happening in that ring today. Most of me enjoyed being blasted to the ground, over and over again. It’s nothing less than I deserve.”
“You punish yourself for the acts of a filly, Sunset. This is foolishness.”
“I punish myself because I see how that impacted the ponies around me. Youth doesn’t excuse me when I see a mare I forced into hiding from the world because I stole her friends. And that was me trying to change. What else happened? What else did I do? How many lives did I ruin? How many ponies have I hurt blindly? How many are still hurting because of me?”
“You can’t control how others act, Sunset. Only yourself.”
“Stop, Raven.” Sunset trembled slightly.
Raven got to her hooves, then took a step forward. “You need help, Sunset. You need a voice outside your head willing to refute that which torments you. You are not the first pony I have helped in such a way.”
“Raven… stop.” A bit of midnight blue light crackled on Sunset’s horn.
“Why won’t you let anypony help you, Sunset?”
“Raven… please…” Sunset whispered through gritted teeth. Her body was tense, her eyes screwed shut.
Raven knew she was close to a breakthrough. Just a little more and Sunset might open up, even if it was in a torrent of enraged words. She had to push her advantage.
“Sunset, why must you be alone?”
Sunset Shimmer screamed, a sound coming from deep within her throat, a raw and ragged sound that seemed as if it were ripped from her very soul. She reared up on her hind legs then slammed her hooves down. As she did so, midnight blue magic flared around her horn.
Then, the most powerful unicorn of her age completely lost control. A shockwave of pure magical force ripped through the apartment. The sofa Sunset had been sitting on was thrown six feet behind her to crash against a wall. The plush chair behind Raven flew through the air and cracked part of the enormous window. The coffee table simply shattered under the force of the wild magic, splinters flying in every direction. Books were sent soaring into the air like birds, only to come crashing down like rocks. Leftover clothes were sent into a maelstrom that spun around the young mare.
The shockwave cracked windows, smashed plates, sent pictures falling from the walls and books falling from bookcases.
And when it was done, Sunset Shimmer stood there, staring at the debris-covered ground, her chest heaving, her singed hair in disarray and her body shaking from head to tail.
As if realizing what she had just done, her head slowly rose as if to survey the damage. However, her gaze stopped when it landed on Raven.
Raven knew exactly what she would see. Raven hadn’t moved even a fraction of an inch. Her bun remained perfectly intact. Her red cravat remained pristine. Her glasses remained comfortably on her face. Not a single hair of her coat had been disturbed.
All while everything within a six-foot radius of Sunset had been blasted backward as if a meteor had crashed into the room. Only the hourglass survived without a scuff.
“How…” Sunset asked, her expression equal parts awe and terror.
“I have served Princess Celestia for a long time, Sunset,” Raven said quietly. “It is wise to remember that, in Canterlot, as in many places, nopony is exactly what she appears. Not Princess Celestia, not your friends, not yourself… and not me.”
“I… I didn’t mean to attack you… I…” Sunset stammered.
Raven stepped forward and gave Sunset a small, sad smile. She placed a hoof on her shoulder. “If you wish someone willing to listen without judgment, I am here. I have always been here, Sunset. I know your relationships are very complicated right now, but the one we have is simple. I know you are not ready today. But look around this room and I think we both can agree you need help.”
“I…” Sunset trailed off, apparently at a loss as to what to say.
Raven nodded. “Do not concern yourself with the ‘attack.’ I know it was not directed at me. But you must find a better way of releasing your emotions, Sunset. Or they will consume you.”
Sunset finally just dropped her head, refusing to look Raven in the eye. Raven removed her hoof from the young mare’s shoulder and sighed.
“When you’re ready to talk, you know where I’ll be.”
Raven forced herself to walk away. She forced herself to walk down the stairs. She forced herself to magically open the door.
Only then did she pause in the entry and look up at the damage. The entry was mostly intact, but a single book had been flung clear. It caught her eye with its stark black and white back cover. Perhaps this was a cheap trick, but she picked it up in her magic as she stepped out of Sunset’s home.
It would give Sunset one more reason to reach out. She hoped.
She thought she heard a sob just as she closed the door. She forced herself to ignore it.
“You can lead a pony to water…” Raven whispered to herself as she turned the book over in her magic.
Despite what had just happened, Raven couldn’t help but chuckle. The book was named As the Raven Flies by Hatter Goldenrod. She’d read the novel before. A decent enough story about a young bird trying to find her way home.
It seemed more than apt.
Raven took one last look at Sunset’s tower and walked away, all the while praying her gamble might pay off.
It had been one week since Princess Celestia had departed for the Dragon Lands and Raven could still see the signs in herself.
It didn’t stop her from doing her job, just as it didn’t stop Princess Celestia. Raven had learned from the best, after all. Thankfully, her current duties would be a welcome distraction from her frustration with current events, as the novel she’d ‘borrowed’ from Sunset Shimmer mocked her on her desk every morning.
For now, she focused on the task at hoof.
Raven squinted as she stepped out upon the eastern landing platform of Canterlot Castle just as the royal chariot came into view. She smiled—a real smile—as the regal form of her Princess waved at her. Her pegasi escort came in first to secure the landing site, finally giving the flight crew clearance to land. Both of the Sun House Guards beside the door stood to attention as Princess Celestia stepped onto the platform.
The Princess nodded to the officer leading the Pegasi Fourth and he dismissed his team. Only then did Raven approach the Princess, clipboard already floating beside her.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” Raven said with a smile.
“Thank you, Raven,” Celestia took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s wonderful to be able to breathe again without the volcanic ash. Simply terrible for the lungs.”
“How fares Dragon Lord Torch?” Raven asked as they fell into step with one another. One of the guards opened the door for them.
“Has his claws full with a precocious young daughter named Ember. His consort, Sapphire, finds Ember’s constant refusal to obey her father’s wishes most amusing. I suspect she encourages it.”
“Young dragons hardly need a cause to be precocious,” Raven opined. “In fact, one could say that of the young of any race.”
Celestia laughed. It was almost completely genuine. Almost.
They entered into the hallway beyond the landing platform. The two Sun House Guards moved to follow, but Celestia waved them back with a nod and a smile. They knew enough not to press the matter and remained at their post as the door closed.
“Anything exciting happen while I was away?”
“I’m afraid that the Regent documentation is still lost somewhere in the Castle,” Raven said idly as she adjusted her glasses, though she didn’t dare meet Celestia’s gaze. “At this rate, I suspect it might take years to be found.”
“I’m sure we can draft another in short order. It shouldn’t be too much trouble,” Celestia replied, her voice just as light and casual as Raven’s.
They turned into the passage where they’d spoken one week ago. Just as Raven had expected, Celestia came to a slow halt at the slightly-damaged torch bracket.
“It looks like it’s even more crooked,” Celestia whispered to herself.
Raven didn’t speak a word.
Celestia turned and pierced Raven with her eternal gaze and swallowed. “What of Sunset?”
“I spoke to her on the day you left,” Raven replied. She knew she couldn’t hide the truth, but she could delay it, for just a little while. “Her magical combat skills have grown quite a bit since Hearth’s Warming.”
“A response to what she saw. I hope you did not…”
Raven shook her head. “She has no knowledge of what things dwell in leyspace, Your Highness. None that she doesn’t already know, though it would not surprise me if she starts looking into them soon.”
“To be expected,” Celestia mused. “But I did not ask after her combat skills, Raven, as you well know. I asked after her.”
Raven closed her eyes and hung her head. “She is… not doing well, Your Highness. She is isolating herself further and further. What began with Twilight has now spread to all of her friends. And… I worry for her sanity. Not from without, but within.”
“I… I see.” Celestia swallowed. She blinked a few times and took three stumbling steps that pained Raven to see. “That’s… deeply concerning.”
Raven opened her eyes to see the same subtle shift in mane color she witnessed one week ago. Only now, Celestia somehow looked smaller. Likely because of her slumped head and shoulders.
“I’ve reached out to her as a new confidante and friend,” Raven said in a desperate attempt to lift her Princess’s spirits. “She has yet to respond, but I remain hopeful.”
“Yes,” Celestia nodded distractedly. “Yes, of course. Please do tell me if she does.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“If you’ll excuse me Raven… I think I wish to rest for the remainder of the day. It was such a long trip.”
“I’ll clear your schedule then,” Raven said. It would take little effort. She’d already cleared most of it this morning for this exact reason. “Please, take some time to rest, Your Highness. I’ll take care of anything that comes up.”
Celestia smiled. It was genuine, if brittle. She gently nuzzled Raven on the cheek. “Where would I be without you?”
Raven gave Celestia her own smile, though she suspected it was just as brittle. “You would be doing whatever’s necessary, Your Highness. Of that, I have no doubt.”
Celestia nodded almost imperceptibly. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I will see you in the morning, Raven. Please don’t work too late.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
With that, Princess Celestia departed down a side passage that would lead to one of the many hidden paths throughout the Castle. This particular one would leave her near her quarters, where, Raven hoped, she could get some rest.
Two hours later, after the rest of Princess Celestia’s schedule had been dealt with, Raven managed to escape to her office to finish up the final version of the new trade agreements from last week. As always, As the Raven Flies tormented her on her desk. She should just move it to a bookcase. But she preferred to keep it in sight. She preferred to remember.
The Department of Inter-City Affairs had done an excellent job with the agreement, but despite her best efforts, Raven found her attention wavering as she worked through the legalese. Normally, she would enjoy such easy and simple work as the forty-five-page document, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Not after seeing Celestia’s face in that hallway. Not after seeing her stumble. Not after seeing the flame of hope in her eyes die by just a fraction.
They needed Sunset. Needed her more than she could be allowed to know. And not just for their sakes. The world needed Sunset Shimmer. Not as her alone, but as what she would become. They needed her to become the leader Celestia and Raven knew she could be.
And every day that slipped by was a toll on those who knew the truth.
Raven pulled off her glasses and set them on her desk. Only then did she allow herself the luxury of burying her face in her hooves. She didn’t cry or sob or weep. She simply sat there, allowing herself to feel. It was something she didn’t afford to herself often enough.
A knock at the door immediately brought her back to herself. She teleported the glasses onto her face, took a single deep breath to compose herself and called, “Come.”
A castle page slipped into the room, blushing profusely. The mare—little more than a filly, really—wore the standard golden jacket of a messenger. It took a moment for Raven to pull up the page’s name. Ironic considering it was an apt description of the silvery mare.
“Minnow,” Raven said. “What can I do for you?”
“A message, your… uh… Raven.”
Raven forced herself not to roll her eyes. Many ponies seemed to feel she should have some sort of honorific. Likely due to the stunt the Princess had pulled in giving her the rank of Seneschal. Thankfully, that had fallen out of favor, mainly because most ponies had trouble pronouncing it.
“For the Princess?” Raven asked patiently.
“No, ma’am. For you. Arrived just an hour ago, hoof delivered by a city courier.”
The mare used her magic to unscrew a tube on her jacket and pulled out a bound scroll with a red seal on it.
“Interesting,” Raven replied evenly as she took the scroll in her magic. “Thank you, Minnow. You may return to your normal duties.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Minnow shot out of her office. The young ones always became so nervous around her. She would never understand why.
Raven idly turned the scroll over in her magic. Wouldn’t it be nice if it was a letter from—.
“Oh.”
Her magic winked out and the scroll rolled on her desk, ending with the seal facing upward. Imprinted into the wax was the unmistakable mark of the Royal Apprentice: a star above two crossed unicorn horns.
It wasn’t Sunset’s seal, but it was from Sunset.
Raven tore open the letter and read it in an instant. It was short, succinct and to the point. It promised nothing. But it offered something.
It offered willingness, though with the demand that Raven return As the Raven Flies to her immediately.
Raven cracked a smile, jumped to her hooves and tossed on her saddlebags. She teleported the book inside the bag and scrambled out the door, only to nearly collide with a young Sun House Guard.
“I’m terribly sorry…” Raven blinked when she realized who she was looking at.
“Raven, ma’am?” Lieutenant Sunny Day looked alarmed at Raven’s sudden appearance. “Is everything okay?”
Raven smiled and patted the younger mare on the cheek. “You’re going up for your shift?”
“Yes, ma’am, but…”
“Please inform Princess Celestia I’ll be gone for the rest of the evening,” Raven said as she started running toward the main gates.
“But… where should I tell her you’ve gone?” Day called after her.
“To see a friend!” Raven shouted over her shoulder. “To see a dear friend!”
