Sunset leaves for purpose and the glory of war, she comes home bruised and battered.
Sunset Shimmer and Princess Celestia have a strenuous relationship. Sunset wants to go to war, Celestia knows war, she doesn't let her. Sunset still goes. Sunset now knows war and she comes back.
Sunset Shimmer sighed as she turned to look back at her home. One last look at the golden domes of Canterlot and chiseled white buildings. Her gaze outlined every path she walked, every cafe she entered, every genuine laugh she allowed. She let her mane fall over her eyes as she turned back and made way to the volunteer table. All over Equestria, such tables are set up to get ponies to volunteer to fight against the zebras. Many a stallion and mare signed up with wails from their family and friends.
"Sunset." Sunset kept walking. "Sunset, please." She ignored the pleading. This was her decision, not hers.
She was out of the palace when she spoke again. "I'll be waiting when you come back. I want you to know that." As if.
"I would like to volunteer." Sunset spoke confidently. The stallion behind the table looked up in surprise.
"B...but, you're the princess's personal student! She wouldn't..." He stopped when Sunset's hoof slammed into the table.
"I'm my own mare. Now. Sign me up." Sunset put some steel behind her words, hoping to dissuade the stallion. If he didn't, things would get all kinds of messy and they were already drawing a crowd.
"Al...alright, alright. Miss Sunset Shimmer. There." He chuckled nervously after writing her name down, his eyes shifting around as if asking for help through eye contact alone. Sunset almost smirked.
"Thank you." She sneered. "Where do I go?"
"Mane...Manehatten, there you can go t...to the Marine Corps. HQ. They'll tell you everything." He whimpered. Sunset took some amount of pleasure from it. She nodded once, mostly to herself, then left without saying anything else. She didn't head back to her dorm room, no, that would be a bad idea. No, instead she would get her supplies in Manehatten. Being the student to Princess Celestia did have their perks, she supposed.
She made her way to the train station and hopped onto the one heading towards Manehatten. She smirked when the ticket master didn't even glance in her direction. The train ride will take a few hours, so to pass the time, she had gotten a book from the library called "The Art of War." She was hoping to know more than the basics of warfare when she arrive.
Sunset felt her eyes drooping after reaching the seventh chapter, this book wasn't all that great in her opinion. There was a lot of diplomacy mumbo jumbo, none of which interested Sunset that much. Through her lidded eyes, she noticed a particular sun ray land on the word 'survive.' Sunset sniffed and turned away from the window, determined to not acknowledge her.
A few hours later and Sunset is now walking down the streets of Manehatten. Her destination, a tall tower near the coast. It didn't take long, she only had to ask for directions once, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of the front doors. There is still time to go back. The mare scoffed and opened the doors and beelined straight for the desk.
"Yes, ma'am, how may I help you?" The mare behind the desk put on a fake smile.
"I want to sign up." She left no room for debate in her voice. The mare either recognized it or didn't care enough to notice it.
"Very good, ma'am. If you'll just read and sign this paper." The mare hoofed over a clipboard with papers.
Sunset took the clipboard in her magical grasp and sat down in one of the many seats. She flipped through it, skimming it mostly. Most of the listed things were of the 'if blah blah blah were to happen, the Marine Corps are not held responsible', some talked about the legality of it all. By the time she got to the last page, Sunset was quite sure that none of that mattered. She signed it without a second thought.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, ma'am." The mare pointed with a hoof. "If you could go that way, ma'am, and turn left. There will be a room where the volunteers of today are waiting."
Sunset nodded and followed the instructions. Down the hallway, the walls covered with various certificates, awards, pictures, and then turned left. The visitor room was quite spacious, a large table dominated the center, comfy seating, a chandelier. more nonsense on the walls. But the most important part was the eight ponies who are in the room. Sunset noted that there are three mares and five stallions.
"Another volunteer!" A stallion said joyfully.
"What's your name, honey?" A mare asked.
"Don't be shy, we won't bite." Another stallion murmured.
The door burst open, interrupting whatever scathing remarks Sunset had prepared to lash back with, and in stepped a marine of interest. "I'm the lieutenant here, be sure to remember that. Now, let's get a move on!" The mare turned an 180 and marched out of the headquarters, Sunset and the other eight scrambling after her.
It was learned pretty quickly, that the lieutenant did not care for unnecessary noise, so the group traveled in relative silence. It wasn't long before they arrived at Manehatten's docks. Sunset's, as well as the others, mouths dropped. There, floating in the water, lay a huge battleship. It was sleek, metallic, masculine, and very much battle ready.
It's been a week since Sunset landed in Zebrica. Everypony got basic training on the battleship, some got advanced training depending on how well they did in basic. Sunset was proud of the fact that she aced the advanced training course. Now, Squadron 13 was en route to the front lines.
Zebrica is not much different to Equestria, just lots of plains with occasional trees and mountains rising in the distance. The sky however, seemed very different. It felt more real, if that made any sense. It seemed to shimmer in the distance and the heat from the rays felt almost tangible when Sunset wasn't under any shade.
The squadron are currently in the middle of a yellow field, Sunset hanging near the back. Then without warning, a shot rang out. Before anypony could react, a mare toppled over.
"GET DOWN!" The lieutenant shouted before diving for cover herself. Sunset quickly followed suit. There were a couple more shots, one of which was followed up by a cry of agony. Then all was silent. Sunset couldn't hear anything but the blood in her ears and her heavy breathing.
"GO GO GO, JUST 200 METERS TILL TRENCH BRAVO!" A like that, the squadron was up and galloping.
As for Sunset, this experience was new. Besides the laps she did for advanced training and before that, the occasional runs for some test she was holding, Sunset has never galloped seriously. She decided she liked this feeling. Her limbs felt stretched and the movement felt so natural. The rifle and marine pack on her back hindered her slightly, but all in all, it was exhilarating.
Then the shots rained down on the squadron. Ponies instinctively either dove to the ground or started swerving. Sunset was one of the latter. She also magicked up some forcefields to cover her and some of the ponies running beside her. Then a young stallion in front of her hit the dirt and Sunset barely had time to leap over the body. When she did, she had a tiny glance at his dead, slack face.
Then she was off once again. A bullet pinged off her shield and her attention wavered. Galloping at full tilt whilst holding up a shield strong enough to stop a bullet was taxing, but Sunset was used to worse stuff. She gritted her teeth and pushed her hooves with all her might.
Then without warning, the ground disappeared and Sunset took a mighty tumble and nearly crashed into an armed stallion. It took a moment to catch her breath, but soon she propped herself back up and it took a while before she noticed she was smiling.
A full moth has passed since Sunset arrived in Zebrica. She is now huddled in a foldable army cot in a cave near the front lines. The night is alive with bullets, mortar shells, and the occasional klaxon. Normally a pony would be unable to sleep in such conditions, but when you've experienced a month like Sunset has, you're out like a night light.
Darkness overcame her before she even had time to get in a comfortable position. She was looking forward to sleep, the mere concept has been lost to her ever since she got to Trench Bravo, and this was the first time she'll be able to sleep in a cot.
The darkness was soon overtaken by fire. Sunset's eyes widened in panic as she realized the world around her was the thing on fire. The sky was dripping red with the blood of innocent fillies and colts. The ground was made out of soft bodies that squelched with every step. The trenches were filled with empty shells and casings.
She traveled over the morbid landscape with uneven gaits, stumbling over everything and nothing. Her eyes soaking in everything and it was then did she realized that that sentence was quite literal. She screamed out in horror as her eyes felt like they were too big for her skull while simultaneously being incredibly small and very likely to fall out of their sockets.
Sunset wailed as she realized that the terrible oozing in her eyes wasn't stopping anytime soon and took off in search of water, but every body of water she came across was tinged yellow from chemical bombings. She collapsed after the seventh failed pond and sobbed in despair.
Then without warning, a face erupted from that very pony, but half of the face was missing, exposing the fleshy and bone bits. Sunset's throat was parched else she would've been screaming her head off, so instead, she resorted to whimpering and throwing rocks at it. The head growled in response.
Just as she had thought she had gathered enough strength to gallop out of there, a hoof erupted from the fleshy earth and grabbed a foreleg. Before she could kick the offending hoof away, another one erupted and latched on to her as well. Then, before she knew it, she was drowning in severed limbs, all dripping with blood.
Sunset bolted awake, sweat pouring down her face in the gallons. Her mouth still open in a silent scream, her hooves frantically touching herself to make sure she was indeed alive and whole. After the third check, did she allow herself to relax slightly. It was just a dream, wasn't it?
I've Got A Thing For The Edge Of A Life To Come Undone
Sunset racked the chamber of her gun and watched as the empty shell fell into the trench. She felt that empty most days now. Two months on the front lines and it was paying the toll. Her only joy was killing the vermin. That was the only way for her to not completely break, to convince herself that the zebras were not living, sentient creatures. Merely vermin that needed eradication.
But even then, it became monotonous. The firing, the racking, the reloading. It was all the same, really. The same motions, day in, day out. So, she let her mind wander, but kept it close with a leash, lest it go too far and delve into depths that aren't meant for sane ponies.
She contemplated herself and how she didn't look like herself. Her brilliant orange coat and shiny red and orange mane was covered in dried up blood, soiled bandages, caked mud, and fraying marine fatigues. Even her cutie mark, on the left side, was scarred from grenade shrapnel.
"ENEMIES SPOTTED! FIRE AT 3 O'CLOCK!" Sunset turned to follow the lieutenant's orders and fired upon the sneaky bastards.
She relished in how the whinnied in terror as a wave of lead flew in their direction. Even from far away, Sunset was able to make out five separate beings, two of which immediately stopped moving. One was dragging itself, whilst the other two scrambled for safety on the other side of No Pony's Land. Sunset fired another shot in their direction and nearly laughed her flank off when she saw one of the zebras ducked in terror.
"SQUADRON 13, ADVANCE!" Sunset was up and over the trench walls almost immediately. She bolted across the shelled field, ducking and weaving between cover. Of the original twenty that made up the squadron, only eight remained. Now, those eight skirted across the field as carefully and noiselessly as possible. Behind them, their fellow ponies lay down cover fire, distracting the zebras.
It took a full three hours to have snuck to the other side of No Pony's Land and was now an abandoned part of the zebra's trench. The seven of them, the eighth nowhere to be found, charged the occupied zebras. It was a massacre, and Sunset was relishing the newness of it all. She blasted, shanked, shot, bit, and bucked her way through the vermin, giving no quarter.
By the end of it all, there are only three left standing. Sunset clambered to the top of the rampart and waved the Equestrian flag. Ponies wasted no time and moved in. In under two hours, the trench was fully theirs. Sunset sat down for a moment.
It's been a year since the landing on Zebrica and Sunset doesn't even recognize herself anymore, inside and out. So many scars and wounds from close calls, some of which are infected due to poor medical aid and/or the conditions she finds herself crawling through. She's now the only survivor of Squadron 13 and a veteran in everypony's eyes. She didn't feel like a veteran, just a battered pony who's ready to go home. Her differences with Celestia seem so petty now.
The ground erupted from a shelling, Sunset didn't even flinch and a ghost of a smile flickered on her muzzle as she watched the 'younger' soldiers cower. She strolled through the trenches, relishing the warm dirt that rained down as it thudded against her pelt.
She had just come from the grub tent and had a hearty meal, one of the best she's had in a month. Now she's walking towards her post beside Squadron 26. Technically, she was part of that squadron, but it felt like a betrayal to her team to switch out dog tags, despite not knowing them all that well, and never will. Perhaps, after this is all over, she will scrounge through the battlefield to find the tags of everypony who was in Squadron 13. Now there was a thought, she nearly giggled at the absurdity of it.
Sunset nodded to the leader of 26 and rested her rifle on a wooden plank before slumping on the floor herself. She felt beyond tired, she couldn't remember what proper sleep felt like. She watched through lidded eyes as the leader ordered her squadron. It was humorous how she revered Sunset, despite her being 20 years older. She doesn't even know her name, yet she practically worshiped her. Oh, here she comes.
"I have positioned Squadron 26 like..." Sunset let the details fall on deaf ears as she pretended to listen. "...is that okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Sunset tried for a smile, it came out as a weak grimace. The leader beamed and went back to her troops. It was then did Sunset notice a throb in her left hoof. She inspected it and noticed a giant flint piece stuck in her frog. She frowned, that couldn't mean anything good. She heaved herself on her hooves and prepared herself to make the journey to the medical tent when she heard a shout.
She looked up and noticed a white flag in the distance. Squinting, Sunset could make out that it was a zebra waving the white flag. She let the realization sink in. It was over. It's finally over. She started laughing, then doubled over and laughed even harder.
Sunset stood apart from the rest of the crowd. Her body scrubbed and cleaned, bandaged and healed. She decided to slip away when the other ponies wanted to bring out the champagne. It only took two weeks for the Marine Corps to mobilize everypony out of Zebrica after the surrender.
When Sunset had the chance, she snuck away from the group when they landed in Manehatten and took the chance of the festivities to peel away her marine fatigues, leaving her bare self for the world. She trotted slash limp all the way to the train station and booked a ticket for Canterlot. She arrived there within several hours.
The sights, the sounds, the smells, it all took her by surprise. Despite living here her entire life, she had forgotten the majesty that is Canterlot. A genuine smile blossomed as she took in everything, there were many curious looks, even a couple ones of disgust, but Sunset ignored them all. She was home.
Sunset trudged up the hill to the castle, trying to hurry despite her injuries. In what should've taken a mere half an hour, it took nearly two hours. She was sweating and heaving by the time she reached the double doors, she was sure she puked along the way. The guards who were in front of the doors looked uncertain at what to do when she passed them by, she smirked at that. The old ones must've joined the war, then the smirk died. How many of them died?
She shook away the oncoming dread and pushed her way into the throne room and the sight of her battered body brought a peaceful silence to Day Court. Sunset's eyes fell upon Princess Celestia and smiled before passing out.
She was told she was out for a full day. She was also told Celestia was by her side the entire time. When she woke up, she was met with motherly warmth and concern from the immortal princess.
"My dear student." Sunset thought she heard a choke.
"Cel...mom." Tears were in her eyes as she tackled Celestia, she never wanted to leave.
A full week later, Celestia had made an agreement with Zebrica and now the streets were flooded with celebrating ponies. The war has been won, but Sunset didn't feel much for celebrating. Instead, she sat atop a grassy hill overlooking the festivities and let the cool breeze ruffle her mane. It was nice.
"You don't want to celebrate with the others?" Celestia asked, her calming voice behind her.
"I... need a minute to maybe soak in the sight of a town that I came from." Sunset replied with a serene smile.
