Chapter 1 - Broken Things

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Sunset Shimmer knew she was the best at everything. Why had Princess Celestia picked her from the ashes of that accursed orphanage otherwise? No normal unicorn filly could’ve created a firestorm of that intensity at her age. Nothing less than the most talented caster could do so, and so she knew that was why Celestia had chosen her specifically to be her student. Her, a child who, up until that moment, had been a no-name orphan that nopony wished to adopt. Fate revealed its plans to her in the form of a mirror; showing her what she had always dreamed of… Royalty. Flight. The overwhelming magical power of an alicorn, the ability to shape her world as she pleased. The adulation, bowing, and cheers of the crowd everywhere she went. It was her birthright. What else could such a clear sign mean?

Of course, as she laid on the floor of the dusty attic she’d been spat out onto, shivering in the cold of a baleful draft, all she could really think about was the utter look of anguished disappointment on her teacher’s… no, her mother’s face. She reflected on the sleepless nights spent in the forbidden sections of the library. The dreadful hours spent studying for surprise tests. The endless amount of time she spent rolling Celestia’s words around in her head, trying to decipher what was a lesson and what wasn’t. It was all so… numbing.

It didn’t outweigh the horrid feeling of her body without wings, however.

Her dreams of unconditional adoration clipped along with her imaginary wings, she didn’t particularly feel obligated to drag herself to her hooves in the dark and cluttered attic. She figured she would lay here until she felt like getting up again… Whenever that would be. She supposed she could always continue her research, put more work in, but what was the point? She had estranged herself from the only mare in the world who knew the secrets of Alicornhood, and the mirror had turned out to be nothing more than a deception. As Celestia had told her… it merely showed her what she desired most. It wasn’t an avenue to acquire it, evidently.

There were simply no shortcuts to destiny. She had supposed that by going through the portal, some great secret would be revealed to her, or that she would simply be granted her wish. It seemed instead that it had deposited her in somepony's attic somewhere in Equestria, which was... less than useful. Who was she kidding? It was absolutely bucking terrible. How would she explain this? She supposed she could just not explain anything and leave, but where would she go? She'd been kicked out of Canterlot Castle, and after incapacitating those guards and flinging herself through a portal it was likely Celestia didn't exactly want to see her anytime soon, and that there would be harsh consequences for her actions.

"So stupid!" She whisper-yelled to herself, groaning in frustration. What was she going to do now? Cry about it like a little filly? She wasn't a child anymore, she was a full-grown mare! She huffed and rolled over onto her stomach, deciding that she needed to anchor herself and get a clue of what was going on. Dragging her splayed-out limbs up, she sat up on her haunches and looked around the dusty, spiderwebbed attic.

It was much larger than she expected. There was a lot of open space, and even some turns where the roof itself turned. She could see moonlight filtering in through a dormer window ahead of her, and moonlight was pouring in behind her as well, although something seemed to be casting a shadow on her. Turning her head, she gasped and then grimaced as she saw the mirror portal, but with cracks spiderwebbing along its surface. The shards reflected her dour face and the rest of the attic, a hundred versions of the same image spread out across the broken, dusty mirror. Sunset pondered for a moment how in the Tartarus that happened to the mirror, and why it hadn't taken her, well... Somewhere else.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't really a dusty attic in somepony else's house. She had more questions than answers, as usual, and so figured there would be no better time than the present to get to work on those answers. Standing up to her hooves, she trotted over to inspect the mirror, lighting her horn as she summoned the innate arcane perception that all unicorns possessed.

The mirror was broken. Whatever had happened to it, the enchantments bound to it had been violently ripped apart. She supposed the symptoms were disturbingly similar to a rebound. The shattered pathways drifted apart as stored mana evaporated off the artifact. What had been done to it wasn't purposeful, and that was a relief, but further revelations about the artifact made her stomach churn violently. As she traced the places where the pathways had been, something she had faintly thought about but not truly considered until now reared its ugly head.

"This is the same mirror..." She whispered, trailing off as the thought's implications sprawled out in her mindscape.

She hadn't gone anywhere. She hadn't traveled across space and time, or been flung into another dimension. She had been trapped in this mirror for... Buck, who knows how long it could've been? A dreamless, seamless sleep that had lasted as long as it pleased, until the mirror itself could no longer contain her... Or something interfered with its containment. Scrying along the edges of the thing and poring over its layers, she couldn't find anything at first. But then she felt a warmth, and stared at the flickering, fading strands of golden arcana as they seemingly slunk away.

She wasn't sure what to make of it. It was utterly unlike any kind of magic she'd seen before; utterly unlike anything a pony, alicorn or unicorn, could cast. The raw power emitting from it was unpleasant, and even touching it with her senses was nauseatingly overbearing. However, it seemed determined to hide its presence from her, and before she could work up the courage to study it any further, the magic was gone, withdrawn from her senses. Somepony, or something, had freed her. Overloaded the strained enchantments on the mirror, or simply forcefully pulled her from its grasp.

That was troubling, but what was even more troubling to her was that she wasn't moving forward or making any progress this way. Sure, she had learned that she had some kind of silent benefactor, but that didn't help her discover the secret to becoming an alicorn, and neither did it answer any questions about where the Tartarus she was, and if there was a warrant out for her arrest or something. Further than that, if she had been in there for a long time, then had it been a while? Had things changed in Equestria? Had Celestia... forgotten her?

She strode over to the nearby dormer window and looked outside at the stars, watching the glittering celestial objects as they hung in the sky. What caught her attention immediately wasn't the splendor of the night sky, but what was missing from it.

Sunset Shimmer stood under the light of a moon that was missing the mare's face that had been emblazoned on it for all of her life, and shivered in uncertainty as this foreign celestial object hung unmoving in the sky. No, no matter how long she stared at it, she got the sinking feeling that this was the same moon that had been over Equestria for countless eons, and that no, it was not moving in the slightest no matter how much time she let pass. The craters were the same, in spite of her uncertain feelings on the matter. Would it have been better to be under a foreign moon? She couldn't be certain.

The sight spurred her to act. She was staring gormless at the night eternal, and this helped absolutely nothing. She couldn't do anything about this, and trying to figure out why the buck the moon wasn't moving wouldn't help her in any tangible way. She bit her lip to bring herself back into focus. There wasn't really any time for this- but... There was, wasn't there? She had no impetus driving her onward with speed; no deadline to meet. There wasn't a test tomorrow, and there wasn't something that required immediacy...

Except for the gnawing realization that she didn't have forever to live. Yeah, that one always liked to catch her off-guard. She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof and took a deep breath, practicing a mind-calming technique Celestia had taught her once. It was bitterly ironic that the mare whose guidance she had run away from was now guiding her again, albeit in spirit. The thought spawned a sardonic chuckle in her throat. She supposed she would never escape Celestia's shadow, in one way or another. It was both a comforting and extremely displeasing thought.

She decided to forcefully set aside her conflicting thoughts on her mother-figure and decide what to do right now.

There was, however, the small problem of a sharp object pressed up against the back of her neck.

Once upon a time, the Lulamoon family estate had been a shining beacon of luxury and natural beauty. The carefully trimmed forest that surrounded the estate, the verdant backyard, the untamed ruggedness of it all, touched by the guiding hoof of earth pony gardeners... Yes, it had once been one of the most beautiful gardens in Equestria. That was when she was young, though, and now she stared into the dark thicket from the kitchen window, quietly sipping her tea.

Trixie had come home.

What home there was left was... Debatable. The thick dust carpet over every surface and the abundance of spiderwebs, the rats running amok through the halls and the other unthinkable pests scurrying about. She swore she had seen a small Starspider in one room, but she supposed that it could've just been her nerves getting to her. The pantry was completely bare, raided long ago, and she had found the front door broken open. The walls were stripped of family portraits and the rooms had long-since been emptied, save for those that were magically locked. It was a miracle that the oven was still here, and still worked, but she supposed if it hadn't she would've found some other way to make her tea.

It wasn't the most terrible place to lay her head she'd experienced in her travels. Trixie stared at the haggard, broken reflection of the mare in the grungy window panes, vines gently blowing in the breeze and tapping against the window. The deep bags under her eyes and the gauntness of her face were, as always, grim reminders of the fact that her last proper magic show had been a year ago. Ever since, work had been... difficult to come by.

She was an eccentric mare with a specific talent in something most ponies had absolutely no need of in their every-day, especially now when there were... deeper concerns. She'd plied her trade in a variety of circles, but nopony had any room in their employ for the showboating magic mare. It was... Humbling, but deeply demoralizing. Who was she if she couldn't perform her amazing feats of magic, boast about escapades she'd obviously never participated in, show off with tricks that were simply impossible to the average pony?

She was a washed-up, two-bit magician, that was what she was. And now, as she turned her saddlebag over and began hoofing through the meager valuables inside, she had turned to being a highwaymare.

Her tricks were good, at least. With the intimidation of complex illusions and a mostly-blunt dagger she had no real intention of using, most ponies who still traveled on the roads alone would fork over their belongings without a fuss. The work was unsatisfying, anxiety-inducing, and utterly emotionally-and-physically exhausting. She'd been dodging guard patrols for the past three weeks on one of the larger roads, and decided that enough was enough. While most of the home was looted, she was aware of at least a few places where things she could sell would be left. There was, of course, also the property itself. If she could locate the will and the deed, anyway.

Groaning, she set the teacup down and laid her chin down on her forehooves, feeling the weight of the week dragging her head down. She could've shut her eyes and slept right then and there, but that was a good way to wake up with her things missing, or being chewed on by some predator animal. It just wasn't safe here.

Shoveling 'her' things back into her saddlebags, she levitated her tea and other personal effects along, heading into the hallway and then up the stairs. Fortunately, the majority of the house's structure had been reinforced with enchantments, and was no worse for wear save for cosmetic damage. The same couldn't be said for a lot of the house's fixtures and furniture. The floor was scattered with the remains of long-stolen or destroyed items, and Trixie had to light her horn to make sure she didn't step on something and hurt herself.

She made it to the top of the stairs when she froze, hearing shuffling above. In the attic.

The attic, she knew, was one of the few places that was actually magically locked. Its entrance was also not exactly put on display either; and both of these things were enough to ring alarm bells in her head. It could've just been some kind of animal up in the attic, but... No. It was too heavy to be something she shouldn't concern herself about. Drawing the dagger with her telekinesis, she placed the things she'd brought with her at the top of the stairs, creeping forward slowly and quietly. She made it to the intersection of the hall, cocking her ears to listen as what sounded like muffled hoofclops echoed from above.

She reached out with her telekinesis, struggling for a moment to find what she was looking for in the dark. Taking hold of the attic hatch door, she undid the latch on the thing and let it fold down, a hoofladder quietly unfurling before her. Without much further fanfare, she slunk up the stairs and into the gloom of the attic, snuffing her horn as she gripped the dagger in her hoof.

Standing in the light of the moon was an orange- or perhaps yellow?- coated unicorn mare with a bright red and yellow mane. She seemed... pensive... as she stared out into the night sky. Glancing around, Trixie noticed immediately the cracked mirror, but resolved to investigate that after she got this invader out of her family home. Not that it was much of a home anymore, but... it was the principle of the thing! Trixie crept up carefully from the stairway and into the gloom of the attic, casting a quieting spell and an illusion over her horn that would hide its obvious glow.

Trixie was not usually one for subtlety- she preferred to wow the crowd, after all- but this situation was dangerous. The unknown unicorn could've been one of Queen Nightmare's lackeys, sent to fetch her for some reason or other, but somehow that seemed unlikely. She gave an obvious glance to the mare's flank, noticing the sun cutie-mark. Either way, agent of sun or moon, she wasn't exactly keen on someone welcoming themself into her property. Floating the dagger up, she pressed it against the back of the mare's neck.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know who dares intrude in her home!" She shouted, hoping to keep the unicorn from doing anything hasty.

The unicorn whipped around, slashing a thin line across her neck in the process, and backed up towards the dormer window, aiming her horn at the threat. Trixie's eyes widened and...

Sunset lit her horn, staring at the other unicorn while holding a spell to defend herself. She almost dropped her spell in shock when she saw how gaunt and thin the other unicorn was. Warm wetness and a stinging pain in her neck reminded her that this dirty, gaunt mare was armed and dangerous, and so she held the spell matrices still in spite of her hesitance to, well, wipe the floor with her.

"Trixie ah... Apologizes for cutting you... But, Trixie demands that you declare who you are and what you are doing here!" The azure-coated mare said, taking a hoofstep backward with an uncertain expression. The dagger floated in front of her chest defensively, the knife ready to be plunged forward- should it unfortunately come to that. She really didn't want the blood of another pony on her hooves, but... This was her home, and she would defend it.

The confusion-struck unicorn slowly stood up from their defensive stance, the flowing cyan dissipating from her horn as she stared at Trixie carefully.

"Are you stupid or something? What's with the third-person pronouns?" She asked imperiously, pulling herself up into an adversarial posture, but not one that was outwardly dangerous.

"You!" Trixie ground her teeth, "Trixie is the one with the knife! Do not question the Great and Powerful Trixie's use of words!" A smug harrumph, with the ragged mare stamping a hoof into the attic floor.

Sunset looked over Trixie for a moment. The mare's silver hair hung matted around her head, her coat in a similar shape of griminess and uncleanliness. She looked like she hadn't had a shower in weeks, and frankly she smelled like it. There was also the tattered cloak the magic mare wore, which was purple and covered in silver stars- she noted that the purple made her eyes pop a bit in the dark. There was also, of course the elephant in the room; she was levitating that knife without using her horn.

Sunset called upon her magical senses at that, noting the illusion around the mare's horn. Clever. There was also a silencing spell on her hooves. Evidently she was some kind of high-level illusion magic caster. Most couldn't weave together two such complex illusions of different types on themselves at the same time- especially ones that moved with them. She was... impressed. But she wouldn't be using basic telekinesis to hold that knife if she knew any kind of other high-level spells. Sunset smirked, encroaching slowly forward while preparing to quick-cast telekinesis if she needed to. She could one-hundred-percent catch the knife and overpower the mare if she did go for a stab.

What was life like without a little risk anyway?

Trixie took a step back as Sunset retorted, "You're threatening me with that thing? Try something and I'll fry you where you stand." She was obviously bluffing. She wasn't going to kill another pony, and she most certainly wasn't going to use pyromancy on her if she had to hurt her. The idea was horridly vile. Sure, burning somepony's hair or coat a bit here and there was funny, but she always made sure it didn't go further than that. It was just a practical joke.

The magic mare stepped forward, letting her illusions go, "Trixie will not be threatened in her own home," She growled, her face twisting into a scowl. "Trixie once again demands you explain yourself!"

Sunset sighed and glared back, starting to circle around the magic mare as she held the dagger ready. "I was in this mirror in your attic," she gestured with a hoof towards the offending object, "and now I'm not. I need you to cut the horseapples and drop that knife, and tell me where I am and how I can get back to Canterlot from here."

Trixie's scowl died on her face, and so did her aggressive posture. There was a bit of dread and fear. "Canterlot? Trixie cannot possibly imagine what you would want to do in that accursed city."

Now it was Sunset's turn to be confused again. "Accursed? What in the Tartarus are you talking about? Look, I need to get back to Canterlot so I can grovel to Princess Celestia until she lets me back in the castle."

Lightbulbs went off in Trixie's head. Something was wrong here- this pony wasn't caught up on current events. Out of time. She slowly lowered the dagger and sheathed it in her cloak.

"Trixie does not think this is a good idea... You should join Trixie for tea. There are things Trixie thinks you should be seated before learning." She said gently, turning aside slightly.

Sunset cocked her brow. Poison? Or was this a genuine invitation to tea? She supposed she couldn't find out just by posturing and threatening this wretched mare. She huffs, "Fine. As long as you answer my questions, I'll entertain you."

"Trixie asks you to follow her to the kitchen." The ragged magic mare said, already piecing together some questions to ask.

With the tension mostly defused, the two mares stared at each other for a few more moments, before embarking from the attic to head downstairs...

Chapter 2 - Hoof It

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The kitchen, dining room, and every other suitable room for seating had long-since been raided by passersby for whatever reason. So, in lieu of an actual table, the two mares simply seated themselves on stools in the kitchen, using the island in the center as a table. It, too, probably would’ve been long taken if it weren’t made of heavy stone. There wasn’t a lack of trying, though, as that was evident in the damage to the island and the floor itself. Sunset's mind was admittedly in other places as the ragged magic-mare, Trixie, divulged to her the state of affairs.

"At the Summer Sun Celebration on the thousandth year, Nightmare Moon returned. Trixie does not know what happened to Princess Celestia, but she has not been seen since. Trixie has heard many rumors very similar to each other that six ponies, including Princess Celestia's personal student, tried to stop Nightmare Moon and were captured or... killed... by the Night Queen. Since then, the sun has not risen." She explained, "In recent times, Nightmare Moon has been desperate to regain control after many disasters and crises. The wicked Queen sanctions dark magic users and daemons to do her bidding and keep things under control. Canterlot is the worst of all; the wicked moon Queen rules from the city with an iron hoof."

"Trixie came here to seek refuge in her family home for a while, but the roads are dangerous and she fears she will not be able to go further..." She said, the mare piling on a frown and a slight pout to see if she could guilt-trip the relative stranger.

Sunset frowned deeply, trying to process all she'd been told. It'd been that long...? She'd lost so much time... And that wasn't the only thing, either. There was also the two biggest revelations; that Celestia was gone, and that she had been replaced. The very thought raised her hackles, ground her gears, and set her rage alight. How could Celestia replace her so easily?! She needed to stay calm. Maybe she could learn more about this stupid upstart who had failed so miserably, and find out what they did wrong. Then... There was the matter of Trixie Lulamoon herself.

She felt pity for the ragged mare. Stuck with a relatively useless proficiency in illusion magic, and as thin and helpless as she looked, she reasoned that helping her would be essentially equivalent to helping a wounded dog. Asides, she wasn't going to lie that she didn't want the glory of saving a damsel in distress. That was the sort of thing a princess would do, wouldn't they? Maybe the mare would stop acting as she did if she owed her life to Sunset. That was a fun idea- having someone she could order around because they owed her a life debt.

Scheming complete, she felt much less like blowing up and throwing a tantrum. She supposed she'd spent enough time mulling things over and gone through more than enough expressions at this point. "Ugh, fine. We'll travel together, at least for a little while. How far is the nearest town?"

Trixie brightened up slightly immediately, before turning to dig in her saddlebag and produce a map. Laying it out on the kitchen island and unfolding it, she located their current position on it within a few moments. "Trixie estimates that there is a day's trot between here and Lindstrotten. Fortunately, the destination is on one of the quieter roads, so there shouldn't be anything bothering Trixie and her companion!"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Sure, but my name's Dame Sunset Shimmer. I'm a knight of Celestia." Sunset smugly smirked, and half-considered leaving her here to fend for herself after that remark, but ultimately decided that Trixie would be useful. After all, she knew more about this new Equestria than Sunset did. That was a tragedy all on its own, but one she'd rectify as soon as she could. In any case, she technically was a knight by way of being Princess Celestia's student and receiving battlemage training.

Then, it was Trixie's turn to be smug. The magic-mare smiled at the unwitting invitation to goad her traveling partner, despite the potential consequences, "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not believe such a claim," she humphed, turning her nose up, "Unless you can prove your claim beyond any doubt, Trixie will only refer to you as Sunset."

The Dame Solar had to stop herself from snapping the impudent little mare's neck, forcing herself to reason that it just wouldn't be worth the effort. After all, it would be incredibly easy to prove that she was indeed a knight [by technicality] if she simply presented her battlemage pendant which was located in her- oh. She turned and looked at her back, realizing with some horror that she didn't have her saddlebags. Her saddlebags that she had left in her room before her argument with Celestia. The saddlebags she was told she would collect once she'd left the castle.

"Oh horseapples." She muttered, although Trixie picked up on it and only grinned wider, stifling a cackle as the other unicorn seethed.

"Ffffine. You can... just call me Sunset." She grumbled. This was humiliating. She usually had the palace servants bending over backwards to accommodate her every need, and anypony who stepped out of line got a new mane-and-tail cut. Even the nobility weren't spared her wrath, and she remembered with satisfaction that they had learned to stay out of her way pretty quickly. The problem here was that Trixie was useful to her survival. Push her too far, treat her too poorly, and she would leave Sunset here without any way to orient herself. After all, the magic mare was the one with the map, and she knew this area...

Embittered and embarrassed, she glared at Trixie for a moment as the magic mare smugly retorted, "And so Trixie shall. Sunset."

Oh what she would give to torch this impudent mare...

They spent the next few hours preparing for the journey ahead. The attic and the other locked rooms had some things they would need, and Sunset was able to acquire a traveling cloak of her own, while Trixie acquired some thread and needle to repair her own. Two sleeping bags, a set of saddlebags for Sunset, and some meager supplies were all they could really get from the house. Everything else had long been taken, and Trixie had informed her that she at least had some bits so they could get a place to stay when they stopped in Lindstrotten.

She was glad for the work as it kept her mind off of everything she'd just been told. It was... frankly kind of unfathomable. Celestia had ruled over all ponykind for the past- well, who knows? Probably more eons than she could count. As much as she had conflicting feelings on that mare, what she had been doing for the past millennia had worked. Then this other alicorn, one who she'd only ever heard of in legends and cautionary tales for fillies, came from the moon and usurped her, just like that. It was baffling, and she had a difficult time processing it. How? Why? What? Where?

After that, there was getting together what they were bringing for the journey, and the more pressing questions. What was she going to do next? Outside of getting to Lindstrotten with this stupid, arrogant foal, there was the matter of continuing her education and her ambitions. Perhaps there were artifacts she could track down that would aid in her goal, or... something like that. The more she thought about it, the more deflated she felt. She had been so close in her research! Now, the Canterlot Forbidden Archives were further away than ever before. She had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, when she was so, so very close to a glorious future...

Her thoughts petered out as she sat still, sighing. Still, there wasn't a good reason to sit still and do nothing. As much as she despised her present company for her demeanor, she didn't intend to go back on their deal. It would be useful to know more, and she could needle the magic-mare with questions on their journey. That thought did spawn a pertinent question though, one which she looked up from her saddlebag-packing to ask the nearby ragged mare about.

"What kind of dangers are we going to face on the road?" Sunset asked, kicking herself more than a bit for not asking this earlier.

The magic mare chuckled nervously, "Trixie supposes... there might be an abnormal amount of robberies in this area... and reports of undead near Lindstrotten..."

"...What?!" Sunset asked, starting up from her sitting position and stalking over to the ragged magic-mare, who scooted away as she advanced. "Are you bucking kidding me? You didn't think to tell me that sooner?!"

"Ehehe... Trixie figured that... for a mage of your caliber, simple undead would be no trouble...?" Trixie said, her tone questioning but with a certain deference. The mare's face twisted into a nervous smile, and Sunset for a moment contemplated slamming one of her forehooves into it. She grit her teeth and fought back the urge, closing her eyes and snorting hot air through her nostrils, face scrunched in frustration.

Undead were a bad sign. Usually, it was a sign of high magic concentration in an area with a lot of bodies, which was usually a cemetery, impromptu or otherwise. High magic concentration in an area could cause a lot of other problems, but she wasn't worried about that. From what Trixie had told her, it was extremely likely that a user of the dark arts was in the area. Undead were hard to deal with because they were simply built incredibly tough, and depending on the condition of the body used, they could be incredibly fast and strong compared to the average pony. Most, however, were shambling corpses or fast, but brittle skeletons.

The real problem for her wasn't particularly their toughness, but their magic resistance. As creatures suffused with magic, which replaces the Soul and Will which they once possessed, they were much harder to kill using magic than with conventional means. She had no desire to fight maleficarum or their disgusting creations, much less with magic as her only viable weapon. She supposed she did have tricks on-hoof she could use, but the idea of actually fighting at all was somewhat distressing.

"Is there a way to get to Lindstrotten that doesn't involve us being eaten by zombies?" Sunset asked after a moment of forcefully calming herself. "Or are you stupid enough to think we can hop into a bucking necromancer's backyard and waltz right through?" The remark bit, and she could see Trixie set her jaw, almost imperceptibly.

The magic-mare collected her filthy self and rose to her hooves, dusting her mended cloak off. "Of course the Great and Powerful Trixie has a plan! It... ah..." She darted her eyes around for a moment, the wheels spinning in the mare's brain. "Trixie believes a merchant caravan from the South will pass through here soon! She saw them on the way here. Perhaps we can follow them?"

Sunset stopped herself from grinding her teeth again and considered it, albeit only for a moment. "We need to get ready, then. They're probably ahead of us."

"Trixie agrees..." The mare tentatively added, getting a glare from Sunset that caused her to flinch slightly. Sunset snorted again, turning and trotting over to her things to finish her preparations.

Trixie... wasn't sure what to make of the sunstruck mare. She knew that she had a scary amount of magic- at least compared to her- and that was about all she knew. Unicorns weren't supposed to feel a twitch in their horn when another unicorn used telekinesis. It was absurd. Just how much power did this prim and proper mare have, and where did she come from? The mirror, obviously, but there was more to it than that. Trixie bit her lip and turned, fussing over her own things instead of spacing out so obviously.

As much as she didn't like traveling with somepony who so clearly outclassed her in every regard, there was still the necessity of it. Sure, she could cast some high-level illusion spells, but holding those up for long was taxing... She was thin and frail and her fount felt like a puddle compared to the ocean it'd been a long time ago. She'd probably collapse if she had to do another silencing spell or something of similar complexity. Her body and her stomach hurt agonizingly badly, but she wouldn't lower herself to grovel at Sunset's hooves and ask for her to carry her. She had at least some dignity and pride left!

Trixie just wasn't sure how much longer she could on an empty tank, with her only companion a belligerent mage of exceptional power. Once she got to Lindstrotten, she'd probably continue up North on her own... A warm meal and a warm bed were just what she needed, and maybe she could raise spirits in the town with a magic show for the schoolfoals.

Wishful thinking.

They'd set out two hours ago, and already the two mares were withering under the hard, fast winds that whipped through the trees. Trixie sucked in a breath with each step, her agonized leg muscles ready to give out. The harsh winds combined with an uphill trot and the rough nature of the path meant they were struggling. Sunset prayed quietly to Faust that there wouldn't be any rain, but the rumbling thunderclouds overhead dashed her hopes.

One of the most terrible things to happen since Nightmare Moon's reign was the grounding of Cloudsdale. The wicked Queen herself had gone to Cloudsdale and cast a great spell, forcing the city and its inhabitants to the ground. The death toll had been staggering. Unfortunately for the Night Queen, it had inspired many of the other cloud-cities to rebel, despite the consequences. Because of this, the weather was largely uncontrolled in most of Equestria. That meant wild storms ripped across the countryside, tornadoes tore down homes, and rain beat down on the landscape unhindered. Cities were usually spared any damage by nature of having a weather team of their own to fight storms, but the wilderness of Equestria had been left to become wild and untamed.

"Can you see anything?!" Sunset shouted over the wind to Trixie, who groaned in response. In spite of the magician's ragged state and exhaustion, Sunset was still lagging behind her a bit. The azure-coated mare had mounted the hill they were climbing and could see over it, whereas she was a few paces behind.

"Trixie sees lights ahead!" She called back, Sunset craning her head upwards and pushing her aching muscles to mount the hill.

Sure enough, just over the hill, she could see the bobbing lantern-lights of a caravan. At least a dozen ponies laden with two carts and a variety of goods marched down the ill-paved path, fighting against the harsh winds. Sunset estimated they were a good thirty or forty meters ahead of them, but it was hard to tell. Either way, they needed to make good time to join up with them.

Mounting the hill, Sunset redoubled her efforts, walking aside Trixie on the path as they approached the back of the caravan. She could hear the other mare huffing and puffing even over the heavy winds, feeling an intrusive pang of empathy. She was pretty tired after all this walking too, and she damn-well knew that the emaciated and ragged magic-mare was running on empty. Still, there wasn't time for ruminating on that. They needed to catch up. She huffed and took a deep breath in...

Then exhaled it as the path ahead of her exploded suddenly, dust and dirt and gravel kicked up as three pegasi suddenly stood before the two mares. Sunset had backed up and fell on her haunches, staring dumbly at the spear pointed at her face, and then to the hooves holding it and the whole pony beyond it. The whipping wind was cut through as the brown, red-eyed mare before her barked a harshly worded sentence, "Start talking now!"

Sunset mouthed uselessly for a moment, the threat of a violent end unfortunately causing her to freeze up. Fortunately for her, Trixie seemed much more used to this sort of thing.

"We are travelers! Trixie and her companion are trying to go North! We need to stop in Lindstrotten for supplies!" Trixie blurted out quickly, saving both their hides from a potentially grisly confrontation. Sunset had never been in a real fight before, and perhaps in retrospect that had saved her from getting hurt by this dangerous guardsmare. In any case...

The guardsmare lowered the spear slightly, glaring at the two of them. "Hoof over your weapons. You can travel with us until we reach Lindstrotten, but don't expect anything more than that."

Trixie nodded and slipped the dagger from her cloak, dropping it on the ground. She then reached into her mane and withdrew a sharpened letter-opener, also allowing that to clatter to the dirt. This done, Trixie looked up at the guardsmare sheepishly. The brown mare stared in slight disbelief, looking between the weapons on the ground and the two mares.

"Horseapples. Just keep your weapons. And give your friend something to defend herself; two mares shouldn't be out here with two little knives between them." The guardsmare grunted, planting the blunt end of her spear as she held the weapon in the crook of her hoof.

Trixie passed Sunset the letter-opener, the unicorn picking it up in her telekinesis and stowing it in her saddlebag. She grimaced at the implications of the guardsmare's words; it was that dangerous out here? They'd avoided getting skewered by the three guardsponies in front of them for the time being, so there was that, but what she'd said had only opened up more questions for her to needle Trixie about. She supposed there would be time for that later.

Sunset finally found her voice, addressing the guardsmare, "I'm Sunset Shimmer. Who are you?"

"I don't know if you know this, but we have places to be. Get your flanks over there!" She barked, and Sunset bristled slightly. Still, she didn't want to get into it over something so petty right now.

In any case, the two mares trotted quickly into line, joining the caravan amidst a panoply of suspicious and curious looks. When Trixie spoke, Sunset jumped slightly, "Trixie perhaps did not explain well where we are going..."

She huffed and looked over as the caravan started moving again, a sharp whistle signaling the wagons to get rolling. "You think? Why in the Tartarus are we going North, and what's so important up there you'd risk getting killed to go up there?"

Trixie looked up and forward, towards the mountains that towered in the distance, over the trees and the valley they were in. "Trixie has heard tales of the Crystal Empire, a place ruled over by the former Captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia's niece. She has heard reliable ponies say that, should one reach the Northern Shield, they will be able to make it to the safety of the Empire in three days of trotting."

"Trixie sees no point in staying in Equestria," She frowned, "The Nightmare Queen is a tyrant, and there is nothing here for anypony anymore..."

Sunset thought about that. Realistically, what were the odds anypony could figure out how to return Celestia from wherever she'd gone? Basically zero. There was also the simple fact that the Forbidden Archives were so damningly far out of reach. Perhaps this Crystal Empire would have a library. Something about it also seemed vaguely familiar, as if she'd heard of it in myths or legends. Celestia had loved telling her stories about ancient ponies from long ago, using those as guiding lessons during her tutelage under the Princess. She supposed she'd wrack her brain about it later.

"You're only going off rumors? Are you a moron? What if it's all horseapples?" Sunset posed forth the rude remark, watching Trixie look at her with an expression she'd perhaps never seen so strongly on a pony before; despair.

"Trixie supposes that... Perhaps the rumors could just be rumors. But what is there left to lose?" For the second time, Sunset felt an unwelcome pang of empathy at the mare's hopeful hopelessness. "Trixie has nowhere else she can go, and nothing else she can do."

"So, what? You're just giving up on Equestria?" Trixie just sighed and didn't respond. Sunset turned her head away and looked at the ground, processing everything she'd just heard. The two fell into silent walking, and nopony in the caravan seemed to work up the courage, or had the time, to ask them questions. Eventually, after what must have been another hour of walking, the caravan broke off the path to head towards a wooden-walled outpost. However, as they approached, there was nopony to greet them...

Thick black smoke billowed from beyond the walls.

Chapter 3 - Nightmares of the Night

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Sunset had once read that the most significant portion of a soldier's time was spent waiting. While she wasn't a soldier, she understood the sentiment now. Sunset and Trixie stood outside of the wooden palisade walls of the outpost, the armed ponies accompanying the caravan having called a halt at least ten minutes ago. They had spent the past while doing nothing but waiting as the guardsponies investigated the razed outpost to see if it would be safe for them to bed down for the 'night'. If it wasn't, then they would have to keep going. The idea was extremely unappetizing to her, as she hadn't had anything to eat and hadn't had any rest.

From her perspective, it'd only been a few hours since she'd been arguing with Celestia. At the time, she wished for nothing more than to shovel something nutritious down her throat and then crawl into bed. Had she known this was going to happen, she would've probably argued with Trixie about just bedding down back in her family's manor for the night and making the trip on hoof when they were both rested, but it wasn't like they had anything to eat. Speaking of eating, she looked over and watched as Trixie eyed down a nearby patch of grass. As much as she agreed with the sentiment, lowering herself to graze was... not something she was willing to do yet, despite how much her stomach hurt. It seemed Trixie shared the sentiment, glancing over and sharing a look with Sunset.

Still... "Trixie is starving..." The mare groaned, shifting from hoof to hoof. How long had it been since she'd last eaten anything substantial? Sunset estimated by the thinness of the mare's ribs the answer had to be anywhere from a week to too long. The statement wasn't complaining as much as it was the truth.

"Yeah? So am I." She said in response, raising her head up and looking around. Stealing wasn't great either, but it was better than having to drag around this half-dead encyclopaedia of current events. Trixie is useful, she repeated to herself in her head like a mantra. At this point she supposed there was more than a bit of pity keeping her from just abandoning her on the side of the road. In any case, Sunset refocused her efforts, spotting an unattended case of hardtack nearby on one of the carts.

Trixie seemed to glance over at the same time as her, and she nodded. The act itself was trivial; Sunset merely levitated a couple pieces of the stuff away from its prior owner and... redistributed them to herself and Trixie. While they enjoyed their meal of brick-like stale bread, the other ponies seemed to be entirely occupied on waiting for the guardsponies to return. Sunset was more than happy to shatter her teeth on the horrid rations while they did so. Well, not really, but it was the first thing she'd had to eat in two days, so she wasn't really complaining.

"Trixie suggests you soak it before you eat it." The other mare said, pouring some water from her canteen on the hard stuff. It seemed to soften enough for her to eat it with less difficulty.

"That's good to know," Sunset said, one of the bricks halfway to her mouth. She followed suit with Trixie's suggestion, dousing the shingle with some canteen water and then letting it soak in for a few moments. It seemed to suck the water up, the horrid brick-cracker becoming less and less appetizing the more she observed them and was forced to eat them. Still, it was more dignified than eating off the ground. As if being dignified was something she should prioritize.

She supposed she needed to straighten her priorities out sooner or later. She had food, so she could go for a little while without anything more to eat, but in the future she needed to be less picky about what she ate. Then there was the matter of finding somewhere to lay her head down. She figured once she'd gotten to Lindstrotten she could probably find a hotel to stay at. But then again, she didn't have any money. Maybe there was a property she could... squat in, outside of town preferably.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour of waiting, the pegasi returned. Focusing on their grim expressions, she instantly knew whatever they had to say wasn't something she was going to like. The brown pegasus mare from before stepped up on a nearby boulder to address the caravan, and everypony was instantly at rapt attention. Sunset attended herself as well, an unpleasant feeling boiling in her stomach.

"Listen up everypony!" The brown mare started, "The outpost here isn't safe. We're going to have to keep moving. If we double our pace, we can make the next safe location in less than four hours. I know this isn't what anypony wants to hear, but we really don't have any choice! To keep the load off our haulers, we'll all be taking turns pulling carts."

There were loud complaints in the crowd, which the mare silenced with a hoof. "I know you're all tired. We'll take a short rest here for an hour and then push on. Once we're over the bridge, we'll be home safe!" There seemed to be a consensus of reluctant agreement there among the caravan ponies. The two mares seemed to groan in exhaustion at the same time.

"Trixie will die if she must walk further..." The blue mare moaned in agonized despair, raising her hoof to cover her forehead somewhat dramatically.

Sunset didn't really have anything to say about it, deciding to sit down and rest for the time they were allotted. Trixie looked down at the mare, huffed, and laid down as well. "Trixie does not know how you can be so unsympathetic to her plight!" She complained. "She-"

Sunset cut her off with a stern look, "Look, Trixie. I may be traveling with you but we're not friends, alright? Once we get to Lindstrotten, I'm going off on my own. I can't have you whining and complaining every bucking step of the way, and I have actually important things to do. So shut the buck up, alright?"

Sunset flinched slightly as the mare looked at her with a look that actually seemed hurt, perhaps despairing. Maybe she had been the only pony to show any kind of kindness to Trixie in a long time. The thought made her stomach churn as she watched the blue mare stand up. "F-fine. The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need friends anyway! She will not... bother you with her whining."

The guilt burned a little as she watched the magic mare walk away and lay down somewhere else, sulking while resting. She had figured she kind of made their relationship clear far earlier, but she supposed it didn't matter as long as Trixie wouldn't be sticking around like a stray dog begging for food. She didn't need a two-bit magician once she got to Lindstrotten- there would be plenty of ponies she could interrogate about the state of the world. Ponies who hadn't given up on Equestria.

She distracted herself from her tiredness and slight guilt with thoughts of the future- Equestria was divided, and ruled over by a tyrant. They needed a princess! A mare who could lead them back into the light. It was almost as if destiny had lined up perfectly to put her right where she needed to be. She could be that leader, she could be that shining beacon! And she definitely didn't need a bunch of leeches called friends to do all that. Celestia had told her time and time again that friends were worth her while- that friendship was worth a chance.

All friendship had ever gotten her was heartbreak and a bitter taste in her mouth.

So rather than do something stupid like 'making it up' to Trixie, she sat and stewed in her thoughts. She'd be rid of the mare soon anyway, wouldn't she? Still, something about their last interaction ate at her. She supposed it was... a bit overly rude. Trixie had been one of the only ponies to show her kindness so far, but still. That much was tinged with the expectation of getting something out of it, though. Just like all the other ponies. She grimaced tiredly.

That was enough ruminating. She stomped down all the thoughts she was having and decided to focus on something else more productive. She supposed she had enough time to do one or two things, so she decided first to take off the cloak she'd been provided and examine it. While it wasn't made of the finest substrate for enchanting, she didn't exactly need to [or have the time to] weave complex and powerful enchantments. This place that had once been her peaceful home of Equestria was dangerous- already that much had been made clear when Trixie had been instructed to hoof her a weapon- so she needed at least a bare minimum of protection.

The traveling cloak was made of a thick, durable cloth. It would be good for a number of enchantments, but anything more complex than that would require a more specialized material. The fabric could hold what she needed it to for now, but any talented spellcaster or magic researcher had a garment of clothing or pieces of jewelry with a wide array of protective enchantments on it, mostly for the case of misfired spells or experimentation gone wrong. It would be utterly stupid to go without. Sure she had a bit of a reckless streak... but she was far from stupid.

Most unicorns could get by with a hooffull of minor enchantments on their hoofshoes, as most unicorns didn't know much more than telekinesis and maybe a few basic spells related to their talent. Of course, she smugly grinned, I'm not just any unicorn. For her own purposes, she'd need some pretty heavy duty spells, but for now it'd have to be two fairly easy enchantments. First, she lit her horn, and began to weave the lattice to support the enchantments into being. This process wasn't very taxing at all. It was something Celestia had had her practice maybe a million times growing up.

Imbuing something with magic wasn't a process that could be done on the fly. It was an undertaking, but not so much of one that it would eat up an entire hour of her time. For the first enchantment, she wove a general-purpose shield spell into the lattice, creating multiple endings for the flow of magic. This was a bit less efficient than having one kind of shield spell, but the different 'flow endings' would allow her to cast different kinds of shields on the fly with much less effort, and she had enough raw power to make efficiency an afterthought. A lot of the thinking was taken out of the equation. Not that shield spells were incredibly difficult to cast, but flowing magic through an enchantment was always faster than manual casting.

The shield could be personal or summoned elsewhere, and also would have the capability to be either a bubble or a plane. Both had their uses. Then the branched endings would allow her to either proof against fire or kinetic impacts- she would need the former if she intended to cast a lot of fire spells. The enchantment wasn't too hard to weave together, even considering that she had a time limit. She sighed as she finished, feeling a slight tinge of exertion. That was to be expected- even though she had a monstrous capacity, this was still not the type of spellcasting she was specifically aligned with.

The next enchantment would be much easier, since it was at least tangentially related to her field of expertise. Working her horn again, she began to weave into the cloak a powerful fire-retardant warding spell. The ward was something she also had enchanted her horseshoes with, but it was best to be safe and go ahead and do the same to her cloak. The ward would be able to draw in passively ambient arcane energy to keep itself powered, but a ward of this level would also occasionally need to be charged manually if it saw heavy usage. Hopefully it wouldn't.

She levitated the cloak up and eyed the matrices that were held within the lattice. There was a good bit of 'room' left in the lattice to put a hooffull of more spells in. She could probably weave something fairly complex in if she had the time, but she wasn't able to immediately come to a decision. A teleportation matrix would be great, but-

"Alright everypony! We need to get a move on if we want to make the next outpost anytime soon. Everypony get ready to move out!"

Save it for later, Sunset. No time for rest. She sighed and stood up.

The caravan had resumed its walking pace. The ponies seemed content to leave the strange, relatively well-groomed mare who had powerful magic alone. That suited her just fine. Since their prior discussion, Trixie also seemed to give Sunset her space. Not that she minded that either. She hardened her heart against the tiny pangs of remorse and carried on. It would be better this way- she didn't need ponies getting in her way and distracting her from her goals, or holding her back. She most certainly didn't need dumb ponies who thought they knew the best thing for her and wouldn't ever give her any clear answers about anything.

She unclenched her teeth and snorted. Getting angry about things that were done and gone wouldn't help anything. Once she figured out the Alicorn problem, she'd beat the stuffing out of the Nightmare Queen and put her back in time out on the moon. Then the ponies would adore her, and she would be loved across the land. They would give of themselves freely to her without asking for stupid things in return.

At least, that was how it would all play out in her head. She supposed it was kind of childish to entertain those fantasies- she wasn't stupid. When she became a princess, there would be responsibility. But at the same time, with all that power, she could just make everypony do whatever she wanted them to. That's what Nightmare Moon had done, hadn't she? She'd just be... a bit nicer about it. More tact. Ponies didn't have to suffer while doing what she wanted them to; in fact it would be better for them. Celestia had taught her well in that way. There were plenty of ways to manipulate a pony into doing things you wanted them to and making them enjoy it at the same time.

Lost in her own head, she nearly slammed horn-first into the cart she was walking behind when a whistle rung out, and another halt was called. Stumbling to a stop right before she would've hurt herself, the unicorn raised her head to look around, trying to get a sign of what exactly was going on. They'd been walking for at least another few hours now, or at least it felt like it, and estimation was the only way she could tell time without some kind of clock. She'd seen some sort of timepiece on most ponies around here, but neither she nor Trixie had one. She'd have to fix that at some point.

The brown pegasus guardsmare's voice rang out, the mare whose name she still didn't know, "Everypony keep your eyes and ears out! We might run into undead from here on! Keep your weapons on-hoof, and resume march!"

There were worried whispers among the caravaneers. Sunset sighed and decided it was probably a good idea for her to keep her eyes out. Even if she wasn't exactly an experienced combatant, her fire spells would be useful in dealing with the undead. They tended not to like being set on fire, she'd been told at some point. She thought it was perhaps one of her professors in the Defense Against Maleficarum 101 class- but maybe it had been Celestia. Either way, spells aligned with fire would work against the undead better than simple force blasts or other spells that placed more emphasis on the actual magic doing the direct work.

It was still a bit sickening to think about- burning something alive- but if she had to do it to defend herself she wouldn't hesitate. She supposed it would be lamentable if Trixie and these other ponies didn't make it to their destination either.

The caravan seemed more tense now as they walked. An earth pony mare and her daughter were bundled up in cloaks of their own, walking somewhat nearby to Sunset. She'd seen the green-eyed earth pony filly occasionally glance over to her in interest, but admittedly she didn't really like interacting with kids. All the crying and whining and fussing from that brat Blueblood had put her off of foalcare for a lifetime. She still didn't know why Celestia made her foalsit that brat. Maybe she was trying to teach her... something. Discipline maybe. Either way, it hadn't worked as intended. After the last time he'd decided to bite her, she refused to put up with the little hellion anymore.

In a sense that had kind of been the beginning of her disillusionment with Celestia.

Enough of the inward; she focused outward. The forest was dark and the light from their caravan shone brightly out into the woods, sure to attract anything with half a brain cell for miles, if it could see through all the thick pines. The heavy wind still blew, and subtle tingles in her horn alerted her to the possibility of rain soon. Looking up into the sky, she could see thick, dark clouds on the horizon, blotting out the starlight and the moon. It would rain soon, and plainly that wasn't good for her. While she wasn't useless when it was raining, she'd have to pour a lot more power into her fire spells to get anything done- should it be necessary to actually do anything.

The rain would be on them soon enough, and it'd make their already arduous trek even more of a journey. She flipped the hood up on her traveling cloak. The sturdy fabric would probably be enough to provide at least a little protection from the elements, but the armchair tactician in her [the one who'd read all the old stories about the Griffonian Clan Wars as a filly] immediately pointed out the obvious- the rain would decrease their visibility horribly and ground their fliers. No pegasus wanted to be flying in high winds and whipping rain. Most ponies from her time would probably balk at the idea of even considering going out in this uncontrolled weather at all.

She glanced over and noticed Trixie retrieving a worn and beaten wizard's hat styled in the same fashion as her cloak, the article sticking to her head despite inclement weather. An enchantment, probably, although Trixie probably didn't have the magical knowledge to explain it given what she'd seen so far. She found herself puzzling for another moment whether she should've said what she said to the mare, and if she should apologize. She was about to get her out of her hair soon anyway. Trixie seemed to notice her staring, but her eyes lit up with shock as she seemed to look past Sunset, raising a hoof to point at something behind her.

That was just another harsh reality of Nightmare Moon's Equestria that she was facing head-first today. Never lose focus, and expect the unexpected.

When she turned, she didn't need to be a genius, although she is, to know what she was looking at.

The wall of pallid, rotted, foetid flesh was charging wildly into the side of the caravan. There must have been dozens of the things; a crowd of mangled bodies that seemed neverending. The horrid stench the ravening corpses brought wasn't something she'd ever experienced, nor did she ever want to experience again. They were more than enough for her. Sunset couldn't move her legs as she stared in the milky eyes of one of the dead ponies charging straight for her, its rotted mouth hung open like a dog. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she stood there in horror.

"SUNSET!" Somepony was screaming in her ear, but she couldn't think, she couldn't move. Her blood was full of ice as she watched the undead monster lunge towards her, its head snapped to the side as it went for her neck, salivating jowls wide.

This thing wanted to eat her. She was its prey.

Ponies had not become one of the dominant species on the planet out of sheer luck, although perhaps there had been a divine guiding hoof involved in the process. Sure, everypony had herd instincts and would do what everypony else was doing, and failing that they usually had the prescience to run before things got too dangerous, but what happened when a pony was cornered? Specifically, a unicorn, in this instance. Monsters were a reality in Equestria, and when faced with mortal danger, nopony would cower and let it happen. That just didn't make sense from any perspective.

Earth ponies scrapped- they put up a Tartarus of a fight with all that durability and monstrous strength they seemed to have. Pegasi dodged and ducked and flew away to fight another day. But what does a unicorn do when they can't run? There's the obvious answer; casting a spell, but then there's the one that most ponies would balk at in spite of the fact that it was sheer instinct.

Unicorns had a very hard, very strong, very sharp horn. It was a misconception that unicorn horns were fragile or sensitive; they were on less-talented casters, but the more skilled a pony grew with magic, the more durable that little implement on their head grew. It had to, otherwise it would fracture to pieces when they drew up too much power into it, just like an overloaded battery exploding. A strong caster's horn took immense physical force to break- perhaps enough to necessitate running their horn over with a train just to see anything happen. The horn was also ridiculously difficult to break or damage with outside magic. Effectively the same principle as trying to kill something like a zombie- a highly magical being- with magic.

Sunset was probably one of, if not the most powerful unicorn for kilometers. And she had a very strong horn- one that had been strengthened by a dozen miscasts.

All this is to say that when instinct screamed at her, she ducked and lunged forward, a splatter of ichorous blood spraying her face and hair as her neck and shoulders screamed agony at her. She had managed to arrest the thing's charge without snapping her neck by sheer fact that the corpse didn't possess any of the innate earth pony magic it would in life. The thing scrabbled against her and its teeth chomped down ineffectively on her right wither, but the flesh there wasn't quite as tender as her neck. It didn't manage to break skin.

Sunset acted on autopilot, summoning magical energy into a blast of kinetic force and throwing it out through her horn. More of the blood splattered onto her as the thing was sent bowling back into the crowd with a shattered-apart torso, some of her fur in its teeth, but she wasn't bleeding yet and nothing except her neck hurt.

In the next moment somepony grabbed her and hauled her behind the cart, her stomach rejecting its contents in the same moment. Down was up and up was right. She felt dizzy, like somepony had hit her in the head with a rock [they sort of had]. Trixie was in her face screaming and that was enough to get her to focus- by Faust that mare was annoying. "What?!" She hollered loudly and dumbly, blubbering past the bile in her mouth.

"We need to run!" Trixie said, grabbing her by the hoof and dragging her forward. Sunset looked around for a moment and witnessed as the caravan was swamped. A unicorn was tackled to the ground, fighting off a horde of the things as they nipped at him, using a rock held in his telekinesis to fend them off. She hadn't had time yet to register this was all really happening, but when she saw a chunk of that stallion's leg get torn off, her brain started firing again.

"No!" Her mouth erupted for her, stumbling away from Trixie. A princess didn't run from danger, she charged straight for it! She fought for the ponies of Equestria, and Faust damn it, she wasn't going to let anypony get killed on her watch!

A fire like the sun burned in her veins, and her horn was alight. Without warning, the air crackled with burning ozone as she ripped apart molecules of hydrogen and oxygen like paper. She bounded forward and jumped atop an abandoned wagon, Trixie following behind as several of the zombie horde stumbled after her. Like moths to a flame, the undead horde saw life force, and saw that it was offering itself on a silver platter.

Fireballs shot out into the dark; she turned the undead attacking the stallion into chunks of rotten meat and viscera, ash and bone. She whipped to her left and saw that green-eyed filly and her mother being attacked! She gathered energy again, a gout of pressurized fire melting through the crowd. The twisted corpses stumbled away from the flame as it licked their necrotic skin and caught like tinder. The undead, even though they were flesh, could not abide flame and cleansing light.

The pegasi and other guardsmares who had been protecting the caravan were embattled far ahead, having managed to gather a sizeable amount of the caravaneers up into a defensive formation before things had gone south. Shouts and calls and screams rang out across the battlefield, and that told Sunset she wasn't done. The undead were stupid, yes, but they seemed endless. Explosions ripped through their ranks as she burned through her magic reserves clearing the way for the ponies who had been left behind. Sweat poured down her brow.

Beside her, Trixie screamed in fear as several of the zombies began to try to pile up onto the cart they were taking shelter on top of. She swung at them the dagger in her telekinesis, barely warding the things off. One of them got far too close, grabbing Trixie by one of her hooves and almost pulling her off the side as the mare screamed, but Sunset responded by blowing the thing into scorched chunks with a directed fireblast. Trixie stumbled away from the edge of the cart towards Sunset.

They needed to leave. "Get close! I'm going to teleport us!" She barked at Trixie over the howling wind and the din of battle. The blue mare drew close without further complaint and Sunset grabbed onto her barrel with a hoof, flinging her eyes foreward to where the majority of the caravan was. Some hadn't made it, but there was too much going on for her to know that yet.

Teleporting two ponies was difficult, but it wasn't impossible. She'd practiced it before; she knew all the safety precautions to take. Space ripped around her and the world turned black for a split-second, the pop and the stench of burnt ozone letting her know she'd succeeded in her endeavors. Now they were further ahead, where the caravaneers who'd made it were making a fighting retreat against the horde. A guardsmare was pulled down by the horde and disappeared into it before Sunset could do anything. It shook her resolve, but she couldn't freeze again. She had to act. Do something, Sunset!

Digging for power, she ripped apart the air once again, a flame wall springing to life in front of the guardsmares who were holding the line. With the wind blowing towards the horde, the flame would catch easily.

"EVERYPONY RETREAT!" One of the guardsmares screamed as the flames washed over the undead horde like a rolling tide. Sunset balked as she watched the primordial force of fire rip through their ranks, turning the unholy monsters into piles of ash as it caught between them. She had heard that fire was effective against them, but she had never known it was this terrifically effective. Being upwind of the horde, she couldn't smell the burning flesh anymore, but the stench still hung in her nostrils. Trixie tugged on her foreleg as she stood there dumbly, the two mares joining the stampede as they fled away from the rapidly-developing wildfire.

The fire blazed as they ran, ran like the wind. The bridge they needed to cross was just up ahead! It would form a natural chokepoint that they could fight the undead from, and that would be key to their survival. The zombies weren't smart enough to swim, and if they jumped in, they'd get pulled away by the river and dashed against the rocks anyway. If anypony had time to think, they might've realized what a dumb idea it was to put a horde like that in a chokepoint.

Built over a rushing river, the sturdy stone bridge had stood there since before the last time Nightmare Moon had been banished from the realm, and would probably stand there for centuries. The river was five meters below, deep, and dark like the night. White froth rushed over rocks as the river headed downhill, down towards the coast. The bridge itself had to have been at least twenty meters long. By all means, it was a marvel of pony engineering that had stood the test of time.

Fortunately, it held up remarkably well as over a dozen ponies thundered across it at once, laden down with what they could carry from their caravans. Sunset was especially grateful for this as she skidded to a stop on the other side, right behind the forming line of guardsmares. She got the feeling her pyromancy would be needed.

There was a sudden quiet as the ponies reached the other side. The non-combatants were laying down and licking their wounds as what counted for medical personnel amongst the caravaneers dispensed aid to the injured. The sudden calm was something she hadn't really expected, and her body let her know how much it despised the abuse she had put it through all at once.

She panted and fell onto her haunches, her head pounding from the exertion of running for her life and expending so much magic. She thought she knew her own limits, and she swore that she shouldn't have been feeling this tired from using so little magic. She'd only cast a hooffull of fire spells, and those were her specialty! Her horn ached, feeling quite warm, and she felt more than a bit magically winded. Sunset supposed it could've been the enchantments she'd woven earlier, but... It just didn't add up in her head.

"Stupid mare! You could've gotten us killed!" Trixie wheezed, collapsed on the ground from exertion. "Do you have... any kind of sense of self-preservation?!"

She didn't deign to answer her, huffing and puffing as she tried to sort her thoughts. Trixie wasn't having any of it, picking up a twig in her magic and tossing it at her. The thwap of it striking her barrel made her flinch, but it did make her glare over at Trixie, finally paying attention.

Sunset snapped at her, "You'd be bucking dead if it wasn't for me! Throw something at me again and I'll shove it so far up your flank that they'l-"

A sharp whistle cut her off as the brown pegasus mare from before called each and every one of them to attention. "Look alive! The rotting bastards are coming again!"

Sunset staggered to her hooves and hopped atop a rock to see over the guardsmares, watching as the horde of undead shambled onto the bridge, many of them horribly burned and scorched, but still walking. What concerned her more was the fact that the massive wildfire seemed to be just gone now, snuffed out by some unknown force. That could only mean that there was a mage skulking about in the area providing the horde support, and direction.

The undead stopped halfway across the bridge, groaning and growling like feral dogs. The guardsmares kept their spears leveled towards the threat, the pegasi hovering off to the side of the bridge, ready to divebomb the horde. But nothing happened. A pregnant silence, tension rising.

A voice called out from the other side of the bridge as a cloaked white unicorn mare stepped through the crowd, the undead parting like water for her, "I am a servant eternal of Mistress Nightmare Moon! By right of law, your pathetic mortal lives are forfeit to me for whatever purposes I deem necessary to Her cause! You shall lay down your weapons and bring forth your pyromancer for summary execution. I order this in Her name!" She was imperious, arrogant. The way she walked exuded infinite confidence. Sunset already didn't like her.

The brown pegasus mare looked to her subordinates for a moment, scowling. "We're not taking that deal." She grunted, audible mostly only to those around her.

"What do we do, Captain? She's got us outnumbered!" One of the guardsmares whisper-yelled. "They'll trample us down with all those bodies!"

"We'll-" The Captain began to speak, before Sunset cleared her throat.

"Everypony move! I'll talk to her." Sunset said, stepping forward and pushing her way through the throng of guardsponies. The Captain flew in front of her and put a hoof out, stopping her for a moment.

"Look, kid, you don't have to go out there. We have no idea what in the Tartarus that mare's capable of, and if she's the necromancer then you're as good as dead if you get in range of her horn." The brown mare, the Captain, was stern, but her voice was tinged with genuine concern.

"You wanna get home or what? Let me bucking talk to her. Maybe I can get her to back off, distract her long enough that everypony can get away. I can teleport and no one else here can, so I'm automatically the most qualified for the job."

The Captain stared at her hard. She sighed and nodded, before hovering back into the sky. "Don't get yourself killed, kid."

"Just get everypony moving the minute she's not looking." She scoffed.

She stepped out onto the bridge, heading forward to meet the witch half-way...

The rain had started coming down as she stepped out onto the bridge, the sky opening up with wind and thunder and buckets of water as the two mares walked towards each other.

Sunset stared down the dark mage as she walked forward. The mare was taller than her, with a smooth, curved horn that dwarfed her own [not that size mattered, it really was all about how you used it]. The mare had a stark white coat that seemed to deflect filth. Her long, green mane hung down from her cloak's hood. Sunset couldn't see any part of her face except for her smugly grinning muzzle, but she didn't need to see her eyes to figure that they were stark red with green sclera and burning purple flame at the edges of her eyes. The cursemark of dark magic on its users.

The mare strutted forward like a cat, full of confidence and smug satisfaction. She thought she couldn't be harmed. Maybe she couldn't, and it made Sunset honestly think about why the Tartarus she'd come out here to potentially die. Her heart thundered in her chest and sweat poured down her brow, but she stood tall. The dark mage couldn't see her evident fear with the rain pouring down.

Oh, and the rain. It didn't make her flame magic useless, but she estimated she maybe had only a few good spells left in her even without the rain pouring down. She'd need to put so much power into any flame spell she cast that it wasn't really worth it. She didn't have an ace-in-the-hole other than teleportation, and even that was probably a pipe dream. This mare could probably teleport with her eyes closed. Or could she?

Sunset dug into her preternatural senses and felt the world around her as she stopped a couple meters away from the dark mage. She felt the waves of power thrum against her horn as the mare stopped, dead ahead. But what she didn't detect in that mare was structure. She didn't see the organized thrum of matrices; only the fuzzy, shadowy edges of raw power. It was hard to explain, but the way you cast magic determined what your 'aura' looked like. Sunset could tell just by looking at her in this way that she wasn't an educated caster; just a very strong one.

She stood up straight. Raised her chin. Looked down her nose at the monstrous mage before her. Dark mages drew power from lashing out wildly with their emotions. They thrived off the fear of other ponies, cowing them with their 'power' before the battle even begun. This dark mage was stronger than her, but Sunset knew she was smarter. If it came to spells, and it would, then she would come out on top. She knew it. She just needed to keep her talking. Anger her. Make her mad enough to make mistakes and fling around power like a foal having a tantrum.

She smirked smugly, watching as the dark mage suddenly seemed to frown, noticing Sunset's sudden confidence.

"I am Sunset Shimmer, Dame Solar of Equestria! I demand to know your name, Maleficarum." Sunset inflected her voice with all the arrogance and confidence she could muster. She was better than this brutish amateur who could probably not even cast anything more advanced than teleportation.

The dark mage cackled, "A knight of Equestria? You?! I can hear your heart thundering little mare, but soon, it will not beat at all..."

"I am Moonshadow Darkblood, and-" Sunset couldn't help herself- she interrupted Moonshadow Darkblood with an involuntary guffaw.

"Moonshadow Darkblood? Are you bucking serious? Did you pick that one out at Hoof Topic?" She couldn't stop laughing at the name, backing up slightly as she tried not to fall over. The dark mage, for her part, looked absolutely furious.

"H-how, how badly were you bullied in school? Did you like, not get the hint that that's the most dork-ass bucking name you could've possibly chosen? Holy ponyfeathers girl." She wheezed.

"Silence you foal!" Moonshadow Darkblood barked in rage. "I am a powerful vampire, and a true child of the Night Mare herself! I will not be-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut the buck up already." Sunset interrupted. "Listen, Moonshadow Darkblood, I'm willing to give you an offer. You take your little army of corpses and you walk right back home to whatever shitty little hole you crawled out of, and I won't turn you inside out." She wasn't certain about her ability to actually do that, but it didn't matter. She just needed to bluff hard enough to get her going.

Wait, did she say she's a vampire? The thought suddenly registered in her mind as the white mare flipped back her hood, glaring hatefully at her with stark red, bloodshot slitted eyes. That was... new. It wasn't what she was expecting, but it didn't matter. She could feel the dark magic rolling off the mare.

"I do not think you understand, little mare... I will slaughter every mortal here like a dog. I will string you up in the dungeons and keep you alive as a living blood bank. I will snap every bone in your pathetic body like twigs and watch you squirm. You will wish for death by the time I am done with you!" The vampony snarled, taking a step forward.

Sunset smirked. "Sure, if you say so. But I got a question for you to answer before you do all that. Is it true that vampires melt in water?"

It was suicidal. It was incredibly bucking stupid. It was borderline insane. But the bridge didn't have any magic in it; it wasn't a living thing, and she didn't detect any strong enchantments keeping the thing together. She lit her horn, gathered every single ounce of magical energy she could pull together in just a few moments, and fired a beam of heat and kinetic force into the ground right in front of herself. A blazing cyan beam, bright enough to leave spots in her vision, leapt from her horn and crashed through the stone like wet paper.

The vampire dove back in shock, hissing in pain as the blazing light and heat burned her skin. But that wasn't the only problem she would face.

Sunset was by no means an expert on vampires or undead, but every piece of fiction she'd read about vampires mentioned their utter incapability to enter water without shriveling up and dying. It was a stupid gambit. It was a nonsensical move, reckless. It was exactly the kind of move that Princess Celestia would've disapproved of.

The world dropped out beneath her as the bridge collapsed.

She flailed in the air for but a moment, and then...

Her world went dark as she slammed into something hard, a loud CRUNCH and a searing pain the last thing she felt before unconsciousness took her.

Goodnight Sunset!

Interlude I - ORANGE LETTERS IN RETROGRADE

View Online

Everything that is done has a cost; an equal and opposite reaction whatever action is performed.

What is the cost of running a nation?

As it turns out, when that nation is not run by an ancient alicorn with centuries of experience and access to hundreds of ancient cogitators and predictive tools made by mages long-dead, the bureaucracy becomes much more complex. Thousands of new administrators were required to be instated to just keep Nightmare Moon's government out of the fire. A veritable ant colony of administrative who carried out small, individual tasks that all fed into the greater whole. A carefully designed nightmare-dumpster-fire that would keep everypony involved guessing as to what they were actually complicit in, and tons of money to keep them working like good little ants.

Few ponies understood exactly what was going on. He envied them. He really did envy them.

Prince Blueblood had once been a proud, broad-chested stallion of exceptional social and physical stature. He'd been a proud member of noble society, a true paragon of all that nobility were expected to be. Larger than life, powerful, wealthy, rich. He was a socialite pas d'égal, a true scion of Princess Platinum's long, long lineage. He had everything he could want, and everypony desired him, to be like him, to be with him. He was at the top of the world.

He hated every second of it. He despised being hoofed out a meaningless title for something a long-dead mare had done. He hated playing dress-up and pretending to be interested in mares who only had their eye on his money, or the idea of him, or simply the status of being married to a Prince of Equestria. Most of all, however, he despised himself, a stallion of absolutely no talent who had been handed the world on a silver platter. If he wanted anything, all he had to do was to run to Princess Celestia and ask her nicely for anything. She'd always humor him, hide her annoyance, but ultimately she still loved him like a mother loved a son. A spoiled rotten son, but still a son nonetheless.

Maybe if he had asked for what he really, truly wanted, he wouldn't have been in the situation he was in. He couldn't know for sure. As much as he took advantage of what he'd been given, he never asked for any of it. It was selfish to think like that. Imagine what others could do with his situation! The lives they could change! The things they could do! And all he did with all that wealth, all that status, was throw parties where he pretended not to despise everyone present, including himself.

He was tired. His sunken eyes had deep dark circles around them, his long, untamed, greasy mane hanging around his face. He could feel his fur stretched taut over his ribs, he was frightfully thin and weak. His hooves shook as he lifted the cup of coffee and brought it to his muzzle, drinking back the long-cold half-full cup of dark stuff. He felt like he was going to puke- again. The third time today. Maybe he should see a physician. Did he even have time for that?

A thousand stacks of paper filled his office, the white pillars towering to the ceiling. He levitated a skirmish report from the South onto his desk and allowed the empty coffee cup to clatter back on the mahogany, leaving another dent in the once-perfect surface. He didn't care. Not out of a knowledge that he could simply have it replaced, but simply out of apathy. The battle report told him that two soldiers had died. Their records of service were paperclipped to the report. Two letters from the commanding officer that needed to be sent home to grieving mothers and fathers.

He stamped it with the royal seal, addressed it to the Field Marshal's office, and placed it in the outgoing pile. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to sit there and cry again, over ponies he didn't even know. He didn't have the energy or the time for that anymore.

There was, suddenly, without warning and completely out of the ordinary, a knock on his office's door. He put his quill and stamp down and rested his hooves on the desk, taking a moment to try and make himself look slightly more presentable. "Come in." He said, projecting what little authority his gravelly, dead voice could manage.

Swift Wing, the pegasus guardstallion he'd come to rely on for certain tasks, stepped into his office and saluted, the door closed behind him with a wing. "Prince Blueblood, sir. You've been at work for eighteen hours, sir. Respectfully, sir, you need to rest."

Blueblood scowled, growled, and opened his mouth to give a scathing remark... and then he stamped his hoof down on the table and sighed. "Speak freely, Swift Wing, without all the... decorum. And yes, you are right."

"You've been working yourself to death, sir." The pegasus stallion trotted forward, stepping over a short stack of papers. He was shorter than most guardsponies were really supposed to be, but Celestia had always made exceptions she really shouldn't have. The stallion was a dull, olive green with an impressively dull brown mane to match. The tips of his wings were also brown. Certainly some earth pony blood in there, with that sort of color scheme, although Blueblood hadn't ever asked about it. It didn't matter anyway.

"I would hope you have something other than the obvious to state, Corporal." He sighed, steepling his hooves. "Any news from the North?"

Swift Wing nodded, unfurling his wing and taking the folder held under it into his teeth. He delicately placed it on Blueblood's desk. "I've been keeping an eye out for anything that crosses the Field Marshal's office's desks that we could use. I managed to snatch this report before anypony filed it, so everything in here's fresh intelligence. It mentions a skilled pyromancer defending a caravan against one of the Queen's pet necromancers."

"I see." Blueblood said, levitating over the folder and opening it up. As he leafed through the pages, his eyes widened. "This is impossible... Sunset Shimmer, here? Auntie had the mirror moved by SMILE to a secure location over a decade ago. The fact she isn't in the Queen's clutches is a miracle..."

"Sunset Shimmer, sir?" Swift Wing asked, uninformed on the topic.

"An arrogant, ambitious foal who was once Auntie's student, before she took in Sparkle. She was unbelievably talented with all sorts of magic, but one day she injured several guardsponies and entered some sort of magic mirror. All indications led SMILE to believe she had been held in some sort of stasis on the other side- wherever the other side was." He spoke thoughtfully, but it wasn't hard to tell he was troubled.

"What should we do?" He asked, trying to get Blueblood to think on a more constructive train of thought than whatever he was no doubt mulling over at the moment.

He thought hard. "Auntie had SMILE deliver several important artifacts to my estate on the Day of the Longest Night. Most of those were seized by the Queen, but there were a few I managed to hide in time. A set of journals that linked to one another so the two owners could communicate were one such artifact. As I understand it, Shimmer used it as a study journal, but we could use it to get into contact with her."

"If we can get the journal to her." Swift Wing said, nodding. "I can have a courier deliver it. No questions asked. Still got a few buddies from my time on the weather team who I'd rely on for anything."

Blueblood mulled it over for a moment. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Thinking. Making decisions. "No, I want you to hoof-deliver it and then return to me. I'll have somepony pack your saddlebags for the trip. If things go as planned, we can leave Canterlot for good. With Fancy."

"I can do that, sir, but we still don't have any idea how to get him out of the dungeons. It won't be much longer before they hold the trial..."

Blueblood turned around in his swivel chair and flung open the curtains to look out onto the gothic streets of Nightmare Moon's Canterlot. What had once been a shining white beacon of Equestria's purity, love, and wealth, was now a dark reminder of the demon that had infested it to the very core. The streets below were still and quiet, with most ponies choosing not to even go outside these days unless they had to. Roaring parties still carried on; everypony wanted to ignore how far things had gone. They wanted to pretend like the war effort was a normal cause to hold a function for. That sending the soldiers overseas care packages with fundraiser money was just the way it had always been.

"I will burn this city to ashes before I let that demonic bitch harm a hair on his head." He growled, standing to his hooves in spite of the dizziness and nausea that fought to overwhelm him when he did so. "Inform the digging team that the time-table has moved forward. They'll be rewarded accordingly."

"I will. And sir? Get a shower and some rest. You really need it." With that, Swift Wing stepped out of the office, leaving Blueblood to his devices.

Blueblood pressed his face to the glass, leaning on the window. He sighed and let the tears fall.

Maybe he didn't have any right to feel the way he did, but Equestria was falling apart, and so was he in trying to keep it together. It would've been easy to let the apathy take him and do whatever the Nightmare Queen wanted, but then she'd had Fancy Pants arrested for conspiracy to commit treason. The only pony, perhaps other than Swift Wing, he considered a true friend. A friend who he'd had long fireside chats with. A friend who he'd been beside since childhood. He remembered playing in the gardens together. A friend he'd taken for granted; somepony who he should've let himself get closer to. A friend who understood the way he felt.

Perhaps the only pony in the world he felt he could really, truly trust.

He was hedging all his bets on a mare who probably just wanted to continue her own ambitions and didn't really care anything about anypony else. What else did he have to put his hopes on? Sparkle hadn't been seen since the Day of the Longest Night. There was nopony else to stand up to the Night Mare with even half the magical talent that Shimmer and Sparkle possessed, and all the most powerful sorcerers in the land other than that wayward pyromancer worked for the Night Mare herself.

The cost of running a nation was everything he could give, and more.

Lost Sun

by crossed

Chapter 1 - Broken Things

Chapter 2 - Hoof It

Chapter 3 - Nightmares of the Night

Interlude I - ORANGE LETTERS IN RETROGRADE