OHM’s LAW

DEMOCRACY

"We voted." Applejack grumbled. "Ayes had it. You're our friend now."

She didn't need to ask -- it was no challenge to dissect the uneasy silence into an
answer as obvious as the day: Fluttershy's eyes hid behind a veil of pink hair.
Pinkie's annoying smile. Rarity's nigh-imperceptible nod, Rainbow Dash rolling her
eyes before being distracted by something shiny somewhere... They were all so
obvious.

"Don’t I get a vote?"

"No."

KISSING THE RING

“S-since, the princess--” Aqua Blossom started

“T-t-t-wilight,” Suri quickly interjected.

“--isn’t coming back…” Aqua trailed off.

“W-we thought th-that,” Coco swallowed. “With the new Student Body President
elections coming up...”

“You’d want something nice. To wear. Er.. not that your clothes aren’t already
nice.” Suri added, tones of panic creeping in.

“Yes, very nice. Great even.”

“Perfect!”

Cowards. Already the whatever magic the little princess cast over them was fading,
and they came running to prostrate themselves before the only power they knew.

She felt too weak to even hurt them. She wanted though. Badly. Not physically, just
with words - she knew exactly what to say to make it hurt worse than any blow, but
it didn’t come -- just dizziness, making her head spin, and the sour taste of bile
in her mouth.

“Thank you girls.” This much she could do by rote -- a warm tone of voice that
would make her seem grateful and unthreatening, a touch to the forearm as she took
the gift, a little nod to let them know that they did the right thing, “The fashion
clique can always count on the Student Body President’s support.”

Those smiles… half-fakery, half-relief. It just made it so, so much worse.

I did that.

She did it. She took real, living humans, and reduced them to this. Sniveling,
spineless…things, who only kneel because she hamstrung them.

And it was glorious.

HER-ARCHY

“The hyenas wait while the lions feed,” Sunset noted with satisfaction. “For all
that the Princess did, human nature does not change.”

"They're just being cordial, darling. Not everything has to be so... beastly.
Besides, it's not like the cafeteria is going to run out of their mystery tofu any
time soon."

"It's not about food or the waiting time -- it's about the hierarchy. A base
person, a loser by his nature, he thinks 'There' s enough for everyone. I'm not
going to start a fight, get in trouble for a few minutes. Let those idiots fight
over scraps like wild animals.' and thus the powerful take that they want, the weak
get stuck at the end of the queue, and each knows who the other is."

"Ah notice yer sitting here with us, sugarcube, waiting for your turn."

Sunset shrugged. "I play a different game.”

"Hey, Sunset! Why are you hanging out with these weirdos?" a pink and silver
freshmen girls dropped at the table, pushing Fluttershy down the bench
unceremoniously to make space for themselves.”Here's your tofuburger and salad.”

Applejack glared at the kids and adjusted her seating slightly to give everyone
space.

"I need them for the plans," Sunset explained, "as we discussed."

"Whfat pfan?" Rainbow perked up from her fries.

"To get Sunset back in charge," Diamond gleefully reported. Silver spoon nodded
along, producing a pack of papers.

"What on earth for?" Rarity demanded "To make things as they were? I'm afraid we
wouldn't help you with that, darling, even as your friends. Especially as your
friends."

"Yeah. Everyone was super-mean and kinda sad before Twilight came to our school!"

"I.. I didn't like it as it was before. It was scary."

"Relax," Sunset waved her hand away. "I have no intention of rebuilding something
that was destroyed with twenty minutes’ conversation and one song-and-dance number.
We're doing everything better now. And that's why I need you."

"Well, I suppose--"

"Today's problem is budgeting.."

CHAPTER 5 - BUDGETfINGS
"All right, Silver read them in."

"Sunset, are you sure? They're... " Silver scandalized by a mere prospect of
someone reading her precious paperwork, tried to object.

"I need their opinion. Besides, we are changing things anyway, so this is outdated.
Read them in. Please."

Silver looked to Diamond for support but finding none gave up. Giving a last glance
to the tables in front of her, she began explaining from memory.

"The basic scheme is very simple. Each year we get a big fixed sum on all club and
society expenses. It is Student Council, and Student body president privilege to
distribute them as they see fit, provided Celestia and Luna don't get too many
complaints. The funds are then used by the respective clubs according to pre-
submitted budgets for events, activities, equipment, uniforms - whatever. This”,
Silver waved a paper in her right hand, “is the sort of thing we report to
Celestia. Something that shows a reasonable balance of interest and academic clubs,
with academics getting at least one and a half times more funds since this is a
school.”

“In reality” she pointed at another accounting sheet “the picture is entirely
different. The techies don't get the money, because they get - ahem - appropriated
by Spot and his gang, in lieu of not bullying individual students for lunch money.
Punks and Comedy get almost nothing, because they never read the budgets or
complain to Principal anyway, and that money goes to buy off Drama and Fashion,
while Rockers and Athletes do get their fair share"

"Hey, wait a second!" Pinkie's eyes went wide with realization "So it was you who
cut all the funds my "Days that start with a "D" party" idea? You really
[i]were[/i] evil back then!"
"....then Athletes take up the Fashion and Ecos for half of the surplus so that
they don't get beaten up in sports too hard..."

"We never did that! I would never..." Rainbow tried to object.

"Yeah, [i]you[/i] didn't. Gilda and Lightning Dust did, though. You just never
noticed... or cared."
Diamond gave her one of her mother's best poisonous smiles.

"..as I was saying. The school paper gets half of what it should, and gets
resupplied by using equipment to forge permission slips and medical notes, sell
fake ids, running auctions on slander and some of the less choice material between
the club presidents, as well as straight-up blackmail. Fashion keeps overspending,
so we had an agreement that Drama buys their props and costumes off them which
recoups the difference, while the tech clubs sell homework and test answers to
scramble at least something for their clubs, and we actually have a timesha. Five
percent off each deal and the overall budget gets kicked up to us, as a guarantee
of deal compliance and to make paperwork look legit for Principals, as well as
fifteen percent off Spot for cleaning money out of club budget into cash. Some of
it goes to our expenses and bribes, most goes to Sunset."

"What? I've got to eat." Sunset hid behind her drink, trying to fend off the
accusing stares, "and I [i]was[/i] evil"

"Big G got paid through Athlete and Spot's channels separately, and me and Silver
took our cut out of school paper" - Diamond expanded.

"Why in tarnation would you even do that? Yer already rich off your daddys’
allowance."

Diamond shrugged "It's the principle of the thing, really. First rule of life -- if
you’re good at something, never do it for free."

Sunset pushed down the smile of approval before anyone but her student could
notice. That was past-Sunset line of thought...even if she still thought that was
true, she could appreciate how it would be frowned upon to say those things out
loud in this particular case. She cleared her throat and tried to get back to the
agenda at hand.

"So you see, if we try to straighten it up, either Spot and Dogs start hunting
students for extra cash and sport or we gotta explain to Celestia how the
Crocheting Club and the Society for the History of Golf Studies get triple budgets.
School paper will go bankrupt inside a month, marks will go down by half a grade
across all of the school when students stop cheating and Fashion will somehow have
to live on about a quarter of what they do now."

"Wait, I dun get it." Applejack traced her finger through the accounting sheets.
"How come you get to mix all the budgets around, then get something out, and still
get more financing for most clubs than Celestia puts in?"
"That's the point", Sunset explained lining up the payables and receivables against
each other on the table, "We take stuff out from the club funds and then they
recoup that through selling stuff to individual students for their personal money.
That way money is still there, so the Principals don't see anything suspicious, and
we bag the profits without the inefficiency of having to shake down every separate
student."

"And keeps everyone in constant need to squeeze their funding out of their
neighbors.", Tiara added, "Which keeps the cliques separated and weak."

"Grasshopper's right," Sunset confirmed, "every time they try to cook something up
to get rid of me and my cut, you just make one of the sides think that other will
get better off than them and the thing just falls apart faster than you can say
‘greedy morons’."

"I understand one's passion towards their creation as much as the next girl,"
Rarity gently interjected, taking a dainty sip of tea. "But I think you are a
little too enthusiastic over it than is really healthy, darling, given the subject
at hand."

If Sunset still had pony ears they would have wilted. "...Sorry. Old habits. The
point is, that this system shakes down the least powerful, favors the more
influential cliques and is almost impossible to bring down without causing a bloody
revolution. Hence this war council"

“But how d’ya make people pay for stuff? It’s their personal money, and they can
just choose not to join clubs?”

“Greed, fear and provision of genuine services,” Sunset shrugged “Take the Academic
Excellence Club, as an example. Rainbow Dash here,” she pointed at the athlete,
“pays her membership fees, to essentially get her homework done for her. On paper,
the club is free, so we then redistribute the money as much as we want, either to
hide theft from other clubs or I just pocket it. The nerds then do her homework
either because they’re afraid of Spot and his brothers paying him a visit or
because if they don’t - they get kicked out of the club, and club gives them a
nice line in the university application as well as access to past papers and answer
sheets for math competitions, university entrance exams and all sorts of stuff.
Finally, I get to report to Mr. Time Turner and Mr. Doodle that through my club
students raise their grade average by quarter of a point, which makes me in their
eyes a model student and gets me all sorts of leeway I can use. Everybody wins.”

“Except it’s cheatin’!” Applejack’s eyes nailed the cyan girl “Rainbow Dash, you
should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Oh come on.” RD rolled her eyes “It was mid-playoffs, I did not have time for some
dumb geography homework. And I thought the eggheads liked doing homework. I didn’t
know they were made to do it.”
BITS AND PIECES

Tiara’s abandonment issues with her father, that she projected now on Sunset. She
needed to know that her idol and mentor was still worth her pedestal, that she
still was the faithful student to the queen of the school.

[i]Build her up. Assure the kid that she’s still my number one assistant, a vital
part of the team...[/i]

Silver’s self-esteem problems of a nerd and second-generation minion - made her

defensive, her ego hypersensitive to any slight.

[i]Tell her she is valued, apologize for Snips and Snails,[color=#be4343]but just
enough that the little toadie knows her place.[/color][/i]

Gilda’s killer instinct that would prompt her to attack at any sign of weakness.
[color=#be4343][i]Now they’ve opened up, so tear them down, hard. Make them hurt
for daring to oppose you, show them your power to hurt them…[/color][/i]

She stumbled mid-sentence, as the last thought somehow seemed...wrong. Her every
instinct screamed at her to hurt the girls. That was the tactically correct
decision - an abject lesson for getting too uppity for the kids, a demonstration of
strength for Gilda, a welcome outlet for the frustrations of the day. But even as
the perfect words formed in her mind, something has held her back.

“You shoulda brought me in when crap hit the fan.” - Gilda’s dismissive tone
smashed the perfect rhythm of Sunset’s speech to bits “Instead of spouting excuses,
like you do now. We coulda dealt with that Sporkle same way we did with Derpy”

And just like that the momentum was lost, and the magic she has almost managed to
weave started to fall apart.

“Why would you keep a secret from me? Don’t you trust us?” Diamond spoke over her
friend “You don’t have to treat us like babies!”

***

“And did Twilight also tell you it’s ok to hurt other students, I wonder?” Stark
and clear, Rarity’s voice easily cut over whatever Sunset wanted to reply, as she
came up to Raindrops. “Because then, I believe I missed that part of her speech.”

***

“Oh no, I scored. Twice” Sunset smirked.

“That’s because she cheated” Rainbow explained, causing absolutely no objections

from Sunset’s side. “Even if she’d won I’d never have supported her”

“See, Sunset?” Twilight chimed excitedly “You can never truly win by cheating!”
Sunset scoffed.

“I won either way. If I’d scored the third time, then RD woulda have to go back on
her word, her credibility suffering and driving a further wedge between her and
Apples - AJ, and, more important at the time Mac.

“As it was -- I happened to lose. So I went back to the student council and told
them that Rainbow Dash is a brain-dead jock who only cares about football. That I
tried my best, despite her clearly dumb and unreasonable demands we could not even
talk and that we should be dealing with Lightning Dust instead.” She gave Rainbow a
sideways glance, “Erm, no offence.”

“You just have all the angles covered, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

“That’s the first rule: ‘Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while
defeated warriors go to war and only then seek to win’.” She shrugged, “I won
before I stepped onto the field, one way or the other.”
FIRST RULES

“What is the first rule, Grasshopper”

“Determine goals, formulate a plan, act.” Diamond reported back instantly.

“Atta girl.”

***

“The First Rule, Grasshopper is to draw wisdom from many sources. If you take it
from only one place it becomes rigid and stale. Besides you cannot trust any one
person, because willingly or not, everyone lies. So go out, learn all you can and
become better. Got it?”

***

“What’s the first rule, padawan?”

“Err… when you don’t know what to do -- move forward?” Diamond ventured a guess.

“Good try, but no. First rule is “know when to cut your losses,” Sunset raised her
finger for emphasis, “and that is exactly what we’re going to do.”

***
“What’s the rule, kid?”

Diamond shrugged, entirely at a loss “Never fight a land war in Assia?”

“Hah!”

***

“I thought that the first rule is to be prepared?”

“Tiara?” Sunset let her student take this one

“The numbering of the rules depends on the context!” the pink girl reported
gleefully.

“That’s so inconsistent! How do you even make a list… just… ugh.” Twilight growled,
rubbing her temples.

“Life’s messy, little princess”, Sunset said, suddenly wistful. “Can’t always fit
it in a neat list.”

***

“Alright ladies, we are now operating under the mayhem rules” Sunset cut off all
the questions with a decidedly Adagioesque wave of her hand.

“What does that even mean?” Celestia asked, lost.

“The first rule of Project Mayhem is you do not ask questions!” both girls said
with perfect synchronicity before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“Very good. Nice synchronous speaking too.” She turned back to the Principal,
“Synchronicity - very important in good minions”

________________

MOMMA’S BOY

"And maybe I go visit your Momma. Maybe I tell Ma Bark that her boys been chasing
outsider girls and shitting where they live with petty thefts again. And don't you
bloody think I didn't notice you swiping Carrot's phone yesterday. "
Spot paled and gulped nervously. "Now, c'mon there, Shimmer, ain't no need for the
nukular option. I'm just sayin', we and the boys here, we concerned, right? We
thinkin’, maybe..."

"Don't think Spot, you’ll just strain something. Thinking’s my job. You'll get your
money. And Sun above, just give the girl her damned phone back. Don’t be such a
cheap bastard."
LESSONS

"All right, let's hear them. Diamond, you go first."

Sunset clapped her hands in anticipation, as the girls fidgeted in their seats,
preparing for their weekly lesson.

"OK, sure." Tiara frowned in concentration.

"Chil kiddo, just close your eyes and remember. Ten words, easy-peasy, right?"

Diamond closed her eyes and relaxed. She breathed slowly, and a few seconds later
she started to recite from memory: "Ladder, gown, knife, flag, forest, anchor,
book, guitar… abacus and, and… and a lighter"

"Got it in one, good job. Silver, you're up, you got fifteen."

That one did not go as well - grey girl did remember thirteenth, and fourteenth
with some prompting, but completely lost the "carpet" in the end.

"Well, not bad, either way. Remember girls, good memory is not a talent, it's a
skill. It requires training and exercise. Diamond, ready to try with fifteen? Might
catch up to Silver this time."

A nod teetered the tiara on Diamond's head, and Sunset started the exercise, this
time doing it herself as well.

She closed her eyes and opened the doors that were always present in her mind, to
enter the Canterlot Castle.

She trotted again along its marble floors, her hooves clicking again the cold stone
and breathed the clean and sweet mountain air. The bittersweet memories of her
adolescence assaulted her from every corner, but she ignored them. She wasn’t here
to reminisce, but for a specific purpose - she simply wanted to keep something she
did not want lost.

By the door she imagined a bow-pony, aiming a longbow at those who would enter, and
ignoring his frozen figure, she proceeded down the corridor.
A pack of Timberwolves eyed her hungrily, as she walked, and she threw them a big
white bone. In the throne room, a fire was burning, while the noble guests were
frozen in mid-pirouette. Zig-zagging between them, she made her way to the throne,
leaving smudges of black paint on the white marble floor. On the throne, she placed
a White Queen made of ivory and gold, which was probably cheating a bit.

She kept going on through the rooms, scattering thirty random items - fifteen per
each student, adding them to other items, facts and figures scattered across the
castle that she remembered better than the back of her hoof until each took place
in their allotted corned of the memory palace. The same way she knew Diamond has
put hers in the corners of the imaginary Rich Mansion and Silver - in the classes
of the school.

Except unlike the girl’s memory locations, hers was vast and complex, enfilades and
halls, whole libraries worth of knowledge she has accumulated and chosen to save,
some of it locked even from herself until she had the need of it. Theirs were a few
rooms large, if that, and vague, barely enough mental space to store a few items…
but they were getting better.

"…amber, glow stick, storm. Got it, or do you want me to go again?"

Silver repeated the last ones silently and shook her head.

"I'll remember"

"Attagirl. No writing it down, and I expect the both of you to remember all fifteen
next week."

The girls did not say anything, but the eager anticipation hung in the air so thick
you could cut it with the knife, forcing Sunset to reaffirm her old promise.

“Once you get to fifty, I’ll teach you the card counting tricks, and then we can go
test it out in Las Pegasus.”

How she would be able to swing it with her rapidly dwindling funds, she had no
earthly idea, but she did promise, so there was no way out of it. She’d just have
to figure something out.

She sighed and added another point to her quickly growing list of things that
needed fixing.

“Now, there’s a certain matter of Maths homework I believe you owe me?”

That put a crimp in their smiles. Tiara’s mostly -- Silver seemed to enjoy her
academics much more. Now somewhat less enthusiastic, both have passed their
notepads to Sunset, who started going through the sets, checking their answers.

Something caught her eyes almost immediately into the advanced set she gave the
girls.

“Diamond,” she turned to the pink girl and looked at her strictly, “did Silver help
you with the second set?”

“No, I did them all by myself.” She did not pause in her answer, and her tone was
as level as always as she continued to swing her legs carelessly without missing a
beat.

“Well, at least you’ve been practicing your lying.” Sunset sighed. “Grasshopper,
what did I tell you about mathematics?”

“Mathematics is the foundation of all knowledge.” Tiara droned obediently “You

cannot build anything without a solid foundation.” She leaned back in her chair .
“But it’s so boring! And besides, how did you know I was lying?”

“I’ll tell you when you finish doing your set” Sunset gave Tiara back her textbook.
“Ti, I want you to run the Showcase raffle, and that means you need to know your
basic probabilities. Do the sets again.”
SIGNS AND PORTENTS
The new girl was trouble, Sunset decided.

It wasn't just the nascent headache and irritation at the early wake-up talking --
it was the little things.

How she looked at other kids while Rarity introduced her to her fashion-clique. How
she dressed. How she talked about herself, dazzling the children with her stories
and experiences.The hangers-on, the sycophants, the newsmongers that all joined her
entourage, falling into step as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She looked at her phone, checking the school MyStable groups as they grew abuzz
with speculations and rumors. She'd have to do something about all that... If she
weren't feeling so sick all of a sudden.
LIES WE TELL OURSELVES

“Figures you’d like that girl. I, for one, do not ‘preciate her fanciful stories.
That girl is a braggart and a liar.”

“I don’t think she actually lies.” Sunset shrugged “More like… she is trying to
become something.”

“Huh?”

“Perception defines reality. They say it about quantum physics, but it’s really
true for people. Habit and repetition create character. Keep telling everyone how
amazing and awesome you are, and people will look at you in a different light, keep
telling yourself you’re a monster -- and one day that’s exactly what you’ll see in
the mirror. ”
HARUSPICY

Anger exploded from within her like a volcano, and she let the red-hot thoughts
spill from the hidden, locked place in her mind, and peek at the world through her
eyes, studying Fleur like entomologist would study an insect.
Her gaze slid over the fear, hidden deep on the bottom of her eyes; over the almost
invisible shiver when someone accidentally touched her; homing onto the tiniest
flaws of her pristine-white, almost bleached skin, the microscopic cracks and dry
cells like chinks in the otherwise invincible armor of physical perfection.

The type of cracks that are usually caused when you use too much hard soap.

When day after day you scrub yourself over and over and over again, trying to clean
away the filth, the impurity that is now seeped deep into your very soul, poisonous
and disgusting, making you feel sticky, degraded. Feel used and discarded, just
like when he petted your pretty little head and your beautiful - dirty - pink hair,
and told you that she you're a good girl, that you'd be a star now.

“...such tiny little flaws on otherwise impeccable white skin. Such a small, small
price for fame, isn’t it?” she finished softly.

Fleur said nothing, her skin deathly pale, lips pressed into a needle thin line so
hard they almost disappeared. But the look in her eyes, burning with cold hatred
was all the confirmation Sunset needed.
STRIPPER NAME

“What’s up, Sunny?” Pinkie jumped out of somewhere to greet Sunset, and joined the
group leaving the school, “Heey, we should totally call you Sunny D! Cause you’re…
well, you’re not really a delight, but if we call you Sunny, maybe you’ll smile
some more!”

Pinkie provided her an example of her own bright smile.

“Don’t call me that.” The level look Sunset gave Pinkie could murder smaller
mammals, but did not even dent party-girl’s three-hundred-megawatt grin.

“Aww, why not?”

“‘Because that’s my stripper name.”

Applejack walked into a wall.

“Pardon me, darling, your what?” Rarity was so blushed you could fry eggs on her
face.

That got Sunset to smile.

“My stripper name. You know, people who work in such establishments and do not want
others to recognize them outside of their job, they, on occasion, employ aliases in
order to compartmentalize their life and work environments.”
“I know what a ‘stripper name’ is, thank you very much.” Rarity waved in annoyance
“I was just wondering why you would need one.”

“Yeah, did you work as a stripper or something?” Rainbow paused her laughing just
long enough to dodge a whack from AJ. “Hey, don’t hit!”

“Well…” Sunset let the silence drag for a bit, enjoying the rapt attention of her
audience, “No.”

Whether others were disappointed or relieved was a toss-up.

“Not that I didn’t consider it, mind. Easy work, pay under the table, night hours -
it’d be perfect”

Pinkie threw her hands up her hands in exasperation “I know, right!?”

Everybody froze while their minds reeled at the comment, but no one dared to ask
any questions.

Sunset cleared her throat.

“...but it’s just not possible if you're underage. No one wants to take on that
heat, and those who do I would not touch with a ten-foot pole.”

“So why the stripper name?” Applejack asked suspiciously. “It’s just another tall
tale, ain’t it?”

“No, I did work for a stripper bar - as accountant. It was one of Flim-Flam
harebrained schemes, so I was there cooking books for a few nights per month. Met
some interesting people.”
THE SOUND OF SILENCE

The silence stretched like chewing gum, as Sunset eyed the striped counselor warily
and sipped her tea. It was kinda like detention, except that she was alone here,
and doing her homework would have been rude.

The Zebrician masks looked at her judgmentally from the walls of the school
counselor's walls, as inscrutable and silent as the counsellor herself

[i]Is that the best you got?[/i]

Zecora silently nudged the sugar bowl towards her, and Sunset nodded in gratitude.

It was a game of dominance - who would give up under the weight of the oppressive
silence that filled the room, and start talking if only to break it.
Counsellor smiled and relaxed in her chair. Her hands lay on the armrests palms up,
a slight turn of her head inviting Sunset to talk.

She responded by crossing her legs and slowly mixing sugar in her tea. Crossed
legs, closed hands - position of negation, . Direct eye contact underlined the
challenge to the counsellor.

[i]I can do this all day.[/i]

Zecora’s smile grew wider.

Her long finger with a grey-coloured fingernail started tick-tocking against the
wooden armrest.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

The sound echoed across the silent room in toon with the ticking of the clock,
making Sunset acutely aware of each improbably long second until she could escape
this room, each click like a drop of water in a qilinese torture.

Sunset raised her eyebrow, and concentrated on her lesson plan with Diamond later
this day, zoning out the annoying sound by an effort of mental discipline.

Click.

Another minute ticked by.

Clack.

And then another.

Zecora’s gaze swept around the room, tricking Sunset into looking at various
conversation pieces scattered around the room. She was sure that, were she to ask
about the story behind the purple porcupine in a pink tutu that adorned the
mantelpiece, Zecora would gladly tell a most fascinating tale.

She didn’t ask. Instead, she only smiled and nodded a bit, pouring herself a second
cup of tea, and gestured to refill Zecora’s

Another handful of seconds was swallowed by the deafening silence, broken only by
the soft murmur of water pouring into the cup.

Zecora’s smile became a little bit strained.

Sunset’s grew wider.

Finally, the counsellor gave up. Her rich, low laughter broke the silence into a
million little pieces.

“You’re good, Ms Shimmer, there’s no dissent. To thee I yield my free consent.”

Her voice was deep, with a sing-song Zebrahi accent that made everything she said
seem almost like poetry.

Sunset bared her teeth in a vicious smile. Her voice caught the first time she
tried to talk - her throat dry of the prolonged forced silence, despite all the tea
she drank.

“You make amazing tea, Ms Zecora. ” She illustrated the point by taking another
sip.
A quick look at the clock confirmed her suspicion. It was exactly fifteen minutes
into the meeting, which meant that Zecora did not just give up their little game,
merely moved to part two.

[i]’I yield to thee’ my cutie-markless butt. Celestia sure knows how to pick them.
[/i]

And now, apparently, they would be an exchange of meaningless pleasantries. Another

form of silence, just disguised as a conversation, aimed to keep the other party
talking until one of them inadvertently let something slip.

She almost frowned, before she managed to stop herself and return to the blank
half-smile she maintained.

Those were some very specific negotiation tactics, not something one would pick up
from a book or a university course. Perhaps it would be better for her to have
pretended that she was one of the stock of troubled little girls that acted out
because their rich mommies didn’t get them a new toy or something, instead of
tipping her hand as she did.
Pride does come before the fall, apparently.

The grip of her fingers on the teacup strengthened imperceptibly, instead of her
fingers running across her shoulder. This, perhaps, was no longer a game, it was
now a battle.

“Thank you. It’s an old Zebrician brew. But you’re not here for tea, are you?”

“I don’t know”. Sunset reinforced her words with a little shrug, and decided to
push the situation forward. “Why [i]am[/i] I here?”
She touched one of the pieces on the chessboard to her side, half-turned away from
the counsellor. It was cold and heavy -- a tell-tale sign of real ivory, with
yellowish tint betraying its age.

“Another thing from back home?” She ventured a guess

“Yes, it is, among some other things. Do you play this game of kings?”

“I know the rules,” Sunset placed the King’s pawn carefully in the centre of the
board.

“Perhaps you wish to give this game a try? Move my King’s pawn to E-five.”

Sunset placed the black pawn towards her own and moved her knight to attack it. The
game was on.

Silence reigned in the room again, only to be broken by the clacking of the figures
across the board and the commands, and the occasional comment from Zecora.

“You’re not afraid to make a sacrifice. You know that to success there is a price”,
Zecora’s pawn ignored the seemingly vulnerable knight that Sunset pushed forward.

“You are direct, even when using guile.” Her pawns started their march forward,
depriving Sunset of place to manoeuvre. “That makes your position quite fragile.”

Sunset gritted her teeth and made a play for the centre, her figures focusing a
single square on the board.

“But you overextend yourself and forget about the flanks.” Zecora’s knight took a
pawn in the back, and suddenly the previously impervious chain of white pawns
became a crowd of easy pickings, only standing in the way of her other forces. A
small growl of frustration at this setback escaped Sunset’s throat. “That’s where
you’re open for attacks.”

Sunset glowered at the counselor and upped her attack plans.

“You react to fear with more hate. That, in a child’s a rare trait.”

Clashes in the center became more aggressive, as Sunset tried to milk her position
for all she could before it fell apart. Pawns and figures captured each other in a
frenzy of pretend-slaughter.

“But anger leads to your mistakes. You know it even as you raise the stakes.” Her
chain of defenders in tatters, Sunset’s last forces rallied around the king in a
desperate attempt to stop the black pawn from reaching the final row.
“Because attacking that which you can beat, does not always lead to enemy’s
defeat.”

A traitorous black knight slipped past her defenders and Sunset found her pinned
king under attack, with nowhere to go.

She sighed and tipped the figure over, signalling her surrender.

“You’re good at this.” That much she had to admit. She was silent during most of
the match, and motionless save when she moved the figurines, so to take her apart
so thoroughly on the board and outside of it...the zebrican had some skill. “And
Celestia trusts you, doesn’t she?”

She had to, if she sent Sunset here. Zecora merely nodded, waiting for the girl to
finish her train of thought.

Sunset leaned back in her armchair. “I am a ma… a woman enough to admit that I may
have...some issues. And I could probably use some help with them.” She gave Zecora
a suspicious glare. “But there will be things of which I will absolutely not speak
of. And nothing said here leaves this room.”

“Your condition is expected. With no reservations I accept it.”

ENDING IT ALL

“So what are you going to do now, darling? I mean, now that’s ‘ruling the world
with evil magic’ is off the table.”

Sunset shrugged helplessly. “Not sure actually. I was so into the whole “steal the
magic crown” plan, I hardly thought of Plan B. You know, I actually thought of just
ending it all.” She waved her hand around to indicate the “it all” she meant.

Rarity gasped silently. “Surely you would do no such thing!”

“Oh, that’s… that’s some bad word choice there.” Sunset smiled sheepishly, “I meant
the school. Finish my exams early, get legally emancipated, get a job for the rest
of the year, then go to uni next autumn.”

She slammed the locker shut, double-checking the locks, while Rarity waited
patiently for her.

“You know, forget Equestria, and all that. Get my feet on the ground, get my life
on its track.”

“And then?” Rarity prompted her gently.

“Dunno. Probably go work for Barnyard Bargains. With my skills, the work I already
did there, and being tight with Di, I guess I could make it to the Division Head by
thirty. Not quite ‘Tyrant Queen of two worlds’, but a sweet gig nonetheless, all
things considered”.

“You wouldn’t want to go...back? From what Twilight said, I’m sure...”

“No.”

“But..”

“I. Am. [i]Not[/i]. Going. Back. To [i]Her[/i].” Sunset said, looking Rarity
straight in her eyes, her voice low and hard. “If this world burns and earth turns
to fire under my feet, if all food be poison and all water - acid, if every breath
would be filled with razors and broken glass it would still be better than going
back.” She picked up her bag, and patted her pockets for her pens. “And I would
appreciate if we never talk of this again”.

INTERMISSION - LETTERS

“My faithful student, wherever you are now…”

It hurt.

“Sunset, please come back...”

It hurt so bad.

“Sunset it’s been a year now. Please answer me…”

She’d rather cut off her arm and rip her eyes out than read this flowing
copperplate script.

“...just want to know that you’re alive...”

Anything not to feel that clawing pain in her chest.

“...your mother keeps asking for you…”

Dozens of pages, row upon row of perfect calligraphy.

“...I still hope that you will one day read this…”
Pages blurred together, and something stung her eyes.

And then it went blank. Somehow it was even worse than all of the rest combined,
and Sunset thought that for a second her heart stopped beating with a final full
stop of the writing.

She touched her left shoulder.

‫ك ُـل شـمـس يـجب أن تـغـيـب‬. Everything ends.

But it was important to end things properly. She owed Celestia much more than just
that.

A quill she prepared tickled her palm, and she tried to shake off the big drop of
ink at its end. It’s been a long time since she wrote with proper instruments...

[quote]
Dear Princess Celestia,

I am sorry. For the lies. For the secrets. For letting you down as your student,
and for straying off the path you chose for me as I did. I am sorry for the things
I’ve done that hurt you, for the things I’ve said that I shouldn’t have and the
things I have not said when I should have.

I don’t ask for your forgiveness - I do not deserve it. I do want to say that I
will forever be grateful for the things you taught the little filly you once took
as a student, and that all I ever truly wanted was to make you proud. Even if a way
I chose to do it was wrong, and only made me hurt you more.

I see some of my error, but I have strayed too far from home and the way you have
taught me to return to you or to Equestria. I am my own mare now, and I can’t be
your student any longer even if you have not discharged me already. Any obligation
or duty you may still feel towards me I have long since rendered void by my own
actions.

Please let my mother and my father know that I am alive and that I am doing fine,
but that I will not be coming back to them, probably ever again.

No longer your student

Sunset Shimmer
[/quote]

She set aside the crude quill she had to make herself, and considered her writing.
How and when did she become so confused, that even when trying to express her real
feelings, for the first time in so many years, she still used the same manipulative
lines? Reminding the person of the bond you shared to gain their empathy.
Discharging herself before she would surely be disavowed anyways to maintain her
pointless dignity, using the momentum to ask for a favor that she has never
deserved… simple, efficient tricks - an instrument she became so used to she could
no longer set it aside even when she wanted to.

Nothing could really be done now - the journal had no “Edit” button, and even if
she were to rip out the page, it would still be preserved in the other journal.

The second letter was easier than the first one. The dry, formulaic language of the
Court left little place for feelings and manipulations. Merely facts and statements
and an occasional rote line that was demanded by the protocol. It mattered little
that the facts and the statements were -- quite literally -- signing her own
sentence without even knowing what the verdict may be.

[quote]
To Her Majesty Celestia, by Victory over Chaos, forever the Princess of Equestria
and her other Realms and Territories, Duchess of Canterlot, Marchessa of Ponyville,
Baroness of Winsome Falls, Protector of the Everfree Forest, Lady of the Sun.

While it sorrows me beyond words, I believe it my duty to fully relinquish and

release every post, title and privilege you have in your magnanimity have chosen to
gift to your student, void any bond or obligation you may feel towards me and ask
for your leave.

Moreover, for all accounts of my crimes, namely: High Treason, Attempted Murder,
Use of Black Magic in the Highest Degree, numerous counts of Deadly Assault with
Magic, Theft and Desertion, I fully admit my guilt and offer no extenuating
circumstances that may alleviate it.

To whatever punishment or court Your Majesty may wish to impose for those and prior
crimes I have committed, I will submit myself freely and without coercion or
protest as soon as the portal allows me to arrive to Equestria upon reception of
Your summons.

Your subject
Sunset Shimmer
[/quote]

Perhaps she won’t read it. It could happen, right? She did not write in the journal
for so long… she even forgot the thing existed, for some time. Surely Celestia did
the same. Just threw it out with yesterday’s trash just like her other things when
she ordered some maid to clean out Sunset’s room and make place for Twilight
Sparkle.

She didn’t really want to believe it though, and dozens of pages of her writing in
the diary were the evidence to the contrary.

Either way, she did her duty. She stretched, tip of head to ends of her toes, and
closed the diary.
For now she still had at least one more war to win.
GETTING A LEAD

"Next stage is destruction," Sunset said to no one in particular, slowly swirling

her spoon in the coffee. "Quilineze have once said: 'shā yī jǐng bǎi': ‘to admonish
one is to warn a hundred’. There will be a demonstration of strength, a show of
power and thus, just as silver has been shown, the lead will now be revealed."
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

"Those shoes..." Rarity said. "She’s wearing the wrong shoes."

All of them stared at the shoes. Whatever was wrong with them it must have been
really subtle, because to the laygirls’ eyes they looked -- as everything that
Fleur wore -- immaculate. The high heel that made her seem taller and even more
slender, the straps that hugged her ankle in a way that made any man in the room
wish they could do the same, the blinding shine of white faux-leather that was the
pinnacle of luxury with just a pinch of showing their owner as thoughtful and
caring.

"Way too frou-frou." Rainbow Dash declared, but even her voice betrayed at least a
bit of envy. "I thought you liked that stuff?"

"Why, that's just it -- they’re too good. This is not a pair a lady wears for
herself or to catch someone’s eye. This is something you'd wear to show off, to
destroy any other women... in ... the... room..." Rarity trailed off, embarrassed
by what she said.

Sunset regarded Rarity carefully as if seeing her for the first time. "You and I,"
she finally said with grave resolve, "we have to go shopping together some time."
THE (S)EX

She bashed against the door, once, and twice, and again, until her shoulder blazed
with pain, but it only provoked more laughter from inside. A first ring of the bell
ripped her out of her fugue, and she looked around trying to get her breathing back
under control, covering herself instinctively.

Students would be out any minute now. And they’d see her, in nothing but her
panties and a broken bra.

She forced herself to drop her hands and breathe.They wanted her humiliated,
panicked. She would not give them the satisfaction.

The classroom doors opened, and the first students walked out of their classrooms
filling out the halls. Last moments of her invisibility were fading into nothing,
and any moment now someone would shout and point and then they would be upon her.

She preempted the inevitable. She took a breath, dropping her hands and letting the
broken brasserie fall on the ground, and stepped out into the hallway, not even
trying to cover up.
Heads turned, and the busyness of the school corridor turned into an abrupt,
shocked silence. She could feel the sticky gazes of every guy in the hall -
curious, lusty, sleazy, scared even. Girls too - less sleazy, more confused.

Let them watch. She owned their attention, as she walked towards her ex, making a
point of not looking hasty, adding an occasional swing of the hips. Confident and
unashamed, calm and collected.

“Oi, Flash!” she shouted casually, spotting the familiar mop of overcoiffed blue
hair further down the corridor. “I need a hand.”

He stared. At her face, not her… everything else, his brain trying to process the
situation.

“I seem to have been locked out of the changing room. Mind lending me your coat?”

It was almost painful to watch thoughts trying to make it through his head. Still,
without the aid of any higher mental faculties, for which he was clearly incapable
at the moment, he dropped his leather jacket off his back and covered her up.

It was not very comfy -- the leather chafed and felt cold against the naked skin,
but it was big enough to cover her from shoulders to almost mid-thigh.

“Walk with me?” She asked, grabbing him by the elbow. “I think there are some spare
outfits in the Carousel Club.”

...

“I hope this is not some stupid way to get us back together, to boost your
popularity or something,” Flash muttered sourly, as they pushed their way through
the buzzing crowd. “I am not getting used like this. Not again.”

“It’s not.” She sighed. “Look, about last time -- I was in a bad place. Angry.
Jealous. All-around nasty. But I’m getting better now. I think I want to do better.
So no more pullings strings for me - not on you at least. Promise.”

"I wish I could believe that"

"I swear to you Flash Sentry," she grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face her
"by all that I once held dear - I will never lie to you ever again."

Slowly, he nodded.

“You broke my heart, you know.”

“I’m sorry...” she sighed at the helplessness of her voice, “Not for breaking up,
but for the way it happened - and for leading you on so long. You’re a really nice
guy, it’s just that I don’t do “nice”.

He grinned - a sad sort of grin, that didn’t touch his eyes.

“Or ‘guys’, am I right?”

“What?” she snapped up, surprised. “You think that just because I broke up with you
I must be into girls?”

“Come on, Sunset, I’ve seen you check out Paisley. And Coco. And that fashion girl
you spend your time with these days. I may be not as sharp as you, but I’m not
really stupid. I don’t know why you did what you did, and what you were trying to
prove, but I know you didn’t love me.”

“I am so totally into guys!”, she insisted out of sheer contrariness, “I mean, yes,
I prefer girls, but I meant what I said when I made that offer before we broke up.
I don’t love you - you’re not my type; but you’re cute, and a girl has her needs.”

***

“Nope, nope, nope…” they were all so... frilly. She wanted something a bit more
practical, not something that would attract more attention. For a moment, she
considered a tomboyish small jeans-and shirt number, and decided against it with
another “nope”.

The boy snuck a look at her, and blushed instantly, she noticed with the corner of
her eye. Silly boy .

She turned and looked at him openly, taking him in again. Without the protection of
his coat, he looked smaller. Not muscled - a slender, asthenic build, with narrow
shoulders and thin arms, enhanced by the awkward coltishness of a teenager not
quite finished with his growth spurt, but still wiry and sinewy - more of a
swimmer’s physique, a good shape not born of hard work, but simple metabolism of
youth and a lucky draw in the genetic lottery.

Not her usual style, she affirmed, but still decidedly cute.

“I do regret saying no, sometimes.” He looked away as he admitted it.

“My offer still stands,” she said simply, letting Flash’s coat slip off, and
dropping her hands, “even if the other things I said that night were not really
true”

He wanted it. Badly. She could see his knuckles grow white, his nails digging into
the palm of his hand as he so very desperately tried not to look.
“I don’t want your pity,” he tried to say. “Or whatever weird idea of gratitude…”

Silly, silly boy. Making it so complicated when there was no need for it. She moved
closer, almost close enough for her skin to touch his, and tried to make it easier
for him.

“It’s not that. You don’t give yourself credit, Flash Sentry. You’re handsome,
brave and, on occasion, funny. I offer freely, for no reason except that I want it
too”

She waited for his answer, watching the storm of emotions evident on the boy’s face
with fascination.

Fear. Lust -- the screaming, hot desire, so bright and pure she could almost feel
its heat with her skin. Then the social conditioning piled on top of the primitive
reptile part of the brain: things he thought of himself, and what he wanted others
to think of him, what others told him to think of himself and what he’d tell others
to make them think something of him, a chaotic symphony of wants and don’ts, self-
perceptions and self-deceptions, tangled and contradictory waging a battle within
him. And finally, there came the resolve, washing over all of it like a wave, and
in a fierce, last-ditch fight against himself, he had finally won - or maybe lost.

“No.” he said coming to a decision, his jaw tense and set. “You said it yourself -
you don’t love me. And I don’t want it to be… like this. Laugh at me again if you
want.”

She shook her head slowly. “I won’t. The things I said to you back then - I never
thought that. I was just angry.” She shrugged sheepishly, “Apparently I don’t
handle rejection well.”

“Who would have thunk it.”

Sunset ignored the sarcasm and another shadow of a grin. She was trying to
apologize.

“Either way - to choose dream over desire is an act worthy of respect. I can
appreciate that. Friends?”

“Friends”

She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed Flash’s cheek with her lips - a short,
chaste peck and a sisterly hug… well, except for one thing.

“That’s not a roll of quarters in your pocket, is it?” she snickered, causing Flash
to blush so hard it made her wonder how he had blood enough for it.

“Erm…”
She released him from the embrace. “I should probably get dressed”

“That would be good” he nodded, turning away.

“Sunset,” he called out to her as she was about to leave, “I don’t remember much of
Fall Formal, but I remember seeing you. You’re not human, are you?”

“I… of course I am! That’s a silly…” she stopped, door half-open. “Ice and
Nightmares, I promised not to lie to you didn’t I?” she chewed her lip for a
moment, “No. I’m not. Not really.”

“I thought so,” he nodded. "It doesn't make any real difference to me, but I
thought it might to you -- you know, to know that someone knows you are different
and doesn't care."

[i]Silly boy[/i]

“Thank you, Flash.”

INTERMISSION II: ORANGE

The orange sky beat down on the orange sand mercilessly, covering the desert and
the oasis in a wavering haze of immense heat. An orange little filly climbed out of
the pool, slipping over the copper-gilded rim, and shook violently, spraying
droplets of water in every direction, making the older mare snort and cover her
muzzle with her wide white wings.

"The storm is coming, my little sun." She said, looking at the horizon, where
orange-tinted clouds covered the horizon in whirlwinds of sand and dust. The
corners of her eyes under the nebulous rainbow-colored mane wrinkled in the most
delightful way, when she tried to gauge the distance to the storm. "It'll be here
soon."

"We should get inside." She grabbed the towel the older mare levitated and dried
herself up.

She pulled playfully on the older mare's tail, trying to drag her larger frame
towards the house. Instead the mare twisted round, and snatched the little filly,
squealing with the unexpected traitorous attack, and brought her into the hug of
her feathery wings, holding her close to her body.

"You can stop the storm, my little sun. You know the words"
"But I'm tired! And I want more wine!" She mock-whined.

***

"But what of those who have no cover from the storm and no magic to disperse it?"

***

She concentrated on the center of her head, the point just behind the horn where
her magic resided, and moved her neck, guiding her magic through precise, sharp
cuts, leaving a trail of green script hanging in the air, as her lips moved,
summoning the secret name, and the wind around her rose, screaming with power

She woke.
WHAT TRIXIE WANTS

“And they say that Sunset Shimmer hates to be in someone’s debt,” Trixie almost
purred with smug anticipation.

“That’s true.” Sunset grumbled.

“And you owe Trixie a favor now,” Trixie continued

Sunset nodded.

“A big favor.”

Another reluctant nod

“A very, very big favor.”

Sunset ground her teeth. An expression becoming all too common in these
frustration-filled days. She needed a better dental plan - the one she used to have
did not cover this world.

“Don’t push it, Trixie”.

“Well, Trixie wants something from you now”. Sunset’s retort did not even slow the
girl down, as she stalked around, like a shark circling the prey. “Something that
is very precious to you. Something that you’ve worked very hard to conceal.
Something when gone, you will never be able to regain. Something that would shatter
your social position if anyone ever knew…”

“What is it, Trixie?” Sunset who was quickly losing her patience with the drama,
cut off the gloating magician.
“Trixie will tell in due time,” she giggled smugly, “And for now Trixie will hold
on to this book.” with a flick of her wrist and a giant puff of smoke she
disappeared.

“Oh my goodness! She’s GONE!” Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically, appearing out of
nowhere. “Oh, wait, there she is.” she pointed at scowling Trixie almost hidden
behind the classroom door. “Nevermind.”
CONFESSING IN TONGUES
“You took the notes I keep, I know it’s true. Though I cannot quite prove that it
was you.

Sunset spread her arms, both admitting and denying nothing.

“Still, I write my notes in Zebrahi code. There’s no use in stealing them from my
abode.”

Sunset sighed and gave counsellor a guilty look.

“You read Zebrahi? Consider my curiosity peaked.” somehow Zecora did not look too
surprised “How many other languages can you also speak?”

“Not many.” Sunset shrugged. “I know a few academic languages - Minotoan Linear,
old Roaman, enough of wenyakwen to get by. I studied Zebrahi ambassadorial and
secret script, but I would not be able to speak them confidently. Then - some bits
of pieces you just sort of tend to pick up: I speak passable Arabian and
Griffinspanian, I know some Hind dialects, I rocker Roarmany. And then I can fake
my way around Prench, plus I know about a dozen ways to insult your mother, three
poems, and one really good drinking toast in Urusian.
IGNITION

Poppies on the nightstand. She didn’t want to open her eyes, but she could smell
the saccharine-sweet smell of them. Black poppies and red mandrake, a thought
floated up her mind - a spell, a potion, a ritual from a world and lifetime ago...

"Concentrate, little princess." The green mare hit her across the face: a
thunderous slap that made the black-and-purple shadows boil up in her vision. “This
is not a toy for the children or the restless," she continued calmly, watching her
stand back up. “This is a secret thing, taught only to the driven. The focus of
your life is the focus of the spell. Do it again."

Black poppies and red mandrake, the sweet smell of it carried her away, to recall
pain, to remember fear.

"You know what to do pumpkin. You have the means, you have the power, you know the
method. Why do you fight yourself?"
There was tired patience in her voice when the mare coiled round Sunset, cradling
her like a foal. Tired patience was good. It was safe. She never showed emotion
when she was about to start the beatings again.

"It didn't..." She tried to wet her lips with the tongue, and her throat dry-
spasmed trying to gulp. "It didn't work. I need to do better. Be better."

“There are rules to the world little princess. Old as the earth and true as the
sky. No matter what you do.”

“I’m so confused. I don’t know anything anymore.”

"Drink." She set a cup in front of her, heavy gold and heavy bronze. "It'll make
you feel better. It’ll make you remember."

There was no water in the cup. It was flames, red and thick like blood, smelling of
sulfur and brimstone. She hesitated, fear and alien, princessy thoughts stopping
her hoof.

"Drink!" she reached for the cup...

"Sunset," a warm hand -- not hoof -- pulled on her shoulder, ripping her out of the
nightmare. Flash Sentry looked at her with gentle concern. "Do you want a drink?
Nurse said you need water."

“What? I don’t want to..”

“Drink!” who said that - the green mare with a raven black mane? A silly boy by her
side? She had to decide.

She grabbed it - the golden goblet full of crimson flame, and drank, forcing
herself to swallow the liquid.
[a]

She threw up before she got to the middle of the glass. A spasm rolled through her
body like a wave, threatening to twist her stomach inside out, and even after she
was sure she had nothing in her, she was still sick, dry heaving with body-wracking
convulsions, sickly green stuff with ugly, prismatic, kerosine-like sheen spilling
all over the floor.
THE FIX

“Dislocated,” Gilda concluded after a short inspection “Want me to pop it in?”

Sunset glared daggers at her. “No, I want to wait for the bloody paramedics.”
Sarcasm was nearly dripping from every word. “I need my arm back.”
“Gonna hurt,” Gilda warned. “On three.”

She grabbed Sunset by the forearm and the wrist.

“One. Two--” She pulled and pushed in a single slow-but-steady motion. Something
twisted and rolled underneath the orange skin, and Sunset swallowed her scream.

“...Three.”

“Ice and Nightmares, Gilda, you total git, I knew you’d do that.”

“Sure you did, Shimmer. Sure you did.”

Sunset stood up unsteadily to her feet, testing out the joint.

“Sun above, it’s been a bloody while since I had to do that. Now!” her hand snaked
somewhere in between the dresses and fabrics and produced a camera, ejecting a USB
stick from it. She promptly threw it to Gilda. “Get it to the kids. They know what
to do”

The bigger girl nodded and disappeared. The room grew silent, only Rarity’s quiet,
sobbing breaths breaking the silence. Sunset waited for a while, before broaching
quietly.

“Rarity, I need make up. I’ll have to make an appearance, and I need to look
normal.”

Rarity stood up, her eyes still unfocused, and fumbled for her make up.

“You knew,” she said, “you knew it would happen. That’s why you had a camera here.”

Sunset shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”

The familiar box popped open and Rarity tried to grip a pencil. Her hand trembled
and shook too much, and Sunset covered her pale hand with hers.

“You used me as bait.” Rarity said, still avoiding Sunset’s eyes.

“Didn’t I tell you, Rarity?” She asked, quiet but forceful. “I am a monster. But I
am also on your side.”

Somehow that calmed her down. Her fingers, long and slender, finally found their
dexterity and the pencil danced in her hand.

It was time to put the game face on.

ENTERTAIN US

Silence was short lived, cut into thin slices by the slow, distinct clapping in the
back of the room.

Clap.

Heads turned towards the back of the scene.

Clap.

Sunset smiled, and her smile made the closest children step back.

Clap.

“Are you not entertained? Wasn’t that fun?” her voice carried easily over the small
school hall. “You pathetic little sheep. The moment you think you get freedom, you
run towards another shephard, another strong hand that will lead you merrily to the
slaughter. A friggin Princess comes from up on high to save you, and that is the
best you can muster? You revolt me, you disgusting little pieces of slime.“

“I resign and I forfeit the vote - whatever. I wouldn’t rule over this herd if you
begged me to.”
EPILOGUE: RETURNING TO (SIXTH) FORM

“What was the point of that sordid spectacle, if I must ask?”

Sunset shrugged, deflecting the question. Rarity’s disapproving gaze made her
uncomfortable.

“You keep telling me how I should be honest, and have fun. That was me being
honest. And having fun.”

“But ye’r still out of Student Body President. Ain’t no way no how, you’d get
elected now.”

“Oh I’ll win.” Sunset occupied herself with food, “As I said, I need to run things
to fix this school. At least for a while longer.”

“How’d’ja reckon?”
“Gilda calls it falling to form, I think. If a fighter trains wrong, or has a bad
habit, once he gets tired or groggy from the punch and doesn’t have any strength
left to control himself consciously, he returns to what his reflexes tell him to do
- even if it’s a mistake.

“Fleur and I systematically eliminated and discredited anyone else who was willing
and capable of filling our positions. So now that I punched them in the face and
made them reel, without any other real options they will turn to what is familiar.
Which is me.”

***

“Hah! Roseluck was elected. Seems your strategizin’ was a bit too clever by half.”

Sunset sighed and pushed the red king, dropping it. The game, even she had to
admit, was hopelessly lost. Her tone, however, was far from defeated. “Wait for
it.”

She ate her apple in silence, crunching carrying over the table as they waited for
whatever “it” was.

Roseluck came up to the table, and coughed softly, attracting attention.

“Uhm, Sunset, can I talk to you, please?”

“What is it, Rosey?” Sunset seemed awfully interested in her apple, even going as
far as to bite it with another deliberate loud crunch. Somehow that made her look
even more smug and self-centered.

“Well uhm, I know you said those things, and that you don’t want to do any more
administration stuff, but… I wondered, if, erm, as a previous Student Body
President, you could, erm, help me out?”

“Hmm.” Sunset pondered the question carefully, ignoring the burning gazes of the
other five girls at the table. “I don’t know, Rose, with the midterms coming up, I
don’t really have the time…”

“Please?”

Another bite of the apple, and concentrated chewing prolonged the silence.

“Sunset!” Applejack scowled.

[small]”spoilsport”[/small], Sunset mumbled, rolling her eyes. “Sure, Rose, I’ll do

my best to help you out. How about we start tomorrow after classes?”
***

“Sometimes, I’m plum ashamed of my species.”

“Don’t think it’s a species thing, if that helps.”

***

“Oh, and Applejack?” Sunset could not resist calling out the still sulking girl.

“What?”

“When I play with Miss Zecora -- I play white.”

INTERMISSION: MAKING MONSTERS

“I heard of the thing that you recently did. I would want you to talk of what ties
you to those kids.”

“Grasshoppers?” Sunset mulled the question over, “I don’t know, really. At first it
was some misplaced pity, but then the whole teaching thing kinda grew on me.
There’s a unique sort of rush to have your own views imprinted on someone else. To
have them repeated back to you with all the added passion of youth and power of
utter belief, to mold and shape them like clay.”

“A mirror and echo, is that all you pursue? I’d think your bond does go deeper.
Don’t you?”

“No, I like the kids, I really do. Tiara’s smart as a whip and ambitious, and I
think she could be better than me with some guidance. Both of them, really. Gonna
teach them all I know, and let them loose upon the world. That’s at least gonna be
worth some laughs.”

There was a pointed silence.

"Besides, power must serve a purpose, as my…” Sunset hesitated. “As someone I knew
told me some time ago. Perhaps that could be mine. Pays well, that's for sure."

***

“Look, when I found her the kid was hurting. I can’t talk about this - it’s her
business. But she had some problems in her family, and she needed help - that’s the
misplaced pity part. I fixed it up, not without ulterior motive, mind you, but I
kinda feel responsible for her now. And as I said, the little tyke - the both of
them - have totally grown on me. Like non-annoying little sisters.”
“So it’s all about healing? From you that’s a peculiar feeling.”

“Healing?” Sunset shrugged, “I don’t think I would know how to do that. I teach
them how not to get hurt any more. Not let anyone ever hurt them.”
INTERMISSION: TRUST ISSUES

“She doesn’t trust me!” Sunset gripped the teacup, struggling with the desire to
hurl it at the nearest wall.

“That…. Patronizing, sanctimonious, mightier-than-thou lion’s ballsack of a

Princess!”

Zecora said nothing.

“After all this time! I apologized! I made the blasted amends, changed my ways, did
my time even! I thought we patched things up somewhat, and she does this! She sends
that baby-faced Sparkle to sort my problems for me! Like I am an incompetent child.
Me! After all I’ve done for her!”

She paused mid-rant to catch her breath, trying to regain some semblance of
control.

“Look, all I’ve asked were some books, right? Just a reference from a Canterlot
library. Personal favor, no big. How does that translate to “move sky and earth to
get to this stupid place and send your student whom, by the way, I hate with a
fiery bloody passion, to do my job for me?” Huh? Is she trying to rub my failures
in my bloody face on purpose?”

“Perhaps if I knew the facts, I could suggest how to resolve it with some tact?”
Zecora suggested.

“No.” Sunset stopped and pointed the finger at Zecora “No. I am going to rant, and
I am going to vent, and I absolutely refuse to explain anything or make any sense
whatsoever, and you won’t ask or use your Zebrican face-reading thing, because we
agreed on that when I started this… therapy.”

Zecora sighed and sipped some tea, waving for her visitor to go on with the raving.
________________
MAKING A RAINBOOM
POWER OF FRIENDSHIP
“You… monster!”

"Oh that's rich, coming from you,'' Sunset laughed. "Tell them, little princess,
what are you a Princess of?"

"Well, officially I'm the Princess of Friendship, but..."

"Exactly. Now think about it, all of you. You barely know each other. You have
spent three years despising each other. Some of you have literally nothing in
common - take Rarity and Pinkie for example. And yet, in about an hour’s worth of
talking with a stranger you never before have seen in your life, you're all perfect
friends?"

Rainbow Dash raised her hand to say something and lowered it back, never opening
her mouth, as everybody round the table grew pensive.

"Maybe I know jack all about friendship, but I know a Power when I see it. And
this--" her finger lowered to point accusingly at flabbergasted Twilight, like a
barrel of a gun, "this is as sure as any Power that I've ever seen."

She didn't want to say it, but she could not stop herself. Red once released has
sensed the weakness, and demanded to strike right there, where she felt the chink
in the armor of the Princess' soul. She had to sting it and release her poison, as
sure as scorpion had to sting the frog.

"I wonder how many other friendships have you made just by wishing to be friends?
How many of them actually are anything but mannequins, pulled by your power seeping
into someone's mind and twisting it without you even thinking about it? You don't
get to call me a monster, little princess - if anything I'm more of a pony or a
human than you can ever be now."
OF PENGUINS AND APPLES

"Sunset's computer-thingie has a different crest than the ones in school." Twilight
noted. "That one was the four-colored banner, and this one is..." she squinted,
trying to figure out what it was, "A smiling sideways skyscraper?"

"Different operating system. This Tails: it is a secure -nix based..."

"Just means that Sunset here is a massive egghead," Rainbow interrupted.

LESSON IN FRIENDSHIP

[center][i]
Show me how you lie
You're getting better all the time
And turning all against the one
Is an art that's hard to teach
Another clever word
Sets off an unsuspecting herd
And as you step back into line
A mob jumps to their feet
[/center][/i]

The music was drilling into her brain making her head throb with pulsing pain. She
hated every second of it, but at least it would give her some protection against
the sirens. And it was not quite as hard to get out of her ears as beeswax.
Finally Tiara came in, and checking for the Dazzlings - and not finding any -
Sunset dropped her headphones, and enjoyed the few moments of blissful silence. Her
fingers found the buttons of the torturous device.

Stop.
Breathe.

“I need you to make friends with the Crusaders,” she said without preamble.

“What?! Those three? The cripple, the redneck-girl and that…”, Diamond struggled to
find a properly denigrating epithet, “...other one?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yes. The cripple, the apple-girl and the other one. Did I
stutter?” Her heavy look discouraged any other arguments from her faithful student.

“But why?!” Diamond stomped her foot in frustration.

“Think of it as a test,” Sunset tried to encourage the girl. “I need a closer look
at them either way, and I need to know that you can talk to kids your age from an
equal position.”

“Ugh. Those three...” Diamond sighed giving up “What would I even talk to them
about? They don’t do anything interesting. It’s all club activities and mootube
videos with them or something”.

“Exactly, my young padawan. That’s what I want you to figure out.”, Sunset ticked
off the last question and put her homework back in her bag. “Now what’s your
entrance strategy?”

Drumming her fingers on a table Tiara thought for a second. “A wounded gazelle
gambit?” she suggested tenuously. “I mean they kinda still think you’re a monster
straight from Tartarus and I’m your little toadie, so…”

Sunset nodded. That was sound reasoning.

“And, it also lets me build the child-to-parent relationship to begin with. Like
that Burns guy writes in that book. If they think they’re helping me, it’s easier
to get their trust.”

“Smart. You really make me proud, grasshopper. When you want to start?”

Diamond twiddled her thumbs for a second, counting something in her hand. “Monday?
I can have them eating out of my hands by Friday latest.”

“Atta girl.”
Alone again Sunset chewed on her lip, thinking, while she watched the kid skip
merrily away.

Breathe.

Start.

She sighed, and once again the headphones were on, and the music once again began
clawing at her eardrums.

[center][i]
With a thousand lies
And a good disguise
Hit 'em right between the eyes
Hit 'em right between the eyes
When you walk away
Nothing more to say
See the lightning in your eyes
See 'em running for their lives
[/center][/i]
BREAKING PEEVED

“Ice and Nightmares,” Sunset swore under her breath. “They’ve already gotten the
Principals!”

Twilight blushed. “Sunset!” her voice caught at the crassness of the words
“Language!”

Sunset took a breath, and started speaking. She did not stop until she was out of
breath - a cavalcade of body parts, sexual positions, complex multi-species
ancestry of a certain lavender pony Princess and a few things probably only
physically possible with direct intervention by Discord joined together to paint a
picture of what exactly Twilight could do with her remarks, and by the time she
stopped, Twilight’s face was deep red and the Princess pursed her lips at the sheer
obscenity and inventiveness of the short speech.

“Wow” Spike whistled softly from within the bag “I mean… wow.”

“Sunset Shimmer!” Celestia called from behind the doors “Week’s detention for
swearing”.
THANOPOROASIS (SHADOW OF DEATH)

"Twilight," Sunset called out, "can I ask you something weird?"

"Sure. Not like I'm asleep or anything."

"Will you die?"

"What?"

"I'm not… Look, I’m not trying to start anything. I'm just asking, since you're an
alicorn and all that -- are you immortal now? How does that make you feel?"

"Oh."

There was silence for a while.

"Twilight?"

"I don't know," She finally admitted. "It's scary, thinking about it, but I guess
yes, I will die eventually, but not for a while. And not of old age."

"You'll get to live long enough to see all your friends die. "

"Yeah..."

They went silent again, only barely-heard breathing in the room indicating that
neither was really asleep.

"That's not why you asked."

"Huh?"

"You knew about the alicorns and eternal youth before. Why did you ask me?"

"I.. I had a theory I wanted to test. But I guess it's bust now."

"What theory?"

"Ask Celestia."

"Ask her what?"

"The same question I asked you. Then you'll know."

"Sunset!"
"Ask her."
ARIA (ALL MINE)

They looked at each other and blushed, instantly turning away.

“MINE!”

Anger, red-hot and green blazed within Sunset like a megaton explosion, drowning
rational thought and crashing against the last vestiges of her self control. She
felt the hot, almost unbearable desire run throughout her body - to pounce and
crumple the girl’s tiny body, to sink the teeth in her flesh, and to rip and shred
and to taste her blood, for daring to even think of touching something that
belonged to her, however little had she cared for the silly boy.

And then, it waned just as quickly as it appeared, leaving her tired and annoyed
and still angry - at herself for the irrational jealousy, at that stupid horse of a
Sparkle for encroaching on her territory, at Celestia and at the Dazzlings and
everything at once and nothing in particular.

Aria Blaze winked to her from across the hall, and her gem-studded choker glinted
with a piercing green light.
GIRL TALK
"Look, mate, she's Sunset Shimmer. She could have any guy she wants. Most of the
girls too."

"She ain't that hot, dude. She's, like, a six tops."

"Yeah, too tomboy."

"Not even cute-like. Now that Dash girl..."

Flash cut them off with an angry grunt. "Look, guys, I've seen her moves, so trust
me. Any guy, any time, she can have ‘em. And she still chooses me. Lets me buy her
dinners, take her to dates. Like, keeps to my pace, you know? She says she doesn't
love me, but at least it gotta mean something, right?"
FLASH FIRE

'Sup guys?

The rocker's room met her with the icy silence.

"Hey, Shimmer", Flash finally greeted her weakly. The silence grew tenser. “We’re
trying to figure out what to play for the Battle…”
"Well, I have an idea. It's a piece about one of my friends", Ringo interrupted,
"show her boys."

He ran his fingers across his guitar, as other rockers took their instruments.

"You see, Shimmer,

My boy got a girlfriend and I hate that witch,

I tell him eeevery day...
I say he's gotta ditch that chick
In a worst kinda way.

***

"And what do we say to that, guys?"

worst kinda
Others chimed in with the chorus

Say no way, say no way, say no wa-a-a-ay

Tell that bitch to get a jog--

Flash, growing grimmer with every line, spat out "You done?"

Ringo stretched his hand towards him.

"Come on, man. Don't tell me you gonna choose that cu..."

Flash hit him. An awkward, badly aimed punch, it barely grazed the boy across the
cheekbone, making him step back and drop on his backsitde, more with the surprise
than actual pain.

"Shit, Ringo, I'm..." Flash stared at his hand unable to believe what he did.

"Screw you, man.", Ringo spit out a bit of blood from the bitten lip, "Screw you,
if that's how you gonna be. Come on boys. At least we tried."

***

“C’mon, do you want me to get them expelled? Or I could kill them. Or sing them a
very classy rendition of ‘I got your friend in me’ to that Disneigh tune.

He snorted.
***

“...would you really kill them?

"Well, I didn’t really expect you to ask," Sunset admitted, "but if it would make
you feel better -- sure."

"Err.. I thought you liked them. I mean, before this whole thing."

"I did." Sunset stretched lazily. "They're nice kids, all things considered. I just
have my priorities. And now that they left..." She moved closer.

"Sunset. " Flash kept her away for a moment. "Please don't kill my friends. And
anyone else in school."

“Why?”

“You’d go to prison.”

“Pft,” she waved her hand. “Please. I’m a master alchemist. They’d never find me.”

“Either way. Please?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “Not without good reason at least. But there would be
conditions…” her hand sneaked lower and for a while they did not talk.
THREE-PIPE PROBLEM

"My thinking tube. Ethylene, benzedrex, Salvia Divinorum, deadly nightshade, few
other ingredients -- some from Equestria to keep it from melting my brain, lungs
and everything else in between... Perfectly legal, but will pretty much make you
puke your guts out unless you have built up a tolerance. Something to keep them
neurons firing when I need a think."

"There's nothing special about the brain, Twi. Ask them--" the vague wave of gold
and red hair flourished towards the window, where behind the veil of the night all
of humanity was. "--They've almost figured it out. No higher reason, no magical
spark to imbue gross biology with sense, and reason and intellect. Just the messy,
convoluted pattern recognition, some overfitted feedback routines filtering
nonsense into sense. Overcharge the neurons, get more patterns..." She took a drag
off her pipe. "Skip the boring logic and trivialities of math, let your intuition
do the trick. Like pulling a trigger of a gun.

“That’s how the Oracle of Delfilly worked. Intuition, pattern recognition and a
whole lot of current political information. That, and getting high as a kite on
ethylene.”
ACADEMICS
"Got it!" A Sunset declared on the screen. "1.241, give or take a thousands of a
herz."

"I..." Twilight jotted down the last few lines. "One second..." few more scribbles.
"Yes! Thats what I got. Its [goldenrario], which comes down to 1.241 and three
recurring. "

"How did you...?" Sunset looked over her shoulder. “Let me see.”

“A turning symmetry..." She muttered, following the dry shorthand. "Generalised

elliptic curve," she furrowed her brow.

"Once you represent the waveform as a projection from a higher-dimensional regular

object, it gets really easy," Twilight said, "see? You get a hypersphere
intersection, then cut it again with this plane, and the rest the rest is basic
geometry."

"Yeah, in six dimensions. Damn."

"How did you solve it?" Twilight asked. “I don’t think there’s a simpler solution.”

"I did some basic space reduction heuristics and then used the gradient descent to
get the numerical solution. Couple thousand iterations and it’s there."

"But it's approximate!" Twilights eyes widened. "You can't get a closed form
solution this way." She looked at the computer dubiously. "Can you?"

"Yeah, you can't." Sunset agreed. "Well, you can, but not in fifteen minutes, and
not quite like that. But since none of us has anything calibrated to a precision of
1 microherz, and the solution space is reasonably smooth, that's academic."

Twilight shook her head, not satisfied, and double- checked her solution. "Magic is
precise science. You can't just approximate your way to something like Caramel
Comets Gravity Inversion."

"Magic is a thing you do so that three sirens don't turn your brain into mush, make
this school implode and take over the world." Sunset countered. "And yes you can. I
was there when Caramel invented first prototype for it. We were both tipsy off the
salt and cider, and she just did like half the thing off her horn. "

"No!"

"Uh-huh. It was seven months of theoretical research, and then it all came together
in one drunken fit of magic. And then took half a year to get it to publishing."
WHITE FANG
“What her mother did to her,” Sunset drew out the word. “Her [i]mother[/i].” she
looked at the cup, swirling the spoon slowly.

"Imagine a dog, " she started, "an adorable little puppy with wide eyes and floppy
ears. Imagine putting him in a room and never letting him out, all alone, all the
time. And imagine coming into the room every once in a while and kicking the shit
out of him."

Fluttershy whimpered.

"Just straight out, heavy boots and baseball bats going to the fucking town over
the pooch, like he’s a pinata with the last candy left in Equestria. You know what
happens?"

"A dead dog?"

“Rainbow Dash! Don’t be crass.”

"Dogs, much like humans or ponies, are social animals. They crave contact. Sooner,
rather than later, the dog starts to love those beatings. Look forward to them. Beg
for the stick and the boot."
THE LESSONS OF LIFE
“It’s easy for you to say,” Sunset peered into Applejack’s eyes - a heavy
unblinking gaze, that seemed to take even the headstrong farmer-girl aback a bit
“Hatred comes naturally to you.”

“What’s that supposed to even mean?”

“Nopony hates in Equestria. Not like humans can. It’s been bred out of pony nature
for centuries - we have greed, and envy and jealousy, but hatred, the sort of that
burns like fire, the sort of boils your blood and drives you to do anything to
quench it’s terrible thirst - that’s not for ponies.

“I had to learn my hatred, like a child learning to walk, like blind-born learning
to read again. It came at a heavy price, and I will not let it go so easily.”
DEMOLITION WORKS

"Now, Silver, I am sure their show will be great"

The Crusader trio leaned in, listening.

"They worked so hard after all, building the whole number around Scootaloo's...
problem. Why, you can barely notice the limp"

"Well..." Silver pretended to ponder the thought, rubbing her chin "I guess. The
costumes would be good at least. The other day I overheard the apple-girl talking
to Rarity to do something instead of those garish things they have now"

"And with the money they scrounged up for the effects, I am sure they're bound to
do well in the Battle," Diamond concluded "Hope Apple Bloom's family won't have to
live on turnips for weeks, the poor thing."

"Featherweight!" She snapped her fingers at her retinue, summoning the tiny boy
with a camera. "You're on the cameras with the showcase, so make sure you capture
[i]Every. Little. Detail[/i]. The whole school will want to see that.

[ACTION & DESCRIPTION].

Adagio’s hands touched in an imitation-applause.

"Now that was just cold. Exploiting weaknesses to sow discord and break a
friendship just before a crucial moment. Wonder who taught her that," Adagio
smiled, showing her just-a-bit -too-sharp-for-a-human teeth. "Perhaps the student
will soon exceed the master."

Sunset frowned.

"Perhaps. I am a great teacher after all," she said levelly, "But not today. What
do you want, Adagio?"

Adagio cringed slightly at the word “teacher”, her pale orange lips twisting into
an spasm-length grimace.

“I can smell what you are, Sunset Shimmer,” she said. “His hunger in your blood. We
want you to join us.”

“You’re joking.”

[SOMETHING]

"Shouldn't we be bugging the purple one instead, Dagi? This one is powerless
anyways. She has no magic."

This was as obvious an attempt to get to her as the first one. The difference was,
this one [i]worked[/i]. Sunset beat her anger down, trying to keep her expression
neutral.

“Ah, but we can change that, can’t we girls?”

AND THEREIN LIES A PROBLEM

“You have not changed at all!” Twilight shouted, “I hoped that after the Elements
of Harmony you’d be a better pony, but you’re the exact same Sunset Shimmer I’ve
first met - you’re mean, and you’re horrible to everypony around you, and even
after we’ve shown you how horrible what you did is, you still think you deserve to
run this school. You even try to poison others to your ideas, some poor little
girls, who probably will never have any friends now.”

“Oh stuff it, Princess” Sunset was getting just as angry as Twilight, “What, you
think you blast me in the face with a friendship laser and I get all nice, like a
shiny little doll? Well screw you. I am not a nice pony, I am not a student of
Canterlot High, I am not a friend. I am that I made myself into, and I will be
until the day I die.”
DON’T HIT
She dodged Applejack's smack, grabbing the wrist and the elbow, and made a round,
circular motion, stepping behind her, and suddenly AJ was standing on her tippy-
toes, back arching uncomfortably, her hand twisted out to the back to the point of
pain.

"Punch me again”, Rainbow Dash snarled, “and I will bloody well punch you back. Got
it?"

She jerked AJ’s hand sharply up, causing the girl to grunt with pain, and suddenly
released it.
WISHES AND SEAHORSES

"Heh." Aria chuckled, turning away to the sink. Water ran over her immaculate skin,
as she lathered her perfectly manicured hands. "Maybe I'll take your boy-toy for a
spi--"

There was a wave, red and green, like never before, like a battering ram of viscous
fire hitting the inside her head, and Aria never finished her sentence. A flick of
a wrist and with a click-crack the extended steel baton cut her across the ribs.

"Sto--"

Another strike hit her across the jaw. There was a crunch and her scream turned to
a gurgling hiss. The baton flew up again, like a director's wand, froze there for a
second, and then fell down. And again. And again. A quiet symphony of wet,
squelching strikes and sharp cracks of broken bones. The fingers of outstretched
hand, angled awkwardly and ripped out of their joints. Ribs cracked with a damp
"thump" of air forced from the pierced lung. A soft sound of collarbone giving
under the weight of a heavy boot.

Sunset remained dispassionate, cold, working the downed siren with the baton and
steel-tipped boots, until whatever was left looked more like an unfinished biology
experiment than a human being...

She opened her eyes and unclenched her jaws slowly, forcing herself to breathe,
pushing out whatever the siren tried to say and forcing herself to ignore the
taunt. This was not the time or the place. Her fingers ran over the cold steel of
the concealed weapon in her sleeve. The little princess decreed that they had to be
nice, but a girl could dream.
Aria laughed, uneasy, forced chuckle.

"Woof," she said. "Good doggie. Even your dreams are put on the leash."

That had the opposite effect. Suddenly Sunset was calm, almost easy. "I am her
Highness dog at Kew," Sunset agreed. smiling amicably, "but we both know whose
bitch are you."
THE HONEST TALK
Sunset stood up abruptly.

“This is dumb. We should not be wasting time on stupid sh-”

“Sit down, sugarcube”. Applejack said simply from underneath her cowgirl hat, not
even a shred of doubt in her voice “Or I’ll sit you down for ya.”

Sunset sat down.

ARSONEE’S LULLABY (DEVIL’S OWN FIRE)

Your love's a fire that cannot be tamed

Your love is not a thing tame
Ours is a deadly game
It burns me like Acheron's flame

Waiting for evening in empty longing

Happy by sunset, hollow by morning
Feelings so fleeting -- yet somehow eternal.
You say that’s what love is, you say its normal,
You call it awkward and so very mortal
For me it is fire, terrible, burning
Fire that's burning me whole

I’m addicted to you, to the things that you do

Darkness and flames, exalted and profane.
And then you want to do it again
From the first rays of sunrise to sunset.

I’ll be with you forever more

Desperate fear and love.
But you’re bringing more and more flame
When I am already burning!
SURPRISE!

Twilight looked away. It took her a second to look back at Sunset.

"Sunset... I..."
She couldn't say it. Instead she just passed her pad to the orange girl.

Sunset looked at the first page. She frowned. Flipped page, then another, her frown
getting deeper every second.

"I...wait.. This makes no sense. It's total gibberish! There's nothing here!"

"Ehheh. Yes... You see... I couldn't figure it out too." Twilight smiled
sheepishly.

….

"Well screw me like a virgin goat," Sunset finally admitted, "I did not see that
coming"
INTERMISSION - PEACE TALKS

Sirens entered through the other door and made their way towards Rainbooms.

Adagio went first, with Trixie almost hanging off her. Despite the warm weather
outside the magician girl wore at least three layers of sweaters, looking more like
a human clothes rack than her usual self.

Aria and Sonata followed not far behind.

"We come in peace". Aria droned towards Rainbow Dash, waving in her face an
improvised white flag of a hankie "take me to your leader".

"Hilarious." Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Besides, Twilight is not here, so count your
sorry selves lucky.”

Everyone was seated, Trixie still clinging to Adagio like a baby-sloth to its
mother.

"Are you quite all right, darling?" Trixie's condition did not escape Rarity's keen
eye. "You look..."

"You look like crap". Rainbow Dash did not wait for her friend to find a suitable
euphemism, and got straight to the point. Trixie lacking the strength to respond,
merely gave the jock of the group an angry glare, before retreating her face back
into the folds of Adagio's coat.

"Rainbow Dash! I was going to say ‘a bit under the weather’, thank you very much. I
take it,it is not a common cold?"
"It's one of the reasons I called this parley," Adagio explained on Trixie's
behalf. "And a direct consequence and cause of things happened while you
were...indisposed in the Battle of the Bands"

"Yeah, because of her!" Rainbow's cyan finger pointed accusingly at Trixie, forcing
another silent angry glare from the sickly girl.

"Aww, you're not still sore about that, are you?" Aria was as sarcastic as ever.

"Hey! We woulda totally whooped your butt in the finals. You were lucky this
little...witch decided to go all supervillain-y on us"

"Nuh-uh. You, like, totally sucked in the semi's. Especially with the bacon-girl
fly-tackling you mid-song," Sonata snorted, "that was, like, classic".

"Only because you put a magical thingamawhatever on us!" even Sunset could not stay
on the sidelines.

Trixie's gem started pulsing, and the girl stirred silently in Adagio's grip,
causing her intervene.
A single wave of her hand nipped off Aria's response in the bud

"However much I do enjoy a good snack, this is not why we are here, is it?"

"And why is it that you're here?"

"Because we're done, bacon-hair". Aria took the bull by the horns, and went
straight to business. "Battle of the Bands is over. The Dazzlings are over. The
whole stupid "conquering this dumb world" thing is on indefinite hiatus, ok? We
just want to make sure we're cool with you. Last thing we need is getting
friendship-laser sniped because you guys get trigger happy."

"Cool?! Cool?!" Rainbow was anything but "You stole our magic! You tried to take
over the world! You made my band miss the finals of the Battle! We are definitely
not cool."

Eyebrow raised, Adagio merely looked at Sunset pointedly, until Rainbow had to look
away.
"That's... that's an entirely different thing!"

"Look, you have no magic. We have almost no magic. We had a single chance to turn
this dump of a world into something barely passable, and Dagi here blew it just to
get a piece of moon pie. There's just no point in fighting any more."

"What in tarnation does that even mean?"

“Did I stutter or something?” Aria gave AJ a glare “All the magic we got out of you
when we made you fight like sissy little girls, all the stuff we hooked out of the
students - all of it went right into her.” She pointed accusingly at Trixie
“Because Adagio could never stop playing with her food, could you, o fearless
leader?”

“Oh shut up, ‘Ria,” Adagio scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Not like you are any
better”.

She resumed where her minion left off.

“Anyway, now my little star is a Siren, just like us. But she’s a little baby siren
in this screwed-up no-magic world.”

Trixie’s protests at being called a baby quickly drowned in the tenderness of

Adagio’s embrace, and she snuggled back into the orange hands, content.

“So all the magic I can scrounge up I cannot waste on side-projects like conquering
the world, or making little girls fight each other to their deaths, however
hilarious that would be. It all goes to my baby here, because without it she will
[i]die.[/i]”

“And since you don’t have any Equestrian magic left anyway, there’s just no point
in us fighting. Neither of us has anything the other side wants, and we don’t even
have anything to fight with. So unless you want to enter a slapping match with ‘Ria
here and both go to this world’s idiotic juvenile correctional facilities for
assault -- we’re done.”

No one wanted to answer that, as the girls looked at each other in confusion. That
somehow seemed to be an…. anti-climactic end to the Battle of the Bands.

“So what do you propose?” Rarity prompted the leader of the sirens, given the lack
of any suggestions on the Rainboom side.

“Hostages.”

“Ambassadors.” Aria grinded her teeth as she corrected Adagio. “We talked about
this, Adagio.”

“Right, right, sure.” Adagio waved her hand at the uppity minion, “Same thing,
really. Me and my little star leave the Canterlot High, and will attend the Crystal
Prep instead, as my girl recovers her strength and learns to live in this cold
wasteland of a universe. ‘Ria and ‘Nata will stay here, so that you can watch them
and see if they’re up to no good...which, honestly, they probably will be at some
point, for the lack of brains if not malicious will.”
Aria’s punched Adagio in the shoulder.

“Shut up Dagi. Just shut up, or the next one will be to your damn smug face.”

She turned back to the others.

“Yeah, we get to be away from that harpy, and her “little piece of moon cake” or
whatever. And you’d see if we’re trying to conquer the world again or something and
we get to be the coal mine canaries in case you are going to shank us in the
bathroom. Plus without at least three of us, we can’t do serious magic even if we
had the juice for it. Sounds fair?”

“...seems reasonable” Sunset probed carefully, as she frantically tried to find any
traps in the sirens’ suggestion. It seemed, on the face of it quite fair. She
looked around her group for support, but found only equally confused or pensive
expressions. “We’ll have some questions, and additional conditions, though.”

***

"So what did you do to Mrs Lulamoon?"

"Just a little spell to convince her that my darling got an apprenticeship with
those Mane and Tailer guys in Rio."

"Why on green and verdant earth would ya do such a thing?"

"Because she would hardly allow me to live in her house and sleep with her
daughter, now would she?"

If Applejack did not just finish her drink, it would’ve been a glorious spit-take.

"Oh do get your mind out of the gutter, cowgirl. As much as I would like, we barely
have energy to spare on such diversions these days. I merely have to be with her at
all times in case she gets exhausted again. “

"All right... but why Crystal Prep?"

"Have you been to Crystal Prep?". Aria raised her eyebrow at the obviousness of the
question "Everyone hates everyone there. It's like a free energy smorgasbord,
especially compared to the sleepy hollow you turned this school into".

"Yeah, all those peppy go-getters, always high on caffeine and self-importance,
always looking to one-up each other", Sonata's expression turned dreamy as she
imagined the atmosphere of CP, "it's just so totally delish."
"Dagi," Trixie spoke in a barely audible coarse whisper, tugging on Adagio’s dress
lightly for attention, "Dagi, I'm getting cold again".

"Can you hold out just a little longer honey? We finish up here, and then we'll go
straight to the school"

Pulling herself up by her hands Trixie protested

"Don't patronize me, Adagio! Trixie can endure this easily. It's just that you
asked Trixie to tell you when... she... feels ... it."

Strength born of her indignation quickly exhausted Trixie fell back into Adagio's
embrace, trying to catch her breath with feverish, shallow gasps.

"Shh, honey. I know. You're my brave little star. I'm just a little concerned for
you"
Adagio's lips pressed into Trixie's forehead in a chaste, almost motherly kiss. A
pulse of her gem changed slowly to match Trixie's breath"

"Come on baby, just take a little bit. I need you to feel better, ok?"

"Trixie doesn't need this...", her tone was petulant, like a child refusing to eat
her vegetables, but even as she protested a color was returning to her cheeks, her
breath becoming deeper and more even by the second.

Snuggling closer to her siren Trixie smiled a little bit. "Thank you Dagi. I love
you".

"Are we quite done here?" Adagio looked up to others, the look of wolfish hunger in
her eyes.

"[i]We[/i]are". The ex-minions both stood up, Aria dragging Sonata away.

Others slowly followed suit, putting on clothes and fishing money out of the
wallets.

At the door, Rarity held up to wait for Adagio and Trixie.

"Adagio" Rarity's tone left no place for any levity. She was now deadly serious.
"Do you truly love her?"

"No."
That caught Trixie by surprise, forcing a little whine out of her at the casual
betrayal, but Adagio went on.

"It is so much more than that. She has my soul, as I have hers. We are intertwined
on a level infinitely deeper than mere attraction - it is not a love you feel
towards your lover, your sister or your daughter. She is unto me as I am to my own
self, more precious than anything in this world or any other, and I could no more
bear being removed away from her than I would ripping my own heart out. To say that
I merely "love" my little star is to belittle what we are so much as to say almost
nothing".

Rarity was taken aback by the fierceness of Adagio's tone.

"I... I am not sure whether to be envious of you or mortified at this...

relationship".

"Then you're smarter than you look"

***

“It’s not love, you know.” Aria was the first to talk after several blocks walked
in total silence. “Just feedback.”

***

“We did it in sixty-seventh… eighteen sixty-seventh, I think….

“Nah, ‘Ri, it was nineteens. Three years after that crazy Scoltsman, ‘member?”

“Huh?”

“The one with the machine gun, and the bagpipes, and the Neighpanese guy with the
sword. You know?”

“Oh, right, right. ” Aria waved her hand dismissively. “I mean, really, what was
that about?

“Anyway, me and ‘Nata - we got separated from ‘Dagi, and we were running out of
magic. It helped to not be so afraid all the time, to share the Hunger.”

Capital “H” in the “hunger” emphasised by the synchronous shudders of the sirens.

“I miss the way you used to wash my hair…” Sonata added wistfully.
“...whatever. It aired out in about a year though.”
________________
DAYS OF OUR ONE LIFE TO FILL
EMERGENCY

She ripped open the bug-out bag, checking the items quickly. Cash, first-aid kit,
burner phone, the little red notebook - all there. She’d need Gilda, a car...

“Apple Bloom kissed me!” Tiara finally blurted out.

Relief spilled out of Sunset in an entirely inappropriate burst of laughter.

“That is not funny, Sunset!” she could almost see Tiara stomping her foot in
frustration “she kissed me! Like on the lips! What do I do?!”

“Fine, I’m, eheh, I see how it is serious.” She wiped off her tears, and suppressed
the last of the giggles “Now breathe deep, grasshopper, and remember the first
rule.”

“Right, right.” Diamond relaxed a little bit “But Sunset, what should I do?”

“Well what do you want to do?” Sunset put the bug-out-bag back into the drawer, and
plopped back on her bed. “She likes you, clearly, do you like her back?”

“No! Yes! Kinda? I thought I liked Rumble, but I don’t know…”

“Is she a good kisser?”

“...[small]yes[/small]...”

“And you like hanging out with her and the Crusaders, right?”

“Yes, but...”

“So go out with her, take things slow, figure out if you like her. Then figure out
the next step.”

“Right. Want, take, have. Decide, plan, act.” she giggled, “and mom would be so
[i]totally[/i] peeved when she finds out!”

Sunset sighed.
“Grasshopper, don’t tell me you are considering dating Bloom just to tick off your
mom”

“No, no. That’s a bonus. Honest!”

“You’d better not”, Sunset said sternly, “in these sort of things, when the
feelings are so volatile, you have to know what you’re doing if you want to play
this game. So at least give me heads up, ok?”

“... I am not leading Bloom on! ...I’m not sure If I’m gonna date her even. I’ll
tell you if I will, promise”.

“Atta girl. Go have fun now, and don’t forget to use protection.”

Even when turning the phone off she could hear embarrassed shout “Sunset!”

TENDER DREAMS OF MIDNIGHT

She lay across the cheap bean-bag, eyes closed, as the projector changed pictures
in the kaleidoscope of mish-mashed channels switching every couple of seconds, and
the radio blared some noise as if it were music.

A pipe tangled in her fingers still smoked, and her half-lidded eyes stared
unseeingly at the ceiling, a long line of lime-green string of drool hanging down
from the corner of her mouth.

"How do you live like that?" Her eyes shot wide open she gripped his arm with a
deadman's grip. "How do you live here?"

"Wh--"

"This world is so small, so tiny, so flat. There's no color, no magic, barely any
laws of physics to speak of... everything here is dead, Flash, dead, powerless,
pointless, mechanical, useless precision, a clockwork with no one to wind it up,
everyone the same, same species, same bodies, same minds, same, same, same, I
can't.." She fell back. "I need another pipe. A tiny little breather. Please? A
little bit of colour. Just a tiny little bit..."

"Sunset, I think you had enou--"

***

She washed up, careful, measured motions, breathing slowly as she did, and he
could see a tiny wave roll along her body, from head down to the heels, as some
sort of inner tension left -- was chased away -- out of her.
"I lived, Sentry.” her voice was hoarse and unsteady, and she didn’t quite turn to
talk to him yet. “Back in Equestria, back before I was just a girl, I lived, deeply
and true. I drank precious soma, for which gold is paid in thrice its weight, and
listened to the music played by immortals. I danced with the witches on the River
Doon in makeshift stone halls, lighted by the smoking torches, to the badly tuned
bagpipes and drums played by the beasts enchanted on a whim. I trekked through the
deserts, rationing the last sip of water between today and tomorrow, and wishing I
still had the last half-cracker I finished three days ago.

“This world... this huge empty, pointless world, it's too small for me"
SNOWBALLIN’

"Rarity? What are you doing here?"

Rarity kissed her, sudden and hard. Her lips were hot and sweet, and full, and
everything Sunset imagined they would be

....

Her hands moved down, seeking under the shirt and the dress, and she had to grab on
to the white girl just not to fall over, pressing harder into her curves, smelling
the tart gooseberries and sharp sweetness of lilacs in her hair.

....

“Rarity!” She tried to say, barely catching her breath before the girl’s lips found
her again and the tangled mess of their bodies slammed through the doors of the
narrow corridor, bumping into the side wall.

"Please. I don't want to be alone." She asked, pushing Sunset further back

....

She turned on the water, and Rarity shrieked from sudden cold, ice water soaking
her clothes through, while Sunset held her hard under the streaming shower.

"You're drunk, Rarity." She said, pushing the struggling girl down.

"I am most certainly not! Release me at once!"

"Your pupils are dilated, your skin is feverish, your heart rate is through the
roof and you are so wet I will have to wipe the friggin floor. I'm hot, but I am
not that hot. Besides, I can bloody well taste the powder on your gums. How long
have you been using?"
…

“Why didn’t you,” she made a vague half-shrugging gesture, “...take it? Am I that
ugly?”

"I'm not into being a rebound." She set the tea before the cold and miserable girl
who tried to snuggle deeper into her blanket. "Sex is kinda like fighting -- it's
only fun if both parties are into it, unless you're seriously psycho. When you get
better, if you’ll want to drop something interesting and have some fun, I'm not
going to say no. But I am over the self-abuse fucking, regardless of the side."

Rarity shivered and took the teacup, grasping it with both hands. “But aren’t you
with Flash?”

"I've rogued and I've ranged in my time," Sunset said, "and the more you have known
of the others, the less will you settle to one. We talked with the boy, and he's
fine with me window-shopping around and having my fun where I find it. I offered
the same to him, but he's never interested, silly as he is."
I HAD A DREAM

“Dr. Zecora OUT” the tablet on the door read. “Dr. Id (c.o.s) substituting”

Sunset froze with her hand on the familiar door handle. She would probably not feel
as comfortable talking to someone other than Zecora, and surely Celestia could
appreciate the need to move the session once…

“Do come in!” a sing-song baritone called out from behind the door.

How did he…

Her hand pushed the door open, almost without her wanting to, and she entered the
room.

It looked different somehow. The masks that used to be on the walls, disappeared.
Dice and cards with meaningless Rorschach ink-blots on them lay strewn on the table
instead of chess, and a gaunt, twisty man sat in a gaudy chair that seemed entirely
out of plaсe, drinking an acidic-green drink from a plastic bottle. The pugnant,
suffocatingly-sweet smell of cheap incense, so unlike the scents of tea that
usually came with the place made her head spin.

“So--” he peered at her with his yellow eyes that for a second almost made her
remember something - something important, about the horns and the worlds and the
lions, “--you’re Miss Zecora’s mysterious regular visitor. Pleased to meetcha.

“Dr Id.” he shook her hand vigorously. “Community Outreach Substitute.”

She found her seat by rote.

“Like this place. A pretty tight squeeze for someone like me, but it’s kinda cozy
if you get used to it. Not very magical though.”

***
“Sunset Shimmer,” he produced a file from somewhere, flipping through. “"Quite a
delinquent, I'm told" he smiled his toothy grin. "No worries. I've been known to
pull a prank or two in my day. Not all of them well received. And some of them I’m
trying to fix."

“I’m not a delinquent.” Sunset said evenly. The man annoyed her, and there was
something weird about him that set her nerves on edge.

“We’ll see.” He grabbed the cards off the table. “Pick a card, any card.” he fanned
them out towards her..

SHE TAKES THE CARD

“Excellent. Now say the first word that comes to your mind. Sunset shrugged. That
was safe enough.

"School"
"Homework"

"Square"
"Peg"

"Friendship."
"...Twilight."

"Running."
"Away." Through the magic portal, where she would not be there, to look at with
fear - not of her student, but of what she had become.

The associations came faster now, not spilling out before she could stop herself

"Love."
"Weakness." a lie and a contradiction, your heart stolen by a thief in the night.

"Wine."
"Poison." Slipped quietly to someone you love.
"Memory."
"Darkness" under water, where it will be preserved even when stars fall from
heavens. The myriad magic lights extinguished as she trotted away. She closed her
eyes, trying to will away the unwanted thoughts, but the doctor continued, each
word like a flash of fire lighting up the memories she didn’t want to…

"Fire."
"Pain." Green and thick and hungry, smelling of the burnt flesh. She tried to
breathe, just right, despite the pain in her chest, but the air was thick and
viscous, and the walls pushed down on her, head spin.

"Horn"
"Arrow" stuck in his throat, red stains on white skin. She couldn’t breathe, her
chest hurt with burning stab, maelstrom of nightmares that was dragging her down
into the past--

"Desert."
“Enough!” She clenched her fists shut, and froze in place, trying to catch her
breath. “Enough. I’m done with that game!” slowly, she exhaled. Slowly, she opened
her eyes. Slowly, ever so very slowly, she finally found her way out of the
memories she did not want - did not need right now, and locked them back down.

"Aha." Dr. I'd, undaunted by her outburst, looked at her atop his thick horn-rimmed
glasses she could've sworn he did not have a second ago. "I see. Well, that is a
simple case. Quite treatable, yes."

"What?"

"You have hunger in your blood. His hunger, I'm afraid." Sunset blinked. She knew
that phrase, from somewhere, she could not quite put her thumb on where. “Quite
advanced case, I must confess. Not many take to it so quickly.”

***
"Whose hunger?" She asked dumbly.

"His.” Doctor Id repeated. “The monster-maker. The foal-napper, the mage. His
mark is upon you. But," he leaned forward, and whispered conspiratorially, "I can
take it away.”

“The question is, are you content, Sunset Shimmer?”

“What?” the transition was so sudden, she could not help but to be flabbergasted by
the question.

“Are you content to be what you are?

She thought about it. Her life was getting on track, definitely. She had her own
little nakama, a boyfriend, monetary troubles were mostly sorted and in a bit more
than a year she’d be a legal adult, so her life would get so much easier. But was
she content?

SHE SAYS SHE’S NOT. TOO MUCH STUFF GOING ON. TOO MANY CONTRADICTIONS

“Do you want to be?”

***
"Just close your eyes, and imagine it." His voice became almost soft, deep. "Think
about what your future would be like if everything were... simpler. No grand
destiny. No duty. No hunger in your blood."

She closed her eyes.

"That's it. Think about it."

She could - see it now. As plain as if it were her life. Earning back the trust of
the school. Being a student, one of many, part of the herd. Forging friendship -
real friendship, with the girls, one that would last a lifetime. There was more
luig ahead. Battles to be fought, side by side with them. Fantastical journeys, new
friends and new challenges. Then - graduation, job, family - she could not guess
with whom, a job, simple and fun, something she could leave behind and clock out,
when she went back.

She could come home. She could come home and She would look at her, and forgive
her...

"No." It was hard to say it. The word stuck like a razor in her throat.

"Oh?" The counselor sounded surprised. Or maybe amused.

"I refuse." She pushed away the vision, and forced herself to open her eyes.

***

“You have seen things…things others wouldn’t believe.” his crooked figure became
tragic somehow, a shadow falling across his face, “You’ve seen Power rise and bleed
on a bank of a river in a different world. Heavens rent apart by magic and fire
stolen from the dragons. All those memories, like diamonds in the darkness, lit by
the fire. To lose them, like leaves to the wind, like sparks in the night.. “

The small old TV in the corner of the room suddenly came alive. A man was crying in
the rain on the screen.
[note]
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder
of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those
moments will be lost in time, like tears...in...rain
[/note]

“But you are a child, Sunset.” All the mad cheer gone somehow,And then there was
silence and yellow eyes looking into hers, suddenly alert and piercing, and there
was nothing funny about the gaunt man anymore. “You did not want those things to
happen to you. And I can take them away. Make them disappear, like leaves to the
wind, like sparks in the night. Let you be just a child again. “

***

“No...” She answered automatically, “Wait--” but he did not listen.

“Is this your final stop on your road? Playing with these children like with
equals? Rollerblading with Rainbow Dash, shopping with Rarity, quaint little queen
of a tiny little school, forever and ever and ever and ever...

He kept talking. Sunset wanted to say something, anything, just to make him stop,
but she couldn’t. She grew into her seat, becoming one with it, drowning slowly in
its cheap dermatin folds, and she could feel her mind being consumed by the heavy
lethargic heat of the room.

Anger came to her aid, as it did more and more in these last days, and she twisted
and wretched herself out of the cursed things’ drowning embrace, ripping apart the
cheap leather and her own skin alike.

“SHUT UP!”

She screamed, and he stopped talking,smiling at her instead with an entirely

inhuman smile. She didn’t care

“JUST SHUT UP!”

He flicked her nose, and her fire was gone, dancing as a spark on the top of the
finger. "Better?"

"I"...

….
[b]

"Eh," Dr Id dismissed the notion with a wave of his crooked hand. "Truth." He
shrugged. "Deeds of renown without peer aren't quite your speed any more, anyways
right? Might as well take the simple pleasure."

"Sunset, Sunset," he chuckled. "Sunset, Sunset, Sunset."

Something clicked inside him, and he hitched, like a clockwork that missed a gear,
and repeated "Sunset."

"Sunset." A spring broke from within his face, and he started to fall apart,
plastic skin cracking, his eye popping out on a spring, as he repeated and repeated
and repeated her name....

"Sunset!"

"Gah!" She woke with a start, gasping for air.

"You can't sleep here. It's detention."

"What?" She wiped the drool of her chin with a sleeve and looked around. The purple
teacher was right. It was detention.

CHEERILEE TELLS HER SHE’S NOT GOING TO ZECORAS TODAY.

“Huh.”

HUMAN SACRIFICE
“Silver, what do you say we show our friend how we have fun around here?”

Silver smiled, and nodded, taking out her permanent notepad.

Diamond stood up, cleaning up her dress from some invisible dust, and knocked on
one of the nearby doors, peeking in.

“Mister Discreet Service?”

The portly man in the suit inside the office raised his head from the computer,
rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Oh, hi, Tiara. Did you want something?”

“Daddy said he needs documents on that project for the next meeting, Could you come
up to his office, please? He’ll want to discuss your progress as soon as he’s done
with his current work.”
“Erm… oh. Yes, sure thing.” Discreet scuttled away, ransacking his desk for
printouts. “Did he, erm, mention what he wanted to talk about?”

“Nope. But he was doing his hand-knocking thing, y’know the one”. Tiara imitated
the drumroll of her father’s fingers running over the desk in a staccato pattern
that Filthy Rich did when he was impatient or annoyed

“Oh crabapples,” Dscreet redoubled his efforts, printouts and post-its flying
everywhere, before he almost ran out of the door.

“Ti, what are you doing? This is boooring.” Pacifica voiced her doubts in the
girls’ definition of ‘fun’. “This is, like, work stuff!”

“A human sacrifice,” Tiara answered vaguely, as she wasted no time, positioning

herself in the abandoned chair and running through the notes and photographs strewn
around the table in the disarray left behind by the spooked office rat. “You’ll
see.”

“Married. Kids - two, daughter and son, preschool. Bad organisational skills, locks
the computer and the drawer, easily spooked, has not done professional requals for
three years, keeps paper notes…” Silver was furiously writing down Tiara’s
conclusions, as she was rattling them off.

“Nothing so far. Now for the fun part”

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, trying out office passwords, but the machine
turned out to be resistant to her attempts - neither names, not random post-its
notes did not seem to be the password to the account.

“Darn”.

“Can we go now?”

“Not yet.”

Taking off the desk phone off the hook, Tiara dialed a short number.

“Hi, is this IT?” her voice slightly lowered imitating an adult, “This is
workstation 8579, and I seem to have locked myself out of the system. Can you guys
please drop the password?”

She scribbled something on a post-it note

“Thanks. I know, just stupid Caps Lock thingie. My fault, totally owe you one.”
She slammed the phone down and her fingers returned to the keyboard, forcing the
computer to bring out its contents.

“Let’s see… mail… downloads… recycle bin… woah, this is some nasty stuff.”

Pacifica craned her neck towards the screen.

“Silver, did you know that mister Discreet likes to watch himself some very
interesting videos in his workplace?”

The silver girl grinned “Why no, Tiara, I had no idea!”

“That does paint his plane tickets to Tail Land in his mailbox in a very
interesting light though. Wonder what else mister Indiscreet here likes to do on
company money.”

“A dating site in Browsing History looks fun”

“And he keeps his password remembered. My, my.”

For a few seconds all three girls were reading furiously, until...

“Eww!”

“Why would he even describe that?”

“Do adults really do that? It’s, like, disgusting!”

“Ahhaha!”

“Allright, enough ladies, we got what we came here. Positions now, please!”

***

Discreet Service was furious. He would not show it of course, but the stupid prank
had made him look like a complete mule. He’d have to give the little girl a stern
talking-to. Not too stern, of course, she was still Filthy Rich’s daughter, but he
had to explain that acting out like this was completely unacceptable. He was the
vice-assistant to the second director of operations, after all, not some lowly
cubicle slave!

When he entered the office, however, not only was the little brat sitting in his
chair, she had her legs across the desk, a perfect Prida shoes casually trampling
his family portrait. He’d give her a piece of his mind!
“Mister Discreet. Please sit down” she pointed to the visitor’s chair.

“Tiara, this is completely unacceptable, you can’t just…”

“I do apologize for the little deception.” She interrupted him, and something in
her voice made him stop talking “But your correspondence with the “HeMan179” was
just sooo interesting, I couldn’t help myself.”

He could feel now the perspiration on his brow, as the cold feeling of dread
encroached on him, words he had rehearsed in his head disappearing like morning
mists.

“I mean, the more graphic materials you did not thoroughly delete were educational,
but the way you describe your… romantic endeavors was a riveting read. A truly
inspired piece of work, even though an hourly hotel is hardly a great setting.”

He sat down. Visitors chair or not, his legs refused to keep him standing, and
tried to think. It did not go so well.

“You really should publish.” Tiara advised. “But then again, your wife would find
out. And your kids. And their friends….”

“D-diamond!”

“Miss Tiara” the silver girl corrected him sternly.

“What do you want?”

“Your employee ID.”

“Wh-what?”

“Give me your employee ID.” she repeated with exaggerated patience, waving the
usbs-stick in the air “Or the next time you try to run a presentation, all everyone
will be thinking about, is how you “want to give a chocolate bath to his mighty
spear in your tight little bunny burrow.”

He ripped his ID off his neck and threw it on the table.

Silver picked it up with two fingers, and hid it in her pad, making a show of
wiping her fingers on a Kleenex afterwards, just as Diamond hopped off a chair, to
leave the room.

“I have your number, mister vice-assistant. And one day, I might just ask you to do
something for me. And you’re gonna do it.”

“Yes, Miss Tiara.” there was nothing but resignation in his tone, as he watched the
girls leave his office.

***

“Silver what’s the tally?”

“Twelve, ‘Miss Tiara’” Silver reported gleefully, adding another ID to her wallet.
“Even dozen”

“Ok, that was fun. Weird, but fun,” Pacifica admitted. “Are all of them such total
pervs?”
HOW THE PRICE IS PAID
Sunset tested out the knife and licked the blood off the finger. The thing was
sharp.
She looked at her students carefully, checking for any sign of fear. There were
plenty, but both girls tried their very best not to show.

Good.

“Last chance, grasshoppers. Walk away, and I won't think any worse of you. This is
entirely and absolutely non-compulsory.”

They said nothing.

She scratched behind the ear of the pig. It oinked happily, leaning into the
scratch.

“There are three tolls for the road of life. To live a life you must pay in blood,
in sweat and in tears.”

A knife slipped under the piglet’s throat, and its snorts turned into gurgles, as
its neck split in a gushing wound. It tired to move, legs jerking limply above the
ground, but the harness held it fast, life and strength flowing out of its body by
the second.

“If you’re strong, if you’re lucky, the others will be paying for what you want.
But the price is always there and it’s always the same. Always hiding beneath the
thin veil of civilization, like a razor blade inside an apple.”

The convulsions of the animal were growing slower by the second, and the blood
pooled in a puddle, covering Sunset’s boots.

“Never forget that, grasshoppers. Never let it slip your minds, that when you eat
your meal is paid by murder and the sweat of somebody’s brow. That when you wear
fur, something died for your comfort and someone worked to make it into clothes.
Diamonds and silver, luxury and necessity all you have, and all you ever will have
will be paid for by blood, and sweat and tears, whether yours or taken from someone
else.”

She cleaned up the knife with a cloth slowly, as her students stood mesmerised by
the vision of death. The first thing they ever seen to die in front of their eyes.

“Now who wants to go first?”

***

Sunset caught her hand. "Wait!"

A second's relief blinked in the girl's eyes.

"Away from your side out," Sunset changed the positioning of the knife against the
piglet's throat "That way the blood does not spill on you."
________________

THIS SCHOOL OF OURS

MONSTERS
"Look." Trixie made a grand gesture around, "Do you want to know what Trixie sees?"

She pointed at a couple talking "Food."

She pointed at the running kids, accidentally dropping someone's Coke. "Food."
She pointed at Sunset at her side. "Food.”

"That's all Trixie can think of."

"And you're think you're alone?" Sunset shrugged. "Do you think I’m any different?
There’s a thing in my brain, a thing I made out of myself, that looks through my
eyes, and I constantly see it.

“The way I could break up that couple and turn their infatuation to hatred in five
words, whispered at the right time.

“The way I could just give a little shove, and like dominoes falling, a chain of
events would lead to kid breaking her neck instead of dropping someone's drink, or
how to turn an accident everyone will forget in five minutes into a joke that would
destroy her life for the next two years.

“I look at you, and the first thing I think of is 'when my friend turns against me,
what is the most efficient way to destroy her'.
"We're monsters, Trix. That's what we are. The question is -- what do we do with
it."
OLD FRIENDS

“Adagio has been so wonderful. She has been taking care of Trixie so much, and
teaching Trixie a lot - about the siren magic, about presentation and stagecraft,
about...other stuff”. Trixie’s cheeks flushed pink at the last part. “But… Trixie
misses the school, and her friends, and her mother a lot.” She sniffled, “And Fuchi
and Lavi still don’t answer Trixie’s messages.

“Trixie will get better though. We can stay apart for more than a day now, even.”

She clasped her hands in fists, trying to summon her resolve.

“Trixie will master that stupid magic, and when she isn’t so hungry all the time,
she will come back to her family and her school, Greater and more Powerful than
ever!”. Her shoulders slumped and voice dropped, “It’s just that Trixie does feel a
little bit lonely, now and again.”

“My offer still stands, you know. We need The Magnificent Magenta back in our
party.”

“You’ve seen it yourself, Sunset.” Trixie’s tone turned bitter, resigned, “It’s too
dangerous for Trixie to be with other people. Especially you, or your friends, with
your emotions and your magic. Trixie could hurt someone.”

“If you say that I’m like your personal brand of heroin, I [i]will[/i] punch you”,
Sunset said sourly. “You need friends, Trix. You can’t just be permanently cooped
up with Adagio and other sirens, or be by yourself, you’ll go nuts.”

“You’re willing to risk yourself?” Trixie asked, surprised. “For Trixie?”

“That’s what friends are for.” Sunset smiled a bit, “And the taser I’m getting
after today.”

“Ooh, kinky. I didn’t know you were into this stuff”

Something in Trixie’s pose shifted slightly, and suddenly her Crystal Prep uniform
became much less... uniform, stretching thin across her body and accentuating her
curves in a way no dress could. The black, red gem-studded choker turned a modest
schoolgirl shirt into something kinky beyond description.

“We could go all the way you know”, she purred, “get an electric collar, so you
could punish Trixie when she is being naughty” Trixie leaned in close, her blue
lips almost touching Sunset’s ear, and whispered “And Trixie can be a naughty,
naughty girl”
Sunset gulped, and tried to scooch back. Somehow her dry throat failed to produce
anything but helpless babble. It may not have been siren magic, but somehow that
made it even worse.

[i]Stupid teenage hormones. Stupid, sexy Trixie.[/i]

Trixie giggled and flicked Sunset’s nose, breaking the spell.

“Don’t worry, fire-head, Trixie only has eyes for one girl. And it’s not you….oh.”
Trixie cut herself off, her eyes widening in surprise, “Oh my goodness, you’re in
love too!” she giggled.

“What?!”, flustered Sunset tried to deny the obvious, “No, I’m not! That’s.. I’m
just not!”

“Oh yes you are! I can feel it all around you”. Trixie’s gem pulsed, once, and
again, a steady rhythm like a beating heart on her throat. “It’s like a little hot
sun in your chest, tiny but so warm” her hand touched Sunset's chest “And Trixie
has been so very cold for so long…”

She leaned even closer, now so close to Sunset, she was almost kissing her neck,
taking a long, long sniff. “Mmm...and so sweet. Like honey.”

“Trixie, get off me!” Sunset tried to push the baby-siren away, but her grip turned
out to be surprisingly strong.

“Trixie just needs a teeny-tiny little nibble. You would not deny your friend just
a little bit of all that magnificent warmth, would you?” Trixie’s rambling turned
into a soft quiet humming, almost a purr, as she nearly rubbed her face over her
friend, like a cat smelling catnip.

Her purring changed in pitch and tone, like a quiet, murmuring lullaby and Sunset
suddenly felt weak. Thoughts went all fuzzy in her head, and her push lost all its
power as she tried to hold on to Trixie instead, not having enough strength to even
keep standing. Siren’s lips touched on her neck, and underneath all that softness
and warmth that seemed to cover all of her body like a thick blanket, she could
almost feel the gentle tease of her breath on her ear…

Her eyes closed, and she leaned into Trixie’s warm embrace. It was getting hard to
think and harder still to remember why this wonderful feeling of siren’s embrace
and a lullaby that seemed to just rock her to sleep like a baby is a bad thing.

“I hope you brought enough to share with the class”. Suddenly appearing Adagio made
no move to separate the two. “Been awhile since I had a good threesome. Might even
let the bacon-hair here survive the experience, if only to spread the tale”.
That, however, was enough to distract Trixie, and her perfect lullaby stopped for a
second.

“I said, get off me!”, Sudden wave of the now-familiar red anger flashed through
her, burning away the warmth and fuzziness in an all-consuming flare, and Trixie
recoiled away.
She brought her hand to her lips, blisters forming quickly where she touched
Sunset’s skin.

***

“Dagi!” Trixie jumped to her lover, hiding her burned face in Siren’s embrace.
“Trixie missed you so much! And Trixie has told you numerous times that Trixie is
not sharing you with anyone.”

“It’s more of sharing someone with me.” Adagio may have been joking, but a hungry
glint in her eyes was very real. Sunset shuddered inside, trying not to show her
fear, and carefully eyed the nearest exit, while Adagio whispered something that
made Trixie blush profusely.

***

“Trixie would not have killed you. Trixie’s not hungry enough to do it, even if she
wanted to! ...But you would have a horrible headache next morning. Maybe for a few
mornings. Not more than a month, surely.” Trixie fiddled her thumbs, her eyes still
lowered “But the Great and Very Apologetic Trixie is still very sorry for what she
did.”

***

“That is a good proposition” Adagio said, tapping her finger on her chin. “You do
need to get out more, now that we can be apart.”

“But Trixie could be dangerous…”, Trixie’s protests were cut off by a simple wave
of Adagio’s hand.

“Nonsense, my little star. We’ll get you well-fed in advance, and I have all the
confidence you can handle yourself well enough.”

“Do you want to send me away so much?” Trixie pouted. “What, does Trixie bore you?”

A little kiss on the lips silenced the blue girl again, as she melted in the
siren’s embrace.

Embarrassed, Sunset turned away from the impromptu makeout session.

“I will always need you, you silly girl. But I don’t want to be all that you need”.

“But Dagi!...”

“Hush now, honey, we did agree that this week I am in charge, did we not?”

That was the last straw. “Yes, Mi… my sun”. For some reason Trixie blushed even
more, a hint of a dreamy smile in her expression even as she conceded.

Adagio prompted Trixie with a smack on the bottom, causing an embarrassed squeak
from her lover. “Now go and tell the nice bacon-hair girl, that you’ll be happy to
join their little group of friends.”

***

“Tomorrow, when you get a headache don’t take Tylenol”

“Adagio, I am not some clueless muggle. I know how to treat energy drain.” Sunset
snapped.

“I find that in absence of mandrake root, ginseng is the best substitute”. The
elder siren ignored Sunset’s outburst entirely. “Three teaspoons to a kettle. And
if you hurt my little girl in any way, I will murder you and every one of your
friends.” Her tone stayed the same, calm and level, a tight smile on her lips.

“You’d just break something trying.” Sunset smiled back, the same cold smile. She
knew it wasn’t a threat, not even a warning. Just a bit of predatory etiquette.

PANTS OFF

"Sentry!" She yanked him into the classroom, locking the door behind them.

"Sunset, what--?"

Why was he talking? She didn't need him to talk.

"Pants." she demanded, fishing in her backpack feverishly.

"What?"
Again with the talking. Silly boy, she did not need him for his conversational
skills.

"Pants. Now!" she growled, ripping the wrapper, with enough force to make the
rubber inside fly off.

He finally shut up, and it was glorious.

________________
FRIENDSHIP AND GAMES
PEP-TALK

Sunset stepped forward, and inspected her ranks.

“All right, guys. I want you all to know that if you don’t give up, support each
other, and believe in yourself… you will completely and utterly suck.” She cleared
her throat in the shocked silence before continuing, “And the Crystal Prep will
step all over you, and then point and laugh in humiliation all the way back to
their little nerd Academy. Do you want to know why?”

Nobody volunteered to answer.

“Because they work hard, every single bloody day. And that is what we are going to
do. If anyone thinks this is gonna be about that nabmy-pamby friendship crap, if
you are not willing to train hard and work hard, if you can’t take the heat - get
right out of my kitchen, because as of this moment this is war.”
GIRL FROM MARS
“Pathetic” gymnastes sighed. “A kitten could’ve hit me harder”

SOMETHING.

“Everyone, stop!” Students froze, and turned to the teacher. “Sit down, and look.
You may learn something. Miss Shimmer, come over here”

Everyone was seated, and Sunset, still panting wet mess - and not the fun kind too
- trotted to the center of the class and stood opposite the teacher, once again
“forgetting” to bow.

“Punch me”

She raised an eyebrow in silent question, and tried to assume the stance.

“Not a demonstration punch. I want you to punch me like-”

She punched him in the face before he finished talking. Well, at least she tried to
- a short, awkward punch without warning or wind-up. She didn’t even see him move,
but something jerked her in a direction she could not even describe, and then the
mats of the classroom hit her in the face. Snickers rang around the class
Groaning she turned over, to see the teacher’s face hanging over her, and stood up.

“Good. Again.”

Another attempt ended the same way as a previous one - Bronze Belt’s hand moved her
punch to the side, and sweepped her leg from under her, making her lose balance and
fall like a sack of grass, with a dull thud against the mats. Snickers turned to
giggles.

“Quiet!” He stood her up again, and turned to other students “Now who can tell me
-”

She kicked him in the nuts from behind - a vicious, underhanded hit. His knees
closed instantly, blocking the kick and capturing her leg, and he twisted and
rolled, dropping her to the floor, and sat on top of her. His hands pulled on her
captured foot, and her growl of frustration turned to pained yelp.

Giggles turned to open laughter, but Belt did not laugh.

“I said: Quiet!”

“Miss Shimmer came to this class a week ago, starting from a blank slate. She’s
also half your size, weighs fifty pounds soaking wet, and can’t do a pull-up. But
if she’d have to fight any of the juniors here in a real fight, she’d destroy them.
Do you know why?”

Nobody ventured a guess.

“Because you’re all cowards”

Class murmured with dissent, nonplussed with the unflattering description.

“In every move that Mister Gauntlet demonstrated, all you can see is fear. When he
attacks, he’s afraid to hurt his opponent. When he blocks, he’s afraid to get hurt.
Even when he demonstrates a movement he’s afraid of getting it wrong.”
DISCLAIMERS
Face, meet palm. Palm, meet face.

Teenagers.

Someone had to hurry things along, or those two would be blushing at each other
until graduation day. Quietly she pinkiepied to the teens, too busy trying not to
look at each other, and put her hands on both of their shoulders.

“Flash, this is Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle from the Crystal Prep. Twilight,
this is Flash Sentry. He’s a nice guy, plays guitar, wants to ask you out and if
you ever hurt him I will beat you to death with a shovel.”

They stared.

“Vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend. Have fun!”

STRICTLY COME DANCING

“Sunset, this is silly”, Flash semi-whined for the hundredth time. “I don’t see...”

“Shush,” Sunset shushed him. “Look, it’s no big deal. The girl clearly is crushing,
and I saw you checking her out.”

“I’m married, not dead,” Flash said defensively, his cheeks getting rosy. “But--”

“Just take her to the dance, talk a bit, see how it goes. And gimme that--” she
stole the tie off his hands.

“But what about you?”

“I am a big girl now, Flash, I can share my toys”

He gave her a look, questioning her choice of words. She chose to ignore it,
throwing the noose of the tie over his head.

“Two things, Sentry. First--” she finished the knot, and ran her fingers over it,
straightening it up, “use protection.”

“Sunset!”

“And second - Do. Not. Lie.” The noose of the tie tightened almost to the point of
discomfort “Take your time, make your choice, but do not lie, Flash Sentry, to me
or to her, or I will bury you.”

She sealed his mouth with a kiss and a gentle nibble to the lip, and, before he
could catch her, moved away.

“Go. Have fun.”

GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

"You have everything given to you! Everything! I know what you've done. What you've
been doing. And you still have friends, you have a boyfriend, a career, the perfect
grades. You have real magic for goodness sake. Everyone likes you. Why don't they
like ME?!"
She wiped tears and snot off her face.

"I've never done anything bad in my life. I never hurt anyone. Why don't they like
me?"

“Flash liked you.”

She glared.

"It was cruel. The pity date, the hand-me-down. It would have hurt less if he was
like everyone else, if he called me names, if he ignored me. But no. He was
perfectly nice. He listened, he didn't make me feel awkward, we had fun. And then
he said he was sorry. That it won't work out. And he went back to you as if it was
nothing. As If I was nothing.Because of course I was - compared to the perfect
Sunset Shimmer.

“He made me feel normal. He made me feel liked.

“And you took it all from me, and you didn’t even have to try."

"Nobody owes you love, little princess. It can't be stolen, can't be earned, can't
be deserved. It's a gift."

THE POWER ON THE DARK SIDE

It was dark. So dark, and so cold, even her anger, her best weapon and companion,
has long since stopped being enough to keep her warm. Her throat would’ve felt sore
for all the screaming she did in the silence, but she just felt numb, huddled in
the limbo of the perfect darkness and silence, and as she felt the last of her
heat… the last of her self, be consumed by the hungry blackness of the place, she
could not even summon the strength to be afraid.

“Fear not this night”

A sound. Barely a whisper - it must’ve been an illusion. A last attempt of whatever

was left of her to do something.

“It will not go astray.”

But why then did her last dying illusion sound very much like a certain cerulean
magician-turned-siren?

“Though shadows fall

Still the stars find their way.”
It couldn’t be. Yet three other voices joined the song, and it grew louder. No
longer a whisper in the darkness - now the darkness was only an illusion against
the green magic of the song.

“Awaken from a quiet sleep

Hear the whispering of the wind
Awaken as the silence grows
In the solitude of the night”

She could feel the air on her skin now - her real skin, in her real world, a
sensation so wonderful it almost made her laugh.The darkness stirred and twisted,
trying - and failing - to contain the song.

Nightmares come when shadows grow

Eyes close and heartbeats slow

Fear not this night

You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way

And you can always be strong

Lift your voice with the first light of dawn

She could see the light now - blurry images of reality. She blinked. She blinked!

Distant sounds of melodies

Darting through the night to your heart
Auroras, mists, and echoes dance
In the solitude of our life

Pleading, sighing arias

Gently grieving in captive misery

The darkness flowed and stirred, and the song grew distant again. It wasn’t enough,
there had to be something, anything! She threw herself against it with abandon,
and...

Darkness sings a forlorn song

Yet our hope can still rise up

Nightmares come when shadows grow

Lift your voice, lift your hope

She could feel the others. Like stars they lit up in the darkness. Blue, brown,
yellow. Pink and silver…. Not a full song, not controlled, refined power of the
siren-spell, but something deeper, more primal, more pure.

Her friends were with her, lifting their voices, their hopes and their strength
against the darkness. And no darkness could stand against that light, however far
and faint. The song climbed, rising to a piercing crescendo, its newfound power
threading the darkness like the nothingness it really was.

Fear not this night

You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way

And though the night sky's filled with blackness

Fear not, rise up, call out and take my hand

She threw her everything towards the song, and she could feel the warmth of
Trixie’s hand in her own, as she stepped outside of the dark, now powerless to stop
her.

Fear not this night

You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way

And you can always be strong

Lift your voice with the first light of dawn

Dawn's just a heartbeat away

Hope's just a sunrise away

She stood up, the power beating in tune with her own heart, and just like that
there was no more darkness, no more Midnight. She was herself again. And she was in
the basement of the school, sirens leaning against the walls.

“We could get you out,” Adagio said, dabbing away her nosebleed with an orange
handkerchief. “Only you, I’m afraid. Now you figure it out.”

“But why me?” Sunset asked dumbly “I don’t have any magic.”

Adagio tried to glare at her. It did not work so well when the Dazzling could
barely stand upright.

“I am Sunset Shimmer” she quoted. “The Celestia’s Monster. I beat up real monsters
and made them cry.” She had to catch her breath before she could continue “Well,
now, there’s a monster for you. Go, kick this ugly thing’s butt, rip its throat
out, do whatever it is you brutes do, and solve this problem for us.”
Sunset nodded slowly, as the heat returned to her limbs. She did once say that. And
thinking back, to the darkness peppered by the stars of every color she knew what
to do.
BEATDOWN

"Nobody will be mean to me again." the abomination of a Sparkle pulsed with the
stolen magic, and in the eyes of every student something flickered back in the
same rytm - a green glint of magic. "Nobody will ever be mean to anyone else!"

"You know what your problem is, Sparkle?" a Sunset said calmly, ignoring the
magical maelstrom. She lit a cigarette, and stepped off the porch, moving towards
the magical monster-girl.

"You! How?"

Sunset ignored the sputtering uber-nerd, as she kept moving.

"You despise everyone and you envy them at the same time. You think that you're
better than them, while desperately begging for their approval, and when they don't
hurry to fall on their knees and hail the great genius Twilight Sparkle you hate
them for it. That's all there is to it. Just a temper-tantrum by a spoiled,
privileged little girl"

"HOW DARE YOU!" The classic of bad villainy only caused Sunset to smirk, despite
the window-shattering volume of Sparkle's voice. "I want to end the pain! The
misunderstanding, the bullying, the hating. I want everyone to be friends! Why
don't you see it?"

"You have no idea what friendship even means, you little twit." Sunset threw away
her half-smoked cigarette and threw her hands to the sides, summoning her friends."

"Friends are the ones who tease and make fun of you, because they know you can take
it"
She could feel the tiny pulse of Trixie’s magic within her chest, like a tickling
little feather.

"Friends are the ones who respect your decisions and know their boundaries,"
Diamond nodded, looking at Apple Bloom wistfully.

"Friends will smack you round and give you a good one to the ribs when they know
you need it".
Silver Spoon glared at Diamond who shrugged apologetically

"Friends will tell you the painful truth, even if you won't hear it"
"You suck, Shimmer!" Gilda shouted over the noise of the awakening crowd. "But you
suck less now!"
"Friends will hurt you without mercy to spur you to be better."

Rarity blushed a bit "I do apologize darling, but I did what was necessary."

With every word, Sunset's frame glowed with angry, red power, drawing in the magic
from those that she named, until with a final invocation the gathered energy
exploded in every direction and a demon-girl stood in the courtyard, ready to match
Sparkle's magic blow for blow.

"I got my friends and my enemies with me." She clenched her fists, and dark, heavy
fire enveloped them. "You ain't got crap, Sparkle. Let's go"

***

Midnight Sparkle pulsed, filled with the brim with the stolen magic. She had power
to rip the space and time like paper, power to blot out the sun, to control the
world…. She did not stand a chance.

“Life is pain, little princess” Midnight’s flare of energy got tangled and lost in
the thin lattice of Sunset’s spellwork.

“Life is conflict” a fire-covered fist smacked right into Twilight’s midsection,

forcing her to double-up coughing purple-stained blood.

“Life is war” a spell turned Sparkle’s wings into a ragged mess with a million
burning splinters, and she fell to the ground.

[MIDNIGHT TRIES TO COUNTER BUT GETS HOPELESSLY OUTMATCHED]

“It is in argument truth is established” a shield blocked Midnight’s attack “In

conflict boundaries are made and acknowledged” a clap of Sunset’s clawed hands
closed the opening portals “In the contest strength grows and bonds are made”.

“Those who love you for who you are, who always support and agree with you, who
never challenge or argue with you are not your friends, they are your shadows. A
crappy reflection parroting back to you things you already know.”

Midnight Sparkle screamed her inhuman rage, throwing herself at the demon, and
Sunset grabbed her by the hand, pivoting and twisting, just like Gilda taught her,
and with a heavy thud the girl crashed into the ground as Sunset rolled over her,
all spiked knees and elbows, pinning her to the ground.

“Without friends and enemies, even with all the power in the world you will always
be weak”
Sunset’s palm touched Midnight’s breastbone and a pulse of magic turned into a
flash and thunder to shatter and burn. And when those around could see once again,
only two girls remained, all their magic expended.

Sunset stood up, her clothes smoking and made few wobbling steps, before Gilda
caught her. “Thus endeth the lesson.” she murmured and then she was out like a
light.

MONSTERS WE LOVE

“I’ve seen you again.” Rarity said “When you woke us from the spell, when our
strength joined with yours to defeat that dreadful thing, we all saw the real you.”

Sunset grew cold. Whatever Rarity saw, it could not be good. There was nothing good
about the real Sunset Shimmer.

“That’s all I see now, when I look at you. The fire. The anger. The hatred. Burning
in every shade of red and yellow, struggling to devour and destroy itself and
whatever is around.”

Sunset closed her eyes.

“You’re a monster, Sunset Shimmer, pure and simple. A horrid thing of magic and
destruction”

Something soft and warm touched her lips. A kiss?

“I had some very rotten luck with people lately. I think, perhaps we, monsters
should stick together.”
________________
QUEENS AND MONSTERS
HACKING
“But Twilight said that she’d lock the portal after the whole Sirens debacle.”
Flash noted.

“Pfft”, Sunset scoffed the protest away, “Twilight is smart. Like, scary-smart”,
Sunset grinned smugly, and produced a strange contraption of wires and shining
gemstones connected to her diary “But I am a witch, a hacker and a thief. I’ve
tricks up my sleeve that the little pony Princess could never even think of.”

Connecting the clamps and suction cups to the statue she whistled a humming little
tune, and sing-sang in a hushed voice

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
 A day will come at last when I.
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun

Magic hummed back from within the crystals in tune with the rhyme, the little
device whirling and sparkling and the portal came alive with shimmering light.

“Hah!” Sunset smirked in triumph “There is not a magician born who can stand
against the might of the Professor’s verse.”

“Well, that and siren magic,” she added, as she packed the device, “I owe Trixie
one for this.”
MAGICIAN
Sunset stretched, and her horn caught alight. Turquoise glow surrounded them,
swirling, taking shapes and dissipating at unicorn's command. It separated - one
stream, then three, then five, going all the way up to eleven different shapes and
sigils, before collapsing into a tangled green mess of unformed magical glow.

“Ugh” Sunset muttered, wiping sweat off her brow, “I used to be able to do
seventeen.”

***

“There is no better feeling for a magician. Preparing a spell, like opening the
most complex puzzle box in the world, energy folding into itself like an origami.
Playing the ebb and tide of the elements like a violin, surfing on the edge of the
wave of power that can crush an army. Crumpling reality like so much soft wax with
nothing but pure will: It is the rush of tightrope-walking, the intellectual
challenge of mathematics and power trip all rolled into one.” Sunset sighed. “I
used to love it so much.”

“What happened then?”

“I grew up.”
CHANGELINGING

She closed her eyes and concentrated on specific points within her body, feeling
her bones grow and stretch, her muscles elongating and her center of gravity
shifting. Her coat tickled, turning lighter, almost fluttershy-yellow.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really." she said, testing out her longer limbs "Just feels really weird.
Unless you do it too quickly and rip or stretch something."
FIRE WATER FOR ABORIGINES

Flash whistled when he noticed the price tag. "That bottle is worth half what my
parents make in a month. Why would anyone pay that much for fancy booze? And how
can you even afford it."

"To show that they can, mostly. And I can’t afford it. Well, I can but I don’t want
to, so I stole it."

"Sunset!"

"It’s ok, don't worry about it." Sunset waved her hoof, wobbling unsteadily as she
did. "It's from Barnyard Bargains Hearths Warming Gala, I get to organize catering.
In catering budget there’s always 2% set aside in the budget for storage and
transportation losses for all food and drink items. And I have a way of making
everyone very, very careful about their storage and transportation, so when a fancy
bottle or two disappear, well, nobody is going to look very closely. Or mind too
much."

GENTLEMARES

She opened her eyes wearily, suddenly aware of the lack of warmth by her side.
“Flash?” she asked the stallion peering through the window. “It’s not even morning
yet. What’s up?”

“There’s some weird commotion down there. I heard some knocks and footsteps, and
there are peop… ponies, and some crates, and stuff. Any idea what they could be
doing in this hour of the night?”

She frowned. “Them that asks no question isn’t told a lie.” It was almost a nursery
rhyme for those who lived in the Baltimare docks, and she learned hers as a filly.
“Go to bed, beloved, let the gentlemares go by.”
[c][d]
MINE (REPRISE)
Sunset moved aside, letting her parents see Flash Sentry still standing there
awkwardly.

“Mommy, Daddy, this is my boyf… my coltf…”, she choked, suddenly embarrassed. “He’s
with me.”
HOMES AND HOUSES
“You’re lucky. Daddy makes the world’s best fried everything-you-can-find-in-the-
fridge, but when Mom cooks it’s like High Sorcery. Only tastier.

Flash smiled, looking around the place.

“It’s all so… normal. More like Scoots’ family, or mine. Not at all what I
imagined.”

“What you expected a horrible little hovel, where little Sunset Shimmer was beaten
brutally so she’d grow up so evil and twisted? An orphanage? Evil elitist parents
who demand perfection in everything and demean you every day?”, Sunset shrugged, “I
love my parents, and they love me -- there’s no feudian excuse for me here. All the
things I did, I did because that was what I chose to do and for no other reason.”
PROGRESS

“It’s Celestia’s fault, really.”

“But how can one person control that much? Wouldn’t there be a revolution or
something?”

“She is the centerpoint of Equestria. It’s an ingenious system really, hardly

requires her to do anything. What Celestia does not approve, the nobility finds
distasteful. What nobility does not like becomes unfashionable, so industrialists
avoid it. Once industry avoids it and fashion shuns it, there is neither demand nor
supply, and with no black market to support it otherwise, soon whatever it is fades
into obscurity and becomes a niche thing for a hoof-ful of enthusiasts.

“That’s what happened with hard liquor, with conveyer belts and industrial houses,
with computers and telephones. We could have all that, but that would mean an
industrial revolution, which in turn means that a lot of ponies would lose their
jobs and instead sign up for menial repetitive factory stuff and the quality of
life would drop significantly, if for a short period. And Celestia does not really
want that, so instead we have a much slower, much more cautioned progress.”
WARNING

“First, there’s something I wanted to try, ever since I read that book…” Sunset
concentrated, and green mist streamed from her horn, folding into itself and two
crested birds the size of a raven, one yellow, one red, stood on before her and
moved to her shoulders, looking at her. Their eyes were emerald-green and like
emerald they were motionless and dead, with no pupil or iris.

“Yellow bird of my love, find the one I wish to protect, and give them my message:
“I am coming for you. Hope.”

With a flapping of wings and a rustle of feathers the yellow bird was gone.

“Red bird of my ire, find the one I wish to destroy, and give them my message: “I
am coming for you. Run.”

With a flapping of wings and a rustle of feathers the red bird was gone.
EPIC TALE
“Aww, why don’t I get a horn? Or at least wings?” Diamond Tiara regarded herself
critically, “Why do I get to be a boring regular horse?”

“You’re lucky kid, you get to be an earth pony.” Sunset said dismissively, even
though she was somewhat disappointed. She almost looked forward to teaching the kid
unicorn magic, seeing her own student cast her very first spell. And there were
more practical issues - the earth pony magic, potent as it was, was fickle, and
took time to develop. The time they did not have.

“Really? What’s so great about being a normal horse in the magical land?” Tiara
asked suspiciously, interrupting Sunset’s planning.
She sighed and gave her student a look.

"Sit down grasshoppers and let me tell you a story"

"Hey, we're not kids! We don't need bedtime stories, you know!" Diamond Tiara
objected, even as she was sitting down, shifting her hoovsies in anticipation.

"It's an old story, the one my daddy told me, and his father told him before that,
and his father before that. A story as old as the earth and as true as the sky.

"There once was a mighty pegasus warrior, powerful and arrogant. Some say it was
Commander Hurricane himself, returning from his triumph in Cloudsdale. Others say
it was Steel Wind or Blazing Trail - but it matters little. She was a powerful
warrior, cunning in the ways of the sky and flight. Her wings could cleave
hurricanes apart and her thunderforged steel-shod hooves would buck even the most
rain-heavy cloud to bits with a single kick.

And so this warrior has stopped on her way, to take a nap on a passing cloud - as
most pegasi love to do - and under that cloud she saw an earth pony farmer, going
about her daily chores, plowing the field, and paying no heed to the pegasus above.

And the pegasus, being not just a mighty warrior, but also an arrogant one - as
most pegasi are - has mocked the simple earth pony farmer. She'd make fun of earth
pony simple life, and her life spent without even once stepping outside of her
farm, and her simple robes that were nothing like the pegasus’ shiny armor, forged
in lighting and tempered by the first winter snow, and her unseemly work, knee-deep
in the mud.

The earth pony said nothing, but smiled to herself and went on with her work, her
silence only pushing the pegasus to mock her harder, with ever more vitriolic
jaunts and stinging words. And so the day went by, with pegasus mocking the earth
pony, and the earth pony saying nothing.

And then the sun was lowered, and it came the time for evening, and the earth pony
left for her home and her family - still a smile on her muzzle, still saying
nothing to the pegasus.

It was then that the pegasus noted that she had left her saddlebags under the tree.
And since she was not just arrogant but also honest - as most pegasi are - she
sought to catch the earth pony and give her the saddlebags back.

So from her perch on the cloud she dropped down to the earth, and tried to pick the
bags up - and found that she could not. No matter how much the warrior would huff,
and would puff, and would strain her back, and her neck, and her wings, the bags
were just too heavy to move even a feather's width from where the earth pony has
left them.
The pegasus was not only honest, but also stubborn -
she spent the whole night trying to lift the bags to
of dawn, the earth pony came back to her work. Still
grabbed her saddlebags, and put them on and returned
until the sun would set down.
as most pegasi are - and so
no avail, until with the crack
saying nothing, the pony
to her field, to do her chores

And since that day, no pegasus would ever mock an earth pony, because save for the
dragons, the earth ponies have the most powerful magic of all the creatures in
Equestria"

The girls considered the tale told, until Silver finally asked:

"But what was in the earth-pony’s bags?"

“Her spare horseshoes.”

ASSASSIN'S CREED
“And you dragged other children into this? Sunset, I cannot in my right mind…”

Sunset’s horn flared with green flame, and she threw Celestia into the nearest
wall, as the assassin's blade split the air scant inches away from Princesses white
neck.

“Death to the freaks!” the raven-black stallion cried, jumping after the dazed
Princess, when a giant golden throne crashed into his side, breaking his leap mid-
air.

Sunset hit him again before he recovered and the heavy oaken chair cracked from the
sheer force of the blow, golden ornaments flying in a fountain of scraps. Another
strike finally knocked the assailant out, the throne now no more than a bunch of
twisted metal and firewood, whipped up in a small tornado, as Sunset looked around
for threats.
ORANGE SUNSET

“Don’t, ” Count suggested wearily. “You don’t have a chance, boy”

The younger stallion ignored him, settling down in a classic duel position, hooves
planted firmly on the marble, horn angled at Sunset.

“I challenge you to a duel, here and now, mare. Answer or forfeit and be banished
forever!”

Sunset smirked, and moved widdershins around her opponent.

The stallion started first. His magic shone azure blue, and apples floated from the
nearest vase towards Sunset, rotating in the air as they turned to oranges. She
flicked them away impatiently, not bothering where they land.
“You intend to fight an army with apples and oranges?” She stopped, and stomped her
front hoof against the marble, summoning a wall of translucent green force with her
magic. “No. If we’re to duel, we do it my way.”

The wall moved, slow and unyielding like a glacier.

The stallion took a step back, but then stopped himself. His own magic met Sunset’s
in the middle between them, and its progression slowed, even though there still was
panic in the stallion’s eyes.

Walls of green and blue crashed against each other, grinding and pushing, magic
against magic, will versus will. But that was not what Rarity was looking at, not
what would decide the fight. It would be a tiny little drop of red she could barely
spot forming under Sunset’s nose.

Blood. She was pushed to the limit, and even if she did not show it walking
confidently towards the place where the wall of magic had divided the opponents, if
that little droplet would fall, leaving a thin trace - so easily seen across the
yellow coat - and the stallion would be able to see it… it could very well give him
back the confidence needed to power through.

“Heh. Not bad.” A bored, almost annoyed tone. It’d take a good ear to hear the
wheezing undertone and the slightest waver in it. “Remember that time I tried to
see if your blood is really blue?” she smiled an unsettling, vicious smile “Maybe
this time we’ll find that out”

There was now fear in his eyes. He tried to step back, and realised that he could
not - Sunset’s magic seeped into the marble floor, making it hold all four of his
hooves with a grip of stone.

“You can’t run from me, little boy blue. Come on. You challenged me, now stand and
fight!”

Sparks showered from the stallion’s horn, as he pushed the last of his strength
against Sunset’s magic, and he whimpered when that was not enough to even slow it
down.

The magic fell on him and pushed him down. To his knees, then to his belly, and now
it was Sunset who was moving forward, her horn like a sword of emerald flames.

“I yield!” he wheezed, “I surrender.”

She ignored him, and pushed harder. Marble cracked, something gurgled in the
stallion’s throat as his barrel stained and squashed under the immense pressure of
the magic.

“Sunset.” The Count raised his voice again. “...Please”

The last flicker of emerald magic threw the panting stallion back into the crowd.

Sunset turned to the crowd, flames of her power dancing in her eyes. None dared
meet her gaze.

“I am Sunset Shimmer,” she declared, and the crowd grew silent. “Once Baroness of
Winsome Falls.”

She stepped forward again. None dared stand in her way.

“Once Celestia’s Monster.”

Another step.

“Flame before Her Throne, now restored.”

Crowd parted letting her through.

“The Fire of the Seven Oases. The Red Witch. Griffonbane. Sun-Runner, Night-
huntress, Wind-caller. Flame-thief. The Queen of Canterlot High.”

She set herself at the throne of the crystal castle under the rainbow lightning.
None dared to object.

“I claim these names and you know that they are true. Anyone else wants to tell me
I cannot be in charge of this war?”
ROB

The thin line of blood from her nose was making its way down her muzzle.

“Are you alright?” The Count passed her the handkerchief under the table.

Sunset ignored the item, and chose to wipe the blood with her forehoof. She smirked

“I don’t shiv. I nasty.”

“Well, there’s the brain damage, clearly. Anything else I should be worried about?”
MINE (NOT YOURS)

"Lord Fancy, please meet my students: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon"

The Count looked at the girls with suspicion. "They are not... mine, are they?"

"What?!"
"Well, I mean, we were... close before you left. And not always as careful as we
should've been."

"They're just students Fancy. Not my daughters. Relax."

"Oh. Well. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, ladies. "

THE NAHULANKA

"The Law whereby my lady moves

Was never Law to me,
But 'tis enough that she approves
Whatever Law it be."

The Count murmured softly.

“For in that Law, and by that Law,

My constant course I’ll steer;
Not that I heed or deem it dread,
But that she holds it dear.”

Sunset answered. “Were doing it Her way, Fancy. At least we’re going to try.”

“That mercenary of yours did say you’ve gone soft…”

“Maybe I have, but know this:” she said quietly, without raising her head from her
work, “If need be, I will tear the stars from heaven to hurl them in their face. I
will burn ponies by the citiy, I will cut down lives like gardeners cut grass
without count or care, I will go all the way, even if earth burns under my feet and
every step will be as naked blade, and I will have my Princesses returned to me.”
She shrugged. “But first we will try it Her way.”
IF YOU BUILD IT
“I have sent out my summons. To four winds and seven directions, to fire and water,
to air and darkness. They shall come, Fancy. For old oaths and old flames, for love
of Celestia, for friendship with Twilight, or for fear of me -- we shall have our
army.”
ULTIMATUM

“We need not be at war, Lady Shimmer.” He said “You are like us. You’ve no patience
for the weak, nor will you be recognized as what you are by them. They shall fear
you, and mock you and hate you even as you save their worthless little lives. Join
us, take your rightful place by my side according to your strength and talents.”

“I have no need for what you can offer,” Sunset shrugged “I’ve a world and a life
of my own. This land is not mine to rule, nor would I want to.”

“So why fight, then?”

“I owe the Princesses a debt.” Sunset said “To one, a debt of gratitude. To the
other two - a debt of guilt, and to the last one both. So we are at war, oh Prince,
and there can be no peace between us lest you release them unto me unharmed.”
“So be it. Know then, Lady Shimmer, whilst I find your ire understandable,
henceforth, once you retreat from the shield of truce, we shall be at war, and no
quarter will be given”

“And none will be asked for.”

***

“We took your freaks to heel, Lady Shimmer. We destroyed your army, we conquered
your lands. What makes you think you have a chance?”

“You defeated… or rather slightly inconvenienced the Princesses and for that I
commend you, but you miss the point.”

“And the point would be..?” Platinum raised her elegant eyebrow.

“From Cadence to Celestia, each of them may have more power in the tip of their
horn than I will ever have in my entire being. But deep down, they are nice
ponies... and deep down I’m really not.”
PREPARE TO DIE

Sunset kept on her feet only through sheer stubbornness. The exhaustion of the day
and the energy loss made her vision swim and legs shake, but even though it has
been quite some time since even Rarity gave up and went to sleep, she kept working.

[i]Just one more set. Then I can sleep[/i]

This was not the first time she promised that to herself, but the comforting lies
made it easier to chase away the creeping terror that any respite inevitably
brought. She didn’t want to think about it, not now, not when she was alone.

The stained-glass window of the lab blew out in a thousand sharp pieces, scattering
the glass all over the room, and pain exploded in Sunset’s head when a deft kick of
the intruder’s hoof sent her sprawling on the floor.

“My name is Daring Do”. The pegasus said, adjusting her hat, her wings flared in
anger “You killed my mother. Prepare to die.”

STRINGS ATTACHED
"This is the Dog magic. Old magic, forbidden magic. This is my mark. Wear it, like
a sign upon your hand and like a seal upon your heart. For my love is as strong as
death, as unyielding as the grave. It burns like a fire, like a mighty blaze.”

…
"All that can see will see it. And they will know, that any harm to you will be
seventy-seven times avenged"
WITH MY OWN FOUR HOOVES

"The last few months... it has been weird, Sunset. The politicking, the magic - not
much I could do, or hay, not much I even understood. I had to just hold on and hope
that somehow it would work out. That somehow [i]you[/i] would work it out. But this
- this is something I can help with. Even if I'm not leading armies, or devising
strategies, I still can at least do my part. And I am going to."

***

"Flash, you don't have to..."

"I kinda do." He said gently.

She floated a spear and a shield towards him.

"My mother’s weapons. Take care of them, and they'll take care of you."

She kissed him on the cheek, and stepped back.

"I'll be waiting for you to come back either with this shield or on it. Else do not
come back at all."
UNLOCKING
"Flying is not just skill, it's magic." Sunset thought for a second, looking at the
various results "Pegasi gain their magic not like unicorns or earth ponies - though
learning or exercise, even though both are important. Like most things in their
lives, it happens in bursts and sprints.

“They have some when they are born, some they get when they reach a certain age,
more - when they gain their cutie-mark. Apparently you skipped a few, because you
have about as much magic in you as an average pegasus baby."

"So..."

"We could wait," she suggested "your magic is bound to catch up with your
biological age, and I think it's gonna happen sooner, rather than later. Or..."

"Or what?" he asked, impatiently.”

“Flash Alexander Sentry.” she said with pomp and a bow “will you marry me?”

…
…

“What.”

***

“So? How does marriage come into this?”

“I’m going to share my magic with you. Like jump-starting an engine. My magic will
be yours and yours will be mine, joined together… well, pretty much forever.”

***

She gave him a vial of green liquid, and took one for herself.

“This is old magic. Before the Princesses, before Starswirl, before Discord. It
draws on user’s very life. If something goes wrong,” Sunset pulled out her tongue
with a hoof, and injected the liquid in the base of her tongue, wincing as she did
“well, it fould be preffy baf for the boff of us”.

***

“So if I will need more magic than you have?”

“You did well in Algebra, Sentry, so you tell me - what’s one minus one?”

“...Oh.”

***

“Will you, Flash Alexander Sentry, son of Earth and the Forest, mix your blood and
soul with mine, to lend me your strength and take my weakness?

“Yes.” He wavered, hoarse words barely making it past his throat.

“So do I, Sunset Shimmer, daughter of Fire and Magic, mix my blood and soul with
yours, to lend you my strength and to take your weakness.

***
“Close your eyes.” She put her hoof on his chest and her horn touched his forehead.
“And don’t move.

“For it through this union we achieve immortality. Through this we become more than
we could ever be, to safeguard those that come after us. Bound together as one, I
give you my magic to stand with yours, from now until the last star falls from the
the sky”

With every word the soft green light of her magic spread all over Flash Sentry, and
he shone in reply - a soft dull orange glow of his own.

***

She fell on her knees, taking in a wheezing, rasping breath, trying to catch some
air. And then, seeing a brown-yellow contrail cut across the sky, she smiled.

TESTING
"It ain't that kind of test, son." There was something wrong with the Sarge - the
old pony stood too far, watching him warily, and kept the table awkwardly between
them. "It's a psychological test. I'll let the pencil pusher explain it."

Pencil Pusher, his name on the lab coat, stepped up. He probably was thinking he
was brave, though Flash couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"It's a sociopathy test." He explains. "We're looking for someone, who, under the
right sort of condition could kill someone."

"Um." Flash looked at him curiously. "We're soldiers. Isn't this the whole idea?"
He himself never killed anything bigger than a spider, but he was pretty sure that
the military was supposed to fight the other guys.

"No!" Pencil Pusher recoiled. "I mean yes, but... maybe? We don't know. We haven't,
um, well, it never happened before. The war. It's not in our nature, for one pony
to... um, harm another. It's... nobody has done it for hundreds of years. We don't
know _how_ any more."

"Stick them with the pointy end?" Flash suggested helpfully.

The lab assistant blanched. "Yes, I suppose that would be the gist of it. But it
takes a special pony to fight like that. Someone abnormal. Atavistic even."

"Like me."

"And some others. But you have the highest score of all. Natural born predator in
form of a pony." He sighed. "This is highly immoral. I should be directing you to
counselling, maybe even asking you to consider a voluntary commitment to a proper
institution. You're a danger to yourself and others with this sort of thing. But we
need you - and ponies like you."

PREDATOR, NOT DRONE

"They're saying I'm some sort of monster!"

"The M-force?"

"Yes, them." Flash finally got a lungful of air. "They're saying that I'm 'natural
born predator or somethin--"

Sunset laughed. She felt pretty bad about it, looking at the boys exasperation, but
she couldn't help it -- every time she looked at his earnest face, the confusion-
filled expression, another bout of giggles erupted from within.

“Sunset!”

"Phew," she finally breathed. "No, Flash, you're not," she stifled another burst of
giggles. "'A predator', natural or otherwise. I know you, and you have a normal
proclivity for violence of a human boy your age. Which is to say not much."

He relaxed, a bit. "So they made a mistake? I'm normal?"

"Well,' she sighed, "No. And yes. You're perfectly normal for a human boy. For a
pony you're probably rated as borderline sociopathic -- perfect fit form the M."

"Wait, you're saying all humans are..."

"Pretty much." Sunset nodded. "Remember that movie we watched, with the girls?"

"When you were babysitting Tiara? And Mr Rich let us use that home cinema of his?"

"The one. With the guy crawling in the vents and killing bad guys."

"Yeah. It was pretty awesome, for a Hearthswarming movie."

"It's not a Hearthswaeming movie! just because it has the tree and some candy canes
doesn't--!" she caught herself. "The point is, in that whole Legion down there,"
she pointed a hoof at the plaza."there's maybe two dozen ponies who can watch it
without needing five months of therapy from the sheer horror and violence. Tiara
and Silver are normal human girls, and they giggled and ate popcorn as they
watched. And then they went to braid each others hair and gossip about boys without
a second thought. And we--" she smirked, "well, we didn't think about that movie
too much either."

He blushed, and she enjoyed it very much. "I will remove you from the M task force.
You don't have the tolerances for it, human or not."

"Do I fit in?"

"What?"

"Can I make it?" He asked. "Am I as good a fit as any other candidate for M?"

"Better." Sunset looked away. "You have high sociopath score, with no behavioural
problems, no substance abuse, no trauma, no impulse control issues. Outside of
finding an actual functioning sociopath, you're what they are looking for. What I
told them to look for."

He nodded. She could see the decision made.

[I]silly boy[/i]

I COULDN’T LOVE YOU HALF AS MUCH

"You could have lied to him. Heck you can still do it - just pull some strings
and," he waved his hoof in the air. "The boy would never know."

Sunset shook her head."I promised not to lie to him. Besides..."

"Ah." The Count took out his snuffbox. "You wouldn't love him half as much had you
not loved your honor more." He chewed his lip. "Or perhaps it is the other way
around."

"You still have that flair for the verse

"Clever verse," the Count corrected her smugly.

"Too clever by half," she countered. “Enough chatter. Let’s get to work.”
MANDRAKE AND POPPY
“I have become small, Flash. Small and petty and childish, playing with the kids in
school, scrambling to survive like a rat. I need to be the monster I once was. I
need to remember being Sunset Shimmer.”

***
“I’ll be with you.”
***

“I smell the smoke of red mandrake and I recall pain. I smell the smoke of the
black poppy and I recall fear. I smell the smoke…” she repeated the same two
phrases over and over, rocking on her haunches and staring into the wall with blank
eyes. Her fetlocks and eyes bled - slow droplets falling off her face and legs in a
steady pitter-patter of dull, rusty orange.

***

He looked across a featureless white plain, snow, red like blood, under the rays of
the dawn. Sword and sorcery clashed over the fate of the world, and golden cat’s
eyes, bigger than the sky itself watched indifferent from afar.

A roar shook the world and the spell crashed into the tall, feminine man with a
sickening crunch, and an arrow found his throat. He bled - red and white. The sharp
pang of loss echoed through the both of them, staying in the heart like a shard of
ice.

[center]***[/center]

There was a scream, and sobbing pleas as an orange mare twisted and struggled, her
spine nearly snapping while her skin was getting burned. Sickly-sweet smell of
burning coat and meat, the reverberating, shrill cry of pain. Fear seeped into the
mare’s bones.

[center]***[/center]

The dull ache of the muscles tired beyond what was thought possible nipped at the
edges of her mind, annoying like an incessant static on the radio. There was fire
in her goblet instead of wine, and as she took it to her lips, there was a moment
of fear - for the last time. And then the white-hot explosion of energy inside took
the very roots of her soul aflame.

[center]***[/center]

Red and black, world consumed in fire and fire running in her veins. Power and
anger, and stolen magic like a neverending high. A monster, now unbound, stood in
the quad of the Canterlot High, summoning the flames to burn a bunch of annoying
little girls.

[center]***[/center]

They surfaced back, Sunset’s expression relaxing, and her eyes finding focus again.
“I breathe the smoke of red mandrake and I accept my pain.” her voice was hoarse
but it did not waiver. “I breathe the smoke of black poppy, and I conquer my fear.”

She grabbed the cup on the table, with her hooves and fumbled to take a drink of
red liquid inside. “I drink the blood of the she-wolf, and I am complete”
GOING GREEN

"I need you to protect my generals." She opened the door to her student's room.
"Diamond, Silver, this is your new bodyguard."

"They're kids." she giggled, "Your generals are babies! "

"Green..."

"Teeny-weeny little foals! Do they even have cutie-marks yet?"

"Green."

"Are they even weaned yet? Will I have to change diapers?"

"Green!"

“That’s why she’s called.” Tiara half-turned to Silver. “Old hag’s just green with
envy. What with her best years behind.”

The mare snorted, but, finally, grew serious. She walked round them, and gave Tiara
and Silver a critical look. "Yours?"

"Why does everyone keep assuming--" Sunset took a deep breath. "No, Green, they're
not mine. But they might as well be for how you're going to protect them."

"I see," she finished her inspection of the fillies, "Feisty. You teach them well,
little princess. They have the same fire. Same hunger in their blood. Might want to
give them some pointers myself."
GREEN GLOW’S PERSUASION TECHNIQUE

“What?”

“She’s just a little filly.”

“We won’t….”

“..not even a pegasus.”

“Wouldn’t it be better…”

“With all due respect, ma’am…”

Murmurs of protest rolled across the rank at Diamond’s designation. Sunset frowned,
but kept her silence, holding Gilda back with faint effort of her magic. Kid would
have to prove herself, otherwise she’d just be a figurehead.
And Sunset could not afford a figurehead in place of her general.

[i]Come on grasshopper. You got this. You can do it.[/i]

Diamond seemed unperturbed by the pegasi protest, strolling casually to the most
vocal of protesters without a care in the world.

“So, mister pegasus, you think I’m too young to lead this unit?” She dragged her
forehoof across the earth shyly, barely looking the large stallion in the eyes.

“Uhm, miss, with all due respect, but, erm, I do not doubt your abilities, but
surely, someone more familiar with our tactics...”

“Oh.” she lowered her eyes even more, “Well, mister pegasus, do you want me to tell
you why I can do this job?” she put her forehoof on his neck, dragging him down to
whisper something in his ear.

She talked quietly, and every neck was stretched towards their little discussion,
everypony struggling to hear what was being said. Silence was deafening, and
Sunset, knowing what would happen next closed her eyes.

The blue pegasus lowered his head towards Diamond, to hear what she had to say when
with no provocation the little pink filly smashed her forehead into his face with
all the force of an earth pony. His snout broke with a crunch, blood spewing from
the gushing wound. The wounded pegasus screamed, and tried to recoil, but Tiara
held his neck fast in her forehoof. She headbutted him in the broken nose again,
adding the strength of her forehoof to the power of her neck, and threw the dazed
pegasus on the ground.

She stepped on his head with a crack that rolled across the yard like a thunder,
and turned her blood-splattered face to the rest.

“BECAUSE IF YOU FUCKERS DO NOT DO WHAT I SAY, I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING WINGS OFF AND
SHOVE THEM SO FAR UP YOUR ASSSES, YOU’LL BE COUGHING FEATHERS. IS THAT CLEAR?!”

Stunned silence was her only answer. Someone threw up. Another two fainted.

Diamond pushed her hoof into the pegasus’ neck, causing him to scream in pain, the
sharp part of her hoof slicing through his coat and skin.

“I ASKED YOU A BLOODY QUESTION!”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” rolled across the ranks.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU”

She raised her hoof and struck again, pinning the soldier to the ground by the
wing, as he tried to crawl away.

“MA’AM YES MA’AM” soldiers cried out.

“THIRTY LAPS AROUND THE WOODS. NOW, YOU MAGGOTS, NOW!”

She threw her prey towards the direction of the circuit, and he scrambled to fly
away, and after another “Yes ma’am” everyone else followed.

Only when they left their sight, Tiara finally dropped to her haunches, her fear
and anxiety taking over, all the power she seemed to radiate just few seconds ago
utterly gone, leaving just a terrified little girl way in over her head.

“Gilda, please take care of those who fainted? They should… no, [i]I want[/i] them
running with the others”.

“Heh. Yes ma’am, straight away ma’am”. Gilda may have been smirking all the way,
but Sunset could feel the griffones’s respect for Tiara.

Bucket of water and few instructing baton smacks later, the three of them were
alone in the yard.
EVENING TALKS

It was long after sundown that Sunset slipped into Diamond’s rooms.

In the faint glow of her magic, she could see the pink filly сurled in the centre
of her giant bed, books and scrolls strewn around. Always-loyal Silver Spoon was
asleep on the giant armchair nearby, drooling on the velvet in her sleep.

Levitating the silver filly carefully, Sunset tucked both of them in as gently as
she could.

Diamond Tiara stirred, and her eyes opened, still a little bit red from her tears.

“Does it ever get easier?”

It has been some time since Sunset wanted to lie so badly. Just a little comforting
lie to get the girl a bit of sleep… but Tiara proved today that she was an adult,
and that she deserved respect. She deserved the truth.

“It gets worse. When you send them out, knowing that some of them will not come
back, when you smile and lie about the glory and the victory. Even worse when you
see them coming back broken and battered . When you’ll be talking to their
families, and their mothers and children…”.
Tiara closed her eyes, forcing away the rising tears, and nodded.

“I thought that was my dream come true. Me, as a Princess, living in a castle,
ruling from up high. Loved, respected, feared… like you.” She sighed. “I don’t want
it. Not anymore.”

“And you’d do anything to give it back”

Another nod.

“You could, you know. The portal is still open. You can go through tomorrow
morning. Go back home, have a nice summer with your friends. Pool parties,
girlfriend, your shiny new car. Sweet fifteen coming up and not a care in the
world.”

“But you said you need me!”

“I could manage”, Sunset lied, failing to convince even herself. “Few hours less
sleep for me, a few more hours of work for others. Maybe I’ll even manage to find
somebody who is both competent and trustworthy to put in your place. Maybe not.”

“And then maybe somepony is going to die. Because I ran away”, DIamond said.

There was no replying to that.

“There are other ways.” Sunset said wistfully instead, “There are the kind, the
brave, the honorable. They blaze the trail, they lead by example, they don’t have
to make the deals with their conscience.” Sunset sighed. “It is not something I
could teach you. We come when everyone else fails, we do what has to be done, and
then we fade away, back into the shadows.
As a man much better than me told me once -- they get the spotlight, and all we
ever get is regrets.”

She put her hoof on Tiara’s shoulder.

“Go to sleep, grasshopper. Tomorrow will be harder than today.”

SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS

“Miss Shimmer, time to wake up,” The Count declared, as her magic stretched towards
the blanket, before a turquoise wall suddenly cut it off.

Sunset stepped out of the bathroom, stretching out her neck.

“Don’t touch.” she grumbled, rubbing her eyes, “booby trapped”

“What? Why on earth… where did you even sleep?”

Sunset snatched the coffee pot off the tray and took a long drink straight from the
nozzle.

“Bathroom floor.” she took another gulp, before caffeine seemed to wake her enough
to actually form complete sentences. “Here’s too dangerous. And I couldn’t have
slept on the darn thing anyways - it’s too soft… makes me feel like I’m drowning.”
IREM
"And how they shall get there?" Count asked, without pausing his writing. "The
Baltimare port is still blocked, and all the south is still taken by the Platinum's
army."

"They are to go to Irem."

Writing stopped.

"Irem is forbidden," Count said. "The passage is closed."

"Keep writing Fancy. They are to pass to the Irem of the Pillars, and there I shall
guide them through the Dream ways of Lang."

UNWELL

Diamond took a long, hard look at the general.

"Green."

The mercenary put down her file and raised an eyebrow.

"I think the Prince is not feeling well."

The mercenary raised an eyebrow.

"He needs to lie down. Could you help him to his bunk please?"

"I-- how dare you!" He began to step back as the green mare approached. "Don't
approach me! Do you know who I am--"

They disappeared behind the tent flap, and there was a short, sharp crunch.
 "Gentlemen, your attention please." Tiara knocked on the map with her hoof.

Everyone stared.

Green, appeared from behind the veil. She cleaned her hooves on the carpet, and
looked up.

Everyone stared.

She settled down at Tiaras side and coughed delicately.

The attention was given.

HOW THE STEEL IS TEMPERED

"You did well. But not well enough. You will go out tomorrow again." Sunset said
evenly. "To the west field. I want it taken."

"I can't," Tiara sobbed, "Please."

"You." Sunset leaned in, staring her student in the eyes. "Will. Go. Out.
Tomorrow." she didn't shout or raise her voice, but there was intensity there that
made each word feel like it was burrowing into the filly's head. "And you
[i]will[/i] bring me victory."

....

"Was that truly necessary?" the Count asked softly. "We do have other generals."

"Kindness can be the cruelest thing sometimes, my lord," Sunset said, suddenly
tired. "If I let her give up it will break her. This way she may yet be hardened".

NO QUARTER
"No quarter!" Diamond shouted, and everyone followed

"No quarter!"

She looked aside at Silver. "They damned well earned they fate."

***
They struggled in the mists, quiet -- there was barely any breath to shout, only
snarls of effort, and flashes of magic. In close quarters, here, she was stronger
-- she managed to push him down, on the cloud, and stomped on him. It wasn’t hard
-- there wasn’t enough ground to resist, so he cursed, and gasped, kept trying to
stand up, or hex her, as he drowned deeper and deeper into down-like substance of
the cloud.

He realised too late what her plan was, and she saw in the mist of the floor his
eyes widen with fear.

"Help!" Diamond looked down. There, through the cloud stretched thin by the stomps
of hundred ponies a unicorn was hanging on by a single leg, shining with some sort
of magic. "Mercy! Please!"

She reared up. And then she stomped down – it didn't matter that the blow wouldn't
reach the hoof, deep in the cloud.

He jerked, trying to tug his leg out of the way of that crushing heel – a
spontaneous, instinctive, irrational reaction.

The flesh gave way. Or maybe it was a spell.

For a moment a stain of red bloomed, swirling within, it quickly dissolved, leaving
only the vague outline of the unicorn’s body, getting smaller and smaller, tumbling
over and over in the turbulent slipstream of the ravine.

"No quarter." She watched him fall.

"No quarter." The others echoed. There was no mercy in their eyes either.
GIFTS AND DAGGERS

“A ring? Isn’t it a little too quick?” Rarity giggled.

“It’s not a proposal” Sunset grumbled “Besides, I am already married. Twice.”

***

“it’s a weapon. I need you to be able to protect yourself.”

***

“In Hind they do not use magic the same way as they do in Equestria. They don’t
exercise their power, don’t learn complex spells and formulae, they barely even use
their cutie-mark talents. To be a wizard in Hind is to hoard your magic, like a
beggar hoards his pittance, never using it, fanning it’s flame with diet and
potions, exercise and abstinence, for years and years and years on end. All for a
single spell in their lifetime, a single moment of perfect nigh-omnipotence, for
the power to rival Princesses themselves.
“That’s what the ring and bracelets are for. They will help you store your magic,
keep it for an emergency, just in case… something happens when I’m not around. “
MAGIC THAT COULD NOT FAIL

***
“Eenie,” Sunset pointed at seemingly random ponies out of the huddle, as she
counted out. “Meenie, Minie,” she turned again, and her hoof stopped pointing at
the mint-green unicorn hugging an earth-pony. “Mo. I choose you.” she declared.

"Agent Drops." the silly trick - coloring the slingshot-bullets into candy did not
fool her. "Equestria demands your sacrifice again."

"Me? No! I'm retired! Why me?!"

"Because windigoes are coming for us -- you can hear them howl across the snow.
Someone has to stop them, so Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Mo make you it. I'm sorry."

She looked at the blizzard, and the thin veil of the shield, shimmering and caving
under the might of the storm. They still had time.

"Long ago..." She started.

"When the wendigoes came with the breeze,

And three pony tribes began to freeze,
They needed ambassadors, staunch and stark
To steady them in the gathering dark.
But the frost was fierce, and the flesh was frail,
So they launched a magic that could not fail."

"The Friendship Fire."

"Yes."

“And where do we come into all this?”

“I’ll need to take something from you.” Sunset said, not daring to look at them.
“Something precious beyond any value. Something that you may never in your life
ever regain. I need to take away your friendship.”
“Our friendship?” Lyra’s lip trembled, as she looked at her companion. “Why?”

“Friendship freely given will power the spell, and the fire of friendship will
chase away the Windigos. It’s not quite like in the legend, but it’s the best that
I can do.”

Sweetie’s hoof found Lyra’s as their eyes met. They both nodded.

“Will we… will we hate each other?”

“No.” Sunset’s horn glowed with light as she prepared her magic. “You will simply
lose all that binds you. The memories will be there, but void of meaning, as if
watching photographs of somepony else’s life. Given right circumstances you may
forge it anew… but I don’t think it likely”

“Can we have some time? To say our final goodbyes”

"The games that colts and fillies play were deadly earnest when this spell was
made." she finished the drawing with a few carefully placed lines. "There was
almost nothing left of this spell -- a child's rhyme, a few bits of gibberish
tagged to a tune. But it was my job once, to know the things that ponies did not
wish to remember."

ROLL CALL

"What about Juniper Flower?" Count asked, checking his list.

"Who?"

"Jasmine’s granddaughter. The mantle has passed again."

"Ah." Sunset swished her tail in contemplation, still barrel-deep into the chest
"No, her work is too important. Besides, she can't leave Sun Prancisco anyways."

“Pillars of Equestria?” she asked reluctantly

“In Quilin. And with Dragon Lands in Fire Season….”

“No way they get news and get here in time. Just as well, I suppose. They are too
old.”
“The Glow team?” Count suggested.

“Useless without Green. And we have no time to babysit the bumbling idiots…Is
Jasmine fine?” she asked, suddenly emerging from her chest.

“Huh? Oh, yes, quite.” the Count nodded. “Enjoying her retirement.”

“Good.” Sunset grumbled. “The old hag made great tea.”

***
“Iron Warlock?”

“Gallowsglass? His first child was about to be due. Neither he, nor Ironsides are
anywhere to to be found.”

“You know, with the benefit of the hindsight, I’m starting to feel he’s not
actually a warlock.”

“Not you too! He keeps saying that, but he arrived on a falling star. He fought a
banshee! His companion is a cold iron golem! He has to be.”

“In retrospect, I think it’s some sort of technology… but it’s moot if we can’t
actually find him. Besides his Griffon witch would probably not help me anyway.”
She sighed. "What about Silver Rose?"

"Disappeared from a hospital under very strange circumstances, not to be seen

again."

"Hospital? I thought he was immortal."

"He can still be hurt. There was an accident - something with a cart collision."

***

“You seem to be under the wrong impression. I know my magic. I trained for it long
and hard. I cast every spell until my horn burned and my eyes bled, I studied lore
that would break your tiny mind just imagining it and paid price that would give
you nightmares to even contemplate. I am Sunset Shimmer, and while I am in this
world, under this sun I need no strength save my own!”

***

“Princess plays chess.” Sunset looked away from the map. “I played a fair bit
recently, and I can see she is better than me at it. We can’t beat her like that.”

Officers waited for her to continue - they knew better than to say anything at this
point.

“Grasshopper!” Sunset called Tiara, and the exhausted filly who almost dozed off
snapped to attention. “What’s the first rule when you can’t win?”

“Change the rules of the game.” she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

“Exactly.” Sunset took the little rake and started rearranging the figurines of the
map. “My game is not chess. My game is Three-Card Monte…”

***

Sunset shook her hoof. Nothing happened, and she stared at it blankly.

“Oh come on!” Her horn shone and a giant translucent green hand materialized,
snapping its fingers loudly. “Magic is nifty and all, but I really miss opposable
thumbs”.

She gave the endless aisles of Canterlot library a sour look

“And the Internet.”

WISHES AND HORSES

“I wish I was like Apple Bloom sometimes” Diamond said, quietly

“How so?”

“She’s so… simple. Not like stupid, or anything, but…. Like if I do something,
anything, it’s always angles, and the first rules and the backups and contingencies
and what-ifs. Like you taught me.”

“And Apple Bloom?” Sunset prompted her student carefully

“She just decides what needs to be done, and then she goes and does it. It’s not
always in the most efficient way, or smart way, or even in the right direction at
all, but she still, y’know, keeps moving forward, never lets anything stop her.
That’s a pretty cool thing”
WARRIOR SPIRIT

“You have a plan, right?” Silver looked at Sunset from behind her notepad.

“Yeah! Sunset’s gonna win.” Diamond’s voice had not even a shadow of doubt.

Sunset winced. “I,” she said slowly, have not weaved a spell of any complexity in
over four years. I'm pretty useless now and in a fair fight he will flatten me."
“Since when do we even care about fair?” Gilda shrugged. “Give him one to the crown
jewels, go for the eye-gouge while the ref looks the other way and call it a day.”

“I can’t.” Sunset would have thrown her hands up in exasperation, if she still had
them. “I swore by Flame and Magic -- it is not an oath that can be unsaid or
broken. I’ll have to fight a proper duel.”

“Why did you agree to it then?” Celestia asked gently.

Because I am monumentally stupid.

Because I probably have a deep-seated death-wish.
Because I cannot say “No” to my Princess.
Or to her reasonable facsimile, apparently.

Probably the first one.

Sunset shrugged helplessly. No use asking this question now.

“So what can you do?” Diamond finally asked. “Can’t fight fair… can’t cheat… so
what’s left?”

“Grasshopper…” Sunset started, a shadow of an idea forming in her head, nebulous

and frail, like mists condensing into dewdrops. “What do we say about rules?”

Diamond rubbed her chin, as she tried to recall, before she finally remembered it:
“She who breaks the rules loses, for she is found and punished. She who follows the
rules loses, for the house always has the advantage. Know the thin line between the
two and follow it.”

***

“There was a story, from a country that existed well before what we now know as
Neighpan.

A seamster has inadvertently insulted a warrior, and thus he was challenged to a

duel.

He knew not any combat-spells, no shields and counter-shields, no defences against

transfiguration and no protection against even the simplest magical blasts. So, he
practiced what he knew, the only spell suited for battle - the simple little spell
he would use to cut the cloths and the silks he has made the garments with.

Again and again he would practice it, cutting and cutting and cutting until his
horn grew sore. And then still he trained some more, because he knew not what else
to do before the day of the duel, and training drowned away his fears.
And so on that fateful day they met. A warrior, clad in armor, forged in battle,
ready to kill. And a humble seamster, armed with only his one little spell and
ready to die.

The signal has sounded. The duel has begun. And then the duel was over - for the
warrior’s head had been severed from his body before he had decided which of the
hundred spells he knew to employ.

So the lesson has been learned - fear not the warrior who cast a hundred spells,
ten times each. Fear the warrior who has cast one spell a thousand times.

***

“And you know it?” Flash asked, finally hopeful.

“No.” she sighed. “But preparing to cast a single spell is a much better option
than re-learning the entirety of Ars Bellum in one evening. That is, at least, a
chance.”

***

She sat down on her haunches, her eyes closed.

Breathe

She remembered her lessons. Her stories, ones she told the girls back home. Things
she lived and things she read.

The way of the warrior is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only
the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and
advance.

She breathed. Deep breaths, in and out, feeling the phantom hoof, steady warmth
guiding her breath down into the abdomen and back up.

"In One Timing" means, when you have closed with the enemy, to hit him as quickly
and directly as possible, without moving your body or settling your spirit, while
you see that he is still undecided. The timing of hitting before the enemy decides
to withdraw, break or hit, this is "In One Timing".

One by one they floated up in her mind and faded away, revealing the formless,
shapeless void beneath, out of which the artless art without a name grows.

Time. she felt it trickle away with every hair of her coat. It mattered not. Past
no longer existed. In future there was just endless light and she was now a part of
its flow.

Breathe

She stood up, the silken cover slipping off her back and she was ready.

They stood, hoof to hoof, neck to neck, beat of his blood on her skin, his breath
on her mane.

They were one, closer than brother and sister, more intimate than lovers.

A turn and three steps each.

Breathe

A turn. A shout. A slash.

The stallion stood there. So did she. The move had been made. There was nothing
else to add or take away.

The deafening silence. A wheezing, quiet choke escaping his muzzle.

Every second ticked by as long as an hour and yet so fleeting it could not be even
called to have passed in the first place.

And then his head slid off his neck, hanging by a single thread of the skin.

She won.
PEACE BE UPON YE

"Salaam, little sun", the svelte white mare said.

"Alaykum assalaam to you too, Nada. Though I am not little any more, and the peace
is scarce in this land and day."

"I can see that, Sunset. You've grown."

"These are my students, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." The fillies bowed
politely.

"You two!” Mirzaya stomped her hoof on the marble like an earthquake, her voice
angry and loud like thunder. “Bring us wine to celebrate this meeting! Make it good
- I will burn you if it's bad. Look happy - I shall trample you if you're sad."
Wordlessly both fillies disappeared in the doors.

"You have good students." Nada settled in her chair and looked at Sunset intently.
“How have you been, little sun?”

“I'm still standing.” she shrugged, feeling for a moment like a little kid. “It’s
been quite some time.”

***

“Hah. Had Hafiz been born a mouse, he'd be courting elephants."

***

"Widow's tears," she noted, tasting the salt.

"We have an abundance of this vintage here in Canterlot. And more to come soon."

She set the glass aside. "Very subtle, little sun. But I take your meaning."

***

"They're talking with the Princess and the nobles. But same as you, I came to talk
to the one who makes decisions, not the one on the throne"

***

"They are afraid of you. The viziers and the wind-watchers have heard of your
deeds, and know of your names, and in their whispers, they have dubbed you Dhul-
Quarnaina. A name not uttered..."

"Since the great old fart himself."

“When you disappeared, some were relieved. Others grew even more afraid.”

“They should be. I am more powerful now than I have ever been before.”

***
“It is good that we have enemies, little one. How else would we show love for our
friends, but by destroying their foes?”

***

"Sunset, what does...", Tiaras face scrunched up, trying to wrap her tongue around
the unfamiliar letters, "...Zulkarnaina mean?"

"It's ‘‫’القرنين‬, Sunset corrected off-handedly, still subsumed by her thoughts. "Dhul-
Quarnaina. The two-horned one. That's what they call unicorns of great power, back
in Saddle Arabia."

BY THE NINETY NINE

"By the Name of Al-Hafiz the Keeper, who witnessed all deeds and oaths--" the
stallion struck his hoof on the marble floor like thunder, and without a lightning
responded, soundless and pale.

"By the Name of Al-Khabeer the Watchful, who loved the truth and not the lies," he
struck again, and a second lightning cleaved the sky,

"By the Name of Al-Muntaqim the Avenger, who punished those who transgress," thrice
he struck and the third lighting witnessed his oath. “To alliance we swear.”

Celestia inclined her head slowly. The words were said and witnessed and could not
be unsaid any more.
WALK OF SHAME

"Oh my goodness, what did you do?!"

"Sunset, I'm just.. err, looking for the kitchen..."

"Oh no you aren’t." she pointed accusing hoof at the Principal. "Matted mane, damp
coat, stupid grin -- I know a walk of shame when I see one. What did you do?!"

"Well," Celestia blushed in stages, from the tufts of her ears down, coloring her
cheeks until it reached her lower jaw. "That colt, the one that was reading
poetry..."

"You slept with him!"

"He was very nice!"

"You [i]slept[/i] with him!"

"Sunset..."

"[i]You[/i] slept with [i]him![/i]"

"Enough!" Celestia stomped her hoof in frustration. "That will be quite enough of
that, young lady. I am a grown woman, and he was a grown stallion--"

"He was eighteen, if even that!"

"He was a very grown stallion," she repeated vindictively, "And what we did in
private is none of your business."
FOCUS-POCUS

"I have fifteen reports," Celestia said in her ‘you're in serious trouble young
lady’ voice. "Fifteen!" She read out from the scroll rolled out in front of her.
"'...a wrestling exercise lead to three soldiers incapacitated with multiple twists
and lacerations.'" she caught her breath. "One of them might lose an eye, Gilda!
Why did you need to do that?"

“Silver told me to,” The griffoness eyed her lazily, not making a motion. "They
were whatchamacallit, a hocus-pocus something. And I didn't kill no one. They'll
walk it off."

"A what?"

"A focus group." Silver answered dutifully. "A center of crystallization within the
larger collective, catalyzing certain attitudes or actions. While not necessarily
doing anything, by their presence and attitude they foster negative discourse - in
this case, of disobedience and lack of fighting spirit-- and thus necessitating
their removal, for the rest of the group to get in line--"

"You do that too, Princess." Sunset declared entering the room, before a short,
curt bow. "When you needed a class to fall in order - you take down the ruffians
and the hecklers. The same principle applies to the army. Good job, grasshopper,
A+"
JEALOUSY

"Goodness, Sunset, did you sleep with everybody in this world?!" Flash blurted out,
before thinking.

"Well, I don’t know, Flash," Sunset gave him a look. "After that West Hoof
graduation orgy, I'm really not sure. Would that be a problem if I did?"

"No!" he said. "Yes! I don't know!" he shook his head. "It's just that all those
ponies, they know you so much better than I do, and they're all those Counts, and
Princesses, and wizards and great warriors, and I'm just a guy, mooching on your
magic just to fly. I can't not be worried."

She ruffled his mane with her hoof.

"Flash, I'm not with you because you hold the great powers and huge influence of
an upperclassman, or your great martial skills and proportional strength of an
average human boy. I'm with you because of who you are. You know that, right?"

"I do..."

"And who you are is not going to change just because there's some other ponies who
have noble titles, or magic powers."

"I know that." He smiled gingerly. "I'm sorry. I'm being silly."

"Don't say that, Sentry. First rule of life -- your feelings do matter. Even if
they aren't rational, it's still important. And if it’s important for you, it’s
important for me."

"Miss Zecora's wisdom?"

Sunset's cheeks grew pink with embarrassment. She nodded. "I told you I loved you.
If that changes -- I will tell you, but don't worry because of this. This is no
longer my world, and the sun for those loves had long since set."

"...so... West Hoof graduation orgy?"

"Way overrated," Sunset waved her hoof. "There was that crazy sexy pegasus mare,
she invited me as her plus one, and I was kinda curious. Trust me, it's mostly
awkward: you spend more time figuring out logistics and geometry, and who's into
what, than actually having fun. And then that mare never showed up herself."

LISTLESS
She was listless. That was the word he heard Sunset use once, and whatever that
list was, the girl, draped across the other’s back like a tarp, most certainly
lacked it.

***

“Hello there, little soldier,” she looked at him with strange intensity, her
unsettling slitted lights almost shining in the pale moonlight.
Flash shivered. There were stories - rumors. Special teams of the second legion.
The Night Witches. They came in the night, unseen, unheard, and disappeared with
the morning mists, leaving nothing but pale corpses with no sign of struggle
behind.

"You've got a little something," he pointed at the speck on her lower lip.
Something he really, really hoped was just a bit of ochre. "Just there."

The mare smiled, languid, slow smile, and her tongue snaked out of her thin
impossibly-red lips, licking it up. And then she stepped past him.

***

"The night is so cold, oh soldier, and we are so lonely. Would you not invite us to
your campfire? Would you not share your heat with us?"

He looked at them for a second, considering. Finally he made a motion, inviting

them. “Have my wine, and my bread.” He passed them the flask and one of his hay
brickets. “It’s just rations though.”

He watched them as the eldest of the sister wet her lips on the wine, and nibbled
on the pressed bracket of hay.

"Not hungry?"

"We always are," one said. "But ours is a different fare, soldier," the other one
added. The third, the listless one, merely looked at him, and roused, in a single
slithering motion, and the three of them slipped towards him, swift and soundless
like shadows.

A kiss - a touch of her cold lips above the collarbone, burned him with sudden
cold.

"Such a brave soldier. Will you not lie with us? Keep us warm." The other one
purred, leaning towards his neck for another ice-cold hickey.

"N-no." He murmured, suddenly slow, as the numbness spread from their cold lips,
making him feel weak and dizzy. The cold fire spread from beneath to meet it,
making him tense, and flush paradoxically hot with the sudden pull of desire.

“We would be so very, very grateful,” the right one, as her sister's forelegs
dipped lower, where his flesh was already throbbing. “You would like our gratitude,
oh soldier.”

Wait," he protested feebly. "N-no." The tongue felt leaden in his mouth, and his
limbs didn't move as he wanted, "I'm.." he still tried. "..married."

They stopped, sharing a look, as if not quite believing what they heard, or
perhaps just amused.

"Then just a nibble." The eldest one decided, her cold lips finding a vein on his
neck again.
"A touch," another one kissed him on the chest, near the shoulder.
"A bit of warmth," a third one whispered, but his body was already numb, and he
didn't feel her lips, as the darkness around him became woolen and heavy and
smothering, and he was falling down, and down.

[center]***[/center]

“Ugh.”

His limbs felt cold and weak, and his head hummed with the heavy hangover.
He didn’t drink that much last evening, did he?

Memory returned slowly, as he stood up, looking at the unsteady light of dawn…no,
he was looking to the west. It was dusk -- it was evening now. He must’ve slept
through the day. Sarge would have his head.

“Hello, brave soldier.” The eldest sister was still there, somehow. She looked at
him like Sunset used to sometimes -- as if checking if all his constituting parts
were still... constituting. Though Sunset used to do this when he did something she
thought was exceptionally silly, and he was pretty sure he did nothing for the last
twenty-four hours, seeing as he was asleep.

"I want you to know, little soldier, that nothing happened." She kissed him on the
cheek with her ice cold lips. "We would not take anything not freely given."

"Not from defenders of Equestria." The other added. What she lacked in list last
day, she more than made up in pep in this twilight hour.

"Not from one marked by the Red Witch." The third one chimed in. "We seek no
quarrel with the Monster of Canterlot."

MERCY
"Will your princess agree to it? The real one, not... Whatever this is. We captured
her, conquered her lands..."

"You don't understand..." Sunsets expression became unreadable. "You cannot

conceive, and neither can I, the appalling strangeness of my Princess' mercy."
LOOKING A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH

Her pale magic lifted his upper lip, checking the teeth, slipped round the horn and
the sides. She then went around him, checking the flanks and pulling on the tail.

Blueblood took it rather stoically, only whimpering slightly when the princess
reached down south with her check-up.

“Duos habet,” she said with some satisfaction, “et bene pendentes.”

The unicorn crowd behind her snickered.

“He’ll do,” she allowed, turning back to Sunset. “Let’s deal.”

LIGHTNING, TREASON AND PLOT

“Sunset!”

Diamond saw him move first. Perhaps a fraction of a second before Sunset, and the
kid -- the little girl who was too often allowed to stay up late and watch the old
movies -- did as she saw the heroes do on the big screen. She jumped, pushing
Sunset away, and the lighting arc thrown by the pegasus hit her instead.

“Treason!”The unicorns screamed, casting bindings and shields, capturing the

pegasus who has broken his glamour, but Sunset didn’t move. She looked at her
student, wounded.

Lighting. Pegasus magic -- powerful, but not dangerous. Not to her. Even if it
found the target, her own flesh would reknit with water dead, her bones, inscribed
in spellwork would not break and her blood... Well she scarcely had any left
anyways. But Diamond had no such protection, and the filly got hurt. The filly,
already wrapped in the Count’s healing and staunching magics bled.

Slowly, Sunset turned, feeling some dark wave gather within her, and under her gaze
the unicorns scattered.
GLOVES ARE COMING OFF

“I tried to be nice.” she moved towards the stallion, who somehow seemed to lose
his luster, pushing someone out of her way - Princess Platinum in all likelihood.
“I tried to do things Her way. But you hurt my student and my charge, and I will
kill you so bad it will haunt my own fucking nightmares.”

***

The Count avoided looking at her all the way back.

“Sunset…” It took the remainder of her flask to get him even that far, “...what you
did was [i]wrong[/i].”

“Stuff it Fancy. He deserved every bit of it.” Sunset did not take her eyes off a
filly she was levitating in the strongest protective and healing spells she could
summon.
“Still. With you bare hooves… and the thing with the fire… and all that blood.” He
shivered and looked wistfully at the empty flask as if to coax a few more drops out
of it. “I am even more afraid of you now, I think. So’s the Princess. I wouldn’t
think she’d agree to so little otherwise.”
LITANY AGAINST PAIN

“Sunset, it hurts” Diamond croaked “It hurts so bad…”

“Grasshopper.” Sunset gripped the filly’s hoof, “Diamond, listen to me. Breathe.
Slow, deep breaths. Control, grasshopper.”

The pink filly bit her lip, fighting the blinding pain in her broken leg, and with
a sob she let out few first ragged breaths, getting deeper with every exhale.

“That’s right.” Sunset’s voice grew slow and deliberate, pushing every word into
her little student with burning intent “You’re hurt. You can’t fight it. You cannot
escape it. Accept the pain. Let it in. Acknowledge it and make it a part of you.
Pain is. You are”.

Diamond closed her eyes, still fighting for every breath, to keep it slow and
steady.

“And I will let it wash over me and through me” Tiara quoted back, opening her
eyes. There was pain there in the filly’s green eyes, but there was also acceptance
of it. “And when I turn to see it, there will be nothing. Only I will remain”

Sunset smiled weakly. “Atta girl. Now hold steady, the doctor will come in in a few
minutes. We’ll have you walking in a day, trust me. And meanwhile I will murder
every bastard who had anything to do with it.”
SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE FOR YOU

“We will need someone who has infiltration and tracking experience. Someone
trustworthy and disposable…” Sunset bit her lip, looking over her meagre forces
exercising outside the window “I have a way… even though I do not like it”.

***

Daring Do pounced from the lying position, swift as brown lighting, hitting against
the bars with metal-bending strength, and her hoof almost reached Sunset’s throat,
as she snarled and cursed.

***

“Well that was disappointing but rather predictable darling.” Rarity put her hoof
on Sunset’s barrel “The chances were awfully slim”

“I know. I did not count on it”

***

She held the stallion fast, until he stopped struggling and was quiet on the hard
floor of the castle. Silence still held - no alarms and no noise save for her
breath and the slithering of the steel as she pulled the sword out of the guard’s
sheath.

She frowned. Something was...off about the sword. It should’ve been a standard-
issue guard thing, but the weight was all [i]wrong[/i] and the reflections seemed
to be somehow not quite right.

o0O0o

A turquoise wave rolled over the reality, smoothing things over, and the mare
moaned and turned over in her hay cot, twitching her hind legs, slowly relaxing and
returning to her sleep.

o0O0o

Another alcove, and another patrol that went past her, as she pressed into the wall
and held her breath.

***

“My name is Daring Do. You killed my mother. Prepare to die,” she said, resolved,
short sword drawing a drop of blood from her enemy’s throat. One more push and…

She hesitated. She was about to kill someone. To murder them in cold blood. That
was not something Daring Do stood for, that was not what she stood for.

“That’s what you bring here? A toy sword and a weak heart?” Flicking away the
blade like one would swat away an annoying fly, the mare stepped forward, forcing
Daring Do back with sheer intensity of her emerald eyes. “Yes, I killed your
mother, because she was weak like you. She begged us for a clean death before
she...”

At those words Daring Do stopped her retreat. Something tightened within her and
the sword finally settled into her grip, and moved as if by its own volition. The
blade flashed in the dull light of the torches, as it sped towards the mare’s neck.
It was a death blow. An execution. Her revenge.

It cut through the mares throat with almost no resistance, and the pungent, irony
smell of fresh blood hit her like a wave. The crimson spilled from the wound, first
in bursts, then -- slowly, in small flushes as the beat of the heart slowed and
grew silent.
The weapon clanged on the stone floors of the room, and Daring Do ran away,
flapping her wings with all her strength, the corridor of the castle stretching to
infinity in front of her.

"You killed me."

The mare said from the alcove in the wall. The gash in her throat made her voice
odd and reverberating, blood coloring her orange coat in every shade of crimson.
Daring turned and pivoted, changing direction, running faster, and faster to get
somewhere, anywhere far from this nightmare.

"Did you not know..."

Wherever she would run, the same voice, the same blood-stained orange coat, the
same piercing emerald eyes followed her, accusing, demanding the answer...

"..that to kill another..."

It was not a corridor any longer, but a thin, long shadow in the walls of turquoise
light that filled all the space, and all she could do was to run faster and faster.

"...is to make the world weep?"

She came to a stop in the dark hall, so vast its walls were lost to the darkness.
There, the dead mare stood, staring at her with her green eyes that shone with
black magic.

"Ace Keaton Yearling..."

Her true name bound her to the floor with a thousand chains and her guilt pushed
her to the ground with the weight of a mountain.

"...your pain that pushes you to do something you cannot forgive yourself for is
the chink in the armor of your soul, and all I need to make you mine!"

And then there was darkness.

***

“I want you to witness and to understand: This is not mind control or hypnosis.
This is a magic far deeper and much more sinister. She has betrayed all that she
believed she was, and all it took was a little push to empty her of it.”

She kicked the lying pony in the ribs, forcing an exhale and a sob, but the pony’s
expression did not change.

“Who are you?” Sunset asked.

“Nothing.” There was no inflection when she spoke. Just a statement of fact that
the thing that was there in front of them, was not a pony. It was precisely that -
nothing. An empty shell.

“That’s all she is now. And I get to fill her with anything I want - with all her
skills, with all her strength, with all her new soul she will be what I decree her
to be. Such is the price of betrayal - not of others, but of yourself. Such is the
power of the black.”
CRIMSON TIDE RISING

“Will she be fine, Doctor?”

“Minor concussion, a broken rib, a subdural hematoma and blood loss. The burn from
the lightning is the worst of them all, but the filly is strong. She’s an earth
pony, so I promise full recovery, with maybe some scarring.”

“Thank you.” She stepped away from the filly, finally getting professional pain-
killing spells and potions from the nurses. “Take care of her, Doctor. She’s very
important to me.”

***

“Minor concussion.” The thought of the filly’s small body rolling across the hard
stone, made her grit her teeth in anger. “Broken rib.” she trotted across the room.
“Blood loss.” her magic stretched towards the statue of Hippo Kratos, gripping it
tight in her magic. “May. Be. Some. Scarring!!”

She screamed, and launched the statue through the closest wall like a cannonball,
breaking the stone and mortar and stepped through the rubble. She struck again, her
magic wild and burning lashed out like a battering ram, breaking the next wall, and
then another, as she stepped through the halls and rooms, a screaming hurricane of
wanton destruction, dashing stone, breaking wood and porcelain, ignoring the scared
ponies scattering away.

At the last room, empty and locked, she stopped, panting. Then her magic stretched
and twisted, controlled and precise, breaking the seals and the runes that
protected the entrance to the charred burned-out remains.

This used to be her room. This used to be her lab, before she burned when she left
this world. Now it was just ruins -- molten slag covered in ash. Nothing of value,
nothing to be found.

As if it could have been destroyed quite so easily. As if her tools and her
implements, her little treasures and secrets could be turned to nothing by
something so mundane as mere flames, kept away from her by distance in time or in
space.
“I call my power unto me…”

she drew in a breath, feeling the soot and the ash on her tongue, feeling her anger
burn out and turn focused and cold.

“From Earth and Fire and Sky and Sea,”

She reached deep within, to the parts of her memory she closed and forbade to
herself, the things she thought she’d never wish to use, breaking every seal,
unlocking every door every cellar of her memory palace.

”From ancient evils I’ve awoken,

From creatures slain and monsters broken.”

Her coat grew darker, turning brown-crimson of venous blood, her mane inverted
colors, and her magic, black and green, infused the room.

In darkest night I gird my soul

And crush my heart to burning coal
I summon now my darkest powers,

Ashes pulled to ashes, soot joined to soot, coals rumbled and time unwound itself,
releasing things too old, and dark and hungry to ever truly yield to the flames.

And I will see my foes devoured!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD MEN GONE

She entered the road before the gates in fullness of her power. Her hair done in a
high mane-cut, intricate with knots and held together by an engraved comb. Two fans
tucked into her sash next to the ivory horn, her four-slitted eye uncovered by the
glamoгus, a black gem at her throat. There was an air of power around her, buzzing,
dark and angry.

“Sunset, where are you going?” Flash tried to stand in her way.

“I aim to have words with the Legion.”

“Sunset, you don’t have to do that.” Flash Sentry dug his hooves in the stone floor
and held his place. “I know you. You’re a good person. Whatever you have in mind,
please, just set it aside. Please. This isn’t you”

She sighed, and the pulsing black and green aura around her doused.

“Flash…”
She nuzzled him gently, her nose finding the crook of his neck. He smelled of sweat
and hot metal and wet fur, and he was warm as he hugged her.

“You’re a good person, Flash Sentry...”

He never saw a spark of emerald jump from her horn, and he never had a chance to do
anything, before his eyes closed and his legs went limp.

She caught the sleeping stallion gently and laid him on the floor. Her lips stopped
for a second on his forehead, and then she turned back to the castle gate. “...the
thing is - I am really not.”
STORYTELLING TO THE PRINCE

“I was the Commander of the Garrison on the Misty Hill, loyal and strong. My life
was taken by the Red Witch, and my head severed from my body to send a warning.
This is my tale. Heed it!”

She came to us in the night, in the middle of the storm. A single unicorn mare, her
reddish coat concealed by the gray cape. No sentry noticed her, no patrol stopped
her until she knocked at our door.

The eldest brother stepped forth, his spear pointing at the strange mare, and
without breaking her step, she released a spell. A cantrip so simple even pegasus
can recognize it - a candle-spell, used for lighting the wicks of the candle.
Backed by her fury and the flame of the dragon burning in her eyes it set him on
fire instead, burrowing under his skin and setting fat aflame like tallow.

He screamed until he no longer had a throat.

It didn’t last long.

"Run," she said.

They were my brothers. We grew up together and we fought together, saving each
others' lives more times than you could count. That night they ran, dropping their
weapons and losing their shields, and I can only hope they ran far enough before
she decided to follow.

She asked me for the names then, and when my knowledge has run dry, she severed my
head from my body and sent it as a lesson and a warning.

“I was the Commander of the Garrison on Misty Hill, loyal and strong. My life was
taken by the Red Witch, and my head severed from my body to send a warning. This
was my tale. Heed it!”

The green flame disappeared from its eyes, and the head grew still.
“I am coming.” The red bird in the cage suddenly grew agitated, cawing its warning
again. “I am coming for you.”

***

“I was the lord-by-conquest, in what was the town of Grey Mane, loyal and kind. My
life was taken by the Monster of Canterlot, and my head severed from my body to
send a warning. This is my tale. Heed it!”

“She came to us with eastern winds, that brought the smell of summer and daffodil
wine, and we did not know her until it was too late.

I sent a sentry. One of my loyal, one of the best, swift of wing and sure in
flight.

They dragged him back, and they beat him to death. Like beasts, snarling and
spitting and growling, they beat on him until he stopped moving and then they beat
him up some more. For daring to take their dreams, for daring to take their perfect
little worlds they were ready to kill their brothers. That’s when I knew we have
lost.

This world, this beautiful world, each sunset, each rainbow, each gust of warm wind
bringing in more smells of sarsaparilla and dandelion wine, it was devouring us,
digesting us whole, and there was nothing I could do.

...

She walked through the town unaccosted. Rare stallions, still strong enough to
move, still too cowardly to die, crawled to her through the dust, begging her
quietly for the mercy of eternal slumber, and she granted it without breaking her
step. Crimson colored the clouds where she walked like rose petals, corpses
littering the street like flowers of her triumph, and I was too numb and despaired
to even care.

...

“I was the lord-by-conquest, in what was the town of Grey Mane, loyal and kind. My
life was taken by the Monster of Canterlot, and my head severed from my body to
send a warning. This is my tale. Heed it!”

“Run,” the bird cawed again in mare’s voice. It sounded very smug. “Run.”

***
“I was the Master of Assasins, cunning and quick. My life was taken by the Mare in
Red, and my head severed from my body to send a warning. This was my tale. Heed
it!”

***

“I was the Master of Assasins, cunning and quick. My life was taken by the Mare in
Red, and my head severed from my body to send a warning. This was my tale. Heed
it!”

“Run. Run-run-run-run-ru---” a knife stuck in the bird’s chest, stopping it’s

warning, and the creature burned into green flames. It spoke, calm and suddenly
clear, even as its magical flesh dissolved into fire. “Too late now. I am here.”

The Prince, Reigning-In-The-Sky closed his wing back and looked at the figure that
entered the tent.
I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SAY THAT

“For the sake of my betrothed, I’ve come to offer you a surrender.”

The pegasi coterie laughed, as if it were a joke, but their chuckles died under her
gaze.

“I would have just murdered all of you, but a man much better than me has asked on
your behalf. So give up now, and no more harm will come to any of you -- except for
him.” Sunset pointed at the Prince. “Give me his life, and you go free to leave
this land. Keep fighting and I will break you. No matter what happens фаеук, no
matter how goes the war, no matter the toll, this army will not see the next dawn.
That I swear, by the Flame and Magic.”

***

"This is a horn from another world." Sunset put an ivory horn, filigreed with
silver and gold on the table. "There is none equal to it. When called it will
summon help to arrive just in time, no matter the distance. It has a boon attached
to it, from four Kings and Queens and a Power that equals any in this world. This
is my peace-offering, a weregild for all the blood between us and a guarantee of
peace. Take it and leave Equestria, and there will be no more war between us.

"Or don't," She kicked back in her chair. "Then you die. Both work for me."

***

“Do you really think I would come into your camp unarmed and unaided if there was
even the slightest chance you could stop me? I called the horn thirty-five minutes
ago.” Sunset chuckled suddenly, “You know, I’ve always wanted to say that.”
AIR SUPERIORITY

“No killing, right?” The red alicorn asked, concerned. “Might make it tricky”.

“Fuck that.”, Sunset said fiercely, “They hurt my girls. They refused to surrender
when offered. Break them.”

The newcomers nodded, accepting their task with no argument. Death and war was
something they were not unfamiliar with.

***

“When I first met her, they called her The Gentle Queen”. Sunset said to no one in
particular, as she watched the carnage. Up in the sky the only mercy was death,
magic and arrows raining denser than raindrops and reaping a rich harvest of lives
with every salvo. “Sad thing, it’s still probably true.” She took a drink, and
watched the destruction in the sky for a while, silent and somber.

She threw the flask away, and stood up, looking warily at the battlefield below.

“Tell the midget I’ll need her in the forest, please.”

***

She groaned with the effort but her protective spells held.

“You done with the warm up? I was thinking there'd be a fight!” she shouted towards
the skies.

Another thunder split the sky in reply, shattering Sunset’s shield. The remainder
of the power made the hairs of her coat stand up on edges, turning her mane into
spiked punk-cut.

“That all you got? I’ve seen filles make better thunder!” she panted, dodging the
next one.

“What is this? The Young fliers’ competition? ‘Coz if it were, you’d lose!”

***

Another lightning split the sky and thunder made the earth shake, as she scampered
in between the burning trees, throat sore from the smoke and shouting.
“Your mother is a cow-milker and your father lays with sheep!”

Hail hit the place where she stood, thousand of sharp ice-needles piercing clean
through the undergrowth.

This was silly… but then if she learned anything in four years of living amongst
the children, it was that most basic insults worked better. You cannot argue
against something that makes no sense - refined and targeted insults can be
deflected or ignored, but you cannot really do anything against something to the
gist of “you suck, because you suck, and your momma sucks too”. It’s just annoying,
and it makes one angry.

And angry makes you stupid.

The howl of the annoyed pegasus twinned with the roar of the storm that he
summoned, as he descended upon her, faster than the lightnings he had summoned,
azure flash of his contrail pulling the vortex of the black clouds behind him in
his wake, as if ripping the heavens themselves to crash into the earth.

There was no blocking this, no time to even think of a dodge. Air exploded around
the pegasus in a lightning-boom, as he plowed clean through Sunset’s best shield,
planting all four of his hooves against her. It took all of her magic just to hold
onto life, protecting her head, horn and spine as he made a hundred-foot ditch in
the earth with her barrel, when he broke his dive with her body.

“I will kill you with my own hooves now. Slowly.” the Prince of Air moved at his
leisure towards his fallen enemy, arclets of energy buzzing along his coat and
feathers.

“Heh” She grinned with her half-torn muzzle, blood foam on her lips, “No you
won’t”.

“I am the Prince of Air, Reigning in the Sky. And you’re just one burned-up
unicorn, for all your taunts and insults”.

“Heh. ehe hhehe.” Sunset laughed, pushing herself up. “But this is not the sky, oh
Prince. It’s a forest. And in this forest, monsters roam.”

“Wha--” he started, and did not finish, because a yellow lightning slipped from
behind a tree, soundless and deadly. There was a slash of claws, a flash of teeth,
a flutter of wings, and then a lioness held him firmly by the neck in her maw.

“No, no, no….” he twisted, and reached back with his hooves to try to stop the
inevitable, but the lioness shook her head once, and then again and something
cracked, and the pegasus’ body went rigid for a second, and then fell limply to the
ground, neck broken.
“Red Witch,” lioness acknowledged her with a nod, her wide tongue licking up the
specks of blood from her muzzle.

“Your Majesty” Sunset, who barely managed to stay upright, bowed back politely. She
wobbled, almost falling back down, but the lioness has already disappeared in the
undergrowth, single lean motion, only shaking of the leaves tracing her path.

***
She took a step, and her leg gave under her weight twisting unnaturally to the
side, and she fell on the ground again. Pain echoed through her body, making her
see world in red. A pain-filled eternity later she tried again, pushing herself up
on torn muscles and broken bones.

Every second she stayed down, murder would keep going on. She could have stopped
it, with the Prince of Air fallen… if only she could stand up. If her body would
listen, if the flesh would follow the will. If she could make a step, and then
another.

She fell again. Pain braced her against the oblivion that almost swept her.

***
“Hi, Reep. Help me stand up?” she mumbled, only half sure she was not seeing
things. “You got old” she noted surprised.

“Oh I believe we can do more than that, Red Witch.” he chuckled to himself, raising
a small thimble to her ripped snout, and letting a drop of precious sparkling
liquid fall on her burned up muzzle.

***

“ENOUGH” the magically amplified voice covered both the thunder of the battlefield
and the howl of the winds, making the battle-hardened warriors stop in their
tracks, and even the air and darkness seemed to grow still, rather than compete
with the booming sound.
PEVENSIE FAMILY REUNION
“Oh how I wish He would see me now!” the lioness pranced on the spot in a childish
excitement alien to the frame of the predator she wore. “Do you think He’d like
me?”

“He did always say you were almost a lioness.”

“Who’s the boy?” The bat-pony stallion asked suspiciously. “I don’t remember having
dragons in the kingdom.”

“Oh yeah.” The lioness rolled her eyes. “This is our cousin, from back home. He is
stupid, and whiny, and smells, and he got himself cursed into a dragon.”
The dragon huffed black-smoked flames at the introduction, but stretched his claw
awkwardly towards the ponies.

“So, you fancy him?” the black pegasus asked the lion-cub.

“Eww! Not the Scrub. You’re gross. '' She smiled, nuzzling him affectionately. “And
you’re old” she looked at the alicorn. “You’re as old as Mum, now.”

The alicorn smiled a bit. “Suppose I am, little sis. It’s been quite some time more
for me than for you two.” She leaned in towards the lioness conspiratorially, “I
even have kids of my own, so you’re an aunt now,” leaving the lioness wordless with
surprise.

“I named my oldest after you, big brother”. The red alicorn added, laughter welling
in her eyes “he’s six now, and already trying your old sword for size”.

The stallion smiled with a dopey grin, and started to say something before Sunset
coughed politely.

“Sunset! It is good to see you. Even given the circumstances.” He moved to hug
Sunset carefully.

“It truly is”, his sister confirmed, her voice much different than Sunset
remembered. “It has been quite some time for us.”

“As it was for me,'' Sunset admitted, returning the hugs, “Thank you for your help.
Will you stay?”

The four of them looked at each other, wincing.

“Sorry.” The red alicorn said, sadly. “I have a war of my own”

“We have a quest,” two others said.

“And a duty”, the black bat-pony stallion concluded.

“I figured as much. But thanks for the save anyways.” Sunset sighed, “I believe
this is yours, then.” she pulled a horn from her saddlebags with her magic.

“Yes, I suppose it is.” The alicorn grabbed it in the magics of her own, putting it
away in her dress “I hope we will yet meet.”

She turned to the smaller colt “Give us a lift, lil’bro?”

CLOSURE
Surrounded by turquoise glow, the battered, soiled remains of the pegasus flopped
on the pristine white floor of Castle healing chambers, and Sunset, still covered
in grime and blood, followed.

“This is my student whom you hurt,” she explained. “She is the one to decide your
fate. I strongly suggest you beg and grovel.”

Tiara and Silver Spoon stared at the creature.

“The ones that hurt you, I already murdered.” Sunset said levelly. “This is the one
that gave the order. His fate is yours to decide, grasshopper.“

Tiara sat silent, mute. Her tiny pink body trembled as the look of the bloodied
creature reminded her of the terror and pain she experienced so recently, and it
took away her ability to think. Filly wanted nothing more than to run away, to
forget, but that would just make the problem worse.

“You need closure, Tiara. One way or the other.” Sunset prompted her gently.

Nothing.

Silver took it up instead. She leaned over the prostrate pegasus, and her hoof
moved quickly, but without haste along his throat, a glint of scalpel slitting it
in a clean, wide cut, out and away, so that she wouldn’t get bled upon.

His insults turned to gurgles and the Prince of Air, Reigning in the Sky shuddered
one last time and grew still.

They looked at the body in silence, watching the blood puddle on the floor.

“Thank you, Silvie.” Though her skin was pale under the pink coat, Tiara’s voice
was quiet, mundane. It wasn’t any different than when she thanked Silver for any
other small favor, from passing a note to bringing her tea.

“Always, Di.”

“You alright?” Sunset asked her second pupil gently.

“I’m fine.” Silver Spoon shrugged. “Just like with that piglet. Not much
difference, really.'' But her eyes betrayed her.
“Silver.”

The filly sat down on her haunches, shivering. Still, her tone was stubborn,
defiant.

“It’s part of the job, isn’t it? To do things Di can’t or won’t - that’s what I do.
That’s what I’m for.”

"It doesn’t have to be.” Sunset put her hoof on her student’s shoulder. “You know
that, right?"

"I.."

"It's the most important lesson ever... One, I think, I have never learned. They
are brilliant Silver. They shine so bright we can't do anything but reflect that
light back, and it carries us, like flotsam is carried by the stream. But you are
important. You're you, the only you you've got. Don't ever forget that."

"That’s nothing," the girls said sullen and bitter. "I'm a nobody. Just a quiet
little nerd, there to help her. It's always like that -- she's the leader, she's
the number one student, she does all those things that she does, and all I can do
is help her. That's all I'm good for."

“Silver… Tiara’s shiny, brilliant, and she takes all the attention. She leads
people and ponies, but that’s not why I spend more time on her than you. I pay more
attention to Tiara because she needs my help more. You’ve always been the better
student - just in your own fashion.” Sunset moved her hoof to her student’s
shoulder, in a gentle semi-hug, and tried to find the right words. “And
grasshopper... My student. Silver. I want you to know: what you did there - it was
beautiful. I could not be more proud of you.”

“Really?”

Sunset nodded. “Yes. To give your whole self to someone else with nothing held
back, without remorse or hesitation - it is the greatest gift that could be given”

“She’s worth it.” Silver Spoon wiped away the last of her tears with her forehoof.
“She is.”

“That’s for you to decide, grasshopper, always only up to you and no one else.
Remember that.”

FOR THE SOUL

"Sivko!" She shouted. "Oi, you thief and son of a thief, come, stand you before me
like a leaf before the tree"
"Solnyshko," the stallion said, stepping into the room as if he was only waiting
for the invitation. "No need to shout, da?" He looked at the scene. "Why do you
summon me?"

"Kid’s hurting. Do you have it?"

"Ai, solnyshko, that is such a hurtful stereotype." He grabbed at his chest

theatrically. "Hurtful, da. Tribist even. If I am from Motherland, that does not
mean--"

"Oh don't be a dunce, Sivko. Do you have it?"

"Da." He shrugged, and taking off his funny furred hat, produced a bottle of clear
liquid. "But only because I knew you would ask."

"What is that?" Silver asked.

"Did you ever drink?" Sivko asked, as he twisted off the cap, and sat himself down.

"We tasted wine," she answered, somewhat defensively. "With Sunset. And cider, when
it's the season."

"That's good." The stallion poured a couple of shots. "Wine is good for taste, and
cider is good for a young summer’s day. But vodka," He raised a hoof. "It is for
the soul, da? When it hurts real bad."
AND THE LADY OF DEATH

She entered the throne room almost steady on her hooves. Her every nerve was still
raw, her every sense almost painfully aware. Aware of...

the glances turned aside.

the scared whispers of the terrified ponies.
the shivers of fear on their barrel when they saw her
the way their necks stiffened trying not to look, trying to please, oh goodness,
please not to attract the attention of the monster leaving the bloody hoofprints on
the marble floors.

"Dhul-Qarnaina."
"Celestia's Monster."
"Lady of Death."
“Red Witch”
"Killed them all, all by herself."
“Without a single scratch”
"..spread her winds on a blast..."
"...ten thousand ponies..."
"...hundred thousand..."
“Made her foals drink his blood…”
"...sorceries blacker than Nightmare…”
“...Colder than eternal ice…”
“…True heiress of the Mage..."

The Count bowed to her, his horn touching to the ground.

She closed her eyes, and her horn grew aflame, and in a flash of emerald fire she
twisted and bent the space around her disappearing away from those ponies.

***

"OUT!"

She blasted the doors of the pegasi prison off its hinges with a single spell.

The generals of what once was a legion of pegasi looked at each other with fear,
shuffling their chained legs to scuttle away.

"GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!" she screamed, blasting and burning their shackles. "You're
free. Acquitted. Out on a bail, just piss the fuck off, now!"

They stared at her, unsure what she meant.

****

She stayed in the dark dungeon alone for some time. As far as dungeons got, it was
pretty cozy, really. She could stay here for a long, long time. A year maybe? A
century would be good. Until she would not have to see those ponies look at her
like she was a monster... and enjoy it quite so much.
“STAND YOUR GROUND” DOCTRINE

The rusty door screeched, when somepony opened it, casting an uneven torchlight on
her.

"Get out, Sentry."

He moved closer instead, his wing touching her shoulder in an awkward gesture of
comfort.

"You need to get out there, Sunset. They are waiting for you."
[e][f]
"They don't need me anymore," she said bitterly, "We won anyways. With the pegasi
legion out of the picture, Cloudsdale and the whole of the west will rise. They can
finish it off by itself. I'll just... stay here. Where I belong. "

“No.”

She looked at him surprised

“You don’t get to run away this time, not like you always do.”

“I don’t--”

“Yes, Sunset, you do. From us, from the school body president, from Equestria even
- you keep leaving things when you think you screwed up. And you’re not doing it
this time. I’m not letting you.”

She chuckled unhappily. The determination in his eyes, him thinking that he could
make her do anything she didn’t want to - it was endearing. But perhaps, not
exactly wrong.

“But what about…?” she trailed off.

“We will talk later,” Flash half-promised, half-threatened, before looking away.

Sunset let out tiny sigh of relief. The threat, for all the unpleasant talk it
promised, implied that there would be talking. That she was still worth talking to.
That was a start. That was, at least, a chance.
THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS

Sunset bowed,curtsy turning into full-on proskynesis, her horn touching the ground.

“I give you Princess Mi Amora Cadenza, brilliant as the sun, blooming like the
moon, she who sits on the Crystal Throne and is as beautiful as most precious
gemstone.”

Her tone was as sarcastic as her bowing.

PIECE OF MIND
“I get that you were angry, but--”

"No." she interrupted him, her voice hard. "I promised you, I would not lie to you
Flash Sentry, and I won't. I was angry, but I did not do it on a whim. I have
considered and weighted my decision. They hurt what was dear to me. They would die.
There was nothing more or less to it, calm or angry, I would make that same
decision -- those who touch what is mine will burn."

…
"Why'd you make the girls do it, Sunset? I get why you wanted revenge, why you
wanted to go after all those pegasi, but why bring the Prince here, why force
little girls to murder him?"

She exhaled a long puff of smoke, and stubbed out the cigarette. And then she
looked directly at her boyfriend and her husband. "That I do not regret. That was
the right thing to do."

“Why?!”

"Diamond needed closure-"

"So that she'd turn out like you?!"

She could see him regret his words as soon as they left his muzzle, but it still
hurt.

"No. So that she wouldn't," she said coldly. "I have seen it, Sentry, the fear,
the helplessness that turned ponies cruel and vicious. It's the sort of thing that
turns good men into monsters"

“They’re just little girls. You can’t expect them to--”

"What if it were someone you love, Sentry? if it were your student that would wake
up screaming in the night at the nightmares of the creatures that came to hurt her?
If it was your little sister afraid of every shadow and every stranger? If it was
your daughter having panic attacks any time her broken leg aches to the rain?"

He did not say anything.

"They’re mine, Flash Sentry, fruit of my toil and soul of my soul. I am responsible
for them, and if any of them comes to harm, I will murder anyone and anything that
dared touch them. There is no force in this world or any other that would stop me."

“Not even me?”

“Not even you,” she said. “I’m sorry. But...”

“You have your priorities.”

She shrugged again. “Sorry.”

THE OTHER LAW
"One second she's there, making childish jokes and teasing, teaching her students
or jamming with the guys, and the other it's this. This thing that kills armies,
that breaks peo... ponies without second thought or hesitation. How can I deal with
that? What do I do?"

Count took a sniffle of his snuff box, and put his hoof on the boy's shoulder.

"There are many things that we consider. Justice. Kindness. Mercy. Those are the
laws that govern stallions and that the Princesses decree and uphold. But Sunset
Shimmer cares not for these things. For all that she tried to do things Celestia’s
way, she's the Other Law we live by, she's that Law and nothing else. Be her
strength boy, because within her are all the Furies of Tartarus screaming to get
out."
RAKSI
She leaned low towards the earth, horn aflame with her power, almost growling:
"Nikasha!"

Green flames rolled across the mare’s form, turning it black and chitinous,
releasing translucent wings and twisted horn. "Night-huntress!"

They snarled at each other, two beasts ready to rip each other apart.

"Did you think I would not feel you? I ate your blood, creature. I ate your name!
You cannot fool me."

***

Again her form twisted, in streaks of red and yellow, and green magic met green
magic, a shield against the spell.

"You cannot win against yourself, child."

"I know who I am, monster-mother. And you are not me." Sunset's magic shattered
the shield and made the changeling step back.

Her yellow became dull brown and red disappeared, and the horn gave place to wings.
Flash Sentry smiled. "Come on, Sunset. I know you. You're a good perso-"

Tendrils of green cut him off, choking until green ichor bled through skin and
feathers.

"No, vermin-queen, I am not.” The coils of dust and sand cut his skin and forced
the pegasus to his knees. “Your last seconds have come. Give it your best shot
Kaikesi, or die with dignity - it’s all the same to me. Either way you will not
rise again."
Last time her form shifted, her frame expanding, black giving way to the milky-
white coat the color of morning cloud.

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you, Sunset? You never could."

For the first time Sunset has hesitated, her magic faltering and her grip getting
loose.

"Princess..."

“Yes.” The thing that looked like the princess looked in Sunset’s eyes, both of
their magics becoming one and disappearing into her form. “It’s me, Sunset. Come
back to me, my little student.”

“But…” Sunset choked, holding back a sob “I am a monster.”

“And still you love me.”

“I do. But Princess, you see…” Sunset’s eyes suddenly lost their pale green sheen
and looked sharp and alert. The white mare tried to move away and summon her magic,
but the unicorn was too close, her change - too sudden, and before anyone could
even blink her magic spiked and burst through the mare’s chest out of the old
Queen’s back, pinning her in the air, like a butterfly in entomologist's
collection. “We, monsters, always hurt those we love.”

She twisted her magic in the wound and ripped it out in a fountain of foul green
ichor. The creature fell on the floor, once again turning back to her true
chitinous form.

“That’s what makes us monsters.”

She regarded the bleeding form of a monstress coldly, and then her magic rose,
flattening out and extending, turning into a wide, long blade. Not a weapon of war
- a tool of an executioner.

“Final will be your death,” she promised. “You won’t escape this time.”
NOT FRIENDSHIP GAMES

It was a great armor. Dozens of Earth-pony masters poured all their skill and magic
into it, making it impervious to spell and steel, hoof and fire.

Against centuries of entirely different technological progress it might as well be

tissue paper. Thousands upon thousands hours of men thinking of a better, easier
way to kill their fellow humans, everything known to anyone who has ever lived
about ballistics, chemistry and metallurgy condensed in a single bullet pierced the
armor like it was nothing but rice paper, hitting the stallion square in the chest.
Shots rolled across the cave like thunder one by one, but even riddled with bullets
he was still too big, too strong, too stubborn to fall. He hit the unicorn like a
freight train, crushing her into the earth. His hooves pushed on her throat,
strangling Sunset with inequine strength.

***

“You cheated!” the stallion croaked, still struggling to stand up.

“Meh. “Sunset shrugged - a motion that made her wince in pain. “This isn’t exactly
the Friendship Games.”

She tucked the gun back into her belt, and then sat down, really wishing she still
had a cigarette left.

The war was almost over.

SUN UNBOUND
Platinum cast her spell - a complex weave of blue and purple that enveloped
Celestia’s body, and the princess stirred...and went still again.

“Well?” Sunset’s tone was not kind. “What’s wrong?”

“I warned you this may happen!” Platinum put her hoof placatingly up. “This is not
a spell we ever intended to break. I undid the magic, but the Princess, she feeds
the spell herself”.

“What?”

“Simply put, Lady, she does not wish to wake up. And so she does not, and she will
not, and nothing I can do can change that.”

***

“Though waking is not Our domain, Dreaming is.” Luna said, “I can send thee to her,
little pony. Into Our sister’s dream. Thee would be subjected to the same dream,
but if thee can persuade her to wake up, the spell may yet be broken.”

***

“Sunset!” Celestia smiled, and took off her mitts to hug the flabbergasted unicorn
“you’re home! And just in time for dinner”

***

She wanted to say something, something important. Like a flash of red blood and
sharp iron, something that would make Celestia hurt… but the smell of fresh cookies
and milk distracted her and she forgot.
“Can I have two, Mommy?”

The filly Twilight looked adorable with the cookie crumbs all over her muzzle, as
she tried to balance the milk glass in her tiny little hoovsies.

***

“I am coming,” the raven croaked in an almost equine voice, coarse cawing like
sandpaper against her mind. “I am coming for you.”

***

Sunset put her hoof on the crystal, and she could almost feel the impossible heat
that the gold chains and locks contained within the transparent cube. A miniature
sun, every bit as hot and powerful as the one in the sky, bound by the simple
golden band of royal crown.

“She locked it away…” she could barely believe it, “she locked her fire away,
didn’t she?”

“We shouldn’t be here,” the filly Twilight muttered, trying to pull Sunset away by
the her tail. “Mum will be very sad if she sees us here.”

***

“We could… we could steal the key.” Twilight gulped, “she keeps it under the
pillow…”

***

Her hoof has only found emptiness of the pristine white bedsheets under the pillow.

No. Nononono.

She almost panicked, jerking her hoof around, hoping against all hope that she just
missed it, but there just wasn’t anything there. Definitely no key.

***

“Hope.” the raven cawed. “I am coming for you. Hope.”

“I remember now.” The filly Twilight bit her lip. “I didn’t want to remember, but I
did. She gave it to me.” She spread the fur on her chest, and there it was, the
golden bow of the key sticking out of her flesh, the blade biting deep into her
body. “She gave it to me. I don’t want it, I hate it. It’s heavy and it hurts, but
she gave it to me and it’s mine now, and I have to carry it, always, always with
me.”

“And if I take it out, you die.” Sunset remembered it, touching her own chest, and
feeling blood slowly seeping from the wound she knew she did not have. Not on her
body, anyways. “Fine.” she jerked her hoof away from her coat and wiped it on the
ground. “Fine. She will just have to break it herself. If the Princess doesn’t want
to wake up from her nice little dream, then I will turn it into a bleeding
nightmare. And I know just a way to do it”.

***

Doors like mirrors where she walked, but she had been here before, and she knew not
to look back.

***

She took the chalk in her teeth, drawing a simple circle in the paving stone of the
road, and stood firm, planting her hooves into the ground.

“I summon you…

The dream-world shuddered when she spake, the thunders rumbling turning into a
drumroll, insidious and syncopated.

“...by the knife from under the hill, by the claw of the rat and the wing of the
bat..”

The malleable flesh of the dreamworld rose readily to her call as she called them
out, one by one.

“...by the coin of stone, by the feather of light and the blood that was life...”

Twilight hid behind the tree, shivering.

“I summon you by the name, the name that’s been cursed…”

Heavy storm clouds covered the sky, rumbling with the rending power that the litany
of anchors and items of power no longer existing in the real world had summoned.
Somnus somnium invocat, a dream calling to a dream, the fabric of the fake world
rippling and groaning under the pressure of non-magic, everything held in balance
for the last word, whispered to the darkness.
“...Nightmare”.

***

It was intoxicating. Being a Power once again. No need for spells, or magics, or
energies - her will flowed out of her like a river of flame, melting and contorting
the soft wax of the dream-world, resonating in her very voice.

“BEHOLD ME, CELESTIA. I HAVE RETURNED TO BRING YOU THE GIFT YOU FEAR MOST.”

***

“No. Silent Night is in Zebrica! She’s a doctor!”

“Oh I’m a doctor, my Princess, I’m a doctor alright. I stopped the Black Death. And
as I was coughing up my lungs in the basements of Canterlot Hospital, the last
victim of the plague, my portraits were taken off the walls, my things thrown out
of my rooms, so that you would not have to remember.”

“You said you’d be my mommy when you took me out of that orphanage.” The colt, once
tall and lanky, now - half bone, half rotten flesh, pierced through with bindings
and chains, spoke. “But when they bound me for Tartarus you didn’t even come. You
sentenced me to eternal prison, and you wouldn’t even look at me when you did!”

“You forgot…”
“..abandoned…”
“...betrayed…”
“...didn’t care…”

“You never noticed me.” the yellow filly with flaming-red mane said. “Even as I
turned into a monster for you, you never noticed me. Because I was filthy with the
things you did not want to know.”

“I--”

“GO AWAY!” filly Twilight jumped in front of them, raising her purple shield, the
click-whirring. “You can’t have my Mommy! She’s mine!”

“Oh we’re not here for her, little princess.” Sunset laughed, and her laughter was
like broken blades and jagged glass. “We’re here for you!”

“For the perfect one…”

“The little princes…”
“..last student…”
“...who would never abandon…”
“...never die…”
“...never leave…”
“...never betray…”

“No!” Celestia begged. “Not her, please, don’t take her from me!”

“She is ours!”
“She’s one of us!”
“She will be taken…”
“...locked forever…”
“...die for you…”
“...stay with us…”

“By the right of blood!

By our sacrifice!
By all that we suffered and were forgotten for!”

“You’re just a teacher, Celestia. Just a school marm with no powers, no

responsibilities except to your little students.” Sunset’s teeth flashed, sharp and
predatory. “And even those you failed, apparently. What can you do? We will take
the little princess, and you will watch, and then you will forget her. Like you
forgot all of us.”

“No!”

***

"I am coming for you." The bird cawed.

"Run." Sunsets grin flashed, all sharp canines and angled fangs."

***

Celestia, bloodied and ragged, threw her whole weight against the glass, smashing
it with her horn, and finally it broke, exploding with a flash of light.

Brightness flooded the world.

Everything disappeared.

The ghosts.

The house.

Little Twilight.
The fake power that clung to Sunset like a shroud evaporated like mist under the
high noon sun.

Everything disappeared.

Only two mares remained in the white, empty void.

Princess Celestia looked at Sunset.

“You’ve grown, once student mine,” she said, surprised and a little sad. “And
you’ve grown cruel. I understand now why they called you a monster - the perfect
happiness, the perfect dream have you stolen away from me, and broke it with your
black magic and dark mind.
Do you even understand what you have done? What you have taken from me?”

“I woke you up.” Sunset met her gaze without flinching.

“Why?! Why could you not leave me be?”

“Everything ends, my Princess. And your ponies need you.”

Celestia nodded. And then the world grew bright and white and then they woke up.

***

“You!”

Sunset’s breath caught. That was the true Celestia. Daughter of the Sky, Lady of
Light, The Excellent One. She hath made the light, brighter than any fire, shining
the foes and enmities away and to meet her glance was to be bowed.

Platinum backed away, the shields and the wards and the dozen unicorn-guards
suddenly failing to provide any reassurances.

“Princess, perhaps we could talk…we’ve already surrendered?” She stammered

“...capitulated even. We could revisit the terms if you...”

“BURN.”

Shields shattered and ponies screamed when their horns cracked from feedback.
Nothing could live in the nova that was a product not of magic, but simply
Princess’ wakened ire. Even though not aimed at Sunset, she could feel its terrible
heat with all of her body and the afterimage of the Sun’s flame would forever be
burned into her retinas.
The fierce, burning pride surged from within. She was at her place, serving the
rightful Princess, clad once again in corona of her power.

“PONIES!” The last of her dreamed-up Nightmare escaped with her voice, turning it
to a true Royal Canterlot Address. “KNEEL BEFORE THE DAWN!”

***
[g]

“Ruler of Light, guard of Law Eternal, Radiant One, increasing in thine own abode.
Be to us easy of approach, even as a dam is to her foals.” Sunset chanted slowly
and at those ancient words Celestia raised her head, coming back from her rage.

“What… no. No!” her horrid glow abated, slowly, as Celestia struggled to rip
herself out of the burning corona of her power “No, I am not that pony, not any
more.”

***

Celestia… just Celestia, her fire hidden again, cried on her sister’s shoulder.
MOCK

"Ow!" Green smacked her upside the head, faster than her pupil had time to even see
it coming. "What was that for?"

"Have you learned nothing, little princess? This-- this is where you mock."

"Wait what?"

GREEN SAYS SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT CELESTIA

"That's," she tried to keep the smile away from her face. "It's not--" but it was
impossible. A giggle escaped, then a full blown laughter, the nervous energy, the
tiredness, the last feeling of the heavy nightmare and pomp of the situation
escaping with every little laugh.

ADAMAS

"Second Legion, -- Legio Noctis!"

They passed like shadows in the darkness. The sun itself turned away where they
flew on silent leathery wings, carrying the banner of the Night Eternal.

***
They moved by, one by one.

Legio Six, Ferrata. They walked without pomp, with no aura of power, old, simple
weapons and blued steel. She saw Flash walking in their ranks and her heart skipped
a beat.

Legio Ten, Scoltian. The allies from Urussia,lent by the tsar or coming by
themselves. The dour stalliongradi, the thick-furred, horse-like mustangolians, the
small przhevalskis smelling faintly of dynamite.

Legio Twelve, Fulminata, clad in thunder and lightnings, the air smelling of ozone
in their wake.

***

"And the famed Thirteenth Legion.... the announcer dragged the pause, letting the
drums reach crescendo Legio Adamas!" Sunset's eyes widened in surprised. That was
not their name -- not the one given to them, at least. But it was fitting.

Legio Adamas - The Diamond Legion, and their new banner had a diamond studded
horseshoe. It looked - if you had just a tiny bit of imagination - not unlike a
tiara.

MYSTERIES OF THE SUN

The bull charged and bucked in the confines of the small arena-stage, huge,
powerful, angry.

The pegasus had to dodge, and jump, avoiding his horns, and wait, finding a moment
to strike. His spear was blunt, with a wide, heavy spearhead that could not
penetrate the thick skin, only leaving the marks, perhaps half an inch deep --
thin, shallow and bleeding.

It took patience and endurance and speed to pass the mystery of the bull. He jumped
again, stabbing at the nearest leg, but his attack went wide.

He stood, shaking. No wings to aid him, nor could he use his horn if he had one.
Just like she did, back then, before the first true sunrise.

A dodge, a stab, spearhead clinging against the bronze forget of the mask. Good. He
felt relief washing over him. A stab like that, to the throat could kill a pony
even with a blunt spear and his job was not to kill, just to outlast.

The bull was already growing slow and weak, his sides covered in red foam from the
many wounds.
He just needed to score one more good hit. One more, right there to the ribs. He
can see it now, with an almost tunnel vision, going up and down with each step,
obvious like a mark on the training dummy.

His leaden legs make the step, his body twists letting the bull to the side,
pulling the spear behind, and releasing it forward.

He feels the soft connection, resistance of the yielding flesh. For a moment they
are connected, and he can feel the push of his opponent’s breath in the crook of
his leg where he holds his spear, and then it's over.

There is a crash, a groan. The bull tries to stand up, but he is woozy, his legs
slipping to the sides, as if he is in a skate rink.

The mater -- a white pony in a deep cowl. A stallion, despite his title, he puts a
cup to the side of the pony, collecting the blood.

"We remember the sunrise." He says, stallion's voice a thin note against the
thumping of the blood in his temples. The blood mixes with wine and the honey in
the cup. Haoma, drink of the faithful.

"We remember the sunrise," mater repeats, passing the cup to him. He drinks, deep
and greedy, slaking his thirst, barely feeling the salt of the blood and the
sweetness of honey and the tang of the grape. "And we remember the blood of the
bull."

The crowd speaks again with him, and he is relieved from the cup, as it passes
through the crowd, each pony taking a drink.

"You passed the trial," the pony tells him, "You have slain the bull--"

He throws a worried glance at the bull in question, but he is not dead -- he is

already relieved of his heavy mask, and the medics are kvetching around him,
applying the pain-killing charms and stitching his wounds.

"You are now miles, a soldier. One of us, to stand guard against the darkness, and
make sure that the sun will rise again."

They surround him -- a veritable sea of ponies. Clapping his back, patting his
shoulder, congratulating and complimenting.

"It's OK," someone whispers. "It's all over now. "

He smiles.
It's over. He passed.
Means it's OK to fall down now.
Down, and down, and down, and into the darkness.
SILLY BOY

"You're a very silly boy, you know that?" She asked as she brought him more water.

"That's why you love me."

"True." She checked the IVs, adjusting the flow of saline. "but you took on
yourself an obligation today, one as big as when we... married." He loved the faint
blush when she said the word. "the words that were said cannot be now unsaid."

"I know. But..."

"The Princess is worth dying for."

He nodded. And then he slept again.

RITE OF THETIS

The fillies slept, clutching at each other in their sleep. She could see their
chests rising and falling in the darkness, matted fur and damp coat where they
cried. Anger, tight and hot, peaked within her.

Never again. The thought that beat against her temples from inside like a waxing
tide, each tiny wave pushing her anger higher. Never again.

She whispered a spell like a lullaby, infusing it with a wisp of Luna's power, and
fillies breathing grew deeper and even. They would now sleep a heavy, dreamless
slumber, and would not wake until the dawn.

From her saddlebags she levitated her supplies. Poisons and potions, subtle and
deadly to the untrained, the water dead from the firestone, the salamander venom
and the phoenix feather, the fat of fish she caught with the eye of a bird-prince,
and the blood of a unicorn.

The Princess of the Sun did not cast a simple light spell -- the whole of her body
shone instead with the soft rays of the rising sun, revealing her sitting in the
corner.

"Why are you here, Sunset?" She asked gently.

"They got hurt." Sunset answered, without looking away from her implements, as she
arranged them preparing for her spellwork. "Because of me. It will not happen
again."
“You cannot do this to the fillies, Sunset. I cannot allow it.”

"All-powerful is the Princess of the Sun, Lady of the Dawn," Sunset recited, "as
gentle as dam to her foals, bringing wealth abundant and set in every shape. She
makes the light, brighter than any fire, to shine the foes and enmities away.

"All that her light touches is her domain, every pony is her subject…”

There was sadness in Celestia's eyes now. She knew that verse, that ancient law

"In all the affairs of the kingdom her word is the law; except for three: 'twixt
mother and her child, 'twixt wife and her husband, ‘twixt master and her student."

Her implements ready, Sunset finally raised her eyes to meet Celestia's gaze.

"You may order me anything you wish my Princess -- I will kill and die at your
word. But what happens between me and my apprentices is not yours to command. Go
away."

"That is an old law, Sunset," Celestia said. "It was repealed a very long time
ago.Even I have nearly forgotten it. These days we have boards on education, and
foals rights and laws on marriage. The state can--"

"The state!" Sunset interrupted her with a deriding snort. "I am not beholden to
'the state'. I don't even live here. Sue me if you want, fight me if you dare, step
aside otherwise."

"I could wake them up."

"You could try," Sunset agreed. "And even if you did, what do you think would
happen? They'd choose you over me? You aren’t half arrogant enough to believe
that."

Celestia grew quiet, and for a time they sat in silence, interrupted only by the
deep breathing of the fillies, and Sunset’s rustling around the room as she
inscribed the runes and mixed the ingredients in preparation for her sorcery.

“You love them, don’t you?” Celestia asked, still motionless in her corner.

Sunset shrugged. “Love” was a silly word.

“Why would you then do that to them… turn them into…”

“Into what?” she interrupted bitterly. “Into freaks? Into monsters? Into something
like me? Is that what you meant, my Princess?”
Celestia kept her silence, but her once student did not wait for the reply anyways.

“I am not a Power, my Princess. I am just a unicorn. But I can give them my

blessing, after a fashion. A poison fruit born of bitter knowledge, but that is all
I have.”

She gestured towards the ingredients and implements she arranged, touching each in
turn.

“The flame I tricked away from a dragon’s-son, bound by salamander and phoenix, and
never will they fear heat or cold.

“The water of Tartarus, I once crossed on the ship of dead mare’s hooves, and never
the steel shall pierce their skin.

“The dust of diamonds I ripped from the womb of the earth, and never will their
bones break.

“The blood of the changeling-queen, I took with fire and spellcraft. As quick as
the vipers will it make them, more graceful than does.”

“Are they not great treasures, my Princess?” Sunset asked her Princess, almost
begging. “Are they not a gift worth giving?”

Celestia moved closer, looking over her shoulder at the potions and poisons and
sharp implements laid out.

“Flame from the dragon, to seep into their heart, to wake the greed and the anger.
Never will they be content, and never will be their ambitions sated.” she touched
the phoenix-feather with her hoof.

“Water of Tartarus, to make their skin cold, and never will they feel the tender
touch of another.

“The forbidden flesh of the magic fish, to give them sight without and within, but
never will they be able to close their eyes.

“What others will do to them, you know better than I, Sunset. Why do you persist?”

“I know what I’m doing.” Sunset shrugged the wing of her shoulder, her expression
turning hard again. “The side-effects will be minimal. And I promised them they
will never get hurt again.”

....
[h]

"Fine, then," Sunset turned to Celestia, "You do it then. All of you. And yes, you
can come in now, I know you were listening,” she repeated, and finally Luna and
Cadence and Twilight stumbled into the room, looking mildly guilty.
...[i][j]

"I give you my blessing, little ponies." Celestia hath made the light, brighter
than any fire. "Shine bright, little Diamond, let others see your light. See the
light little Silver, for even in the total darkness there is a place for a ray of
hope."

"I give thee my blessing, little ponies." Luna's light filled the room to its
depths and its heights, and her black radiance drove out the dark. "Know your
dreams little Diamond. Let your wishes be your strength, your desires -- your
guiding star, that you may never be lost in the world. Know your dreams, little
Silver, and know what they are not, that you may never be lost between the two."

"I, err, I bless you little ponies." Cadence stood between her aunts, suddenly
starkly beautiful, as resplendent as the sun and as blooming as the moon, as
shining as most precious gemstone. "Know when you are loved, Diamond. Know that you
are loved, Silver. Always."
[k][l][m][n][o]
RATRI

Sunset bowed, almost prostrating herself on the floor before the Princess of the
Night “Guard us from the beast and the timberwolf, and guard us from the thief, oh
Night, and so be good for us to pass”.

Luna nodded back in a faint bow, blushing slightly.

“I remember you, my little pony, and thank you. But it is just Princess Luna now.”

“Lulamoons are still loyal to the Night over the Day. They remember and honor the
old ways”. Sunset looked at Celestia as she spoke. “So do many more”.

Instead of hurting Celestia, Sunset’s comment merely made her smile and hug the
Princess of the Night with her wing. “I told you Lulu, ponies have always loved
you. And still do.”
PONDERING

“Sunset… what about you? Would you want to stay?” Celestia asked gently.

Sunset stood stock still, as if she just stepped on the landmine. Her muscles
locked up, while she considered the thought as she would a poisonous snake. And
then the decision was made.

The only decision that could really be made.

“Your Majesty, you are forever my Princess. I would kill and die at your command…
but that is not what you want, is it?”
“It never was.” she smiled sadly. “Still, this is your home and you are always
welcome here.”

“No, it isn’t Your Majesty. And I am not.”

SAYING SOOTH

She felt it then -- her brief flirtation with the Power, the old enchantments and
spells awakened in her blood making her feel the alignment of the world with every
hair of her coat.

A perfect moment, fertile for the right words to seed the future.

"I will come back, my Princess." She said in sudden silence, in a voice not quite
her own, "When blood is spilled in Equestria and there is a need of me, I will
come. No matter the world, no matter the danger, whether you want it or not.
Always."

WE RE NOT SLAVES. WE CAN LEAVE.

"I am not a slave."

"Sunset! You never were--"

"I am not a slave." she repeated stubbornly. "I can leave. I..." she took a breath.
"I want to leave. I want my own life, and my own world."

...

"That's why we take students - to..." she shrugged, "well, I suppose you'll figure
it out soon enough. You have students of your own now, after all."

...

"So what were you going to say? Why did you take students?"

"We take students so that we have someone to learn from."

Diamond stood there, looking at the swirling portal, thinking, her face all
scrunched up. "That," she finally concluded, "makes no sense."
CHOICE (AND) REWARDS

“Sunset, where are we going?" The Principal-Celestial asked, trotting after her
student.

"Royal treasury. My cunning Princess in her infinite wisdom has declared you a
Regent, and of three Kingdoms no less. So other than making your actions legal, and
not an usurpation of the throne and menace to the crown, it also means that you are
due a salary - a rather generous one. In quadruplicate. So we're going to collect."
Sunset turned to the Principal, "I am taking ten percent finder's cut, and I charge
another ten for money laundering by the way."

Celesia gave another resigned sigh. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No, not really," Sunset agreed, "Trust me, it's not illegal... Well, except in the
most technical sense."

"What would've happened if I was not declared a regent?" Celestia asked.

"Probably banishment. Or imprisonment. I mean," Sunset rubbed her neck sheepishly,

"technically, by the law you'd be hung by your neck until you die for usurpation of
the throne. But that was [I]really[/I] unlikely."

Celestia stared at her student for a while.

"That's not very nice, Sunset."

"Look, Prin-- Principal. Celestia. I like you, I really do. And I even owe you -- a
lot. And I'm really trying not to do things that go against my better judgement, or
something that would get the boy more cross with me. So I'd get you back even at
the cost of my life, even in defiance of my Princess' orders.

"But since I am trying to be good, and since I do owe you, I think you deserve to
know: if it had ever come to choosing between you and [I]her[/I], I'd have cut your
throat as easy as I breathe."

“...” The principal stayed behind, not sure what to say. “I… Thank you for telling
me?”

“I know it’s not something you’d want to hear. But I have my priorities.”
________________
INTERMISSION - FREEDOM

"I'll never be free.".

Sunset slumped in her chair, hiding from Zecora's eyes.

"I will always belong to her. Mind, body and spirit."

She sipped the tea, wishing it was something stronger, her fingers gripping the cup
so hard they turned white.

"I've done things... you cannot even imagine what I did, just so that she would
hate me, and all it did was made me hate myself. I did all I could, I ran away as
far as I could imagine to be free, and I might as well have tried to run away from
my own heart. I fought it, I tried to drink it away, I became a different… person,
and still - the moment, the second she called, I came galloping back to save her,
to help, ready to kill and to die for just a minute of her approval, just to have
her look at me like she did before."

"And it scares you." Zecora did not so much ask, as state the fact. “From how you
look it’s easy to construe.”

"It terrifies me." Sunset whispered. "When she smiles, when she looks at you like a
proud mother, there is no better drug in the world. I love it, and I hate myself
for loving it at the same time."

There was nothing to be said, while Sunset refilled her teacup.

Zecora raised her eyebrow.

“Would you please roll up your sleeve? There's something underneath it, I believe.”

Tea spilled on the table - Sunset’s hand shaken by the sudden question.

Biting her lip, Sunset gave the therapist a look - a mix of defiance and shame and
submitted to her demand. Under the long sleeves of her jacket, short lines of knife
marks, still raw enough to not be scars could be seen.

“Does it help?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s...” Sunset struggled to find the words.

“A way of control”. Zecora stated, “For your feelings, on your body you take out
the toll. When feel yourself losing control of your thoughts, your actions, your
self - and this is just a way for you to reestablish it. Makes you feel like you
can make choices for yourself”.
________________

STORIES OF FUTURE PAST

BITS AND PIECES
"Why was this book under "E"?" I shouted at the librarian, who tried to hide from
my wrath behind the counter, ears drooped. It may have been a bit of overreaction,
but I had to spend an hour looking for the book, and with a shattered hoof, no
less, so I was not in a good mood.

"There are rules for this place! A system! DDC, do you even know it?"

"Dewey decimal? Do we ever!" He chuckled lamely

I threw him out the window.

I mean, really, what else was I supposed to do after that?

Even though the stupid winged moron did remember that he was a pegasus and that he
could actually fly before he reached the rocks at the bottom of the mountain, the
little act of wanton defenestration did improve my moofd considerably.

PILLOW TALK
“Maybe I do love you Flash Sentry” she admitted finally. It was a surrender,
capitulation. But somehow she did not feel defeated.

“Didn’t you say that love is a lie?” he teased gently.

She stirred on the bedsheets, seeking for the warmth of his body, nuzzling into the
crook of his neck. “So lie to me.”

“Didn’t you say that love is a weakness?”

She tasted his skin with her lips, crawling slowly up to give his earlobe a little
nip, “You swore to take my weakness, didn’t you?”

“Didn’t you say that love is a contradiction?”.

She sighed and rose a bit, catching his eyes.

“So it is. Sentry, I am not saying that I will love you for ever and ever. Those
who would promise this are fools or liars, and I promised I won’t ever lie to you.
I love you today, and I will love you tomorrow, and if one day I don’t anymore -
I’ll tell you. That’s the best I can give“

He nodded, tracing his fingers along her spine, feather-light touches pulling her
back to him.
“I guess I’ll take that for now.” Despite the words, his eyes were shining and he
looked like a kitten who just stole the largest jar of cream. “I can wait”.
WORLD TOUR
“I did not want to go to this world - I did not even know of it.” Sunset sighed. “I
wanted to get as far away from Equestria as I could. Perhaps to the world of the
great Lion: There’s always a war there, for He is a vengeful Lord: He comes to the
smell of blood and the smoke of burnt flesh is pleasant to Him.

“But whether it was a spell I messed up in my flight, or fate had that decreed
otherwise, or perhaps some last-moment interference of my Princess, I ended up here
-- alone in a different world, in alien body, bereft of my magic, knowing nothing
and no one on the planet. And for some short time I was happy.”

“Happy?”

“Yeah. Looking back at that time -- I was happy those days, when I just came to
this world. It was a war, for me -- a war without fighting, but a war nonetheless,
doing just the thing I have remade myself to do: Survive. Adapt. Overcome.
Incessant work, always at the fear of failure… but then in a few years it was done.

“I had a place to call my own. I went to school again, one of my choice, fitting to
maintain my new life as a child and to observe the portal. I had money - legal and
not, minions and allies and students and a standing in the world. I even visited
Equestria for a bit, when the portal was open last fall.

“That’s when I started thinking, and that’s when I realized..”

JOKE ON ME

“It’s all a huge joke.” Sunset hit the pack over the table, striking a cigarette
out. She lit it with a match, and took a drag. “I turned myself into monster to
protect Equestria, and it really didn’t need it. All my magic, all my sacrifices
are nothing compared to the Magic of Friendship of the six clueless little girls.
And that ain’t even the funny part.” she breathed a long puff of smoke, forcing
Flash to grimace at the smell. “Nah, the funny part, is if I knew all that, I’d
still do it all over again.”

“Why then?” he asked, prompting Sunset to continue -- as he always did.

“It’s like an addiction. The roller-coaster of pain and pleasure, power and desire…
but it’s also more than that.” she twiddled the cigarette in her fingers, searching
for the words, careful not to breathe the smoke on the boy. “You must understand --
we, ponies are creatures of destiny. We bear its mark upon our skin, and it’s not
just a pretty picture. It’s the destiny that defines us, that guides us, that gives
us the meaning and fulfillment. But every once in a while it’s not enough.

“It’s like an itch that drives you insane until you scratch it, like a dull ache of
something missing in your soul, an insatiable, burning desire to be more. To grow
beyond yourself, to break the chains of predestination, to spit in the face of
fate. Drugs or magic, training or fucking - to be debased or exalted matters
little, but I cannot be content to just be myself.”
TOYS AND ...TOYS

"Viviane" he called me, "his little Neighmue" and claimed in bitter jest that I
stole his heart forever. But even as he chased after me, half in pretence of love,
half in desperate desire of a moth for a flame, I did not love him back.

I loved to toy with him, though, letting him closer and pushing him back on a
passing whim, always unpredictable, ever unattainable except for a moment before
I'd slip out of his embrace come the morning. Or to draw on his finance for some
pin money or an extravagant gift I did not want to trouble the Princess with, be it
a curio that caught my eye or a thing with a purpose more specific and sinister.
TWICE BURNED

"For weeks now, I've drunk no water and ate no food, the only thing keeping me
alive and trotting - the regular injections of salamander venom. My skin itched,
crawled and stung with thin branding of intricate pattern burned on it with a
phoenix feather. And a very big, very irate dragon was getting ready to let loose
his fire upon me.

I was delirious with thirst and blood loss I’ve suffered and the hallucinogenic
properties of the venom were probably getting to me, making world around blur and
swirl with colors, but I still remember smiling, and thinking:"Exactly as I
planned"

"Well." Rarity cleared her throat "That definitely blows my "strangest situation
I've ever been in" anecdote out of the water.”

"Now I want to hear that story," Rainbow added. "Seeing how you're not horse-meat
barbecue."
DOG OF THE MILITARY
It was clear to me now that Celestia did not wish to know. She was too… clean, too
pure for the dirt she sent me to deal with, the things that made my forehooves drip
with blood every time I’d come home. With the monsters and the terrors and the
traitors. And to me, the wish of my Princess and my mentor was more than the law,
however unspoken it was.

I dealt with those things, with darkness and fire. Subtle and quick, I was the
flame before the white throne, burning any who would threaten Equestria or my
Princess. Where before the nobility of Canterlot would call me Celestia’s Mongrel
in whispers behind my back, for my low birth and mixed blood, they would now dub me
Celestia’s Monster, and none dared to say it where I might have heard it.

But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the victory - any means, and way, any
place. For me there was no other way - only the victory would allow me the honor of
coming back to my Princess.
LIE-SMITH, TRUTH-BREAKER
When a towering brute of clay, invincible to magic and hoof was harassing the
ponies of Chelm, I whispered the sweetest lies to its Diamond-Dog maker, until he
was no longer worthy of the truth that powered his creation, rendering the thing
inert. Then I scattered the Diamond Dogs that have used it to scare ponies away
from “their” ramshod hovels and caves.
I took the construct’s heart for myself, another broken gray bauble to add to my
collection.

I used the two gems I had to break open the riddle of the lock and descended into
the bowels of mount Ratnagari, I hunted the Shapeless Queen through its
sarcophagus for two weeks, and the mountain shook with my spellwork when we
battled. I bested it - of course - and took its blood as my trophy; potions made
from the ichor of the creature making my bones supple and pliable, its shifting
magic covering the signs of scars and mutations that otherwise would have been
evident on my skin.

Its amulet, from which it fed in its slumber turned to grey bauble as I took the
creature’s magic for my own.

I’ve tracked down the lost city of Kitezh in the wastes of the Frozen North after I
defeated the umbrood. There, I’ve traded the eye of a needle for a piece of
firestone that made the water dead. I never managed to find the water living to
complete the set, but it still served me well enough once I managed to inure my
body to its healing poison.

I was growing in power and ken, and soon, soon I would become invincible.
JURISDICTION
Celestia is the Princess of the Sun and ruler of all ponies. Some less than others
- there were ponies under the claw of King Guto renouncing their Equestrian
birthright, under Quilin’s Yellow Empress and even among the Buffalo tribes. In
Equestria too, there are few cities far enough from the crown that they are allowed
the pretence of independence, and even the budding perversion of democracy in
Manehattan. However, nopony in Equestria is less beholden to the White Throne of
Canterlot than the ponies of Bharat, where the line of Stewards of Amora rule in
her name, preserving.

CADENCE
“Cadance..” despite being a princess, Cadance always insistent everyone call her by
the first name. I wasn’t really comfortable with that, but she was a princess and I
was not, so first names it was.
DARK ETERNITY ON THE MOON
Soma is a subtle drink. It’s a drug, one the secret of making which is unknown in
this world.

We sat on the pillows in the Pavillion of Delights, drinking soma, smoking hash,
and listening to Prince Dasagriva play his veena. The long, oscillating notes
waned and waxed through the room, thick and sweet like our drink.

Soma is a subtle drink, and a deceptively potent one. Every taste is like half-
holiday, every sip like a weekend, every glass -- a dark eternity on the other side
of the moon. The smoke from our pipes weaved and turned into flying phoenixes and
dragons, as we drifted in the haze of the exquisite kaif, and I was content to lie
there and observe the twist and turns of the smoke for every little moment
prolonged into eternity by the soma.
DRAGONS
“Dragons do not come from the Old World, nor are they the creatures of Equestria.
Nopony can even imagine a world that would give birth to such creatures --
immortal, almost invulnerable, with raw magic that could almost equal a power, and
as intelligent as any pony. In all of history, there were but seven ponies to ever
best an adult dragon in single combat, and all seven are remembered to this day..."
Sunset's expression darkened. "And me, though my fight was not fair and my name is
already forgotten."

"We do not know what they ran from, or what were they seeking in coming to this
world, but it must've been a mistake. Every generation of dragons is growing
dimmer. They're growing small and stupid and lazy, for there is nothing they'd
apply their strength to here. A mare can live in a world of cardboard, but the
species cannot."
POISON AND WORDS

“So you’d marry her?” Cadence asked timidly.

“It’s…” I searched for the word “...convenient, I guess.”

“But what about love?” she asked softly.

“Love is a lie” I said, washing the blood of my forehooves. It would not come off.
“It promises happiness, yet always ends in tragedy.“

I gave up and put the forehooves down on the ground, leaving bloody hoofprints on
the path.

“Love is a weakness. Those you love will be used against you.” Cadence shook and
trembled, as my words struck to her very essence.

“Love is a contradiction. For True Love would outlast the Universe itself, yet
nothing can and nothing ever will. And love that can end is no love at all.”

“That’s what you are, Cadence, that’s what your power is.” I looked her in the
eyes, as I pushed every word into her tiny little mind like a needle soaked in
poison and vitriol. “A lie, a weakness and a contradiction. ”

“You… you can’t really believe that Sunset. You can’t!”

“Think about it, little princess” I scoffed, “In less than a century your little
boy-toy will die. He will wither before your very eyes, bones turning brittle, skin
becoming wrinkled, his magic losing strength and finally his very mind will rot
inside his skull. In the end he’d be nothing but a old dessicated carcass filled
with the shadow of what he once was. And he will love you with every breath he
takes for the rest of his life, because how can he not?”

I smiled, pure poison in my smile, and I loomed above the Princess like a shadow of
death itself, “And even if you will still love him then, a living tomb and a
reminder of everything he no longer will be - even then, eventually he will die,
and then you will grieve - or perhaps feel relieved - and then you will eventually
forget him. But in every case, all your “true love” ever can be is just a little
fling of an immortal.”

I turned away from her “Don’t talk to me of love Cadance. I have none and I have no
need for it.”
TACTICS OF THE SUNRISE
“Would you look at that!” Shining’s whinny distracted me from my preparations.

“Yeah, I know.” I shielded my eyes with my hoof as I watched eastwards, where over
the twin mountains of Nieghmalayas you could see Celestia raise the Sun, the
pristine-white snow of twin peaks, untouched by hooves of ponykind breaking the red
light into every colour of the rainbow. “If someone waits for us ahead, we’d be at
a disadvantage standing against the light. But we gotta hurry.”

He stared at me, like I suddenly grew a second head. “I meant that the sunrise is
really beautiful from this far.”

I shrugged and returned to packing my things. We could sightsee once the work was
done.
A PEAK AT A SNEAK

I took a second to admire the way the harness slid over her muscled rear legs, as
she fitted it on, raising her tail ever so slightly...

“You peeked” she accused, but there was little anger in her tone.

“And I liked what I saw.” I had no reason to deny the obvious.

THE WAY

"It would be this one's honor to test your strength" he said, assuming position.

The gong sounded, and he bowed, lowering his head in a ritual greeting.

I moved the second he averted his eyes, sand exploding into his eyes. He reared up,
blinded and confused, and before he could even breathe, a single needle-like edge
of my magic pierced his exposed neck. An instant stretched, while he still tried to
do something, to summon his magic… I twisted the blade in the wound and ripped it
out.

The other three stood there, and we watched him wheeze, scratch the earth, and try
to grasp the air with what once was his throat for a few seconds until he grew
still.

"You fight without honor!" the orange stallion spat out. "You do not follow the
Way."
"I fight to win. That is the only Way I need," I answered coldly." Who's next?"
NIGHT-MARES

Translucent pony-figures danced around us in the air, and a wave of terror rose
within me, sudden and chilling like an ice-cold snow in the jungle. Marae. The
nightmare-ponies, the terror-drinkers. Things from the Dreaming animated by the
Nightmare Moon and released into the world as a scourge to those who would oppose
her. Summoned again by Ahuizotl, when I delivered the power of Nightmare to him, so
long ago.

They would scare us and drive us with fear and despair of visions, draining our
life and magic, until we could run no more, and then they would descend upon us to
drink the still-warm blood off our corpses, leaving nothing but empty carcasses
behind.

***

“I can’t”, she panted and wheezed. “No more. Leave me here”. She dropped to her
haunches, willing to resign herself to her fate.

I grit my teeth, fear and anger indistinguishable in my soul, one turning into the
other like colors of my cutie-mark. I’d let the stupid bitch die right there and
then, but marae, fed on her blood, would become stronger and then even I would not
be able to contain them. All of us would perish in these Nightmare-riddled woods.

Anger flared within me like a forest fire, as I thought back to when I was
exhausted to the limit of my body. When I too would have preferred the sweet
release of death to another movement of the leaden limbs and aching muscles. But
unlike her I never gave up. I never sat down and took what was coming, because
unlike her I had the will to survive.

And then I thought of the way I was once spurred to move when I thought I reached
my limit. Of how my other teacher knew to motivate me to move even when I thought
that there was nothing in me to keep going, and my anger finally found its release.

I let loose my magic in a pale-green lighting that hit her in the chest, slipping
into her nerves and lighting them on fire. An agony-lashing, pain like one that
little pony has never felt before, magnified hundredfold, and she squealed, jumping
up and away, for all her self-professed tiredness.

If pride or duty could not force her to move, there was always the pain.

“Yes, you can.” I hit her again, driving her to run in the right direction. “You
will. Or I’ll kill you myself, hundred times worse than they ever would! “ She
squealed and ran, snot and tears on her muzzle, trying to wheeze out some sobbing
or begging. I cared not - instead I hit her again, spurring her to go faster.

We galloped for another hour, and I had to hit her with the spell at least another
dozen times, before we have finally lost the marae in the woods behind, and could
collapse safely. She couldn’t speak and she could hardly breathe by the time we
made it, but she ran all the way, and we were all alive.

If she had a brain, she’d thank me once we returned. They all would.

[center] ***[/center]

Sunset sighed.

“She never did thank me - for making her gallop, that is, for saving all of us from
the marae. Not because she was an ingrate, but because she couldn’t.

“The last time I brought her some flowers, she was living at the Quiet Pastures and
the doctors still were trying to make her talk again. I don’t even think she
recognized me. I tried to talk to her then, but there was nothing in her eyes, as
she sat on the floor, perpetually rocking on her haunches like a broken little toy
horse. Too weak for the world, she has found a way to escape it.

“She’d never be strong, but she won herself safe, in a fashion.”

[center]***[/center]

We left her in the care of the villagers and moved on.

Others have fallen in line after that. My presence seemed to loom over our small
unit like a heavy shade. There was less talk, less laughter - and less talking back
when I spoke. Shining Armor was still the leader, of course, but every time he gave
his orders or asked for something I could see the muscles in his neck strain just a
little bit when he very carefully tried not to look my way for approval.

It suited me just fine.

MERELY QUICK

"Lacedaemon rules"

I nodded. Spartan rules, or, that is to say, no rules at all, fitted me just fine

***
She let go a kick for my kneecap. No wind up. Flat-footed and not tense. Only my
kneecap wasn’t there—I wasn’t a naive little filly any more.

***

“I always win,” I said without boast. “For me, there is no other way. But you’re
pretty good yourself.”
“I’m merely quick,'' she shrugged.

“And merely strong”, I agreed. It was good that at least one of our expedition was
a true pegasus.

***

“Surrender your weapons, ponies!”

“Mολὼν λαβέ!” she said, cocky and defiant in the face of the enemy, and I almost
loved her in that moment. And then they charged and there was no more time for
thought.

In the end I have prevailed, because for me there was no other way. She - she was
merely quick.

I summoned a lightning to burn her body as befit a pegasus warrior, and moved on.

ACCIDENTS

I picked up a nice, hefty rock, about the size of a good ripe orange, weighing it
in my magic.

"Well, just the two of us now," Shining Armor tried to sound brave. He was not very
good at it.

"No." I corrected him. "It's just me."

“I am not as powerful as you,” his chuckle was somewhat forced, “but don’t just
discount me like that.”

"I’m not.” I shrugged, “You just didn’t make it to the forest, because you broke
your hoof against a branch." I explained amicably, and before the meaning of my
words dawned at him, a stone fell on his leg with a loud resounding ‘crack’.

First rule of life: No matter how subtle the wizard, a broken leg will seriously
crimp his style. He dropped like a sack of bricks, his magic fizzling out.

"A darn shame, really." I said, ignoring his muffled scream of pain.

"Sunset,” he tried to stand up on three legs, but fell back down before I
considered breaking another. “You can't..."
"Don't worry, Shiney-Hiney, I'll bring back your princess. And you'll get to keep
your little hoovsies clean. Everyone wins."
CURSES

I growled at the trees that barred my path, my anger flaring again. No matter how
much I cut and burned, another root would trip me up, another branch would bar my
way or patch of grass would try to entangle me.

Finally I stopped, and listened to the quiet laughter of the tree spirit.

It would be the last time it laughed, because from the depth of my mind a perfect
spell rose up. A spell that I’ve not learned but the one that taught itself to me
on my way through the death-halls of the Southern Jungle and on a snow-covered bank
of a river where I’ve killed my friend once. The magic of blood and bloodlines,
magic of Rights and Entitlements. Ancient, dark and evil, it boiled within me,
demanding release. And I was too annoyed and angry to resist.

The power I summoned shone, green and black fire enveloping my horn, dripping down
into the earth, and where the sparks touched the grass it burned with putrid green
flames.

“I am Sunset Shimmer,” I declared, my magic forcing the very world to acknowledge

my demand, “I am my mother’s daughter, and her mother’s before that. By the blood
of the pegasi that flows in my veins I curse the air of this place. No bird will
fly here, no rain shall nourish it, no snow will give it cover.”

Blood spilled from every cut on my barrel, like a crimson foam on my sides, and I
felt the numbness of the blood loss spread through my body.

“I am Sunset Shimmer,” I repeated, as the laughter of dryad died, replaced by her

fear. “I am my father’s daughter, and his father’s before that. By the bond of the
earth ponies that I claim as my birthright, I curse the earth of this place. No
living thing will grow here - tree and grass, oak, ash, and thorn - all shall
wither and die!”

Where my hooves touched ground, death had set in, expanding in the rippling circle
around me. Grass turned brittle, and forest groaned and whimpered as it felt the
cold grip of my curse seep into its very roots.

“I am Sunset Shimmer...” I repeated for the third time, fighting for every syllable
against the exhaustion of the spell, pushing the power into my horn until it burned
with the blackness of the magic I gathered. “I am my teacher’s student, and her
teacher’s before that. By the magic of the unicorns that I’ve learned, I curse the
fire of this place. No flame shall heat it, not sunshine shall fall upon it and
none shall find warmth or cover within it.”

“Until unicorns lose their magic, until pegasi fall from the sky, until the earth
pony strength fails, BY MY NAME AND MY WILL, SO SHALL IT BE!”
With the last of my shout my magic exploded in every direction, lighting the
evening with the pale green light. The earth was dead, plants withering with every
second. The air was stale and stank of rot and the deadly chill and shadow came
over the forest, turning it dark and menacing.

Dryad fell to her knees out of the nearby tree. A pallid, pathetic thing, twisted
with sudden age and barely alive. She stretched her dessicated forehoof towards me,
begging

“Take it back. Please, powerful one, please take it back! I will die without my
forest”.

I threw the begging creature aside with a flick of my power and trotted away, as
the trees around me fell. The repeating, echoing sobs and pleas of the dryad
followed me with every step.

My stubbornness and will carried me for less than half a mile before I collapsed
with exhaustion and blood loss, and the last thing I remember of that day is
fumbling for my syringes, and a gentle touch of the needle before succumbing to
heavy, dark dreams of the night.
TEN MILLION SUNS
It exhaled, and I felt a smell of sulfur, rotten eggs and bitter acid for a second
before the flames washed over me.

FIRE!

I felt warm...

The searing agony of being burned alive, the impossible ecstasy of pure power
filling me to the brim.

...warmer than I've ever felt before...

My skin would've melted off my bones if not for the spells woven into it by the
phoenix-feather.

...Hot...

My blood would've boiled if not for the salamander venom I took.

...I burned from inside out...

My body would've turned to ash, if not for the shapeless ichor in my bones, the
water dead in my organs, the spells and the alchemy that held my flesh together, if
my will were not forged in the fire-river of Tartarus.
...Hotter than the fires in the middle of the sun!

With the smell of sulphur and brimstone, with salty taste of blood from my bitten
lips, with the sickly-sweet smell of smoldering flesh, ripping and burning through
my body, the power washed over me and into me, captured like a trapped beast. And
when I opened my eyes, green fire, now mine, danced in them.

"Your flames belong to me now, dragon. And without your magic, you're just a
lizard"

My magic flashed, bolstered by the stolen flames, and the dragon fell to the
ground.
NIGRIMANCY
If there is not enough among the living, then the dead shall serve.

I stretched my magic over the battlefield, and even with my eyes closed I could
feel the faint thumping of their hearts growing slower, growing weaker as they lost
their blood. Their coughing, wheezing breaths as theIr bodies still fought the
losing battle to keep them alive.

"Cadence," I asked without opening my eyes, "Do we have to win?"

It was an empty question. I could accept death, but not defeat: for me, there was
no other way. But Cadence was different. Perhaps... perhaps she could still stop
me. Or perhaps I was just dragging out the inevitable.

”Yes, Sunset, please. We have to save Shiny!"

I nodded. She was a Princess, and a Princess’ word is the law. I had my command and
permission to do what had to be done -- and when have I ever needed more?

My magic surged in green and black spirals round my horn, and memory -- a servant
long since whipped into submission -- readily served up the formulae and sigils of
power, once whispered to me by Coltec pictograms in a place reeking with magic old
and dark.

"By your blood on my hooves." I said, in a voice not my own, in a language black
and long forgotten. "By the right of the victor over the vanquished..."

I drew in the air and it tasted like ashes.

"RISE"

My magic pierced their skin, pinning their spirits to their bodies, not letting the
fragile little fires of life be extinguished. I could hear the neurons firing in
their heads, smell the stench of their pain and fear, feel them stuck perpetually
on the brink of that last breath, suffocating endlessly and unable to suffocate.
Held on the very edge beyond which there would be no pain by my will and my magic.

They stood up on broken limbs, the work of their torn muscles visible through the
gashes on their skin, and opened their bloodshot, dry eyes. Without any need for my
command, they charged, crashing into the rest of the assailants from the flank,
with no mercy or compassion to their once comrades.

It was simple and it was beyond cruel. The living can resist any spell and any
abuse, they can work through the pain, push it back. Even if that fails, the abused
and the broken, if they live, can heal with time.

The dying share no such privilege.

Defenseless against my magic, they would live another handful of moments for
nothing other than to suffer and be hurt, for no reason other than a Princess's
command.
THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST

I was so beautiful that day, so graceful. More than the gross flesh can ever
express. My magic danced and tangled with theirs, turning their spells against
them, slipping around their feeble shields, striking with the power of a hurricane
and precision of a needle.

Suck between the dead and the death, they fell one by one, the dying rising again
to fight their comrades.
IT TAKES A MONSTER
“They’re all dead, Cadance! Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness... even
Laughter. You can’t just extinguish them, not with magic or spells, it takes a
black heart, it takes a [I]monster[/I]”
FAMILY SPAT

“It’s an intervention Sunset. We all love you, and we want to tell you that you
have to stop…”

In retrospect, I don’t think she meant to enchant or subdue me. She was a Princess,
young and inexperienced, and her power merely rose to her call without her
conscious control.

Still, the end result was the same. I felt my mind grow soft, love enveloping it
like a pink mist. Calm and serenity spread through my body and I could feel it
cling to my mind like a spider’s web, and in that moment I knew, without a shadow
of a doubt, that I was loved and accepted.

No matter what I did, no matter what I was, they would all understand me. Love me.
Help me.
Love is a lie.

The shapeless blood in my veins boiled in response to the touch of her power,
awakening the protective spells, and a feeling, dark and heavy lurched in my soul.
A feeling I could now give a name: Hatred. For the first time I truly felt the
real, burning hatred, and it was the sweetest feeling in the world.

“I hate you,” I said, and the truth of the words surprised even myself. Eyes
widening, she recoiled as if I’ve slapped her in the face

I never hated before - I was angry at my first love, back then, when I learned the
first sting of betrayal. I pitied my first friend who too had turned into a
monster. I was afraid of my other teacher, who taught me the ways of the earth. I
envied, I wanted to destroy, I despised, I tormented, but never before have I ever
felt a feeling so pure and personal towards anypony.

There was a movement - Shining Armor craned his neck, perhaps to see, perhaps as a
first move to cast a shield around his love, but that was enough to send my mind
into the battle-mode, burning away the remainder of whatever hold the pink princess
had on me, the clockwork whirr-ticking of tactical thought pushing any other
consideration aside.

Two opponents are always weaker than one unless they have been trained to act
together.

I feinted towards him, and instinctively he raised a shield to bar my way.

Predictable and pointless - I’ve already turned on Cadence instead, my magic
released towards her like a needle. It was pegasus first instinct to block with her
wings, and my spell thread right through them, piercing feather, skin and bone
alike, stitching both her wings together into a feathery mess. She squealed with
pain, and her attempt to take flight turned into a graceless fall.

Love is a weakness.

“Cadance!” his concentration lost, I hit him in one timing, within a span of a
single breath. My spell slipped through the shield, weaving around his protective
magics in the frequencies of dream-magic too obscure and high for him to detect or
deflect. It thread his shield and his flesh in equal measure and grabbed for his
heart through his chest, squeezing and pulling. [p]

His legs gave underneath him and his magic flickered and died as he suddenly gasped
for air, his whole body thrown into a fit. Another twist of my magic threw him away
from me and into a nearby wall - a bit of injury to add to the insult of
dispatching him so easily.

“Never stop. Hesitate and you will die. Retreat and you will lose. Keep moving
forward”

Behind me, I could almost feel Cadence finally remembering that the dumb bimbo
actually had a horn and reaching for her magic in a slow, inefficient build-up. So
sloppy. So wasteful. At the moment she would finally cast her spell, I have already
turned to her, and a tiniest bit of my power extended to the tip of her horn,
blocking her magic inside just as it was ready to be released.

Her own strength trapped in her horn exploded, like a sneeze that had nowhere to
go, and she screamed with agony. A perfect, infinitely satisfying sound, as her
magic bounced through her body, ripping her muscles and charring her skin in
smoking eruptions all over her barrel.

One does not kick fallen enemies. One destroys them so that they will never rise
again.

I jumped, aiding my leap with a spell and landed straight on her, hooves and spells
first, and landed heavy. Her ribs crunched under my weight, turning her squealing
scream into a gurgling sob.

Crush them straight away, with no concern for their presence and without allowing
them space for breath. It is essential to crush them completely.

I grabbed her head in my magic and smashed it into the floor to knock her out. And
then again, just for a good measure. Horn and stones cracked and broke.

Awareness and control. All threats must be accounted for.

My power erupted out of me like a flare, grabbing every guard in the room with a
garrote of steel-sharp magic by their necks, their weapons shattered and their
paltry half-cast spells undone and unmade.

Not even three seconds passed and the battle was over. Everyone who would oppose me
was destroyed or controlled for… everyone but Celestia.

“Sunset…” There was a tiny spot of blood marring the whiteness of her coat, where a
splinter of some spell almost hit her, a mark of the violence around that has
failed to touch her before. She saw me now, and tried to talk to me, at least. “My
little pony…”

“I am not little anymore”, I said stubbornly, “Ice and Nightmares, my Princess, I

am hardly a pony.” I laughed - a hysterical laughter of a mare with nothing left to
lose.

A droplet of blood fell from her side, scattering against the marble floor.

"Sunset... why?" Celestia begged me. "What happened to that filly that was curious
and friendly? Who made friends with everycreature, who wanted to know everyone and
everything? What have you done with her?"
"I killed her, my Princess. Squeezed her out, like rot out of the wound, drop by
drop, until only that which was necessary remained. I bleed orange and rust now
instead of red, did you know that? Too many spells in my blood, too much alchemy.
Not enough Sunset Shimmer.”

"Why, Sunset? Why would you do that?"

“For you!” I screamed, jerking the guards up by their necks as my anger spiked
through my magic “I turned myself into a monster for you! I would kill or die at
your word, always...”

That reached her. She turned pale - not her usual white of milk and morning cloud,
but truly pale, and for the first time in forever, her magenta eyes looked at me.
And what I saw in her eyes was fear - not of me, but of what I have become.

I could have fought her. And in that moment when our eyes met, I knew that if I
did, I would win.

Love is a contradiction.

I ran instead.

***

I spoke the Third Secret Word of Fire, and my lab turned to flames, my failsafes
burning everything to slag. Dragonsflame and thermite, fires so hot and bright they
gave even the Sun Princess pause.

With one last step I let the familiar tug of another world claim me.
GREEN FOREST
She could almost feel the magic of this place. A forest is a forest is a forest, on
this or any other world, all part of one vast green canopy.

It seemed as if she could turn past that tree, duck under that branch and come out
near the ancient castle in the other Everfree forest, at the pyramid in the
Southern Jungle, at the bend of the Beruna-river, its sands still red with--

"Sunset!" Timber's voice broke the illusion. “You gotta stay with the group. We
don’t want anyone to get lost.”
TAKING FLIGHT

“I said: Sit down!” a loud, commanding voice - the same one that just recently sent
platoons to combat and made the Royal Guard of Canterlot shiver in their armors -
allowed for no argument from a mere camp counselor, and Daisy found herself seated
even before she processed the words.

***
Diamond gave the counselor a look. “So you want to do the fun stuff, not do
anything boring and get paid for it?

“Hear that?” She put her hand to her ear and listened to the stark, reigning
silence for a second. “It’s the world’s tiniest violin playing for you.”

She turned away from the flabbergasted woman and snapped her fingers.

“Silver, put your big girl glasses on. We’re doing accounting!”

“Sunset, darling, are you crying?” Rarity passed her a handkerchief

Sunset wiped away the tear, and smiled

“It’s just they grow up so fast.”

Filthy Rich took the hankie off her and wiped his own tears away “I can’t believe
it… just recently I was taking her for her first day of school, and now my little
gemstone is already doing her first hostile takeover.”

Flash Sentry sighed and rolled his eyes. “You people are all deeply dysfunctional.”
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
She looked at the creature wistfully. "You know, there are a few pretty cool things
you could do with the heart of the forest..."

"Sunset." Flash said softly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. We don't rip out the still-beating hearts of sapient creatures
to make dark-magic-fuelled accessories." She sighed. "But a girl can dream."
AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL
“Oh, my goodness! It’s her!” Sunset suddenly bolted, dodging through the crowd and
pushing ponies aside with her magic, until she chased up a pale green mare with a
salt-and-pepper mane just as she was about to enter a dark alley.

“Teacher, it’s you!”

“Pumpkin?” The mare recognized her one-time pupil too.

Without breaking pace or any warning, Sunset suddenly threw a spell at her face,
making the air between them ripple and scream with deadly intent.

The mare dodged, rolling on her side, and pounced towards the unicorn, dodging
further spells with feinting side-leaps, until she batted into Sunset with almost
bone-crushing force. Both ponies devolved into a chaos of spellwork and flames,
until Sunset was safely pinned under the bigger earth-pony, and a hoof-full of
flame was in full swing to turn her head into red mush on the pavement… only to
miss, leaving a smoking crater in the pavement instead.

Both fighters laughed, and Sunset nuzzled the older mare affectionately.

“Nice to see you, Green. “

“You're getting sloppy again, princess. I taught you better than that.”

Sunset’s ears drooped. “I had to leave off magic for some time. No chance to
practice. But I’m getting back into shape”

“At least your attitude’s right.” She mused. “I have some time on my hooves. I
could take you back to school” her black lips reached towards Sunset, but the she
was stopped by the green glow of magic grabbing her muzzle.

“I think my coltfriend might object to what you had in mind.”

For the first time the green mare actually paid attention to the colt that stared
at both of them without the slightest idea what was going on.

“I could always kill him. Or invite him to join”

She could hear Flash’s choked coughing.

In a flash of a teleport she escaped the mare’s grip.

“Sorry.”

***

"I still can't believe I said no," she grumbled. "The things I do for love..."

"Sunset!" Flash barely contained his shock, "She's like... fifty years old."

"More like hundred and fifty," Sunset corrected him, "earth pony years are longer
than yours or mine. And seriously, Sentry, did you not see her move? The speed, the
grace, the control...", she sighed. "I'd kill to move like that. I have, in fact,
killed to move like that, and I have not even gotten close."
STEEL TO THE CORE

"You've gone softer, pumpkin. "

"No, I've not! Just because I'm out of practice--"

"It's not that, pumpkin. And it’s not a bad thing. Look here-- " the older made
pulled a short sword off the wall. "Hard steel. Easy to sharpen, keeps a good edge.
But make the whole sword out of it, and it turns brittle. Easy to break, easy to
shatter." She bent the metal in her hooves, and unbent it again, ripping the steel
apart like soft plastic, and demonstrated the cross-section. "You need a softer
core. Something that bends, but doesn't break. It's good that you found yours."

She ruffled Sunset’s mane.

“Just don’t turn all mushy, little princess. I taught you better than this.”
CUDDLEBUDDIES

Every shelf of the room was stocked with adorable plushies, each a mixture of two
or three animals.

She swayed suddenly, grabbing the door frame to stay on her feet.

"Are those...CuddleBuddies?" She asked, gulping nervously.

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie hugged a panda-kangaroo hybrid possessively, "I have the second
biggest collection in the city"

"That's nice." Sunset found a place to sit where she would see the least amount of
the cuddly plushies.

"Are you alright, darling? You looked positively green at the gills since you
entered the room."

"What, is the big bad Sunset Shimmer afraid of a widdle... what is it, elephant-
duck hybrid?" Rainbow Dash teased, throwing a Elephanduck at her.

"I'm not afraid!" Sunset glared at the athlete, "I used to have a Flamingoat when I
was a filly. A valencienneigh one, with a tiny velvet hood."

“Ooh, those are super-rare!”, Pinkie cooed excitedly.

“Yeah. It was a present.”

"So what's with the drama then?"

"Come on, spill!" Rainbow Dash prodded.

"You always do feel better afterwards. That's what we're here for - to listen.”

She threw a guilty look towards Fluttershy.

"Well it started with a warlock earth pony who called herself DNAmbly and liked her
CuddleBuddies a little too much...

"I locked the doors on them and burned it. Sun above, I burned it all to the
ground, not sparing any magic or dragonsflame, until nothing remained in the
charred ruins. I could've survived her screaming and the screeching of the
creatures she created burning alive, but those horrors, those hybrid abominations
of black magic and twisted flesh, they cried like lost little foals as their
artificial skin melted and leaked off their frames..."

…
…
...

"Well". Pinkie's chipper voice cut the horrified silence of the room, "That's
“truth or dare” off the list of today's sleepover games. How about a nice game of
chess instead?"
RIDDLES

Drawing blanks, I stalled for time.

“Err.. what’s in my pocket?” I suggested a question sheepishly.

The sphinx sighed.

“First of all, you don’t have any pockets, pony. Secondly, it’s not even a riddle,
it’s a question. And finally, do you really think I do not read classics? We are
not barbarians here, you know”

I assumed the riddle about the raven and the writing desk was equally out of
question.

Again I found myself riddleless, and decided to once again rely on my inner
geekdom.

“What’s red and green and goes round and round and round?”
That cracked him up, guwaffing, heavy chuckles expelling the swaths of stone dusts
from his giant lips.

“A frog in a blender.”

Well, at least when I died, it’d be at the hand of someone who really knew his
fiction. Perhaps it is a testament to my state of mind at the time, that for some
reason I found this thought reassuring.
ARCHAEOLOGY (PYRAMIDS, HOW DO THEY WORK?)

“In the deserts of Saddle Arabia, flat and immense, where the heat is so intense it
melts the sand into glass, there still can be found the ancient pyramids of Kemel,
the empire of the camels.

Built before the era of Discord, they still stand to this day, the millennia-old
masonry held by the blood instead of mortar, thousands of deaths of those who built
it keeping them against even the inexorable march of time.

“And if you dare enter it, if you answer the guardian’s riddles and sneak past the
sentinels and push past the dark magics that protect it, in the writings in the
innermost chambers you can find the lore that has not seen the light of day since
it was etched into the stone, for the fear it would make the Sun itself turn away
from the world that produced it.

“Some of it is Kemeti, some belongs to the Diamond Dog slaves that built it. And
there, among the latter you can find a name for abominations such as this,
daughters of the Powers wed to mere mortals, mingling of flesh and that which has
transcended it.

“And even the dogs of Kem, born in slavery and doomed to die in suffering, speak of
those creatures with nothing but fear and loathing.”

She looked at the baby that batted happily away at soap bubbles with her tiny
little hooves, with pure disgust.

“Nothing good may come of this union, believe you me.”

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
I reached deep within, for the spark of fire burning in my soul, and released a
tiny fraction of its heat, setting the building aflame. It blazed hot, stones
burning like dry timber.

Dragonsflame made no distinction between the living and the dead. Why should I?
APPLEJACKS BARBECUE

"Oh my! Thank you for reminding me, Rainbow, I've almost forgotten!" Sunset got out
of the table to get her bags,
"Oh you are not escaping that easy!" Rainbow Dash shouted, dodging Applejack’s
smack “Hey, don’t hit!”.

"Wasn't planning to." Sunset plopped right back to her seat, and pushed a small
tupperware bowl towards the athlete. "Quite the opposite, really, I wanted to thank
you"

"Thank me," Rainbow asked deadpan, feeling that she has stepped into a trap, as she
opened the plastic container "What is this?"

The jelly-like brownish-red cubes wobbled softly in the container and offered no
response to the cautious fork-probing.

"This--" Sunset was now beaming her best proud smile "--is the traditional
Griffinstonian mouse-blood pudding!"

"Eww!" The chorus of revulsion rolled around the table, but Sunset was on the roll.
"Took me the whole evening to make - darn little critters just kept squiggling out
of my grip before I could properly bleed them, so sorry, not enough for everyone."

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow both were now slowly but steadily turning green at the
mental image.

***

“That was positively evil of you darling” Rarity giggled in her ear, “Was it really
mouse blood?”

“No, not really” Sunset admitted “That’d be pretty hard to get. Duck. From that
Quilineze shop few blocks from the school. It’s an acquired taste, but it’s not
really that bad”.

“You’ve tried it yourself?” Rarity asked, surprised.

"Unfortunately. They served it to me once at the court of King Grover in

Griffinstone"

"What did you do?"

"Well, I ate it all. Commended the chef and asked for seconds. And then threw up as
soon as I got to my room.
LUCK OF THE DRAW

"I actually ate horse-meat before I came to this world," Sunset said, quietly, as
she flipped another burger, listening on the sizzle of the fat on the coals.
"We had to cross a desert once. No pegasi, no earth ponies -- half a dozen
unicorns, and we couldn't use our magic. The Clugel-town had a few Arabian sand-
watchers and wind-listeners: to use a simplest spell would have been like painting
a giant neon-sign pointing at us, and secrecy was paramount. And then the sand-
beast attack destroyed half our water supplies and all our food."

She poked the tofu with her fork, inspecting it.

"We drew straws -- a fair lottery. I lucked out. Lemon Squeeze did not."

The tofu-burger was deftly flipped on a plate.

"There was nothing much to it. Though I could not bear to see the Sun above me for
weeks after that. It felt as if she knew."
DRY SPELL

“Why are you so hung up on Flash?” Rainbow asked. “You like him don’t you?”

“Sunset and Sentry, sitting in a tree,” Pinkie sing-sung, rocking on her chair
jovially, “K-I-S-S…”

“We’ve been on a date a few times. Now getting under the date is a bit trickier
apparently. The silly boy is just so… touchy.”

"Why Flash?"

“Well, there are few other options ...Rarity, want to go out? A show, a dinner at a
restaurant, a breakfast in bed?”

Rarity’s spit-take was glorious. She sputtered, she choked and coughed for a good
five minutes, to Rainbow’s great amusement.

“I, um, Sunset, darling, I am horribly, horribly flattered by your offer, but I’m
afraid I am simply not...er, not quite interested in this sort of relationship?”

“See?” Sunset pouted. “Hard.”

“Would you… would you really?” Fluttershy asked in a tiny voice from behind the
veil of her pink hair.

“Sure.” Sunset nodded.

“Why?”

“Why wouldn’t I? ” Sunset caught Rarity’s hand, running her fingers over the arm to
show her point. “Skin like porcelain, eyes like amethysts. The impeccably groomed
hair and perfect dress- irrefutable, undeniable beauty, fit for a Princess - and
trust me I’ve met a few.”

“But hers is the beauty that runs more than skin deep. The poise and grace, the
self-control of a born unicorn. Confidence of a self-made lady, ambition and desire
to master her craft - she’d be a perfect companion for an evening in private or in
company, able to keep up, to challenge and be challenged in turn. It would be a
most beautiful ludus, a love made to a game, exciting and exhilarating, in talk, in
action or in bed.”

Rarity blushed, taking her hand away.

“As I said darling, I am simply not interested.”

“Yeah, I got you the first time, Rares,” Sunset kicked back, saluting the flustered
girl with her glass. “Just answering the question. I can take ‘no’ for an answer.”
SMUT

[quote]
A bad situation for Sunset turns into a chance to reconcile with her one-time
boyfriend, Flash Sentry. Make-up sex ensues.

Fetish warning: Bad puns, searching for condoms, early ejaculation, uncomfortable
positions and some really awkward dirty talk.
[/quote]

“I do regret saying no, sometimes” he looked away as he admitted it.

“My offer still stands” she said simply, letting Flash’s coat slip off, and
dropping her hands “even if other things I said were not really true.”

He wanted it. Badly. She could see his knuckles grow white, his nails digging into
the palm of his hands as he so very desperately tried not to look.

“I don’t want your pity” he tried to say. “Or whatever weird idea of gratitude…”

Silly boy. Making it so complicated when there was no need for it. She moved
closer, almost close enough for her skin to touch his, putting her palm on his
chest and tried to make it easier for him.

“It’s not that. You don’t give yourself credit, Flash Sentry. You’re handsome,
brave and, on occasion, funny - if not the most scintillating conversationalist
I’ve known. I offer freely, for no reason except that I want it too.”
She waited for his answer, watching the storm of emotions evident on the boy’s face
with amused fascination.

Fear and confusion. Then - lust, the screaming, hot desire, so bright and pure she
could almost feel the heat of it with her skin. Then - the social conditioning
piled on top of the primitive ape part of the brain - things he thought of himself,
and what he wanted others to think of him, what others told him to think of himself
and what he’d tell others to make them think of him, a chaotic symphony of wants
and dont’s, self-perceptions and self-deceptions all tangled and contradictory
waging a battle within him.

And finally, there came the resolve washing over all of it like a wave and in a
fierce, last-ditch fight against himself, he had finally lost - or maybe won.

“Yes.” his voice was hoarse, throat shut with overwhelming emotion. His fingers
touched her shoulder and recoiled as if burned - and then came back, tracing along
her collarbone to her neck, pulling her towards him into a kiss.

He was not a great kisser - lack of practice. But the sheer, burning need and
hunger left her giddy with excitement and wanting more, and as he parted for air
she gave chase with a kiss of her own, savage and primal, nicked lip adding salt to
the taste, tongue searching and invading.

His shirt evaporated - neither knew which of them ripped it off, merely that was
now only a memory and few rags on the floor, and now he struggled with the belt
buckle, hands trembling while she tested out the skin of his chest with her mouth,
kissing and biting gently, going lower and lower even as the belts and zippers got
untangled with growing urgency.

And it wasn’t just the urgency that was growing.

“I knew I saw something in you Sentry,” she grinned appreciatively, kneeling

towards the organ now released from the prison of jeans and trousers, “Now I want
to see it in me”

He groaned at the bad pun. And then moaned again, when she swallowed his dick in
one fluid motion, running her tongue along it as she did.

“Sunset!”

“Fwat?” she asked mischievously, after diving up for air. Her tongue snaked out and
darted up his shaft, a single slick motion running from the base of the cock to the
tip and staying there to nick the sensitive head.

His eyes rolled, and whatever he wanted to say was lost in a mumble.
“Hehe. You’ve a sweet little moan”. She jerked down his trousers and boxers and
tried again, aiming for some higher-pitched noises, teasing and tickling with lips
and tongue, before moving back in and swallowing him whole, in quick rhythmic
movements.

“Oh shit. Please don’t stop. Don’t...” his hands ran through her hair, gentle
touches. Even lost in throes of new sensation he wouldn’t grab her or pull her,
just caress and feel, light and teasing, as if afraid she’d disappear, like morning
gossamer.

“Shush” she bobbed up and blew on the object of her affections gently, letting the
air cool both his heads. “Safety first...” she froze, her eyes widening in sudden
realization. “Oh crap. It’s in my bag. Do you have one?”

“Hurk?” there was apparently not enough blood left in his head to engage the higher
mental faculties “Hwat?”

“Condom, you dunderhead.” Sunset rose to her feet, her hand still pumping his dick
absentmindedly. “I don’t exactly have my things with me”.

Now it was his turn to panic - even as Sunset’s slow motions kept him squirming and
distracted enough. “Oh man… oh... I mean... darn, what do we do now?!”

“We could get one from the nurse’s office…”, he trailed off. The perspective of
running, still painfully erect to the nurse to get condom, though half the school
and try to explain the urgency to Miss Redheart was not appealing to either of them
in the slightest.

She ran her fingers against him again, smearing his shaft with his pre and her
saliva, teasing him closer to the edge.

“Sunset…”, he made a tiny, needy squirms towards the teasing hand that just kept
slipping away ”Sunset, would you cut it out!” he pushed her away - a feat of no
mean willpower. “We need to concentrate.”

They fumbled together in the darkness, searching the ramshacked club haphazardly,
until finally Sunset jumped up with a cry of triumph.

“Aha! I knew Rarity would have one. In the matters of romance, that girl is more
prepared than a platoon of boy scouts”

[center]***[/center]

It took a few tries to get it on and coax him back to size - her lack of experience
doing it with fingers, his eagerness and impatience delaying the inevitable, but
then, finally she was splayed on the table, sewing machines, silk and ribbons
thrown off the it in a single sweep now rattling and crunching under his legs.
His fingers touched her ribs and stopped there, caressing lightly against her skin.
Afraid to move forward and unable to move back, he froze.

“Go on, now, don’t be shy,'' she teased him, guiding his hand up, to her breasts
and holding them down against the pliant flesh. “Am I not beautiful?”

“You are…” his voice was coarse, almost a whisper.

She moved their hands down, tickling her ribs, sliding across her belly and diving
under the rubber band of her panties. “Do you not want me?”

“I do…” He said, mesmerized, not so much by the sight as by the expectation.

A teasing sinuous motion, a wiggle and her panties disappeared away with flick of
her foot. She parted her legs slowly, allowing him full access. “Show me.”

He did not wait long, moving closer and then moaned when he entered her for the
first time, and then again, and again, before in three or four awkward pumps he
exploded inside.

“Oh come on!”

“Oh stars above, Sunset, I’m sorry. It’s… I mean…” he was red now, and not just
from the exercise, trying to move away.

“It’s fine.” she rolled her eyes and rose on her shoulders, locking her ankles
behind him to keep him inside. “We’ll get there.”

Few seconds of awkward silence stretched out, and the haze of lust finally
retreating after his release, he started thinking. An entirely unnecessary thing,
given the circumstances.

“Sunset, what we’re doing - it’s... it’s not normal is it?”

She stretched and shifted trying to find a more comfortable position on the hard
table, a movement that caused him to throb inside, the trapped flesh still
sensitive after the first orgasm.

“Judging by the sex ed and previous experience, it’s pretty normal. Don’t sweat it,
you’ll get your endurance with some practice.”

He blushed, orange skin turning beet-red again.

“Relax, Sentry, I was not expecting great things off the bat. It ain't my first
rodeo… my first cock fight?”, She made a face, “Darn, I’m sure Applejack would have
some charming, rustic countryism for this…”
“Sunset!” he whinnied, embarrassed. “Not that - the whole situation. You,
suggesting sex out of the blue. Doing it in the school, on the desk… that’s not
what’s supposed to happen, is it?”

“What, you don’t like it?” she mock-pouted, knowing the answer full-well. “Or you
don’t like me?”

He mumbled and sputtered, scouring his hormone-addled brains for words, making her
giggle - delightful little vibrations travelling down her stomach into him.

“But…”

“Shut up, Sentry, and pick me up. It’s time for round two.”

She grabbed his shoulders, pulling herself up into the kiss. Her lips trailed down,
past his chin, latching on to his neck. It proved a bit too much for him, and he
stumbled, hobbled by his jeans and fell against the couch behind him, falling onto
it, grabbing onto blinds for balance and dragging the whole thing along with him,
ripped clean off the window. Her hips rolled slightly, making his breath catch in
his throat, and his shaft finally get to full mast.

A roll of hips, and then another - she was milking and riding him now, his hands
gripping on to her hips for dear life, hard enough to bruise, but the pain only
made her want it more.

“Oh yes, take it. Take my cock you… erm… dirty girl?“

She stopped and stared at him, before bursting into laughter, giggling so hard she
nearly fell off her perch.

He stopped too. “What?”

“Sentry, you are horrible at dirty talk.”

“Well at least I try!” he sounded defencive “Forgive me if it’s my first time.”

“Shut up, Sentry. There are better uses for your mouth right now.”

He found one without further prompting, and they moved again, joyfully rubbing and
frotting, wet sounds and a rare moan of bubbling pleasure echoing through the room,
until the couch, a dainty thing of filigree and velvet meant for short fainting
spells, not vigorous fucking gave underneath them, cracking almost in half.

“Shit! Sunset, I think I broke something. There’s something stabbing into my back!”

She did not care, did not - could not - stop. Too close, too good, too full to stop
the movements, hard grip on her hips and throbbing fullness inside pushing her past
good sense towards the blissful oblivion of the little death.

“Shut up Sentry”, she growled, “I’m too close”

***

She gave a long, shuddering breath as she finally slowed down. “Oh, fuck yes.” Her
movements became slower, more regular and deep, riding out and prolonging the
sensation but she did not stop until Flash came again.

[center]***[/center]

She was sitting behind him on the floor, and pulled the next couch-splinter out of
his back with tweezers she borrowed from Rarity’s desk.

“Did I do good? Did you like it?” he shot her an almost pleading look over his
shoulder.

Those puppy-dog eyes. Adorable

“I’m not complaining” Sunset leaned in and kissed the now wood-free prickled skin
better “Practice makes perfect.”

And perhaps the next time won’t be quite as… haphazard.

“I think I’m falling in love with you again,” he mused.

Sigh.

“It’s just sex, Flash, don’t get any ideas.” she twisted the last bit of wood out
with a vengeance, making him yip with pain. “Now shut up and kiss me.”

[center]***[/center]

A loud crash ripped them out of the post-coital bliss and on the threshold of the
Boutique club they could see Rarity, her bag dropped and a mirror slowly rolling
out of it with a long, screeching sound that seemed even more loud and annoying in
the heavy, shock-laden silence of the room. She gave her club-room an incredulous
look, her left eye twitching.

It looked like a warzone. Costumes thrown around and ransacked in search of a

condom, table cleared of materials and instruments now scattered around the floor,
panties hanging off the lamp, the couch destroyed in their last vigorous bout, and
on its remains - two very naked, very sweaty bodies only barely covered by the
ripped piece of the drapes.
Flash tried to force a smile. “Errr… hey Rarity. It’s… it’s actually…”

Sunset bit his earlobe lazily and added, “Kinda exactly what it looks like”

“Sunset” he said suddenly, before she left. “I know you don’t love me. But I can
wait. For you - I will.”

CURRICULUM EROS

“Well, come on, share with the class. Did he have a big co…”, Rainbow dodged
another smack from AJ. “Hey, don’t hit!”

Suner grinned. She was in too good a mood to be annoyed at Rarity spilling the
beans.

“Oh he’s good. Eager, goal oriented, but not selfish or hasty. Able to multitask,
shows initiative but is receptive to critique and looking to improve…”

“You’re reading it like it’s a CV.” Rainbow snickered.

“Well, these are transferable skills,'' Sunset shrugged. “Needs some practice
though.” Her eyes glazed over, as she licked her lips, “Loads and loads of
practice.”

“Can we talk ‘bout something else please?” Applejacks was almost as red as the
apple she was eating. “Anything else.”

“Hey, for almost five years now, I had not had anything in me that did not run on
batteries. I am making up for lost time, if my name isn’t Sunset Shimmer”
PAVLOVIAN
“Shut up, Sentry” she rolled her eyes.

“Dammit, Sunset, I pop a stiffy every time you say that now.”

She leaned to him suddenly, and her hand sneaked down across his body.

“So what are you going to do about it, silly boy?”

PDA

"Shut up, Sentry." She jerked his head down, and into a kiss.
...

"What was that about?!"

"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable, and people who are
uncomfortable don't pay attention. Also," she licked her lips, "I wanted to."
PACING
"If you are willing to go by someone else's pace it shows how much you really
care."

"That's mighty insightful of you, sugarcube." AJ smirked.

"Yeah. I learned it from sex."

NEW TOYS
“Sunset’s got a spankin’ new boyfriend now.”

“Oh yes,” Sunset agreed, raising her voice slightly, so that it could be heard at
the next table. “We’ve enjoyed spanking.”

A loud crash and choked coughing from the rockers table made her smile.
COMPARISON
“Well hello-o my not-so-little new best friend!” Sunset leered, seeing his state.
“We’re gonna have so much fun with you.”

"And now I'm gonna compare myself to that every time," he deadpanned, "thanks a
lot, Shimmer."

Sunset snorted. “Size ain’t everything, Sentry. It’s the skill that counts.
Besides, this is not what you should be comparing to”.

Sentry tilted his head, expecting elaboration.

"I mean, yeah, ponies are...bigger. Both in absolute size and proportionately, but
when I'm human too, the interlocking parts interlock fine, and it all works out.
No, the big thing is tongues.”

"Tongues?"

"Yeah. With no fingers, ponies - especially the non-unicorns, have to do a lot of

things with their mouths. So when an earth pony goes down on you, that is a
transcendental experience."
COMPARISON II REDUX

"You know that's one thing I can never get used to."
"Hmm?"

"It’s colder when we cuddle. Ponies are fuzzy, so it's way warmer when you hug, but
with all this skin I feel naked."

"Sunset... you [i]are[/i] naked." He mulled the situation over. "Completely,

entirely naked under that blanket"

She giggled when he moved closer, reaching, touching, tickling, and then she didn't
feel cold anymore.
PLACE OF TRUTH

"Sunset?" still drowsy, he didn't feel surprised somehow. "How? Where?"

"This is a dream," she said. "This is a place of truth," she explained. "I need you
to see what I am, Flash Sentry, before you take your vows."

"I know what you are..."

"What you know is a lie!" her tone grew harsh, raw as she cut him off fiercely.
Before he could say anything else, she dropped the shroud and naked she looked at
him with the desperate pride of the damned. "Look, Sentry. Really look."

He looked her in the eyes, and as he did, he saw. The left eye had four irises,
while the right one had none, milky-white and dead.

"I partook the forbidden flesh of the magic fish, to give me sight beyond that of
mortals. The other eye I lost some time before that. I stole some of Celestia's
healing cordial, but it's still not quite right."

He stepped forward, and touched her shoulder, where deep grooves of scarred tissue
formed a complicated pattern, from the collarbone across the neck and down all over
her back.

"Le Societe Scientifique in Prance." She said. "They wanted the secrets of the
Coltec nigrimancy, and they drew the sigils of the truth-spell in paint-stripper on
my skin to force it out."

His finger traced over her collarbone. It gave with a soft crunch under his soft
touch, making her posture lopsided and her right hand hang limp.

"I broke my collarbone once. In the Deadlands I did not have time to heal or set
it. Hasty bone-growth charm didn't work quite right, and it's a bit skewed now
unless I fix it."
Trailing down her breasts, covered in angry crimson marks, he lingered, where one
of her nipples was short, areola ending with an ugly flat scar.

"I traded myself for a hostage when Diamond Dogs captured some ponies. They took
claws and bolt-cutters to my teats. I had to wait until they all gathered to look,
otherwise one of them might have hurt somepony."

Her skin grew in cancerous patches of scale and chitin and rough stony outgrowths.

"Magics I took -- they changed me. Mutated me. If not for the changeling magic I'd
look like a freak."
[q]

Burns and scars ran in intervals along her ribs, not so much seen as felt by the
coarseness of the skin under his fingers. Her solar plexus bore a mark - a hoof-
print of deep scarred tissue, crimson burn-marks radiating from it in every
direction.

“Burned hoof teaches best. Or burning hoof, I suppose. I still keep the mark of her
lesson under the glamers and the healing-charms. It is far deeper than skin.”

Her belly and her hands were dull red instead of orange, in flowing, spiraling
patterns and crimson blotches.

"A scrap with teenage dragons -- they thought that burning cornfields was fun. I
dissuaded them... but the dragon's flame is hard to defend against. I lost some
skin... it regrew, but if not for my sorcery it would've regrown like this."

He kneeled still looking at every inch of her. The inside of her thigh was pearly-
white and pale, like the flesh of the corpse.

"Lost a chunk of it in the Flame Geyser Swamp. There was an outbreak of monsters
from Tartarus. I was hunting them for almost a week. No sleep, no rest. I lost my
edge and a hydra managed to take a bite out of my hindleg. I had to cauterize the
wound. It's lifeless flesh now, regrown with water dead - it won't rot, but it
won't ever feel anything."

"I am a freak, Flash Sentry. Damaged and misshapen. You should kno--"

You're beautiful." He said, without a doubt, interrupting her. "You are beautiful,
and all the scars make you is you."
TIES THAT BIND

"Come on, city boy," she laughed, dragging him off the path, "embrace the wild
side".
...

"Darn city boys". Sunset scratched her forearms with irritation. "Rarity, can I
borrow your cream?"

"Of course, darling. I must say, it looks positively dreadful. What happened?"

"Darn city boys," she repeated, dropping her skirt and T-shirt with no regard for
any witnesses, and slathering herself in the cream liberally around neck, waist,
and arms. "Don't know the difference between a creeper vine and poison ivy."

"Huh?"

"One--" Sunset finally ran out of cream, "makes an excellent rope for tying damsels
in distress. The other--" she pointed at her angry-red skin, "--itches. A lot."
PRIORITIES

There is a dark room that exists only in a sense that you can visit it.

It is not a part of any world. It has no walls or ceiling, it has no length or

width or height.

A place of gathering, slightly more than imaginary.

What it does have, however is a table - a round thing of white material, smooth and
indeterminate underneath diffuse sourceless light.

And nachos. It has crunchy, delicious cheese-soaked nachos in a bowl, dead center
of the ominous table.

The woman at the head of the table was first to stretch her orange hand towards it,
grabbing a chip and break the sombre silence with a loud crunch.

“‘Sup?”

“All good,” the pink young girl replied, reaching for the nacho of her own. “Though
I’m still a bit hungover. Who knew Dad had saved a bottle of the good stuff just
for my first hundred-billion-dollar deal?”

“And you did not share? I am hurt.” her vis-a-vis snickered.

Another person appeared in the darkness, another hand snatching from non-
diminishing supply of tacos.

“Hey, Spoon. How are you?”

“Fine, fine. I’m not late, am I?”

“No, we’re still waiting for Glims and the big D. How’s family?”

“I'm right here” stern voice added from the shadows. “Hello, everyone, Hows...”

“I’m here!” the fourth and final person joined their little congregation, appearing
in a whisp of smoke and flash of light. He did not go for the nachos, opting
instead to chug down something green and acidic from a tacky sports-drink bottle.

“Good. Everyone ready? Today is an important one”

“Yeah.”
“Yup”
“Uh-huh”

“Is Silver Lining not joining us, Silver?”

“No, he’s with the kids. They have a championship, and...”

“Wait, what? And you’re not there?”

Silver woman grew defensive “Well, this meeting is important and I thought…”

“No-no-no, that will not do at all. They’re your kids, Silver, you can’t miss their
events! Especially the first one. The world will wait.”

“I’m with Shimmer”, the pink girl agreed, “We can conquer the world a few hours
later.”

“Cord, can we do something?”

The gaunt, twisty man snapped his fingers, and a keyboard and a screen materialized
in front of him, his crooked fingers running across the keyboard in a blur.

“Well, let’s see. Silver Lightning, judo, junior green belt competition...
Canterlot High PE hall, it hasn’t started yet… two hundred people watching… two
dozen streaming from their phones… twenty of them have Barnyard Bargains
proprietary software or technology… and presto-chango, abracadabra, and through the
magic of technology and right on… to...your screens, my ladies!

Above the nachos, the three-D hologram appeared - tatami-covered floor, a better
half of a hundred kids in kimonos with belts of every colors, referees trying to
herd the rambunctious lot into some semblance of order.

“Popcorn anyone?”

[center] *** [/center]

“Come on!”

“Go, Silver, go!”

“Give him a left”

“Sunset, it’s judo, you’re not allowed to punch in judo.”

“I knew that!”

[r]
“Ippon!” the judge declared, and the crowd roared. “Clear victory”.

The effect in the black room was just as loud as on the screen.

“Woo!”

“He won, he won!”

“Hay yeah! That’s our boy!”

“Silver, call him, call him. You gotta!”

“Hey darling. Yeah, it’s me. I know, I saw. Oh yes, I did. Sorry I could not be
there in person, but I watched online. Beautiful throw, I am so proud. Say “hi” to
daddy for me. Love you!”

“All right. That was great”

“Gals, Cordy, I wanted to say, that was really great of you… I mean…”

“It’s fine Silv. We know it’s important.”

“Here here!”

“But now we really should get back to the Plan.”

AT THE TOP
"Equestria", Sunset said after some deliberation "Is the pinnacle of sapient
civilization of the world."

She put a cherry on top of her upturned glass.

"It is not perfect, and it still has ways to go, but it is the best I've seen. But
as with everything that is on top, all it takes is a little push..." with a little
nudge the cherry rolled, falling of the glass, and bounced off the table.

"And while the ponies prance around on the edge of the abyss, there were all too
many willing to give it the singular nudge that would break the proverbial camel's
back. Ahuizotl, still looking for the power he never truly had and fighting
eternally his ever-new Daring Do. The old kingdoms and old monsters looking to rise
the second you turn your back towards them. The new up-and-comers, sharpening claws
and spells in wait of a chance."
ROOM FOR ME

The first thing about Sunset's room was - it was cluttered. There wasn't that much
furniture in the apartment - not even a bed, with a pile of blankets and pillows
strewn about in the corner of the room instead, but there was...stuff. Half-
disassembled centrifuge, a hookah in the corner, pipe thrown across a ratty
Pershian slipper filled with pungent-smelling herbs. Piles of neatly folded
laundry, right next to a half-stuffed bag of dirty clothes, with more thrown
haphazardly around the room.

A scratched, banged-up projector came to life the moment Sunset closed the door,
filling the room with a low, menacing hum. It lighted the blank bed sheet-covered
wall with a picture of cartoony faces screaming in silent terror and scowling their
single-line brows in anger, all linked together by multiple colored lines and
indecipherable annotations.

What was ostensibly the kitchen seemed blackened by an old fire, furniture melted,
cracked and unusable, with the sole exception of a jury-rigged Bunsen burner,
smelling faintly of kerosene.

The room, barely lit by the single light of the projector, looked like something
out of the stories of apocalyptic futures and mad scientists.

"Sunset," Twilight asked, trying very hard not to be alarmed, "why is there blood
in your fridge?"

"Don't worry. It's mostly mine," Sunset said absentmindedly throwing her book bag
into the corner with practiced precision. "Make yourself at home."
BEDSHARE

“A hole in a guest's tipi is fixed with the hide of the bad host,” Sunset quoted.
“You’re taking the bed, Princess, I’m sleeping on the floor.”
BEAUTY
I am not beautiful. I've never possessed the delicate features and svelte build of
Prench or Arabians, the thin legs and long horn. I've rarely bothered with the
immaculate grooming of the Canterlot nobility, carrying my mane and tail short, and
fit for fighting and my coat long to cover my scars. I was barely average, much
less hold any comparison to ideal beauty that Cadance radiated so effortlessly.

But what I had was power, and the unshakeable confidence that came with it -- the
best aphrodisiac for mares or stallions.
CUTTING TIES
"I'll do what it takes," Sunset promised. "If you don't want it, I will find a way
to release you from this."
“Didn’t you say it was forever?”

"There is a way. There’s always a way -- the Answering Sword, for one, the one that
belonged to Hundred Battles: It was said to be so sharp it could cleave the truth
from the lies on the edge of its blade, and sharp enough to cut even the bonding of
an oath.

Say a word, husband mine, and I will find it, even if I have to churn the ocean and
dry all the seven seas to find it."
TRUE LOVE (DEVIL’S OWN HEAT)
“When we were together, when I was in her embrace, with her strength she could snap
my neck or break my spine, with but a twitch of her hooves. Do you have any idea
how hot that is?

She'd move up to me, silent, like a snake, her hooves coiling and slithering around
me, holding me tight, squeezing just hard enough to remind me who is in charge.

Her ministrations would start always gentle, lust entering my body like a poison,
until I would burn beyond any words, panting and begging.

Her love was not a quiet game. All it took was a single spark - a kiss, a comment,
a breathless need expressed in moans and whispers that defy and precede any
language, and she'd blaze with passion like her sorcerous flame.

I would not call it love - that was a word too awkward and mundane for what she
made me feel. With whispers echoing from the stone walls, with her teeth on my
jugular almost drawing blood, the ecstasy of the evenings and the pain of the
mornings in the eternal twilight of the Tartarus it was a flame like no other, and
I would gladly burn with her, until nothing but burned-out cinders remained, so
long as I could get heated by that fire.

I can never be with anyone again save like this, love turned to war, sacred and
hidden made profane and vulgar and turned back exalted again, every barrier broken,
everything taken without asking and given without reservation, fear, loathing and
desire rolled into one.”
TRUST
“You don’t trust anyone, Shimmer.”+

“That’s not true. I trust my poison to be swift, the sun to always set, and you.”

“I… “ Flash tried to find the words. “...thanks, I guess?”

IN YOUR HEAD
Sunset smacked her.

"Hey!"

"Oooh it’s not me, it’s the eevil Midnight doing the horrible things" she mocked,
"It's the big, bad Starlight making me do things with baaad magics!" She fake-
swooned with pretend-horror.

"That's not really fair..."

"Stop blaming your imaginary friends.” She stabbed at Twilight with her finger. “It
was you who did those things, of your own free will. Own your fucking shite, little
princess. You did it. It's yours. Be proud of it, be ashamed of it, be responsible
for it -- whatever. But it's yours. Not mine, not Starlights, not Midnights, not
anyone else's. It's all on you."

“Don’t you think you were a little bit too harsh there, darling?”

"What? I turned into flaming she-daemon from Tartarus and tried to kill all of you
and take over the world, as you not-so-subtly keep reminding me, and you don't see
me making excuses that Discord made me do it."
DOODLES
SON OF A THIEVING DAM

"Sivko!" Sunset jumped up, greeting the newcomer. "You thief and son of a thief,
come, stand you before me like a leaf before the tree!"

The stallion entered, ambling awkwardly on his unequal legs. They hugged, kissing
each other thrice on the cheeks in the urusian manner.

"Ladies, this here is the craftiest, the most cunning, the most ingenious son of a
thieving dam this side of the mirror." She shuffled away from the door, ushering
him in. "Come in, come in. Eat my bread, drink my wine -- I got some excellent
cider too."

“So, how are you?” she asked as he sat down, and reached for the cider bottle.
“Still serving that dullard?"

"Da," he took off his hat, throwing it on the table. "And he's a tsarevich now."

"Thanks to you."

"Alas," The stallion shrugged, his lopsided shoulders twisting so much they almost
crossed over. "Such is the way it is. Got a principality of my own out of it, at
least."

"Sivko, stop being a dunce, and talk normally please. We both know you've gift of
gab"

"Bah," the stallion waved his hoof, "Give me my little indulgences, solnyshko. It
does not befit the subject to be smarter than his lord, da?”

"Besides, solnyshko, Witch is here already."

"WHAT?"

"Oh yes, I've seen her mortar in the yard."

"Shit!"

WHICH WITCH IS WITCHIER

She fell into the chair, when the tension flown out of her all at once, and reached
for the flask.

"Whew. That was close. I will kill that bastard Sivko for not telling me earlier."

"Close?"

"Yeah. If you offended her, or someone said something stupid, we might as well just
go find a nice cemetery."

"Who? The nice granny we talked with?"

"Nice?" Sunset stared at him, beyond words. "Granny?" She took a long pull from her
flask, "That was the most powerful witch in all the ages of Equestria. She alone
killed more ponies than all the plagues combined, and that was before she developed
taste for equine meat. All of the Urussia were her domain, her hunting ground, her
plaything, in Old times. After the fall of Discord, it took the Mage and both
Princesses in fullness of her power to bind to peace." She drank again, and took a
breather. "Nice granny my sweet cutie-marked flanks."
FRIENDS

"You have many friends here." Flash noted.

"Friends? Sivko's not a friend. I hate the slimy little bastard -- his word ain't
worth the spit behind it, and he'd probably gut me the moment he could get two bits
for my corpse."
"But..."

"And I'm pretty sure the only thing that keeps him from double-crossing me, is that
he believes that I am insane maniac who, given slightest opportunity, would murder
him just to see what color his insides are, and just crafty enough to survive
whatever he throws my way."

"Well..."

“But his gift of gab will come in very handy in these negotiations. I have to use
him -- I have to use every tool I know if we’re to win this.”

...

"Who's Gab?"

"Not who. It's a gift of speech -- he can talk to any creature or beast, understand
them and be understood in turn. And be damned persuasive while he's about it."

"Sounds useful."

"The old ratfuck is full of tricks. He's a shapeshifter, a soothsayer, he's damn
strong, and he can walk the earth pony ways easily as well -- but that's not what
makes him dangerous. He's wise, cunning with that base Urusian ken, he’s smart and
bloody vicious when he needs to be. Don't cross him, and don't give him offence,
not ever. I'd rather go hoof-to-hoof with Svetogor than try to cheat Sivko."

WORDS AND PROMISES

“Do you speak for your lord?”

“Alas,” he sighed. “I always do.”

“We both know your word ain’t worth the spit behind it. I want your prince’s order,
with the stamp and everything, and I want you to swear.”

“You wound me, solnyshko.” he grabbed at his chest, but seeing how it made no
effect, shrugged. “Fine. I swear, by the Earth and the Forest and the Hunger
Eternal. And you’ll get your scroll tomorrow. Helpful if you run out of toilet
paper.”
KNOWLEDGE
"I know things. Secret things, important things. Fifteen words to make you lose
your best friend forever. Way to kill a man so that he doesn't know he's dying
until he’s gone. How to say goodbye and never look back. How to hurt and how to be
hurt. How to find the secret heart of someone’s world and rip it out, destroying it
forever.
BURNT OFFERING

The battlefield was covered in snow, red and white made golden by the rays of dawn.
Her hooves sunk into the ground flowing with rivulets of blood, so much that the
earth could not drink no more.

The girl stood by the monster's side, braiding his fiery mane.

"This is not murder," the little girl explained with grave seriousness, alien to
her tiny frame. "It’s a burned offering -- an aroma pleasing to my Lord."
DRESDEN VS FILLIES

"The people can be divided into two broad groups -- the predators and the prey. "

"And this is where you tell me that we're the predators, right?" He smirked. "That
I should be joining you and taking advantage of the sheeple. Well I..."

"Quite the contrary, Harry. In this analogy, we are the prey, and you're the
predator."

"Aren't you the one who burned my building? Who attacked me? Don't you wield your
magic -- the power of creation, the second greatest tool available to you, humans,
to make fire and destroy things?"

"That's..."

"Oh, you have your reasons, perhaps even good ones. Perhaps you even imagine
yourself as a dog, not a wolf. Something like your pet perhaps? A vicious sheperd-
dog to protect the innocents, a wolfhound to hunt the bad wolves... but you're
still one of them, the predators -- that is your nature.

"We are the prey... well, the herd animals. Pretty pastel ponies, if you wish. We
build. We arrange into herds, not packs. We grow things. And we protect them from
brutes like you, who only know how to destroy. That is the fundamental difference
between us."

...

The girl's hand disappeared into her clutch, and produced a heavy, square-looking
gun. It seemed too big for her hand, but her moves were practiced and smooth,
unhindered by the weight and the recoil. Before he had a chance to move, she shot.
Three rapid reports, like thunderclaps, and Molly fell out of her veil, clutching
to her bleeding stomach.
...

"Sit down, Harry." she ordered, and there was steel in her eyes. "The rounds are
steel-jacketed and if I blow your Lady’s brains out, it will hurt."

"The second condition is that I shall put a spell on you. A mind-spell. It will not
cause you to do anything you do not want to do, it won't alter your memories or
your emotions. Your Queen shall be my witness. And then I am going to say six words
to you. And that will be all. "

“Mab.” She said “Mab.” The name rang like a frozen bell. “Mab. Thrice I call your
name.”

“And once I appear.” she stepped into the room. “Invoke me at your peril, mortal.”

...

Mab pursed her lips and nodded.

...

She looked him in the eyes, and said the six words, deliberate and slow.

"It is not your fault, Harry." the piece of his True Name rang with the power it
contained, making the symbol on his forehead buzz with magic.

...

She lowered herself, crouching in front of him.

"Do you want me to take away the spell, Mister Dresden?" she looked him in the
eyes. "It is midnight, and the time is up. I can do it, or, if you don't trust me
-- your Queen could do it just as well."

"I.." he croaked, lifting his hand to almost-touch the ashen pattern on his
forehead.

"Think about it. I can give you back the surety of purpose you loved so much. You
can be the hero of your own story. Killing evils, righting wrongs, a shining knight
saving the helpless."

That terrible, soul-wrenching longing in his eyes -- she knew it well, that desire
for the sweet poison of submission. It doesn't matter if it's to an idea or person,
it is still the same perfect torture, sweeter by far than any bliss, the self-
damnantion only truly righteous can condemn themselves to: To be a tool, a
Righteous Hand of God, a Knight of the One True Princess, a fighter for a Cause
that’s greater than your life..

But like her, he was a strong man, and he knew how to outgrow himself. He set his
jaw, and forced himself to say the word, like spitting a swallowed razor. "No."

They looked together at the hurt boy crying, feeling, for the first time, the pain
of growing up.

"I forget sometimes how terribly efficient you can be," Tiara said, turning off the
camera. The man deserved his privacy. "How horribly cruel."

"We all have to wake up sometime, Tiara. For some it's just harder than for
others."
SUBMISSION
"Hundreds or million. Math says they die."

"We need to find another way!"

"This is not a movie, Flash. If you fail, they all die. Will you tell their mothers
that their children died because you wanted to keep your hooves clean?"

"But if we win...."

...

"I can't!" he struggled against her spells "I can't make that choice!"

"I can." She released him and stepped back. "I have."

“How?”

"Murder is a poison most subtle. You need to let your mind get acclimated to it:
Hurt an enemy in battle, wound an innocent in your way, kill your friend in a
fight... step by step, until you can watch a life extinguished in someone's eyes
and feel nothing more than when you blow out a candle. And sometimes, to make those
decisions that is exactly what you need."

...

“Sunset." Flash kneeled at her feet. "I can't make those decisions. I can only
trust you. So I want to give another oath."

She pursed her lips in distaste. "You were talking to the Count, weren't you? It
was his idea."

"His advice, yeah. But it's what I want."

"Are you sure, Sentry? These are not the words you say on a whim."

"I am.”

She sighed. Why not? Such, after all, was the way of the world. “Say it then,
Sentry.”

"By Wind and by Storm," he started, his voice growing stronger as he stumbled
through the formula "By the Sun that is above us, I swear to Sunset Shimmer be
faithful. To love all which she loves, to shun all which she shuns…” the oath, Old
as the earth and true as the sky was said, and it was witnessed. And it could not
be now unsaid any more.

"So be it.” She nodded, accepting his fealty. “Rise, Flash Sentry, vassal."
MAN-CUBS

"They raise their foals on blood, d'you know that?"

"What?"

"Adults don't eat meat, or almost don't, much like ponies. But they're omnivores by
nature; and sometimes a child needs meat to grow up healthy. So they feed it dead
things. Very poetic, if you ask me."
NEW CURRICULUM

"Magic! Pfft, no, I taught them important things. How to move, and how to breathe
and how to look. How to remember and to learn. How to think before acting and act
without thinking. As long as they know that, they can pick up any magic in an
afternoon".

[a]or the cheap plastic cup with tepid water. One of those, or perhaps both,
[b]She felt so light, and yet at the same time more grounded.
***

That's not true... she protested feebly. There was a giant hole in her memory where
she knew something was. Where now she saw ..
[c]"Just remember, address Mom as "ma'am" she's used to that. Avoid weather and
weather-related topic. And if she asks you anything pony-related you can't
answer--"

"I say that I'm not at liberty to discuss it"

"Yes. She'll understand."

[d]"So what are they shipping?"

"Contraband. Harmless stuff mostly -- tobacco, brandy and whiskey, and things like
that. Ocassional fugitive or spy. There is an understanding with the Crown that if
anypony oversteps, others will take care of it. Nopony wants the Princess to notice
the system."
[e]"How many have I killed, Flash?"

"I... we don't..."

"How many?"

His face grew darker. "The Princess and what's left of the legion are still burying
their dead. They estimate it to be in tens of thousands."

"Who would forgive me fort that?"

Flash didn't say anything. She lit a cigarette filling the cramped dungeon cell
with smoke as she took a first drag

"I thought I fixed it, you know? I thought I fixed myself. No regrets. No guilt. No
hesitation. And yet here I am."

"Wasn't it making you miserable?"

"Yeah, it was but at least I used to be efficient. I'd bury it all and move on. Now
I'm torn between the two -- I cannot act like I used to, and when I do, I'm twice
as screwed."

...
[f]"why aren't you happy then? You did what you wanted. Nopony could stop you. Not
even me." He did sound bitter at that.
[g]They fell like puppets with their strings cut, prostrating themselves on the
ground before the Princess.
As it should be.

Sunset bowed with them, full proskinesis, hugging the earth.

[h]She raised the scalpel, the first energies of her spellwork wrapped around it
like a viper.

The fillies dreamt, Diamond slobbering in her sleep.

The Princess looked at her.

She touched the knife to the coat.

The Princess looked still. Diamond Tiara whimpered softly in her sleep, batting her
tiny hoof at something she saw in her slumber.

"Fine!" Sunset three the scalpel down on the tray. "You do it then."
[i]"Our general is owed a boon, Tia. 'Tis only fair. You know that."
[j]"Do what?" Twilight asked. "The enchantments -- that is terrible. It's
unethical! I won't let..."

"I want a boon. I want a blessing for my students -- for your generals, who fought
an bled for you." She pointed at Celestia. "I want a proper pronouncements of
Power. Else I give them my own blessing, in my own way, and all four of you will
not stop me.
[k]There was a look of panic in Twilight's eyes, and Celestia leaned in to whisper
something to her.

Sunset turned away.

Still breathing deeply, Twilight came closer to the bed. She touched each filly in
turn with her hoof, and whispered:

"Diamond. Silver." her words as full of power as other princesses'. "You are not
alone. You never have to be alone."
[l]Rise Above.
[m]"Three breezy goodmothers, and an evil witch." Discord's raspy voice broke the
silence. "One that was not invited. One that took offence." he coalesced, smile -
grin - first from the smoke into the room.

"Discord!"

"I assume my invitation got lost in the mail."

...
He twisted, inside out, dragon-wings growing large, his twinned horns stretching
and twisting around each other and merging into one double-spiral, his paws
elongated and touched the ground pushing him into a quadrupedal form, - mockery of
an alicorn, as mismatched as his usual appearance.

"Diamond. Silver." His voice rang with Power as he named their true names.

"Don't you dare--"

"Discord!"
"Stop!"

"Rise above." he snapped his fingers,

[n]An wave of power rolled through the room, and with it he was gone, leaving
nothing but an echo of his laughter.
[o]"That could have gone worse."
"Oh, yes, quite, sister." Luna nodded. "We expected a calamity."
[p]He was good with his shields, but what use was his magic when I had his heart
already in my hooves?

IMy magic bounsed through Cadence, still reeling from the fall, and right into his
chest.
[q]"Enhancement magic is tricky. You can't just enchant your muscles to be
stronger. You need denser bones or you'll break your legs the first time you buck a
tree. You need to improve the skin, to handle the increased subcutaneous pressure.
You need to hide the side effects and the change in coat colour and skin lesions
from the spells gone wrong and test runs, scars where your body ripped itself apart
under unnatural effort, and then you need a source of power to feed those
enchantments and another spell to handle the specific energy flow of all of the
above -- and that is just for a single spell. I've been experimenting on myself for
years, more guesswork and rumours than science. Under the glamers and the shapeless
blood and the water dead holding me together, I barely qualify as a pony any more.
[r]The little silver boy on the screen finally got a grip of his opponent’s kimono,
and with a cry he twisted in and down, dropping to his knees. The other kid flew
over him, twisting in the air before dropping on his side like a sack of potatoes,
and before he could stand up, his hand was grabbed in the vice-like grip, leveraged
against Silver Lightning’s hip, twisting against the elbow.

He tapped out.