Chapters Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
"Why do I have to do this? It’s a complete waste of time!" Sunset Shimmer Whined
All Princess Celestia could do was sigh. This was becoming an issue, she thought. "Learning about the Friendship of magic is not a waste of time. It is an important part of your education here."
"It is a waste of time. What IS important is me learning new spells and becoming more powerful. That way you can have a more powerful unicorn for your personal student. In order to do that, I need to practice magic, not run around trying to learn how to make friends!"
Princess Celestia was sitting in Canterlot Castle's library with her protégé Sunset Shimmer. Celestia had chosen Sunset as her personal student after she had shown serious promise after the first few days of her first year attending her school for Gifted Unicorns. It was more than just her raw talents at magic that drew Celestia to Sunset. As soon as Celestia saw a sample of Sunset's magic, she was sure that Sunset would be the one that would help reunite her with her sister, Princess Luna.
Had it really been almost 1000 years? Princess Celestia could still remember it like it was yesterday. That night was the worst night the Princess of the Sun had ever lived through. That last heart-breaking night. The last night she saw her sister. Princess Luna had refused to lower her moon, and Princess Celestia could see the darkness rising inside her. Inside this darkness, she saw hatred; almost pure hatred. Yet, Celestia noted, this hatred was not directed toward her, but to all the other ponies of Equestria. She hated all the ones who shunned the night; ignored it. Princess Celestia had no choice. Before her sister could harm anypony, Celestia grabbed the six Elements of Harmony. She didn't know what would happen. She had never wielded the Elements on her own before, but she had no choice. She unleashed the power of the Elements, and banished her sister to the moon for the next 1000 years.
Using the Elements took a lot of energy out of the princess. “These objects were never meant to be used by one pony, no matter how powerful. I must keep that in mind later.” Celestia thought. Now, as the time is coming closer to the release of her sister from the moon, Celestia wanted to pass along the Elements of Harmony to six ponies that she saw fit to represent them. She needed ponies that she could trust with one of the most powerful magical artifacts in all of Equestria. The hunt for the perfect six would be a difficult one, but she felt fairly certain that Sunset would be one of them, and help lead Celestia to the other five. If only Sunset would be able to find the spark inside herself.
"You didn't seem to need friends when you took on and defeated Discord. All you needed was you and your sister." Sunset stated, breaking Celestia from her thoughts.
Celestia cocked her head slightly. "Where did you hear about the story of Discord?"
Sunset Shimmer looked around the library. She used her magic to grab a book and pull it closer to her. "I stumbled across this when I was looking for a book on magic. Inside is a pretty detailed account of what happened. Discord was once the ruler of Equestria. Under his rule, the world fell under total chaos. No one was able to stop him until you and your sister, Princess Luna, took some sort of magical objects called the...um..."
"Elements of Harmony" Celestia offered. Maybe, if Sunset had really read up on the Elements, she is truly ready to start her journey to find the spark within that will unlock her true potential.
"Yeah, those things." Sunset continued, seemingly uninterested with names, "You used them to end Discord's reign. You turned him to stone, and therefore took over and started to rule Equestria yourselves. I believe, if I’m not mistaken, the statue of Discord is currently sitting in the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens"
Celestia chuckled lightly to herself, as if she had just responded to some sort of inside joke. "You are mostly correct in your storytelling; however, it seemed to lack in the details department."
"Yeah, well, maybe I just skimmed the story a little." Sunset retorted
"Even so, you could have read that story word for word, and you still wouldn't have gotten the whole story. There is a very important detail in the story that you will not find in any book in Equestria.
"What sort of detail? And why was it left out?"
"To answer the second first: because a friend asked me to keep it out of the record. You see, Sunset, a friend help both me and my sister defeat Discord. This friend is someone I will never forget. He gave us the power we needed in order to defeat Discord. Therefore, I feel he was really the one who saved Equestria, not us. He didn't want to be thanked for it, however. He said that he simply did the right thing to do, and that he didn’t deserve any of the praise. He basically didn’t want to be worshipped as a hero, so he asked that we not mention it to anypony else. So you, my dear Sunset, are the first to hear of this hero for over 1000 years."
"Then why are you telling me this? Why are you just now letting this secret out if you’ve been holding onto it for over 1000 years?"
Sunset thought she heard a hint of sadness in the elder pony’s voice when next she spoke "This story is something that I think you need to hear. It's something that I need to tell."
"Alright" Sunset responded. "I'm listening."
"When we used the Elements of Harmony on Discord and we defeated him, it was not our first attempt to stop him. Our first attempt failed. We didn't stand a chance. His power over chaos practically changes the laws of physics. Even my magic combined with my sister’s couldn’t stop him. My magic has gotten much better than it was back then, but even then we were still formidable. No matter how good your magic is though, physics can trump magic any day. We tried over and over again to stop Discord, but he was just too strong.
We were just about ready to give up. We had given up hope of defeating him. So, Luna and I spent some time researching something, anything that could help us. Then, one day, we were searching deep into a portion of a library hidden in a far corner of Equestria when I found an interesting looking book sitting on the top shelf of the bookcase. I had never seen this book before, but for some reason I had a good feeling about the book, as if it was calling out to me. It was as if the book was trying to tell me that what I was looking for was bound safely within its covers. Using my magic I looked at the cover to read the title. Only on closer inspection, I found out that the book had no author, nor did it have a title anywhere as far as I could tell. When I looked through the book, I saw that the pages were all blank. There wasn’t so much as an ink splatter on any of the pages. The dusty, moldy cover of the book betrayed its age, however, Strangely enough, every page within its covers looked as if they were bound in just yesterday. Either way, this book didn’t appear to be much help. I threw the book into the corner of the room in disgust. All my good feelings about the book dashed away from me.
I was doing my best to stay strong for my little sister, but I felt like crying. I felt, right then, that we had lost this war with Discord. I could almost hear him laughing at us; at me. It was as if he was saying, “Of course you lost Celestia! You never had a chance!” I felt Luna’s hoof on my shoulder. “Do not fret, Sister. We have not lost yet.” I was about to suggest to her that we just give up, but before I could open my mouth, Luna said, “Sister! Look!” I turned around and followed Luna’s eyes. She was looking into the same corner where the book I threw was sitting. I then noticed a light coming from the book. We both cautiously walked over to the now very bright book. As we got close enough to the book, the light faded. Now, on the page that the book had been open to, was some writing; writing that wasn’t there before. At the top of the page read the words, in almost absolute perfect hoofwriting: Dimensional Portals. That gave me an idea. If I couldn't defeat Discord, maybe I can still get the ponies of Equestria out of this chaos, and we could maybe find a new home, somewhere Discord could never find us.
Running away from our homeland wasn’t exactly out first choice in getting rid of Discord, but we were afraid that we didn’t have much choice. I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to do this, but Luna suggested that we should have a fall back plan in case we couldn’t uncover anything else that could help. Either way, Luna had suggested we test the spell before we try to tell others about it. Together, we studied the spell. It was far more complicated than either of us had ever seen. We decided we would try to cast it together, giving us double power. That would hopefully give us enough to open and sustain the portal.
The spell worked. It opened up some sort of round doorway shrouded by white light. The light made both of us flinch. We instinctively pulled our wings in front of our faces to try to block some of the light. Unfortunately, we lost our hold on the door, and it closed a few seconds after we got it opened. I didn't know about Luna, but I knew that I didn't have the power to try to open the door again. At least not until I rested for a while, but I was afraid that, if the portal closed that easily, it wouldn’t be stable enough for a pony to walk through safely; not to mention that we didn’t even know where this door led, if anywhere.
As the light faded we noticed something on the floor of the library. At first I thought it was a pony. Maybe this pony came through the portal we opened. As the light levels returned to normal, and our eyes adjusted, Luna was the first to gasp. The creature on the ground wasn't a pony. I had never seen anything like it before. Neither one of us were sure as to what to do next. We didn't have to wait very long, however, because a minute later, the creature stirred, and then it got up. It had four legs, but stood on only two. To be honest I was scared. I didn't know what it was or what its motives were.
Before I could ask anything, the thing moved back a few steps. He looked like he was scared out of his wits. “Who-who a-are you?” he asked. Before I could answer, another blast of white light filled the room, though much dimmer than the last. This light was coming from the spell book. Again, after the light had diminished, an object had appeared. It looked like some sort of necklace. The object fell to the floor. As soon as the necklace hit, a burst of magic flew from it. I had never seen that object before, but for some reason when I looked at the necklace, I felt like we were given a second chance. It felt like I could hold some hope in my heart yet again. All of a sudden, a voice rang through my head. I still, to this day, remember what the voice said to me. It said, 'I am Hope. Protect the bearer, and the keys to stop Fear will be yours.' I figured the ‘fear’ that the voice spoke of was supposed to represent Discord.
The necklace moved, and shot across the floor to that other creature in this room, the necklace touched him, climbed his way up his body until it was right under his neck. Then it disappeared. After a few seconds, the creature swayed and collapsed. It looked almost as if his body was trying to process too much information at once, and it just shut down. Anyway, ---"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you trying to tell me that some sort of alien thing helped you save Equestria?" Sunset Interrupted
"Well, I wouldn't really call him an alien, just---"
"He was something not from this world. I believe that's what an alien is, isn't it?"
"Fine," Celestia sighed, "we can call him an alien if you want. May I continue?"
"Sure, if you want." Sunset answered rather enthusiastically.
"I'm going to need to get to the point" Celestia thought, “Sunset’s losing interest."
"Ok" Celestia continued out loud, "Long story short: The necklace that this creature absorbed gave him power. Great power that could help overthrow Discord. Power enough to help bring Equestria to what it is today. Anyway---"
The door to the library burst open, and two Royal Guards stormed in. "Your Highness!" one of the guards said, "we have a situation. We need you to come with us immediately."
Celestia got up from where she was sitting and hurried to the door. "Sunset, I would like you to do some deeper studying into the Magic of Friendship. It may even save you one day, just as it saved Equestria all those years ago." Then the doors shut and she was gone.
"Study the Magic of Friendship? I don't think so.” She walked out of the library. Celestia would have brough the book with her when she came back to Canterlot. That book is probably in this castle somewhere. Then she got an idea of where to start searching. As she walked, she thought about the possibilities. “A necklace that grants power. More power than both Celestia and Luna had put together.” She thought. She made her way to the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Castle. "I've got a spell book to find."
Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
Captain Jim Highland walked through the halls of a specialized military base which, as Captain Highland lovingly describes it as “The place in the world where all the weird stuff happens.” Most of the “weird” stuff didn't actually happen at the base though. Highland was in charge of sending people out to investigate the weird stuff. By Highland’s definition, the very technical term “weird stuff” was defined as something that happens that conventional science or even physics might condone as “impossible” or at least extremely improbable. He had always wondered what he did to deserve having to work in a place where nothing ever made sense. He’d been in the business of weird stuff for about 5 years now. Even though he liked to complain about his job, he really did enjoy it. He got to see things that nobody else sees.
His most interesting case happened about two years ago. They had started research on the possibility of dimensional travel; or if other dimensions even existed at all. On his team, he had some of the best scientists in the world. He was hoping one day to be able to open doors to other dimensions, although as of yet, that day has alluded him. Two years ago was the first real positive step taken toward the theory of dimensional doors. They had been theorizing different possibilities of energy output caused by a dimensional door opening. It was a few days after investigating energy outputs, when they noticed one that was similar to one of the possible outputs they had come up with. When they went to investigate, what they found was proof that dimensional travel was indeed possible.
At the site of the energy burst, Highland found what seemed to be an ordinary human male. He looked maybe 22 or 23 years old. After this male was questions Highland found out that his name was Alan. He also knew that Alan had claimed that he get sucked through some kind of doorway, and was sent to someplace that was not Earth. After Highland explained his research to Alan, he thought that maybe he was sent into another dimension. Alan had claimed that he went to a place with no humans. He said that there were things like talking unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns, whatever they are. The Captain asked if he could take him to his base for a physical examination, and some tests, and possibly a free trip to a psych ward.
After all the testing was done, Highland made a most unusual discovery. He felt that Alan may have really gone to another dimension. More than that, it seems he had not returned to this dimension alone. He brought back a creature that was not from this world. This other creature was apparently living inside of Alan. Through some of the tests, Highland discovered that this other creature was somehow enhancing Alan’s abilities, or at least his senses. Alan could see and hear things that are out of Alan said that when he calls the creature Shadow. Alan explained to Highland that Shadow lives inside of him, but has the ability to leave his body, and do whatever he wants. Shadow most closely resembled a wolf of some sort. Albeit, it looked like an alien wolf, but close enough. The name Shadow fit him pretty well. When he wasn't in wolf form, he looked almost exactly like an ordinary shadow. Highland decided that it would be an excellent idea to become friends with Shadow. He really didn't want to get on his bad side. Normally, Shadow prefers to stay inside Alan, as if Shadow was just a second personality to Alan. They seemed to be pretty good friends, which Highland couldn't decide if being good friends with his second personality was creepy or not. Either way, Highland also decided that it would be an excellent idea to become friends with Shadow. He really didn’t want to get on his bad side. He looked as if he could tear him apart in seconds.
Then, over the last two years, Alan has helped Highland with some of his research into dimensional portals. Alan also has been trying to help the police catch criminals whenever he can, because that’s apparently what you’re supposed to do once you find out you have some sort of superpower. He even asked me if I could get him a police radio scanner so he could know where he needed to help. “Everyone loves to see themselves as heroes.” Highland thought. Alan was different, however. It was like he did it just because he felt it was the right thing to do. He didn’t seem to demand attention or thanks. In fact, he seemed to demand to not be thanked. Highland felt that his heart was truly in the right place. Either way, Alan liked to spread Hope wherever he can. “He works hard for no reward.” Highland thought. “I’ll have to see what I can do about that.”
“I’m going to go for a walk, Mom. I won’t be too long.” Alan called into the house.
Alan would periodically go for a walk and come back an hour later. He would just walk through his neighborhood, back and forth. He always said that he needed to clear his head, which Alan found that he needed, or maybe rather wanted, to do a lot for the last couple of years. A couple years ago something happened to him that only a handful of people know about, and probably even fewer understand. He didn’t even fully understand what had happened. Al he knew was that he was given the opportunity to help those in need, and he couldn’t walk away from that, at least not in good conscience.
Alan started his walk through his neighborhood. He was thinking about all that he did. He looked down at the necklace sitting around his neck. He was told that it represented Hope. It also represented his friends. He felt that it could bring his friends together. Right now, he felt that together with his friends, he could do anything.
When he was in that other world, he had the opportunity to spread Hope to others. He felt like that was what he was there for. It was as if his whole reason for living was to give Hope to others. He seemed to be pretty good at it so far. Whether is was Hope or faith, he was willing to believe that he could help others. While in the other dimension, he helped save the world one time, and he made several friends over the course of a week or so. Friends that he was losing hope that he would ever see again. “Humph,” Alan thought, “I’m losing hope in something. How ironic.”
Sunset Shimmer walked down the hallways of Canterlot Castle. Usually she saw guards at pretty much every corridor. Right now, though, she saw none. Whatever sort of situation the guards had called Princess Celestia to it had to be something big. However, her mind was too much on attempting to find the spell book to really think too much about it. Sunset knew this castle pretty well at this point, and was able to travel its halls with ease. She was at first worried about getting into the Starswirl the Bearded section. Only the guards know the magic to access that portion of the castle, and she wasn’t sure that they would let her in without some good reason.
When she reached her target section in the Canterlot archives, she realized that there were no guards stationed here either. That would make it easier for her to sneak in. A simple teleporting spell should do the trick, and in a few seconds she was successfully into the Starswirl section. She would have to work fast. The last thing she wanted to do was to get caught and have Celestia find out she’s been sneaking around a section she wasn’t sure she was really allowed in. She worked her around the room. “Celestia probably would put this kind of power near the back, away from peering eyes. She looked at the hundreds upon hundreds of books and scrolls lying at the shelves of the room. Most, probably untouched since the day they were placed here.
For no reason in particular, at least no reason Sunset could figure out, her body wandered over to a bookcase that was probably filled up the least. It was probably a newer bookcase that they had yet been able to fill up all the way. She went right to the 2nd shelf from the bottom, and grabbed a book with her magic. She had no idea why she chose this book instead of one of the others in the room. It was as if it were calling out to her. She opened up the giant tome. The table of contents in the front of the book read off every spell that was listed in the book. Sunset looked through the table of contents. The book numbered off all the spells it contained with their names. Sunset did a double take as she looked the contents up and down. There were 50 spells listed, each with the same name: “Dimensional Portals” She flipped though the rest of the book. As far as she could tell every single page looked exactly like the others. They each contained the exact same spell.
She looked closer at one of the pages. She examined the spell. “I’ve never seen a spell like this. I don’t know if I have what it takes to learn this spell.”
Sunset thought for a minute then looked up with a determined look on her face. “I’m going to prove to Celestia that I don’t need friends in order to become stronger. I’ll show her that I’m going to become one of the highest level unicorns, and I’ll do it quicker than she could imagine. This spell should be enough proof. If I can make this work, Celestia will have to accept that I don’t need to waste my time with the Magic of Friendship.”
Sunset looked over it one more time until she was sure she understood the spell. She then gathered all of her energy, both magical and otherwise. She took a deep breath and activated her magic. Even as her magic just started she could feel her energy slipping away. The spell was sucking an enormous amount of power from her. She could already feel her body protesting under the strain. He legs felt like rubber. She could feel herself about ready to collapse. She forced herself to stand strong. She wanted to at least be able to cast it once. A few seconds later, her endurance paid off. An extremely bright light penetrated Sunset’s closed eyes. She opened her eyes. She tried to look past the dots dancing in front of them, and saw that her spell had succeeded. She had opened a door to what she presumed, according to the title of the spell, was a different dimension. She only caught a brief glimpse of her success for a few seconds. Sunset started to sway for a second as darkness overcame Sunset, as she fainted from the strain.
“Do you think we will ever get the opportunity to see Equestria ever again?” Alan asked out loud. Nobody seemed to be around, yet Alan heard an answer in reply.
“I know Shadow, but we don’t have too much chance to relax. “
“I know I know. We’ve got a job to do. I just wish we could take a day off every once in a while.”
“I’m sorry, Shadow. You’re right. I---
A huge blast of light blew up right in front of them. Alan looked at what it was, and saw something he recognized. He saw a door that Alan remembered seeing two years ago. Wherever this door went, he had to let Highland know. Highland could trace Alan, and map out his destination. Hopefully, soon, Highland will be able to put together some sort of map of dimensions.
Alan pulled a Bluetooth headset from his pocket and called Caption Highland. “Hi Captain. It’s Alan. I think I may have found some sort of dimensional door. I’ll go investigate as soon as you give me the green light.” Alan listened for the reply. “Of course, sir, I’m always careful. No Jim. That was not supposed to be sarcastic. Oh please, it’s been months since I accidentally almost blew myself up. Yeah yeah yeah, Whatever, Jim. I’m going in whether you’re ready to trace or not."
Another pause
"Alright then, here I go.”
With that, Alan walked through the portal, and disappeared in a flash of light, as the door closed behind him.
Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
“Your Highness” one of the royal guards spoke to Celestia, “There is a unicorn outside the gates claiming that he will destroy a portion of Canterlot, if we do not meet his demands.”
“What? And just what are his demands?” Celestia asked.
“He’s asking for 5 million bits, as well as safe passage out of Equestria.” The guard answered
Celestia thought for a second before pressing on, “And just how is he planning on destroying a part of Canterlot?”
“He’s holding some sort of device in his magical grip. We can’t seem to break through his magic, no matter how many unicorn guards we have. None of our magic can seem to overpower his. We fear that this device might set off some sort of weapon, or maybe set of explosives. We can’t let him use that device.”
“Let me see if I can bring him to his senses” Princess Celestia said as they reached the main gate of the castle.
“Your Highness” said the both the royal guards at once, as they both jumped in front of her path, blocking the door out of the castle. “It’s far too dangerous. We suggest that you stay here in case things get out of control.”
“I will not sit here and hide while the lives of ponies in Equestria are at risk.” Celestia said defiantly.
Without another word the guards parted and let her pass, but stuck close to her sides as she walked out the main gate.
Alan walked through to the other side of the door that had appeared in front of him just a minute ago. As soon as he stepped out, the door shut in a blast of light. He put his hand up to his Bluetooth earpiece. “Jim, can you hear me? I’m not sure of my location yet. Let’s see…” Alan turned around and saw an unconscious Sunset Shimmer lying on the ground. Alan couldn’t help but smile. “Yes Jim. I’m back in Equestria all right. I’ve got to go. I’ll check in later.” Alan walked up to the nearly motionless pony on the floor. He put his hand on Sunset to check for a pulse. He felt one, and allowed himself a sigh of relief. “I wonder what happened to her” Alan wondered out loud. He took another look around the room. It was then that he found a book in which he found familiar lying on the floor next to the pony. He looked at the open book, and read the title of the page. “This little one must have activated this spell, but maybe fainted from it as well. Maybe it took more energy than she had. Not that I know all that much about magic.” He was about to try to move the pony onto one of the couple of benches he saw a few feet away when he heard a commotion outside.
Alan moved to a window of the room. The first thing he noticed was that he was not on the ground floor of wherever he was. He heard a scream, and what sounded like orders being given. The sounds were coming from the left. Alan opened the window. Looking down, he saw that the roofline ran directly underneath the window. He couldn’t see much from the window, so he climbed out and stood on the roof of the building. He decided to stay low on the building top, so he wouldn’t be seen. He moved a little to get a better vantage point of what was happening. In doing so, he was able to get a look at the architecture of the building he was standing on, and thought it reminded him of a castle. A specific castle to be, well, specific. He knew he was standing on top of Canterlot Castle.
Alan looked down to the street where to commotion was going on. He saw a whole group of armored ponies. Alan figured they were guards. Especially because they were standing next to a pony he recognized. The pony stood taller than any others Alan had seen. She had both wings and a horn. “Princess” Alan murmured to himself.
Alan heard someone yell “Stay away from me, or I’ll send Canterlot up in smoke. It’ll kill everypony here. Alan looked a little to his right to try to follow the voice of the one who just spoke. The one who gave the threat was a unicorn. He had green eyes and a brown coat. With Alan’s improved senses, thanks to Shadow, he noticed something on the unicorn’s horn. He didn’t think too much about it then, because he noticed that he was holding something in his magical grip. Alan thought it looked like it had a button on top. Then he put two and two together. “Explosives.” Alan murmured to himself. He needed to get that device away from that unicorn.
“You can’t get though to me with your magic! I have a magic suppressant. Your magic can’t touch me.” The unicorn said.
“That’s why none of the guards had grabbed the device from him. It’s because they can’t grab it with their own magic.” Alan said, “It’s almost like some sort of force field. Very Sci-fi-y.” Alan paused a second before adding: “Fascinating.”
“Where did he get a magic suppressor that powerful?” Celestia asked the guards “Those things are only used by the royal guard, and are defiantly not supposed to be able to stop magic from an outside source. They’re supposed to just stop the one wearing it from using magic. How did he manage to get it to repel our magic while allowing him to use his?”
“Alan, we have to do something. We have to stop this.” Shadow said while still inside Alan’s body.
“You’re right, Shadow.” Alan stood up, and put on his serious face. “Stop it, we shall!”
“Shall? was the last time you heard someone say ‘shall?”
“Oh, shush”
“Shush? Really?”
“Shadow? Remind me why we’re friends.”
“Because I’m awesome!!”
“Oh yeah,” Alan said, rolling his eyes, “that must be it.”
“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy my company.” Shadow continued.
“It’s true. I guess I have to admit that.”
“See? There you go”
“Alright Shadow, give me a shadowrang.” Alan requested, focusing back on the matter at hand.
“Coming right up” Shadow said.
Alan pressed his index finger and thumb together on his right hand. A surge of black and purple energy shot down his arm, and a second later, and object appeared between his two clinched fingers. Alan called it a shadowrang because it almost resembled a batarang from his favorite superhero. Through because Shadow was the one that used his energy to create them, he called them shadowrangs. Using Shadow to help enhance his senses and skills, he threw his shadowrang toward the unicorn. With perfect aim, the shadowrang flew down, and hit its target: The object that the unicorn was threatening to use to blow up Canterlot.
“Where are my 5 million bits?” the unicorn demanded.
“First put that thing down, then we’ll talk about the bits.” Celestia responded calmly.
“No!” the unicorn shouted, “The bits first, then see my safe passage out of Equestria. After that, I can then, and only then, give your city back its safety.”
Then out of nowhere, Alan’s shadowrang flew down and struck; sticking right into the device the unicorn was holding with his magic. Startled, the unicorn dropped the device as the force of the shadowrang sent it skidding across the floor. Almost instantly after the device hit the floor, the unicorn was tackled by a dozen royal guards. The royal guards removed the magic suppressor previously worn by the unicorn, and attached a new one on his horn. This one preventing the unicorn from performing magic himself, instead of the other way around.
After the unicorn was successfully detained, Princess Celestia walked over to the device. She grabbed it with her magic, and pulled the shadowrang that was lodged in the device. As she was doing so, she gave her guards their next orders. “Take him down to the jail and question him.” She said referring to the currently nameless unicorn, “I want the rest of the guard to sweep the city for any explosives or weapons, and clear them out. Alert me if you find anything suspicious. I’m going to check on my student.”
“Yes, your highness.” All the guards said in unison.
They all went off to comply with their orders, letting Princess Celestia walk back toward the castle alone so she could think. She looked back down at the object in her magical grasp. She thought the object looked familiar. The alicorn thought back for few seconds before she remembered where she had seen it before, but more importantly, who it probably came from.
Celestia looked up to the general direction she thought the shadowrang was flung from: the castle. “It looked as if it came from a higher elevation” she thought to herself. She looked towards the castle’s upper levels. She saw somepony close a window on the second story of the castle, but she suspected that it wasn’t actually a pony at all. The window was in Starswirl the bearded wing, if she was not mistaken. That could only mean one thing: Sunset Shimmer. After that story she got done telling her student, she should have known this was going to happen. Sunset had found that spell book.
Alan climbed back in through the window. “I hope no one really saw me.” Alan said shutting the window. “I don’t want to cause a panic.”
Alan walked over to Sunset. He though that he saw her stir for a second. He kneeled down to get as low to her as he could. “Hey, little one. Are you ok? Can you hear me?” Sunset didn’t respond, but Alan noticed that her breathing seemed to be regular, which was a good sign.
“Alan, I hear footsteps—er, hoofsteps or whatever. Someone’s coming.” Shadow said
“Go see who it is.”
Shadow swept out of Alan’s body and moved across the floor. “A moving shadow actually looks creepy when it’s not really attached to anyone.” Alan thought to himself, before turning his attention back to Sunset.
Shadow slid around the corner, remaining flat to the floor so that he truly did resemble a shadow. Well, as close to a showdown as you can with red glowing eyes. Shadow slid through the gate and peered down the hallway.
“It’s Celestia accompanied by a royal guard.” Shadow said, sliding back and reentering Alan’s body.
Where Alan and Sunset were currently located, no one would be able to see them from the doorway.
“Stay here with her.” Alan said to Shadow, “I’ll go meet Celestia.”
“What? Are you afraid that this pony is going to jump up and kill us if we don’t keep watch on her?”
“Just watch her, Shadow. Please.”
Shadow was taken aback by Alan’s almost pleading voice. “Of course I will, Alan.”
Princess Celestia walked up to the gate of the Starswirl the Bearded section. The royal guard opened the door for her, and she walked in.
“Hello, Princess.” Alan said as he walked around the corner of one of the bookshelves to present himself to the Princess. “Long time, no see.”
The royal guard with Celestia, knowing that nopony should be in this section of the archives, jumped into action. He put himself between Celestia and Alan; ready to do whatever he needed to protect his princess.
“It’s ok.” Princess Celestia said putting a hoof on the guard’s shoulder. “He’s a friend. You can wait outside.”
“Your Highness.” The guard looked back to Alan and gave him politely bowed and left the room.
“Alan.” Celestia said as she and Alan stepped closer to each other. When they were close enough, Alan wrapped his arms around the alicorn’s neck, slipping her into a hug.
“It’s been too long” Alan said still hugging Celestia
“Yes. I didn’t think humans lived over a thousand years.”
Alan broke the hug, took a step back, and made eye contact with Celestia. “What do you mean 1000 years? It’s been just over 2.”
“What do you mean, only two years?”
“I mean, it was close to two years since I was here last. Besides, humans haven’t even come close to living for 1000 years.”
“Then, I don’t understand. How could 1000 years pass here, but only 2 in your dimension?”
“I don’t know, but we can try to figure that out later. For right now, there is somepony over there. She’s unconscious at the moment, and I’m worried about her. We should probably get her to the hospital or something to get her checked out.”
“Yes, of course. Is her coat an amber color? Red and yellow mane? A sun for a cutie mark?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s her. I trust you know her.”
“She is currently my personal protégé: my student. Speaking on that note, Alan, do you think, seeing as you’re here not anyway, we could sit down and talk? I could use some advice.”
“Of course, Princess. I’m always available whenever you may need me.”
Celestia used her magic to grab Sunset off the couch. “Come,” she said to Alan as they walked towards the door, “we’ll drop her off at the infirmary, then we can sit down and talk.”
“Sounds good to me.” Alan Replied.
As they opened the door and stepped into the hallway of the castle, Princess Celestia turned to the royal guard standing guard. “Alan, here,” she said pointing a hoof at the human, “is my esteemed guest, and therefore I would like him to be treated as such.”
“Yes, your highness. I will spread the word immediately.” The guard said before bowing and then running off in the other direction.
“How’s Princess Luna doing? I haven’t seen her around.” Alan asked after they had stated walking to the infirmary.
Alan could almost see Celestia cringe at that question. It was as if Alan had hit a bad topic of conversation with her. He wasn’t sure why, but whatever it was, it made her very sad. He could feel it.
It was part of the “gift” he had received when he first appeared in Equestria. He could feel the emotions of those around him. It was more of a curse, really. He didn’t like to feel others in emotional pain. He always did what he could to help others when they were hurting, and was proud to be able to help others, but it kind of sucked because he didn’t know how to turn it off. Wherever he went, he could feel everyone who was happy or sad, angry or depressed, and pretty much any other emotion you could think of. All of these emotions bombarded him 24 hours a day. Shadow tried to help by attempting to block some of them. It helped a little, but because they both shared thoughts, it all hit Alan anyway. Over the last couple of years, he had just learned to deal with it, with varying degrees of success, depending on the day.
Celestia still hadn’t answered about her sister, and Alan was afraid to ask any other questions in case he hit any other sour topics. They walked the rest of the way to the infirmary in silence. Alan waited outside in the hall, as Celestia took Sunset and gave her over to the doctor currently on duty.
“I think she may have put too much energy into a spell. I just want to make sure she’ll be ok. I’m not sure how much the spell drained her.” Celestia told the doctor. “I have some business to attend to. Please inform me of her condition when you find something out.”
“Yes, your Highness” the doctor replied.
“Come, Alan.” Celestia said as she reappeared back in the highway. “Are you hungry?”
Alan’s stomach answered that question with a well times growl. “Hmm, I guess that means that I am.”
The alicorn giggled at that. “Then let’s go to my personal dining room. I will tell you about my sister there.”
For a personal dining room, it sure was huge. Unnecessarily huge, if you asked Alan. He wanted to ask why she needed so much space for a dining room, but he was afraid that it might bring up some more sour memories, so he just let it go.
Shadow decided that it wanted to have a seat of his own, so he detached from Alan, and moved over to the chair next to him. He formed up into a wolf form and climbed up onto the chair.
“Why do you need such a big room to eat in?” Shadow asked.
Alan had to hold back the urge to facepalm. Sometimes Shadow didn’t always think before he talked.
“Oh, I am so sorry, Shadow. I neglected to say hi to you. How have you been?” Celestia responded,
“I don’t think there is anything I can do to keep Alan out of trouble. Trouble seems to find him pretty easily.”
“Anyway,” Alan interrupted before Shadow managed to totally embarrass him, “you said you wanted to tell me something, Princess.”
“Yes,” Princess Celestia said, “A lot has happened here since you left. I don’t know how 1000 years could pass here, but only two in your world, but I know that it really has almost been that long since I had seen you last. I can still remember the day you helped us find the Elements of Harmony. The day when you led both my sister and I to the Tree of Harmony. The day you freed Equestria of Discord.”
“Now just wait a minute, Celestia.” Alan interrupted, “I did not free Equestria from Discord. You did that yourself. I just helped you find the keys you needed.”
“Yes, I know, but I still can’t thank you enough for what you did. Anyway, I believe I owe you an explanation of my sister’s….disappearance.” She took a deep breath before she continued, “After Discord was defeated, Equestria was still in shambles. Ponies needed someone who would help put Equestria back to the way it was, or better off, if possible. Luna and I decided to take on this task. Together, from our old castle, which, today, lies in ruins in the Everfree Forest, we used the powers of Harmony to help put Equestria back together again. One of the first things we changed was the way discord changed day and night. When he ruled, there was no rhyme or reason to his day and night. It was as if day and night changed randomly. In order to break some of the chaos, and allow ponies to live happily, we had to make regular day and night schedules for Equestria.
I decided to take control of the Sun, and my sister took the moon. Together, we brought back both regular days and nights. Soon, we managed to bring Equestria back to where the ponies could prosper once again. Both Luna and I were both so happy we could change ponies’ lives for the better.
My happiness, however, was short lived. Soon, Luna started to become resentful of me. You see, she was mad because the ponies would play and have fun in my day, but when nighttime came around, all would hide away and sleep. She felt that nopony ever looked at or even cared about her beautiful night that she spent so long trying to make perfect. Her hatred and jealousy grew so large that it consumed her. It was almost as if she wasn’t herself anymore. She had turned into this, this monster. I tried to reason with her, but in the long run…I…I had no choice.”
Celestia lowered her head, so that her eyes were no longer visible to Alan. He didn’t need to see her eyes, however, to know that she was crying. Alan got up from his chair he was sitting on. He walked around the table and sat right next to the princess. He put a comforting hand on her back, and began to slowly moving his hand up and down her upper back.
“I…banished her. I banished her to the moon……for a thousand years.”
Alan could see her tears falling onto the table.
“I had to. She was going to hurt somepony. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Alan was about to say something when Celestia turned toward Alan. She threw her two front hooves around him, and began sobbing horribly. The two of them hung there for several minutes, the only sound in the room was of Celestia’s crying.
Alan was never one for watching sappy tv shows or going out to see tearjerker movies. It wasn’t so much because he didn’t like them; it was more because it affected him so much. Seeing someone cry always made him cry in response. He didn’t like to see anyone sad. So with Celestia crying her heart out on Alan’s shoulder, he could help but cry himself.
Shadow, still sitting in his original seat, sighed quietly. “No matter how many times Alan explains it to me; I still do not understand crying.” He said to himself. He wasn’t a creature of emotions, after all. His species never had any way to show happiness or sadness; anger or jealousy. Now, with all these emotions hitting his best friend all the time, he was beginning to learn about them. He didn’t even think he was capable of crying, but sometimes, when Alan cried, it made him feel incredible sadness too. It was as if Shadow was feeling the sadness, without the tears that come with it.
“Of course,” Shadow continued to think to himself, “I don’t see too much sadness around Alan. He definitely liked to be happy, like, all the time.” Shadow liked happiness too, but as of yet, as never seen another human display it so much. One thing was sure: Alan sure knew how to always see something good in any situation, no matter how grim. Even in the tensest situations, Alan always remained calm and did his best to smile through it. Shadow once asked him how he managed to do that. He responded, “It’s my way of staying focused on the situation. If you let the stress get to you in a dangerous situation, then you might miss something that’s right in front of your face.”
Whether it was true or not, it seemed to have worked for both of them thus far. He and Alan had been able to help out the human world in the last two years. Together, they’ve stopped countless thieves, as well as some bigger crises including one or two I’m-going-to-take-over-the-world plots. Together, they’ve done very well to help make his world a better place, just like Alan always wanted. Shadow just hoped that they would be ready for what’s about to happen. He had a bad feeling about being back here in Equestria. He just felt like something terrible was about to happen.
There was a knock on the door to Celestia’s dining room.
The princess broke the hug with Alan, and did her best to dry her tears, while Alan did the same. After she was sure all the tears were gone.
“Enter” Celestia called loud enough to be heard outside the heavy doors.
With magic, the doors to the dining room opened, and another royal guard walked in. After a quick bow, he started. “Your Majesty, I bring news from the infirmary. The doctors say that Sunset Shimmer is fine, and just needs some more time to rest to get her energy back up. They are ready to transport her back to her own quarters.”
“Thank you,” The alicorn said, “Tell the doctors that I will meet them at Sunset’s room”
“Very good, Your Highness” The guard responded and galloped off.
“Let’s go, you two. I’ll finish my story on my way. Sorry about my breakdown, you two. If you’d like to come as well, I’m sure Sunset will want to meet you. After all, I believe she’s the one responsible for bringing you here again.”
“Thank you, Princess.” Alan said, “I would love to meet her. Just remember, Celestia, it’s ok. If you ever need someone to cry to, I’ll always be there for you. Anytime you need.”
“Thank you, Alan. You really are a true, true friend.”
And that gave Celestia an idea.
Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Highland said, “Are you sure this information is correct?”
“Yes sir. These instruments don’t lie.” came the response, “He’s been sent to the past, as well as a different dimension.”
Highland sighed, “Alright then. Get Alan on the line. That’s some info he probably needs to know about.”
“I can’t sir; I can’t seem to get a connection.”
Alan, Shadow, and Celestia walked through the castle heading for Sunset Shimmer’s room.
“You see Alan, there’s this prophesy talking about my sister: ‘On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.’ I truly believe that Sunset Shimmer will help me reunite with my sister when the time comes.”
“So, that’s why you took her on as your personal student?”
“Exactly. I want her to learn about the Magic of Friendship. I think it may be the only way to free my sister. More than that though, I believe that Sunset is destined for even more greatness, but it will only happen if she has friends by her side. The problem is she doesn’t want to make friends. She thinks it’s a waste of time. She’s seems to be more concerned with learning how to put more power into her spells.”
“Have you told Sunset about all of that?” Alan asked.
“I have, and she accused me of simply using her to get what I wanted, but that’s not true. At least not most of it. It is true that I want my sister back with me, safe and sound, but it’s much more than that. I need Sunset to be ready for what will happen when my sister returns to Equestria from her prison on the moon. You see, after Luna had gotten angry with the ponies, her hatred and anger had consumed her. It had changed her. She took on the persona of Nightmare Moon, and a very evil persona it was. Using the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon didn’t destroy Nightmare Moon. Wherever she is on the moon right now walks Nightmare Moon; not my sister. The Elements of Harmony should have changed her back to her normal self. I think the Elements failed to change her back because I was not able to harness the Elements’ full power.”
“Why couldn’t you use them at full power?” Alan asked.
“The Elements of Harmony were never meant to be used by only one pony; no matter how strong he or she is. Each of the six Elements represents something different, and their true strength is only awakened when it has found the pony that represents the same thing. Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty, Generously, and Magic. Once we find the ones that also represent these six, we will have found the bearers of Harmony. I believe that Sunset represents Magic, as I have never really seen any other unicorn that has shown as much promise as she has. That is why I want her to study the Magic of Friendship. When Nightmare Moon returns to Equestria after the curse is broken, I will need the six bearers of Harmony to stop her, and in doing so, return my sister to me.”
“Sounds fair.” Alan replied, “What can I do to help?”
“I don’t know. I just - I don’t know.” Celestia said.
The way she said that made Alan think that she might be about to cry again.
“Listen, Princess. If she’s the one who brought me here, I’m sure she’ll want to talk to me or something. I’ll try to figure out what her goals are and then maybe I can help you find a way to talk to her based on her goals. Maybe we can find a win-win here somewhere”
“Oh, thank you, Alan.” Princess Celestia said, “It would mean a lot to me if Sunset and I could work together to solve this.
They both got to Sunset’s room in the castle. The door was propped open when they arrived. Stationed outside the room were two royal guards. When princess Celestia got near, the guards bowed slightly, but did nothing as Celestia walked through the doorway followed by Alan. Inside, the doctor and one of the nurses were putting Sunset to bed.
The doctor turned when he heard someone walk into the bedroom.
“Princess.” He said, “Sunset is going to be fine. She’s sleeping at the moment. I should think she will wake up not too long from now. When she awakes, she may experience dizziness or light-headedness. So, I would suggest she stays in bed for a little bit after waking up to give her body some more time to adjust.”
“Thank you Doctor.” Celestia said as the doctor walked back through the bedroom doors.
“Oh, Sunset,” she said, “you should have known that the spell would have been too much for you. Why did put yourself at risk without first talking to me.”
“Just remember, Princess,” Alan responded, “This isn’t your fault, and besides, she’s going to be fine. Now, why don’t you go about your day. I’ll be sure to let you know when she awakes. You need some time to relax. You’ve hit several emotions today, from anxiety to sadness. I’ll watch her. I promise.”
“Thanks, Alan. Maybe I should try to relax some. Please, just let me know when she wakes up.”
“Of course, Princess.”
With that, Princess Celestia walked out of the room, closing the doors behind her.
“Are we really just going to sit here until she wakes up?” Shadow asked as he appeared in his usual wolf-thing form.
“Got anything better to do?”
“Well, um…Maybe?”
Alan just rolled his eyes. He noticed that he did that a lot with Shadow.
“But why did you just send Celestia away?” Shadow pressed.
Alan paused a second before answering. “I know you felt it, Shadow. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. I think that Sunset is somehow connected. I think she maybe even knows something. And, if what Celestia told us was true, Sunset may not fully trust the princess. I thought that maybe Sunset would be more willing to tell us something if Celestia wasn’t in the room.”
“So, we’re not actually going to get Celestia when she wakes up, like the princess requested, are we?”
“Of course we are! Just not immediately after she wakes us. I want to be able to talk to her first.”
Shadow grinned a bit. “Clever.” He said, sounding genuinely surprised.
“You make it sound as if I’m not very clever most of the time.”
“well-l-l-l…” Shadow began.
Alan was about to open his mouth to jab Shadow with one of his best comebacks, when they both heard a sound coming from the direction of Sunset’s bed.
“She’s waking up.” Alan said out loud
Alan was surprised at how unsurprised Sunset was when she saw them. She looked back and forth between Alan and Shadow for a few seconds before saying, “The spell worked, didn’t it?”
“That depends. What spell are you talking about?”
“I found a spell that can open a door to another dimension. I activated the spell, and I think you’re the one who came through that door.”
“And what makes you think that?”
“Due to the Princess’ nagging, I’ve done a lot of studying. I’ve studied just about every type of creature that ponies know of in Equestria. I’ve never read a description of any living creature that resembles you in the least.”
“We have a smart on here, I see. It is true; I am not from this place. I come from another world entirely. I did step through a dimensional portal, and when I came out through the other side of the door, I found you unconscious. I made sure you were taken to the doctor. He checked you out and moved you to your bedroom. So, here we are.”
“Ok,” Sunset said turning to look at Shadow, “a-a-and w-what is that?” She said pointing a hoof.
“Oh, that’s just one of my best friends. His name is Shadow. I’d say his name fits pretty well, don’t you think?”
“My name is Alan, by the way. It’s nice to meet you, Sunset.”
Then all of a sudden, it was as if Sunset’s brain was done processing all the information she needed to make sense of the situation. Alan wasn’t sure how she did that so fast. He sometimes couldn’t believe some of the stuff that he saw, and he’s been through a lot in two years. Either way, Alan thought he could see a smile curl up on Sunset’s lips.
“Ha!! This’ll show Celestia! I don’t need to know any of that bogus stuff she was talking about. I managed to complete this level of spell. I’ll prove to her that I don’t need the Magic of Friendship to be successful.”
“You sound like you’re trying hard to impress the princess. Does she not believe in you?”
“She believes in me alright. She believes I can solve all of her problems for her.” Sunset said. Alan could feel her starting to get angry with Celestia.
Alan decided to remain calm, as he thought it might help Sunset calm down too, “Wanna talk about it?”
“Why would I want to talk about it to you?”
“I don’t know. Whether you tell me or not is up to you. Just remember that, as a friend, I’ll always be here for you if you need to talk, or to have a shoulder to cry on. Always remember that. Now, the princess asked me to get her when you wake up. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Come on, Shadow.”
Alan started to walk toward the bedroom door when he heard Sunset call out to him.
“Wait! You want to be my friend?”
“Of course. Why not?” Alan said turning around.
“Well, you only really met me just five minutes ago, for one thing.”
“That’s about right.” Alan said as he looked at his watch.
“I don’t get it. I’ve done nothing to earn your friendship. How can we be friends?”
Alan smiled as he walked back to Sunset’s bed. “Friendship is a mysterious thing, isn’t it? I can’t really explain it, but sometimes two creatures just become friends because maybe they see something that they have in common with each other.”
“You see something in common in us? How is that possible? We’re two totally different species.”
‘Well, if you’re looking for physical similarities: we’ve both have two eyes, two ears, a nose, and a mouth. They might not look exactly the same, but we’re more identical to each other than you might think. But, what I was referring to was the similarity of our personality.”
“For example…?” Sunset started.
“For example,” Alan continued, “there was a time in my life that I didn’t want to make friends. All I wanted to do was be alone, isolated from all others. I liked the quiet. I didn’t want to have to talk to others. I didn’t have to put up with others. I was perfectly happy being by myself, and I saw no reason to try to make friends. Friends would mean less time alone, anyway. Then, one day, I found out what it meant to have friends by my side. My little buddy, Shadow here is like, my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“Well, I don’t see my opinion changing anytime soon.” Sunset remarked.
“Neither did I, until it happened.”
“Ok. I’ll bite. Why did you all of a sudden decide to make friends?” Sunset asked, hoping that if she got Alan to stop lecturing her faster, he’d leave her alone faster.
“To be honest,” Alan continued, “it wasn’t really my choice. It was sort of thrust on me. I assume Princess Celestia told you the story about me. That’s why you tried to use the same spell, wasn’t it?”
“She told me that a friend helped her find the Pieces of Happiness or something.”
Alan laughed to himself. “They are called the Elements of Harmony, although you were close. Now, it is true that I uncovered the Elements of Harmony for the two sisters, but I didn’t really do anything after that. The defeat of Discord was entirely in their hands-er, hoofs. But let me tell you this: I didn’t have to help them. What happened here in Equestria wouldn’t affect me where I’m from. I could have just walked away from that whole mess. The reason I helped them was because that’s what friends do. I know that Princess Celestia would do the same for my world too, if she could. Friends stick by each other in times of happiness, and in times of pain. Let me tell you something, Sunset. You never know when you’re going to need someone to” Alan paused for a second, thinking about how to say it, “watch your back.” He finished.
“What are you trying to say?” Sunset asked, trying to get Alan to come to his point.
“I’m trying to say that friendship goes both ways. Whether you’ve put it up or not, I’ve accepted your friendship, Sunset. Now the question is: will you accept mine?”
Sunset sat in silence for what seemed like a good minute. She was staring into Alan’s eyes. It was as if she was trying to look into his soul. It kind of creeped Alan out, although he did his best not to show it.
Finally, Sunset answered with a single word: “Yes.”
Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
“I-I’ve never had a friend before.” Sunset said, sadly.
“Well, I just hope that I am the first of many.” Alan responded. “Just keep in mind; friends don’t have to agree on everything. Just because someone wants to do something you don’t want to do, doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends, alright?”
Sunset took in those words for a few seconds before responding. “I understand that know.”
“Good. Now I have to let the princess know that you’re awake.”
“Wait!” Sunset shouted. “Just tell one of the guards. Ask him to find the princess. I don’t want my new friends to leave right now.”
“Friends? As in more than one?” Shadow asked perking up in the corner of the room.
“Of course, Shadow. Will you accept my friendship too?”
“Absolutely! We’re like a trio now! A circle of friends.”
“Yes. I guess we are now. I’m so glad to hear that.”
While the conversation between Sunset and Shadow had been going on, Alan had made his way to the bedroom door. He asked one of the guards stationed at her door to go find the princess and tell her that Sunset was awake. When he walked back to Sunset, he found her and Shadow laughing together.
“I see you’ve connected with Shadow’s soft side. He may look mean and tough, but he’s really a pussycat on the inside.”
“Hey!” Shadow protested.
“Hay is for-” Alan glanced at Sunset, “uh…nevermind.”
“Alan. Before the princess comes, do you think you could tell me the story of the first time you came to Equestria? Princess Celestia told me pieces of it, but didn’t go into much detail.”
“uh…sure. I can do that. Let’s see: Before I came here and met the princess and Shadow, I was just an average human. As I said earlier, I didn’t have any desire to try to make friends. I kinda liked being isolated from the rest of the world.” Alan paused at that. “Now that I think back on it, it’s sad really. Ironically, even though I didn’t want to make friends, I wanted to be able to help people. I hated to see people sad. I did my best to try to make everybody happy. I still try to do that to this day, although deep inside, I know it’s a losing battle.” Alan paused again, looking a bit sad himself at that last thought. “Anyway, here’s my story:
One day I was minding my own business, sitting in my house. I wasn’t doing anything interesting. I was just trying to find a few minutes to relax after a rough week. My relaxation didn’t last very long, though. If I remember correctly, I think I was about to fall asleep on the couch when this blinding white light appeared out of nowhere. Needless to say, it startled me. I’m not totally sure, but the first thing I did was probably scream out of fear.”
“You probably did, knowing you” Shadow remarked.
“Oh, shut up Shadow.” Alan responded, turning back to Sunset. Alan could hear the snickers coming from Shadow. “See what I have to deal with everyday?”
Sunset giggled at both of them. “Don’t act like you two aren’t best friends. Even I can see that.”
Alan smiled. “You have good instincts about friendship, my dear. I can see why Celestia picked you to help her.” Sunset wrapped Alan into a hug. “Thank you.” she said simply. “So, what happened next?”
‘Well let’s see. Oh yeah, that super bright light ended up being a door that brought me to Equestria. The force of the door slinging me through it knocked me out, so I don’t know what was happening to me at this point, but I do know that my mind was still working. I figured I was unconscious, and I hoped that this was a dream because when I opened my eyes, I found myself floating in some sort of void. It’s really hard to explain, but it was kinda like a big open empty room.’”
“It’s funny you said that, because that ‘void’ was simply your subconscious.”
Alan gave shadow a look.
“What? You’re the one who said that your mind was a big empty place” Shadow defended.
“I did kind of walk right into that one, didn’t I?”
“Yep!!” Shadow said, laughing.
“Well, either way, here’s where Shadow comes into the picture. Just a couple minutes after I found myself floating around, a creature appeared several feet away from me. I still remember what he said to me, almost word for word.
‘Alan, I’ve been waiting for you.’ He said. ‘I need your help. A great evil is rising, and you’re the only one who can stop it’
‘W-w-who a-are you?’ I stumbled over my words, ‘A-and what are you t-t-talking about?’
‘I am but a messenger, and I have delivered my message. I don’t have too much more information. However, I am instructed to provide assistance. Not that I have much choice. I’m trapped in this amulet you have around your neck.’
‘What amulet?’
‘Look down.’
I looked down and saw I was wearing some sort of necklace. I had not been wearing one earlier. ‘What is this thing? Where did it come from? I’ve never seen it before.’
‘I’ve been trapped in that necklace for years.’ Shadow said, ‘I don’t know exactly how long, I lost track after the first ten or so.’
‘So, is that where we are? Are we in the amulet?’ I asked.
‘You do not seem afraid of me.’ Shadow said, ignoring my question.
‘I guess that’s because I know this is some sort of dream. You’re not real.’
Shadow gave a laugh, ‘If you think that this is a dream now, just wait until you wake up.’ There was a slight audible rumble in the world around them. ‘Which, I believe, you’re about to do right now.’
Shadow was right. What I just encountered was nothing compared to what I was about to see. I was about to wake up in a world full of ponies.
Of course, I didn’t know exactly who they were at the time, but when I woke up from my vision with Shadow, the first thing I saw was Princess Luna and Celestia stating at me, literally just inches from my face. I freaked out a little, more startled then anything. I tried to move out and away from the two ponies looking at me. In my haste to move, I bopped Celestia right in the muzzle.”
“Really? You hit Celestia?” Sunset asked.
“Well, ‘hit’ may be a bit strong, but, I guess, essentially I did. Now, what I found out next was pretty interesting. I learned that Shadow could talk to me at any time, but I would be the only one who could hear it. It was as if we could speak to my mind, rather than to me. It’s kind of weird until you get used to it.
‘Don’t just stand there like an idiot, Alan. Introduce yourself. They need your help.’ Shadow said to me in my mind.
‘uh…hi’ I said stupidly. ‘My name is Alan. Uh, it’s-it’s nice to meet you.’ I paused, and then shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. ‘Wait wait wait. I’m sorry for being so direct but, what are you?’
I remembered noticing that Celestia didn’t seem as surprised I would have thought she would have been. I guess it was because she’s probably seen a lot of stuff over the thousands of years she’s been alive.
Anyway, long story short, after our introductions, and discovering who everyone was and where everyone came from, I found myself overly exhausted. I wasn’t sure why, It was only early afternoon. I don’t exactly remember what happened next, but I think I may have collapsed.”
“You seem to do that a lot.” Sunset remarked
“Well, you get thrown into a whole new world that you didn’t know existed and let’s see how you do.” Alan said as he smiled.
“Back to the story then.” Alan continued, “The next thing I know, I’m back in that same void I found myself before. Shadow was once again there with me.
‘Welcome back.’ He said.
‘This time I’d like some answers.’ I told him.
‘Ask, and I will answer, if I can.’
‘What are you?’
‘I am a creature of shadows. I can blend in with shadows, and can even become a shadow. I suppose you could call me a shapeshifter of sorts. I was sent here to assist you in your mission to save the world from evil. I was told that the one that the amulet picks will be the best suited to the task and the amulet has chosen you, and thus released me into the bearer. That would be you.’
‘Now just wait a minute. What are you talking about? You must have gotten the wrong guy.’ I argued. ‘Do I look like someone capable of saving the world?’
Shadow gave an almost eerie smile, ‘Oh, you have no idea of what you’re capable of now that you have me on your side.’
That last statement really freaked me out a bit. Either way, I gathered up some courage to ask my next question: ‘What kind of evil are we talking about anyway?’
The war has been brewing for centuries. It’s the battle of Hope vs. Fear. For many years, Hope and Fear have fought small battles. They go on all the time in your world, doesn’t it? Killings. muggings. Any crime that is committed, no matter how small, is a victory for the side of Fear. When those criminals get caught, that is a step for Hope. Unfortunately, the time is quickly approaching when Fear itself will come down and destroy everything in its path. We cannot let it do that. That is where you come in Alan. You have been chosen to take up the banner of Hope. As of this day forth, you ARE Hope.’
‘What do you mean, ‘I am hope’?’ I asked.
‘The Element of Hope has chosen you. You now represent all that is Hope. You must build your army to fight back the forces of Fear. We are lucky, however, as I don’t believe Fear has gathered its army yet. That gives us some time to get ours prepared.’
‘Now, just slow down here. This is a lot to take in. I still think you’ve got the wrong person.’ I argued.
‘You need to stop fighting it. You’ve been transported to a dimension of ponies, and now you’re talking to me. I think you should accept this.’
I was ready to fight this some more, but when I thought about everything that seems to have happened to me, I didn’t know what more to say. Maybe he was right. I still didn’t understand anything that was going on, but I couldn’t really argue with what had happened to me.
I sighed, ‘Ok, tell me more.’ I said simply.
‘There are seven Elements of Fear: Deceit, Sadness, Treachery, Cruelty, Greed, Magic, and Fear itself. Together these seven are almost unstoppable. Fortunately, we have seven of our own. We have the Elements of Hope: Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Magic, and Hope itself. Hope and Fear together create the Elements of Harmony. You represent Hope, and as you can see, both sides have the Element of Magic. You have to find the other Elements of Hope quickly. We don’t have time to waste.’
‘How do I find the others?’ I asked.
‘You must first find the Elements themselves, and then we can locate the bearers of those Elements.’
‘Ok then. Where are the other Elements?’
‘I don’t know.’ Shadow said honestly, ‘I think your Element of Hope will react when we get close to one. Perhaps the alicorns can help us as well. Anyway, I hope you’re rested up; It’s morning.’
‘How can you tell?’ I asked. ‘I thought I was asleep.’
‘You are, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see. I am in your mind, body, and soul. I can see, hear, and smell when you can’t. We can use that to our advantage.’
‘Now just wait a minute. I don’t think I like you living in my mind, body, or soul. That’s just not right. Not to mention it’s downright creepy.’
‘Too bad. We’re connected now.’
‘But…’
‘Please, Alan. I know you want to do the right thing. Otherwise the Element of Hope wouldn’t have chosen you.’
‘Why didn’t I get a choice if I wanted to be picked?’
‘It would be nice if the world always asked us if it’s ok before it does something, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t care if we don’t want bad things to happen to us, and that’s why the good guys have to be ready to help those in need. And I know deep inside you know it too. That’s why you’re going to say ‘yes’ because you can’t stand to see others hurting.’
‘How did you know?’ I asked.
‘I’m living inside you, remember? I know what you’re thinking.’”
“Whoa! You know what Alan is thinking?” Sunset asked Shadow.
“Yeah,” Shadow responded, “We really are connected like that. I can feel his thoughts alright, but it goes farther than that. I can feel his pain too. Anything he feels I feel too, even when my body isn’t inside him, like now.”
“That’s so cool!” Sunset said enthusiastically. “But now tell me more about the Elements of Harmony. Did you end up finding the Elements of Hope? Did you have your big battle between Hope and Fear?”
“To answer your first question: Yes, the Elements of Harmony have been found. For your second question: No. Not yet. And I think that’s where you come in, Sunset.”
“What do you mean?”
“Princess Celestia thinks you’re one of the bearers of the Elements of Hope. That’s why she wants you to learn everything you can about the Elements of Harmony. She wants to make sure you’re ready for the task. She isn’t using you, Sunset. She’s trying to prepare you.”
“I-I guess you’re right. I have to apologize to the Princess.” She sat silently for a few seconds. “You said you found the Elements? Where were they?”
“Oh, yes. Let’s see. After I woke up, the princesses told me about Discord. Discord is a spirit of chaos and disharmony. I thought that maybe this was one of the Elements of Fear, so we three took off back toward their castle as fast as possible to try to confront him.
On our way there, I felt a power surge in my amulet. “Your Element is senses the others.” Shadow said to me. “We have to go find them.” And so we did. My amulet led us into The Everfree Forest. Now, let me tell you something, Sunset. The Everfree Forest is a nasty place. I would avoid it, if I were you. Just saying. Anyway, my amulet led us into a cave deep within the forest. Inside the cave, we found a tree.”
“A tree?” Sunset asked, arching an eyebrow. “Inside a cave?”
“Yes. A giant glowing tree. Instead of bearing fruit, however, it produced Elements. The Elements of Hope to be exact.”
“’These are the Elements of Hope’ I said to the princesses as they used their magic to grab the six of them. ‘I believe that with the power of these Elements, you can stop Discord, and bring about Hope for all ponies that live here. Now, let’s go and send Discord packing.’ And we went. We found Discord without too much trouble. It seems that he doesn’t like moving from his chair too much.
‘Back so soon Ladies?’ Discord asked. ‘Going to try to stop me again? Is this your sixth or seventh try? I lot track after about three of your failures. Although you have given me a good laugh each time, so feel free to continue trying all you want. Then his eyes concentrated on me. ‘And who is this?
‘The name’s Alan. I am here to ensure that you cannot ruin the lives of the ponies that live here anymore. Your dictatorship ends here!
‘Yes, we WILL stop you here.’ Princess Celestia called. Celestia and Luna both grabbed three of the Elements of Harmony. They channeled the power of the six into my own amulet. From there, an energy beam pulsed out of my amulet with enough force to make me slide back a couple feet. When the blast faded, what stood before us was the statue of Discord. That was about it. When we got back to their castle, they both used the spell to send me back home. I guess that’s really just about the end of my story in Equestria, until today, of course.”
“Wait, you mean that was it? The fight against Discord wasn’t some epic battle?” Sunset asked.
“Not really. That was about it.”
“Well, that’s kind of a letdown.” Sunset complained.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did all the work. I just found the Elements for them. But if you want to hear more, I guess I’ve been on some adventures back home too.”
“You have? Please, tell me about it!” an excited Sunset requested.
“OK, let’s see…When I made it back to my world…”
“Sunset, my prized pupil! How are you feeling?” Princess Celestia said as she entered the room.
“I’m feeling just fine Princess, thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Anyway Sunset, I need to-”
“I’m so sorry Princess!” Sunset interrupted.
Princess Celestia took a step back. She had not expected that at all.
“I fought you all the way when you told me about the Magic of Friendship. I didn’t think friendship was all that important. Because of that, I defied your wishes. I thought you were just trying to use me, but I realize now that you were actually looking out for me, not yourself.” Sunset had tears in her eyes, and Princess Celestia was on the verge of crying as well. Princess Celestia walked up to Sunset’s bed and wrapped her in a hug. “No, it’s my fault for never telling you the full truth in the first place.” Celestia said while still in Sunset’s embrace.
Shadow looked from the princess and her student to Alan. Shadow could tell that he was smiling, but he thought he noticed the forming of some tears of his own. “The joy he gets from seeing other happy. It truly is astounding.” Shadow melted down, until he was a simple shadow on the floor, and slid across the room and reformed next to Alan. “You’re a great friend, Alan.” he said in a hushed voice, “I’m always so happy to see you happy.”
“Thanks, Shadow.” Alan said as he put his arm around shadow. “That truly means a lot to me.”
“Alan? Would it be alright if I took a picture of you? After you get sent home last time, I regretted not getting a picture of you to put on my desk, so that I can celebrate what you did for me, even if you wish for me not to announce it”
“Thank you, Princess.” Alan said, “I’ll be happy to pose for a picture.”
Celestia then used her magic to set up her camera. Once she was happy with the positioning of the camera, she walked up next to Celestia. “Ready?” she asked.
“Yep” Alan said.
Then, using her magic, she took the picture. “Thank you, Alan” she said.
“Of course” Alan said.
“I’ll be sure to get you a copy of the picture for you as well.”
“You’re Highness!” a guard yelled as he barged into the room. “The prisoner has escaped. There’s no trace of him!”
“What?” Alan, Shadow, Sunset, and Celestia all said together.
“It was as if he was never there. The bars in his cell haven’t been tampered with, and the door was locked. There’s no sign he was ever there.” The royal guard explained. “There were two guards on duty the entire time he was there. There should have been no way he would have been able to escape. We’ve already launched an investigation, as well as positioning guards on every corner of Canterlot with a description of the unicorn.”
“I want to see his cell.” Celestia said. “Maybe I can figure something out. In the meantime, I want you to put Canterlot on lockdown. I want guards across all the borders, and I want all traffic in and out of the city halted. We need to find him before somepony gets hurt.” Celestia took a deep breath before continuing, “Alan, will you come with me? I could use your help.”
“Sure thing.” Alan answered.
“Sunset, I would like you to stay here in bed. I need you rested incase anything happens.”
Sunset looked as if she were about to object, but after a quick glance at Alan, she bit her tongue. “Yes, Princess.”
Alan, the princess, and the royal guard rushed out of the room and ran (or galloped) towards the prison. The three were halfway down the hallway when they heard a scream.
“That’s Sunset” Celestia said.
The three turned around and made their way back to Sunset’s room. As they approached at full speed, the unicorn guard used his magic to open the door, and Alan was the first to enter. He saw Sunset still in her bed, and not far from the foot of the bed, was the unicorn who had escaped from the prison.
“How did you escape?” Alan demanded.
The only answer he got was a smirk that just radiated evil. “Easily.” He said simply. Then the unicorn disappeared, and in its place was a swirl of thick brown smoke. The smoke moved as if it were a living creature. The smoke came together to form a small ball shape. The ball reared back, and shot itself toward Sunset. Before a warning cry could be made, the ball struck Sunset.
The force of the blow slammed her onto her back in her bed. Everyone in the room ran up to her. Brown energy pulsed through her body. All of a sudden, Sunset’s eyes shot open. Her eyelids reveled eyes that were not hers. Instead of her usual cyan, her eyes were now a rich brown color.
“Who are you?” Alan asked.
“You will not stop us! I now have exactly what you need. There is nothing you can do!” was the only answer Alan got.
Sunset then shot a spell from her horn right at Alan. He couldn’t react in time, and got nailed right in the chest with the blast. It threw him back right into Celestia, who due to her magic, stopped them both from toppling over from the impact.
Sunset then sprouted wings from out of nowhere. She turned to the window and the glass instantly shattered. Then using magic, she picked up the sharp glass shards and shot them at Alan and Celestia. This time it was the guards turn, and he used his magic to create a shield around all of them. The glass hit the shield and bounced away harmlessly. Unfazed by her failed attack, Sunset jumped out the window, and started flying straight up. Celestia ran up toward the window, and opened her wings.
“ We need to stop whoever is controlling Sunset.”
Celestia turned to Alan. “Get on.” Celestia ordered. “I’ll need your help.”
Celestia used her magic to place Alan onto her back. “Hold on.” She said. Then took off to the air faster than Alan could imagine, leaving the royal guard yelling out the window for the princess to return to safety.
Both Sunset and Celestia flew up high above the castle. Sunset turned and faced Celestia and Alan. “You will not stop us.” Sunset said. Then she fired a magic bolt towards Celestia. She managed to dodge the bolt, and fired one of her own. It hit its target. Sunset, stunned by the attack, began to freefall towards the ground.
“We have to catch her!” Alan called to Celestia.
Celestia nodded and began a controlled dive. Celestia was moving so fast Alan could barely hang on to her.
They had caught up to Sunset, but the ground was mere feet away. Alan reached out to grab Sunset, when all of a sudden she raised her head toward them both, her horn glowing, and her mouth twisting into a dark smile. The spell Sunset had activated transported them to a different location. Next thing Celestia and Alan knew they were in a cave. Luckily, Celestia managed to slow down significantly before hitting the hard ground.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to slow down enough. The force of the impact knocked Alan off Celestia. At the same time, Alan heard something crack. He thought he had broken something. However, the painful yell that came from Celestia confirmed that the crack he heard had not come from him, but rather from alicorn.
“Princess, are you alright?”
“I-I’ll be fine” Celestia said through the pain. “I think my legs are broken. I have a spell that can heal my bones, but it will take me a couple minutes for the spell to finish.”
“If you need a few minutes, I’ll be sure to buy you some time.”
Alan turned toward Sunset, who had transported with them. “Ok, first off,” Alan asked, “where are we?”
“We’re currently in the caves beneath Canterlot. This cavern will also act as your tomb.”
“Well that seems a little harsh doesn’t it? If you’re really that sure that we can’t stop you, then why kill us? Unless of course, you actually believe that we can stop you, which would then be an excellent reason to try to kill us. Although, if we can stop you, then I’m not sure you’d be able to kill us, because we would obviously be more skilled than you.”
“Nice stalling technique.” Shadow complemented in Alan’s mind.
“You’re just trying to confuse me, human. You cannot distract me.”
“I’m afraid to say this,” Alan retorted, “but I wasn’t really trying to confuse you, I was just stating a fact, and then my conclusions based on my interpretations of the fact.”
Sunset stared at Alan for a second in confusion. Alan took this moment to take a few steps away from Celestia. Now that Sunset was concentrating on him, it would give Celestia more time to complete her spell.
“Enough of this!” Sunset spat, “YOU DIE HERE!” She shot a magic bolt toward Alan, but he was prepared for this attack and was able to jump over the bolt fairly easily. The magic hissed as it collided with the back wall of the cave. Alan countered by throwing a Shadowrang from mid air. Alan’s aim was perfect but it never hit its target, as Sunset’s magic stopped it cold. She then launched it back toward Alan at blinding speed. However, Alan was already one step ahead, and threw another one. The two Shadowrangs collided with each other, and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Another magic bolt was fired, this one much bigger. It sailed through the air sizzling with energy. This one hit Alan right in the chest. The impact of the blow sent him flying toward the cave wall. Before Alan hit the wall, Shadow used his energy to form a protective barrier behind Alan. The barrier smacked into the wall. The wall, however, was no match for the magic bolt continuously pushing Alan backwards. The wall broke from the impact, and Alan was slung to the ground in the newly opened cavern.
Sunset flew into the cavern, and stood over Alan. “See? I was right on both accounts. You cannot stop me, and you WILL die here.” Her horn began to light up with magic, preparing to deliver the final spell of the fight.
“I don’t think so!” Came a voice from the hole in the wall. Sunset turned to look and see Celestia standing there, her legs looking as strong as ever. This distraction was all that Alan needed. He swung his leg around and delivered a solid kick right to Sunset left cheek. Sunset reeled back, but she regained her composure faster than Alan anticipated. Sunset had taken to the air, just as Alan was able to get back up to his feet.
“Shadow, let’s stop her once and for all.”
“Love to.” Shadow answered.
Alan made a fist with his right hand. Suddenly a surge of energy swept down his arm. The energy seemed to collect on his arm. A few seconds later, Shadow’s energy created some sort of gauntlet with a set of razor sharp claws coming out of the fist. “This ends here!” Alan yelled.
He jumped into the air toward Sunset, gauntlet extended. Sunset, not totally prepared for the attack hastily cast her finishing spell prematurely.
Time seemed to stand still as Celestia watched from the sidelines.
Alan’s attack was so swift that he was practically on top of Sunset before she had cast her spell. Alan was mere inches from Sunset when her spell made contact with Alan’s gauntlet. The impact caused a blast wave to wash over the cave. Celestia could hear a scream of pain from Alan, and a second later he was gone; A trail of smoke trailing from where Alan’s body once was. The necklace Alan wore around his fell to the ground.
Sunset looked shocked for several seconds; as if she couldn’t believe that she had won the battle. “The symbol of Hope now lies on the ground, as useless as the one who once wore it. Now just as the Human has died so as Hope, and,” Sunset turned toward Celestia, “all of your hope, too, has been taken away from you as well, dear teacher. Now you will share in his fate.”
“NO!!” Celestia screamed, the anger inside her fueling her energy. “You will pay dearly for what you have just done!” Celestia fired a beam from her horn which was repelled by a quick shield put up by Sunset. “Seems I underestimated you.” Sunset said through gritted teeth. Sunset then used what little energy she had left to teleport to the other side of the cavern. In the corner of the cavern sat an object with a tarp covering it fully. Sunset took the tarp off to reveal a simple looking mirror. “You will never stop me!” Sunset said, and jumped right into the mirror. Instead of hitting a solid, pane of glass, the mirror bent around her, and she walked through it. Celestia ran towards the mirror ready to jump through it as well. As she got close to the mirror, she noticed that a glossy sheen swept across the mirror. Celestia stopped short of the mirror, and pressed her hoof against it. “Solid.” She said simply.
An overwhelming sadness swept over Celestia. She had lost so much today. She had just lost one of her best friends, as well as her closest student, which then meant that she had just lost her chance to be reunited with her sister. Today was one of the worst days of her life; second only to the day she had sent Luna to the moon. This was a day that she would never forget the pain and sadness that would undoubtedly stay will her for thousands of years. She picked up the necklace that once represented Hope. Now, all it brought the alicorn was deep sadness. She wiped a tear from her eye as she found her way out of the cave to resume her lifelong duties to the ponies of Equestria. A life that now carried immeasurable sadness, as well as the duty to spreading Hope to all she can reach able to, just as Alan had always done.
Hope and Fear: Sunset Past
“Alright Princess,” A purple unicorn said rather grumpily as she walked into Princess Celestia’s private study. “I guess I’m ready to go. Although I don’t really understand why I have to do this.”
“Thank you for going, my most faithful student.” Celestia answered. “I need someone I can trust to help oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Of course, your Highness. I will do my royal duty to you.” The unicorn then turned and started to walk out the doors.
“Twilight” Princess Celestia called making the unicorn stop in her tracks and turn around to face the alicorn.
“Yes Princess?” Twilight answered.
“Two things, Twilight. First: remember the other part of you mission. I would really like you to try to make some friends as well. And second: can I have a quick hug from my favorite student before you go?”
“Uh, sure thing Princess.” Twilight walked up to the princess and nuzzled up to here, before wrapping her front hooves around the alicorn. During the hug, Twilight noticed a framed picture on Celestia’s desk. “Um, Princess? Forgive me for asking, but who is that in your picture? And what is it?”
Celestia smiled, “This, my dear student is one of my closest friends. He’s a creature from a far away land. He was very special to me. Unfortunately, he died years ago trying to protect me and the rest of Equestria from harm.” A single tear rolled down Celestia face.
“I-I’m sorry.” Twilight said. “I didn’t know.”
“Please, don’t be. He only brings me happy memories. Memories that I want to keep and cherish. Sometimes when I’m having a bad day, thinking about him give me all the Hope I need to get through any obstacle, no matter how big.” And with that, Twilight left Celestia’s room leaving her alone, feeling more hopeful than ever before.
Author's Note
Thank you for everyone who actually made it through this story! I truly appreciate it. Just in case you're wondering, I am planning to have a sequel coming out in the next month or two, so watch out for that! Until then, please leave a comment telling me what parts of the story you liked/didn't like, so I can attempt to fix those problems for my next story.
