Equestria Divided: Dusk of the Empire

by ThatUnknownPony

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 5884

Sunset Shimmer arrives at the Crystal Empire in a personal mission, only to find out about a dark scheme that endangers the order of Equestria. Set in the Equestria Divided Universe.

It's been fifthteen years since Equestria was set apart by war and rivalry after the disappearance of the Princesses, and nearly a year after the death of Queen Cadance at the hooves of the Cult of Laughter, and the tension between the Six Houses it's stronger than before…
The Crystal Empire has become a high-security prison, the finest of House Moon & Stars; and its jailkeeper, King Shining Armor, has succumbed to madness. But meanwhile, the Cult of Laughter prepares for their ultimate plan, a message that they'll spread all through Equestria, and which they plan to accomplish inside the walls of the Crystal Empire…
That is the situation in the North of Equestria when Sunset Shimmer, well-known mercenary, decided to arrive to the city for her own personal business, searching for an artifact of old that many ponies have forgotten, but that she's decided to find. Little she knows is that she has become the element that will determine what will happen that night in the Crystal Empire, and the importance she has with the fate of Equestria.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-10 18:20:02 UTC

Chapter 1

Prologue

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

There were two royal sisters, beloved by their subject and often considered as deities, who ruled the kingdom with wisdom and love. The eldest of the sisters provided the ponies with sunlight so they could play in the day, while the youngest watched through the night, protecting the dreams of their beloved subjects. And when something or someone endangered the safety of the kingdom, they could always count with the Elements of Harmony, jewels representing the power of friendship, worn by six ponies with pure heart: the honest Applejack, the loyal Rainbow Dash, the kind Fluttershy, the joyful Pinkie Pie, the generous Pinkie Pie, and the always faithful Twilight Sparkle. Equestria was truly a peaceful and prosperous land...

But one day, without any explanation, the royal sisters banished from existence. Nopony does not know what happened that day, nor do they remember if they saw anything. The only thing they knew was that the princesses were gone... Yet day and night kept the same.

Without a ruler to watch for them, many ponies succumbed to despair, awakening angers and hatreds from the past. Earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns started to struggle against each other, trying to impose a new order of their own. Only the Elements of Harmony could stop the conflict between ponies and try to find where and why the princesses disappeared... Unfortunately, tragedy fell over them, slowly turning their once pure hearts into darkness.

Pushed to the edge with the loss of her family and the disappearance of her beloved teacher, Twilight Sparkle attempted to use a forbidden ritual in order to fuse herself and her friends to create a new alicorn to rule the land and stop the conflict. But once again tragedy struck her life... The ritual failed, and her friend Pinkie Pie ended up dead. After that, the already weakened bonds between the five remaining friends were finally destroyed.

With the Elements separated, the land eventually fell apart as well. Six different Houses were funded, based on the way of thinking of each bearer of the elements. For many years the Houses have been on war, trying to impose their vision of the ideal Equestria. Soon, many forgot about the princesses, about the life in peace. Even the bearer of the elements forgot their true meaning, even completely betraying them. The land of Equestria is now divided, and hope slowly runs deep...

The longest sunset of our time is here, and only the spirits know if we’ll survive this night...

Crystal Empire, 18:00 hours...

It was almost night in the cold Crystal Empire, although the only "Imperial" thing in it was the name. Since the death of Princess Cadance two years ago during a violent uprising of the Cult of Laughter, her husband Prince Shining Armor slowly succumbed to madness. And without the protection and love from the princess, nothing prevented him to transform the empire that once was a refugee for fugitives, deserters and slaves into a high security prison. For two years the city kept the same depressing look:

Homes with broken windows, streets constantly filled with corpses at every corner, and ponies trying to find food and shelter surrounded by the constant clash between rival Houses in their attempts to control the small territories inside the walls that surrounded the empire, always keeping anypony from breaking in or out. The only building that wasn’t damaged in any physical way was the Crystal Castle, right in the heart of the city. From there, the now demented prince Shining Armor watched over his "subjects", ruling under the banner of House Moon & Stars, although in the inside he desired something more, something he still didn't have, something someone else had...

Staring over his prison city, silently lost in thought, the blue mane pony waited patiently for someone to come. The sun was already hiding in the horizon, barely visible behind a mountain of clouds that kept perpetually making it snow over the city, covering everything in a white cold coat.

"It is time... I can feel it. The day I've always waited for..." he kept repeating those words in his mind, when suddenly he heard the sound of hooves slowly approaching to his chambers. And as the doors began to open, a wicked smile appeared in his face as he recognized the look of one of his fellow legionnaire troopers.

"So... Have we got confirmation about her capture?" were the first words to come out of her mouth.

"Yes, milord. She was found in Trottingham as expected. The city was under attack when our troops arrived." The legionnaire replied in a firm, cold voice. This brought a certain curiosity to the monarch.

"Under attack? Was she behind it all?" He asked surprised by this fact.

"She was not, milord. The Cult of Laughter is responsible, but the mare seems to be connected to this. Seems they were looking for her too."

"Guess we are lucky then, if we actually got our hooves on her before those maniacs." Shining Armor turned once again towards the balcony, as he gave his soldier a new order: - Return to your position immediately. Make sure that they deliver her safely here; I don't want her death before I know what she's hiding.

"Yes, milord, as you order." The legionnaire left the monarch alone once again in his chambers, as he returned back to his post.

He wasn't exactly happy. It was more like, a different kind of satisfaction. The kind of feeling you get when things go just as planned and you're getting closer to fulfilling your desires.

"You might have got away for a long time, little one. But not anymore..." his voice became more sinister as he kept talking to himself "Tonight I will change the face of Equestria, and all because of you, and your knowledge..."

Trottingham, 18:10 hours...

The old city, once free from the control of any House and now part of the Stormwing territory, was in flames now. Many of its inhabitants tried to put down the flames, while others only cared to save their belongings. Corpses belonging to both cultists and civilians were scattered on the floor, as a reminder of the bloody conflict.

But neither of the soldiers that marched through the desolated streets cared about that. They were there only because of somepony, because of the mare they now held in cuffs and chains. Wearing silver armor and a distinctive coat of arms, any pony that saw them recognized them as part of Moon & Stars legionnaire army, but the same couldn't be said of the young pony they carried with them. A black piece of cloth covered her head, while the rest of her body was covered with a brown ripped coat. It was clear she was a unicorn, judging by the strange black crystal box in her forehead.

"You clearly are the troublesome one, isn't that right?" Mocked one of the military stallions, but the young mare remained in silence.

Not a single word came out of her mouth as the legionnaires escorted her to the train station, where the Crystal Express was already waiting for them. The colossal train, that in a time was a symbol of hope and salvation for fugitives, was now the House's fastest military transport responsible of delivering prisoners to the Crystal Empire.

As they got closer the intimidating looking vehicle, two other legionnaires opened the doors of the wagon so the rest of the convoy could get the prisoner in. But right when they were getting inside, one of the legionnaires pulled the young mare towards him, and threatened to hit her.

"You are so lucky our lord wants you alive, or I could personally kill you right now, stupid mercenary."

And yet she remained in silence, like she was trying to mock him. It was a relief that his superior interfered before the legionnaire could do any harm.

"Stop right there! We have clear orders to deliver the prisoner in the best condition as possible."

Still bothered by the situation, the legionnaire tried to excuse him.

"My sincerest apologies, sir. But I cannot tolerate the fact she is the reason this city was destroyed. She must pay for it!"

"We have no reason to believe this was her fault. The cultist could've attacked even if she wasn't here." The captain said in defense of the young one "And even if she's to blame, there'll be a time for her punishment."

The legionnaire was still angry at the thought and joined the rest of his comrades aboard the express. The captain escorted the mercenary, not before checking is she was still ok. Or at least that was what it seemed he did.

Once they all got inside the Crystal Express, the military vehicle started to move on its tracks, ready to deliver a new prisoner to her "newest home"...

Crystal Empire, 18:27

"Everything is going as planned. The king, the mare, all according to the Laughing Mare's scheme..."

Hidden in the shadows of an old alley, two strange ponies exchanged conversations. One of them, wearing a silk, warm purple coat, responded to her partner:

"And as long as nopony suspects a thing, we can prepare our little clowns for the party."

The other pony, a mare with one of the most insane voices you could ever hear, responded with a maniac laughter, remaining in the shadows even though the other colt already knew her.

"You better not fail us now. Not now that we are closer to our glorious triumph over the tyranny of the Moon & Stars kingdom of secrets & lies."

"At this point you should know where my loyalty truly is." The stallion replied as he showed his hoof, marked with the Mark of the Cult: a jester hat branded on his skin. "The king might believe in me, but what is he but a mere tool?"

"Good, my little fellow! Make sure to keep your role, we don't want to disappoint our little pal. Not now that he has waited so long to return...."

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted their conversation. It was the sound of a trumpet, accompanied by the voice of a guard:

"THE CRYSTAL EXPRESS HAS RETURNED. PREPARE THE GATE FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE PRISONERS!"

The mysterious mare chuckled at this message, as she disappeared between the shadows, delivering some final words to his companion:

"That sounds like good news to me! And I loooove good news..."

"The train station is on proximity." The voice of the conductor resounded all over the Crystal Express. "Prepare the prisoner for arrival."

As her captors began to surround her in extreme organization, the young mare kept staring at the white coat of snow outside of the train. The Frozen North was known for its perpetual state of winter, with snow always falling every day and every night. The thick clouds made it difficult for the sun rays and the moonlight to illuminate the cold landscape, so the only lights that were visible were the ones coming from the Crystal Empire. Not that she worried about getting used to live in there, as she had something already planned.

As soon as the Crystal Express reached its destination, the captain of the legionnaires opened the door of the wagon and gave the order to immediately take the mercenary out of the train.

"Move up, you bitch!" shouted the same angered stallion that tried to hit her as he pushed the young mare out into the cold, tacky station. Although it appeared to be still functional, time and war were present in the almost decadent structure.

Once everypony was already outside, the Crystal Express left back to its depot, as the legionnaires waited for orders from their superior. He was about to give an order, when the captain noticed something was off with the prisoner.

"Hold the prisoner still. I must make sure she isn't hiding anything."

The legionnaire captain got closer to the young mare like he was about to inspect her, but as soon as he was right in front of her he leaned towards her ear and whispered:

"Now, it is time..."

In that moment, the young mare jumped into action as the cuffs that used to keep her hooves restrained fell to the floor. Somehow, she managed to get free to the shock of her captors, who got knocked out with swift hoof punches.

In a mix of confusion, the rest of the legionnaires didn't know what to do. Their captain was responsible of this?! They were in utter shock, making them barely attempt to use their weapons against the mercenary, who missed no chance to deliver a kick into the face of each of them. One tried to stab her with a spear, but the attack was so clumsy and weak that she easily dodged it, holding the weapon with one hoof and pulling the unsure soldier against her just to knock him down with a strong hit in the face.

"I had enough of this!" screamed a familiar voice. It was the same legionnaire that desired to kill her, and taking advantage of the situation attempted to do so. He charged against the young mare a she was facing the opposite direction, but he committed a mistake when he shouted out loud his attack. Right before her enemy's spear could make contact, she did a backflip and dodged him.

"Oh no, you..." the legionnaire barely managed to turn around when suddenly he felt the force of the black case holding the mercenary's horn breaking as it hit his face, knocking him unconscious while his nose bled.

Once all the legionnaires were down on the floor, the mare turned her head to the captain of the legionnaires, who had kept on a side watching as she took care of his stallions.

"Well at least you could have lend a hoof, you know" were the first words that came out of the mare's mouth after a long time of silence

"You think so?" He said as he removed his helmet, revealing his short bright blue mane. He then approached the cuffs that remained on the floor and removed the key that was still inside them - I think I did my part a while ago.

The young mercenary laughed at his reply, and she proceeded to remove the black piece of cloth that covered her head, revealing a mane the colors of fire and a golden coat to match. Her eyes were of a turquoise color, matching her magical aura.

-"That sounds like excuses to me. It's not like you are the 'honorable' kind of pony." She said as she hit the head of the legionnaire with a grudge on her, just in case he woke up.

"You already know that my loyalty is with the House, Sunset." The captain said as he removed the armor of one of the unconscious soldiers "It wasn't in my hooves that I was reassigned from the Sun Guilt to the Crystal defenses. Just like the fact the king has lost his head."

"But he's not the reason I'm here." Sunset replied, sounding clearly annoyed "If I have to deal with him, then I shall do so. For now, I have my own objective; the king can wait his turn."

Understanding the anger of the golden unicorn, the captain decided to drop the topic for now and gave her the armor.

"Remember to keep your face as covered as possible. If anyone asks you anything..."

"Do not worry. It's not the first time I've sneaked into somewhere.." She responded, starting to put on the armor. "Maybe I'm barely eighteen, but that doesn't make me a rookie."

"It's not that I underestimate you, but this isn’t like Trottingham." the captain said as he approached the knocked-out stallions, his horn glowing as it touched their heads "I only hope you know what you're doing, Shimmer."

The golden unicorn sighed and replied:

"Even I have no answer to that."

Once she finished putting on her disguise, the two of them left the station and trotted towards the Giant Crystal Wall, known for being practically impenetrable and always patrolled by some of the best long-shooters of House Moon & Stars. Sunset made sure the helmet covered as much of her face as possible, and tried to evade all kinds of lights that could reveal her facade. As they marched through the snowy road, he felt a small knot in her throat, somewhat intimidated by the side of the immense wall.

Once they got close enough, Shimmer started to pretend being injured, while the captain kept looking upwards, waiting for any of the sentinels to spot them. And just like they expected, they did as a spotlight was aimed at the couple. The mercenary unicorn did her best to keep her face covered while still maintaining her facade.

"CAPTAIN SILVER HOOF, YOUR MAJESTY HAS BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!" The sentinel exclaimed in a cold, serious voice "DO YOU HAVE THE PRISONER WITH YOU?"

Directing his eyes to the sentinel, he replied:

"I'M AFRAID I HAVE TERRIBLE NEWS: THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED, AND HE LEFT ONE OF MY STALLIONS SEVERELY INJURED! WE NEED IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!"

The sentinel directed his attention to Sunset, who remained in silence as she pretended to be an injured legionnaire, keeping her face from direct contact with the lights. Convinced by the performance of the unicorn, the sentinel simply replied:

"WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOUR SQUADRON?"

"THEY ARE LOOKING FOR HER IN THE SNOW! I SHALL REUNITE WITH THEM AS SOON AS THIS UNICORN CAN GET INSIDE THE CITY!"

In that moment, one of the spotlight illuminated part of Shimmer's face, revealing her golden coat and part of her mane. Her blood almost turned into solid ice at this incident, but for her good fortune no one noticed it.

"UNDERSTOOD. OPEN THE GATES, LET THEM PASS!"

Smiling in satisfaction as a couple of unicorns used their magic to move the gates, Sunset Shimmer and captain Silver Hoof slowly advanced into the city, as the stallion whispered to her:

"I'll take care of myself from now. Good luck with whatever you're going to do, Shimmer."

Once she got pass the walls, her companion made sure to return with his squadron, as she walked through the streets into an empty alley, away from the sight of the wall patrols. Making sure nobody saw her, she removed the heavy plated armor and dropped it in the snowy floor. Using her magic, she pulled out of her mane a really small bag, which she made grow with a special enchantment. Putting her hoof inside it, Sunset pulled out a very curious whip: the grip was made of gold, and it was constituted by metal joints with the same colors as her mane ending with a smooth diamond tip. After shrinking again the bag and hiding it inside her mane, Sunset looked over her head, and into the roofs of the crystal-made buildings. She was lucky, it was a six-story tall structure. Aiming her whip with her magic, she propelled the tip of the chain into the rooftop, where it pierced the crystal structure, working like a hook. Firmly grabbing the grip with her hooves, Sunset rappelled her way up to the roof, trying to not slip with the surface of the crystal structure.

Once she made it to the top, Shimmer caught a glimpse of the city: Surrounded by the giant crystal wall, the once glorious city was now a devastated land. Buildings in deplorable state, gangs fighting for territory, snow eternally falling, vagabonds and slaves barely warming themselves with whatever they can salvage... A truly pitiful sight. But that was only the Prison District, because deeper inside the city, surrounded by yet another smaller wall, laid the Empire Citadel, where the members of House Moon & Stars could live. Inside it, it was almost like a different place, with state-of-art structures and military forces watching every corner. She could notice that almost everypony inside the citadel was wearing the trendiest articles in Canterlot's fashion. She also noticed that there were only unicorns inside the citadel. What ever happened to the fabled Crystal Ponies? Were they all eliminated by the House? The thoughts of it made Shimmer feel sick. And it didn't help that right in the middle of the citadel, rising tall in glorious might, the Crystal Castle stood high as a monument to the tyranny of king Shining Armor.

"Not now, Shimmer, you didn't come for him." She had to remind herself, for a desire of revenge was starting to crave inside her. "Remember your mission, only focus on that."

Trying to forget those feelings, Sunset looked around the area she was in. She noticed that many of the ponies in the streets wore light armors, and some of them actually had decent clothing compared to others she could spot miles away.

"This must be Whitegold territory. It should make things a little easier as long as little Shining didn't bring any of those namby-pamby high class ponies, at least who still hold a grudge on me."

Looking more around the place, she noticed that a bunch of these ponies were assembled around a curious building. It was adorned with banner of House Whitegold, and counted with two griffon statues, one on each side of the entrance. Given the size of the building and the overall appearance of it, she believed it was some kind of library.

"Just what I was looking for. I wonder what kind of party they are hosting there." - Sunset tied up her whip and attached it over her shoulder, and proceeded to advance towards the odd building.

She ran across the roofs, jumping from edge to edge, trying to keep herself away from the eyes of the ponies below her. As she shifted through the Prison District, Sunset noticed more closely the saddening life many of the prisoners lived. Barely any food or drink, living in homes with broken windows and only wooden planks covering the place glass could be, begging for any spare bits anypony happens to have only to be received with insults in the best of cases... Sometimes she thanked the spirits for not being in that situation.

Once she got closer to the building, Shimmer counted how many ponies waited outside of the building. Taking aside the homeless ponies passing by, there were at least ten members of the House.

"Ten militias... If I was able to take down the same quantity of legionnaires fifteen minutes ago, then this will be a piece of cake." She said to herself as she prepared her whip for attacking.

In that moment, a mare came out of the building. Sunset immediately recognized her outfit as a special messenger.

"Great, just great... they have a Whitegold spy inside."

"Good and bad news fellas" said the mare to her partners "The good news is that Lady de Lis has requested the presence of everypony for the interrogation. The bad news is two of you must remain outside, we can't be so confident about our control of this sector."

After a small talk between them, two stallions decided to remain outside, as the rest entered inside the building.

"Interrogation?" Sunset wondered "If the leader of the Pink Lady Lounge is in this place, that means she must have gotten herself captured voluntarily. I must find out what she's up to."

Using her whip to swing her way into the rooftop next to her target building, she prepared to descent in a similar way as how she got on top the first time. While she rappelled her way down, she heard the stallions talking about what was going to happen inside the building.

"Looks like the rumors are true, and Fleur actually got her hooves on that dragon." said one of them.

"That can't be possible. A dragon? In this prison?! - said his companion, giving no credit to his words."

"First of all, it's just a baby dragon. Second, this used to be a decent place, remember. It surely arrived by that time."

"I don't know pal, she probably picked up something else... Maybe it's just an alligator."

"An alligator?! Really, in this freezer?!"

"It's more probable than a fucking baby dragon."

"Baby dragon they said? ...now I truly want to know what's going on inside" a wicked smiled appeared on the face of the golden pony. This kind of stuff was the reason she traveled all over Equestria as a mercenary.

Once she made it to the ground, she held her whip firmly as she sneaked through the streets, keeping an eye on the two militias. She walked very slow and silently, the snow helping to soften every hoof step. The stallions were pretty close to each other, so all she had to do was to get behind them and knock them out at the same time. They never noticed her, not even the moment she got behind them nor the instant she grabbed their heads and crashed against each other’s.

"Best military training in Equestria my tail." Sunset mocked as she entered the building, without noticing that somepony was already aware of her presence, and immediately left as soon as she was out of sight.

Sunset closed carefully the door, trying to not make any sound. After that, she nearly tripped over a book lying down on the floor.

"What the... Who left this..." she couldn't end up saying her sentence when she noticed the massive amount of dusty bookshelves in front of her "Oh... So it was actually a library."

The size of the library was immense, probably even more of what it seemed to be from the outside. It was two-stories high, with multiple hallways containing infinity of books in their shelves. The sight of it surprised her.

"I thought Shining Armor or House Whitegold could burn down this place to its totality, or at least search for books that could oppose their 'truths' and destroy them." She though as she picked up the book she almost tripped with, noticing it was just a mere library record book "I wonder what or why they decided to keep it untouched."

Suddenly, she heard some voices coming from the distance. Sunset quickly hid behind what apparently used to be the librarian's desk, in case somepony was close. Thankfully no one came, but the voices kept sounding from far away, faint as an echo.

"Guess the party's started." Sunset said as she got out of her hideout "Better not keep them waiting for the main guest."

As she walked through the hallways, Sunset could began to understand what the voices said, and with every turn left and right the noise became louder and louder.

"...But Lady de Lis, how do we know it's not a trick?" Said an anonymous voice, probably from a militia "I haven't seen any dragons like that, not even in this book-filled hole."

"That's because IT'S NOT A DRAGON, YOU MORON!" Screamed angrily the voice of mare, voice that Sunset recognized easily "And it's obviously not a trick. King Shining Armor never heard of this fellow, apparently it was a secret between the Crystal Ponies."

"Crystal Ponies?! Those guys disappeared long time ago! They're probably extinct by now" replied another voice.

Suddenly, Sunset happened to hear a strange sound, like somebody was tied up and tried to talk. She suspected it was the dragon (or whatever it was) thing they were talking about.

"QUIT MOVING, YOU STUPID PIECE OF..." Shimmer managed to hear a small muffled groan, probably from the poor creature they had prisoner.

Finally, after turning one more time right, she found herself in front of a mob of around 30 or more Whitegold militias, and probably even more in the upper floor. They were surrounding a tall white unicorn with light pink mane, and a fleur-de-lis as her cutie mark. Her outfit was of a very light and dark fabric, adorned with space for many gadgets and weapons, the characteristics of a Whitegold spy. Besides her, barely moving because of the creature that tried to get out of it, laid a big dusty bag.

"...as I've been trying to say..." she said in an attempt to retake the conversation Shimmer barely heard "Tonight we got our hooves in a big fat treasure..."

As the mare was speaking, Shimmer sneaked silently behind the mob, trying to not be noticed, at least not now.

"...not only it is a thief, not only it is a survivor of the Cult's uprising, not only is it a fugitive of House Whitegold, but it also happens to be..." She was about to open the bag to reveal their recent catch to everypony, when Sunset interrupted her.

"...A dragon, isn't it?"

Suddenly, everypony turned their heads towards the mercenary, some surprised and others angered.

"Oops, my bad! I forgot it was 'not exactly a dragon'." She said in a mocking tone, angering the white unicorn.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Sunset Shimmer herself! Guess you ran out of luck, didn't you?"

"Actually no." Sunset replies in a boastful way "I made myself get captured here, unlike others who are freezing here because of mommy's boy, or am I wrong Fleur?"

This only made her get into her nerves, as he fired a magic blast from her horn to the golden mare, who easily dodged the blast with a backflip.

"Easy there! You were the one who started, not me."

"What do you want here anyways? I doubt you were hired to rescue me." Fleur tried to calm herself down "Or is it that House Moon & Stars wants you to kill somepony?"

"That doesn't matter you. I just came here looking for something of my own business, that's all I'll say."

"So why bother us right now?!" Fleur yelled as she kicked the bag, from where another muffled groan came out "We were in the middle of something."

"Well guess what!" In that instant, Sunset brought out her whip, preparing to attack. "Turns out you got something I want, and now I'm going to take it. That's it, if you don't mind."

Realizing she was talking of the creature they have captured, Fleur got even angrier and screamed at the top of her lungs:

"You think you can just come here and take what's ours?! How about this... GET RID OF HER!!!"

Already expecting the attack, Sunset swept the ground with a swift movement of her whip, making a bunch of ponies trip and hit the ground. She stomped on the head of the closest one and left him unconscious as she barely dodged the halberd of another one. More ponies surrounded her, and while she kept swinging her whip hitting them and knocking down a couple of them, they just kept swarming her. It was impossible that she could win all by herself. Fleur watched as the bunch of ponies gathered around the mercenary, totally confident that her adversary was doomed to fail.

"Already regretting coming up here trying to take what belongs to an univorn like me?!"

Little she knew that Sunset was expecting that from her, and right when she was completely surrounded by the militias' spears, her horn began to glow and she banished in a magical spark, as she reappeared right behind Fleur de Lis.

"I think you forgot something." The white unicorn froze in shock, barely turning her head as she heard those words. "I'm a unicorn too, dumb ass."

Shimmer delivered a fierce punch to the mare's face, sending her back to where the rest of her mob was, still surrounding where Sunset used to be. The golden unicorn held her whip firmly, and menaced to hit her once again.

"Typical Whitegold: Full of riches, out of brains." - she said to the bunch of atonished ponies.

Infuriated by the sight of their leader on the floor and with a blackened eye, a couple of militias blindly charged against Sunset, but they only encountered the swift movement of her whip, smacking them down to the floor. A few others were about to do the same, but Fleur stopped them as she managed to stand up again.

"Hold it! It's not worth it. Not now..." while she was trying to contain herself, the anger was still noticeable. "I'm only telling you this, you little boastful bastard: This night isn't over yet. Keep that beast with you for now; I'll make sure to take it back later."

"We'll see if that's true. Now leave me alone!" Shimmer yelled as she threatened to whip her more.

Grabbing their unconscious partners, Fleur and the rest of her mob evacuated the library, leaving Sunset alone with whatever, or whoever, was inside the dusty bag. Once she made sure everyone else left, the golden unicorn examined said bag, noticing that it was just few centimeters smaller than her own size; in fact it was the same size as that of a filly.

"Those ponies said it was sort of a baby dragon. But... What exactly did they mean? As long as it can help me on my mission..." the curiosity dominated her, so she decided to open up the bag.

As soon as the brown fabric of the bag felt to the floor, so did Sunset's jaw. Even she didn't expect to see the strange being that laid down wrapped in ropes in front of her: The being appeared to be a female, with a white coat and a long red mane all across her back to her long reptilian tale. She had the body of a pony, yet her extremities ended in three short claws. A small horn, similar to that of an unicorn, adorned her front head, with feline-like blue eyes.

"W-What in the name of Equestria?! " She exclaimed at the sign of the bizarre being, which clearly wasn't happy with that expression... Or the overall treatment she received from House Whitegold. She tried to reply, but a piece of clothing surrounding her mouth prevented her of doing so. Shimmer noticed this, and she helped the strange being by removing the ropes and taking the cloth out of her mouth. She coughed a few times, and then she finally spoke:

"For the love of the spirits of the Astral Plane, it was time for somepony to aid me!" Her voice sounded like the one of a 12 years old filly, but had the manners and accent of a high-class lady "And what did you mean with that expression?!"

"Uh, I..." Sunset blushed a little in shame, mostly because she was treating her as a beast too "I apologize, it's just... Who are you, and most importantly... What are you?"

The strange girl, showing probably more petulance than the mare she was with, stood up and replied:

"My name is Lady Ruby Heart Draco, and for your information I am a Dracony."

"A... A what?! " Sunset wasn't sure what exactly she meant with Dracony, but she knew something for sure: It was going to be a long night, and it was just beginning...

TO BE CONTINUED...