Prologue 1 - Between Sunset and Twilight
Special thanks to Lithl for giving me the advice that helped write this story in the first place, as well as helping to point out the horrible mistakes the original draft had, and EshianFulika for allowing me to use his picture as Cover Art.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
Exalted belongs to White Wolf.
(Seriously, go read Lithl’s My Little Exalt, it’s way better than my stuff)
Between Sunset and Twilight
The musty smell of the ruin lay thick in the air, every breath taken serving to remind Sunset of the oppressive atmosphere. Her long red-and-yellow striped hair was beginning to frizz from the humidity, her pale skin beaded with sweat, and her sky-blue tunic and pants were stained with dust. She had been at the old temple for over two months, but neither she nor her workers had made much progress. She wiped the sweat off of her brow, and started to look over the notes she’d collected for at least the eighth time that day.
‘Come on Sunset, You can figure this out!’ she thought desperately, ‘It’s just some stupid riddle. …You think …in a dead language …that you’ve never seen before.’
Despair weighing heavy on her mind, Sunset lowered her head into her hands, tears threatening to spill out. ‘No, pull yourself together. The last thing you need is for the men to think you’ve lost it. Now come on, you can do this. Your entire future depends on it!’
Sunset took a few shallow breaths, followed by a few more deeper ones. As she began to calm down, she began to review her situation. ‘All right Sunset, you have to get this done. This is your final chance to prove to your family that you’re worthy. All you have to do is uncover whatever these ruins are hiding. You’ve already found the doors to the inner sanctum, all you have to do is figure out how to open them, and you’re good as Jade. Besides, it’s not like she’s here to steal your thunder. Again. She shouldn’t be here for a few more days; that’s plenty of time to solve this. I’ll prove once and for all that I am better than all of them, Exalted or not. And even if they don’t fully acknowledge my potential, at least I’ll have proven that I’m the best mortal scion they have. Much better than her, at any rate.’
With newly found resolve, Sunset began to look over the transcriptions she’d copied from the vault doors of the temple. After an hour, however, her confidence began to wane once more. ‘Ugh, still no progress. I need some air.’
However, as she got up to leave her tent, one of her workers rushed in, breathing heavily “Mistress –gasp- Sunset, I –gasp- have urg-”
“Ledaal.”
“Pardon Mistress?” the man asked, confused by her interruption.
Sunset stormed over to the worker, who began to shiver in fear at her approach. She grabbed the man by the collar of his tattered shirt, and wrenched him up to look her directly in the eye. “My name,” she said quietly, through gritted teeth, “Is Ledaal Sunset Shimmer. I may not have been Chosen by the Dragons, by I am still of House Ledaal, and deserve to be treated as such. Is. That. Understood?”
“Yes Mistress Suns-, I mean Ledaal, I mean-” the dirty worker began to apologize, fear evident in his eyes, but he fell to the ground, Sunset having decided to release him.
“Now, what was so important that you chose to intrude upon me? Why aren’t you with the others trying to break down that damn door!?” Sunset demanded.
“W-well M-mistress, you said t-to inform you w-when the other researcher a-arrived,” he said, trying miserably to hide his face under his arms.
“WHAT! What do you mean she’s here!? She shouldn’t be here another four days!” Sunset all but screamed, only serving to terrify the poor man further.
“I d-don’t know, they m-must’ve had an easier r-ride than expected. The scouts say th-they should arrive w-within the hour.”
Sunset turned away from the man, hunching over her note-strewn table. Breathing deeply, Sunset quietly muttered, “Leave.”
“What was that, Mistress Ledaal?”
“I SAID LEAVE, BEFORE I HAVE YOU FLAYED FOR INSUBORDINATION!”
The terrified worker scrambled out of the tent as quickly as he could, but Sunset didn’t even bother to look as he fled. ‘So, she’s here, like always. She’s always here, to take what’s rightfully mine, to take credit for my accomplishments, to upstage me at every Dragons-damned turn.’
“Twilight.”
‘I’m bored,’ thought Lyra for about the twelfth time in ten minutes. She rested her head by the carriage’s windowsill, hoping that the passing landscape could help provide some entertainment. Given how the only things visible were grass, dirt, and a lone mountain in the distance, it didn’t help much. ‘People always write stories of epic quests, of powerful foes, romances, and unbelievable sights, but no one EVER mentions how long it takes to travel to any of that.’
Letting out a sigh, Lyra looked over to her traveling companion: the woman she had served for the past 10 years, the smartest, most driven woman she had ever known. Said woman was currently out like a light, her long purple hair obscuring her face, but with a bit of drool hanging from her mouth still barely visible. Lyra should have known she would have fallen asleep reading again, evident by the open book in her hands, as her ‘mistress’ was well known for staying up all throughout the night researching any given topic.
Just as Lyra was considering how to best wake her, the carriage gave a sudden lurch, shaking the scholar awake. “Wha-? I’m awake,” she mumbled, beginning to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
“Ah, Mistress Ledaal, it’s good to see you awake,” said Lyra, trying to sound polite.
“Lyra?” she yawned, “What time is it?” the woman quickly wiped away the drool from her mouth, “And I thought I asked you to stop calling me that. You know it makes me uncomfortable, just call me Twilight.”
“Yes, Mistress,” answered Lyra with a teasing smirk. Choosing to ignore Twilight’s glare, Lyra continued to answer, “It’s about 3:30. I think we should be getting there shortly, but it feels like we’ve been going towards that mountain for days.”
“C’mon Lyra, aren’t you even the least bit excited? I mean, we get to help excavate an ancient tomb, think about all the knowledge in there!” exclaimed Twilight, a glossy look in her eyes. “There could be ancient secrets, or lost knowledge, or hidden magic, or-“
Lyra rolled her eyes at this, just letting Twilight ramble, wondering just how Ledaal Twilight Sparkle of all people never Exalted, given she was more knowledgeable, intelligent, and curious than any Air Aspected Terrestrial Exalt she’d ever met. Not to mention Twilight’s lineage, being descended from a long line of Exalted.
‘Gods, she’s adorable when she begins those tangents. That spark of excitement and curiosity within those beautiful eyes,’ Lyra failed to notice the heat rising in her cheeks. ‘When she goes on like that, I love tha- I mean admire, ADMIRE is what I meant! I just like listening to her and watching her work!'
Her thoughts running rampant, Lyra failed to notice Twilight had stopped her rambling and was giving Lyra a worried look. “Lyra?”
“What?” Lyra quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts, and turned to look at Twilight, “I mean, yes, did you need something?”
“Your face is all red. Are you feeling okay?”
“Huh? No- I mean, yes. I feel fine, don’t worry about it.”
However, instead of letting it go, Twilight brought her hand up to Lyra’s forehead, “Lyra, you’re feeling really warm, are you sure you’re okay? It feels like you might have a slight fever.”
“What? No, no no no, it’s nothing,” Lyra’s eyes darted back and forth, trying to think of any sort of distraction. “HEY, are you excited to see your cousin again? It’s been what, two months since you’ve seen her?”
Almost immediately, the excitement in Twilight’s eyes died, replaced with trepidation. “Y-yeah, I guess it will be nice to see Sunset again.”
“Hey, what’s wrong? I didn’t say something stupid again, did I?” asked Lyra, genuinely concerned about Twilight’s sudden mood shift.
“No, it’s not that,” Twilight said quietly, looking down as her book and letting out a long sigh. “It’s just, when we were kids, we were so close, almost inseparable. But then when neither of us Exalted, our family just sent us to live in one of their holdings in the Threshold, far from The Equestrian Realm. We both knew that we had become worthless in their eyes. That the most use that they would ever us, would be to marry us off and hope are children Exalted.” A harshness had entered Twilight’s voice, one Lyra had never heard before. “Our family had basically thrown us out. Oh, they had provided us with a place to live, servants, money, food, everything… except what we really needed.
“At first, I had thought that it would be Sunset and me against the world, but our family decided to intervene again. They set up tests to determine which of us would rule the estate we’d been given, and see if one of us was worthy of a lesser position of power. I wasn’t that interested, but to Sunset, it became her whole life, even if it meant excluding me from it. Imagine her reaction when I managed to beat her at almost every test without even trying.” Lyra noticed that Twilight was pointedly refusing to look at her, and tears were threatening to spill from her eyes.
“Eventually, Sunset grew to resent me, saw me as nothing but a symbol of everything our family had done to us. I-I guess that what this s-stupid excavation is s-supposed to be, one last DRAGONS-DAMNED TEST!” Twilight screamed the last part, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. “I-I just never wanted to push her away. I j-just tried to l-learn, i-if only to h-help e-ease the loneliness. I don’t care about some stupid position! I, I just w-want my c-cousin b-back.” At this point, Twilight was freely weeping, her face buried in her hands.
Lyra, not knowing what to say, simply wrapped her arms around the young woman, holding her like she would a child. While she hated herself for it, especially since Twilight was currently crying, Lyra loved the warm feeling of Twilight against her skin. ‘Dammit, I can’t believe I forgot that Sunset seems to hate Twilight. When I get back, I’m going to see if I can arrange a little accident for her parents for DARING to make her cry.’
After a couple of minutes, Twilight had managed to stop crying, “S-sorry about that, Lyra. I guess I just lost my head.”
“Mistress, you have nothing to apologize for. Let me finish,” Lyra said hastily, seeing Twilight about to object to her title, “Yes Mistress, you have nothing to apologize for, and are more deserving of your title than those jackasses who would dare call themselves parents.”
Twilight looked taken aback for a moment, before getting a slight grin, “Thanks, Lyra.”
Looking out of the window, Lyra noticed that they were noticeably closer to mountain than they were before, as well as the building sticking out of the side of it. “I think it’s fair to say that we’re getting close.”
“What? Let me see!” exclaimed Twilight, trying to get a better view out of the window. “Wow, it’s incredible.”
It happened to be a very large step pyramid, jutting out of the side of a mountain. Even more impressive than that was the fact that the entire structure seemed to be made out of gold. The sun beating of the side of it made the entire structure look as if it were glowing with some unknown power.
“Okay, how in the name of the Gods does anybody not find that for who knows how long? It’s 200 feet tall and looks like it’s made of gold!” exclaimed Lyra, 'Seriously how anyone had missed a building that literally shined like the sun?'
“Apparently, it was only uncovered a couple months ago. As far as anyone can tell, some Earth Elementals got a bit rowdy and caused a huge rock slide on the mountain, revealing it after all this time. I can’t believe we’re almost there.” Twilight’s momentary look of excitement was quickly replaced with of terror. “Oh no! I haven’t finished my book on ancient hieroglyphics yet, I hope I get it finished by the time we get there,” said Twilight urgently, who was scrambling to get the book in her hands read.
Lyra merely chuckled, finding Twilight’s antics cute. ‘When we get there, I’ll see if I can talk to Sunset about treating Twilight a little better.’
Sunset let out a sneer when the carriage pulled up; just thinking about its occupant made her seethe with anger. ‘Well, I doubt even she can hog the glory here, if there’s any to be had.’
She quickly put on a mask of indifference when the carriage’s door opened, and her purple haired cousin stepped outside, followed by a mint-green haired woman with yellow eyes that Sunset recognized as Twilight’s handmaiden, one of the only people she’d ever seen Twilight ever get truly familiar with.
“Twilight, how nice it is to see you again,” Sunset greeted, with absolutely no warmth in her voice.
“Sunset, I’m… really happy to see you too,” Twilight replied, sounding a bit uncomfortable.
“Yes, I’m sure you are,” Sunset said. “Well, no time for pleasantries, the excavation site is further in,” Sunset continued while turning and walking back into the pyramid. “You!” she cried, pointing at a random worker, “Get their bags from the carriage!”
“Yes, Mistress,” he quickly said, as he ran off to begin offloading luggage.
As the entered into the long winding halls of the pyramid, Twilight frowned at Sunset, “You know, you don’t have to treat your servants like that.”
“Oh please, you have a lot to learn about ruling Sparkle. Our family provides them with food, shelter, and money. That gives us the right to treat them how we please.”
“No, it doesn-”
“Anyway, back to the matter at hand. We’ve excavated most of the pyramid; it’s mostly just hallways, but with a couple larger chambers that didn’t contain much of value. The most we found was some ancient clubs with rusty blades sticking out of it.”
“Really?” asked Twilight, “If things are going so well, why did the House ask me to come help?”
Giving Twilight a glare that could kill, Sunset continued, “Because the final chamber is giving us a bit of trouble. Ah, here we are.” As they entered into an enormous, circular room, they saw the problem. The room itself was quite spacious, with columns extending all the way to the ceiling, and the wall depicting varying images of dragons and the sun, easily seen by sunlight streaming in from ancient, smashed-in windows. However, half of the room seemed to be blocked off by an enormous wall, made of what appeared to be a golden metal.
“Is that-?” Twilight barely managed to get out, mesmerized by the sight in front of her.
“It is,” nodded Sunset, looking grim.
“Okay, I’m lost,” said the green-haired woman, momentarily startling Sunset, as she had forgotten she was even there. “How is a bunch of gold supposed to stop you from getting through?”
“Twilight,” Sunset said, choosing not to acknowledge the handmaiden directly, “Please tell your servant not to interrupt.”
“Hey, don’t act like I’m no-”
“As you should already know,” Sunset began, secretly enjoying the opportunity to lord her intellect over another, “Of the five magical materials, Ja-”
“Jade is the only magical material that’s widely used, given its much more easily found, though it’s magical properties mean only Exalted can use it. Especially since if anyone else tries to use it, it will weigh hundreds of pounds,” Twilight interrupted this time, not noticing the look of aggravation on Sunset’s face, or the look of amusement on Lyra’s.
“Okay, I know this, like everyone else in Creation,” Lyra replied, “What is your point?”
“Well, that’s not gold, it’s Orichalcum, which is also a magical material. It’s also the hardest known substance in Creation. Much harder than Jade, at any rate, and Jade’s almost indestructible.”
“Oh,” said Lyra, clearly now understanding.
“So,” looking to Sunset, “What have you tried to get through?” asked Twilight as they walked closer to a couple of tents set up next to the large wall.
“I’ve tried to decipher the runes on a door we found on the wall, but even after two months I haven’t been able to translate them,” Sunset did her best to keep the frustration out of her voice. “In the mean-time, I’ve had some of my workers try to using barrels of firedust to blow the door down.”
“WHAT!!!” shouted Twilight, “Are you mad? You’re setting of highly explosive materials next in a priceless ruin!?”
“Calm down, Sparkle, as you can see, it didn’t even leave a scorch mark. Now, here is the door,” Sunset gestured to an ornate door, about 7 feet tall, with a couple lines of hieroglyphics etched into it. “The only way I can think of to get in is to figure out what it says on this door, but as of yet, I haven’t been abl-”
“I know this writing,” Twilight interrupted.
“W-what?” asked a now stunned Sunset, a quiver clear in her voice.
“I’ve seen this kind of writing before,” Twilight repeated, running a hand over the runes. “It’s old, really old. It possibly even predates The Equestrian Realm, but there have been occasional findings of ruins with these symbols in them. Do you have anywhere where I can translate these? It shouldn’t take more than a couple days.”
Sunset merely pointed an empty tent she had prepared for Twilight’s arrival, unable to say anything.
“Thanks, I’ll have these done as soon as possible,” Twilight said, giving her cousin a quick hug before running off to the tent, her handmaiden giving Sunset a smirk before following her mistress.
Sunset stood frozen with incomprehension for a few minutes before letting out a shaky, “W-what?” ‘I-I need some air,’ she thought as she began to walk back out of the ruin. Workers rushed to make themselves appear busy as she walked by, but Sunset saw none of it, still caught in a haze.
As Sunset left the pyramid, she decided a stroll down the mountain would help clear her head, and possibly help her figure out what to do next. After about a half hour of walking, however, all that occurred to her was that she really had to pee.
‘Damn her, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t even have needed to come to this Dragons-forsaken dump in the first place,’ she thought, her resentment only growing with every step. “No,” she muttered, “Not just her, all of them. My parents, House Ledaal, The Equestrian Realm. Just because I wasn’t able to control the forces of nature themselves, I was treated like garbage, sent away to some corner of the world to be forgotten about. You know what, damn them, damn them all, they can all go to Tartarus for all I care!”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Sunset spun around, looking for the source of the voice, seeing nothing but rocks and the horizon. “W-who’s there?! I demand you show yourself!”
“Are you sure? Well, if you insist,” replied the voice, before the very air in front of Sunset coalesced into a solid form, and then suddenly, the strangest thing Sunset had ever seen was standing right before her. It appeared to have the body of an otter, the tail and head of a gecko, and the feet of a bird, as well as feathers covering its entire body. The sight was even more bizarre, as it was standing on its hind legs. It would have actually been kind of adorable, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was only an inch shorter than Sunset was.
Unfortunately for Sunset, she immediately recognized the odd creature. “D-DEMON! St-stay back!” she screamed, trying to scramble away from the thing, but only succeeding in backing herself into the side of the mountain.
“Oh, don’t be alarmed,” said the demon, which appeared to be trying and failing to give a calming gesture, “I have no desire to harm you.”
“W-what? Why should I believe you?” asked Sunset, as she tried to look for possible escape routes.
“Easy, if I wanted to hurt or kill you, we both know I would’ve done so by now. Besides, why would I want to kill someone as smart or talented as you?”
“That is true,” answered Sunset as she began to calm down.
“You know, I can quite sympathize with your plight.”
“Y-you can?”
“Of course, why should the Dragon-Blooded ‘Exalted’ rule the world? Nothing but spoiled brats, caring only for power they’ve inherited, without any of them truly earning it”[/color,] said the demon, its voice dripping with contempt. “The only reason they choose to ignore your potential is because of their own close-mindedness.”
As much as Sunset hated to admit it, the demon’s words made sense. Why should the Dragon-Blooded rule, just because they were born into it? How dare they not acknowledge her just because she couldn’t set people on fire, or leap tall buildings.
“You know, when my masters ruled the world, things followed a proper order. Human, Gods, everything, had a place, and were judged by their actual worth, not by some deluded sense of lineage equaling power.”
“Wait? Your masters ruling the world? But the Immaculate Text-”
“Are not but lies! My masters may be trapped in Tartarus, but what most mortals do not realize is that it is Them who forged the world, not any other being. Even those being you call “Anathema,” are just Exalted, chosen by the leaders of the rebellious Gods. The Dragon-Blooded were just their foot-soldiers!”
“What! That’s just insane, if that were the case, why are Anathema hunted instead of worshiped as the champions of Creation?” asked Sunset, skepticism dripping from her voice.
“That’s easy to answer. You see, eventually, the Dragon-Blooded decided that they didn’t want to be ruled over anymore, so they rebelled against their own masters, as the Gods did with theirs, and afterwards created an entire religion based around debasing their former masters, again, just like the Gods”
“But that’s not important right now," said the demon, as it eyed Sunset strangely with its yellow gecko eyes. “What’s important right now is you.”
“M-me?” fear beginning to awaken in Sunset’s mind once again.
“Oh yes, you. Why wouldn’t you be important? You’re wildly intelligent, deviously clever, you let others know their true place, and most important, you’re incredibly driven.”
She began to grin, massively enjoying the monster’s compliments, “Oh, do go on.”
“You see, Ledaal Sunset Shimmer, I’m here on behalf of my master to make you a deal. In exchange for power beyond your wildest dreams, that would make any ‘Terrestrial’ Exalt be nothing next to you, she-”
“Stop right there,” Sunset raising her hand to interrupt. “I may want power, but I’m not giving up my soul, so you can just forget about any deal. She began to hear a strange, rhythmic, hissing noise coming from the demon. She was worried she may have angered it, before realized it was laughing. “W-what’s so funny?”
“You, shishishi! Oh, she doesn’t want your soul.”
“Sh-she doesn’t? You don’t?”
“Of course not. For what reason would she even want your soul? No, what we want is for you to use your power to help create order. It’s evident any that look at it that the current hierarchy has failed. Those with power have proven to be unworthy. A new world order should be established, don’t you think?”
Shocked, Sunset replied, “So, let me get this straight. In exchange for power, you want me to help get rid of those I would want revenge on anyway?”
“Shishishi. That is one way to look at it. In fact, the more power you seize, and the more the current failed system is torn down, the more both you and my masters prosper. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.”
Sunset thought about her options, and thought hard. ‘Let’s see, provided this thing isn’t lying, on one hand, I’d be trying to bring the world to its knees, to see all of Creation kneeling before my might. On the other hand, if I refuse, that would mean spending the rest of my life still trying to grab onto any scrap of dignity thrown down from my family, provided this thing doesn’t just kill me for rejecting it’s offer.’
“You know what? I accept; it’s about time I got some recognition anyway,” she said, stretching her arm out to be shaken.
“Of course. Just remember, it was always your choice,” said the demon, before quickly elongating and wrapping its body around Sunset. Before she could even scream, her entire body was engulfed, the demon around her suddenly hardening into a sickly green crystal.
For five straight days and nights, the crystalline cocoon stood silent, no one stumbling upon it, until it finally began to break apart. From the cracks in the chrysalis, an unnatural green light spilled forth, accompanied by the sound of hellish laughter.
“Have they found her?”
“No, none of the search parties found anything,” answered Lyra as she shook her head.
“But it’s been five days! Surely someone’s found something?” pleaded Twilight.
Lyra shook her head once more, “Twilight, I know you wanted to wait for Sunset to return before opening the gateway, but the workers are starting to get restless.”
“Of course they’re restless; their leader went missing days ago, that would make anyone restless!” Twilight snapped.
“That’s not why. Well, sort of.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, her head cocked in confusion.
“Well, some of the men are starting to think pyramid is… cursed.”
“Cursed?” asked Twilight, even more confused than before. “Why would they think it’s cursed? It’s not like we’ve seen any undead walking around, or anyone burst into flame, or anything like that.”
“Well think about it. Months of nothing but trying to get through the door with no luck, but the day someone begins to figure out how to open it, their master goes missing? That’s going to worry people, especially the more superstitious ones,” Lyra pointed to a small group of servants near one of the walls of the chamber. Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw that they looked quite nervous, constantly looking around, and at least one of them was rather fiercely rubbing what appeared to be a pendant no doubt dedicated to a local god.
“See, another reason on why we should wait for Sunset to be found before continuing,” reasoned Twilight.
“Twilight, normally I’d agree with you, but it wasn’t just a couple of workers who went missing, it was their leader. Whether or not they actually care for her, her absence is going to keep weighing on their minds. Eventually, you could have a worker revolt on your hands, if this ‘curse’ rumor spreads.
Twilight thought about this, before bowing her head in defeat, “Alright, what do you think we should do?”
“Honestly? I think we should open the doors.”
“Wait? What!?” asked Twilight, “How would that possibly help?”
“Easy, it would show the workers that there’s nothing behind those doors to be afraid of. Plus, as long as nothing happens to you, all talk of a curse should be forgotten,” explained Lyra.
After another moments’ consideration, Twilight acquiesced, “Fine, let’s open some ancient ruins.”
As Twilight and Lyra approached the entrance, some of the excavators began to take notice, and by the time they reached the door, every worker in the room had their eye on Twilight. Twilight chose to ignore this, focusing completely on her task. Holding her hand up, Lyra stood a few feet back as Twilight rested her hand upon the door. ‘Alright,’ thought Twilight, ‘If you’re right about this, the door should open. But what if it doesn’t? Sunset was here for months and couldn’t open it, what if I translated it wrong or, or the mechanisms in the door are too old to function or… No, Twilight, calm down, you can do this.’
After taking a few short breaths, Twilight began to speak the entryway’s passphrase. “” Upon speaking the last word of the ancient tongue, Twilight heard a faint click from the door, followed by an enormous rumble which shook the whole room, causing everyone in the vicinity to jump and run for cover. Slowly, the door opened, pulled sideways into the wall, revealing the chamber beyond.
“Twilight, maybe we should let some of the workers take a look befo-” Lyra tried to say, but was interrupted by Twilight immediately walking through the now open gateway, fascinated by what could be beyond. At first glance, it seemed to simply be the other half of the room she was in before, except for three glaring differences: One, there were no windows to let the light in; Two, the entire room seemed to be bathed in a golden light by what appeared to be a glowing golden crystal, about 10 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter; Three, in front of the crystal was an altar, upon which lay a strange gold object, but before Twilight could get closer to investigate, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Quickly turning, Twilight was relieved to see the hand belonged to Lyra, who appeared quite exasperated. “Twilight, what are you thinking?! It could have been dangerous in here! You have a brain, and a ridiculously smart one at that, use it!” berated Lyra, who appeared to not even care that she was scolding her mistress. “Seriously, what if you had been hurt! Then what?!”
“Oh… I’m sorry Lyra,” Twilight answered meekly, sounding ashamed as she hung her head. “I wasn’t thinking. I was so wrapped up in what could be in here, I guess it just slipped my mind.”
“Well… just be more careful from now on, okay?” asked Lyra, a hint of worry still evident.
“Of course,” answered Twilight as she gave a quick nod. As Lyra turned away, probably to get some of the workers to follow them into the chamber, Twilight quickly interrupted, “Oh, and Lyra?”
“Yes?” asked Lyra, barely able to turn her head before feeling a pair of arms wrap around her chest.
“Thanks for caring,” answered Twilight, unable to see the massive blush spread across Lyra’s face.
“W-well, you’re welcome. Now let’s get some of the-” Lyra stopped mid-sentence, seeming to be distracted by something. “What’s that?”
Twilight, letting go of Lyra, looked through the doorframe, and saw a sickly green light radiating through. It seemed to be getting closer, and suddenly it flashed. “GET DOWN!” Lyra screamed, pulling Twilight out of the way, barely dodging the thing flung across the room.
Quickly scrambling to her feet, Twilight saw that the projectile was, in fact, one of the servants. Hearing Lyra mutter, “By the Maidens,” Twilight turned and was shocked. At the entrance to the room, stood Sunset, a smirk on her face, and surrounded by a hellish green and white aura. The energy seemed to glow fiercely around her hands. However, this was nothing compared to her forehead, where the image of a black eye with green flames emanating from it had appeared.
“S-sunset!?” stammered Twilight, horrified by her cousin’s current appearance. “W-what happened to you? You look like, like…”
“I look like what? Anathema?” at this, Sunset let out a bellowing, evil laugh, shaking the dust from the ceiling. “I am no mere Anathema, for I have been given power by those who crafted this world, those who should truly rule, like I will. Thank you for opening the door, Twilight,” Sunset spat her name as if it were a horrible curse, “But your services are no longer required.”
Twilight began to back away, stammering “S-sunset, th-think about wh-what you’re doing! I-I’m your cousin, T-twilight. C’mon, w-we’ve been close since we were k-kids.”
“Yes, we have been, but just like all other childish things,” Sunset sneered, “I’ve outgrown you.” Sunset raised her arm, green energy emanating from her hands, and in an instant, an acidic green bolt of energy shot from her hand straight at Twilight. As it screamed through the air, Twilight threw her arms up, trying to offer some defense. However, before the magic bolt touched her, Lyra leapt in front of it, intercepting the blast. Lyra was launched high into the air, blasted 30 feet back, and slammed into the massive golden crystal, where she lay limp.
“LYRA!!!” screamed Twilight, running as fast as she could to the handmaiden’s side. Kneeling beside her, Twilight cradled Lyra’s head, noticing blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. “No, no no no, please be okay. Lyra, please, I need you.”
Lyra barely managed to open her eyes, looking directly into Twilight’s, “Please cough you… must… cough live.” Lyra’s eyes then closed, as she fell limp in Twilight’s arms.
Overcome by grief, Twilight couldn’t even utter a response, tears flowing down her face. That is, until she heard something else.
“Heh heh heh, crying over some nameless servant. It’s a wonder you’re a member of House Ledaal at all, with that soft attitude,” Sunset began laughing once again, clearly enjoying Twilight’s misery.
“…Lyra,” Twilight whispered.
“What was that?”
“I said,” Twilight stood up as she grabbed a stone from the ground, “Her name,” at this she threw the stone as hard as she could, “Is LYRA!”
Sunset smirked as she stuck her hand out, a green force field taking shape in front of her, “What’s that supposed to-” WHAM! The rock suddenly began glowing with a golden light as it tore through the shield like it was wet paper, and slammed into Sunset, hard.
“W-what!? How? T-that’s not possible,” Sunset shrieked, seeing what had happened to Twilight, while clutching her now bloody face. In opposition to Sunset’s sickly green, Twilight glowed with a warm golden light, and upon her forehead lay a symbol of a half filled gold circle.
Twilight was confused, not knowing what was happening. In the back of her mind, she heard a voice talking to her: a voice that was filled with wisdom, compassion, and righteous fury. “YOU WHO WOULD STAND AGAINST EVIL KNOWING YOU MAY FALL, YOU WHO UNDERSTAND SECRETS LONGS SINCE BURIED, YOU ARE CHOSEN BY CELESTIA, THE UNCONQUERED SUN. I PROCLAIM YOU LEDAAL SPARKLE SUNSET, TWILIGHT CASTE OF THE SOLAR EXALTED!”
Twilight wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but she did know that the thing in front of her just killed her closest friend, so at the moment, she really didn’t care. “Sunset, your actions took away the two most important people in my life. It ends here.”
Sunset seethed, “Just because you have some new tricks, doesn’t mean you can defeat me!” screaming as she fired another green blast. Twilight shot the blast out of the sky with her own purple blast, tinted gold, from her hands. Twilight fired again, but this time the blast splintered upon hitting Sunset’s shield, bits of energy flying every direction, leaving gouges in the floor and walls.
To counter, Sunset lifted her arms and the nearby debris lifted into the air, surrounded by the green glow. An invisible force flung the rubble at Twilight and she barely managed to avoid getting flattened by a thrown boulder. Twilight, focusing on Sunset, found she could see and understand how Sunset’s magic worked. Apparently, Sunset’s power was fueled by the hellish energies of Tartarus, like a demon only much stronger, and gave her an expanded form of Telekinesis. Even the green blasts of magic appeared to simply be concentrated Telekinetic bursts. Not knowing how, but certain there was only one way to defeat Sunset, Twilight stood tall, and began to gather her magic.
Sunset, seeing this, began to gather her magic as well. As both of the Exalted gathered magical energies into their hands, their auras began to coalesce around them, taking on the form of their souls.
Around Sunset, a pair of bat wings made of green fire took shape jutting out of her back, as a crown of white fire floated above her head. Seven crystalline orbs orbited around her, varying in size, but all made of green and white fire.
In contrast, Twilight’s aura took the shape of a mighty winged, purple dragon, golden spikes running down its back, and shining golden eyes.
For an instant, the two Exalted simply stood their ground, gazing at one another, before launching both of their attacks, massive beams of green and gold meeting and clashing against one another. For an instant, it appeared as if they would simply cancel each other out, before Twilight screamed out, “MAGIC SHATTERING STRIKE!” Her beam suddenly took on a deep purple hue and ripped Sunset’s beam apart, beating Sunset back and into the orichalcum wall behind her.
Twilight staggered, but stood her ground, watching as Sunset barely managed to bring herself to her feet. “It’s over Sunset, give up.”
Sunset looked as if she was going to retort, before she began coughing, blood clearly spitting from her mouth. She glared at Twilight before uttering, “It’s over… but only for now, Twilight.” At this, she fired at the ground, causing dust to fill the air. When the dust cleared, Sunset had vanished.
Sighing, Twilight turned to her fallen friend to make a startling discovery. “W-where is she? Where did she go?!” For the spot where Lyra’s body had lain was now empty; all that remained was an altar, the thing atop the altar, which Twilight could now see was an orchalcum tiara, and a half-melted gold crystal.
‘Wait, WHAT!? Why is it melting?’ Twilight thought, watching as the glowing crystal melted away, revealing what appeared to be a tall, purple, reptilian humanoid, with green spines on its head, which promptly fell to its knees.
Keeping her distance, Twilight tried to figure out what it was, before it looked up at her. It appeared astonished by what it saw.
Author's Note
Hello everyone. I hope you all enjoyed that first installment. Here is where I try to combing MLP:FIM with my favorite RPG, Exalted. Please leave a comment, and if anyone has a question, I'll be happy to answer. Expect more shortly (and by that, I mean WAY more shortly than the chapters of My Little Masquerade take)
