Dawn's Fury

by Scipio Smith

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer
Length: 10737

Once Dawn and Sunset were rivals for a great destiny and the love of Celestia, before both lost out to Twilight Sparkle. Now Sunset has returned and Dawn is angry, and Princess Twilight better watch her back because her enemies are all around her

"They are coming for you, princess: the rising and the setting sun, the dragonslayer and the black flame, the raven and the glimmering star. I have seen them in the fires and in the smoke. I have seen them in my dreams, and darker things besides. They come for you, and seek your fall."

Once upon a time, Dawn Starfall and Sunset Shimmer were rivals for the affections of Princess Celestia, and for the fame and power promised to whomever won the glorious destiny for which they competed. But Sunset left, and Dawn's dreams turned to ash as she had to watch the prize and the princess' love stolen away by another: Twilight Sparkle.

Dawn's life is in ruins, her friends are scattered, her ambitions are all but dead; until one final injury makes her angry enough to want to get back at the mare who ruined her life.

Unbeknownst to Twilight or Dawn, Sunset Shimmer has returned from the human world, with that world's versions of Dawn and Sunset in tow. Human!Dawn wants to find the world promised to her in the books she used to escape her life, Human!Sunset wants to burn it down.

And in the shadows the Raven Queen watches, waits, and makes her plans.

As Canterlot is consumed by the chaos they have unleashed, Dawn and Sunset may have to put their old rivalry aside and work together, and maybe in doing so Dawn can finally repair the shattered pieces of her life.

This is a rewrite of my earlier fic Vengeance of Dawn but I think the changes are substantial enough as to qualify as a rewrite from the ground up as specified in the content guidelines.

Published 2015-05-04 13:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-08-08 08:17:17 UTC

Shattered Hopes and Broken Dreams

Dawn's Fury

Scipio Smith

Chapter 1

Shattered Hopes and Broken Dreams

"Princess Celestia, where's Sunset? Isn't she coming?"

Dawn Starfall stood in the centre of the carpet like a lost puppy, looking up at Princess Celestia, who stood with her back to Dawn, looking out over the night-shrouded city of Canterlot.

"Sunset won't be joining us," Celestia said, her voice clipped, her tone solemn.

"Is she sick?" Dawn asked. "Is that why I haven't seen her all day?"

Celestia hesitated. "No, Dawn. Sunset is not ill. Or at least, not in the way that you mean. She has...gone away."

"When's she coming back?" Dawn asked.

Celestia bowed her head. "I fear that she will not return from where she has gone."

Dawn blinked for a moment, thinking of how empty the dorm she shared with Princess Celestia's other student would be now that she had it all to herself. Who would push her to get better, without Sunset's infuriating example to drive her? Who would make fun of her when she made mistakes, and so encourage her to make fewer mistakes in future? Whose mockery would prickle, whose example would guide her, who would understand when she talked about what her day had been like. Who would she fight with every day until she couldn't fight any more? Who would she best, in the end, in the contest for greatness?

Who would be her rival now?

"She didn't even say goodbye," Dawn murmured. "I don't understand."

Celestia sighed. "I pray you never will."

Sunrise Square was packed with every kind of pony imaginable. Upper class unicorns, of the kind who would normally not have been seen dead in the company of such riff-raff as now rubbed shoulders with them, made no snide remarks nor harsh demands, and if any noses were in the air it was only because they were looking up at the palace balcony. Earth ponies, rough-hoofed labourers of the kind who would normally had to have paid rent to share the same air as the rarefied gentlecolts around them stood side-by-side with those who could afford to buy them out ten times over, each alike locked in rapt attention at the scene above. Pegasi filled the skies above, hovering overhead like crows over a battlefield.

Crows come to pick clean the corpse of my ambitions, Dawn Starfall though sourly. She felt like the only pony in this entire crowd who didn't look like they were about to jump out of their coat in ecstasy. Right in front of her was one particular lime-green unicorn who wouldn't stop jumping up and down to get a better view. It was all Dawn could do not to smack her down with magic.

It was all she could not to turn her magic against a lot of the ponies in this joyous crowd, to be honest. Dawn felt such a rage coiling, squirming inside her, eager to get out. She wanted to cast a spell at someone. She wanted to start a fire. She wanted to teleport up onto that balcony wreathed in flames and have a breakdown like a comic-book supervillain, declaring her contempt for everypony and everything while she challenged the hero to a fight.

No, for Celestia's sake, you can't let yourself think that way. If you think that way she's won. You're the hero, you! She's the villain, she's the thief, you can't let yourself think any other way or you really will go crazy.

Not that thinking of herself as the hero did a lot to calm her anger. It just became the rage of a thwarted hero rather than the rage of a bad guy. She still wanted to hit someone.

Fortunately, no one noticed the way that her hooves twitched with desire to kick. No one noticed the increasingly sour look on her face. Because nopony was looking at her at all. Their eyes were all upon the palace balcony, where Equestria's newest princess was being unveiled to the crowd.

Princess Celestia was up there, as beautiful as ever, her white coat shining with a brilliant brightness that outdid the sun burning in the sky above. She did not see Dawn Starfall in the crowd. Notice me! Dawn thought. See me! Smile, curse, order me arrested, just so long as you remember I exist! But she did not see, it was as if Dawn wasn't there.

Celestia had stepped back from the balcony edge, standing half in the archway back into the building with her newly returned sister, Princess Luna. On the balcony edge, and the true focus of attention, was the new princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Five other ponies - two earth ponies, two pegasi and a unicorn - stood around her as she gave an insipid speech about how she had gotten this far, and how little work she had done to get there.

It was all Dawn could do not to throw up in her mouth.

It was at that moment that somepony jostled her in the crowd.

Dawn rounded on the culprit with teeth bared like a dog. "Watch it!" she snarled. "Are you blind or something? I was right here!"

The guilty party was a middle aged earth pony, his muscle turning to flab and his dark mane turning to grey. "I beg your pardon."

"My pardon?" Dawn demanded. "My pardon? I'll pardon you once you get out of my face you clumsy oaf!"

"Hey, it was just an accident, lady, what's your problem?" some pegasus with a Manehattan accent demanded.

"Butt out, pal, before I make that face of yours a little less pretty?" Dawn snarled.

"You're threatening me now? What is wrong with you?"

"Hey! Hey!" another pegasus, a mare with a dark grey coat in the glimmering armour of the Royal Guard, swooped down out of the skies to land beside Dawn. "Okay, everypony, break it up. That's right. Be on your way."

"You're telling me to leave?" the pegasus demanded incredulously. "She was the one hassling me."

"I don't care, just beat it," the guard snapped.

The pegasus flew off, grumbling. The earth pony also beat a hasty retreat into the crowd.

The guard took off her helmet, revealing a silver-grey mane underneath. She sighed, looking down reproachfully at Dawn with one dark eye from where she hovered a few feet overhead. "Any other guard would have run you in for that, Dawny. You should count yourself lucky."

"Lucky?" Dawn asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows as she gestured with her head towards the balcony. "Seriously, Razor, I'm lucky?"

Razor Wind, Dawn's friend in the guard and one of the only two friends Dawn still had, frowned. "Well, I guess...what are you doing here, Dawny, you don't want to see this."

"No, I don't," Dawn muttered, turning her head so that she could see Twilight Sparkle again. "But I had to. I had to see it for myself, know that it was real and not rumour. And not some nightmare of mine that I could wake up from."

Razor was silent for a moment. "I understand, but...it's best if you go, Dawn. I can't let you get away with anything else today. Not here anyway."

Dawn didn't respond. She just stared at Princess Twilight, standing where she should have stood, receiving the honours and ovations she should have received, possessed of all the love that Dawn had lost.

Sunset, wherever you are, I bet you're glad you don't have to see this. Or would you laugh at me for the fact that I couldn't win the race even after you pulled out? You'd probably think I'm pathetic, wouldn't you? Probably because I am.

"Dawny," Razor said. "You ought to go."

Dawn looked at her, bowing her head a little. "Yeah, I'll go."

"You gonna go home?" Razor asked.

"No, I think I'll go and see Sunflower," Dawn said.

Razor nodded. "But then you'll go home, right?"

"Eventually," Dawn said. "I might not feel like it right away. And besides, I have to fight tonight, so I might as well stay out until that's done."

"I wish you wouldn't, Dawny," Razor said. "Cherry worries sick about you every time, and it's illegal."

"Yeah, but how else am I going to make rent?" Dawn asked. "I keep getting fired from honest jobs."

"Cherry and I make enough to get by," Razor said.

"I'm not a burden," Dawn said, her voice rising. "On you or Cherry or anypony else. I keep my end up and I pay my way." She grinned. "Tell Cherry not to worry so much, don't I always win?"

"So far," Razor muttered darkly.

Dawn shook her head. "I'll see you tonight."

"I hope so," Razor said.

Dawn pushed her way through the crowd, forcing other ponies to make way for her through sheer dogged refusal to stop, until at last she had escaped the cloying press of the happy square and its joyous celebrations and gained the comparatively empty streets beyond. With so many crowded into Sunrise Square, the only ponies in the streets were those who couldn't fit in there, a few earth ponies or unicorns trying to get a glimpse of the new princess, a few pegasi sitting on the roofs up above.

Dawn ignored them. She couldn't understand it. She just didn't get it at all. All of these ponies had gathered to celebrate another pony being raised up to greatness and exalted above them. Why were they all so happy about it? Did not one of them resent some pony who had, until recently, been no better than they, now being showered with praises, honours, glories?

Dawn smirked; of course, she had fully expected that they would have this reaction to her when she was lifted high, so why shouldn't they react like this to Twilight Sparkle. They didn't know her, after all, any more than they knew Dawn herself, so they would just celebrate anyway and assume that Princess Celestia knew best.

She and Sunset had talked about this a few times: why so many ponies were content to live small lives, with small ambitions, why ponies like them who sought to be more, to stand astride the world and put all the rest in their shadow, were the exception not the norm. Sunset's theory - that most would choose a safe and comfortable life rather than risk the dire consequences of trying to climb high and falling before you reached the top - had given ponies rather more credit that Dawn's view that they were just too sheep-like to know any better.

She cut through a back-alley - somepony had graffitied the words Raven Queen Lives! on the wall, whatever that meant - and began to make her way towards Sunny Skies.

It was her party, but there were times when Twilight felt as though everypony was having fun except her.

Over there, Rarity was dancing. Rainbow Dash was deep in conversation with Spitfire. Pinkie Pie was swallowing cupcakes a plate at a time, to the amazement of onlookers, while Applejack looked on in what looked like bemused fascination. Fluttershy was trying to make friends with Philomena.

Twilight herself, on the other hoof, was stuck accepting the congratulations of every single pony in the room. It was worse than the Grand Galloping Gala, because at least then nopony had really cared about the pony standing at Princess Celestia's side. Today she was all they cared about, and some of them would even try to engage her in conversation, in spite of the fact that everypony could see that there was a line forming behind them to offer the new princess their good wishes.

I wonder how Princess Celestia does this so often? Twilight thought, and felt a momentary sting of bitterness that her mentor did not feel inclined to do anything to rescue her from her predicament. But that was unfair of her: this was, for better or worse, a part of Twilight's job, and Celestia would probably expect her to bear up under it as she expected Twilight to succeed in all the tasks she gave her.

"Your Highness, I bring you greetings from the Seers of Dodona."

Twilight noticed that a new pony had reached the head of the procession, a pegasus hooded and cloaked, with her face hidden and her voice a soft purr.

"Dodona?" Twilight said. "You've come a long way." Dodona, in Maretonia, claimed to be the sight of the oldest oracle in Equestria, or beyond, a source of prophecy and pilgrimage for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. It's influence was less now, in an age of industry, steel and steam when so many rational ponies scorned the very idea of prophecy, but the oracle still possessed a great store of ancient wealth, and every year a few hopeful or desperate souls would make their way to the shrine to plead for wisdom and the answers to their questions. Still, Twilight had never heard of any of the Seers making a long journey like this before. Perhaps they were desperate for royal patronage? If so, they might be disappointed. Twilight knew there was some truth in prophecy - the return of Nightmare Moon being a case in point - but at the same time she was not sure she wanted to live her life according to the delphic utterances dispensed by a group of cloistered ponies living in a cave. "May I ask why you have done me this honour?"

The seer leaned in, and Twilight caught a glimpse of two sightless eyes boring into her from out of the shadows of the hood before the seer whispered in her ear. "They are coming for you, princess: the rising and the setting sun, the dragonslayer and the black flame, the raven and the glimmering star. I have seen them in the fires and in the smoke. I have seen them in my dreams, and darker things besides. They come for you, and seek your fall."

Twilight looked at her out of the sides of her eyes. "The rising and the setting sun? The flames didn't give you any names then?"

"Do not mock the sight!" the seer hissed. "They are coming, and you must prepare yourself. Keep your friends close, princess, for I fear your enemies are already closer."

The seer turned away, her cloak billowing behind her as she swept off with a firm stride.

Twilight frowned after her as she went, then shook her head. "This is why most ponies don't believe you any more," she muttered to herself.

"You shouldn't put too much trust in prophecies," somepony said from behind her. "Try and avoid them, try and fulfil them, either way it will come back and bite you every time. Destiny is wicked like that."

Twilight turned around. In spite of the fact that there was a drop of at least a hundred feet, there was a pony sitting in the windowsill, a unicorn - her horn was about the only part of her that Twilight could see clearly - hiding her face behind a crimson mask, her coat and cutie-mark beneath a cape of scarlet and gold, patterned like flames, and her mane beneath a veil of black. Her voice was soft, pleasant, though not without the sense that it could become harsh if it had to.

Twilight's brow furrowed. "If you want to wish me well, you should probably get to the back of the line."

The masked pony laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not a wait-in-line kind of girl. But you're right, I am here to say congratulations on your elevation...princess."

"Thank you," Twilight murmured. "Do I know you?"

"Nope," Mask said, and she did not take the cue to introduce herself. "But I know you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and that's what really matters."

"Not for me it doesn't," Twilight said. "I'd like your name, if its all the same to you."

"It isn't," Mask replied briskly. "Anyway, I have to go. Places to go, friends I have to keep out of trouble. They're new in town, you see." She paused. "Everything is going to change for you, princess. Everything. You might want to prepare yourself. Good talk, gotta go."

She teleported away in a green flash, disappearing from the windowsill the breeze blew through the open window to ruffle Twilight's bangs.

Twilight blinked twice. "What in Celestia's name was that about?"

Dawn walked through the corridors of Sunny Skies Hospice & Care Home, finding them nearly empty. Probably everypony was at Princess Twilight's celebration, or just celebrating the arrival of a new princess. There would be street parties, private parties, pegasi would drape the landmarks of Canterlot in pink, all the trimmings. It wasn't that Dawn begrudged the festivities, she would have just rather that they were in somepony else's honour.

Even the nurse at the reception desk seemed to have gone, but Dawn knew where she was going so she signed the visitors book and made her way through the sterile corridors, her hoofs thudding into the linoleum floor, as she passed by wards of silent and slumbering old ponies.

Most of the rooms were communal, except for the ponies who were soon to depart from the world, but Sunflower had a private room, paid for by a stipend from Princess Celestia, although as far as Dawn she never visited. The act of charity was not for Sunflower's sake, after all, but in Sunset's memory, though Dawn had never found out exactly what that memory was. She had gotten the impression that Sunset was dead, and wherever she had initially gone it had been so long without word that death was the most likely possibility, but Celestia had never confirmed it for certain. Of course, Dawn hadn't been on speaking terms with Celestia for a long time herself.

Dawn's overall impression of Sunny Skies was that it was a warehouse for storing unwanted ponies until they did the decent thing and departed, and for the most part the decor supported that interpretation, but Sunflower's room was one of the more decent ones. It had a carpet, albeit in a rather ghastly shade of pink, and a window that opened and thick red curtains that would keep out the sun in the summer when the days were long. The bedside table was walnut, and littered with curios from Sunflower's home: a wedding photo, another picture of Sunset in her formal academic robes, grinning out of the frame with delighted satisfaction, a china dog, a vase with a blue willow pattern. Dawn brought fresh flowers every week, when she could afford them. The current lot were looking a little bit wilted, she would have to change them soon. Once she won tonight's fight she would have the bits to spend.

Sunflower herself had a golden coat, a brighter shade than her daughter's had been, though it was a little wrinkled now with age. Her name had gone grey, and there was a rheumy, milky quality to her blue eyes that obscured whatever brightness they might once have had. She was staring vacantly at the wall, and didn't appear to notice when Dawn came in and sat down beside her.

"Hey, Mrs S," Dawn murmured. "How are you feeling?"

Sunflower looked at her, and started a little. "Dawn! I wasn't expecting you to visit me today."

Dawn smiled. "A pleasant surprise, I hope."

Sunflower nodded. "You really don't need to do this, you know, I'm not your mother, after all."

"No, but I don't want to leave you all alone in this place," Dawn replied. "How are they treating you? Are you eating okay?"

"I'm fine, or as fine as I can be," Sunflower said. "It's very kind of you to keep coming here. Will you still visit when Sunset comes back?"

Dawn hesitated. "I...yeah. Sure I will, if you still want me to."

Sunflower nodded again. "She will come back, you know. She will. I know my little girl. She'll be back."

"I know," Dawn lied.

"She used to talk about you all the time, you know. Dawn this, and Dawn that. Sometimes I thought she hated your guts, and sometimes I thought you were her best friend."

Dawn chuckled. "Yeah, that...that kinda cut both ways, I think."

"She'll come back," Sunflower repeated. "I know my little girl." She blinked, and looked at Dawn in surprise. "Dawn! I wasn't expecting you to visit me today."

Dawn's smile was strained. "No. I hope you don't mind."

Dawn spent a little longer with Sunset's mom, long enough to make sure that she was eating properly and that the staff were taking care of her, but sooner or later it always came back to Sunset. It always comes back to Sunset. My life didn't end when Twilight Sparkle took my place, it ended the day you left. If you'd stuck around I wouldn't have spun out the way I did; I would have beaten you, and Twilight Sparkle too.

Where did you go?

Dawn made her goodbyes and took her leave of Sunflower - soon she might well forget Dawn had been there at all - and got out of the room while she could still leave without running away. She stood outside the door, breathing heavily, trying to overcome the draining sensation that always overcame after witnessing what illness had done to Sunflower.

"Losing your mind...it really sucks, doesn't it? After all, our minds are what make us who we are. Personally, I'd rather get stabbed through the heart, wouldn't you? It would be faster, and less painful in the long run."

Dawn looked up to see a unicorn standing across the corridor from her. Her forelegs were crossed as she leaned against the wall, matching the light insouciant tone of her voice. her legs about all that Dawn could see, since she had covered the rest of herself up with cape, veil and mask.

"Who are you?" Dawn demanded, a scowl crossing her face.

"To talk," Mask said. "Why else would I be making words come out of my mouth, huh, Dawny?"

"Only my friends get to call me that," Dawn snapped. "Are we friends?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"How can I do that when I don't know who you are?"

"Touche. I guess we aren't friends after all." Mask chuckled. "What are you doing here, Dawn Starfall? She's not your mother, after all."

"No," Dawn admitted. "But her own daughter...can't be here. So I look in on her instead. It's the least I can do."

"Oh. Were you and the daughter close?"

"No," Dawn said. "Yes. Sort of. It's complicated. Look, why the hay do you care anyway, who are you?"

"I'm just trying to understand you, Dawn. Perhaps I'll look in on the old dear myself, see what she has to say about you."

Dawn snarled as she lunged across the corridor, grabbing the masked mare by the scruff of the neck and slamming her into the wall. "You stay away from her, you got it. You go away near that old mare and you'll answer to me." It was the least that she could do for Sunset.

Mask laughed. "Don't worry, I get the picture...Dawny." She teleported away, leaving Dawn to collapse in a heap on the floor.

"That's right, you better run," Dawn murmured.

Sunset Shimmer teleported into a currently disused part of the care home, the lights turned out to save power, and with the shadows to shield her she took off her mask and took a deep breath.

"Well that was fun," she said. "Surprisingly instructive too."

"Instructive? I think it was just sad," another Dawn Starfall stepped out of the shadows on her left. She was physically identical to the Dawn that Sunset had left behind, except Starfall had died some of the ends of her red-and-white mane black, and tied them up in pigtails. She wore a spiked collar around her neck, and studded black bracelets around her forelegs. Sunset thought it made her look ridiculous, but she guessed there was no accounting for taste. "I mean, that's me? That's weird. I mean really weird. Like, even after I met the two of you I wouldn't have believed it weird. Weirder than the fact that I'm a horse. And sad too. I mean look at how pathetic I was. That's me? Other Me sucks."

"It isn't just other you that sucks, honey, trust me," a second Sunset Shimmer, physically identical in all respects but wearing tinted sunglasses even in the darkness, stepped out of the dark to stand on Sunset's right.

Starfall scowled. "I haven't come to a whole new world just so I can get talked down to the same way as in the old one."

"No," Sunset agreed. "You came to a whole new world because you wanted the kind of possibilities the other world couldn't offer you."

"Possibilities I haven't seen much sign of yet," Starfall remarked. "I mean I'm a magic horse and I'm still stuck sneaking around a hospital? Where are the dragons? Where are the quests? When do I get to be the hero?"

"When I say so," Sunset said sharply. "Or you can go back home whenever you like. I'm sure you foster parents are really worried about where you've gone. Or, you know, not."

Starfall glowered, but said nothing.

"And as for you," Sunset rounded upon Shimmer. "Try and remember we're supposed to be a team."

Shimmer shrugged. "Whatever you say. I gotta to agree with little miss gothic over there, I'm kinda itching for some action."

"And you'll get it," Sunset said. "But you'll get it when I say, and you'll do what I say. I brought you here, so what I say goes, understand."

Shimmer smirked. "Sure thing, boss. What you say, goes."

Author's Note

So basically, when talking about the Dawn and Sunset from the pony world, they will be referred to in the narration as Dawn and Sunset. Their human duplicates will be referred to as Starfall and Shimmer, respectively, to prevent confusion. Again, this is only in the narration, characters may refer to them differently.

Follow Your Dreams

Chapter 2

Follow Your Dreams

The vase exploded.

Dawn cringed. "Was that expensive?"

"No, Dawn," Celestia said calmly. "Nor was it rare. Don't worry about it."

Dawn growled, stamping her hoof petulantly. "Why can't I learn to do this right?"

"It will come," Celestia said.

Dawn didn't look particularly reassured. She turned her head, staring into the night sky beyond the window. "I bet Sunset Shimmer got this right perfectly the first time."

"Actually, she struggled every bit as much as you did, at first," Celestia said. "She mastered it in time, and so will you."

Dawn's ears perked up to hear that Sunset had actually met a task that she found difficult. It even brought a little bit of a smile to her face. "She really couldn't do it? Did she make as much of a mess as me?"

"Dawn," Celestia murmured, a hint of reproach entering her tone as she took a sip of tea from a china cup. "I hardly think that that is an appropriate question."

"Sorry, princess," Dawn said. "But am I better at it now than she was at the same time?"

"Dawn."

"Well, she's always in front of me!" Dawn whined. "Every time I look up from the race there she is, striding up ahead without even breaking a sweat. I just want to know if I have a chance to catch up."

"You are not in competition, Dawn," Celestia said gently.

"Except for how we totally are," Dawn muttered.

"Are you now," Celestia said, raising one eyebrow. "And did Sunset tell you this?"

Dawn shuffled on the carpet, but said nothing.

"Dawn Starfall, I asked you a question," Celestia said firmly.

Dawn pouted some more. "Sunset says that there's a great destiny in store for one of us, and only one of us. Whichever of us wins will get fame, and glory, and all the riches of this world. She says that whoever gets there first, everypony will know their name."

Celestia sighed. "That," she said. "Is the problem with teaching very clever mares, they can ferret out your secrets." She got up and walked over to the window, looking out across the palace gardens. "Sunset is not quite right, however. There may be a great destiny in store for you, but there is no guarantee that either of you will attain. It may be that nopony will." Suddenly, the princess looked very sad, almost distraught at the idea. Dawn had never seen Princess Celestia's reserve crack like that before.

"Don't worry, princess," Dawn said. "I'll do it. Whatever it takes, I'll make it there. And if I don't then Sunset will. Please don't be sad."

"Perhaps it will be somepony else altogether," Celestia suggested.

"No way," Dawn said firmly. "Sunset's the only mare that I could lose to."

"As in she is the only pony you can conceive of being better than you, or the only one your pride will allow you to acknowledge as your better?" Celestia asked.

Dawn frowned. "Both," she said after a moment.

Celestia smiled fondly. "Let me ask you a question, Dawn, to divert this lesson for a moment. Why do you desire this great destiny that Sunset has told you of? Why do you desire fame and glory?"

"Because I want everypony to have to look up to me," Dawn declared. "Except you, of course, and my friends. And maybe not Sunset either, I haven't quite made up my mind about her yet. But apart from that, I want everypony to have to look up to me and acknowledge how great I am."

"So you seek recognition, for recognition's own sake?" Celestia asked.

"I guess so," Dawn said. She hesitated, and her tone became a little nervous. "Princess Celestia, was that the wrong answer?"

Now it was Celestia's turn to hesitate. "Honesty is never the wrong answer Dawn...unless one is hoping to manipulate the outcome. But it is true that, on occasion, one is not rewarded for speaking the truth."

"So it was the wrong answer," Dawn said.

"It was not the best answer," Celestia responded. "But I find that I can hardly blame you for it. And you have time enough. Now, we should probably return to the lesson at hoof."

"Am I allowed to ask what Sunset's answer was?"

Celestia smiled. "I suggest that you should ask her that question yourself. Now, to return to the point, the reason you are having difficulty is because you are too powerful, too young."

"How can there be such a thing as too powerful?" Dawn said.

"You have not had time to learn how to control your power," Celestia explained. "Most unicorns increase in magical potential as they age, and so become more powerful as they possess the maturity to use their power. You...and Sunset, are far more powerful than you should be at your age, and thus you do not have the requisite maturity or control."

Dawn's head dropped. "So...I'm going to suck at this until I grow up?"

"Not necessarily," Celestia said. "As I said, you are not the first unicorn I have tutored who has had this problem. Have you ever played a musical instrument, Dawn?"

Dawn's brow furrowed. "No, princess."

"The essence of music is control," Celestia said, levitating a large instrument case out from behind her desk. "It requires passion, emotion, yes, but raw passion splurged out into the world will be as discordant and distressing as ink spilled upon parchment. You must learn to control the notes, to know how much pressure to apply, and where. By controlling yourself you can master the rhythm and the melody and, in place of discord, produce something beautiful. And, by combining your sound with that of other ponies, you may together create something transcendent, and beyond the power of any one mare no matter how powerful."

Celestia opened the case, to reveal a handsome cello sitting within, polished to a shine.

"You really think that learning to play will improve my magic, princess?" Dawn asked.

"I do," Celestia said.

Dawn drew herself up as high as she could, which wasn't very far yet but still. "Then I promise, I'll practice every day until I'm good enough to play in concert halls."

"How is your hoof, Twilight?" Celestia asked, and her voice was not devoid of amusement.

Twilight held up her right forehoove. It was red and throbbing, and Twilight could swear that it looked a little bigger than the rest of her legs. "Do you think it will shrink by morning?"

"Hopefully," Celestia said. "Although Luna's hoof was sore for a whole week after our first royal event."

"Really?" Twilight asked, her voice rising an octave at the thought of having to walk around on this tender hoof for a whole week. She hesitated. "Princess Celestia, are you kidding me?"

Celestia's expression was almost utterly inscrutable. There was only a slight quirk of her lip to demonstrate that she was not in absolute earnest.

Then, very slowly, she smiled.

"I knew it!" Twilight said.

Celestia chuckled. "It will get easier, if you attend very many more of these events. Certainly I barely feel anything after a night of introductions, now. Though I'm afraid your small talk still needs some work."

Twilight nodded. "I didn't really know what to say."

"The most important lesson you can learn is that you need not really say anything," Celestia said. "Most ponies don't want a conversation, they want to feel that you are interested in them; as such the ability to..." Celestia hesitated for a moment. "As it happens I do find them interesting. Their lives, their struggles, their ambitions...my little ponies are a source of endless fascination to me, the important thing is making sure that they realise it. It doesn't matter what you say, Twilight, or if you say anything at all, the important thing is that you establish a connection. Let them know you care and you will do very well."

"Establish a connection, got it," Twilight said. "Though, to be honest, I'd rather not attend too many of these in the immediate future. I...I'd really like to get home."

"Unfortunately, Twilight," Celestia said. "I was hoping to keep you here for a little while longer."

They stood nearly alone in the palace ballroom. The only other ponies present were a few guards standing silently around the walls, and a few servants clearing away the detritus of the reception. Twilight walked a little closer to Celestia, her sore hoof treading on the carpet, stopping for a moment as somepony passed in front of her sweeping up streamers.

"Why?" Twilight asked. "Why do you want me to stay here?"

"What do you know about the conflict between Rangivar and Cervidas?" Celestia asked.

"Only what I read in the newspapers," Twilight said. "The caribou have invaded Cervidas, and they've done pretty well. The last report in the paper said that they'd conquered a third of the country...and there have been some nasty rumours about how they've been behaving."

"Quite," said Celestia, her voice chilly, and touched with sadness. "My diplomatic experts dismiss such rumours of the babble of the coffee house, but if even half of them were true it would be most distressing. Less than half, in fact; the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation would be quite distressing enough. And the advance of the caribou is greater than last reported. Things are so bad that the Deer King himself has left Cervidas and landed at Vanhoover last night, he intends to come here and plead with me for aid."

Twilight felt a slight shiver run down his spine. "We're going to war."

"No," Celestia said firmly. "I will not take that course unless Equestria's own survival depended on it. I will not cast my ponies into the fire save at utmost need. But I do wish to bring this conflict to an end, if possible. So I have decided to call a congress of the great powers to resolve this dispute and hammer out a peace between the two sides."

"Will the caribou agree to that?" Twilight asked. "They are winning, after all."

"They are," Celestia conceded. "But they also buy three quarters of their iron, two thirds of their coal and eighty percent of their copper from Equestria. They will struggle to continue to prosecute a war once I have declared a complete trade embargo on Rangivar." She smiled. "It is not by my ancient bones or by the elements of harmony that Equestria is kept safe from her enemies. We are the workshop of the world, and when we speak other nations must listen, if they wish to continue doing business with us."

"So they'll come to the congress even if they don't want to," Twilight said. "Who else will be there?"

"The deer, of course," Celestia said. "I have also sent invitations to the zebras of Grevyia and Quaggai, and to the yaks of Yakyakistan. I do not know if they will all come, but I would prefer it if they did."

"Why?" Twilight said. "This doesn't concern yaks or zebras."

"By that logic it does not concern ponies either," Celestia said. "The wilful trampling upon the laws and rights of nations is a matter for every civilised land and people. And besides, I must have the representatives of other nations present because, having called this congress unilaterally, I cannot then impose a decision unilaterally. I would become a tyrant beyond the wildest dreams of the Caribou King."

She had a point there. Twilight said, "I still don't understand why you want me here for this. I've never taken part in anything like that before, I don't have the experience-"

"That is what I would like you to learn, at my side, if you will consent to be my student once again," Celestia said. "Plus I must confess that if half those I have invited make their presence known then I shall have difficulty juggling all of the foreign dignitaries. If you are willing to help Luna and myself, I would be very grateful. Of course, I cannot force you-"

"I'll do it, Princess Celestia," Twilight said. "As a princess, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to serve Equestria."

Celestia smiled. "Worthily spoken, Twilight, but let's hope that it will not come to that."

The club sat in a dingy backalley in one of the lower parts of Canterlot. The ground was a little bit sticky under Dawn's hooves as she made her way down the steps and stood in front of the unmarked door of black iron. The street was dark, there was not a single light to be seen. Anypony could have been waiting in any of these shadows, all that protected anypony in this part of town was that they didn't have anything worth taking.

Dawn rapped on the door, the sound echoing through the quiet alleyway. A hatch opened in the iron portal, and two eyes stared down at her.

"What do you want?"

Dawn's eyebrows rose. "Come on, In Shape, you know me."

In Shape snorted. "Yeah, whatever. Come on in."

The door creaked open just wide enough for Dawn to step inside. The inside was almost as dark as the exterior, although there was just enough candle light so that Dawn didn't trip over the cardboard boxes cluttering up the hallway. The big minotaur whose job it was to watch the door loomed over her, regarding her with more hostility than Dawn felt she deserved, but then In Shape had been like to everypony as long as she'd been coming to this dump.

The floor was filthy, and she could see spiders crawling across it. She also knew that half the reason it was so dark was so that even more imperfections of the decor would not become immediately apparent.

Why do I keep coming here? Dawn wondered to herself. I used to be Princess Celestia's most beloved, her protege. Now look at me.

She knew the reason she was here, of course, and it only had a little to do with her fall from grace and the rise of Twilight Sparkle. That was a part of it, of course, as all the bad things that had ever happened to Dawn since she had been shown the door, including her lamentable lack of money and inability to hold down a job, had at their root the cruel mendacity of That Mare, but there were other ways that even Dawn Starfall could have made some extra bits on the side. But she chose to break heads at a fight club because she wanted somepony, somewhere, to cheer her name. She wanted to be talked about, even in a low dive like this. She wanted to be the best, even if it was only the best thug in a cage full of animals. She wanted to be celebrated, even by the kind of folks you'd cross the street to avoid. Even such a tawdry imitation of glory as that was better than nothing.

She walked down the drab and dirty corridor and into Loaded Glove's office. The manager of the club was an aged white earth pony, his coat lined and wrinkled, who covered up his lack of hair with a woollen skull cap that covered the top of his head. Half his teeth were gone, which meant that when he smiled at Dawn, as he did when he saw her, it gave his face a slightly sinister aspect.

"Hey, if it ain't Battlin' Dawn herself! Good to see you kid, good to see you. Got a great match lined up for you tonight, big draw, full house."

"Does that mean you're pay me extra?" Dawn asked.

Besides Glove, his two henchponies shifted as though they were personally offended by the suggestion. Glove himself just chuckled. "Come on kiddo, you know the rates. You get the same cut as everypony else."

"One of these days somepony is going to rob you," Dawn said. "And I won't stop them, because you're a cheapskate."

"You wound me, kid," Glove said. "Don't I love you like my own daughter."

"I should hope not, for your daughter's sake," Dawn said. Princess Celestia loved me like her daughter once, how dare you compare yourself to her?

Then again, look how that worked out. At least you haven't betrayed me yet.

"Who am I fighting?" Dawn asked.

"New kid, named the Spider," Glove said.

"The Spider? What kind of a name is The Spider?" Dawn asked. She hesitated. "She's not an actual spider, is she?"

"Nah, just very flexible, with a lot of reach," Glove replied. "I got high hopes for this girl, let me tell you."

"Let's see how high your hopes are once I've knocked her out for the count," Dawn said.

"Yeah," Glove said quietly. "Yeah, ain't that the thing. Listen, kiddo, like I said I got high hopes for this girl. I think she should become a real big draw around here. But that won't happen if you take her down."

"And that's my problem because?"

"Because I want you to take a dive for her," Glove said.

"You want what?"

"You've been coming here for three years now, Dawn, and you win more often than not, everypony's getting tired of it. Nopony wants to see you fight no more, there's no excitement. But the Spider...they'll cheer her on so hard the roof comes down, especially if she takes you out. But she ain't there yet."

"Then why have her fight me?"

"Because if you wanna be the champ you gotta beat the champ, come on kid, you know what I'm talkin' about. It's just a dive, one time, one night."

"No," Dawn said firmly, shaking her head. "I won't do it. I don't give up for anypony. I won't lose, especially not on purpose."

"I know it's hard," Loaded Glove said sympathetically. "That's why I'm willing to throw in something extra. Fifty percent above normal rates, that's almost as good as winner's fee, what do you say?"

Dawn considered it. That was good money he was offering, especially since all she had to do was take a few punches and then go down and not get up again. Easy money, when you put it like that. And she could do with the cash, if she wasn't to be a complete burden on Razor and Cherry.

But, as far as the price of her self respect went, she wasn't really being offered much at all.

"No," Dawn said. "I won't do it. Like I said, I don't lose."

Loaded Glove sighed sadly. "That...that's a pity, right there. You got a lot of sand, kid. I like that. Just not enough."

Dawn heard In Shape coming, but not quickly enough to react as he grabbed her. She snarled, baring her teeth as her horn flared with a golden aura-

The hammer in the minotaur's hand was faster, coming down on Dawn's left foreleg with a crunch.

Dawn yelled - no, be honest, she screamed - in agony as her whole leg felt as though it was on fire, from hoof to thigh. It pulsed the pain throughout her body, and when In Shape put her down she collapsed rather than stand on it, rolling around on the floor like a dog as Loaded Glove and his minions looked at her with a mixture of pity and bemusement.

"I told you, kid, it's important to me that Spider wins this fight, one way or the other," Glove said. "But before that, there's a lot of ponies out there who paid to see a show. So get out there and give 'em one."

Dawn limped out into the ring on three hooves to the raucous cheering of the crowd. That sound that would have been nectar and ambrosia to her soul was muted now, her mind turned away by the agony of her leg, as well as by wondering why none of those who cheered her on, the baying masses eager for the fray, could see that somepony had give her a literal handicap.

They know, they just don't care. It wasn't ever you they loved, just the pain of somepony other than themselves.

Not that I should have expected much better from this mob. If they were model citizens they wouldn't be at a fight club, would they?

The applause doubled as the Spider walked into the cage from the other side. She was a pegasus with a coat as white as a ghost, with a mane that was blue and red, and she had painted black lines all over her face and chest like a spider's web. It made her a little hard to take seriously as she glowered at Dawn through a pair of beetle-black eyes.

"Seriously?" Dawn said. "You're the big up and comer who's going to have everypony cheering her name? You like a clown."

"And you look like a has been," Spider spat.

"Okay folks, y'all know the rules: no magic, no flying, no eye-gouging, anything else goes: FIIIIIGHT!"

The roar of the crowd intensified as the bell rang to start the fight. Spider sprang forward, her wings unfurling to make herself look bigger as she surged towards Dawn, forehooves at the ready. Dawn raised her own hoof to block, remembering too late that that would mean putting her weight on her bad leg. She winced in pain, her guard faltered, and then her wince turned to a cry as Spider ripped into her, hooves flying.

One, two, three, the blows came in a flurry fast as any storm, pummelling Dawn's face from both sides, four, five, six, knocking her to grubby canvas beneath her hooves.

"Oh, this is amazing, folks!" the announcer yelled as Spider turned around to wave her hooves in the air and receive the acclaim of the crowd. "Battling Dawn is down already! Is this it? One, two, three-"

"Ah, shut up," Dawn muttered, pushing herself off the floor and rising to her hooves. At least one advantage to having her face roughed up was that her leg didn't hurt so badly by comparison any more, though she was still only standing up on three hooves.

Spider shot her a contemptuous look. "Why don't you make it easy on yourself and stay down?"

Dawn shook her head, causing some of the white strands in her mane to come loose and fall in front of her eyes. "I don't quit. I always go the distance."

Spider smirked. "Big talk from a mare who can't even stand up properly."

Dawn snarled, "Hit me with your best shot. Come on, show me why you're so great."

"You asked for it," Spider said, and went for her again.

She's fast Dawn thought as Spider tore into her, pale hooves flying. She grappled with Dawn around the belly, holding on with one hoof, turning Dawn around to try and get her on her bad foot, while with her other hoof she pounded Dawn's underbelly, up and down over and over again like hammers. Then she kicked Dawn's backlegs out from under her to knock her to the canvas once again.

And Dawn got up, again. She tried to throw a punch, but not only did she miss she also lost her balance, letting Spider knock her down again.

"Come on, accept it," Spider said, kicking Dawn while she was down for good measure. "It's over. You're done. Out of it. Finished. You're the past, so stay down and let it go."

Dawn scowled, squinting through an eye that was rapidly swelling up. She could barely see, she could barely think, she could barely hear what the other pony was saying but...as white as she was, she almost looked like Celestia.

It's over

You're done.

You're the past.

Finished.

Accept it.

I'm sorry, Dawn.

It was never meant to be.

You're done.

It's over.

Stay down.

Let it go.

Stay down.

"No!" Dawn roared, surging to her feet in a rage that gave her strength. Every part of her quivered with fury strong enough to overwhelm even the pain, and when she looked at Spider she no longer saw one cocky pegasus, she saw everything and everypony in her life who had ever conspired to keep her down.

So what are you going to do, Dawn Starfall? Are you going to let these bums push you around your whole life, rubbing your nose in the dirt; or are you going to let them know who you are?

Just watch me, Sunset, I'm going to put this ass in her place and that's just for starters. Just wait until you see the main course.

"Don't you dare count me out," Dawn growled. "Not ever."

Spider closed the distance between them, but Dawn was ready for her this time. She fainted with her good leg, waited for Spider to react - she was fast, but she was also predictable - and then grabbed her with a leg that no longer ached half so much as it should have done. Then Dawn slammed her head, face first, into Spider's ridiculous painted forehead. Once, twice, three times like a battering ram assaulting the wall she nutted Spider, dazing her, driving her back, making her shake like a badly moulded jelly. Then it was payback time. Dawn smiled viciously as she beat upon the other mare, using her good leg and her bad in equal measure, rearing up on her hind legs to deliver a couple of piledrivers into Spider's back to send her face first into the canvas floor.

Dawn stood over her fallen rival, breathing heavily, glaring down at her, daring her to get back up.

She did not.

The announcer looked speechless. His mouth hung open. It was with great difficulty that he managed to say, "Uh...Battling Dawn wins!"

Dawn raised her hoof in the air and let the cheering wash over her. Like I said, this is just the beginning.

Dawn left by the back door, and nearly tripped over two ponies lying in the doorway. It took her a couple of moments, in the dark, to recognise them as Loaded Glove's henchponies. They weren't moving and their eyes were closed. In the gloom, she couldn't tell if they were breathing or not.

"They were going to jump you as you came out," a vaguely familiar voice floated out of the shade. "Give you a nice present to congratulate you on your unexpected victory. Your welcome, by the way."

"Are they dead?" Dawn asked, shuffling closer to the wall out of nothing more than the vague hope that she couldn't be snuck up on so easily.

"You think I'm capable of that? I'm torn between being insulted and pleased at the compliment."

"Who are you?" Dawn demanded.

"Memory loss is generally associated with older ponies."

Dawn's green eyes narrowed. "You're the mare in the mask, aren't you? From the care home?"

"Got it in one," Mask said. Dawn caught the vague outline of a pony moving towards her in the darkness, but she could barely make it out and she wasn't about to give away her position by lighting up horn like a candle.

"Why?" Dawn asked. "Who are you?"

"You just said, I'm the Mare in the Mask," Mask said. "I like that, it makes me sound like a superhero. As to why: because I was impressed in their. You've got guts, Dawny. Or should I say you've still got them. I wasn't sure."

Dawn bared her teeth, though she knew the other mare couldn't see it. "I told you, only my friends get to call me that."

"Aren't we friends?" Mask asked, sounding a little hurt. "I thought we were."

"Why? Because you did me a favour just now?"

"No," Mask said. "Because of...things said long ago. Or don't you remember?"

"Said long a...do I know you?"

Mask chuckled. "In another life maybe. Good luck, Dawny. I'll see you around."

"Good luck with what?" Dawn shouted.

"You know what," Mask replied.

Dawn stood outside the door of the apartment she shared with Razor Wind and Cherry Blossom, and rapped smartly on the door.

The door opened a fraction to reveal one of the dark brown eyes of Cherry Blossom looking out at her. She made a startled squeaking sound before the door opened to reveal the mare herself, eyes wide with fright or shock or both.

"Dawny!" Cherry squeaked. "Oh my goodness, what happened to you?"

"Nothing happened," Dawn said, which was mostly true. "Didn't Razor tell you that I was going to fight tonight?"

"Yes," Cherry said, and for a brief moment disapproval replaced fear, although the tone of worry swiftly returned as Cherry backed away to let Dawn into the flat. "But you never normally come back looking like this. What happened?"

"I told you, nothing," Dawn said, trying to hide her limp. "I won."

"I'd hate to see what the other guy looks like if you're the winner," Razor Wind said as her wings lifted her up over the sofa where she had been sitting. "You look like Tartarus itself."

"Thanks, I love you too," Dawn murmured.

Cherry shut the door. "Dawn...is going to that club really all that happened?"

"Yes," Dawn said. "Do you think I'm lying or something?"

Cherry hesitated. She was a pale pink mare, only a few shades darker than white, with a mane of a darker pink that was tied back with red hairbands into a ponytail - a second ponytail, in her case - except for a fringe that fell half in front of one eye. Her cutie mark was a trio of blossom petals falling in delicate formation; the fact that this symbolised flower arranging made as much sense as Dawn's sunrise symbolising magical talent. Cherry brushed her fringe aside so that she could look Dawn Starfall in both eyes.

"Razor told me about what happened at the coronation," she said. "She said you were pretty upset."

"Yeah, well, I have a right to be upset," Dawn said firmly. "Not only did she cast me out of paradise, not only did she usurp my rightful place, not only did she steal my destiny itself! Now she's lording it over me. I am literally the dust beneath Twilight Sparkle's chariot wheels."

"I'm sure she doesn't think of it like that," Cherry said.

"That makes it even worse," Dawn said. "I don't like to lose, as you know, but I could grin and bear being beaten by an enemy who respected me, who looked me in the eye before they took me down. Princess Twilight doesn't even know that I exist." Dawn's eye strayed to a picture hanging on the lilac-painted wall outside her bedroom. It showed two young mares, half turned away from one another, scowls set on their faces, while Princess Celestia stood between them, smiling. When she was younger, Dawn had thought that the princess was oblivious to the way that two fillies were showing their discomfort, now she realised that she had known all along, and the childish petulance of the pair had amused her.

Dawn was one of the two mares, her main worn in twin braids, secured by aquamarine ribbons. Sunset Shimmer was the other, a few years older than Dawn, already wearing sophistication like a cloak, her fiery mane in artful dishevelment, a few strands falling down between her eyes. Sunset looked bored by the proceedings, her nose turned up in the air, eyes narrowed only a little, refusing to acknowledge Dawn's existence. Dawn, meanwhile, was glaring at Sunset out of the corners of her eyes, teeth bared in a sullen growl.

"Sunset wouldn't have hesitated to have kicked me to the curb, but she would respected me as a rival; she did respect me even if she didn't like," Dawn said. "I tell you, we were a better class of student than Celestia has now. Did you hear Twilight's speech? She's insipid!"

Razor frowned.

Cherry said, "Dawn...it's been a long time since then. Maybe you should-"

"I swear, you'd better not say 'let it go' or 'move on' or anything like that," Dawn said.

"I just want you to be happy," Cherry said.

Dawn sighed. "I know. And I know that I don't say this enough, but I am grateful for the way that you two put up with me, and let me bum around your place even though I don't contribute much, and try to make this a comfortable place to live. But I don't think I have it in me to be happy here. I'm not made for this kind of life."

"It's not so bad," Cherry said. "We may not be famous heroes, but you can always find something in the world to make you smile, if you're willing to look."

"Maybe I'm not willing," Dawn replied. "And maybe that's my problem, but I used to dream of shining like the stars themselves, and I don't think I have it in me to lower my sights to small ambitions."

"So what are you gonna do?" Razor asked.

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know yet. I'll figure something out."

"You want something to eat?" Cherry asked.

"No, thanks," Dawn said. "I think I'll go sit out on the balcony for a while."

Dawn half walked, half limped out onto the little balcony, barely large enough for a pony to stand fully outside the apartment, that overlooked the street below. Above her and below the tower block stretched up and down, for Dawn and her friends lived about its waist, neither high nor low no matter how Dawn sometimes felt about it.

Dawn leaned upon the balcony of grey stone, resting her head upon her uninjured forehoof, looking down for a moment at the ponies scurrying around the night time street below her.

They looked so small. They were small, but now they looked it. Could she ever learn to be like them, to be ordinary, to suffer a little life? Forbid it. She wanted more than that.

Who can go back to the country farm, once they have seen the city lights? Who can eat bread once they have feasted on cake? Who can be content to drink water, once they have supped on nectar from a golden cup?

Dawn looked up, her eyes straying from the street and the ponies to the giant billboard that stood opposite the apartment. Usually didn't like to look at it, it creeped her out, but now she found herself staring at it, the giant picture seeming to inspire her to bold deeds and to action.

An enormous picture of an alicorn dominated one whole side of the billboard. The image was a little faded now, but not so faded that Dawn couldn't make out the flowing red (or was it auburn, the dirt was making it a little hard to tell) mane, the white coat, the magnificent wings. And those eyes. Those blue eyes, each as large as a window, staring at her. Always staring, always straight at Dawn Starfall, burrowing their way into the recesses of her soul, plucking out the heart of her mystery.

Dawn had always felt those eyes were judging her, weighing her and finding her wanting. Now, at last, the fight with Spider had shown why she deserved to be judged. She had become what she had sworn never to be: a quitter. She had given up, conceded defeat, quit the field. It was pathetic and unworthy of her. That wasn't her, that wasn't Dawn Starfall. She didn't quit, she didn't give up, she kept fighting until she got what she wanted.

I don't quit. I always go the distance.

Don't you dare count me out. Not ever.

Let them know who you are.

On the other side of the billboard, in bright letters upon a yellow background, was the legend that was the actual subject of the board:

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

Enrol in higher education now and unlock your true potential!

Or at least Dawn thought it said potential, that bit was a little smudged. But then what else could it have said that began with poten? Unlock your potentate?

Anyway, it was always the first part that had struck Dawn the most. Follow your dreams, the billboard said, and the alicorn who stared at Dawn so fiercely was smiling as she gestured to the instruction. That was the message that mattered, that was the message intended for her. Follow your dreams.

I will. I will follow them wherever they lead, until they have all come true.

"Dawny?" Razor asked, fluttering out onto the balcony to hover above where Dawn stood. "You okay, little sunshine?"

Dawn looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah. I'm better than okay. Better than I've been in a long time. I know what I have to do."

She pointed at the billboard, and Razor frowned. "You're going to back to school?"

"No," Dawn said. "I'm going to follow my dreams. I never should have given them up. I'm going to take back my life."

"Ah," Razor said. She frowned. "What does that actually mean?"

"It means..." Dawn giggled. "I don't actually know yet, but I'll think of something."

"Are you going to go up against Princess Twilight?"

"Yep," Dawn said. "I'm going to show that mare who the top dog is, no matter what it takes. But I'll need your help to do it. Are you in?"

"Seriously?" Razor asked as she sat down on the balcony ledge. "You know what you're asking me, right? You're asking me to betray every oath I've ever taken as a guard, to throw away my honour and become a traitor just to help you out."

"Yeah," Dawn said. "Are you in or not."

A grin spread across Razor's face. "Yeah, I've got your back. Anything for you, Dawny, you know that. You and me, that won't ever change."

"If it ever does you can kick my flank from here to Manehattan," Dawn said.

"I'll hold you to that," Razor replied. "Hey, Dawn."

"Yeah?"

"It's good to have you back."