Cracks in Reality - Book One

Sunset Shimmer strode purposefully through the opens doors of Celestia’s throne room her footsteps echoing around the vast room. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of her mentor sitting on the on the throne, a cold hatred for the pony burned deeply in her eyes. Two years she had spent preparing for this moment, two years of unrelenting studying, practicing and deception were finally coming together in one perfect moment. It had been extremely difficult keeping her studies of dark magic a secret from the princess, and there had been many times when she had once again been caught.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia greeted with that annoyingly loving voice of hers. It grated almost painfully on her nerves. “What can I do for you?”

Sunset gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly, still continuing her stride to the throne. Celestia frowned with confusion at Sunset, noticing a definite change in her. Her lips turned up into an amused smile at the princess’s ignorance. The princess still didn’t know her world was about to come crushing down around her. Sunset’s horn glowed with electric blue energy and a circle of blue runes with a six foot diameter carved themselves into the floor around her feet. She shivered violently as an icy coldness spread throughout her entire body like a raging river of ice.

Celestia was instantly on her feet, her own horn and hands glowing with her fiery aura of magic. “Sunset Shimmer! What have you done? This is forbidden magic you’re wielding!”

Sunset snarled and she tapped one of the runes with her foot, it’s magic flowed through her muscles making them stronger and more powerful. She ran forward, the circle of runes at her feet flowing along the ground beneath her.

“Sunset Shimmer! Stop!” Celestia’s magic flared and a massive wall of flames surrounded Sunset in an encompassing circle. “You promised me you had stopped studying this magic!” Celestia’s flames descended on Sunset who dove through the magefire unscathed and enveloped the princess in a dark blue aura keeping her trapped in place as she crashed into her. They both smashed through the throne in a shower of stone rubble. Sunset bought her fist down on Celestia’s face with enough force from her magically enhanced strength to crack the marble floor around her head.

“I understand why you didn’t want anyone to discover those tomes and spell books buried in the Canterlot vaults.” Sunset hit her again keeping her dazed. “Anyone who deciphered the rituals and spells would gain enough power to overthrow you, and take the throne for themselves.”

“Sunset, please! Stop!” Celestia’s pleas fell on deaf ears and she gave a pained whimper as Sunset hurled to her feet by the scruff of her neck. A pillar of blue light suddenly erupted from the runes at Sunset’s feet enveloping both mares. Celestia was the only one to scream in tortured pain as her magic and strength was ripped from her body.

Sunset slammed her into the ground causing the polished marble to crack once more. Celestia lay there gasping and panting for breath that wouldn’t come. She looked up at Sunset pleading with her eye that wasn’t bruised and swollen shut. Sunset grabbed the base of her horn. “It took me a while to decipher the books, but after two years I finally did it. In a way that makes me better than you. You’ve had them for generations, and never once thought to harness the power you had at your fingertips.”

“Please, don’t...” Celestia uselessly pleaded once more.

Sunset’s smile became more colder. “And just to think, if you were more open to the darker kinds of magic, you may have actually defeated me tonight and wouldn’t be at my mercy, with me merciless.” Tendrils of magic wrapped tightly around Celestia’s neck and hurled the princess to her feet. The alicorn gave a strangled choke and her eyes widened as she felt the life being squeezed from her. Just before she blacked out, the tendrils dispersed and she dangled weakly from the grip Sunset still had around the base of her horn.

“I’m not going to kill you, Celestia.” Sunset’s grip tightened around the base of Celestia’s horn,

“Sunset...” Blood gurgled from Celestia’s mouth and spattered to the floor. “Please. No...” The princess’s begging was turned into a loud scream of pure agony as Sunset snapped her horn off.

With nothing holding her up, and too weak to stand on her own. Celestia was forced to drop to her hands and knees in front of her corrupted student. Sunset knelt down in and tilted the broken princess’s head up so that their gazes met.
“No, I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to keep you as my pet.” Sunset backhanded her former mentor across the face sending her sprawling across the ground. “A very badly treated pet so everypony will know I am the most powerful mage in Equestria. The only pony to ever defeat Princess Celestia.” An etherial dagger formed in Sunset’s hand and to add insult to injury she slit the dress from Celestia’s body leaving her lying there broken and naked. “Maybe I’ll even parade you around Canterlot on a leash and collar.” She giggled.

“Sunset?” Celestia said softly, looking up at the unicorn with tears pouring from her eyes.

“Yes, Pet?”

Celestia looked away sobbing quietly. “Please, forgive me for what I am about to do.” Sunset opened her mouth to laugh, only to give a startled yelp as a massive pulse of pure magical energy sent her flying across the room. She got back to her feet just time to see Celestia’s entire body turn from flesh and blood, into pure fire...

And Solar Flare began walking towards the darkmage.

.
“Sunset wakeup!”

Solar Flare raised both her hands at Sunset sending twin streams of flames at her. Sunset tapped one of her runes and a shield of blue energy rose in front of her blocking the lethal flames. The shield only lasted for a few seconds under the violent storm of flames before it started cracking. Sunset gritted her teeth and teleported to the other side of the room just as her shield shattered and the wall behind where she had been melted.

“It’s just a nightmare wakeup!”

The circle of runes under Sunset’s feet flowed over her body and formed an etherial broad sword in her right hand. Solar Flare turned around and tiled her head curiously at Sunset as though studying something that mildly interested her. Sunset snarled and ran forward slashing the etherial sword at Solar’s throat. Solar spun around evading the attack and aiming a kick at Sunset’s head. Sunset ducked, but was taken off her feet as a stream of flames erupted from Solar’s foot and hit her in the chest. She rolled several meters before coming to a painful stop. Smoke, and the smell of burned flesh and fur rose from her chest. Solar Flare raised her arm once more and sent a stream of flames towards her.

“WAKEUP!” Spike’s voice and his constant shaking finally broke through to Sunset’s sleeping consciousness. She suddenly gasped awake and fell out of bed, wrapping her arms around her young drake’s shoulders holding him close. “S-Spike? I-I...” A choked sob stopped her words and she began crying. She nuzzled into the crook of Spike’s neck taking comfort from the coolness of his scales. If anyone was going to understand what she was suffering through it was him. He had been with her since the start and he knew her better then anyone else could ever hope to.

“It was just another nightmare.” Spike’s clawed hand stroked through Sunsets mane giving her comforting pets as he continued reassuring her. “It wasn’t real. Just a nightmare.”

“I-I used dark magic again, Spike!”

Spike was silent for several moments, and he wrapped his arms around Sunset hugging her tightly. “I think we still have some Folaria leaves left over from the stash Celestia gave us when we came to ponyville. Want me to make it into some tea for you.”

Sunset pulled back wiping away her tears and giving Spike a thankful smile. “That sounds good. I’ll need it before the
headaches set in.” Spike hugged her comfortingly for a few more moments and with another loving pet through her mane he walked downstairs to the kitchen. Sunset levitated the sheets, damp from her profuse sweating during her nightmare, into the laundry basket for washing later. The bed was also stained with a large damp spot of sweat and she merely leaned it against the wall in the sunlight, not caring enough at the moment to do anything more about it.

She walked to her desk and started writing a letter to the princess asking for help. “Dear Celestia, last night I had another...” She bit her bottom lip and walked out of the room leaving the letter unfinished. The princess was no doubt busy dealing with her returned sister, the new alicorn and no doubt a dozen other problems that came with ruling Equestria, Sunset didn’t need to burden her any further.

Sunset entered the kitchen just as Spike took the pot of boiling water off the stove and poured it into a cup filled with dried out leaves. She wrinkled her nose at the strong bitter smell of Folaria and sat down at the table. “A-are you angry at me Spike?”
Spike glanced in confusion at Sunset as he picked up the sugar container and began pouring half its contents into the Folaria tea. “Of course not, Sunset. Why?” The coffee powder was next, and Sunset’s mouth watered as almost a dozen heaped tablespoons were dumped into the cup.

“I was a mess the last time I was in recovery from using dark magic. And you were the one who mainly took care of me.” She gave a little sniffle still feeling guilty for betraying her promise to Celestia. “I-I don’t want you to think I’m being selfish for putting you through that again.”

“Of course I’m not mad, Sunset.” Spike placed the cup of Folaria tea in front of her. The copious, and potentially, lethal doses of sugar and coffee helped to mask the bitter smell of the Folaria, but Sunset still grimaced from the scent. “I’m sure whatever reason you had for using that magic was perfectly justified.”

Sunset just stared down at the steaming cup in front of her. “Not to Celestia. I could see the disappointment in her eyes when I told her what I had done. To her there’s no justification for using dark magic. She’s just not punishing me because I’m her student.” With a little sigh of resignation she took a sip of the Folaria tea and gagged at the still extremely bitter taste of the Folaria that the coffee and sugar did little to disguise. Still, they made the aftertaste of the tea less unpleasant.

Spike sat in the chair next to her hugged her comfortingly like he had done so many times before in the past. “I’m sure Celestia is only disappointed of your choice to use dak magic. Not disappointed in you. She loves you.”
Sunset gave his scaly cheek an affectionate nuzzle. “Thanks Spike, You’ve always known how to make me feel better. And thanks again for looking after me. I know it can’t be easy seeing me like this.”

“I’ll get you an icepack in case you start getting headaches.” Spike left her with a reassuring hug and went off to get he promised ice pack. She began feeling much calmer as the folaria tea worked its way through her body calming her nerves and helping her to relax. Ever since she had given up her practice of dark magic there was still some tiny part of her buried deep down in her subconscious that wanted that extreme power back. It wanted to once again feel the icy coldness flowing through her veins. It wanted last night’s dreams of bringing Princess Celestia to her knees to come true and prove to everypony that she, and only she, was the most powerful mage in Equestria. Every second she spent denying this part of her made her hurt. Sometimes the pain was merely a headache, sometimes she spent hours, even days throwing up from strong stomach cramps. The only reason she was still here, and alive, was the love, support and friendship she got from Spike, Celestia, and her five friends. Sunset took another drink of her tea to quiet the unwanted thoughts in her mind.

Taking a deep calming breath she walked to the fire place in and began stacking it with some left over wood from the winter season to help fight back the cold that was slowly creeping through the library.
Sunset frowned in confusion and put the pieces of wood back in their proper place. Summer had just started. There would be no reason for everything to feel so different and cold. She slowly stood up suddenly wary of her environment. The shadows were darker then they had any right to be. And despite the warmth outside of a summer’s afternoon, her breath was hanging in thick clouds of mist. Only dark magic would cause such drastic changes, and she wasnt the one using it.

Sunset’s right hand instantly crackled with teal energy and she spun around to see the purple alicorn step out of the shadows with Celestia held tightly in one arm and a knife made of shadows pressed against the princess’s throat. “Sunset,” Celestia said softly and calmly. “Do nothing. Everything is fine. Twilight just wants to talk.”

Twilight merely stared calmly and coldly at her not seeming at all bothered by the magic crackling in her hand. Sunset licked her lips nervously. She was in no way ready to even think about taking Twilight down. Not unless she drowned herself in dark magic. That thing buried deep down in her subconscious purred, edging her on to take down Twilight with dark magic. Sunset lowered her hand and let the magic go out.

“Alright, let’s talk.”

Celesitia looked very tired and stressed sitting at the table nursing a hot cup of tea. Her normally beautiful wings were an extremely untidy mess of feathers some of which were twisted and broken, and there was a dark bruise around her neck no doubt from when Twilight put her in a sleeping hold. Sunset scowled and gave the statue like pony standing in the shadows a cold glare. Twilight hadn’t moved an inch ever since she had taken up her position in the corner of the room, she just stood there watching everything with blue flecked violet eyes. Celestia placed a calming hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Do not worry Sunset, I’m fine. Twilight Sparkle for now is our ally and is here to help us stop a powerful threat to Equestria.”
Sunset didn’t move her scowling glare away from the armored pony standing silently in the corner. “What threat, Princess? And why did you give her back her armor? She’s clearly dange...”

Celestia raised a hand stopping Sunset before she could finish her sentence. “Ten years ago, Twilight Sparkle was my student before you. A terrible accident involving a misfired spell opened a rift from this reality and into a very dark place. Tartarus. This place is ruled by seven lords each one more powerful then the next. Garro, the Fifth Lord of Tartarus, has escaped from this place. He was the creature you fought on the night of my sister’s return. This creature is very dangerous and must to be stopped before he can gain any power in Equestria. I’ll be helping both you and Twilight with this Endeavor

Sunset frowned in concern and licked her lips nervously. “What about the Elements of Harmony? Can’t we use them to stop this Garro?”

Celestia smiled and comfortingly ran a hand through Sunset’s mane. “If it was just Luna and I wielding the Elements then yes, we could use them. But you and your friends are not properly equipped to handle something like this. The only reason I’m asking you to come with me is because I need somepony I can trust to make sure Twilight doesn’t use her powers for anything other than stopping Garro.” Celestia pulled a small piece of parchment with a complex rune drawn on its surface from her pocket and handed it to Sunset. “If Twilight needs to be bought under control, destroy this rune, it will activate a strong binding spell I have placed on her magic. Only use it if she strays from her purpose of stopping Garro.”

Twilight still didn’t move or make any objections. She just stood there watching. Sunset got the distinct impression Twilight wasn’t worried about the control of her magic being taken away.

“After we’ve completed this mission,” Celestia continued. “Twilight has agreed to be taught the ways of Friendship and its magic. I would like you to be her mentor and teacher in this matter as you both have similarities. And I am not somepony she trusts or even likes at this point in time. You yourself, can earn her trust, and teach her how important the magic of friendship is.”

Sunset hesitated looking uncertainly at Twilight and gave Celestia a little nod. “Sure, I can do that,” she said a little doubtfully. “But first I need to get changed for what’s left of the day.”

Once Sunset was changed out of her PJs, she left a very tired and grumpy Spike to his sleeping, and followed Celestia out the front door where Twilight was now leaning against the wall waiting for them.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed at the them as they approached. “Make no mistake, Princess.” Sunset shivered at how cold and uncaring Twilight’s voice was when she addressed Celestia. It reminded her of herself when she had first started studying as the princess’s personal student. “There is a good chance you and your student will die tonight when we find Garro. We’ll leave at dusk. Take the time until then to get ready.” With that, Twilight spun around and began walking briskly in the direction of the Everfree forest. Sunset stared after the mare with shock clearly written on her face. It was like she was staring at an almost perfect reflection of her old personality eight years ago when all she cared about was gaining all the knowledge she could about magic. A soft hand on her shoulder bought Sunset from her musings.

“Sunset, I want you to stay with Twilight, and get to know her as best you can. It won’t be easy, in fact, it will be very difficult. Almost as difficult as it was for me to befriend you...”
A
little smile flickered over Sunset’s muzzle. “It was the late night pizzas with ice cream and cider that made me like y...OW!” Celestia had flicked her ear, it was an old friendly punishment Sunset was used to whenever she started acting up.

Celestia then bought Sunset into a comforting hug and used her wings to create a warm cacoon of security around her. “Be safe, Sunset Shimmer. There is something essential I have to do first before I join you.”
Sunset stood awkwardly in front of her library being hugged by her mentor, but after a moment she finally relaxed into the embrace. “You know me Celestia, I always play it safe.”

Celestia hugged her tighter.