Some say that the sun never sets on the Equestria, but what of the parts where Celestia’s Sun can not physically reach? There are places within the beating heart of the kingdom that roar with secrets that should not be given the chance at life. Here the acrid smells of life and death mingle, one unable to overtake the other. Here the touch of death crawled its way into the life an innocent filly, barely ten years of age.
“Mom, Dad thank you so much for taking me to the park today,” beamed Sunset Shimmer. Her parents, Blitz Flare and Sol Shimmer, had found time out of their busy schedules to go out as a family.
“Yea I just hoped my apprentices can really hold down the shop” grimaced Blitz Flare .
“Oh Blitz, you should have more faith in those two. They are more than capable of taking orders and watching the shop while we are away. You’ll work yourself to death with the amount of time you spend at the shop,” responded Blitz Flare ’s wife.
The happy family continued on to the park. It was one of the last refuges of nature in Canterlot. Much of the city was going under a metropolization. Being the Solar Princess’s personal student, Sunset Shimmer was able to see all the changes firsthoof. Changes which her parents could not witness firsthoof from the family estate in Fillydelphia. For an entire afternoon, the three members of the young family enjoyed the park, treasuring every moment they could spend with one another. Managing Fillydelphia’s most successful enchanting shop did not allow Blitz Flare and Sol Shimmer many opportunities to see their precious Sunset in Canterlot.
Sol Shimmer was able to socialize with the other ladies of middle society. Apparently the clothier that Sol bought from was becoming all the rage in Canterlot. Every noblemare want to get a glimpse of an ensemble exclusive to the Fillydelphia designer. Blitz Flare ran into other members of the Enchanters Guild, and they all tried to discuss changes in the magical augmentation market. A new type single-use, on demand, enchantment scrolls were eating into the revenues of master crafted enchantments.
Strangely, the warm embrace of Celestia’s Sun was retreating behind a front of storm clouds.
“Curious,” stated Sol Shimmer, “the clouds did not look so angry this morning. In fact there has hardly been any clouds for many days now. The weather ponies said it would be clear skies all week”
“It must be a last minute change of plans,” grimaced Blitz Flare . The rumbling roar of the thunder shook his bones. Blitz Flare turned every way, trying to find Sunset Shimmer amongst the crowd of families. Behind a tree, Sunset Shimmer was talking to a strange stallion who seemed to not have showered in days. He almost seemed to have the smell of a butcher’s shop from the Griffon Quarter on him, yet he did not have the clothing of a butcher, the physique of a butcher, nor looked like a pony who would frequent that area of the capitol. Crunching leaves alerted Sunset Shimmer to someone approaching behind her.
“Who is this Sunny?” asked Blitz Flare with suspicion envenoming every word, which was not caught by Sunset Shimmer. Paternal instincts were controlling every move Blitz Flare made, and protectively put one foreleg on Sunset Shimmer’s shoulders.
Nodding in recognition the stallion replied, “My good sir. My name is Riles Rouge and I was just telling your daughter what a lovely sundress she had on.” Blitz Flare frowned, disturbed by the stallion’s over interest in his daughter.
“You have raised quite an adorable filly. I was just enjoying the wonderful day when I dropped my package from my mother and your daughter was kind enough to return to me. I don’t know why though, but my package smells like the most delightful set of daisies,” replied the stallion with a smirk that that was a little too wide for his mouth or the situation. Little did the stallion know was that Sunset Shimmer’s hobby, both in Canterlot and Fillydelphia, was tending to a small garden of goldenrod daisies at their house. It was a hobby she learned from Sol Shimmer.
A lightening feeling tingled through Blitz Flare ’s hooves. His face betrayed the panic and volcanic storm brewing in his gut. “Okay say goodbye to the gentlecolt it’s time go Sunset Shimmer.”
“Bye Mister I hope your package is not ruined,” Sunset Shimmer said cheerfully skipping away. Eyeing the stallion warily, Blitz Flare followed in his daughter’s hoofsteps.
Finally finished gossiping with the other ladies, Sol Shimmer approached her husband and asked, “What was his problem?”
“I don’t know, but he was definitely a loon. He was getting a little too close to Sunset.”
On Sol Shimmer’s face was a look of shock and worry. “You had better tell a guard Blitz Flare . The ladies I were saying there is some kind of stalker going around and grabbing people, especially foals.”
In response Blitz Flare just sighed, “I don’t know about that Sol. He didn’t seem like a child grabber. Just a little off that’s all. Even though I didn’t like the bloke, I don’t want to condemn a stallion just because of a bad first impression.”
Blitz Flare turned his head and looked all around the area “Besides, I can’t exactly point him out anymore. Looks like he ran off”.
The two parents walked off to join their daughter. Little did they know that a royal guard was watching the family from a distance. On his lapel was a daisy and he oddly smelled like a butcher’s shop.
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Running for this amount of time was not something that Sunset Shimmer usually did. Her breath was shallow and her lungs were on fire. The storm was apparently mismanaged and had snuck up on the city. It was a storm of the century. Winds whipped and screeched through the narrow streets of Canterlot. Rain was drumming on the bricks that made up the road.
“We aren’t that far from the house now,” stated her father.
Sunset Shimmer knew in the back of her mind that the house was not far away, but she felt like that her family should have already been at the house. She could have sworn that they had passed the same crossroads and broken factory three times.
“Daddy can we stop somewhere? It’s wet and I’m cold. Can we just wait for the stormponies to chase the clouds away?” whimpered Sunset Shimmer. She wished so badly that there was some hint earlier in the morning that there would be a rough storm. One of her parent’s would have brought an umbrella and she would not have to be suffering the clinging chill of her now ruined clothes.
“Yes Blitz , we really should stop if not for a moment,” replied Sol Shimmer.
“Okay, but where though, we are in the middle of the industrial district. All of the factories won’t let us in and the few shops have closed their doors to weather this freak storm,” Blitz Flare grimaced, searching for someplace that would offer respite for his family.
“How about there Blitz,” Sol Shimmer pointed a hoof over to a warehouse. “There doesn’t seem to be a fence or a guardhouse preventing us from entering”
“I just said that the factories won’t let us in most likely.”
“It’s worth a try though dearest.”
Blitz Flare took a moment before he responded, “Fine. But don’t get your hopes up. It is more likely that there isn’t even anypony there to even open the door for us.”
The family jogged up to the warehouse. Nothing about the warehouse seemed right. The entrance was barred with portcullis that made it look like it had teeth ready to open up and bite down on any unfortunate soul to enter its maw. Sunset Shimmer shivered, but not from the cold anymore.
“Hello is anypony here? We are just trying to take shelter from this storm and then we’ll be on our way. If we could just wait in your parlor that would be more than enough,” Blitz Flare shouted at the building to no one in particular. Moments passed and there was no response.
“Well I guess this warehouse is no different than the others. We’ll have to find another place. I’m sorry Sunny, but you’ll have to be in the rain for a little bit longer.
Suddenly a groaning of metal on metal came from the entrance to the warehouse. As fast as an old mare waking, the portcullis slowly creaked upwards. Sunset Shimmer looked at her father who motioned for his family to follow. The warehouse was dry and the only sound was a constant drip drip from the family’s clothing, manes, and fur. Over in the corner was an open door with a light coming from the inside. It glowed with the warmth that candles provided. Arcane lightning illuminated the outer area, but it was far less inviting to Sunset Shimmer.
“Stay here. I am going to see if I can find any one who works here,” Blitz Flare told his wife and daughter.
“Are you sure honey? I would much prefer it, and Sunset would as well, if we all stayed together for this,” Sunset heard her mother respond.
“Yes; however, this warehouse is quite large. Plus we don’t who owns this building. If we do get in trouble for trespassing, it should be only me that has to explain his way out of here.”
“But whoever does own this place wouldn’t mind us being here since the gate was opened for us.”
“It still is no place for our little filly to be meeting a stranger right away. Let me get things settled and then I’ll call for the two of you to come back okay?” said Blitz Flare trying to convince his wife.
With a long whinny and rolling her shoulders Sol Shimmer responded “Fine. Just don’t be long.”
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Long was an understatement in Sunset Shimmer’s mind. She had spent her time waiting for her father by trying to learn all she could about the warehouse. It was quite large and pitch black beyond the entrance way where she waited with her mother. Despite the howling winds battering at the outside world, the air in the warehouse was quite stale. Nothing made a sound from inside the warehouse, not even whimpering rats that were so common in this part of Canterlot. Even though she was cold, Sunset Shimmer was sweating anxiously while waiting for her father. Looking out into the never ending maw of darkness was unsettling. No light pierced the inside of the warehouse, yet it seemed like something was moving in the black abyss. Shadows were not moving in Sunset Shimmer’s eyes, but the darkness itself. Shapes of twisted, tortured things seemed to materialize from this blackness. Sunset Shimmer would blink or shake her head and the shapes would seem to disappear.
“Mom… I don’t like being here…,” Sunset Shimmer whimpered. She hoped that her mother would say they were leaving any second. Her parent’s always had all the right answers.
“Is everything okay Sunny?” Sol Shimmer responded concerningly.
“I just don’t like being here. It's cold and the warehouse is scary.” Sweat was building on Sunset Shimmer’s skin and she was shaking slightly. Her face was downcast and shadows started to hide her normally radiant features.
“The older kids at school have been telling scary stories of relatives disappearing and neighbors disappearing.
Sol Shimmer looked down to her only child and smiled lovingly. In the middle of a dank warehouse, with a storm attempting to tear Canterlot apart, Sol Shimmer embraced Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer whimpered into her mother’s shoulder for all she was worth
“Sunset Shimmer. I will do anything and everything for you. It’s ok. Mommy is here. Nothing is going to hurt you.”
For all of Sunset Shimmer’s life, her parents were the solid rocks from which she built and explored life from. Now was no different. Sunset Shimmer felt safe with her mother. She would make all the darkness go away.
Something caught Sol Shimmer’s attention and she twitched her body towards the deeper part of the warehouse. Something was stirring back there.
“Mom what was that?” whimpered Sunset Shimmer, noticing her mother’s discomfort.
“I don’t know, but just stay here for a second. I’ll be right back”
Sol Shimmer approached the darkness warily without Sunset Shimmer. As she trotted further and further into the warehouse, it became harder and harder for Sunset Shimmer to even see her mother. All together and as one the shapes popped back into existence, but did not pay any attention to Sunset Shimmer. They listed around in the air for a moment before following Sol Shimmer once she fully pierced the darkness.
A metal crash was heard through the warehouse. It sounded almost as if somepony had dropped some cooking pans onto a kitchen floor. Slowly, the darkness parted and Sol Shimmer came back to her daughter. There was something off about Sol Shimmer though, and Sunset Shimmer could see it. At first, Sol Shimmer was walking as if she had never walked before. Her normally radiant eyes were glazed and hollow, looking off into the distance at nothing in particular.
When Sunset Shimmer asked her mother about the shapes in the darkness, all Sol Shimmer said was, “The Headless Horse doesn’t live in warehouses Sunset Shimmer you don’t have to worry.”
Seeing these shapes did not convince Sunset Shimmer. They were always there on the edge of the abyss, growling in anticipation for something like the Horn of Tartarus to set them loose. Although Sunset Shimmer kept turning away and looking out the portcullis, she always looked back towards the darkness hoping to see either her father or no black fluid shapes.
The pitter patter of water dripping from Sunset’s coat onto the rough brick floor was one of the few constants of the warehouse that Sunset Shimmer noticed. Metronomic in its beat, the drip kept Sunset Shimmer calm despite the illusions, as Sol Shimmer called them, that Sunset Shimmer kept seeing. Deep from within the doorway that Blitz Flare disappeared into came an odd, reverbing, and warping sound. It startled Sunset Shimmer from her sitting position. Desperately looking towards her mother for some explanation, Sunset Shimmer was shocked to see that the monstrous sound alarmed her mother.
“Mom are you okay. What was that?” inquired Sunset Shimmer. “Is Daddy alright?”
Sol Shimmer responded by turning very slowly on her hoof towards her daughter. Her smile was quite large, too large for her face. Sunset Shimmer made herself smaller trying to almost hide once her mother turned to face her. In spite of the smile, Sol Shimmer’s eyes were not full of reassurance nor happiness. The two once vibrant sea green orbs were now dull, almost blank.
“Yes Sunny everything is fine. The owner of this place must be having a good time with your father, and caused him to forget the time.”
“Well everything should be fine then right? Can we go in after daddy and hopefully get a little bit warmer. The shapes are starting to scare me,” warily pleaded Sunset Shimmer.
“Deary it is no place for a little filly to just barge in on stallions while they are meeting. Stay here and I’ll find your father and the owner.”
“Mom no. I don’t like being out here. The shapes are coming more and more”
“There are no shapes Sunset Shimmer. Be a good young filly and wait here.” Sol Shimmer spat and scowled at her child’s insolence. Turning on her back heels, Sol Shimmer walked towards the open doorway where her husband had disappeared into.
Recoiling from her mother’s harsh words, Sunset Shimmer could feel wetness gathering around her eyes. Sol Shimmer had never raised her voice to her family. She was the rational one of the three. When customers heatedly argued with her husband at the shop, Sol Shimmer would walk in and calm everyone down.
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Alone. A strange feeling that rocks the very essence of foals as they are never alone, but that was what Sunset Shimmer was now. No pony was around to hold Sunset Shimmer tight. Celestia’s light was nowhere to be found. She wished the Princess was here. Maybe the Princess could cause the shapes to go away and find her parents.
Celestia was a second mother to Sunset Shimmer. On her first night away from Fillydelphia, Sunset’s sobbing could be heard throughout the entire castle. When the Princess came rushing into Sunset’s room, Sunset was sure the Princess was disappointed and thought
Sunset weak and still a baby. Punishment did not await Sunset Shimmer, but the warm embrace of the Princess’s wings.
For a while, Sunset Shimmer did believe her mother that nothing was wrong with the warehouse, as the shapes had stopped fluidly forming at the edge of the cavernous interior of the warehouse. It started slowly though, the sounds. While the shapes only snarled and growled, they were never close to Sunset Shimmer. Long scratching came from the bricks underneath Sunset Shimmer. Something was scratching so hard it seemed to be begging for release from its earthly prison.
Jumping up, Sunset Shimmer quickly moved away from that spot, desperate to get away from whatever made that noise. Breath was hard to come by for Sunset Shimmer. She had not eaten since having popcorn at the park with her parents and that was hours ago. At any moment, Sunset Shimmer thought she was going to keel over from exhaustion, hunger, and fright.
Caress your fears, spoke a deep, ancient sounding voice.
“Who was that!” Sunset Shimmer shrieked looking all around the empty entrance way. No pony, no one responded. Nothing could, the warehouse was empty of all living creatures. The voice whispered directly into Sunset Shimmer’s mind.
No one is coming for you.
“Stop that!”
All that you know will fade. The voice did not stop.
Quaking in her horseshoes, Sunset Shimmer was desperately trying to reassure herself that these strange happenings were just her imagination. Neither her father nor her mother seemed to react to any of the dark, fluid shapes; nor did they react to the menacing look of the warehouse gate. She wanted to be strong like them. Both a turquoise aura and hooves tried to magically and mundanely cover Sunset’s ears. Sunset Shimmer hoped to block out the voice from speaking again.
Hope is an illusion.
Her fortitude finally broken, Sunset Shimmer ran towards the open doorway desperately trying to find her parents. The biological metronome inside Sunset Shimmer head was accelerating. Salty and stinging, tears were flowing freely from Sunset Shimmer’s eyes.
Inside the doorway was a small parlor with a door that lead to a dark hallway. The door was closed. Along the wall were a few chairs, a coat rack, and hat rack. Completing the room in the center was a small coffee table with candles that lit the room. Aghast was what Sunset Shimmer felt when she broke the threshold. The room smelt like a butcher’s shop, but the meat was spoiling. Death hung in the room. The little Sunset Shimmer keeled over and started retching from the pervasive smell. Not a single thing in this room could explain the smell. Maybe it came from the hallway, but the door was closed tight.
An unnatural cold now entered the room. It creeped up Sunset Shimmer’s spine and caused the candles to flicker. Even though Sunset Shimmer knew that the door to the entrance way was open, she could not hear the roaring storm any more. Now the candles continued to flicker, but not with the earthy, inviting orange one would expect. In the place of an orange flame, a malevolent lavender and sickly green came from the wax cylinders.
Thudding and thumping came from all the walls and the devilious shapes that were contained to the abyss of the warehouse now appeared to be at the threshold to the entrance way. Sunset Shimmer huddled herself in a corner sobbing into her knees wondering why her parents had gone into this room. The strange warping noise returned as well, except it was closer this time. Reality seemed to tear itself apart when this noise came.
With the sudden appearance of all the shapes, lights, cold, thumping, and wretched smell, they all disappeared. Warily thinking that it was finally over, Sunset Shimmer creeked her head upwards. Breath came out her nostrils like ponies before a race. She looked around the walls and wish she had not. Along the beige wall closest to the doorway to the other hall was message not there before. It said “My favorite scent is daisies.”
Then all the sensations came back again. Crawling all around her were the obsidian shapes. Rancid and putrid smells seeped back into everything in the room. Everything smelled like death. Sunset Shimmer rushed out of the room, fear being the only thing driving her. She galloped out the portcullis into the street crying and wailing.
Hoofsteps came galloping towards Sunset Shimmer, and she instinctively tried to run away from them. A giant bear hug stopped Sunset Shimmer from getting too far.
“What be the matter lass,” a stallion with a large handlebar mustache asked Sunset Shimmer. By his armor, Sunset Shimmer could tell this stallion was a member of the Royal Guard.
“My parents disappeared in that warehouse sir. It was really scary and monsters were trying to get me.”
“Really. Well then you should come with me down to the guard station. Don’t worry we’ll find your parents, but we need to get you safe.”
Sunset Shimmer sighed with relief. She looked back towards the warehouse and noticed that she could see all the way into the warehouse now. It was dark, but she could make out the outlines of various supplies in the warehouse. She heard a scratching noise but saw a rat was scampering along the cobblestones. Maybe it was just her overactive imagination.
“Do you smell that lass,” queried the guard. “It smells like daisies.”
“Yea, my Mom taught me to garden back home. Now I keep a garden at the castle, so I always smell like daisies.”
In the direction they were walking, a soft but noticeable warp could be heard “That is my favorite scent. I always keep a few on me.”
He took out a daisy from a pocket on his jacket, the smell immediately filled the air. Beneath the smell, was another. Almost as if it was trying to hide behind the daisies. It was the stingy smell of meat that had sit out too long as if one had just walked into a butcher’s shop.
The end
Author's Note
I was playing World of Warcraft when this fic idea came to me. The voices that Sunset hears are lines from the Old Gods in WoW
