Can You Run Forever?by Lighttone GryphonStarChaptersPrologue: Yellow GemChapter 1: Drive All NightChapter 2: Run Through The DayChapter 3: Fall Through The NightChapter 4: Terror, NightmareChapter 5: Play, Party, ScreamChapter 6: The Broken CaslteChapter 7: The Deceitful Idols Chapter 8: Drink The Pain AwayChapter 9: Shattering Like GlassChapter 10: Madding Filled TearsChapter 11: Gun To The HeadChapter 12: Freedom Of DeathPrologue: Yellow GemAuthor's Note I was told that my original prologue felt to short. So this is better, though the only connection it shares with the actaul story is the yellow gem, Everything else is actaully conected to a seperate story I have planned for later. Either way, this at least tells you how the gem got in the EG world. Prologue: Yellow Gem Once there were twelve gems, that were used by alicorns to govern the world that Equestria would one day be in. Five alicorns and a dragon were given the gems after using them to defeat a great demon. They ruled over all, but then a war broke out and six of the gems were lost to time. This is the story of one of those lost gems. A gem that gave the power to see into all worlds, realms and times. A great gem, bright and yellow like the Sun. ******* Thousands of years ago, a gigantic Chinese-like dragon flew through the sky as fast as he could. He was trying to get to his destination without being spotted and of course before it arrived. He clenched tightly to the mare in his arms. The mare was a light purple alicorn with a long icy blue mane. “Please hurry my love,” the mare winced in pain. “I don’t have much time left.” The dragon clutched his wife closely. “Could you of had the egg back in the lands that we hid in?” The mare whaled slightly in pain. “No, my love, he must be kept in that land. The gem has spoken.” As she held her gut in one hand, she held a yellow gem in the other. “It showed me that our child will have a good life here.” The dragon saddens the closer they got the destination. “You know we won’t be able to see him after this.” “Yes, I know.” She winced again. “But Morpheus has assured me the ally he chose will keep our child safe.” “I hope so.” Soon they arrived at an old city. As they landed they saw their ally Morpheus. He was a tall changeling with a long teal mane tied in a bun and a long Chinese like mustache and beard. He wore a white Chinese robe. They landed and looked to Morpheus who had nurses with him. The dragon let his beloved down and the nurses took her away while he held onto the yellow gem. Morpheus walked over to the dragon. “I see you arrived well, old friend,” Morpheus spoke to the dragon. “Do not worry. The nurses can handle this part.” He looked to the dragon with concern. “I see the gem is still glowing.” He noted as the gem's brightness seemed to be getting brighter. “Indeed, did you bring it?” Morpheus gestured over to his right. “But of course, just as the gem prophesied.” From his right walked two ponies. A purple crystal unicorn mare with a turquoise mane, wearing a crystal lined dress with a pair of crystal heels and a charcoal umbrum stallion with a dark blue mane, wearing a gray cloak and black tunic with pants and a pair of black boots. They were carrying a strange mirror. The dragon looked at the mirror almost like it looked all too familiar. “So this is the mirror of worlds.” He looked it over twice. Suddenly he winced as he heard the wailing of his wife. “It will almost be time. Where is the ally we asked for?” “Well allies it has now become, but right here,” Morpheus pointed toward the crystal unicorn and the umbrum. “These two will be watch over your child with great care.” “Good. They better.” He winced again as the wailing got louder. “Here, I must go be near the tent when the egg arrives.” He handed the yellow gem to Morpheus and then altered his size to a more manageable size. He walked over to the tent where his wife was and sat quietly. Morpheus looked to the other two and gestured them to move away from the mirror. Once they were far enough away he lit his twisted horn and casted a spell on the gem. The gem’s magic then shot into the mirror, opening it for the first time ever. It opened up and a pathway could be seen. He took the gem up to the pathway and tossed it in. “May you find what you are looking for.” The gem flew through the pathway for several moments. Suddenly a seemingly strange strike of lightning struck through the pathway as something was wrong. Morpheus could not see what was happening because his side had already closed. The lightning was time being messed with. Though it had not happened yet the event was still going to effect this moment, even if the lightning originated from thousands of years in the future. The gem shined and showed images of two mares going through a portal of time. The gem flipped and then showed the same mares suddenly allies against great foes. But as it flipped again it spun faster and faster. This time it showed a yellow unicorn mare that had hid as a human, had stolen a crown, and transformed into a form of demon. This was the mare it had been searching for. This mare, who had committed great evils. This mare, who learned better and made great friends in fighting a group of sirens. This mare, who even managed to save others from making the same mistake she had made, was the one that had been chosen to be the next wielder of the gem. However, the lightning had damaged and weakened the gem. It found it’s way to the other side yet it could no longer find the mare it was searching for. Instead, the gem was found by somepony else. Or should be said someone else. Someone who was not deserving of it’s power. In truth, this fine gentleman knew just who this gem was for, but who only he knew. ****** Chapter 1: Drive All NightAuthor's Note There are only a few changes in this new version. The most prominent are near the end. The Fine Gentleman, which as most the original readers know in the main villain of this story, has gone through the biggest. Now for all purposes, he is called Fine Gentleman(instead of just 'the fine gentleman'), at least his true identity is revealed in a later. Chapter 1: Drive All Night The sound of blood dripping off the metal of a red blade resonated throughout Sunset's head. She could hear the blood plip against snow, the sound getting louder by the second. She saw in the distance what looked like two warriors clashing. The clang of their weapon began to echo over the sound of the blood. One warrior was shining like a crystal, and one covered in shadows. “Wait, don't you know who you're firing that beam at?!?!” a voice screamed in terror, “Please don’t….. father stop!!” Sunset turned her head at that voice. It sounded familiar. So familiar. She knew she had heard the voice from somewhere before, but could not recall where. Screams of terror could be heard in all directions. As Sunset looked around, she saw crystals, fire, shattered glass, and large amounts of ice. At the center of it all, she could see a crystal tower. On top of it, she could hear more fighting. “This is where it ends, grandfather,” a new voice spoke. This one, completely unfamiliar. Sunset flipped her head around as she heard the final words. Suddenly a pair of headlights came into clear view as the vision stopped. Sunset spun her head around once more as a lavender arm grabbed the wheel. “Sunset, pay attention to the road!” Twilight nearly screamed as she yanked the wheel to dodge a passing purple Lamborghini. The scraping of metal could barely be seen as it passed by. It got so close, they could nearly see inside the other car. Sunset waved her head one final time and straightened the wheel. “Sorry, Twilight. My mind wondered to somewhere else.” “Really?” Twilight smirked at Sunset as she sat back. “And… I’m the one who’s sup.... supposed to be drunk here,” she hiccupped. The two had just left from a party that Pinkie Pie had been throwing in everybody’s honor. Apparently, they all would be attending Túr Solais, the most prestigious college in the whole state. Not only that, but it had recently become the go-to place for magic users, ever since the city had been rocked by the several magical events over the years. Sunset had managed to stay somewhat sober during the party, but Twilight had a lot more to celebrate for more than the new college. Just two days ago, her longtime boyfriend Timber Spruce, had popped the question. Of course, Twilight had told him that marriage would have to wait until she got done with at least one year in the new college. It seemed everything was going well until tonight. The sound of sirens could be heard as Sunset looked through her mirror to see red and blue lights. “Crap, it’s a police car.” Sunset looked annoyed. As Sunset pulled to the side of the road, Twilight laughed. “Oh, Flash is not going to let you live this down.” “Shut up, Twilight,” she deadpanned. The police officer walked up to the car window as Sunset rolled it down “License and registration,” he droned. Twilight covered her eyes from the bright light of the flashlight as Sunset grabbed out what she needed. She showed it to the police officer only to hear a laugh. She looked at the police officer in confusion as he turned to his car, smiled and yelled, “Hey, Moonchaser, I was right. Now you owe me twenty bucks.” Twilight facepalmed and Sunset’s eyes widened as they both suddenly recognized that all too familiar voice. “Wait a minute... Jack Nox?” Sunset looked to see the purple skin and curly green hair of Jack. This was really annoying for her to have been pulled over by her boyfriend’s partner. “Yeah, just wait until Flash hears about this,” Jack gloated. “What do you mean? I’m perfectly sober. Twilight’s the one drunk.” “Sure, you’re perfectly sober. Tell that to the car you nearly hit. Now get out.” Sunset looked so mad as she got out of the car. It was annoying enough to have a police officer pull her over, but it to be her boyfriend’s partner made it even worse. Flash had joined the police force just after high school and at first, it was fine until he got his partner. Jack had been Twilight’s biggest rival back in Crystal Prep. A former thief and a truly incredible genius inventor who could have had the perfect choice of any university, Jack chose to join the police force, purely to spite rich father Norman Nox. As Jack was setting up the straight line for Sunset to walk on, Moonchaser got out of the car and walked over to Twilight. He was a tall white man with deep red hair. He had been Jack’s buddy for years, though he was more laid back then Jack. With the fact that Flash had taken the night off to have some fun at the party, Moonchaser was more than happy to work with Jack. As Twilight and Moonchaser talked, Sunset walked across the line. “Hey Jack looks like Timber finally popped the question,” Moonchaser shouted as he saw the amethyst ring. “Seriously that is too strange.” He walked over, seemingly ignoring Sunset. “What do you mean?” Twilight questioned. “I mean just a few days ago I popped the question on Moondancer,” he gloated as he held up his expensive silver and gold ring. “Well, I’m sure you're happy for your sister, Moonchaser.” Twilight looked at him while purposely ignoring Jack. “You bet I am. Plus I and my best bud will soon be family.” He wrapped his arm around Jack with a tight grip that could rival Pinkie Pie's. As the three continued to talk, Sunset grew confused as her eyes began to blur once more. “Now I claim the Moon.” She turned hearing a new voice. There was nobody there, however, the area around her began to change. She found herself in the middle of snow. She looked in the distance to almost see what looked like a crystal castle with shades of purple. On top of the castle was a very familiar cutie mark. Then, she heard an explosion. Looking to the sky, her eyes widened in horror as the Moon began to crack. Cracks could be seen all over as it was slowly ripped apart. Her mouth fell agape in terror, and she found herself running towards it. However the vision stopped as another pair of headlights came into view, heading right towards her. She could barely hear Twilight scream to her as Jack tackled her out of the way of a passing red and black Ford Mustang. “Okay, you are drunk.” She waved her head back and forth, then knocked Jack back. “No, I’m not drunk.” “How about you look where you are at.” She got up and looked around. Her eyes widened to see that she had run to the other side of the road. At that moment, she facepalmed while he wrote up a ticket. “Look, Jack, just let us get home. We need to get some rest. We have our first day of school tomorrow.” “Yes, I know, that prestigious college. But you’re either drunk or those freaky magical powers of yours, are affecting your mind. So I'll be taking you to the police station.” Jack walked her back to Twilight. “Both of you.” “Oh come on. Do you know how angry the police chief is going to be mad at me,” Twilight whined? “Wait a minute, you never told me you knew the police chief. I haven't even met him yet.” Sunset looked confused. “Oh they go way back,” Moonchaser answered as he took Sunset’s car keys. “But don’t worry he’s not that moody all the time. And about your car, I’ll be gentle with it.” On that, Jack placed Sunset and Twilight in the back of his police car, while Moonchaser took Sunset’s car. The two cars went up to the station. As they drove off, a mysterious girl with red hair could be seen watching them from a distance with a pair of binoculars. A smile came over her face as she spoke, “Well, I wonder what you saw, mare.” She put away her binoculars and placed her turquoise motorcycle helmet back on, then revved up her motorcycle and went in the same direction as they did. ****** While Sunset and Twilight were in the back of the car, Twilight tried her best to look sober. “What are you doing?” Sunset questioned, as she saw her cleaning up her face and checking her breath. “Dang it, he is so going to tell Cadence about this.” Sunset laughed. “I can’t believe you're still worried about that.” Despite Twilight now being old enough to drink, she still acted rather juvenile, especially when drunk. Though Sunset thought it was strange that Twilight would be worried about being seen by the police chief. “Yeah….. Well, what happened earlier, Sunset? You seemed so off.” She looked at her with a concerned expression. “Well, I don’t know, I think … I think I saw a vision.” “Strange, that's not how your powers work. Heck, you don't even have your red geode with you.” “I know, which is why I thought it was strange too,” her head fell. “The strangest thing is what I saw.” “What did you see?” Twilight asked curiously. “The first one I can’t remember, but the second one…. or maybe it was the third one, I saw the Moon being ripped apart. And I heard a male’s voice, saying that he claimed the Moon.” “Who’s voice was it?” “I don’t know, but he sounded familiar.” Soon they arrived at the police station. Twilight and Sunset were taken to the head office, where Sunset found the most shocking surprise as she sat down in a chair and saw the police chief. The police chief had a slick, jet-black hair, tall crew cut, with a distinct single red streak going all the way back through the center. On the nameplate, was the name Sombra. “Looked I’m sorry Police Chief Sombra.” Twilight apologized. “In some ways, I’m a little surprised and in some ways, I’m not,” he answered as he placed a stack of case reports aside so they could talk. “I mean, yes you’re allowed to celebrate your proposal, but letting Sunset drive while she is clearly as drunk as you are.” “Hey, I’m not drunk,” Sunset complained. The chief looked at Sunset sternly. At that moment she felt a distinct chill of fear going down her spine. A chill that instantly silenced her. As Twilight and Sombra continued their talk, Sunset tuned it out as she tried to figure out what had happened earlier. Her powers always revolved around skin contact and reading people's thoughts and seeing into their mind. So why was this happening? Was it really happening? As Sombra got finished talking to Twilight, he got up and left the room to make a call. As he did, a file fell from his desk. It was a recent report of strange killings that had been happening in the area. Sunset saw the file. As she looked, she had the strangest feeling to grab it. Maybe pick it up, or…… But as she reached for it, she could feel the distinct feeling of dread. However, everything else was telling her to touch it. At the same time, nothing else seemingly mattered and she moved closer to it. It was like nothing else existed but her and that file. Soon she grabbed it and to everybody’s horror, her eyes dilated widely, and she fell to the ground out cold. As everybody ran to her, her mind moved to somewhere else altogether, and she heard a voice speaking, “Where is she?!” ****** Sunset found herself now wandering the land of Equestria, or what was left of it. The place looked like it had gone through a warzone, of the most brutal proportions. Bodies laid ripped apart, limbs laid about like discarded toys. Some were too damaged to even see their faces. It was a terrible sight. Sunset tried her best to hold back tears as she walked past the bodies. It was truly terrible. What had happened here? Why was it happening? Who was responsible for this atrocity? Soon she came upon a wooden sign that said Ponyville. It was soaked with blood. Upon seeing it, she ran for where she had been told that Twilight’s castle was suppose to be. As she did, she completely ran passed a tall stage, where a pegasus stallion was being held up to the wall by knives stabbed deeply into his yellow fur. The stallion was weak, beaten bloody. Blood poured slowly from his spiked blue mane. Even with all of this, though, he was strong enough to barely see through the rips in curtains that covered most of the stage. He looked outward to see Sunset running off in the distance. “Is that, Sunset Shimmer? Please Sunset, don't look into his eyes.” Finally, Sunset arrived at where the castle would be. However, she found nothing at all. She could see the indent in the ground like something was once there. But now it was like the castle had been ripped out of the ground. Yet there was no disturbance in the dirt. It was more like it had vanished without a trace. She backed away slowly, hoping the worse had not happened. So much anxiety was gathering over her. She couldn’t take it so she ran away from there. Running to somewhere or anywhere help would be, hoping she would find it soon. Suddenly, she was tripped over by something and fell to the ground. She slammed her fist into the ground as she got up. Looking to what tripped her, her eyes widened in horror. It was a body with all its flesh removed, and it’s head was gone. At that, upon seeing all these terrible things. It was that moment when she finally let the tears she had been holding back loose. “What could have happened here?” she questioned as the tears fell. She was stopped upon hearing the scream of a mare with a western accent in the distance. She got up at that. “No, no more tears.” She ran towards the sound as rain began to pour over the entire town. It poured and poured with each step she made. It was like the world was crying over the loss she had seen. The sound led her to an apple farm. Stepping over quietly through the mud, she saw three strange figures gathering four full body bags. As one of them with a light tan coat brought over the fifth and final body bag, he spoke to the one that was most likely the leader “Alright I did your dirty work. Now let the rest of the Apple family live.” The leader wore a dark gray, tall collared, thin steampunk trench coat and a bright, neon yellow dress shirt, tie and pants that were clearly meant to be a bullseye for his enemies. The strangest of all was his choice in gloves. The left one was red, and the right one was blue. It was uncertain what kind of pony he was due to the fact he wore a tall, gray top hat, but she could at least tell he had a dark green mane and his coat color look somewhat like a rotting white. The leader spoke with a calm demeanor despite the subtleness in his tone that gave a sign of something very unusual “Really? Did I make that part of the deal? If I really did that, then my defected allies would have nothing to eat." His voice was devoid of even the smallest hint of emotion as he patted the back of the short one beside him. The short one grinned happily and licked his lips with anticipation. “What?! You sick twisted dem--,” At that moment the leader threw several bone knives into the one with the light tan coat, silencing him and seemingly killing him as the force of the attack launched him into a nearby building. “Oh come on No. 544, you know I’m much worse than any demon.” “Five, no please let it not be them,” Sunset whispered as she became more concerned with each step closer while hiding behind a fence. This was not good at all. Was it really them? Could it had been simply five other ponies? “Now that we have the five, we just have to wait for the final target,” the short one laughed as he jumped up and down like a monkey. His joy was incredibly hyper. “Soon Twilight’s little student will be found.” “Indeed, I will hunt down my pre--” Sunset decided to hear no more of the emotionless words of the leader as without even thinking she grabbed a nearby pitchfork and threw it at him. Expecting him to fall by the pitchfork or maybe dodge it, he did the unthinkable. He grabbed his nearby short ally and threw him at the pitchfork, stopping it. The pitchfork punctured through the short one's chest. The short one fell into the muddy ground, dead. His blood quickly filled the muddy holes of earlier footprints. The leader was still standing. Sunset had failed, to kill him, or stop him in any way. Instead, she revealed her position to him. Because within a blur of light, he somehow instantly got within mere inches of her and stabbed his hand through her stomach. Her eyes widened as pain filled her entire body. She coughed up blood as blood gushed out of her chest in large amounts. It soaked the leader’s arm quite quickly. He pushed his fist in deeper and deeper into her chest, twisting as he went. She looked up to his face. She saw the strangest eyes. Devoid of all color and reptilian looking in nature. Her own eyes began to seemingly pull tricks on her because it seemed like everything around them was slowing down. It was like time itself was slowing down. Yet just a few feet away from them the rain was still going. It looked like a sphere surrounded them. In it, time was moving a different length. Sunset tried to struggle as thing moved even slower. Soon though everything began to go blurry as the vision began to clear. ****** Sunset woke up screaming in pain. She grabbed her chest only to feel no hole at all. Twilight grabbed her, trying to calm her down, "Sunset, calm down, it’s over, it’s over.” She quieted down soon after seeing Twilight beside her bed. She looked around to see herself back in the world she knew. Upon realizing she was back, she held her legs close as Twilight crawled onto the bed. She shivered and shivered as Twilight tried her best to calm her. Twilight, completely unknown to what Sunset saw and what pain she went through. ****** Miles away a red and black Ford Mustang pulled up to a tower. Stepping out of it, was a Fine Gentleman. His face could not be seen, but he wore a fine green business suit, a clean gray dress shirt, a perfectly laid blue tie, a pair of glistening white gloves and incredibly clean black dress shoes. He went inside the tower and went to an elevator. The elevator led to an underground lab. Inside was a strange machine that was glowing yellow. He walked over and pulled a strange left half yellow gem necklace out of a slot. As it stopped glowing and shut down for the night the Fine Gentleman placed the gem in a combination lock suitcase. He took out a notebook and finished his work. Once done, he left the room with the suitcase and took the elevator back up to the surface. “Four visions. Looks like the first test was a success." ****** Chapter 2: Run Through The DayThe next day had arrived with the bright sunrise. The birds were chirping and it seemed like it would be a much better day, especially for their first day in college. Sunset and Twilight were walking to the main building of the college. Sunset was wearing a black jacket and turquoise t-shirt with a pair of black jeans and a pair of turquoise boots. Meanwhile, Twilight wore a light blue dress shirt with an indigo tie, a semi-long purple skirt and a pair purple uniform dress shoes with a pair of white knee socks. Everybody had been told to meet there before being told where their classes would be. As they walked Twilight and Sunset talked. “So Sunset are you feeling better yet?” Twilight questioned. “Me?” Sunset looked with confusion, “I should be asking you that since you drank so much.” Twilight held her hand to her head, “Well I’ll be fine once we get to the auditorium, but what about those visions?” “Well, I’ll send a message to the princess once we get inside,” she held up her diary, “Hopefully everything is okay.” “Hey, maybe this could be your power evolving like mine and the others did after high school?” Twilight purposed. “I certainly hope not. That last vision was so horrible,” Sunset held her hand to her chest just like last night. Though the pain and the gaping hole was purely in the vision, she could still feel a lot of dread upon her chest. “Either way, we can’t let the others kno--” “That you’re having visions,” chimed Pinkie Pie as she walked up from behind them. “Wait, you told Pinkie Pie,” Sunset looked annoyed as Pinkie Pie caught up with them. Pinkie Pie was wearing a light blue short-sleeved semi jacket over a white and pink t-shirt with a pair short light blue knee high tennis shoes. “No wait, you didn’t have too.” Twilight nodded her head yes. At that Sunset facepalmed. “Look Pinkie Pie please don’t let the others know.” “Too late,” said Rainbow Dash. Sunset turned once more to see the other four walking behind them. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity. Rainbow Dash was wearing a blue short-sleeved semi jacket over white a blue t-shirt with a pair of blue cargo pants and a pair of light blue tennis shoes. Applejack was wearing a white and green button up with a pair of rustler blue jeans with a pair of brown boots. Fluttershy was wearing a white top and a short long sleeve blouse with a long green skirt and a pair of green sandals. Rarity wore a purple scarf with a sky blue thin cashmere sweater, a purple skirt and a pair of purple medium high heels. “Oh right fine, how much did she tell you?” Sunset asked, obviously curious how much Pinkie Pie said but also concerned over how much Pinkie Pie knew. “Well, actually I only know that you been having visions, not what's happening in them,” Pinkie Pie answered for them, “Which is strange because usually, I know more, but something seems to be throwing my senses.” “Right?” Rainbow Dash questioned sarcastically, “We all know what’s throwing you off, Pinkie Pie.” At that, Rainbow Dash pointed to a certain guy with big curly, brown hair. “Cheese!” Pinkie Pie ran towards her boyfriend as the others kept walking. Sunset let out a slight sigh a relief as Pinkie ran off. “So, you all are the only ones who know. Flash doesn’t know. Right?” “Don’t worry he doesn’t know. Though, he does know about your little visit with the police chief.” “Great,” Sunset deadpanned. “Wait, Twilight, you never told us how you know the police chief.” At that everybody stopped and looked at Twilight. Everything went silent for a moment, when suddenly everybody gave the obvious reaction, “Wait Twilight knows the police chief!!” Twilight looked even shyer than Fluttershy at that question. “Well….” Soon, though, the shy face turned sad. “Yeah, he was the one who found…. my parents.” At that everybody fell silent once more, “He use to be a detective and he handled my parents case, but they weren’t able to find the murderer,” Twilight face fell even more, “He was so determined to find the murderer, that he disobeyed direct orders and was knocked down to police chief. In the end, they never found the killer, though he has never stopped looking,” On that, Twilight ran ahead from the group. Sunset felt bad for bringing it up. She caught up with Twilight, “Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t mean for tha--” “No, it’s okay,” Twilight interrupted her as she tried to cheer up, “In a way, I’m glad to talk with all of you about it. Though, I noticed your shock when you saw the police chief. Can I know why?” Sunset realized where she found herself, so she caved, “You know how Equestria has it’s own version of everybody, well everypony?” “What you are saying is there is a Sombra in Equestria too?” “Was, would be a better word. In Equestria, thousands of years ago, there was King Sombra. He conquered the Crystal Empire.” Twilight strangely smiled at that, “Well Police Chief Sombra isn’t a tyrant, but I know he and Cadence’s grandfather don’t get along. At all!” At that they both let a laugh lose. It was certainly strange, but still funny, the similarity the worlds would have. Sunset was briefly distracted from the laugh that she placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. At that moment she was hit with a brief vision. It was very short but showed Princess Twilight sitting by a fire with Princess Luna and, strangest of all, King Sombra both sitting beside her. As quick as the vision came, it stopped. Sunset found herself back with her friends, they were all still walking. In fact, none had noticed what just happened with her. Putting the vision out of her mind, she continued to walk with them. Soon, they arrived at the main building. It was a ten-story tall tower with a wide first three floors. The building was covered in a bright marble yet as Sunset looked upon it, she felt like it should have been crystal, though she didn’t know why. “Hey, girls?” Sunset asked, “Does this building look familiar in any way?” They all looked at her strangely. This had actually been the second time they had been here, yet Sunset had an even stranger feeling of remembering. “What do you mean?” they questioned back. “I don’t know, I think I may have seen it in one of my visions, only, it was covered in crystal.” “Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash looked confused, “Because this looks like normal ston--” “Actually dear, it’s marble,” Rarity interrupted. “Whatever, it’s clearly not crystal.” “Okay,” Sunset passed up the idea as they walked through the parking lot and went inside to look for the auditorium. Meanwhile, a girl with red hair wearing a right half yellow gem necklace watched them from a distance. The entire time, the necklace had been glowing. “I wonder what you saw this time, mare.” ****** As everybody got inside, a purple Lamborghini pulled up. Stepping out of the passenger side was a girl with long, purple hair with streaks of blue. She wore a semi-thick purple hooded coat and a black shirt and jeans. “Oh no, I’m going to be late,” she worried as she ran off. Suddenly, the driver stepped out. It was a girl with light blue hair, “Wait, Starlight you forgot your papers.” She stopped herself and ran back, “Thanks, Trixie.” After grabbing the papers and giving her girlfriend a kiss she ran to the building. However, she turned back once more, "Oh yeah, make sure to have my dad's car back from the shop before he gets back from his latest job," she yelled to Trixie as she drove off. ****** Once Sunset and the rest of the group found a place to sit, she grabbed out her diary to write down the message. She was very worried about Equestria and what she saw. She told in great detail what she saw. She hoped that it was nothing, but at the same time, if this was a warning, it would be best for the princess to know as much as possible. As she got finished, she noticed no quick answer. Again she became concerned, but then Twilight nudged her, “Hey, maybe she is busy right now,” she whispered. “Right,” Sunset answered back, though she was still very concerned. However, worry would have to wait as the dean of the college walked out onto the stage. He was a tall, middle age, pink skin gentleman with golden hair in a bronze, colored business suit with a silver dress shirt and a blue tie. They all knew him as Cadence's father, Golden Williams. He was a great man for many. He always had a big heart, though some would say too big. He stood up on the stage and gave a speech, “It’s good to see you all here. We, at Túr Solais, would like to welcome you to this prestigious school for the gifted. Long ago, when I told my old man the great Sir Emerald Teal that I was going to create a school for all, I truly meant it. Do you know what he told me in return? He laughed at me,” At that, there were a few chuckles, “But never the less, he did eventually support my idea. When I told my daughter, Dean Cadence, that I had recently decided to include magic affected people into my school, as well as help them in any way, do you know what she said? Well, she was overjoyed. And look among you now, both normal people and magic affected people are greeted here with open arms. No discrimination and no hate,” he held his arms out in an example. “Truly, this is going to be a great year. Though, when I took this idea on, there were some rough points, considering I had no experience with magic at all. But I did have someone by my side who did. Now, I leave the rest to my good ally in this, the magic expert and psychiatrist of this school. A man whose heart is as stubborn as a diamond, Dr. Pr. Halo.” Everybody applauded upon his arrival, especially the clearly magic effected, as the sounds and sights of magic flaring slightly off could be seen. This was, indeed, an incredible moment, since all had heard of him yet very few had seen him before now. Soon though the applauding went silent as a pale red skin, older middle age gentleman with long gray hair and beard in a gray business suit with a blue dress shirt and green tie rode up in a wheelchair and was connected to life support. They were all a little shocked, to say the least. Though few had heard that he suffered a car accident a few years back, but not very many of even those few knew how bad the accident was. As he reached the center, he looked upon them all. “What is all this?” he slurred slightly as he talked, “You go silent upon seeing how broken I am,” he seemingly mocked. They all seemed ashamed now, however, he began laughing, “Oh calm down, I was joking. I've barely reached my fifties, I’ve still got plenty of fight in me.” This seemingly chipper attitude was unexpected and was a pleasant surprise, “Anyway, when Golden Williams talked to me about this idea, I was pretty okay with it. It would certainly allow me to get my research on magic did much quicker,” he joked, “But aside from that, it allows me to get to know others like me.” This seemingly confused some, that is until they saw the ones in front suddenly being lifted into the air. Meanwhile, Sunset had been looking at her diary expecting an answer back soon, which there still wasn’t. However, she lifted her head up in shock upon seeing that she was one of the ones being lifted into the air. Soon, he gently put them down. This was certainly a lively moment in an otherwise slow speech. The rest of the speech was pretty mundane and slightly forgettable. And as things drew to a close and everybody was told where their classes would be, the book began to finally shake. Sunset quickly opened it as everybody went to go look for their classes. Her eyes looked with confusion upon the words. “Dear Sunset, I think you were simply drinking too much or something because everything in Equestria is fine. In fact, it’s been rather peaceful as of lately. Though, if you are truly worried, I will have my head guard Flash Sentry, to go check on some things for you, okay? Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.” On that, Sunset let a sigh of relief fill her mind. Though she was slightly annoyed that the princess would also consider the drunk idea, she was at least happy to hear everything was okay and that the princess would have somepony look into it. Especially if it was that world's version of Flash. She knew if he was anything like her Flash, he would get the job done. Knowing things would be alright, Sunset ran to go look for her class, only for her to crash into a Starlight. “I’m sorry,” Sunset apologized as she tried to pick up her diary and papers. “No, I’m sorry--” the Starlight’s eyes widened as she saw Sunset, “Wait a minute, you're the one who wasn’t watching the other cars.” Sunset’s own eyes widened as she looked at the girl in front of her, “Wait a minute, you were the one driving that purple Lamborghini,” she remembered. “Yeah, you scratched my dad's car,” she said annoyed. “Look, I’m sorry, I’ll pay for any damages,” Sunset tried her best to be nice and make things right. “Hmm, okay, but when?” Starlight questioned. “How about around four?” she looked at her papers, “It looks like I’ll be free at that time, I’ve got a room on campus. Building B, room 301.” Once Sunset was done giving her information, she held out her hand in friendship, “By the way, my name is Sunset.” “Hmm, I use to know a girl named Sunset. Though I don’t think you're her, she always had her hair up. My name is Starlight,” she shook Sunset’s hand. Suddenly upon shaking her hand, though, Sunset was hit with a new vision. This one very different from the one of before. ****** She found herself in a desert area. At first, she was concerned that this had happened again, but this time there was no bodies lying about. A new sigh a relief fell over her head, maybe this vision wouldn’t be bad. She tracked through the sand and looked around the desert as she was trying to figure out where or why she was even here. It was strange, nothing was really happening, or so she thought. Suddenly she heard a yell. Running towards it, she saw a grouping of rocks. In the grouping, she saw a light purple unicorn mare with a purple mane with blue streaks in it. She wore gray samurai-like armor and had a purple bladed zhanmadao on her back. It took only a moment for Sunset to realize this must be the pony version of the girl she just met, Starlight. Sunset quickly got behind a small rock. She looked over it slightly. Her eyes widened as with Starlight she saw her brother Sunburst, as well as Cheese Sandwich, and a dark purple batpony stallion with a green mane. He looked very much like Jack Nox. Sunburst was wearing a teal long cloak over a white tunic with gold frills, a pair of light brown pants with a pair brown shoes. His weapon of choice seemed to be a white and gold magical staff, but he also seemed golden khopesh hidden under his cloak. Cheese was wearing a brown cowboy hat and brown poncho over a tan button up with a pair blue jeans and a pair of brown boots. At his sides were a pair what looked like revolvers. Sunset found this strange considering the kind of technology that existed in Equestria when she was there was nowhere near that level of violence. Meanwhile, the one that she thought was Jack, was wearing a double button maroon velvet refine semi-long coat with a pair green dress pants and a pair of black boots. His weapons of choice seemed to a be a pair of golden techno gauntlets. She listened in closely as she stayed hidden, “You nearly got Caramel killed out there, Jack,” she heard her brother say. “Like I care about one of those freaks, besides we saved King Thorax dang it,” Jack answered them as he took a drink from his tin before putting it up. “You know very well Caramel is better than the other ones. Why do you give us so many problems?” Starlight questioned. Suddenly Jack’s eyes widened in anger, “Other ones! Yeah, let's talk about the other ones, shall we? Or more in particular….” At that moment he charged at Starlight, grabbing her by the throat and pushing her to the biggest rock. Sunburst quickly swung his staff in defense of Starlight but wasn’t quick enough to get past Jack’s teleport. Jack punched Starlight’s throat hard to the wall. She coughed heavily as he held her there. “You want to know why I’ve been so much of a problem. It’s because I have such a problem working with you, of all ponies. You all should already know who I’m talking about. Especially you, Spike,” he yelled to the dragon that was clearly out of Sunset’s sight, just beyond the rocks. Everypony went silent upon his words as if almost knowing all too well that he didn't mean Starlight at all, but somepony else altogether. Suddenly, Sunset saw Jack getting ready to punch Starlight in the face, however, he stopped. “Why then, Jack?” Starlight asked. “Because ‘he’ made me into this--” Suddenly Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to break. ******* Sunset found herself suddenly right in front of her first class of the day. It was as if her mind had gone on autopilot and her body took her straight there as the vision started. She spun her head around but saw Starlight nowhere in sight. Shaking her head once more, she entered the classroom. ******* Meanwhile, in the world of Equestria, sat a dark, lavender mare in a black, crystal encrusted throne. She looked once more over Sunset’s message, still curious on what it meant. It was strange how well all the things Sunset described. It truly intrigued her, and yet confused her at the same time. “This is too strange, she has some things that happened spot on, yet other things slightly off.” On that, she closed the book and slightly laughed. Suddenly a strange-looking chain blade covered in purple magic wrapped around the book and lifted it into the air. Afterward, it placed it back on a nearby shelf. “I better keep this strange book close in case this Sunset has more details to give me.” Soon a guard walked into the throneroom. He walked up to the throne and bowed, “Queen, you called for something?” “Yes, get me the mirror.” ****** Chapter 3: Fall Through The NightSunset arrived at her room. Stepping inside, she threw down her stuff and jumped onto her bed. Twilight, her roommate, was typing vigorously on a laptop at the time of her arrival. Twilight looked up from her laptop for a moment. “I see you had a tough first day.” “Yeah, the classes here are tough. They certainly give Princess Celestia’s classes a run for their money,” she huffed, “Though surprisingly, no visions. I sent a message to the Princess, but she said everything was fine over there.” She looked to Twilight, seeing her still typing, “So how was your first day?” “Perfectly fine. In fact, better than I expected.” Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Really?” “Yeah, go ahead and throw something at me.” “Okay,” Sunset grabbed out one of her books and threw it at Twilight. Soon it hit an invisible wall. “Wow, you blocked it, without even looking at me,” she smiled. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Oh, that must be her.” “Who?” Twilight looked up from her laptop once more as Sunset got up and walked over to the door. Sunset twisted the doorknob and opened the door. On the other side was Starlight. “Hey, Starlight. Here about that money?” Sunset questioned as she went to go get her wallet. “Yeah, Could this be quick? I’m kind of in a hurry. I got to meet up with Trixie soon.” Starlight leaned against the wall. “Sure,” Sunset came back with her wallet. “Should this cover it?” Starlight nodded a yes as Sunset held the money up. Sunset's eyebrow raised, “Wait, Trixie as in the Great and Powerful Trixie.” Starlight blushed and giggled, “Yeah, that's my girl.” Sunset's eyes widened, “Oh you two are….” “Yeah, something wrong with that,” Starlight's voice slightly raised. Sunset realized that she may have worded that wrong and tried to apologize. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Starlight facepalmed, “No, I just get a little riled up about stuff like that. It’s mostly because my father is sort of not on board with our relationship. Look, can I just have my money?” she spoke slowly. “Sure,” Sunset handed her the money. At that moment, Sunset was hit by something as Starlight took the money. Slightly leaning back, Sunset quickly caught herself. “Thanks for the money,” Starlight said as she ran off. As the door closed, Twilight was about to ask what that was about when suddenly, Sunset fell to the ground. Waving her head back and forth, Sunset found herself being caught by Twilight’s magic. “Okay, what just happened?!?!” Twilight nearly yelled. Not realizing that she nearly fainted, Sunset answered, “Oh that was just the girl I nearly hit with my car,” she spoke slightly in a daze. “No, I mean you nearly fainting.” “I did?” Sunset was still confused. One more time she waved her head as her daze went away. Taking a deep breath and sitting up, she nodded for Twilight to drop the telekinesis. “I’m sorry, I think I had a new vision, only this one was different.” “What do you mean different?” At that, Twilight closed her laptop, determined to find out what happened this time. “I mean, first my powers acted like they always do. It showed me, Starlight and Trixie sharing a kiss. But then, it changed to a vision of Equestria. Or at least a part I have never seen before. Anyway, it showed me Starlight kissing my brother Sunburst.” Twilight raised her eyebrow in confusion, “Well, that is strange.” “That wasn’t the half of it,” Sunset eyes went wide with terror. “They said they were going to attack the Castle.” “Wait, as in the Castle of Friendship?” “I think, I’m not sure,” Sunset ran over to her books, “Whatever it means, I must warn the Princess,” Sunset grabbed out her diary and began writing. Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, Starlight was walking while calling Trixie on her phone. “Come on, pick up girl--” Suddenly, she was stopped as a girl with red hair and a glowing necklace ran past her. She looked to the girl, as she looked very familiar. “Was that S--” “Starlight,” Trixie interrupted her as she answered the phone. “Hello, Starlight you there?” “Yeah,” Starlight turned around and kept walking down the hallway, “Did you get my dad’s car back in time?” “No, this mean ass has halted the Great and Powerful Trixie from leaving. He is taking forever to get the job done,” Trixie complained. Starlight became really annoyed, “Fine, I'll be there soon. Love you.” Once she was done talking, she hanged up and began running as fast as she could. She got outside and got to the road. She looked both ways before crossing. Everything looked clear or so she thought. Walking outward, she suddenly stopped herself as a few police cars drove by. Tilting her head, she curiously said, “I wonder where they're in such a rush to get to?” ****** In one of the police cars was Flash Sentry and Jack Nox. “Are you sure what the chief said?” Flash questioned as he drove. “Yeah, there are reports of an attack at a bar near the college,” Jack checked his gun and other weapons. “Do you think it might be a magic effected?” “I don’t know. Maybe?” Soon, they pulled up to the bar. All the police officers got out and made their way to the door. Standing at the front were detectives Bob Mind and Leod Quartz. “Now officers, I want you to be careful in there. We don’t know how many there are,” Bob Mind said as he looked over the group, “Officer Sentry,” he whispered out to Flash. Flash quickly got to him, “Yes sir?” “I need to know that you won’t go awol on us.” Flash was taken back by this, “Why would you dare think that?” “Because the man in the tall gray top hat was spotted with the group,” At that, Flash’s eyes widened in anger, “That’s why I'm worried.” The other police officers overheard their words. All except for Jack and Moonchaser, wondered who was this man in a tall gray top hat and what did he do to Flash? Was he really that dangerous? They were about to find out as they broke down the door. As they entered, everybody's eyes widened in horror, well everybody but Flash as his eyes filled with more anger upon what he saw. He knew all too well whose work this was. The bar was covered in blood. It stank of blood and other fluids. Body parts were strewn across the place. The heads of the several victims were laid perfect on the bar, being held up by empty beer bottles and presented like a trophy case. The police officers walked slowly through the bodies with guns ready, trying to make it to the other side of the bar where they could hear voices. Probably some of the enemy group taking money out of the vault in the back. As they walked, somebody hit the light switch, turning off the lights on them. There was a slight panic as they all went for cover, assuming a shot out was about to happen. However, nothing happened. In fact, it was now silent. “Boys, you might want to get out of here,” an unknown voice called out to the enemy group. Taking the back way out, they left. Meanwhile, the police officers got ready for the worst. A disco ball came out of the ceiling, streaming lights everywhere as it spun. The police officers looked up slightly from their hiding spots to see somebody standing in the center of the bar. It was a tall, skinny man. The man had dark, green hair and a rotting, white skin color. He wore a dark gray, tall collared, thin steampunk trench coat and a bright, neon yellow dress shirt, tie and pants that were clearly meant to be a bullseye for his enemies. The strangest of all was his choice in gloves. The left one was red and the right one was blue. And of course, there was the fact he wore a tall, gray top hat. Flash look of anger intensified, “It’s him. Cult Race!!” Without even thinking, he aimed his gun and fired. “Hold your fire, Officer Sentry!!” Bob Mind yelled. Yet it didn’t matter for the bullets were already flying. But as the bullets flew, everything seemed to move slowly for Cult Race as he dodged the bullets. However, for everyone else he was going so fast that all could be seen was a blur as every bullet missed. All were in shock at his speed. “Damn it, he's a magic affected,” Jack threw a strange looking grenade at Cult Race, but he jumped out of the way as it sent out a strange purple gas. The gas quickly filled the room, coating everything in a thin layer of purple dust. Soon, the gas disappeared. Everybody coughed as the gas disappeared. “What was that, Jack?” Flash complained. “A magic buffer. I suggest you move quickly, it doesn’t last long. And don’t shoot, I wasn't able to make this stuff nonflammable.” At that, Flash smiled, put away his gun, pulled out his knife, and charged at Cult Race. Cult Race pulled out a bone knife and stopped the first attack with a slash. Flash jumped back and slashed back. Cult Race stopped it with his bone knife. The two were now locked at the hilt of their knives, constantly pushing each other back. “Good to see you, Flashy Boy,” Cult Race. “Enough with that name, you monster!” Flash spat back. “Monster, now who’s the one name calling?” Using his other hand, Cult Race pulled out another bone knife and got ready to strike. “Flash look out!” Moonchaser threw his own knife. Using his incredible aim, he hit Cult Race in the shoulder without hitting Flash. Cult Race was forced to jump back, far back. Once he was far enough from Flash, he pulled out the knife and threw it on the ground. “Well, Flashy Boy looks like we will have to cut your revenge short,” At that, he jumped through a window and escaped. Flash charged at the window, nearly cursing at him as he escaped. Some of the police officers began to question Flash’s sudden anger, but only a few knew the truth. Jack, Moonchaser, the two detectives, and the chief, they knew who that was and what he meant to Flash. Meanwhile, outside behind the bar, the other criminals were running down an alley. Suddenly, they were stopped as somebody stood in their way. “Stop right there,” somebody new stood in their way. The new man had a helmet on and a gray armor-like uniform on, with a red short cloak over his shoulders. “And who are you to boss us around?” They pulled out their guns and got ready to kill him. He only smiled and held up a sheathed katana, with a black handle, “Kill, Mtr Alddam.” Suddenly, all could be seen was a red blur, and all the criminals fell to the ground dead as the katana resheathed. However, as the criminals fell, Cult Race ran up from behind them and jumped clear over all of them, including the man in the helmet. Cult Race landed behind him he spoke, “Hello again, old friend. How is your daughter doing?” At that, the man in the helmet became angered at Cult Race. He tried swinging his katana backward at Cult Race, but Cult Race jumped high once more and began scaling the building. Once he got to the top, he ran out of sight and was gone. With Cult Race gone the man in the helmet tired to take his leave. But Flash showed up, running down the alleyway. “Stop!” Flash shouted as he held up his gun. “Where is Cult Race?” The man in the helmet looked to Flash and spoke in a distorted voice, “Still wanting to avenge the death of your parents I see. Your parents weren't the only ones who suffered by that monster’s hands. But of course, Cult Race should never be your true target. It the man he works for that is the true enemy.” Flash put his gun down and spoke, “Then tell who is the real enemy?” “I can’t tell you his name. But I will tell you that he currently has his eyes set on your mare.” Flash’s eyes widened. “Sunset?” On that, the man in the helmet took his leave through a teleport. ****** Starlight finally showed up at the mechanic’s place. The place was called Wonderbolts’ Mechanics. After spotting Trixie, she called out to her. “Hey, Trixie!” Trixie turned and held out her arms as the two ran to each other. Hugging slightly, “Well, it’s about time,” she leaned in. “So, how is the car coming along?” “Well, it would go better without all these interruptions,” said a male's voice. The two looked to the car as they separated, only to see a light, brown skin guy with green hair rolling out from under it. He was wearing a red shirt and gray pants. It was Timber Spruce. After years in the camp work, he had to take on random odd jobs to keep the money flowing. Filthy Rich was always trying to buy his parent’s camp, and he couldn’t always rely on the schools to keep it afloat. This week’s odd job was helping Soarin out with the cars, while Soarin was stuck in a wheelchair for a week because he busted his leg doing something crazy with Rainbow Dash. “Wait, I thought we just had a scratch?” Starlight questioned as Timber stood up. “Well,” Timber’s eyes wandered, he then whispered, “Actually, that’s the only problem, I just need it to look like I’m busy because today is so slow.” Starlight’s eyes became clever, “Well, how about I give you extra pay, and you just let us go already,” She handed him quite an amount of money. His eyes went wide at that, “Okay, sure. Take it away.” After he removed the jacks, Starlight and Trixie entered the car, buckled up, and drove off. As Trixie drove Starlight to the house, she asked, “So, somebody’s feeling generous. How many pockets did you pick?” “Plenty,” Starlight held up a few emptied credit cards to the window. Splitting them into halves, she tossed them out into a dumpster at a stop sign. “Though, some of that came from the girl that nearly hit us.” “Really?” “Yeah, apparently she goes to the same school as I do, and plus, she is such a pushover. She gave some money for the accident without any question. Now come on, we got to get home soon, it’s getting dark. Hopefully, we can get home before dad does, and he will unground me from the car tomorrow, and I can drive this bad boy once more,” she rubbed her hand on the dashboard. ****** After the two were gone, Soarin rolled up to Timber. “Hey Timber, was that the last car?” “Yeah,” he turned, still holding the money. Soarin was quite surprised at how much he was holding. “Where did you get that?” “Well,” he spoke shyly, “I suppose it was a tip. The girl handed me the money without a second thought.” “Hmm,” Soarin looked around, obviously noticing earlier how slow it was today. “How about you take the rest of the day off and go take Twilight out.” “Really?” he raised an eyebrow at that. “Yeah, no need to worry about me. Rainbow Dash will be by here soon to help me out.” “Hmm, okay.” On that, he ran over, grabbed his signature black and white strap hat, went to his car, and left. As he drove, he called Twilight. “Hey Twi, I just got off. Do you want to go out somewhere?” “Sure.” “Alright, I’ll be there soon. Love you." After he was done talking, he hanged up. ****** Back at the police station, Flash, Jack, and Moonchaser sat down in their chairs as they all took a big sigh. “Damn it, I nearly had him,” Flash nearly yelled at himself. “No, don’t beat yourself up. Try to be happy that you got out of there alive,” Moonchaser tried to cheer him up. “Look, there's no honor in beating yourself. You didn’t expect Cult Race to be a magic affected. Besides, we can get him next time,” Jack leaned back. “Yeah, you guys are right,” Flash calmed himself. Flash could always count on his friends, Jack and Moonchaser. Moonchaser could easily be compared to Pinkie Pie, always cheerful and jumpy. While Jack was the most loyal and courageous man he knew. "At least you got to try one of your inventions out." "Yeah," Jack smiled. However, that smile became a frown as the District Attorney walked into the police station. The District Attorney, Redsting Blacklist, was a fine, middle age gentleman with long, gray hair that was very refined and wore a black and red striped blazer and pants with a blue tie and silver dress suit. He looked annoyed as he walked into the police chief's office. This was not good at all. However, after a few minutes, he left even angrier. After he was gone, the chief called in Flash. Flash took a gulp in as he got up from his chair. Walking into the chief’s office, he sat down. Though Sombra and the District Attorney never got along since he got Sombra demoted years ago, Flash was still worried about his own job. "Officer Flash, you may have noticed the asshole that walked in earlier." "Yes, sir." "Well, he wants me to have you fired, for what you did. Yet however...." "However?" Flash became more worried. "However, I told him that your past with Cult Race could prove a lot more useful than having you be fired. As long as you keep yourself in place next time, you will be fine." At that, Flash let a sigh of relief fall over him. "But you're still in hot water," Sombra spoke up, "So I suggest no more slacking for now. One more thing, you will be staying for overtime tonight, so get comfortable. Dismissed." Flash knew very well what he meant by his words. Afterward, Flash got up and left back to work. ****** Soon, Timber pulled up to the college. He walked through the parking lot and walked pass a red and black Ford Mustang that was parked behind a few other cars. He made his way up to Twilight's dorm room. Once there, he knocked quietly as to not wake anyone, considering how late it was. “Twilight, you there?” “Yeah,” she got up from her spot and grabbed some stuff to take with her. She turned to Sunset, who had the diary beside her, still waiting for an answerback. “Do you want us to grab you something?” “Naw, I’ll be fine. You enjoy your time with your fiance,” Sunset didn’t even look up from the diary. Seeing how worried Sunset was, Twilight used her telekinesis to move the diary off the bed and onto the desk. “Twilight!” Sunset looked annoyed at her as she tried to grab the book. “Sunset, stop worrying. I don’t want you up all night looking at that book.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she tried to cheer up, “Besides, looking at books all night is your job,” she joked. On that note, Twilight left, and Sunset decided that she might as well study until bedtime. ****** Night fell over in the world of Equestria, though it was hard to tell as the Moon had been gone for a long time now. In a dark crystal castle, a dark lavender mare walked into her throne room. Taking a moment to rest as she sat on her throne, she finally noticed the diary shaking up on its bookshelf. Using her magic, the strange-looking chain blade rose up once more and grabbed the book. “Hmm, I wonder what that fun little mare left for me this time. Probably another look into the past.” Opening it, she turned to the page that was glowing. Her eyes widened as she read, “Wait a minute, this hasn’t happened yet. Which means--” She stopped her train of thought and got ready for battle, as a purple bladed zhanmadao flew through the window and was heading right for her head. Without a single amount of hesitation, she used the diary as a shield to stop the attack. Crashing through the window was Starlight. The zhanmadao pulled from the book and flew back to her as she caught it. “I should've realized that wouldn’t kill you, Queen.” “No, it wouldn’t, my dear Starlight.” At that, she threw the book to the side and charged at Starlight ready for battle. As the book hit the ground, the tear in it began to make the book’s magic malfunction. This caused it to burst into flames. Meanwhile, in the other world, unbeknownst to Sunset as she slept, her diary began to catch fire, as well. ****** Chapter 4: Terror, NightmareSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 5: Play, Party, ScreamGrand Halo and Dr. Pr. Halo arrived at the committee building in Cloudsdale. It was a large library with several people walking in and out. Very few knew this was the committee building because meetings would be held on the secret top floor. They came upon the elevator and entered. Inside the elevator were several buttons as the building was rather tall, yet there was one button that was hidden behind a lock. Grad Halo searched their bag and found nothing. Dr. Pr. Halo heartedly laughed, “Well apparently we left the keys somewhere else.” “Gentlemen, I see that you lost your keys.” District Attorney Redsting walked up to the elevator. “Don’t worry, I have mine.” He entered and pulled out a bolt key and placed it in the hole at the bottom of the button list. Twisting the key, the lock revealed a secret button. He pressed it and the elevator door closed. As they went upwards, Redsting decided to question them. “I’m a little curious as to why you are here. Do you need help with those little freaks at that college?” Redsting openly insulted the magic affected. It was well known by all on the committee that he despised the magic affected and yet, they had to keep him as he was the District Attorney. Of course, a lot of the committee could be considered as worst than Redsting. They reached the top floor and exited the elevator. They enter the room on the top floor. Sitting at a round table was the members of the committee. Some members were well known in the community and were very open about being part of this committee. However, there was a few that weren’t so opened, in fact, it would be better if some of the member’s identities stayed hidden. The three arrived at the roundtable. There were twelve chairs and an empty spot for Dr. Pr. Halo. In all, this meant there were thirteen members, yet only so many ever showed up to the committee meeting. Grand Halo pushed his father into the empty spot. In the first chair on the right of Dr. Pr. Halo was a white skin and blonde hair, young scientist in a white buttoned up lab coat and a pair of unsightly jeans with sandals, his name, Gryford Longclaw. In the second chair on the right was a gray skin and bob cut red-haired, psychoanalyst in a somewhat revealing, red hanging dress with wide, long sleeves and high heels, her name was Selena Moondisc. Redsting sat in the third chair on the right. Pass Redsting were four empty chairs. In the final chair on the right was a slightly more revealing fancy, black dress on Lady Chrysalis, she was one of the few secret members. This was no surprise since she owned most of the illegal brothels down South. On the left side were four other members. In the first chair on the left was a white skin and red crewcut haired old general in a white and red uniform, with many metals, his name, General Iron Moon. In the second chair on the left was a purple skin and gray short moletcut haired, businessman in a charcoal gray business suit with a purple tie and purple dress shoes, his name was Norman Nox, the father of Jack Nox and owner of one of the biggest companies in the world, Nox Corp. In the third chair to the left was another secret member. This was an even less of a surprise as it was one of the heads of the criminal underground, Tirek. In the final chair on the left was the head of this committee. Sitting beside his former wife, Lady Chrysalis, was a turquoise skin, old man with a long flowing, emerald green hair that was quite a bright hue despite his incredibly old age. He wore a white and black robe over a silver dress shirt and silver dress pants with a pair of silver boots. His name was Sir Emerald Teal. Grand Halo left the room as they got to the meeting. Sir Emerald Teal spoke, “I see Celestia, Luna, and Cadence still refuse to show up during school hours. As for Priest Ragnorog well, obviously, he isn’t going to be here too today because of his church is going through renovations," He coughed, "Though, I'm surprised to see Doctor Priece Halo.” Dr. Pr. Halo always became slightly annoyed when the old man would call him by his full name. He would consider trying to object to this, but considering that Sir Emerald Teal’s knighthood made him one of the highest authorities in the country, it would not be wise. Sir Emerald Teal took a moment to catch his breath and then continued, “Okay, first order of business. Redsting you told me you had more intel on the Unpredictable Anomalies.” The Unpredictable Anomalies referred to the certain magic affecteds that couldn’t be tracked. Redsting pulled out the keyboard from the roundtable and put in a USB drive. A hologram rose from the center of the roundtable. Such advance technology was thanks to Norman Nox as he had this whole room made state of the art. The hologram showed four images. “These are the current targets of importance. The first is an unexpected but is a serious danger, Cult Race. He was just confirmed as a magic affected during an attack he led on a bar. Not much is known about Cult Race, personally. There is a lot of holes around him. Heck, his DNA doesn’t even connect to any of the cases that he was clearly a part of.” “Indeed,” Tirek agreed with Redsting, “My connections in the criminal underground show that Cult Race is most often called upon as a hitman and has killed an untold amount.” “What about his magic?” Sir Emerald Teal questioned. “Well, from what I have seen on the cameras on my officers, he seemed to have a form of lightning speed that seems to be greater than any other. Though, unlike Rainbow Dash, his speed seems to be more short range,” Redsting pulled up the camera feeds. “Okay, that sounds like a good possibility. What about the other three?” Sir Emerald Teal coughed. “We have another recently seen one.” Redsting pulled up an image of the man in the helmet that Flash had ran into that same day as Cult Race. “We don’t know his name yet, so we are calling him the Dark Knight. As for his magic, that is a bit of a problem,” He pulled up another camera feed. “As you can see, he is quite efficient at killing. He took down several criminals.” Lady Chrysalis laughed, “And how is that different from Cult Race?” Redsting looked towards Gryford, “Well, are you going to tell them?” Gryford jumped at that, “Right, scans of the bodies show that they were all at least twenty feet from him when they went down, but the freakiest part is that they all went down within seconds of each other, and the Dark Knight never left his spot as they fell.” “Well, that is quite a powerful form of magic,” Norman Nox confirmed on his own devices, as he compared notes with Gryford. “Okay, that’s enough on the newly discovered. What about the two major mysteries?” Sir Emerald Teal coughed. “Indeed.” Redsting brought back the two final images. The first one was a very familiar girl with a biker helmet on, a red, biker jacket over a magenta t-shirt with a medium, magenta dress and red, biker shoes, riding on top of a turquoise motorcycle. “The Red Biker and,” the second image, though fuzzy, showed a fine gentleman in a fine green, business suit, a clean gray, dress shirt, a perfectly laid blue tie with a pair of glistening white gloves and incredibly clean black dress shoes. “The Fine Gentleman.” Tirek spoke up, “These two again. Why do we even try with these two? They have been a mystery since we started having these committees.” “Indeed,” Lady Chrysalis agreed with Tirek, “These two have never even shown any sign of having any kind of magic at their beck and call.” “But this is why we must keep an eye on these two,” The General spoke up, “They have been showing up at very unusual times to be not just normal bystanders. The Red Biker has been seen at several disasters over the last year. Meanwhile, the Fine Gentleman has been spotted somewhere at every magical event on record.” “Indeed,” Norman agreed with the General, “Though, despite that, we don’t even know what their faces look like, since the Red Biker is never seen without her helmet on, and every picture that has ever been taken of the Fine Gentleman is blurred beyond repair.” Through all this back and forth discussion, Dr. Pr. Halo didn’t speak. He waited patiently until finally, they were done arguing. He took a breath and spoke up finally, “Though, despite those unknowns, I do have some good news.” Sir Emerald Teal heard his words and waved his hand over the others to quiet them. “Oh yes, that school that you and my annoying son started. I still don’t see a reason for it, but speak, what news have you brought us?” Dr. Pr. Halo looked to Redsting, “May I?” he held up a USB drive. At that, Redsting pulled out his and let Dr. Pr. Halo do as he pleased. Once his USB drive was in, an image showed. “This is Sunset Shimmer, one of the students at the college. She has been shown to have abnormally high rates of magic in her, but that is not the reason I show you this. She is our first case of someone having visions.” It was at that point he began to tell them of the visions that she was having, or more or less, telling what Sunset had said to him. Indeed, things were about to get very interesting. They all continued to talk for hours on end. ****** A full month passed since that day and the visions didn’t return. Sunset couldn’t figure out why they stopped. At the same time, her mind was still wondering on the message that Nightmare sent her. Was it real? Or was it just a dream? And if it was real, then who was the mare that seemingly killed Nightmare Moon? Sunset felt that she had heard that voice from somewhere, but where? It had sounded like a distorted version of somepony else’s voice that she once knew, but she couldn’t figure out who. When Dr. Pr. Halo returned, Sunset tried to return the keys, however, she found him to be always too busy. It seemed as time went on, all that happened was just a dream, that soon it seemed like the visions never happened. Sunset was still curious about them, but there was no way for her to get any proper answers without a way to contact the Princess. Twilight had suggested that she tried going through the portal, but Sunset would always change the subject when it came to personally going to Equestria. Finally, Sunset began pushing the visions aside. She began to think they were nothing. They seemed to stop, so maybe she could stop worrying about them. Maybe it was over. Maybe they were nothing at all. ****** Four months had passed since the last vision. Sunset was walking down the street to Pinkie Pie’s house. It used to be the home of the Cake Family, but a few years ago they moved out and left it to Pinkie Pie. The place was so big that Pinkie Pie barely used most of it. However, after Building B burned down, she had let all of her friends use the extra rooms. This wasn’t too much of a problem since the college was within walking distance. She arrived at the door and was greeted by a surprise upon opening it. “Surprise-- oh hold on it’s just, Sunset.” They all calmed down. Sunset was rather taken back by the shock, but of course, this was Pinkie Pie’s place. Parties would almost be common. She didn’t know what this one was for, but it obviously wasn’t for her, so she got out of the way and walked over to the side. She looked for a place to stand and saw a spot near Rarity and Spike. The two little lovebirds were holding hands. “Hey, do you know what this party is about?” She questioned them. Spike looked at her with a bit of confusion. “Well, from what I heard this is some sort party for….” He drifted on his words. He had completely forgotten who the party was for. “It’s for Jack and Moondancer, sweetie,” Rarity leaned closer to Spike. “Oh, right.” “Oh, come on Spikey, how could you forget so easily? And you are supposed to be good friends with Jack.” “I’m sorry.” He gripped Rarity’s hand tighter and looked right into her eyes. “I guess I got to distracted.” This, of course, made Rarity blush and bright red. “Well, pay attention more,” she waved her hand at him. Afterward, she began leaning into him and would have given him and big kiss if it hadn't been for Sunset snapping them back to reality. “Hey, you two. I’m still here,” Sunset was about to gag from all the romantic fumes coming off the two. “Oh, sorry. Did you want something, dear?” “Yeah, why is Pinkie Pie throwing a party for Jack and Moondancer? I thought Pinkie Pie didn’t get along with Moondancer ever since Pinkie Pie broke up with Moonchaser.” “You didn’t hear?” Rarity looked with confusion, “Jack and Moondancer finally settled on a date for their wedding.” Sunset facepalmed once it became clear, “And Pinkie Pie wanted an excuse to throw another party.” “Pretty much.” “So, where are they?” “Flash has a gone to pick them up. By the way, Flash has something he wants to give you when he gets here,” Rarity winked at Sunset. “Really?” Sunset blushed. Suddenly Pinkie Pie shouted, “I see Flash’s car!!” On that, Twilight and Timber went for the lights and met each other at the light switch. The two blushed and stopped at that spot. Neither went for the light switch until Pinkie Pie threw a plushy at Timber snapping him out of his daze so he could get the light switch. Footsteps could be heard as Flash, Jack, and Moondancer made their way to the door. Hearing the door opening, Pinkie Pie jumped as the light came on and yelled, “Surprise!!” Flash and Jack were in front. Moondancer was most likely behind Jack as she was always very shy. Jack looked to Flash with annoyance, “Why do I listen to you?” “Oh come on buddy, enjoy the party,” Flash patted Jack on the back. The three stepped in. Being that it was their day off, Jack and Flash were out of their uniforms and in more casual clothes. Flash was wearing a blue biker jacket over a white t-shirt with a pair of black pants and blue tennis shoes. Jack wore a maroon, double button, winter velvet jacket over a green dress shirt with a purple vest and a purple tie with a pair of green dress pants, black boots, and fingerless gold gloves. Moondancer was wearing an overly thick, oversized, black sweater over a purple t-shirt with a knee length, purple dress, black leggings and a pair of black iron, toe boots. With them here, the party could begin. As the party went on, Flash tried to find Sunset. She knew that he had something for her, but she wasn’t exactly going to make it easy to find her. After a few minutes, Flash was about to give up when a pair of hands went in front of his eyes, and he heard a voice, “I hear you are looking for somepony.” He knew that voice anywhere. Plus, there was only one pony here. He grabbed her arms, pulled her down, and captured her lips. Sunset enjoyed every moment of it. Finally, the two separated, and Sunset sat down beside him. “Rarity said you had something for me.” “Yeah,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long box. Sunset's eyes fell a little as the box wasn’t smaller. She and Flash had been dating for a long time now, she half expected the 'question to be popped' though, during this type of party would a bit to cleasa. However, as he opened the box, Sunset was quite surprised. “It’s beautiful,” she reached in and grabbed out a yellow, right half, gem necklace in the shape of a half sun. It looked just like her cutie mark. “Yeah, it was found in the rubble of Building B the day it went up in flames. We tried to find it’s owner, but no one claimed it, so I thought you might like it. Here, let me,” He grabbed it from her hands and went behind her. He took the gem and wrapped the chain around her neck. It fit perfectly. “Well?” “It’s perfect,” she smiled, standing up, “Let’s go show the others.” The two ran off to meet with the others. However, the others were dealing with something else. Moondancer and Jack were now outside and were having what seemed like a small argument. “You can’t keep listening to that old man, Moondancer,” Jack grabbed Moondancer's hand as she tried to run down the walkway. Sunset and Flash got outside and saw them arguing and walked up to Rarity and Timber. Twilight was about to get involved as she was good friends with Moondancer, meanwhile, Spike was inside for a moment. Sunset walked over to Rarity and asked what was going on. “Oh, something about Moondancer getting a call from her grandfather, General Iron Moon, and him not liking their choice on the date of the wedding.” This was no surprise since Moondancer’s grandfather always was at odds with Jack. The old man was often trying to get in the way of them, and Moondancer would listen and obey her grandfather every time. “Jack, I have to listen to him. He is the only family besides my brother I have left.” “Yes, and I’m about to be part of that family, and I refuse to let him keep controlling you. You are an adult, you have a right to choose.” Moondancer got annoyed and pushed Jack away. He crashed into Twilight, knocking her to the ground. Moondancer ran down the street, and Jack chased after her. Sunset and Rarity went and picked Twilight off the ground. She seemed fine, just a little off. However, the same could not be said of Sunset as when she and Rarity were helping Twilight up, her hand touched Rarity’s and the gem began to glow. Sunset fell to the ground as her head began to hurt. They all looked in shock as Sunset’s eyes began to fall close. Everything for her was going black. The visions had returned, and this time, it would be very different. ****** Sunset flipped back and forth as she found herself back in Equestria. Again, it was a part she had never seen before. She found herself around a bunch of destroyed machinery. It looked like a laboratory. The technology that laid around was far too advanced from the last time she was in Equestria. She walked around trying to figure out what was happening in this vision. What was this one giving to her and why did they suddenly return? She looked through the strange tech and soon spotted the symbol for Nox Corp. She remembered how in the other world, Jack’s father had a company called that. Maybe the same could be said in this world. Jack was a part-time inventor after all. Maybe Jack was a full-time inventor in Equestria. Was this vision meant to show her this? “Is that you?” Sunset jumped at that voice. She turned to see Sunburst. Without even thinking, she ran over and hugged her little brother. He took the hug graciously though he was in a bit of a shock. “It’s good to see you, bro.” “So much has happened since you left us,” he hugged her tighter, “Wait, I have to tell everypony that your back. We could use your help in the war.” He pulled away and tried walking her to somewhere. She stopped him. “What war?” She backed away from him, “There was no war going on when I was last here.” His eyes strained, “And how many years ago was that? You have been gone for too long.” His eyes grew slightly in anger. “Everypony around me has died. The only friends I have left are Spike, Starli--” He froze upon seeing the right half gem necklace on her neck. Sunset hadn’t even noticed it was glowing. “It can’t be, are the legends true?” he questioned as he tried to reach for it. Suddenly he was stopped as the ground shook and shook. Without warning, the ground ripped upward from under them as a giant, purple and green dragon flew into the sky with a white unicorn mare on his back. Sunburst looked to the dragon in shock. “Spike!” Sunset’s eyes widened, “That’s Spike?” She looked to Sunburst for answers, but he teleported onto Spike’s back as Spike flew off. “Wait, Sunburst, what is happening? Tell me!” She tried getting to them, but they were getting too far away. Soon, her form began to vanish. She was returning back to the other world. There was nothing she could do. Unbeknownst to her, the gem was returning her back. It had sensed a great danger. Yet, as she slowly vanished, the gem was taking too long. Out of nowhere, a strange-looking chain blade covered in thick dark magic wrapped around Sunset, grabbing her, despite her vanishing body and threw her to the ground. Her form stabilized and she stopped vanishing. Upon hitting the ground, she fell unconscious as the gem stopped glowing, yet she didn’t return to the other world. “Well, look what I have caught.” ****** Author's Note Uh oh. Who was that?....Oh no. Well looks like Sunset is not leaving this land just yet. Time for some massive reveals. You don't want to miss the next chapter. See you all in two weeks. The next chapter is set to come out on Feb. 16, just two days after Valentines Day. Also yes Spike is human in this world so deal with it. Chapter 6: The Broken CaslteSunset awoke in an old, marble castle. The place was in ruins, mostly destroyed. She got up and walked around. She was confused. Before it had felt like she was leaving, but she was still here in Equestria. The castle ruins were huge and covered in darkened, somewhat burned marble. There were torn tapestries everywhere. The tapestries were covered in too many burns to tell what the symbols were on them. As she walked through the castle, she began to feel a familiarity about the place. The castle looked and felt very familiar. She couldn’t place where she had seen it before. She didn’t know why. All she knew was that she had been here before, so many years ago. The place was in ruins now, yet she had almost felt that she knew what it looked like when there were no ruins. She couldn’t figure it out. She continued to walk until she came upon several sets of armor that were laid across the ground with ashes in them. She walked closer to them and found that the ashes had a strange smell to them. The armor sets were almost completely clean, the only thing on them was dust. She reached inside the armor and grabbed the ashes. Upon pulling some out, she took a better smell. Her eyes widened as it smelled like flesh. She jumped from the armor, wiping away some of the dust the armor had on it. “What is going on here?” she questioned as she threw the ashes to the side, “That is ash, yet it smells like flesh. It’s not burnt, so what is this?” Her eyes widened more as she saw a symbol on the armor that had been revealed by her movement. She walked back to the armor, hoping what she was seeing was a trick of the eye. Getting close, she wiped off more dust, and her fears became reality. This was an armor of the solar guard. Now she knew why this place had seemed familiar. This was Celestia’s castle. On pure instinct, she got up and ran. Using her old memories she quickly found the stairs. She had to know. Her mind was racing faster than her legs could take her up the stairs. She hoped with all her life that her fears were for not. Once she reached the top of the long staircase, she looked around quickly. Her memories had worked well. She had made it to Celestia’s room. She came upon Celestia’s door. Reaching for it, she felt hesitation in herself. She didn’t want to know the possibility, but she had to know. Forcing herself to grab the doorknob, she opened it and stepped into the room. The room was torn apart on the inside. The place had suffered more damage than the rest of the castle. Yet none of that mattered, for what Sunset saw lying at the balcony flooded her eyes with tears. She ran over to the balcony, completely ignoring strange-looking chains that laid across the floor. She arrived and found the decapitated body of Celestia. Seeing it, she picked up the old, decayed corpse and let loose the tears in a torrent of emotions. “What happened here? How did everything change so much?” As she let loose more tears, the strange-looking chains began to rise like serpents ready to strike. Without warning, Sunset was ripped from the body and pulled into the air as the strange-looking chains wrapped tightly around her body. She could barely breathe, she could barely see. Soon somepony walked into the room. “You want to know what happened here? Where have you been? Hiding in some hole in the ground?” a mare laughed aloud. Sunset couldn’t see the mare as her eyes were being forced shut by the strange-looking chains. “What do you mean?” Sunset struggled to say, “What happened here?” The mare smiled wickedly, “Celestia is dead, Luna is dead, Cadence is dead, Shining Armor is barely hanging on. And poor, poor little Twilight. She suffered the most.” Suddenly her eyes widened upon seeing the right half gem necklace as it hanged out of the wrapping. “I see what is going on here.” She sent out a strong shock wave of dark magic. Once she confirmed her suspicions, she flew up to Sunset. Sunset still couldn’t see her, but she could feel the mare's breath on her neck as the mare began to smell her. “What are you doing?” Sunset questioned. “Oh, you stink of light magic. There's so much covering you. Which means that you aren’t really here.” The mare snapped her fingers and the strange-looking chains transformed into chain blades. Sunset screamed in agony as they began to slowly tear through her flesh. Sunset in complete agony. Blood was pouring from her small cuts at a fast rate. “You are from the future,” The mare purposed as she waved her hand, and the chain blades started moving ever so slowly across Sunset’s body causing her to scream more, “It's letting you look into the past.” Sunset was confused. What was this mare talking about? Sunset was in too much pain to realize what the mare was really talking about. She barely could keep herself awake from all the pain she was feeling. The mare reached over and grabbed the right half gem necklace as hanged in the air. It’s glow began to dim. “Returning back to your own time, or other world are you?” Her smile became gigantic as her fangs showed. Without warning, Sunset was sent into a screaming fit as the mare pulled Sunset’s head and dug her fangs deep into Sunset’s neck. After a few minutes of Sunset’s screaming and the mare’s drinking, the mare pulled back her fangs, taking in deep breaths. She could take hearing those tears no more. “Well, fine, if you want to be such a meany about it. That was quite an enjoyable meal.” She looked upon Sunset’s dazed face. “Oh don’t give me that look. If I was a stallion you would be in a much worse predicament.” Sunset could barely hear her words as her mind was slowly coming back to the world. The chain blades had fallen some during the moment. She began to vaguely see what the mare looked like as her eyes were still blurry. She could make out that the mare was licking her lips of blood, most likely Sunset’s. Soon the blur began to clear more. She still couldn't make out all the features of the face, only that the mare's coat was dark lavender in color. “Who are you?” Sunset struggled. “That’s not going to matter, you're vanishing. Heading back to your time,” The mare leaned in and placed one final lick on her neck, “And since you gave me quite the meal, I will let you have something in return.” She grabbed the gem once more and filled it with dark magic. Sunset began to feel very different. Something was very wrong. The fading felt very different. “What are you doing?” “You have been looking into the past so much, how about you look into the future? Take this as a gift. I set the time coordinates for you. I hope you enjoy what you see.” The mare's voice began to grow quieter as Sunset began to leave there. Where was she going now? Anywhere that was far from that sadistic mare would be good right now. ******* Sunset crashed to the ground back in the other world. She grabbed her head as she rose. She dusted herself off and noticed all of her wounds were gone. In fact, she felt perfectly fine, like the event never happened. Yet, the memories of that horrible event were still fresh in her head. Little did she know there was worse to come. She looked around and found herself out in the woods. Looking up, she could see that it was night time. Decorations hung from the trees. It looked like a party was about to begin or had already ended. She couldn't see much else as it was a very dark night. She continued to walk. She couldn’t see which way to go, yet everything inside her was telling her to go this direction. She didn’t know what this feeling was, just that she had to follow it. Without warning, she tripped over something. As she hit the ground, she felt her hand get covered in some sort of warm liquid. It felt very familiar. Yet, it was too dark to see what it was. She soon felt it covering her legs. The same liquid. Suddenly, an explosion could be heard from above her. Several explosions in fact. However, Sunset’s head and eyes stayed in place as she stared outward in shock to the area around her as the explosions shine light on all. Indeed, it was a forest covered in decorations…… and body parts. Humans laid ripped apart. Their remains were strewn across the place. The liquid that covered her legs was blood, it flooded the muddy ground. It looked almost like the scene she had seen in the Ponyville vision. Instantly, she jumped upon hearing a gunshot, in fact, several gunshots. Running to it, she hoped to find help, but as she turned toward the gunshots, everything started going black as she fell through the ground. The last thing she saw was a wooden house. She fell over and over, through a dark tunnel. As she fell, she could hear the cries of a familiar voice. She heard the voice scream, “JUST LEAVE US YOU DAMN PONY!!” Soon, she crashed onto the hard ground. No, it was like metal. Her head was throbbing now. She got up once more, but things were very different this time. Everything was fuzzy-like. It was like looking into a very old TV with very little signal. It was so fuzzy, she could barely make out her own hands. She looked around, from what she could barely see, she was in a laboratory. She looked to the wall and could barely make out the symbol for Nox Corp. She began walking forward. She could see what looked like a fireplace up ahead. It looked like there were three people over there. Two standing up and one on their knees. She tried getting closer, yet something was stopping her at a few meters from them. She heard one of the ones standing upspeak, “You can’t do this, Twilight.” It was her voice, Sunset’s own voice as clear as day, “She said this would happen one day. Now stop, please.” The other person, Twilight held tightly to a weapon in her hand. “He took him from me,” Her voice raised in anger. She turned towards the one on the ground and lifted her weapon upwards, “HE KILLED--” Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to clear. Unbeknownst to her, the dark magic that the mare had fed into the gem began faded. ****** Sunset woke back up in the other world. She found herself in a hospital hooked up to IVs. She could barely remember what happened. All she knew was what she had seen in the visions, it was truly terrifying. She couldn't take the possibilities anymore. She pulled out the IVs and grabbed her clothes. Quickly putting them on, she noticed the door was wide open. Looking outside, she noticed the hospital seemed way too quiet. Once her clothes were on, she grabbed the stuff she had in her pockets, placing them back in the pockets. She quickly ran out of the hospital. She ran out so fast that she never noticed that the gem necklace had never left her neck. Sure the glowing had stopped, but there was still danger about. From just a few doors down from her room was a hallway filled with blood. A lone assassin in a tall, gray top hat walked. It was Cult Race. He was doing what he did best, killing. He had been sent to search for something, but what? Soon, he came upon the room Sunset had been in. He walked over to the IV. He picked it up and took in a deep whiff. “Hmm, she was just here.” Quickly, he ran towards the window. He looked out the window and spotted Sunset. He looked and even from here, he could see the necklace as well as the Red Biker just a block away from Sunset. It seemed that the Red Biker was still keeping up with the bargain she had made with his current employer. Suddenly his pager went off. He pulled it out and looked at the message. “Well, it seems this target can wait.” He sent back a message just before leaving. “New mission accepted.” Once he was done giving an answer, he looked to all the bodies that were around him. He decided to send a message to the Fine Gentleman. “Hey, it looks like I’ve got a small hit to take on. While I’m doing that, send a harvest crew to the hospital on Murphy Street. I’ve got a few more bodies to add to your little collection.” ****** Outside, Sunset was dialing a number on her cellphone. A number she knew all too well. She placed the cellphone by her ear and spoke. “Hey, Principle Celestia could you keep the school grounds open for a few more hours later than normal?” “Of course. Any reason for this?” “I need to do something I should have done a long time ago.” ****** Sunset arrived at Canterlot High School. It was near night. She looked to see the principal waiting in the front for her. Sunset got out of the taxi and paid the driver. Once that was done, she walked over to Celestia. “Are you sure about this Sunset?” Celestia questioned as she opened the gate. “Yes, I need to know something, and I need to talk to Twilight in person-- er pony.” Sunset walked through the gate. Though Celestia had not been told of the visions, she knew Sunset had not been to Equestria since she arrived at this school so many years ago. Sunset never once asked for such a thing. Originally, it was because she was ashamed of going back to Equestria, even for a visit, but nowadays, it came to simply her having a somewhat of a perfect life here in this world. What had changed? Sunset arrived upon the stone that was connected to the mirror. Celestia had had a wall built around it, so students didn’t get tempted to get too close to it. She walked over to the other gate, and Celestia opened it for her. Sunset took a deep breath as she saw the stone in full view. It had indeed been a long time since she had seen it. Sweat beaded down her cheek as fear crept over her. Would the visions turn out to be true? Would they turn out to be false? But most of all, she was concerned on how everypony would greet her back in Equestria. Would Princess Celestia be there? Would her family be there? Unlikely either of those things would be there since she would be appearing unannounced, but still, the concern within her was great. Finally, she snapped herself out of it and walked over to the stone. She placed her hand on the stone. The surface began to ripple. The doorway was still open. She took one more deep breath and walked through. ****** Author's Note So she going back to Equestria, what will she see there? Great discoveries are still yet to be revealed. All the explosively shocking Chapter 7: Deceitful Idols. Now there will some time before I post this one. As you know in two weeks it will be March and I will be postponing most of my stories until the end of March, this is because the sequel to Endless Time, Or Forever End begins March 1st. So Chapter 7 will not be posted until April 6th. Chapter 7: The Deceitful Idols Author's Note Okay, here it is. Oh yeah, I had to make a few small changes. The biggest change was that the Empress is now called the Queen. Chapter 8 will be posted on April 20th. Though things are moving really slow for this story, so I might push it to May 4th. This time it really on me, not so much anypony else. I have just been so busy with other stories. I'm not saying that I'm dropping this one, I'm saying that this is hitting some rocky ground. Chapter 7: The Deceitful Idols Sunset arrived on the other side. Back in Equestria, or at least she hoped it was still Equestria, she found herself in a dimly lit, crystal room. It was covered in dust completely. It looked like nopony had been here for years. There was some light, but she couldn’t figure out at all where the light was coming from. She looked out the window. It was pitch black outside. The stars didn’t even shine. She walked over to what she could figure was a door. Opening it, she found several long hallways. She took a deep breath and walked outward. As she walked, she began to notice that the color of the crystal walls were shifting. From the first room she left, the crystal walls were a blue and purple. Now they were slowly tinting to a dark purple and black. As she walked, she began to get this feeling of being watched. It wasn’t a feeling like somepony being behind her, it was more like there were eyes all around her. Either way, something clearly knew she was here. Soon, she came up to a doorway. Walking through it, she found a crystal table sitting all to itself. There were no chairs around it, yet everything was telling her there should be at least six thrones, but why thrones? Looking away from the table, she saw strange looking tanks that lined the walls. Five empty tanks, with the numbers 003, 004, 005, 006, and 007 under them. This room seemed a bit unusual, and yet everything was telling her this was all completely wrong. That this was never how the room was suppose to look. Soon, she realized it. This was the room from the vision that Nightmare Moon had given her, and indeed, it was very different. Sunset suddenly heard a voice, no, it was like a whisper, a painful whisper. It was coming from the table. She walked closer so she could hear the voice better. Once she was close enough, it came in clear, but somehow at the same time, distorted. “The chains. The chains.” She looked around for the chains but saw nothing. Soon, though, she spotted two pairs of chains at opposite sides of the room. They were placed in such spots that if there were tanks there instead, then all the walls would be lined up perfectly. She walked over to one pair. As she got there, she felt so much anger and rage. The chains were covered in cut marks. Some were broken like they were beaten. She felt a strange urge to grab them. Grabbing one, she was hit by a vision as the gem glowed. She saw a mare beating a body over and over. The mare had so much rage and anger in her. She dropped the chain upon hearing a voice. She looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a strange looking old, tall, blue stallion. He wore a heavy, dark red robe and had a strange looking crown on his head. “Who are you?” Sunset questioned. “I asked first. Who are you and what are you doing here?” The old stallion became annoyed. Sunset saw no reason to argue with him. “My name is Sunset Shimmer.” His old eyes widened, “You’re the one she spoke of.” Her eyes widened. “‘She’, as in Princess Twilight Sparkle?” He nodded a yes as he walked over to the table. “The princess was a strong and smart mare. She never gave up the battle to the very end,” He placed his hand on the table. The whispering from the table got louder and yet more distorted. It was now just gibberish, and yet the final parts sounded so sad. The old stallion turned towards Sunset, “I was one of her advisors near the end. My name is Ragnorog.” “That name, you're not a pony are you?” Sunset questioned as Ragnorog walked over to the doorway. “No, I’m not a pony I’m a jutland. Do you wish for some tea? The kitchen is just ahead. Once we get there, we can talk more.” Her stomach rumbled, “Actually I--” “Sounds like you are hungry. Follow me, I’ve got some food, too.” He walked down the hallway. Sunset could feel that something was wrong yet she couldn't place it. She decided to follow. Soon, they arrived at the kitchen. He walked over to a small table and set out some plates. Sunset walked over and sat down. She looked around. The place was covered in webs. It looked like very little traffic came through here, if any at all. Ragnorog poured some tea into a cup and brought it over with some small biscuits. Sunset took a drink and grabbed a biscuit. “You said you’re a jutland. Those are from the far North East. What are you doing down here?” “I, like other advisors, was taken in by the Princess when she separated from Equestria.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Twilight separated from Equestria. When did this happen?” “Well, it’s been about five years now. I wasn’t told all that happened. Only that she had grown a hatred for the princesses of Equestria.” Sunset truly became concerned, what could've happened to put a hatred between them? “Please, tell me what happened here.” He looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean?” “I mean the castle. It looks so empty. And that room we were just in. It looks so different from what I was told.” “What do you mean?” He looked around, “This place has been like this since I arrived long ago. Twilight doesn’t bring her friends by anymore. At least not for a long time.” “Wait Twilight is alive?” Sunset jumped at that. “What do you mean? Of course, she is alive.” Sunset sat back down. Originally she assumed what the mare that had attacked her had said was true. Then again the mare only said that Twilight might as well be dead, not that she was actually dead. Sunset had to figure out what was going on. It was clear that the messages she had been getting from Twilight before the diary went up were not exactly true. Then again Twilight’s messages were so short and left little to nothing to gain from. “Can you tell me where Twilight is?” Sunset finally questioned. “Hmm, let see if I remember correctly she was in the Crystal Empire a few days ago or was it a few months ago? I’m sorry, it's so hard to keep track over her. Though I think I saw her going into the basement a few days ago.” His words made no sense. Was he saying that he didn’t remember or was he lying? “Can you show me where the basement is?” Sunset got up. “Sure, of course.” They got up from the table and walked over to the exit. Yet, shortly after they left the kitchen, the tea in the cup seemingly vanished and the biscuits began to quickly degrade. It was like they were extremely old. Ragnorog led her to the basement. She felt a distinct amount of fear upon seeing the dark stairway. Soon, she could hear the voices returning but different. She still couldn’t understand them yet at the same time, she felt like they were telling her to stay far away from the basement. The voices got louder and louder. It began to sound like three voices this time instead of just one. Three very familiar voices. Sunset walked to the stairway ever so slowly as the voices kept getting louder and more frantic. Yet, at the same time, Rogorak was backing away. Suddenly, Sunset stopped at the first step as a tear could be felt going down her cheek. The voices were now coming in clear as day. The voices were of Cadence, Luna and Celestia. These weren’t the same voices that she heard from the table, but they were definitely the voices of the princesses. “Ragnorog, do you hear those voices?” she questioned as she turned towards him. However, he was gone. Yet, at the same time, the castle wall began to darken even more. The walls began to shake as the voices got louder and more clear. “Get out Sunset!! Get out now!!” She heard the voices yell aloud. She ran from there as quickly as she could. Turning towards the stairway for a moment as she ran, she looked in shock as the stairway was gone. In fact, the walls were now acting like liquid as they began closing in on her. She ran as fast as she could as it seemed like the castle was coming alive. She ran past the kitchen, making her way back to the room with the table. Suddenly, the walls stopped as she got halfway there. The echo of a large door screamed through the halls. Somepony else was inside here. “She's here. She's here.” The voices were getting extremely frantic and scared. It was like they were in tears. “Run back to the portal Sunset, quickly.” She didn’t question the voices and ran as fast as she could. Soon she got to the room where she had met Rogorak. Getting past the table she found herself being stopped as the floor opened up and grabbed her. Crystals rose and acted like rope, pulling her down into a hole. She tried to struggle as a male voice spoke, “You will be going nowhere. The Queen has been waiting so long for this meal to return.” “Who are you?” Sunset questioned as she continued to struggle. “Once Twilight sees what the Queen has planned for you. It will send her deeper into my darkness.” The male voice laughed aloud. “Soon she will be mine!!” Sunset tried her hardest to struggled as the rope-like crystals wrapped tightly around her, pulling her deeper down into the abyss. Tears filled her eyes as everything was going black. “No, please it can’t end like this,” she struggled and struggled. Her mind began to flash through memories. Was this her end? Was this where she was going to…. die? Soon, the darkness completely engulfed her. She could see nothing. She could hear nothing. She could smell nothing. She could feel nothing. All her senses were empty. Yet, in all of this, darkness there was still a glow. The same glow that had been following her. She assumed it was from the castle, but in this darkness, she realized it was coming from her. She looked towards the source and saw that the necklace was glowing. No, the right half gem was glowing. Was the necklace special? What magic was powering it? It was then that she realized that this same glow had always been there. Not in front of her but always there during the visions. She began to hear a voice. One voice. It was Celestia. “Please, Sunset close your eyes. Put your trust in the gem.” “Okay, Princess.” Sunset closed her eyes. The gem began to glow brighter and brighter. Meanwhile, in the other world, the other half of the gem was glowing so bright, the Fine Gentleman looked with confusion and terror as his machine began to shake erratically. The left half gem without warning ripped itself out of the machine and started flying around the place, trying to find a way out. The Fine Gentleman knew this was not good. If it found a way out, it would surely find the other half. He had to stop it. Back in the world of Equestria, Sunset could feel the gem begin to burn as it glowed brighter and brighter. A great light began to emanate from her. It was so bright that the darkness could not touch her. “What is this light?” The male voice roared in agony “Damn you, Princesses!!” Without warning, Sunset was shot out of the ground. She found herself back on the surface. She began to run, yet she was stopped upon hearing an all too familiar voice. “Where are you going little mare?” The same voice of the mare that had attacked her. Sunset’s eyes widened, as she turned towards the table and caught the sight of cold winter blue and purple eyes under the long black mane of a dark lavender mare in a strange fusion of dress styles. It was a fusion of a red arabian abaya and a blue english medieval dress with a black corset over it all that pushed up her shape to perfectly show off her breast. Draping from the back a purple cape with turquoise lines that matched up perfectly with turquoise lines that traced along her face up to the bottom lids of her eyes. The lines were in such a spot that could almost be seen as tears. Upon her head, she wore another fusion between a purple turban and a teal headdress. All this twist of styles was top off with shiny maroon bladed high heels with the blades being in the shape of a very familiar star. Sunset looked in terror as she couldn’t believe her eyes for though the unusual fashion seemed off putting and the mare’s body looked different, the face was unmistakable. It was the face of Twilight. “Twilight, you're the mare who attack me?” “Who? Oh, wait? You actually know this face?” The mare held her hand up to her own face, creasing it so. Sunset’s eyes widened. “Who are you? Why do you have Twilight's face?” Sunset was horrified. “Oh, she’s still here. She will always be here. Do want to talk to her?” Her face began to contort as the table glowed brightly. Tears fell from the mare's eyes as she spoke with Twilight’s voice. “I’m sorry, Sunset. I tried to stop her. Really, I did. It was so horrible watching what she did to you. Go! Get out of here!” She screamed in agony as dark magic flowed out of her. “She’s returning, she is getting ready to feast. GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!” Sunset ran from there as fast as she could. She didn’t know what was going on, or how. All she knew was to get out. Back in the room, Twilight fell to the ground as pain filled her body. “Hurry Sunset, please hurry.” She began coughing up blood as her fangs grew outward. “I can't hold them back anymore. If you ever see my friends again, tell them I’m sorry. Tell them, that I love them--” Suddenly she screamed aloud. So loud. Her coat began to turn into a darker lavender, her mane went up like a black flame, her flesh twisted and changed in shape and form, and her eyes were transforming. “Oh poor Twilily, you know this is my face now. You can’t fight who I am.” Sunset arrived at the room with the mirror. As soon as she stepped inside the room, the floor became like goo as the male voice returned. “Twilight can be so stubborn. Like it matters, the Queen is back in control and soon she shall feast on your flesh and blood." Sunset forced her way through to the mirror. She pushed as strong as she could. She was so close to the mirror, but the ooze of the crystal was pulling her back. She just had to reach a little closer. Just a little more. It looked like she wasn’t going to make it. And when all hope seemed lost, a yellow hand reached out through the portal from the other side. Sunset heard a voice. “Sunset reach for me!” It was Flash’s voice. Principal Celestia must have called him. He was reaching through the portal. Reaching for his hand, she grabbed it and yelled, “I’ve got it.” He tried pulling her but it was no good, the goo was pulling back stronger. Suddenly Sunset heard a roar. The wall on the other side of the room opened up. The Queen was charging right at her like wild boar chasing down her food. Sunset looked right at her. Tears fell from her eyes. How could this happen to Twilight? But most of all, Sunset’s tears were on the only idea she had left. There was only one way to stop this goo, she just hoped it would work. “Flash!” She yelled through the portal. “Throw your gun into the portal!” His eyes widened, but he didn’t question it. He grabbed out his gun and threw it into the portal. Sunset saw it fly threw and caught it. She then turned while still holding Flash’s hand. “Keep pulling!” Aiming carefully, Sunset let the last tears fall as she pulled the trigger and unleashed a fury of bullets. They tore through Queen, sending her crashing into the goo with the final shot going right through her head. This sent out a shockwave that loosened the goo’s grip on Sunset. On that, Sunset was pulled free and through the portal. She landed on the other side in Flash’s arms as he held on tightly to her as they fell to the ground. “You're okay?” Flash asked. Sunset confirmed as she clutched tighter to him. Without warning, the ground shook. They got up upon feeling the shaking and moved from the spot. The stone began to shake uncontrollably. They all saw this and ran out of there as quick as possible. Suddenly, black crystal shot forth from the portal, ripping the stone apart and covering half the school in black crystal before the portal finally closed, forever. ****** Back underground, in the laboratory, the Fine Gentleman had to catch his breath as the gem finally calmed itself long enough for him to contain it. “Damn it. What was that? The gem has never acted like that. I need to contact the Queen about this.” ****** Back in Equestria, in a twisted distorted crystal castle, the very same castle that Sunset had been in, the Queen laid on the crystal ground. Her body was completely still. It did not move at all, for a moment. Suddenly it rose up and let a scream so loud that the crystal around her began to shatter. The male voice spoke up once she was done, “Well that almost killed you. It was certainly a strange weapon. It looked a lot like the revolvers that that co--” She interrupted him with a mad roar, “CORPSES NOW!!” Suddenly several corpses fell from the seemingly nowhere. Strange-looking chain blades shot out her sleeves and wrapped around the bodies as they fell. “I was so close to feast upon her.” The strange-looking chain blades began glowing maroon red as the bodies began to contort and twist and despite them being long dead, they began to scream in agony as she licked her lips and showed her fangs. ****** Chapter 8: Drink The Pain AwaySomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 9: Shattering Like GlassFlash entered the bar only to find Sunset in some sort of a fight with a big guy. He had seen her from the car with his binoculars. He had no time to tell Jack what was going on and assumed he would look to see what he saw. Without even thinking, he jumped in the way as the fists started flying. After taking a few hits, Flash managed to stop the fight. He pulled Sunset to the side and walked her to the door. Placing her by the door, he went back to pay her tab, as well for all the smashed bottles. Once they were done, Flash took Sunset’s keys and put her in her car. Once they were both in the car, Flash drove off. Once they arrived at his house, he turned the car off and sat there. Sunset didn’t bother with words as she just laid back. After a moment of painful silence, Flash got out of the car and walked over to her side to pull her out. As she got out she fell to the ground as vile forced its way up. Once she was done Flash picked her up slowly and walked her to the house. As they walked, Flash’s mind raced on everything that had happened. He didn’t know whether he should be angry, disappointed, or just sad. Once they got to the door, they stepped inside. Once inside, Sunset ran up to Flash’s bedroom and closed the door behind her. Flash went up after her, only to find the door was locked. “Sunset, let me in.” He hit the door a few times. Meanwhile, Sunset just sat on the bed and yelled, “Leave me alone.” “No, I will not.” “Go away! I’m a monster!” She threw a pillow at the door while Flash grabbed out his bedroom key. He tried to unlock it while she just kept screaming for him to leave. “I killed the princess!!” Flash stepped inside and stopped at her words before answering her, “No whatever that was, it wasn’t the Twilight we knew.” “Yes, it was,” this time she grabbed a bottle and threw it at him. She jumped back as it hit him right over the head, shattering. Sure all she gave him was a cut, but it still brought tears to her eyes. “I am a monster.” “I know you’re not a monster,” Flash moved in closer, “ You are a kind and honest soul.” “No, I’m not. I’m just…. I’m just a killer.” On that last word Flash just rushed forward and embraced her. “If you are a killer than I am, too.” She took the embrace well as Flash tighten his grip. “Do you remember what I told you happened in this house when I was just a kid?.” She nodded a yes. “This was the house where my parents were killed by Cult Race, and yet, I stay here because it’s a reminder to never be like him. He murders people every day. I was defending myself when I first fought him in this very house. Just as you were defending yourself when you were fighting that monster.” After those token of words, she calmed down and Flash released his grip and leaned back as she rose up to face him. He raised his hand up to her eyes and cleared the tears that stained her face. She smiled at him and she leaned into his chest. Yet, he pulled back for a moment. “Sunset, you truly are a great mare. I know no matter what hell you will go through, you will survive. It’s what I love about you.” He reached into his pocket. He had hoped to give this to her after the first college year was over, but this was needed right now. "And it’s why I can’t see myself without any other creature by my side,” he showed her a small blue box. “Look, whatever these visions are about, I know you will get through them, and I will be there by your side.” He opened it to show a fire red ruby ring. She jumped upon seeing it. Tears returned upon seeing the ring, but this time they were tears of joy. She would have tried to put it on if it hadn’t been for her being so drunk. Instead, she closed the box without giving him an answer, “Yes.” She then took the box and placed it on the desk beside the bed. Once that was done, she did the rest completely on impulse as she pulled his face close for a deep kiss. Her lips clashed back and forth with his as their faces twisted and turned. Soon, her tongue slipped into his mouth as she pulled him over her and onto the bed. As they continued to kiss, Flash’s arms ran down her sides, while unbeknownst to him, Sunset’s hands were moving downward. He jumped as he felt his pants come undone. His eyes widened as he felt her hand’s movement, back and forth. He tried to say something against, but the more he tried to speak, the faster she would rub. Finally, following her example, his hands moved to her pants as she went to pulling off his shirt. As soon as Flash’s shirt went off and Sunset’s pants were off, Flash lifted her shirt slightly and began kissing her gut as he ever so slowly made his way down. Sunset grinned with each movement. Letting out soft moans as he reached the right spot. Feeling herself becoming hotter, she pulled at her shirt, pulling it off. She began massaging her breast as she slowly pulled off her bra. This was incredible. His tongue movement was just almost perfect, but she could go for something a little bigger. Reaching over to the desk beside the bed, she opened the desk drawer and reached around until she found one. Pulling it out she pulled Flash’s head back up and kissed him even more. As they kissed, her hands traced back down and rip could be heard. Flash’s eyes widened once more as he felt the rubbery film trace over him. Once he was in position, he pushed himself into her. Sunset moaned aloud upon feeling his member reach inside her, moving back and forth. Flash moved from Sunset's face and began kissing between her breast. Using his arms, he pulled her body closer. Sunset wrapped her arms tightly around his head as they sat up on Flash’s knees. Once both were up, Sunset took over the moments. She moved up and down, back and forth. The bed shook with each moan filled movement. They kept going for what seemed like several minutes. Flash’s rod could always go the distant. Soon, Flash’s arms came to her chest and began squeezing her nipples. Feeling his tease, she stopped the up and down, and began grinding his rod, over and over. Once they were done with the teasing, Flash took over as he leaned her down back onto the bed. The bed shook harder and his movements became greater. However, as they continued, the heat in Sunset's body began to rise even higher. This was not right. Something was wrong. Neither one notice as they were too busy having sex. Their movement soon became faster as Sunset’s moans became louder. Flash closed his eyes and continued on his movement as his breath became sharper. He knew, he would finish soon. Yet, as the bed shook even hard and the climax began to release fourth, the right-half, yellow gem necklace began to glow. Flash jerked up as he felt the finish arrive, while Sunset’s body twisted back and forth as her eyes closed and her back arched as she felt her own climax. However, as Flash leaned down to kiss Sunset one more time before removing himself, there was no response. Sunset stood absolutely still. And though her body was there, her mind had moved to somewhere else. Flash at the same time was too tired to even notices as he fell over to the side of her. ****** Sunset opened her eyes and found herself in the hallway of a crystal laboratory, hidden deep underground. She looked around trying to figure out what was going on. She felt a burn on her chest. There, she saw the gem necklace. It was glowing as bright as a star. Yet as she looked at the rest of her body, she noticed that she was almost transparent. This was very different from the other times. Suddenly, she heard a scream. No, it was more like a roar. She ran to it, to find out what was going on. However, soon she heard a mare’s voice being spoken. Her eyes widened, “The Queen.” Sunset tried to hide yet, the hallway was devoid of anything to hide behind. The Queen’s voice was getting closer. She had nowhere to hide, so she just closed her eyes and hoped things didn’t end badly. The voice became louder, it sounded like the mare was right beside her. Soon, the voice began to lower in volume like it was getting further away. Sunset opened her eyes and looked to the direction the Queen’s voice was originally coming from and found nothing. Yet she was still hearing the voice, but behind her now. Sunset turned around and saw the Queen walking down the hallway like Sunset wasn’t even there. Sunset realized that the Queen couldn’t even see her. She decided to follow the Queen. Maybe she could figure out how the Queen and Twilight were connected. In the distance, Sunset could hear the roars getting louder. It sounded like it was coming from the end of the hall. She continued to follow the Queen, at the same time though, she began wondering how far down the place was. It was clearly underground, shown best from the thin air and the fact that she had not seen a single window, but how far underground was unknown. Soon, they arrived at where the roaring was coming from. The Queen stopped walking upon reaching a viewing window. Sunset walked over to see what the Queen was looking at. The room on the other side of the viewing window was too dark to see much. The most she could make out was that the roaring was coming from a stallion as he fought off several strange looking ponies in lab coats. The ponies he was fighting off were seemingly covered in decaying flesh. This made no sense to Sunset. What were these strange ponies, and who was this stallion, but most of all, why was Sunset here? “I told you I didn’t need your help, you old goat!” Sunset jumped as she heard the Queen yell toward the other end of the hallway. There was nothing there. Or maybe there was, it was a long hallway, and Sunset was pretty sure that they had only seen one end. Suddenly, Sunset jumped again as the stallion’s voice speaking. Her eyes widened upon hearing his calm voice. He sounded so familiar. “I was her protector. I was her guardian. I was her knight. I was her Sen--” Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to clear. ****** Sunset awoke in the bed. She looked to her side and noticed Flash asleep. She couldn’t figure out that vision. That new one made no sense. She tried to remember what the voice sounded like, but she couldn’t place the voice. Up until now, every vision involved somepony she knew, or at least someone she knew in this world. She couldn’t figure it out, so she got up and went to take a shower. From the look at the time, it was almost morning. She thought it would be best to clean up before getting ready to go back to school. She took off the right half gem necklace as she got into the shower. Turning the shower on, she continued to think back to what she heard as she moved the soap around her body. The vision was much different from the other ones. Soon, she finished her shower and stepped out. After wrapping herself in a towel, she grabbed the right half necklace and put it back on. She looked at it closely. She knew now for sure that it was connected to all of this, but how? After the tub water drained, she heard a knock at the front door. The knock was hard and panic like. Sunset ran downstairs to see who it was while hearing a ring coming from Flash’s cellphone. She assumed Flash would get it, so she went straight for the door. Grabbing the doorknob, she was shocked to find Twilight on the other side drenched in rain. Yet, despite being drenched, Sunset could see it as plain as day. There were tears in Twilight’s eyes. Sunset looked Twilight over, noticing a black hat in her hands. Upon seeing the hat, the all too familiar hat, her eyes widened. “Is that?” “Timber is….,” Twilight trembled as more tears formed. “Timber is…. Timber is…..” Finally, she couldn't hold the pain back anymore as she fell into Sunset’s arms screaming, “DEAD!!!” ****** Author's Note NNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! ****** Sorry, this was posted late. This time the proofreader was already done but I lost track of time. Either way, I hope this chapter was enjoyable..... As this was the clop chapter that I'm pretty some of you were waiting for even if the mood was killed faster than Timber..... Oh sorry, too soon. Either way, the next chapter will be posted May 25th. Yes I know some of that week is very busy, It will certainly be for me and I hope to get the chapter out at the proper time, given if my internet doesn't act like a bitch again. Chapter 10: Madding Filled TearsAuthor's Note Sorry this was posted so late. I really lost track of time. Anyway, here it is. Chapter 10: Madding Filled Tears Two days passed. Sunset, Twilight, and the rest of their friends arrived at the graveyard. Most were wearing black. Some were in tears while others held pain in. The sky continued to rain as they found a place to stand as the coffin was brought over. As the coffin was brought by, Gloriosa Daisy couldn’t stop crying. She was almost frantic upon seeing her brother's coffin. Sunset and Applejack grabbed her as she let out a painful scream. As they held her back, Sunset couldn’t help but stare at Twilight. Twilight had her head down, her eyes hidden behind her hair. She was clutching her fist with every scream that Gloriosa let out. She clutched tightly to the ring in her hand. The ring that would never be worn now. Sunset knew Twilight could no longer cry. She had cried so much the last two days. Timber had meant so much to her. He had meant much to them all. Sunset's eyes wandered to all that were here. Pinkie Pie was leaning on Cheese Sandwich, her eyes had never been so wide, and she never clutched Cheese’s sleeve so tightly. Timber had been the one who had introduced Pinkie Pie to Cheese. Sunset's eyes then wandered to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was sitting by Soarin. Sunset remembered how Twilight would often tell on how well Timber got along with Soarin. They were the closest of buddies. Sunset's eyes then fell upon Rarity who was weeping on Spike’s shoulder. Timber had done a lot for them, too. Timber was the first to be fully on board with the idea of Spike and Rarity dating despite the age difference. Sunset’s eyes next fell upon Fluttershy and her husband Bulk as they stood up with their child. Sunset remembered the day that Fluttershy went into labor. They all were stuck on a bus. Timber was the only one that stayed calm enough to help Fluttershy through the process. As Gloriosa calmed down, Sunset and Applejack helped her to a chair. As they sat down, Sunset’s eyes fell upon Applejack. Sure Applejack didn’t exactly get along with Timber, but they respected each other. He had even helped Big Mac into admitting his feelings for Cheerilee. Finally, Sunset’s eyes fell upon Flash. However, Flash was not at this funeral. He was several meters away at another funeral. He had not told Sunset who else had died, only that it was someone from police. Though it didn’t take long for her to notice that among the police officers, Jack and Moonchaser weren't there. Soon, the minister walked up. Everyone took a seat as he got to his spot and the coffin was set. Sunset looked upon the minister. The minister was a dark blue, tall man with gray hair. He wore a dark blue, dress suit with golden bell cufflinks and a red tie. The minister looked almost familiar, but she couldn’t place from where. The minister opened a book and began to talk to them all about Timber. How good and kind he was, how honest he was, and how nice he was. Sunset already knew this though, she took it all to heart. However, as the funeral went on, Sunset saw Flash quickly leaving after having a talk with the District Attorney. Flash looked furious. Sunset quickly ran after him. She had to see what happened. She got to him as he reached his car far from everyone. “Flash, what happened?” she placed her hand on his shoulder. He swatted her hand away. “You happened, damn it,” he turned to her. “Tell me, did you see all of this with those damn visions.” He pointed straight at her. His eyes were filled with anger. “Tell me.” “I… I… I’m sorry, Flash, that’s not how they work,” tears started to build in her eyes as she leaned toward him. “Please, I’m not responsible for Timber’s dea--” “No!!” his yell stopped her. “You think it’s just Timber. I lost my job because I was with you.” He held up his hand and waved the ring that was the sign of their love. “Because I chose you over my own job, my best friends are now facing criminal charges. You saw all of this and did nothing.” He pulled off the ring and threw it to the ground. Afterward, he got into his car and drove off. Sunset stood there, cupping her mouth. How could he do such a thing? How could he blame her so easily? “You knew?” Sunset’s eyes widened at those words and voice. She turned slowly to see Twilight. “Twilight, it’s not like that, I only knew so little,” Sunset tried to explain. Twilight charged at her. She hit Sunset in the chest over and over. “You knew even a little bit would have been enough to stop it.” Sunset tried to put her arms around Twilight, but Twilight pushed her back and screamed, “JUST LEAVE US YOU DAMN PONY!!” “I… I…” Twilight couldn’t hear Sunset's words anymore as she ran from there. After Twilight left, Sunset fell to her knees on the muddy ground and finally let the tears loose. Did all that just happen? Why was it all happening? As she beat the ground over and over, she saw the right half gem necklace hang from her neck. Without thinking, she took it off her neck and threw it to the ground. Soon though, someone walked up. The Red Biker walked up and picked up the necklace. She looked to Sunset. She walked over and placed the necklace back over her neck. “You poor mare.” Sunset heard her words, but as she looked up, the girl was gone. She looked to see Police Chief Sombra standing a few feet in front of her. She got up and looked at him. “I never wanted to be the one to bring Twilight such pain.” “So you are the one who brought her the bad news.” He nodded a yes. “Then tell me what happened. How did Timber die?” “That’s the problem. There was an attack at the Everfree Park. Jack, Moonchaser, and Detective Bob Minder arrived at the park only to find it filled with bodies. They got their guns ready and they entered the place but what they found will always remain between them.” “What do you mean?” Sombra turned toward the graves. “The other coffin is Bob Minder. You see, a few hours after they went in, more police officers showed up and found Bob and Timber both dead. Their bodies were filled with Jack and Moonchaser’s bullets. Meanwhile, Jack and Moonchaser were found out cold.” “”Did they really do it?” Sombra turned toward Sunset, “You know Jack enough, right?” Sunset’s eyes widened. There was no way those two would willing do such a thing. It just made no sense. “If it wasn’t them, then who did it?” “That it though, they have no memories of the events in the house, but there were shoeprints in the blood around the bodies.” “Wait,” her eyes widened. “Shoeprints? What size?” What he said next filled Sunset with great shock that she just ran from him. She ran as fast as she could to her car and drove off. “That shoe size is mine.” She drove and drove. “I was there. I wasn’t sort of there. I was physically there. I could have stopped whatever happened to them.” She smashed her hand on the wheel of the car as she drove. After she left, Sombra stood there in his spot thinking. He didn’t know the importance of the words he spoke to her. Soon, he spotted the ring that Flash had thrown down. He picked it up and looked it over, wiping off the mud. “I’m so sorry.” As he looked over it, his mind filled with old memories. He looked at his left hand and took off the glove. He looked over his hand over to a spot where a ring of his own use to be. “Love never seems to last, does it, Luna?” He clenched his fist and whispered another name. “Hey, you,” a lady spoke. Sombra turned his head to see three ladies standing a few feet from him. “What?” “We are looking for a friend of ours.” ****** Back underground, deep in the laboratory, the Fine Gentleman was waiting by a mirror. The mirror was a doorway to Equestria, much like the stone was. He was waiting for an answer back from his ally, the Queen. Soon, the portal opened and a voice spoke, “I’m sorry for such a late call. I had to deal with my other half.” “What took so long for a callback?! It’s been nearly--” The Queen roared on the other side of the line, “DO NOT GET ARROGANT WITH ME!! Do you not remember what I told you had happened to my world version of you?” “No, I did not forget.” Things around him began to shake as he stared at the mirror with a deathly stare. “I was the one who granted you your knowledge of the dead. Do not forget that without me, your armies and your little school would be nothing at all. Now, as for your message. I know where Sunset will be at. I saw it, and I grabbed the gem.” His eyes widened. When did she have time to do such a thing? The gem had been in this realm for many years. This made no sense to him. “We have other problems. I’m running out of time, my enemy is closing in. We need to make our move now.” “Then send Cult Race to capture her.” “Well that will be a problem with him being shall I say, indispos--” Her laughter interrupted him. “Clearly you don’t know Cult Race that well. Either way, I think I have just the ally to help you out.” The portal shimmered as someone or should be saying somepony, was walking through. Stepping out of the portal was an all too familiar stallion. The Fine Gentleman smiled upon what he saw. “Oh yes, he shall be very useful, indeed.” “Use him well.” On that note, the portal closed, and the Fine Gentleman and the stallion left that part of the laboratory. However, shortly after they left a crack in the mirror began to form. ****** Chapter 11: Gun To The HeadSunset arrived at the bar once more. The place was closed, so she just sat in the car sulking. She didn’t give any tears, but she couldn’t stop shivering. She looked around her car as she laid her head on the wheel. She wanted to calm down, but everything was still hitting her and hard. She could barely breathe. This was too much for her. She just wanted all this to stop. She looked down toward the right half necklace. This had been the cause for all of this but how? Did it really send her to the future? Did she really go to those places in Equestria? She had always assumed they were visions, but maybe this whole time they were? She didn’t know what was the right answer. All she knew was this was bringing her pain. She took a deep breath and pulled it off. She squeezed it tightly before finally throwing it to the side. She followed this by punching the wheel as hard as she could. She continued to punch the wheel over and over for several minutes until she finally looked toward the gem and where it landed. However, she spotted something else beside the gem. She reached over and grabbed the object that laid beside the gem. She clutched the object close. Without any more thought on the matter, she opened her door and walked over to the bar door. She used the object to break the glass of the door open. The alarm went off and as she stepped inside she beat the object on the alarms controls until the sound stopped. She walked over to the bar and grabbed out a bottle of whiskey. She went to a table and sat down. She placed the object on the table and open the whiskey and began gobbling it down as she looked at the object the entire time. ****** Meanwhile, the Red Biker drove her motorcycle through the town at high speeds. She had to get the pain out of her mind. Sure she never met Timber or Flash, but Sunset did and she could feel Sunset’s pain from these coinciding events. It wasn’t like the time when she used the gem to make Sunset have visions, this was much worse. She had to something, anything to get this pain out of her mind. But without even realizing it she drove into the Everfree Forest. And before she even reacted her motorcycle tripped over a broken branch knocking her off it as it flipped a few times before landing in the mud. She grabbed her head as it ached, slowly pulling off the helmet off so she could rubbed her head. As her helmet came off her red hair fell to the side landing in the mud. She looked around and saw the very house that the attacked happened. She knew it was a crime scene still, but she had to find somewhere to get this mud off herself. She just hoped that no policemen were still around. She stepped over quietly until reached the door. She listened in closely until she was sure nobody was home. She stepped inside, expecting with it’s silence that nobody was there. However, she was quickly wronged. “Well, about time they send someone to make sure I’m dead.” She jumped upon hearing that voice. She turned to see Cult Race sitting in a chair a bottle of alcohol in his hand. “What are you doing here?” she quickly questioned as she grabbed out her gun. “Oh, it just you. No surprise that you are here.” She looked in shock, “What do you mean? And what are you doing here?” Cult Race took a drink from the alcohol, “You could say I’m faking my death. As for why you're here. It’s because Sunset wants to be here. Most likely fighting me.” “Look I know I’m connected to her, but it doesn’t work like that--” “Of course it works like that. You feel what she feels, you see what she see. It’s only reason he resurrected your corpse.” The Red Biker aimed her gun right at him, “Maybe I should finish what those other two could not?” “And that just her talking through you.” Cult Race cough as he stood up. These words angered the Red Biker as she tightened her grip on her gun as he walked toward her. “You think if you mourn for them, or maybe even avenge them, then you can maybe one day take her place.” The Red Biker’s eyes widened at his words as he stopped right in front of her. “Damn, I could laugh if I knew how. Face it, she will always be here and there is nothing you or my current employer can do about that. You want to replace her and he wants to take her power.” “Shut up,” the Red Biker finally spoke up. “I don’t know what he told you, but I’m not doing this to replace her, I’m doing this to take back the life she stole from me.” On those final words, she dropped the gun down went over to the next room and slammed the door behind her. Cult Race looked at the door for a moment before taking his leave upon hearing the shower water. He headed back into the forest to find another place to hide. Meanwhile, the Red Biker leaned her head over the sink as drops fell into the sink. She had turned on the shower water simply to block out the sound of her tears. “Damn it. The mission wasn’t meant to go like this. Oh, why does it hurt so much? I didn’t even know them,” she hit her fist on the sink. She slowly arose and looked at the mirror and face that it show. The longer she looked at that face the more her anger grew. “This is your fault!” she yelled at the reflection. Without even thinking, she pulled up her gun and aimed at her reflection. She stopped for a moment. This moment was very short lived as she unleashed all her firepower upon the mirror over and over. When she was done, there nothing left over the mirror, it was completely shattered. Yet now she was seeing multiples of her reflection. Seeing that she only made it worse, she began to laugh aloud. It wasn’t a laughter of joy, no matter how much she wanted it to be. Suddenly her laughter was stopped upon her arm rising on its own, “What are you planning Sunset?” she questioned as new thoughts entered her head. “Don’t you dare.” Her hand began moving her gun toward her head. “Stop it, you bitch. You will not end our life?” ****** Miles away, Sunset bit down on the object in her hand. The object that she had found in her car was a gun. She had finally snapped. She was in tears and the pain was too much. She just wanted it to end. She had no idea what about to happen miles away. Nor would she really care. She closed her eyes and ignored all around even the door to the bar opening. She bit down tighter feeling the trigger with her finger. Suddenly a rush of footsteps headed toward her, followed by a slap across the face as the gun was knocked out of her hand. She looked to her right and saw the most unlikely of creatures there to stop her. To her right was three all too familiar mares. “What are you three doing here?” ****** Back in the house in the Everfree Forest, the Red Biker caught her breath as she pulled her head away from the gun. Using what strength she had she pulled her arm down and dropped the gun. She jumped far from it as it hit the ground. She ran out the door and closed it behind her. She stood outside of the room, not even caring if Cult Race was still there. She stared at the door as her hand raised to the spot where the gun had been at. Her head was still cold from its touch. She fell after a moment. She slammed her fist on the ground several times, over and over until her fist began to bleed through her gloves. She was not angry at herself but at Sunset. The mare that was her enemy, her rival, but most of all her double. She stopped her fit of punches and fell to the ground. She pulled out her phone and dial a number. She hoped to hear a voice but was saddened by a voice mail. Once the message was done she hung up and dropped the phone to the side. She looked up to the ceiling, asking a question, “Why am I doing this to her? I’m hurting her. I’m hurting myself. I’m hurting the ones around her. I’m hurting the ones around me.” Suddenly the phone began to vibrate. She picked it up and looked at the caller id. “I’m sorry, I didn’t listen to you Adagio. I want to stay alive, but this is not a worthy price.” She placed the phone near her head, “Hello--” However, she was stopped from answering as the ceiling was ripped out open above her head. A piece of wood fell and knocked her phone out of her hand. Her eyes widened upon she saw through the hole in the roof. She tried to react but the being she saw moved as fast as Cult Race could, instantly grabbing her by the throat. She struggled to get free or possibly even reach her phone. The being that held her down was clearly a pony as seen from his ears and face. “Are you my target?” he leaned in closer, but he stopped just a mere inch from her face and pulled back. “No, you are not Sunset Shimmer.” Her eyes widened and she spoke up as he loosened his grip. “I am Sunset Shimmer. I have always been Sunset Shimmer.” She had spoken the truth that had been in her heart for so long. He leaned back in with his cold black eyes, “But you are not the Sunset Shimmer I am after. I am after the pony Sunset Shimmer, you are the human Sunset Shimmer.” On those final words, he was gone. ******* Miles away, happening at the exact moment of the phone call, Adagio Dazzle put down her phone and looked toward her sisters as they sat beside the pony Sunset Shimmer. Aria had the gun in her hands and she was holding onto it tightly. Sonata was simply twisting stuff on the table. Adagio took a breath and walked over to Sunset and asked, “What were you thinking of doing with that gun?” “I wanted to end this with the gun that I….” Sunset stopped and looked. “Why does it matter to you three? What are you three even doing here?” Adagio didn’t want to answer, and Aria didn’t care to answer, so Sonata did. “We are here because we were worried about the owner of that necklace.” Sunset looked at her confused, “Wait you know who originally owned this.” Her hand rose up to the necklace as she clutched it, curious for more information. “Could you please tell who the owner is or maybe where they got it from?” Adagio rose her hands up in front of her face as she answered, “We can’t tell you her name, but we can tell you where she got it.” “Really?!” Sunset turned to face her but stopped upon seeing her face. Adagio looked around and then up to the sky through the window. “She told me, that she received it in a pamphlet with a message. The message said to follow you wherever you went.” Sunset’s eyes widen, “That why I have been having visions.” “Yes the gem has the ability to create visions.” Sunset waved her head back and forth. “No, they are not just visions. I just found out, that when these ‘visions’ happen, the seer is actually there.” “I see. Well, we only knew so little on the gem in the first place.” Sunset grabbed her hand tightly. “Please tell everything you know about it.” Adagio took a breath and tried to remember back. It was quite a ways back in her life. She looked outside and then got up. How about we go for a walk first and I will tell you everything that I can.” ****** Several miles away, Flash drove in his car. He wanted to get away from Sunset. He was mad, but more at himself. What he said was ahead of what he meant. He was filled anger, but regret was slowly surfacing. Suddenly he received a phone call. He pulled out his phone and pulled over. He looked the caller id and his eyes widened slightly. The number was Police Chief Sombra. He answered, “Why are you calling me sir? I don’t have a job no more.” “If I wanted you to do something on the books, I would have used the radio on your car.” Flash blinked twice, “How do you know I’m in my car.” “That not important. I need to head to the bar on 8th street.” “What will I find there?” “I’m not sure. My contacts say that something big will be happening.” He hung up before Flash could give a final answer back. Flash put up his phone and looked out to the road. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but he was still an officer even if he didn’t have his badge. Pulling back onto the road he drove as fast as he could to that bar ****** Meanwhile, the police chief put down his phone and looked to the small video monitor in front of him. “You better be right Dr. Pr. Halo.” “I know what I saw,” Dr. Pr. Halo assured him as he coughed. “The target will most likely go after the pony Sunset. And if I’m right, Flash will need to be there.” “Fine.” Sombra turned the monitor off. He took a breath and looked upward. After a moment he stood up and walked over to his wall of books. He pulled a certain book hidden between two. The bookshelf opened up showing something on the other side. “But he won’t be out there alone. ****** Later Adagio, Sunset, Sonata and Aria walked down the edge of the road and the Sun went down. Once it was down, Adagio took a breath and spoke, “Long ago when we lived in Equestria, or should I say the land that would one day become Equestria, there was a legend of a yellow gem. The gem has two sides. One side can see into the past, the other side can see into the future. From what we were able to gather is that the gem somehow found it’s way to this world and was split into two half pieces. Each one containing only half the power of the whole, yet they are always connected with each other.” “This still doesn’t explain why I was the one affected.” “That because….” Adagio stopped herself. She wanted to keep that part a secret for as long as possible. “That part is not the important part. The important part is the gem works best when the user is in contact with someone, or somepony.” “Wait a minute.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “My first vision I was with Twilight. Then my second vision, I was near Starlight. But my third, I don’t know who was nearby.” “It doesn't have to be full contact, it can emotional too.” Sunset tried to think what else it could have been. The third vision had been the shattering of the Moon. She needed to know who was she in contact with at that moment. Even worse was the very last vision. The vision of a pony in a lab being brought back from the…… Without warning, she stopped and her face went pale. “But if you are right about these vision, then, the very last vision I had before the funeral was when I was with Flash--” Instantly Sunset was stopped as something fell from the sky and crash her right into a wall. The crash kicked up dust in all directions. The sirens coughed as the dust temporarily blinded them. Sunset felt pressure on her neck as someone lifted her into the air. Or should be said somepony as seen from his large yellow wings as they swung back and forth, pushing the dust away and revealing to all who he was. All eyes widened at the most shocking thing of all. “It can’t be…. Flash Sentry.” The pony, the pegasus, the loyal guard, Flash Sentry. He stood tall upon her words. He held her close and looked deep into her eyes with his pitch black ones. “The pony known as Flash Sentry died years ago. I am the Void and I’m here to bring you to the Fine Gentleman by direct order of Queen Elisus Lunea Lumen.” ****** Chapter 12: Freedom Of DeathSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Prologue: Yellow GemAuthor's Note I was told that my original prologue felt to short. So this is better, though the only connection it shares with the actaul story is the yellow gem, Everything else is actaully conected to a seperate story I have planned for later. Either way, this at least tells you how the gem got in the EG world. Prologue: Yellow Gem Once there were twelve gems, that were used by alicorns to govern the world that Equestria would one day be in. Five alicorns and a dragon were given the gems after using them to defeat a great demon. They ruled over all, but then a war broke out and six of the gems were lost to time. This is the story of one of those lost gems. A gem that gave the power to see into all worlds, realms and times. A great gem, bright and yellow like the Sun. ******* Thousands of years ago, a gigantic Chinese-like dragon flew through the sky as fast as he could. He was trying to get to his destination without being spotted and of course before it arrived. He clenched tightly to the mare in his arms. The mare was a light purple alicorn with a long icy blue mane. “Please hurry my love,” the mare winced in pain. “I don’t have much time left.” The dragon clutched his wife closely. “Could you of had the egg back in the lands that we hid in?” The mare whaled slightly in pain. “No, my love, he must be kept in that land. The gem has spoken.” As she held her gut in one hand, she held a yellow gem in the other. “It showed me that our child will have a good life here.” The dragon saddens the closer they got the destination. “You know we won’t be able to see him after this.” “Yes, I know.” She winced again. “But Morpheus has assured me the ally he chose will keep our child safe.” “I hope so.” Soon they arrived at an old city. As they landed they saw their ally Morpheus. He was a tall changeling with a long teal mane tied in a bun and a long Chinese like mustache and beard. He wore a white Chinese robe. They landed and looked to Morpheus who had nurses with him. The dragon let his beloved down and the nurses took her away while he held onto the yellow gem. Morpheus walked over to the dragon. “I see you arrived well, old friend,” Morpheus spoke to the dragon. “Do not worry. The nurses can handle this part.” He looked to the dragon with concern. “I see the gem is still glowing.” He noted as the gem's brightness seemed to be getting brighter. “Indeed, did you bring it?” Morpheus gestured over to his right. “But of course, just as the gem prophesied.” From his right walked two ponies. A purple crystal unicorn mare with a turquoise mane, wearing a crystal lined dress with a pair of crystal heels and a charcoal umbrum stallion with a dark blue mane, wearing a gray cloak and black tunic with pants and a pair of black boots. They were carrying a strange mirror. The dragon looked at the mirror almost like it looked all too familiar. “So this is the mirror of worlds.” He looked it over twice. Suddenly he winced as he heard the wailing of his wife. “It will almost be time. Where is the ally we asked for?” “Well allies it has now become, but right here,” Morpheus pointed toward the crystal unicorn and the umbrum. “These two will be watch over your child with great care.” “Good. They better.” He winced again as the wailing got louder. “Here, I must go be near the tent when the egg arrives.” He handed the yellow gem to Morpheus and then altered his size to a more manageable size. He walked over to the tent where his wife was and sat quietly. Morpheus looked to the other two and gestured them to move away from the mirror. Once they were far enough away he lit his twisted horn and casted a spell on the gem. The gem’s magic then shot into the mirror, opening it for the first time ever. It opened up and a pathway could be seen. He took the gem up to the pathway and tossed it in. “May you find what you are looking for.” The gem flew through the pathway for several moments. Suddenly a seemingly strange strike of lightning struck through the pathway as something was wrong. Morpheus could not see what was happening because his side had already closed. The lightning was time being messed with. Though it had not happened yet the event was still going to effect this moment, even if the lightning originated from thousands of years in the future. The gem shined and showed images of two mares going through a portal of time. The gem flipped and then showed the same mares suddenly allies against great foes. But as it flipped again it spun faster and faster. This time it showed a yellow unicorn mare that had hid as a human, had stolen a crown, and transformed into a form of demon. This was the mare it had been searching for. This mare, who had committed great evils. This mare, who learned better and made great friends in fighting a group of sirens. This mare, who even managed to save others from making the same mistake she had made, was the one that had been chosen to be the next wielder of the gem. However, the lightning had damaged and weakened the gem. It found it’s way to the other side yet it could no longer find the mare it was searching for. Instead, the gem was found by somepony else. Or should be said someone else. Someone who was not deserving of it’s power. In truth, this fine gentleman knew just who this gem was for, but who only he knew. ******
Chapter 1: Drive All NightAuthor's Note There are only a few changes in this new version. The most prominent are near the end. The Fine Gentleman, which as most the original readers know in the main villain of this story, has gone through the biggest. Now for all purposes, he is called Fine Gentleman(instead of just 'the fine gentleman'), at least his true identity is revealed in a later. Chapter 1: Drive All Night The sound of blood dripping off the metal of a red blade resonated throughout Sunset's head. She could hear the blood plip against snow, the sound getting louder by the second. She saw in the distance what looked like two warriors clashing. The clang of their weapon began to echo over the sound of the blood. One warrior was shining like a crystal, and one covered in shadows. “Wait, don't you know who you're firing that beam at?!?!” a voice screamed in terror, “Please don’t….. father stop!!” Sunset turned her head at that voice. It sounded familiar. So familiar. She knew she had heard the voice from somewhere before, but could not recall where. Screams of terror could be heard in all directions. As Sunset looked around, she saw crystals, fire, shattered glass, and large amounts of ice. At the center of it all, she could see a crystal tower. On top of it, she could hear more fighting. “This is where it ends, grandfather,” a new voice spoke. This one, completely unfamiliar. Sunset flipped her head around as she heard the final words. Suddenly a pair of headlights came into clear view as the vision stopped. Sunset spun her head around once more as a lavender arm grabbed the wheel. “Sunset, pay attention to the road!” Twilight nearly screamed as she yanked the wheel to dodge a passing purple Lamborghini. The scraping of metal could barely be seen as it passed by. It got so close, they could nearly see inside the other car. Sunset waved her head one final time and straightened the wheel. “Sorry, Twilight. My mind wondered to somewhere else.” “Really?” Twilight smirked at Sunset as she sat back. “And… I’m the one who’s sup.... supposed to be drunk here,” she hiccupped. The two had just left from a party that Pinkie Pie had been throwing in everybody’s honor. Apparently, they all would be attending Túr Solais, the most prestigious college in the whole state. Not only that, but it had recently become the go-to place for magic users, ever since the city had been rocked by the several magical events over the years. Sunset had managed to stay somewhat sober during the party, but Twilight had a lot more to celebrate for more than the new college. Just two days ago, her longtime boyfriend Timber Spruce, had popped the question. Of course, Twilight had told him that marriage would have to wait until she got done with at least one year in the new college. It seemed everything was going well until tonight. The sound of sirens could be heard as Sunset looked through her mirror to see red and blue lights. “Crap, it’s a police car.” Sunset looked annoyed. As Sunset pulled to the side of the road, Twilight laughed. “Oh, Flash is not going to let you live this down.” “Shut up, Twilight,” she deadpanned. The police officer walked up to the car window as Sunset rolled it down “License and registration,” he droned. Twilight covered her eyes from the bright light of the flashlight as Sunset grabbed out what she needed. She showed it to the police officer only to hear a laugh. She looked at the police officer in confusion as he turned to his car, smiled and yelled, “Hey, Moonchaser, I was right. Now you owe me twenty bucks.” Twilight facepalmed and Sunset’s eyes widened as they both suddenly recognized that all too familiar voice. “Wait a minute... Jack Nox?” Sunset looked to see the purple skin and curly green hair of Jack. This was really annoying for her to have been pulled over by her boyfriend’s partner. “Yeah, just wait until Flash hears about this,” Jack gloated. “What do you mean? I’m perfectly sober. Twilight’s the one drunk.” “Sure, you’re perfectly sober. Tell that to the car you nearly hit. Now get out.” Sunset looked so mad as she got out of the car. It was annoying enough to have a police officer pull her over, but it to be her boyfriend’s partner made it even worse. Flash had joined the police force just after high school and at first, it was fine until he got his partner. Jack had been Twilight’s biggest rival back in Crystal Prep. A former thief and a truly incredible genius inventor who could have had the perfect choice of any university, Jack chose to join the police force, purely to spite rich father Norman Nox. As Jack was setting up the straight line for Sunset to walk on, Moonchaser got out of the car and walked over to Twilight. He was a tall white man with deep red hair. He had been Jack’s buddy for years, though he was more laid back then Jack. With the fact that Flash had taken the night off to have some fun at the party, Moonchaser was more than happy to work with Jack. As Twilight and Moonchaser talked, Sunset walked across the line. “Hey Jack looks like Timber finally popped the question,” Moonchaser shouted as he saw the amethyst ring. “Seriously that is too strange.” He walked over, seemingly ignoring Sunset. “What do you mean?” Twilight questioned. “I mean just a few days ago I popped the question on Moondancer,” he gloated as he held up his expensive silver and gold ring. “Well, I’m sure you're happy for your sister, Moonchaser.” Twilight looked at him while purposely ignoring Jack. “You bet I am. Plus I and my best bud will soon be family.” He wrapped his arm around Jack with a tight grip that could rival Pinkie Pie's. As the three continued to talk, Sunset grew confused as her eyes began to blur once more. “Now I claim the Moon.” She turned hearing a new voice. There was nobody there, however, the area around her began to change. She found herself in the middle of snow. She looked in the distance to almost see what looked like a crystal castle with shades of purple. On top of the castle was a very familiar cutie mark. Then, she heard an explosion. Looking to the sky, her eyes widened in horror as the Moon began to crack. Cracks could be seen all over as it was slowly ripped apart. Her mouth fell agape in terror, and she found herself running towards it. However the vision stopped as another pair of headlights came into view, heading right towards her. She could barely hear Twilight scream to her as Jack tackled her out of the way of a passing red and black Ford Mustang. “Okay, you are drunk.” She waved her head back and forth, then knocked Jack back. “No, I’m not drunk.” “How about you look where you are at.” She got up and looked around. Her eyes widened to see that she had run to the other side of the road. At that moment, she facepalmed while he wrote up a ticket. “Look, Jack, just let us get home. We need to get some rest. We have our first day of school tomorrow.” “Yes, I know, that prestigious college. But you’re either drunk or those freaky magical powers of yours, are affecting your mind. So I'll be taking you to the police station.” Jack walked her back to Twilight. “Both of you.” “Oh come on. Do you know how angry the police chief is going to be mad at me,” Twilight whined? “Wait a minute, you never told me you knew the police chief. I haven't even met him yet.” Sunset looked confused. “Oh they go way back,” Moonchaser answered as he took Sunset’s car keys. “But don’t worry he’s not that moody all the time. And about your car, I’ll be gentle with it.” On that, Jack placed Sunset and Twilight in the back of his police car, while Moonchaser took Sunset’s car. The two cars went up to the station. As they drove off, a mysterious girl with red hair could be seen watching them from a distance with a pair of binoculars. A smile came over her face as she spoke, “Well, I wonder what you saw, mare.” She put away her binoculars and placed her turquoise motorcycle helmet back on, then revved up her motorcycle and went in the same direction as they did. ****** While Sunset and Twilight were in the back of the car, Twilight tried her best to look sober. “What are you doing?” Sunset questioned, as she saw her cleaning up her face and checking her breath. “Dang it, he is so going to tell Cadence about this.” Sunset laughed. “I can’t believe you're still worried about that.” Despite Twilight now being old enough to drink, she still acted rather juvenile, especially when drunk. Though Sunset thought it was strange that Twilight would be worried about being seen by the police chief. “Yeah….. Well, what happened earlier, Sunset? You seemed so off.” She looked at her with a concerned expression. “Well, I don’t know, I think … I think I saw a vision.” “Strange, that's not how your powers work. Heck, you don't even have your red geode with you.” “I know, which is why I thought it was strange too,” her head fell. “The strangest thing is what I saw.” “What did you see?” Twilight asked curiously. “The first one I can’t remember, but the second one…. or maybe it was the third one, I saw the Moon being ripped apart. And I heard a male’s voice, saying that he claimed the Moon.” “Who’s voice was it?” “I don’t know, but he sounded familiar.” Soon they arrived at the police station. Twilight and Sunset were taken to the head office, where Sunset found the most shocking surprise as she sat down in a chair and saw the police chief. The police chief had a slick, jet-black hair, tall crew cut, with a distinct single red streak going all the way back through the center. On the nameplate, was the name Sombra. “Looked I’m sorry Police Chief Sombra.” Twilight apologized. “In some ways, I’m a little surprised and in some ways, I’m not,” he answered as he placed a stack of case reports aside so they could talk. “I mean, yes you’re allowed to celebrate your proposal, but letting Sunset drive while she is clearly as drunk as you are.” “Hey, I’m not drunk,” Sunset complained. The chief looked at Sunset sternly. At that moment she felt a distinct chill of fear going down her spine. A chill that instantly silenced her. As Twilight and Sombra continued their talk, Sunset tuned it out as she tried to figure out what had happened earlier. Her powers always revolved around skin contact and reading people's thoughts and seeing into their mind. So why was this happening? Was it really happening? As Sombra got finished talking to Twilight, he got up and left the room to make a call. As he did, a file fell from his desk. It was a recent report of strange killings that had been happening in the area. Sunset saw the file. As she looked, she had the strangest feeling to grab it. Maybe pick it up, or…… But as she reached for it, she could feel the distinct feeling of dread. However, everything else was telling her to touch it. At the same time, nothing else seemingly mattered and she moved closer to it. It was like nothing else existed but her and that file. Soon she grabbed it and to everybody’s horror, her eyes dilated widely, and she fell to the ground out cold. As everybody ran to her, her mind moved to somewhere else altogether, and she heard a voice speaking, “Where is she?!” ****** Sunset found herself now wandering the land of Equestria, or what was left of it. The place looked like it had gone through a warzone, of the most brutal proportions. Bodies laid ripped apart, limbs laid about like discarded toys. Some were too damaged to even see their faces. It was a terrible sight. Sunset tried her best to hold back tears as she walked past the bodies. It was truly terrible. What had happened here? Why was it happening? Who was responsible for this atrocity? Soon she came upon a wooden sign that said Ponyville. It was soaked with blood. Upon seeing it, she ran for where she had been told that Twilight’s castle was suppose to be. As she did, she completely ran passed a tall stage, where a pegasus stallion was being held up to the wall by knives stabbed deeply into his yellow fur. The stallion was weak, beaten bloody. Blood poured slowly from his spiked blue mane. Even with all of this, though, he was strong enough to barely see through the rips in curtains that covered most of the stage. He looked outward to see Sunset running off in the distance. “Is that, Sunset Shimmer? Please Sunset, don't look into his eyes.” Finally, Sunset arrived at where the castle would be. However, she found nothing at all. She could see the indent in the ground like something was once there. But now it was like the castle had been ripped out of the ground. Yet there was no disturbance in the dirt. It was more like it had vanished without a trace. She backed away slowly, hoping the worse had not happened. So much anxiety was gathering over her. She couldn’t take it so she ran away from there. Running to somewhere or anywhere help would be, hoping she would find it soon. Suddenly, she was tripped over by something and fell to the ground. She slammed her fist into the ground as she got up. Looking to what tripped her, her eyes widened in horror. It was a body with all its flesh removed, and it’s head was gone. At that, upon seeing all these terrible things. It was that moment when she finally let the tears she had been holding back loose. “What could have happened here?” she questioned as the tears fell. She was stopped upon hearing the scream of a mare with a western accent in the distance. She got up at that. “No, no more tears.” She ran towards the sound as rain began to pour over the entire town. It poured and poured with each step she made. It was like the world was crying over the loss she had seen. The sound led her to an apple farm. Stepping over quietly through the mud, she saw three strange figures gathering four full body bags. As one of them with a light tan coat brought over the fifth and final body bag, he spoke to the one that was most likely the leader “Alright I did your dirty work. Now let the rest of the Apple family live.” The leader wore a dark gray, tall collared, thin steampunk trench coat and a bright, neon yellow dress shirt, tie and pants that were clearly meant to be a bullseye for his enemies. The strangest of all was his choice in gloves. The left one was red, and the right one was blue. It was uncertain what kind of pony he was due to the fact he wore a tall, gray top hat, but she could at least tell he had a dark green mane and his coat color look somewhat like a rotting white. The leader spoke with a calm demeanor despite the subtleness in his tone that gave a sign of something very unusual “Really? Did I make that part of the deal? If I really did that, then my defected allies would have nothing to eat." His voice was devoid of even the smallest hint of emotion as he patted the back of the short one beside him. The short one grinned happily and licked his lips with anticipation. “What?! You sick twisted dem--,” At that moment the leader threw several bone knives into the one with the light tan coat, silencing him and seemingly killing him as the force of the attack launched him into a nearby building. “Oh come on No. 544, you know I’m much worse than any demon.” “Five, no please let it not be them,” Sunset whispered as she became more concerned with each step closer while hiding behind a fence. This was not good at all. Was it really them? Could it had been simply five other ponies? “Now that we have the five, we just have to wait for the final target,” the short one laughed as he jumped up and down like a monkey. His joy was incredibly hyper. “Soon Twilight’s little student will be found.” “Indeed, I will hunt down my pre--” Sunset decided to hear no more of the emotionless words of the leader as without even thinking she grabbed a nearby pitchfork and threw it at him. Expecting him to fall by the pitchfork or maybe dodge it, he did the unthinkable. He grabbed his nearby short ally and threw him at the pitchfork, stopping it. The pitchfork punctured through the short one's chest. The short one fell into the muddy ground, dead. His blood quickly filled the muddy holes of earlier footprints. The leader was still standing. Sunset had failed, to kill him, or stop him in any way. Instead, she revealed her position to him. Because within a blur of light, he somehow instantly got within mere inches of her and stabbed his hand through her stomach. Her eyes widened as pain filled her entire body. She coughed up blood as blood gushed out of her chest in large amounts. It soaked the leader’s arm quite quickly. He pushed his fist in deeper and deeper into her chest, twisting as he went. She looked up to his face. She saw the strangest eyes. Devoid of all color and reptilian looking in nature. Her own eyes began to seemingly pull tricks on her because it seemed like everything around them was slowing down. It was like time itself was slowing down. Yet just a few feet away from them the rain was still going. It looked like a sphere surrounded them. In it, time was moving a different length. Sunset tried to struggle as thing moved even slower. Soon though everything began to go blurry as the vision began to clear. ****** Sunset woke up screaming in pain. She grabbed her chest only to feel no hole at all. Twilight grabbed her, trying to calm her down, "Sunset, calm down, it’s over, it’s over.” She quieted down soon after seeing Twilight beside her bed. She looked around to see herself back in the world she knew. Upon realizing she was back, she held her legs close as Twilight crawled onto the bed. She shivered and shivered as Twilight tried her best to calm her. Twilight, completely unknown to what Sunset saw and what pain she went through. ****** Miles away a red and black Ford Mustang pulled up to a tower. Stepping out of it, was a Fine Gentleman. His face could not be seen, but he wore a fine green business suit, a clean gray dress shirt, a perfectly laid blue tie, a pair of glistening white gloves and incredibly clean black dress shoes. He went inside the tower and went to an elevator. The elevator led to an underground lab. Inside was a strange machine that was glowing yellow. He walked over and pulled a strange left half yellow gem necklace out of a slot. As it stopped glowing and shut down for the night the Fine Gentleman placed the gem in a combination lock suitcase. He took out a notebook and finished his work. Once done, he left the room with the suitcase and took the elevator back up to the surface. “Four visions. Looks like the first test was a success." ******
Chapter 2: Run Through The DayThe next day had arrived with the bright sunrise. The birds were chirping and it seemed like it would be a much better day, especially for their first day in college. Sunset and Twilight were walking to the main building of the college. Sunset was wearing a black jacket and turquoise t-shirt with a pair of black jeans and a pair of turquoise boots. Meanwhile, Twilight wore a light blue dress shirt with an indigo tie, a semi-long purple skirt and a pair purple uniform dress shoes with a pair of white knee socks. Everybody had been told to meet there before being told where their classes would be. As they walked Twilight and Sunset talked. “So Sunset are you feeling better yet?” Twilight questioned. “Me?” Sunset looked with confusion, “I should be asking you that since you drank so much.” Twilight held her hand to her head, “Well I’ll be fine once we get to the auditorium, but what about those visions?” “Well, I’ll send a message to the princess once we get inside,” she held up her diary, “Hopefully everything is okay.” “Hey, maybe this could be your power evolving like mine and the others did after high school?” Twilight purposed. “I certainly hope not. That last vision was so horrible,” Sunset held her hand to her chest just like last night. Though the pain and the gaping hole was purely in the vision, she could still feel a lot of dread upon her chest. “Either way, we can’t let the others kno--” “That you’re having visions,” chimed Pinkie Pie as she walked up from behind them. “Wait, you told Pinkie Pie,” Sunset looked annoyed as Pinkie Pie caught up with them. Pinkie Pie was wearing a light blue short-sleeved semi jacket over a white and pink t-shirt with a pair short light blue knee high tennis shoes. “No wait, you didn’t have too.” Twilight nodded her head yes. At that Sunset facepalmed. “Look Pinkie Pie please don’t let the others know.” “Too late,” said Rainbow Dash. Sunset turned once more to see the other four walking behind them. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity. Rainbow Dash was wearing a blue short-sleeved semi jacket over white a blue t-shirt with a pair of blue cargo pants and a pair of light blue tennis shoes. Applejack was wearing a white and green button up with a pair of rustler blue jeans with a pair of brown boots. Fluttershy was wearing a white top and a short long sleeve blouse with a long green skirt and a pair of green sandals. Rarity wore a purple scarf with a sky blue thin cashmere sweater, a purple skirt and a pair of purple medium high heels. “Oh right fine, how much did she tell you?” Sunset asked, obviously curious how much Pinkie Pie said but also concerned over how much Pinkie Pie knew. “Well, actually I only know that you been having visions, not what's happening in them,” Pinkie Pie answered for them, “Which is strange because usually, I know more, but something seems to be throwing my senses.” “Right?” Rainbow Dash questioned sarcastically, “We all know what’s throwing you off, Pinkie Pie.” At that, Rainbow Dash pointed to a certain guy with big curly, brown hair. “Cheese!” Pinkie Pie ran towards her boyfriend as the others kept walking. Sunset let out a slight sigh a relief as Pinkie ran off. “So, you all are the only ones who know. Flash doesn’t know. Right?” “Don’t worry he doesn’t know. Though, he does know about your little visit with the police chief.” “Great,” Sunset deadpanned. “Wait, Twilight, you never told us how you know the police chief.” At that everybody stopped and looked at Twilight. Everything went silent for a moment, when suddenly everybody gave the obvious reaction, “Wait Twilight knows the police chief!!” Twilight looked even shyer than Fluttershy at that question. “Well….” Soon, though, the shy face turned sad. “Yeah, he was the one who found…. my parents.” At that everybody fell silent once more, “He use to be a detective and he handled my parents case, but they weren’t able to find the murderer,” Twilight face fell even more, “He was so determined to find the murderer, that he disobeyed direct orders and was knocked down to police chief. In the end, they never found the killer, though he has never stopped looking,” On that, Twilight ran ahead from the group. Sunset felt bad for bringing it up. She caught up with Twilight, “Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t mean for tha--” “No, it’s okay,” Twilight interrupted her as she tried to cheer up, “In a way, I’m glad to talk with all of you about it. Though, I noticed your shock when you saw the police chief. Can I know why?” Sunset realized where she found herself, so she caved, “You know how Equestria has it’s own version of everybody, well everypony?” “What you are saying is there is a Sombra in Equestria too?” “Was, would be a better word. In Equestria, thousands of years ago, there was King Sombra. He conquered the Crystal Empire.” Twilight strangely smiled at that, “Well Police Chief Sombra isn’t a tyrant, but I know he and Cadence’s grandfather don’t get along. At all!” At that they both let a laugh lose. It was certainly strange, but still funny, the similarity the worlds would have. Sunset was briefly distracted from the laugh that she placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. At that moment she was hit with a brief vision. It was very short but showed Princess Twilight sitting by a fire with Princess Luna and, strangest of all, King Sombra both sitting beside her. As quick as the vision came, it stopped. Sunset found herself back with her friends, they were all still walking. In fact, none had noticed what just happened with her. Putting the vision out of her mind, she continued to walk with them. Soon, they arrived at the main building. It was a ten-story tall tower with a wide first three floors. The building was covered in a bright marble yet as Sunset looked upon it, she felt like it should have been crystal, though she didn’t know why. “Hey, girls?” Sunset asked, “Does this building look familiar in any way?” They all looked at her strangely. This had actually been the second time they had been here, yet Sunset had an even stranger feeling of remembering. “What do you mean?” they questioned back. “I don’t know, I think I may have seen it in one of my visions, only, it was covered in crystal.” “Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash looked confused, “Because this looks like normal ston--” “Actually dear, it’s marble,” Rarity interrupted. “Whatever, it’s clearly not crystal.” “Okay,” Sunset passed up the idea as they walked through the parking lot and went inside to look for the auditorium. Meanwhile, a girl with red hair wearing a right half yellow gem necklace watched them from a distance. The entire time, the necklace had been glowing. “I wonder what you saw this time, mare.” ****** As everybody got inside, a purple Lamborghini pulled up. Stepping out of the passenger side was a girl with long, purple hair with streaks of blue. She wore a semi-thick purple hooded coat and a black shirt and jeans. “Oh no, I’m going to be late,” she worried as she ran off. Suddenly, the driver stepped out. It was a girl with light blue hair, “Wait, Starlight you forgot your papers.” She stopped herself and ran back, “Thanks, Trixie.” After grabbing the papers and giving her girlfriend a kiss she ran to the building. However, she turned back once more, "Oh yeah, make sure to have my dad's car back from the shop before he gets back from his latest job," she yelled to Trixie as she drove off. ****** Once Sunset and the rest of the group found a place to sit, she grabbed out her diary to write down the message. She was very worried about Equestria and what she saw. She told in great detail what she saw. She hoped that it was nothing, but at the same time, if this was a warning, it would be best for the princess to know as much as possible. As she got finished, she noticed no quick answer. Again she became concerned, but then Twilight nudged her, “Hey, maybe she is busy right now,” she whispered. “Right,” Sunset answered back, though she was still very concerned. However, worry would have to wait as the dean of the college walked out onto the stage. He was a tall, middle age, pink skin gentleman with golden hair in a bronze, colored business suit with a silver dress shirt and a blue tie. They all knew him as Cadence's father, Golden Williams. He was a great man for many. He always had a big heart, though some would say too big. He stood up on the stage and gave a speech, “It’s good to see you all here. We, at Túr Solais, would like to welcome you to this prestigious school for the gifted. Long ago, when I told my old man the great Sir Emerald Teal that I was going to create a school for all, I truly meant it. Do you know what he told me in return? He laughed at me,” At that, there were a few chuckles, “But never the less, he did eventually support my idea. When I told my daughter, Dean Cadence, that I had recently decided to include magic affected people into my school, as well as help them in any way, do you know what she said? Well, she was overjoyed. And look among you now, both normal people and magic affected people are greeted here with open arms. No discrimination and no hate,” he held his arms out in an example. “Truly, this is going to be a great year. Though, when I took this idea on, there were some rough points, considering I had no experience with magic at all. But I did have someone by my side who did. Now, I leave the rest to my good ally in this, the magic expert and psychiatrist of this school. A man whose heart is as stubborn as a diamond, Dr. Pr. Halo.” Everybody applauded upon his arrival, especially the clearly magic effected, as the sounds and sights of magic flaring slightly off could be seen. This was, indeed, an incredible moment, since all had heard of him yet very few had seen him before now. Soon though the applauding went silent as a pale red skin, older middle age gentleman with long gray hair and beard in a gray business suit with a blue dress shirt and green tie rode up in a wheelchair and was connected to life support. They were all a little shocked, to say the least. Though few had heard that he suffered a car accident a few years back, but not very many of even those few knew how bad the accident was. As he reached the center, he looked upon them all. “What is all this?” he slurred slightly as he talked, “You go silent upon seeing how broken I am,” he seemingly mocked. They all seemed ashamed now, however, he began laughing, “Oh calm down, I was joking. I've barely reached my fifties, I’ve still got plenty of fight in me.” This seemingly chipper attitude was unexpected and was a pleasant surprise, “Anyway, when Golden Williams talked to me about this idea, I was pretty okay with it. It would certainly allow me to get my research on magic did much quicker,” he joked, “But aside from that, it allows me to get to know others like me.” This seemingly confused some, that is until they saw the ones in front suddenly being lifted into the air. Meanwhile, Sunset had been looking at her diary expecting an answer back soon, which there still wasn’t. However, she lifted her head up in shock upon seeing that she was one of the ones being lifted into the air. Soon, he gently put them down. This was certainly a lively moment in an otherwise slow speech. The rest of the speech was pretty mundane and slightly forgettable. And as things drew to a close and everybody was told where their classes would be, the book began to finally shake. Sunset quickly opened it as everybody went to go look for their classes. Her eyes looked with confusion upon the words. “Dear Sunset, I think you were simply drinking too much or something because everything in Equestria is fine. In fact, it’s been rather peaceful as of lately. Though, if you are truly worried, I will have my head guard Flash Sentry, to go check on some things for you, okay? Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.” On that, Sunset let a sigh of relief fill her mind. Though she was slightly annoyed that the princess would also consider the drunk idea, she was at least happy to hear everything was okay and that the princess would have somepony look into it. Especially if it was that world's version of Flash. She knew if he was anything like her Flash, he would get the job done. Knowing things would be alright, Sunset ran to go look for her class, only for her to crash into a Starlight. “I’m sorry,” Sunset apologized as she tried to pick up her diary and papers. “No, I’m sorry--” the Starlight’s eyes widened as she saw Sunset, “Wait a minute, you're the one who wasn’t watching the other cars.” Sunset’s own eyes widened as she looked at the girl in front of her, “Wait a minute, you were the one driving that purple Lamborghini,” she remembered. “Yeah, you scratched my dad's car,” she said annoyed. “Look, I’m sorry, I’ll pay for any damages,” Sunset tried her best to be nice and make things right. “Hmm, okay, but when?” Starlight questioned. “How about around four?” she looked at her papers, “It looks like I’ll be free at that time, I’ve got a room on campus. Building B, room 301.” Once Sunset was done giving her information, she held out her hand in friendship, “By the way, my name is Sunset.” “Hmm, I use to know a girl named Sunset. Though I don’t think you're her, she always had her hair up. My name is Starlight,” she shook Sunset’s hand. Suddenly upon shaking her hand, though, Sunset was hit with a new vision. This one very different from the one of before. ****** She found herself in a desert area. At first, she was concerned that this had happened again, but this time there was no bodies lying about. A new sigh a relief fell over her head, maybe this vision wouldn’t be bad. She tracked through the sand and looked around the desert as she was trying to figure out where or why she was even here. It was strange, nothing was really happening, or so she thought. Suddenly she heard a yell. Running towards it, she saw a grouping of rocks. In the grouping, she saw a light purple unicorn mare with a purple mane with blue streaks in it. She wore gray samurai-like armor and had a purple bladed zhanmadao on her back. It took only a moment for Sunset to realize this must be the pony version of the girl she just met, Starlight. Sunset quickly got behind a small rock. She looked over it slightly. Her eyes widened as with Starlight she saw her brother Sunburst, as well as Cheese Sandwich, and a dark purple batpony stallion with a green mane. He looked very much like Jack Nox. Sunburst was wearing a teal long cloak over a white tunic with gold frills, a pair of light brown pants with a pair brown shoes. His weapon of choice seemed to be a white and gold magical staff, but he also seemed golden khopesh hidden under his cloak. Cheese was wearing a brown cowboy hat and brown poncho over a tan button up with a pair blue jeans and a pair of brown boots. At his sides were a pair what looked like revolvers. Sunset found this strange considering the kind of technology that existed in Equestria when she was there was nowhere near that level of violence. Meanwhile, the one that she thought was Jack, was wearing a double button maroon velvet refine semi-long coat with a pair green dress pants and a pair of black boots. His weapons of choice seemed to a be a pair of golden techno gauntlets. She listened in closely as she stayed hidden, “You nearly got Caramel killed out there, Jack,” she heard her brother say. “Like I care about one of those freaks, besides we saved King Thorax dang it,” Jack answered them as he took a drink from his tin before putting it up. “You know very well Caramel is better than the other ones. Why do you give us so many problems?” Starlight questioned. Suddenly Jack’s eyes widened in anger, “Other ones! Yeah, let's talk about the other ones, shall we? Or more in particular….” At that moment he charged at Starlight, grabbing her by the throat and pushing her to the biggest rock. Sunburst quickly swung his staff in defense of Starlight but wasn’t quick enough to get past Jack’s teleport. Jack punched Starlight’s throat hard to the wall. She coughed heavily as he held her there. “You want to know why I’ve been so much of a problem. It’s because I have such a problem working with you, of all ponies. You all should already know who I’m talking about. Especially you, Spike,” he yelled to the dragon that was clearly out of Sunset’s sight, just beyond the rocks. Everypony went silent upon his words as if almost knowing all too well that he didn't mean Starlight at all, but somepony else altogether. Suddenly, Sunset saw Jack getting ready to punch Starlight in the face, however, he stopped. “Why then, Jack?” Starlight asked. “Because ‘he’ made me into this--” Suddenly Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to break. ******* Sunset found herself suddenly right in front of her first class of the day. It was as if her mind had gone on autopilot and her body took her straight there as the vision started. She spun her head around but saw Starlight nowhere in sight. Shaking her head once more, she entered the classroom. ******* Meanwhile, in the world of Equestria, sat a dark, lavender mare in a black, crystal encrusted throne. She looked once more over Sunset’s message, still curious on what it meant. It was strange how well all the things Sunset described. It truly intrigued her, and yet confused her at the same time. “This is too strange, she has some things that happened spot on, yet other things slightly off.” On that, she closed the book and slightly laughed. Suddenly a strange-looking chain blade covered in purple magic wrapped around the book and lifted it into the air. Afterward, it placed it back on a nearby shelf. “I better keep this strange book close in case this Sunset has more details to give me.” Soon a guard walked into the throneroom. He walked up to the throne and bowed, “Queen, you called for something?” “Yes, get me the mirror.” ******
Chapter 3: Fall Through The NightSunset arrived at her room. Stepping inside, she threw down her stuff and jumped onto her bed. Twilight, her roommate, was typing vigorously on a laptop at the time of her arrival. Twilight looked up from her laptop for a moment. “I see you had a tough first day.” “Yeah, the classes here are tough. They certainly give Princess Celestia’s classes a run for their money,” she huffed, “Though surprisingly, no visions. I sent a message to the Princess, but she said everything was fine over there.” She looked to Twilight, seeing her still typing, “So how was your first day?” “Perfectly fine. In fact, better than I expected.” Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Really?” “Yeah, go ahead and throw something at me.” “Okay,” Sunset grabbed out one of her books and threw it at Twilight. Soon it hit an invisible wall. “Wow, you blocked it, without even looking at me,” she smiled. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Oh, that must be her.” “Who?” Twilight looked up from her laptop once more as Sunset got up and walked over to the door. Sunset twisted the doorknob and opened the door. On the other side was Starlight. “Hey, Starlight. Here about that money?” Sunset questioned as she went to go get her wallet. “Yeah, Could this be quick? I’m kind of in a hurry. I got to meet up with Trixie soon.” Starlight leaned against the wall. “Sure,” Sunset came back with her wallet. “Should this cover it?” Starlight nodded a yes as Sunset held the money up. Sunset's eyebrow raised, “Wait, Trixie as in the Great and Powerful Trixie.” Starlight blushed and giggled, “Yeah, that's my girl.” Sunset's eyes widened, “Oh you two are….” “Yeah, something wrong with that,” Starlight's voice slightly raised. Sunset realized that she may have worded that wrong and tried to apologize. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Starlight facepalmed, “No, I just get a little riled up about stuff like that. It’s mostly because my father is sort of not on board with our relationship. Look, can I just have my money?” she spoke slowly. “Sure,” Sunset handed her the money. At that moment, Sunset was hit by something as Starlight took the money. Slightly leaning back, Sunset quickly caught herself. “Thanks for the money,” Starlight said as she ran off. As the door closed, Twilight was about to ask what that was about when suddenly, Sunset fell to the ground. Waving her head back and forth, Sunset found herself being caught by Twilight’s magic. “Okay, what just happened?!?!” Twilight nearly yelled. Not realizing that she nearly fainted, Sunset answered, “Oh that was just the girl I nearly hit with my car,” she spoke slightly in a daze. “No, I mean you nearly fainting.” “I did?” Sunset was still confused. One more time she waved her head as her daze went away. Taking a deep breath and sitting up, she nodded for Twilight to drop the telekinesis. “I’m sorry, I think I had a new vision, only this one was different.” “What do you mean different?” At that, Twilight closed her laptop, determined to find out what happened this time. “I mean, first my powers acted like they always do. It showed me, Starlight and Trixie sharing a kiss. But then, it changed to a vision of Equestria. Or at least a part I have never seen before. Anyway, it showed me Starlight kissing my brother Sunburst.” Twilight raised her eyebrow in confusion, “Well, that is strange.” “That wasn’t the half of it,” Sunset eyes went wide with terror. “They said they were going to attack the Castle.” “Wait, as in the Castle of Friendship?” “I think, I’m not sure,” Sunset ran over to her books, “Whatever it means, I must warn the Princess,” Sunset grabbed out her diary and began writing. Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, Starlight was walking while calling Trixie on her phone. “Come on, pick up girl--” Suddenly, she was stopped as a girl with red hair and a glowing necklace ran past her. She looked to the girl, as she looked very familiar. “Was that S--” “Starlight,” Trixie interrupted her as she answered the phone. “Hello, Starlight you there?” “Yeah,” Starlight turned around and kept walking down the hallway, “Did you get my dad’s car back in time?” “No, this mean ass has halted the Great and Powerful Trixie from leaving. He is taking forever to get the job done,” Trixie complained. Starlight became really annoyed, “Fine, I'll be there soon. Love you.” Once she was done talking, she hanged up and began running as fast as she could. She got outside and got to the road. She looked both ways before crossing. Everything looked clear or so she thought. Walking outward, she suddenly stopped herself as a few police cars drove by. Tilting her head, she curiously said, “I wonder where they're in such a rush to get to?” ****** In one of the police cars was Flash Sentry and Jack Nox. “Are you sure what the chief said?” Flash questioned as he drove. “Yeah, there are reports of an attack at a bar near the college,” Jack checked his gun and other weapons. “Do you think it might be a magic effected?” “I don’t know. Maybe?” Soon, they pulled up to the bar. All the police officers got out and made their way to the door. Standing at the front were detectives Bob Mind and Leod Quartz. “Now officers, I want you to be careful in there. We don’t know how many there are,” Bob Mind said as he looked over the group, “Officer Sentry,” he whispered out to Flash. Flash quickly got to him, “Yes sir?” “I need to know that you won’t go awol on us.” Flash was taken back by this, “Why would you dare think that?” “Because the man in the tall gray top hat was spotted with the group,” At that, Flash’s eyes widened in anger, “That’s why I'm worried.” The other police officers overheard their words. All except for Jack and Moonchaser, wondered who was this man in a tall gray top hat and what did he do to Flash? Was he really that dangerous? They were about to find out as they broke down the door. As they entered, everybody's eyes widened in horror, well everybody but Flash as his eyes filled with more anger upon what he saw. He knew all too well whose work this was. The bar was covered in blood. It stank of blood and other fluids. Body parts were strewn across the place. The heads of the several victims were laid perfect on the bar, being held up by empty beer bottles and presented like a trophy case. The police officers walked slowly through the bodies with guns ready, trying to make it to the other side of the bar where they could hear voices. Probably some of the enemy group taking money out of the vault in the back. As they walked, somebody hit the light switch, turning off the lights on them. There was a slight panic as they all went for cover, assuming a shot out was about to happen. However, nothing happened. In fact, it was now silent. “Boys, you might want to get out of here,” an unknown voice called out to the enemy group. Taking the back way out, they left. Meanwhile, the police officers got ready for the worst. A disco ball came out of the ceiling, streaming lights everywhere as it spun. The police officers looked up slightly from their hiding spots to see somebody standing in the center of the bar. It was a tall, skinny man. The man had dark, green hair and a rotting, white skin color. He wore a dark gray, tall collared, thin steampunk trench coat and a bright, neon yellow dress shirt, tie and pants that were clearly meant to be a bullseye for his enemies. The strangest of all was his choice in gloves. The left one was red and the right one was blue. And of course, there was the fact he wore a tall, gray top hat. Flash look of anger intensified, “It’s him. Cult Race!!” Without even thinking, he aimed his gun and fired. “Hold your fire, Officer Sentry!!” Bob Mind yelled. Yet it didn’t matter for the bullets were already flying. But as the bullets flew, everything seemed to move slowly for Cult Race as he dodged the bullets. However, for everyone else he was going so fast that all could be seen was a blur as every bullet missed. All were in shock at his speed. “Damn it, he's a magic affected,” Jack threw a strange looking grenade at Cult Race, but he jumped out of the way as it sent out a strange purple gas. The gas quickly filled the room, coating everything in a thin layer of purple dust. Soon, the gas disappeared. Everybody coughed as the gas disappeared. “What was that, Jack?” Flash complained. “A magic buffer. I suggest you move quickly, it doesn’t last long. And don’t shoot, I wasn't able to make this stuff nonflammable.” At that, Flash smiled, put away his gun, pulled out his knife, and charged at Cult Race. Cult Race pulled out a bone knife and stopped the first attack with a slash. Flash jumped back and slashed back. Cult Race stopped it with his bone knife. The two were now locked at the hilt of their knives, constantly pushing each other back. “Good to see you, Flashy Boy,” Cult Race. “Enough with that name, you monster!” Flash spat back. “Monster, now who’s the one name calling?” Using his other hand, Cult Race pulled out another bone knife and got ready to strike. “Flash look out!” Moonchaser threw his own knife. Using his incredible aim, he hit Cult Race in the shoulder without hitting Flash. Cult Race was forced to jump back, far back. Once he was far enough from Flash, he pulled out the knife and threw it on the ground. “Well, Flashy Boy looks like we will have to cut your revenge short,” At that, he jumped through a window and escaped. Flash charged at the window, nearly cursing at him as he escaped. Some of the police officers began to question Flash’s sudden anger, but only a few knew the truth. Jack, Moonchaser, the two detectives, and the chief, they knew who that was and what he meant to Flash. Meanwhile, outside behind the bar, the other criminals were running down an alley. Suddenly, they were stopped as somebody stood in their way. “Stop right there,” somebody new stood in their way. The new man had a helmet on and a gray armor-like uniform on, with a red short cloak over his shoulders. “And who are you to boss us around?” They pulled out their guns and got ready to kill him. He only smiled and held up a sheathed katana, with a black handle, “Kill, Mtr Alddam.” Suddenly, all could be seen was a red blur, and all the criminals fell to the ground dead as the katana resheathed. However, as the criminals fell, Cult Race ran up from behind them and jumped clear over all of them, including the man in the helmet. Cult Race landed behind him he spoke, “Hello again, old friend. How is your daughter doing?” At that, the man in the helmet became angered at Cult Race. He tried swinging his katana backward at Cult Race, but Cult Race jumped high once more and began scaling the building. Once he got to the top, he ran out of sight and was gone. With Cult Race gone the man in the helmet tired to take his leave. But Flash showed up, running down the alleyway. “Stop!” Flash shouted as he held up his gun. “Where is Cult Race?” The man in the helmet looked to Flash and spoke in a distorted voice, “Still wanting to avenge the death of your parents I see. Your parents weren't the only ones who suffered by that monster’s hands. But of course, Cult Race should never be your true target. It the man he works for that is the true enemy.” Flash put his gun down and spoke, “Then tell who is the real enemy?” “I can’t tell you his name. But I will tell you that he currently has his eyes set on your mare.” Flash’s eyes widened. “Sunset?” On that, the man in the helmet took his leave through a teleport. ****** Starlight finally showed up at the mechanic’s place. The place was called Wonderbolts’ Mechanics. After spotting Trixie, she called out to her. “Hey, Trixie!” Trixie turned and held out her arms as the two ran to each other. Hugging slightly, “Well, it’s about time,” she leaned in. “So, how is the car coming along?” “Well, it would go better without all these interruptions,” said a male's voice. The two looked to the car as they separated, only to see a light, brown skin guy with green hair rolling out from under it. He was wearing a red shirt and gray pants. It was Timber Spruce. After years in the camp work, he had to take on random odd jobs to keep the money flowing. Filthy Rich was always trying to buy his parent’s camp, and he couldn’t always rely on the schools to keep it afloat. This week’s odd job was helping Soarin out with the cars, while Soarin was stuck in a wheelchair for a week because he busted his leg doing something crazy with Rainbow Dash. “Wait, I thought we just had a scratch?” Starlight questioned as Timber stood up. “Well,” Timber’s eyes wandered, he then whispered, “Actually, that’s the only problem, I just need it to look like I’m busy because today is so slow.” Starlight’s eyes became clever, “Well, how about I give you extra pay, and you just let us go already,” She handed him quite an amount of money. His eyes went wide at that, “Okay, sure. Take it away.” After he removed the jacks, Starlight and Trixie entered the car, buckled up, and drove off. As Trixie drove Starlight to the house, she asked, “So, somebody’s feeling generous. How many pockets did you pick?” “Plenty,” Starlight held up a few emptied credit cards to the window. Splitting them into halves, she tossed them out into a dumpster at a stop sign. “Though, some of that came from the girl that nearly hit us.” “Really?” “Yeah, apparently she goes to the same school as I do, and plus, she is such a pushover. She gave some money for the accident without any question. Now come on, we got to get home soon, it’s getting dark. Hopefully, we can get home before dad does, and he will unground me from the car tomorrow, and I can drive this bad boy once more,” she rubbed her hand on the dashboard. ****** After the two were gone, Soarin rolled up to Timber. “Hey Timber, was that the last car?” “Yeah,” he turned, still holding the money. Soarin was quite surprised at how much he was holding. “Where did you get that?” “Well,” he spoke shyly, “I suppose it was a tip. The girl handed me the money without a second thought.” “Hmm,” Soarin looked around, obviously noticing earlier how slow it was today. “How about you take the rest of the day off and go take Twilight out.” “Really?” he raised an eyebrow at that. “Yeah, no need to worry about me. Rainbow Dash will be by here soon to help me out.” “Hmm, okay.” On that, he ran over, grabbed his signature black and white strap hat, went to his car, and left. As he drove, he called Twilight. “Hey Twi, I just got off. Do you want to go out somewhere?” “Sure.” “Alright, I’ll be there soon. Love you." After he was done talking, he hanged up. ****** Back at the police station, Flash, Jack, and Moonchaser sat down in their chairs as they all took a big sigh. “Damn it, I nearly had him,” Flash nearly yelled at himself. “No, don’t beat yourself up. Try to be happy that you got out of there alive,” Moonchaser tried to cheer him up. “Look, there's no honor in beating yourself. You didn’t expect Cult Race to be a magic affected. Besides, we can get him next time,” Jack leaned back. “Yeah, you guys are right,” Flash calmed himself. Flash could always count on his friends, Jack and Moonchaser. Moonchaser could easily be compared to Pinkie Pie, always cheerful and jumpy. While Jack was the most loyal and courageous man he knew. "At least you got to try one of your inventions out." "Yeah," Jack smiled. However, that smile became a frown as the District Attorney walked into the police station. The District Attorney, Redsting Blacklist, was a fine, middle age gentleman with long, gray hair that was very refined and wore a black and red striped blazer and pants with a blue tie and silver dress suit. He looked annoyed as he walked into the police chief's office. This was not good at all. However, after a few minutes, he left even angrier. After he was gone, the chief called in Flash. Flash took a gulp in as he got up from his chair. Walking into the chief’s office, he sat down. Though Sombra and the District Attorney never got along since he got Sombra demoted years ago, Flash was still worried about his own job. "Officer Flash, you may have noticed the asshole that walked in earlier." "Yes, sir." "Well, he wants me to have you fired, for what you did. Yet however...." "However?" Flash became more worried. "However, I told him that your past with Cult Race could prove a lot more useful than having you be fired. As long as you keep yourself in place next time, you will be fine." At that, Flash let a sigh of relief fall over him. "But you're still in hot water," Sombra spoke up, "So I suggest no more slacking for now. One more thing, you will be staying for overtime tonight, so get comfortable. Dismissed." Flash knew very well what he meant by his words. Afterward, Flash got up and left back to work. ****** Soon, Timber pulled up to the college. He walked through the parking lot and walked pass a red and black Ford Mustang that was parked behind a few other cars. He made his way up to Twilight's dorm room. Once there, he knocked quietly as to not wake anyone, considering how late it was. “Twilight, you there?” “Yeah,” she got up from her spot and grabbed some stuff to take with her. She turned to Sunset, who had the diary beside her, still waiting for an answerback. “Do you want us to grab you something?” “Naw, I’ll be fine. You enjoy your time with your fiance,” Sunset didn’t even look up from the diary. Seeing how worried Sunset was, Twilight used her telekinesis to move the diary off the bed and onto the desk. “Twilight!” Sunset looked annoyed at her as she tried to grab the book. “Sunset, stop worrying. I don’t want you up all night looking at that book.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she tried to cheer up, “Besides, looking at books all night is your job,” she joked. On that note, Twilight left, and Sunset decided that she might as well study until bedtime. ****** Night fell over in the world of Equestria, though it was hard to tell as the Moon had been gone for a long time now. In a dark crystal castle, a dark lavender mare walked into her throne room. Taking a moment to rest as she sat on her throne, she finally noticed the diary shaking up on its bookshelf. Using her magic, the strange-looking chain blade rose up once more and grabbed the book. “Hmm, I wonder what that fun little mare left for me this time. Probably another look into the past.” Opening it, she turned to the page that was glowing. Her eyes widened as she read, “Wait a minute, this hasn’t happened yet. Which means--” She stopped her train of thought and got ready for battle, as a purple bladed zhanmadao flew through the window and was heading right for her head. Without a single amount of hesitation, she used the diary as a shield to stop the attack. Crashing through the window was Starlight. The zhanmadao pulled from the book and flew back to her as she caught it. “I should've realized that wouldn’t kill you, Queen.” “No, it wouldn’t, my dear Starlight.” At that, she threw the book to the side and charged at Starlight ready for battle. As the book hit the ground, the tear in it began to make the book’s magic malfunction. This caused it to burst into flames. Meanwhile, in the other world, unbeknownst to Sunset as she slept, her diary began to catch fire, as well. ******
Chapter 4: Terror, NightmareSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 5: Play, Party, ScreamGrand Halo and Dr. Pr. Halo arrived at the committee building in Cloudsdale. It was a large library with several people walking in and out. Very few knew this was the committee building because meetings would be held on the secret top floor. They came upon the elevator and entered. Inside the elevator were several buttons as the building was rather tall, yet there was one button that was hidden behind a lock. Grad Halo searched their bag and found nothing. Dr. Pr. Halo heartedly laughed, “Well apparently we left the keys somewhere else.” “Gentlemen, I see that you lost your keys.” District Attorney Redsting walked up to the elevator. “Don’t worry, I have mine.” He entered and pulled out a bolt key and placed it in the hole at the bottom of the button list. Twisting the key, the lock revealed a secret button. He pressed it and the elevator door closed. As they went upwards, Redsting decided to question them. “I’m a little curious as to why you are here. Do you need help with those little freaks at that college?” Redsting openly insulted the magic affected. It was well known by all on the committee that he despised the magic affected and yet, they had to keep him as he was the District Attorney. Of course, a lot of the committee could be considered as worst than Redsting. They reached the top floor and exited the elevator. They enter the room on the top floor. Sitting at a round table was the members of the committee. Some members were well known in the community and were very open about being part of this committee. However, there was a few that weren’t so opened, in fact, it would be better if some of the member’s identities stayed hidden. The three arrived at the roundtable. There were twelve chairs and an empty spot for Dr. Pr. Halo. In all, this meant there were thirteen members, yet only so many ever showed up to the committee meeting. Grand Halo pushed his father into the empty spot. In the first chair on the right of Dr. Pr. Halo was a white skin and blonde hair, young scientist in a white buttoned up lab coat and a pair of unsightly jeans with sandals, his name, Gryford Longclaw. In the second chair on the right was a gray skin and bob cut red-haired, psychoanalyst in a somewhat revealing, red hanging dress with wide, long sleeves and high heels, her name was Selena Moondisc. Redsting sat in the third chair on the right. Pass Redsting were four empty chairs. In the final chair on the right was a slightly more revealing fancy, black dress on Lady Chrysalis, she was one of the few secret members. This was no surprise since she owned most of the illegal brothels down South. On the left side were four other members. In the first chair on the left was a white skin and red crewcut haired old general in a white and red uniform, with many metals, his name, General Iron Moon. In the second chair on the left was a purple skin and gray short moletcut haired, businessman in a charcoal gray business suit with a purple tie and purple dress shoes, his name was Norman Nox, the father of Jack Nox and owner of one of the biggest companies in the world, Nox Corp. In the third chair to the left was another secret member. This was an even less of a surprise as it was one of the heads of the criminal underground, Tirek. In the final chair on the left was the head of this committee. Sitting beside his former wife, Lady Chrysalis, was a turquoise skin, old man with a long flowing, emerald green hair that was quite a bright hue despite his incredibly old age. He wore a white and black robe over a silver dress shirt and silver dress pants with a pair of silver boots. His name was Sir Emerald Teal. Grand Halo left the room as they got to the meeting. Sir Emerald Teal spoke, “I see Celestia, Luna, and Cadence still refuse to show up during school hours. As for Priest Ragnorog well, obviously, he isn’t going to be here too today because of his church is going through renovations," He coughed, "Though, I'm surprised to see Doctor Priece Halo.” Dr. Pr. Halo always became slightly annoyed when the old man would call him by his full name. He would consider trying to object to this, but considering that Sir Emerald Teal’s knighthood made him one of the highest authorities in the country, it would not be wise. Sir Emerald Teal took a moment to catch his breath and then continued, “Okay, first order of business. Redsting you told me you had more intel on the Unpredictable Anomalies.” The Unpredictable Anomalies referred to the certain magic affecteds that couldn’t be tracked. Redsting pulled out the keyboard from the roundtable and put in a USB drive. A hologram rose from the center of the roundtable. Such advance technology was thanks to Norman Nox as he had this whole room made state of the art. The hologram showed four images. “These are the current targets of importance. The first is an unexpected but is a serious danger, Cult Race. He was just confirmed as a magic affected during an attack he led on a bar. Not much is known about Cult Race, personally. There is a lot of holes around him. Heck, his DNA doesn’t even connect to any of the cases that he was clearly a part of.” “Indeed,” Tirek agreed with Redsting, “My connections in the criminal underground show that Cult Race is most often called upon as a hitman and has killed an untold amount.” “What about his magic?” Sir Emerald Teal questioned. “Well, from what I have seen on the cameras on my officers, he seemed to have a form of lightning speed that seems to be greater than any other. Though, unlike Rainbow Dash, his speed seems to be more short range,” Redsting pulled up the camera feeds. “Okay, that sounds like a good possibility. What about the other three?” Sir Emerald Teal coughed. “We have another recently seen one.” Redsting pulled up an image of the man in the helmet that Flash had ran into that same day as Cult Race. “We don’t know his name yet, so we are calling him the Dark Knight. As for his magic, that is a bit of a problem,” He pulled up another camera feed. “As you can see, he is quite efficient at killing. He took down several criminals.” Lady Chrysalis laughed, “And how is that different from Cult Race?” Redsting looked towards Gryford, “Well, are you going to tell them?” Gryford jumped at that, “Right, scans of the bodies show that they were all at least twenty feet from him when they went down, but the freakiest part is that they all went down within seconds of each other, and the Dark Knight never left his spot as they fell.” “Well, that is quite a powerful form of magic,” Norman Nox confirmed on his own devices, as he compared notes with Gryford. “Okay, that’s enough on the newly discovered. What about the two major mysteries?” Sir Emerald Teal coughed. “Indeed.” Redsting brought back the two final images. The first one was a very familiar girl with a biker helmet on, a red, biker jacket over a magenta t-shirt with a medium, magenta dress and red, biker shoes, riding on top of a turquoise motorcycle. “The Red Biker and,” the second image, though fuzzy, showed a fine gentleman in a fine green, business suit, a clean gray, dress shirt, a perfectly laid blue tie with a pair of glistening white gloves and incredibly clean black dress shoes. “The Fine Gentleman.” Tirek spoke up, “These two again. Why do we even try with these two? They have been a mystery since we started having these committees.” “Indeed,” Lady Chrysalis agreed with Tirek, “These two have never even shown any sign of having any kind of magic at their beck and call.” “But this is why we must keep an eye on these two,” The General spoke up, “They have been showing up at very unusual times to be not just normal bystanders. The Red Biker has been seen at several disasters over the last year. Meanwhile, the Fine Gentleman has been spotted somewhere at every magical event on record.” “Indeed,” Norman agreed with the General, “Though, despite that, we don’t even know what their faces look like, since the Red Biker is never seen without her helmet on, and every picture that has ever been taken of the Fine Gentleman is blurred beyond repair.” Through all this back and forth discussion, Dr. Pr. Halo didn’t speak. He waited patiently until finally, they were done arguing. He took a breath and spoke up finally, “Though, despite those unknowns, I do have some good news.” Sir Emerald Teal heard his words and waved his hand over the others to quiet them. “Oh yes, that school that you and my annoying son started. I still don’t see a reason for it, but speak, what news have you brought us?” Dr. Pr. Halo looked to Redsting, “May I?” he held up a USB drive. At that, Redsting pulled out his and let Dr. Pr. Halo do as he pleased. Once his USB drive was in, an image showed. “This is Sunset Shimmer, one of the students at the college. She has been shown to have abnormally high rates of magic in her, but that is not the reason I show you this. She is our first case of someone having visions.” It was at that point he began to tell them of the visions that she was having, or more or less, telling what Sunset had said to him. Indeed, things were about to get very interesting. They all continued to talk for hours on end. ****** A full month passed since that day and the visions didn’t return. Sunset couldn’t figure out why they stopped. At the same time, her mind was still wondering on the message that Nightmare sent her. Was it real? Or was it just a dream? And if it was real, then who was the mare that seemingly killed Nightmare Moon? Sunset felt that she had heard that voice from somewhere, but where? It had sounded like a distorted version of somepony else’s voice that she once knew, but she couldn’t figure out who. When Dr. Pr. Halo returned, Sunset tried to return the keys, however, she found him to be always too busy. It seemed as time went on, all that happened was just a dream, that soon it seemed like the visions never happened. Sunset was still curious about them, but there was no way for her to get any proper answers without a way to contact the Princess. Twilight had suggested that she tried going through the portal, but Sunset would always change the subject when it came to personally going to Equestria. Finally, Sunset began pushing the visions aside. She began to think they were nothing. They seemed to stop, so maybe she could stop worrying about them. Maybe it was over. Maybe they were nothing at all. ****** Four months had passed since the last vision. Sunset was walking down the street to Pinkie Pie’s house. It used to be the home of the Cake Family, but a few years ago they moved out and left it to Pinkie Pie. The place was so big that Pinkie Pie barely used most of it. However, after Building B burned down, she had let all of her friends use the extra rooms. This wasn’t too much of a problem since the college was within walking distance. She arrived at the door and was greeted by a surprise upon opening it. “Surprise-- oh hold on it’s just, Sunset.” They all calmed down. Sunset was rather taken back by the shock, but of course, this was Pinkie Pie’s place. Parties would almost be common. She didn’t know what this one was for, but it obviously wasn’t for her, so she got out of the way and walked over to the side. She looked for a place to stand and saw a spot near Rarity and Spike. The two little lovebirds were holding hands. “Hey, do you know what this party is about?” She questioned them. Spike looked at her with a bit of confusion. “Well, from what I heard this is some sort party for….” He drifted on his words. He had completely forgotten who the party was for. “It’s for Jack and Moondancer, sweetie,” Rarity leaned closer to Spike. “Oh, right.” “Oh, come on Spikey, how could you forget so easily? And you are supposed to be good friends with Jack.” “I’m sorry.” He gripped Rarity’s hand tighter and looked right into her eyes. “I guess I got to distracted.” This, of course, made Rarity blush and bright red. “Well, pay attention more,” she waved her hand at him. Afterward, she began leaning into him and would have given him and big kiss if it hadn't been for Sunset snapping them back to reality. “Hey, you two. I’m still here,” Sunset was about to gag from all the romantic fumes coming off the two. “Oh, sorry. Did you want something, dear?” “Yeah, why is Pinkie Pie throwing a party for Jack and Moondancer? I thought Pinkie Pie didn’t get along with Moondancer ever since Pinkie Pie broke up with Moonchaser.” “You didn’t hear?” Rarity looked with confusion, “Jack and Moondancer finally settled on a date for their wedding.” Sunset facepalmed once it became clear, “And Pinkie Pie wanted an excuse to throw another party.” “Pretty much.” “So, where are they?” “Flash has a gone to pick them up. By the way, Flash has something he wants to give you when he gets here,” Rarity winked at Sunset. “Really?” Sunset blushed. Suddenly Pinkie Pie shouted, “I see Flash’s car!!” On that, Twilight and Timber went for the lights and met each other at the light switch. The two blushed and stopped at that spot. Neither went for the light switch until Pinkie Pie threw a plushy at Timber snapping him out of his daze so he could get the light switch. Footsteps could be heard as Flash, Jack, and Moondancer made their way to the door. Hearing the door opening, Pinkie Pie jumped as the light came on and yelled, “Surprise!!” Flash and Jack were in front. Moondancer was most likely behind Jack as she was always very shy. Jack looked to Flash with annoyance, “Why do I listen to you?” “Oh come on buddy, enjoy the party,” Flash patted Jack on the back. The three stepped in. Being that it was their day off, Jack and Flash were out of their uniforms and in more casual clothes. Flash was wearing a blue biker jacket over a white t-shirt with a pair of black pants and blue tennis shoes. Jack wore a maroon, double button, winter velvet jacket over a green dress shirt with a purple vest and a purple tie with a pair of green dress pants, black boots, and fingerless gold gloves. Moondancer was wearing an overly thick, oversized, black sweater over a purple t-shirt with a knee length, purple dress, black leggings and a pair of black iron, toe boots. With them here, the party could begin. As the party went on, Flash tried to find Sunset. She knew that he had something for her, but she wasn’t exactly going to make it easy to find her. After a few minutes, Flash was about to give up when a pair of hands went in front of his eyes, and he heard a voice, “I hear you are looking for somepony.” He knew that voice anywhere. Plus, there was only one pony here. He grabbed her arms, pulled her down, and captured her lips. Sunset enjoyed every moment of it. Finally, the two separated, and Sunset sat down beside him. “Rarity said you had something for me.” “Yeah,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long box. Sunset's eyes fell a little as the box wasn’t smaller. She and Flash had been dating for a long time now, she half expected the 'question to be popped' though, during this type of party would a bit to cleasa. However, as he opened the box, Sunset was quite surprised. “It’s beautiful,” she reached in and grabbed out a yellow, right half, gem necklace in the shape of a half sun. It looked just like her cutie mark. “Yeah, it was found in the rubble of Building B the day it went up in flames. We tried to find it’s owner, but no one claimed it, so I thought you might like it. Here, let me,” He grabbed it from her hands and went behind her. He took the gem and wrapped the chain around her neck. It fit perfectly. “Well?” “It’s perfect,” she smiled, standing up, “Let’s go show the others.” The two ran off to meet with the others. However, the others were dealing with something else. Moondancer and Jack were now outside and were having what seemed like a small argument. “You can’t keep listening to that old man, Moondancer,” Jack grabbed Moondancer's hand as she tried to run down the walkway. Sunset and Flash got outside and saw them arguing and walked up to Rarity and Timber. Twilight was about to get involved as she was good friends with Moondancer, meanwhile, Spike was inside for a moment. Sunset walked over to Rarity and asked what was going on. “Oh, something about Moondancer getting a call from her grandfather, General Iron Moon, and him not liking their choice on the date of the wedding.” This was no surprise since Moondancer’s grandfather always was at odds with Jack. The old man was often trying to get in the way of them, and Moondancer would listen and obey her grandfather every time. “Jack, I have to listen to him. He is the only family besides my brother I have left.” “Yes, and I’m about to be part of that family, and I refuse to let him keep controlling you. You are an adult, you have a right to choose.” Moondancer got annoyed and pushed Jack away. He crashed into Twilight, knocking her to the ground. Moondancer ran down the street, and Jack chased after her. Sunset and Rarity went and picked Twilight off the ground. She seemed fine, just a little off. However, the same could not be said of Sunset as when she and Rarity were helping Twilight up, her hand touched Rarity’s and the gem began to glow. Sunset fell to the ground as her head began to hurt. They all looked in shock as Sunset’s eyes began to fall close. Everything for her was going black. The visions had returned, and this time, it would be very different. ****** Sunset flipped back and forth as she found herself back in Equestria. Again, it was a part she had never seen before. She found herself around a bunch of destroyed machinery. It looked like a laboratory. The technology that laid around was far too advanced from the last time she was in Equestria. She walked around trying to figure out what was happening in this vision. What was this one giving to her and why did they suddenly return? She looked through the strange tech and soon spotted the symbol for Nox Corp. She remembered how in the other world, Jack’s father had a company called that. Maybe the same could be said in this world. Jack was a part-time inventor after all. Maybe Jack was a full-time inventor in Equestria. Was this vision meant to show her this? “Is that you?” Sunset jumped at that voice. She turned to see Sunburst. Without even thinking, she ran over and hugged her little brother. He took the hug graciously though he was in a bit of a shock. “It’s good to see you, bro.” “So much has happened since you left us,” he hugged her tighter, “Wait, I have to tell everypony that your back. We could use your help in the war.” He pulled away and tried walking her to somewhere. She stopped him. “What war?” She backed away from him, “There was no war going on when I was last here.” His eyes strained, “And how many years ago was that? You have been gone for too long.” His eyes grew slightly in anger. “Everypony around me has died. The only friends I have left are Spike, Starli--” He froze upon seeing the right half gem necklace on her neck. Sunset hadn’t even noticed it was glowing. “It can’t be, are the legends true?” he questioned as he tried to reach for it. Suddenly he was stopped as the ground shook and shook. Without warning, the ground ripped upward from under them as a giant, purple and green dragon flew into the sky with a white unicorn mare on his back. Sunburst looked to the dragon in shock. “Spike!” Sunset’s eyes widened, “That’s Spike?” She looked to Sunburst for answers, but he teleported onto Spike’s back as Spike flew off. “Wait, Sunburst, what is happening? Tell me!” She tried getting to them, but they were getting too far away. Soon, her form began to vanish. She was returning back to the other world. There was nothing she could do. Unbeknownst to her, the gem was returning her back. It had sensed a great danger. Yet, as she slowly vanished, the gem was taking too long. Out of nowhere, a strange-looking chain blade covered in thick dark magic wrapped around Sunset, grabbing her, despite her vanishing body and threw her to the ground. Her form stabilized and she stopped vanishing. Upon hitting the ground, she fell unconscious as the gem stopped glowing, yet she didn’t return to the other world. “Well, look what I have caught.” ****** Author's Note Uh oh. Who was that?....Oh no. Well looks like Sunset is not leaving this land just yet. Time for some massive reveals. You don't want to miss the next chapter. See you all in two weeks. The next chapter is set to come out on Feb. 16, just two days after Valentines Day. Also yes Spike is human in this world so deal with it.
Chapter 6: The Broken CaslteSunset awoke in an old, marble castle. The place was in ruins, mostly destroyed. She got up and walked around. She was confused. Before it had felt like she was leaving, but she was still here in Equestria. The castle ruins were huge and covered in darkened, somewhat burned marble. There were torn tapestries everywhere. The tapestries were covered in too many burns to tell what the symbols were on them. As she walked through the castle, she began to feel a familiarity about the place. The castle looked and felt very familiar. She couldn’t place where she had seen it before. She didn’t know why. All she knew was that she had been here before, so many years ago. The place was in ruins now, yet she had almost felt that she knew what it looked like when there were no ruins. She couldn’t figure it out. She continued to walk until she came upon several sets of armor that were laid across the ground with ashes in them. She walked closer to them and found that the ashes had a strange smell to them. The armor sets were almost completely clean, the only thing on them was dust. She reached inside the armor and grabbed the ashes. Upon pulling some out, she took a better smell. Her eyes widened as it smelled like flesh. She jumped from the armor, wiping away some of the dust the armor had on it. “What is going on here?” she questioned as she threw the ashes to the side, “That is ash, yet it smells like flesh. It’s not burnt, so what is this?” Her eyes widened more as she saw a symbol on the armor that had been revealed by her movement. She walked back to the armor, hoping what she was seeing was a trick of the eye. Getting close, she wiped off more dust, and her fears became reality. This was an armor of the solar guard. Now she knew why this place had seemed familiar. This was Celestia’s castle. On pure instinct, she got up and ran. Using her old memories she quickly found the stairs. She had to know. Her mind was racing faster than her legs could take her up the stairs. She hoped with all her life that her fears were for not. Once she reached the top of the long staircase, she looked around quickly. Her memories had worked well. She had made it to Celestia’s room. She came upon Celestia’s door. Reaching for it, she felt hesitation in herself. She didn’t want to know the possibility, but she had to know. Forcing herself to grab the doorknob, she opened it and stepped into the room. The room was torn apart on the inside. The place had suffered more damage than the rest of the castle. Yet none of that mattered, for what Sunset saw lying at the balcony flooded her eyes with tears. She ran over to the balcony, completely ignoring strange-looking chains that laid across the floor. She arrived and found the decapitated body of Celestia. Seeing it, she picked up the old, decayed corpse and let loose the tears in a torrent of emotions. “What happened here? How did everything change so much?” As she let loose more tears, the strange-looking chains began to rise like serpents ready to strike. Without warning, Sunset was ripped from the body and pulled into the air as the strange-looking chains wrapped tightly around her body. She could barely breathe, she could barely see. Soon somepony walked into the room. “You want to know what happened here? Where have you been? Hiding in some hole in the ground?” a mare laughed aloud. Sunset couldn’t see the mare as her eyes were being forced shut by the strange-looking chains. “What do you mean?” Sunset struggled to say, “What happened here?” The mare smiled wickedly, “Celestia is dead, Luna is dead, Cadence is dead, Shining Armor is barely hanging on. And poor, poor little Twilight. She suffered the most.” Suddenly her eyes widened upon seeing the right half gem necklace as it hanged out of the wrapping. “I see what is going on here.” She sent out a strong shock wave of dark magic. Once she confirmed her suspicions, she flew up to Sunset. Sunset still couldn’t see her, but she could feel the mare's breath on her neck as the mare began to smell her. “What are you doing?” Sunset questioned. “Oh, you stink of light magic. There's so much covering you. Which means that you aren’t really here.” The mare snapped her fingers and the strange-looking chains transformed into chain blades. Sunset screamed in agony as they began to slowly tear through her flesh. Sunset in complete agony. Blood was pouring from her small cuts at a fast rate. “You are from the future,” The mare purposed as she waved her hand, and the chain blades started moving ever so slowly across Sunset’s body causing her to scream more, “It's letting you look into the past.” Sunset was confused. What was this mare talking about? Sunset was in too much pain to realize what the mare was really talking about. She barely could keep herself awake from all the pain she was feeling. The mare reached over and grabbed the right half gem necklace as hanged in the air. It’s glow began to dim. “Returning back to your own time, or other world are you?” Her smile became gigantic as her fangs showed. Without warning, Sunset was sent into a screaming fit as the mare pulled Sunset’s head and dug her fangs deep into Sunset’s neck. After a few minutes of Sunset’s screaming and the mare’s drinking, the mare pulled back her fangs, taking in deep breaths. She could take hearing those tears no more. “Well, fine, if you want to be such a meany about it. That was quite an enjoyable meal.” She looked upon Sunset’s dazed face. “Oh don’t give me that look. If I was a stallion you would be in a much worse predicament.” Sunset could barely hear her words as her mind was slowly coming back to the world. The chain blades had fallen some during the moment. She began to vaguely see what the mare looked like as her eyes were still blurry. She could make out that the mare was licking her lips of blood, most likely Sunset’s. Soon the blur began to clear more. She still couldn't make out all the features of the face, only that the mare's coat was dark lavender in color. “Who are you?” Sunset struggled. “That’s not going to matter, you're vanishing. Heading back to your time,” The mare leaned in and placed one final lick on her neck, “And since you gave me quite the meal, I will let you have something in return.” She grabbed the gem once more and filled it with dark magic. Sunset began to feel very different. Something was very wrong. The fading felt very different. “What are you doing?” “You have been looking into the past so much, how about you look into the future? Take this as a gift. I set the time coordinates for you. I hope you enjoy what you see.” The mare's voice began to grow quieter as Sunset began to leave there. Where was she going now? Anywhere that was far from that sadistic mare would be good right now. ******* Sunset crashed to the ground back in the other world. She grabbed her head as she rose. She dusted herself off and noticed all of her wounds were gone. In fact, she felt perfectly fine, like the event never happened. Yet, the memories of that horrible event were still fresh in her head. Little did she know there was worse to come. She looked around and found herself out in the woods. Looking up, she could see that it was night time. Decorations hung from the trees. It looked like a party was about to begin or had already ended. She couldn't see much else as it was a very dark night. She continued to walk. She couldn’t see which way to go, yet everything inside her was telling her to go this direction. She didn’t know what this feeling was, just that she had to follow it. Without warning, she tripped over something. As she hit the ground, she felt her hand get covered in some sort of warm liquid. It felt very familiar. Yet, it was too dark to see what it was. She soon felt it covering her legs. The same liquid. Suddenly, an explosion could be heard from above her. Several explosions in fact. However, Sunset’s head and eyes stayed in place as she stared outward in shock to the area around her as the explosions shine light on all. Indeed, it was a forest covered in decorations…… and body parts. Humans laid ripped apart. Their remains were strewn across the place. The liquid that covered her legs was blood, it flooded the muddy ground. It looked almost like the scene she had seen in the Ponyville vision. Instantly, she jumped upon hearing a gunshot, in fact, several gunshots. Running to it, she hoped to find help, but as she turned toward the gunshots, everything started going black as she fell through the ground. The last thing she saw was a wooden house. She fell over and over, through a dark tunnel. As she fell, she could hear the cries of a familiar voice. She heard the voice scream, “JUST LEAVE US YOU DAMN PONY!!” Soon, she crashed onto the hard ground. No, it was like metal. Her head was throbbing now. She got up once more, but things were very different this time. Everything was fuzzy-like. It was like looking into a very old TV with very little signal. It was so fuzzy, she could barely make out her own hands. She looked around, from what she could barely see, she was in a laboratory. She looked to the wall and could barely make out the symbol for Nox Corp. She began walking forward. She could see what looked like a fireplace up ahead. It looked like there were three people over there. Two standing up and one on their knees. She tried getting closer, yet something was stopping her at a few meters from them. She heard one of the ones standing upspeak, “You can’t do this, Twilight.” It was her voice, Sunset’s own voice as clear as day, “She said this would happen one day. Now stop, please.” The other person, Twilight held tightly to a weapon in her hand. “He took him from me,” Her voice raised in anger. She turned towards the one on the ground and lifted her weapon upwards, “HE KILLED--” Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to clear. Unbeknownst to her, the dark magic that the mare had fed into the gem began faded. ****** Sunset woke back up in the other world. She found herself in a hospital hooked up to IVs. She could barely remember what happened. All she knew was what she had seen in the visions, it was truly terrifying. She couldn't take the possibilities anymore. She pulled out the IVs and grabbed her clothes. Quickly putting them on, she noticed the door was wide open. Looking outside, she noticed the hospital seemed way too quiet. Once her clothes were on, she grabbed the stuff she had in her pockets, placing them back in the pockets. She quickly ran out of the hospital. She ran out so fast that she never noticed that the gem necklace had never left her neck. Sure the glowing had stopped, but there was still danger about. From just a few doors down from her room was a hallway filled with blood. A lone assassin in a tall, gray top hat walked. It was Cult Race. He was doing what he did best, killing. He had been sent to search for something, but what? Soon, he came upon the room Sunset had been in. He walked over to the IV. He picked it up and took in a deep whiff. “Hmm, she was just here.” Quickly, he ran towards the window. He looked out the window and spotted Sunset. He looked and even from here, he could see the necklace as well as the Red Biker just a block away from Sunset. It seemed that the Red Biker was still keeping up with the bargain she had made with his current employer. Suddenly his pager went off. He pulled it out and looked at the message. “Well, it seems this target can wait.” He sent back a message just before leaving. “New mission accepted.” Once he was done giving an answer, he looked to all the bodies that were around him. He decided to send a message to the Fine Gentleman. “Hey, it looks like I’ve got a small hit to take on. While I’m doing that, send a harvest crew to the hospital on Murphy Street. I’ve got a few more bodies to add to your little collection.” ****** Outside, Sunset was dialing a number on her cellphone. A number she knew all too well. She placed the cellphone by her ear and spoke. “Hey, Principle Celestia could you keep the school grounds open for a few more hours later than normal?” “Of course. Any reason for this?” “I need to do something I should have done a long time ago.” ****** Sunset arrived at Canterlot High School. It was near night. She looked to see the principal waiting in the front for her. Sunset got out of the taxi and paid the driver. Once that was done, she walked over to Celestia. “Are you sure about this Sunset?” Celestia questioned as she opened the gate. “Yes, I need to know something, and I need to talk to Twilight in person-- er pony.” Sunset walked through the gate. Though Celestia had not been told of the visions, she knew Sunset had not been to Equestria since she arrived at this school so many years ago. Sunset never once asked for such a thing. Originally, it was because she was ashamed of going back to Equestria, even for a visit, but nowadays, it came to simply her having a somewhat of a perfect life here in this world. What had changed? Sunset arrived upon the stone that was connected to the mirror. Celestia had had a wall built around it, so students didn’t get tempted to get too close to it. She walked over to the other gate, and Celestia opened it for her. Sunset took a deep breath as she saw the stone in full view. It had indeed been a long time since she had seen it. Sweat beaded down her cheek as fear crept over her. Would the visions turn out to be true? Would they turn out to be false? But most of all, she was concerned on how everypony would greet her back in Equestria. Would Princess Celestia be there? Would her family be there? Unlikely either of those things would be there since she would be appearing unannounced, but still, the concern within her was great. Finally, she snapped herself out of it and walked over to the stone. She placed her hand on the stone. The surface began to ripple. The doorway was still open. She took one more deep breath and walked through. ****** Author's Note So she going back to Equestria, what will she see there? Great discoveries are still yet to be revealed. All the explosively shocking Chapter 7: Deceitful Idols. Now there will some time before I post this one. As you know in two weeks it will be March and I will be postponing most of my stories until the end of March, this is because the sequel to Endless Time, Or Forever End begins March 1st. So Chapter 7 will not be posted until April 6th.
Chapter 7: The Deceitful Idols Author's Note Okay, here it is. Oh yeah, I had to make a few small changes. The biggest change was that the Empress is now called the Queen. Chapter 8 will be posted on April 20th. Though things are moving really slow for this story, so I might push it to May 4th. This time it really on me, not so much anypony else. I have just been so busy with other stories. I'm not saying that I'm dropping this one, I'm saying that this is hitting some rocky ground. Chapter 7: The Deceitful Idols Sunset arrived on the other side. Back in Equestria, or at least she hoped it was still Equestria, she found herself in a dimly lit, crystal room. It was covered in dust completely. It looked like nopony had been here for years. There was some light, but she couldn’t figure out at all where the light was coming from. She looked out the window. It was pitch black outside. The stars didn’t even shine. She walked over to what she could figure was a door. Opening it, she found several long hallways. She took a deep breath and walked outward. As she walked, she began to notice that the color of the crystal walls were shifting. From the first room she left, the crystal walls were a blue and purple. Now they were slowly tinting to a dark purple and black. As she walked, she began to get this feeling of being watched. It wasn’t a feeling like somepony being behind her, it was more like there were eyes all around her. Either way, something clearly knew she was here. Soon, she came up to a doorway. Walking through it, she found a crystal table sitting all to itself. There were no chairs around it, yet everything was telling her there should be at least six thrones, but why thrones? Looking away from the table, she saw strange looking tanks that lined the walls. Five empty tanks, with the numbers 003, 004, 005, 006, and 007 under them. This room seemed a bit unusual, and yet everything was telling her this was all completely wrong. That this was never how the room was suppose to look. Soon, she realized it. This was the room from the vision that Nightmare Moon had given her, and indeed, it was very different. Sunset suddenly heard a voice, no, it was like a whisper, a painful whisper. It was coming from the table. She walked closer so she could hear the voice better. Once she was close enough, it came in clear, but somehow at the same time, distorted. “The chains. The chains.” She looked around for the chains but saw nothing. Soon, though, she spotted two pairs of chains at opposite sides of the room. They were placed in such spots that if there were tanks there instead, then all the walls would be lined up perfectly. She walked over to one pair. As she got there, she felt so much anger and rage. The chains were covered in cut marks. Some were broken like they were beaten. She felt a strange urge to grab them. Grabbing one, she was hit by a vision as the gem glowed. She saw a mare beating a body over and over. The mare had so much rage and anger in her. She dropped the chain upon hearing a voice. She looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a strange looking old, tall, blue stallion. He wore a heavy, dark red robe and had a strange looking crown on his head. “Who are you?” Sunset questioned. “I asked first. Who are you and what are you doing here?” The old stallion became annoyed. Sunset saw no reason to argue with him. “My name is Sunset Shimmer.” His old eyes widened, “You’re the one she spoke of.” Her eyes widened. “‘She’, as in Princess Twilight Sparkle?” He nodded a yes as he walked over to the table. “The princess was a strong and smart mare. She never gave up the battle to the very end,” He placed his hand on the table. The whispering from the table got louder and yet more distorted. It was now just gibberish, and yet the final parts sounded so sad. The old stallion turned towards Sunset, “I was one of her advisors near the end. My name is Ragnorog.” “That name, you're not a pony are you?” Sunset questioned as Ragnorog walked over to the doorway. “No, I’m not a pony I’m a jutland. Do you wish for some tea? The kitchen is just ahead. Once we get there, we can talk more.” Her stomach rumbled, “Actually I--” “Sounds like you are hungry. Follow me, I’ve got some food, too.” He walked down the hallway. Sunset could feel that something was wrong yet she couldn't place it. She decided to follow. Soon, they arrived at the kitchen. He walked over to a small table and set out some plates. Sunset walked over and sat down. She looked around. The place was covered in webs. It looked like very little traffic came through here, if any at all. Ragnorog poured some tea into a cup and brought it over with some small biscuits. Sunset took a drink and grabbed a biscuit. “You said you’re a jutland. Those are from the far North East. What are you doing down here?” “I, like other advisors, was taken in by the Princess when she separated from Equestria.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Twilight separated from Equestria. When did this happen?” “Well, it’s been about five years now. I wasn’t told all that happened. Only that she had grown a hatred for the princesses of Equestria.” Sunset truly became concerned, what could've happened to put a hatred between them? “Please, tell me what happened here.” He looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean?” “I mean the castle. It looks so empty. And that room we were just in. It looks so different from what I was told.” “What do you mean?” He looked around, “This place has been like this since I arrived long ago. Twilight doesn’t bring her friends by anymore. At least not for a long time.” “Wait Twilight is alive?” Sunset jumped at that. “What do you mean? Of course, she is alive.” Sunset sat back down. Originally she assumed what the mare that had attacked her had said was true. Then again the mare only said that Twilight might as well be dead, not that she was actually dead. Sunset had to figure out what was going on. It was clear that the messages she had been getting from Twilight before the diary went up were not exactly true. Then again Twilight’s messages were so short and left little to nothing to gain from. “Can you tell me where Twilight is?” Sunset finally questioned. “Hmm, let see if I remember correctly she was in the Crystal Empire a few days ago or was it a few months ago? I’m sorry, it's so hard to keep track over her. Though I think I saw her going into the basement a few days ago.” His words made no sense. Was he saying that he didn’t remember or was he lying? “Can you show me where the basement is?” Sunset got up. “Sure, of course.” They got up from the table and walked over to the exit. Yet, shortly after they left the kitchen, the tea in the cup seemingly vanished and the biscuits began to quickly degrade. It was like they were extremely old. Ragnorog led her to the basement. She felt a distinct amount of fear upon seeing the dark stairway. Soon, she could hear the voices returning but different. She still couldn’t understand them yet at the same time, she felt like they were telling her to stay far away from the basement. The voices got louder and louder. It began to sound like three voices this time instead of just one. Three very familiar voices. Sunset walked to the stairway ever so slowly as the voices kept getting louder and more frantic. Yet, at the same time, Rogorak was backing away. Suddenly, Sunset stopped at the first step as a tear could be felt going down her cheek. The voices were now coming in clear as day. The voices were of Cadence, Luna and Celestia. These weren’t the same voices that she heard from the table, but they were definitely the voices of the princesses. “Ragnorog, do you hear those voices?” she questioned as she turned towards him. However, he was gone. Yet, at the same time, the castle wall began to darken even more. The walls began to shake as the voices got louder and more clear. “Get out Sunset!! Get out now!!” She heard the voices yell aloud. She ran from there as quickly as she could. Turning towards the stairway for a moment as she ran, she looked in shock as the stairway was gone. In fact, the walls were now acting like liquid as they began closing in on her. She ran as fast as she could as it seemed like the castle was coming alive. She ran past the kitchen, making her way back to the room with the table. Suddenly, the walls stopped as she got halfway there. The echo of a large door screamed through the halls. Somepony else was inside here. “She's here. She's here.” The voices were getting extremely frantic and scared. It was like they were in tears. “Run back to the portal Sunset, quickly.” She didn’t question the voices and ran as fast as she could. Soon she got to the room where she had met Rogorak. Getting past the table she found herself being stopped as the floor opened up and grabbed her. Crystals rose and acted like rope, pulling her down into a hole. She tried to struggle as a male voice spoke, “You will be going nowhere. The Queen has been waiting so long for this meal to return.” “Who are you?” Sunset questioned as she continued to struggle. “Once Twilight sees what the Queen has planned for you. It will send her deeper into my darkness.” The male voice laughed aloud. “Soon she will be mine!!” Sunset tried her hardest to struggled as the rope-like crystals wrapped tightly around her, pulling her deeper down into the abyss. Tears filled her eyes as everything was going black. “No, please it can’t end like this,” she struggled and struggled. Her mind began to flash through memories. Was this her end? Was this where she was going to…. die? Soon, the darkness completely engulfed her. She could see nothing. She could hear nothing. She could smell nothing. She could feel nothing. All her senses were empty. Yet, in all of this, darkness there was still a glow. The same glow that had been following her. She assumed it was from the castle, but in this darkness, she realized it was coming from her. She looked towards the source and saw that the necklace was glowing. No, the right half gem was glowing. Was the necklace special? What magic was powering it? It was then that she realized that this same glow had always been there. Not in front of her but always there during the visions. She began to hear a voice. One voice. It was Celestia. “Please, Sunset close your eyes. Put your trust in the gem.” “Okay, Princess.” Sunset closed her eyes. The gem began to glow brighter and brighter. Meanwhile, in the other world, the other half of the gem was glowing so bright, the Fine Gentleman looked with confusion and terror as his machine began to shake erratically. The left half gem without warning ripped itself out of the machine and started flying around the place, trying to find a way out. The Fine Gentleman knew this was not good. If it found a way out, it would surely find the other half. He had to stop it. Back in the world of Equestria, Sunset could feel the gem begin to burn as it glowed brighter and brighter. A great light began to emanate from her. It was so bright that the darkness could not touch her. “What is this light?” The male voice roared in agony “Damn you, Princesses!!” Without warning, Sunset was shot out of the ground. She found herself back on the surface. She began to run, yet she was stopped upon hearing an all too familiar voice. “Where are you going little mare?” The same voice of the mare that had attacked her. Sunset’s eyes widened, as she turned towards the table and caught the sight of cold winter blue and purple eyes under the long black mane of a dark lavender mare in a strange fusion of dress styles. It was a fusion of a red arabian abaya and a blue english medieval dress with a black corset over it all that pushed up her shape to perfectly show off her breast. Draping from the back a purple cape with turquoise lines that matched up perfectly with turquoise lines that traced along her face up to the bottom lids of her eyes. The lines were in such a spot that could almost be seen as tears. Upon her head, she wore another fusion between a purple turban and a teal headdress. All this twist of styles was top off with shiny maroon bladed high heels with the blades being in the shape of a very familiar star. Sunset looked in terror as she couldn’t believe her eyes for though the unusual fashion seemed off putting and the mare’s body looked different, the face was unmistakable. It was the face of Twilight. “Twilight, you're the mare who attack me?” “Who? Oh, wait? You actually know this face?” The mare held her hand up to her own face, creasing it so. Sunset’s eyes widened. “Who are you? Why do you have Twilight's face?” Sunset was horrified. “Oh, she’s still here. She will always be here. Do want to talk to her?” Her face began to contort as the table glowed brightly. Tears fell from the mare's eyes as she spoke with Twilight’s voice. “I’m sorry, Sunset. I tried to stop her. Really, I did. It was so horrible watching what she did to you. Go! Get out of here!” She screamed in agony as dark magic flowed out of her. “She’s returning, she is getting ready to feast. GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!” Sunset ran from there as fast as she could. She didn’t know what was going on, or how. All she knew was to get out. Back in the room, Twilight fell to the ground as pain filled her body. “Hurry Sunset, please hurry.” She began coughing up blood as her fangs grew outward. “I can't hold them back anymore. If you ever see my friends again, tell them I’m sorry. Tell them, that I love them--” Suddenly she screamed aloud. So loud. Her coat began to turn into a darker lavender, her mane went up like a black flame, her flesh twisted and changed in shape and form, and her eyes were transforming. “Oh poor Twilily, you know this is my face now. You can’t fight who I am.” Sunset arrived at the room with the mirror. As soon as she stepped inside the room, the floor became like goo as the male voice returned. “Twilight can be so stubborn. Like it matters, the Queen is back in control and soon she shall feast on your flesh and blood." Sunset forced her way through to the mirror. She pushed as strong as she could. She was so close to the mirror, but the ooze of the crystal was pulling her back. She just had to reach a little closer. Just a little more. It looked like she wasn’t going to make it. And when all hope seemed lost, a yellow hand reached out through the portal from the other side. Sunset heard a voice. “Sunset reach for me!” It was Flash’s voice. Principal Celestia must have called him. He was reaching through the portal. Reaching for his hand, she grabbed it and yelled, “I’ve got it.” He tried pulling her but it was no good, the goo was pulling back stronger. Suddenly Sunset heard a roar. The wall on the other side of the room opened up. The Queen was charging right at her like wild boar chasing down her food. Sunset looked right at her. Tears fell from her eyes. How could this happen to Twilight? But most of all, Sunset’s tears were on the only idea she had left. There was only one way to stop this goo, she just hoped it would work. “Flash!” She yelled through the portal. “Throw your gun into the portal!” His eyes widened, but he didn’t question it. He grabbed out his gun and threw it into the portal. Sunset saw it fly threw and caught it. She then turned while still holding Flash’s hand. “Keep pulling!” Aiming carefully, Sunset let the last tears fall as she pulled the trigger and unleashed a fury of bullets. They tore through Queen, sending her crashing into the goo with the final shot going right through her head. This sent out a shockwave that loosened the goo’s grip on Sunset. On that, Sunset was pulled free and through the portal. She landed on the other side in Flash’s arms as he held on tightly to her as they fell to the ground. “You're okay?” Flash asked. Sunset confirmed as she clutched tighter to him. Without warning, the ground shook. They got up upon feeling the shaking and moved from the spot. The stone began to shake uncontrollably. They all saw this and ran out of there as quick as possible. Suddenly, black crystal shot forth from the portal, ripping the stone apart and covering half the school in black crystal before the portal finally closed, forever. ****** Back underground, in the laboratory, the Fine Gentleman had to catch his breath as the gem finally calmed itself long enough for him to contain it. “Damn it. What was that? The gem has never acted like that. I need to contact the Queen about this.” ****** Back in Equestria, in a twisted distorted crystal castle, the very same castle that Sunset had been in, the Queen laid on the crystal ground. Her body was completely still. It did not move at all, for a moment. Suddenly it rose up and let a scream so loud that the crystal around her began to shatter. The male voice spoke up once she was done, “Well that almost killed you. It was certainly a strange weapon. It looked a lot like the revolvers that that co--” She interrupted him with a mad roar, “CORPSES NOW!!” Suddenly several corpses fell from the seemingly nowhere. Strange-looking chain blades shot out her sleeves and wrapped around the bodies as they fell. “I was so close to feast upon her.” The strange-looking chain blades began glowing maroon red as the bodies began to contort and twist and despite them being long dead, they began to scream in agony as she licked her lips and showed her fangs. ******
Chapter 8: Drink The Pain AwaySomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 9: Shattering Like GlassFlash entered the bar only to find Sunset in some sort of a fight with a big guy. He had seen her from the car with his binoculars. He had no time to tell Jack what was going on and assumed he would look to see what he saw. Without even thinking, he jumped in the way as the fists started flying. After taking a few hits, Flash managed to stop the fight. He pulled Sunset to the side and walked her to the door. Placing her by the door, he went back to pay her tab, as well for all the smashed bottles. Once they were done, Flash took Sunset’s keys and put her in her car. Once they were both in the car, Flash drove off. Once they arrived at his house, he turned the car off and sat there. Sunset didn’t bother with words as she just laid back. After a moment of painful silence, Flash got out of the car and walked over to her side to pull her out. As she got out she fell to the ground as vile forced its way up. Once she was done Flash picked her up slowly and walked her to the house. As they walked, Flash’s mind raced on everything that had happened. He didn’t know whether he should be angry, disappointed, or just sad. Once they got to the door, they stepped inside. Once inside, Sunset ran up to Flash’s bedroom and closed the door behind her. Flash went up after her, only to find the door was locked. “Sunset, let me in.” He hit the door a few times. Meanwhile, Sunset just sat on the bed and yelled, “Leave me alone.” “No, I will not.” “Go away! I’m a monster!” She threw a pillow at the door while Flash grabbed out his bedroom key. He tried to unlock it while she just kept screaming for him to leave. “I killed the princess!!” Flash stepped inside and stopped at her words before answering her, “No whatever that was, it wasn’t the Twilight we knew.” “Yes, it was,” this time she grabbed a bottle and threw it at him. She jumped back as it hit him right over the head, shattering. Sure all she gave him was a cut, but it still brought tears to her eyes. “I am a monster.” “I know you’re not a monster,” Flash moved in closer, “ You are a kind and honest soul.” “No, I’m not. I’m just…. I’m just a killer.” On that last word Flash just rushed forward and embraced her. “If you are a killer than I am, too.” She took the embrace well as Flash tighten his grip. “Do you remember what I told you happened in this house when I was just a kid?.” She nodded a yes. “This was the house where my parents were killed by Cult Race, and yet, I stay here because it’s a reminder to never be like him. He murders people every day. I was defending myself when I first fought him in this very house. Just as you were defending yourself when you were fighting that monster.” After those token of words, she calmed down and Flash released his grip and leaned back as she rose up to face him. He raised his hand up to her eyes and cleared the tears that stained her face. She smiled at him and she leaned into his chest. Yet, he pulled back for a moment. “Sunset, you truly are a great mare. I know no matter what hell you will go through, you will survive. It’s what I love about you.” He reached into his pocket. He had hoped to give this to her after the first college year was over, but this was needed right now. "And it’s why I can’t see myself without any other creature by my side,” he showed her a small blue box. “Look, whatever these visions are about, I know you will get through them, and I will be there by your side.” He opened it to show a fire red ruby ring. She jumped upon seeing it. Tears returned upon seeing the ring, but this time they were tears of joy. She would have tried to put it on if it hadn’t been for her being so drunk. Instead, she closed the box without giving him an answer, “Yes.” She then took the box and placed it on the desk beside the bed. Once that was done, she did the rest completely on impulse as she pulled his face close for a deep kiss. Her lips clashed back and forth with his as their faces twisted and turned. Soon, her tongue slipped into his mouth as she pulled him over her and onto the bed. As they continued to kiss, Flash’s arms ran down her sides, while unbeknownst to him, Sunset’s hands were moving downward. He jumped as he felt his pants come undone. His eyes widened as he felt her hand’s movement, back and forth. He tried to say something against, but the more he tried to speak, the faster she would rub. Finally, following her example, his hands moved to her pants as she went to pulling off his shirt. As soon as Flash’s shirt went off and Sunset’s pants were off, Flash lifted her shirt slightly and began kissing her gut as he ever so slowly made his way down. Sunset grinned with each movement. Letting out soft moans as he reached the right spot. Feeling herself becoming hotter, she pulled at her shirt, pulling it off. She began massaging her breast as she slowly pulled off her bra. This was incredible. His tongue movement was just almost perfect, but she could go for something a little bigger. Reaching over to the desk beside the bed, she opened the desk drawer and reached around until she found one. Pulling it out she pulled Flash’s head back up and kissed him even more. As they kissed, her hands traced back down and rip could be heard. Flash’s eyes widened once more as he felt the rubbery film trace over him. Once he was in position, he pushed himself into her. Sunset moaned aloud upon feeling his member reach inside her, moving back and forth. Flash moved from Sunset's face and began kissing between her breast. Using his arms, he pulled her body closer. Sunset wrapped her arms tightly around his head as they sat up on Flash’s knees. Once both were up, Sunset took over the moments. She moved up and down, back and forth. The bed shook with each moan filled movement. They kept going for what seemed like several minutes. Flash’s rod could always go the distant. Soon, Flash’s arms came to her chest and began squeezing her nipples. Feeling his tease, she stopped the up and down, and began grinding his rod, over and over. Once they were done with the teasing, Flash took over as he leaned her down back onto the bed. The bed shook harder and his movements became greater. However, as they continued, the heat in Sunset's body began to rise even higher. This was not right. Something was wrong. Neither one notice as they were too busy having sex. Their movement soon became faster as Sunset’s moans became louder. Flash closed his eyes and continued on his movement as his breath became sharper. He knew, he would finish soon. Yet, as the bed shook even hard and the climax began to release fourth, the right-half, yellow gem necklace began to glow. Flash jerked up as he felt the finish arrive, while Sunset’s body twisted back and forth as her eyes closed and her back arched as she felt her own climax. However, as Flash leaned down to kiss Sunset one more time before removing himself, there was no response. Sunset stood absolutely still. And though her body was there, her mind had moved to somewhere else. Flash at the same time was too tired to even notices as he fell over to the side of her. ****** Sunset opened her eyes and found herself in the hallway of a crystal laboratory, hidden deep underground. She looked around trying to figure out what was going on. She felt a burn on her chest. There, she saw the gem necklace. It was glowing as bright as a star. Yet as she looked at the rest of her body, she noticed that she was almost transparent. This was very different from the other times. Suddenly, she heard a scream. No, it was more like a roar. She ran to it, to find out what was going on. However, soon she heard a mare’s voice being spoken. Her eyes widened, “The Queen.” Sunset tried to hide yet, the hallway was devoid of anything to hide behind. The Queen’s voice was getting closer. She had nowhere to hide, so she just closed her eyes and hoped things didn’t end badly. The voice became louder, it sounded like the mare was right beside her. Soon, the voice began to lower in volume like it was getting further away. Sunset opened her eyes and looked to the direction the Queen’s voice was originally coming from and found nothing. Yet she was still hearing the voice, but behind her now. Sunset turned around and saw the Queen walking down the hallway like Sunset wasn’t even there. Sunset realized that the Queen couldn’t even see her. She decided to follow the Queen. Maybe she could figure out how the Queen and Twilight were connected. In the distance, Sunset could hear the roars getting louder. It sounded like it was coming from the end of the hall. She continued to follow the Queen, at the same time though, she began wondering how far down the place was. It was clearly underground, shown best from the thin air and the fact that she had not seen a single window, but how far underground was unknown. Soon, they arrived at where the roaring was coming from. The Queen stopped walking upon reaching a viewing window. Sunset walked over to see what the Queen was looking at. The room on the other side of the viewing window was too dark to see much. The most she could make out was that the roaring was coming from a stallion as he fought off several strange looking ponies in lab coats. The ponies he was fighting off were seemingly covered in decaying flesh. This made no sense to Sunset. What were these strange ponies, and who was this stallion, but most of all, why was Sunset here? “I told you I didn’t need your help, you old goat!” Sunset jumped as she heard the Queen yell toward the other end of the hallway. There was nothing there. Or maybe there was, it was a long hallway, and Sunset was pretty sure that they had only seen one end. Suddenly, Sunset jumped again as the stallion’s voice speaking. Her eyes widened upon hearing his calm voice. He sounded so familiar. “I was her protector. I was her guardian. I was her knight. I was her Sen--” Sunset could hear no more as the vision began to clear. ****** Sunset awoke in the bed. She looked to her side and noticed Flash asleep. She couldn’t figure out that vision. That new one made no sense. She tried to remember what the voice sounded like, but she couldn’t place the voice. Up until now, every vision involved somepony she knew, or at least someone she knew in this world. She couldn’t figure it out, so she got up and went to take a shower. From the look at the time, it was almost morning. She thought it would be best to clean up before getting ready to go back to school. She took off the right half gem necklace as she got into the shower. Turning the shower on, she continued to think back to what she heard as she moved the soap around her body. The vision was much different from the other ones. Soon, she finished her shower and stepped out. After wrapping herself in a towel, she grabbed the right half necklace and put it back on. She looked at it closely. She knew now for sure that it was connected to all of this, but how? After the tub water drained, she heard a knock at the front door. The knock was hard and panic like. Sunset ran downstairs to see who it was while hearing a ring coming from Flash’s cellphone. She assumed Flash would get it, so she went straight for the door. Grabbing the doorknob, she was shocked to find Twilight on the other side drenched in rain. Yet, despite being drenched, Sunset could see it as plain as day. There were tears in Twilight’s eyes. Sunset looked Twilight over, noticing a black hat in her hands. Upon seeing the hat, the all too familiar hat, her eyes widened. “Is that?” “Timber is….,” Twilight trembled as more tears formed. “Timber is…. Timber is…..” Finally, she couldn't hold the pain back anymore as she fell into Sunset’s arms screaming, “DEAD!!!” ****** Author's Note NNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! ****** Sorry, this was posted late. This time the proofreader was already done but I lost track of time. Either way, I hope this chapter was enjoyable..... As this was the clop chapter that I'm pretty some of you were waiting for even if the mood was killed faster than Timber..... Oh sorry, too soon. Either way, the next chapter will be posted May 25th. Yes I know some of that week is very busy, It will certainly be for me and I hope to get the chapter out at the proper time, given if my internet doesn't act like a bitch again.
Chapter 10: Madding Filled TearsAuthor's Note Sorry this was posted so late. I really lost track of time. Anyway, here it is. Chapter 10: Madding Filled Tears Two days passed. Sunset, Twilight, and the rest of their friends arrived at the graveyard. Most were wearing black. Some were in tears while others held pain in. The sky continued to rain as they found a place to stand as the coffin was brought over. As the coffin was brought by, Gloriosa Daisy couldn’t stop crying. She was almost frantic upon seeing her brother's coffin. Sunset and Applejack grabbed her as she let out a painful scream. As they held her back, Sunset couldn’t help but stare at Twilight. Twilight had her head down, her eyes hidden behind her hair. She was clutching her fist with every scream that Gloriosa let out. She clutched tightly to the ring in her hand. The ring that would never be worn now. Sunset knew Twilight could no longer cry. She had cried so much the last two days. Timber had meant so much to her. He had meant much to them all. Sunset's eyes wandered to all that were here. Pinkie Pie was leaning on Cheese Sandwich, her eyes had never been so wide, and she never clutched Cheese’s sleeve so tightly. Timber had been the one who had introduced Pinkie Pie to Cheese. Sunset's eyes then wandered to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was sitting by Soarin. Sunset remembered how Twilight would often tell on how well Timber got along with Soarin. They were the closest of buddies. Sunset's eyes then fell upon Rarity who was weeping on Spike’s shoulder. Timber had done a lot for them, too. Timber was the first to be fully on board with the idea of Spike and Rarity dating despite the age difference. Sunset’s eyes next fell upon Fluttershy and her husband Bulk as they stood up with their child. Sunset remembered the day that Fluttershy went into labor. They all were stuck on a bus. Timber was the only one that stayed calm enough to help Fluttershy through the process. As Gloriosa calmed down, Sunset and Applejack helped her to a chair. As they sat down, Sunset’s eyes fell upon Applejack. Sure Applejack didn’t exactly get along with Timber, but they respected each other. He had even helped Big Mac into admitting his feelings for Cheerilee. Finally, Sunset’s eyes fell upon Flash. However, Flash was not at this funeral. He was several meters away at another funeral. He had not told Sunset who else had died, only that it was someone from police. Though it didn’t take long for her to notice that among the police officers, Jack and Moonchaser weren't there. Soon, the minister walked up. Everyone took a seat as he got to his spot and the coffin was set. Sunset looked upon the minister. The minister was a dark blue, tall man with gray hair. He wore a dark blue, dress suit with golden bell cufflinks and a red tie. The minister looked almost familiar, but she couldn’t place from where. The minister opened a book and began to talk to them all about Timber. How good and kind he was, how honest he was, and how nice he was. Sunset already knew this though, she took it all to heart. However, as the funeral went on, Sunset saw Flash quickly leaving after having a talk with the District Attorney. Flash looked furious. Sunset quickly ran after him. She had to see what happened. She got to him as he reached his car far from everyone. “Flash, what happened?” she placed her hand on his shoulder. He swatted her hand away. “You happened, damn it,” he turned to her. “Tell me, did you see all of this with those damn visions.” He pointed straight at her. His eyes were filled with anger. “Tell me.” “I… I… I’m sorry, Flash, that’s not how they work,” tears started to build in her eyes as she leaned toward him. “Please, I’m not responsible for Timber’s dea--” “No!!” his yell stopped her. “You think it’s just Timber. I lost my job because I was with you.” He held up his hand and waved the ring that was the sign of their love. “Because I chose you over my own job, my best friends are now facing criminal charges. You saw all of this and did nothing.” He pulled off the ring and threw it to the ground. Afterward, he got into his car and drove off. Sunset stood there, cupping her mouth. How could he do such a thing? How could he blame her so easily? “You knew?” Sunset’s eyes widened at those words and voice. She turned slowly to see Twilight. “Twilight, it’s not like that, I only knew so little,” Sunset tried to explain. Twilight charged at her. She hit Sunset in the chest over and over. “You knew even a little bit would have been enough to stop it.” Sunset tried to put her arms around Twilight, but Twilight pushed her back and screamed, “JUST LEAVE US YOU DAMN PONY!!” “I… I…” Twilight couldn’t hear Sunset's words anymore as she ran from there. After Twilight left, Sunset fell to her knees on the muddy ground and finally let the tears loose. Did all that just happen? Why was it all happening? As she beat the ground over and over, she saw the right half gem necklace hang from her neck. Without thinking, she took it off her neck and threw it to the ground. Soon though, someone walked up. The Red Biker walked up and picked up the necklace. She looked to Sunset. She walked over and placed the necklace back over her neck. “You poor mare.” Sunset heard her words, but as she looked up, the girl was gone. She looked to see Police Chief Sombra standing a few feet in front of her. She got up and looked at him. “I never wanted to be the one to bring Twilight such pain.” “So you are the one who brought her the bad news.” He nodded a yes. “Then tell me what happened. How did Timber die?” “That’s the problem. There was an attack at the Everfree Park. Jack, Moonchaser, and Detective Bob Minder arrived at the park only to find it filled with bodies. They got their guns ready and they entered the place but what they found will always remain between them.” “What do you mean?” Sombra turned toward the graves. “The other coffin is Bob Minder. You see, a few hours after they went in, more police officers showed up and found Bob and Timber both dead. Their bodies were filled with Jack and Moonchaser’s bullets. Meanwhile, Jack and Moonchaser were found out cold.” “”Did they really do it?” Sombra turned toward Sunset, “You know Jack enough, right?” Sunset’s eyes widened. There was no way those two would willing do such a thing. It just made no sense. “If it wasn’t them, then who did it?” “That it though, they have no memories of the events in the house, but there were shoeprints in the blood around the bodies.” “Wait,” her eyes widened. “Shoeprints? What size?” What he said next filled Sunset with great shock that she just ran from him. She ran as fast as she could to her car and drove off. “That shoe size is mine.” She drove and drove. “I was there. I wasn’t sort of there. I was physically there. I could have stopped whatever happened to them.” She smashed her hand on the wheel of the car as she drove. After she left, Sombra stood there in his spot thinking. He didn’t know the importance of the words he spoke to her. Soon, he spotted the ring that Flash had thrown down. He picked it up and looked it over, wiping off the mud. “I’m so sorry.” As he looked over it, his mind filled with old memories. He looked at his left hand and took off the glove. He looked over his hand over to a spot where a ring of his own use to be. “Love never seems to last, does it, Luna?” He clenched his fist and whispered another name. “Hey, you,” a lady spoke. Sombra turned his head to see three ladies standing a few feet from him. “What?” “We are looking for a friend of ours.” ****** Back underground, deep in the laboratory, the Fine Gentleman was waiting by a mirror. The mirror was a doorway to Equestria, much like the stone was. He was waiting for an answer back from his ally, the Queen. Soon, the portal opened and a voice spoke, “I’m sorry for such a late call. I had to deal with my other half.” “What took so long for a callback?! It’s been nearly--” The Queen roared on the other side of the line, “DO NOT GET ARROGANT WITH ME!! Do you not remember what I told you had happened to my world version of you?” “No, I did not forget.” Things around him began to shake as he stared at the mirror with a deathly stare. “I was the one who granted you your knowledge of the dead. Do not forget that without me, your armies and your little school would be nothing at all. Now, as for your message. I know where Sunset will be at. I saw it, and I grabbed the gem.” His eyes widened. When did she have time to do such a thing? The gem had been in this realm for many years. This made no sense to him. “We have other problems. I’m running out of time, my enemy is closing in. We need to make our move now.” “Then send Cult Race to capture her.” “Well that will be a problem with him being shall I say, indispos--” Her laughter interrupted him. “Clearly you don’t know Cult Race that well. Either way, I think I have just the ally to help you out.” The portal shimmered as someone or should be saying somepony, was walking through. Stepping out of the portal was an all too familiar stallion. The Fine Gentleman smiled upon what he saw. “Oh yes, he shall be very useful, indeed.” “Use him well.” On that note, the portal closed, and the Fine Gentleman and the stallion left that part of the laboratory. However, shortly after they left a crack in the mirror began to form. ******
Chapter 11: Gun To The HeadSunset arrived at the bar once more. The place was closed, so she just sat in the car sulking. She didn’t give any tears, but she couldn’t stop shivering. She looked around her car as she laid her head on the wheel. She wanted to calm down, but everything was still hitting her and hard. She could barely breathe. This was too much for her. She just wanted all this to stop. She looked down toward the right half necklace. This had been the cause for all of this but how? Did it really send her to the future? Did she really go to those places in Equestria? She had always assumed they were visions, but maybe this whole time they were? She didn’t know what was the right answer. All she knew was this was bringing her pain. She took a deep breath and pulled it off. She squeezed it tightly before finally throwing it to the side. She followed this by punching the wheel as hard as she could. She continued to punch the wheel over and over for several minutes until she finally looked toward the gem and where it landed. However, she spotted something else beside the gem. She reached over and grabbed the object that laid beside the gem. She clutched the object close. Without any more thought on the matter, she opened her door and walked over to the bar door. She used the object to break the glass of the door open. The alarm went off and as she stepped inside she beat the object on the alarms controls until the sound stopped. She walked over to the bar and grabbed out a bottle of whiskey. She went to a table and sat down. She placed the object on the table and open the whiskey and began gobbling it down as she looked at the object the entire time. ****** Meanwhile, the Red Biker drove her motorcycle through the town at high speeds. She had to get the pain out of her mind. Sure she never met Timber or Flash, but Sunset did and she could feel Sunset’s pain from these coinciding events. It wasn’t like the time when she used the gem to make Sunset have visions, this was much worse. She had to something, anything to get this pain out of her mind. But without even realizing it she drove into the Everfree Forest. And before she even reacted her motorcycle tripped over a broken branch knocking her off it as it flipped a few times before landing in the mud. She grabbed her head as it ached, slowly pulling off the helmet off so she could rubbed her head. As her helmet came off her red hair fell to the side landing in the mud. She looked around and saw the very house that the attacked happened. She knew it was a crime scene still, but she had to find somewhere to get this mud off herself. She just hoped that no policemen were still around. She stepped over quietly until reached the door. She listened in closely until she was sure nobody was home. She stepped inside, expecting with it’s silence that nobody was there. However, she was quickly wronged. “Well, about time they send someone to make sure I’m dead.” She jumped upon hearing that voice. She turned to see Cult Race sitting in a chair a bottle of alcohol in his hand. “What are you doing here?” she quickly questioned as she grabbed out her gun. “Oh, it just you. No surprise that you are here.” She looked in shock, “What do you mean? And what are you doing here?” Cult Race took a drink from the alcohol, “You could say I’m faking my death. As for why you're here. It’s because Sunset wants to be here. Most likely fighting me.” “Look I know I’m connected to her, but it doesn’t work like that--” “Of course it works like that. You feel what she feels, you see what she see. It’s only reason he resurrected your corpse.” The Red Biker aimed her gun right at him, “Maybe I should finish what those other two could not?” “And that just her talking through you.” Cult Race cough as he stood up. These words angered the Red Biker as she tightened her grip on her gun as he walked toward her. “You think if you mourn for them, or maybe even avenge them, then you can maybe one day take her place.” The Red Biker’s eyes widened at his words as he stopped right in front of her. “Damn, I could laugh if I knew how. Face it, she will always be here and there is nothing you or my current employer can do about that. You want to replace her and he wants to take her power.” “Shut up,” the Red Biker finally spoke up. “I don’t know what he told you, but I’m not doing this to replace her, I’m doing this to take back the life she stole from me.” On those final words, she dropped the gun down went over to the next room and slammed the door behind her. Cult Race looked at the door for a moment before taking his leave upon hearing the shower water. He headed back into the forest to find another place to hide. Meanwhile, the Red Biker leaned her head over the sink as drops fell into the sink. She had turned on the shower water simply to block out the sound of her tears. “Damn it. The mission wasn’t meant to go like this. Oh, why does it hurt so much? I didn’t even know them,” she hit her fist on the sink. She slowly arose and looked at the mirror and face that it show. The longer she looked at that face the more her anger grew. “This is your fault!” she yelled at the reflection. Without even thinking, she pulled up her gun and aimed at her reflection. She stopped for a moment. This moment was very short lived as she unleashed all her firepower upon the mirror over and over. When she was done, there nothing left over the mirror, it was completely shattered. Yet now she was seeing multiples of her reflection. Seeing that she only made it worse, she began to laugh aloud. It wasn’t a laughter of joy, no matter how much she wanted it to be. Suddenly her laughter was stopped upon her arm rising on its own, “What are you planning Sunset?” she questioned as new thoughts entered her head. “Don’t you dare.” Her hand began moving her gun toward her head. “Stop it, you bitch. You will not end our life?” ****** Miles away, Sunset bit down on the object in her hand. The object that she had found in her car was a gun. She had finally snapped. She was in tears and the pain was too much. She just wanted it to end. She had no idea what about to happen miles away. Nor would she really care. She closed her eyes and ignored all around even the door to the bar opening. She bit down tighter feeling the trigger with her finger. Suddenly a rush of footsteps headed toward her, followed by a slap across the face as the gun was knocked out of her hand. She looked to her right and saw the most unlikely of creatures there to stop her. To her right was three all too familiar mares. “What are you three doing here?” ****** Back in the house in the Everfree Forest, the Red Biker caught her breath as she pulled her head away from the gun. Using what strength she had she pulled her arm down and dropped the gun. She jumped far from it as it hit the ground. She ran out the door and closed it behind her. She stood outside of the room, not even caring if Cult Race was still there. She stared at the door as her hand raised to the spot where the gun had been at. Her head was still cold from its touch. She fell after a moment. She slammed her fist on the ground several times, over and over until her fist began to bleed through her gloves. She was not angry at herself but at Sunset. The mare that was her enemy, her rival, but most of all her double. She stopped her fit of punches and fell to the ground. She pulled out her phone and dial a number. She hoped to hear a voice but was saddened by a voice mail. Once the message was done she hung up and dropped the phone to the side. She looked up to the ceiling, asking a question, “Why am I doing this to her? I’m hurting her. I’m hurting myself. I’m hurting the ones around her. I’m hurting the ones around me.” Suddenly the phone began to vibrate. She picked it up and looked at the caller id. “I’m sorry, I didn’t listen to you Adagio. I want to stay alive, but this is not a worthy price.” She placed the phone near her head, “Hello--” However, she was stopped from answering as the ceiling was ripped out open above her head. A piece of wood fell and knocked her phone out of her hand. Her eyes widened upon she saw through the hole in the roof. She tried to react but the being she saw moved as fast as Cult Race could, instantly grabbing her by the throat. She struggled to get free or possibly even reach her phone. The being that held her down was clearly a pony as seen from his ears and face. “Are you my target?” he leaned in closer, but he stopped just a mere inch from her face and pulled back. “No, you are not Sunset Shimmer.” Her eyes widened and she spoke up as he loosened his grip. “I am Sunset Shimmer. I have always been Sunset Shimmer.” She had spoken the truth that had been in her heart for so long. He leaned back in with his cold black eyes, “But you are not the Sunset Shimmer I am after. I am after the pony Sunset Shimmer, you are the human Sunset Shimmer.” On those final words, he was gone. ******* Miles away, happening at the exact moment of the phone call, Adagio Dazzle put down her phone and looked toward her sisters as they sat beside the pony Sunset Shimmer. Aria had the gun in her hands and she was holding onto it tightly. Sonata was simply twisting stuff on the table. Adagio took a breath and walked over to Sunset and asked, “What were you thinking of doing with that gun?” “I wanted to end this with the gun that I….” Sunset stopped and looked. “Why does it matter to you three? What are you three even doing here?” Adagio didn’t want to answer, and Aria didn’t care to answer, so Sonata did. “We are here because we were worried about the owner of that necklace.” Sunset looked at her confused, “Wait you know who originally owned this.” Her hand rose up to the necklace as she clutched it, curious for more information. “Could you please tell who the owner is or maybe where they got it from?” Adagio rose her hands up in front of her face as she answered, “We can’t tell you her name, but we can tell you where she got it.” “Really?!” Sunset turned to face her but stopped upon seeing her face. Adagio looked around and then up to the sky through the window. “She told me, that she received it in a pamphlet with a message. The message said to follow you wherever you went.” Sunset’s eyes widen, “That why I have been having visions.” “Yes the gem has the ability to create visions.” Sunset waved her head back and forth. “No, they are not just visions. I just found out, that when these ‘visions’ happen, the seer is actually there.” “I see. Well, we only knew so little on the gem in the first place.” Sunset grabbed her hand tightly. “Please tell everything you know about it.” Adagio took a breath and tried to remember back. It was quite a ways back in her life. She looked outside and then got up. How about we go for a walk first and I will tell you everything that I can.” ****** Several miles away, Flash drove in his car. He wanted to get away from Sunset. He was mad, but more at himself. What he said was ahead of what he meant. He was filled anger, but regret was slowly surfacing. Suddenly he received a phone call. He pulled out his phone and pulled over. He looked the caller id and his eyes widened slightly. The number was Police Chief Sombra. He answered, “Why are you calling me sir? I don’t have a job no more.” “If I wanted you to do something on the books, I would have used the radio on your car.” Flash blinked twice, “How do you know I’m in my car.” “That not important. I need to head to the bar on 8th street.” “What will I find there?” “I’m not sure. My contacts say that something big will be happening.” He hung up before Flash could give a final answer back. Flash put up his phone and looked out to the road. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but he was still an officer even if he didn’t have his badge. Pulling back onto the road he drove as fast as he could to that bar ****** Meanwhile, the police chief put down his phone and looked to the small video monitor in front of him. “You better be right Dr. Pr. Halo.” “I know what I saw,” Dr. Pr. Halo assured him as he coughed. “The target will most likely go after the pony Sunset. And if I’m right, Flash will need to be there.” “Fine.” Sombra turned the monitor off. He took a breath and looked upward. After a moment he stood up and walked over to his wall of books. He pulled a certain book hidden between two. The bookshelf opened up showing something on the other side. “But he won’t be out there alone. ****** Later Adagio, Sunset, Sonata and Aria walked down the edge of the road and the Sun went down. Once it was down, Adagio took a breath and spoke, “Long ago when we lived in Equestria, or should I say the land that would one day become Equestria, there was a legend of a yellow gem. The gem has two sides. One side can see into the past, the other side can see into the future. From what we were able to gather is that the gem somehow found it’s way to this world and was split into two half pieces. Each one containing only half the power of the whole, yet they are always connected with each other.” “This still doesn’t explain why I was the one affected.” “That because….” Adagio stopped herself. She wanted to keep that part a secret for as long as possible. “That part is not the important part. The important part is the gem works best when the user is in contact with someone, or somepony.” “Wait a minute.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “My first vision I was with Twilight. Then my second vision, I was near Starlight. But my third, I don’t know who was nearby.” “It doesn't have to be full contact, it can emotional too.” Sunset tried to think what else it could have been. The third vision had been the shattering of the Moon. She needed to know who was she in contact with at that moment. Even worse was the very last vision. The vision of a pony in a lab being brought back from the…… Without warning, she stopped and her face went pale. “But if you are right about these vision, then, the very last vision I had before the funeral was when I was with Flash--” Instantly Sunset was stopped as something fell from the sky and crash her right into a wall. The crash kicked up dust in all directions. The sirens coughed as the dust temporarily blinded them. Sunset felt pressure on her neck as someone lifted her into the air. Or should be said somepony as seen from his large yellow wings as they swung back and forth, pushing the dust away and revealing to all who he was. All eyes widened at the most shocking thing of all. “It can’t be…. Flash Sentry.” The pony, the pegasus, the loyal guard, Flash Sentry. He stood tall upon her words. He held her close and looked deep into her eyes with his pitch black ones. “The pony known as Flash Sentry died years ago. I am the Void and I’m here to bring you to the Fine Gentleman by direct order of Queen Elisus Lunea Lumen.” ******
Chapter 12: Freedom Of DeathSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.