Bards of the Badlands

Chapters

The Initiative
The Players
The Tavern
The Brawl
The Ambush
The Badlands
The Bards

The Initiative

Thunk.

Garnet Dawn nearly fell to the floor of the carriage as a hard bump knocked her from the depths of sleep. She groaned and blinked her weary eyes open. The cabin’s lanterns had sputtered out hours ago and the chill of the wilderness had crept into the lonely carriage.

Thunk.

This time, Garnet did land with a yelp on the hard wooden floor of the carriage. The smell of old timbers and slightly musty upholstery filled her nostrils as she picked herself up and looked out the window.

The sickly scrub and wretched trees that tenaciously clung to life at the edges of the Badlands lurked beyond the dark mist that hovered over the earth. The twisting terrain was dimly lit by the stars spotting the black heavens above. Only the stale runoff from the Elderfields River carried any life to this desolate place and even then, it was but a pale imitation of the real thing.

As they turned a bend on the all-but-forgotten road, the orange and rose unicorn beheld her destination. It wasn’t a wondrous place. Far from it.

But it is, perhaps, a beginning.

Since the accusations, all the other so-called beginnings had turned out to be just painful ends.

She was tired of those. More than anything, Garnet needed a real new beginning.

Still, Elderfields didn’t look like a place for such things. Calling it a city would be giving it too much credit. It was little more than a village with delusions of townhood. The place crouched on the horizon, illuminated by a few watchtowers that stood sentinel on the Badlands side of the village, while any other light was lost in the murky haze rising from the dank Elderfields River.

Still, there was something about the village. Something cold. As if things waited for her in the mist. Unpleasant things. Dark things. Things of shadow. Things of nightmares.

She shook herself and pushed away the dark thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for doubt.

Thunk.

Garnet pulled her eyes from the village and down to the note. With a simple application of magic, her horn lit up and illuminated the message.

It was little more than a scrap, hurriedly copied from a bounty board outside the last nameless town she had managed to escape. A single chance to maybe, just maybe, clear her name.

It was worth a shot.

After all, she was alone. The only ally she had was miles away. And while that stung, she was determined to carry on in her absence. She could do no less.

Honor would demand nothing less. And while the world may have ripped many things from her… she still had a little of that left.

Thunk.

If only a little.

Sunset Shimmer ripped her gaze from the bookshelf and returned to staring out the window. Outside, the summer sun blazed down on the sparkling city of Canterlot. Every golden spire and ivory dome gleamed. Even the small lakes, rivers and the castle moat reflected the cloudless sky and the great glowing ball of fire above.

Still, Sunset found it hard to appreciate the view.

From here, she could see a few leftover banners from the Summer Sun Celebration, though they should have been taken down a month ago. And every banner was a reminder.

She slumped to the floor again and just stared at a forgotten flag on a house not too far from her apartment.

“Really?” Moon Dancer squealed after Sunset had finished speaking. “You… you want to spend the Summer Sun Celebration with me? And… and you want to take me on a tour of… of… the castle?”

Moon Dancer’s squeal upon seeing the Hall of History had left Sunset half-deaf until she remembered the right healing spell. At least the other unicorn had managed to be quiet enough not to damage any windows when they visited the Castle Archives, the smaller version of the Royal Canterlot Archives. Even then, it was a miracle old Scrollwork hadn’t thrown them out on their tails.

She’d even introduced Moon Dancer to Philomena, who had spent the next hour showing off for the younger filly until Moon Dancer had actually fell over trying to keep track of the phoenix’s acrobatics.

But more than anything, it was seeing Princess Celestia once more that had made Moon Dancer’s day. Sunset had found herself smiling as Moony pranced around the white alicorn in delirious glee while they visited her in the West Garden. Sunset had even swiped a few of the Princess’s precious Moon Lanterns for them to snack on as they watched Celestia raise the sun from a small rise in the garden.

That was a good day, Sunset thought with a sigh. I can’t remember the last time I actually had fun with somepony.

She’d had fun with Celestia before. And by herself, of course. But when she had been with Moon Dancer… it was different in a way she couldn’t describe.

You can describe it just fine, groused a voice in the back of her head. You just don’t want to.

Sunset wasn’t about to get into another argument with what she now called her ‘angry little pony.’ She had decided giving a voice inside her head an actual name was a surefire way to end up in a straightjacket.

Still, it had a point. It was the same point Celestia had spent a very long time trying to get into Sunset’s head. Only now did she realize the truth behind it.

I have a friend. And I really enjoyed spending time with her.

Sunset’s eyes moved from the forgotten flag to the eastern horizon. She couldn’t see anything, of course, but every time she looked out the window, her eyes had been drawn in that direction.

And now my friend is spending the next two months in Trottingham with her parents.

Sunset poked at a crumpled scroll. It rolled away until it stopped against one of the dozens of stacks of books scattered throughout her living room.

“This is so not fair. I finally actually want to spend time with another pony… and now she’s halfway across the Celestial Sea on the Griffish Isles.”

With a sigh, she dragged herself to her hooves and wandered over to her desk. Almost by reflex, she reached down and picked up an amber griffon feather from its small stand. It looked just as it did when Professor Polish had painfully plucked it from her transfigured body during Finals Week. After Dean Slate had used it to try and frame her, Polish had returned it to her after a thorough disenchanting and preservation treatment. The same day, the Princess had reinforced it with a stasis spell. It remained perfect, as expected.

Moon Dancer’s cutie mark was now carved into the quill. It was almost too small to see, but Sunset knew where to look. After all, it was just above her own mark.

Where once the feather had been used as a tool for her greatest defeat, now it was a reminder she wasn’t alone.

It didn’t help much right now.

“Because right now, I am alone,” Sunset muttered.

Once upon a time, that didn’t matter.

She flopped down on her couch and stared at the ruin of her apartment. It was too hot to go out and do anything, so she’d been rummaging through her store rooms and pulling out pieces of old projects, samples of half-forgotten experiments, or anything else that caught her eye. Since she was as prepared as she was going to get for her exams this Friday with the Princess, she’d been wasting time watching old documentaries on the history of the Everfree Forest.

She’d already read everything she owned. Again.

You could always go see your parents…

“Nope!” Sunset shouted. “Not happening!”

They’d help you!

“I don’t need any help. At least, not any help they would give me! Now go away!” With that, she shoved the angry little pony into a cage at the back of her mind.

Sunset looked up and stared at her reflection in the hourglass.

“Dammit. Moon Dancer’s been gone for just a little while, and I’m already talking to myself.”

Uh, you’ve been talking to yourself since halfway through finals week.

Didn’t I just lock you up? Sunset demanded.

Yeah, haven’t you figured out yet that you aren’t getting rid of me? You should be happy. It means that you aren’t really alone!

She buried her head in her pillow and let out a little scream. It helped. A little.

Garnet flipped a ten-bit piece to the carriage driver, a dark grey hulking mass of a stallion that looked like he had some yak blood in him. The stallion caught it in his teeth, bit down hard for a moment, then the bit vanished faster than any unicorn magic she’d ever seen. There was a glint in the stallion’s eye as he looked down at her. Instinctively, Garnet pulled her hooded cloak around her.

“Anything else, young miss?” the stallion rumbled.

She steeled herself. She wasn’t some cowering peasant. She was a sorceress, gifted in the ability to guide the Wild Magic of the world. “Another ten-bit piece if you forget you ever saw me. And if it is wasted, I will know.”

The stallion considered her for a moment before a grin broke out on his muzzle. Pearly-white teeth shone in the mist-shrouded torchlight outside the gate house of Elderfields.

“Done, young miss. Ain’t nobody to tell, anyhow. This far out, nopony cares where yer from or where ye be headin’.”

“Then it’s a simple promise to keep,” Garnet said as she threw him another piece. This vanished even faster than the first. “And considering what I paid you up front… I think I’ve given all I owed.”

“And then some, young miss. I’ll leave ya to yer business now. Ain’t plannin’ on stayin’ in this Goddess-forsaken land a moment longer than I got to.”

Garnet didn’t say anything. She just shrugged and turned toward the gatehouse. In few moments, she heard the creak of wheels and the pounding of hooves as her transportation left her behind.

As the chill began to seep through her cloak, she tightened it around herself and approached the gate guard. He was the typical fare. A bunch of metal pieces strapped to various parts of his body, a spear and an expression that showed how little he cared about anything.

“I request passage,” Garnet said curtly.

“Wait ‘till dawn,” the guard snapped. “Too much trouble to open the gates this late at night, just for a little slip of a mare.”

“I’ve come to help with your lost bards,” Garnet snapped. “I do not seek to cause trouble in your town, only to meet with others and depart in all haste.”

The guard lifted his helmet and stared at her for a moment.

“You?” he laughed. “And what’s a little runt like you going to do? If you haven’t heard, fifty of ‘em are just gone.”

Garnet had had enough. She didn’t have much dignity left, but it wasn’t all dead. She spoke a word and in an instant, a gout of flame appeared between them. The guard staggered backward as Eoana took her flame-wreathed form and let out a loud screech in his face. Then, with a few gentle flaps of the disguised hawk’s wings, Eoana perched herself on Garnet’s back.

“Any other foalish questions?”

“No, ma’am!” the guard squeaked as he turned and pounded on the gate. “Open the gates and be quick about it!”

There must have been something in his voice, because nopony protested on the other side. Instead, Garnet heard the sound of cranking gears and stretching rope as the gate of Elderfields opened before her.

“Thank you ever so much for your time,” Garnet said in her sweetest voice, before turning, snapping her tail at his nose and marching into the slumbering village.

Eoana let out another screech as the gate began to close.

Sunset caught herself staring at the bookshelf again when a faint buzzing from somewhere beneath the mess of her desk yanked her back to the real world. With a flare of magic, Sunset floated over the journal emblazoned with her cutie mark out from under a mass of alembics and test tubes. It hummed, sending waves of bright pink light shining through the dusty air.

I’ve got to clean up in here. Later.

The buzzing and glowing stopped as Sunset opened the book and found Celestia’s gentle script tracing itself over the pages of her journal.

Dearest Sunset,

I’m afraid I will need to cancel the rest of the week’s lessons. There’s been an incursion by a rogue dragon into griffon lands and the Griffon Ambassador has requested my direct intervention in the matter. I doubt it will take much longer than a week. I have had prior dealings with this dragon, and the most difficult part will be finding her. After that, I expect things will go quite smoothly. After all, dragons respect strength above all else, and you of all ponies know what I am capable of.

Sunset smirked a little. After the incident with the visiting nobility from—ironically—the Griffish Isles from a few days ago, Sunset had a new respect for the Princess’s diplomatic skills. Especially the skills that didn’t use words.

I am truly sorry. I know you are missing Moon Dancer. I would have you accompany me, but the journey is quite long and I will be doing a great deal of flying. Still, I am certain you will find some way to occupy your time. I would recommend simply allowing yourself to be open to whatever opportunities present themselves.

You may be surprised what unexpected events can teach you.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia.

Sunset tossed the book on the floor with a groan and buried her head in the pillow again.

“Stupid dragon,” Sunset growled. “Ruining my week by stealing the Princess. What in Tartarus am I supposed to do now?”

As if in response, somepony knocked on her door.

Sunset blinked in surprise. After a moment’s consideration, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the journal.

“This is your doing, isn’t it?” Sunset asked the journal. The journal didn’t respond, but Sunset could have sworn it looked smug.

As much as an inanimate object that had no physical similarity to a pony could look smug.

With a sigh, she trotted through the accumulated junk and headed down into the foyer as a hoof eagerly pounded on her front door again.

Night had settled into Elderfields like an unwanted houseguest. A cloying mist stuck to the streets, seeping up from the thick river that wandered through the heart of the village. Shadows darted left and right through the fog, but Garnet Dawn paid them little heed. Despite the doubts nibbling on her mind, there was no reason anypony would look for her here. Even then, she knew this was a bad idea when she turned a corner and saw her destination.

Garnet stared at the grubby tavern with a frown.

Why do bounties that involve others always start in a tavern anyway? What was with that? There were other places ponies could meet, even in a dinky little village like Elderfields. Libraries! Cafes! Meeting Houses!

“This is a bad idea,” the unicorn muttered to herself. “This is such a stupidly bad idea.”

A part of her just wanted to continue through the town and disappear into the Badlands. It was only a small part, but it was loud in her mind.

Still, she trotted forward and pointedly ignored the stares of the townsponies around her. This was probably her last chance to clear her name and not end her days as some strange hermit living… well, living in the Badlands, most likely.

She threw up her hood and made sure her face was sufficiently in shadow. After all, even if this was a bad idea, making a proper entrance was always a good idea.

Sunset froze a second before pulling open the door when she heard the cry from outside.

“What?! Why?!”

She knew the voice, but couldn’t quite place it. However, she did recognize the next voice.

“Short answer, because it’s the right thing to do.”

Sunset threw open the door and stared at the grinning face of the blue unicorn with a white and navy mane and tail. It was hard not to stare at her, because she was filling up the entire space where her door had been mere seconds before.

“Yowza, Sunny, nice place you got here!” Minuette chirped. “Being the personal student of the Princess sure has perks!”

“What—” Sunset tried, but Minuette ran right over her.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a couple friends over. Trust me, we promise to make the day much more interesting.”

Sunset finally rallied.

“One: don’t call me Sunny,” Sunset stated in a voice that could have carved stone. “Two: who’s ‘we?’”

Minuette scooted out of the way to reveal an ivory-coated unicorn with a pink mane and tail. It took only a moment for Sunset to recognize her from Professor Polish’s class.

“Twinkleshine?” Sunset asked, shaking her head. “I don’t—”

“Oh, stop hiding!” Minuette said as she glanced at one of the tall hedges around Sunset’s home. “Come on out, silly!”

Sunset froze again as a third unicorn appeared. She had yellow coat, a light blue mane and a matching light blue tail. And she was glaring daggers at Sunset. If looks could kill, this one would have leveled several towns.

“You remember Lemon Hearts, right?” Minuette said from a few feet and a few hundred miles away.

“It’s nothing personal,” Sunset said with the smallest of smiles. “It’s simply what’s necessary. I have a destiny, Lemon Hearts. You just got underhoof.”

“H-how could you… after… I just…” The sobbing pony stared at her, tears streaming from her raspberry eyes. “After… we… you just used me… you knew and you used him against me…”

“Yes. I did.” Sunset shrugged. “It’s how the game is played. If it’s any consolation… take this as another lesson, Lemon Hearts. A lesson in the proper application of power.”

Sunset walked out of the room, leaving the sobbing pony behind. The small smile never faded from her muzzle.

“Yeah,” Sunset murmured. “I remember.”

“How nice.” Lemon Heart’s voice dripped acid. “Minuette, I did not agree to this.”

“You agreed to play O&O with us in exchange for double your usual order of apple turnovers.”

“You didn’t say anything about her!” Lemon Hearts stabbed a hoof at Sunset.

Sunset flinched.

A year ago, you wouldn’t have.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset said quickly as she moved to close the door. “But I’m very busy today. You’ll need to come back… um… well, never.”

Before she could get the door closed, Minuette got a hoof in. Her smile never faded.

“I’m sorry, Sunny.” Sunset twitched again. “But I’m under royal orders from the Princess herself. I am sworn to a sacred duty that I cannot… nay, will not shirk!”

Minuette looked up to something Sunset couldn’t see.

“What are you looking at?” Sunset grumbled.

“Melodrama!” Minuette proclaimed. “But never mind! What matters is we are here on a mission of utmost importance. And I am under instructions from Princess Celestia that I am to use any and all means—and ponies—” She smiled at Lemon Hearts. “I deem fit in the execution of my duties!”

Sunset had a really bad feeling about this.

“And just… what are these ‘royal duties?’”

“Why, to cheer you up, of course!” Minuette chirped. “We’re all here for that!”

Sunset looked at Twinkleshine, who just shrugged noncommittally. Lemon Hearts on the other hoof…

Lemon Hearts turned her blistering glare towards Minuette.

“You’re crazy,” Sunset said.

“You’re not the first pony to call me that!” Minuette said happily, her grin never faltering.

“Won’t be the last either,” Lemon Hearts muttered.

“Minuette, this isn’t a good time, I’m in the middle of—”

“—Being interrupted by your friends!”

“‘Friends?’” Lemon Hearts stage-whispered to Twinkleshine. “I don’t think so.”

Twinkleshine shrugged again.

“You can’t just canter in here and—”

“When I got an official letter from the Princess, I can!” Minuette said as she revealed a scroll with a broken seal bearing the Solar Sigil. “Now, are you gonna let us in, or am I going to have to get creative?

Now that sounded ominous.

“There’s no way I’m getting rid of you, is there?”

“Not in a million years.” Minuette said. Not once had her smile faltered.

“Then at least tell me how you intend to cheer me up.”

“Easy!” Minuette said in that sugary chirp Sunset was really beginning to hate. With a flash of magic, she pulled a book out from one of her bulging saddlebags and showed it to Sunset.

On the top of the book depicting a massive hydra was the title Ogres and Oubliettes. Across the middle of the cover were the words Bards of the Badlands.

“You’re kidding. You’re kidding, right?”

Minuette shook her head. “Nope!”

“And the Princess ordered you to do it?”

“Yup!”

“Ordered you?”

“Uh-huh!”

Sunset sighed. She could have demanded to see the letter, but there wasn’t much point. Minuette didn’t seem the type to pull something like this on her own. And this had Celestia’s hoofprints all over it. The specter of Moon Dancer loomed over this little invasion, too.

For just a moment, Sunset felt her mask slip.

Moon Dancer got Princess Celestia to send Minuette here just to cheer me up?

“Oh… fine!” Sunset finally shouted. “Get in here.”

“Trust me, Sunny—” Twitch. “You’re going to love this! I’ve got an epic adventure planned for us.”

Sunset moved aside and Minuette pranced through the door. Twinkleshine wandered through at a leisurely stroll and rolled her eyes at Minuette. Lemon Hearts didn’t even bother looking at her. It was just as well. Sunset was pretty sure that glare could vaporize at close range.

Princess Celestia and my only friend are conspiring against me.

I’m doomed.

Author's Note

I’m doomed.

Low R2D2 whistle - Ebon Quill

Pretty much sums it up, eh? :twilightsmile:

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Players

Garnet stepped inside the tavern, making sure her cloak didn’t catch on the old wood of the door. Like most taverns, it smelled of unwashed ponies and spilled cider. However, most taverns’ rafters shook with some terrible bard belting out songs that no sober pony would ever want to hear.

Which was probably why taverns employed them. After all, it drove ponies deeper into a cider-induced stupor, which kept the bits rolling into coffers.

But this place was oddly subdued. The lights were too low. No music was playing. Conversation was more whispers than boisterous boasts. She’d been to these kinds of taverns before. They were usually full of dark and brooding characters who thought they were edgy but instead were merely trite and boring.

Except the patrons here seemed… well, normal for lack of a better term. And yet… there was something missing from their eyes as they glanced at her with uninterested expressions. Each of them was perhaps a bit more gaunt or a bit more pale than they ought to be. The sheer near-normalcy of the tavern unnerved her.

She tucked her rose mane securely under her hood as she trotted forward and searched the grim gathering of ponies for those described in the note.

As the other three unicorns waited in her foyer, Sunset dove into the main sitting room and started tossing things aside. Books, bedding, boxes and barrels floated around the room as she dug the table out from under the projector she had ‘borrowed’ from the Castle Archives last year.

She just hadn’t gotten around to returning it yet.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

Finally, she managed to pull the clunky box from between a chair, a dusty alchemy set and one of her old telescopes. She had intended to clean it and try to stargaze in the warm evening air, but seeing how much repair it needed had just made the whole thing seem like an exercise in—

She yelped as she lost her balance and crashed to the floor in a cloud of dust.

“Sunny?” came Minuette’s concerned call from the entryway.

“Fine!” Sunset coughed. She was so busy coughing she couldn’t react to that stupid nickname. “Just fine! Just… tripped! On dust! On a box. On a chair! I’ll be back in a couple minutes. Just need to… freshen up!”

Sunset tossed the giant box containing all the projector equipment near the window, snatched up everything else she could grab in her magic, and thrust it into a closet. For a moment, she wished she was better at organizing.

Then I’d just have to concentrate, and they’d sort themselves into their proper places. Instead, I have to—

With a grunt and a sneeze, she shoved the mass of stuff deeper into the closet. There was a faint tinkling sound from deep within the pile.

Sunset winced and hoped that wasn’t anything too expensive.

Once she was sure the door wasn’t going to burst open under the pressure differential, she darted into the bathroom, and locked the door with another cough.

After hacking up a few more lungfuls of dust, Sunset started the water in the sink and tried to wash the dirt from her hooves. She scrubbed with her magic and tried to get herself clean. All she could manage was a muddy amber coat with something resembling mottled gray socks over her forelegs.

Finally, she turned off the faucet, drained the brown water and stared up into the reflection of a somewhat panicked-looking amber unicorn with a few streaks of dust in her red and gold mane.

“What am I doing?” Sunset asked her reflection. “Why did I even let them in here?”

Because you’re so blasted lonely that you’ll take just about anything. You don’t want to admit how depressed you are after Moon Dancer went off with her parents. And now with Celestia off in Griffonstone…

“Wow, you’re not pulling punches today,” she growled.

Not really my style.

“So, which one are you?”

We went through this a few months ago, Sunset, the voice sighed, though she noticed it was without the annoyance and ever-growing anger that other part of her showed. We’re all you. If you really want to talk to her though…

“Nope!” Sunset shouted far too loudly. “Nope! Don’t need any more comments from her today!”

She let out an explosive sigh and rested her head against the mirror.

“I have got to be out of my mind. I can’t play some quill-and-parchment game with them. Lemon Hearts obviously still hates me, Twinkleshine doesn’t care, and Minuette… well, Minuette’s just crazy. Even if it was just Minuette, playing O&O with only one other pony is just stupid.”

Even though you’ve actually always wa—

“No!” Sunset yelled. “I’m not doing it! And that’s final!”

Who are you trying to convince, here?

“I miss the days when I could go a whole week without actually talking to myself.”

It’s no picnic for me, either. The conversation’s so… one-sided.

Sunset shot herself a glare, which was about as effective as she expected. After another sigh, she took a washcloth and tried one more time to get the grime off. Thirty seconds later, she threw it over the shower railing in disgust, unlocked the door and opened it.

“Hiya!”

“Gah!” Sunset yelped and stumbled backward, landing hard into her bathtub.

A blue pony stood in the doorway, a gleaming grin on her muzzle. After a moment, she recognized the form as one of her ‘guests.’ “What… Minuette… what?”

Minuette shrugged as she trotted forward. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you. I just heard voices and wanted to know if you had somepony else over. They could play with us! But I did think it would be weird they were hiding in your bathroom. Are they? Because bigger groups always make O&O more fun!”

Sunset gritted her teeth, glaring at the blue unicorn from the bathtub. “Ow.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She held out a hoof. After a long moment, Sunset grabbed it and hauled herself back to her hooves.

She doesn’t look very sorry. At all.

“So who were you talking to?”

“Myself,” Sunset muttered as she opened up the medicine cabinet and pulled out a couple strips of willow bark from a small canister. She filled a cup of water, chewed the bark, and swallowed the mixture. “I do that sometimes. So I can be sure I have an intelligent conversation once in a while.”

“Well, that’s just silly,” Minuette informed her. “After all, there are plenty of ponies around you can have intelligent conversations with!”

Sunset stared at Minuette.

Is she just that dense, or is she a master at ignoring sarcasm?

Sunset’s eyes narrowed.

Even odds to both.

“Right.”

“So, nopony else around?”

“Nope.”

“Oh well!” Minuette shrugged. “I assume that giant dusty box of dust out there goes in the dusty store room. Need a hoof getting it there intact?”

“Nope!” Sunset squeaked and coughed a few times. “Not at all. I’ll handle everything.”

Some part of her facehoofed. She ignored that part. That part was a jerk.

Without thinking about it, Sunset’s horn flared and she appeared in a flash on the other side of Minuette. She wobbled a little before catching herself as Minuette spun to face her.

“You could have just asked me to move,” Minuette pointed out, her endless cheer dimming just a bit. “Just saying.”

“Didn’t want to be a bother!” Sunset replied with a grin, blinking a few times to clear the spots from her eyes. “Just… go on downstairs. I’ll be down in a bit.”

“Hey there, little missy,” hiccuped a scrawny unicorn from a bar stool nearby. “Lookin’ fer somepony t’ share some cider with?”

Garnet barely afforded the drunk a glance before she rolled her eyes and sighed as a bit of her mane slipped from beneath her cowl. “No.”

“Aw, come on!” the unicorn cried. “Don’t be like that!”

Garnet ignored him and scanned the crowd. The lighting was so dim in here she could barely see.

How do ponies operate like this? Even the worst bar in Marewinter wouldn’t dare to look this run down.

“Listen now, ya got a pretty mane.” The unicorn had gotten off his stool and was now wandering in her general direction. “Reminds me of an ol’ flame. I really liked her mane.”

“How nice,” Garnet growled, wondering if it had been wise to let Eoana rest for a short time. Finally, her eyes lit on something promising.

In the far corner, under a flickering lantern, sat a pegasus, a—Goddess, why?—batpony and, to her complete shock, a deer.

What in the world could have brought a deer out of her forests into pony lands?
Most importantly, the pegasus had a large mug next to her with a bright blue cloth wrapped around the grip, facing outward so it was clearly visible to the room.

Finally, the sign. Now let’s get this—

Garnet froze when she felt a hoof on her flank.

“Right on over here...” the drunk slurred. “I just wanna share a drink wi’ ya. Then we’ll just let one thin’ lead to another and find out—hic!—what happens next.”

It took every ounce of self-control not to burn the offending hoof into ashes. Instead, Garnet pasted a sweet smile onto her muzzle and turned to face the drunk. She blinked at the scent of him. Whatever he’d been drinking, she doubted it qualified as cider in her book.

“You would like to know what happens next, hm?” Garnet said in her softest voice.

A few nearby—and more importantly, slightly more sober—patrons suddenly decided they had pressing engagements elsewhere. Or at least far enough away as to not get caught up in the coming festivities.

“Oh yeah,” the drunk said with a grin. “That sounds fun.”

There were a thousand and one things she could do to the idiot. She could unleash the fury of Chaos on the helpless oaf. Burn off his mane. Transfigure him into a rabbit. Have him doing the foxtrot for the next three days straight. Go confess his undying love to the closest rat king. But in the end, that was the same sort of thing that had forced her to this Goddess-forsaken place.

What’s more… it was the kind of thing that kept her alone. And that realization… that was more bitter than any cider.

“Do yourself a favor,” Garnet muttered. “Go home.”

“Now, listen here, little missy,” the unicorn said, shoving himself up into her face. She almost choked on his breath. “I aim t’ have a pretty girl drinkin’ wi’ me tonight. And I aim fer tha’ girl t’ be ya, since yer pretty wi’ that pretty mane.”

“Your aim is far from the mark.”

The drunk reached out and grabbed Garnet’s right forehoof. Instinct overrode wisdom and it was only by sheer luck that the idiot didn’t get something worse than the telekinetic bolt of power that tore out of Garnet. The drunk was in the air for a good five seconds before crashing against the far wall. He looked up at her with a dumbfounded expression, eyes rolling back in his head before he keeled over backward and promptly started snoring.

Dead silence reigned in the tavern as she felt the eye of everypony on her.

Finally, a nervous little barkeep came out from behind the bar with a small wooden platter and a large mug of cider.

“On the house, young miss,” the barkeep said in a tiny, wavering voice. “Old Docker’s a right foal when he’s had a few too many. You ain’t the first to send him flyin’. Doubt you’ll be the last. Please, accept my apologies for his lack o’ manners. He didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

Garnet’s instincts flared up. She’d been to enough inns and taverns to know if she rejected this little peace offering, the clientele of the establishment might take offense. Which wouldn’t end well for her.

So, she lifted the mug with her telekinesis and mimed a sip. She nodded at the barkeep and a collective sigh washed through the room.

“Thank you kindly, young miss,” the barkeep replied as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “You need anything tonight, you just let me know. Old Docker’s covering your tab, though he don’t know it yet.”

Garnet cracked a small smile and nodded in reply. The barkeep wandered back to his bar and Garnet glanced over to the table with the pegasus, the batpony and the deer. All three were staring at her.

Time to get this over with.

Garnet checked the mug for any sort of taint, found nothing and took a pull. She smacked her lips. Surprisingly, it wasn’t half bad.

She still needed another swig before she got her hooves moving toward the table.

The final crash was enough to send Sunset scampering from what had once been a guest bedroom. With a quick flash of magic, she slammed the door closed and took in a deep breath… which immediately prompted another coughing fit. After it finally subsided, she peered over the balcony railing onto the first floor.

To her utter shock, she saw Minuette happily sweeping while humming some bizarre little tune about sweeping. Twinkleshine was tidying up her dining room table and setting up chairs around it. Even Lemon Hearts was in on it. Sunset watched as the yellow unicorn assembled some sort of dire dust bunny before chucking it into a trashcan with a savage throw of her magic.

Sunset wasn’t sure how long she stood there, watching three ponies she didn’t even know clean her house. She stared open-mouthed as they did a really good job of it. Before Sunset knew it, the living room looked cleaner than it had all summer. A few moments later, Sunset finally snapped out of her reverie just as Minuette began to unpack her saddlebags to set up an O&O game.

“What…” Sunset managed to finally say as she wandered down the stairs, trying to look everywhere at once. “What… what are you doing?”

Minuette looked up at her with a smile. “Why, setting things up, of course! Being helpful! That’s what friends do!”

“She keeps using that word,” Lemon Hearts grumbled. “I do not think it means what she thinks it means.”

Though it hurt to admit it, Sunset had to agree with Lemon Hearts. Minuette’s words just… didn’t make sense.

“Why?” Sunset demanded, staring at the blue unicorn suspiciously. “I didn’t do anything for you.”

Minuette cocked her head. “So?”

Sunset blinked, feeling as if somepony was screwing with a gravity spell. “That… that’s not how things work!”

“You’ve lost me, Sunny.”

A pounding started to grow in her skull, directly on her left temple as she rubbed her eyes, trying to process what was happening. “I didn’t do anything for you. Why are you doing something for me? I understand why you’re here, you’re helping Moon Dancer and the Princess. You were asked and ordered to do that. But… I’m sure neither of them told you to help clean up my house.”

“They didn’t need to ask, just like you didn’t need to do anything. You needed help. We helped. It’s that simple.”

“No, it’s not!” Sunset shouted, slamming her hoof down on the bottom stair. “That’s not how the world works!”

“You said that already.”

“Ponies don’t just do things randomly for other ponies,” Sunset stated. “The only reason Moon Dancer stood up for me was to repay me for what I did for her throughout the year and—”

Minuette’s jaw dropped. “You don’t… you can’t actually believe that?”

Sunset blinked, nonplussed. “Yeah… of… course…”

That… but that doesn’t make sense. Then why did I take her to see the Princess? The Hall of History? Why’d I steal some Moon Lanterns for her? Okay, yes, it could be stated that I did that in repayment of the debt I owed her for saving me from Slate. But… that doesn’t seem right.

“You don’t, do you?” Minuette asked quietly as she walked toward Sunset. Some part of her distantly noticed Minuette was approaching her like somepony would approach a terrified animal. “At least… not fully.”

“But… that’s what I’ve seen… that’s how the entire nobility works. That’s how business works. Supply and demand. Exchange. Barter.”

“We’re not talking about politics or economics, Sunny,” Minuette said. She was still smiling, but it was a small, comforting smile now. “We’re talking about friendship. Because I don’t think even you believe that your new friendship with Moon Dancer is anything as cold and dry as what you just described. Do you?”

Sunset stared at the floor before shaking her head.

“Then why is it so hard to believe that others might do similar things?”

“Because of what I did to you,” Sunset mumbled. “Shouldn’t I need to earn something like this?”

“Not for me,” Minuette said. Sunset could even hear her smile.

“You do for me. For us, I mean.”

Sunset looked up to see—shockingly—Lemon Hearts glaring at her.

“No, she doesn’t!” Minuette chirped in a voice a bit too cheerful. “After all, we’re all here to have fun! It’s game time!”

“Minuette, this is crazy.” Sunset shook her head. “Anyway, I, uh, I don’t do games.”

“Why not?”

“You’re annoyingly direct sometimes.”

“Thanks! Now, why doesn’t the great and powerful Sunset Shimmer do games?”

“Because…” Sunset’s mind raced as she tried to come up with some way to get these crazy ponies out of her house. “Because…”

Why do you want them out of your house?

“Because they’re a waste of time!” Sunset nearly shouted.

That’s just sad.

Sunset reflected how annoying it was when she couldn’t tell who was ‘talking’ in her head: that angry little pony or herself.

“That sounds a lot like the Sunset Shimmer I remember,” Lemon Hearts growled. “Too damn busy for anypony else.”

Something snapped inside Sunset as she rounded on Lemon Hearts.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Sunset growled. “You’re in my house and you’re just—”

Sunset stopped and took a long breath, forcing herself to get somewhere near the realm of calm. She didn’t really get there, but at least she could see it from where she ended up. If she squinted.

Well, squinted really hard.

Minuette hesitated before she stepped aside and let Sunset slowly approach Lemon Hearts. The yellow mare didn’t back down. Sunset could see her tensing, as if ready to actually get in a wrestling match or something. Sunset finally looked into the mare’s eyes. She couldn’t really tell what Lemon Hearts was thinking behind the anger. But in the end, maybe it didn’t matter.

Moon Dancer went first for me. So, I guess… it’s my turn?

It helped that Sunset knew exactly why Lemon Hearts hated her.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Green Fields.”

Lemon Hearts froze. “What?”

“Look, I knew you had a crush on him at the beginning of the year. You weren’t exactly subtle. But what I did and how I manipulated things to make him think of you more as a—” Lemon Hearts’s eyes flashed and Sunset waved a hoof. “Sorry, we… we don’t need specifics. For me… it was just another way of making sure I stayed in control. I needed to keep everypony divided. Keep the cliques in place. With everypony divided, nopony could stand up to me. And had the bonus of winning me the crown that year.”

“And that makes it right?” Lemon Hearts shouted.

“No!” Sunset cried. “No! That’s what I’m saying! I’m sorry! I was a total… I was a total jerk, okay?”

“Not the word I would use.”

“The Princess wants me to watch my swearing,” Sunset muttered. “Otherwise I have to put a bit into a stupid little swear jar.”
Lemon Hearts didn’t react to that, but Sunset was sure somepony in the room snorted.

“I can’t change what I did,” Sunset admitted. “But I can apologize. So that’s what I’m doing.”

“And you think that’s going to fix it?”

Sunset shrugged. “I don’t know. But I know that you and me yelling at each other isn’t going to help anything.”
Lemon Hearts clenched her jaw and tried to glare her into a small pile of ash. Sunset could only guess the yellow unicorn was trying to figure out if Sunset was being sincere or not.

Sunset just looked back at Lemon Hearts, forcing herself not to put on a mask. She forced herself to be sincere. She forced herself to keep that angry little pony in her head restrained.

That little pony was bucking hard at the restraints.

“No.”

“Lemon…” Minuette moaned.

“Don’t you ‘Lemon’ me, Minuette,” Lemon Hearts snarled. “Shimmer here needs to learn that words can’t fix everything. It takes more than words. And there aren’t enough words in the world to undo what happened that year.”

Sunset wasn’t quite sure how to react or what to think. She didn’t have a clue what to do. After all, Lemon Hearts was right. Sunset couldn’t just fix everything with a few words.

“Lemon Hearts,” Twinkleshine said, speaking up for the first time in what felt like hours. “Give her a chance.”

Lemon Hearts’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t look away from Sunset. “I don’t think so. She may have convinced the two of you she’s changed, but I’m not falling for it.”

Minuette let out a sigh and Sunset realized with a glance that her eternal smile had actually faded… and transformed into a frown. It was… unsettling to say the least.

“I’ll pack up your things then,” Minuette said as she picked up a small batpony figurine from the table.

“No.”

“What?” Twinkleshine said. “What do you mean ‘no.’”

“I mean no.” If anything, Lemon Hearts’s glare intensified. “I’m not leaving two of my best friends alone with Sunset Shimmer.”

“Lemon Hearts,” Minuette said patiently. “I’m going to be running an O&O game. Sunny—” Twitch. “—is going to be playing. You know you’re one of my closest friends, but I’m not going to have you just stalking around us as we try and play.”

“Oh, I’m going to play.” Lemon Hearts's voice was almost vicious. “I’m definitely going to play.”

Finally, Sunset found her voice. “Why?”

“Because I want to be here when you screw up, Shimmer. I want to be here when they realize what you really are.”

Sunset felt an odd twinge of déjà vu as a pair of cold, steel-gray eyes flashed in her memory.

“Great attitude, Lemon,” Twinkleshine groaned. “At least roleplaying your character will be easy.”

“I can roleplay Nightblossom at any time or any place,” Lemon Hearts snapped back.

“I know.” Twinkleshine rolled her eyes. “That’s the problem.”

“So, you’re actually going to stay?” Sunset asked, just to be sure.

“Absolutely.” With that, Lemon Hearts marched to the far side of the dining room table and plopped down. “Because I don’t trust you. And I’m sure that your true colors will show soon enough.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Sunset muttered. Until that moment, she didn’t think she’d wished that Moon Dancer were here so badly.

“Well, Lemon,” Minuette said with a shrug as she settled down behind the Dungeon Master’s screen. “If you’re sure, that’s fine, but keep your fights in-character. You know the rules.”

“‘Keep the drama in the game,’” Lemon Hearts said, as if reciting from rote. “Yeah, yeah.”

Twinkleshine stared at Lemon Hearts for a few seconds before taking the seat opposite from Minuette, leaving Sunset the seat facing the yellow unicorn.

“One last thing,” Minuette said as she turned to Sunset. “I need to know something, Sunny.”

Twitch. “Stop calling me that.”

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I just really want to know…”

“What?” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“Does the Princess actually keep a swear jar for you?”

Sunset facehoofed.

“Yes. And before you ask, last time I checked, she told me the current contents were about the quarter of the revenue of the city of Fillydelphia last year.”

All three mares stared at her with open mouths.

“She does… exaggerate sometimes.”

Minuette cracked up so hard she actually fell out of her chair. Twinkleshine just giggled for a bit. Even Lemon Hearts snorted, but she was obviously fighting the hint of a smile trying to appear on her muzzle.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Sunset muttered. “Now somepony give me some dice.”

Author's Note

“The Princess wants me to watch my swearing,” Sunset muttered. “Otherwise I have to put a bit into a stupid little swear jar.”

Beltorn: Sunset uses "awkward and adorable" on Lemon Hearts. LH is not amused.

Ebon: "It's not very effective..."

Novel: That's because she's not Twilight. Twilight has +15 to Adorkable.

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Tavern

I’m going to regret this,Garnet thought as she took the single empty chair and put her ‘complimentary’ cider on the scarred wooden table. Per the note’s instructions, she lifted the mug with the blue cloth and mimed taking a sip. She’d learned long ago not to drink anything before performing a basic identification spell. After she put down the mug, the three others stared at her silently for a few heartbeats.

Yes, I am definitely going to regret this. But beggars can’t be choosers…

“I thought you’d be taller,” the batpony opposite from her growled. Garnet looked her over, since it had been a few years since she had met a member of the Outcasts. She had a dusky coat and a gloomy teal mane with deep blue leathery wings that fluttered slightly when Garnet’s eyes wandered over them. The batpony wore dark gray and green armor crafted of reinforced supplecloth. Glowing orange draconic eyes stared back at Garnet over a mug of cider two sizes larger than anypony else's at the table. That gaze sent a shiver down Garnet’s spine, though she made sure to not show it. She couldn’t tell if the batpony was sizing her up as an opponent or a meal.

Garnet lowered her hood with a casual application of magic and shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint.”

The Outcast huffed. “I was disappointed the second I heard you were coming.”

She hadn’t been expecting that one. “What do you mean ‘heard I was coming?’”

“We received information as to the identity of the fourth member of our party,” said the small slip of a deer to Garnet’s right. She kept most of her body wrapped in soft shimmering silverglass, but there was no missing the two antlers, each carved with holy runes Garnet had only seen a few times in her life. She could see a dappled coat of tan and brown from under the moon-like armor. A white mane framed deep green eyes that glowed like distant stars as she studied Garnet with little more than curiosity. “A trustworthy source, to be sure. Yet I fear our companion doubts your intentions. And your stature as well, though I do not know why such things matter.”

“They don’t,” said the final individual at the table. Thankfully, this one was a rather humble-looking pale yellow pegasus with a long, flowing gray mane. As did most traveling pegasi, she wore only her saddlebags, though on closer inspection, she also wore some sort of mechanical or arcane contraption Garnet couldn’t quite figure out from this angle. “All that matters is that she’s the one we’re waiting for.”

“Wizards aren’t good for anything but parlor tricks,” the batpony hissed with a dismissive wave. “Be rid of her and let’s find somepony competent instead of a Marewinter charity case.”

Garnet bristled, but forced herself to remain calm. She couldn’t afford to destroy what could very well be her last chance.

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Forgive my companion, miss. And Nightblossom? She’s a sorceress. You can tell by the runes on the collar of her robes.”

“One who would very much prefer not to be called a ‘charity case.’”

“You are far from it,” the pegasus replied. “In fact, you came highly recommended.”

Garnet blinked. “How was I recommended for anything?”

“By the information sent in this letter.”

The pegasus slid a letter with a broken familiar-looking seal. Garnet’s heart froze when she saw it… only to have it take a little leap of joy a moment later.

Minuette’s smile was nearly inequine as she finished her opening story. Lemon Hearts’s sighs whenever Sunset spoke were annoying to say the least, but at least Twinkleshine seemed to be enjoying the tale, despite the length of the starting narration. Sunset was fairly sure most openings for O&O games didn’t go for almost twenty minutes.

She was also pretty damn sure they weren’t entirely told from a single character’s perspective, even if Sunset had been ‘allowed’ to make a few rolls.

“How did you know all of that?” Sunset demanded. “How could you possibly know Garnet’s whole backstory?”

With a flourish of magic, Minuette produced a familiar sheet of paper. “Through the magic of friendship!”

“No way,” Sunset murmured. “She wouldn’t.”

Minuette nodded, her eyebrows dancing a little jig.

“I trusted her!” Sunset cried. “How could she?”

“Would somepony clue the rest of us into this little joke?” Twinkleshine asked.

“That’s my character sheet for Garnet!” Sunset growled as she stared down at the page. “You even have the full backstory I wrote last year! She copied the entire thing? And gave it to you?”

“Moon Dancer’s the one who suggested an O&O game, actually,” the blue unicorn chirped. “She even suggested using Bards of the Badlands as the adventure!”

“But… I only showed this to her once!”

“Come on, Sunny!” Twitch. “Everypony at school knows Spirit’s Parchment Duplication Charm!”

“But… she can’t be that fast!”

“I’ve never seen anypony manipulate parchment and books like Moon Dancer,” Twinkleshine admitted. “Well, except Twilight Sparkle. I think Moon Dancer’s destined to run the Royal Canterlot Archives one day.”

“Anyway, Sunny!” Minuette grinned as Sunset twitched again. “The evidence is right before your eyes! Moon Dancer even helped me put together the opening just for you.”

“Yes, tragic backstory, on the run, et cetera, et cetera,” Lemon Hearts huffed. “All the signs point to a wonderfully interesting and totally original character.”

Sunset ignored the jab and focused instead on the only part that actually mattered to her. In fact, it mattered a lot more than it should.

“Moon Dancer really set all of this up?” Sunset asked in a quiet voice.

Minuette nodded vigorously. “She wanted it to be a surprise. And from your expression, I’d definitely say it was a surprise!”

“Yeah… a surprise,” Sunset muttered as she looked down at her sheet.

“Now, you don’t have to use Garnet. Moon Dancer said you had made her up one night when you couldn’t sleep. I’m sure we could quickly come up with another character together.”

“Ooh!” Lemon Hearts’s perked up. “Can I help? How about a bard-barian?”

“That’s just cruel,” Twinkleshine said, setting a small crate of fizzy apple cider under the table.

“Uh… no,” Sunset interjected. “Garnet’s fine.”

Lemon Hearts went back to sullen in five seconds flat.

“I think Garnet’s great,” Minuette replied as she floated a small figurine to Sunset. “Everything looks about right. At least you’re not rolling some crazy overpowered red and black alicorn… or yet another batpony.”

“Hey!” Lemon Hearts cried. “I love my batpony!”

“We know,” Minuette and Twinkleshine said together.

Lemon Hearts huffed again and poked at the small figurine of a batpony rogue standing on the table.

“This letter…” Garnet whispered, still not touching the thick parchment. “It cannot be from who it appears to be.”

“The Mistress of Tomes at Marewinter Hold,” the pegasus confirmed with a nod.

“How?” Garnet demanded. “I found this note at some backwater town twenty miles north of here! It was just sitting on a bounty board!”

The batpony—Nightblossom, Garnet thought her name was—rolled her strange, glowing eyes.

“Seriously?” she scoffed. “Do you have any idea how much power the Mistress of Tomes holds? She’s had agents shadowing you since before you left. Don’t know why they bothered. Don’t know why she bothered, especially for somepony like you.”

“She was concerned about your well-being,” the pegasus said with a sidelong glare at Nightblossom. “Especially after your hasty departure. So, she arranged for you to join us.”

“No,” Garnet said, moving to stand. “I came out here to get away from all of this. She shouldn’t need to look after me.”

The deer cocked her head. “Why do you protest your need for succor, when the need is obviously so dire? We’ve agreed to assist you in this matter.”

“I’m not some ‘charity case!’” Garnet snapped.

“Only Nightblossom called you that,” the pegasus said in a quiet voice. “We didn’t. And the Mistress of Tomes promised to assist the Imperial Guard by sighting a particular unicorn sorceress in the northern passes above the city, so long as you agree to help us in our quest.”

Garnet facehoofed. “Of course she did. I hate librarians.”

“We’re going to go with this?” Sunset groaned. “You really want to do this?”

“Art imitates life!” Minuette chirped. “And O&O imitates it, too!”

“Can we please not do this?” Sunset asked Twinkleshine, knowing she’d get no help from Lemon Hearts. “The whole ‘you meet in a tavern’ thing is so played out…”

However, she did not beg. There was no universe where the words Sunset had said could be construed as begging. Saying such a thing would be slander.

“She’s the GM,” Twinkleshine said with a tiny shrug. “And there’s an old saying: ‘When the GM smiles, it’s already too late.’”

“Minuette is always smiling,” Sunset said.

“We know,” Twinkleshine said with a resigned sigh.

Sunset bopped her horn on the table.

“So, care to fill us in on Garnet a little bit more before we start properly?” Twinkleshine shot a glance at Minuette, who just beamed at her.

Sunset felt her cheeks burn as she stared at the little figurine in front of her. “Just a sorceress with the sage background. I haven’t thought about her in a while.”

“Why not?” Minuette asked.

Sunset shot her a look, but Minuette looked honest. Annoyingly so.

Sunset huffed in exasperation. Another smile tugged gently at Minuette’s lips.

“Because I never thought I’d have anypony to play with.”

Lemon Hearts stopped poking her figurine, and glared at Sunset. “If you hadn’t been so busy destroying the school, you—”

“Stop!” Minuette shouted. “Doughnut time!”

Lemon Hearts froze, and Twinkleshine lifted up the edge of the tablecloth.

Sunset cocked her head at Minuette. “What?”

Twinkleshine’s horn came to life, and a small paper bag with Pony Joe’s logo on it floated from one of her saddlebags over to Sunset. Sunset blinked, confusion slipping toward suspicion. However, her stomach rumbled softly before she managed to voice a protest.

“Why?” she asked.

Minuette cocked her head. “Why not?”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Yes it is!” Minuette replied. “It’s an answer in the classical Questionianic tradition!”

“You can’t answer a question with a question. Even Ponderous Question didn’t—”

“Yowza, Sunny!” Minuette laughed as Sunset twitched. “Do you want to debate this further, or eat that doughnut? Because if you don’t, I will. Or maybe I’ll give it to Lemon Hearts. She didn’t get her daily dose of sugar this morning so she’s being a bit cranky-wanky.”

“I am not cranky-wanky!” Lemon Hearts snapped.

“See? Totally cranky-wanky.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, and floated out a single circular pastry. A hard glaze of pink coated the top, festooned with scattered sprinkles. Somehow, Minuette had gotten Pony Joe’s classic—and in Sunset’s opinion, only—cake doughnut.

Those new ones made by Crispy Cream were just air and sugar. Complete abominations, unfit for pony consumption.

She stopped herself before she could go on another mental rant at Cream’s horrible fake doughnuts. Instead, she took a bite, leaned back, and sighed. A bit of tension finally left her.

“I think that’s everything!” Minuette declared. “Now, Sunny—”

“Quit it.”

“I promised Moon Dancer, Sunny.” Twitch. “Said I had to call you that no matter what!”

“You’re impossible.”

Lemon Hearts groaned. “Let’s just go, girls. She clearly doesn’t want us here, and I don’t want to waste her d—”

“Oh, did you want to donate to Sunset’s swear jar fund?” Minuette asked cheerfully. “I’m sure the Princess won’t mind.”

Lemon Hearts just stared at her friend as Sunset suppressed a snicker.

“Lemon Hearts, if you’re gonna yell at Sunset, at least do it in character.” Minuette adjusted a few things and straightened her Game Master’s screen. “You’ve already established that Nightblossom hates her. I’m pretty sure you’ll come up with more reasons too! Now sush, unless you’re feeling generous.”

The yellow unicorn glared daggers at Minuette. They were no match for Minuette’s cheerful smile.

“Now usually my brother’s friend Gaffer GMs for us, but he’s busy today. Something about a big game where Shining Armor was going to introduce Princess Mi Amoré Cadenza of all ponies to O&O.”

Twitch. Twitch twitch. Grimace. Twitch. Teeth grind. Twitch.

“That’s… nice,” Sunset said, taking a savage bite of her doughnut.

Minuette didn’t appear to have noticed Sunset’s little fit. “This means that I’m going to be GMing, as you’ve probably guessed. I’ve done it a few times, but I’m not nearly as good as Gaffer. So, you’ll have to bear with me. I’m also going to cheat a little and put my character in there since Moon Dancer, Lyra and Twilight aren’t here.”

“Really? You’re going to GM and play?” Lemon Hearts protested. “Gaffer said that was one of the worst things you can do!”

“He said it was one of the worst things you could do if you do it wrong!” Minuette replied with a little smile. “And I don’t plan on doing it wrong. Now, we all know what Lemon’s playing.”

“Obviously, since Nightblossom’s amazing!” Lemon Hearts said, dragging her sheets out of her binders and onto the table in one swift motion. The figurines jostled.

Sunset snatched up her own figurine and studied it for a moment. It was one of those classic female unicorn wizard models. The little mare even had a pointed hat and a cape, though she hadn’t been painted.

The addition of a wand was weird though.

Seriously? Why would a unicorn need a wand?

“Okay, Twinkleshine!” Minuette chirped, bringing Sunset back into the real world. “Who’s coming from your side?”

Twinkleshine blinked. “Didn’t you just introduce her in that rather detailed opening?”

Minuette shrugged. “I didn’t know which character you’d want for sure, so I picked one of them randomly.”

Twinkleshine watched her friend for a moment and finally shrugged.

“Well, you picked right.”

“Seriously?” Lemon Hearts groaned. “You want to bring out your cleric again?”

“I like her!” Twinkleshine pouted. “Deer are cute, and she’s saved your flanks more times than you can count!” She took a deep breath, and straightened her sheets with her magic. “Anyway, it’s a new campaign.”

“She’s got you there, Lemon Hearts,” Minuette said with a smirk. “A few months ago, your precious little Crit’Blossom would have been just an itty-bitty little pile of ash without that critical healing spell.”

“It was a one-time thing!” Lemon Hearts snapped back. “Stupid dice betrayed me.”

“Right. Always blame the dice, and not the filly who insulted the Lich Princess of Coltdon.” Minuette grinned. “That had nothing to do with it.”

Sunset stared at the three of them. Some part of her knew her jaw hung open, but she couldn’t get enough willpower to close it.

Minuette glanced up and stopped scribbling notes when she saw Sunset’s expression.

“Sunny?” Twitch. “Are you okay?”

Sunset managed to get her jaw back under control. “You three… you’re all… you’re just so comfortable about all of this!”

“Why shouldn’t we be?” Twinkleshine asked. “We’ve been playing for years. Moon Dancer joined up with one of Shining Armor’s groups for a little bit—that’s Twilight Sparkle’s brother—and after they were done with that campaign, she got us to try it out. We all just sort of fell into it.”

Minuette shrugged. “Yeah! It’s fun, we get to go on great adventures, meeting interesting ponies—”

“—whom we usually end up killing—” Twinkleshine sighed.

“—and taking all their stuff!” Lemon Hearts finished with a wicked grin.

“Also that,” Minuette said. “It’s like living a story! Plus, there’s all the extras, like getting into character, choosing the right dice, finding neat treasures, but the best part is we get to have fun with our friends!”

Minuette turned to the map to hide her smile. “You know…” she said, as she started sketching what Sunset assumed to be the village with a small quill on a large sheet of parchment in the center of the table. She kept her strokes neat and even to represent the thin walls of the poor hovels. “You never did say why you had all those books.”

“What books?” Sunset squeaked, shooting bolt upright and cursing herself for the crack in her voice.

Minuette couldn’t hide her grin as she met Sunset’s gaze. “Why, the entire collection of the Fifth Edition Dungeon Guides on your bookshelf by the stairs. I saw them when you went into the bathroom to yell at yourself.”

Sunset coughed as the doughnut tried to strangle her from the inside. “I did… I do not! Yell at myself, or own a complete set of Ogres and Oubliettes books!”

“But… you had a character sheet…” Twinkleshine said, scratching her head.

“I was bored. Copied one out of the school’s library.”

Minuette grinned again, trotted over to the offending bookshelf, yanked all fifteen books off of the bookshelf and floated them over to Sunset.

“What was that again?”

Sunset glowered at the unicorn. “Put. Those. Back.”

“Looks like you have the Fourth Edition too. Ooh! A Ogre magazine variant Depths of the Umbrum cover! And look, there’s the Third Edition! Though there’s a lot of dust on that…”

“Ack!” Sunset yelped. “Just put them back!”

Minuette’s smile never faltered as she calmly put the books back snugly in their shelf. The only sounds as she trotted back to her seat was the ticking of the clock. Sunset’s glare never left her.

“You were saying?” Minuette said, as she continued sketching her map.

“You’re evil. And no, I wasn’t.” Sunset glowered, but it still had no effect.

“Aren’t you going to?”

“You don’t know when to take a hint, do you?”

“Oh, she actually does.” Twinkleshine shook her head. “It means she has to press harder.”

“Ponies have reasons for doing what they do.” Minuette smiled, but didn’t look up from her sketching. “Figuring out their reason is important to understanding that reason.”

“Why do you care?”

Apparently satisfied with the drawing of the small town, Minuette leaned back behind her screen and peeked up at Sunset.

“Special talents are one thing, but knowing what to do is another. It’s a lot easier when I know why ponies do what they do. That’s the best way to help somepony else be happy!”

“I’m still not telling you.”

“Aw.”

“You both realize if we turned her in to the local constable, we’ll get a huge reward from the Queen’s Guard, right?”

“I, for one, do not wish to disgrace the Mistress of Tomes by betraying her trust,” the deer said softly. “’Twould be a stain on our honor and a sin before the Sun. I am with Wind Speaker on this matter. Our pegasus companion has much wisdom, especially regarding the character of others.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Garnet muttered. “I think.”

“She’s a sorceress!” Nightblossom hissed. “They cannot be trusted! Her magic flows from Chaos itself!”

“After everything that happened in Junetrack, you’re one to talk, Nightblossom,” the pegasus—Wind Speaker—snapped. “Do I need to remind you what happened? With the High Constable, the griffon spy and those sixteen ciders after midnight?”

Nightblossom waved away the comment. “That has nothing to do with this!”

“Just because my magic is occasionally… wild… doesn’t mean anything!” Garnet shouted. “It’s just my nature!”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a true Agent of Chaos.” Nightblossom sneered. “For all we know, she could be a Grey!”

Garnet felt her hackles rise as she ground her teeth together. It was one thing to be called unpredictable. Her magic was unpredictable.

But being accused of being part of that group of Chaos-worshipping lunatics calling themselves the Grey was another thing entirely.

“How dare you?” Garnet growled. “You think I would side with those cultists who worship the antithesis of Harmony itself—”

“Enough,” Wind Speaker interrupted as she dropped her mug of cider on the table with a clank. “The Mistress of Tomes gave her recommendation. That is enough for me. I believe it is enough for Forest Whisper as well, is it not?”

The deer nodded quietly. “For now. The Sun shall reveal her true nature in time.”

“You and your precious Sun,” Nightblossom snapped. “Where was your precious Sun ten years ago when our lands were being overrun by the Shifting Horde?”

“You and your kind forsook the Sun,” Forest replied serenely. “What you reaped is what you sowed. You cannot slap the hoof away, and then cry betrayal a moment later when the hoof refuses to perform on command.”

“You dare insult my people, cleric?” Garnet was a little disturbed to see the batpony’s eyes glow even brighter. “You’d best watch that tongue of yours, or I’ll remove it.”

Forest didn’t look even slightly perturbed by the threat. She simply raised an eyebrow. “I speak the truth of the Sun. It destroys all shadows before it. You need not fear my words unless you have much to hide.”

“I hide nothing.”

“So glad to hear it,” the pegasus interrupted. “Now, if you don’t mind… we do have a job to—”

“Wind Speaker, this is madness. She’s not ready for something like this! She won’t last a day. I’d wager she won’t last the night.”

“I am right here, you know.” Garnet crossed her forelegs, glowering at the batpony.

“Yes, and your odor sickens me.” Nightblossom didn’t even look her way. “We’re heading into hostile territory with a pony we can’t trust. You’ve heard the rumors. You saw what happened in Bridledale. You have to know it was her doing. The town was all but destroyed! Ponies nearly lost their minds!”

“It was an accident,” Garnet snapped.

“Oh really? Yet, the bounty the Noble’s Alliance placed on her is still active. As I said earlier, we would make double what we were promised for the Badlands job if we turned her in!”

“We will not be doing that,” Wind Speaker said with a smile at Garnet that did nothing to help Garnet’s rapidly fraying temper.

“Well, I will not journey with a monster such as—”

“Enough!”

It was Garnet’s turn to shout the word, so loudly a few patrons looked in their direction.

Wind Speaker’s wings flared, but she kept her glower focused on Nightblossom. Forest Whisper had a similar expression for the batpony, who appeared entirely unrepentant for her words.

Garnet pushed herself to her hooves and glowered at the three foals.

“I am not welcome here,” Garnet said coldly. “This was clearly a mistake.”

With that, Garnet whirled, storming out of the tavern and into the cloying mist of Elderfields.

Author's Note

Presenting... Doughnut Time by Ebon Quill (Copyright Novel Idea Records)

Can't eat that.

Your-your-your-your breakfast fills you so bad,
Makes me say, "You've been had!"
Hold up there, can't you see
There's plenty of other pastries?

And they're good!
You want that icing!
And that fresh-baked smell is so enticing!
Our bakery is neat!
But that is a meal-uh
You can't eat.

I told everypony!
You can't eat that!

Yeah, that's how we make fresh for you!
But you can't eat that!

Look at that bun, friends!
You can't eat that!

Yo, lemme bust all these stupid myths:
You can't eat that!

Crispy flakes and milk
Just ditch all that, you're gonna feel better than silk.
So get outta the fridge, and down to the shop that's over the bridge!
Better hurry!

Hold on!
Stop for a bit and let them all know where you're going.

Down here! Down here!

Hot out of the oven so come on down!
Let 'em know you're going to treat
And this is a meal
They can't beat!

Yo, I told you
You can't eat that.

Don't just stand there, girls!
You can't eat that!

Yo, hear the bells?
Oven's on, friends!
You can't eat that.

Gimme some dough or frosting
Make 'em a cake,
While verbally riposting!

Now you all know
You talk about Pinkie Pie,
You're talking about about a show
That's clean and sweet.
Bakers are sweating, they're feeling the heat.
So help them to see
What it's gonna take in Ponyville to be the best
Legit, either work hard or you might as well quit.

That's the truth because you know
You can't eat that!
You can't eat that!

Eat 'em up!

Stop! Doughnut time!

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Brawl

“I never should have let you into my house,” Sunset snarled as she reared back, knocking her chair to the ground. “I thought for a second that I might actually enjoy this but… no. This is insane. Get out.”

“Sunny—” Minuette started, but something in Sunset broke at that second. She’d forced herself to stay civil too long. She’d repressed too much.

“Stop calling me that!” Sunset snarled at Minuette. “I don’t care if Moon Dancer made you promise! Stop it! You don’t get to call me that!”

“Hey!” Twinkleshine was suddenly in Sunset’s face. “You leave her alone!”

“What are we doing here, Minuette?” Lemon Hearts snapped. “She obviously doesn’t want to be around us! And we don’t want to be around her!”

Sunset tried to catch her breath, tried to control the pounding in her skull and the pounding in her heart, but it wasn’t stopping.

In fact, it was only getting worse.

Oh Celestia, no. No, I’m not having another one. Not now. I refuse to lose it in front of these ponies!

It took every bit of willpower she had, but she forced the piece of her that wanted to start screaming at the top of her lungs down just enough to let her breathe.

She dragged the little pieces of herself together, shaking with the effort.

Then she looked at Minuette. The blue unicorn’s ears were pasted against her head. She chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds before finally opening her mouth to speak.

“I made a promise. I’m going to keep it. Anyway, I already told you. Right place. Right time.”

Both Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine let out a groan and facehoofed in almost perfect unison.

Sunset blinked, surprise washing some of her knotted emotions away. Wait… what?

“What… what are you talking about?”

Minuette smiled faintly, and turned so Sunset could see the hourglass symbol on her flank.

“My special talent, of course.”

Sunset stared at her blankly.

Minuette’s grin faltered slightly. “Really? You were Professor Polish’s aide for a whole term, and you don’t know our special talents?”

“It wasn’t in the files she gave me,” Sunset muttered.

Minuette’s smile reignited. “Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to tell somepony about this!”

Lemon Hearts groaned again before giving Sunset a dark look, turning around and stomping back over to the table. Minuette righted a few of the figurines that had fallen over.

“I’ve got a special talent for timing. I have a knack for knowing when things are going to happen. I know how to help things along and make everything go just so! So, I kinda explain it as I always know what the right place and the right time are.”

“That’s impossible.” Sunset stared at her. “That sounds like… precognition. And that’s a myth.”

“Oh, it’s nothing that fancy. It’s usually just a sense. A vibe. Sometimes it’s a lot stronger, but that only happens for my friends. Like right now!”

“Right now.”

“Yep! Right now, every bit of me is telling me that being right here and right now is the right thing. With you. In your apartment. With Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine! Playing games!”

“You must be crazy.”

“That’s the first thing she’s said today I agree with,” Lemon Hearts muttered.

“It’s an easy thing to agree with somepony on,” Twinkleshine commented with a roll of her eyes.

“Why are you making this so hard, Sun—Sunset?” Minuette asked.

The panic welled up in her once more and she spoke before she could stop herself.

“I was trying to get you to go away!” Sunset cried. “There, you happy?”

“Why would you do a silly thing like that? You need all the friends you can get, Sunny!”

Twitch. “Yeah, because I can tell Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine are just aching to be my friends.”

“Not really,” Lemon Hearts muttered.

Twinkleshine looked a little awkward and gave a tiny shrug.

“Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine are supposed to be here. I’m absolutely positive of it. They’re exactly where they need to be right now.”

“Oh, lay off it, Minuette,” Lemon Hearts growled. “Nopony really believes the whole ‘right place, right time’ thing!”

Twinkleshine spoke up, “Uh… that’s not true.”

Lemon Hearts turned to her other friend. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t seriously believe she’s actually got some sort of… ‘future vision.’”

“I don’t know.” The other unicorn shrugged again. “But she’s been right about stuff before. So, I’m willing to believe her.”

“So what?” Lemon Hearts cried. “We shouldn’t be here! Sunset obviously doesn’t want us here! She wants to sit alone in the dark, miserable because the only friend she had abandoned her.”

Sunset could feel the anger starting to slip through the cracks in her mind left by the barely-controlled attack. She could feel it watching. She could feel her watching.

“Hearts, you’re pushing it. And you really don’t want to do that. Especially in my house.” Sunset growled through gritted teeth. “You’d better learn to shut that muzzle of yours. Or I’ll teach you how, Hearts.”

“You and what army?”

“Seriously? You’re going to respond with something that trite? That’s pathetic!” Sunset heard herself snap back. “Also, if you haven’t noticed, I’m Celestia’s personal student. I could mop the floor with you!”

“Why don’t you give it a shot, you two-timing, backstabbing little b—”

“That’s enough!”

With a sudden flare of magic, Minuette stood between them. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two ponies… at least, the parts of her eyes Sunset could see. It looked like she’d run a few laps around a burning house. Wisps of smoke curled around Minuette’s body, mane and tail. A few sparks spat from the top of her horn.

Sunset gaped at Minuette in complete shock.

“Minuette… did you just teleport?”

Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine both stared slack-jawed at her, too.

Minuette blinked a few times, smoke still coming from her mane and tail. “Uh… maybe? I don’t know. I was just… I was just getting really… really…”

“Really what?” Lemon Hearts challenged.

Suddenly, Minuette’s expression changed in an instant, the worried face replaced by one of fury.

“Peeved, okay?” Minuette snapped. Sunset flinched away from the sheer venom in her voice. “I’m trying my best here! I’m trying to help Sunset! But Lemon Hearts, you’re just egging her on! You’re just trying to make her mad!”

“Because she des—”

“And you!” Minuette cried, whirling on Sunset. “Whether you like it or not, Moon Dancer did something for you! Something I’d never seen her do before. Did you know in our first-year, she didn’t speak to anypony for the first three weeks of the first term? And she shouted down Dean Slate, Cinnamon Tart, Professor Clear and Professor Polish in front of the entire class!”

“Hey! That’s why she’s my friend now! She… she was the only one who believed me.”

“So, if Moon Dancer sent us here, and she’s your friend, why are you trying so hard to get rid of us?”

“She sent you here,” Lemon Hearts corrected. “You just hauled us along for the ride!”

Minuette ignored her, focusing entirely on Sunset.

“Why, Sunset? Why do you want to be alone that badly?”

Sunset swallowed hard, eyes darting around her apartment.

“Because I don’t know why you’re here!” Sunset cried. “Yes, Moon Dancer may be my friend now, but why are you here? Not that ‘by order of the Princess’ stuff. What’s the real reason?”

“You really don’t know? That’s… you really don’t know?”

“Know what? What the heck am I supposed to know?”

Minuette’s eyes drifted to Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. Twinkleshine was staring at her hooves and Lemon Hearts wouldn’t meet either Sunset or Minuette’s gaze.

“Because I’m trying to be your friend, too.”

She’s insane! An angry little voice screamed. She’s certifiably insane!

Something inside of her cracked. The little ball of fiery panic once more swelled in her chest and this time there was no stopping it.

Dammit all! Since that damn alchemy test… this keeps happening to me! Why?

But she couldn’t answer the question. She could feel the cogs of her brain start to grind and smoke. Before her hooves started to shake, she managed to stumble backward. That was enough to get her in motion. Without looking back, she galloped up the stairs and into the safety of her bedroom. With a telekinetic throw, she slammed the door shut and ignored the sound of the door cracking.

Sunset flung herself onto the bed and managed to get out a little scream before her body thrashed. It only took a few seconds for her to get her body back under control, but that was enough to send the comforter and pillows flying across the room. After that, she just laid there, panting, her brain spinning like mad while one part of her—the angry one—berated her for allowing others to have this level of control over her. Another part listened to the conversation below while mentally noting she needed to get thicker doors.

Lemon Hearts—of course—was the first voice she made out. “No! You don’t get it, Twinkleshine! I loved him! And she turned that into a nightmare! He didn’t say one word to me after the Fall Formal! Not one! And you want me to forgive that?”

There was a pause before a softer voice spoke up.

“Girls, stop, please. Lemon, could you please step outside for a few minutes. Take a breath, maybe run to the shop for a hayshake?”

Another pause. The part of Sunset that was listening thought it could hear the grinding of teeth. A tiny logical part of her pointed out that was impossible. That part was promptly beaten up and thrown in a corner by the rest of her.

“Actually, Twinkleshine? Could you go with her and grab four of Fountain Swirl’s best, please?”

Sunset caught the sound of the front door closing and suddenly she snapped upright, only to collapse again on the bed with a sigh.

I can’t believe that just happened. I can’t believe that just happened again! I was supposed to be over this sort of thing years ago! But since the alchemy final… and since Moon Dancer left… they’ve been getting worse.

Still, panic attack or no, she wasn’t about to go back down there. At this point, she didn’t care if Princess Celestia herself came in to demand she play that moronic game with those idiot girls. She was ready for the charge of treason. Anything would be preferable to continuing that disaster.

Even still, she counted the seconds before a faint knock came from her door.

“Go away, Minuette.”

“Sunny—”

“What did I say about that name?”

Minuette let out a strangled whimper on the other side of the door, yet she continued with a pleading “Sunset…”

Sunset finally groaned and flung open the door with a flare of magic, allowing the blue unicorn to enter her bedroom.

“Go away.”

“If you really wanted me to go away, you wouldn’t have opened the door, you know?”

“You’re evil.”

“You said that downstairs.”

“Just making sure I wasn’t misunderstood.”

“Nope. I have excellent hearing.”

“Yet, you’re still here!”

“It’s no wonder you’re the Princess’s personal student.”

Sunset sat up and stared at Minuette.

“Did you just use sarcasm?”

Minuette blinked a few times. “Of course not, silly. Why would I do something like that?”

“Right.” Sunset tried to bury her head under a few pillows. It worked about as well as she expected.

“Things got a bit rough, but we can work this out! Come back down, Sunset. Please?”

“No,” Sunset mumbled through the cotton.

“Why not?”

“Because Lemon Hearts intends to make this as miserable as possible for me and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

“She’s just roleplaying. Nightblossom can be intense, sure, but—”

“Roleplaying, my hoof!” Sunset shouted. “She hates me, Minuette. And I’ll box your ears if you repeat this, but I don’t really blame her.”

Minuette remained silent, long enough to make Sunset peek out at her, wondering if she had been fortunate enough to get the blue unicorn out of her bedroom.

No such luck. Instead, Minuette sidled over to sit on a chair on the side of Sunset’s bed.

“Why not?” she asked.

“I didn’t ask you to sit down.”

“Funny. I didn’t ask you to ask me to sit down either.”

Sunset tried glaring a little harder. It worked as well as all the other glares. Which is to say, not at all.

“Why not?” Minuette repeated.

“Green Fields was her first crush and I used him to humiliate her,” Sunset muttered. “If I were in her horseshoes, I’d hate me too.”

“Sunset, I think you’re looking at this all wrong.”

“Really now?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “How am I wrong?”

“I didn’t say you were wrong. I said you were looking at this wrong.”

“Then enlighten me, O great and powerful pegasus ranger.”

“Did you ever stop and wonder why they’re here?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Because trying to play a tabletop quill-and-parchment game with only two players would be pointless?”

“Yes.”

Sunset blinked. “Really?”

“No, silly!” Minuette laughed. “I meant those two specifically. Why they are here?"

Sunset stared at her.

“Because Lemon Hearts has been nursing a grudge against you for almost two years now,” Minuette replied without a trace of humor in her voice or face. “And whether she admits it or not, it’s hurting her.”

“What the hay am I supposed to do, apologize again? I already tried! I can’t force her to accept my apology!”

Minuette shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sunny—” Twitch. “—but this isn’t about you.”

“You’ve lost me.”

“This isn’t about you saying you’re sorry. You actually did a pretty good job at that. This is about her accepting it.”

“And how is her roleplaying somepony who hates me supposed to help?”

Minuette’s smile suddenly returned with such intensity Sunset shied away from the other unicorn.

“Because she’ll get a chance to work it out on Garnet and not you. And because once she starts having fun, I think she’ll start to forget why she hated you so much.”

“I really doubt that.”

Minuette’s smile only grew. “Then you seriously doubt the power of fun.”

“Given what I’ve seen, yes. Yes, I do.”

“O ye of li’l faith. Come, sally forth into adventure with thy boon companions, and thou shalt behold the light dawning from a greater an’ still brighter morn!”

“Minuette?”

“Yes?” She fluttered her eyes innocently.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Minuette laughed. “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Garnet’s ears picked up the sound of the pegasus behind her even as she stalked away from the tavern and toward the river. She didn’t give the sound any thought. If she was quick enough, she could catch the ferry and be rid of this thrice-cursed place before midnight.

Sorry, my friend. I appreciate the attempt… But there are some things I simply can’t do. Dealing with that lot appears to be one of them.

“Garnet, please wait!” Behind her, the voice of Wind Speaker echoed in the empty street.

“I have nothing further to say to you,” Garnet informed her, not deigning to look back. “I’ll not be called a monster by one of those abominations. Nopony calls me a monster. I will not stand for it.”

“You deny what happened in Bridledale?”

Garnet whirled, the thick mist swirling around her like a whirlpool as she rounded on the pegasus mare.

“I deny nothing!” Garnet spat. “But I will not have my nose shoved in my own mistakes. I have tried to make amends as best I can. Yet there are too many in the entire nation that are all too ready to curse my name and tar me as a beast to be slain.”

“If you’re worried we’re going to turn you in for the bounty—”

“I don’t care about the bounty!” Garnet shouted. “I care about my name! It was once celebrated, a chosen and gifted practitioner! My star was in ascendance! Now, little more than soot remains.”

“And how will fleeing change that name, save for adding ‘coward’ to it?”

With a wild surge of magic, Garnet yanked Wind Speaker down to her level and shoved her muzzle into hers. “You tempt fate by calling me such a thing.”

To her credit, Wind Speaker didn’t back down. “I didn’t. You did through your actions. I only speak what will be said of you.”

With a growl, Garnet released the pegasus and sat on the cold dirt of the street.

“I offer a chance to restore your name. Do you want it?”

“You think whatever foalish job you have is enough?”

“The Mistress of Tomes does.”

Garnet swallowed and stared at her hooves for a long moment.

“Let us say I consi—”

She was interrupted by the sound of a body crashing through a window from behind the pegasus.

“What?” Lemon Hearts demanded. “It’s not a good bar brawl unless somepony goes crashing through a window.”

Sunset suppressed a snicker despite herself and took another sip of the hayshake. She’d been surprised when the two had returned with the shakes, but apparently Minuette knew her friends. Through some sort of strange voodoo magic, she’d gotten Lemon Hearts to sit down again.

Celestia, she even got me to sit down again.

Twinkleshine just rolled her eyes at Lemon Hearts's comment while Minuette smiled.

“Okay, good point. Still, he only takes two points of damage and now just looks even more peeved.”

Lemon Hearts's grin widened and she rolled her shoulders as if she was about to get into a real brawl. “Good. I need to work out the kinks on this build.”

“Why do you always have to get into a bar fight?” Twinkleshine complained. “Seriously, this happens every time.”

“Nightblossom is an angry cider drinker.”

“Nightblossom is just angry,” Twinkleshine retorted.

“Well… yeah.”

Wind Speaker was fast, even for a pegasus. She shot through the mist, leaving a trail of swirling vapors in her path, directly toward the sound of the fighting. Garnet could hear the enraged shouts of that idiot batpony accompanied with more smashing, crashing, banging, and other various noises that were traditionally associated with a tavern brawl.

The pegasus was already inside by the time Garnet arrived. What greeted her inside was total bedlam.

Nightblossom was currently wielding hoof-batons to devastating effect on any of the foals stupid enough to stand against her. As Garnet watched, she deftly cracked a hulking mass of a pony in the head, flapped her leathery wings for an instant and came down hard on another, only to finish the move by bucking a third halfway across the room.

“What in Tartarus is she?” Garnet murmured.

“Somepony who tends to accomplish her goals in a critical manner,” Forest Whisper replied beside her. She was leaning against the wall looking vaguely disappointed. “She always seeks to be as dexterous as possible, quite often to the detriment of everything else.”

“Forest, what happened?” Wind demanded.

“Three rather brawny stallions and a mare came in from the rear of the tavern. They appeared already intoxicated, at least… I believe they were.”

“This is a tavern,” Garnet commented. “Drunk is probably the norm.”

“Perhaps. But falling over and bucking Nightblossom’s chair was still quite rude. Nightblossom took offense.”

“This is insane,” Wind muttered. “We have more important things to do.”

With that, she flared her wings and Garnet got a better look at the contraption she was wearing. It was some sort of mechanical barding with twin arrow quivers attached to Wind's hindlegs. With a twitch of a hoof, a pair of arrows shifted into position and were pulled back by a spring assembly. A small metal bit popped up in front of the pegasus as she lined up her shot.

Then she bit down hard on the strip of metal.

Instantly, two arrows were loosed, striking mere inches above the largest pony’s head. A moment later, they burst into a brilliant flash of light and sound.

When the afterimages faded, the room was dead silent as Wind stretched a hoof and the mechanism reloaded.

“Anypony else want to try something?” she asked with a small grin. “I should warn you, I have had a few, so my aim is a bit off today. That’s probably the last warning shot I’ve got in me.”

“Hey!” Nightblossom protested. “I was having fun!”

“Nightblossom, we are leaving.” Wind snapped. “Now.”

The batpony growled something under her breath before trudging toward the three other mares.

Garnet had a strange feeling. Something was wrong. Her eyes searched the crowd and with a flash of insight, she saw a thin-looking grey unicorn draw something out of one of her saddlebags. A gleam of metal flashed in the light from the hearth.

There wasn’t time for a warning, only action.

Without thinking, Garnet shouted out a word and from nowhere, a brilliant streak of red and gold exploded into existence. In a deft move, the phoenix-like bird snatched the blade out of the air and threw it to the ground as Garnet—

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lemon Hearts cried. “Your familiar is a phoenix? That’s totally against the fifth edition rules!”

“Eoana isn’t actually a phoenix,” Sunset said with a sigh. She suspected this would happen the moment her familiar actually came into the gameplay. “She’s a hawk with an illusion enchantment on her. She wears the charm around her neck.”

“Seriously?” Lemon Hearts scoffed.

Minuette flipped through one of the books behind her Game Master’s screen with her magic.

“Yes, seriously!” Sunset snapped back. “Garnet traded some arcane artifacts found in a forgotten library for the charm. The only thing it does is make Eoana immune to fire damage.”

Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts both shot looks to Minuette. Sunset sighed again, and took a sip of her green tea hayshake.

“She was on my character sheet,” Sunset pointed out. “You said the sheet was okay. You even mentioned her in the opening.”

“I thought the flames were just some magical smoke and mirrors!” Lemon Hearts protested.

Minuette took the character sheet back and studied it for a few moments.

“Hm. I skimmed this part… Looks like the hawk out of the back of the Bestiary,” Minuette muttered to herself. “Base attack… mhmm…”

Sunset sighed and stared at the ceiling before a cough got her attention again.

Minuette pierced her with a stare. “And she can’t do anything else?”

“Nothing beyond what the Fifth Edition of O&O allows. Bonus to defensive physical actions. Normal hawk actions and abilities. Only thing special is the immunity to fire. She looks like a phoenix because of the charm, nothing more.”

“No blinding flashes?”

“No.”

“No breathing fire?”

“No.”

“No reincarnation?”

“Uh… no.”

“No adding unnecessary complexity to established characters?”

“No. Wait, wh—”

Minuette snapped both books closed, cutting off Sunset. Twinkleshine jumped a little. “It’s a bit on the fence, but since you just used her to save Nightblossom from getting a dagger in the back, I think I’ll let it slide.”

“Hey! I could have dodged it!” Lemon Hearts cried.

“The blade was thrown by a unicorn assassin, and you were caught off-guard. She has advantage on you.”

“Ugh, I really don’t want to heal her flank again. She enjoyed that far too much last time,” Twinkleshine muttered.

Lemon Hearts just glared at all of them.

Sunset managed to keep her mirth down to a snicker.

Dammit. I’m never going to live this down, but this is actually almost fun. Almost.

—as Garnet shouted a word and slammed most of the tavern with a potent sleep spell, laced with a bit of wild magic. Nearly half of the brawlers went down with little sighs, including the unicorn assassin. The sheer force of it also happened to create bunny ears on about a quarter of the ponies, all of which—for some reason—happened to be male.

“I could have handled that,” Nightblossom growled.

“You’re welcome.”

Wind Speaker turned to glare at those ponies who were still upright. “Now, would somepony please tell me what in the world is going on here?”

Nopony looked particularly eager to speak.

“That’s it!” Nightblossom snapped. “I’m done waiting!”

Nightblossom darted for the innkeeper, a thin but tall blue unicorn with a short-cropped mane and a dirty apron around his front standing beside the barkeep. He tried to dive through the door behind the bar, but a quick flap of the batpony’s wings sent her crashing into him. They landed with a thump with the batpony securely on top.

“Answers!” she snapped as she slammed his head into the hardwood floor. “Now!”

“I was just paid to let them in!” the innkeeper squealed. “Nothing more!”

“How much?”

“Two hundred bits!”

Garnet shared a look with Forest and Wind.

“Somepony wants us gone from this realm with all haste, if they’re willing to dispense that much coin simply to allow those brutes access to this establishment,” the deer murmured. “This does not bode well for us.”

Eoana landed on Garnet’s back with a cry. The illusionary flames flickered in the hearth’s light, casting strange shadows around the room.

“We need to leave,” Garnet whispered. “I don’t like this.”

“I would agree with the sorceress.” Forest nodded. “Wind, we should depart with all haste.”

“We could try and get some more answers out of these ponies,” Wind pointed out while Nightblossom tried to do exactly that by pounding the innkeeper against the ground a few more times. “We may not find any more information outside these walls.”

“Unless you want to wake our would-be assassin,” Forest pointed out. “I do not see that working in our favor. There is no telling how many more ponies may be in the employ of those seeking to do us harm.”

Garnet nodded. “I’m with Forest. Do you know the next step?”

“Yes.” Wind didn’t look happy about leaving. “But this is not a safe place to speak of it.”

“Then let’s retire to somewhere safe,” Garnet insisted.

“This is the last safe place,” Wind snapped back. “The last one before we enter—”

Garnet raised an eyebrow, but the pegasus wasn’t willing to say any more.

“Hey batpony!” Garnet called. “We’re leaving!”

“Tartarus, no!” Nightblossom called. “I’m going to beat some answers out of these ponies. And I’m going to enjoy it!”

“Is she always like this?” Garnet asked with a sigh.

“Actually, she’s usually a lot more… demanding,” Wind admitted. “She’s on her best behavior tonight.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better.”

“It shouldn’t,” Forest replied.

“Nightblossom!” Wind called. “We cannot stay here any longer!”

The batpony slammed the innkeeper one more time into the floor. “Damn you, you cowards. Fine! We’re leaving!”

Nightblossom leapt up onto a table and glared at the conscious patrons of the tavern. “Anypony who follows us will find their lives short and miserable!” she crowed. “Do I make myself clear?”

There was a hurried assortment of nods and bows in her general direction. She scowled at them all before leaping back down and trotting to the door.

She paused. “You three coming or what?”

Then she stalked out into the night.

“Best behavior?” Garnet asked.

“Oh, you should have witnessed her in Everspring last fall,” Forest said with an emphatic nod.

“Be glad that you didn’t,” Wind muttered as she trailed out behind the batpony.

Forest went next and Garnet backed out of the tavern, watching everypony carefully. One mare with a snowy mane in particular was staring at her. There was a glint of a wicked smile on her face, but when Garnet tried to look closer, the pony had vanished.

Once outside, they gathered in the mist for a moment before Wind Speaker set off at a brisk trot south toward the Elderfields River. Garnet fell into step beside her while Nightblossom flew overhead and Forest Whisper took up the rear.

“Can you at least give me something to work with? Why were we attacked? What is this job?”

Wind cocked an eyebrow and smirked a little.

“Tell me, Miss Dawn,” Wind said casually. “Have you ever heard the legend of the Keening Dirge?”

Author's Note

Minuette. She knows all the tricks: dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and... shudder satire.

-Ebon Quill

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Ambush

Sunset stood on her balcony, staring out over the city as the sun finally reached the horizon. Twenty minutes ago, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts had gone out again to grab take-out. That left just Minuette in her house, but she could be managed.

I think.

The angry little pony in her head had a few choice things to say about that. Sunset did her best to ignore her.

The oppressive heat was finally starting to let up, much to the relief of the residents below. She could see them taking advantage of the change by heading for the small traveling waterpark connected to the massive moat of Canterlot Castle. The place was a hive of activity. She smiled as she remembered the day she’d spent there with Moon Dancer a few days after the Summer Sun Celebration.

More than anything, she remembered how much she enjoyed it. For the first time in years, she’d actually acted her age.

The result was a day full of simple fun.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had fun with another pony. She had plenty of fun with Princess Celestia over the years, but that was different. Cutting loose with somepony closer to her own age—or at least somepony not a millennium-plus older than her—was something special… something she had never realized she’d wanted before.

How much have I missed because of my obsessions? Sunset wondered. How much of it was my parents? How much of it was all me?

She couldn’t really blame her parents for everything. After all, if the events at the end of the term had taught her anything, it was that everypony was accountable for their own actions in the end. While there were always going to be events outside of a pony’s control—another thing she’d taken away from that damn alchemy final—how a pony decided to react was her own decision.

That’s a gross oversimplification and you know it! The familiar voice growled in the depths of her mind. It’s not ‘Nature or Nurture,’ it’s both. And don’t pretend to feel remorse now. You knew what you were doing! Remember? You need to be ready for the tough choices ahead. You have a destiny and you can’t let anything stand in the way of that!

Yeah, Sunset shot back to the angry little pony. And we saw how well that worked a couple months ago.

They would have slipped up! We would have destroyed them in time! But you grew a damn ‘conscience!’ You let her get in the way!
The voice was full of bravado and confidence, but Sunset felt the hesitation behind it. Despite everything, her companion wasn’t nearly as sure as she used to be.

Oh, don’t you dare project your weakness on me! That’s your problem. You became another one of Celestia’s spineless puppets. And one day you’ll realize it and that’s when you’ll come back to me. You’ll realize you were wrong about everything.

She heard hoofsteps below and glanced down at her front door to see Minuette’s friends enter her home. She turned and watched them through the glass door of her balcony. Minuette helped unpack the latest ‘supplies’ while laughing at something Twinkleshine had said. Lemon Hearts even looked amused, though that look of amusement faded the moment she met Sunset’s gaze.

She hates you. And for some stupid reason, you actually care.

I care because I’m trying to be a better pony.

You’re Sunset Shimmer. You’re already the best. All you’re doing now is destroying that perfection. You could be studying dragon/pony political relations for when Celestia comes back. Or refining your sunfire spell. Or impressing Celestia by getting a jump start on the ‘Nature of Harmony’ lessons she’s going to start drilling you on. Instead, you’re playing a game of make-believe with three ponies who aren’t worthy to trim your fetlocks.

“Sunny?”

Twitch.

“What? Huh?” Sunset blinked, realizing she’d been staring right at Minuette without seeing her.

The other unicorn had her head cocked with an eyebrow raised, a slightly curious smile on her lips.

“You okay, Sunny?”

Twitch.

“You really need to stop calling me that.”

“I told you. I promised Moon Dancer I’d call you Sunny as often as I could.”

“That was a dumb promise.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Minuette shrugged. “I still made it.”

“What do you want, Minuette?”

“Well, your food’s getting cold.” Minuette nodded back to the inside of Sunset’s apartment. “You’ve been out here for twenty-seven minutes now.”

“Needed some air.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s air in your house, Sunny.”

“You know what I mean.” Sunset replied. “What’s with you, anyway?

“Sorry?”

“Why are you so dam—dang happy all the time?” The question came out more as a demand than a request for information. Even Sunset was startled by how much heat she’d put into her own words. “I don’t get it. You know what happened last year… and the year before that.”

Minuette nodded. “Yep! Saw every bit of it. You yelling at Moon Dancer, her crying, you screaming at—”

“Please, stop.”

Minuette’s ears went down and she blushed. “Sorry.”

“I’m not in a position to judge.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “I just… I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Well, that answers your question.”

“Huh?”

Minuette’s new smile had such a depth of warmth, Sunset was surprised the blue unicorn wasn’t actually glowing.

“Hope.”

“Hope,” Sunset repeated.

“Hope,” Minuette said again, her smile never wavering. “No matter what happens, things can always get better. Even when they’re at their best. Especially when they’re at their worst.”

“You can’t just be… that optimistic!” Sunset protested. “That’s totally out of touch with reality. It makes no sense.”

“Yeah, it does!” Minuette said with another smile. “You just don’t want to admit it because you’re too busy being all grouchy, grumpy and guilty. But one day, Sunny—” Twitch. “—you’ll need to accept that not only can you get forgiveness for things you’ve done, but you should.”

Sunset couldn’t stop herself. She laughed in Minuette’s face. The laugh sounded familiar. It was the laugh she had used a lot a couple years ago. It had always been aimed at other ponies. Yet somehow, Sunset knew even though she was laughing in Minuette’s face… the laugh was really aimed at herself.

“Are you kidding me?” Sunset cried. “You’re nuts. You’ve seen the way Lemon Hearts looks at me. You can’t tell me that, when I walk on campus next term, the entire school won’t look at me the same way! Don’t you get it, Minuette? There are some things you can’t undo. Just because I’m friends with Moon Dancer doesn’t mean I’m some totally different pony all of the sudden! Everypony knows what I was, and maybe a few crazy ponies will be stupid enough to think I’m worth forgiving! But we both know…”

Sunset swallowed hard and stared at her hooves.

“We both know that most ponies are smarter than that.”

Horseapples. Most ponies are idiots.

“Maybe,” Minuette said with a shrug and a smile. “Maybe not. But I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Garnet isn’t going to clear her name if you keep pouting out here.”

“I am not pouting!” Sunset retorted. “I’m contemplating!”

Minuette giggled. “Whatever you say, Sunny.”

Twitch.

“You really need to stop that.”

“No, I really think I don’t!”

Garnet tried not to swallow as the sword was shoved against her throat.

“Move an’ I’ll slice yer pretty little neck, mage,” The rough voice of the Dog holding the sword steady in her claws growled. “Don’t get any ideas. In fact, play this straight an’ we might even let’cher go!”

Somehow, Garnet doubted it.

“This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?” Nightblossom growled, trying to hate her to death with those freaky glowing orange eyes. It didn’t help that the fire was directly behind her, casting strange shadows on the sorceress. “I’ll bet you led them here to capture us! This whole thing was a ruse! How much they paying you, Dawn?”

That damn batpony seems to enjoy finding any excuse to hate me. At least Forest Whisper is giving me a chance… not that it matters much at the moment.

The batpony was trussed up and hogtied with thick black rope. She was upside down, struggling despite the fact the leader of the band, the same mare with the snow-white mane from the tavern, had enchanted the bindings with a strength charm that the batpony didn’t have a prayer of breaking.

Garnet’s eyes darted over to the unconscious form of Forest Whisper. The deer’s breathing was shallow but steady. The sorceress was grateful the opening salvo had only knocked her out instead of something much worse. However, she had sputtered out a surprisingly vulgar curse before collapsing into unconsciousness. It was only made worse when the leading mare had wrapped a thin necklace lined with a few runed stones around the deer, something Garnet suspected was laced with sleeping magic.

Now where by the Queen’s Mane is Wind Speaker? Garnet wondered, scanning the star-studded night sky above.

No silhouettes of pegasi swooping down to save them. The stars glittered above, as uncaring as ever. They were on their own for the moment. A bound batpony and a disgraced sorceress.

“The little witch did indeed lead us right to you, nightbeast,” the lead mare whispered in a breathy aristocratic voice. “Though nothing as willing as actual betrayal, no. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m afraid this was plain incompetence.”

Garnet wanted to snap a response, but the Dog didn’t seem interested in allowing her a chance for any stimulating conversation. She just pushed the sword tighter into Garnet’s neck.

“After all, with the right spells, tracking wild magic is foal’s play. Quite sad you were foolish enough to let one Dog escape several hours ago, no?”

Garnet winced. A stroke of bad luck had fouled her magic, turning what should have been a firebolt into three vaguely-annoyed butterflies. The result had been a single injured Dog who had managed to escape the small guard post. Neither Nightblossom nor Wind Speaker had been able to track the Dog… especially after it burrowed into the earth.

So, Garnet forced herself to glare at the pony she decided to call Snow. The mare didn’t miss it and only laughed a strange tinkling laugh, one better suited for a deer noble’s court than beneath a dusty rock outcropping in the middle of the Badlands in the dead of night.

“Oh, do let the poor dear at least speak,” Snow commented as she rifled through Garnet’s bags, tossing books, parchment and inkpots left and right. “I’m sure she has some choice words for us all, no?”

The half-dozen Dogs cackled, each of them grinning with those jagged teeth. However, the female menacing Garnet backed off just far enough so Garnet wouldn’t end up cutting her own throat if she sneezed.

“What are you after?” Garnet demanded. “What’s this all about?”

Snow howled with laughter to the point where she almost fell over. With a grin, she tossed an inkpot at Garnet’s hooves, which shattered and splattered her robes with expensive royal purple stains.

“Is this the part where I’m to tell you my dastardly plan of evil and wickedness, no? I suppose I could. It would be amusing to see your reaction. Quite amusing indeed! But I’m afraid, little witch, you’ll find I’m not some storybook villain. You see, I don’t need you dead. I just need you to… dance to my tune a bit longer. Don’t worry, you shall end up simply adoring the song. At least… after a time.”

“I doubt it.” Garnet shook her head. “There’s no way you could have captured every bard on the border with just this group of mutts. You had help.”

“I think perhaps you may want to proceed to the point where you say something that not everypony in a hundred miles already knows, no?” Snow sighed again and sat down in the middle of their camp, glowering at the saddlebags of the party. “However, it is most vexing to find that you do not seem to have what I seek. This is a very unfortunate thing, especially for you, little witch.”

“I don’t even know what you want!” Garnet protested.

“Stop this foalish game, you monsters!” the batpony shrieked. “I know you two are in on this together! Stop acting like you aren’t! I swear by the Moon and the Stars that I will see you both dead for this!”

“I grow weary of that one’s yammering,” Snow said with a roll of her eyes, her voice a chasm of apathy. “Muzzle it. If it continues its inane yapping, spare me further pain and lop off its tongue.”

Instantly, one of the Dogs leapt to obey, shoving a dirty cloth from Garnet’s saddlebag into Nightblossom’s mouth. The batpony’s eyes went wide with rage, but the Dog had done a good job. The batpony was effectively silenced, at least for now.

“So, why don’t I make this easy on you, little witch? Tell me where your little pegasus was taking you, and I’ll let you run away.”

“And my companions?”

“Oh, they’ll be joining me,” Snow smiled. “I’m afraid they annoyed some very powerful ponies last time they were out here.”

Garnet glared at Snow, trying to figure out just what Snow was playing at. In a flash like the rising sun, it came to her. She might have spent far too much time studying dusty tomes, but she was occasionally decent at reading other ponies when she put her mind to it.

“You’re lying. They’ve never even been here, have they?”

“Insightful little witch.” Snow laughed that tinkling laugh once more. “Very well, you’ve won one little tidbit of information. You amuse me. I see no reason to kill you… after all, I hope to meet you again when I can… properly introduce myself. Such a thing is only civil, no? However, your ‘friends’ are another matter entirely. They will be of great use to my… employer.”

Likely story, Garnet thought. You want me alive for something else, even if it’s just for kicks.

“How?”

“Oh, I’m so very sorry, but that is all the time we have for this evening!” Snow got to her hooves and smiled, her teeth glinting with the light of the fire. “Now, I’m going to offer you one final chance: what was your destination?”

Garnet did a quick check of her environment. The female Dog was less than five feet away and looked like she was ready and eager to have an excuse to spill some blood tonight. Forest was still out. The batpony looked furious, but there wasn’t a thing she could do tied up like that. And Wind was nowhere to be seen. Any hopes of a dramatic rescue by the pegasus were dashed.

She was exhausted. She’d used all of her spells and powers in the fight against the Dog camp earlier in the evening. She’d overtaxed herself and now there was little she could do save for what she could do normally.

That being said, she was still a unicorn. She had one chance. She’d probably get gutted for it, but there wasn’t much choice. She didn’t know why Snow wanted the information, but Garnet couldn’t let the enemy unicorn get it. Even if Snow did let her go, there was no way Garnet was letting Snow cart off her companions. She didn’t necessarily like them, but whatever fate Snow had in store wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Nopony deserved to be at the mercy of a pony like Snow. Not even that damn batpony.

Garnet readied herself as Snow looked on in amusement.

Twinkleshine flipped through a book from her saddlebags, occasionally peeking up to see the progress of the encounter. Lemon Hearts was grumbling to herself across from Sunset. Minuette was watching Sunset with a curious smile that was simply unnerving.

That pony is crazy.

Sunset tried to ignore Minuette and studied the board. Six Diamond Dog figures were in the camp, plus the white-maned Snow. One of them was right next to Garnet. Two of them were by Nightblossom’s figure, which was one square over from the fire. Two more were next to the prone figure of Forest Whisper. The last was beside Snow.

“And the Dog nearest to me is watching me closely?”

Minuette nodded from behind her Game Master’s screen.

“Minuette, come on, you can’t just leave me tied up like this!” Lemon Hearts complained. “It’s not fair!”

“Don’t blame me!” Minuette replied. “Blame that two you rolled.”

Lemon Hearts grumbled some more.

Sunset glanced between Minuette and Lemon Hearts. The tactics of these games had always come easily to her. They were simply an analogy for standard spellcraft.

Well, usually.

The roleplaying tended to bug her and throw her off. While she’s muddled along as best she could, she had a feeling that this was a time she should be paying attention to the roleplay and not the numbers.

“What’s the armor rating of the Dogs, again?” Sunset asked before popping a hayfry in her muzzle and staring at the board.

Twinkleshine glanced up from her book, and swallowed the nibble of salad she’d been snacking on. “Uh, I think a fourteen is the lowest we’ve hit with. Lemon?”

“Fourteen.”

The numbers told her the best thing to do would be using a basic telekinetic thrust—a simple ability all unicorns had, just as all pegasi had flight and all earth ponies had added strength—against the Dog nearest to her.

But her instincts told a very different story. They were somewhat new and hard to hear, but she still tried to listen.

Sunset took a deep breath and finally nodded slowly.

“Okay. I think I’m ready.”

“Gee, I wonder what will happen next?” Lemon Hearts commented. She’d apparently resigned herself to being captured at this point.

“Telekinetic thrust, targeted right at Nightblossom’s hooves.”

“Uh… Sunny?” Minuette asked as Lemon Hearts gaped at her.

Twitch.

“Yes?” she asked in a sweet voice.

“From that angle, you’ll flip her into the fire.”

“I hope so.”

Minuette’s eyes widened and her smile grew while Lemon Hearts let out a strangled cry of protest.

“What in Tartarus, Shimmer? Seriously, I was fine with getting thrown under a cart, but you’re going to literally throw me into the fire?”

“Are you sure?” Minuette asked, ignoring Lemon Hearts's outburst. “There’s a good chance this won’t work, and that Dog is right there.”

Sunset nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Minuette!” Lemon Hearts cried. “You can’t let her burn Nightblossom to death out of spite!”

“I am but your simple guide in this strange land. It is not for me to decide—”

Both Sunset and Lemon Hearts gave Minuette a look.

“No, I mean it. I don’t control your actions, only how the world reacts to them. Make your roll, Sunny!”

She almost managed to repress the twitch this time as she picked up her d20 and threw it.

The die rolled to a stop.

“Great,” Lemon Hearts moaned.

A bolt of pure telekinetic force tore from Garnet’s horn. Snow immediately conjured a shield around herself—it looked like she had one ready just for something like this—and the Dog closest to Garnet let out a growl as she pounced on the unicorn and brought her sword down to leave a massive gash on her left flank. The unicorn let out a scream as the poisoned blade did its work.

However, the force of the blast hadn’t been targeted at either of them. Instead, it had slammed into the upside-down hooves of Nightblossom, who let out a strangled cry as the bolt flipped her over… directly into the fire.

“Huh. I did not see that coming. You must really hate her to do something so stupid,” Snow commented with a shrug. “And to take such a terrible wound as well. Looks like you both die. Oh well. I cannot be blamed for trying.”

Nightblossom let out a strangled scream as the flames licked her hooves… and the arcane binding wrapped around them. In seconds, the flames ran up the rope, the first strand broke and the enhancement vanished.

“No way,” Lemon Hearts gaped at Sunset.

Sunset smiled a little. Minuette grinned. Twinkleshine actually clopped her hooves together just a bit.

“Nightblossom? You have a surprise attack. What are you going to do?”

“Well, duh…”

Nightblossom probably believed she was smarter than the rest of her group for keeping just one move in reserve. She definitely looked it as she stretched hard and broke the binding with one grunt. She spat out the piece of cloth and grinned a maniacal grin as her wings flared and she jumped into the air.

“Oh, it is so on!” Nightblossom shouted. With a sudden surge of speed, she dove for one of the Dogs who had taken all of their weapons. She came at him with a resounding four-hoof crash that sent the dog flying… and gave her a precious moment to reclaim her hoof-batons.

“Let’s dance, you mangy mutts!” Nightblossom cried as the rest of the Dogs rushed her.

“Do you ever say anything that sounds like it’s not from a Power Ponies comic?” Sunset asked with a tiny smirk.

“You roleplay how you want to roleplay, little miss Purple Prose,” Lemon Hearts snapped back. “I’ll roleplay how I want to roleplay!”

“You’ve got four hostile Dogs rushing at you, but your sudden moment of freedom and re-arming has you in an adrenaline rush,” Minuette announced. “You get one more action.”

“Can I kick Garnet into the fire?”

Minuette rolled her eyes. “Yes, but they’ll be able to take their full attack actions against you. Considering your armor rating and putting in the plus-seven to attack…”

Lemon Hearts seemed to actually consider that for a moment before releasing an enormous sigh and shaking her head. Instead, she stared at the adjusted battle scene in front of her.

“I was trying to save your flank from being clawed off!” Sunset quipped. “So very sorry, but I also just freed you.”

“By chucking me into a fire.”

“It worked didn’t it?”

“Minuette, how much damage did I take from that?”

Minuette glanced down at something behind her screen. “Only one point. The rope’s enhancements made them susceptible to fire, so you were only in there for a few seconds before you broke free.”

“That seems awfully convenient,” Lemon Hearts said. Her eyes narrowed on Minuette.

“I’m sorry, but who’s the GM?”

Lemon Hearts sighed and lifted her hooves in defeat. “Fine, fine. Though if your little pegasus doesn’t get back soon, I’m going to beat her senseless when we do find her.”

“You can try,” Minuette said with a grin. “Now, what are you going to do? Snow still has her shield up. A Dog had just sliced Garnet open with a poisoned sword. Four Dogs are rushing at you.”

“You know, there is another character in our party…” Sunset offered. “Maybe she could help.”

“What, you want me to leave you to bleed out?”

“I’d like to survive, and if you get your tail hoofed to you, you aren’t any good to anypony. And frankly, I don’t want to be under a batpony’s medical care.”

“Huh,” Lemon Hearts stared at the parchment. “Dumb for you, but good for me. I’ll take it.”

Minuette gave Sunset a special little smile. A lot was said in that little smile. So much that Sunset found herself actually smiling back in return.

She stopped the moment she realized what she was doing, but the damage was done. Minuette’s eyes confirmed that in no uncertain terms.

When the GM smiles… she thought ruefully. I’m doomed.

“Help Forest!” Garnet shouted as she managed to roll away from another swipe of the dog’s sword. She was only able to keep her eyes on the batpony for a moment as she tried to get to her hooves. The poison was already weakening her. Every second, she moved a little slower.

“You’re an idiot! You’d better stay alive so I can kick your flank for throwing me into that fire!” Nightblossom bellowed as she took to the sky and immediately dived toward the prone deer.

“I’ll try!” Garnet snapped back as she rolled and managed to scramble to her hooves with a bit of luck. Finally upright, she was better able to move, but she knew it was a matter of time before the posion did her in.

“You idiots!” Snow shrieked. “Kill them! Kill them all!”

Garnet glanced back just in time to see Nightblossom rip the runestones from Forest’s neck. To the sorceress’s relief, the cleric’s eyes immediately popped open.

“What a—”

She was interrupted by a Dog suddenly crashing into Nightblossom and sending them both sprawling to the dirt. It seemed Forest realized now was not the time for pithy comments as she closed her eyes and began to glow faintly.

“I don’t think so, darling,” growled Snow from behind her barrier. Her horn lit up as a ball of fire began to form above her head.

Garnet ducked another swing from the Dog and dove forward, grabbing her familiar’s anchor with her hooves and pressing hard as she spoke the word of command.

Eoana exploded into existence right above her head. Though it was by no means blinding, it was surprising, making the Dog miss one more time. Garnet had a feeling it would probably be the last time.

Attack the Dog or protect Forest?

...Oh screw it!

With a mental command, Eoana soared forward just as Snow unleashed her fireball to incinerate the prone cleric. With a shriek, the phoenix-like creature intercepted the ball of flaming death, which burst like a Hearth’s Warming Eve firecracker.

Snow turned and shot Garnet a glare of pure hatred as Eoana soared to protect Forest. Her familiar nipped at a Dog who had tried to go after the deer, while Nightblossom grappled with yet another Dog.

Ha! Take that, you little—

Garnet let out a howl as she felt a sword plunge into her back. The pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt, but thankfully, it lasted only a few seconds before she mercifully blacked out.

Author's Note

Cue dramatic action music!

By the way, my editors have taken to commenting "Take A Shot" every time I reference something. Can you count all of the shots they took for this chapter? :twilightsheepish:

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Badlands

“Okay, fine, it’s a good campaign, but it doesn’t mean I like her. All she did was make the right call at the right time. She’s the Princess’s student! She probably gets all sorts of special classes on military tactics, battle magic and stuff like that!”

“Lemon Hearts,” Minuette pleaded. “She’s trying! You’re not. So why won’t you give her a break? You’ve got to see this isn’t good for you!”

“No, what’s good for me is not trusting somepony because they happened to not have done something horrible yet. It doesn’t change all the horrible things she did do.”

“And how is holding a grudge going to help anything?”

“So I remember what she did!” Lemon Hearts growled. “She doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”

Minuette shook her head. “What she doesn’t deserve is this constant stream of hate from you!”

Lemon Hearts flushed. “That’s ridiculous! She ruined my life!”

Sunset sighed and stared down at the arguing mares from a shadowed corner of the second floor. She’d gone up to use the restroom and had come back to this.

She knew she shouldn’t care. Lemon Hearts didn’t mean anything to her. She wasn’t a friend. She was a mediocre student on good days—unless the subject was alchemy, then she was hopeless—so she was barely worth Sunset’s time.

And yet… the simple fact that Lemon Hearts was Moon Dancer and Minuette’s friend told some part of her that Sunset should care about Lemon Hearts's feelings.

It’s a horrible sensation, being concerned about what others think of you. One you wouldn’t be worried about if you would just listen to me!

Sunset sighed and banged her head against the railing. It should have been cathartic. Instead, it just hurt.

“How long have you been listening to them?”

Sunset managed to stifle the shout, but it didn’t stop her from shooting a dark look at Twinkleshine, who was standing behind her and levitating a small cup of water.

“Did anypony tell you it’s not nice to sneak up on ponies?”

“A few times,” Twinkleshine shrugged as she stepped over and looked down at the arguing friends.

“I don’t understand you three,” Sunset muttered.

“What’s that?”

“You ponies… you don’t act like second-years.”

“Well, we’re actually third-years in a month or two.” Twinkleshine glanced at her, her expression impassive and far too mature. “Besides, what do you expect us to do? Act like little foals?”

Sunset tried to figure out a better way to say it, but couldn’t come up with anything. “Maybe?”

“None of us really had a choice.” Twinkleshine shrugged again. “You of all ponies know going to GU is a lot of pressure. It changes ponies. Some ponies get super-serious and block out the world. Moon Dancer was like that before you started tutoring her. Some ponies get silly to cope with it. That’s Minuette.”

“And you?”

“I’ll never have the magical strength of any of you,” Twinkleshine said. “Well, especially you, but I’ll never have the gifts Minuette and Moon Dancer have. I’m actually okay with that. You all seem like you’re destined for the spotlight. But me? I’d just like to settle down somewhere quiet. Have a family. End up doing something fun for a job. Simple stuff.”

“You’re kidding.” Sunset stared at the pink-haired unicorn. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not everypony wants to change the world.” Twinkleshine smiled in a quiet sort of way. “Some of us have to keep it running, after all.”

Sunset opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Thinking like that—it just felt wrong. Like denying a critical part of life itself. What was life without the challenge? Without striving to be the best?

You’re not the best at anything anymore. You’re giving up.

Sunset shook her head. She wasn’t going to let that damn voice get to her. She was certain her passenger was a phase. It would be gone soon enough, after things calmed down in her life. All she needed was a little more patience.

“What about Lemon Hearts?” Sunset asked.

Twinkleshine looked down again at the two ponies, who were still arguing. She took a drink of her water and seemed to gather her thoughts as Minuette’s voice rose again below.

“Lemon, tell me. After the Masquerade Ball, did you try reaching out to Green Fields?”

Lemon shook her mane. “Don’t push this on me, she did it! Green Fields went from playing with my mane to slow-dancing with her in no time flat!”

“But did you try, even once, to talk to him about it?”

Lemon Hearts swallowed. “Uh, well—”

Minuette cocked an eyebrow. “No! Because the big bad Sunset Shimmer scared you off! You keep telling everypony that you loved him, but you never even tried to patch things up.”

Lemon Hearts stamped her hooves and growled. “No! She stole him from me, and put all kinds of ideas in his head about me!”

“Okay, so maybe she messed up how he sees you. Maybe that made it hard for him to reach out. But communication is a two-way street! If he didn’t contact you, and you didn’t try either, is that Sunset’s fault?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Now think about the Alchemy final. If she was still the vicious, backstabbing little filly you so desperately want her to be, why would Dean Slate have to invent such a—”

Sunset’s attention was broken by Twinkleshine clearing her throat.

“I don’t know anymore. Lemon Hearts used to be the middle ground between me and Minuette. A bit more outgoing, but not as much as Minuette. Then again, I haven’t met anypony as outgoing as Minuette.”

Sunset smiled just a bit. “I think I can agree with that.”

“But… hm…” Twinkleshine frowned. “Lemon Hearts changed a lot this year. It’s been slow. I know the whole ‘Grass Fields’ thing really hurt her. When last summer came around, she seemed to be doing better. But since the beginning of the term… after she saw you in the class…”

“Yeah, I’m such a great influence.”

“You were pretty awful to us in the beginning,” Twinkleshine admitted. “But it was different, like you wanted to fix things but didn’t understand how. Lemon Hearts couldn’t see it. I don’t think she even wanted to.”

She took a long drink of water and set her glass on the banister. “Minuette was all over it, though. You’ve seen how she is.”

“Yeah.” Sunset nodded. “She’s a special kind of crazy, isn’t she?”

“Sure, but she’s also one of the best kinds of crazy I’ve ever met.” Twinkleshine laughed quietly. “Still… Lemon Hearts… she never forgave you.”

“I can’t really blame her,” Sunset admitted as a rush of obnoxious guilt flooded through her before she managed to shake it off… if only barely. And that was only by not looking at Lemon Hearts hissing at Minuette below. “So… why don’t you hate me?”

“Me?” Twinkleshine took another drink and turned to look Sunset squarely in the eye. “You want the truth?”

“Might as well.” Sunset shrugged. “Your friend down there seems to enjoy throwing it in my face every chance she gets.”

“I’m curious.”

“What?”

“I’ll admit, when everything happened during the finals, I really did think it was you. After all, my legs suddenly turned into miniature trampolines… or something like that.” She chuckled quietly and swished the water in her cup. “Now, I knew Cinnamon had issues. Ponyfeathers, I knew Raspberry Tart had issues… but to that level? That she would go to those lengths to get back at you?” Twinkleshine shuddered. “That scared me. I didn’t like the pony she became… I started to worry that’s where I could end up. That’s not a place I want to go.”

“That’s not really an answer. Why are you curious?”

Twinkleshine finished her water and paused for a long moment. “Well… Moon Dancer is completely convinced you’re trying to be a better pony. She was so convinced, she stood up for you in the middle of Polish’s exam. I want to know if she was right.”

“What do you think so far?”

Sunset was not afraid of the answer. At least, that’s what she told herself.

Twinkleshine’s smile grew a little bit. “Still thinking about it. But that little trick in the game helped.”

Sunset stared at her. “How can seeing how I act in a game help for something like that?”

“It’s something my mother always told me: ‘watch a pony at play and you’ll see them at work too.’ She was a coach for the Canterlot Polo Team. She thinks seeing how ponies play reveals how they think.”

“And what do you think?”

“I’ve seen enough to think she might be right.”

“Well, that’s somewhat encoura—”

“You’re being just pulled into her freaking lies! Moon Dancer is wrong about her!” Lemon Hearts shouted from below, her voice going from annoyed to furious in an instant. “When are you going to get your head out of the clouds, Minuette? She’s a fake!”

“I’ll get my head out of the clouds when you get yours out of the ground!” Minuette snapped back. To Sunset’s shock, there was real anger in the blue unicorn’s voice. “She’s trying! Which is a lot more than can be said for you!”

“Why in Tartarus is this so damn important to you?”

“Why?” Minuette shoved herself into Lemon Hearts's face. “Because I’m tired of seeing it hurt you!”

That one brought up Lemon Hearts short. “What are you talking about?”

Twinkleshine glanced at Sunset and suddenly coughed loudly. Both Lemon Hearts and Minuette’s eyes shot up to the balcony.

“How long have you two been spying on us?” Lemon Hearts snorted.

“Actually—”

“We just got here,” Sunset interrupted smoothly. “I was showing Twinkleshine the small artifact collection the Princess lets me keep for study.”

Twinkleshine had a tiny little smile on her face as she nodded to Sunset’s little lie. “You should check it out. She’s got a few neat things up here.”

“Maybe later,” Minuette replied with a grin that didn’t look one-hundred percent genuine. “After all, we have a villain to vanquish! So get down here and let’s make this happen!”

Lemon Hearts stared suspiciously at Sunset, but her eyes drifted over to Twinkleshine. There was a note of actual worry in her face as she stared at her friend. Twinkleshine just smiled back. Finally, both Minuette and Lemon Hearts headed to the dining room table, now lit by a beam of moonlight coming through the massive window overlooking Canterlot.

“Yeah,” Twinkleshine whispered as she headed for the stairs. “I think she was right.”

Sunset stared after her, but found her gaze wandering to Lemon Hearts, who was hunched over on her side of the table. Minuette on the other hoof, was watching Sunset like a hawk. She had another smile on her face. This time, it was honest.

Minuette also looked somewhat self-satisfied. For some reason, Sunset didn’t really mind.

Garnet focused her entire will upon the cliff face, seeking any point of entry. The long road from Elderfields had led them here… to something that shouldn’t be. And that made her nervous, more than she wanted to admit. Eoana flew around, trying to figure out how this wall of rock had come into being.

Garnet probed the wall with her magic before cursing under her breath. Still nothing.

“How’s the back?”

Garnet’s back immediately twitched as Forest’s question shattered her focus.

“It’s better. Never been run through with a sword before.”

“I’ve seen worse,” the cleric replied in a motherly voice. “You’ll be fine.”

“Is that your professional opinion?”

“As a Cleric of the Light of the Sun? Yes.”

“I’ll take your word for it. And Wind?”

Forest turned from the cliff and looked at the slumped body of the pegasus.

“The spell Snow worked upon her was severe indeed. I pray she’ll wake within the next hour if my healing took. Now, it is up to both her and the Sun.”

“I can’t believe Dogs managed to ambush a pegasus.”

“Wind likes to walk. She’s a bit particular for a pegasus.”

“Says the deer that travels with said pegasus and a batpony.”

Forest shrugged.

“We should be grateful that we found her. In this nearly-trackless expanse, she could have been lost forever.”

Garnet shrugged. “I guess. But right now, she’s not much help.”

A batpony slammed to the ground in front of them, forcing them both to take a step backward. Garnet almost threw a trio of firebolts at the intruder before she recognized the figure as Nightblossom.

“You two figure this thing out yet?”

Forest shook her head. “All we know is that there should be an open canyon that leads to the ancient Fortress of the Shadowed Sun. There is nothing above?”

Nightblossom kicked at the cliff and yelped when she bruised her hoof.

“No,” she said, glowering at Wind Speaker for some reason. “It’s nothing but scrub up there. It looks real.”

“The map Wind showed us could be wrong,” Garnet pointed out.

“You mean the map Snow managed to steal from her?” Nightblossom grumbled. “I can’t believe that pony. What in Tartarus is her problem?”

“She was checking the area, something of which you are quite aware,” Forest reminded her. “After all, you declined the task.”

“Don’t push this on me!” Nightblossom shouted. “I’m not the one who decided to throw somepony into a fire.”

Garnet sighed but said nothing, focusing once again on the cliff face. All she sensed was rock and dirt.

“She saved us with that little trick,” Forest said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it! Or her!”

Garnet growled and whirled around.

“This is getting us nowhere!” she shouted to the heavens. “I don’t have a clue how to get past this wall! According to the map, it shouldn’t be here, but I can’t sense any sort of magic on it at all!”

“That’s… because you aren’t… an Earth pony.”

All three of them whirled to stare at the groggy expression on Wind Speaker’s face as she blinked a few times in the bright moonlight.

“Hello everypony. Did …I miss anything?”

“About blasted time you woke up, you featherbrain!” Nightblossom growled even as Forest rushed to Wind’s side. “We’ve been here for over an hour and you’re heavy to carry!”

“So very sorry,” Wind muttered dryly as Forest helped her to her feet. “I’ll try not to get blasted out of the sky by a unicorn, beaten by Dogs and bound by an overpowered sleep spell in the future.”

“That would be quite helpful, thank you,” Forest commented as she stepped away, watching Wind carefully.

However, the pegasus seemed well enough. The magic of the cleric and the healing potion they’d administered to her had done their work. Wind Speaker stretched her wings and checked her so-called ‘battle-saddle’ she wore on her sides.

“At least she didn’t damage this,” Wind muttered. “I would have killed Snow if she had. This thing’s expensive.”

“Now that we’ve gotten that all out of the way…” Garnet interjected with a roll of her eyes. “Mind telling us what you meant about us not being an Earth pony?”

“Before she knocked me out, Snow demanded to know how we were going to get past this barrier,” Wind said. “I didn’t even know it was here, but she seemed to think we had a plan. Apparently, it requires Earth magic to get through.”

“Then how’s she going to get through it?”

“The Dogs.”

Garnet blinked a few times and facehoofed. “Oh, by the Queen’s Mane, of course! Dogs use Earth magic. That’s how they dig so fast!”

“Seriously?” Nightblossom scoffed. “The sorceress sage couldn’t be bothered to remember such details?”

“My memory isn’t perfect,” Garnet snapped. “Anyway, you’re the adventuring experts. Shouldn’t you know something about the Dogs?

“I’m afraid I fail to see how this information is of any assistance,” Forest pointed out. “None of us have the ability to wield Earth magic.”

Garnet raised a hoof. “I can.”

Nightblossom stared at her. “You’re a unicorn sorceress. Don’t tell me you’re part Earth pony too.”

“No, I’m not!” Garnet growled. “I’m not some terribly written character out of a cheap book! What I meant is that I can… sometimes.”

Wind Speaker nodded. “Your Wild Magic.”

“Isn’t Wild Magic… wild?” Forest asked.

“It can… sometimes… be controlled. For a brief second or two. But, it’ll leave me pretty useless for at least a couple hours.”

“What is required?” Forest asked.

“This is stupid,” the batpony complained. “Let’s just go look for a hole or a cave.”

“Assuming we find one, how do we know it’s not blocked or guarded?” Wind Speaker replied. “I think this is our best option. However, Garnet, you do realize what will happen if this doesn’t work, right?”

Garnet nodded.

“Well I don’t!” Nightblossom shouted with yet another glare. “Somepony mind telling me?”

“She could lose all of her spells,” Wind murmured. “Burnout… or worse.”

Nightblossom stared at Garnet with an open mouth. “You’re kidding.”

Garnet shook her head.

“Okay, that’s a stupid risk. Why bother?”

“Aren’t you worried what Snow is planning to do with fifty bards?” Garnet pointed out. “I doubt she abducted them just to have them sing her a lullaby. She’s after something. Something bad. We need to get to them before it’s too late. After all, that’s why we’re here.”

Nightblossom’s bright eyes narrowed even further as she studied Garnet. “Nope. This isn’t gonna work.”

“What isn’t going to work?” Minuette asked. “Lemon Hearts, you’re not making any sense.”

“You’re trying to do the whole ‘noble sacrifice’ schtick!” Lemon Hearts growled. “Trying to get me to like her because of it! I know for a fact sorcerers can’t control their wild magic like that. The most they can do is use a second roll to pick a different effect!”

“Any group of adventures can use Harmony as a magical focus once a month as long as they are united by a common cause and have a single arcane caster in their presence,” Minuette recited with a sigh. “It’s on page two-hundred and fifty-six. Calling upon Harmony allows the caster control over any Chaos-related for a maximum of ten seconds.”

“Oh yeah, since Nightblossom’s totally going to go through with that,” Lemon Hearts growled. “She doesn’t trust any of you, definitely not enough to use Harmony!”

“Using Harmony is the only way we’re going to deal with this.”

“That’s your fault!” Lemon Hearts shouted. “You built up to this moment!”

“Actually, it’s in the book!” Minuette lifted up Bards of the Badlands. “But since you’re being a pest, I’m not going to show you. So nyah!”

“Nightblossom isn’t going to help Garnet become the hero,” Lemon Hearts snarled, crossing her forelegs. “It’s that simple.”

Enough is enough. Sunset wasn’t sure if those were her own thoughts or that angry voice rattling around in her skull.

“So you’d rather wreck the game than do something to help us progress?” Sunset snapped. “I thought you were supposed to be their friend?”

“Who are you to lecture anypony about being friends?” Lemon Hearts's eyes were burning now. “You tore everypony apart for years. One incident doesn’t redeem you! You can’t change who you are, Sunny!”

Sunset stood to her hooves so quickly her chair fell over. She didn’t care.

“I know who I am!” Sunset shouted. “I’m a unicorn with a gift for magic who also happens to be the personal student of Princess Celestia!”

“And the truth comes out!” Lemon Hearts cried. “You think you’re better than all of us!”

“No! The truth is, I don’t have a freaking clue about friendship. But I’m trying! All you’re doing is the same thing Cinnamon Tart did to Moon Dancer!”

The silence was deafening. Twinkleshine and Minuette’s eyes darted back and forth between Sunset and Lemon Hearts. Lemon Hearts's expression had frozen, as if Sunset had just punched her in the face.

Sunset suddenly found she couldn’t meet anypony’s gaze.

And then Minuette started laughing.

It was not a quiet laugh. It wasn’t a dainty giggle or even a hearty chuckle. This began with three snorts before she fell out of her chair, howling with laughter so badly she started stamping on the floor. Tears streamed from her eyes as everypony in the room just stared at her.

For reasons Sunset couldn’t explain, Twinkleshine was the next to fall victim to the inexplicable laughing curse. She kept herself a bit more composed than Minuette, though, managing not to land on the floor.

Sunset stared at Lemon Hearts and saw the same complete and total incomprehension she felt.

But somehow… it didn’t matter. Minuette’s laughter truly was as infectious as a plague. Before she even realized what was going on, Sunset started giggling, which quickly devolved into gales of laughter. Lemon Hearts managed to put up a good fight, but with three other mares dying from incurable mirth before her, even she couldn’t keep a straight face.

Sunset wasn’t sure how long they were there, laughing their tails off for no reason. All she knew was it felt like something was missing from her when she finally managed to catch her breath. And she felt far better because of it.

Minuette slowly climbed into her chair, still snorting occasionally as she righted her Game Master’s screen and fixed a few things on the table.

“Would… would you mind telling me what that was all about?” Sunset asked, still trying to get her curse of giggles fully under control.

“You two!” Minuette cried. “You two are so determined to be angry at each other. It’s hilarious! Like watching cats separated by a window trying to fight! There’s all this yowling and scratching and howling but nothing’s actually happening. I don’t know how you two haven’t noticed it yet! Sunset, you want her to be angry at you!”

Sunset gaped. “I do not! I’ve been trying my best—”

Minuette shook her head. “No, not intentionally. You want her to be angry at you because it means you’re still allowed to be the pony you were a year ago. There’s a part of you that doesn’t want to lose that. And as long as there’s somepony out there who won’t forgive you, you can still be that Sunset Shimmer!”

Is that possible? Am I really so scared of losing that part of me by actually making friends?

She thought about herself staring out the window, looking at either some random piece of the Summer Sun Celebration… or looking out to the east.

Sunset couldn’t help but notice that the angry little pony in her head had suddenly gone very silent. She wasn’t sure her passenger was even there anymore.

“And Lemon Hearts?” Minuette continued after another giggle. “You’re not angry for yourself. You’re angry because you don’t want to admit that maybe Moon Dancer was right. You’re angry at yourself and you’re trying to be angry for us, since Twinkleshine and I agree with Moony.”

Something clicked. “You knew we were watching you, didn’t you?” Sunset asked.

“Yep!” Minuette giggled yet again. “It was a blast seeing you two actually bond! Worked perfectly!”

“Wait…” Lemon Hearts protested. “They were up there the whole time?”

Minuette nodded. When Lemon Hearts looked at Twinkleshine for affirmation, the pink-maned unicorn shrugged sheepishly. Finally, her eyes turned to Sunset.

“And you didn’t say anything? After everything… no, you actually lied! You lied! To my face!”

“There wasn’t any reason to say anything,” Sunset muttered. “It would have just embarrassed you and made you angrier.”

Lemon Hearts stared at her, gaping in shock. Finally, something seemed to deflate in the yellow unicorn and she put her head in her hooves.

“Why’d you have to go and make everything complicated?” Lemon Hearts moaned. “You were so easy to hate. But then as the year went on, ponies started to think you were different. But all I could remember is all the damage you did. All that suffering you inflicted on everypony. But after the alchemy final…”

“Lemon Hearts,” Sunset sighed. “I know I’m not a good pony. But after what happened, I going to try to be. Now, I can’t fix this overnight. I’d love to, but since mind control magic is against the law in every part of Equestria I know of… I have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

Lemon Hearts's head finally lifted and she looked Sunset in the eye. To Sunset’s surprise, the other unicorn was crying. “He still won’t talk to me, you know.”

“If I can help fix it, I promise I will.”

A long silence stretched between the two ponies.

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“With my luck, I’ll probably make it worse,” Sunset muttered. “But… I can try. But… look, I’m sorry about what I said when I compared you to Cinnamon—”

“No,” Lemon Hearts interrupted. “Don’t. You were right. I’ve spent this whole time trying to make Minuette and Twinkleshine hate you. Real friends don’t encourage hate. Moon Dancer was right about that.”

“Yep!” Minuette chirped.

“Took you long enough,” Twinkleshine said as she rolled her eyes.

Lemon Hearts stood up and slowly walked around the table to Sunset. Sunset forced herself to stay in exactly the same spot. It was a hard battle, but she managed to hold her ground. Then the yellow unicorn did something Sunset wasn’t ready for.

She held out a hoof.

Sunset tentatively, slowly and gently… bumped it.

Minuette let out a squeal that could probably be heard all the way in Trottingham.

Author's Note

But what of our brave adventurers? Will they discover the fate of the Bards? Will the dastardly Snow be stopped before she can enact her evil plot? For the answer to these questions and many more, in one day, look to the east.

...or just, you know... come back here. Here might be better.

:moustache:

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

The Bards

The dusty stone of the Fortress of the Shadowed Sun surrounded them like a tomb. Scratching noises came from the walls. Every so often, the floor beneath their hooves would rumble as Dogs charged through a hallway below them or tunneled beneath the ancient structure.

Garnet coughed as a spray of dirt filled her face.

“Shh!” Nightblossom hissed. “You’ll give away our position!”

Garnet waved an apology at the batpony and continued her long crawl through the narrow passage.

“I really wish we had a warrior or a paladin with us,” Wind muttered. “This is going to be brutal.”

As they rounded a bend, a new sound echoed through the battered fortress. It was a song, but in a language Garnet had never heard before. However, she recognized one voice in the strangely discordant harmony: Snow’s svelte tones. The sorceress had to admit that for a villain, she could certainly sing… even if the song was sending shivers of ice down her spine.

“What are they doing down there?” Garnet whispered up to Nightblossom, who was currently leading the crawl through the tight passage.

“Nothing wholesome, to be sure,” Forest muttered from their rear. “The Light of the Sun has not fallen upon these stones in many years. I can feel it trying to leech away my will. It is unnatural.”

Finally, the tight passage let out on a large dusty balcony level. It looked like nopony had been here for years if not decades. Dust coated everything, but they were in luck. Nightblossom’s quick and brutal interrogation of a hapless guard shortly after entering the Fortress had told them what they needed to know.

They all crept out of the passage before they approached the weathered railing of the Chamber of Echoes within the Fortress of the Shadowed Sun. It was massive, six stories tall ringed with balconies similar to this one. A few enchanted crystals hung from the ceiling, coating the chamber with a sickly green light. Other crystals protruded from pillars scattered throughout the pit, alternating between glowing green and blood red shards. But at the bottom was their real prize.

Exactly fifty ponies in the traditional garb of the Bards Guild were all standing in a strange trance-like state, wavering left and right as they stared at a pulsing red and black crystalline orb hovering ten feet above the ground. Their mouths were open and they were indeed singing, but now that she was in the same room, the sound filled Garnet with dread and despair. She wanted to shrivel up in a corner somewhere and weep forever at that awful sound, but she forced herself to look deeper and find their true enemy: the creature they knew as Snow.

She caught a glimpse of a white mane beneath the orb and realized the unicorn must be standing directly below it. She chanted guttural syllables in a language Garnet didn’t understand, but it had the tone of a great spell. And if her lore knowledge was correct—and it usually was—then she knew what sort of spell was being cast.

“Well, this looks bad,” Wind muttered.

“You think?” Nightblossom growled.

“By the Sun’s Light, what are they doing?”

“Summoning spell,” Garnet said with gritted teeth. “A powerful one.”

“Why would they need bards for a summoning spell?” Wind asked.

“Look at the crystals around the room.” Garnet pointed. “Those weren’t grown here. They were moved here. I think Snow is attempting to unleash something horrible upon this world.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you from being overdramatic, but what might that be?” Nightblossom said with a roll of her eyes.

“The Umbrum.”

Forest sucked in a breath. Nightblossom paled. But Wind looked confused.

“Never heard of them,” Wind said.

“Legend says that they were once ponies, cursed by Harmony itself for their greed and wickedness to become creatures of nightmare and shadow.” Garnet grimaced. “They once lived far to the north in the frozen wastes beyond Icehoof Dale. Before the defeat of their empire, they consumed the land, feeding off of the emotions of everypony they could grasp until their victims were filled with nothing but despair or apathy. Then they fed off of that and it made them even stronger.”

“That’s why they want the bards,” Nightblossom whispered. “If they can corrupt the bards of the land into telling tales of despair and pain…”

“...They would create a new feeding ground.” Wind nodded. “They’d unleash more of their kind. If their power grows unchecked, they will swarm the land and devour… everything.”

“Such abominations cannot be suffered to exist,” Forest declared. “We must not allow them to complete the ritual.”

“They wouldn’t be in the middle of it, if somepony hadn’t required a full rest,” Nightblossom said with a pointed look at Garnet.

“Now that you see what we face, would you rather I be at my weakest?” Garnet snapped back. “Be happy that Fate smiled upon us—for once—and restored my power after fighting those guards.”

“Nay, the Sun smiled upon you,” Forest said with a gentle touch of her hoof. “Even Fate must sway to the pleas of the righteous in times of great need.”

“How long until they finish, you think?” Nightblossom asked.

“Maybe… twenty minutes?” Garnet replied “I’m guessing here.”

“I would like to mention we are five stories up. Does this not seem to be a problem?” Forest asked.

“Not when you have two winged ponies with you.” Nightblossom grinned. “What do we need to do to disrupt the ritual?”

“The orb,” Garnet pointed. “It must be shattered. And Snow must be captured alive.”

“Why alive?” Nightblossom protested. “She can’t do us any harm if she’s dead.”

“Because Umbrum are creatures of shadow. They can possess somepony but once in a body, they cannot leave it until the host either dies or… certain unpleasant rituals are done.”

“You think Snow’s got an Umbrum in her?” Nightblossom asked, tapping her chin with a hoof.

“It’s possible,” Garnet replied. “I’d rather not risk it escaping and deciding to take one of us.”

“Though the Sun’s Light protects me,” Forest declared. “I would not see it free to cause more pain. I am so sworn. We must contain Snow at all costs.”

“Okay!” Nightblossom said with a ready grin. “Here’s the plan. Garnet, with Forest’s support, will match wits with Snow. Wind and I will destroy that orb thing.”

“What of the Dogs?” Forest asked. “Snow has a veritable army of them.”

Wind shook her head. “Dogs are easily susceptible to sonic vibrations. If you think their song is bad for us, it would be like having one’s head in an angry wild thunderstorm for a Dog. As long as they’re chanting, we only have to worry about Snow.”

“And if she can control the bards?” Garnet asked. “I don’t know how deep her power goes.”

“Then we improvise,” Nightblossom said as she flicked out her hoof-batons. “After all, what could possibly go wrong?”

“You did not just say that,” Sunset declared.

Lemon Hearts's eyes practically danced with laughter. “Oh, yes I did! Somepony’s got to say it before the big final battle.”

Just then, the hourglass in the room turned over once more as the chimes of midnight sounded out over the slumbering city outside. Sunset stared at the hourglass in shock.

“Have we been playing that long?”

Minuette grinned. “Time flies when you’re having fun! Though if you are too tired, we could call it here and continue—”

“No way!” Lemon Hearts cried. “We’re doing this! Right now! Come on, Minuette. Let’s get this party started!”

“Somepony’s chomping at the bit,” Twinkleshine muttered to Sunset.

Sunset grinned. “I don’t blame her. I want to see how this turns out.”

Twinkleshine nodded as Minuette’s smile grew ever wider.

“On second thought…” Sunset began.

“It’s already too late.” Twinkleshine sighed.

Wind Speaker had Garnet in her hooves as she leapt off the balcony in time with the batpony who held Forest Whisper. They both circled the room a few times, checking their angles before the two fliers looked at one another and nodded in unison. Garnet managed not to scream as they plummeted toward the ground.

“Now!” Wind cried and Garnet found herself in freefall for a few seconds before landing roughly just past the steps of the stone dais where Snow was standing with her eyes closed, floating in a black cloud of eldritch magic. On the opposite side, Nightblossom gently deposited Forest before she flew up and crashed against the orb, causing the entire thing to shudder and shake. A pair of explosive arrows erupted from Wind’s battle-saddle, piecing the crystal of the sphere and detonating, sending chunks of smoking glass flying across the room.

Snow’s eyes opened. They were blood-red and dark magic billowed from them like smoke in a tomb. A wicked smile curled her muzzle.

“Ah, so the brave heroes arrive to defeat me at the eleventh hour? And here I thought you would be too late. I would have been most disappointed. It’s so much more fun to watch a hero fail at the last moment, no?”

“I wouldn’t know!” Garnet shouted. “I’ve never watched another hero fail!”

Before Garnet could protect herself, a tendril of black smoke curled around her neck. Garnet shuddered as a spell pulsed through the magical construct even as she was lifted into the air. She felt the spell strike against her mental barriers and the world swam. The power coursing through her held an ancient fear enchantment.

“Oh, but that isn’t quite true, is it, little witch?” Snow cooed. “You have done many horrible things in your life. Heroes have often failed… to stop a monster like you.”

A blast of pure sunlight erupted from Forest’s horns and ripped the tendril in half, dropping Garnet to the ground.

“She is no monster!” Forest cried. “You and those you seek to unleash are!”

“She has done everything she can to stop your mad plot, Snow!” shouted the pegasus as two more arrows blew chunks out of the sphere.

“And while maybe there were those who called her that in the past,” Nightblossom bellowed. “We know better!”

Garnet grinned, feeling her heart lift and the wild magic within her flare.

“Now, as Nightblossom said earlier,” the sorceress said as Eoana appeared beside her. “Let’s dance.”

Sunset’s hourglass must be wrong, because there was no way it was past two o’clock in the morning. Then again, the boss fight had taken forever. They had been doing great until Snow had empowered ten of the bards with Umbrum she had hidden in the blood red crystal shards. Then things just went crazy.

Plus there was the damn hydra. Minuette had grinned like a lunatic when that thing had ripped through a wall.

Still, the bards had been freed and the party was now escorting them back to the border of the Badlands as dawn peeked over the horizon. Minuette had promised their journey would be uneventful, despite the fact that their true enemy had escaped.

“I still can’t believe you let her get away!” Lemon Hearts whined through another yawn. “We had her right where we wanted her!”

Twinkleshine shook her head as she slowly shuffled toward the door. “It was either that or let Wind Speaker die beneath the crumbling orb. Forest will not leave anypony to die, Lemon Hearts. You know that.”

“Pffft… oh well, just means we get a new nemesis. I’m sure she’ll show up again… at the worst possible time.” She shot a glare at Minuette, who just grinned in response.

“Who knows what may lay in wait for you next time!” Minuette declared in her most dramatic voice, which earned her a round of giggles from the exhausted girls.

“Hey… um…” Lemon Hearts suddenly turned red for the first time that night. “Speaking of next time… why don’t we do it at my place? Maybe next Friday? I think Lyra might be available. And didn’t you say Gaffer would be free next week?”

“Sounds good to me,” Minuette answered with a nod.

“As long as it doesn’t go until two in the morning again, I’m fine with that.” Twinkleshine let out a jaw-popping yawn.

Sunset just stared at the hourglass, her head down.

“Sunset?” Lemon Hearts said quietly. “What about you?”

“What about me?” she said.

“Well… is Garnet going to join us?”

Sunset’s head shot up and she stared at Lemon Hearts. “You… you actually want me there?”

Lemon Hearts frowned. “Look, I’m not saying that you’re my best friend or anything. But I have to admit, tonight was fun. And… well… if you’re really trying to make things better, I have to be willing to give you a chance. Anyway, since that whole ‘Minuette-laughter-plague’ thing… I’ve felt better.”

“Told you!” Minuette chirped.

Lemon Hearts shot her a glare, but there was no real annoyance in it. “Yeah, fine. I was holding onto stuff I shouldn’t. I guess you’re not the only one who needs lessons on what being a friend means. So, you coming or what?”

“Uh… sure?” Sunset replied, stifling yet another yawn. “What time?”

“No more all-day sessions. So… umm… Eight. Sharp. And you need to bring the snacks!”

“I think I can do that.”

“Well… good!” Lemon Hearts declared. “Glad that’s settled. Because Nightblossom still has a few bones to pick with Garnet about that whole fire thing. And she’s not going to go easy on you!”

Twinkleshine shoved her friend in the side. “Come on, you. Let’s go home. Our parents will probably kill us for being out so late… again.”

“It’s okay. Don’t sorceresses have a reincarnation spell? And you can use ‘Spare the Dying’ or something.”

“Har, har.”

“Goodnight girls!” Minuette called as the two ponies headed for the door.

“Goodnight!” they chimed, waving one more time at both Minuette and Sunset. With a final smile, they headed out the front door.

“Need any help?” Sunset asked.

Minuette shook her head as she folded the map into her saddlebags. “Nope! Just about got it.”

“So what’s your deal, Minuette?” Sunset asked as she leaned against the hourglass. “I still don’t get you.”

Minuette grinned, walked over and tapped the hourglass. “‘Right time, right place,’ remember?”

“And why Ogres and Oubliettes?”

“Besides Moon Dancer suggesting it? Maybe because I saw you six months ago when you had your head buried in Lost Empire of the Crystal Princess and I happened to sneak a peek over your shoulder at your character sheet. I’ve been playing with this idea ever since.”

Sunset stared. “You’re kidding.”

Minuette grinned. “Nope.”

“You little brat.”

Minuette’s grin turned into a giggle.

“I still don’t get you,” Sunset repeated.

“Sunset…” Minuette’s smile never faded. “I’m actually pretty simple. I like it when ponies get along. I like it when my friends smile. More than anything, I like it when my friends laugh. And when you girls finally started laughing with me… It just felt right. I was waiting for just that moment.”

“And you had to wait until we were screaming at each other?”

“Sometimes, ponies need to yell a little to be heard over the voices inside of them. More than anything, that’s the time when the ponies need to laugh and smile, so they get out of their head and back into the world.”

Something in the way Minuette said that sent chills down Sunset’s spine.

She couldn’t possibly know… could she?

Don’t be ridiculous, the familiar voice scoffed. Nopony can read minds.

However, the way Minuette’s smile combined with a little twinkle in her eye made Sunset doubt that little assurance.

“Anyway, I need to head home,” Minuette said as she shrugged on her saddlebags. “Mom and Dad know that I’m on a special assignment from the Princess though, so I don’t think I’ll get in trouble. And don’t worry, I told Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts’s parents too.”

“Hey, let me see that letter.”

Minuette smirked and levitated the scroll out. “Oh, now you want to see it?”

Sunset made a grab for it with her magic, but a yawn knocked off her aim. Minuette laughed and tossed it at her. Sunset fumbled it for a moment and then unrolled the scroll.

Dear Minuette,

I know Moon Dancer already informed you of our arrangement, but in case Sunset decides to press the matter, I thought it prudent that you have something to show her.

As I will be indisposed this week for a diplomatic summit in the Dragon Lands, you are under royal orders to make sure Sunset Shimmer has some fun in whatever manner you deem fit for the week. Moon Dancer has assured me of your qualifications and I have little doubt that you will be up to the challenge.

Thank you for your help.

Yours Truly,

Princess Celestia

“I so called it,” Sunset said with a tired little laugh. “I knew they were conspiring against me.”

“But for a good cause!”

“Yeah…” Sunset grinned a silly little grin. “Yeah, I think so. So, I guess I’ll see you next Friday, then.”

“What do you mean next Friday?” Minuette cocked her head.

Sunset blinked. “What?”

“I’m under royal orders to make sure you have fun for the entire week, Sunny,” Minuette said with a giant smile.

“Oh no, you can’t be serious!” Sunset cried.

“Yep!” Minuette’s smile was geographically impossible. “I’ll see you tomorrow around lunchtime. I’m thinking of taking you out for doughnuts.”

“You don’t need to keep me company all week!”

“Sorry, Sunny, but the last thing I want to do is disobey a royal order. What kind of loyal subject of Equestria would I be if I did something like that?”

“One that values other ponies’ privacy?”

Minuette laughed. “Silly Sunny. That’s just no fun.”

Sunset hung her head, knowing she was beaten through and through. She walked Minuette to the door, and opened it.

“See you tomorrow, I guess,” Sunset said with a sigh. “But if you show up before noon, I reserve the right to practice my sunfire spell on you!”

“Yowza, you do like your sleep, Sunny.”

“Well, considering the last time I went for a few weeks without a good night’s sleep… yeah, I’ve come to appreciate it.”

“Well, I’ll do my best. Goodnight, Sunny.”

“Goodnight, Minuette.”

Minuette had reached the sidewalk and Sunset was just closing the door when the blue unicorn called out to her.

“Oh and by the way?”

“What?”

“You stopped twitching when I call you Sunny.”

With that, Minuette cheerfully trotted out of sight, leaving Sunset to stare after her with her mouth hanging open.

Dammit!

Author's Note

Theme for Bards of the Badlands:

And so ends Book Two of The Wavelengths Timeline! You cannot believe how happy I am that this day is here. Finally, Bards of the Badlands has been told. This story has been in the works since the middle of October 2016 and its journey from then to the final chapter's date has been a long and difficult one. If you want to know all about that particular bit of history (and a bit more behind phoenixes, Harmony and maybe some plans for the future), you can check out my Retrospective in my blog.

Don't worry, Sunset's journey is far from over. At present, the next short story starring Philomena and Sunset is in the second-level of editing stages. After that, the Wavelengths Editing Team will be tackling the novella of How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative, a fun comedy/mystery which recounts just how Sunset and her friends first met Coloratura and Coco Pommel. Not only that, but you may see some more familiar faces in this story... more than you may expect, in fact.

You've probably read The Cloudsdale Report by now. So, you know that things are different in Wavelengths, but the ponies we know are still there... they're just leading very different lives. Whether those new lives are good or bad... well, that's something for you to guess... and me to know. :pinkiehappy:

As usual, you owe Ebon Quill, Little Tinker, and Beltorn huge for this story. Especially Ebon. He put as much work into this story as I did... just in a very different way. And while things didn't quite turn out as expected... I think the final result is pretty damn good.

Until next time, this has been Amber Spark! I'll see you all in the next story!

Stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline in chronological order:

Origins Arc
The Alchemy of Chemistry
Bards of the Badlands
Grading on a Bell Curve
Habits of the Equestrian Phoenix
How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative

Applications Arc
The Application of Unified Harmony Magics
Princess Celestia: A Brief History
The Cloudsdale Report

Dreamers Arc
Tactics of Snowbound Unicorns
A Study in Chaos Theory
Teahouses of Saddle Arabia
As the Raven Flies

If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!