Sunset and The Shadow

Sunset was visiting Quetzalcoatl. She told him about Equestria, Celestia and Luna’s return. She also showed him the journal; with which they had a conversation with Princesses Celestia and Luna.

Quetzalcoatl, Luna and Celestia all seemed to be overjoyed to communicate with each other and Sunset.

Celestia seemed to remember Quetzalcoatl; or Kukulkan as she and Luna called him; from talking to Luna.

Quetzalcoatl seemed to be amazed by the journal and the ability to communicate with a friend he had assumed was long dead.

Neither group seemed to remember the other perfectly but they did remember a lot about each other regardless.

After several hours of this Sunset received a call. It was a number she didn’t recognise but she answered it anyway. “Hello, Sunset. It’s Scatty.”

“Hi Scatty. Why are you calling.”

“I won’t be at home for an unknown amount of time. I am currently with an old friend and heading towards …” Scathach paused for a moment. Sunset could hear her talking to someone on the other side but not what they were saying.

Sunset waited for Scathach to continue which she did shortly. “We’re going to Hekate’s shadowrealm. Across the Golden Gate Bridge thirty minutes down the road then turn left onto a narrow track that leads to her shadowrealm. You don’t need to come if you don’t want to; but you could be a lot of help.”

“I’ll come. May take a while though. I’m visiting someone at the moment. I’ll head out after we finish here.” Sunset replied.

“That’s fine.” Scathach said and hang up.

Sunset turned back to Quetzalcoatl. “I’ll need to go soon. It sounds like a friend is in trouble.”

“Thank you for helping me reconnect with an old friend of mine,’ he replied.

Both Quetzalcoatl and Sunset wrote their goodbyes in the journal; which took a few minutes. Then Sunset left. She put on her helmet and got on her motorcycle. She rode her motorbike back into the city.

She stopped at her apartment to pack some clothes and her swords which she put in her bag. She then left her apartment and headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge. When she got there it was already getting dark and the bridge was closed due to a number of car crashes.

Sunset decided that Scathach could wait another day and returned to her apartment. She went to bed and got some sleep.

She woke up before dawn; a habit she had acquired while she was still Celestia’s student. And she quickly had breakfast and left; it was still before dawn. The Golden Gate Bridge was open again so she crossed it without issue. She continued along led partially by Scathach’s directions and partially by sensing a large amount of magical energy that resembled that of the entrance to Prometheus’ shadowrealm.

After about thirty minutes she slowed down and turned onto a narrow track. After a few minutes of traveling down it, she stopped. In front of her were three people. A tall woman with a feline head wearing a white robe. A short man his hair tied in a ponytail with a small beard wearing a grey three-piece suit. The third person she recognised as The Morrigan.

She did not appear to be noticed yet. She slowly approached the trio. She could hear them talking; if only just.

“You’re wrong,” the man said. “There is one other who could awaken the boy.”

“Who?” the cat faced woman growled.

The man turned to face The Morrigan. “You could.”

The Morrigan stepped away from the man.

“You are mistaken,” the cat faced woman said to the man. “My niece is Next Generation; she hasn’t got the power.”

The man turned to face The Morrigan. “At one time, perhaps that would have been true. But The Morrigan’s powers are more, much, much more, than they were.”

“Niece what is he talking about?” the cat faced woman demanded.

Sunset got off her bike still barely within earshot.

The Morrigan cackled, “Be very, very careful humani.”

“My loyalty is not in question here,” the man said quickly. “I have served the elders for half a millennium. I am merely looking for a way to achieve our aim.”

He stepped towards The Morrigan. “Once, like Hekate, you wore three faces: you were The Morrigan, The Macha and The Badb. Unlike Hekate, though you and your two sisters occupied three bodies. It was your consciousness’s that were linked. Individually you were powerful, but together you were invincible.”

The man paused. “When did you decide to kill your sisters?” he asked.

The Morrigan leapt at the man. He pulled out a stone sword. Blue light sparking along the blade. The Morrigan stopped.

Sunset acted to help her. She teleported the blade from the man’s hand into her own. A popping sound was heard by them all. The Morrigan smirked at the man; now unarmed. The cat faced woman looked stunned for a moment then she looked at Sunset. Surprise quickly being hidden from her face.

The man on the other hand. Stepped backwards quickly. Looked at his hand that used to hold the sword. Looked up at the Morrigan. And looked between them several more times. He eventually noticed Sunset holding the sword.

The Morrigan spoke to the man threateningly. “My sisters died willingly, and live within me still.” Turning to Bastet, her eyes flashed yellow then red, and settled back to their normal black.

She turned to Sunset. “Good to see you, Sunset. Come and join us.”

Sunset walked forwards leaving her bike standing on the path quite a distance away. As she approached she noticed the cat faced woman was wary of her and the man seemed frightened of her. She smirked at him as she approached.

“This is my aunt, Bastet.” The Morrigan gestured towards the cat faced woman. “And this is Dr. John Dee,” she said gesturing towards the man. She then turned to face the Dee and Bastet and gestured towards Sunset. “This is Sunset Shimmer.”

Bastet turned towards The Morrigan. “Could you do it? Awaken the boy.”

“Yes.”

“Then do it, niece.” She turned towards Dee. “If you ever raise a weapon to one of the Elder Race again, I will see that you spend the next millennia in a shadowrealm of my own special creation. And trust me, you will not like it.”

She turned to Sunset. “Thank you for defending my niece.” She turned back to Dee and the Morrigan. “Tell me. Where are Flamel and the twins now? Where have they gone?”

Dee regained some of his composure. “He will need to start training the girl. Hekate awakened her, but didn’t get a chance to teach her any protective spells. She’ll need to be taught to protect herself and control her powers before the stimulus from the physical world drive her mad.”

He quickly continued as he saw the impatient look in Bastet’s eyes. “He’ll not stay in San Francisco, he knows we have too many agents in and around the city.”

The Morrigan closed her eyes and turned slowly. She raised her arm, pointing South. “They’re heading south; I can just about make out the silver traces of her aura. It’s incredibly powerful.”

Dee asked quickly, “Who is the most powerful elder south of here? Someone proficient in elemental magic?”

“Endor,” Bastet answered immediately, “in Ojai. The deadly witch of Endor.”

“Mistress of the air.” The Morrigan added.

Bastet leaned down towards Dee. “You know where you have to go. You know what you have to do. We must have the pages of the Codex.”

“And the twins?” he asked.

“Capture them if you can. If not, then kill them to prevent Flamel from using their powers.”

“I guess we’re going to Ojai,” Sunset said looking to The Morrigan and Dee.

Bastet walked into the thickening mist and disappeared into a shadowrealm.

Sunset gave Dee back the stone sword. “We can’t use my motorbike to get there for all three of us. Do either of you have an idea for how to get there?” She asked.

The Morrigan answered. “We could travel through the shadowrealms. We should be able to get there before them.”

“Good. Let me get my bike.”

She rode her bike up to the others. Mist was gathering near them; an entrance to a shadowrealm. Dee seemed to have regained his composure. The walked – or rode in Sunset’s case – into the mist, passing into the shadowrealm.

It was dark. A large moon was overhead providing the only light other than Sunset’s bike’s headlight. The ground was hard packed dirt. The only sign of life in sight was the trio themselves. There were large rocks placed seemingly randomly. They travelled for several minutes in the shadowrealm. Sunset rode her bike. Dee walked and The Morrigan flew.

Eventually Sunset offered for Dee to ride on the bike behind her; which he accepted; to speed the travelling up. After that they spent only a few more minutes in the shadowrealm before passing into another.

They travelled like this for about two hours. Spending only a few minutes in each shadowrealm before passing into another. Few of the shadowrealms were similar.

There were forests, jungles, caves, cities, deserts, plains mountains and more. The sky was different between them as well. Some had many suns or moons; some had none. Sunset didn't get a very good look at any before they passed into the next.

Eventually they came out of a shadowrealm back into the Earth shadowrealm. They were near the outskirts of a small city. Ojai presumably Sunset thought.

They stopped and looked at the city. Dee got off of Sunset’s motorcycle, The Morrigan had landed before passing through the last gateway.

Over the past few hours, after they had arrived in Ojai, the trio had lunch and came up with a plan. They would wait; hoping for the boy to be separated from the others; which would likely happen when the girl was taught air magic from The Witch of Endor.

Then Sunset and Dee would approach him. They would convince him to let The Morrigan awaken him so that he could be like his sister again. They would take him to The Morrigan and she would awaken him. Dee would also try to convince the boy that Flamel is untrustworthy and Sunset would attempt to convince him that she, Dee and The Morrigan were trustworthy.

The backup plan was for Dee and The Morrigan to use necromancy to bring the nearby dead to life and use them to force Flamel to hand over the pages of the Codex. While Sunset tries to separate Flamel from the twins.

Dee and The Morrigan told Sunset that Scathach was with Flamel and the twins in this time. She was quite noticeably adamant about not harming her unless absolutely necessary. The plan for dealing with Scathach was mostly to avoid her if possible; if not then stay out of reach of her with something between you and her; or have Sunset distract her.

They estimated Flamel and the twins to arrive around four hours after they had; so they started watching the Witch’s antique shop roughly thirty minutes before they should arrive. Sunset sat in a café drinking coffee; not too close to the store for it to be obvious that she was watching it but not far enough from it to not see clearly those who went into the store.

The Morrigan was discreetly watching the road that they were expected to drive in on. Dee was watching the antique shop from further away; as he was the most likely to be recognised; he was behind a tinted glass window. He was in a café on the other side of the park across from the antique shop.

They waited like such; watching the shop; for three and a half hours before Sunset received a call on her phone. It was from The Morrigan.

“They’re here,” she said and hung up. Sunset waited a few more minutes, more attentively now. A car like the one Dee had described drove past and parked near the row of shops. Four people got out of the car. One she recognised as Scathach. The second appeared to be a middle-aged man; he was likely Flamel. The other two were young; a boy and a girl; she assumed they were the twins.

The girl seemed to be in pain. Possibly, a side effect of activating a human’s magic, Sunset thought. They walked towards the antique shop and stopped outside of it. Scathach and Flamel reached it first and looked inside the store.

The twins arrived afterwards and the girl opened the door. They all entered.

A few moments later, Flamel came back out and walked towards a restaurant. He came out a few minutes later with an old woman. Sunset assumed she was The Witch of Endor. They went into the store.

Several minutes later the boy came out of the store alone. He walked into the park and sat down by the fountain, looking at the water. Sunset stood and left the café. She casually walked towards the fountain and sat down next to the boy.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hello,” the boy absentmindedly said.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer. What’s yours?”

“Josh.”

“Why are you so miserable?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Josh was still looking at the water so he hadn’t noticed Dee approaching. Sunset discreetly shook her head and Dee turned and sat down at the edge of the park alternating between watching the shop and watching Sunset and Josh.

“I think I might. What is it?” When he didn’t respond she continued. “Is it school?” He didn’t respond. “Is it family issues? I was kicked out by the person who raised me so I might understand.” He rose his head and looked at her. He had blue eyes and light brown, bordering on blond hair. He didn’t say anything. “Is it magic? I should understand that.”

She looked around. Aside from Dee and Josh no one was nearby or watching her. She levitated the water in the fountain. She made it swirl around in mid-air and form into a ring of water floating a foot above the water in the fountain.

She gently put the water down to avoid a splash. “So tell me. I think I might be able to help.”

Josh finally answered. “My sister. She changed. … She was awakened but I wasn’t and now. … Now she’s so different. She might not need me anymore. … She might not want me anymore.” He was barely loud enough to hear at the end.

“I can help with that. I know someone who could awaken you. She’s here in Ojai at the moment. Do you want me to call her?”

“Yes,” he choked out.

Sunset brought out her phone and called The Morrigan. “It’s me. I’m in the park. There’s Josh here wants to be awakened so that he is like his sister.”

“Good,” she replied. “I’ll be right there.”

She hung up. “She will be here soon.”

Fog quickly formed around the park; obscuring the view of the antique shop.

It only took a few minutes for The Morrigan to arrive. When she did Josh panicked. He looked to Sunset and seemed ready to run.

“She’s not as bad as you seem to think she is. And she can awaken you. You do want to be like your sister again. Have the same abilities as her. You won’t let her down if you can do the things she can.”

Josh calmed slightly and seemed to steel his resolve. He turned towards The Morrigan. “I’m ready.”

“What are your parents’ names?” The Morrigan asked.

“Richard and Sara Newman,” he answered.

“Josh, son of Richard and Sara of the clan Newman, of the race humani; I awaken you. Henceforth you will see with acuity.” His eyes turned into golden discs. The scent of oranges filled the air. Overpowering the faint smell of ammonia.

“You will hear with clarity.” Smoke coiled out from his ears.

“You will taste with purity.” He coughed causing tiny sparks to dance between his teeth.

“You will touch with sensitivity. You will smell with intensity.” His head was almost covered in golden smoke and his aura had solidified into armour across his shoulders and chest.

The Morrigan turned to Sunset. “We need time to teach him to defend himself.” Sunset nodded and walked away into the fog.

She quickly lost sight of Josh and The Morrigan because of the fog. She could sense the magical auras of several others ahead of her. One was Dee’s, a second was Scathach’s. Neither was using it currently but they were powerful enough for her to sense them if she tried regardless.

There were also two other magical auras ahead of her. They were both powerful. One was only a little weaker than Dee’s but the other was much stronger than his, but it was unlikely that of an Elder. So she assumed it was that of the girl; they were apparently ‘twins of legend’ so it would make sense. And the other was probably Flamel’s.

The fog thinned and lifted. In front of her. Only around twenty meters away was Dee. He was holding his stone sword; Excalibur he called it; and facing Flamel, the girl and Scathach, swords in hand. The girl was clearing the fog; clearly she learnt the magic of air from the Witch very quickly. Scathach was staring intently at Dee; clearly ready for if he decided to attack.

Flamel and the girl were clearly shocked. They were staring behind Sunset at The Morrigan and Josh.

The girl started to run towards Josh. Dee moved to the side and blocked her path. Sunset ran up to join him. “Hi Scatty,” she said sheepishly.

“Sunset, what are you doing?” Scathach responded, accusingly.

“Helping a friend. I understand you’re doing the same.” Sunset gestured towards Flamel.

Flamel asked Scathach, “Who is she?”

Sunset answered, “The preeminent mortal mage of this generation of Equestria.”

“What are you doing?” Dee whispered to her.

“Buying time,” she whispered back.

“Is she?” Flamel asked Scathach.

"She might be. When I first met her she used her magic to eat,” she answered. “She is mortal, but she’s not human. Apparently she’s a unicorn.”

Sunset was carefully watching Flamel and the girl. They were the unknown threats. Their faces showed shock and surprise. Flamel seemed to be surprised most by the fact that she used magic to eat; while the girl seemed surprised most by the fact that she’s a unicorn.

“Why are you trying to stop the Elders from returning anyway? I lived in a world where one ruled.”

“Because they will destroy the world,” Flamel answered.

“They’ve ruled before. Many societies flourished under their rule. Quetzalcoatl ruled in the Americas for a long time and the people there flourished. Several other Elders would have done the same.”

Before they could answer Josh ran past them to his sister. The twins embraced. The Morrigan joined Dee and Sunset facing Scathach, Flamel and the twins.

“Flamel, give us the pages of the Codex!” Dee demanded stepping towards Flamel as he spoke.

The Morrigan and Sunset stood side by side. “Look at the twins,” Sunset whispered to The Morrigan. “They look like they might join us later if we don’t give them a reason not to.”

“You have a point,” The Morrigan whispered back.

Sunset and The Morrigan walked back slowly and quietly; angling towards the side. The scent of rotten eggs filled the air and fog once again covered the park. Dee was creating the fog with his aura. Sunset and The Morrigan continued away from Dee, quicker now that no one could see them.

Sunset cleared a small circle of fog around herself and The Morrigan. She could see shapes in the fog. They didn’t appear to be human and they were all travelling in the same direction.

One entered their clearing, it was a large bear; but it was clearly not alive. It was mostly just bones. What flesh remained was dried and sickly as if it had been dead for a long time.

Sunset heard someone yell, “This way. Here. This way.” She cleared the fog in the direction she had heard the voice and saw The Witch standing in the doorway to her shop. She was waving towards someone else.

“We should follow them,” Sunset said.

“They’ll see us and fight. We don’t want that,” The Morrigan answered.

“Stay close to me. I should be able to make us invisible to everyone else.”

The Morrigan moved closer to her and Sunset cast the spell. “It’s not easy to maintain and it doesn’t block sound. So stay quiet.”

They walked towards the shop. They saw the twins, Flamel and Scathach go into the shop and The Witch lock the door. They quickly arrived at the door and Sunset opened the door with her magic. She was visibly weakening; she was leaning on The Morrigan for support.

They followed the Witch into a storeroom at the back. Where she pushed papers out of the way to reveal a mirror. It reminded Sunset of the one she went through when she ran away. The Witch grabbed the girl’s hand and pressed it against the mirror.

The mirror changed. It no longer showed their reflections instead it showed a dark cellar-like room. The Witch said that it was a leygate; one that led to Paris. Flamel, Scathach and the twins quickly walked through the mirror.

The portal closed. The Witch went to break the mirror but The Morrigan caught it before it hit the ground. She opened the portal, threw Sunset through it and followed quickly. The mirror resumed its fall and broke upon the ground.