The Greater Good

Sunset Shimmer panted heavily as she sprinted through the darkened halls of Canterlot Castle. The pounding of her feet against the flawless polish of just one of thousands of marble floors rang in her ears even as she threw open a door ahead of herself, sealing it again with her magic as soon as she’d passed through it's threshold.

“Stupid!” Sunset berated herself in her mind, absently shoulder-checking a maid that got in her way and not bothering to look back at the sound of the priceless Chineaghs tea set smashing against the wall. “Stupid! Honestly, why would you confront her like that! She’s Princess ‘Raises the Bucking Sun’ Celestia!”

“I didn’t think she’d be so hostile that fast!” another part of her mind chimed in, and Sunset briefly considered the implications of her psyche arguing with itself before focusing on her escape. “I mean really, it's just a puzzle box!”

“A puzzle box from the DARK MAGIC section of the castle’s RESTRICTED VAULTS!” The first voice practically snarled.

“Shut up!” Sunset finally snarled out loud, gasping as the sound of heavy footfalls behind her signalled the guards approaching. Thinking quickly, she ducked into the nearest door and pushed it closed quietly, just catching a glimpse of the golden armour of Celestia’s guard as the squadron stampeded past, their captain barking orders.

Letting out a sigh, Sunset clicked the door fully shut as quietly as she could before backing into the room fully. She took but a moment to look around, taking in the dust-coated tarps and old crates almost absently as she sank to her backside and pulled the source of her troubles from her purse.

It was a simple thing, really. Just a wooden box, just small enough to rest in the palm of her hand as she held it up. Strange designs covered its surfaces, the origins of which Sunset simply could not place, but the six-segmented circle in the top, seemingly split into to sets of three by the parting of the lid.

Shrugging, Sunset began fiddling with the box, more curious to see if she could figure out the puzzle than she was aiming to open it. She could stop, she reasoned, just before opening it. That way nothing would get out, right?

Fingers pressed into segments, panels slid back and forth, and still Sunset struggled with the puzzle box. She tried her magic, but just like when she’d first grabbed it, her magical touch slipped off the box’s surface like water.

Sunset’s eyes widened as the lid seemed to raise slightly, as though releasing pressure from within. Cautiously, Sunset prodded one half of the lid, seeing it shift from her touch. She set the box down and backed away, fear gripping her heart as she realised she had finished the puzzle without thinking. What had she just released? What horrid evil had Celestia felt so strongly about was sealed away in an unassuming little wooden box like this!?

Slowly, the lid of the box pushed open, unfolding in a bisection to reveal a strange, white mask, stylised with red, black, and yellow markings to look almost like a smiling witch. Sunset blinked owlishly at the mask, about to reach out just to see what the big deal was until the object floated out of the box of its own accord.

Sunset stifled a shriek of terror as the mask slowly righted itself, a spectral ‘body’ of purple mist slowly forming from it's back into a somewhat squid-like form, complete with long shadow tendrils for hair and a pair of somewhat thick limbs ending in pointed mitts.

Silence filled the room for what felt like an eternity, during which Sunset could practically feel her heart trying to leap out of her own chest, until finally the ghost moved, seeming to stretch it's incorporeal body as it gave a great, raspy yawn.

“What time is it, mamo?”

Sunset blinked. Reaching up, she rubbed at her ear, sure she had misheard.

“Mamo? Tata?” The ghost spoke, slowly looking around as it seemed to gain it's bearings before heaving a deep, gusty sigh. “No dobra, zapomniałem”

Sunset remained as quiet as she could as the ghost began to move, seemingly muttering to itself in a language she couldn’t quite put her hoof on.

“Where the hell has that suka wybielona słońcem left me now…” the ghost muttered, turning and looking directly at Sunset. The ghost stared at her.

Sunset started back.

“Do diaska…”

“Horsefeathers…”

As they each cursed to themselves under their breaths, both individuals suddenly leapt forwards, talking rapidly at once.

“Now don’t panic, I won’t hurt you-“

“Please don’t start any evil monologues-“

“I just wanna get out of-“

“-here before Celestia finds me and-“

Sunset paused, blinking owlishly. The ghost seemed to do the same, somehow blinking with the large, swirled eye patterns on it's mask.

“You’re running from Celestia too?” They both asked in unison.

“Okay, that’s creepy,” they muttered at the same time.

Sunset frowned. “Apple pie tastes twice as nice with a side of hard cider.”

The ghost stared at her for a moment. “What?”

Sunset sighed in relief. “Finally. One more joined sentence and I might have thought you were trying to possess me!”

“You watch too much sci-if…” the ghost muttered, confusing Sunset before it shook its head. “Never mind. You’re running from Celestia too?”

Sunset flinched. “Yeah, I uh… kinda lost my temper and did something stupid.”

The ghost, to Sunset’s surprise, rolled it's eyes. “Her Royal Cake-Ass’ famous temper, eh?” it - she, Sunset corrected - snarked. Sunset’s face flared red - from shock or anger, she wasn’t sure.

As she opened her mouth to respond, however, distant shouting caused both the Unicorn and the Ghost to freeze.

“One of the maids said she was over here!”

“I’m detecting Dark Magic in the castle, sir!”

“Split up and search every room! Teams of three, Breach and Clear!”

“Yes Sir!”

Sunset paled as she realised they were cornered, with no clear way out. Even her strongest teleportation spell couldn’t carry her far enough-

“Quick, use this!”

Sunset blinked in surprise as a strange object was shoved into her hands, looking not unlike a strange, metallic inset. Slowly she turned the object over in her hands, confusion evident on her face. “Um…”

“Oh for the love of…” the ghost muttered, slapping one of it's tendrils to it's mask. “Just hold it in your hand and say its name to activate it.”

Sunset stared at her. The ghost sighed.

“I suppose this is a good sign…” she sighed again. “Manchurian Musca, quickly!”

As the sound of a door being kicked down nearby rang in her ears, Sunset nodded frantically, eager for a way out. “Manchurian Muska!” She cried, loud as she dared, gasping as the device began glowing in her hand.

In less than a blink, Sunset found that her vision had strangely multiplied at least a dozen-fold, though she quickly recovered from the brief disorientation this caused. As she looked around, she found the room around her had grown substantially… or rather, she had shrank! Absently she registered the buzzing of a set of insectoid wings on her back, and her muzzle was instead replaced by what she could only describe as an elongated insectoid mouth.

“I-I’m a fly!?” Sunset cried out in shock, her voice strangely high-pitched and buzzing.

“Time for that later,” the ghost snapped, beckoning her to follow. “Stick close!”

The ghost then phased through the door, close to the top, and Sunset moved to follow before the door burst open suddenly, making her panic. The stallions that entered were titanically large compared to her current size and could easily squash her under foot if they tried.

“Nothing but dust and flies in here, sir!” One of the guards shouted, and they both backed out of the room. Heated shouting followed as the captain of the squadron began berating the soldiers for letting her get away, but she ignored it as the ghost motioned for her to follow once more.

Slowly but surely, Sunset and the ghost made their way out of the castle through tiny cracks in the walls and squeezing through keyholes. The whole time, Sunset’s mind was reeling. What exactly was this spirit that had been sealed in that puzzle box? And why was Celestia so angry that Sunset had tried - and apparently succeeded - to open it?

“What’s your name?”

Sunset blinked, coming to a stop in the air above the castle statue gardens as the ghost turned to face her once again. She considered greatly, wondering for a moment of giving her name would enter her into some kind of demonic contract with this spirit… before ultimately deciding whatever contract that was must be better than facing Celestia’s wrath.

“Sunset Shimmer,” she answered readily.

The ghost nodded absently, turning to lead them down to a secluded potion of the gardens. “Turn yourself back,” she instructed. “Same way you used it before.”

Sunset nodded, once more stating the object’s name before yelping as she dropped to the ground heavily. The ghost paid her no mind, simply reclaiming the strange device and banishing it to wherever she had called it from before.

“Can you teleport?” The ghost asked.

Sunset nodded, uncertain. “Yes… but not very far,” she offered. “Maybe a block at the most.”

“Don’t worry about that,” the ghost said in dismissal. “If I give you some coordinates and feed my Chi into you, can you teleport us there?”

Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “Chi?”

The ghost sighed. “This was so much easier back when everyone spoke in old terms… magic. My magic power.”

Sunset blinked in understanding. “Oh, right! Um, I could try I guess?”

The ghost shrugged it's appendages. “Good enough,” it mused, summoning a strange lantern into its grip. “Sun Chi Lantern!”

Sunset watched in fascination as green energy flowed from the ghost's spectral body into the lantern, the spirit seeming to lose control of her form the longer it took. When she looked just ready to collapse, she stopped, panting slightly as she handed the lantern to Sunset, not burning with a brilliant green flame.

“Power your spell with that,” the ghost panted tiredly. “You might have to carry my mask too, I can’t hold this form much longer. Sorry about this…”

Before Sunset could ask, the spirit floated over and into her, somehow positioning the mask to sit just above her horn as she felt the spirit’s essence fade. What amazed her the most was the set of precise coordinates that appeared in her mind, as well as the near-crystal clear image of what she could only think of as the Equestrian Badlands.

Shrugging, Sunset charged her spell, the green flame slowly flowing to wrap around and infuse her teal-glowing horn.

“I never got her name…” Sunset mused as the power in her horn built to almost painful levels.

‘It’s Wuya,’ the spirit’s voice spoke in her mind.

Any other day, Sunset might have been freaked out by this. Today, though, she was too exhausted from her running and too focused on her spell to care.

With a bright flash of green-tinted teal, Sunset disappeared from the gardens.

Princess Celestia paced back and forth in front of her throne, a storm of emotions brewing in her mind barely held back by her carefully schooled face. Sunset Shimmer had found the ancient Puzzle Box that held possibly her greatest enemy and threatened to open it… and then fled at the Princess’ own outburst. She cursed herself for not keeping her calm - perhaps she could have talked Sunset down.

Now, amongst the flurry of emotions in her mind, she felt disappointment. In her student, for turning from the path she had laid out. In her guardsponies, for failing to both secure the vault beforehand and now for failing to bring Sunset back.

In herself, for never telling her student the truth…

Above all else, however, she was worried. The pulse of magic that her horn had given off not once, but twice since Sunset’s disappearance, could only mean one thing - the Shen Gong Wu were awakening again. In just the last hour she had detected both the Manchurian Muska and her Sun Chi Lantern within the castle walls, both artefacts that had been sealed within Wuya’s personal chi vault when she was imprisoned. That could only mean one thing.

Wuya was free.

The blinding flash of green-teal magic from the gardens told her just why Wuya had used the Lantern, and that both she and her student were long gone. Celestia heaved a heavy sigh, and turned to begin preparations for what was to come.

Her other student, Twilight Sparkle, may not be ready for this. But Celestia had little choice. The Monks of Harmony ended with her and her student, a secret that the young Twilight had held on to dearly for her entire time under Celestia’s tutelage. Now, it was time to expand their ranks.

With a wave of her hand, Celestia sealed all the doors into her throne room, drawing the curtains on every window at the same time before turning her attention to her throne. With a deep sigh, Celestia did something she thought she wouldn’t have had to for the last thousand-plus years… and twisted the ornament in the shape of her cutie mark atop the throne. The effigy of the sun clicked softly as it settled into place, a quiet rumbling filling the room as the platform her throne sat on overlooking the throne room began to descend into the ground. As it sank further into the ground, descending below the throne room itself, Celestia stepped onto the platform and took a seat on her throne, waiting.

The ground sealed itself above her as soon as the throne itself was clear of the opening, plunging Celestia into darkness until the crystals embedded into the walls of the shaft she was descended began to glow. Lower and lower Celestia travelled, until finally, the platform settled with a soft ‘thud’ and a final groan as the ancient mechanisms protested at their sudden use.

Celestia’s tired eyes took in the large chamber before her. Corridors stretched off to the left and right, curving away out of sight with countless cabinets set into the walls. Directly in front of her, Celestia’s eyes settled on a pedestal holding up a large, bronze-embossed scrolls, two sturdy handles on either side of the container with a clear split down the very center where it would open. Celestia approached the scroll slowly, feeling solemn in her duty.

“You have not led me wrong before,” she muttered quietly, reaching out to gently stroke her hand along the scroll’s length. “You led me to my students, and I failed one of them. That is on me. Please, grant me the knowledge of the others, so I may at least try to fix my mistakes.”

Almost in response to her plee, the scroll lit up with a brilliant golden light. Celestia gasped at the response, slowly reaching down to pull the container open, revealing the mystic parchment within as the magical ink swirled to show her images of whom she needed to find.

“I see…” Celestia murmured to herself. “It seems Destiny has a cruel sense of irony indeed…”