Flame of the Sun

Equestria, October 1, 1502

"Empress Daybreaker, Royal Investigators have gathered information on the Thestrals as you wished, here's the information you wished to review."

"Hmm, interesting. 'On Nightmare Night, the Lunar Queen shall return in her black-laden fury.' Sounds like cultic nonsense, but I wouldn't put it past Luna to fall into her childish ways again."

"If I might suggest, perhaps she may wish to join you, Empress."

"Oh, oh no. You and I both know that isn't going to happen."

Bugbear Territory, October 31, 1502

The battle of Griffonst Station had been almost perfectly quiet for the past week, now. The firepower of the Gryphons held back any of the Solar Empire's advances, while the Solar Empire's magical superiority held back any of the Gryphonian advances. There was an unspoken ceasefire, as commanders on both sides were at a loss of how to counter-strategize one another. Each idea was met with a plethora of speculated failures more probable than the intended success. Furthermore, both sides were constantly worried that the other would figure out a way to best them first, causing stress across both sides of the battlefield. Many of the soldiers felt it was a useless endeavor until the Solar Empire could manage a counter-strategy from the Empress herself, some felt even that wouldn't win the war. After all, if it did, why not have come here already?

However, as things felt lost, a party of soldiers armored in the Empire's latest Solar Blood Suits arrived on the edge of the fallback line in the Bugbear Territory. With them was Lady Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle, who many soldiers believed was simply a diplomat. The mere expression on her face changed many minds as she approached, stepping up to the general who had managed to hold the territory for this long.

"Lady Inquisitor," the general said with a tone of relief, "we thought all was lost! I'm so glad you—"

Sunrise's piercing eyes alone gave him a gross discomfort. Something about her was off. Uncanny, to say the least, but he hadn't the strength to continue speaking as he felt his hope drain away only to be replaced with an unspeakable dread. She looked at him as if he were worthless. There was nothing but contempt in her wretched eyes. Sunrise shot quick glance towards the field, then back to the general, looking him up and down for a moment before scoffing.

"I didn't know the Empire was employing politicians to fight," she muttered, before raising her voice to a reprimanding tone, "if we wanted somepony to waste time making important decisions, we would have made a congress!"

She lifted a weapon with her magic, thrusting it into his chest.

"Lady Inquisitor. . ?" he said with confusion.

"You're dismissed as a general, and I don't trust you to use your horn alone," Sunrise said, "go to the front lines."

He attempted to protest, but before he could speak a word, Sunrise lit her horn and threw him into towards the trenches. She cleared her throat loudly, getting the attention of the soldiers.

"Soldiers!" she shouted, "if you're not familiar with me, then you have been living under a rock larger than the intellect you've supposedly been trained to have. Regardless, if any of you do not know, I am Lady Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle. I am now acting as your Commanding Officer. We are taking Griffonst Station today, so ready your weapons!"

A loud hurrah was given by the soldiers, who were admittedly motivated by the confidence of the Lady Inquisitor. Within a short span of time, she had reorganized the trenches and readied them with a new battle plan that would steamroll the gryphons inhabiting the station and push their front line back to the Guto River. She had a plan for Gryphonian snipers holed up in the northern Himallamas as well.

Foaledo, October 31, 1502

Starlight and Sunset were far ahead of the five friends and Nova, seeming to chat away as if they'd known each other forever. A few times, Starlight would laugh and bump into Sunset, to which she would reply with a laugh. None of the five knew what was going on, and Nova, having seen it all, was more irritated than anything.

"Okay, ice-breaker," Rainbow Dash said, "what in the hay is going on with those two?"

"I remember a while back Twilight had mentioned Sunset having taken Starlight to the human world," Rarity replied, "maybe they just. . .clicked?"

"Seems like more than clickin' to me," Applejack said with a chuckle.

"Euh, they're obviously trying to fuck," Nova interrupted with a tone of disapproval, "isn't there anything else to talk about?"

"Sure!" Rainbow Dash said, shooting a glare at Nova, "why don't we talk about what Starlight Glimmer is doing in the Hayseed Swamps with a bunch of gryphons?"

Nova glared back at Dash, who seemed way too confident in herself. 'Everyone' knew the Elements of Harmony, but Nova was a bit unfamiliar with them herself. Though she started to make a few connections with who Rainbow Dash was before she gave a grin.

"You're a friend of Gilda, aren't you?" she asked. Rainbow Dash dropped her prideful expression to show an almost hopeful, yet likewise doubtful one.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her in a long time, though," Dash replied. Nova chuckled.

"She's stationed in Foaledo as part of the reconstruction crew," Nova said, "maybe if you don't try asking questions you don't need the answers to, I can arrange for you two to meet. After all, construction isn't really her forte and she could use something more. . .entertaining."

Rainbow Dash was silent. She had doubts about Nova, and surely didn't trust her; however, on the off-chance that Nova was correct, seeing Gilda again would have been a great way to cheer her up. It had been a very long time since she saw her old friend, and she feared Gilda would have been drafted into battle. Of course, she didn't know about the way the gryphons treated their ladies in Griffonstone.

A few moments later, they had finally reached the Foaledo gates. Upon seeing Starlight ahead of the group, with Nova behind them, the gryphons and even some Saddle Arabian equines opened the gates. They were all armed with some strange, old gryphonian weaponry. Like rifles, but with containers of bullets loaded into them just in front of the triggers which were designed for talons mostly. There were, however, a few variants of these weapons for the Saddle Arabs which were designed to be used with hooves. The trigger mechanism was altered significantly, but most of the rest of the weapon stayed the same.

It was intimidating, to say the least, but the party carried on through the gates beneath the prying glares of the armed militia nonetheless. Eventually, Starlight led them to perhaps the most well-decorated place in all of Foaledo. A restaurant and bar to serve as a rest spot for off-duty gryphons and equines alike, who seemed to get along remarkably well. They were entirely different people in this setting, of course. Welcoming, hearty, laughing and jeering at one another, a few fights breaking out that were no more than light punches and bruises with several laughs. It was a strange place to the five girls, but Starlight and Sunset seemed unaffected by the oddity, raising only more questions.

Rainbow Dash had noticed that Nova stayed behind to speak to a gryphon guarding the door, who nodded before opening his wings and flying off. She walked inside after them as they found a table. Starlight turned to the five friends, and Nova, smiling brightly.

"With Nova here, you will be treated as any other," Starlight reassured, "if you don't mind, I have some catching-up to do with your Sunset Shimmer, I'll bring her back in a jiffy, I promise~!"

Before any could protest, Starlight chuckled and started to walk towards a staircase. Sunset turned back, smiling and giving a shrug before following. Rainbow Dash went to say something after the two were out of sight before a very familiar voice called out to her.

"Rainbow Dash you bitch!" the voice called, diverting the attention of the restaurant to the front doors. Dash turned, smiling as she saw the one and only Gilda, who was armed to the beak with weapons. She ran over to Rainbow Dash and gave her a rough but playful punch.

"Gilda! What happened to you!?" Rainbow Dash asked with a tone of awe. Gilda puffed out her chest.

"Became a mercenary," she spoke pridefully, "turns out your old buddy Starlight liked King Taurus' ideas just as much as I did, ZERO. So she convinced me along with most of the gryphons you see here to join her little 'commune of the Isles'."

She leaned in as the ponies and gryphons of the bar returned to their banter, now littered with comments here and there about Gilda. From what could be told of them, they were overwhelmingly-positive remarks—especially from the male gryphons.

"I heard some shit went down with Twilight," Gilda said, with a more serious tone, "everything alright with you guys?"

"Don't get me started on the whole 'Solar Empire' thing Celestia is doing now," Rarity said disappointedly, "she's singlehoofedly wrecked everything."

"It was retaliatory," Applejack reminded her, "don't forget that. Nopony's in the right here."

"I don't think any pony has to be," Gilda said, "no one at all has to be right in a world like this. They just have to win."

The girls frowned at such a remark, but they knew it was essentially true. If they wanted to bring back friendship, they would have to 'win'. Nice words and magic weren't going to work anymore—at least not alone. There had to be a change, and they believed it was possible without taking the dangerous route that Daybreaker had. Without taking the route Twilight had.

Griffonst Station, October 31, 1502

"I'm telling you, Slyphani," a gryphonian soldier said, "they haven't made a move in weeks. We should just, I dunno, blitzkrieg the shit out of them or something."

"There's reasons you're not a general," Slyphani muttered.

"You're not a General either, just a glorified lackey," the soldier said defensively. Slyphani simply chuckled.

"That means I have far less a chance of being killed than you do, little gryphon," he replied with a smile as he faced the battlefield, "besides, until King Taurus gets back to the generals with his plan, we'll be fine. The snipers in the Himallamas are surrounded by the innocent slave workers, I don't believe even the Empire has the audacity to fire upon them."

The smiled he had shortly faded, however, as he heard loud marching from the other side of the field. The gryphons readied their weapons, a few the commanding officers raising their talons to signal a hold fire. A purple barrier of magic appeared, at first appearing to be a single spell, before they saw several lit horns from unicorn troops. As the troops suddenly stopped, sustaining what appeared to be concentrated magical shields, the gryphons looked on in confusion. There had been no order to fire, so they simply stood still, trying to understand what was going on. Shortly after, they heard a loud chant.

"THE SUN IS LIGHT!"

"The sun is light!"

"THE SUN IS WAR!"

"The sun is war!"

"THE SUN IS BEAUTY!"

"The sun is beauty!"

After that, several bolts of magic flew towards the occupied Himallamas, blasting out chunks of mountain and revealing nested Gryphonian snipers along with a few slave workers who were shredded to pieces by the crossfire. The gryphons all turned to their commanders, who frantically gathered their bearings.

"FIRE! FIIIRE!" they screamed in a mix of fear and rage.

The gryphonian mana-rifles could not, however, penetrate the concentrated shields as the Empire marched forward, repeating their chant endlessly and pushing forward without ceasing. From behind them came several bolts of artillery magic which swung slowly over the battlefield before plummeting down at an outrageous speed and blowing up upon contact with the ground. Within moments, the battlefield was clothed in Gryphon blood and entrails. The artillery was not only explosive, but flammable and corrosive. The gryphons who survived the initial blasts witnessed their feathers being eaten away by a flame that couldn't be put out, burning through their skin and causing an immediate sickness that killed them in mere moments. Those who didn't die laid helplessly upon the ground, suffering until another blast of artillery gave them the grace of death.

"What the fuck is this magic?!" a soldier screamed, before a blast flew into his chest and turned it quickly into a bloodied paste. Slyphani took notice of the fact that the bolts were not capable of tearing completely through a victim when concentrated in that manner, as opposed to the artillery magic. Regardless of this, upon witnessing the loss of hundreds of troops in less than five minutes, the gryphons hastily issued retreat. As they ran, the Solar Empire's army gave a roar as they rushed forward, firing rifles and bolts of lethal magic at the soldiers, picking off the fleeing gryphons by the dozens.

"This. . ." Slyphani said slowly as he stood back, "this is outrageous."

"SLYPHANI!" one of the soldiers shouted. The spy turned to see a bolt of magic, attempting to dart out of the way but missing his opportunity by only a moment as the blast grazed his eye, scalding it shut. He let out a scream, falling to the ground. Soldiers ran by as he spotted with the eye remaining another unicorn's blast being fired at him. The soldier that had warned him was still attempting to fire upon the Empire's soldiers, close enough that Slyphani was able to grab the soldier and use him as a meat shield. The magic managed to bore a hole into the confused soldier's chest, causing what was left of his melted organs to fall out as Slyphani dropped him to the ground. The spy scoffed, opening his wings and darting into the air with a speed that allowed him to escape the battlefield quickly—or so he thought, as by slim chance a rogue shot hit his wing, tearing it from the bone simply by force and causing him to plummet towards the Himallamas with a pained cry.

A roar of victory sounded from the soldiers of the Empire as they charged further into the Griffonst Station, the frontline unicorns dispelling their shields and adding to the barrage of magic fire. It didn't take long before the gryphons, what few of them were left, had retreated beyond the Guto River into bunkers set up along the north Griffonstone border. The soldiers of the Empire cheered again as they secured the land, ceasing their fire as the Gryphons were no longer in sight. After a while of seeing no Gryphonian response, the soldiers began to celebrate.

"All hail Empress Daybreaker!" a soldier shouted, the rest followed suite, repeating as well the praise to their ruler. A lot of cheering ensued shortly after, as the soldiers began to pillage the area for alcoholic beverages stored by the gryphons. To their fortune, they found plenty. Sunrise smirked.

"What a bunch of delightful idiots," she said to herself with a grin. She turned back to leave the area before a soldier caught her attention.

"Lady Inquisitor!" he said. An orange stallion with blue hair she recognized from the Royal Guard.

"My my," Sunrise said with a smile as she turned to him, "Flash Sentry! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The stallion smiled. He had gotten along with Twilight remarkably well in the past, but with the war going and such, wasn't able to make anything fruitful of it. He felt now that it was far too late for any of that, but still felt the need to remark on her phenomenal strategy.

"It has, you go by Sunrise now, don't you?" he asked. She chuckled.

"Somepony got it right, finally."

"That was a genius strategy you employed there."

"Oh, I've just been doing a little bit of reading, that's all."

"Haven't changed too much then."

Sunrise gave a grin. What a strange feeling she had now, he seemed so nice. She recalled a few brief conversations with him, and a time he had asked her to dinner but she had left on a long trip to 'solve a friendship problem'. How silly, she thought. She figured, maybe, being an Empress and all, she could fix that. However, before she could talk too much, she noticed nighttime was befalling the station.

"Ah, nighttime," Sunrise said with a sigh, before noticing a strangely-stern expression on Flash's face as he looked at the sky, "Flash, what are you looking at?"

"Lady Inquisitor," he said slowly, "it's 16:00 right now."

Sunrise turned around to face the sky as well. Her heart sank into her stomach, as what sight she beheld was fearsome beyond comprehension. It almost gave her a sense of dizziness as she heard the soldiers fall silent of their victory parade. The sky had darkened, something massive began to block the sun. The early nightfall, Sunrise thought, the unending night. . .

"It's a Solar Eclipse. . ." she said weakly.

Griffonstone, October 31, 1502

"Gods damn you, just kill me already you overgrown winch," Taurus muttered, coughing up a bit of blood as he laid behind his throne. It was fifteen minutes before the battle began that he had initiated to release of Nightmare Moon, and now he was staring her in the eyes from the floor of his throne room within the mansion—a mess of which was made as the Nightmare sought him out just prior. The King's wings were laying on another side of the room, and each digit of his talons had been snapped backwards. His beak was cracked, one of his eyes swollen, and several bones throughout his body fractured.

"I am a goddess," Nightmare Moon said proudly, "and you are a pretentious mortal hellbent on maintaining an unearned stranglehold on power."

"And?" he coughed, "I gave you the power you have now! I ordained it, and this is how you repay me?!"

Nightmare Moon thought to herself for a moment. It'd been a couple of months since she had last seen Equestria, she didn't know much about what was going on but thus far she heard nothing good. Not that she particularly cared, she only sought her children, the last hope for peace and goodness in a world so cruel. In her heart, she could feel the warmth of the many Thestral's awaiting her arrival, and in her mind she could hear their dreams of desperate prayer to her under the cruelty of the unyielding Flame of the Sun. She had far more important matters to attend to, but Taurus had a point. He had awoken this power within her once more after all of the brutal torment and humiliation she suffered at his talons. She truly needed to repay him.

"No, I have something else in mind," she answered, lighting her horn. Taurus felt an odd sensation in his stomach, then a sudden stabbing pain as the royal attire he was wearing began to stretch.

"Agh. . .what. . .what are you—?" he coughed out, before suddenly screaming as the skin of his stomach began to tear slowly. After a certain point, he was unable to make a sound from the amount of blood that had made it's way to his esophagus. Nothing but loud gurgling as the viscous, red liquid started pouring from his beak. Taurus' eyes rolled back into his head forcefully before his entrails were torn violently from his body with the sound of a loud pop. Within moments, he was dead, laying in a pool of his own viscera. Nightmare Moon chuckled.

"It's a good thing for you that you're not as strong as your words," she jeered, turning around as she dropped the piece of organ to the floor, "else you might have endured such agony for a length of time befitting of your over-compensatory ego."

She walked out of Taurus' throne room, which she felt to be cheap and pathetic. The architecture was so bright; it was a pain for her eyes to behold. The Nightmare looked around, seeing all the dead servants who had been torn apart from the limbs as a result of her first seeking the location of that coward of a former King hiding behind his throne. Such impotence, she thought, that they believed technology could keep them safe from the wrath of ancient blood. However, there was some technology they had that she figured she might use when building her very own empire—or tearing down any in her way.

Yet, these thoughts were for much later. The Nightmare fired a beam of magic through the roof, flying out gracefully after the rubble had fallen. As she gained her distance, she turned around, lighting her horn and demolishing the entire structure with a single blast. She chuckled, turning her head towards the incessant star of the sky.

"Prisoner no more, Daybreaker," she said, spreading out her wings as she continued to hover, "behold the power of nightfall!"

She spread her hooves, lighting her horn as the moon rose slowly in front of the sun. She knew Celestia would have noticed, but she was certain Daybreaker would have acted immediately.

Griffonst Station, October 31, 1502

It was only a moment before an air-shattering sound was heard echoing through the darkened sky followed by a loud crash upon the ground directly behind Sunrise and Flash. The two turned slowly, seeing every Solar Empire soldier paralyzed in fear before beholding for themselves the Nightmare standing in front of them.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle," she said with a grin. A roar came from the Gryphons a they began to charge forward before Nightmare Moon turned around and fired a beam of magic towards them, killing nearly three hundred soldiers in one fell swoop. She cleared her throat as she turned around once more.

"Nightmare Moon, you're. . ." Sunrise said quietly. The Nightmare chuckled.

"Please, don't be so brittle," the Nightmare taunted, "I know what happened here was your doing. Where did all of that bravery go? All of that malice? All of that hatred? I can still smell burning flesh, Twilight. Tell me, what is your name now? Daybreaker would have changed it I know."

Sunrise was silent. She felt that she might die if she said the wrong thing, but before she could speak, Flash spoke up.

"Her name is Lady Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle," he said, "and maybe you should take care before killing her. Not only does that make her a martyr, but the Empress will more than likely kill you within a moment's notice. From wherever you came, and I assume the gryphons had something to do with it, you aren't strong enough to take on the Empress—even if you could wipe out a few hundred gryphons. The Empress could wipe out the planet if she wished, so it's best to tread lightly."

Sunrise turned to Flash with an expression of worry. His composure, his confidence, it was as if he had no fear of the Nightmare whatsoever. Furthermore, as if he knew precisely what he was saying. She hadn't the time to consider her feelings in the moment, nor the focus. She just wondered if that was enough to have him killed in her stead.

"Oh?" the Nightmare replied, quirking a brow, "who said I was going to kill her? My, my. You really are quite brave, and I do like that. You are as loyal to your Empress as my Thestrals are to me, it does spark an idea in my mind. . .however!"

The Queen of Darkness turned around, pacing across the battlefield slowly as she observed all of the fear-paralyzed soldiers. They had just watched her slay an army of hundreds with a single spell, and despite what Flash Sentry said, the eclipse had obscured their vision. A strange and uncanny darkness clothed the land, disorienting to all who were present. They had every right to fear without their Empress physically present to protect them from the most powerful enemy.

"I wish to speak to Empress Daybreaker," the Nightmare continued, "I have no quarrel with 'Lady inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle', nor any of these soldiers so long as they know their place amongst an Ancient."

There was a sudden thundering from the sky as the moon shifted slightly to the right and the sun to the left. On the side of the battlefield that Nightmare Moon stood was darkness as night, while on the side opposite was brightness as day. In that shining light, a great flash appeared as an encircling fire was revealed in it's place before dying down. Atop a now-charred ground stood Empress Daybreaker, who stared at Nightmare Moon with a look of contempt.

"You wished to see me?" the Empress spoke coldly. The Nightmare smiled.

"I don't believe we've met, Daybreaker," she said with a chuckle, "how are your children faring under the unyielding daylight?"

"Better than ever, no thanks to your cowardice," Daybreaker replied with a snarl. The Nightmare's smile faded as she met the Empress with a likened expression of hatred.

"And what of my children?"

"They cry out to you in blasphemy to the Flame of the Sun, acting as rebellious children. I would have had them punished if I hadn't greater concerns to the east and west of my nation."

"Ah, I see. My apologies for their erratic behavior, they had no leader to teach them the art of war. However, seeing as Equestria is now your country, I suppose this bewitched land shall become mine."

"That's not how this works, you'll be met with the same fire and fury."

"I was going to say the same to you, but don't we have greater problems with the Changeling Hive? After all, I have just killed one of your enemies. The least you can do is offer some thanks."

Daybreaker quirked a brow as Nightmare Moon lit her horn, showing a magical image of Taurus' dead body. As it faded, Daybreaker scoffed.

"So you killed a gryphon," Daybreaker muttered, "I would have wished to do that myself."

"I assure you," the Nightmare replied, "I had more reason than you to kill him. Now, I offer you a proposition, will you hear my sayings?"

"Go on."

"Chrysalis, as I understand, has grown her hive to numbers even your Empire cannot manage. I've read gryphon reports, their intelligence is vast, and they've noted the Changelings now have a fully-functional navy and intend to invade surrounding countries while you are preoccupied with the front. Queen Chrysalis has also allied with the Southwest Lair, enemies that can handle your Solar Flame. I believe it is in the best interest that we form a temporary alliance—"

"OUTRAGEOUS!" Daybreaker shouted, her voice booming across the mountains. Nightmare Moon raised her brows mockingly as she gave a grin.

"You would take on the whole of the Changeling army that outnumbers you a hundredfold?" the Nightmare pointed out, "do you see it to be a worthwhile endeavor, endangering your little ponies and my precious Thestrals for the sake of spite? You might think they will see you weak for taking such an offer, but how weak shall you appear when defeated?"

Daybreaker wanted to rip the alicorn in half, but Nightmare Moon was right. Hivemagic was capable of overriding her ancient blood, by some unholy means. Especially in such a concentration, approaching Chrysalis herself would have been suicide in this state. She had focused too much on the inside of the Empire, rebuilding it nearly from scratch, and the Changelings had become far too powerful to adequately handle. Even with the help of the Polar Bears, it was likely that if the war was won, it would have been with more casualties than it may have been worth. The Empress closed her eyes, sighing softly.

"Damn you," she said quietly, before opening her eyes and darting them towards the Nightmare in a furious glare, "but you are right."

The Nightmare laughed heartily as she opened her wings and hovered upwards a few feet.

"Then let us convene tomorrow and create a war plan, dear Sister!" she cried with malicious joy, "let our cruelty abound, night and day, against the Changeling enemy! And let my children return to me, on this darkened side of the world. I shall clear the way for them, all of our enemies shall be vanquished, and then we shall see which of us is better to lead this world into an age of endless beauty!"

She darted upwards into the sky with resounding laughter before rolling backwards, flying eastbound and out of sight. The Empress gritted her teeth before turning to Sunrise.

"Return to the Crystal Empire, Sunrise. I will call upon you tomorrow when we convene with Nightmare Moon," she said softly, before raising her voice to address the soldiers, "brave warriors! Establish an encampment in this position! It will be used to work with the armies of the night as we destroy the Changeling enemy!"

"Empress Daybreaker," Sunrise said as the soldiers began to prepare the station. The Empress turned to Sunrise with a blank face, as while Daybreaker was incapable of smiling, she did not want to address her faithful inquisitor with the wrath she felt towards Nightmare Moon in this moment, "I wish to bring Flash to the Empire. He made a remarkable effort today and—"

"You may," the Empress said, turning to approach a few soldiers to assist with the encampment. Flash turned to Sunrise in confusion, who gave a sigh of relief.

"Lady Inquisitor?" Flash asked in confusion. Sunrise shook her head.

"Call me Sunrise," she said, "I never made it to dinner, did I?"

"Well, I'm sure it was—"

"Hush hush, there is no need to justify me. I have a carriage we can take, so lets get going."

Foaledo, October 31, 1502

"This should do it, then," Starlight said, sitting in a chair at a well-polished table on the roof of the building. Sunset had noticed quite a few doors they took on the way up there that passed either guards or signs reading 'AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'. Though, they were pretty raggedy in appearance. Makeshifty, even. Starlight gave a bright smile as she used her magic to pull out a chair for Sunset, which, rather than being on the opposite side of the table, was right beside Starlight. Sunset sat down, turning to Starlight.

"This is all so. . ." Sunset said quietly, before Starlight finished her sentence.

"Different?"

"Yeah. . ."

"Well," Starlight said, flashing her horn for just a second as two trays of higher-quality meals with some of Saddle Arabia's most remarkable wine appeared upon the table, "tell me about how things went."

She took a sip of her wine, leaning her head on her hoof as she focused on Sunset with a smile.

"I'm out of high school now," she said, "so I had started working as a teacher. We only recently concluded this year of school, which is done shortly after the beginning of summer—it's around the beginning of June for our world. I finally found a moment to run it by our Celestia that I could go back to this world and speak with friends here again. It'd been so long since I'd talked to anyone. Not Twilight, not Celestia, and not you."

She shook her head as she looked away.

"When I did come back, I was met with Sunrise Sparkle, and Daybreaker shortly after. This world has become so cruel, everything is rotten. I'd see executions almost daily. Gryphons shot to death, hanged, or released to beasts. Changelings impaled, dismembered, or gouged. I only wanted to wait until I had something really awesome to tell everyone here, but the amount of bloodshed in Canterlot alone from the prisoners of war, it. . .oh my God. . !"

Sunset covered her face, sharply inhaling as she thought back on it. She had kept up a strong front, but she was so close to absolutely breaking. All of that suffering was beginning to get to her. It wasn't the suffering of isolation, either—that she was used to already. What gave her a sense of dread was watching the pain endured by the gryphons, and even the Changelings. The gryphons could be awful, but they were just as human as the humans she had come to know in her world. What they went through—no matter what they had done—it surely wasn't what they deserved. She knew as well that the Changelings were a hivemind species, but when separated from their hive they acted afraid. They showed emotion, pain—even remorse. Without the hive intelligence, they were like other ponies—they might have not even known anything about their own feelings or minds or capabilities under Chrysalis' control. Yet to be torn apart as they were. . .

"Shh," Starlight said softly, wrapping her forelegs around Sunset and giving her a soft nuzzle, "don't think about the things you weren't responsible for. Think about what you're going to be able to do now. Hey, I hear you're the new element of magic~"

"Y-yeah," Sunset stuttered, regaining her composure. Starlight hadn't let go, but Sunset didn't protest as she needed the comfort despite how more-than-friendly it felt, "out of everything, I expected that the least."

"I think they chose right," she said. Sunset shook her head.

"The five of them didn't make the decision. . ." Sunset explained. She continued on for a moment, reiterating the information she had learned to a very attentive Starlight Glimmer, ". . .and that's why we came here. We want to bring back friendship, and this is the only place that has the connections to get to every land, even the Changeling hive."

"I see," Starlight nodded, "well my point still stands. I think you're the best one to choose. Smart, talented, pretty, skilled in magic, and the best at friendships."

"Pretty?"

"Oh, well, uhm. . ." Starlight leaned back, letting go of Sunset and scratching her head with a little chuckle. Before she could reply, however, the light of the sun was blocked.

"What in the world? Is that. .?"

"Oh, fuck," Starlight said with a frown, "I might have just lost a trade partner."

Crystal Empire, October 31, 1502

Sunrise and Flash had been relatively silent for a majority of the ride to the carriage. Sunrise wasn't all that noteworthy in her capability to establish a conversation, however, as they arrived to the gates of the Crystal Empire she let out a sigh of relief. Flash turned to her with a smile.

"About time."

"Huh?" Sunrise turned to him with a hint of confusion.

"You seemed tense the whole way up here, Lady Sunrise."

"Oh, I told you," she softly reprimanded, "you can call me just Sunrise."

"Would you allow me to offer you the bare minimum of respect then, 'just Sunrise'?" he asked with a grin. Sunrise rolled her eyes.

"I ought to have you indicted for that comment," she muttered, before letting out a small laugh. Flash joined with her in the laughter, before the two of them settled down. She looked out the window, before pointing, "that's the library. I try to spend as much of my free time there as I can. It's good to know which of my citizens here enjoy reading as much as I do. They're rather surprised by a ruler who wishes to spend time with them."

"Surprised maybe," Flash pondered aloud as he turned back towards her, "but appreciative certainly. You've really taken this job well since Cadence. . .left the position."

It felt like a knife had just stabbed into Twilight's heart. The media had conveyed Cadence's death as a suicide due to Shining Armor's death 'in battle'. Sunrise knew the feelings she had now to be an issue, but now she was at a more convoluted conflict. What had happened to her? Was she not capable of doing these treacherous but necessary things earlier with no remorse? Why now did it so suddenly affect her? Yet, quietly, in the back of her minds she could hear what seemed like a quiet voice.

You can't have both.

Sunrise felt her eyes begin to water, and while she felt this sadness, she knew it a perfect opportunity to cover up the very reason she was crying now. She allowed herself to cry, while keeping her thoughts straight.

"Oh, Sunrise, I'm sorry I—" Flash spat out, before Sunrise threw her forelegs around him.

"N-No it's okay," she stuttered through her weeping, "i-it's okay."

Flash sighed, giving her a hug. It did seem a bit sudden, but she was clearly holding up strongly despite the tears now. With the way Daybreaker and the rest of the world was, he figured she might have been looked down upon for showing such emotion. He knew damn well he wouldn't look down on her, he wanted nothing but the opportunity to be for her what nopony else could. He felt a bit of joy, nuzzling her gently as they began to approach the castle. Sunrise rather enjoyed the embrace as well, but she knew deep within her that her unspoken lie could very well fester into something ugly. She cast aside her fears however, as she figured there would be no harm in allowing Flash to stay a night at the castle. Maybe a few nights. Maybe as long as possible.

She was the Empress of the Crystal Empire, after all, wasn't it up to her?