Author's Note

Spell on display: shadow body
Shadow body is a spell that allows the user to turn their body or parts of their body into pure shadow mist and move freely in that state.

Restrictions and Requirements

• A shadow magic affinity
• A lot of magic
• A high degree of magical control

Advantages over similar spells
Shadow mist is denser than smoke or air. This will make your body easier to control in this state but still able to float. It also takes little magic to maintain your shadow mist form.

Risks
As you do become pure mist, losing control over your body can leave you open to being killed by the wind. You will need to reform your eyes or ears if you want to see or hear anything.

SHWO ch49 Return to Equestria part2

Sunset’s old room
Date: 29/02/1118 Ee, time: 6st hour AMR

*Sunset’s perspective*

After talking with many of the other guards, Sunset deduced that the guards had actually gotten worse since she left. Their training was still the same, but now, Sunset wasn’t constantly sparring with them or causing trouble for them, forcing them to do their jobs. This left Sunset confident that, so long as she doesn’t run into that Shining Armor fellow, she would be just fine. Sunset even felt confident enough to walk around the castle. She still wore her Spiffy Whistles disguise and stayed away from Celestia, but was otherwise as free as a bird.

Now, another rule of the ninja hand book was to travel light. Sunset did do that coming in, not having to pack clothes made that easier, but books are not light. That means that she’ll need to empty her bags as much as possible. One thing Sunset quickly learned was that she brought way too many MREs. She expected her pony body to be smaller than her human body, but boy did she underestimate how small ponies are. Hell, she knew some miniature dogs that are about the same size as ponies. That left Sunset with a lot of extra food and water. She rationed out what she would need for tomorrow and put the rest aside. The ruler could be left behind. The thing was like a buck. The letter was always going to be left behind. Sunset tossed Philomena the mask and excess fabric which she promptly turned into a toy. Everything else would be used tomorrow night.

Sunset balanced her bags to make sure the weight would be as little a hindrance as possible. Her human strength didn’t appear to have transferred over to her pony form. Actually, now that Sunset was thinking about it, her pony body was exactly the same as the day she left, minus the new scars. Sunset didn’t expect her body to change much in thirty moons, but she should have grown at least a few inches as she entered her late-twenties. Sunset’s best guess is that when the portal turns you back, it shapes you back into exactly what you were when you left, but that question would need to be answered another day. Sunset had to make sure her plan was perfect.

Sunset’s old room
Date: 30/02/1118 Ee, time: 3rd hour AMR

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset looked over the letter again. She needed to make sure it was perfect. She didn’t have time to visit her family. So, she needed to make sure she effectively explained herself. Although, this was more just to comfort herself as she had no way of changing now. As annoying as the ponies’ insistence of rising and falling with the sun was, it made knowing when everypony was asleep much easier. Seeing as everyone’s lights were off and the sun had long since set, Sunset gathered up everything, including Philomena’s call whistle and walked into the shadows.

Sunset’s destination was a small house in one of Canterlot’s lower class neighborhoods near the outskirts of the city. Americans might even call the place a ghetto. Despite the less than well maintained streets and the smell of last night’s party evidence, it was a nice place to live. Even with the certain “habits” of some of the other residents, it was still Equestria and very safe. Although, the safety comes from the ponies’ lack of a predatory nature and the good economy instead of effective policing. There isn’t even a word for “police” in Ponish. It’s just the royal guard.

The house itself was well maintained, and it looked exactly how it did when Sunset left. She could even see the repaired spot where she got her horn stuck in the wall. Like many pegasi houses, it was very utilitarian in the way things were arranged. Every space was used to its maximum potential, but effort was still put in to make it look nice. Right as you enter the door, there’s a kitchen to your left and a staircase to your right. Past the kitchen is the dining room and then the living room. Since TV wasn’t a thing in Equestria, all the couches were arranged to face the fireplace. There’s a door that leads to the backyard and Mom’s garden. Since Mom wasn’t an Earth pony, she had limited success with it, but she would get help and tips from Cousin Passionfruit whenever she came around.

Sunset laid her letter and her unused MREs on the dining room table. One thing you learn being raised in poverty is that you don’t waste food. So, either Sunset’s parents will eat it or use it for something else. With this complete, Sunset was off to her next stop.

Sunset shadowported into a hallway just outside of the anti-shadowporting field. Sunset disguised herself as a guard and marched to the reliquary. The few guards she passed didn’t even spare her a second glance, assuming she belonged there because she wasn’t lost. Doing this this late is cutting it close, but it’s close to shift change. That means that the guards will be tired and ready to go to bed, and their replacements will still be in bed, and it will take time for them to get ready.

The corridors near the reliquary and similar areas are lightly patrolled to help sell the illusion that these are low target areas, but this is going to bite them in the ass this time. Sunset approached the reliquary door and pulled out a homemade stun grenade. She didn’t want to kill the guards, they did nothing to her, but she would if she had to. The locking spell on the door was nothing to Sunset. The light of Sunset magic grew a bit brighter as she dispelled the lock, opened the door, threw the grenade in, and closed the door. Surprised neighs and then a bang could be heard through the door. Sunset opened the door and stepped inside. Six guards were laying in crumpled heaps on the ground. Various groans and moans let Sunset know they’re still alive.

Step one complete. Now, onto step two. With a simple location spell, Sunset was able to find her prize amongst the rest of the junk. With the relic secure, Sunset ran out of the room, closing the door behind her. She didn’t care how sparse the guards were. That explosion had to be heard by somepony in the quiet castle. Sunset pulled out Philomena’s call whistle and blew. With Philomena on her way, Sunset put the pedal to metal to get to the mirror.

As Sunset turned down another corridor, she found herself face to leg with Princess Celestia.

“Sunset Shimmer”, Celestia said coldly.

Shedding her disguise, Sunset bared her fangs to Celestia and so wished ponies could growl or hiss. “Out of my way, Celestia. More is at stake here than you realize.”

“Oh, enlighten me then.”

“You know I don’t have time for that.” Sunset spun around only to find earth ponies holding spears, pegasi holding crossbows, and unicorns casting light spells that Sunset had to shield her eyes from.

“You know I can’t let you leave Sunset. Make this easy on yourself and come quietly.”

Sunset grinned evilly at that. “You know, there’s an expression from my new home that fits here perfectly.” Sunset spun back around to face Celestia while pulling her weapons out of her bag. “We will not go quietly!”, Sunset shouted while raising her gun to Celestia.

Out front of Canterlot High
Date: Mar 2nd, time: 8:00 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

“Ah don’t like dis.”

“I know what you mean.”, Anzhong said.

“She should be back by now. Da portal c’n close any minute now.”

“I know.”

“We should go in afte’ ‘er.”

“We might compromise her.”

“Da moon’s almost over da star. We need ta go get ‘er.”

“Uhg, I had a feeling you’d talk me into going.” Anzhong placed his cane and backpack on the ground and pulled out - two oni masks. Anzhong handed the mask with eye holes to Brigid, pulled off his glasses, and placed the mask without eye holes on himself.

“Do ya have a light in dere? Ah c’n’t imagine Sunset doin’ dis operation in da daylight.”

Anzhong reached into his bag and pulled out a headlamp. Brigid plut the mask and headlamp on and then turned the headlamp on.

“Ready?”

“Ready”

“Ki stay.”, Anzhong ordered, and Ki sat down in what the girls call his “guard dog pose”. Brigid took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and the two stepped through the portal.

To say the process was pleasant would be a lie. Brigid felt like she was being squished, and exiting the portal wasn’t much fun either. Brigid could hear the two of them crash before she felt the pain. After letting the dizziness faid, Brigid stumbled to her fee-hooves. She had hooves now. Brigid looked over to see Anzhong shaking the dizziness off. “Good ‘hin’ ya had da torch. It’s dark in ‘ere.”

“What are these things on my back?”

“Bat wings”

“Bat-” Anzhong was cut off by the sound of a gunshot ringing out though - wherever they were.

“Sunset”, the two of them said.

Brigid rammed the door open, and the two ran off to find their daughter.

Halls of Canterlot castle
Date: same day, time: 4th hour AMR

*Sunset’s perspective*

“We will not go quietly!”, Sunset shouted while raising her gun to Celestia.

“What is tha-” BangCelestia was cut off when Sunset fired her gun and shot her crown off her head.

“It’s a gun. Think of it like an ultra powerful crossbow.”

“Attack!”, one of the guards shouted.

Sunset turned her body into shadow in order to let the crossbow bolts pass through her harmlessly. Immediately after, Sunset reformed her body and fired a magic bolt at the guards. Down to 89%. Can’t do that too many times. Sunset sensed Celestia charging an attack so she charged the guards to dodge. The lack of space made it difficult for all the guards to fit, but it, along with the anti-teleportation fields, made it difficult for Sunset to maneuver. Half of the unicorn guards began laying into her with various types of magic bolts while the other half kept their light spells on Sunset, partially bindinger her. Most of the spells were ice based and aimed at Sunset’s hooves, leaving the floor slippery when Sunset doged. Sunset casted a traction spell on herself to keep from slipping. The pegasi guards shot more crossbow bolts, but those were easily dealt with by a shield spell. The earth pony guards used the spears to form a defensive line that would thrust out if Sunset got too close. That left Sunset in a balancing match between staying close enough to keep Celestia from firing but not close enough to be stabbed. Come on, come on, give me an opening.

Sunset was offered some reprieve from the bolts of magic, crossbow bolts, and thrusting spears when Philomena joined the fight. Philomena caused enough of a distraction for Sunset to stab a couple of the guards.

“BLOOD!” the guards screamed. Even Celestia looked a bit queasy at the sight.

Sunset waved one of the blades around, splattering blood everywhere, while licking the other one clean.

“It’s Sunset, the blood eating feind! Run for your lives!”, one of the guards shouted. Several of the guards, mostly unicorns, ran screaming in terror, but that still left about a dozen others and Celestia herself. At least there’s less light.

Sunset grabbed one of the guards in her magic and used her to shield herself from the other’s attacks. The guard went limp in Sunset’s magic grasp. She didn’t know if she was alive or dead, nor did she care to check. Sunset hovered the guard’s body between herself and Celestia. Sunset could feel the attack Celestia was preparing wane. Sunset fired off a couple of gunshots, dropping two more guards. Sunset moved the two dropped guards to shield her from the others then turned her attention back to Celestia, but as she did, Celesita shot off a spell that curved around Sunset’s pony shield. Sunset dropped the bodies and put up a shield, but Celestia’s spell broke through and nailed Sunset in the side. Sunset was thrown against the wall, and she could smell the singed fur. Philomena moved to protect Sunset and began hissing at anypony that came near.

“Philomena calm down. We’re not going to hurt her.”, Celestia said in a calming tone. Philomena flared her fire and screeched at Celestia. “I’m sorry Philomena, but this is for both of your goods.” Celestia lit her horn, and in a flash, Philomena was gone.

Sunset wanted to cry out but the pain in her chest prevented her. Celestia and the guards sarrowned Sunset. Celestia began another teleportation spell but was interrupted by a war cry coming down the hall, a very human sounding war cry, a war cry that sounded a lot like Brigid’s. Before anypony could figure out what was going on, what looked like a demon came bounding down the hall and rammed into Celestia. All the guards turned their attention to Celestia which let another figure slip in. “Dad?”, Sunset squeaked out in English.

“It’s me. Come on, we need to go.”

Anzhong lowered himself, and Sunset climbed onto his back. “What’s burning?”, Anzhong asked.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Ah think Ah made her angry!”, Brigid shouted.

Anzhong began running while Brigid kept Celestia and the guards busy for a bit longer.

“You will not remove Sunset from this castle!”, Celestia bellowed in her royal canterlot voice.

“Inside voice! Did y’r mothe’ neve’ teach ya any manne’s?!”, Brigid bellowed back before bolting to catch up with Sunset and Anzhong. Brigid talking back to her seemed to have stunned Celestia and the guards as it took them a minute to chase after them. “So, who was dat?”, Brigid asked once she caught up.

“The princess.”, Sunset wheezed out.

“Ahh, good, Ah neve’ liked monarchs.”

At the pace they were running, it only took them a couple minutes to make it to the mirror room, but when they got there, Celestia was waiting for them.

“Stop this instance!”, Celestia bellowed, but Brigid didn’t listen. Brigid rammed into Celestia once again, sending them both through the portal.

Anzhong and Sunset weren’t far behind them. Jumping through the portal, kaleidoscope, stretching, yada yada, Sunset landed on the other side of the portal on top of Anzhong. Sunset picked her head up to see Brigid picking up Celestia by the collar of her newly formed jacket.

“Hey, I’m bigge’ dan ya know.” Indeed, Brigid was bigger than Celestia. There wasn’t much of a height difference, but there was a very noticeable weight difference, and Celestia looked terrified of the massive muscular red demon snarling at her.

“Mom send her back through the portal. It would not be good for Equestria to lose her.”, Sunset said while climbing off of Anzhong. It hurt to move, but Anzhong needed to get up. At least the headaches stopped.

“Mom?”, Celestia asked Sunset.

“Ya got dat right.” Brigid picked Celestia up, marched over to the portal, and tossed her through like a sack of rotten potatoes. Brigid, Anzhong, and Ki stood guard over the portal until it closed. Celestia would never send her guards into the human world, but they didn’t know that, and Sunset was too hurt to tell them.

“Sunset, are you hurt?”, Anzhong asked. “I smelt burnt hair, and it seemed to be coming from you.”

Sunset pulled her jacket and shirt down, the cloak disappeared when they went through the portal, and indeed, she was hurt.

“Who did dis ta ya?”

“That lady you just manhandled.”

“Ah should have ripped dat stupid horn off ‘er head!”, Brigid roared.

“Can we just go home now? This hurts.”

“Aw, come ‘ere.” Brigid picked Sunset up while Anzhong gathered Ki and his things.

“I think ya scared the most powerful being on all of Equoes.”, Sunset said.

“Good”, Brigid simply said as she walked to the car.

Reliquary room #13
Date: same day, time: 4th hour 10th minute AMR

*Celestia’s perspective*

“Oof” Celestia landed hard on her back as she was flung out of the portal. Sunset called that thing “mom”. What was that thing? What did Sunset turn into? What did I turn into?

“Princess Celestia, are you all right?”, one of the guards asked. “Should we go after them?”

“I’m fine and no. Go see to the others, and move this mirror to reliquary room one.”, Celestia ordered as she righted herself.

“Right away, your highness.” The guard ran off to complete his orders, and Celestia began walking to her room. She knew Philomena wasn’t going to be happy. She’s extremely loyal to Sunset. Sunset raised her after all.

Walking into her private chambers, Celestia found Philomena in her cage, exactly where she put her. Philomena looked at Celestia with disdain. “I know you’re unhappy, but this is for the better. I don’t know what Sunset’s purpose for being here was, but I know it wasn’t good.” Philomena screeched in angry protest. Celestia wished that she could understand her, but she never was able to learn her language. Even though, like all creatures, phoenixes are capable of language comprehension, they had no official language. That left Sunset and Philomena to develop their own language, and it used very few actual words. It mostly consisted of body language, tone changes, and basic animal sounds. That left the translation spell almost useless. One of the few phrases Celestia could recognise was “I’m sorry”, and that was only because Philomena had to say it on a near daily basis. She was a serial prankster. With the portal closed, Celestia had no reason to keep Philomena locked up. Celestia opened the cage, and Philomena flew off, undoubtedly to Sunset’s room. “I hope you can forgive me.”

Sunset’s bathroom
Date: same day, time: 8:45 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“How did you get these burns?”, Grandpa Jiraiya asked as he poured water over Sunset’s burns.

“That’s a bit of a story. I’ll tell everyone at once.”

“Well, you're lucky you only got first degree burns. It should clear up without scarring.”

“Eh, I’m not surprised. Celestia is too soft to actually hurt me, and she’s lucky she didn’t. Mom would’ve ripped her horn off with her bare hooves, shoved it up her prison pocket, and jammed it up there until it came out her mouth.”

“Horn? hooves?”

“That will be explained when I tell the story.”

“Okay”, Jiraiya said warily.

Sunset had burns over her right shoulder, armpit, side of her chest, and part of her back. She was just happy her bag wasn’t hit, but this was still going to be a pain. At least it would all be worth it once Emi was healed, and it’s not like this was her first rodeo. When Spitfire was still learning how to control her fire breath, she burned Sunset tail off, and then Sunset nearly caught the house on fire by running around and screaming. Sunset chuckled inwardly remembering how she had to walk around with just this little nubby thing attached to her butt for two weeks.

It was a while before Jiraiya felt that Sunset was ready to have aloe cream put on the burn. After he put the aloe cream on, Jiraiya loosely wrapped Sunset up in gauze and told her to move her arm as little as possible. Once Sunset was wrapped, dried, and dressed, she grabbed her backpack, and she and Jiraiya went out to the living room where Brigid, Anzhong, Ki, Emi, Minerva, and a tired Anura were waiting. Sunset took her bean bag while Jiraiya took his own seat.

“So Sunset, Ah told Minerva what ya were doin’, but y’r grandfathe’ n’ Anura have no idea what dis is about.”, Brigid said.

“Right so, for the last couple of days, I have been in a country called Equestria, on a planet called Equoes. That’s the country I was born in. The statue outside of Canterlot High has a portal in it that opens for three days every two and a half years or thirty moons, as we call it.”

Jiraiya and Anura looked stunned and unsure and looked around at the others to see if it was a joke, but Brigid, Anzhong, Emi, and Minerva all just nodded their heads, confirming that it wasn’t a joke. “Anzhong n’ Ah needed ta go through da portal ta save Sunset.”

“So, let me get this straight. Sunset’s an alien, and she looks like a human.”, Jiraiya said.

“Actually, I didn’t look like a human until I came to Earth, and in order for what I’m going to tell you to make much sense, I’m going to give you a lesson about my people.” All the humans in the room gave Sunset the go ahead. So, she began. “So, like Earth, the planet of Equoes has many countries on it, but unlike Earth, each of those countries has a different dominant species. Now, I believe that the portal near the school hasn’t been the only one. Many creatures present in your mythologies are real creatures on Equoes. One of those creatures are unicorns, which is what I am.”

“A unicorn?”, Minerva said.

“Hey, Anzhong was some sorta bat-winged pegasus. Now, dat begs a question. Why was Ah just a normal horse? Ah mean da lady dat burned ya had wings n’ a horn. Dat’s jus’ not fair.”

“Along with unicorns are pegasi, which Dad is a sub-species of, there are earth ponies. Now, before you say anything. “Earth ponies” is a bit of a translation error. Their name in Ponish means ground or soil,-” Sunset tapped her foot on the ground. “-i.e. earth. Now, earth ponies have super strength, super durability, and a connection to the planet that ranges in power from giving them a better feel for their surroundings to prophetic dreams.”

“Oh, dat’s not bad.”

“Now, there’s a fourth type of pony called an alicorn, which translates to “all magic” in Ponish. They have the magical traits of all three tribes. They are created when the magics of all three tribes are combined in a single individual with a binder, like love. I know what you’re going to say, but love is a measurable thing on Equoes. That’s a whole other field of study. Now, there are two more things ya need ta know. First, inherited last names haven’t been a thing for over a hundred years. Nobody knows exactly why. It just seemed to have fallen out of style. Second, if two ponies of different tribes have a foal, the foal can only express the magical traits of one of the parents. So, let's say a unicorn and pegasus has a foal. The foal can only be a unicorn or a pegasus, not a pegacorn. Which one they become is, as far as we know, completely random, but they still can give birth to a foal of the tribe they weren't born into, even if they don't have a foal with a member of that tribe. Did everyone get that?

A chorus of “yeah”s and “I think so”s came from the others.

“Good, because that’s my situation. So, I was born to two pegasi named Stormy Flare and Shadow Walker, and I have an older sister named Spitfire. When I was eight, I was accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. A few months after that, I was selected to be Princess Celestia’s personal student. Her goal in making me her student was to A) find someone to save her sister and B) find a successor. I graduated from her school when I was fifteen but remained her student until I ran away when I was twenty-six.”

“Wait, wait, wait, y’r twenty-six?”, Brigid asked.

“Twenty-eight now but yes. The portal deaged me as well as changed my species, again ‘nother can of worms. Now, I wanted to become the ruler of Equestria so I could correct many of the flaws in the Equestrian government and society, but Princess Celestia kept on saying that I wasn’t ready. So, I decided to become more proactive, and I started researching forbidden topics, including the portal. One day, I was caught, and Princess Celestia dismissed me from my studies and ordered me to be arrested.”

“You went back to Equestria even though you’re a wanted criminal.”, Anzhong said in shock.

“Eyeap, anyway, I escaped from my escort and ran through the portal. Now, the part about closing after three days was lost due to decay. So, I ended up trapped here, and you know the rest.”

“Why were you in Equestria if you were a wanted criminal?”, Jiraiya asked.

“To get this.” Sunset pulled the relic out of her bag and showed it to everyone. “This is called the Gold Hoof’s stone. It can heal anyone of anything.”

“I hope you didn’t steal that from a hospital.”, Jiraiya said.

“No, I didn’t. It has a limited number of uses since its creator died. Celestia keeps it locked away incase of a major emergency, like a foreign diplomat being poisoned or grievously injured on our watch. If that happens, it can mean war. There are many others similar to this. I didn’t just doom Equestria to war.”

“I see. So, how did you get those burns?”

“During my escape with this, I was attacked by Princess Celestia. She had no idea why I was there, and I didn’t have time to explain. Considering how we last left things, she assumed the worst, and tried to apprehend me. We fought, and I got burned. I’m also going to have a nasty bruise.”

“Dat’s when we swooped in ta save ‘er.”

“So, you’re going to use that rock ta cure me?”, Emi asked.

“Yes, tomorrow though, I’m exhausted.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Dad, can you stay here tonight?”, Anzhong asked.

“Of course”

With the explanations done, Sunset grabbed her things and went back to her room. She really needed a good night’s sleep.