Rising Sunsetby Madd HatChaptersThe EscapeHealing the bodybickering at brunchBlood in our historyThe EscapeThe water was cool on my skin, it was almost pleasant, were it not for that same water filling up my lungs, DROWNING ME!!!! I open my eyes, flailing my limbs in a panic thrashing wildly against the water, noticing the light I swim up twards it desperate for air, breaking the surface I grab a near by log and take in as much air as I could in between gasping and hacking up the water from my throat and lungs. Wiping my face clean of water, I look around to catch my bearings. I was in some river going down stream to who knows where and I didn't care to find out, paddling myself towards the riverbank I collapse on my back facing the sky the sun tried to burn my eyes as if in some form of spite against me. I don't know how long I layed there, a few minutes an hour? but it became clear as the adrenaline left my body that I realized how much pain I was actually in. "Oh gods, all this pain at least proves I'm still alive." After the headache passed I felt the burns throughout my entire right side, my right sleeve and pant leg were burned off and there was residual scar tissue on my arm, leg, and right side. Grabbing my right cheek revealed burns on my face too fortunately my right eye wasn't damaged too much but covering my left eye made everything have a red tint to it, further inspection revealed a sprained ankle and a cauterized wound in my right shoulder, needless to say I was thoroughly fucked. Outside of my injuries it appeared my satchiel despite being torn in places at least looked in one piece, rumaging inside were a few protein bars, two bottles of water, three drenched books, my compass, three sets of clothes, a ruined ink set, and an open bit pouch with only 30 coins left...great. With a gutteral huff I sat up grabbing a near by branch fashioning it into a make shift crutch, I limp my way to the edge of a forest, turning around I could see Cantorlot castle on the horizon, working out the geography in my head this had to be... "The Everfree forest! Oh great of all the places to be bloodied and stranded it had to be here!" I yelled The Everfree was the last place I want to be right now: carnivorous plants, dangerous animals, and monsters galore that can and would eat me, and on to of that there were stories of wild magic bursts that could dampen or warp my magic its the last place I'd ever want to be... "And the last place anyone would look for me." I realized OK I had two choices either go upstream in hopes of finding a town near by, maybe get some medical attention or go downstream into the Everfree. Looking back towards the castle I could see blips of skyriders in the distance too many for comfort, they were either the royal guard or the wonder bolts and I have no interest in either of them catching me. "Considering the stunt i pulled on the train, their likely looking for a burnt up corpse." I say rubbing my arm "Best I keep it that way, the Everfree it is." With a shutter, I look into the edge of the Everfree what felt like staring into the maw of a dragon, I closed my eyes and focused on the center of my brow feeling the arcane marks on my face and the spectral horn appearing on my forehead, focusing the magic into my one good hand a fire appeared in my palm. I sign in relief "Ok good that still works" as I limp my way into the forest. The first hour was decent enough I was able to find some edible plants and stayed away from anything dangerous like Poisonjoke or Ticklestranglers the real issues were the creatures, avoiding strange smells, and warning calls made it easy to stay away from any one creatures territory, there was a pack of timber wolf's I nearly woke up were it now for their loud snoring that was the easy part but after the first hour I'd already stress eaten all my bars and nearly drank all my water, to top it all off my injuries were getting worse my burns began to flare up and my ankle began to sting, and I was getting tired maybe I should take a... And then I collapsed. Waking up in a cold sweat I find myself in a warm bed with heavy coversI was relieved to find myself not drowning in the river, as the panic cleared I could see I was in some kind of hut with a culdron in the center and various nicknacks and bobbles along the ceiling, only for the panic to return as I had no idea where I was or how I got here. Immediately I jumped out of bed only to trip over my on bad ankle. On the Floor i screemed "Eclipse be dambed that...ooohhff... gods.......aawww!" "Be carful injured one~your healing is not done." Came an unfamiliar voice Facing twards the voice I saw a cloaked figure carrying what looked like a basket of herbs and plants in one hand and crooked staff in the other. Removing her cloak on a rack the mystery figure revealed herself to be what could only be described as the most handsome woman I've ever met, she was dark of skin with light tattoos along her face and body of what I could see, a striped tribes-woman from zebraca, where in tatrarus am I? Dragging myself away from the stranger I pull the bed covers over me as if it would provide so kind of protection from her, she look at me and smiled calmly and spoke "No need to be rude~I brought some food~perhaps then we'll find ourselves in a better mood?" "And now she speaking in rhyme, aha ahahaha HAHAHAHAHA." Laughing like a maniac I pass out again. Oh dear~it seems her minds not all hear. Healing the bodyAs I lay in bed going in and out of consciousness, I find myself focusing on a sound...no a tune, is someone singing? No, it was humming! Mmm~mmmm~mm~mmn~m~m~m~ Mmm~mmmm~mm~mmn~m~m~m~ Mmn~mmn~mmmmn~mn~mn~ After about an hour of this I finally woke up properly, turning my head towards the song, a striped woman looked to be staring at the brew in her cauldron, her melody was simple but elegant, it took me a moment to realize I was Humming along. Without looking in my direction the shaman said, "Best not to toss and turn~ or its more scares you will earn~ from your second-degree burn.~" "Thanks." I deadpan as I sit up ignoring her advice. Feeling a twinge of pain I examine my right side was bandaged up head to toe dulling the initial pain. "So," I begin "Not to sound ungrateful but, where in Tartarus am I, and who are you exactly?" The striped woman raised an eyebrow at that, then smiled. "I suppose that is true~ I am Zecora a shaman of Everfree~ and this is my home as you can see ~ as well may I ask who are you?~" And the rhymes continue. I held out my good arm for a handshake "Shimmer, Sunset Shimmer." Sitting down, she took my hand with a firm shake. Laying back down and staring at the ceiling I ask, "So doc, what's the damage am I gonna make it." Chuckling Zecora replies "You will live~ following the advise that I give~ your burns will fully heal~ So long you remain still~ only then, the better you will feel~ it will leave quite the scar~ but that's all I can judge so far.~" From under the sheets, I opened and closed my bandaged hand, it functioned properly but the joints stung with every movement. "Point taken." I said annoyed "Still it's rather boring just laying here, got any book I could read? Mine got soaked" A book~ I could take a look~ though I'd doubt you'd understand~ they're in the tongue of my homeland~ "Language barriers have never really been an issue for me, any book will do," I stated bluntly as I hold out my hand. Raising the other eyebrow Zecora turned to her book collection. "I see~ I have books on Everfree~ plants from herb to tree~ which one will it be~" "Yes," I say levitating a stool next to my bedside. "Heh" Zecora chuckled. "Enthusiastic, are we?~ Then I will leave you be~" As Zecora picked a few books from her collection I noticed that there was one that after seeing it shook her head and put back, gonna have to sneak a look at that when I get the chance, black leather binding with a dark green stripe on the spine, remember that Sunset remember. With a loud thud, Zecora put about seven books of various sizes on the stool, picking up the first book it was clearly in Zebracan which I can't read but luckily, I have the cheat sheet, as my spectral horn appeared I focused my magic into my eyes giving them a soft yellow glow, with a quick look at Zecora I saw her eyes open slightly in surprise, I've always loved that look. "Multi-language translation spell." I answer her unspoken question "Like I said, language barriers have never really been an issue for me. Opening the book, the Zebracan on the page morphed and rearranged into Equestrian in my mind's eye, and I could read it now; looking over all of the books I was happy that there was quite a bit of variety in the book, albeit with an obvious theme: Arcane anatomy of star-touched, sky-riders, and earth-keepers. The many mishaps with monsters. Antidotes and anti-toxin. Egg care for various creatures. The bare necessities for dealing with bears. How not to trip in the quicksand (a reference guide) Daring do and the forgotten forest. With the expectation of the last one, I didn't recognize any of these books although I do recall a book on the arcane anatomy of Star-dancers in the Caterlot capital library nothing on the other two bloodlines, fucking Canterlot entitlement. "Thank you," I say as I turn back to the book. Smiling Zacora returned to her cauldron. Alright, I can get through this, with these books and a bit of bed rest I can get through this with no problem whatsoever. "Oh, gods I hate this!" I quietly complain It had been two weeks since I came into Zecora's care, the burns weirdly enough were the easy part, the salve Zecora made and later taught me to make soothed the pain and cleared off most of the burnt and dead tissue though Zecora says the scars will remain. Fortunately, scars are sexy, and failing that I can make them sexy; As for my ankle and shoulder, my ankle was put in a brace and I was fashioned a crutch to lean on if I wanted to move around the cottage, my shoulder was given similar salve to the burns but with the addition of some rather sour potions I had to drink, healing from inside and out according to Zecora. The worst of it was the nonstop resting and not doing anything as I've read and memorized all of Zacora's books save for one however, the leatherbound book with the green strip was the only book Zacora would not take from her shelf I didn't push further for fear of her possibly hiding it, the only time I could read it was during the time Zecora went out for errands or hunting for supplies. I still haven't finished it either as I could only get a few pages at a time for fear of her catching me in the act as the translation spell required my full attention and I didn't want to be caught again reading books others thought I couldn't handle. The book in question was probably the largest in the collection which made me happy, there was no title or author as far as I could tell, whoever wrote this was a genius going over several details about potion-making ingredients and their effects on each other during the initial brewing including recommendations for posable replacement ingredients and the altering effects thereof, the only thing stopping me from fully grasping these instructions were mainly due to my lack of knowledge in potions as most of my studies were in casting magic as opposed to crafting, guess I'll have to change that. After the third week, my ankle was finally healed enough for me to be able to walk albeit slowly. after what felt like the longest errand run Zecora ever took she came back with what looked to be a twisted branch of wrapping paper, I was going to question her about it until she held it to me, putting it into my hands she gestures me to open it. As my eyes open wide, Zecora says, "This staff is perfect if I must say~ to help you make your way ~ leather and bone with a gem heart~ to help you with your arcane art~" My mouth agape I stutter. "A magic focus, my own staff?" Zecora nods. "ww-wwh-whhh why?" I've seen your skill~ despite your refusal to stay still~ your need for knowledge is strong~ so I ask you to come along~ become my apprentice I humbly request~ so that after your rest~ you may fill your need~ to learn study and read~ even if your answer is no~ the staff is yours to take~ for a great mage you will make~ no matter where you go~ For what felt like a solid minute I stood there dumfounded by the offer I couldn't speak, examining the staff it was clearly made from a twisted black oak branch, not from the Everfree, the leather bound skull looked to be equine in nature I almost want to say kelpy in origin but I wasn't sure, no thanks to the two of the limbs wrapping around the skull, making it look as if it has elk horns but what really caught me off guard was the largest hunk of amber I've ever seen embedded in the center of the skull. After another minute I sputter, "I... I don't know what to say." "A friend from Cantorlot gave me chores~ the runes you'll carve to forge a bond~ making it more than the common wand~ and turn the staff truly yours~". For the second time today I stared blankly at Zecora doing everything in my power this time to not panic, as I look to the staff then back to her All I could say was. "I'll think about it just give me some time." "Welp" I think to myself panicking, "My decision is clear~ I'm getting the hell out of here.~" ...Oh Tartarus, now I'm speaking in rhymes. She visited someone from Cantorlot no no no if my name came up it would only be a matter of time before they find me. Gathering what supplies I could, I look into my bag the clothes I brought were...not for travel tight jeans, a thin leather jacket, and some elevator high heels, no extra underwear or socks? Gods this is embarrassing, "Really ran by the skin of your teeth ay sunset." Looking out the window Zacora hasn't come back; I rumage through the closet to see what's inside a few cloaks, boots, along with some simple pants and shirts not my style, but beggars can't be choosers, putting on the travel clothes I was unsurprised to feel that they're a little too baggy and the shoes too big for me but taking a few extra socks should help with that. Checking again in my bag I still have my compass; the bottled waters are spent but can easily be refilled in the well. My books though ruined were still readable so those stayed. looking up at the ceiling I take a few of the common potions I recognize from the potion book, these should be useful. I turn to the potion book on the shelf picking it up, I've already memorized all the other books but not this one, I think to myself. "I've never read anything like this before Zebracan potion-making far exceeds anything I've read in Canterlot, not even the books I took from Celestia's restricted section." I press the book to my forehead in frustration. Zecora has been nothing but helpful to me, clothes and potions are one thing but... "Wait a minute?" I realize. Looking over the binding there's no author engraving, maybe it's on the inside, flipping through the first few pages nothing then flipping through the back my jaw dropped. "The-these are blank...did Zecora write this?" taking a closer like at the pages these are definitely handwritten none of the other books are like this; looking over her desk I see notes to potion combinations and several hypotheses on the various effects of different potions have on different kinds of creatures and bloodlines. This isn't just Zecora's notebook this is HER personal work, she's studying the Everfrees' flora and fauna and as far as I know, no one in Canterlot has or will ever take their studies here, leaving all description up to superstition or old wives' tales, pathetic. I put the book back on the shelf. even if I took it now, it's incomplete and would serve me better to let Zecora finish this, I can always come back later when it's done. I leave ten bits on the bed with a written apology and head off to the forest. I wish I could stay longer but it's better I travel if I stay in one place for too long there's a higher chance Celestia's agents will find me and I can't have that not now I'll need more power to stand my ground if I ever have to face Celestia again. Not caring which way I go, I pull out my compass and two pebbles from the ground focusing my magic, creating a frequency between them and... there, I hide one pebble near a marked tree I've seen Zecora use from the window and one in the compass. "Alright location set, and now to get the hells out of this stupid forest." I whisper Still healing ankle be damned I started running. bickering at brunchA compass is a wonderful tool when traveling, with it you always know where north is, and alongside a decent map even a novice couldn't get lost, and I was no novice, I also had no map and no working compass. "Aaahh, damn it all!" I curse as I franticly look around the forest nothing but trees as far as the eye can see with no landmarks in sight. "Eclipse be damned, where in Tartarus am I?!!!" As my yell echoes like a roar through the trees, my ankle begins to sting again. "Ok, maybe I should've paced myself there," I whisper to myself as I bend down to message my ankle. Continuing my walk in no clear direction to find a safe-looking resting spot I hear the stream of water, following the sound I came across a large river, seeing tha it was clear of any beasts I refill my water bottles, looking up past the trees I could tell it was getting late or at the very least dark on account me also not having a damn watch on me. "Might as well make camp." I grumble bitterly "How in Tartarus did my life get to this point?" laying on my back I look at the stars they were beautiful outside the city of Canterlot "I miss my bed, my boyfriend, my books, Celest..." Skipping past THAT thought I turn over on my side to sleep, closing my eyes and focusing on the sound of the river. "Think of better times Sunset, think of better times." As I lay resting on a bench listening to the Canterlot park fountain with my new daring do book over my face a voice cry out "Ms. SUNSET!!! Ms. SUNSET WHERE ARE YOU???" "Over here Nany!" I yell back not opening my eyes. "Oh, there you are Ms. Sunset!" Nany stammered "Her majesty Celestia sent me to get you, she sa..." "It's just Sunset." I interrupt. "Excuse me?" Peeking one of my eyes out to look at her I say, "Ms. isn't necessary Nany." Blinking twice Nany replied, "I'm afraid I don't understand Ms. Shimmer." Rolling my eyes, I sit up on the bench staring into hers, and say, "Nany we've been over this, I'm still only 15 summers old I'm hardly the age to be called Ms., lady Shimmer, or Honored Protégé will do." Nany simply stared at me for a few silent moments, finally responding with "As you wish young Ms." "Oh, for the love of..." As I drag my hands across my face, I get up from the bench, "So... what were you sent for again, Nany?" Eyes widening in realization Nany straightened her posture and recited what sounded like a rehearsed speech. "By royal decree, the adopted daughter Sunset Shimmer has received a summons, as such the young Ms. is to attend an audience with her Royal Majesty and Goddess Queen Celestia at the dining hall for a matter of great importance..." "And cake." I interrupt again. "Furthermore!" Nany continued pulling out a pocket watch and pretending to look at the time. "Due to the difficulty in finding you, her majesty has undoubtedly spent a considerable amount of time in the dining room alone, if we make haste now, we might be able to make it before the hour is up, now please come with me." With Nany's back turned to me I walk right behind her as I pull out my lay line compass and set the combination to the proper coordinates, with a cheeky grin I say, "No need for that I know a shortcut, see you at the castle." As Nany turned in shock, I widened my grin and gave her a little wave as I was teleported to my tower. Throwing the daring do book onto my bed, I open my closet undoing one of the floorboards "Welp, better head to the dining hall before Celestia eats all the cake." quickly take out a metal box, opening it I place the lay line compass next to the books my little treasures from my favorite secrete library, putting the box and floorboard back then I look through my clothes to see what dress would be good for this summons...black diamond with a red and yellow sash should do. After getting ready, I slam my door as I rush to the dining hall. "I wonder what's so important for Nany of all people to come and get me: an apprenticeship with High Magus Scholar-spark, a new cake recipe she wants to share the experience with," stopping for a moment. "I hope she hasn't found out about me and flash?" Reaching the dining hall, I see two figures at the other end of the table in the middle of a conversation surrounded by teas and cakes, Celestia and... humph Princess Cadance, what is she doing here, shouldn't she be freezing her wings off in the north or something? heading to their end, they stopped their conversation when they noticed me before I could hear anything. It looked like they were here for a while judging by the number of plates, they had stacked next to them. Turning to me Celestia smiled warmly, "Ah, sunset good to see you, please sit we have much to discuss, you remember Cadence, yes?" After sitting down, I gave a slight bow to Celestia "I'm sorry if I made you wait long, I came as fast as I could when I got the summons." looking at Cadence, I give her my most convincingly fake smile. "Hey there Cadance, long time no see." "Charmed, I'm sure," Cadence said in a muted tone. Looking over the spread on the table, there were quite a few treats, cakes, cookies, and pies, Celestia surrounded herself with plates angels' food cake and Cadance gathered a collection of different fruit pies. Sitting down I take a small slice of angel food. "So, what's the occasion," I ask a little apprehensive "it's not every day the three of us are together, and I thought you were on a retrieval mission up north?" Raising a finger as she took a large sip to wash down some raspberry jelly Cadence said, "My mission to find the Crystal kingdom was a success, the trick now is re-instating that section of the north as part of Equestria's national borders." "Umm," I interject "wasn't it always Equestrian land, to begin with?" "Yes," Celestia cut in "but since the kingdom's disappearance it's been a no man's land for several centuries, those of griffinstone have been trying to gain access to the crystal mines and the Yakistanians have been trying to expand their territory. Needless to say, the sudden appearance of a whole nation has got everyone a bit scrambled for alliances and connections." "The joys of politics, right Celestia?" Cadance said jokingly. Scrunching her nose Celestia In a darker tone said, "The disappearance of an entire nation is and was a lot worse, believe me when I say you dodged the worst of it by disappearing with it." "Yeah, lucky me," Cadance said sarcastically "I'm surprised you didn't know Sunset, with all the books you bury your face in. With a smirk, she added, "Makes me a little curious as to what it is your actually reading." Glaring right at Cadance I wave my hand over one of her forks and say Manus as a spectral hand appears snatching up one of Cadance's forks, swiping one of the strawberries off her plate and into my mouth. Between chewing and grinning I said, "I ashore you Cadance all that time I've been reading I've only read about what's important to Equestria, nothing more." It was subtle but I saw her hand clench at that, good. "Though a majority of what I read is about spell craft, I'm going to become the most powerful mage in all of Equestria so I can't distract myself with useless information much less the history of some dead society." Stirring her teacup Cadance matched my glare with her own. "I'm happy that you put so much effort into your craft, but perhaps someone should get you a book on manners and punctually considering how long it took you to get here I was starting to get worried when you took so long." "Oh, a few teleportations were easy enough, a healthy body means a healthy mind and healthy magic speaking of which care for another pile of pastries princess," I say with gritted teeth, Levitating a large plate of sweets. With a loud clink from Celestia's teacup my blood went cold remembering where I was, and judging by Cadance's expression she felt the same way, we both turned to see a less-than-pleased expression on her majesty's face. After taking a long sip of her tea she finally said, "Why do you two insist on bickering and refuse to get along?" "SHE STARTED IT!!!" We yelled in unison. With an irritated expression, Celestiagot said, "I was hoping we could enjoy our time before we had to get to the serious talk, but I suppose we should get right to it then." Celestia moved to a large corridor turning back to us Celestia calls "Come with me you two." Getting up Cadence and I followed Celestia onto the long hallway keeping my head down in shame with a pit in my stomach I dared not say a word, the silent walk was only a for a few minutes but felt like hours, I darted my eyes around to see where we were going, the pit began to widen as I realized we were in the west wing and as we not only passed the starswirl library but going under it, it was obvious. "The secret library!" I panicked in my head, "Did Celestia figure me out!? Where does Cadence fit into this!? What's going on!?" "Um, your majesty?" Cadence mumbled, breaking the silence "What's going on? I don't believe I've been to this part of the castle." Following Cadance's ignorance, I follow with "I've been on this wing before, but I don't believe I've been this far down." After a small pause and without turning around Celestia says "With the exception of guard patrols and cleaning services I make it a point not to have anyone down here without making too much of a fuss about it, lest someone get too curious, ah here we are." Turning a corner Celestia reached a long corridor full of large paintings. Swallowing nervously, I ask, "And where is here, exactly?" Raising both arms in a faux grandiose gesture Celestia answered "The hall of triumphs, this hall holds artistic recreations of the key points of Equestrian history since its foundation." Following Celestia deeper in, I recognize a few paintings referenced in history books, starswirl's defeat of the sirens, and Chancellor pudding head's first bake of the War of feather and Bones; Celestia didn't seem to like it here. Reaching the end of the hallway Celestia was looking up at what looked like Equestria's founding, the founding heroes gathered around the Equestrian flag as spring flowers and grass pops up around a snowy plain. "A change of seasons, a change of eras." I say. With a raised eyebrow Celestia smiled at me and said, "I see someone has been keeping up with their history. Tell me what is the deciding factor in the three bloodlines' victory over the unending winter brought by the wendigos?" "Umm?" Cadance said dumbfounded. Giving Cadence my best-wicked smile and cracking my hands I recited, "Before Equestria, there was the Platinum Kingdom home of the star touched, the Gale Citadel home of the skyriders, and the United Foundations home of the Earthkeepers. Each territory had its own governing body, culture, and traditions but all suffered at the hands of the wendigos and the winter they brought causing famines, wild storms, and unnatural magics, all to feed on the populist's negative emotions for hundreds of years until they formed a specialized task force of their most powerful leaders and enforcers, after defeating the threat they chose to combine their territories becoming the most powerful country in the world." After a short pause, Celestia responded "Well recited Sunset, I'm sure your history teachers are very proud of your ability to memorize their texts, but that doesn't answer my question; what was the deciding factor?" "Uh," I stammered taken aback "The magical prowess of the Platinum Kingdom?" Cutting in Cadance yells out raising her hand "Commander hurricane's battle tactics!" With a chuckle, Celestia responded, "No, both were important but not the deciding factor, and before you say it." Leaning down our eye level Celestia gave her best I know you were thinking it smirk. "Chancellor pudding heads baking skill wasn't it either. " I lower my head in defeat, well I'm out of ideas. I began to pace at this point, I hate not knowing things. "Was it something specific they did together? Cadance asked sparing a glance at me. Internationally I screamed, of course, Celestia would bring out one of her ridiculous moral puzzle games to teach us a lesson. Celestia's smile widened with genuine glee "Ah, now we're getting somewhere, "As she spoke Celestia walked around us in a circle, "Though I suppose, it was somewhat of a trick question." "You don't say. I mumble only for Cadance to elbow me whispering "Shut up Shimmer, she's doing the thing!" "Oh, I do say, my dear daughter." Celestia chuckled again, turning her attention to Cadance she added "and niece!" To which Cadance immediately straightened her arms. Turning her attention back to me Celestia continued "You touched upon it with the three bloodlines joining forces but what many academics often fail to recognize is that the three bloodlines hated each other, were it not for the wendigos acting as a mutual enemy they would have certainly been in all-out war, and even then they still bickered like children." Cadence and I both shifted uncomfortably at that. "The deciding factor, however, wasn't battle tactics or powerful magic; but was in fact... a conversation over lunch. "What?" was all I could blurt out. Celestia continued "Oh I'm serious, the leader's most trusted advisors Clover the clever, Private pansy, and Smart cookie had a conversation over lunch during one of their meetings, something about Pansy not bringing enough rations that day if I remember correctly, hearing this Smart cookie simply shared some of his food to which clover followed soot with a drink, of course, pansy feeling she owed the others something began telling them stories of her homeland and soon the others followed with their own stories and after several days of this a friendship began to form and because of that any animosity between the bloodline's leaders both during and after the fight against the wendigos, was quickly quelled in favor of uniting under one banner and the new counsel of six as the new leading body of Equestria at the time. "Until the second age came with your ascesion to Godhood, taking over as queen and the six seats becoming adviser roles." I finish for her with enthusiasm as I point toward her Corinthian painting. Waving her hand dismissively Celestia countered "Yes that, but you seem to be missing the point sunset." "N-no I get it! I stumble out, my goal is to become high magus and the most powerful mage in all of Equestria, while Cadence will act as an ambassador or something for the Crystal kingdom, or whatever. "And" Cadance interrupts" we need to get along for the sake of keeping the peace within Equestria to minimize any bickering within our own ranks," flicking her hair into place she gives me a smug look "I suppose I can tolerate you for the time being, considering." Matching Cadance's sour face with my own I ask, "Considering what exactly." "About that!" Celestia intersects with a knowing smirk "If all goes according to plan, you might be spending more time together than you'll ever realize." Before I could ask to finally be in the loop of all this vague nonsense Cadence immediately interjects, "No! No, you can't be serious, of all people it had to be her, how could she even be on the list, Blueblood was on the list?" "First of all, you're not giving bluey enough credit" Celestia answered calmly "but I digress, yes I've chosen sunset as well." "Can I be in the loop now?" I ask a little annoyed being compared to that pompous paladin. "Yes of course," Celestia said as she walked past me towards a painting depicting starswirl defeating a trio of sirens, as she stood in front of it my heart skipped a beat as I knew what was coming next, in front of the piece she said, "We must bring tomorrow, today." immediately a portal opens up and Celestia looked to us with Cadance appearing startled at the portal as Celestia calmly said "Shall we." And went in. Armes crossed and a small scowl on her brow as she looked at me and said, "Whatever's past this portal is it's too good for you." Holding back a snort I say "let's just get this over with." And we both enter the portal. Blood in our historyWalking past the portal I open my eyes to a familiar octagonal room looking around at paintings with burgundy carpeting, curtains, and an old chair. Cadance looked around the room franticly, "Where are we?" She asks. "Not a clue." I lie "Celestia where exactly is w..." Celestia appeared to be staring at one of the paintings, her face seemed forlorn. A few moments pass as Celestia did nothing as if she didn't even notice us, Cadance and I looked at each other the concern on her face matching my own, after a few more seconds of silance we walked closer to her. The painting in question was of Celestia in battle with what could only be described as Celestia's polar opposite, were as Celestia was adorned in warm gold and red armor gleaming with light and a sword a flame the woman above her was clad in silver and blue pressing a dark spear down on Celestia. "Nightmare moon," I whisper Hearing this, Celestia slowly turned in our direction her dead eyes looking past us tired and forlorn with what looked like the weight of her centuries of living revealing themselves for a moment as she said "I suppose that would be her name." Slumping down on a chair Celestia rests her head in her hands, "I'm sorry, I haven't been in this room for some time I..." stopping she looked back at the painting and then around the room, "I'm not exactly fond of this place." Siting to one knee next to Celestia, Cadance asked "What is all this?" Leaning back raising her hands in mock grandiose for the second time "The hall of failures, a reminder of the past tragedies that either heavily affected Equestria or was caused by the failings of it." Wakling around the room looking at each painting and its contents in mock examination. I point at each of the ones I recognize from my arcane history classes, "Crimson Light the first blood mage, The rise of Discord and the ever-free calamity, the death of Starswirl the bearded. "Ha," Cadance laughed "well read as always, but it looks like you missed one. With a sharp motion Cadance pointed atthe painting behind me with a glare that seemed to be directed at the painting rather then me for once, the plack at the bottom it read..."the fall of... the Crystal kingdom? "Sombra!" Cadence cut in with all the hate and loathing echoing beneath her voice. Walking towards the painting she was breathing heavily staring daggers into the figure in the painting showing a figure of ashen skin and dark hair with the only color coming from his glowing red eyes, clad in dark grey armor with a red cloak, sitting on a throne of gemstone carried by what looked like chained slaves. Getting up from her chair Celestia walked to the center of the room. "Now to business, what I'm about to say does not leave this room as these are secrets on a national level, do you understand?" "Yes your majesty," we said in unison "Good, There are many kinds of immortals: ancient, divine, earthly, human, and spectral, I am a divine immortal whose power and longevity come from a divine aspect, ancients are beings of immense age and power that they are beyond comprehension, earthly gain their power from a primal aspect, human simply has extended to eternal lifespans, and spectral is the dead returned to the physical plain. Any questions so far?" I had several but new it was better to let Celestia finish her initial speech. After a moment of silence, Celestia continued as I took it all in. For nearly a thousand years, since the defeat of Nightmare Moon, I have been alone... before then, I had my sister Luna Goddess of the moon, and Co monarch of Equestria until Nightmare Moon took her from me, and stole her away. After the war I took the mantel of both day and night in my sister's stead, acting as the sole leader of Equestria, after a few centuries the weight of my loneliness began to chip away at me, living several mortal lifetimes and countless friends and companions either dead or dying as the years go by and no one else to act as my anchor. Before she could finish, Celestia put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, saying it out loud is hitting me much harder than I thought." I could practically feel the trembling in Celestia's body as she stood up straight, taking slow heavy breaths. Gathering herself Celestia began "As the centuries passed the people of Equestia developed significantly higher education, longer life spans, and a stronger sense of community and a united culture, as such I decided to begin a new age for Equestria or at least I've had this plan about two centuries after I lost luna I felt it was time to delegate the responsibilities of my rule, by hand picking specificly talented and loyal individuals, granting them ascension to an imortal to rule along side me, Cadance being one of the chosen." From the corner of my eye, I could see Cadance's posture straighten, I on the other hand had several questions more questions rumaging through my head. "Wait, wait, wait." I interrupt "So, you have a list of people you've chosen to ascend, but what exactly is the criteria here, cadance and her kingdom apparently disappeared centuries ago and she is still a skyrider, what caused the disappearance all those years, why stop there ?" Raising her hand Celestia answered a little too slowly. "Admitidly after what happened with cadance and sombra my confidance in in my ability to choose worthy candidates lessened significantly after the Crystal empire fell." "What happened", I asked, turning to Cadance. "How did the empire fall?" "I don't see the point in telling you Cadance what with it being useless information on a dead empire Wincing at the memory Cadance simply replied "long story short, Sombra was the first to be ascended, he was a member of the royal guard turned gem knight if I remember correctly. Slowly nodding Celestia replied "He was well respected amongst the gaurd and I trusted him with the task of gaurding the cristal empire and its resources unfortunately he only had interest in the crystal mines and the hordes of arcane crystals hidden within." Well, seems the crystal empire just got interesting. "Unfortunately" Cadance continued "my ascension was cut shot with Sombra's betrail, but before he could do permanent damage to the rest of Equestria I was able to connect to my aspect the Crystal Heart to preform a banishment spell unfortunately there was a backlash and both I and the crystal Empire were taken into the void as well. With her story done, Cadance's shoulders went slack as all the tension released from her despite the feeling noticeably colder. Shaking her shoulders back into place Cadence began ajusting her hair. "So thats my story," Cadance states bluntly "one can only hope you now understand why the Crystal Kingdom is important to me, if not to Equestria at large." There was a hint of venom as she spoke the last part. "Now now you two." Celestia cut in "lets not start that again, if this is going to work and it will work, we all need to cooperate. " Stamering I reply "I can only hope to exceed you expectations your majesty, if I am to obtain the same godhood as you, I promise to be as devote and loyal as any acolyte to prove I'm worthy." I give as low of a bow as I could Signing deeply Celestia almost sounded disappointed "Rise sunset if you please." Standing straight I lock eyes with Celestia her eyes half lid with disappointment "I suppose this intervention was inevitable, I only wish I spoke to you about it sooner." Conjuring a small knife in hand, Celestia looked at me with the most serious face I've seen on her yet, "While your admiration is appreciated you need to understand that my godhood only goes so far even with all my divine power I'm still just as mortal as you and cadence are now." Hammering the point Celestia cut her palm and clasped our hands together as the liquid dripped from my fingers I felt the warmth from the blood as it bled down my wrist Celestia gave the slightest sense of pain and my heart raced as I realized what was in my hand. "What I need from you is not just loyalty, but the capacity to think for yourself as well." Using her clean hand Celestia taps on my forehead, with a cheeky tone says "You bare the confidence of a noble already but, if I'm to entrust you with all things arcane oh greatest mage in all Equestria for the next eternity I need you to show proper initiative. " Unclasping our hands, I stared at my newly red palm. I couldn't say anything, just stare. "You both know not to underestimate our enemies and we should not let rivalry cause you to underestimate our allies, we all have our strengths and weaknesses only by working together can we understand both. Cadence and I look at each other for the longest time until Cadence broke the silence saying with what sounded like genuine regret "I'm sorry." "Look, after being trapped in the void for thousands of years only for the first bit of real consciousness to be a feather-freezing blizzard and the only family I had left adopted someone else living their own life without me I was jealous and bitter! I'm not condoning my attitude towards you when you didn't deserve it, I just! Cadence began to cry "I'm sorry ok!" Taken aback by this I look towards the Sombra painting and then back to her "It was rude of me to call your kingdom unimportant, you and your people have suffered so much and I didn't even consider what Sombra's spell might do to you all, I can't take back what I said but, look this is difficult for both of us, so how about tomorrow or next week we do lunch, make a day out of it and even if we don't become friends can we at least learn to tolerate each other?" Wiping the tears off her face Cadence sniffles for a bit until finally saying "Agreed." Raising a hand for a shake. Thinking quickly, I go up to Cadence and hug her, and she hugs me back. we held like this for a few seconds until Celestia broke the silence with rapid clapping, giving us the biggest smile, I've ever seen on her. "Well, this is certainly a start, I'm so proud of you two." Joining our hug Celestia picks us both up a few feet off the ground, giving her best mom squeeze. Putting us back down she waves a few hand signs to lean us all up from the emotional experience. I think we've had enough for today don't you two think? best we get to bed. Finally reaching my room I quickly close the door shut clicking all three locks followed by casting three arcane locks just to be safe it was only then that I let out a mad laugh I didn't know I was holding. "Hehe he hahaha hehe hahaha ha ha haha, oh this is it! OK uh... first things first" I look at my hand celestial blood hasn't dried yet "Great!" Scrambling to my closet and throwing off the floorboard I grab the books, hemomancy by Crimson light there we go, putting the book on my alchemy desk I grab a small vile and open the cork putting it on a stand. "OK sunset Ok," I say to myself "Breath, this is a golden opportunity, you got to do this right." Looking through the first few pages three times over PG 13 Hemo levitatum: With this spell one may freely control any blood found outside a person's body so long as it is in liquid forms or has not dried up as any impurities will not move in tandem with the blood to remove any potability infections or blood clotting should the blood be returned to a body or experimentation. PG 15 Temprus Valoom: When cast on a closed vile or glass container, this spell will radiate perfect room temperature no matter what so long as the containment stays closed to keep blood in liquid form until the container is opened or breaks. I prepare myself with a few more breaths and cast the spell. Hemo levitatum, the blood then levitates off my hand and into the vile making it full, continuing my focus on the vile I say Temprus valoom the vile begins to glow a little, touching it revealed the vile to be warm to the touch. Taking a pen, I label the vile as gods blood. With the blood properly sealed all I could do was stare at it, lay down on my bed, and hold the vile against the light giving it a crimson glow, a few minutes pass until I place the vile on my forehead feeling the warmth between my eyes. "With this, I can be with her forever, and with this, my ascension will be all the easier, with the books from the Vault of Tragedy I can use nightmare moon's and Sombra's failures as a reference and achieve assentation even faster without their mistakes or shortcomings", a malicious grin comes across my face "and if I play my cards right, I might even be able to ascend before Cadence." Drip drip drip Feeling drops on my face as they trickle down my cheek, instinctively I licked the fresh liquid as it reached my lips I taste, water. Getting up in a flash, half-awake I nearly lose my balance as I try to gauge my surroundings through foggy eyes, wiping my face I hear and feel what's in front of me before I can see it, as a gust of air is blasted at me alongside a low grumble. Finally clearing my eye my heart nearly jumps out of my throat, I was still in the Everfree and I was currently staring down a giant river serpent as it stares back opening its mouth. "Blood, I smell blood," it spoke. "OK, time to run, Ignuis Murus" I shout as a wall of fire erupts between me and the beast and I run away, only to stop in my tracks when it unperturbed by the flame says in a low growl. "God's blood."
The EscapeThe water was cool on my skin, it was almost pleasant, were it not for that same water filling up my lungs, DROWNING ME!!!! I open my eyes, flailing my limbs in a panic thrashing wildly against the water, noticing the light I swim up twards it desperate for air, breaking the surface I grab a near by log and take in as much air as I could in between gasping and hacking up the water from my throat and lungs. Wiping my face clean of water, I look around to catch my bearings. I was in some river going down stream to who knows where and I didn't care to find out, paddling myself towards the riverbank I collapse on my back facing the sky the sun tried to burn my eyes as if in some form of spite against me. I don't know how long I layed there, a few minutes an hour? but it became clear as the adrenaline left my body that I realized how much pain I was actually in. "Oh gods, all this pain at least proves I'm still alive." After the headache passed I felt the burns throughout my entire right side, my right sleeve and pant leg were burned off and there was residual scar tissue on my arm, leg, and right side. Grabbing my right cheek revealed burns on my face too fortunately my right eye wasn't damaged too much but covering my left eye made everything have a red tint to it, further inspection revealed a sprained ankle and a cauterized wound in my right shoulder, needless to say I was thoroughly fucked. Outside of my injuries it appeared my satchiel despite being torn in places at least looked in one piece, rumaging inside were a few protein bars, two bottles of water, three drenched books, my compass, three sets of clothes, a ruined ink set, and an open bit pouch with only 30 coins left...great. With a gutteral huff I sat up grabbing a near by branch fashioning it into a make shift crutch, I limp my way to the edge of a forest, turning around I could see Cantorlot castle on the horizon, working out the geography in my head this had to be... "The Everfree forest! Oh great of all the places to be bloodied and stranded it had to be here!" I yelled The Everfree was the last place I want to be right now: carnivorous plants, dangerous animals, and monsters galore that can and would eat me, and on to of that there were stories of wild magic bursts that could dampen or warp my magic its the last place I'd ever want to be... "And the last place anyone would look for me." I realized OK I had two choices either go upstream in hopes of finding a town near by, maybe get some medical attention or go downstream into the Everfree. Looking back towards the castle I could see blips of skyriders in the distance too many for comfort, they were either the royal guard or the wonder bolts and I have no interest in either of them catching me. "Considering the stunt i pulled on the train, their likely looking for a burnt up corpse." I say rubbing my arm "Best I keep it that way, the Everfree it is." With a shutter, I look into the edge of the Everfree what felt like staring into the maw of a dragon, I closed my eyes and focused on the center of my brow feeling the arcane marks on my face and the spectral horn appearing on my forehead, focusing the magic into my one good hand a fire appeared in my palm. I sign in relief "Ok good that still works" as I limp my way into the forest. The first hour was decent enough I was able to find some edible plants and stayed away from anything dangerous like Poisonjoke or Ticklestranglers the real issues were the creatures, avoiding strange smells, and warning calls made it easy to stay away from any one creatures territory, there was a pack of timber wolf's I nearly woke up were it now for their loud snoring that was the easy part but after the first hour I'd already stress eaten all my bars and nearly drank all my water, to top it all off my injuries were getting worse my burns began to flare up and my ankle began to sting, and I was getting tired maybe I should take a... And then I collapsed. Waking up in a cold sweat I find myself in a warm bed with heavy coversI was relieved to find myself not drowning in the river, as the panic cleared I could see I was in some kind of hut with a culdron in the center and various nicknacks and bobbles along the ceiling, only for the panic to return as I had no idea where I was or how I got here. Immediately I jumped out of bed only to trip over my on bad ankle. On the Floor i screemed "Eclipse be dambed that...ooohhff... gods.......aawww!" "Be carful injured one~your healing is not done." Came an unfamiliar voice Facing twards the voice I saw a cloaked figure carrying what looked like a basket of herbs and plants in one hand and crooked staff in the other. Removing her cloak on a rack the mystery figure revealed herself to be what could only be described as the most handsome woman I've ever met, she was dark of skin with light tattoos along her face and body of what I could see, a striped tribes-woman from zebraca, where in tatrarus am I? Dragging myself away from the stranger I pull the bed covers over me as if it would provide so kind of protection from her, she look at me and smiled calmly and spoke "No need to be rude~I brought some food~perhaps then we'll find ourselves in a better mood?" "And now she speaking in rhyme, aha ahahaha HAHAHAHAHA." Laughing like a maniac I pass out again. Oh dear~it seems her minds not all hear.
Healing the bodyAs I lay in bed going in and out of consciousness, I find myself focusing on a sound...no a tune, is someone singing? No, it was humming! Mmm~mmmm~mm~mmn~m~m~m~ Mmm~mmmm~mm~mmn~m~m~m~ Mmn~mmn~mmmmn~mn~mn~ After about an hour of this I finally woke up properly, turning my head towards the song, a striped woman looked to be staring at the brew in her cauldron, her melody was simple but elegant, it took me a moment to realize I was Humming along. Without looking in my direction the shaman said, "Best not to toss and turn~ or its more scares you will earn~ from your second-degree burn.~" "Thanks." I deadpan as I sit up ignoring her advice. Feeling a twinge of pain I examine my right side was bandaged up head to toe dulling the initial pain. "So," I begin "Not to sound ungrateful but, where in Tartarus am I, and who are you exactly?" The striped woman raised an eyebrow at that, then smiled. "I suppose that is true~ I am Zecora a shaman of Everfree~ and this is my home as you can see ~ as well may I ask who are you?~" And the rhymes continue. I held out my good arm for a handshake "Shimmer, Sunset Shimmer." Sitting down, she took my hand with a firm shake. Laying back down and staring at the ceiling I ask, "So doc, what's the damage am I gonna make it." Chuckling Zecora replies "You will live~ following the advise that I give~ your burns will fully heal~ So long you remain still~ only then, the better you will feel~ it will leave quite the scar~ but that's all I can judge so far.~" From under the sheets, I opened and closed my bandaged hand, it functioned properly but the joints stung with every movement. "Point taken." I said annoyed "Still it's rather boring just laying here, got any book I could read? Mine got soaked" A book~ I could take a look~ though I'd doubt you'd understand~ they're in the tongue of my homeland~ "Language barriers have never really been an issue for me, any book will do," I stated bluntly as I hold out my hand. Raising the other eyebrow Zecora turned to her book collection. "I see~ I have books on Everfree~ plants from herb to tree~ which one will it be~" "Yes," I say levitating a stool next to my bedside. "Heh" Zecora chuckled. "Enthusiastic, are we?~ Then I will leave you be~" As Zecora picked a few books from her collection I noticed that there was one that after seeing it shook her head and put back, gonna have to sneak a look at that when I get the chance, black leather binding with a dark green stripe on the spine, remember that Sunset remember. With a loud thud, Zecora put about seven books of various sizes on the stool, picking up the first book it was clearly in Zebracan which I can't read but luckily, I have the cheat sheet, as my spectral horn appeared I focused my magic into my eyes giving them a soft yellow glow, with a quick look at Zecora I saw her eyes open slightly in surprise, I've always loved that look. "Multi-language translation spell." I answer her unspoken question "Like I said, language barriers have never really been an issue for me. Opening the book, the Zebracan on the page morphed and rearranged into Equestrian in my mind's eye, and I could read it now; looking over all of the books I was happy that there was quite a bit of variety in the book, albeit with an obvious theme: Arcane anatomy of star-touched, sky-riders, and earth-keepers. The many mishaps with monsters. Antidotes and anti-toxin. Egg care for various creatures. The bare necessities for dealing with bears. How not to trip in the quicksand (a reference guide) Daring do and the forgotten forest. With the expectation of the last one, I didn't recognize any of these books although I do recall a book on the arcane anatomy of Star-dancers in the Caterlot capital library nothing on the other two bloodlines, fucking Canterlot entitlement. "Thank you," I say as I turn back to the book. Smiling Zacora returned to her cauldron. Alright, I can get through this, with these books and a bit of bed rest I can get through this with no problem whatsoever. "Oh, gods I hate this!" I quietly complain It had been two weeks since I came into Zecora's care, the burns weirdly enough were the easy part, the salve Zecora made and later taught me to make soothed the pain and cleared off most of the burnt and dead tissue though Zecora says the scars will remain. Fortunately, scars are sexy, and failing that I can make them sexy; As for my ankle and shoulder, my ankle was put in a brace and I was fashioned a crutch to lean on if I wanted to move around the cottage, my shoulder was given similar salve to the burns but with the addition of some rather sour potions I had to drink, healing from inside and out according to Zecora. The worst of it was the nonstop resting and not doing anything as I've read and memorized all of Zacora's books save for one however, the leatherbound book with the green strip was the only book Zacora would not take from her shelf I didn't push further for fear of her possibly hiding it, the only time I could read it was during the time Zecora went out for errands or hunting for supplies. I still haven't finished it either as I could only get a few pages at a time for fear of her catching me in the act as the translation spell required my full attention and I didn't want to be caught again reading books others thought I couldn't handle. The book in question was probably the largest in the collection which made me happy, there was no title or author as far as I could tell, whoever wrote this was a genius going over several details about potion-making ingredients and their effects on each other during the initial brewing including recommendations for posable replacement ingredients and the altering effects thereof, the only thing stopping me from fully grasping these instructions were mainly due to my lack of knowledge in potions as most of my studies were in casting magic as opposed to crafting, guess I'll have to change that. After the third week, my ankle was finally healed enough for me to be able to walk albeit slowly. after what felt like the longest errand run Zecora ever took she came back with what looked to be a twisted branch of wrapping paper, I was going to question her about it until she held it to me, putting it into my hands she gestures me to open it. As my eyes open wide, Zecora says, "This staff is perfect if I must say~ to help you make your way ~ leather and bone with a gem heart~ to help you with your arcane art~" My mouth agape I stutter. "A magic focus, my own staff?" Zecora nods. "ww-wwh-whhh why?" I've seen your skill~ despite your refusal to stay still~ your need for knowledge is strong~ so I ask you to come along~ become my apprentice I humbly request~ so that after your rest~ you may fill your need~ to learn study and read~ even if your answer is no~ the staff is yours to take~ for a great mage you will make~ no matter where you go~ For what felt like a solid minute I stood there dumfounded by the offer I couldn't speak, examining the staff it was clearly made from a twisted black oak branch, not from the Everfree, the leather bound skull looked to be equine in nature I almost want to say kelpy in origin but I wasn't sure, no thanks to the two of the limbs wrapping around the skull, making it look as if it has elk horns but what really caught me off guard was the largest hunk of amber I've ever seen embedded in the center of the skull. After another minute I sputter, "I... I don't know what to say." "A friend from Cantorlot gave me chores~ the runes you'll carve to forge a bond~ making it more than the common wand~ and turn the staff truly yours~". For the second time today I stared blankly at Zecora doing everything in my power this time to not panic, as I look to the staff then back to her All I could say was. "I'll think about it just give me some time." "Welp" I think to myself panicking, "My decision is clear~ I'm getting the hell out of here.~" ...Oh Tartarus, now I'm speaking in rhymes. She visited someone from Cantorlot no no no if my name came up it would only be a matter of time before they find me. Gathering what supplies I could, I look into my bag the clothes I brought were...not for travel tight jeans, a thin leather jacket, and some elevator high heels, no extra underwear or socks? Gods this is embarrassing, "Really ran by the skin of your teeth ay sunset." Looking out the window Zacora hasn't come back; I rumage through the closet to see what's inside a few cloaks, boots, along with some simple pants and shirts not my style, but beggars can't be choosers, putting on the travel clothes I was unsurprised to feel that they're a little too baggy and the shoes too big for me but taking a few extra socks should help with that. Checking again in my bag I still have my compass; the bottled waters are spent but can easily be refilled in the well. My books though ruined were still readable so those stayed. looking up at the ceiling I take a few of the common potions I recognize from the potion book, these should be useful. I turn to the potion book on the shelf picking it up, I've already memorized all the other books but not this one, I think to myself. "I've never read anything like this before Zebracan potion-making far exceeds anything I've read in Canterlot, not even the books I took from Celestia's restricted section." I press the book to my forehead in frustration. Zecora has been nothing but helpful to me, clothes and potions are one thing but... "Wait a minute?" I realize. Looking over the binding there's no author engraving, maybe it's on the inside, flipping through the first few pages nothing then flipping through the back my jaw dropped. "The-these are blank...did Zecora write this?" taking a closer like at the pages these are definitely handwritten none of the other books are like this; looking over her desk I see notes to potion combinations and several hypotheses on the various effects of different potions have on different kinds of creatures and bloodlines. This isn't just Zecora's notebook this is HER personal work, she's studying the Everfrees' flora and fauna and as far as I know, no one in Canterlot has or will ever take their studies here, leaving all description up to superstition or old wives' tales, pathetic. I put the book back on the shelf. even if I took it now, it's incomplete and would serve me better to let Zecora finish this, I can always come back later when it's done. I leave ten bits on the bed with a written apology and head off to the forest. I wish I could stay longer but it's better I travel if I stay in one place for too long there's a higher chance Celestia's agents will find me and I can't have that not now I'll need more power to stand my ground if I ever have to face Celestia again. Not caring which way I go, I pull out my compass and two pebbles from the ground focusing my magic, creating a frequency between them and... there, I hide one pebble near a marked tree I've seen Zecora use from the window and one in the compass. "Alright location set, and now to get the hells out of this stupid forest." I whisper Still healing ankle be damned I started running.
bickering at brunchA compass is a wonderful tool when traveling, with it you always know where north is, and alongside a decent map even a novice couldn't get lost, and I was no novice, I also had no map and no working compass. "Aaahh, damn it all!" I curse as I franticly look around the forest nothing but trees as far as the eye can see with no landmarks in sight. "Eclipse be damned, where in Tartarus am I?!!!" As my yell echoes like a roar through the trees, my ankle begins to sting again. "Ok, maybe I should've paced myself there," I whisper to myself as I bend down to message my ankle. Continuing my walk in no clear direction to find a safe-looking resting spot I hear the stream of water, following the sound I came across a large river, seeing tha it was clear of any beasts I refill my water bottles, looking up past the trees I could tell it was getting late or at the very least dark on account me also not having a damn watch on me. "Might as well make camp." I grumble bitterly "How in Tartarus did my life get to this point?" laying on my back I look at the stars they were beautiful outside the city of Canterlot "I miss my bed, my boyfriend, my books, Celest..." Skipping past THAT thought I turn over on my side to sleep, closing my eyes and focusing on the sound of the river. "Think of better times Sunset, think of better times." As I lay resting on a bench listening to the Canterlot park fountain with my new daring do book over my face a voice cry out "Ms. SUNSET!!! Ms. SUNSET WHERE ARE YOU???" "Over here Nany!" I yell back not opening my eyes. "Oh, there you are Ms. Sunset!" Nany stammered "Her majesty Celestia sent me to get you, she sa..." "It's just Sunset." I interrupt. "Excuse me?" Peeking one of my eyes out to look at her I say, "Ms. isn't necessary Nany." Blinking twice Nany replied, "I'm afraid I don't understand Ms. Shimmer." Rolling my eyes, I sit up on the bench staring into hers, and say, "Nany we've been over this, I'm still only 15 summers old I'm hardly the age to be called Ms., lady Shimmer, or Honored Protégé will do." Nany simply stared at me for a few silent moments, finally responding with "As you wish young Ms." "Oh, for the love of..." As I drag my hands across my face, I get up from the bench, "So... what were you sent for again, Nany?" Eyes widening in realization Nany straightened her posture and recited what sounded like a rehearsed speech. "By royal decree, the adopted daughter Sunset Shimmer has received a summons, as such the young Ms. is to attend an audience with her Royal Majesty and Goddess Queen Celestia at the dining hall for a matter of great importance..." "And cake." I interrupt again. "Furthermore!" Nany continued pulling out a pocket watch and pretending to look at the time. "Due to the difficulty in finding you, her majesty has undoubtedly spent a considerable amount of time in the dining room alone, if we make haste now, we might be able to make it before the hour is up, now please come with me." With Nany's back turned to me I walk right behind her as I pull out my lay line compass and set the combination to the proper coordinates, with a cheeky grin I say, "No need for that I know a shortcut, see you at the castle." As Nany turned in shock, I widened my grin and gave her a little wave as I was teleported to my tower. Throwing the daring do book onto my bed, I open my closet undoing one of the floorboards "Welp, better head to the dining hall before Celestia eats all the cake." quickly take out a metal box, opening it I place the lay line compass next to the books my little treasures from my favorite secrete library, putting the box and floorboard back then I look through my clothes to see what dress would be good for this summons...black diamond with a red and yellow sash should do. After getting ready, I slam my door as I rush to the dining hall. "I wonder what's so important for Nany of all people to come and get me: an apprenticeship with High Magus Scholar-spark, a new cake recipe she wants to share the experience with," stopping for a moment. "I hope she hasn't found out about me and flash?" Reaching the dining hall, I see two figures at the other end of the table in the middle of a conversation surrounded by teas and cakes, Celestia and... humph Princess Cadance, what is she doing here, shouldn't she be freezing her wings off in the north or something? heading to their end, they stopped their conversation when they noticed me before I could hear anything. It looked like they were here for a while judging by the number of plates, they had stacked next to them. Turning to me Celestia smiled warmly, "Ah, sunset good to see you, please sit we have much to discuss, you remember Cadence, yes?" After sitting down, I gave a slight bow to Celestia "I'm sorry if I made you wait long, I came as fast as I could when I got the summons." looking at Cadence, I give her my most convincingly fake smile. "Hey there Cadance, long time no see." "Charmed, I'm sure," Cadence said in a muted tone. Looking over the spread on the table, there were quite a few treats, cakes, cookies, and pies, Celestia surrounded herself with plates angels' food cake and Cadance gathered a collection of different fruit pies. Sitting down I take a small slice of angel food. "So, what's the occasion," I ask a little apprehensive "it's not every day the three of us are together, and I thought you were on a retrieval mission up north?" Raising a finger as she took a large sip to wash down some raspberry jelly Cadence said, "My mission to find the Crystal kingdom was a success, the trick now is re-instating that section of the north as part of Equestria's national borders." "Umm," I interject "wasn't it always Equestrian land, to begin with?" "Yes," Celestia cut in "but since the kingdom's disappearance it's been a no man's land for several centuries, those of griffinstone have been trying to gain access to the crystal mines and the Yakistanians have been trying to expand their territory. Needless to say, the sudden appearance of a whole nation has got everyone a bit scrambled for alliances and connections." "The joys of politics, right Celestia?" Cadance said jokingly. Scrunching her nose Celestia In a darker tone said, "The disappearance of an entire nation is and was a lot worse, believe me when I say you dodged the worst of it by disappearing with it." "Yeah, lucky me," Cadance said sarcastically "I'm surprised you didn't know Sunset, with all the books you bury your face in. With a smirk, she added, "Makes me a little curious as to what it is your actually reading." Glaring right at Cadance I wave my hand over one of her forks and say Manus as a spectral hand appears snatching up one of Cadance's forks, swiping one of the strawberries off her plate and into my mouth. Between chewing and grinning I said, "I ashore you Cadance all that time I've been reading I've only read about what's important to Equestria, nothing more." It was subtle but I saw her hand clench at that, good. "Though a majority of what I read is about spell craft, I'm going to become the most powerful mage in all of Equestria so I can't distract myself with useless information much less the history of some dead society." Stirring her teacup Cadance matched my glare with her own. "I'm happy that you put so much effort into your craft, but perhaps someone should get you a book on manners and punctually considering how long it took you to get here I was starting to get worried when you took so long." "Oh, a few teleportations were easy enough, a healthy body means a healthy mind and healthy magic speaking of which care for another pile of pastries princess," I say with gritted teeth, Levitating a large plate of sweets. With a loud clink from Celestia's teacup my blood went cold remembering where I was, and judging by Cadance's expression she felt the same way, we both turned to see a less-than-pleased expression on her majesty's face. After taking a long sip of her tea she finally said, "Why do you two insist on bickering and refuse to get along?" "SHE STARTED IT!!!" We yelled in unison. With an irritated expression, Celestiagot said, "I was hoping we could enjoy our time before we had to get to the serious talk, but I suppose we should get right to it then." Celestia moved to a large corridor turning back to us Celestia calls "Come with me you two." Getting up Cadence and I followed Celestia onto the long hallway keeping my head down in shame with a pit in my stomach I dared not say a word, the silent walk was only a for a few minutes but felt like hours, I darted my eyes around to see where we were going, the pit began to widen as I realized we were in the west wing and as we not only passed the starswirl library but going under it, it was obvious. "The secret library!" I panicked in my head, "Did Celestia figure me out!? Where does Cadence fit into this!? What's going on!?" "Um, your majesty?" Cadence mumbled, breaking the silence "What's going on? I don't believe I've been to this part of the castle." Following Cadance's ignorance, I follow with "I've been on this wing before, but I don't believe I've been this far down." After a small pause and without turning around Celestia says "With the exception of guard patrols and cleaning services I make it a point not to have anyone down here without making too much of a fuss about it, lest someone get too curious, ah here we are." Turning a corner Celestia reached a long corridor full of large paintings. Swallowing nervously, I ask, "And where is here, exactly?" Raising both arms in a faux grandiose gesture Celestia answered "The hall of triumphs, this hall holds artistic recreations of the key points of Equestrian history since its foundation." Following Celestia deeper in, I recognize a few paintings referenced in history books, starswirl's defeat of the sirens, and Chancellor pudding head's first bake of the War of feather and Bones; Celestia didn't seem to like it here. Reaching the end of the hallway Celestia was looking up at what looked like Equestria's founding, the founding heroes gathered around the Equestrian flag as spring flowers and grass pops up around a snowy plain. "A change of seasons, a change of eras." I say. With a raised eyebrow Celestia smiled at me and said, "I see someone has been keeping up with their history. Tell me what is the deciding factor in the three bloodlines' victory over the unending winter brought by the wendigos?" "Umm?" Cadance said dumbfounded. Giving Cadence my best-wicked smile and cracking my hands I recited, "Before Equestria, there was the Platinum Kingdom home of the star touched, the Gale Citadel home of the skyriders, and the United Foundations home of the Earthkeepers. Each territory had its own governing body, culture, and traditions but all suffered at the hands of the wendigos and the winter they brought causing famines, wild storms, and unnatural magics, all to feed on the populist's negative emotions for hundreds of years until they formed a specialized task force of their most powerful leaders and enforcers, after defeating the threat they chose to combine their territories becoming the most powerful country in the world." After a short pause, Celestia responded "Well recited Sunset, I'm sure your history teachers are very proud of your ability to memorize their texts, but that doesn't answer my question; what was the deciding factor?" "Uh," I stammered taken aback "The magical prowess of the Platinum Kingdom?" Cutting in Cadance yells out raising her hand "Commander hurricane's battle tactics!" With a chuckle, Celestia responded, "No, both were important but not the deciding factor, and before you say it." Leaning down our eye level Celestia gave her best I know you were thinking it smirk. "Chancellor pudding heads baking skill wasn't it either. " I lower my head in defeat, well I'm out of ideas. I began to pace at this point, I hate not knowing things. "Was it something specific they did together? Cadance asked sparing a glance at me. Internationally I screamed, of course, Celestia would bring out one of her ridiculous moral puzzle games to teach us a lesson. Celestia's smile widened with genuine glee "Ah, now we're getting somewhere, "As she spoke Celestia walked around us in a circle, "Though I suppose, it was somewhat of a trick question." "You don't say. I mumble only for Cadance to elbow me whispering "Shut up Shimmer, she's doing the thing!" "Oh, I do say, my dear daughter." Celestia chuckled again, turning her attention to Cadance she added "and niece!" To which Cadance immediately straightened her arms. Turning her attention back to me Celestia continued "You touched upon it with the three bloodlines joining forces but what many academics often fail to recognize is that the three bloodlines hated each other, were it not for the wendigos acting as a mutual enemy they would have certainly been in all-out war, and even then they still bickered like children." Cadence and I both shifted uncomfortably at that. "The deciding factor, however, wasn't battle tactics or powerful magic; but was in fact... a conversation over lunch. "What?" was all I could blurt out. Celestia continued "Oh I'm serious, the leader's most trusted advisors Clover the clever, Private pansy, and Smart cookie had a conversation over lunch during one of their meetings, something about Pansy not bringing enough rations that day if I remember correctly, hearing this Smart cookie simply shared some of his food to which clover followed soot with a drink, of course, pansy feeling she owed the others something began telling them stories of her homeland and soon the others followed with their own stories and after several days of this a friendship began to form and because of that any animosity between the bloodline's leaders both during and after the fight against the wendigos, was quickly quelled in favor of uniting under one banner and the new counsel of six as the new leading body of Equestria at the time. "Until the second age came with your ascesion to Godhood, taking over as queen and the six seats becoming adviser roles." I finish for her with enthusiasm as I point toward her Corinthian painting. Waving her hand dismissively Celestia countered "Yes that, but you seem to be missing the point sunset." "N-no I get it! I stumble out, my goal is to become high magus and the most powerful mage in all of Equestria, while Cadence will act as an ambassador or something for the Crystal kingdom, or whatever. "And" Cadance interrupts" we need to get along for the sake of keeping the peace within Equestria to minimize any bickering within our own ranks," flicking her hair into place she gives me a smug look "I suppose I can tolerate you for the time being, considering." Matching Cadance's sour face with my own I ask, "Considering what exactly." "About that!" Celestia intersects with a knowing smirk "If all goes according to plan, you might be spending more time together than you'll ever realize." Before I could ask to finally be in the loop of all this vague nonsense Cadence immediately interjects, "No! No, you can't be serious, of all people it had to be her, how could she even be on the list, Blueblood was on the list?" "First of all, you're not giving bluey enough credit" Celestia answered calmly "but I digress, yes I've chosen sunset as well." "Can I be in the loop now?" I ask a little annoyed being compared to that pompous paladin. "Yes of course," Celestia said as she walked past me towards a painting depicting starswirl defeating a trio of sirens, as she stood in front of it my heart skipped a beat as I knew what was coming next, in front of the piece she said, "We must bring tomorrow, today." immediately a portal opens up and Celestia looked to us with Cadance appearing startled at the portal as Celestia calmly said "Shall we." And went in. Armes crossed and a small scowl on her brow as she looked at me and said, "Whatever's past this portal is it's too good for you." Holding back a snort I say "let's just get this over with." And we both enter the portal.
Blood in our historyWalking past the portal I open my eyes to a familiar octagonal room looking around at paintings with burgundy carpeting, curtains, and an old chair. Cadance looked around the room franticly, "Where are we?" She asks. "Not a clue." I lie "Celestia where exactly is w..." Celestia appeared to be staring at one of the paintings, her face seemed forlorn. A few moments pass as Celestia did nothing as if she didn't even notice us, Cadance and I looked at each other the concern on her face matching my own, after a few more seconds of silance we walked closer to her. The painting in question was of Celestia in battle with what could only be described as Celestia's polar opposite, were as Celestia was adorned in warm gold and red armor gleaming with light and a sword a flame the woman above her was clad in silver and blue pressing a dark spear down on Celestia. "Nightmare moon," I whisper Hearing this, Celestia slowly turned in our direction her dead eyes looking past us tired and forlorn with what looked like the weight of her centuries of living revealing themselves for a moment as she said "I suppose that would be her name." Slumping down on a chair Celestia rests her head in her hands, "I'm sorry, I haven't been in this room for some time I..." stopping she looked back at the painting and then around the room, "I'm not exactly fond of this place." Siting to one knee next to Celestia, Cadance asked "What is all this?" Leaning back raising her hands in mock grandiose for the second time "The hall of failures, a reminder of the past tragedies that either heavily affected Equestria or was caused by the failings of it." Wakling around the room looking at each painting and its contents in mock examination. I point at each of the ones I recognize from my arcane history classes, "Crimson Light the first blood mage, The rise of Discord and the ever-free calamity, the death of Starswirl the bearded. "Ha," Cadance laughed "well read as always, but it looks like you missed one. With a sharp motion Cadance pointed atthe painting behind me with a glare that seemed to be directed at the painting rather then me for once, the plack at the bottom it read..."the fall of... the Crystal kingdom? "Sombra!" Cadence cut in with all the hate and loathing echoing beneath her voice. Walking towards the painting she was breathing heavily staring daggers into the figure in the painting showing a figure of ashen skin and dark hair with the only color coming from his glowing red eyes, clad in dark grey armor with a red cloak, sitting on a throne of gemstone carried by what looked like chained slaves. Getting up from her chair Celestia walked to the center of the room. "Now to business, what I'm about to say does not leave this room as these are secrets on a national level, do you understand?" "Yes your majesty," we said in unison "Good, There are many kinds of immortals: ancient, divine, earthly, human, and spectral, I am a divine immortal whose power and longevity come from a divine aspect, ancients are beings of immense age and power that they are beyond comprehension, earthly gain their power from a primal aspect, human simply has extended to eternal lifespans, and spectral is the dead returned to the physical plain. Any questions so far?" I had several but new it was better to let Celestia finish her initial speech. After a moment of silence, Celestia continued as I took it all in. For nearly a thousand years, since the defeat of Nightmare Moon, I have been alone... before then, I had my sister Luna Goddess of the moon, and Co monarch of Equestria until Nightmare Moon took her from me, and stole her away. After the war I took the mantel of both day and night in my sister's stead, acting as the sole leader of Equestria, after a few centuries the weight of my loneliness began to chip away at me, living several mortal lifetimes and countless friends and companions either dead or dying as the years go by and no one else to act as my anchor. Before she could finish, Celestia put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, saying it out loud is hitting me much harder than I thought." I could practically feel the trembling in Celestia's body as she stood up straight, taking slow heavy breaths. Gathering herself Celestia began "As the centuries passed the people of Equestia developed significantly higher education, longer life spans, and a stronger sense of community and a united culture, as such I decided to begin a new age for Equestria or at least I've had this plan about two centuries after I lost luna I felt it was time to delegate the responsibilities of my rule, by hand picking specificly talented and loyal individuals, granting them ascension to an imortal to rule along side me, Cadance being one of the chosen." From the corner of my eye, I could see Cadance's posture straighten, I on the other hand had several questions more questions rumaging through my head. "Wait, wait, wait." I interrupt "So, you have a list of people you've chosen to ascend, but what exactly is the criteria here, cadance and her kingdom apparently disappeared centuries ago and she is still a skyrider, what caused the disappearance all those years, why stop there ?" Raising her hand Celestia answered a little too slowly. "Admitidly after what happened with cadance and sombra my confidance in in my ability to choose worthy candidates lessened significantly after the Crystal empire fell." "What happened", I asked, turning to Cadance. "How did the empire fall?" "I don't see the point in telling you Cadance what with it being useless information on a dead empire Wincing at the memory Cadance simply replied "long story short, Sombra was the first to be ascended, he was a member of the royal guard turned gem knight if I remember correctly. Slowly nodding Celestia replied "He was well respected amongst the gaurd and I trusted him with the task of gaurding the cristal empire and its resources unfortunately he only had interest in the crystal mines and the hordes of arcane crystals hidden within." Well, seems the crystal empire just got interesting. "Unfortunately" Cadance continued "my ascension was cut shot with Sombra's betrail, but before he could do permanent damage to the rest of Equestria I was able to connect to my aspect the Crystal Heart to preform a banishment spell unfortunately there was a backlash and both I and the crystal Empire were taken into the void as well. With her story done, Cadance's shoulders went slack as all the tension released from her despite the feeling noticeably colder. Shaking her shoulders back into place Cadence began ajusting her hair. "So thats my story," Cadance states bluntly "one can only hope you now understand why the Crystal Kingdom is important to me, if not to Equestria at large." There was a hint of venom as she spoke the last part. "Now now you two." Celestia cut in "lets not start that again, if this is going to work and it will work, we all need to cooperate. " Stamering I reply "I can only hope to exceed you expectations your majesty, if I am to obtain the same godhood as you, I promise to be as devote and loyal as any acolyte to prove I'm worthy." I give as low of a bow as I could Signing deeply Celestia almost sounded disappointed "Rise sunset if you please." Standing straight I lock eyes with Celestia her eyes half lid with disappointment "I suppose this intervention was inevitable, I only wish I spoke to you about it sooner." Conjuring a small knife in hand, Celestia looked at me with the most serious face I've seen on her yet, "While your admiration is appreciated you need to understand that my godhood only goes so far even with all my divine power I'm still just as mortal as you and cadence are now." Hammering the point Celestia cut her palm and clasped our hands together as the liquid dripped from my fingers I felt the warmth from the blood as it bled down my wrist Celestia gave the slightest sense of pain and my heart raced as I realized what was in my hand. "What I need from you is not just loyalty, but the capacity to think for yourself as well." Using her clean hand Celestia taps on my forehead, with a cheeky tone says "You bare the confidence of a noble already but, if I'm to entrust you with all things arcane oh greatest mage in all Equestria for the next eternity I need you to show proper initiative. " Unclasping our hands, I stared at my newly red palm. I couldn't say anything, just stare. "You both know not to underestimate our enemies and we should not let rivalry cause you to underestimate our allies, we all have our strengths and weaknesses only by working together can we understand both. Cadence and I look at each other for the longest time until Cadence broke the silence saying with what sounded like genuine regret "I'm sorry." "Look, after being trapped in the void for thousands of years only for the first bit of real consciousness to be a feather-freezing blizzard and the only family I had left adopted someone else living their own life without me I was jealous and bitter! I'm not condoning my attitude towards you when you didn't deserve it, I just! Cadence began to cry "I'm sorry ok!" Taken aback by this I look towards the Sombra painting and then back to her "It was rude of me to call your kingdom unimportant, you and your people have suffered so much and I didn't even consider what Sombra's spell might do to you all, I can't take back what I said but, look this is difficult for both of us, so how about tomorrow or next week we do lunch, make a day out of it and even if we don't become friends can we at least learn to tolerate each other?" Wiping the tears off her face Cadence sniffles for a bit until finally saying "Agreed." Raising a hand for a shake. Thinking quickly, I go up to Cadence and hug her, and she hugs me back. we held like this for a few seconds until Celestia broke the silence with rapid clapping, giving us the biggest smile, I've ever seen on her. "Well, this is certainly a start, I'm so proud of you two." Joining our hug Celestia picks us both up a few feet off the ground, giving her best mom squeeze. Putting us back down she waves a few hand signs to lean us all up from the emotional experience. I think we've had enough for today don't you two think? best we get to bed. Finally reaching my room I quickly close the door shut clicking all three locks followed by casting three arcane locks just to be safe it was only then that I let out a mad laugh I didn't know I was holding. "Hehe he hahaha hehe hahaha ha ha haha, oh this is it! OK uh... first things first" I look at my hand celestial blood hasn't dried yet "Great!" Scrambling to my closet and throwing off the floorboard I grab the books, hemomancy by Crimson light there we go, putting the book on my alchemy desk I grab a small vile and open the cork putting it on a stand. "OK sunset Ok," I say to myself "Breath, this is a golden opportunity, you got to do this right." Looking through the first few pages three times over PG 13 Hemo levitatum: With this spell one may freely control any blood found outside a person's body so long as it is in liquid forms or has not dried up as any impurities will not move in tandem with the blood to remove any potability infections or blood clotting should the blood be returned to a body or experimentation. PG 15 Temprus Valoom: When cast on a closed vile or glass container, this spell will radiate perfect room temperature no matter what so long as the containment stays closed to keep blood in liquid form until the container is opened or breaks. I prepare myself with a few more breaths and cast the spell. Hemo levitatum, the blood then levitates off my hand and into the vile making it full, continuing my focus on the vile I say Temprus valoom the vile begins to glow a little, touching it revealed the vile to be warm to the touch. Taking a pen, I label the vile as gods blood. With the blood properly sealed all I could do was stare at it, lay down on my bed, and hold the vile against the light giving it a crimson glow, a few minutes pass until I place the vile on my forehead feeling the warmth between my eyes. "With this, I can be with her forever, and with this, my ascension will be all the easier, with the books from the Vault of Tragedy I can use nightmare moon's and Sombra's failures as a reference and achieve assentation even faster without their mistakes or shortcomings", a malicious grin comes across my face "and if I play my cards right, I might even be able to ascend before Cadence." Drip drip drip Feeling drops on my face as they trickle down my cheek, instinctively I licked the fresh liquid as it reached my lips I taste, water. Getting up in a flash, half-awake I nearly lose my balance as I try to gauge my surroundings through foggy eyes, wiping my face I hear and feel what's in front of me before I can see it, as a gust of air is blasted at me alongside a low grumble. Finally clearing my eye my heart nearly jumps out of my throat, I was still in the Everfree and I was currently staring down a giant river serpent as it stares back opening its mouth. "Blood, I smell blood," it spoke. "OK, time to run, Ignuis Murus" I shout as a wall of fire erupts between me and the beast and I run away, only to stop in my tracks when it unperturbed by the flame says in a low growl. "God's blood."
