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                          Journey                          
                       -by Crabulon-                       
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      Chapter 1 - The first step towards the unknown.      
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Chapter 1 - The first step towards the unknown.
"How could you.. you.. UNGRATEFUL BRAT!" Said Rarity "After everything we've been trough, you decide to backstab us in the back?"
"Rarity please, you must believe me! I didn't do it!" Sunset said with tears filled eyes. "i really didn't do it. Think about it, after you extended a hand in friendship to me, do you really think i have the desire to cause you harm?"
"The old you would" Fluttershy muttered under her hair, eyes red from crying.
"Ah think it's best if you leave Sunset. You ain't welcomed with us no more." Applejack said with a low voice intended for intimidation.
Sunset looked at all her friends one by one, trying to say something, anything to make them understand that she has changed. That she was not the same person she was before the Fall Formal.
"I really want to believe you, i really do, but i.. i just can't." Pinkie said with a sob while holding Fluttershy. "I think it's best if you leave. I can't be friends with a backstabbing fake friend like you." Said pinkie as she turned back and started to leave with Fluttershy.
One by one, the girls that Sunset would give everything to, turned and left. Leaving her to cry and think of her past self.
She was a bitch, that's for sure. But she thought that after her reformation, after all the adventures they had gone through, they would at least be able to give her the benefit of the doubt. That they would have her back.
Sunset lifted her head as she looked around her. She was standing near the portal that she once traveled in hopes of finding power. Enough power to overthrow Celestia, enough power to go back home, alas, the only thing she found here were dreams that would never become true and a lot of pain.
With a sign and a sob Sunset started to go back to the place she called home. Her home was in the industrial part of Canterlot. A run down old factory that was abandoned but never demolished or bought by someone else. She named her house ""Alca's Mountain"". Named after one of the tallest mountain in Equestria. A fitting name for the house, as the building itself was tall, rundown, a lot of broken windows, and cracks all over the exterior and interior of the walls, yet it was still standing. Showing that the ones that built it were competent about their ability to craft sturdy buildings.
Sunset arrived at her house, and with a sigh, she opened the door. The interior of the building was like any factory, discarded machines that were once used to make everything from blankets to mattresses. Sunset still couldn't believe how lucky she was that she found this type of factory abandoned. The blankets, mattresses and pillows that were lelt behind were a godsend to Sunset when she had her first winter in this world.
Far right was a staircase leading to the second floor where room was. "Home sweet home." Sunset said sarcastically as she started going up the stairs and taking a left.
Her room was the third one to the left. An office once. Small, but cozy, and very well insulated. Cold in the summer and hot in the winter. Sunset unlocked the door and stepped in. The room was small, but it was enough. Almost everything she had in terms of furniture was either scavenged from people who didn't need them anymore or she built them herself, like the frame of the bed. She was particularly proud of that one. The walls were a neon green with posters all over, and a big window as big as Sunset herself situated near her bed.
Sunset trew her bag on the side of the bed and with a thud she collapsed into the bed. Wondering what she could do for her friends to believe her. She didn't know who made that account, she didn't know why they would want to harm her friendship with the girls, after all, she already apologized to everyone after Twilight made her realize how wrong and dark the path she was walking had became. In her mind, at the time, those cruel acts of manipulation were necessary. Oh, how she lied to herself.
"What am i to do now?" Sunset said with a murmur. "Is everything i worked for this past few months for nothing?"
"Was the friendship i had with the girls THAT fragile as to break the second someone started to impersonate me?"
Sunset was silent. Only looking at the ceiling. "What am i doing? I was supposed to come to this world to gain power, and now, look at me."
"A pathetic girl who can't even keep her friendships." Sunset said with a sad chuckle.
What felt like hours went by, and Sunset didn't move a muscle. Finally she decided to do something that she knew she would regret. She didn't want to do it. But she couldn't stay here any longer. What happened today only confirmed what she didn't want to happen. It only confirmed what her nightmares described. Her friendship with the girls was nothing more then a charade. She was a charity case. But, she really wanted to go home and see her parents. And so, she got out her journal from her backpack, she started to think how to ask Princess Twilight for a favor.
Finally after a few minutes, she decided what to write.
"Dear Princess Twilight.   
I know this is a sudden thing to ask, but i need you to open up the portal for me"
Sunset, stared at the journal with the intensity of a thousand Red Dwarfs exploding at the same time. Hoping for a reply.
After what felt like hours, a reply came.
"Sunset? What happened?" Asked Twilight with what seemed like worry."Is everything ok? Is there another problem that requires my attention? Is magic on the loose again? Did the Dazzlings come back?"
Sunset chuckled. "Oh Twilight, Never change" she said.
"No Twilight, Nothing happened. I mean something did happen but it's not that important. What is important is that i have decided to come back to Equestria. For a while at least. I miss home Twilight. And i would like to see it again."
"I see. But before i give you my answer, i need you to tell me what happened for you to make such a decision."
"Well..." Sunset started to write everything that happened. How someone created an account on My-stable impersonating her and spreading rumors and secrets about everyone. How her friends didn't even gave her a chance, and how they said Sunset should leave, and cutting off their frendship.
After a few minutes of excruciating waiting, Twilight finally answered.
"I see." It was all that Twilight wrote, but before Sunset could ask if this is the only thing she had to say, more text appeared. "Sunset, i believe you. After the battle of the bands, i believe i have seen the real you. And so, i choose to believe what you said, and that you are innocent. I am very disappointed in the girls for not giving you even a chance. Tell you what, I won't be in Ponyville for another three days. Princess Celestia wants me to oversee the Hearts warming party at the royal palace, But after that, i will open the portal for you, and we can talk more then."
"Thanks Twilight. But, could you not tell Celestia that i want to come to Equestria? I still can't see her yet. Not after what i have said and done."
"Sunset, she forgave you a long time ago." Twilight said with a smile that could rival a mother's love for her children. "It's time to forgive yourself."
Sunset bit her lip hard enough to almost draw blood."I know, but not yet."
"sigh" Twilight signed heavily."Ok Sunset. But think about it. Don't forget, in three days i will open the portal. I will keep it open for half a day. See you soon Sunset. And take care of yourself.  Twilight closed the book and levitated it to her desk. "I really hope this is just one big misunderstanding on the girls part." Twilight said with a little sadness in her voice. "Ok, time for work."
"SPIKE, CAN YOU GET ME ANOTHER COFFE?" Shouted Twilight.
Author's Note
Ok. So.
First thing first, i know this is rushed. Like i said, This is my first time ever writing something. I've decided to skip the Anon-a-miss story as i believe everyone and their dog already knows how it goes.
If someone ever decides to read this. I am sorry you had to read this abomination of a story i have decided to tell.
I don't know when i will lost the next chapters, i only started this as a hobby. At the time of writing this, it is 4am in the morning. I want to continue this fic, and i will probably write a few chapter and see where i go from there. Not promising you anything. I might drop it today, i might continue to write for years. Who knows. If you enjoyed it, forst of all, thanks, second of all, i am sorry for all the bad writing in advance

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                   Chapter 2 - Goodbyes                    
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Chapter 2 - Goodbyes
Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes, opened them up, and closed them again. The third day after she talked with Princess Twilight has come. For the past two days she tried to reach out to her former friends, with no avail. This was the last day before her departure from this world, so she decided to try everything in her power to get a hold of at least one of her former friends to say her goodbyes.
With a sigh she decided that she had enough moping around, and got off the bed.
"Alright, today is my last day, i need to get a hold of at least one of them. But how?" Sunset said while grabbing a towel. Her inner mind told her to take a shower, and after a sniff, she couldn't agree more.
Going into the bathroom of the Building, she got undressed and started the process of preparing for a shower. While Alca's Mountain had most of what she needed, the one thing she didn't had was hot water.
In the begging, when she first decided that this was to be her home, she hated taking showers. Having no access to hot water was a problem, and she rarely took one, however, she hated being dirty and oily even more. One of the first thing that she discovered was that the human sweat a lot. Sunset was glad that at least her sweat didn't smell, but she still felt dirty. After years of staying in this world, and after countless curses, at some point she got used to the cold water. And she was thankful for that.
The bathroom itself was a big, designed for many workers to use it after their shift ended. There were many showers and many toilets, if she ever had guests, at least they wouldn't have to fight over who to go first. There was also a sauna, but because there was no hot water it was used more as a strorage room. Sunset always thought it was a shame, and she vowed that someday she would build a furnace so she can get the room working again.
After a nice cold shower to wake her up, she finally decided that staying naked was not an option, and she quickly got to picking what clothes to wear. In the end she decided on black jeans, a fur long sleeved t-shirt, a brown lether jacket designed more for fall then winter, and a pair of black boots.
After she was satisfied with her outfit Sunset turned her attention to her backpack. She needed to take some thing before her journey began. But before she could start packing, the journal buzzed.
"Hello Sunset. I am opening the portal now. I will be in Ponyville with some business, but i asked spike to stay here and welcome you when you decide to come. I can't wait to show you around. I have everything planned. First we're going to the market, then we're..."
"Twilight, thanks again for this." Sunset quickly interrupted Twilight before she started her ramblings. She liked Twilight, but her rants could go on for hours when she was exited.
"I still have some business to take care of then i will be heading for the portal. See you soon."
Sunset closed the journal and sighed. She was doing a lot of that lately, that and talking to herself. Puting that in the back of her head she looked at the backpack once again. "time to get started."
She didn't pack much, a sleeping bag, some tools that she would need, and some canned food. Satisfied with her progress she slung her backpack over her back and picked her helmet. After going down the stairs she turned a right and another left to a room where her bike was. It was a present from Flash, before they broke up. It wasn't the prettiest, but Sunset liked it nonetheless.
"Who to go first?" Sunset began to wonder as she took her bike outside and locking the doors. After some thinking she decided.
"Sweetie Belle, darling. Can you bring me the teal fabric i have in the bottom drawer?" Asked Rarity with tiredness in her voice. Last night she stayed up late because she suddenly had an idea for a glamorous dress. And she needed to something to take her mind off the recent debacle that happened recently anyway.
Sunset Shimmer had posted those pictures, she was sure of it. No matter how much she tried to lie, Rarity knew that Sunset was just putting up an act. Just as she did 3 years ago, when she pretend to be Rarity's friend, started a rummor that she was no longer a virgin, told Rarity it wasn't she that spread the rumor (with success as Rarity believed her) and then spreading more rummors behind her back. "No more." She thought to herself. If Sunset was going back to her old ways, then so be it. She would not fall for her schemes again.
"Here you go Rarity, is this the one?" Sweetie Belle asked unsure if she got the right one or not. "You have like three or four light blue colored pieces of fabric in that drawer, so i hope i got the right one".
"Ah yes darling, this is the one. Thanks again for helping me with this dress. I have the ideea in my head, and i'm too preoccupied trying not to lose it." Said Rarity as she took the piece of fabric and placing it in the middle of the dress. "Ah yes, this should do nicely."
"No problem Rarity, I enjoy spending time with you. We didn't get to do that lately. You were always with your friends, and i missed my big sister."
"Oh you sweet thing, i am truly sorry about that. It seems like i have failed as a big sister. But i promise you that from now on, you'll have me more often. We can go shopping later if you want. I do seem to have ran out of some materials i need." Rarity said while looking at a notebook containing the materials she had and those that are missing. "After that we can get some ice cream. Oh, it will be a wonderful day!"
Before Sweetie could respond there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Said Sweetie as she rushed to the door. Scoothaloo was supposed to come today, but Sweetie though that she would come later. Oh well, i guess she got bored at home and came faster." Opening the door, Sweetie came face to face with someone she did not expect.
Sunset looked at Sweetie Belle with worry. "Hey, Sweetie, is Rarity home? I need to talk to her."
"No!" Was all that Sweetie had said before closing the door. She turned around and began walking before more knocks were heard. "Ugh." She turned again and opened the door. "What do YOU want?"
"Please Sweetie, i know Rarity hates me now, but i need really need to talk to her."
Sweetie scoffed. "And say the same lies again? No, Rarity is finally in a good mood after you back stabed her! And I'm not letting her anywhere near you!"
Before they could continue, Rarity came in the room. "Sweetie belle, who is at the door? You've been gone for..."
"Hey Rarity!" Sunset said with an awkward grin. "i have something to talk to you about."
Rarity quickly told Sweetie Belle to go back to her room while she told Sunset off. "Oh, so it's not enough to call me and the other girls twenty times a day, now you decided to come to my house as well?" Rarity said while putting a hand on her face. "What do you want Sunset? You know you are the last person i want to see right now."
"Look Rarity, I know you don't believe me. I've tried to get to the bottom of this, i really tried. But i can't anymore." Sunset said in a sad tone. "So now i have come to ask for a favor." She took some keys from her pocket and handed them to Rarity. "i am leaving soon, and i want you to keep the keys to my house untill i return, or if i return." The last words we said in such a quiet tone that it would make Fluttershy seem loud. "I am going back to Equestria."
The last sentence caught Rarity by surprise. While she did not want to see Sunset right know, and she prayed she would leave somewhere far away from her, but she did not expect to hear those words. "You, are going back?"
"Yes. Now that i don't want to rule the school again or want to overthrow Princess Celestia anymore, and with this whole incident that occurred, i have decided it is time to do what I've been puting off for years. Going back to see my parents. I know we are not friends anymore, but i wanted to at least say my goodbyes before i leave. You are actually the only one who i got to see, the rest didn't even opened the door."
To say that Rarity was surprised was an understatement. She hated Sunset, for sharing the secrets of her friends, for posting embarrassing pictures resulting in Rarity becoming the laughing stock of the school, for lying to her with a straight face. She hated Sunset, but in that moment, she had a single thought. "What if Sunset was innocent. Sure, she was a backstabbing bitch in the past, but i have seen her change after Twilight and us defeated her." Puting the thought in the back of her mind for now, looked at Sunset and took the keys. "Alright, I'll keep them safe."
Without another word, Sunset turned and began walking to her bike, but not Without looking one last time at her friend. "Goodbye Rarity."
With her former friend gone, Rarity closed the door and with a sigh, she took out her phone, ready to message the girls. But before she started typing she had a thought. "If i am the only one who knows Sunset is going back to Equestria, wouldn't that be concrete proof that if the account continues to post, Sunset would be innocent?" With another sigh, Rarity put her phone back into her pocket. Right now she didn't have the energy required to continue working on her dress.
Sunset was standing in front of the statue she looked at the mirror with intensity. Did she really wanted to go trough with this? "No, the time for hesitation has long passed, i need to do this." She left her bike back home, she gave the keys to Rarity, and she said her goodbyes. "It's now or never i guess." And with a step, she went inside of the portal.
Author's Note
Hello again wonderful Friends, It's ya boy.  
This chater was hard to write because i had to switch between the perspective of multiple characters. I think I've done a pretty good job if i do say so myself.
I didn't want to write how Sunset goes to every one of her friends and no one opens the door, so i skipped straight to Rarity, to save time. And honestly, it would have been quite boring to read how Sunset tried and failed to get a hold of the other four, but failing.
If you have any criticism about this fic, don't hold back. I do Enjoy a little bit of Constructive Criticism, so i say it again, don't hold back.

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                    Chapter 3 - Reunion                    
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Chapter 3 - Reunion
"WWAAAA" Sunset screamed as her body was trown in all directions like a ragdoll, while simultaneously seing all the colors of a rainbow all around her. She had forgotten how her first time using the portal had been. Thankfully it didn't take long, and a second later she was launched on the other side of the portal. There was a loud thud as she crashed on the floor, and rolled around, making her head spin.
"Ugh, i forgot how bad traveling between worlds is"
"Tell me about it" a mysterious voice said. "The first time me and Twilight have gone trough the portal we were nauseous for half an hour"
Sunset's head began to clear and with a quick look around, she found the source of the voice. "Spike? Is that you?" She asked while simultaneously tried and failed to stand up. After a few seconds she finally managed to do so, standing on two legs and looking around.
"Yeah, Twilight said that you were supposed to come today and asked me to stay here." The young dragon said with a confused stare. "We didn't know when you were going to show up, so i had to stay here the whole day, luckily i have my comic books, so i didn't get bored." Spike said while looking at the now unicorn. "You might want to stand on all four legs."
"Hm?" Was all that Sunset said as she remembered that she was a unicorn now. Quickly realizing that, she got an on all four and felt much more stable. "Woah, it's been so long. I kind of forgot i used to be a unicorn to be honest." She said as she finally took a look around. She was in a large room, more designed to be a storage room, the walls, roof and floor were made of what seems like Crystal. Behind the mirror was a glass door, leading to where was a mystery.
"Hey Spike, where does that door lead? I can see light from it." Spike turned his head to where the door was, and with a quick smile on his face. "Why don't you go see for yourself."
At those words, Sunset quickly trotted over there and tried to open the door however, the door was quite sturdy, and did not budge. her First thought was to smash her body into the door, but Spike quickly reminded Sunset that she has a horn.
Looking a bit embarrassed, Sunset remembered again that she was in fact, a unicorn, and with a few seconds to calm down, she finally remembered what she had forgotten a long time ago. The flow of magic, the lessons she had learned when she was younger about levitation, and when she felt ready, she enveloped the handles of the door in her red magic, pulling it open.
What was in front of her made her stop all movements. Beyond the door was a small balcony, overseeing the little town down below. Sunset could see the houses, the greenery, and ponies walking around. She saw the birds flying though the sky. She could feel the wind on her face and coat.
As she breathe in the unpolluted air, tears started to appear in her eyes. "I.. I never thought I'd get to see this again."
"Beautiful isn't it?" Said a new voice that Sunset could recognize everywhere. On her left stood Twilight, looking ahead with a smile on her. "Every day this view seems to get more and more beautiful."
Turning her head to look at the orange pony, with a smile she said. "Hello Sunset, It's good to see you again."
After a few seconds for her mind to reboot, Sunset finally decided to respond. "I knew you were an alicorn, but to see it in person, it's still hard to believe. I have to say, the wings look good on you."
"Thanks Sunset." Twilight said with a light blush. "I also wanted to see how you looked originally. And I must say, You are Stunning"
"Heh, thanks." The unicorn said while blushing very hard. While she was busy looking at Twilight, Spike cleared his throat.
"Twilight, why don't you show Sunset around the castle and town? I'm sure she would be delighted to see them."
"YES! Oh, i can't wait to show you around! Come Sunset, let me show you the place i call home." Twilight quickly walked away only stopping to look back to see if Sunset was following her. Sunset for her part, began to walk slowly, as to take in all the sights the castle was offering. She had heard from Twilight that her castle was a new addition for the town, and that the castle itself was created by the elements of harmony.
While Twilight talked about the castle Sunset eyes were everywhere. She was looking in all directions, trying to see and at the same time analyze how such a castle was built by the harmony tree. The interior of the castle was not that entertaining if Sunset was being honest with herself. Most of what Twilight had shown her so far were hallways, empty room still waiting for decorations, and a lot of purple. After some more walking Sunset finally got to see something new. A throne room, but unlike any others, different from the throne room at the castle Celestia resided in. Instead of one throne there were six, spread around a round platform with a map of Equestria. The room Itself was big, adorned with tapestries of the achievements Twilight and her friends had achived. Large colorful windows, and banners with Twilight's cutie mark were near the ceiling. It was a sight to behold. At her left side she saw two big golden doors that were probably the entrance to the castle if Sunset guessed correctly.
Sunset could feel that this room, was the hearth of the castle. She could feel ancient magic here, more likely the magic of the tree of harmony. "Woah. This is amazing."
"Right? This is the center and the most important room of the castle. The hall of friendship. This is where me and my friends usually come and discuss friendship problems or important matters." She pointed out at the map with her hoof. "That right there is the Cutie Map, when there is a serious friendship problem, the map will let us know, and we are tasked to solve it. It also shows a map of Equestria in real time. So if something were to happen to a region, the map would show it." She finished as she walked near the six thrones surrounding the map. Sunset for her part began to examine the thrones. They were made of the same crystals as everything in this castle, but were colored white, with the cutie mark of the respective ponies on the back. Sunset wondered how are these thrones comfortable if they are made of crystal, but she decided to put the thought in the back of her head for now.
Giving Twilight her attention she asked. "So, are we going to get outside? I miss everything here, the clean air, the green grass, the hay burgers especially."
"There is a time for everything, but you are right. Next destination, Ponyville!" Twilight shouted in excitement while opening the golden doors. "I can't wait to show you around. I'll have to show you the market, after that, the boutique, Sugarcube corner, The apple farm and the town itself. After that we'll come back to the castle."
"Lead the way, but i must say, i am not particularly fond of seing the girls again, even if they are different versions of them."
"Don't worry." Twilight assured Sunset as she began to walk. "One thing i noticed between the two versions, is that my friends are more mature. And they won't know who you are. I mean, they know, they just don't know you."
Contrary to Sunset's nervousness, Twilight was right. The pony versions of her friends were more mature, they were adults, with the exception of Pinkie Pie who seemed more like a child then the human one. They have heard from Twilight of what transpired when she went to the human world, and luckily for Sunset, they were very nonchalant about everything. On the bright side, she finally got to eat hay burgers. The taste was more delicious then she remembered, be it because of nostalgia, because it was years since she last ate one or simply because they were that delicious, Sunset couldn't tell, but she was still happy.
Later in the evening, Twilight and Sunset finally got back to the castle. As they entered the castle, Spike was there to greet them. "Hey Twi, hey Sunset, had fun?"
"Yes Spike, we did. But." Twilight let out a yawn. "I am a bit tired, and i do have some work for tomorrow, so i think I'm going straight to bed. Sorry i can't stay more with you Sunset, but being a princess isn't easy work."
"Don't worry Twi, i get it. Honestly i am just as tired. I guess the excitement of being here got to be a little bit too much. Anyway, good night Twilight." With a nod, Twilight went to her room.
"Well, let me show you were you be sleeping Sunset." The young dragon gestured for Sunset to follow as he began walking. Luckily, the walk was no more then 2 minutes, as they soon got to the guest room.
Spike opened the door to reveal a nice spacious room, with a king sized bed in the middle. Decorated beautifully by all the tapestries and ornaments. "This is it, hope you like it."
With a big yawn, Sunset began walking inside the room, going straight for the bed. "Yeah Spike, that will do nicely."
Author's Note
Chapter three is finally done, now, about 100 more to go.
I will be honest, i wanted to write more in this chapter. I wanted to write the interactions Sunset had with the pony versions of her friends, but i just didn't know how. I tried like two times, but in the end i just ended up scraping the whole thing. I wasn't happy with it. And that is such a shame, if i had the skills to write good, this chapter would have easily been 5000 words minimum. Alas, because i am not a skilled writer, I'll have to settle on what i CAN write.
Trust me, it sucks for both me, you and me. But i still hope you enjoyed it. Bad as it is.

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                     Chapter 4 - Guilt                     
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Chapter 4 - Guilt
"Howdy Rarity, It seems ah'm the second one to arrive."
"Good morning darling. I couldn't quite sleep well last night, woke up at five in the morning, so i figured i should be the first to arrive." Rarity said with bags under her eyes. While she tried her best to hide them with makeup, she beraly slept a wink. She couldn't, not after her interaction with Sunset yesterday. For some reason it kept bothering her.
"What's bothering you?" Applejack said as she put her backpack down and leaning against the statue in front of the school.
"Oh, nothing much really, Sunset dropped by yesterday.
"What? It isn't enough that she called us so many times, now she is harassing us home? I can't believe that gal!" Applejack face began to turn a little red. It was one thing to call, it was another thing to come to their houses. "Ah swear when i get ma hands on her, ah'll will make sure to slap her six feet under!"
"Calm down darling, i appreciate you wanting to defend me, but i can take care of myself."
"What did she want?" AJ practically spat the words from hee mouth.
Rarity grabbed her backpack and reached inside, pulling out a very familiar book.
"Is that Sunset's Journal?" The farm girl said with wide open eyes and confusion in her voice.
"It is. Sunset gave it to me yesterday before she left." Rarity said while putting the journal back into her backpack. Staying silent for a few seconds, the fashionista pondered if she should share what Sunset said to her yesterday or not.   
After a few seconds of consideration, she decided against it. She didn't like keeping secrets from her friends, but she also didn't want to say anything that may make the girls give Sunset another chance, only for Sunset to reveal that this was a ploy to devide them again. "For what purpose did she leave this with me i don't know."
Before Applejack could ask more questions, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Pinkie came into view.
"Hey aj, hey Rares, what's up!?" Pinkie pie screamed jumping up and down.
"Calm down Pinkie, you're breaking my eardrums." Rainbow winced as she placed one hand over her right ear, checking if she started bleeding yet.
Fluttershy chuckled for a bit before offering a polite nod to Applejack and Rarity.
"Same old same old, just waiting for you snails" Aj said with a grin looking straight at Rainbow. "Say, did Sunset come by your houses yesterday?"
Rainbow, deciding to not let that insult bother her that much, crossed her arms. "She did. I ignored her. I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore. And to think we were foolish enough to actually believe she changed." She said with a scowl.
"She came by my house as well, but i was at the animal shelter. A neighbor told me she stood in front of my door for 10 minutes." Fluttershy said with a bit of sadness in her voice.
"Me too! She came by my house as well. I wanted to answer, but as soon as Lime and Maud heard her voice, they wanted to to show Sunset how hard are the rocks they collect. So, i had to stop them from going to prison." Pinkie said in a serious tone.
Silence fell after Pinkie spoke, and once again, the girls were reminded why no one messes with Pinkie. Even Sunset before the fall formal had to be careful what she did and how far could she push when it came to the pink girl.
"Anyway." Rarity decided to change the mood of the conversation. "Sunset came to my house as well. Sweetie Belle opened the door, and when i went to check who it was, she was there."
"What did she want?" Rainbow asked in the same way Applejack did.
"Well, she gave me this." Rarity once again took the journal from her backpack and held it in her hands.
"Is this another one of Sunset's skeems? I can't believe the balls on that girl" The athlete said with a frown.
Pinkie poping out of nowhere behind Fluttershy back, causing her to scream in fright, (granted her scream was still of a lower volume),she started laughing. "You silly, Sunset doesn't have balls."
Before anyone could respond, the bell rang and Fluttershy reminded everyone that they should probably go to class. With everyone in agreement, they decided to talk more about this at launch.
"Girls, you won't believe who came over yesterday! It was Sunset!" Sweetie Belle said in a whisper.
"How has she not given up yet? We tarnished her reputation, we destroyed her friendships, how is she still finding the drive to continue?" Scootalo asked with pure annoyance and a bit of awe at Sunset's level of persistence.
"That's just the thing, when i saw her yesterday, she looked defeated. Rarity told me to go back to my room, so i couldn't hear what they were saying. Fortunately, i could still see them. Sunset gave my sister something, talked a little, turned back and left."
"He He, nice, just a little more and maybe she will leave the school." Scootalo said with an evil grin. "That's what she gets for stealing our sisters."
"But is it necessary for us to go any further? I mean we won right?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
"Of course it is necessary! Did you forget how little time you spent with Rarity after Sunset's reformation?" Scootalo got closer to Sweetie, placing her right hand to Sweetie's shoulder. "Your parents and mine are gone most of the time on their business trip, the only one you got is Rarity, and i got Rainbow, and both of them didn't get to spend any time with us over the last months. I say we give it one more push to ensure that Sunset leaves for good."
Sweetie belle stayed silent, she was contemplating if she should go trough with this or just pull out of this plan. While she did enjoy the time she spent with her sister, she didn't enjoy seing Rarity cry over and over. She told herself that this is what must happen, she told herself that Sunset had it coming for how bad she was in the past. Sure, Sunset never touched or messed with the CMC's, but she did mess with her sisters, however, another thought came into her mind at the same time. She thought of Sunset, when she came by yesterday. She looked done, and while Sweetie thought she would enjoy seing the former bitch queen on her knees, the exact opposite happened. She felt quilt. In the past months Sunset genuinely changed, she became a better person. Sweetie didn't feel like a good person after seing the sorry state Sunset was in, far from it, she felt exactly like Sunset was before the Fall formal, and she didn't like it one bit.
Before Sweetie said anything, the bell rang. Finally, Apple Bloom said something since this whole conversation started. "We'll talk more at launch." and without another word Apple Bloom left for her class.
The two girls stood there in confusion. They couldn't believe that Apple Bloom just left like that. Deciding to head to class before Principal Luna saw them, they decided to postpone the conversation for now.
The first three hours of school went by pretty fast, mainly because Apple Bloom didn't pay much attention in class, her mind was focused on something else. She was divided by guilt and jealousy. On one hand she knew that what she has done was wrong, very wrong. She destroyed Sunset's relationships, fractured her friendship with her sister and the others, and made her the most hated person in the school once again. Apple Bloom knew that she was not batter then the old Sunset. On the other hand, her jealousy for Sunset taking her sister away from her was immense, so much so that she brought a girl who just wanted to right her wrong to her knees. Applejack was Apple Bloom's big sister, and in a way, a mother figure. She was too young to remember when her parents died, but in those grave times, Aj and Big Mac took the roles of parents. They tried their best to teach Apple Bloom the values of honesty, the values of hard work and how to be a good person. They showered Apple Bloom with lots of love even when they were grieving, and how did she return the favor? By ripping apart friendships and relationships.
It wasn't just with Sunset and her friends, Over the course of the the life span of the account, the cmc's got messages in private from other people sharing and asking for those secrets of their friends to be posted. Apple Bloom was against it from the beginning, but Scootalo and Sweetie belle were on board, saying it is necessary for them to post the secrets to seem like Sunset was really the one who managed the account, to make it more believable. Only now she realized just how far on the wrong path she has gone. She wanted to tell her sister everything, but she was afraid of what might happen. Seing as she was at a stalemate, she decided to ask another person on what she should do. Of course, asking someone else for advice meant that she had to confess everything, but she knew the truth will come out eventually, it always did. With the decision made, the only thing left was to figure out who to ask.
She couldn't ask her sister, for obvious reasons, Granny smith was a no go as well. While Apple Bloom loved her Granny, she knew Granny Smith wouldn't be much of help. Granny would immediately tell Applejack, Big Mac and principal Celestia and vice-principal Luna. And so, the only option that remained, and the best one, was asking Big Mac for advice. While her big brother didn't say much, he was very wise. With her next goal set, the only thing she had to do is wait for this class to end. Luckily for her, because of her deep thoughts, the hour passed very quickly, and with no time to spare, she went looking for Big Mac.
She got out of the class, and started to look for her brother. The hallway was filled with people, but very little of them actually spoke with eachother, as many of them just glared at other people with hate . Apple Bloom knew that it was because of her that so many people felt betrayed, they cried, and had cut ties with people they once called family. She felt even more guilt, and as she walked, she finally realized that this is not what she wanted. Hurrying over the chemistry class, she found her brother there, chatting with Flash and Swift Wind. Taking in a breath and letting it out slowly, she decided to go for it.
As she approached the group, Big Mac noticed her, and nodded. Apple Bloom summoned every last bit of courage from her body and asked. "Big Mac, can i talk to you for a sec? In private?
Big Mac raised an eyebrow at her little sister's request. It was very rarely that she came to Big Mac for something, and every time she did so, it was because she messed up. But, Big Mac knew that this was his duty as a big brother. "Yeup" Is all he said, getting up from his chair and gesturing Apple Bloom to follow.
After walking outside of the school to a place devoided of people, Apple Bloom began explaining everything, The creation of the account with her friends, the plan to break the friendship between Sunset and her sister, how the account got out of control, her guilt, everything.
Big Mac stood there in silence, listening closely to what Apple Bloom was saying, and even after she finished, he didn’t say a word, just looking at his little sister with disappointment. After some time of carefully thinking how to approach this situation, he let out a sigh, looking straight into Her little sister's eyes. "Ma and Pa would be very disappointed in you. I am as well." he said with no emotion in his voice. Somehow, this was harder for Apple Bloom to hear then if he raised his voice or even hit her. Apple Bloom put his head down, not daring to look into his brother eyes for a second because of her shame. She knew that was will be hard, she knew that there will be consequences for her actions, but it still stung deep to hear his big brother say that. Big Mac, seing Apple Bloom beginning to cry, stood his ground. It was hard for him to be hard on his little sister, but he also knew he had to do it, and so, he continued. "Look lil'sis, what you did was downright idiotic and very stupid." He let out a sigh. "But, ah appreciate coming to me to talk about this. I know why you did it, ah can understand it, but there surely had to be a better way of doing thing. You could have talked with Applejack bout spending more time together, you didn't need to ruin friendships and turn everyone against eachother. We ain't Ma and Pa, but we did try to raise you to the best of our abilities. Seems we fail you."
"What!? No! If someone failed here is me!" Apple Bloom began to cry. Trying her best to sound as coherent as possible she continued. "Ah'm the one who made that account, ah'm the one who let jealousy get to me. It's my fault!
Big Mac inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Ah know Sunset did a lot of bad things, she probably did so many bad thing for her entire lifetime, but she was trying to correct her mistakes, she was trying to atone. Ah can't begin to express just how disappointed ah am in you for not only destroying Sunset relationship with our sister and the others, but also sharing the secrets of others, making this school a ground for distrust, hate and pain. Ah can understand why you did it, with me in my last year of high-school, my job and work around the farm, Applejack's work around the farm, her school projects, homework and on top of that hanging out with Sunset more then you. Ah can understand why you did it, but it won't exempt you from the consequences. After school ends, ah'll take you straight home and have a talk with Applejack as well, after that, we'll go from there. Go tell the other girls that you are backing out of this. After we talk with Applejack, we'll contact their families and tell them what they've been doing, as well as Principal Celestia." Without another word Big Mac started leaving, but turned his head to look at her sister. "What you did was stupid and evil, but we'll get trough this together lil'sis."
Apple Bloom just stood there with tears in her eyes, but she now knew what she had to do. Staying still for a minute to wipe her tears, he left for the cafeteria in search of the other two CMC's.
The class was boring. That was clear to Rarity and Applejack. While history was an interesting class for some people, it was not the case for those two. Rarity herself enjoyed history to some degree, but only when it came to the parts where fashion was involved, unfortunately for her, history is mainly composed of wars, the rise and falls of nations and some political figures she cared nothing about. Applejack on the other hand appreciated history, but only the history of her family. The two girls were lucky enough to stand next to each other, so at least they talked here and there about stuff to pass the time. Their usual talks were mainly about fashion, as Rarity was the one who mainly did the talking and Applejack listened. While the farm girl didn't understand the practicality of dressing fancy with clothes that served no purpose for the day to day life, she did enjoy hearing Rarity talk. She liked how invested and passionate Rarity was about this.
Just as Rarity was about to begin talking about how the fashion in 1900 -1909 revolutionized the fashion industry, and how that period is her favorite one in history, the bell rang. Hearing the bell ring was enough to stop the fashionista's train of thinking about fashion. "Oh, already? I swear it feels like I've been only talking for twenty minutes." Turning her attention back to Applejack. "I'm so very sorry darling, it seems like i have been talking all hour, hope i didn't bother you with my ramblings."
"Nah, don't worry about it" Applejack said as she started getting ready to head to the cafeteria. Rarity in turn did the same, placing the books back and heading out. The trip to the cafeteria was a short one, but in that short amount of time they saw most of the student body not talking, arguing and they also saw Vice-principal Luna stopping a fight between two girls.
"Crazy how that girl knows so many secrets to share." The farm girl said. "Ah can't believe she fooled us all."
Applejack opened the door to the cafeteria, letting Rarity in first, then headed to the food section.
"That Account certainly stirred a lot of trouble, but we will recover, we did so before and we'll do it again." Rarity said as she finished picking out her food. She waited for her friend to do so as well, and after they both had the food, they started looking around.
"Ah see them, seems like we're the last one to arrive." Applejack poited in a direction, and there they were, Fluttershy, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie just sitting and chatting at a table while Pinkie Pie waved excitedly at them. Rarity answer with a wave of her own and started heading to the table.
"Finally, what took you so long?" Rainbow asked in an annoyed tone. "we got here like five minutes ago."
"Just because you're fast don't mean we're fast Rainbow." The farm girl said in a calm voice. She and Rarity sat down.
"Yeah yeah. What you mean to say is that I'm so awesome, i get it." The athlete puffed out her mostly flat chest, in turn, causing Pinkie to chuckle a bit. "Now that you are here." She looked at the fashionista. "We can continue out last conversation. Why did Sunset gave you that journal?"
"I do not know Rainbow, she Just gave me this, and left. I took it with me just in case, but for what purpose it was that she gave it to me, well, you better ask her yourself."
"Say, where is Sunset? Ah haven't seen her today." Applejack looked all around her to see if Sunset was in the cafeteria. She didn't see her anywhere. Not in class, not outside, not in the library. It was certainly weird.
"Why, you miss her already?" Pinkie pie asked while putting her hand in her hair, pulling out a big box of sugar, sprinkled some of that sugar onto her food, then put the box back into her hair, leaving the animal lover who happened to look at her in the moment, flabbergasted.
"Nah, nothing of the sort, it's just that, this is not like her. She has a perfect attendance record, she wouldn't miss school." She said.
"Who cares, I'm just glad she's not here to ruin our day." Before she could say anything else, the girls all heard a "WHAT?" Coming from somewhere. Looking around, they discovered that it was Scootalo who made that noise. After drawing everyone's attention, Scootalo quickly sat down and started talking in a hushed voice, while she was glancing over in the direction of the Rainbooms.
"Oh my, that scared me. I wonder what they are talking about." The animal lover asked. "Hope they are ok."
"You don't worry non, they're probably talking about a movie or sumthing. Y'all know how Sweetie and Scootalo get when they argue about these types of things." Applejack said while taking a bite from her hamburger.
"Anyway, Rares, let's continue out conversation. Did she seem off?" Rainbow asked.
"Off? Whatever do you mean?" Rarity answer, raising an eyebrow.
"You know, manipuliti.... manutilati.... manupu-litav. Agh, you know what I'm trying to say." Rainbow said, trying her best to hide her blush. She hated using big words.
"Manipulative darling, and no, she did not seem so. I must say, that was the most sincere i have seen her." Rarity said.
"She was playing you. Anyways, let's change the subject. I'm sick of talking about her. So, next year is the friendship games. It's going to be so awesome!"
Apple Bloom opened the door to the cafeteria, she knew what she had to do. And she also knew of the consequences that would come, however, in a twisted way, she felt reinvigorated. Apple Bloom, like her big sister, hated lying, and while she knew that her decision to come clean was the most painful one she has ever done, she also knew it was the right one. The talk with his big bro made her realize that. She looked around for her two best friends and her partners in crime, spotting them in the far left side of the cafeteria. Taking a deep breath, she started moving towards what would probably be one of the hardest things she did.
"Hey Apple Bloom, took you long enough. Where have you been?" Scootalo asked crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we waited fifteen minutes for you to arrive. Did you get lost on the way or something?" Sweetie belle said while she was busy looking in a small pocket mirror.
Apple Bloom took a seat. She knew she had to say it, but she thought it will be easier. She was wrong. "Ah been talking to my brother about things." She said not daring to look her friends in the eyes, instead keeping her head low and looking everywhere else.
"About what?" Said Sweetie as she took a bite of her salad, while still looking at the mirror. "The only time you go talk to your brother about stuff is when you are in...." Sweetie belle stopped, dropped her fork and looked at her friend with wide eyes. "You didn't."
"Ah had to. Sweetie believe me when i say i had to do it." Apple Bloom let out a sigh, then looked Sweetie in the eyes. "I told Big Mac everything."
"WHAT!? Scootalo let out a scream as she got up from her chair, slamming her hands on the table while glaring at Apple Bloom. Quickly realizing that she was drawing attention she sat down. "You did what!?" She said in a whisper, while glancing at the Rainbooms, mainly Rainbow.
Apple Bloom looked at her big sister across the room, biting her lower lip, she tore her gaze away and looked at her friends. "Ah told him everything. ah'm sick and tired of lying, ah'm sick and tired of walking around the school seing all the pain and suffering our blog has caused, and ah am sick of seing my sister cry her eyes out. Ah told My brother everything, and when i get home ah'll tell big sis everything as well."
"You can't do this without consulting us first. Also, you were the one who started the blog. Did you forget why we started this in the first place? To get rid of Sunset, and we almost succeeded! Why did you have to ruin it now!?" Scootalo asked. She looked at Apple Bloom with anger in her eyes. "Sweetie, help me out here."
Sweetie was looking down at her plate, not moving a muscle. After what Apple Bloom has said, she knew that it was only a matter of time before Rarity found out. But in a way, she also felt relieved. Relieved that someone else made the decision for her. At the beginning, Sweetie enjoyed running the blog, she enjoyed seing Sunset cry, trying to win a lost battle, trying to prove that she was not guilty, only to fail. She also enjoyed knowing the secrets of others. But it didn't take long for Sweetie to realize that what she was doing was wrong. At one point she wanted to do exactly what Apple Bloom did. She wanted to tell her sister everything. Sweetie was also sick of seing her sister cry herself to sleep, but she was afraid. Afraid of what her sister might do and say, afraid of what would happen to the friendship with her friends. She knew she was wrong, she wanted to right her wrongs, but she feared the consequences even more. Hearing Apple Bloom say she told Big Mac everything, while it infuriated her, she was also extremely relieved, and thankful that Apple Bloom had the courage to face the consequences head on.
"I... I agree with Apple Bloom. I think this is the right decision." Sweetie looked at Apple Bloom with a reassuring smile, as to let Apple Bloom know that she was beside her till the end, no matter the hardships.
"This can't be happening! We worked so damn hard for this! And now you just suddenly grew a consciousness? We were this close." Scootalo looked at her friends, at the Rainbooms, then back at her friends. "Sweetie, think of how Sunset took your sister away. Think of how lonely you were in those times. How you were home alone for days." She looked at Apple Bloom. "Bloom, think of how many chores you had to do alone before Applejack wasn't there to help you. Ever since your parents died, Applejack look the role of your mother figure, think on how little time you spent with Applejack." she stood up, looking at both her friends. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Scootalo said, nervously anticipating the answer of those two.
After what felt like an eternity to Scootalo, the two girls finally answered. "Yes, yes we do." they said at the same time.
"I see." Is all that Scootalo said. Turning her back on them, she started leaving. Looking back one last time as to see if her friends would come to their senses, she turned back and left for good.
School finished, Applejack was glad that it did. She had work to do on the farm. While she got out of class she meet her brother, Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle waiting just outside the classroom. "Hey Mac, hey girls, what are you doing here?" She asked, and as she took a closer look, everyone looked on edge.
Big Mac looked at the girls, then back at Applejack. "We need to talk, but we'll do it home. Let's go look for Miss Rarity." Without another work he turned and started walking. Applejack looked at the girls as to ask what was happening, but none of them looked at her, instead following Big Mac. Deciding that she will find out later anyway, she decided to not ask any questions untill they got home.
Walking to the Math classroom, they met Rarity. Big Mac told her to come to the Apple farm as they have something to discuss. Rarity looked at Applejack and the girls for some answers, but the girls were keeping their head down and Applejack herself didn't know what was going on as well.
The drive home was an awkward one. Rarity and Applejack tried to get more information from the girls and Big Mac, but none of them said anything. Now, the high-school girls were visibility concerned that something big happened, something bad.
After arriving at the farm, everyone got out of the car, and headed inside the house. The house was empty, as Granny Smith still had some more work to do at the cafeteria. Seing as no one talked, Applejack was the first to say something. "Ok Mac, girls, what in tarnation is going on? None of you spoke on the way home. Did someone die or something?"
Big Mac stayed silent for a few seconds looking at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. After some more seconds, he finally answered. "They'll tell you." He said before taking a seat down in the kitchen, on a chair next to them.
Now more confused then ever, Applejack and Rarity looked at the two girls who seem to want to be anywhere else but here.
After some more silence, Apple Bloom finally started. "We did it!" She said so fast that the two girls didn't caught it. Realizing that, Apple Bloom said it again in a less hurried tone. "The Blog, Anon-A-Miss, we did it. We were the ones to create the account and post all those secrets and pictures." Apple Bloom said, not daring to look her sister, or anyone for that matter, in the face. She was too ashamed to do it.
The two High-school girls looked at each other, unsure if they have heard correctly. Slowly the gears inside their head turned, and they finally realized what has happened. Confusion turned to Anger as Rarity and Applejack looked at each other. Anger turned into guilt and sadness, and back into Anger. Slowly they felt every emotion at the same time. Applejack being the most level headed of the Rainbooms had grasped the situation faster then her friend.
"So, let me get this straight. You made that blog?" She said, perplexed because she didn't know what to feel. The girls just nodded. "You were the ones who posted my, and my friends secrets for everyone to see, right?" The girls one again noded. "You were also the ones who posted all those secrets of everyone in school?" The girls at this point didn't answer, they just put their heads down and started to cry.
Applejack didn't need their confirmation to know that they did. She looked at Rarity, the girl was mess. She was hyperventilating, crying and stood there like a statue. A statue who looked like she has been trough several wars by the look of her face. She knew why Rarity was like this. It was because of how they treated Sunset, how they abandoned her. Honestly, Applejack wanted to do the same, she wanted nothing more then to break down crying, but she knew she had to stay cool just a little bit more to hear the answers. So, she turned her attention to her sister and her friend once again.
"Why? Why would you do something like this? And how did you get so many secrets and the pictures of my friends?" Applejack asked, trying her best to stay calm. She was failing miserably on that front, but she was trying nonetheless.
Apple Bloom didn't answer, she was too scared and guilty to do so. Sweetie Belle seing how her friend was having trouble even staying up straight, decided to take the mantle. Wiping the tears as best she could and calming herself down as much she could to somehow sound coherent she started. "W-We were jealous of Sunset because she got to spend so much time with you, and we got angry at you for not spending more time with us, so we started this blog to break the friendship you guys and Sunset had in hopes of getting you back."
"But that does not explain how you got your hands on so many secrets and pictures. My nickname and Rainbow's grades i get, you got that from Apple Bloom and Scootalo." Now Applejack was furious again, she couldn't suppress it anymore. "And how did you get the pictures and the secrets of the whole school!?" At this point, Applejack was downright screaming, making the two girls tremble in fright.
Seing how Applejack was losing her temper, and how scared the two girls were, Big Mac decided to step in the conversation. "Easy Applejack. Don't lose your cool. I know how angry you are, but calm down."
"How can i calm down when.. when.. These two and Scootalo are the reason the whole school is a mess?" Applejack was screaming at Big Mac as well.
Big Mac wasn't the eldest in the family for nothing. Seing as he had no success with the first attempt, he decided to try again in a different way, a way he didn't like, but very effective. With a sigh he looked at Applejack with the most cold and disciplinary look he ever made. "I said calm yourself Applejack. Look at the girls, they are frightened because of you." The eldest said.
That was enough for Applejack to stop her aggressive behavior. She looked at the girls, and her big brother was right. Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle were crying their eyes out, holding themselves for comfort while shivering in fright as if they were standing in front of a bear. Managing to get her emotions somewhat in check, she looked at her big brother. "Thanks Big Mac, I was too riled up."
Big mac seing as he managed to calm her sister down, answer with an satisfied nod.
Applejack looked back at the two girls. "Answers, now." She said in a calmer voice.
W-Well, the pictures, we got them from Sunset's phone while you guys were sleeping when she was at the sleepover. As for the secrets of everyone in school, After we made some posts, we started getting messages from people sharing the secrets of their friends. Some of them even asked us to post them. Apple Bloom was against it from the beginning, but me and Scootalo thought that if we share the secrets, it would make the account more believable, as Sunset knows a lot of secrets." Sweetie belle answer.
Rarity finally managed to get her own emotions somewhat in check, enough to start asking questions of her own. "So you have made that account just because you were jealous? Why didn't you say anything?"
"We thought that you were too busy with Sunset to even care about us." Sweetie belle said. "Rarity, you are the only one I've got. Mom and Dad are barely home because of their job. You had to take care of me all by yourself most of the time. You are more then a big sister to me, and when i thought i was going to lose you, i didn't think straight. I didn't want to be alone. The same goes for Apple Bloom and Scootalo." She looked at Applejack and Big Mac now. You two are Basically her parents figure. Big Mac is busy with farm work and his last year of school most of the time, so she got closer to Applejack, but when Applejack started to hang out with Sunset more, Apple Bloom felt left behind."
Hearing Sweetie Belle say that made Applejack and Rarity to think about how little time they spent with their sisters. They were right, Applejack and Rarity didn't do a very good job at being sisters, in fact, they were atrocious at it. They forgot that the two girls are just that. Kids, who need their families to guide them. They felt guilt, guilt for abandoning their sisters for Sunset and guilt for abandoning Sunset when she needed them most.
Both Rarity and Applejack knelt and hugged their sisters. "I'm sorry that we've made you feel that way. From now on we'll make sure to be better." Rarity said. Pulling herself from the hug. "But what you did was still evil and stupid, so there will be consequences for your actions, starting with deleting the blog for good."
Apple Bloom nodded and took out her phone. She went on My Stable to delete the account but then made a confused face. "Um, ah can't get in."
"What do y'mean?" Big Mac asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hol'up, let me try to log in again." She started trying but failed. Next she tried to change the password, but the E-mail was wrong. Just as she was about to question what was going on, Applejack's and Rarity's phones buzzed. they took out their phone to see that it was a notification from Anon-A-Miss. Quickly opening her phone, Applejack made a mortified face.
Wondering what was going on, the girls and Big Mac got around Applejack to see what made her face like that.
Hey everyone! It's me, Anon-A-Miss, coming to you with the most controversial scoop i have been able to get my hand on. You all know our team leader of all the sports groups in the school, right? Well, i happen to come onto some arcane information about her. That information being that she is gay. Sorry boys, seems like our girl is a Cat person not a Hot Dog's person.
Author's Note
First thing first, i want to address something. I fucked up. In chapter three, remember when i wrote something along the lines of "the fresh air, the green grass." Yeah, i forgot it was supposed to be winter.
Second of all, god damn this chapter was hard to write. The fact that i decided to combine the two chapters into one was hard, making it this long was harder. I had to juggle between characters, i had to write more characters and give some description on how are thing at school. Speaking of Characters, The reason i didn't give Fluttershy and Pinkie more lines is because i didn't know how to write them.
I had to take inspiration from other fics when writing this chapter, as i was stuck most of the time. And to top it all off, My inspiration came at the worst of time, when i was at work or like two in the morning. Meaning each time i had a moment of inspiration, i had to try my best to remember it for when i had time to write.
Now to answer some questions none of you had.  
-Someone asked me if i use a writing program. Nope i write on this site, on my phone.  
-Some of you are probably wondering how will the rainbooms contact or get a hold of Sunset. The answer is, only Rarity and Applejack will try and do so. I will not answer how, but the main characters of this fic are Rarity, Applejack and Sunset.  
-Some of you may be wondering what Scootalo's deal is. Why she posted that about Rainbow. Well, that is because i need the girls to be devided, so i choose Scootalo to be the one to do so, as i didn't know anyone better suited for it.
A few more thing and I'm done. Next chapter is about Sunset. Chapter 6 will be about Rarity and Applejack.
About this chapter, I have to say. I am quite pleased with it, and myself for writing it. It honestly turned out way better then expected. I am also quite pleased to announce that i have spent a considerable amout of time to make sure no grammatical mistakes were made. (There probably still are some, but way fewer then last chapters.) I also think i have done quite a good job at not rushing the chapter. I took my time to undo that mistake.
Oh, and next chapter i have a surprise for all of you. It's not a big one, more like a "Huh, neat". I'll talk more in the Author's note in the next chapter.
Anyway, i am finally done with this chapter, ama reward myself now. Apparently season 4 of Wakfu came out a couple of months ago and i just found out yesterday. Ferb, i know what we're doing today.
Also if you have complaints and criticism, write them in the comments, i may not respond to everyone, but i will take them into account next chapter.

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                   Chapter 5 - The start                   
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Chapter 5 - The start
Sunset opened her eyes a bit, she could see the light coming trough the window, so, she knew morning had came. Sunset was not a morning person at all, she hated getting up in the morning for magic lessons with Celestia and she hated waking up at 8am to go to school. She closed her eyes, hopefully the sleep won't take too long to embrace her once again. Her wishful thinking proved to be very rudely interrupted as the young dragon assistant of Twilight knocked twice. Sunset didn't want to answer, thinking that if she did not answer, maybe the young dragon would go away. That too was wishful thinking as Spike came into the room and she knew all her wants to sleep more would be utterly destroyed.
"Wake up Sunset, It's already lunch time. Twilight got a little concerned and asked me to come get you" The young dragon said.
"Ugh, five more hours please" The orange unicorn said as she pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to block the material world. She found out soon that it didn't work, as spike came beside the bed, grabbed the covers, and pulled as strongly as he could. Sunset with no more protection left, decided that it was not worth sleeping anymore now that she did not have covers, with a sigh, she got up.
Stumbling to the bathroom as best as she couldto not fall, Sunset tried her best to brush her teeth, take a shower and to untangle her bed hair as best as she could. After finishing the tasks, she entered her bedroom once again only to find Spike waiting for her. "Took you long enough. Still, less time then Twilight, even with my assistance."
"Glad to hear?" Sunset said half asking half confused. "Anyway, what brings you to my room? Except to wake me when i was having the best of times."
"Twilight told me to come wake you up and get you to the dining room, and she was also a little bit concerned, it is noon after all and you were still sleeping when i came in." Spike said.
Sunset's stomach made some noise. "I am kind of hungry, what's for lunch?"
"My specialty." The young dragon said proudly. "Hayburger with a lettuce and tomato salad."
"Lead the way chef." Sunset said as she wiped her mouth a little. The Anticipation of the taste of the Hayburger was too great, and Sunset didn't want to wait any longet then she had to.
Making their way down the hall to the kitchen, they met Twilight sitting down reading a book. From the looks of it, it was an old history book named 'The war in the south'. Detailing the war between ponies and dragons 459 years ago. It wasn't a big war, hardly any creature died, and the ones that did, dies because of stupidity rather then being killed by the enemy.
"Finally decided to come back to the waking world Sunset?" Twilight said, raising an eyebrow in a playful manner.
Hearing Twilight say that made Sunset's cheeks become a little pink with embarrassment. "Heh, yeah. I'm not a morning person. Sorry you had to wait for me to wake up."
Twilight waited for her friend to sit down before she started making conversation. "So, what do you got planned for today?"
"Actually." Sunset said, knowing that what she will have to say now, it will be embarrassing. "I kind of need some bits. Tomorrow i will start the journey, and i need to make some preparations. I would buy them myself, but i don't think ponies accept human currency."
Twilight was silent for a moment. She was calculating how much money could she give away. After figuring it out she turned her attention back to Sunset. "I can give you about 50 bits. These are the money that i got from Appaloosa after me and my friends defeated a bug bear. And before you ask, i tried multiple times to refuse, but they just wouldn't have it. Seems like i finally found a use for them."
"Hmm, if my memory serves me right, and if the prices didn't change much, it should be enough." The unicorn said.
Before anyone could say anything, spike came with the food that was promised to Sunset. Seing that beautiful Hayburger made Sunset remember about the times she asked the royal chef for one. The chef refused her several times, saying that such a low quality dish will not be served in the palace as long as he works there. She still remembered the face of the chef when Celestia herself asked him to cook a simple Hayburger, at the request of Sunset, of course.
As the two began to eat, Twilight decided to ask some questions that she wanted answers for. "Sunset, I've been wondering for some time now, but it never came in our conversations. How did you become Princess Celestia's personal student?"
"Hmm." Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, deciding what to say and how much she could reveal. "Before i was Celestia's student i was an orphan. You see, i am not originally from Canterlot, i was brought there by someone. Don't exactly remember who. After arriving in Canterlot, he tried his best to take care of me, but, unfortunately, he died shortly after. Luckily for me, a mare that was working at the orphanage nearby found me and took me in. I spent a few years in there, but one day some kids bigger them me decided to bully me. Saying that i was a dirty orphan, saying that even my parents didn't want me, saying i was better of dead as they trew rocks at me. hearing them say that made me very angry, and in my anger, i released my magic. Apparently, the magic pressure i was exerting was powerful as it didn't take long for Celestia to come from her castle to the lower district. Seeing my magical power and display, i guess she decided it would be better to take me in then to let me there and cause trouble." Sunset finished.
"So that's how you became Princess Celestia's student.... I am sorry for how you were treated." Twilight said. "But, does that mean that you came back to Equestria to try and find out where your original home and parents are?"
"No. I know where my parents are and i know where I'm from. I know the destination, all i need to do is go there." Sunset said while taking a bite of her food.
"Ooh. I see. Say, where exactly is your home? I can come with if you don't mind." Twilight got out of her chair and trotted beside Sunset, placing a hoof on her back. "After all, a journey is better with friends by your side." She said with a smile.
Sunset smiled as well, but it was a fake smile more then anything. She wanted to have friend with her on her journey, but she knew just how dangerous it will be. "Sorry Twilight, i can't take you with me. This is one road that i must travel alone."
"I see." Twilight was a little disappointed at the fact that Sunset wanted to go alone, but she understood why. Deciding to not press the matter any more, she enveloped her plate in magic and levitating it to the sink before turning her attention back to the orange unicorn. "Well then." Twilight teleported a pouch of bits to her side, before giving it to Sunset. "Want to go purchase everything you need?"
Sunset ate the last bite of her food. "Sure, let's go."
"This is a scam! A scam i tell you! You can't seriously tell me i have to pay a two bits for some backpack." Sunset said, her voice raised.
"Miss, i keep telling you. This is the standard price for this type of backpack. This is an explorer type backpack, they are designed to be resistant to the elements and are enchanted with anti-dirt and anti-water enchantments." The shop keeper said.
"The hell it is! These enchantments are sloppy work at best, the one who enchanted it needs to go back to school if they think this is acceptable. I'll have to re-enchant them, so you can surely give me a better price for my troubles." Sunset said.
The shop keeper at this point was tired of the orange unicorn in front of him. "Fine, I'll lower the price to 1 and half a bit."
Sunset huffed. "Let's go Twilight, if this scamer thinks he can get away with this, then i wish him luck." She said as she started walking in a different direction. Twilight on the other hoof was trying her best to hide behind her hair as Sunset and the shop keeper argued so loudly that half the market were looking in their direction.
"Wait! Fine, you win miss. One bit for the backpack. No less." The shop keeper said in an annoyed voice.
Hearing him say that, Sunset turned her head around. "Now we're talking." She said with a grin. She turned back, payed the stalion his bit, got her backpack and left with Twilight.
"Was it really necessary to argue over the price that loud?" The purple alicorn said. She was looking left and right to see if ponies were still looking at them.
Sunset on the other hoof, was walking confidently, as she just fooled the station into giving her a 50% discount. Truth be told, Sunset knew that the original price of the backpack was correct, the enchantments were pretty good work. She was still going to enchant the backpack herself, as she didn't trust other ponies work.
"Yes Twilight, i had. Bartering is a very useful skill, you should learn it yourself. There are many merchants looking to take advantage of ponies as naive as you." Sunset turned her head to Twilight and grinned at her.
Twilight scoffed while rolling her eyes. "Whatever you say Sunset. Next time I'll stay twenty feet away from you, you know, because I don't want ponies to look at me when you start arguing." She said. "Anyway, what's next on your list?"
"Nothing much really, just a map and some rations. The climbing gear, the tent and the portable sleeping bag are already bought." Sunset kept walking while thinking. "Should i get some self defense weapons as well, just in case?" She turned to Twilight.
The alicorn stopped in her tracks, as to use her full brain power to think of an answer. "While i do not like violence and weapons, it might not be a bad idea as seeing you want to travel by yourself, i know someone who could help you with that, but first, the cartographer is this way."
Twilight let the other mare in between stalls and ponies to a small wagon. The wagon itself was a light blue, decorated by all manners of weird stuff. If Sunset didn't knew better, she could swear that those decorations are the same ones as Trixie uses for her magic tricks. As the two mares were looking around, the shop keeper appeared from her wagon to greet her newest costumes.
"The grrrreat and powerful Trixie welcomes you to my shop. We've got magic artifacts, maps to undiscovered ruins and..." Before she continued further, Trixie saw the Purple alicorn. As soon as she saw her, she rolled her eyes as if to show Twilight just how annoying Trixie was by her presence.
"Oh, it's you." Trixie tried her best to sound calm and collected, but she failed miserably. "What can i do for you Twilight?" She said in an annoyed tone.
Before Twilight could say anything, Sunset started talking. She could feel the mood of those two, and she decided to step in an attempt to distract the two mares from their hate. "Hello miss Trixie, i am looking for a map of Equestria, if you happen to have one on hand." She said with a smile.
Trixie was taken aback by how polite the orange unicorn spoke. Looking one more time at Twilight, she decided not to start anything for the sake of her costumer. "I do have a map somewhere around here, let me take a look in my shop." She said as she went in the wagon.
After a few minutes of waiting, Trixie got out, holding the map in her magic, passing it to Sunset after she got close enough. "Here you are miss. One map of Equestria, just as Trixie promised!"
Sunset took the map in her how magic and opened it up.
( https://imgur.com/gallery/e7FfIKH )
Sunset was studying the map carefully. She still remembered the geography of Equestria, so she could easily point out the mistake. "How much for the map?"
"One bit and a quarter, miss." Trixie said. "You won't find a map of better quality in Ponyville." She said full of confidence.
"Best i can do is three quarters of a bit." Sunset said. "The map is missing Alca's Mountain."
Trixie hearing that, she took the map back from the orange unicorn to inspect it. Seing as her costumer was right she cleared her throat. "Ahem. It seems like you are indeed right miss. Seing as today is such a wonderful day and it would be a shame to ruin it, the Grreat and Powerful Trixie is willing to lower the price."
Sunset took the agreed money from her pouch and handed it to the shop keeper. "It was a pleasure doing business with you miss Trixie." And with that she turned around and left.
Sunset was silent. She didn't know what to make of this building. The exterior was a joint mess of different building materials such as wood, cobblestone, stone, what seemed to be terracotta, some moss and many more materials that Sunset could not identify. By the laws of physics that Sunset knew, such a poorly built structure shouldn't stand. The building had no structure, just random bits and pieces scattered and joint together by Celestia knows what. The interior was even more confusing. There was a small library, that was near the forge, a storage room that doubled as a bedroom for the shop keeper and the Forge Master. Sunset wondered how such a building or the books didn’t caught on fire from the amount of heat that the furnace was displaying. The weapons that the forge master made were on display on the windows, doors, and anywhere they could fit. Luckily the building was on the outskirts of Ponyville, so if the building did catch on fire, it was a safe distance from anything else to affect it.
The Forge Master was an old and big earth pony with a gray coat and grayer mane. The stalion was massive, twice as big as Sunset. She was always considered taller then the average pony, but to see such a behemoth of a pony, she felt very small. The shop keeper was his daughter. Just like her father, she was big and an earth pony, not as big as her father, but still bigger then Sunset. She had a jet black coat with gray mane. Contrary to her hight and big build fit for a warrior, the shop keeper donned clothes that fit a scholar, with a monocle on her left eye and a Beretta on her head.
"Quill, it's nice to see you. How have you been?" The alicorn said happily at the sight of the scholar.
Quill turned her head in the direction of the voice. Once she saw who was it that spoke, Quill nodded. She quietly finished arranging the books on the shelf began climbing down the stairs. After she dusted herself, she looked at Twilight with a poker face that would give Maud some competition. "Princess Twilight, it is wonderful to see you again." She said as she bowed her head a little before inquiring more informations about the sudden visit and about the guest. "What i can help you with, Princess Twilight?"
While Quill was a big pony with a stone cold expression and intimidating aura, Twilight found out that she enjoyed her company way more then she first expected. Her first meeting with Quill was one to remember. She still remembered with embarrassment as she fell asleep on a bench, only to wake up to Quill looking at her as if she were about to eat her. Of course, after Twilight found out that Quill was a scholar, they quickly became friends.
Returning to reality, Twilight cleared her throat. "Today i came here as a costumer. You see, my friend here needs to embark on a journey, and although she is a unicorn, she could do with some self defense weapons just in case things don't go as planned. Think you can help us?"
"Always, Princess." She turned her attention at the unicorn. "Greetings miss. My name is Lili Quill, shop keeper and manager of the Moonlight Forge, as well as a scholar from the University of History and Preservation. May i inquire if you had any experience with weapons before?" Quill asked.
"I do miss Quill. My preferred weapons are the Claymore and the heavy long sword, But i would like something small like some throwing knifes as well." Sunset said.
"Understood. Do you already know what you want to purchase? I could show you all of our stock if you would like." Quill said as she was secretary studying the unicorn. She wanted to make sure she got a weapon that wouldn't work against her because of pride or some other dumb reason. While Quill was a scholar at heart, she had always had a talent to somewhat know what type of weapon fits someone. Just as the unicorn said, Quill could see that a big weapon would fit Sunset the best, however, if she knew how to wield such a weapon, she couldn't tell.
"Yes, i already know. I'd like to purchase three Claymores, five throwing knifes as well as a short sword." Sunset said, making both Twilight and Quill confused.
Both the alicorn and the earth pony didn't know what to say. Sunset was taller then the average pony, that was for sure, but wielding three weapons at the same time?
Quill stayed silent, thinking for a moment, before gesturing for the two mares to follow her to the counter. While Sunset and Twilight waited, Quill went to fetch the items. Coming back shortly after, the earth pony placed each weapon on the counter. "Here they are. Just as you requested."
Sunset smiled a little before she started inspecting the items, taking her sweet time doing so. From the weight distribution, to the sharpness, the design and the craftsmanship. "Wow, these are nice. The craftsmanship is first rate." She said while spinning one of the swords. "Still can't believe that Ponyville has such a shop and such a talented forge master."
"Thank you miss Shimmer, my father will be pleased to hear it. For the matter of why such a place exists in Ponyville, it is because my father grew up here and didn't want to leave. We are employed by the commander of the royal guards, who is a friend of my father from his time as a guard, to make quality weapons for them. We don't sell such items to regular ponies, but you came with Princess Twilight. If she trusts you, i trust you." Quill explained. "Do you wish to go outside to test them? We do have a testing area with wooden mannequins."
"I would like that very much." Sunset said, now visibility exited.
The area wasn't much to look at if Sunset was being honest. She was expecting a little more decorations. The place was a fenced off area only donning a few weapon stands, a few straw and wooden targets and a small golem enchanted with low level magic. She knew this place was not designed for the public, but she also thought that this place could look a little bit better.
Twilight was looking around excitedly. She never had any business at the imperial Barracks, so this was a first time for her. Turning her attention at Sunset, the alicorn saw the three big blades on her back, seated in their scabbard as well as the short sword and throwing knifes. The length of the big blades were the same as the length of an average pony, so, she was interested on how Sunset was able to carry them easily on her back. She was also wondering how would Sunset use all of the weapons and why three big swords. The Royal Guard were only using one sword or one spear. Deciding it's better to ask then just wondering she started. "Sunset, I've been meaning to ask, but, why do you need all these weapons? I get that it's a last resort just in case you run out of magic or something else happens, but aren't you a mage?"
Sunset stopped checking if everything was placed on her body so she can answer Twilight's question. "Yes, i am a mage. When i was under Celestia, she only taught me magic, but, as i was watching the royal guards train i had a thought. Why limit myself only to magic? Magic has it's weaknesses, and from my training with the royal guards, i found out that most of those weaknesses can be overcomed with melee weapons. For example, a mage always needs to have a certain minimum distance for their opponent." Sunset moved right next to Twilight. "If the opponent can get in close and personal, the mage is as well as done for, as most spells would engulf the caster as well. And, while mages have defensive spells to help in those situations to a certain extent, it's is ultimately meaningless. There are very few ponies that can cast offensive magic while protecting themselves with defensive magic."
Sunset created some distance from Twilight. "I am a special case however. While i was training in both magic and swords, i developed my own fighting style, unique to only me. You'll see what I'm talking about when i start." Sunset finished as she started heading for the targets.
Seing as the mage was ready to start, Quill gave her an approval nod.
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, to calm down. This was the first time she would be using magic and swords to fight since leaving Equestria. Opening her eyes, with a grin, she enveloped the three great swords, pulling them out of their scabbards and levitating them over her head and back, rotating them a little before launching them in an arc. Each sword was a little bit higher then the other, and because of that the straw target was cleanly cut into four segments. Returning her great swords to her side once more, she fired off a fire ball at the wooden target, using the fire to act as a cover for the swords to finish it. The swords each struck in different places, each moving in their own way. While controlling more then one object was difficult for normal unicorns, Sunset Shimmer was far from normal, able to control three great swords, fire magic and staying on the move all on the same time. Sunset retracted her swords once again, this time getting out her knifes and launching them at another target. The knifes were controlled by Sunset, and as they got near the target, she changed the direction, controlling each of them individually to strike from different angles at the same time.
As she looked around she found the last wooden target. Spinning her great swords faster and faster, she launched them, causing the swords to dig into the dirt as they were going for their target, leaving a curbed line in the dirt were the swords have been. it didn't take long for the great swords to find their target, cutting the targer so clean that it didn't fall untill the great swords were already at Sunset's side once more.
Placing the swords back in the scabbards and levitating the knifes back in their pouch, Sunset stood there, a smile on her face. It has been too long since the unicorn felt like this.
"Wow." Both the alicorn and the earth pony said. Twilight and Quill were left speechless. Just as Sunset had said, her style was unique to her only, masterfully wielding both magic and sword in a stunning display, and just as Sunset said, using melee weapons in combination with magic really got rid of most of the weaknesses a mage is dealing with. Twilight was sure that if the two of them were to fight, even with Twilight being an alicorn, she would most likely lose. After her realization of just how strong Sunset was in an actual fight, Twilight was pondering if she should ask Shining Armour for some lessons.
"Impressive work Miss Shimmer, these weapons will serve you well if the need arises in your tavels." Quill said giving her a nod of approval and a little smile. For those that knew Quill, they knew that if she ever smiled, even a little, she was very happy or impressed.
"Thanks, but what is impressive is not me, it's your father, for providing me with such quality products. He really deserves the title of forge master." She said with a smile. Turning her attention to Twilight. "When we get home, could you help me with enchanting all of my stuff? I hate to admit it but enchanting magic was never my strong suit."
Twilight smiled. "Sure thing Sunset."
The next day arrived, and with it, the time for Sunset to leave. After they got home from the market and forge, Twilight and Sunset got to work on enchanting all of Sunset's things. The backpack got enchanted with protection from the elements as well as durability. The rations were enchanted with preservation magic to last longer. The climbing gear, tent and sleeping bag were enchanted with more durability. The weapons were more work then they had anticipated, enchanted with size changing enchantments so Sunset could carry them easier and more hidden.
The two of them stood in front of Twilight's castle, looking at eachother, neither wanting to break from it. It was hard for Sunset to leave on her journey alone, but she knew she couldn't take Twilight. And it was hard for Twilight to see Sunset go. After the battle of the bands, the two mares formed a relationship that grew more and more, especially woth Sunset coming over to Equestria. The alicorn princess was extremely sad that she could not go with Sunset, but like the unicorn said, this road was for Sunset only. The only thing left for Twilight was say her goodbyes and wish her safe travels.
"Well, this is it." Sunset said as she was looking in the distance. She turned her head back to Twilight who was looking sad. "Thank you for everything Twilight. I mean it."
"It was my pleasure." Twilight said with a sad smile. After a few moments Twilight hugged Sunset. "Safe travels Sunset, and may your journey be filled with only good things." She said as she let go of her friend.
Sunset nodded and turned before she started crying. With a sigh, she started walking. Here we go.
Author's Note
I will be honest, i did not expect this chapter to be this long. I was expecting around 3000 words max.
Also, the reason it took so long is because i had a busy week. I'm talking about 12 hour shifts at work. When i got home i was too drained to write.
Now, i want to answer a few more things.
In regards to the link. Do you remember last chater when i said that there will be a surprise? Well this is it. The link, if it's working, should have pointed you to a hand drawn map of Equestria. I didn't want to just use an official one, i wanted it to have character. (If the link does not work, let me know and I'll post it in the comments.) I plan to draw more in the future. Important places that the characters are in and important characters. I am not an artist, so don't expect quality from me, but I'll try my best. I'm currently working on drawing Quill, so I'll probably post an image next chapter in the Author's notes.
As you can see, i posted the link directly, as the site didn't let me post the picture. I put it directly in the fic, hope it didn't violate some guidelines.
On another matter, i tried my best to write a fight scene, and as it was the first time i did such a thing, hope it turned out good and i hope i managed to get it as close to my imagination. If you are wondering about the spinning swords behind Sunset, i will try to give you a better representation here. Basically, the swords are pointed one north, one south east and one south west and Sunset spined them, kind of like how the 6 dofus in wakfu are spining behing yugo, only with swords.
Also, in this fic, as you just saw, Trixie also does cartographer work. Honestly i just wanted to include trixie, i could have made a new character, but i wanted Trixie.
Next chapter will be about the human world.
Before i go, please answer me this. How in the fuck do i write the journey? Most of a journey is walking, how do i do that? Do i jump straight to where she needs to go? Do i write some encounters before her destination? Like, what do i write?

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          Chapter 6 - Determination and betrayal           
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Chapter 6 - Determination and betrayal
All the girls and Big Mac stood there, no one moved a muscle. They couldn't, the shock was too great. Rarity kept reading the same post over and over, after some time, the comments started flooding in.
Rainbow's gay? No wonder that bitch rejected me.
I know she has raibow hair but i did not expect for her to be this cliche.
Maybe now her ego will finally be kept in check, lololol.
As Rarity read the comments, she felt the fury of a storm rising in her heart."Those... those uncouth savages!" She thought. "The girl's sexuality just got exposed and this is what you have to say?"
She teared her eyes from the screen, she couldn't bare to look at it any longer. She looked at the ones around her, every one of them had the same disgust on their faces. Anon-A-Miss posted a lot of secrets, some were not that bad and some were. Most of the secrets were mild and embarrassing, like saying how Bright Star had a birth mark on a private part of her body, while a few others secrets were more along the lines of people not standing other people. But this, this was crossing the line. Rarity was filled with anger and disgust. To go after someone's sexuality like that, Rarity wondered how could a child like Scootalo do something as evil as this.
Rarity looked at Applejack, the girl's face was as red as a beetroot and Rarity could swear she could see steam coming from it. Seing the farm girl seething with anger like this was something new for Rarity. She has seen the farm girl angry before, but never like this. However, for a split second, even if the mood was as it was, Rarity thought that her farmer friend was kind of cute. Quickly putting that thought in the very back of her mind, she turned to the two girls standing there in shock.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle stood there, too baffled to move. They were shocked, shocked at how could Scootalo do such a thing, to Rainbow Dash no less, that girl was practically her sister. She also managed to somehow hack the account and change the password and e-mail.
Apple Bloom Quickly regained control over her body and thoughts. Realizing what has just happened, she quickly and frantically started to explain herself. "It wasn't us! Ah swear that ah didn't post that, neither did Sweetie! It wasn't us!" The young red head said.
Sweetie on the other hand began to break down, falling on her knees and crying. Seing this, Apple Bloom quickly got on her knees and hugged her tight, as to say it was all going to be ok, even though thing weren't. Apple Bloom began to pat Sweetie's hair while whispering that they were going to get trough this.
"Ah know! That must have been Scootalo." Applejack put her hand in her hair. "Ah wonder if Dash saw the post already." She said, looking at Rarity with concerns.
"I don't know darling, but i can call her if you'd like." Rarity said, waiting for the confirmation of the farm girl to do so. After getting the nod of approval, she began to search in her contact list. After a few seconds, she found the person who she was looking for, and pressed the call button.
"We are sorry, it seems the number you were trying to call is in another call, please try again later." The answering machine said.
Damn it all, she saw the post. But if she is in another call, I'm sure Pinkie or Fluttershy got to her first. At least she has support. Rarity signed then looked at Applejack with sadness. "She is in another call, meaning that she probably saw the post and one of the other girls is trying to comfort her." She looked at her sister, knelt right next to her and gave her a big hug. Looking at Applejack she asked. "What now?"
"Ah don't know Sugarcube" Applejack said as she placed her palm on her forehead. "This is too much to take in all at once. Let me think for a second." With that, she began to think of what their next step should be. Finding little luck in that, she decided to ask her big brother for advice.
"Big Mac, any ideas?" The farm girl said, completely at a loss on what to do.
"Hmm.... First thing first, let's send the girls in Apple Bloom's room. Miss Rarity can continue to reach Rainbow Dash, while the two of us try to make sense of what happened and what we will do with Apple Bloom." He said.
"You've heard him girls, up you go." Applejack watched the girls go upstairs and sighed. Taking her hat off and placing it on the table, she went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of non-alcoholic apple cider.
Big Mac got out of his chair, went to the fridge and got himself a beer before taking a seat once more. "Why do you think Scootalo did that?"
Applejack took a big gulp from her bottle, before answering. "Hell if i know. My guess is that Sunset did something to Scootalo that was bad enough for her to risk her friendship with Apple Bloom and Sweetie belle...... And Rainbow apparently." She took another sip. "It's either revenge or she is just sick in the head."
At that moment, Rarity came back, shaking her head, placing her phone in her pocket and looking at the the siblings. "I didn't manage to reach her. I kept trying to call but it instantly told me that she was in another conversation." She looked aroud. "Where are the girls?"
"Sent them upstairs, to my sister's room. Need some time to get my head cleared up." Applejack looked down at her drink, waiting a few second before saying anything else. "We really fucked up with Sunset, didn't we? We used her, abandoned her when she needed us most and threw her aside like trash.... Pff, element of harmony my ass."
Rarity winced a little at that phrase. Yes she was supposed to be the element of generosity, yet she didn't show any when Sunset told them that she was innocent. She knew she had to make things right, and will do so widout fail. But how? Clearing her name is a must, but how do we apologize to Sunset? She did say she was leaving, but when will she return? What if she likes it home better and never comes back? Rarity thought for a moment. No, i will make it right, even if i have to go to Equestria to do it. And with that, she was filled with determination. Walking besides Applejack, she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Well make it right. We always do." And with that, she went upstairs to have another talk with the girls.
*knock* *knock* "Sweetie, Apple Bloom, can i come in?" Asked Rarity from behind the door.
"Y-Yeah." Apple Bloom said.
With that aside, Rarity opened the door. She looked at the two girls sitting on the bed, Sweetie brought her knees to her chest and Apple Bloom stood on the side of the bed, fingers intertwined. Both of them had marks near their eyes from crying and both of them had a grim face. It was clear to Rarity that both of them understood what they have done, and as much as she wanted to scream at them some more, Rarity knew that they have learned their lesson, and honestly, Rarity didn't want to see her sister cry again. The strict sister was downstairs, here, she would have to be the caring and understanding sister.
Walking near the bed, she turned and sat on it, between the two girls. "How are you feeling?" Rarity said as she looked left and right.
*Sniff* "Bad. Really bad." Sweetie said as she placed her forehead on her knees.
"As you should." She looked at Apple Bloom. "How about you?"
Apple Bloom took a few seconds before answering. "Bad for what I've done, but i also feel like a stone got lifted from my heart." She stopped for a second before looking into Rarity's eyes. "Ah'm the one who made the account, ah'm the one who coerced Sweetie into joining me, she had no fault in this. I am going to take the full extent of the punishment."
Before Rarity could say anything else, Sweetie Belle raised her head to look at her friend with an intense glare. "What do you mean i had no part in this? I am the one who unlocked Rarity's phone for that embarrassing picture. I am the one who posted some of the secrets, and i am the one who stayed with you to the end." Sweetie's face was red from anger, enough so that she had to take a few seconds to calm herself before continuing. "Don't try to take all the blame Bloom, i did as much as you."
"Ahem, sorry to interrupt, but Apple Bloom's attempt to take all the blame will not work." Rarity looked at her sister. "When we get home you will be ground for six months, lady. No phone, tv and pc for two months, except for homework, and for the six months, you will only go to school and then straight home." Rarity let out a sigh. " I'll also have to tell principal Celestia about what you three have done."
The two girls froze at that last sentence, they had forgotten about Principal Celestia and Vice-principal Luna. They haven't even thought that the consequences would be this big.
Apple Bloom let out a sigh, she was too exhausted from all that had happened to bother. "Ah guess that's fair."
"It is. Look, i understand why you did what you did to some extent. I was a bad sister. Spending more time with Sunset then you, and when i wasn't, i was busy with work and school." Rarity looked at her sister with warm eyes. "Which is why i will not tell mother and father about this incident."
At that, Sweetie's eyes went wide with surprise. She knew for sure that after her parents found out, they would immediately come home just to scold her. With that, some of the worries that Sweetie had had been lifted. While yes, she was grounded for six months, that was tame compared to what her mother would do to her.
"speaking of you three, do any of you have any ideea why Scootalo did that?
The two girls stayed silent for a few moments, thinking for any reason she would do it, after what felt like hours for Rarity, Apple Bloom started. "Ah don't know. From what ah know, Sunset beraly picked on us, all she ever did was call us names like chicken for Scootalo, 1980 for Sweetie and Bapple Gloom for me, but that's about it."
"Surely Sunset must have done something bad for Scootalo to go this far." Rarity thought back before the Fall Formal, on how Sunset acted. Sunset was a master at manipulation, spreading rumors and finding secrets and information to keep the student body in check. However, she never shared a secret of somebody unless it was the last option she had to keep the one who defyed her in check. And she never got physical with anyone except if the other person started it, and she was a good fighter. She still remembered how Gilda and two others tried to teach Sunset a lesson, only for them to get their behinds kicked. Sunset mostly demanded monetary compensation to keep the secrets for herself. Rarity knew now that she only did that because of her circumstances. Now that i think about it, she never asked for much, at most two dollars, but usually just one did suffice.
Now that she thought of it, Sunset really wasn't all that bad in the past. Sure, she had her big ego that surpassed even Rainbow Dash, and she did her fair share of evil stuff, but for some reason, Rarity didn't find it in herself to think that Sunset would actually do something so bad to Scootalo for her to go this far.
"Nevertheless, she still did it and we need to find out why. Can one of you try and call her to find some answers?" Rarity said.
"We already tried before you came in, she doesn't answer." Sweetie said.
"Hmm, alright, then this is it. Sweetie, come, we need to head home." said Rarity
"But.." Sweetie said before getting interrupted by her sister.
"No but, while i forgave you to some extent because i also messed up, that does not mean that you are free from the consequences young lady, now grab your backpack and let's go." She said.
Sweetie said her goodbyes to Apple Bloom then followed her sister downstairs.
"Applejack darling, mind taking us home?" Rarity said.
Applejack turned and looked at Rarity, phone in her hand and an annoyed look on her face. "Sure thing sugarcube, let me get mah keys."
"Rainbow is still unavailable?" the fashionista asked while she was getting her own things.
"Noupe, now it goes straight to voice mail. She must have closed her phone. Poor girl can't catch a break." The farm girl said as she took the keys, placed her hat back on her head and opened the door, letting Rarity and Sweetie go first before turning to Big Mac. "Mac, ah trust you to handle our little sister while I'm gone." Applejack waited for the nod of Approval, giving one of her own before closing the door.
The three girls went in the Apple truck, as Applejack called it. Applejack in the driver seat, Rarity in the front passenger seat and Sweetie in the back. Waiting for everyone to have they safety belts on, she started driving. Applejack knew she had about 35 minutes to drive till Rarity's home. Plenty of time to talk.
"Say." The farm girl said. "Shouldn't we tell principal Celestia about this?"
"Hmm, i was waiting to get home then call her, but i guess i could do it now. You know, to get it over with." Rarity said while letting out a sigh. "This is not going to be a nice conversation." She said, getting out her phone and dialing Principal Celestia's number.
After about 30 seconds of waiting, the Principal answered. "Good evening Rarity, to that do i own the pleasure at this hour?" She said in a monotone and tired voice.
"So sorry to bother you at this hour Principal, however, i have important things to discuss. Do you have the time? You seem very tired."
Celestia smiled a little bit, happy that her students were concerned for her. "I'm fine Rarity, just tired, Anon-A-Miss situation really got out of hand, so much so that some parents even called me to inquire if they should transfer their children to other schools." She sighed. "It's so bad that me and my sister are considering involving the police to find the culprit."
"The police?" Rarity said, she was surprised by what Celestia had said. Mainly because of one reason. "So you don't think Sunset did it?"
"Of course not Rarity. Sunset would never have done something like this. Both me and my sister belive that she is innocent. Now, what important things you had to tell me?" Asked Celestia.
"Mm yeah, we found out who is Anon-A-Miss. " She said awkwardly.
Celestia eyes went wide. Finally, there was answers to her questions and maybe she could finally resolve this matter. "You do? who and how?"
"For the 'how', they themselves confessed. As for the 'who'." Rarity took a deep breath, closing her eyes and hoping that Principal Celestia would not be so mad as to expell her sister. "It was my sister and her friends."
Celestia was taken aback by what Rarity said. She and Luna tried hard to find the culprit, they asked students, listed to conversation while staying hidden, monitored the cameras almost 24/7, but they couldn't find anything. To think that three little girls were the reason the school has become so full of hatred, so full of conflict, she was simply taken aback. Celestia stayed quiet for a few moments to think. On one hand she was happy that she finally found who is Anon-A-Miss, on the other hand she was sad that it was three twelve-year-old girls who managed to bring the school into such disarray and chaos. Not in a thousand years she would have guessed that those three were the culprits. But now that she finally knew who was behind it all, she needed more answers.
"So, you mean to say that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootalo were the ones who created the account?" Celestia said and Rarity confirmed. "And they confess to you?"
"About that Principal, Only Apple Bloom and my sister confessed. They felt as things went far from the intended outcome and they couldn't bear to see how the school is falling apart." Rarity said, a little bit of fear in her voice. It was clear that the principal was not taking the news very well. "As for Scootalo, she hacked the account, changed the password and email, and made the post about Rainbow Dash."
Celestia sighed and pinched the root of the nose. Great, the situationis getting more and more complicated. After a few moments in silence, she asked ine question. "Why?"
"That we do not know. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to call her after what Scootalo had done, but she didn't answer the phone. I'm sorry Principal Celestia, i should have monitored my sister better." Rarity said.
"No, no. It's not your fault Rarity. Thank you for bringing this matter to me. I'll consult with my sister and see what to do by tomorrow. Good day Rarity. " Celestia said as she closed the call.
Rarity sighed, pinching the bridge of the nose. "Well, that could have gone better."
"What'd she say?" The farm girl asked. She only heard what Rarity said, so she was very curious about what will happen to her sister.
"She said she will figure things out by tomorrow. Guess we'll have a wonderful day tomorrow." She said sarcastically.
"A-am i in trouble?" Sweetie asked from the back, voice trembling a little.
Rarity turned to look at her sister. "You certainly are, but fortunately, i don't think Principal Celestia has any plans to expell the three of you."
Both Applejack and Sweetie Belle let out a sigh at the news. It wasn't much, but they were glas that expulsion was not on the table.
After that, no one talked anymore. Applejack was busy driving, while thinking about how bad of a sister she was, how bad of a friend she was and about what her little sister had done. Rarity was thinking about the same, while looking outside the window, eyes unfocused. Sweetie Belle on the other hand was constantly trying and failing to get a hold of Scootalo.
After about 20 minutes, Applejack pulled into a parking spot right in front of the house. "Alright, were here."
Rarity nodded, opened the door and got out. Sweetie did the same. She turned around. "Well, see you tomorrow Applejack. Thank you for the ride, and everything else."
"You worry non about it Rarity. Now excuse me, I'll need to have a talk with mah sister when ah get home." Applejack said as Rarity closed the door and she started driving back to her house.
Rarity didn't sleep well last night, her mind was constantly working, thinking, reminding her of her mistakes, and in the little time she did sleep, she had nightmares. Hearing the alarm go off made her realize that it was time to get out of bed. Little by little she did her usual morning routine, showering, putting make up, choosing what clothes to wear. She skipped breakfast, she didn't have the energy not the drive to cook something. After getting ready, she waited for her sister who was very reluctant of going to school, but, they both knew they had to.
The trip to school was short, too short for Rarity's liking. She was not prepared to hear what the punishment for her sister would be.
Parking in the school's parking lot, they got out the car and proceeded to walk inside, before Principal Luna stopped them at the entrance. "Good morning Rarity, Sweetie Belle." Luna said with a stern look on her face, more directed at Sweetie then Rarity. "Come, we have much to discuss."
Rarity and Sweetie followed Principal Luna to Celestia's office. Knocking twice, more for formalities, Luna brought the two sisters into the office.
The principal's office was a normal size room, but beautifully decorated. It truly felt like an extension of Celestia's mind and soul. Colorful curtains of gold and white, bookshelfs full to the brim with books about various subjects, from science to novels to books about the psychology of children and teenagers and a few books on how to be a better teacher. Art pieces that Rarity could swear that they were famous decorated the walls, coming in a beautiful synergy with the various flowers. Celestia's desk was at the opposite side of the door, just near the window. The desk was kept cleanly and organized.
"I have brought them sister." Luna said, instructing Rarity and Sweetie Belle to sit on the two seats remaining, before she herself went to her sister's side.
Rarity and Sweetie Belle nodded before doing as instructed and looking at the others that were in the room. Applejack and her sister and Rainbow and Scootalo. Rarity could see that Sweetie and Apple Bloom gave her friend some very judgemental looks, while Rainbow confused as hell.
"Thank you Luna." She said, taking a moment to look at each of the CMC's, especially at Scootalo, which in turn made the young girl very uncomfortable. Now that you are all here, let's start." She said before pulling some files from her drawer and placing it in front of herself. "I called you all here to talk about Anon-A-Miss. As you all seem to know, the situation has gone far too complicated for me and my sister to just try and deal with it ourselves. Unfortunately, yesterday, Anon-A-Miss posted something that i, as a teacher and a principal can not stand." She looked at Rainbow. "Rainbow, i am sorry that you had to go trough all this."
Rainbow looked at Celestia, tired eyes spoke of great difficulty in falling asleep, while the marks on her cheeks and near the eyes spoke of how much she had cried.
"It's fine principal, it's not your fault." Rainbow said nonchalantly, but everyone in the room knew that she was hurt. "It's Sunset's fault. She's going to get what she deserves."
Rarity and Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash, the girl was a mess. Hair beraly kept in check, tear marks, and a vengeful look. Both girls wanted nothing more then to hug the atlete and tell her everything is going to be ok, but they both know they couldn't, not after what Rainbow was about to find out.
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but I'm not so sure about that. See, yesterday i got a call from Rarity. She told me that Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootalo were the ones that managed the Anon-A-Miss account. "As she said that, she gave a very cold look to each of the three CMC's. "Isn't that right Rarity?"
"That is so Principal Celestia." Rarity looked at Rainbow, who looked utterly confused. Rarity then began to explain everything that happened yesterday. From the trip to the Apple Farm to how their sisters confessed, and how Scootalo hacked the account, changed both the password and the e-mail and posted that horrible comment.
It was safe to say that Rainbow looked angry. At first Rarity thought that Rainbow was mad at Scootalo, but upon closer inspection, Rarity figure out that she was the person that Rainbow was angry at. Before both girls could say anything, Scootalo began.
"It's not true! That's a lie Rainbow, i would never do that to you!"
Celestia cleared her throat before starting. "You say that Scootalo, but after the call i had with Rarity yesterday, i have reached out to a friend of mine who works as a detective. I asked him to look into who the owner of the account is." As she finished speaking, Celestia took the files and gave each of the girls a copy of it. "As you can see from his investigation, Anon-A-Miss was first made at school, by Apple Bloom's phone. The comments were posted either from the school IP or the Apple farm IP, well, that is until yesterday, where he found out that the account password and e-mail has changed and the last post was made from your house, Rainbow."
"That can't be. Scootalo was with me yesterday the entire time. I would have known if she did something like that. And there are only two people outside from my family that previously knew I'm gay. Scootalo and Sunset. How can you all blame Scootalo for this when we know that Sunset is the one to do it?" Rainbow said, looking around her to see if someone agree with her.
"Yet there is the evidence Rainbow Dash. Trust me when i say that i didn't believe this when my sister first told me about it, but the evidence doesn't lie." Luna said.
"No! Sunset must have done something. Maybe she hacked my wi-fi yesterday and made that post from near my house. I don't believe Scootalo did it." Rainbow desperately said. "And you two! How can you do this to me? How can you stab me in the back like this?" Rainbow said while looking at Rarity and Applejack. "What, just because Scootalo and your sisters had a fight, now they are trying to blame her for this shit? And you actually believe them?"
"Language Rainbow. While i understand you are upset, i don't want to hear any swear words." Luna said in an imposing tone.
"What fight?" Sweetie began. "We didn't have any fight. Sure she was a little mad when me and Apple Bloom decided to confess, but we didn't fight. Tell them Scoots."
"What do you mean we didn't had a fight? So yesterday when you kicked me out of the group saying how I'm just an orphan and i should be lucky because you two took pity on me didn't happen? Pff, great friends i have." Scootalo said, few tears emerging from her eyes.
"See, just because Applejack and Rarity didn't raise their sisters better don't mean Scootalo has to pay for their stupidity." The athlete said, pointing at the two girl while looking at Celestia.
Everyone was taken aback by that statement, everyone except Applejack, who suddenly shot up to her feet, causing the chair to fall over. "Now listen here Rainbow, while you are my friend, i can't ignore what you said about mah sister. Say that shit again and we're gonna have problems." The farm girl spat those words.
Rainbow in turn got up as well. "Not my fault you are stupid enough to believe them."
"If someone here is stupid, it's you. Even with the evidence in front of you, you still believe that Scootalo is innocent." Applejack now got closer to Rainbow, ready to pounce if something bad about her sister was said again.
"ENOUGH!" Luna shouted, getting everybody's attention and causing Celestia to wince a little at the sheer volume of Luna's voice. "Applejack and Rainbow, sit down! Rainbow, while i understand you don't want to believe Scootalo would do something like this, the proof is here on the desk. Now here is what is going to happen, Scootalo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will have detention until the end of the year. They will also not be allowed to participate in any school activities, celebrations and events. They will have to apologize to Sunset and in case of Scootalo, seing as she doesn't want to admit, if any post is made from Anon-A-Miss, she will be expelled. They will also need to apologize to the whole school for the chaos they have caused. There will be no room for negotiation." Luna said, showing her authority as the vide-principal.
Rainbow stood back up again and slammed her palms on the desk, looking straight into Luna's eyes with defiance and rage. Seing that everyone was against her, she grabbed Scootalo wrist and marched out of the office, but not before screaming how Applejack and Rarity are no longer her friends.
Everyone was shocked. After a short while Sweetie and Bloom started crying. They felt betrayed at how could their best friend could do something like this.
Celestia pinched the bridge of her nose. That could have gone better. she thought. "Luna, can you go bring Sunset here? Those two have some apology to make."
Before Luna could agree, Rarity stepped in. "I'm sorry Principal Celestia, but might be a tad impossible at the moment."
Celestia and Luna both let out a frustrating sigh in unison at that statement. "And why is that Rarity?" Said Celestia.
"Well, two days ago Sunset dropped by my house. She said that she tried everything she could to right the wrongs she has committed, and to make us believe in her, but it didn't seem to work. So, she left me her journal that she uses to communicate with Princess Twilight and said she will leave for Equestria. Saying she wanted to go home and see her parents.
Everyone looked at her, especially Applejack. "And you didn't think to tell us that!?" The farm girl said in a loud voice.
"W-Well, at first i didn't believe her. I thought that was another part of her plan to devide us and beg for sympathy. But Yesterday after Sweetie and Bloom confessed i knew that Sunset was saying the truth. And i figured i should wait untill today to say it, so Principal Celestia and Vice-principal Luna could hear it as well." Rarity said.
"That certainly complicates things further. Did she say when she will be back?" Luna asked.
"No, unfortunately." Said Rarity while looking down.
"It's not complicated for me. Rarity, where is the journal?" Applejack asked, with determination in her eyes.
"My house, why?"
"Simple, we go to your house, we take the journal and we ask Twilight if she knows something. " She said to Rarity.
Before Rarity could say that they still have class, Luna intervened. "You have my and my sister's permission to skip school for today. Go find the journal and ask Twilight for information, i want our Sunset back."
With permission from the principal's the two girls didn't waste a single moment. Getting up and leaving like the wind.
Rarity and Applejack both got out of the car, Quickly going into Rarity's room to find the journal. After a few seconds of searching, Rarity found it, taking it out of the drawer and placing it on a table. grabbing a pen she opened the journal, flipping the pages till she got to the last page. Reading a bit of the last conversation Sunset had with Twilight, they were sad to find that Sunset did indeed went to Equestria. Calming themselves for a bit, Rarity began writing.
"Dear Princess Twilight.   
It's me Rarity. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but i need to ask if you know anything about Sunset's whereabouts." Rarity finished writing, then waited together with Applejack for a response. The wait has been excruciatingly painful. A few seconds seemed like days. They knew that Twilight would most likely not be able to respond instantly, but that didn't made the wait more bearable.
It was around an hour before the journal vibrated, indicating that Twilight wrote something. Both girls quickly got next to the journal to read.
"Hello Rarity. Before i answer, tell me, are the rest of the girls with you?"
"Only Applejack. Twilight, I'm sure that Sunset has already told you what happened, and we messed up. If you know when is Sunset coming back, or if you can reach her, can you tell her we are sorry? Please?"
"Messed up? You messed up? Rarity, this is more then messing up. You, Applejack and the girls should be ashamed of yourselves. You are right, Sunset did tell me what happened,   
i can't be more disappointed in all of you. I entrusted you to take care of Sunset because i trusted you girls, and at the first sight someone accused her for something she didn't do, you trow her aside? And now you have the gal to come to me and tell her you are sorry?"
That stung for the girls. They knew they messed up, but to hear it from Twilight felt 100 times worst. Rarity began to cry, her hands were trembling.What have we done?
Applejack, seing as her friend had difficulty writing, took the pen. "Hey Twi, it's Applejack. Look, we're sorry. We really are. And ah know that no amount of sorry is going to make this right. But we are trying. We want to apologize to Sunset, but we can't do that if we don't know where Sunset is or if she ever comes back. Please, help us."
"No Applejack, i won't help you like this, nor will i accept your 'sorry'. If you want to find out where Sunset is, Come to Equestria. I will open the portal for six hours. If you come i will help you and i will know you truly want to make it right, but if you don't, don't write in this journal again. Goodbye."
The two girls were left shocked by what Twilight said. For her to give the ultimatum, truly spoke of how much she came to care for Sunset.
Wiping her tears off, Rarity looked at Applejack. Determination filled every part of her eyes. Applejack didn't need to answer. They had come to the same conclusion. They will go to Equestria, they will find Sunset, they will apologize and they will bring her back.
As the two girls made their decision, they quickly got to work. Rarity called Principal Celestia to tell her what has happened and about their decision. Celestia in turn was very much against the ideea and threatened to call her parents, but Rarity didn't care. Closing the call, she called her sister next, telling her that she was about to leave and that she will have to stay with the apple family for a while. While Sweetie wasn't happy, in the end she agreed.
Applejack on the other hand called her family. Big Mac and Granny Smith told her to not worry about anything else then getting things right, but Apple Bloom was protesting heavily of her big sister going to another dimension. In the end she gave the ok, after Applejack promised that she will spend a lot of time with her when she got back.
After calling everyone they needed to call, they quickly got to work or filling their backpacks with bottles of water, some hygiene products, after all, they didn't know how important hygiene was in Equestria, and some fruits for food, as they didn't have the time to buy preserved food.
Half an hour later, they stood in front of the portal, nervous and holding hand, more for comfort then anything else.
"You ready?" Asked Applejack. Not taking her eyes off the portal.
"Absolutely noup." Said Rarity.
Applejack chuckled a bit. It was pretty cute seing Rarity saying 'no' like the Apple family.
The two girl waited a few seconds before Applejack said. "Welp, here we go."
Author's Note
*Inhale* *Exhale* I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment and I don't expect to be forgiven. (Logan Paul - 2018)
Sorry, sorry, i had to do it.
In all seriousness tho, sorry it took so damn long for this chapter to be done. You know how i said in the comments that the busy period was over? Well, slap my ass and call me Betty, i was hella wrong.
And sorry for the low quality of the chapter. Trust me, i know it's rushed as hell especially the last part. Truth be told, i just wanted to get it out. Again, sorry.
Now that the apology part is over, i can get to some other stuff.
First, the main story line begins, meaning that the side story, involving the CMC' and the rest of the Rainbooms will be delayed. I don't know when i will continue the side story, but i will finish it. Shouldn't take more then a few chapters.
Second, next chapter will be about Sunset, after that, about Rarity and Applejack. I will continue this untill they meet.
Third, if you have questions, comment about it and i will do my best to answer it.
Forth, if you have any, and i mean ANY, tips for writing journeys, tell me. My ideea was to start the chapter with Sunset waking up in a carriage or train or something along the lines and be at the destination. Now, should i do that or it would be better to write about it a bit, like "After Sunset left she took the train to somewhere and then she walked to somewhere before reaching her destination". Just, you know, more detailed. I really need some help here.
Fifth, and i promise this is the last thing I'll say here, i kind of forgot to make a drawing on how i envision Quill to look. Give me a bit of time a d i will post the link in the comments.

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                    Chapter 7 - Voyage                     
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Chapter 7 - Voyage
*Rain drops fell upon her face while she watched the red blood sky and the black moon. She stood there, laying on her back, not moving, beraly even breathing, but she was awake. She could smell the smoke, ash and blood in the air, and she was in great pain. Pushing trough the pain as much as she could, she managed to get up enough so she could see her surroundings. Forests on fire, mountains and the landscape destroyed, a river of blood, city destroyed, and countless dead. The corpses of ponies, griffins, dragons, magical beasts, titans and golems filled the streets and the outskirts of the city as well as the lands beyond. She watched what monsters and demons that remained massacre the few that had survived the battle. Citizens crying while running in fear, children screaming for their mothers and fathers, only to be killed or eaten seconds later. Soldiers that fought to the bitter end to try and save as many as possible, yet failing.
She grunted and screamed as she got up. She was dying, she knew that, but she would not die staying on the ground and letting those abominations eat her alive. No, she will die in battle. 'Miss'
Little by little, she started chuckling as she watched her surroundings, then little by little, she started laughing. A maniacal one, a broken one. How could she not? She foresaw what was going to happen, prepared accordingly, yet still lost.'Miss' If only GriffinStone and Equestria helped. If only they weren't so afraid to fight, if only.... If only. She thought. And so, how could she not laugh? Her people were dead, her country destroyed, her land in shambles. But, strage as it seem, she was happy in a way, content. While she lost everything, at least she managed to... 'MISS!'*
Sunset eyes opened, and jumped from her seat in a cold sweat, looked in all directions, before she recognized that she was in a train.
"Miss, sorry to scare you like that, but we arrived, and you seemed like you were having a nightmare. A bad one from the looks of it." The conductor said. looking concerned.
"A nightmare?.. No, not a nightmare. A memory. A fragment." Sunset murmured. Suddenly, pain started to envelop her head, causing the unicorn to grind her teeth and fall to her knees. They're getting more frequent.  After a second she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself, before opening her eyes again, getting back up and looking at the conductor. "Sorry for that, and thanks for waking me up. I was about to miss my station." She said, trying to smile as realistically as possible.
The conductor looked at her with doubt, but decided to leave it. "No problem miss, as long as you are fine, I'm fine. Now, off you go, i have to prepare for departure." He said, before turning and leaving to do his job.
Deciding that she should do as instructed, she grabbed her backpack and disembarked from the train.
Stepping into the train station she felt a sense of awe as she looked at the interior of the building. She knew that Lunar Harbour was a very developed city, but she didn't expect the train station to be this big. Arches of quartz and sapphire holding up the glass ceiling, while stained glass with beautiful design decorated the windows. A big golden clock was in between the tracks that served as the schedule for when trains arrive and depart. The station was decorated with benches and the walls were decorated with flowers and plants, and a lot of creatures moving and going about their day. It was a sight to be seen. Looking a bit to her left she saw the exit, right next to it were two statues. One was with a pony that held up a fish in it's harpoon and the other was a leviathan. Stepping outside the station, she was more in awe. The city was beautiful. The station was located on a hill, strategically placed there for tourists and locals that were coming back to have a view of the whole city. The city was big, it was expected, but it was still massive. Building of every shape and sizes, factories, markets, and greenery, a lot of it. Trees everywhere, moss, plants and vines decorated each and every house and building.
Two locations sood out the most. The first location, a massive building, tall and wide, with a rounded roof. Sunset figured that should be the city hall. The other location that caught Sunset's eyes was the harbor. Cranes used for making ships, docking ships, transporting and depositing goods. Ships of every size coming and going. That's where she needed to go.
With the destination acquired, she began to move slowly throughout the city, enjoying the little peace she had. She knew that it would not last, but by Amara herself, she would try. And so, she walked, taking turns, getting lost, asking others for directions, untill, she finally got to the market, the central part of the town.
Sunset found it amazing how a port city market was so varied. Shops and stalls that sold everything from clothes to books, weapons to candy, artifacts and runes. It was amazing. The market was also populated, tons and tons of creatures, so much so that she had a hard time navigating. Everywhere she went, she had to be careful to not bumb into someone. She also had to be careful of pickpocketers. While she had casted a simple location spell on her backpack, she didn't want to run half the city to get them back.
After some time of weaving trough the crowd, and asking people where to go next, she found herself at the hearth of the marketplace. A big fountain stood glamorously in the middle of the marker. Deciding that she needs to take a break, The unicorn scanned for an empty place to rest her hooves. Finding none, because the benches were already occupied, she got thinking of her options.
First option was to continue walking, untill she got out of the market, but her hooves hurt from all the walking.
Second option was to go to a restaurant and hope there was a seat avaliable.
Liking the second option more, she quickly got to work, only to find out that all of the restaurants in the vicinity were full. Great. first option it is then.
After about half an hour of walking, she finally got outside of the marketplace. Finding herself in an unfamiliar place yet again, Sunset swore a bit, then, deciding it was not worth consuming any more energy, she just sat down on a front porch of a random house. Opening her backpack, she levitated some rations and started digging in. As she was eating, she heard the door behind her opening. Turning her head around she saw a young pegasus mare, no more then 14 years old, looking at her with a peculiar face.
"Hello? Can i help you miss?" The young pegasus asked, cautiously.
Sunset quickly got up and turned to face the mare. "Oh, sorry. I was just resting a bit, and i didn't find anywhere else to sit." She said sheepishly.
The pegasus gave her a confused and concerned look.
"No really, see, i got lost. This is my first time in the city, and i lost my way. I'm looking for the harbor, but i got tired from all the walking and decided to catch my breath a bit." Sunset said embarrassingly.
"I see. Well then miss." The young mare said with a smile. "You are in luck, I'm going there myself to give my father his launch. If you want, you can tag along."
At those words, Sunset was extremely happy. Not only there was someone who was going in the same direction, But she had company as well.
"Thanks, um?"
"Calming Waves. But friends call me Weavy." The young pegasus said, smiling, as if to calm the unicorn.
"Beautiful name. Well then Weavy, thanks for letting me tag along, you really saved my legs some walking." Sunset said as she put the unfinished rations back in her backpack. She wanted to rest some more, but she could do so when she got there.
"Legs?" The pegasus asked.
"Oh sorry, i meant hooves." Sunset said, a blush forming in her cheeks at the mistake she made.
The trip to the harbor didn't take that long if you knew where to go, a simple twenty minutes walk. No doubt widout her companion, it would have taken way longer for Sunset to arrive. During the walk, Sunset asked various questions about how the port works and other stuff, learning a few thing in the process.
The first thing she learned, it's that the port mainly deals in trade. Most of the ships that come and go are either training ships or fishing ships. Very few ships were used in transportation, and even less ships were independent from the harbor. Sunset didn't like it that much, her chances to find someone to take her where she needed to go were low, but now they were even lower.
Second thing she learned was that the harbour was an comprised of different institutions. It was not a single body, but many that worked in sync. The biggest two, and the ones that could be of help to her, were the fishing guild and the merchant guild. There was also the Union, which was a group comprised of individuals that didn't want to affiliate with any of the guilds or government.
Having been lost in thought, she hasn't realized that Weavy was calling her name to tell her that they have arrived.
Sunset, shaken from her thought, she looked around to see that yes, she has indeed arrived.
She turned to face her temporary companion. "Thank you Weavy, for bringing me here." She said with a smile.
Weavy smiled back. "It's no problem miss, i was going in the same direction. Well then, i better hurry, I'm sure my father is quite hungry at this point." The pegasus said as she started walking away.
Having been left alone now, Sunset began her search. She started to ask around on the whereabouts of the offices of each institution. Having gotten directions, she started walking. It wasn't long before she arrived at the Merchant guild office. Knocking twice, she waited for a response before entering.
The office was a small room, filled with stacks of paper, a desk and an older stalion behind it.
"*Ahem* Hello sir." Sunset said.
The stalion looked up from his papers to look at Sunset. "Name?" He said. It was clear from how he talked and looked that was very bored.
"Sunset Shimmer" She said.
"Purpose?"
"I would like to embark on a ship." She said.
"Where to?"
"Navalia." She said.
At those words the stalion looked up in confusion. "Navalia? Oh, i see, you were joking." He said before letting out a sigh. "Miss, i don't have time for jokes. I'll ask again, where to?"
Now it was Sunset's turn to be confused. "I wasn't joking. I'm looking for a ship to take me there. If it's about the money, i can pay."
The stalion got up from his seat to look at the unicorn in front of him better. "The hell you want to go to that accursed land for?"
"Accursed land?" She said in confusion.
The stalion looked at her in awe. "Stupid girl, you want to go there but you don't even know what you're getting yourself into?" He said angrily. "Get out from my office before i call the guards!"
Seing how angry the stalion was, she got up and left in confusion. What did he mean by accursed land? Seing as she was getting no answers by asking herself, she decided to head to her next destination. The fishing guild. The chances to find a ship to take her there were low, but at least they weren't zero.
Sunset stood outside the fishing guild's Office, baffled, confused and annoyed. The interaction went about the same as the previous place. As soon as she mentioned Navalia the stalion snapped, and when she tried to ask why he was so hostile all of a sudden, he just called the guards to escort her out.
Seing as she just got trown out by both guilds, Sunset thought it would be a good ideea to gather informations about why Navalia was such a taboo place. Taking a few minutes to think, she decided that the best place to ask around was the bars around the harbour, where sailors gather to drink after a long journey.
With the plan made, she started walking yet again. Her hooves hurt, and she was tired, but even if she couldn't find information there, she could at least rest and eat something.
Having found a few bars, she decided to go to the most populated one. It was called the Sailor's Song. Nice name. She thought. Wasting no time, she went in the establishment. The inside of the bar was as she expected, a bar in the corner, decorations on the wall, Pictures of sailors. It looked like the typical bar if she was being honest. Looking around the place, she found a table that was occupied, but had a free chair, looking around some more, she found out, that was the only free seat. Grumbling a bit at the thought of having to share a table with sailors that haven't showed in days, she decided to take it. It was better then nothing.
"Sorry, is this seat taken?" Sunset asked.
The other three occupants stopped their conversation to look at the young mare. Giving her looks that screamed *Who is she? and *What does she want?*. After a few moments, one of them, a Hippogriff, spoke. "Sure lass. Go ahead."
Having gotten the approval, Sunset wasted no time.
"So, miss." Another one spoke, A stalion, with a scar on his right eye. "What brings you to this side of the city?"
"Information gathering, but for now, a nice meal and a place to rest." Sunset said.
"Aye lass, this here be the best dinner in this part of the city, that i know." The Hippogriff said with a smirk. "The name's Sky." He pointed to the stalion next. "He's Sunny and the other one's Cal."
"Pleasure." She said with a smile. "I'm Sunset Shimmer." She said, before getting interrupted by her stomach, causing her to blush a little.
The other three started laughing at the sound her stomach made. "The lass's hungry i see." Sky said before turning his head to the bar. "Oi lass, bring some food here. We've got one hungry mare here." he shouted.
After a few moments a young waitress came and brought the food. Before stopping. "Oh, hey miss. we meet again."
"Weavy? What are you doing here?" Sunset asked, confused at what a young child like her is doing here.
"Helping my father. He owns the place. I'm the cook by the way, sp you know the food is guaranteed to be good." She said, before hearing her name getting called feom somewhere else. "Ops, I'm needed elsewhere. See ya beautiful miss." She said with a smile before running off somewhere else.
Sunset blushed a bit at her comment. Looking at her food, which was comprised of grilled fish and a salad, she took a small bite. It was then that she found out that Sky was telling the truth. This was delicious.
The three others started laughing at how fast the young unicorn was devouring the food, but Sunset didn't care, she was to preoccupied with eating to care.
It wasn't long before she finished the meal, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.
"Now that you had your meal, mind telling us what business did you come here for?" Sunny asked.
Sunset smirked. "Intrigued are you? Well, i came here to search for informations about a certain place. And before you get all mad and angry like the others, I'm just looking for information, nothing else."
Sunset waited for them to nod in approval before starting. "You all know Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" She said, getting nods of approval in response. "Well, she recently got invested in researching the continent of Navalia, and as i am a very good friend of hers, she asked me for help. Fast forward a few days, we decided that it's better for me to come here in person to gather informations and for her to search the royal library. That way we cover more ground. I've tried to ask around, but every time i got told to leave." Sunset said. It was a lie, a big fat one, but using Twilight's name would make the conversation smoother.
"The hell you want to know about that place for? Tis nothing but trouble if ye ask me." Sky said, scowling while doing so. Soon enough, the others made the same face.
"It's a cursed land miss Shimmer. I suggest you go back and tell the princess to give up. She'll be spared the headaches." Sunny said in a serious tone.
Sunset gave the stalion the same serious face. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. Just tell me what you know, and in return I'll pay for the drinks tonight."
"You've got a deal lass." Sky didn't really want to talk about it, but free drinks are free drinks. "Like my friend here said, that land is cursed. The entire continent in engulfed in a thick fog of magical origins. Many who ventured there never came back, and the few that did return, well, let's just say that they were missing a few screws." He said grimly.
"Why? Did the fog messed with their heads?" She asked curiosity.
"If it were only that, the mages would have made something to counter it a long time ago. No, it's something else, something much worse. The ones that came back, all said that the land was weird. That it did not obey the laws of physics, and on top of that, time moves differently. I remember an article about a group of researchers going there. A few days later, only one of them returned. From his statement, a few years have passed. When he was asked what happened to the others, he began to cry and say 'Abominations' over and over. Poor guy lost his marbles." Sunny said, taking a long sip from his drink.
Sunset lowered her head, looking at the drink. "How long ago was that?"
"Bout 90 years or so." Sunny said.
Hearing that, Sunset got up from her chair and slammed her hooves against the table. "90 years?!" She screamed, causing the others in the bar to look at her in confusion and annoyance. Seing that as well, Sunset took her seat once more and asked again in a lower tone. "90 years? Wait, if the last expedition was that long ago, how long ago did the continent got engulfed by the fog?" She asked, not really wanting to hear the answer to that.
The others gave Sunset a confused look at the sudden outburst she had, before Sunny continued. "If my memory serves me right, I think it's close to 400 years.
"400 years? No, that can't be right, can it?" Sunset murmured. She wanted to immediately ask some more questions, but thankfully, she had the control necessary to not seem like a crazy person.
Calming herself a little after such news, she asked. "Are you sure ab-" Before she could continue she heard someone screaming.
"I'll do it. By the sea of Eques I'll do it." Sunset searched for the one who screamed like a madman, only to find an old grandpa, drunk as he could be, screaming at a guy who was laughing hysterically and looked like he just wanted to make fun on him.
"You ain't got the courage old fart." The young stalion said while continuing to laugh. "Just go home, you can barely walk, let alone sail."
"I'll Show you, I'll show you all. Bunch of ungrateful brats!" The old man said while swaying left and right.
Before Sunset could ask anything else, she heard Sky. "Aye, That one be Grandpa Grumpy. Poor guy that one."
Sunset turned to look at Sky. "Why?"
Sky made a grim face. "It all happened bout 25 years ago. From what i know, he was part of the fishing guild. He'd always take his wife and son with him, said that way he could spend more time with them. Little did he knew then, that was the biggest mistake of his life. Poor guy got hit by a storm, causing his ship to drift off untill they were right at the border of the fog. His wife and kid got trown off the ship and pulled by the waves into the fog. He tried everything to go after them, the fool even jumped into the water and tried to swim after them. Unfortunately for him, the waves changed direction, causing him to drift farther and farther from his family. Luckily, a ship found him the next day and saved him, but he never was the same. Poor lad always says that he'll go after them into the fog, but he never does it. Well, guess it's better that way.
"I see." Was the only response Sunset could give. It was sad, but that gave her an ideea. If the old man plans to go there, maybe he can bring me along. If not, then maybe he'll sell me the ship he has. There was also a third option, she could steal the boat, but Sunset didn't want to do that. She would only do that as a last resort.
Having heard what she wanted to hear, and some thing that she didn't, she decided to call it for the night. Not before asking where the old man lived so she could go see him tomorrow.
As the night fell, she eventually managed to get a room at a nearby hotel. Throwing her backpack somewhere in the room, she fell on the bed with a thud, taking only seconds to fall asleep.
Alright, this is where grandpa Grumpy lives.. I belive. She could be wrong, she didn't ask any of the neighbors if this is the house, but it looked old and dirty. Considering that this was the only house in this state in this neighborhood, Sunset had high hopes. Steeling herself for a conversation she will certainly not want to have, she knocked. A few minutes passed but no response. She knocked again, and after a few second more, she knocked some more, causing the man inside to scream. "I hear ya, i hear ya." Sunset could hear him.
A few moments later the door opened, revealing the old man. If looks could kill, Sunset would have died many times over with the way the old man looked at her.
"What you want girl?" The old man asked, in the most hostile tone he could muster.
Deciding to ignore the open hostility, Sunset put on her best smile. "Hello Mister Grumpy, mind if i step inside a bit? This conversation requires a certain level of privacy."
"I do mind." The old man said, his hostility not lowering even a little.
"....." Sunset looked at the old man.
"......" The old man looked back.
"Ok then, outside it is. See, I came here today to discuss something you said last night at the Sailor's Song bar."
The old man scowled. "If you came here just to laugh, then you can fuck right off girly. I ain't nobody's damn circus." He said, getting ready to close the door.
Before he could do so, Sunset intervened. "Actually sir, i am very much intrigued by what you have said, and most importantly, what you want to do." She said, still trying her best to smile.
The old man stared at the unicorn in front of him, judging, thinking. "Alright, come inside." He said as he started to walk inside the house, letting the door open for Sunset to follow.
Happy that the old man would at least hear her out, she wasted no time in getting in before the old man changed his mind.
As she stepped inside, Sunset found herself shocked. The house was clean. The exterior of the building looked as if it would fall any second now, but the interior looked clean, well kept, organized. Looking around the house a bit, she found out that it was full of pictures. Of the old man and his family. She stopped to look at a picture of them. They were at sea, all three of them looked happy, complete. It was clear that Mister Grumpy treasured those photos. Looking to her left, she saw the old man in his chair, watching her like a hawk. Deciding to not let him wait any longer, she sat down opposite of him.
"So, what's this about?" Grumpy said.
"Like i said earlier, i have come to talk about last night. Specifically about the fact that you are planning to go to Navalia."
"Yeah? So what?" Grumpy said, never once letting Sunset out of his sight.
"Well, I've come to ask if it's true. Do you really plan to embark on a ship and sail there? Or was what you said last night the lies of a drunken fool?" Sunset asked, her face and voice now serious.
"What's it to you if what i said was true or not?" The old man asked, but he got no response in return, just Sunset looking at him with a serious, yet sad expression. At first he thought that the sadness was just pity for an old crazy pony, but as he looked closer, he saw that the sadness was not directed at him, it was directed at her. He knew that expression too well.
"I see." The old man said, nodding in understanding. "It's true."
"Then." She said, stopping a bit before continuing. "Would you be willing to take a companion on your last journey?"
The old man's eyes widened. From all the things she expected from this young lass, her wanting to embark on a suicide mission with an old crazy bastard like himself was not one of them. But as he watched her more and more, he understood why. There was a great sadness in her eyes, way greater then his. The old man could not fathom what a girl so young had to go trough. But he also understood that the young unicorn, unlike him, had a purpose. Closing his eyes for a few seconds to think, he made his choice.
"Midnight. West side of the harbor, sector four. If you're late I'll leave widout you." He said.
Sunset stood there for half an hour. It was almost midnight. She was wondering if the old man would actually show up. Just as she was about to go search for him, she heard someone walking towards her. Turning around she saw that it was the old man, walking slowly. Giving a nod to greet her newest companion she looked at the ship. An old one, but it would do the job.
"You've got some balls on you lady. Most men would shit themselves just hearing of what we're about to do." The old man said jokingly.
"Well, to do what we're about to do does require balls of steel or just being crazy. Thankfully, it seems i have a bit of both worlds." Sunset said with a chuckle. Causing the old man to actually laugh a bit.
"Come on, let's get started, before the winds blow against us." The old man said.
Doing as instructed, Sunset followed the old man onto the ship and began to prepare. Checking if everything is alright with the ship, letting down the sails, and finally, pulling up the anchor, causing the ship to move into the open sea.
Sunset looked back at the shore. That might be the last time she will see Equestria. If she was lucky, she would see it again, but unfortunately for her, luck was a rare resource.
"Stop ogling at the shore and come help me." The old man said in a high voice. He might sound angry, but Sunset could hear it in his voice, he was enjoying this.
Turning her attention back to the old man and smirked. "On it Capitan."
Author's Note
Oh yeah, the plot thickens.  
Oo this chapter was hard, but fun to write. You can definitely see a drop in writing quality at the end, but, that's the best i could come with.  
I also need realized that i kind of fucked up. Last chapter i needed to write a bit more. But I'll make it work somehow.
Now, onto the fun stuff. As you can see, there are some thing that will not make sense for you in this chapter. Don't worry, it's supposed to not make sense yet. I'll reveal more answers in the next chapter as well. Also, from here on out, at least in the chapters that are about Sunset, things will escalate. I have so many things in mind.
Anyway, if you liked it, that's good enough for me. And, if you have questions, I'll try my best to answer them without spoiling.

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                 Chapter 8 - Loss and pain                 
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Chapter 8 - Loss and pain
"PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT LASSY!" Screamed the old bastard Sunset got stuck with in this journey. "MY GRANDMA COULD DO BETTER!"
Sunset growled with hate for the old man as she pushed onto the mechanism that rotated the sails. As much as she hated what she was doing, and she wanted to use magic, she already was using it for other tasks, keeping the barrels and supplies that were on deck in place, while she was using her body to do the manual work. As she pushed, she kept screaming back at the Grandpa Grumpy. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING YOU OLD FART. MAYBE IF YOU KEEPT THE DAMN SHIP STEADY I WOULDN'T HAV-"
She was stopping from speaking as a big wave hit the ship, causing Sunset to lose her footing and fall on her back. She then began to slide off the ship, luckily, she was saved by the rails. Just as she managed to pick herself up a bit, the ship passed the wave, causing the ship to fall back on the water, and causing Sunset to fall once again. "Damn storm!" She screamed.
Yes, the storm. It caught them by surprise as they were sailing. One moment they were navigating smoothly in calm waters, the next moment they were fighting to keep the ship on the surface of the water and not under it.
As Sunset finally picked herself up and stood on fours hooves again, realization began to arrive, as she just remembered she had to keep the supplies on the ship. She looked around to see what remained of them after that wave. Unfortunately, they were gone, trown in the water by the waves and gravity. Sunset began saying curse words under her breath, before turning her attention to her companion.
"THE SUPPLIES ARE GONE OLD MAN!" She screamed. they had to scream at one a other, otherwise they would not hear each other, as the storm was too strong and intense. The sound of Thunder was deafening and the rain was heavy. The winds were howling and were as cold as if the Windigos themselves showed up.
The old man screamed something back to her, but she could not hear it. The distance between the two of them was about 65 feet, but even with such a short distance, the voice of the two were finding trouble traveling, as the noise of the storm was simply too loud. Seing as she could not hear the old man, and she didn't think the old man could hear her either, she decided to look and see if he was giving her directions trough signs. To her relief, the old man did exactly that, using one free hoof to indicate which direction she should turn the sail to. Nodding in understanding, she began to work once more on the mechanism, but this time using magic.
She was wet, she was hungry, and was tired of the sea, but she didn't come this far only to be killed by a damn storm, no, she would survive, least she wanted to be a laughing stock. Be a laughing stock to who? She thought. To her friends? No. They weren't her friends no longer. Not because Sunset didn't want to, but because they would not accept her anymore.
Having been lost in thought a bit, she didn't realize the old man screaming at her with all his might to stop turning the ship left, and instead turn it right. Luckily she tuned in back in time to hear some curses she didn't even knew existed, causing her to start paying attention once more. Listening to the instructions of the veteran sailor, she did as instructed, quickly changing the direction. And lucky she did so when she did, because if she was a few seconds late, the ship would have been tilted too much by the wave and would have fallen backwards, causing them to die.
"WHAT NOW OLD MAN?!" Sunset screamed, asking for more instructions.
Luckily, the old man heard her. "NOW, NOW WE PRAY TO WHATEVER WE BELIEVE IN AND HOPE WE GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE GIRLY!" He shouted back.
It was a few hours before they managed to get out of that awful storm. Luckily, they were alive, tired, hungry, wet, and overall, not in a great condition. But they were alive, and so, Sunset couldn't really complain. They were back in calmer waters, and having fought with their lives on the line to stay above the water, they decided to take a break.
Sunset went inside the ship and started looking for whatever looked comfortable enough to sit on or lean against to take a quick break. Unfortunately for her, just as she got trown around by the storm like a rag, so did the supplies that were inside. Scanning a bit more carefully, she found what she was looking for, a few boxes that luckily, were in decent shape. She quickly used her magic to make a makeshift bed, hopped on it, and closed her eyes, trying to get some shut eyes.
She tried anyway, but soon she heard the old man screaming to get her flank on the deck. Sighing, she got back up, and made her way there. As soon as she stepped onto the deck, she saw it. Fog in the distance, thick fog. Tall enough to reach the skies, and thick enough to only see a few feet ahead of you. Turning her attention to her companion, the unicorn looked at him with concern. "It's that it? Is this the fog that separates Navalia from the outside world?"
The old man in turn looked back at her with fear, but also relief. Relief in the fact that his journey will finally come to an end. "Aye, that's the one." He said, stopping a bit to look at the fog some more then started again. "Be prepared, as soon as we hit the fog, we won't be able to see much. If we hit something, it could be the end of us."
Sunset gulped. She looked back at the fog. Now she too, felt fear. Deciding her safety was important, her horn glowed with red aura around it, indicating that she was casting a spell. And that she did. She used her magic to envelop the whole hull of the ship, making a protective layer that will protect it from being damaged in case it hit something. After she was finished, she opened her eyes again and realized that they were already in the fog. Looking confused, she turned her attention to her companion and capitan. "Weren't we a good distance from it? How are we already inside it?"
"No ideea. One second we were far, and now were in it. Probably some ancient magic bollocks if you ask me. Now keep yer eyes open, here be dangerous waters we're in." He said while looking around like a hawk. His eyes were focused, focused on finding anything and everything that could do them and the ship harm. Following his approach, Sunset did the same.
She scanned, she looked, she beraly even blinked, yet found nothing. But, she wasn't stupid enough to let her guard down just because she didn't see anything, after all, the waters were deep, and anything could hide benith it, and so, she kept her eyes and ears peeled.
Because they were so focused on their task, none of them realised that the fog was getting thinner and thinner, untill thing suddenly got darker. Snapping from their trance, they got left speechless. As their eyes adjusted, they saw, Navalia, in the distance. None of them knew what to think, or even what to say, but for Sunset, it hit harder. What she saw left her speechless, baffled. She looked at what was in front of her, she saw, but she didn't want to belive it, no, she refused to belive it.
What they saw, was a land of death, a land of disease, rot and decay. The once beautiful mountains, now destroyed, warped, as if space itself was unstable. Floating islands and rocks donned the skies, alongside cracks in space that oozed what she assumed a green liquid with corrosive properties and dark magic, that looked like it was contaminating the very land itself. She saw the once beautiful and lush forests, now turned into lands of rot and decay. Other parts of the land were warped. Pillars of dirt and stone rose up, becoming more and more twisted, as if something pulled the very earth itself as a tapestry, or a mockery of this land. She saw waterfalls of muck, mud and blood ignoring gravity and going upward. She saw the tallest mountain in Navalia, it was as if a celestial being pushed his finger into the mountain, creating a crater that looked like a volcano, and that was not all, there was lightning, all around the mountain. She saw, and was left speechless. Her once beautiful land, turned to this. She felt sick, but she could not tear his eyes from it.
On the other side, Grandpa Grumpy saw the land, and could only think about what horrors his wife and son must have felt and saw. He thought of what manner of creatures are residing here, and hoped that his wife and son met a quick death.
It wasn't long before both of them realised that it was night. While Grumpy wasn't that concerned about it, blaming it on the fact that more time must have passed then they have realized, Sunset knew that it could not happen. She looked at the sky, it was night, but no moon, no stars, yet it was night. She knew for a fact that that when they entered the fog, it was mid -day. Looking more carefully, she realised that she was wrong. looking up, with more attention this time, she did not see the night, no, there was darkness, complete darkness, completely black, as if they were inside of a void, But somehow, there was enough light for them to kind of see. Deciding to finally tear her eyes and mind from such a horrible sights, lest she wanted to go mad, she turned her attention to the old man.
The old man in turn looked at her back with the same look of fear that she had. They looked at each other for a few moments, neither one of them saying anything. It remained like that until they heard a loud roar in the distance. A roar so loud, so primal, and so evil, that it instilled more fear in them then they already had.
Before any of them could say anything, they were both trown to the floor as the ship jerked and trembled. Picking themselves up as best as they could, they started to look for anything under the water that did what it did. "What was that?" Sunset asked as she continued her watch.
"No ideea lad, but be prepared, whatever that was, if it struck once, it will do it again." The capitan said.
As soon he said that, something hit the boat again, this time harder, causing the ship to rock side to side, in turn, causing both of them to lose their balance once again.
Both of them realised that things were about to turn ugly if they moved at their current speed. They had to take measures. Getting back on her hooves, Sunset horn lit in a thick red aura. As soon as she was done with the spell, she released a powerful gust of wind to try and move the ship further, and faster. Having some success, she then increased the potency of the spell little by little. They weren't that far from the shore now, if she kept this up, they could reach it in about six minutes.
Unfortunately for them, things started to go bad, as a massive fleshy tentacle burst out of the water, slamming into the ship's deck. Another one rose high, then enveloped the ship and began to drag it down to the dephts. Sunset stopped what she was doing, and used her magic to teleport near her makeshift bed. She then began to search for her backpack. Quickly finding it, she got out all of her weapons and teleported back to the deck, only to almost be crushed to death as another tentacle slammed onto the deck, mere feet for her. She jumped back, and used one of her greatswords to try and cut the tentacle, however, it had little effect as the blade bounced back. Seing as blades would have no effect, she then conjured a ball of fire, then laughed it at the target.
The fireball hit as intended, causing a small explosion that was enough to blow the tentacle apart, causing the creature to start tightening it's grip around the ship and send more tentacle to try and kill whatever it was hurting it.
Seing this, Sunset took a few moments to use an enchantment spell on all of her weapons. She covered the blades in a very thin but strong coat of magic, causing the blades to be much sharpener then before. She then created a fireball, but did not launch it, instead, pulling the fireball apart to cover the weapons in a fiery aura. She finished just in time as more and more tentacles rose up to envelop the ship. Quickly getting into action, she started moving and slashing. Moving around the ship like a she was dancing, dodging and weaving between the attacking tentacles while cutting them up, while simultaneously using fire balls to destroy the ones that were dragging the ship into the sea.
As she kept her assault, she kept giving glances at her companion. While Grumpy was old, he was not defenseless. He too was moving and slashing at the tentacles, however, while his blade was of the highest quality, the best it could do is scratch the tentacles, but the old man wasn't a fool. He kept attacking the same spots, and after a few hits, he managed to cut one. Seing as his plan worked, he kept doing it.
Both of them fought hard, and little by little they could see that there were less and less tentacles. Realizing that, both of them fought harder, before just a few tentacles remained. But just killing the tentacles wasn't enough, no, they had to do something. Sunset realised that they had to get the ship moving again, and the only way to do it, was to use the wind spell. But there was just one problem, while the spell was active, she would need to be stationary, and that was dangerous considering the position she was in. Quickly thinking of a plan, she stopped her attack and focused on enchanting Grumpy's sword. After she was done, and she could see Grumpy's eyes lit up in satisfaction she began to scream at Grumpy. "Old man, we need to get the ship moving! I can do it, but you'll have to protect me." She said, as she already started to prepare the spell.
"Be right there lass!" He said before he cut another tentacle. After he was finished, he started running towards Sunset to help her. Unfortunately for him, as he was running, a giant tentacle rose up from the sea, high into the sky, then slammed into him, crushing him, and cracking the skip. Blood, limbs,organs and debris started flying.
Sunset stopped casting the spell as something hit her. She opened her eyes and put a hoof on her face. Blood, it was blood and flesh. A few moments later, something hit her hoof, looking down she could see that it was the head of the old man, crushed and full of blood, but she could still recognize it. Just as she was about to scream, another giant tentacle rose up, then slammed into the ship, breaking it in two, causing it to launch Sunset into the water.
As soon as she dived in the sea, Sunset casted a quick protection spell on her eyes, to protect her from the salt and other things. As she opened her eyes, she realised what a huge mistake that was. Now that her eyes were protected, she could see what was attacking them. It was a huge creature, a massive creature. It's body was huge, larger then any living creatures in Equestria, no, larger then most buildings in equestria. It's body was covered in mouths, eyes and tentacles. So many tentacles. Seing that, she realised that what was attacking them was only a small portion of it's total amount of tentacles. She saw how the creature took one half of the ship and ate it whole, using it's big mouth, full of teeth the size of houses to tear the ship apart. Sunset panicked. Seing the mangled corpse of Grumpy, the ship being destroyed, and looking at a creature so disgusting and vile that it did not make any sense, it broke her. She lost her cool, and so, she panicked. Thoughts running trough her mind, like 'What the fuck is that?' and 'I'm going to die!'. She screamed, or tried to anyway. She started kicking the water in an attempt to get away from the abomination before her. Luckily for her, the abomination was too preoccupied with eating the ship, so Sunset, had enough time to get to the surface.
As she reached the surface, Sunset saw tentacles rising from the dephts to take whatever, pieces and scraps they could get a hold of. Realizing that it probably won't be long for her to be it's next target, she started swimming as fast as she could. Luckily, she wasn't far from the shore.
She swam as fast as she could, not ever daring to look back. Not after what she saw.
It wasn't long before she made it to shore. Getting out of the water, drenched and exhausted, she plopped into the muddy earth. Tears soon began to form in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them out. She would not cry, she could not cry. No! She refused to do so, otherwise it would be a disservice to her lost companion.
He risked his life to come here, he knew the dangers. He wanted this! *Sniff* H-he planned on coming here e-even widout me! *Sniff* It's not my fault! She tried her best to not cry, she wanted to convince herself that she was not responsible for the old man's death, yet she was failing. Tears started streaming down her face, soon after, those tears became more and more, and she could not stop it anymore. She tried to build a dam around her heart, she tried to bottle her emotions up, yet that poorly constructed dam only held for a few seconds before it came crushing down, letting tears and feeling flow. "THEN WHY DO I FEEL SO FUCKING SHITTY?!" She screamed while she began punching the mud and dirt out of anger and frustration. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE?" she punched some more, her hooves getting cuts from the sharp rocks hidden beneath. She did so until her body was too exhausted to punch and wail. "Why did you had to leave me as well?" She said in a low tone, her anger subduing little by little, and in place, guild, fear and loneliness took it's place.
As she was laying down, crying silently, a few debris from the ship found their way onto shore as well. Amongst those debris, there was also one of Sunset's great swords. Arriving with a small wave, bringing it close enough to hit Sunset's back hooves.
Sunset shot up in an instant, immediately in a battle stance. it took a few seconds for her to realize what had touched her. Realizing that it was one her weapons and not the abomination coming to finish her off, she calmed down a bit, closing   
her eyes and taking deep breaths, in and out. She opened her eyes, and stared into the weapon. She picked it up in her magic and placed it on her back using a spell to hold it in place untill she needed it, and from what she had just encountered, she would need it.
She turned around, away from the sea, and witnessed what awaited her. A forest, but not like any other. Massive trees around 300 feet in hight, made from not wood, but gray stone. She looked up and she could see that the leaves were blood red. She looked down, and all she could see was mud, puddles of weird looking water and vines, also made of stone.
She sighed, and closed her eyes. Now that her mind and heart were a bit calmer, she began to build the dam around her heart again. Little by little, piece by piece. Stronger and bigger.
She slowly opened her eyes. "Never again." If the pain of getting close to people was too much, she would suppress it. If the pain of trusting others, only to be trown aside, hurt her, she would suppress it as well. She was done having her heart broken, she was done with half baked promises of friendship and love. She wanted to block the pain of loss as well, but she thought of the old man. As annoying as he was, she grew to like him. He swore like a griffin and smelled like a dead rat, but at least he was honest, he was brave, and he didn't put on a mask. He fought and died besides Sunset, and to block the pain of loss she felt, was to disgrace his sacrifice. She will remember the old man who wanted nothing more then find his family and die alongside them. She will remember him as a friend. And so, she made a promise to herself. "Don't worry Grumpy, i will find your family, and i will bring them home. This is my vow, my promise, to you."
She looked at the forest one more time. The time for being scared was gone, The time for panicking like a child was gone. Now more then ever, eyes filled with determination, she began her journey into foreign lands. Taking her first few steps into what she believed to be madness incarnate.
Author's Note
First of all, i have no excuse. The reason it took so long it's because in my free time, i was playing Elden Ring. So yeah, sorry it took so damn long, but the Elden Ring called, and as a tarnished, i had to answer.
Second of all, let me just say, i did not plan for this fic to turn so dark. But Elden Ring had a big influence on how i wanted the story to go. I just fell in love with the dark fantasy that the game presents, and as soon as i started writing again, i just knew how i wanted the story to go. The sense of loneliness, the sense of dread, and the fact that there are no happy endings, that's the type of story i want to write. And so, buckle your bridges, bitches, it's time for pain.
Also, i will change how i write the chapters. I previously said that i would do one chapter with Sunset and one with Rarity and AJ, but i decided to change it. Mostly because when i tried to write the Rarity and Applejack chapter, i couldn't do it. I had no inspiration for it, no ideea how to start and how to write it, and so, i decided to just write another Sunset chapter. Next chapter will probably still be with Sunset.

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                Chapter 9 - First encounter                
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Chapter 9 - First encounter
Sunset jumped from one root to another, struggling to keep her balance. When the distance from one root to another was too big, she used her magic to create a small platform so she can traverse without stepping in the mud. It was not that she didn't like getting dirty, although that was one part of it, it's that she didn't know where it was safe to walk, after all if she walked and sinked deep, it could spell disaster.
Eventually she found a bigger root that she used to catch her breath. She didn't like it, but traversing this swamp forest took more energy out of her then she could spare, and it was not the only thing that exhausted her, she had to keep constant vigilance. She didn't know what could be hiding in the mud or in the trees, and she didn't want to find out. The lack of food was also a problem. She lost all her resources when the deep sea abomination destroyed the ship, so energy management became very important. She had to keep low and steady, spending the least amount of energy to travel in order not to die of exhaustion. It was hard, and it didn't help that going further and further into the swamp, the fog that permitted in this place became thicker and thicker.
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At one point she tried to eat some of the red leaves, she quickly found out that was a mistake. As soon as she took one bite of the leaf, her entire mouth became numb. She quickly spit it out, and lucky, the effect only lasted about two hours, but if she did eat one, she would have probably been paralyzed for a good amount of time, and in a place like this, it meant certain death.
Getting up, as she rested enough, she continued forward. From root to root, tree to tree, and occasionally, going trough the mud. To say she was exhausted was an understatement. As she traversed, she kept feeling like something was watching her. She stopped, looked around, but found nothing. But the feeling still remained. Was it the loneliness? Was it the exhaustion? Was it the swamp that played tricks on her? She couldn't tell, but she couldn't afford to dismiss it. Finding nothing, she decided to just pick up the pace a bit, and hope it's just in her head.
Need to find water soon, food as well. I wonder if i can find som- She stopped moving as she heard some leaves rustling up in the trees. This was the first time she heard something unusual. Her horn glowed as she took hold of her greatsword in her magic, immediately getting into battle mode. Ok, so that feeling was not in my head after all. She thought as she listened and searched the area up in the trees where she heard the noise.
Another noise was heard further then the pervious one behind her. Turning her head to try and get a look at what made the noise, she got this weird feeling of impending death that loomed over her. By pure instinct she jumped to the right, just in time to avoid something slamming right where she was a second ago. The force of the slam was so powerful that it caused the roots and mud to shoot out like a wave, heavily restricting Sunset vision. A second later, something came out of the wave of mud and bit her left hoof. She didn't even have time to scream in pain before whatever creature or abomination that got a hold of her started to lift her up and slammed her against a tree with tremendous force, causing Sunset to lose her grasp on the sword.
Sunset gasped as her back hit the tree. Blood came out of her mouth as the pain in her left hoof, back and whatever organs were injured, set it. griting her teeth, in hopes of some pain relief, she lit up her horn, and quickly teleported out of the creature's grasp. Because of the intense pain when she used teleport, she missed the place she wanted to teleport to. Instead of teleporting safely on some roots far away from the creature, she instead got teleported a few feet from the ground, only a short distance from the creature.
She fell down with a thud. Luckily, she fell in the mud, and that somewhat cushioned the fall. She slowly got up on all fours, trying her best to ignore the pain she was feeling. After she did so, her horn glowed blood red, using magic to quickly get the mud on body off of her. It wasn't that she was a clean freak, it was more because the mud was heavy, and it could get in her eyes and wounds. After a quick clean up, she raised her injured hoof to inspect it, and she didn't like what she saw. The first thing she noticed was the bite marks, deep in her flesh and constantly bleeding. The second thing was the fact that bits of flesh and fur were torn off when she got slammed into the tree. The third and most concerning was that some black spots started to appear near the wounds, on closer inspection it seemed like the black spots were starting to corrod the flesh. Luckily, very luckily, Sunset didn't feel that much pain anymore, she wasn't sure if it was because of the shock or some other factor, but she was grateful that the pain was somewhat mitigated.
Knowing that leaving the corrosion alone would only bring her more harm, she decided to try and use a basic healing spell. Sunset's horn glowed again blood red as the injured hoof was enveloped in an aura with the same colour. A few moments later the spell was completed and the injured hoof began to regenerate. The pain was great, but it was mitigated by the allbthe adrenaline. The low tier spell *regeneration* basically did as the name suggested, it made the cells of any living being multiply exponentially and reconstruct any missing mass, however, the side effects of such a low tier spell was the fact that there is no pain mitigation into the spell, meaning that Sunset could feel all of the mass that was destroyed by the corrosion and all of the new mass that was reconstructed, she didn't heal her hoof, she just prolonged the corrosion. Amidst the pain, she cursed herself for not learning any propper healing magic.
Somewhat relieved that the creature didn't attack her yet and gave her enough time to gather herself, she finally looked at the creature, and made a disgusted face. The creature resembled a pony, only bigger, about twice as big as Sunset. There was no fur, no coat, not even skin, the only thing she could see was flesh and very few strands of hair that were once a mane and tail. She could also see some organs out in the open, that were only held by the exposed ribcage. Black eyes that seem to stare into your very soul and a mouth that was way bigger then should be. The creature also had wings made of flesh, like a pegasus, but more deformed, more mutated.
She almost trew up seing the creature, but she endured, she had to look, she had to keep an eye on it, and so, she watched, every movement, every part of it's body. Sunset could see that the creature didn't attack yet because it did the same as her, it was studying her. Sunset could see that the creature possessed some kind of intelligence, not enough to have sapience, but enough to know that attacking recklessly will get it killed, and that scared her more then it's appearance, after all, a creature that possess intelligence is a more formidable foe then a mere beast. And so each of them studied the other, waiting to see what the enemy would do.
Sunset decided that it had studied the creature enough, and decided to make the first move. Her horn glowed for a second before a bolt of continuous electricity shot up, striking the creature right in it's chest. The creature shrieked in pain as electricity coursed trough it's body, causing most of the muscles to spasm and lock. It raised it's head, and opened it's mouth to the limit. Something glowed inside it's mouth, and when it was ready, it released a sickly yellow laser towards Sunset.
Because of the lightning obscuring some of her vision, Sunset beraly saw the laser and jumped to the left, narrowly dodging the attack, stopping her spell in the process. The creature, free from the attack, extended it's wings in an intimidation attempt and let out a roar so loud it caused Sunset's ears to almost burst.
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Sunset recovered quickly and shot out a fireball at it, but the creature dodged sideways, then, using it's wings, propelled itself forward at tremendous speed. Sunset teleported to another root, firing more fireballs at the creature. Most of them missed, but the last two hit. One in it's side, one in it's head. The creature shrieked in pain, but quickly used the terrain to it's advantage. The creature, enveloped in flames, trew itself into the mud, rolling around to put the flames out, but Sunset didn't miss the opportunity and fired another bolt of lightning, and with the creature stunned for a few seconds, Sunset teleported the greatsword to herself and began infusing mana into it and simultaneously casting a sharpness enchantment. After it was done, she launched her greatsword at the creature. Being stunned, the creature couldn't dodge the attack and received heavy damage as the greatsword embedded into it's chest. It shrieked in pain once again, but thanks to the pain, it managed to regain use of it's body. It spread it's wings, but this time it didn't dash forward, it dashed upward.
The creature knew that staying on the ground was not an option, so it decided use it's ability to fly, it's advanced mobility and it's long range attacks in hopes of tiring or killing it's pray. It shot to the skies, and launched a barrage of lasers from it's mouth in the general direction of Sunset.
Sunset quickly deployed a barrier around herself and teleported away, using the barrier as a distraction for the creature who still thought she was inside the barrier. Teleporting somewhere outside of the creature's field of view, Sunset got to work on a spell.
The creature continued to attack the barrier for a few seconds, but stopped when it saw that it was ineffective. Just as the dust and mud cleared, it saw that the shield was empty inside, but before it could search for it's pray, it got teleported back to the ground. Before it could snap out of it's confusion of suddenly being teleported, Sunset released the spell that she was working on, and less then a second later, she shot out a massive laser, containing most of Sunset's remaining mana. The laser hit the creature, but did not stop there, it continued forward, destroying everything in it's path. In a few second that the laser existed, everything that crossed it's path remained no more. Some trees were completely destroyed, while others were scorched so bad they started to fall. The mud and whatever was beneath the laser was instantly evaporated, leaving only scorch marks, dirt and fire for miles.
Sunset breathed in and out fast, hyperventilating as the launched that attack. While such an attack was extremely strong, it also left her exhausted. She could beraly stand. After somewhat managing to get her breath in control, she heard something. She looked ahead. "Fuck. *Huff* *Huff* How is that thing still alive? That attack had enough *Huff*, power in it to blow a sizable hole in a mountain." She said, completely baffled at how resilient her enemy was.
She watched as the creature started to stand up, but let out a small sigh of relief when it saw what state the creature was in. The creature was obviously damaged enough to beraly be able to stand, missing it's front right hoof, both of it's wings and it's flesh and organs were heavily burned. But, with all the damage it has suffered, Sunset could also see that it already started to regenerate. Great. Just great. It has regeneration on top of being as sturdy as a mountain!? Bullshit! She thought as she tried to figure out a plan of attack.
Truth be told, Sunset wanted nothing more then to run as far away from this creature, but she knew that she won't make it far before her body gave out, and with the creature's regeneration, it won't be long before it could hunt her again, and so, she decided that fighting was the best option, the only option. She just needed to figure out how to kill it. Almost all of her mana was depleted, meaning that she could only do simple magic like levitation and a few fireballs or teleportations at best. Luckily, looking at the creature, she saw her trusty blade, still stuck inside the creature's chest. She smiled, and grabbed the greatsword in her magic, yanking it out of the creature and bringing it back to her side. At first Sunset wondered how in the seven gates of Tartarus was her greatsword still in one piece, but then she remembered the durability and protection enchantments that Twilight and herself put on it, and the fact that it was made from high quality materials. Twilight, you beautiful girl! Seems that you are protecting me even from this far away! She thought, excitement and happiness coursed trough her mind, but she quickly regained her composure.
Now with a weapon, she felt confident. Happy that her sharpness enchantment still persisted, she started running towards the creature to end it once and for all. Sunset started running gaining more and more momentum before she teleported before the creature, using her greatsword in an arch motion to try and cut it's head, but the creature beraly dodged it by moving slightly back, however it did not completely dodged it. While the creature didn't get beheaded, Sunset still managed to cut half of it's neck. The creature trying it's best to defend itself, started to use it's head and remaining front hoof to try and stomp and bite her, but Sunset was quick to dodged them all while she used her weapon to cut her opponent, not as deep as before, as she didn't have enough momentum, but enough to have it bleed and overload it's regeneration. She dodged a few more stomps before she found the right timing to dash between it's legs and get behind it, and impaled her weapon in one of it's back hooves, causing the creature to lose it's balance and collapse to the ground. Quickly getting her weapon out, she jumped on the creature's back to try and cut it's head completely, but as soon as she landed on it's back, the creature used the fact that only half of it's neck was attached and bent it to impossible means in Sunset's direction and launched a laser from it's mouth. Sunset didn't have time to react, and the laser hit her straight in her chest, causing it to send her flying a few feet from the creature. Luckily, because the creature was at death's door, the power of it's attack was lower then before, but it was still powerful to scorch the coat and skin of Sunset, giving her a nasty wound.
Sunset wheezed as the impact from the laser hit her. She hit the ground with a thud, but quickly used the momentum to roll back on all fours and charged. She ignored the searing pain that was in her chest, and she ignored the fact that her chest area now had a second degree burn. None of it mattered in that moment, or more like, it was required not to matter. If she took the time to tend to her wounds, the creature would do the same, and with it's superior regeneration, it would heal much faster.
Sunset used most of it's already little mana that she had to give her weapon an electricity enchantment, then launched it at the creature in an arch motion. It beraly had enough time to get up before Sunset's weapon cut it's front two hooves, causing it to fall back to the ground. The swords then looped back and impaled the back of the creature's neck, sending electricity towards all of it's muscles and organs, and temporarily blinding it. The creature shrieked, it could feel it's demise. As a last attempt to kill it's pray, it charged another laser, but this time, it rotated it's head to shoot it everywhere.
Sunset wasn't stupid, she saw what the creature was doing, and teleported her weapon back to herself. She saw the laser coming to her, but she dodged it sideways and continued to run. The creature, now able to kind of see, thanks to Sunset's weapon not sending electricity in it's body anymore, started to focus it's fire in Sunset's direction.
Sunset Jumped, dodging another attack, then used her weapon to block another laser. She then decided that she was close enough to deal her final strike. She bit the handle of her greatsword, holding it in her mouth, then used her last mana to teleport above the creature, and used telekinesis to rotate her body extremely fast, gaining enough momentun to finally cut the creature's head.
Sunset hit the ground and rolled, but quickly got back up, however, because of the high rotation speed, dizziness enveloped her fast, and she quickly fell back down. Everything was spinning, everything looked blurry. She tried to get back up, but her body didn't listen. She could feel herself drifting in and out, but she had to stay awake. Taking one look at the creature, even in her blurry vission, she could see that it was dead. It was squirming and spasming, but it was dead. Seing as she was finally victorious, she finally relaxed a bit, however, that was a mistake. As soon as she started to relax, the pain started to come back as well. A sudden jolt of pain came from every part of Sunset's body. The internal injuries, the corrosion that was still eating her, the pain from her various cuts, bruises and her chest pain. Sunset screamed as the pain hit her all at once. Unable to take it all, her body just shut down, and not long after, she fainted.
*"Shitty view, isn't it?" Someone said besides her.
She stopped looking in the distance, and turned her attention to the stalion next to her."What? No! This is the most beautiful view in the city." She said sarcastically to the stalion, then returned her attention what she was previously looking at.
The stalion rolled his eyes. "No need to be all sarcastic, i was just trying to light the mood a bit, h̵̟͒̈́̕ḏ̴̞̋̿͑i̸͇̅͒͋͘s̵̺͙̦̔͆m̷͇̲̤͗̾̐͗n̵̖̽̓͘̚ş̸͕̍͌s̵̱͓͚͐͑͛̍ knows we need it." The stalion said.
She closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry A̶̢̺͙͙̒̊͌̂̍͆̚͜i̴͙̹̤̣̖͇̗̯̍̽̅͌̚̚r̶̩̭̐̓̍f̸̩̝̈́̓̚ȑ̴̫̤̱̂̓̐̋̌̓s̷̤̼̮̏̐, didn't mean to take it out on you, I'm just a bit on edge." She said, opening her eyes once more to look. In the distance, stood and army of demons, millions strong. Even from so far away, she could see what will await them in a few hours, death and destruction. Even as she stood on the mighty walls of the city, she didn't feel confident.
"Corrupted ancient dragons, Undead, Demons, Titans, Blood altars...... They really want to take this city." The stalion said with a grim tone.
Both of them stood in silence, looking at the approaching threat. The stalion finally broke the silence. "Do you think we'll win?" He asked with concern and fear.
"We have to, otherwise this city will fall and all the sacrifices we've made will be for nothing." She said, but took a few seconds before speaking again. "What about the S̶͈̓̒*̸͍̝̩̀̏͋ȓ̵̠̲̖ ̴̡̻̻̀J̴̰̯̠̏r̸͚̖̤͌@̴̯̜̆͐y̸͔͉̖͂͂͊ ̷̪̅g̸̡̩͆w̵̤̹͌ ̷̝̙̉̕×̴̡̲̈́̈́͝ḁ̶̧̤̍̋n̷̲̙͋'̵̺̩̘͊̏%̶̛̮̹̽̇3̷͕̠̕p̴͎̮̗̒̊?"
"Hid it somewhere they will never find it. I made sure of that." He said.
"where?" She asked, curious.
He smiled deviously. "The Palace Of Twelve!"
Her eyes widened at what her companion has said. Of all the places she thought of, The Palace Of Twelve wasn't one of them. But before she could inquire more, she heard a chorus of roars, screams and battle cries from the enemy. It was clear that they wanted to be heard, to be feared. Truth be told, She was. She was scared, scared that they would lose, scared of how many would die, But she did not let her fear show. No, she would show only confidence, only bravery.
She turned to look at her companion, she could see that him too, tried his best to look calm and collected. Then she looked left and right, she could see the soldiers trembling, and looking in fear at the enemy, she saw some that started praying, but she also saw some being brave, not being fazed by what awaited them. She turned around, and looked at the city and the hundreds of thousand of soldiers or every race hurrying to reinforce the city as best as they could. She saw their fear, and had to do something.
Her horn glowed blood red as she casted a spell to amplify her voice loud enough so she could be heard over the sound of the enemy. "HEAR ME, BEAVE DEFENDERS! " She said, magic carrying her voice to all. "Look in front of you, do you hear the sounds of the villains? Do you hear the sounds of those that have taken everything from you? Do you hear the sounds that have killed your loved ones and have taken our lands?...... ENRAGE!.. Enrage at those that are deceived with victory. Enrage at those fools that think they will have an easy fight! We will show them the might of Navalia, we will show them the might of those that fight for love, and we will show them that we aren't called the defenders of Eques for nothing!"
As soon as she finished, her companion began. "Scream, soldiers! Let those disgusting abominations hear your roars! Let them know who they are messing with, and ROAR! FOR THE GRAND DIVINER IS WITH US!"
As soon he finished, every soul inside the city started screaming with new found confidence. They looked at her and cheered. She raised her spear high, and the soldiers roared louder. Satisfied that her troops were no longer afraid, she turned her attention back to the enemy, then at her companion. "It's time."*
Author's Note
Damn, it's been one month since the last chapter. Sorry for taking so long to write.
Not much to say, except some thing about the fight scene.
First, i think i did a decent job at writing it. It's my first time actually writing a fight scene, as the scene in the training grounds didn't really count. However, with as good of a job as i did, i don't actually think i showed what Sunset is truly capable of. I wanted to, but i wanted Sunset to be at a bit of a disadvantage, you know, because of how exhausted she was. In hindsight, i could have done more regardless. I could have introduced more spells, but i wanted to keep them hidden for now. She will use more and more spells and magic, don't worry. Oh yeah, next chapter i will also explain the magic system. It's not really that complex, so don't get your hopes up.
As for the big attack that Sunset did, to give you a reference, you remember when Twilight fought against Titek, and she had the power of three other alicorns? Now, do you remember the big ass lasers she used, able to pierce mountains? Yeah, that's about the power Sunset's big attack was at. But she can only use it once, as it takes out a BIG chunk of her mana. Still, you can see how powerful she is. Twilight needed the power of three other alicorns to do that, and Sunset can do it alone.
Another thing, i am kind of disappointed that i couldn't show Sunset doing close combat much, She will, but against an enemy such as this, she had to use mainly magic, but it's fine, another reason she didn't use that many spells, it's because she has no real battle experience. Sure, she trained, but training and real experience are two different things.
Yeah, that's about it. Next chapter will be About Rarity and Applejack, and who knows, maybe it won't take a month to write it.
Also forgot, the weird text is intentional. Sunset can only remember bits and pieces for now. Those names will be revealed later. As usual, i am always open for criticism, so don't hold back.

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                   Chapter 10 - journal                    
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Chapter 10 - journal
Once again, the portal was activated, and once again it trew it's wanderers around like ragdolls before spitting them out.
Both Rarity and Applejack were shot out of the portal, landing miserably a few feet from it. Applejack landed first, then Rarity landed on top of her. Rarity opened her eyes, only to beraly see what she assumed was the interior of Twilight's castle. She blinked a few times to try and snap out of her Dizziness. Unsuccessful in doing so, she decided that she should first get up. She tried to move her hands and legs, but instead she just squirmed around. Confused, she tried again, but her limbs didn't move as she wanted to. Taking a second to calm herself, she finally started to give her limbs and body a look, only to scream when she saw.
"W-What? Where are my legs and hands?" She screamed and she started kicking around.
In her panic, she beraly heard Applejack who was under her, let out a yelp. "Ow." The farm girl yelled, face planted in the ground, unable to move due to a certain someone. "Sugarcube, mind getting off me first before you start kicking like a horse?" She said, trying her best to move as well.
"Pony, actually." Someone said besides them, causing both girls to look to the right. Both of them were left speechless as they saw a purple pony with a what looked like a horn, standing above them while giving them a disapproving look. Rarity snapped out of her confusion when she heard Applejack say. "Twilight? That you?" Only for Twilight to give a small nod.
Rolling her eyes at the display of her two friends, she lit up her horn and levitated both Applejack and Rarity off eachother and placed them back down, standing. As soon as they were both on the floor, their hooves were shaking. Walking on all fours was not that difficult when they were humans, after all, every kid did it at least once, but this was different. The body was different, the center of gravity was different, and there were different muscle groups that needed to be controlled, groups that didn't really exist when they were humans.
Twilight waited patiently as the two girls learned to stand and walk for the first time again, occasionally giving them advices and helping them with magic when they fell down. After about an hour or so, both girls managed to stand and walk on their own without falling. Twilight watched them as they talked to eachother while admiring and testing their new body.
Rarity decided to find the nearest mirror and see exactly how her new body looked. Going to the mirror portal, she became positively glowing with happiness, excitement and curiosity. Twirling around to see every inch of it. "Oh, i must say, i look simply dashing!" She said in a high pitch voice. "Applejack, darling, come and take a look at yourself."
"Ah'm coming. But you should calm yourself a bit. You're more exited then a racoon in a thrash bin." Applejack said, getting a stare that could kill from Rarity at the comparison between the fashionista and a dirty racoon.
"*Ahem* I will decide to leave the fact that you compared me to a racoon, alone, for now at least." She said, prompting Applejack ro roll her eyes.
"Mah point still stands."
"But how can you not be exited? Look at how beautiful my coat and main are! Ooh imagine the dresses i can design! They would look simply MARVELOUS, darling. And you must admit, the backpack looks stunning on me, wouldn't you say so Twilight dear?" Rarity said, still admiring herself in the mirror.
Twilight cleared her throat. "It does, but as much as i would like to let you admire yourself more, we have things to talk about." She said in a flat tone.
"Can't blame her for doing so, one hour ago we were humans, now we are a different species." Applejack interjected.
"Be that as it may, we still need to talk. Let's start with how you abandoned Sunset at the first opportunity when she needed you most." Twilight said, now her tone a bit angrier.
The excitement and curiosity that the girls were filled with a few seconds ago disappeared like a tief in the night, leaving only shame and regret in their place. Both girls lowered their heads at Twilight's disapproving stare.
Seing as neither of the girls spoke, she began again. "Or, how about we talk about how you didn't even try to find out if Sunset was really guilty or not."
At that, Rarity raised her head. "That's not true, we did try to find out if Sunset was really guilty or not. We didn't find anything to make us believe that she was innocent."
"Oh I'm sure you did. Let me guess, you asked a few people if they know anything, and when they said 'no', you figured that 'Welp, that's a job well done, Sunset's guilty'." Twilight said, raising her voice, not enough to be considered a scream, but almost as loud, causing Rarity to lower her head once more.
This time it was Applejack that spoke. "Look, Twilight. Ah know you are mad, and i understand why, but we know we messed up, big time. This is why we're here. To make things right and to apologize to Sunset. Trust us when we say that we know the consequences of our actions, and we are willing to pay." She said, and Rarity gave a nod of confirmation.
Twilight looked at both girls, she looked at how serious they were, and she saw that yes, these girls knew they messed up. She let out a sigh. "Ok, I'm willing to drop this for now, seing as you know what you did and are serious in asking for forgiveness." She took a second before continuing. "But I'm still mad at you! And at the other girls, who apparently, don't share the same view as you."
"I'm as mad at them as you are Twilight. I can understand why Rainbow would chose to belive Scootalo over us and our sisters, but i honestly thought that Pinkie and Fluttershy would see through Scootalo's lies. Especially Fluttershy, as she's the most forgiveing." Rarity said.
The room fell silent as awkwardness filled it, but it didn't take long before Applejack broke it by changing the subject. "Anyway, Now that we're here, where is Sunset?"
"I... don't know." Twilight said. "She didn't gave me any name or location. I did try to ask at first, but she changed the subject every time, after a few times, i figured that if she didn't want to talk about it, i wouldn't force her to."
Rarity pondered for a bit before asking. "That's good and well that you didn't force her to, darling, but how are we supposed to find her if even you don't know? We can try and ask around, i guess, but this land is foreign to us."
Before Twilight could answer, they were interrupted by a familiar voice coming from someone else. "Twi? You here? I brought the cider Spike asked me for!"
Both Rarity and Applejack looked at eachother, then at Twilight, who made the most perplexed face she ever made, then at the door, where the sound came from, then back at Twilight. Rarity spoke. "Is that?" But before she could continue, Applejack interjected. "Me?"
Twilight cleared her throat with a cough before answering. "*Ahem.* Sorry girls, seems that someone is in the main room. Mind staying here for a bit before i go see?" She said frantically, then immediately hurried out of the room.
Applejack and Rarity stood in silence for a second before looking at eachother and decided to follow Twilight. Both of them walked as fast as they could, without tripping over, pushed the door open then followed the sounds of Twilight's steps. While doing so, Rarity couldn't help but admire the architecture. She didn't really have time to do so, with all the things that have happened, and she didn't really have the time now as well, but even just in passing, she looked all over the place. She found the interior stunning. Purple walls, high enough to tower over her, colored stained glass, purple banners that depicted a purple star with other little stars surrounding it, just like Twilight's one on her flanks. At first, Rarity just thought those were tattoos, and she was surprised, thinking that Twilight, who was the studious type, was bold enough to have a tatoo. But now that she saw the banners, she thought that maybe there was a meaning to it. Realizing that she spaced out, she quickly put the thought in the back of her mind, and promised herself to study the castle a bit more and ask Twilight about her tattoo.
Twilight closed the door with her magic, took a deep breath, them immediately started to power walk. Why did Applejack had to come now of all times? I can't let her meet her counterpart. Sure, she know about the human realm and about the human versions of themselves, but i honestly don't know what would happen if the two meet, and i don't want to find out. Also, it would be extremely awkward to all parties involved. Also, i didn't tell anyone that I'm bringing humans here. Sunset was ok, as she was originally a pony, but the girls are humans..... Oh no, If Princess Celestia finds out, she'll be extremely disappointed. Can't let that happen. Twilight thought frantically. Not long after, she finally arrived in main room of the castle where the friendship map was. There she saw Applejack waiting with a few wooden boxes of fresh apple cider. Before Applejack could say anything, Twilight quickly began. "Hey AJ I'm sorry i have extremely important work to do, don't have time to chat. I will take care of the boxes. Yes I'm alone. Good to see you, bye." Twilight said, extremely quickly and in one breath. She then proceeded to gently push Applejack out of the room.
Applejack however, knew the mare for a looong time, and immediately figured out that Twilight was hiding something. After all, the young alicorn's feelings were as apparent to everyone else as an open book. Placing her hooves firmly on the ground, impeding Twilight's attempt to shoo her away, she turned and looked at her friend, who now had a desperate look. "Twi, What in Tartarus is happening?"
Twilight now began to push a bit harder. "N-Nothing! I just don't have time now!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow and spoke in a flat tone. "Twi, ah love you, you know ah do, but you're a lousy liar, and that's coming from me."
Twilight stopped pushing, took a few deep breaths and then gasped. "I am not! I'll have you know i am a great liar. And as the princess of friendship, I'll have you know that i am extremely disappointed that you would think i would lie to you and my friends. *Hfmp*" She said as she began to pout.
But Applejack wasn't one to be swayed so easily by words, after all, her best friend was Rarity, who was known to exaggerate and sometimes leave out key details in order to have the farm girl help with stuff around the Boutique. Somehow, even when Applejack didn't want to, the fashionista always managed go talk her into it. And so, she knew what Twilight was trying, but she was no Rarity. Rasing one eyebrow again she looked at Twilight with skepticism. "Mhm, somehow, ah don't believe you." She let out a sigh. "Look Twi, Ah don't know what you're hiding, but if it's something dangerous th-" Applejack suddenly stopped speaking. She rubbed her eyes to see if she was hallucinating, but no, hey eyes worked just fine. Just behind Twilight, AJ saw another version of herself along with Rarity. Only, they seem younger. The younger version of herself looked to be about sixteen or so, the same with Rarity. She wanted to ask Twilight what is happening, but the other version spoke first. "Ahm, hi?"
Rarity and Applejack hurried, getting closer and closer to where the sounds of conversation came from. Now that both of them were close, the could clearly hear that yes, the one that they heard earlier sounded exactly like Applejack. When they first heard it, they were skeptical. They have heard from Twilight when she was in their world that Equestria was a sort of mirror dimension, or vice-versa, and that there were versions of people in both worlds. But coming here, hearing it and, in a minute seeing it, that was an experience that they didn't want to pass on. It was also weird.
Walking faster, blazing trough the corridor , they finally came across a huge door easily twice their size, and exactly where where Twilight and the other Applejack were. Looking at eachother, they both nodded in agreement, and used their bodies to push open the door, which was surprisingly easier to open then the height of it suggested. There they saw Twilight, standing with her back on them, talking to.... Applejack. Both the girls and the other Applejack looked at eachother in disbelief.
Human Applejack, feeling a bit awkward, decided to brake the ice first. "Ahm, hi? She said in an awkward tone, her voice cracking up a bit.
The other Applejack took a second before saying her greeting. "Howdy?" She said. To say that she was confused was an understatement. Looking a bit more at the younger version of herself and Rarity, she turned her attention to Twilight, only to see her hyperventilating. Quickly putting everything else aside at seeing her friend beraly managing to grasp for air, she immediately went to her side, placed a hoof on Twilight's back and started rubbing. "C'mon Twi, breathe. In and out." It took a few moments for Twilight to calm down enough that she could form coherent words. But before she could say anything, Equestrian Applejack spke first. "Twi, i know you like your experiments, but cloning me and Rarity, is weird even for you."
"Ah ain't no clone sugarcube." Human Applejack said. She got closer to her counterpart and extended a hoof, but quickly retracted it when she realised that she didn't have hands to shake. "Let's start again." She cough to clear her throat. "Hi, I'm Applejack, from the human world. Nice t'meet you."
"Howdy, I'm Applejack...... From this world?" She said Awkwardly.
"This is so weird" Rarity interjected.
"Tell me about it" Both Applejack's said in unity.
"It's true." Twilight finally said, finally having calmed down enough to talk. "You know how i had to go trough the portal to get my crown back and later to fight the sirens? Well, do you remember that I've told you about the human world?" Twilight said, while pony Applejack nodded. "Well, do you also know how Sunset came back to Equestria? And you've met her, and she told you how someone impersonated her and ruined all her friendships and relationships."
Pony Applejack nodded. "Yes, ah remember she told us about it." She then looked at human Applejack and Rarity with an angry face. "Ah also remember how angry ah was when ah heard how the other version of me and her friends betrayed poor Sunset at the first chance they got." She said with extreme displeasure in her voice, causing the two girls to put their head down once again.
"Yes, I'm still mad about them myself, but back on track. To keep things short, The culprit was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootalo." At that, Pony Applejack's eyes became wide open with disbelief, but Twilight continued. "Turned out they did it to get back at Sunset when she was evil. Well, after Apple Bloom and Sweetie realized how far out of their control the situation had become, they felt like they took thing too far and confessed to their sisters. Applejack and Rarity immediately realized what they had done and long story short again, they used Sunset's Journal to contact me. They wrote first to explain the situation and ask Sunset for forgiveness, but i told them that if they really care, they need to come here and apologize in person. And i guess they really do care, if they are willing to cross dimensions for her. But I'm still mad." Twilight finally finished.
Pony Applejack took a few seconds to take it all in before giving her answer. "Welp, Ah'm mad that my other version was dumb enough to not believe her friend, but ah'm also glad she wasn't that dumb to not recognize her own mistakes and pay for them." She looked at human Applejack. "If you had done that and still came here, i would've kicked your flank back trough the portal myself."
The room fell silent once again, but this time, it was Rarity that had the courage to speak. She cleared her throat. "As much as i like people getting mad at me for my own mistakes, i think we should change the conversation back to the matter of where is Sunset? We still have no ideea where she went. She didn't tell Twilight, and if she doesn't know, it's safe to assume that no one else except Sunset herself."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Maybe she tried to tell us when we were angry at her, but we didn't listen, or maybe." Rarity stopped talking for a second, thinking deeply about something. She soon resumed her train of thought. "Maybe, she wrote it in her personal journal. I distinctly remember Sunset saying that she is going to write about us in her journal a few weeks after we became friends. Maybe we should go back to the portal and grab it from Sunset's house?" The fashionista asked the others.
"About that." She said, then proceeded to rummage through her backpack that transformed into a saddle. Finding it very difficult to do it with her new body, she asked for help. A purple aura enveloped the saddle and a few seconds of searching, Twilight took out a journal and handed it over to Human Applejack, but because of her new body, which she found annoying in more ways then one she dropped the journal on the floor. Scratching the back of her head with her hoof, or trying to at least, and looking embarrassed, she continued. "Ah took it with me, just in case."
"When?" Rarity asked, confused.
"When we were getting ready, ya know how i said i needed to go somewhere for a bit? Yeah, i actually stopped by Sunset's place. And before you say anything, i know, i shouldn't have done that, but you had your things to pack. Ah went there just in case i'd find something to that could be of help. Found the journal, and took it with me. Didn't had time to read anything, as, you know, i didn't have the time." Human Applejack said, feeling a bit proud of herself, but also a bit guilty that she went to Sunset's place without taking Rarity along.
"Good job Applejack!" Rarity said, thankful that she didn't have to go trough the portal again.
"Thanks" Both Applejack said, before looking at eachother and sighing.
Before enyone could have the chance to feel awkwardness, Twilight spoke. "Ok, just so it will be a bit easier, human Applejack will be called Applejack, and Pony Applejack will be called AJ. Everyone ok with it?" She said, everyone agreeing fast. "Good, now Applejack, please open the journal and see if you find anything. I would myself, but i don't feel comfortable reading Sunset's Journal."
"For the record, i was actually planning to ask you to drive to her house, but with everything that was going on, i kind of forgot. Good thing you thought ahead. Anyway, let's read!" Rarity said a bit sheepishly. At that, Applejack just chuckled a bit.
"A'ight" Applejack said. She looked at the journal on the floor, and tried to use her hoof to open it, but instead of actually doing what she wanted to do, all she managed was to rub the book with her hoof. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she took a different approach, this time she placed the tip of her hoof under the cover of the journal and lifted it up. Now that the journal was opened, all she had to do was turn the pages, but just like first time, she found little success. Getting more and more frustrated and angry, she stomped her right hoof on the floor. "Ugh, how do you work these things?" She said, looking at her new limbs, embarrassed that she couldn't even open one book.
Both Twilight and Rarity started laughing quietly, further embarrassing Applejack, causing the farm girl's face to become more red by the second. Meanwhile, Aj just rolled her eyes and walked closer to the journal. "Ah got it. Ah swear, you act like ya a newborn or something."
"Don't blame me for it! Your bodies as just weird. Can't do anything with these hooves." Applejack said, a bit insulted by Aj's comment, however, Aj didn't respond, she just placed her hoof on the page, and simply turned it. Then looked at Applejack with a face that said 'See? it's easy.' Applejack just rolled her eyes and stepped a bit to the left, letting Aj turn the pages.
Twilight and Rarity stopped laughing and joined their friends in reading.
I don't really know how to start this so here we go. Hello, this is Sunset Shimmer, Archmage in training and personal student to Princess Celestia herself, or more like ex-student now. I am writing in this journal to transcribe my journey so far, and try not to become insane in this strange world.
First thing first, how did i get here? Well, it all starts a while ago. To keep things short, like i said, i was Princess Celestia personal student. She took me in after i first released my magic and gained my cutie mark. She must have took me in after seing what i was capable of. As her student, I've learned everything she had to teach me, and i was no fool. After a while i knew she was grooming me to become the next Princess that will lead Equestria, otherwise, what reason she could have?
At some point she must have realized that i will grow stronger then her, and she probably thought that i will become a second Princess Luna. After that, she spent less time with me, less lessons, less picnics, restricting my access to the royal library, telling me to make some friends and that studying is not everything. Pff, can you imagine the audacity? She who doesn't have any friends herself, telling me to make some. Hilarious! I've heard her complain so many times at how she hates smiling and listening to entitled high-society ponies, and she dares tell me to make friends? Unbelievable i tell you.
Skipping forward, she and i had a falling out, a disagreement to put it politely. It all started when she showed me the mirror portal for the first time. She told me that it was a portal, to another land, and that it only opened for three days once every thirty moons. I still remembered how i started inspecting the portal. At first it seemed normal, but soon realized it was nothing but normal. It started showing me vissions of me, of what I'll become, of my destiny. I was born to be the next ruller of Equestria, i was born for greatness, but when i told her, she immediately became disappointed. She told me that what i saw were lies, that they were illusions, and that she was disappointed in me for seing myself like that.
What happened after was not pretty, we started arguing, then screamed at eachother, then said some hurtful words. Words that i don't regret one bit, words that made her take the decision that i was dangerous, that i must be controlled, incarcerated in my room with little access to the outside world. I didn't take it, i couldn't, so, i waited, being a nice, obeying prisoner untill the portal activated. Luckily for me, it didn't take long, only a few days, and when the time was right, i escaped. I waited untill night when i knew Celestia was sleeping, picked the lock and disable the wards she placed, but as i got out, i realized that the room was enchanted with an alarm spell that i failed to notice. It started blaring, waking up the entire castle. Not wanting to be incarcerated again i have made the decision to run to the portal with all i had. At first i wanted to run somewhere else, but i soon realized that as long as i was in Equestria, i was in Celestia's domain. I never would have been able to escape her, so the portal was my only option. I ran, taking out every guard i came across, incapacitating them just for clarification. I got to the room, took out the guards stationed there, and just as i was about to enter the portal, Celestia entered the room, begging me to come back, that she was sorry for what she said. But i didn't believe one word she said, not anymore, and so, i went in.
Next thing i knew, i woke up in this realm. Immediately found out that my body had transformed into one that fit this world, a human as i soon found out they are called. It took me a while to learn how to walk and stand again, and it took me even more to learn how to use my hooves, or, hands as they are called. Seing strange creatures for the first time got me scared, and i ran as soon as i could. I actually crawled, but that's besides the point. I hid in the alleys, in the shadows of the city. Eventually i managed to find a place, it's where I'm at currently. An old abandoned building that was once a factory of some kind at the edge of the city. There are a lot more buildings like this, but this seemed like the most intact one. Anyway, I'm starting rambling again, back to the story. Little by little i started to figure out how to use my body, how to use the alleys to my advantage, how to spy on the denizens of this world. Little by little i gained more knowledge, about where i was, how the world works and so on.
I managed to steal a phone off some guy, and decipher how it worked. Through it, i managed to find out more info. One thing that amazed me was that this world lacked magic, but humans made do with advancing technology to a point that it was easy to survive. Big cities that dwarf Canterlot, vehicles made of steel to transport them, instant long range communication. Honestly, i still find it hard to believe. It's been three months since i came here, i somehow managed to survive by stealing food and daily necessities. At some point, a human woman found me when i tried to steal some money off of her, a tall woman with blue hair and coat.... skin. (I keep forgetting that humans don't have coats protecting them from the elements). Seing me like that, i guess she took pity on me, and offered to help me. She brought me clothes, helped me get some documents, and enrolled me in a school, where she was working in. I quickly accepted the woman's help, after all, i need to survive in order to get my revenge. I swear, when i get back to Equestria, there will be vengeance. Anyway, guess I'll have to prepare, after all, tomorrow is my first day of school.
"Ish, is that how Sunset was in the past?" Twilight answered, a bit sad and a bit relieved that her friend wasn't like that anymore.
"Preeeety much, darling. Of course, she wasn't that bad when i first met her, but gradually, she became more and more, how do i say it. Unpleasant." Rarity said with a sigh, remembering bad memories. Applejack nodded in agreement.
"Let's skip ahead, shall we?" Aj said before turning a lot of pages and started reading again.
Hello again Journal. I have quite a few thing to tell you today.
So, as i said in the previous entries, there is only a month before the portal opens for the second time since i have been in this world. It's been almost five long years since i first came here. A lot of work, blood, sweat and tears were shed for this plan, but I'll be worth it. As i wrote before, i managed to use the faint magic that the portal emanates, to spy on Equestria from time to time. Won't go into details, as i already wrote the process when i first discovered it. "Wait, how did she managed to do that?" Twilight asked, but the only thing she got in return was a chorus of *later* from both Applejack's and Rarity. She wanted to interject, but before she could do that, she got the same response. Feeling disappointed, she let it go for now, but she will find out from Sunset.
Still can't believe that Celestia found a replacement the moment i left. Pff, great mother figure she turned out to be.
Anyways, today i finally finalized my plan. How you may ask, well, it's simple. First, go to Equestria (obviously), then steal the element of magic from PrInCesS TWiLigHt spArkLE. Bah, still can't believe she became an alicorn. The hell did she do that i didn't? Anyway, stealing the element of magic, that might be a bit harder to do. I'll most likely need to improvise on the spot. Now, there is one tiny problem, will i be able to perform as well as i used to? It's been so long since I've been in this body, and honestly, i kind of grew to like it more then the pony one. Sure, i don't have a horn to help me cast magic, but the amazing dexterity that the body provides is something i wish pony kind had as well.
Back on track. Luckily, the portal itself seems to be situated in the same room since i arrived here, and from what i observed, no one really comes to check on it. That's lucky, because as soon as i arrive, I'll be able to familiarize with the old body without interruption. Next step is taking back the element of magic to the human world, and using it to gain so much power, that Celestia would have no choice but to acknowledge me. She will have no choice but to see that i was indeed born for greatness, and that i don't need her, that she wished she never replaced me, that she loved me more.... like how i used to love her. I was willing to give my body and soul for her, yet everything i did was never enough. She was never satisfied. When i learned everything she had to teach, she said that there was more in life then studying, when i didn't study, she told me that being lazy was no good. And when i tried to make some friends, she was disappointed that i couldn't. At that point, the group saw the many stains of dried off tears that covered the page. Fuck her! I don't need her, i don't need anyone! I don't need someone who took me in, giving me the hope of a loving mother, then took that hope and trow it in the trash! I'll write more when i have the time, now it's time to prepare.
The girls stood in silence. That was sad, more so then they could have imagined, especially for Applejack and Rarity. They thought she was just a girl who enjoyed tormenting others for her pleasure before the the Fall Formal, but reading this, they could see that Sunset was just a kid, who tried her best to please the person she viewed as her mother figure, only for Celestia to not reciprocate those feelings even a little bit. Aj, deciding that she had read enough, turned a few pages. The rest of the girls picked up on what Aj did, and started reading again, maybe this time not as sad.
Hello again journal, it's me again, the biggest disappointment of two worlds. It's been three weeks since the Fall Formal. Sorry i haven't wrote, been too depressed to do anything. I'm only writing in hopes of distracting myself from.... nevermind. Who am i even apologizing for? Myself? The ones i hurt? Doesn't matter i guess.
Where do i even begin? The start i guess? My plan to steal the crown was successful, in a way. Won't go into any details but, let's just say that i'm more of a failure then i thought i was. Anyway, stole the crown, dropped it in the portal because of Twilight, got back to the human world and it was gone. Apparently, Principal Luna found it, and decided to use it as the prize for the queen of Fall Formal, lost horribly to Twilight. Tried to steal it again, did it successfully, placed it on my head, and from there, all hell broke lose.
Turns out, if someone that was not chosen by the element of magic, tries to use it anyway. Well, the once pure magic that permeates in the regalia, it becomes corrupted, turning it's unworthy wielder into a manifestation of their emotions. Turns out, i got transformed into a demon, and i mean, actually transformed. Big horns, blazing wings, red skin and dark eyes, and the worst of it, un ugly ass dress that I'm pretty sure didn't come with underwear.
While i had gained power, the price was too high. I haven't told anyone this, but during the transformation, i could feel everything. Every new cell that was born, every new muscle that was torn to shreds only to be rebuild in another manner. Bones breaking and regenerateing as my whole body got bigger. The wings that literally burst from my back, tearing it apart only to regenerate and leave two massive scars, and the dark magic that started to consume my mind as i felt into madness. I could fell everything. Somehow it only got worst. As the dark magic started infecting my soul, it brought to life my worst qualities, creating an alter ego of some kind that trapped me inside my own mind while it took control of my body. I could see what it was doing, but that's about all i could do.
Finally, after what felt like years, Twilight and her friends managed to defeat me, using the magic of friendship to "purity" me. I am grateful that they managed to put an end to my evil self, but, the process was........ Horrifying. I really don't want to remember what happened, i really don't. But maybe, if i write about it, I'll feel better? My therapist, which is also Luna, told me to talk or to write about everything that I've been keeping inside of me. Apparently it's supposed to make me fell better once i do so. Hope she's right. Anyway, The process of "purification", if you can call it that, began with a nice dose of burning your soul until all evil inside of you is no more. You know, something mildly warm, like the temperature of the fucking sun. The next process, is making you feel the wrath, pain, sadness and all others negative emotions that i inflicted onto other. All at once. But the thing is, which i find it very weird by the way, is that it didn't just stopped with the people i wronged. No. I could feel the wrath, the pain, the suffering of millions of souls. Each screaming to be saved, each begging for salvation..... I don't want to talk about it anymore.
The room was silent again. None of the four girls made a single sound, and all of them were mortified by what they just read. One by one, each of them started crying silently, one by one each of them started to think at what they had done.
Twilight began hyperventilating, beraly able to breathe. "T-That can't b-be!" She took in a few breaths in a vain attempt to calm herself. "The e-elements of harmony don't work like this! They can't work like this! The elements were supposed to make someone see the errors of their ways, and c-come back to the right path, not burn the soul and making the unfortunate creature experience such a cruel thing!" Twilight, now a bawling mess on the ground, berely managed to speak.
Aj, still crying, but holding it better then Twilight, looked at her friend, horror in her eyes. "Twi? Is this what we've been doing? Is this what the elements are actually doing?" She asked, but her alicorn friend did not answer, so, Aj, started speaking again. "What about Discord? We used the elements on him, and he seems fine-ish?"
"I don't know!" Twilight said, still crying her eyes off. "Maybe Discord was a special case, or maybe Sunset was a special case. I don't know!"
Applejack and Rarity, both still crying, quickly wiped their tears away, as best as they could, before hugging Twilight. All four of them kept on hugging for a few minutes, before Aj and Applejack broke away from the embrace. "Let's continue. We'll ask Sunset when we find her." Aj said. The other two, still being down at what they read, slowly found the strength to pick themselves up, prompting the reading seasion to resume.
So yeah, not pleasant. Anyway, leaving the obviously traumatic experience aside, i have something else to write about. A few days after the incident, i started having these weird dreams, about places i didn't know, yet very familiar. Faces that i have never seen in my life, but somehow important to me. A few names here and there, a few ponies and creatures that were talking to me. Strange lands, that i assume are not of Equestria. I dreamed about beautiful cities, way bigger then Canterlot, with breathtaking architecture, high walls, and ponies and all matter of creatures walking and enjoying life. Then in another dream i saw the same city, destroyed, ravaged as if the world came to an end.
I learned from Celestia that dreams are sometimes not just dreams. Sometimes they are a prophecy, sometimes they are a glimpse into your true self, and sometimes, it's just your own mind hunting you. But, i don't know what to think about them. Hopefully they are just dreams.
The four girls continued to read, page by page. Reading Sunset's thoughts, hoping to find something that could help them, but found nothing. Finally, they found the last entry.
I'll keep this brief. This entry will probably be my last one. If one of you girls find it, then know that I'm sorry. I don't know who impersonated me, i don't know how i can restore my trust in you, and I'm sorry it came to this. Hopefully, this entry is never read by others other then me. Hopefully, we will reconcile, and become friends once more, but that seems like a far away dream that I'm unable to reach.
I tried, i really did. Hopefully by the time you read this, the culprit would have been found. Tomorrow i will go back to Equestria, back to the place i once called home. To honest, i don't really want to go, just the thought of having to face Celestia at some point scares me, but, it seems like there is nothing left for me here. It's funny in a way, the girl who left her own world in search of another, forced by fate to go back to a place that brought so many bad memories. Rarity, if you are reading this, keep the magic journal safe.
From the dreams that i keep having, which are getting more frequent and more vivid, i managed to place together the fact that my home was never Equestria. From what i could gather, it's a place outside of Equestria, a place called Navalia. Throughout of my many dreams that i had, i kept seing two ponies, a beautiful mare with a teal coat and mane, and a stalion with a jet black coat and gray mane. I don't know who they are, but i remember them holding and carrying for me. And so, i decided to find them. Maybe they now more about the dreams, maybe they know my real parents, who knows. If my memory serves me right, and it usually does, I think I've read or heard Navalia somewhere. My guess is that i read it in the forbidden library. I think it's a continent west of Equestria, but I'm not too sure. The geography outside of Equestria never really interested me before, but that doesn't matter anymore.
I keep having this feeling that, things will not go right, like, there is something warning me, like, where I'm going, it's dangerous...... no matter, not like i have something else to live for here.
Well, i guess this is goodbye, to my journal, and to my friends, or, former friends now. You finally got your wish to see me gone.
Author's Note
Yeah, so, sorry about the inactivity. Been dealing with some stuff. I'll keep it brief.
Originally this was supposed to be twice the size, but after seing the comment made by SuperSayan, i decided to just cut it in half and make two chapters. Chapter 11 will be focused on Sunset, chapter 12 will go back to Rarity and Applejack. Don't know when I'll post them, can't make any promises.
Small problem, but i kinda fucked it up when writing. Originally, when i wrote the chapter, for some reason, i thought that in an earlier chapter, Rarity and Applejack went to Sunset's place to get her personal journal. I wrote around that. Turns out, they never went, and i imagined they did, so if you find it weird that Applejack went there and got the journal off-screen, it's because i had to rewrite most of the chapter. I could have rewritten the chapter in question, but i wasn't happy with how chapter 11 turned out anyway, so i figured that, if i have to rewrite it, might as well say they went there off-screen. That was lazy from me, i admit, so, sorry about that.

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                   Chapter 11 - Despair                    
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Chapter 11 - Despair
Sunset opened her eyes, barely. Pain going trough every inch in her body. She blinked a few times, but only managed to half open them. She was laying in the mud, facing up, more accurately, she was staring right at the abyss that made up the sky, forever dark in every way. Lips and mouth dry, from the dehydration, not drinking anything in quite some time. Stomach rumbling and hurting, if she had a guess, she was suffering from a serious case of malnutrition. Chest burning with an intense pain, like someone was operating on her while she was awake.
She blinked a few more times, then took a deep breath, or tried to anyway, and slowly exhaled, before she gathered every bit of strength left in her, and slowly and with great effort, rolled, so she could stand up. Just the simple act of rolling was enough to have Sunset scream and wail as she could feel her muscles being torn apart and crying for Sunset to not move, but she persisted. Pushing trough the pain, she finally managed to turn. Soon, she placed one hoof on the ground, pushing with all her might against gravity to try getting up. Finally, she managed to do so, but not without consequences. As soon as she was up, dizziness enveloped her, feeling like there were invisible hands pulling her into the ground. She tried to fight it, but it was a loosing battle, as she soon fell down on her side, causing a chain reaction of pain and soon after, coughing an excessive amount of blood.
She tried again to get up, knowing that if she stayed like this, her chances of surviving would go down even further, however, she found little success in doing so. She tried to look around, for anything that can help her, and almost immediately finding the abomination that put her in this state. The corpse of the creature was a few feet from her, on top of the roots of a tree. It's head was a bit further.
Carefully considering her options, or more accurately, lack thereof, she decided that if she couldn't stand, she will crawl. her target was the greatsword near the corpse, she would use it as a crutche, to support her weight. It wasn't a great plan, but it was all she got. With her decision made, she began her long journey. It wasn't a long distance, but in her condition, it might as well have been. Slowly but with determination, she began to crawl, pushing her body way past her limits. If Sunset was being honest with herself, she didn't see much chance of survival, after all, any second now another creature could swoop down and eat her.
After a few minutes of crawling, she finally reached the base of the roots and began the great climb. In normal circumstances, she could just walk, but there was nothing normal about her circumstances. Finally, she reached the corpse. Feeling the exhaustion and the aggravating situation   
of her injuries, she leaned her back on the corpse, taking a little break. The Dizziness did not stop, nor did the pain. Breathing heavily at this point, sometimes having troubles gasping for air, and going in and out of conscience, she closed her eyes, knowing that her time will soon come.
This is it, huh? She thought. Part of her was relieved. As soon as she embarked on this journey, she had to struggle. And worst of all, the one who promised to get her there, died horribly, crushed by a sea abomination, then dragged to the dephts to be it's food. Even before the journey, most of her life was miserable. Being the student of someone who promised her everything, then took it all away in her paranoia, being forced to flee her world for another one she knew nothing about, being consumed by rage and revenge, being a bully, just because she was miserable. Getting friends that understood and loved her as much as she loved them, only to abandon her as easily as when they took her in. In a way, she felt relieved, not having to push trough, not having to fight, and not having her heart broken time and time again.
But on the other side, she felt a maddening anger inside her. Why didn't Celestia loved her? Why did her so-called friends not believe her when she was innocent? These were the questions that Sunset was asking furiously in her mind, unfortunately, no answer came, untill a voice came from somewhere.
"Well, This is certainly hard to watch. But i do commend you for killing a Corrupta Est, although they are one of weakest, they are a formidable foe for your level." A mysterious voice said. A bit of disappointment in her voice.
Sunset, who was surprised to hear the voice of someone else in this forsaken lands, opened her eyes, but the only thing she saw was a silhouette, standing besides her. Feeling a bit hopeful that maybe this someone could help her, she began to speak. "W-who are you? Can you help me?" She asked, beraly audible.
The silhouette just stared at her for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "Unfortunately, i cannot, not in the way you want me to. The only one who can help you, is yourself. As for who i am. Well, let's just say i am someone who knows you very well, and have showed myself to give you some advice."
Sunset began to chuckle, which soon began to turn into her coughing up blood. After she calmed herself enough to form coherent words, she began. "Advice? I don't need advice, i need help!" She basically spat the last word, furious that she finally found someone, and it didn't even tried to help her.
"The only 'help' i can give, IS advice. If you decide to take it or not, it's up to you, but i can quite assure you, although it is considered taboo, and disgusting, it's the only choice you've got right now." The mysterious voice said, clearly a bit annoyed that her help was not treated with the respect it deserved.
"And if i dont want to take your advice?" Asked Sunset, still beraly clinging to life.
"Then you are going to die. Simple as that." The voice said, in a serious tone that clearly was describing the gravity of the situation. She then continued. "Frankly, i have no desire to see you die, as we would have to wait for another one, and on top of it, it would have to survive this place while still in it's infancy, and that could take thousands of years in the best of scenarios. So i suggest you take what help you can get."
Sunset stayed quiet, thinking if she should trust in the silhouette. Should she? Everyone she knew except Twilight, hurt her in some way, so Sunset didn't think she could put her trust in another ever again. Then again, what other choice did she have? Die? While the thought of dying and finally being freed from this miserable life appealed to her, one thought stopped her. Twilight will be sad.
In that moment, the thought of making Twilight sad was stronger then any desire to end it all. Looking back at the silhouette, Sunset just gave a nod. The silhouette, in turn, grinned from ear to ear. "Well, it seems you want my help after all." The voice said. "I will warn you though, what you are about to do, you will not like it. You will probably have regrets. But this is the only way to survive in your predicament. If the gods were still alive, I'm sure they would damn your soul to the deepest parts of oblivion."
Sunset wanted to inquire about what she needed to do, but something else the voice said took priority. "What in Tartarus   
are you on about? Celestia and Luna are still alive." Sunset said, completely confused at what the silhouette just said. Not only did she insinuated that there are other gods besides Celestia and Luna, but she insinuated that they have died as well.
The silhouette chuckled at first, then started laughing, maniacally. "Celestia and Luna, GODS? Ha! Please! At best they can be considered demi-gods, and that's me being generous! Especially for Celestia." She spat those last words, full of venom. "But anyway, you are dying, so let's get this over with." The silhouette said, then moved right in front of Sunset, placing her left hood on her head. "This will hurt."
Before Sunset could say anything, the silhouette started pressing her hoof on Sunset's forehead, pressing harder and harder, until soon, the hoof began to burrow in her forehead littld by little. Pain soon began to envelop her whole body and brain, as information was being forcefully transferred directly in her head. Sunset screamed, her body spasming and violently shaking. Her eyes rolled back, bleeding from the sheer forbidden information. Information so dark and twisted, that it would break the minds of anyone not well versed in the magical arts, and even then, it strained the body and soul very much.
Luckly for Sunset, as soon as it started, it ended just as quickly. Though it was only for a few seconds, for Sunset it felt like days. As soon as it ended, Sunset's eyes went back to normal. She grabbed her head in a vein attempt to stop the pain. Eventually, it did stop, and Sunset could think clearly again. Only then she understood the meaning of the silhouette's words. Yes, she will regret what she will do, but she had to do it nonetheless. Summoning every last drop of magic, she forced her body to stand up using telekinesis. Then, she bagan speaking in an ancient tongue, long forgotten, and for a good reason. Her horn and eyes lit up jet black as she began casting a spell, unlike any other. This was dark magic, no, the darkest magic known to pony kind over the ages. Both her body and the creature's body began to levitate. Glyphs and runes started to appear all around her, shaking around, as if to indicate that they too, wanted to run from what it's happening. Soon, they began to quiet down, to remain in place, but not for long, as more and more Glyphs appeared, they began to group together, form words, not known to any anymore now. Soon those words formed sentences, longer and longer, untill they encircled Sunset and the corrupta est few times over. It was an incantation.
The corpse began to shake violently as a red aura enveloped it. After a few seconds, the body too, calmed down, and the red aura started to move from the creature's body, to Sunset. At first, it started to circle her, then it started to embed itself into mage, and rapidly at that. It covered her whole body, the wounds and her insides. Sunset began to feel it, not in a painful way, but in a very disturbing way. Her wounds began to heal, leaving only scars behind, but soon, those too were hidden by the new coat that grew over them. Sunset could feel her body becoming stronger, more durable, and on top of all that, she could feel her mana pool expand and her magic becoming stronger three times over. The red aura enchanted her body, mana and magic.
Soon enough, the red aura was consumed completely, and the spell ended. The corpse fell to the ground with a thud, but Sunset slowly floated down. As soon as she touched ground, her eyes and the color of her magic aura returned to normal. She stood there for a few seconds, not really sure of what happened at first, but soon her mind connected the dots. She immediately felt sick, disgusted. She grabbed her stomach as hard as she could in an attempt to not trow up, but failing miserably, as she did exactly that. A few seconds after she calmed herself down, tears soon began to flow as her eyes went black again, and the creature's fragmented memories invaded her mind. Luckily, it eneded fast, but just as it ended, Sunset began to trow up again. She couldn't believe what she saw. No. it was more like she didn't want to belive it, unfortunately for her, she had no choice.
Sunset found out many things from the abomination's memories. For starters, it had a name. Flora Rose. A young mare, only 13 years old, who grew up in a lovely small village on the eastern coast of Navalia called Nara. She loved flowers, and she was was planning to open up a flower shop when she grew up. Unfortunately, like everything in this land, her story did not have a happy ending. Her village was raided by one of the first demon army to come to this realm. Her and many others were taken prisoners, taken to a place so horrible it made Tartarus look beautiful. There, she and many others were experimented on, being imbue with dark and corrupted magic and strange substances untill she turned into a monster with only the slightest bit of intelligence left. Then she was used in the war that was soon to follow.
Sunset did not stopped crying. Partially because of the memories, but also because of what she just did. The memories, the red aura, her body being healed and strengthened, it all made sense now. She didn't just used the creature to empower herself, no, it was something much worst. She ripped the soul, and consumed it for herself. She now fully understood what the silhouette said. What she just did was vile, an attack on life and death themselves. Unfortunately for Sunset, that was not the only vile thing she would do, no, quite far from it in fact.
While consuming the girl's soul did heal and strengthened her body, she still needed nourishment. She still needed to eat and drink if she wanted to say alive. Unfortunately there was nothing to eat in this damned swamp of a forest... nothing except.
Sunset looked at the corpse next to her. she could already see that the flesh was already in the process of decomposing. She looked at it, disgusted just by the thought, but, did she really have another option? Should she not eat, and deciding to leave, she wouldn't last more then a day. She knew that, but the thought of eating that... once, another pony, sickened her to the core.
She closed her eyes to think. She stayed like that for a few good minutes, before signing heavily and opening her eyes. Her horn lit up, and from it, a jet of continuous fire hit the corpse, burning it.... No, cooking it. After a few minutes, Sunset stopped, she looked at the corpse again. Charred on the outside, presumably cooked on the inside, or at least, she hoped so. Sunset got closer to the body, the foul stench hitting her nose, almost causing the unicorn to trow up again, but she held it in. She got even closer, and gulped. Is this what have i become? I wish i didn't see it's memories, it would have been easier this way. Maybe my power to read minds activated, maybe the spell was supposed to work like that, but it doesn't matter, does it?..... Do i really want to continue? She asked herself. No. I don't want this. But i have to do it nonetheless..... To what end? She asked herself, full of doubts.
When she first embarked on this journey, she did it with the intent to find her parents, to find answers. Why was she having these visions? Who is she really? Sunset wanted to know, to find her place, somewhere. She thought that, by finding answers, she would become complete, but so far, the opposite happened. The young unicorn has been on this continent for only one or two days. It was kind of hard to track the time when the sky is a perpetual void, but still, only a short period of time, and in that short period, she saw her companion in this journey, be killed by a giant tentacle of a creature so abominable that her brain beraly could process, she had to fight for her life with a creature of some long forgotten war, she consumed a soul to strengthen her own, and now she was in the middle of eating said creature that was once a pony, a filly no older then 13 years old. Sunset understood now why everypony else called this place forsaken and a blight upon this world.
With a heavy conscience, Sunset ripped a bit of flesh with her magic, and levitated it near her mouth. The stench was horrible, and if the smell was any indication, the taste will be just as bad. Sunset realised that, in this land, if she wanted to survive, she would have to brake every taboo and use any means necessary. With a heavy sign, she took a bite. Just as she was thinking, the taste and texture were horrible. It felt as if she was eating bugs covered in shit, but, she persisted for her own survival. Once bite turned into two. Two turned into three, and so on. Sunset was famished. The meat was disgusting, but her body craved nutrition.
After she finished eating, Sunset collapsed to the ground, full. Full of hatred, for herself and for this land, full of sadness, and a full belly. She stayed like that for ten minutes, before an ideea popped into her head. Wait a minute, I'm in a swamp! she slapped a hoof to her forehead. Swamps are full of mud and dirt. Can't i use magic to separate the dirt from the water, then boil the water to get rid of the germs? She thought, although she did feel proud of herself for the ideea, she also felt supid for not realizing it sooner. She quickly got up, and did just that. She scooped a ball of mud and started the separation process. It took longer then expected, as separating the dirt from the water required a great deal of concentration and time, but she did it in the end, then she used fire magic to boil the water. after waiting for a bit for the water to cool down, afterwards she took a big gulp, letting out a satisfying "Aahhh*. Now that she was no longer suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, and she knew how to get more water, she picked up her sword, and started to head further in.
Sunset, now traversing the endless terrain, was deep in thought now that she had the time. Who was that shadowy silhouette? She knew me, she said it herself. Did this land bring back the demon part of me?..... No, that can't be right. I accepted who i am, i accepted that part of me into myself. But, what if this land made it surface once again?.... No again. She gave me a spell that i didn't know, dark magic at that. Even if my demon self was created by the regalia of magic, the spell that was transferred to me is old, much older then the elements of harmony. They couldn't have known it. Also, why did the silhouette help me? She did say that she wanted to help me, but after giving me the darkest magic ever created, i don't think she is trustworthy.  Sunset hopped from one root to another. And the war. Demons, not like the demon i was transformed into, no, but real demons. Beings of destruction who crave only death and slaughter. How big was the war for the whole continent to turn like this? She thought, but quickly realized that she would not get an answer any time soon. Also, Celestia and Luna, not gods? They are immortal, and control celestial bodies like the sun and the moon? How are they not gods?
Thinking about it, it didn't make any sense, but the silhouette did seem like she knew the two sisters, and it seems like it had a great hate for Celestia. Sunset's mind was working, coming up with possible theories, she did that until she heard a crack in the distance. Hearing that, She instantly snapped out of it, and instinctively teleported herself to another root, not wanting to be ambushed again. She heard another crack, and another. The creature was making itself known, and that frightened the unicorn. If the thing didn't even bother with stealth, that probably means that it's powerful enough not to care. "Fuck! Is this because of my fight with the Corrupta est? I did find it strange that nothing came to investigate." she whispered to herself. The cracks were closer now, and Sunset was sweating. Should she just leave? Or should she stay? Sunset was debating about what choice she should make, but before she could come to a conclusion, she started to see a silhouette. It got closer and closer, untill Sunset could see what it was. It was a pony, bigger then what she was expecting, as it was about twice her size, but a pony nonetheless. The pony, an earth stalion with a blue coat and tatoos all over his body, carried a monster of a sword on it's back, that seemed to be made from some creature's bones and scales.
Sunset, smiling now, thinking that she finally found another pony, jumped out of her cover and revealed herself to the stalion in an attempt to show no hostility. The stalion, upon noticing Sunset, stopped. He looked at Sunset, examined her, and with a smooth motion, took his sword and shoved it into the ground, in an attempt to show that he didn't want conflict. Sunset in turn, did the same. With that out of the way, Sunset started the conversation. "Hey there! My name is Sunset Shimmer, i mean no harm!" She yelled, because of the distance.
In return, the stalion staid something as well. "Noli timere, pugnare nolo!" He yelled back.
Sunset as taken aback. She did expect some sort of language barrier, but she thought that it would be old ponish, not this. This is not a language she knew, and she knew a great deal of languages from her studies.
Looking around a bit, she concluded that it was safe for her to get closer, so she wouldn't have to yell, after all, she didn't know what creatures would be attracted. She slowly closed the distance between herself and the stalion, when suddenly, she felt something in her left hoof. She looked down, and she saw that an arrow pierced her hoof. Her brain didn't have time to register what happened, before she was hit with another arrow in her neck. Sunset finally realized what happened as the pain finally started kicking in. She started panicking, blood was quickly flowing out trough her neck. Fear started enveloping her, as she realized she was going to die, but before she could do something, an arrow struck her in the head, killing her instantly.
Sunset gasped, her eyes returned to normal. She didn't even realize that her eyes were glowing white. She stared at the stalion, she suddenly found herself before she started walking towards him. "What the fuck?!?" She said, her voice trembling. "I-I just died?" She asked herself once more. Before she could understand what the hell happened, her body instinctively moved, raising her left hoof, just in time to dodged an arrow. Sunset was confused beyond belief, but she remembered the second arrow. She dodged to the right, just in time to avoid the arrow, and used her magic to grab her greatsword. Now, aware that there are multiple hidden enemies, she teleported behind the stalion and swung her greatsword, with the intent of quickly incapacitating him, but it was blocked by his sword, that was being held in his mouth. Sunset fell the hairs on the back of her neck start to rise, and trusting her instincts, she quickly teleported somewhere else, before another arrow struck the spot where she was standing just milliseconds ago.
Sunset looked left, she looked right and she looked up. Even though she could not see where the archer or archers were shooting from, she did manage to pinpoint the general area of where they were. If her guess was correct, there should be two archers in the trees. Her attention was quickly grabbed by the stalion, who was now charging at the orange unicorn with a batttle cry. Wasting no time, she jumped back just in time to avoid another arrow, and conjured up a few fireballs. She sent a few flying at the stalion, and the remaining two at the location of where she thought that the archers might be hiding.
The two fireballs exploded in the trees. and Sunset saw two silhouettes jumping from branch to branch, confirming that she pinpointed the location accurately. The fireballs that were headed for the stalion on the other hand, didn't find their target. Some of the tattoos on his body started to glow, creating some sort of distortion field around him and causing the fireballs to change direction away from him, hitting only mud and roots. "Ok, so those were runes on his body... Wonderful!" She said, annoyed and sarcastically. A few more runes activated, and suddenly his speed became much greater, causing him to quickly close the distance. He slowed down when he got near Sunset, and used his sword to attack. Sunset intercepted his sword with her own, but his large build wasn't just for show, as he quickly overpowered Sunset, knocking her greatsword out of her magical grasp. He then striked once more, but Sunset smaller build, helped her in this situation, as she dodged his strike and went close to him, launching a devastating lightning attack. Unfortunately for her, being so close to her target, she got caught up in it as well, but her magical resistance was higher and she could tank the hit.
The stalion fell with a loud thud, shaking and unable to move. Sunset, happy that he got out of the equation, teleported up in the trees where she last saw the archers. They weren't there, meaning that they changed location. She looked around to try and find them, but before she could do that, an arrow stuck her in the head.
Sunset gasped again, and she was on the branches of the trees. Quickly moving her head left, she dodged the arrow that killed her. Calculating the trajectory of the projectile, she found out where it came from, and teleported around in that area in hopes of finding the attacker. It didn't take long for the young unicorn to find her pray. She created a platform of magic in mid-air, and she used it to launch herself at her target. The archer, busy searching for the unicorn who was teleporting in various different locations, saw his pray too late, and was hit on the side of his head by the flat part of Sunset's greatsword, knocking him out instantly. Him being on branches high above the ground, meant that as soon as he got knocked out, he lost his balance, and he started falling.
Sunset was busy searching for her next target, but she was taken out of it when she heard something hitting the ground. She looked down only to be horrified at what she just saw. The archer she knocked out, fell on the ground from high up, and splashed on the ground. His body exploded in gore upon coming in contact with the ground, causing Sunset to stop looking for the enemy and stare at the death she just caused. N-No! He can't be d-dead. D-Did i just kill someone? No! No! No! No! She thought. Sure, she killed an abomination, and even though it was once a pony, too much time have passed for the creature to still remembered her old life. It was just that, a creature. But this, this was different, it was a pony's life she had just taken. A living, thinking pony's life. Murderer. I'm a murderer!
Unfortunately fot Sunset, the enemy did not let her grieve and contemplate. The other archer, laughed an arrow at Sunset while she was distracted, hitting her in her back left hoof. Sunset screamed as a jolt of pain suddenly broke her concentration of any thoughts she was having, and reminding the young magician that she was still in a fight. Sunset quickly teleported on the ground, and launched more fireballs at the trees. The fireballs exploded, causing branches and pieces of bark to fly in all directions, but she saw no movement, meaning that either she blew up the archer, or the archer was never there to begin with.
A few arrows stuck the ground around where Sunset was standing. Six arrows, forming a circle. None of them hit Sunset, so she thought that they all missed and didn’t pay any attention to the runes inscribed in the shaft of said arrows, but just because Sunset didn't see them, didn't mean that they didn't exist. The runes began to glow green, and a circle was quickly formed around Sunset. After not even a second, chains shot out from the arrows, enveloping Sunset and bringing her down on the ground.
Sunset tried to teleport away, but it didn't work. Next she tried to conjure a fireball, or electricity, but it didn't work either. It seemed as if the chains were restricting Sunset's magic. With magic not working, she tried to use brute force break free, and surprisingly, even to Sunset, the chains started to break, little by little. She almost managed to get herself free, when suddenly, her horn got cut off. Sunset screamed. The horn held the most nerves in the body except the brain, so it being cut off, meant a world of pain for Sunset. Unfortunately for the young magician, Sunset saw a shadow standing in front of her, she looked up to see the stalion that she incapacitated, holding his weapon up. The last thing before she lost consciousness was the flat part of the blade coming for her head.
Author's Note
Hello again lovely readers, it's ya boi. Unfortunately, i am still alive (This is a joke btw)
Jokes aside, damn it has been a long time since i posted. Sorry for that, you know how it is in December. Christmas, new year, work and a wedding. I was busy as fuck, and on top of it all, a cold that lasted one month and two weeks, and from the looks of it, still going strong. I fucking hate my shitty ass immune system.
Anyway, let's talk about this chapter. Basically, i was busy as hell, but that is only half of the reason why it took so long to write. The other half is, i had to re-write this chapter like three times. and the ending still seems a bit rushed, but it kind of is intentionally so (I'll get to it later). I had to re-write it like three times because i felt like it was too depressing and cruel, or not depressing and cruel enough. I think this is the best i could come with in terms of it not feeling like you are reading some torture text like Twilight of Fifty shades of Gray. I am quite happy with how it turned out.
About the ending, i intentionally wrote it like that, and i mean like it was hurried. Sunset is now stronger, like way stronger then before she consumed the soul, the problem is, she doesn't know how to use that power up. The reason why she didn't really use much magic and she felt weaker then when she fought the corrupta est, is because she wasn't fighting against an abomination, she was fighting against sentient being, ponies. She didn't want to kill them, but she also didn't know how much force she needed to use to knock them out. I didn't realize expressed is well, but the blow she delivered to the archer, was almost enough to kill him. So yeah, the ending feels rushed because the tribe ponies needed to end the fight as quickly as possible. A shit reason, i know, but it kind kf does make sense. also i just wanted to finish the dam chapter, but we don't talk about that.
Another thing is, when she killed the archer, and she stopped to contemplate and think on what she just did.... i will be honest, i think i did a very shit job portraying the gravity of the situation and Sunset's feelings. When i read Fallout Girls, and Sunset had her first kill, i was amazed by how well he described how Sunset was feeling, but when i wrote it, it felt ok-ish. I don't like how i wrote it one bit, but it was the best i could do.
I'm sure you have more questions, which i urge you to tell me in the comments of this chapter. I will try my best to answer. Also, here is a fun question for you that you can try answering. Who is Sunset? And how does her powers work? Try giving me your theories, if you have any.
Well, see ya in the comments.