Part 2: How to Fight with the Fear

Part 2

How to Fight with the Fear

“Misty! It’s ok! Misty!”

Misty’s eyes flew open, her breathing quick. She thrashed around a bit in the confused state between the dream realm and reality, only calmed down by feeling the hooves on her shoulders. Zipp was looking down at her, worry stricken across her face. Misty’s breathing slowed as she rolled up into a sitting position.

“Ugh…” she groaned. She had been having another nightmare. This time about Zipp… she didn’t even want to think about it.

“S-” she started but Zipp’s hoof had already shot to her muzzle. “Nononononono. You are not about to apologise for having a nightmare.” she said sternly, but with a smile on her mouth. Misty’s ears flattened, and she instead just rested her head against Zipp’s chest. Zipp placed a hoof around her and made a ‘shhhh’ noise. Misty felt herself calm right down. The contact started to let Misty inadvertently start to sense Zipp’s feelings… She would call them ‘affectionate concern.’ This made Misty shuffle uncomfortably. She did appreciate her developing abilities; nopony else native to this world could do what she could. But she did wish there was a way to turn it off every now and then.

“Remember… I’m here.” Said Zipp quietly. “And don’t forget! Today’s your first lesson…”

OH!

Misty had completely forgotten that somepony was here to help her!

A small smile crossed her lips as she moved away, glancing over at the spellbook on her dresser. “It… doesn’t quite seem real… I never thought I’d actually get to meet her again, and now here she is!”

“Goes to show how much everypony wants you to do well, Mists.” she said. Misty tilted her head.

“Zipp… you’re a good detective, right?” Misty asked.

“I’m not good. I’m great” Said Zipp with a grin.

“Well…” Misty said, looking at her. “Do you think that there's something… weird? About Sunset?”
“Well, she is a Unicorn from another dimension who lives in another OTHER dimension where she is some weird flesh creature. I’d class that as pretty strange.” Zipp pointed out.

“I know, but its not that. I…” she sighed. “You know my whole… emotion and memory stuff that i’ve started to develop?”

“Yeah…” said Zipp, tilting her head a bit.

“Well… I’ve gotten the feeling that there's a reason she was so keen to come here.”

“Uh, yeah? To see you?”

“N-No, I mean, yeah, she IS here for me but… I guess I mean more, a reason for why she was so keen to leave her home.” she said, pondering it a little. Zipp had a little think about it, reminded of their first meeting. “She DID seem a little off when talking about her friend that helped her make the lesson plan…”

Misty nodded. “I’m… not sure what to do. Do I ask her about it? She obviously doesn’t want to talk about it” said Misty.

Zipp considered it for a bit. “Hmm… Well… I think you should keep an eye on it, but not engage it directly.” she said finally. “Worst case scenario, she IS sad about something, and her time here will be a fun distraction, right?”

Misty nodded, smiling a little. She liked that plan. “Y-Yeah! I guess so… Thanks, Zipp.”

“No problem”, she replied, giving her a nuzzle. “I heard Izzy making pancakes, want me to bring you some up?”

“Oh! Yes please! That’d be great!” she said, smiling and nodding. Zipp gave her a small peck on the cheek and fluttered downstairs.

Misty laid back on the bed, smiling at the ceiling. She could hear voices from the roof. Her head tilted a little. Who was up there?

To say that Sunny was nervous was an understatement.

She had gotten back home late last night, and their guest was already fast asleep. This was a blessing and a curse. It was good as she didn’t have to do her formal introductions then and there, but bad because she had to wait all night dealing with the worry of what she was going to say.

She had tried to head into her room in the morning, but she was already gone. A pancake flipping Izzy had informed her that Sunset had headed up to the top of the brighthouse.

So there Sunny was, in the longest 5 seconds of her life, waiting for the elevator to reach its peak.

Once it eventually did, she crossed out of the prisbeam’s shine to see Sunset there, leaning over the balcony. She was wearing a leather jacket and her mane was gently moving in the wind. Sunny gulped a little.

She’s so pretty!?

Ok… you’re the leader… Go make a good first impression!

“H-HI! Sunset Shimmer, isn’t it?” she said, stumbling over the first hurdle a little. Sunset’s ear flicked as she turned around, her face forming into a smile.

“Thats me! Aaand you must be Sunny Starscout!” she said,moving her forelegs away from the balcony and extending a hoof. Sunny moved up, and shook it.

“Yep! Well, first off all, thanks so much for coming to help Misty!” she said sitting down next to her. Sunset sat down too and the pair looked over Maretime bay.

“Oh, I could never say no to helping out Misty. She’s one of the kindest ponies I’ve ever met! Plus, she’s adorable. I couldn’t exactly say no!” she said, grinning. Sunny laughed. “T-That’s true! What do you think of the town so far?”

“Heh… got asked the same thing yesterday on Pipp’s livestream.” Sunset replied, smirking a little as she looked back over the town below them. Sunny let out a little groan in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry about that… she's chronically online.”

“No need to apologise! I actually think I’m going to ask her to help me with one of my lessons for Misty today.” she said, and got out her planning book. Sunny didn’t get a chance to see the symbol on the front.

“Where is it…” she said, flicking to the right page. Once she had found it, she showed it to Sunny. Sunny’s eyes widened a little.

“R-Really?” she asked, ears perking up as she read the contents of the page “Is that really a good idea?”

“I think it would do wonders for her confidence.” she said. “It helped me with mine, anyway.”

“I guess we’ll see!” she said. “I trust you to do well, though! You seem like you’re on top of this!”

Sunset laughed, shaking her head. “I’m only doing the things that helped me get better. Me and Misty… we’re pretty similar in a lot of ways. She reminds me of me right when I’d manage to come back from the darkness… Well, kind of. From what Misty has told me, she was only ever really doing the bad things because of Opaline. I did them by myself.” she said, smiling bitterly. “But! Like me, it seems she has a wondrous group of friends who helped pull her back, and she seems much happier for it!”

Sunny nodded along in agreement. “I’m so glad that we’ve been able to be there for Misty… she’s extraordinarily powerful in ways that I don’t think any of us really understand, not even her.” she said. Her ears flattened a little as her eyes darted over to the burned unity tree over in the town.

“The one thing she’s missing is magical guidance… which is where I come in! Don’t worry, Sunny. Once I’m done with her, she’ll be able to send Opaline back to the dark ages where she belongs!” she said happily.

Sunny could feel her anxiety start to flush out of her system. Knowing that there was at least one other not evil magic user in this world certainly did relieve a lot of the stress of Opaline still being out there.

The pair sat there for a few more moments, looking over the bay. Sunset looked over at her.

“... can I see them?”

“H-Huh!?” Sunny was confused.

“Your wings.”

“O-OH!” Sunny said, the momentary confusion cleared from her mind. She nodded, and activated her wings and horn! Sunset smiled wide as she saw them. “That’s awesome!” she said, standing up and circling Sunny, who blushed awkwardly. “I’ve never seen anything like THIS before! You must be one special-” she stopped suddenly. Sunny looked confused before realising that Sunset was looking at her bag.

“Is that…” Sunset said slowly. “Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark?”

“OH! Uhm, yeah! It is!” she said with a nod. “I… used to be a huge Twilight Sparkle fan when I was a kid…” she said bashfully. “Same with the other elements of Harmony… I-I’ll show you my figurines later, aha!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You have… figurines of them?”

“Yeah!”

“... so they…” she said, pausing for a moment. “Sorry. All of this dimension stuff is confusing, but from what I understand, this world is around a thousand years ahead of the one I’m from originally. So the myths and legends of the world before to you are just… the ponies I know.” she said slowly. Sunny tilted her head before realising what Sunset was realising, her face dropping a little.

“Wait… you know your worlds Twilight Sparkle?”

It was very subtle, but Sunny could have sworn she saw Sunset’s eye twitch.

“I know her, yes. She’s… the one who helped me with this, actually.” She said, pointing with a hoof to her lesson plan. “She’s… she’s something else.” she said, smiling softly. Sunny’s eyes widened.

Misty was getting real help from THE (well, A) Twilight Sparkle?!??

She tried her best to not have a nerdgasm.

“Was… Twilight Sparkle stil an Alicorn?” asked Sunset, interrupting Sunny’s freakout.
“Oh! Yes! We’ve actually spoken to her! Well, kind of. She left us a message! It plays if you touch the middle most gem of the unity crystals!” she said, pointing at the shining crystals that floated in the prisbeam. Sunset looked over at it, seemingly lost in thought.

“Is she still… alive here?” Sunset asked, still looking at the unity crystals.

Sunny sighed. “We don’t know. Zipp and I have been trying to investigate for a while, but we can’t find any trace of her. All we know is that at some point in the past, Opaline overpowered the Elements of Harmony and Twilight Sparkle had to seal away all the magic. What became of her after that… we aren’t sure.” she said, looking away sadly. Sunset was silent as she listened. Sunset could see a tear or two start to form in her eyes.

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I mean i was only… oh gosh-”

Sunny didn’t even register that she had just essentially told Sunset that all her friends in this timeline were either dead or missing.

“It’s fine! It’s… fine. Just a lot to take in.” she said, taking a deep breath. “But…it's also ok. All of my friends are alive and well. Just in another dimension.”

Sunny nodded, and let out a deep sigh. “Its… alot, you know. Everypony is depending on me… I’m the last Alicorn that we know of who isn’t evil… What if I mess up again?”

“Sunny… I know you can do it.” Sunset reassured. “Whatever troubles you face, no matter how great and catastrophic, your friends will pull through for you. You got this.” she said. Sunny managed to smile. “Plus, you’re about to have another magical superpower on your side! You got nothing to worry about, Princess!”

Oh goshhhhh. Sunny flushed with embarrassment.

“Oh, uhm… Don’t call me princess, please.” she requested bashfully. “I… don’t really feel comfortable being seen as better than everypony just because I’m an Alicorn.

“OH! Sorry! Force of habit… I’m used to calling Alicorns Princesses is all.” said sunset apologetically.

“It's ok! It’s not the first time I’ve been called princess by someone who knew Twilight.”

“Wait, really? Who else have you spoken to?”

“Oh! Did I not mention? Spike is still alive!”

Sunset blinked.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Steadddyyyy…. Steaddyyyy…………”

Misty couldn’t remember the last time she had concentrated this hard. Her element glowing around her neck, her magical aura surrounded the large rock that Sunset was standing on. The rock in question was gently levitating in the air, spinning in a slow circle. Sweat was falling down her forehead as she kept on spinning it, the effort she was exuding being enormous.

“Almost there!” said Sunset encouragingly.

“Can’t…” Misty said, voice trembling, shutting her eyes. The rock started to wobble in the air uncertainly.

“Remember! Centre your magic!” said Sunset quickly, bracing herself for a sudden fall.

Mist took a deep breath. Centre yourself… centre yourself…

She could feel the magic inside of her calming, as she focused her body to her core. The pain in her head somewhat subsided and she was able to safely move the rock to the ground. As it touched down she let out a huge breath of exhaustion, and splatted down onto her side. She took in big gulping breaths as Sunset moved over.

“That was amazing! You’ve already doubled your weight capacity just from today! That’s faster progress than I’ve seen… well, ever!”

“Great! Just… great…” panted Misty, too busy restoring oxygen to her body to feel any pride. “Can we… ppllleeaaaseeee…. Stop with the levitation for today? I think if I try any more of that I might explode…”

Sunset laughed, sitting by her limp body. “Sure, we can stop levitation for today. You’ve been working so hard at it!” she said, getting out her planning book again. Misty saw Twilight’s cutie mark on the cover again. That's what seemed to set her off last time…

…

Misty stood up, and leaned into Sunset for ‘support’, which was of course not the real reason. As their bodies connected, her element heated up.

As Sunset flicked through the book, Misty heard what was in her head.

“I should just be thankful she’s not dead.”

Misty jerked away suddenly, eyes wide. That was NOT what she expected to hear.

“You ok?” asked Sunset, concerned by her apprentice’s sudden jolt.

“Y-Yep! I’m all good!” she insisted. “I think I a-almost fell asleep there, aha…” She said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof whilst looking away.

Who wasn’t dead? Did she mean Twilight? Or… did she mean… Zipp? Was she thinking about how Misty had accidentally zapped her? How it was a wonder that she hadn’t been killed? That if Misty ever messed up again she’d kill somepony? She’d kill everypony? She’d release a spell so powerful that it jolted everything and everypony around them and kill the entire bay? Oh hoofness she was going to kill everypony oh no oh no that wasn’t good she didn’t want to kill anypony!

“Misty!”

Misty hadn’t even realised that she’d started to hyperventilate. Her horn started crackling and sparking with blue energy.. “I…” she tried to speak, but she couldn’t get any words out. Sunset stood up, eyebrows furrowed, determination in her eyes. “Ok. Misty. Deep breaths. Where are we.”

“W… W-We…” Misty said, swallowing a few times to free up her throat, eyes closing. “W-We are in a field near the woods.”

“Yes. Good.” Sunset said calmly, placing a hoof over her back. “And what can you see?”

Misty opened her eyes. “I s-see… the… trees… and I can see the… brighthouse in the distance and… i can see our bags over there…”

“Good. What can you feel?”

“I can feel… the grass.”

“Focus on the grass. Run your hoof over it.”

Misty nodded, and did just that. She looked at her hoof as she did. She felt every individual blade of grass gently brush against the sensitive sole of her hoof. She looked at the blades as they sprang back into position after her hoof drifted over them. Slowly, the crackling of her horn started to die down.

“Good…” said Sunset, squeezing her. Misty’s breathing and heart rate managed to go back to a normal level as she wiped her tearful eyes. She was still shaking a little. “You’re safe here… you have nothing to worry about” Sunset reaffirmed. Misty nodded, and leaned back into her. No energy was sparking out of her horn anymore. Her element suddenly got very, very hot.

“Poor girl… that Alicorn really did a number on her mental state, didn’t she?”

Misty jerked away again, letting out a yelp this time. Using her hoof she grabbed her element. She tore it off her neck and threw it as far as she could (a few meters). It landed in the grass with a tinkle. Her horn sparked again.

“Misty…” said Sunset quietly.

“I-It…” Misty started. She wasn’t quite ready to give the real reason… but she still wanted to tell the truth. So she decided to tell the truth, just not the whole truth.

“I-It got really hot.” she said, pointing at the crystal that now lay in the grass. “I wasn’t expecting it and it g-gave me a fright.”

“Is that what made you start to panic?” she asked, moving over to the crystal on the floor. She placed a hoof on it for half a second before jerking it away with a hiss. “Wow that IS hot…”

“Uhm… No. I… started thinking about… t-the spell I cast that hurt Zipp. And it kind of… spiralled from there.” she said with a little whimper as she held her head again. “A-And when I get anxious like that and h-have been using magic, it starts to burst out of my horn and gets really strong.” she said, laying down in shame.

“I see…” said Sunset, tilting her head. “And that’s what lead to the lightning bolt, right?”

Misty nodded guiltily.

“Okay… so your magic gets stronger when you’re anxious?” said Sunset, putting two and two together.

“Great…” groaned Misty. “Good thing I’m always anxious then…”

“Hmm…” she said. “I’d like to try something, if that’s ok. One more spell for today, and then we’re done, alright?”

Misty nodded weakly, slowly sliding up into a sitting position.

“Ok… something I learned a long while ago is that I can channel my negative emotions into something useful. In this case…” she said as she started moving around her, picking up a few rocks and planks of wood they had brought for training purposes.

Misty tilted her head a little. “H-How can anxiety be useful?”.

“Small levels of anxiety can be helpful at times. Obviously though, when anxiety goes unchecked?” she said as she finished placing the last plank of wood. “Well… I think you know what can happen.”

Misty’s ears drooped.

“But that energy you produce is seriously powerful… and if channelled correctly could easily become a powerful weapon against any who would harm you or your friends!”

Misty was on her hooves now, looking up at the 6 foot structure that Sunset had made. It was a pile of a few large rocks with planks leaned against the side and front.

“Okay…” she said. “Now… you don’t need to do this if you don’t want to-”

“I want to.” Misty said quickly. She desperately wanted a way to have her inner turmoil be useful. Somehow.

“Got it. I’m going to need you to… well, think about things that get you anxious. Just so we can get the sparks going.”

Misty shuddered, but nodded. She shut her eyes, her mind immediately going to Zipp laying on the floor with the scorch match across her side. Pipp’s words echoed in her mind…

“I think you’ve done enough.”

She winced, and a few small sparks started appearing around her horn.

“Ok! Ok… good! Now… focus your energy on the tip of your horn…” said Sunset calmly. Misty let out a whimper as she did. A small ball of energy started to form just above her horn. She whimpered more; this wasn’t a fun experience at all. The ball began to get even bigger and more erratic; before the energy had just been dissipating into the air but now that it was being retained it was stockpiling up.

“Ok! Now! Open your eyes! Direct it at the target!” she said excitedly. Misty opened her eyes. Her vision was hazy again, but she tried her best. With a loud cry, she threw her head forward. The ball of energy was let loose, and a small bolt was let out. It zipped through the air, smashing into the target. Misty watched at the first board in front of her snapped in two, falling to the floor. Her ears dropped a little.

“That was…” she started to say but was interrupted by the sudden hug from Sunset.

“Amazing??? That was your first try!” she said, squeezing her. “You listened to what I said and just… did it! I’ve never known ANYPONY to pick this stuff up as quick as you are!” she said proudly.

Misty could feel the pride emanating from Sunset as she was embraced, and an embarrassed flush crossed her face. “T-Thanks…” she said quietly. A small smile crossed her face… she did an ok job there, didn’t she? Even if she had to get anxious to do it. “I… Uhm…” she coughed a bit. “I’d rather that we didn’t do that one again for a while though, I-If that’s ok.”

“Of course. Even if we never practise it again, it will at least mean you know how to channel it if things get real bad again!” she said. “Do you feel better now that you used the spell?”

Misty thought about it. The usual anxious pit in her stomach did feel smaller…

She smiled, and nodded. “Y-Yeah, I guess it does feel a bit better!”

“Well!” said Sunset, moving away and glancing up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set. “You are definitely getting a gold star for this one!” she said, chuckling to herself as she started to pick up her book.

Misty’s eyes sparkled for a moment. “I… get a star?”

“Huh? No, Misty I was-” she said, turning back to see Misty’s wide eyed expression. She smirked.

“Yes, Misty. We can get you a gold star.”

“YIPPEE!”

Thump.

Misty’s eyes opened as she heard the strange noise from downstairs. A little pang of dreaded filled her stomach, as it was a sound that she was all too familiar with when she still lived with Opaline.

The sound of a book being thrown at a wall.

Misty had… often been the true target. But that was in the past. She didn’t have to worry about it now.

She sat up in bed, and looked around the room. Everypony was sleeping soundly. Pipp, Izzy, Sunny… her heart dropped. Zipp? Where was Zipp!? Had Opaline snuck in to kidnap and throw books at her? Oh no she was dead wasn’t she-

Misty heard the snort beside her, and glanced down. Zipp was sleeping with her mouth open nexto her. Misty rolled her eyes at herself, smiling a little. She was so silly…

Wait if everypony was here… then where did that noise come from?

Misty wouldn’t have to wait long as she heard hoofsteps coming up the ramp. She lay back down on her bed quickly, keeping one eye open a slit so she could see.

Sunset Shimmer had risen into the sleeping area, her face scrunched with anger. Her mane was gently glowing in spots reminiscent to that of embers of a recently used campfire. Her movement was stiff and agitated. Misty silently slid her hoof out of bed and placed it on her element, which was placed on her bedside table. Immediately, she felt the emotion.

It wasn’t clear to her, but the closest thing she could equate it to was jealousy. She winced a little; she was still learning how emotions worked, and this was an incredibly complex one, a swirling vortex of confusion and pain.

She tilted her head where she lay. That wasn’t what she thought she was going to detect. She had suspected rage or sadness… not this.

Sunset was gently mumbling something to herself. Misty couldn’t pick out individual words, but this was not a happy horsie.

She watched as Sunset moved to the middle of the elevator and pressed the switch. The device quietly whirred into action, and up Sunset went. The last thing Misty saw of her face was tears rolling down them, looking up to the next level as it vanished from view.

Misty stayed sitting up, staring at the centre of the room for a few minutes more. Nopony else seemed to have been woken by Sunset. It was just Misty, alone with her thoughts. Frowning, she lay back down in her bed.

This certainly seemed like something that was worth asking her about…

She looked over at Zipp who was still soundly sleeping beside her.

Zipp had said not to pry…

She sighed, and closed her eyes. She wanted to know what was wrong with her… but she didn’t want to be irritated. She would continue to help distract her from whatever it was.

If it was really serious, she was sure that Sunset would tell her…

Right?

As Misty drifted off into sleep once more, she could have sworn she heard two voices coming from the balcony above her.