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The Return of Sunset Shimmer

by Never2muchpinkie

Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Love versus hate

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The ponies that had been watching the battle all bailed as they saw Twilight fall to Stardust's influence.

A dark vortex of energy was swirling around Twilight, becoming smaller until it outlined her, making her appear as a living shadow. There was some white where the eyes should be, and the purple aura had appeared out of her eyes.

“This is stupendous!” Stardust proclaimed, his voice coming out of Twilight’s mouth. He had been feeding on all of Sunset’s pain, fear, and insecurities, and now he had all of Twilight’s boosting him up. It was a dream come true. “Finally!” he shouted to the air. “I finally have the body of an alicorn!”

Applejack collapsed to the ground. Everything was supposed to be over. “Why?” she said, not comprehending. “Why would Twilight ever put on the Alicorn Amulet?”

Rainbow was at a loss for words. Twilight was invisible to them. All they could see was an overwhelming darkness.

Fluttershy gulped heavily, tears in her eyes. How long was this gonna go on? How long was this thing going to ruin their happiness?

“This can’t be happening,” said Pinkie, tears forming in her own eyes. “I… I can’t believe this.”

Rarity was shaking, clutching Spike for support, even though it was supposed to be the other way around. Whatever that was it was not Twilight.

“Twily…” Shining also couldn’t form a coherent response. They had learned the story of what had happened, and were told they had nothing to worry about. Twilight would be back to normal by battles end. “What could have possessed her to do this?”

Cadance put a shaky hoof on him. “I think ‘possessed’ might be the key word here.”

Stardust looked down smugly at Celestia. “You can’t imagine how good this feels, Princess. Your favorite student is under my thrall. How does it feel?”

Celestia only glared wordlessly at the sight before her. On the inside she felt fear, but on the outside she was fully composed.

“No response, Princess?” He laughed, lifting his hoof and shaking it back and forth a few times. “Don’t worry so much. Twilight is only ‘sleeping’ right now. Twilight was so weak in every way, and I so strong from absorbing the negative feelings of my two hosts, that my will has overtaken hers. I’m in control right now. Eventually she’ll ‘wake up’ and she’ll likely regain control of her mind by then.”

Shining’s horn flared up with energy. “There is no eventually! You release my sister right now or there will be nothing left of you!”

Rainbow hopped over next to him, slamming her hooves together. “What he said!”

That only made Stardust laugh harder. “By all means,” he said with amusement. “Fire away. Hit me, blast me, suffocate me, crush me. You can do whatever you want, but it will all come to naught. My essence is simply mixing with her dark magic, wrapping itself around Twilight like a blanket. Anything you do to me won’t hurt me in the slightest. You’ll only wind up hurting Twilight.” Lifting his head up a bit to the side he looked down at the two confidently. “If you want to destroy your sister and friend then feel free. I won’t do a thing to stop you.”

Shining’s horn slowly stopped glowing, and both he and Rainbow lost their fighting spirit.

“Very good. I’m glad to see you understand.”

Celestia took a few steps forward. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble, Stardust? There’s still time to end this. Can’t you stop all this? Let Twilight go.”

“Are you trying to barter with me now, Princess Celestia?” he responded. “We both know it’s just a waste of your time. If you want Twilight back you know the only option you have, and it’s not as simple as what happened with your precious sister. This time simple waiting won’t be enough. But you know that, and that’s why you don’t want to face it.”

Celestia kept the iron mask on her face. She did know. She knew it well.

“What is it worth to you to have Twilight returned to you?” he asked, and his amusement faded. “Will you bow down to me and acknowledge my superiority? Apologize for sealing me away all this time?”

Once more Celestia just stared at him.

Cadance felt a pain in her heart. “Please, Twilight! Fight him!”

“Keep quiet, you inferior alicorn,” Stardust said dismissively, sliding his hoof across the air. The earth shifted a bit, knocking her to the ground harmlessly. “The big ponies are talking.”

“Cadance!” Shining called out, kneeling down to check on her. “You jerk! How dare you attack my wife!”

As he powered up his horn again the darkness around Twilight faded slightly, revealing her face. “Please, Shiny! Don’t!”

Shining stopped immediately, backing up a step. He couldn’t attack Twilight. It was the one thing he absolutely could not do.

Stardust shook his head. Good ponies were so easy to manipulate. If one couldn’t turn their heart to stone and do what needed to be done for the greater good they were worthless. In that regard he had to respect Celestia at least that much. She allowed herself to suffer for a thousand years until she could find a worthy heir to the Elements of Harmony to free her sister from the darkness.

All the same, it did nothing to his desire to remove Celestia from the picture permanently for what she had done to him. At the current time that was impossible though. Like it or not he would have to retreat until he could break Twilight to his will. Otherwise she would only resist his attempts to attack Celestia. It didn’t matter how much power he now possessed if he couldn’t attack anything with it.

He couldn’t just leave, though. As soon as Twilight regained her senses she would attempt to remove him in a heartbeat. Before that happened he had to use her to do something she ordinarily would never do. Twilight felt a sense of guilt over Spike, but it had been indirectly her fault. If she did something deliberately she would have no else to blame but herself for it. That would give him the weight he needed to break her mental defenses.

He got a wicked idea. ‘Ah, Sunset, you’re just perfect.’ Sunset had been the actual one to kill Spike, and had caused Twilight to rely on dark magic in desperation. She had caused Twilight a black hole of negative emotions because of the close calls that nearly cost her all her other friends as well. In the state Twilight was in she would have no problems with finishing the weakened Sunset off. After all, had Celestia, Shining, and Cadance not intervened Twilight would have done so already.

When Twilight regained consciousness and realized what she had done the weight of her actions would break her mentally. She would not be able to forgive herself for losing so much of her true self to darkness and revenge. If the damage was great enough and her psyche broke completely she would basically become comatose, just an empty vessel he could control as he wished. It was the most ideal scenario, because Twilight would never interfere with his plans again.

He knew from the beginning that Twilight would require more work than Sunset to sway to darkness. Getting Twilight to wear him had been the most difficult part. The fear of failure was over.

Stardust thought for a moment. He could just blast Sunset and immediately retreat, but that might not be enough to fracture Twilight’s mind. After all, she could always use the excuse that she only did it because she was being controlled. If Twilight did the deed herself, though, she couldn’t use that to turn away from what she’d done.

“You know what?” Stardust said, walking toward them. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Rainbow Dash. “I’ve had a change of heart. Sunset’s heart was full of so much darkness and hatred. It was thoroughly unpleasant. On the other hoof though…” He stopped, touching his chest. “Twilight’s heart is different. I can feel something different there. She’s filled with so much love and affection. Though I don’t want to admit it I can feel it influencing me.”

The darkness surrounding Twilight’s body slowly began to fade, starting from her tail and heading towards her head. As the last of it faded Twilight looked herself again.

Fluttershy poked her head out from Rainbow’s legs. “D-do you think Twilight’s okay?”

“I sure hope so,” said Applejack. “But we can’t just take that thing at its word.”

“Wakey-wakey, Twilight,” said Stardust, stirring her consciousness.

Twilight had a dazed expression on her face. She wasn’t sure where she was or what she had just been doing. She shook her head, gazing at everyone. “Hey, there,” she said with a feeble wave.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“I… I think so…”

“Not for long,” said Stardust. “I think you need to teach Sunset a lesson, and I’ll keep stirring up your feelings until you do so.”

He implanted thoughts into her mind, reminding her of everything that had been occurring that day. He made Spike’s death the most prominent.

Once more Twilight felt like an overwhelming weight was on her, so deep that it felt physical. She fell to her knees, holding herself as she cried out, “Spike!”

“Twilight, you need to remove the Alicorn Amulet!” Celestia called out.

Twilight didn’t hear her. Stardust was controlling her senses now, and he drowned Celestia out.

“You hate Sunset, don’t you, Twilight? Let’s stir up those feelings next.”

He had already done it before. It would be simple to do so now. “This is Sunset’s fault! She’s a heartless murderer. If she’s left alone she’ll only cause more trouble.”

Speaking as her thoughts he reawakened her anger. It was a much more wondrous thing now that she was actually wearing him. He could feel the white hot anger burning inside her. “Very good, Twilight. Let the rage flow through you, filling you up.”

Twilight’s horn glowed a dark red, his power mixing with a touch of dark magic.

Sunset regained consciousness, squirming a little on the ground. She felt weary and weak. Opening an eye and sitting up a bit she saw a sight that woke her up completely. The Amulet was around Twilight’s neck! “No!” she whispered. It really had taken Twilight’s body while she had been knocked out.

“Awake, are you?” Twilight said coldly. “Not for long. I’ll give you a minute to say your prayers before I end your life.”

Sunset shivered. That was definitely not Twilight. Behind Twilight’s eyes she could see the dark cloud of Stardust. She was completely under his power.

A tear came down her eye. What was she to do? She had no strength to stop a super-powered Twilight.

Celestia turned around to the group behind her. “That thing… I see right through him. He has only kept us alive because Twilight would fight him off if he tried to off us, but so long as he doesn’t try to commit actions that go against her will she’ll ‘sleep’ and let him use her body.

Celestia closed her eyes. “Everyone… I have to be completely blunt and honest here: Twilight is much stronger than I am right now. Without the power of the Elements for strength and the ability to purge the darkness I am left with few options here.

“Twilight is mired in darkness right now, so she will go along with getting rid of Sunset, as all her pain stems from my former student. However, once Twilight truly awakens she will fall into despair over what she’s done. That is the break Stardust is waiting for. He cannot use Twilight to her true potential or to harm us until Twilight’s will is completely broken. Our bond with her is far too strong for him to do otherwise. In other words, the last link to Twilight’s sanity right now is with Sunset.

“Answer me this, my little ponies.” She addressed her words to Twilight’s five friends. “Do you believe in Twilight from the bottom of your hearts?”

“Of course!” said Pinkie immediately.

“Yes!” “I do!” They all agreed.

“I see…” Celestia opened her eyes, a grim look upon her face. “Then I leave it to you to get through to her. As the ruler of Equestria I cannot let any one pony be labelled more important than all of Equestria. All of you must be prepared for something unpleasant.”

“What do you mean, Princess?” Shining asked, a bit of an edge in his voice.

“You know very well what I mean, Shining,” she said impassively. “Stardust absolutely cannot be allowed to gain full control of Twilight’s powers, or none of us will stand a chance against him. If Twilight succeeds in killing Sunset then I will have no choice but to kill Twilight for the safety of everyone.”

You could have knocked all of them over with a feather.

Tears came to Pinkie’s eyes. “H-how can you say that? Y-you’d… you’d do that… to-to Twilight?”

“You can’t!” said Shining harshly. “I won’t allow you to!”

“Silence yourself, Shining Armor,” Celestia said scathingly, turning towards him. “I’ve told you not to allow your personal feelings to come into play when it comes to protecting others. Honestly speaking I should have killed Twilight immediately as soon as she put on the Amulet, as there was always the chance she would simply flee. Be grateful I’m allowing this much leeway.”

Turning towards Twilight she said, “As the former captain of the Royal Guard I thought I taught you that no pony is above reproach. I remember telling you that should I ever become corrupted that you should strike me down without mercy to protect everyone else. Have you forgotten that already?”

Shining grimaced. “No… no, I haven’t.”

“But you can’t expect us to just give up on Twilight!” Cadance said, tears dripping down her face. Memories were flashing in front of her eyes of all the time they had spent together when Twilight was a filly.

Celestia gathered up magic in her horn, closing her eyes again. “Of course not. I do not wish this to come to pass any more than any of you. If you’re not prepared that’s fine, but I am. I’ll give you the chance to win Twilight over, but if your attempts prove unsuccessful then I’ll be left with no other options. Twilight cannot be allowed to flee. I do not believe that Stardust will want Twilight to flee before killing Sunset. Sunset is the one and only pony to have invoked such strong negative feelings within Twilight, so Sunset is the only pony she would be persuaded to kill without resisting.

“Now go forth, and succeed in waking up your sleeping friend.”

Rainbow nodded hard, wiping away a few tears. She had thought it before, and she was thinking it now: she had already lost one friend. She wasn’t going to lose another.

Rarity was shaking Spike hard. “Please, Spikey, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” She was breathing hard as she stopped her shaking. “If Twilight finds out you’re awake she’s sure to come back to herself. She wouldn’t bear such a grudge against Sunset anymore. Can’t you hear me, Spike? Twilight needs you more than ever right now!”

Despite her fervent pleas Spike didn’t wake or show any indication he was hearing her. Though she didn’t want to admit it to herself maybe she had become a little unhinged after Spike was attacked. Maybe the feel of his heartbeat and the slow in and out motion of his chest was all in her mind because she just couldn’t accept the truth. Maybe Spike had been dead all along and she was just deluded.

She didn’t know what to do if she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that Spike truly was still among the living. Twilight was on the brink of being lost forever. If she told Twilight that Spike was still alive it would probably get through to her, but what if it really was all in her mind that he was? If Twilight was let down and had to experience losing Spike all over again it would probably break her as effectively as the Amulet would.

She would have to entrust things to her other friends for now. If it seemed like they would fail then telling Twilight what she thought was the truth about Spike might be enough to shake her out of the darkness clouding her soul.

“Well, then!” said Twilight, her voice mixing with Stardust’s, “I think that’s enough time to ruminate about past wrongs.” Her horn glowed brighter and brighter.

“Goodbye, Sunset!” said Stardust, preparing to release his spell.

“Stop!” said Rainbow, landing in front of Sunset. “If you want to kill her then you’ll have to kill me too.”

Twilight returned to herself for a moment, her emotions overriding him. “Rainbow Dash!” she said.

“Hey, it worked!” said Pinkie.

Stardust inwardly cursed. Twilight’s bond with her friends was like unbreakable diamonds. If he gave even a hint of attacking Rainbow to get to Sunset then Twilight’s mind would instantly reassert itself. She would not allow her body to be mindlessly used to harm her good friends.

Stardust forced himself to calm. Now was not the time to lose his head. If Rainbow was in the way all he had to do was get rid of her in a way that Twilight would not object to. So long as Rainbow wouldn’t come to harm Twilight wouldn’t fight him.

“I know that Rainbow means well, but Sunset does have to be punished,” Stardust said in her mind, imitating her voice again. “If I just gently move her out of the way then I can continue.”

Rainbow became enveloped in a red aura, then with a flash she was teleported back by the rest of them. Before she could try to fire again Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Sunset now.

“I don’t think so, Twilight,” she said, shaking her head. “Leave Sunset alone.”

With another flash Pinkie was teleported away, only to be replaced by Applejack.

“Darn it, darn it, darn it!” Stardust was losing patience. Each time he moved one of them another one took their place. “Oh! Aha!” He regained his cool as he realized there was a much simpler way of going about things. If teleporting Twilight’s friends away wasn’t working, then why not teleport herself?

“If I teleport right in front of Sunset I can nail her point blank before the rest of them can get in the way.”

It made sense to Twilight. With a flash of her horn she vanished, appearing right in front of Sunset, her horn powering up.

“AH! “Oh, no!” “Nooo!” The rest of them let out surprised exclamations. They were too late.

Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes, fear and terror reflected into Twilight’s cold, merciless glare. She flinched, knowing it was the end.

Time seemed to stop.

“It’s over!” Stardust said victoriously.

Seconds passed, and everyone was taut with anticipation, but Twilight didn’t fire.

Twilight’s horn gradually lost power. The ferocious gaze on her face slowly faded. Looking at Sunset’s expression, how scared she was, drained her of her feelings of anger. She never wanted to make someone have that expression when they looked at her. She had also seen herself in the reflection of Sunset’s eyes. She looked almost monstrous. Her desire for revenge faded. She didn’t want to go through with this.

“I… what have I been doing?” she said to herself. “This isn’t the way to go about things.”

Stardust would have been gnashing his teeth if he had a body. “What are you doing, Twilight? Kill her! Kill her NOW!”

In his anger Stardust hadn’t shielded his words from her, and she could hear his voice echoing in her mind. “Who’s talking to me? He… I…” She gasped, a fuzzy memory coming back to her. Needing to confirm it she looked down, and saw the Alicorn Amulet around her neck.

A look of horror came to her features. With a frustrated cry she grabbed it, yanking it off her neck. She threw it into the air, and gathered what little strength she had left and blasted it, tears coming down her face.

The whole outer portion of the Amulet had been obliterated, but the jewel was still intact.

Twilight was panting, her insides like ice. She had almost… she had nearly…

Why would she consider even for a single instant to put on the Amulet, after everything she had seen it do?

She barely had time to really feel her despair before her friends were on her, hugging her and squeezing her.

“Way to go, Twilight!” said Rainbow, giving her a noogie.

“We knew you’d come back!” said Pinkie, nuzzling her face.

“All of you,” Twilight said, grateful for their support. There was still a lot to process, but the danger had to be over now, didn’t it?

As if in response to that thought there was a cracking sound behind her. She spun around quickly, her eyes zeroing in on the jewel.

There were a few more snapping sounds before what looked like a dark mist came emanating out of it.

“What is that?” asked Shining, putting a comforting hoof around Twilight.

“Nothing good, I’m sure,” said Cadance.

The smoky mist solidified into the form of a pony. It looked exactly like Twilight had looked when she had first put on the Amulet.

“Hmmm,” said the smoky figure. “Now this is interesting.” He lifted a hoof, flexing it. The horn upon his head glowed red, and a rock lifted off the ground before falling. “Freed from the confines of the jewel I seem to be able to channel my magic without a host now.

“This has all been amusing, but I think it’s about time I regained my special little alicorn friend. Isn’t that right... Twilight?”

Twilight flinched. She didn’t want him anywhere near her again. She couldn’t help it. She felt terrified, and she hid behind her brother, Cadance, and Celestia like a little filly.

He laughed as his body lost definition, becoming mere smoke again as he flew towards Twilight.

Shining created a shield spell to block him, but Stardust went right through it as if it wasn’t there. “No! How?”

“Fool!” Stardust said. “Your puny shield can’t stop me.”

Cadance walked in front of Twilight, creating her own shield.

“Idiot! Didn’t I just tell you that you can’t-WHOA!” To Stardust’s surprise he was sent flying backward.

“You will not harm Twilight again, you sick beast!”

Stardust glared at Cadance, curious. “Oh, right. Your shield spell is based on love, so it’s fundamentally different than your husbands.”

Sunset quivered on the ground. She couldn’t believe it. Even now Stardust was causing trouble. He had used her to do so many bad things and cause so much pain. She wasn’t going to let him keep getting away with it. She might be sad and pathetic, but there was one last thing she could still do. She just hoped she still had the strength to do it.

There was a flash and a popping sound. “Sunset’s gone!” Fluttershy said.

“Priorities,” Celestia said, a little nervous. “There are bigger things to worry about here.”

Stardust gently tapped his shadowy hoof on the ground. Sunset was testing his patience. Where she went to he didn’t particularly care, but she really should have died by now.

He smiled. What did it matter anyway? He wasn’t stuck inside the crystal anymore. He didn’t yet have a proper body, but he would change that soon. Inside the crystal he could only push ponies, but they always had the option of removing him, breaking the connection. Twilight couldn’t do that when he was inside her very mind and soul. Eventually he would wear down her mental defenses and break her, then he would have full control of her body for the rest of his life.

There was only one thing standing in his way. Lifting his hoof he pointed to Cadance. “You! The pink alicorn!”

Cadance glared at him. “What do you want?”

“We have some business, you and I. Come a little closer.” Cadance stayed right where she was. “Oh, come on. We don’t have to do this the hard way, do we?” Directing his hoof to the side his horn began to glow. “Ponyville could be a smoldering ruin by the time I’m done.”

“You think so?” said Shining Armor, his own horn starting to glow. “I repelled an army of Changelings while under mind control and while my energy was being drained. You think I can’t stop your magic?”

Stardust chuckled loudly, his head going back. “Do you really want to test me? You might be right. However, if you’re wrong, well… it would just be too bad for the inhabitants of this town.”

A bead of sweat came down Shining’s face. He was confident in his skills, but he didn’t know what might happen if they clashed. There was a possibility that Stardust’s spells would just phase through his shield spells like Stardust himself did.

Cadance was thinking along the same lines. She took a few steps forward so she was in front of everyone. “What do you want?” she asked again.

Stardust laughed again. “There we go. Now we’re ready. I’ve disconnected with Twilight, so her memories are no longer an open book to me, but I do know that you have a different kind of shield spell than Shining or most unicorns. None of the rest of them can stop me. That being the case you’re just in the way.”

A shadowy ball swirled around him like wind. “Me and you, no holds barred. Your love versus my hatred. If you win you’ll save everyone, especially your precious Twilight. If you fail, well… you know what will happen. Twilight will be mine. I have no interest in your body. You might be a little stronger than Twilight, but your love magic makes us a mismatched pair. I’d much rather have the alicorn that possesses dark magic. I’d find a lovely home there.”

Twilight shuddered, wishing she could stand up. She was still drained from all the fighting. The thought of having that thing inside her again creeped her out, not the least because she knew what he wanted to do with her. He’d kill everyone she held dear. The only way to gain strength now would be to use dark magic again, which would only help Stardust out. He would probably absorb any dark magic she tried to throw his way.

Cadance turned her head to Twilight. “Don’t worry about a thing, Twilight.” She smiled warmly. “I was your foalsitter for a long time. I always protected you back then, and I’ll keep you safe now.”

Twilight smiled back, a sheen of tears making her eyes sparkle. “I believe in you, Cadance!”

Cadance turned back towards Stardust, her gaze turning serious. “Well? I’m ready when you are.”

“Done talking already?” Stardust asked. “Isn’t there more you want to say, like ‘goodbye?’ After all, this is the last time you’ll be able to talk to her.”

A blue glow formed on Cadance’s horn. “Well, you’re not short on confidence, I’ll give you that. But the Princess of Love will never allow your evil to prevail.”

“He he he! It would be so easy to attack someone to break your concentration, but I do have my pride. I want to beat you at your best.”

It was starting to look all too familiar as Stardust and Cadance built up their energy. It was time for another clash of strength between the Amulet and its opposer.

“W-who do you think is gonna win?” asked Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash was starting to feel a little nervous. “How much power does that thing have?” She stomped a hoof. “He already fought a huge battle with Twilight earlier. Doesn’t he have any limits on his strength?”

“Well…” Applejack hesitated. “Well… he did take over Twilight fer a brief while. He might have absorbed all the dark magic she was using.”

Rainbow sharply turned her head towards Applejack. “So you’re saying that it’s basically like he never fought at all and is at full strength again?”

Celestia spoke up in a resigned voice. “I think that’s a definite possibility. It could also be that he doesn’t actually lose energy at all. He feeds off of ponies negative emotions to grow in strength, so in the right hooves he has a constant stream of power so long as he has a host.”

Pinkie let out a triumphant “HA!” Everyone turned to look at her. “But he doesn’t have a host to feed on anymore. That means he can grow weaker from using magic like anyone else.”

Celestia took in a slow breath before turning back to Cadance and Stardust. “I sure hope so. As he said Cadance’s special brand of shield magic is all that stands between us and him. If she is unable to prevail, then…”

None of them needed her to finish. It meant they were basically all doomed. The most they could do was run away.

“If it comes down to that, Princess, isn’t there anything we could do?” asked Rainbow.

“We cannot allow Equestria to be reduced to a ruin, nor let him become ruler. Truth be told getting Twilight’s body is a risk for him now.”

“W-why is that?” asked Rarity.

“In the past he has been confined to the Amulet. Even if his host was killed he would live on in the next host to put it on. However, without the housing of the Amulet his soul is stuck wherever he places it. In simple terms, he’ll die if Twilight dies.”

Twilight flinched. “I… I see…” Her heart began to beat faster. “And… and if he takes over a physical body then technically anyone could hurt him.”

Stardust charged at Cadance as she put up her shield around all of them.

Twilight was panting slightly. “Princess!”

Celestia turned toward her. “Yes, Twilight? Do you have an idea?”

Twilight felt like she couldn’t get enough oxygen in her system, but she had to say it. “If… if… if it looks like Cadance will fail I want you to prepare the strongest spell you can muster, and obliterate me in a single shot as soon as he takes my body.”

Her friends all voiced their protests, sure there had to be a better way.

“Quiet, everyone!” Twilight said, overriding them. “We don’t have a choice here. If he gets full control over me then I’ll wind up destroying all I hold dear to me. We don’t have the Elements of Harmony anymore. This is the only option left.

“Please, Princess… promise me! Promise me you won’t let me succumb to the darkness.”

Celestia knew Twilight was right. She had prepared for it earlier. A tear came down her cheek as she nodded. “I promise, Twilight.” She turned her head to Cadance. ‘Please,’ she begged internally, ‘you have to win. Please, Cadance!’

***

With a pop Sunset appeared by the front door of the library. A wave of dizziness came over her, and she spread out all four of her legs to keep her balance, panting hard. She had been in no condition to teleport, but time was of the essence.

When the dizziness passed she slowly pushed herself up so she could walk. Her legs felt like they had hundred pound weights attached to them. Her body ached from her injuries. She felt like she might pass out at any moment, but she wouldn’t fall. She had to keep walking.

She knew there wasn’t much time left, but still she could move no faster than a walk. To save energy she didn’t even bother lifting her legs. She just shuffled them along the ground.

‘I… I won’t… let it end here,’ she thought desperately. ‘Twilight… I… I’m going to save you… even if it costs me my life!’

Next Chapter: Chapter 16: Sacrifice Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 3 Minutes
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