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Sunset Shimmer vs. The Cutie Map

by Arkhivez

Chapter 1: The Best of Intentions

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The Castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle was home to many things. There was the Princess herself, of course. There was also her young draconian assistant, Spike; And her prized unicorn pupil, Starlight Glimmer.

The Castle of Friendship was also home to an astonishing table-map that displayed the entirety of Equestria. Not to mention the numerous studies, all of which housed many different scrolls and tomes. Princess Twilight had many things to be proud of, and her collection of literature, writings, and spells was certainly one of them. Her confident, cyan-colored pegasus friend Rainbow Dash once remarked that the next time a “bad guy” were to show up to cause trouble, Twilight needed only to take her entire collection of books, and crush her foe under it. In earlier days, the Princess of Friendship might have gotten annoyed at such a comment, but on that occasion she smoothly replied,

“Knowledge is power, Rainbow...”

Each study had something unique about it. Size, Design, Books, Daring Do Posters; But it could have been argued that one particular study had something that made it stand apart from the others and be truly unique:

The Mirror Portal.

This mysterious artifact with its purple frame adorned by pink sapphires wasn't the only magical object within this study. It was, however, the most interesting object in the room by far. It was the source of some of the Princess's more peculiar and unexpected adventures.


On this particular day, there were no occupants within the regal dwelling. No Princess, no assistant, no pupil, no friends, no subjects; Until somepony entered the crystalline architecture...not from the outside, but from the mirror portal inside the castle. A unicorn with a golden yellow coat and a luscious fiery mane, sporting a red-and-yellow sun cutie mark on her flank.

Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset and Twilight were enemies at one time, when Sunset used the mirror to breach the Crystal Empire Palace and steal away Twilight's crown. Now, they were the best of friends; And Sunset very much wanted to visit with the Princess face-to-face, feeling like it couldn't wait, and the courtesy of prior notice would have to be pushed aside this time. She came through the mirror, not even carrying a saddle bag, and with no intentions of stealing anything this time around.

“Princess Twilight?”

She noticed that the room was a bit dark, and the hall outside looked dark as well.

“Princess Twilight, are you home? I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but I just really needed to talk to you! Princess?”

She perused the halls adorned with beautiful crystal columns, lush carpeting, and reflective accents that made the halls glow just a bit.

“I've never really taken the time to explore this place...it's beautiful!” praised the hungry-eyed unicorn. “I should really make it back here a bit more often, assuming Twilight is okay with it.”

She went down the hall, briefly peeking into rooms here and there, not being surprised by the sheer volume of books. Overall, she was very impressed.

“Heh, definitely a step up from my digs.”

A faint glow caught the corner of her inquisitive eye. She headed for the source of this glow, noticing that she seemed to be heading for the center of this grand structure.

What she saw in the large room amazed her, and produced a gasp:

A large circular table made of crystal, with seven chairs accompanying it (one of the chairs she took note of as being 'Spike-sized' while the rest were sized for ponies). What was far more important though, was what the table was currently doing. Displayed in incredible detail, made entirely of magical light, was...

“Princess Twilight's Castle Map of Equestria!”

Sunset quickly ran to it, and got lost in its small-scaled beauty. Ponyville, with its small but cozy shops and houses; Manehattan, with its sprawling metropolis of skyscrapers; The enticing entertainment centres and hotels dwelling within Las Pegasus. What really drew her in, however...

“Canterlot...!”

The mountains, although on a miniature scale, did not look any less majestic to her. Nor did the flowing waterfalls, nor the city, nor the Royal Palace. Sunset was in this moment a little filly again, rediscovering one of her favorite places; And much like a young foal, her curiosity guided her. Since this map had been left both unattended and activated, she simply had to experiment, see what it could do. She cleared her throat with an 'ahem' and stated:

“Map?”

The map responded with a beeping sound.

“Please zoom—er, no, wait—enhance, on Canterlot!” she eagerly requested, tapping her forehooves together, unable to keep still from her newfound scholarly excitement. The map responded with a beep, followed by a serene, but semi-artificial voice:

“Voice not recognized; Cannot complete request.”

“Oh,” replied Sunset Shimmer, her childish excitement immediately waning. The serene voice of the table map followed with another statement:


“Deploying Knockout Gas of Friendship™ .”

“Wait, WHAT?!?!?

Suddenly, a hissing sound was heard as Sunset circled in a panic, noticing that the room was beginning to indeed fill with a green gas. It was seeping through the floor, and quickly rising. Sunset was frantic, and her next words reflected as such.

“Are—you—KIDDING ME?!? WHY WOULD ANYPONY--”

She suddenly cut off her anxious tirade however, when she recalled something.

“Wait, I...did recently suggest to Twilight that she should put in some kind of security system here, didn't I?” she inquired to herself.

The unicorn stood there, the green gas still ever-rising, now approaching the height of her chest. She took in what was happening, and then gave a chuckle.

“Heh.”

One at first, followed by a few.

“Heh heh heh.”

A forced smile stretched across the young female equine's features. A smile as painful to look at as it was to maintain. From this strained expression came some choice words.

“Heh heh heh hehhhh.....well isn't this just hilariously ironic?!? I try to be a good friend, telling Twilight, 'Hey, you know, maybe if you don't want freaking CHANGELINGS or ROGUE UNICORNS in your castle, maybe have some safeguards in place?? Oh nothing too serious, Twi! Just something to efficiently neutralize any and all threats to your SOVEREIGN ROYAL GROUND! I mean, I know you haven't done the Princess gig for that long, and you weren't given your own royal guard, but perhaps you should maybe add a teeny tiny little DEFENSE MECHANISM or two to protect your home, and Spike's home, and Starlight's home, not to mention a prime target for enemies looking to threaten your SUBJECTS?!?' But of course, the ONE time I make an urgent surprise visit to the castle, there's...green....knockout...gas...”

While Sunset had been venting, the green tranquilizing agent had also been venting, through the room, and was now filling the large chamber, and had now actually filled the room for a good fifteen to twenty seconds. Sunset was beginning to feel the effects of the sedative.

“Who...trademarks....knockout gas....of....ffffriend....shiiiiiiii--”

WHUMP.

Sunset collapsed to the floor, her vision fading, the overwhelming desire to sleep overcoming her heightened anxiety, as she was now lulled into unconsciousness.

“Nnnnn...”

The gas after a few minutes began to dissipate, fading away from the room. The hissing sound from before was now gone, replaced by the gentle snoring of a passed-out unicorn. Above said unicorn came a flash of magic. A lion's paw reached down to poke the sleeping Sunset.

“My, my, what have we here...?”

Above the dozing unicorn floated a draconequus of mismatched body parts, his yellow eyes filled with glee and mischief.

Discord.

“It looks like I've caught myself a little intruder! Sorry sweetie, whatever-your-name-is, probably something to do with sunrises judging by your little cutie mark there...but our first maniacal unicorn intruder also happened to be our last, I'll have you know.”

He studied the form on the ground, clicking the tips of his appendages together with excitement. With a cheery guffaw he snapped his claws, and immediately a small cage popped into existence and enclosed Sunset's sleeping body. He also conjured an outfitting of tactical assault gear to wear on his body.

“When Twilight sees the results of “Discord's Security System of Friendship™” , she'll be so pleased and proud and amazed! Maybe she'll let me conjure up her own little royal guard, or give a small, simple, five-hundred attendee-minimum ceremony to congratulate me! Ohhhhohohoho, maybe even--”


A soft and pained murmur escaped Sunset's lips.



“--you shush, dastardly invader!”

Author's Notes:

Fun fact: This was originally going to be a short, sweet and silly Fan Comic, but work and other projects quickly eclipsed this idea; But a story idea is a story idea, even a short and silly one, so I figured, "Why leave unwritten?"

You can see pencils for the unfinished comic here:

http://arkhivez.tumblr.com/post/164729105358/pencils-for-an-unfinished-pony-fan-comic

Next Chapter: Can a bridge be burned before it's even built? Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes
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