Sunset walked the steps of the Ivory Tower, whistling a little tune until she reached the blue doors that lead to the inner study of her rival. She gently knocked on the door and waited exactly seven seconds before knocking again. Still having no answer, she knocked again, a smile forming in her face.

Seven seconds later, her smile turned malicious as she took a few steps back before charging up her horn and blasting the entrance.

The subsequent explosion turned the wooden doors into thousands of little splinters that showered the inside of the tower along with a few pieces of the ivory framework.

Sunset stepped inside with a big smile, quickly finding the annoyed face of Twilight Sparkle looking down at her from the second floor, which filled her with delight.

“Twilight! Good to see you!” Sunset exclaimed graciously while walking towards her.

“Why do you keep blowing up my doors?!”

“Hey, you know the rules; if you don’t answer on the third knock, I let myself in.”

“But why an explosion?!” Twilight screamed in frustration. “Why not just teleport inside?!”

Sunset put on a malicious smile. “Because I respect your privacy, and simply appearing beside you would be rude.”

Twilight gave a heavy sigh. “You’re just a bully.”

Sunset put her foreleg around Twilight’s neck and ruffled her hair. “And you are my bookworm victim. We fit the roles perfectly! Besides, I’m the one who pays for the damages.”

“You’re not the one that has to clean afterwards.” Spike grumbled while picking up splinters of wood off the floor.

Twilight pushed Sunset aside and returned to the book she had been reading. “What are you here for anyway?”

“Celestia asked me to bring you a message. She needs you to go to Ponyville to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“What?!”

“Relax, I’ve heard it’s a nice town, and it has a nice library where you can pass the nights in comfortable study.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Twilight exclaimed, showing her the book she had been reading. “I’ve discovered that the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she’s about to return to Equestria and bring eternal night with her!”

Sunset pushed the book away. “Twilight, that’s just an old tale. And if Equestria was really in danger, we would already be doing something to stop it.”

“But the prophesy says she will be released by the stars the day after tomorrow! We have to warn Celestia.”

“Twilight, Celestia has been ruling since the time before Nightmare Moon’s legend became a thing. You wouldn’t be telling her anything she doesn’t already know.”

“But-”

“No buts, you have a mission already. Got to Ponyville, supervise the preparations, and as always…”

“Make some friends,” Twilight grumbled, annoyed.

“She was particularly insistent this time, so give it 20% more effort, okay?” Twilight still looked grumpy, making Sunset roll her eyes and levitate a quill and paper to her. “Just send a letter to Celestia and go to Ponyville. You can continue your research there, and if you find anything other than some myth, Celestia and I will come to you.”

“Fine.” Twilight quickly wrote the letter and gave it to Spike, who sent it with a green flame.

“You better go now so you’ll have time for your research. The chariot is waiting outside.”

Twilight let out a sigh before going to the exit. “At least I will be away from you. Come on Spike.”

“In a minute,” the dragon responded, walking towards Sunset with a gift in his hands. “We were going to Moon Dancer’s party today, can you give her this gift and apologize in our behalf?”

Sunset smiled as she took the present. “Don’t worry, I will explain the situation to her.”

“Thanks Sunset.”

Sunset arrived at Moon Dancer’s party, gift in her back, and quickly looked for the mare.

She reminded her of a yellow version of Twilight, just a little more socially awkward, if you could believe that. It was actually surprising that she would throw a party, she usually preferred a quiet library.

“Sunset?” asked a familiar voice, and the unicorn turned to see the party pony with a party hat on her head and everything.

“It’s so good to see you here.” She quickly pulled her into a hug. “Did you come with Twilight?”

Sunset gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, but Celestia told her to leave for Ponyville and supervise the preparations of the Summer Sun Celebration.” She pulled the gift off her back and presented it to her. “She asked me to give you her apologies and deliver her gift to you. I’m sure she will come see you as soon as she finishes.”

Moon Dancer looked more dejected than Sunset had expected. “She could have at least told me herself.” She took the gift and put it aside without much care.

Sunset felt bad for the mare. She was the closest one to Twilight, but that didn’t change her rival's view of friends. “Look, she was also worried for the safety of Equestria.”

Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“She was rambling about the return of Nightmare Moon. I’m sure you have heard the legend.”

The unicorn went deep in thought. “Now that you mention it, there is another legend related to that; the Elements of Harmony. It’s said that they are the only thing that can stop the Mare in the Moon.” Moon Dancer was suddenly struck with a realization. “Maybe we can find information about it and send it to Twilight.”

“Do you really believe Equestria could be in danger?” Sunset asked.

“I think so. Come with me.” Moon Dancer turned her attention to the rest of the party guests. “I will be away for a little while. I thank you all for coming!”

Sunset followed the mare, curious about the sudden change in gears.

They quickly got to the Canterlot library and walked to the far end of the building. “Moon, I’m pretty sure that Twilight has read all these books at least three times.”

“But not these ones,” Moon Dancer replied with a smile, pulling some books from a bookcase that was against the wall of the back of the library. With a mechanical clack, the wall slowly moved, revealing a secret section filled with dusty old tomes.

“Welcome to Canterlot’s secret library.”

Sunset was speechless. “How did you find this place?”

Moon Dancer smiled with some pride. “I’ve been working here for some time, and eventually realized that a part of the library wasn’t accessible, so I poked around until I found a secret entrance.”

“Moon, we shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t even tell me this. I’m Celestia’s pupil!” Sunset almost screamed.

“Come on, there’s nothing really that horrific, just old legends and things that Equestria has tried to swipe under the rug. It’s not like we are learning necromancy.”

“Still, we shouldn’t enter a restricted section. It should be obvious for the ’restricted’ part of the name!”

“Look, here we might find a way to possibly save Equestria. I’m sure Celestia will be lenient. Besides, no-one is going to find out.”

Sunset thought about it for a minute. Was she really going to commit her mistake again? However, if Twilight and Moon Dancer were right, this could be her chance to show Celestia that she has changed for the better. Besides, she might become friends with Moon Dancer, and finally one-up Twilight.

“Okay, but after this, you have to promise me you won’t come here again.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t want to be tempted to enter this place again and getting caught. It would mean my immediate expulsion from the castle.”

Moon Dancer’s eyes went wide at the realization. “Oh, I didn’t think about that. You better wait here while I get the books. That way you can deny everything if we get caught.”

Sunset smiled. “Thanks Moon.”

The unicorn nodded and walked inside the secret passage, taking a couple minutes until she returned with a pile of books.
Sunset took them while Moon Dancer closed the entrance, and they both went to a far away table to start their research.

“The Elements of Harmony are six powerful artifacts once wielded by the royal sisters, which aided them in the defeat of the lord of chaos; Discord. There are only five that are known; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth one is said that would only be revealed when the other five are reunited by ’The Spark’.”

“Wow, defeat Discord? What kind of magic could those artifacts wield?” Sunset wondered while investigating her own book. “I found something about Nightmare Moon. Apparently, she didn’t only refuse to lower the moon, she organized a full-blown revolution to overthrow Celestia!”

“What?! How is this notcommon knowledge? Who supported her?”

“Apparently a lot of ponies sided with her and used magic to change their nature, transforming their bodies to a new race called thestrals, beings that could fight and live in the complete darkness of the night. When Nightmare Moon was defeated, their fighting force was… decimated?!... and the rest of the sympathizers were imprisoned in the darkest corner of Equestria for all eternity.”

Both Sunset and Moon Dancer were speechless.

That Equestria could dictate such a sentence to ponies, traitors or not, and then try to hide any knowledge of it was something neither of them had ever thought possible.

They stayed frozen in shock for a long time, until they both stirred and started to do what was almost instinct to them; they continued delving into the books, ignoring the world around them.

Sunset found a couple of pages explaining the transmutation spells that the ponies used to turn themselves into thestrals, and quickly added them to her pool of knowledge.

Then, she made the next big discovery.

“You won’t believe this…” she said, catching Moon Dancer's attention. “Nightmare Moon, the mare banished to the moon by the Elements of Harmony, wielded by Celestia… Was Celestia’s own sister; Princess Luna Selene Stella.”

“If this is true, then what Twilight said about her return at the Summer Sun Celebration is real. Equestria is in danger!”

“We still have some-” Sunset looked outside, noticing that the sky had already turned dark. “Crap, I need to go warn Celestia.”

Sunset used her magic to summon a parchment with a little mark in the shape of her cutie mark in front of Moon Dancer. “If you find anything new, write it down on the parchment and focus your magic on the seal, it will send it directly to me.” Moon Dancer nodded and Sunset ran outside, making her way towards the castle.

Sunset finally reached the throne room, where she found Celestia just sitting in her throne, looking at the moon through a window. “Princess Celestia. I’m sure you have received the letter from Twilight.”

Celestia turned her head to her. “I did Sunset, I told her she needed to stop reading those dusty old books.”

“But they are not lying. Your sister is returning tonight. We need to find the Elements so we can stop her.”

Celestia looked back at the moon. “You shouldn’t know that Sunset.”

“That’s not the point right now. Equestria is in danger. You are in danger.”

“I’m well aware of that. I have already done everything to make sure my sister is saved from her darkness.”

Sunset was confused. “What do you mean? Are you talking about sending Twilight to Ponyville?”

“You need to go Sunset. She will arrive soon.”

“I can fight her with you. Even if we can’t defeat her together, we can at least buy Twilight some time.”

“I don’t want you caught in the middle of this.” She turned to look at Sunset once more, her expression completely neutral. “I need you to trust me and Twilight to solve this matter. You don’t need to get involved.”

“How can you say that?!” Sunset responded with anger welling inside her chest. “You can’t just expect me to stand aside and leave everything to Twilight! I’m more than capable of doing anything that she can do. And even if that wasn’t the case, I am still powerful enough to at least protect her.”

Celestia closed her eyes, and Sunset could recognize the slight frustration she always had every time they had the friendship talk. “You can’t wield the Elements Sunset. No one can do it by themselves anymore. Only-”

“Wait,” Sunset interrupted, with an almost sick smile across her face. “Twilight Sparkle… Sparkle… She’s the spark, isn’t she? She’s the missing element that will join the rest. Her friends… the friends you always wanted her to have. Will she find them in Ponyville?”

“Sunset-”

“How long were you going to keep this from me? Hm? It has been years since she became your student. Years in which I turned from your pupil to a glorified teacher. What will change now that Twilight will officially become what you were so desperately looking for? Were you expecting that I would never question it and keep to the side like you ask of me now?”

Celestia took a deep breath and looked at Sunset with pleading eyes. “I can feel the heat of your anger Sunset. But I beg you, have faith in me, and let things play out. I will answer any questions that you have after tonight. Even about what you saw in the mirror.”

Sunset took deep breaths, slowly calming herself, but her eyes were still filled with anger. “I trusted you once before. I put your teachings before my ambitions and ended up in a dead end, playing the fool.” She took another deep breath and exhaled. “I will trust you a second time. But let me be clear. There won’t be a third one.”

Sunset turned around and walked out of the throne room, slamming the doors behind her. She then concentrated her magic and teleported to the edge of the Canterlot platform, looking in the direction of Ponyville.
Suddenly, a flash of golden light produced a scroll with Moon Dancer’s hoofwriting written in it.

“Sunset, I found out that the Elements are currently located in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Have you warned Celestia?”

As she read the last part, she heard a sinister laugh coming from the castle, and a ray of sunlight flew from the throne room window like a shooting star and disappeared over the horizon.

Sunset was alone now. Just her, and the promise that Twilight could somehow fix everything.

She couldn’t leave everything to chance. Even if she couldn’t intervene, she needed to be sure things wouldn’t go astray.

Equestria depended on it.

She concentrated her magic over her body, remembering the transmutation spells of the thestrals, and felt her body slowly change.
Two large bat wings with some feathers grew on her back, and she gave them a quick flap, testing their form.

She then focused her mind on all the books she had read about pegasus aerodynamics and flight patterns, and let herself fall off the platform towards the hard rock floor.

She could feel the wind on her face and the air currents flowing along her body, and especially, her new wings. She extended them, feeling the wind and magic slowing her fall, until it finally allowed her to glide forward.

With a quick flap of her wings, she gained altitude, and found herself flying in a straight line towards Ponyville.

“I’m flying. I’m actually flying.” She said, eyes still closed, and managed to form a calm, proud smile.

After relishing the moment, she opened her eyes, anger replaced with determination.
She was going to make sure this crazy plan of Celestia’s worked, and then she would get her answers.

She would reach her destiny. She knew she could.

Author's Notes:

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Sunset leveled up!

Sunset learned: Thestral anatomy, thestral transmutation.

Sunset gained a new ability: Flight.

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