Chapter 1: The Ambition of Sunset Shimmer

The tiny unicorn named Sunset Shimmer galloped and ran between the legs of Shining Brow, giggling and smiling between occasional missteps and crashes. The older guardspony then would bend down and help her back up onto her legs – more steady now than when she first came into the care of palace, but still somewhat weak – and she would run and play again.

"My, what energy," said Celestia as she stepped into the large quarters of her youngest student.

"Your highness," said Shining Brow with a dip of her head. Sunset was surprised by the sudden change in her obstacle course and slipped and fell when she tried to compensate. She began to tear up.

Shining Brow stretched her wing down and brushed them gently over the foal's mane. With a soothing 'hush' she spoke softly to the unicorn. "It's alright, Sunset. See? Nothing's hurt. Come on, up on your feet again. There you go." Her wing brushed the small tears away.

Sunset looked up with wide eyes at the pegasus and then, after a moment, took a few more steps and began to run again.

"You are far better at this than you claim," said Celestia proudly from the doorway.

"I had younger brothers and sisters," said Shining Brow. She watched the filly play for a second more before turning her eyes towards her Princess. "I remember some of what they need."

"She seems to be happy, which is all I ask right now." Celesta stepped slowly into the room, making sure not to startle the filly again. "She is steadier on her hooves now too."

"Yes," said Shining Brow. "She's a determined one. She would watch me walk about and then try to follow closely behind. Though she doesn't seem to realize her legs are shorter than mine. I have to walk slowly or she will hurt herself trying to keep up."

Celestia laughed softly as she watched. Her eyes followed Sunset closely. "And magic?"

"I believe she has potential," said Shining Brow. "Though I'm hardly one to judge." Sunset stumbled just then and began to cry again. Shining Brow bent down and slipped her wing under the upset filly. With a quick jerk she tossed her onto her back and began gently throwing her from wing to wing as she giggled.

With the crisis handled, she looked back at Celestia. "I know very little, but one of my lieutenants played with her a bit and confirmed. No wild magic at all, just focused and strong young unicorn magic. She will be levitating books in no time."

Celestia eyes were locked on the filly as she laughed between tosses of Shining Brow's wings. Her constantly flowing hair seemed to slow just a little.

"Highness?" said Shining Brow during a pause in the playing.

Celestia looked back at Shining Brow, her eyes focusing again. "Does she talk?"

"A little," said Shining Brow. "She is learning quickly. I think she has realized the other fillies in town are a bit ahead of her and she doesn't like it. She is the most talkative when we return from the market."

"As soon as she is capable, I would like her to begin attending classes," said Celestia. Her eyes were drawn away from her guardspony again as Sunset shimmied off the back of Shining Brow and landed unsteadily on the floor.

"She is still so young," said Shining Brow. He straightened his back again now that the filly wasn't being carefully balanced there. "The other students will be years older."

Sunset Shimmer got her footing and walked up to Celestia. She then placed one hoof back and dipped her head towards her, imitating the move Shining Brow did when Celestia had arrived.

She wobbled slightly then tipped forward onto her nose.

"It will be okay," said Celestia as she bowed back. "I will help her."

Shining Brow's eyes widened. "Personally?"

Celestia nodded. "A unicorn of such potential needs careful magical guidance." She turned and headed back towards the door. "Tell me when she is ready."

"Yes, your highness," said Shining Brow. She bent down to nuzzle Sunset Shimmer as the filly happily pranced over to her guardian. "Princess?"

Celestia stopped and turned her head just enough to see Shining Brow.

"It's been months. Has there been any sign of her parents?" asked Shining Brow.

"No," said Celestia, and then walked out of the room without another word.

*** ( MLP ) ***

Sunset Shimmer sat at desk in the middle of a classroom empty of any students save her. Her teacher, the tall, regal, and radiant Princess Celestia was at the front of the room and gesturing towards the blackboard there with her horn. There were a series of equations on the board, far more complex than anything Sunset had seen before.

"I only want you to remember this for now," said Celestia. "You need not understand it, but this is Star Swirl's Unified Magical Theorem. It shows that all magic is ultimately interchangeable, given the right conditions."

"Theorem," said Sunset carefully. She was still getting used to these words. They were very different than the ones she'd been taught to talk to the palace staff, guards, and visitors. "Are those words?"

Celestia shook her head. "They are symbols, they represent different parts of a series of instructions to convert any one type of magic into mana." She stepped away from the chalkboard. "Mana is the magic that surrounds us, and the magic we keep deep inside ourselves."

"I have mana?" asked Sunset Shimmer as she excitedly hopped in her chair.

Celestia nodded as she reached Sunset's desk and looked down at the filly. "Yes, we all do, but you in particular have a great deal of it. Which is why I'm here to make sure you use it responsibly."

"I'm special," said Sunset happily. She nodded because it was true. She had been told as much. Other students had parents but Sunset did not because she was special. Other students were older than Sunset, but she was younger, because she was special. Other students did not get so much personal time with Celestia, but she did.

Because she was special.

"We are all special, Sunset," said Celestia as she walked around Sunset's chair. "We all have talents that help us succeed in certain areas. Your teacher Ruby Star is talented at organizational and technical magic, she helps design the mana powered machines in the palace." She reached the front of the desk again. "You are talented in magical force. You will have to train less to make your spells more powerful. But others still might surpass you with dedication. Your talent only makes some things easier, not better."

Sunset nodded again and stopped squirming in her chair. "I will train so I can be the most powerful unicorn ever."

Celestia looked into Sunset's eyes for a moment before turning and walking back up to the front again. When she reached the front of the room she picked up a piece of chalk with her magic and circled on of the variables in the equation. She looked back at Sunset.

"If that is what you want, then you need to harness a source of mana strong enough to feed your magic," said Celestia. She tapped the chalk against the circle she'd just drawn. "There is no better source in our kingdom than the power you draw from having good friends."

"Friends?" asked Sunset in surprise. She put one of her hooves on the desk. "Is that what you use?"

Celestia made a small smile. "That's a complicated matter, but friendship is an important part of my magical reserves. It will serve you best, I feel."

"So it's not what you use?" said Sunset.

"It is one among many," said Celestia. She turned towards the board and picked up the chalk again. "The power of friendship anyone can use, and it only grows—"

"Can I use what you use?" asked Sunset.

Celestia laughed. "Not unless you wish to raise and lower the sun."

Sunset grew still. "Can I?" she asked. Her eyes slightly widened and her stare was suddenly very intimidating.

Celestia walked quickly back to Sunset and bent down to be closer to the filly's eye level. "There are burdens with our talents as well," she said quietly. "Sometimes you might feel as though you wished you never had your talent at all."

"I'll never feel that way," said Sunset with a shake of her head.

"We all think that way at first," said Celestia. "But there is only one way to stave off the remorse."

Sunset leaned forward, enraptured.

"Surround yourself with the best of friends," said Celestia.

Sunset looked down and slightly frowned. She did not appear happy with the answer. She spoke towards her desk. "They will make me powerful?"

"They will give you strength when you most need it," said Celestia. "Give you joy when you are sad, and bring you back from the edge when it seems you might fall."

Sunset continued to study her desk.

"This is the most important lesson of all, Sunset Shimmer," said Celestia. "You must learn it, and we will continue to come back to this in my classes."

Sunset didn't look up, she only nodded.

*** ( MLP ) ***

Normal magical kindergarten was not nearly as fun as Sunset Shimmer's lessons with Celestia. Nobody she played with was as special as Sunset Shimmer, and all they wanted to do was to play simple games like build a fort out of blocks, or pick up sticks. Games that were so easy Sunset barely had to think to compete.

"One at a time!" yelled Star Bauble, a lavender coated young colt with frizzy white hair. He was one of five students, all older than Sunset, playing in the back of the courtyard at recess. Dozens of other ponies were about, yelling, chasing each other, and playing games, some in their class and some in others.

Sunset stamped her hooves. "That's a stupid rule," she said. "Why I can't I pick them all up at once?"

"That's cheating" said Cinnamon Swirl, a tan coated unicorn with a chocolate mane. She was younger than Star Bauble but older than Sunset. "One at a time keeps it fair for those who can't lift so many yet."

Sunset flopped onto the grass and propped her head up with her hooves. "But I'm the youngest one here! This is boring. Can't we play a harder version?"

"You don't have to play at all," said Mixed Match, a young yellow colt with an olive mane even older than Star Bauble. He seemed to be the leader of this group Sunset was playing with, he rarely was challenged and directed the activities of the youngest of the group. "Play fair or you can go elsewhere," he said.

"No, I'll stay," Sunset said with a huff. "Celestia says I have to make friends."

Mixed Match rolled his eyes as he saw a trio of fillies light up. "Here we go again."

"You know Princess Celestia?" said a Sugar Blossom, a unicorn with a white and orange mane.

"Uh-huh," said Sunset Shimmer with a nod. She got back up onto her hooves. "I'm her special student."

"Wow!" said two fillies at once.

"We're all Celestia's special students," said Cinnamon Swirl. "That's why we're here."

"No, I'm the most special," said Sunset Shimmer. "That's why Celestia teaches me personally."

"You're not more specialer than me!" said Sugar Blossom.

"I am!" said Sunset Shimmer. "Do you have private lessons?"

Sugar Blossom frowned and shook slightly. "Private lessons are, are for - stupid people!"

"I'm not stupid!" yelled Sunset Shimmer.

"Then why do you need special lessons?" asked Cinnamon Swirl.

"Because I'm better!" said Sunset Shimmer. "Celestia said so!"

"No she didn't!" yelled Sugar Blossom.

"Yes, she did!"

This went on for a while.

*** ( MLP ) ***

Sunset Shimmer pushed the stack of books on her bed over and watched them fall onto the covers. They were useless. They recited the same old story she'd heard over and over again and yet failed to answer the burning question in her mind.

She had no choice, she had to ask her.

"Shining Brow?" asked Sunset Shimmer immediately as the mare stepped into her room.

"Whoa," said a startled Shining Brow as she stepped quickly around Sunset and then gained her balance again. "You shouldn't go jumping out at old soldiers, little filly."

Sunset Shimmer groaned and turned to face Shining Brow. The pegasus was already heading for the overstuffed chair where she always sat when she was visiting. "Don't call me 'little filly.' I'm a pony!"

Shining Brow laughed. "You were always a pony. But you are still a filly and you are smaller than me. It wasn't meant as an insult, my dear."

"It was!" said Sunset Shimmer. Her guardian was always doing this. She would come around every day and do nothing but tell stories and watch her, all the while treating her like a foal. It was infuriating!

"No, it wasn't," said Shining Brow slowly and in a stodgy tone, as if her words became truer when she spoke them deliberately. "I have no reason to insult you; you are my charge."

Sunset grumbled. She hopped up onto the bed and sat, her head facing away from Shining Brow. "I don't like 'charge' either."

"So what was it that has you ready to pounce today?" asked Shining Brow. She folded her hooves in front of her and sat down completely on the chair's pillow. "Do you need another book from the library?"

She swallowed as much of her pride as she could and turned her head back towards her guardian. "What is Princess Celestia?"

Shining Brow bobbed her head sagely. "What, indeed," she said.

"I don't want a legend," said Sunset quickly, hoping to avoid another morality play. "I want to know the truth."

"The problem with the truth is that it's sometimes buried within legends," said Shining Brow with a smile.

Sunset turned away from the old mare and made a face. "You just don't know."

"Well, that is one way of putting it," said Shining Brow. "I don't know really, other than the basics. She is kind and good, soft spoken but determined, and has within her a well of infinite compassion for all ponies and the other races of Equestria."

Sunset rolled her eyes, and then looked back. "I don't mean what kind of pony she is, I mean what kind of pony is she?"

"An alicorn," said Shining Brow, as if that explained everything.

"But what does that mean?" said Sunset as she began pacing around the room, her steps heavy on the tightly woven red and gold rug covering the tiles beneath her. "How did she become an alicorn? How come Celestia has so much power?"

Shining Brow shifted her front legs out from under her and tapped the tips of her hooves together. The ticking noise was more than a little annoying to Sunset and she grit her teeth to keep herself from saying something rude and losing a chance to get a decent answer out of her.

"I'm not nearly as old as Celestia," said Shining Brow. She stopped tapping her hooves. "So all I have are legends and stories to tell me what might have happened generations ago."

"Or books," said Sunset Shimmer.

Shining Brow shook her head and held out a hoof towards the ceiling. "Equestria was a very different place back then. Earth ponies used to fight with unicorns who used to fight with pegasi who used to fight with earth ponies. Not all the books are as truthful as they claim. The scrolls of the Unicorn Tribe used to paint the Pegasus Tribe as savages who would viciously send storms to destroy the cities made by unicorns, and hunt the earth ponies for sport."

Sunset frowned and stopped pacing. "Ugh. That couldn't have been true. Why would they put that in a book?"

"So their enemies could be easier to hate," said Shining Brow. She folded her hooves again. "We all tell ourselves lies about the people we dislike, so we don't have to recognize the things about us that are similar."

Sunset Shimmer jumped off the bed and walked closer to the pegasus. "But, what does this have to do with Celestia?"

"Well, Celestia, as you know, was a special pony," said Shining Brow. She was apparently studying Sunset's expressions as she spoke. "But only in that she refused to lie about her adversaries. You see, in Equestria, there is power in finding harmony with those around you. It keeps the more dangerous creatures away, and feeds the more helpful magics to make life easier and better."

"You mean all that Heart's Warming Eve stuff with the wendigos?" asked Sunset Shimmer. She turned and picked the storybook out of the pile on her bed and held it aloft with her magic.

"Hearth's Warming," Shining Brow said and nodded. "Celestia declared herself an advocate of friendship, and since then, all the friends she has made, and the friendships she has fostered empower her to continue her mission."

"So she's powerful because she's a super great friend?" asked Sunset Shimmer. "That's just what she tells everyone, there's more, I know it."

"The stories are all I know." Shining Brow shrugged. "My family has lots of them since we've served Princess Celestia for generations, but the truth is as much of a mystery to me as you. Stories come and go as people give their faith to them, not because are right."

"Is that why you're so old, you gave all your power away to these stories?" said Sunset Shimmer, a little annoyed at the ambiguity. This was hardly better than her books.

"I suppose," said Shining Brow. She smiled widely and adjusted her folded wings. "So, tonight I have a question for you. Why does it matter how Celestia became powerful?"

"Because I want to be powerful," said Sunset Shimmer without hesitation.

"Okay, but why?" asked Shining Brow.

"So I can do whatever I want," said Sunset.

"Well, what do you want to do, then? What can't you do now that you would be able to do with power?"

Sunset frowned. "Stop ponies from treating me like a foal."

"That will come with time, not power," said Shining Brow. "Even the most immature will eventually get old. What else?"

"I want answers to my questions," said Sunset.

"Ah, but even Celestia doesn't have answers to all her questions," said Shining Brow. "If she did, even then she'd just have new questions. Life isn't about the answers. It's about the pursuit of the answers."

"That's silly," said Sunset Shimmer.

Shining Brow nodded and leaned back in her chair. "Perhaps, but that doesn't make it any less true." She sighed. "What sort of questions do you want answers to? Beyond Celestia's origin."

Sunset Shimmer looked at her books. One of them was a leather bound book with her cutie mark on it. It caught her eye and she stared at it.

She looked up at Shining Brow. "Why was I abandoned?"

Shining Brow bit her lip. "Even Celestia doesn't know that."

"Oh," said Sunset Shimmer. "So she doesn't have enough power."

With a sigh, Shining Brow got off the chair and stepped over to Sunset. "It's not a matter of power, my dear. Not even the greatest ponies can see into the minds of others, even if we knew where they were."

"But a powerful pony could have forced them not to leave me," said Sunset.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Shining Brow. "Don't dwell on this, Sunset. Your life is greater every day you live it, no matter who is there with you."

"So I shouldn't need them," said Sunset.

"You don't," said Shining Brow. "Not anymore. You have us now."

Sunset turned away from Shining Brow and walked over to the bed, resting her head on the blankets. "Can I be alone for a bit?" she said.

Shining Brow nodded. "I can leave," she said. "But you'll never have to be alone. Not again." She left through the door and closed it gently behind her.

Sunset looked back at the books and began to clean them up, pushing them to the side and stacking them neatly. The last book on the pile was the one with her cutie mark, a gift from Celestia. It puzzled her. It was supposed to represent a connection between her and the Princess, but it was blank. Did that mean the connection wasn't there? That the connection was meaningless?

No matter. For once, Shining Brow was helpful. She shouldn't need her parents. She shouldn't need anyone.

The supposed special book was empty, but the rest of these texts were not. They would help her grow powerful, and keep her from needing anyone ever again. Not her parents. Certainly not Shining Brow. Not Celestia. Knowledge and magic would lift her up and she would be above it all, above being hurt.

Sunset looked into the mirror next to her dresser. Somehow she would learn to fly.

*** ( MLP ) ***

"Chel-wrest-tee-ah!"

The energetic filly raced through the corridors of the castle, her tiny hooves tic-takking across the marble floors in rapid succession. Every dozen or two sounds there was a brief pause, and the gentle thudding like a large book hitting the ground, before the clatter would pick up again, reaching even faster repetition, before pausing again.

"Chel-wrest-tee-ah!" the filly tried to yell again over the book between her teeth.

This pattern repeated itself several times until the filly reached the doors to the throne room, and then proceeded to burst through them landing in a heap a few feet away from the sitting form of Princess Celestia.

The immaculate monarch, her pastel colored hair flowing in an imaginary breeze from her seated position on the throne, looked down with a smile. Her horn gently glowed and her magic lifted the small pony with her book into the air. With a gentle sway, they were brought before her and placed softly on the ground. The magic gently smoothed the short, spunky mane on the filly, and positioned the book in front of her.

"You should be sleeping, my student," said Celestia, softly and kindly.

"Who can sleep at a time like this?" asked the filly with a squeak.

Celestia glanced out the windows at the dark sky and her smile faltered just slightly at the sight of the moon hanging lonely in the sky. She turned back to the filly. "It's quite late, most ponies find it quite easy."

"Well, most ponies probably don't understand this!" said the filly. Her horn glowed dimly and the book slowly flipped open to a marked page. "Look!"

Celestia seemed exceptionally still as she looked at the pages shown in the book. Only her hair moved in its regular, repeating wave. "This is the legend of Nightmare Moon." Her eyes moved slightly up to look at the filly. "Hardly bedtime reading."

"Well, I started reading it long before bedtime but it took a lot of time to cross-reference the dates with the revisionist era calendar changes and even then I had to correct for various recorded Star Swirl the Bearded temporal interjections-"

"My goodness," interrupted Celestia before the little filly ran out of breath. "You have been hard at work." She shook her head. "Still, sleep is important as well."

"Sleep can wait," said the filly, but even as she said so, she began to sway slightly. "Why put off anything if you can get it right away?"

Celestia smiled kindly. "Patience is needed to temper desire, or else it becomes bald ambition."

"What?" said the filly, her head tipping slightly to the side.

"Please, tell me what you have learned," said Celestia.

"Nightmare Moon!" shouted the filly, her eyes blinking rapidly. "She was banished for a thousand years and if my estimates are right, that means she'll be free in less than three years!"

Celestia's smile faded. "That is possible," she said.

"We have to plan!" said the filly. "Do you have a plan? How are you going to banish her back to the moon when she rises again?"

Celestia now frowned and looked sad. "I will not," she said softly.

"What?" said the filly as she jumped in place. "What do you mean? She'll try to take over again! Endless night and all."

Celestia stood and stepped down from her throne. She walked slowly to the tall windows and looked up at the night sky. She stared out quietly.

"Princess Celestia?" said the filly as she walked over. She was swaying again as she stood.

"It broke my heart to send my sister away," said Princess Celestia. "I cannot do it again or there will be nothing left of me."

"But… but who will stop her?" asked the filly.

Celestia turned away from the window again. "This is a conversation for another day, my student. When you are old enough to understand."

"I'm old enough now!" shouted the filly. "We have to prepare, if someone else is going to do it they need to be properly trained…" she trailed off. Then her eyes went wide.

She nearly leaped back. "Me?" she said loudly. "Is it going to be me? Is that why you took me in? Am I going to fight Nightmare Moon?"

Celestia shook her head. "It's too soon to tell anything. Please, we must wait."

"But there's…" started the filly.

"No," interrupted Celestia. "You must have patience. Neither of us is ready for this discussion."

"But how can we become ready if we don't-" started the filly, but Celestia interrupted again.

"By trusting me." She looked up towards one of the palace guards and beckoned her forward. Then she glanced down at the filly. "When the time is right, it will all make sense, I'm sure of it. But that time is not now. Please, go to sleep, and focus on your assigned studies."

"But-" started the filly.

"Please, take her back to the school bedrooms," said Celestia to the guard. The guard nodded and gently began guiding the small filly away.

"Celestia!" shouted the filly, but for once Celestia turned away.

"Have patience," said Celestia calmly. She didn't look back until Sunset Shimmer had been taken out of the throne room.

When she was alone, Celestia looked down at the book on the floor and levitated it up and onto the arm of the throne. She closed it and sighed at the image on the cover. Herself and Princess Luna, once upon a time.

She walked past her throne and then opened a doorway behind one of the large tapestries into her private wing of the palace. Beyond she walked into a dark corridor with a series of stained glass windows depicting many scenes from the past… and the future.

She stopped in front of one picture that bore the cutie mark of the filly she just dismissed. It showed a slightly older pony bearing a powerful magic in the top left corner and a standing mirror. But the rest of the image...

"I wish I had answers for you," said Princess Celestia. "But even I don't understand what this means."