Chapter 17: Sunset's Struggle
It had been almost a few weeks since the little test Sunset Shimmer had to endure, and since that rough and embarrassing display she put on, she felt shamed and full of irritation, especially after the words Heavy Weight had shared with her. He made her feel weak and pathetic, his cold words still echo'd in the back of her head like a drum, but she knew that if she was going to impress him, she had to try harder, but then again, she was starting to try more smarter things rather than harder things.
Since that day Sunset has had a different way of doing things around the castle, she was now becoming a lot more secretive with her studies, she looked through many different books and desperately tried to find something that may give her a boost and advantage against Heavy. Whenever she was questioned about what she was learning she would lie and hide what she did around the castle away from the peering eyes of Celestia, and yet she still felt no closer to becoming a princess.
Heavy continued to pick on her and it was not long before he found out about the new tactic she was taken, but he did not care for it much, he just took it as a cowards move, finding gems or trinkets to make you stronger was a crime against real magic to Heavy. Even with that working against her Sunset still pressed on and desperately researched for a way to make herself stronger, but still to this day found nothing she could use.
Today however was not Sunset's day for continuing her studies, right now she was in a situation she could not get out of, after trying to skip out on a training day Heavy Weight had planned to have with her, he had now practically dragged her out and was now more aggressive than ever with her. She now stood their in then noon sunlight with her legs trembling as her and Heavy exchanged looks, while her look was that of fear, Heavy's was of seriousness and intensity.
Heavy could see Sunset shaking and quivering like a scared and cold little filly, it made his nose cringe in disgust to be witnessing such cowardly feelings, his looks only ate away at Sunset even more as he prepared himself.
"Heavy...? Can't we do this another time? I have some important things to do, this training session can wait another day can't it?"Sunset begged with no avail.
"Come on Sunset...! I'm really getting sick and tired of that cowardly wit about you, that is no way to become a strong and respectable princess!"Heavy yelled to Sunset as she stood there without moving.
"But I really need to get back to studying, there is so much more I need to learn,"Sunset pleaded once more as it quickly fell on deaf ears.
"Right... Like trying to jack yourself up with some stupid charms and stuff? Please... That is no way for you to be the best Sunset... THIS is what helps you become the best!"Heavy said as he suddenly charged at her with his horn fully glowing.
Sunset let out a yelp of fear at the sudden attack and was able to bring up a green shield and surround herself, yet she fearfully closed her eyes and braced herself as Heavy slammed his head against her shield. Just as Sunset opened one of her eyes, Heavy suddenly smashed through her shield and headbutt her directly in the head, she flew back a few feet before grinding through the sand on her side before completely stopping. She began breathing fast as if she was hyperventilating as she scrambled to her hooves to see Heavy looking at her with a very disappointed look.
"That was pathetic Sunset...! Stop being so afraid and start fighting back!"Heavy commanded as he aimed his horn at her.
Heavy then suddenly made a large orb of magic start to grow from his horn, and once the orb was larger than the princess herself, he then unleashed it and fired it towards Sunset who was baffled at yet another unfamiliar spell. Sunset frantically blasted a beam of magic at the incoming attack, and as the two attacks collided, it appeared that Sunset was able to hold back the giant orb of magic and was even starting to push it back towards Heavy, but her bit of hope was the crushed as Heavy made his next move.
Sunset suddenly saw what looked like a levitation aura surrounding the whole orb, she quickly tried to brace herself for what was coming next, but what came next caught her by surprise as the orb begin to shake and melt the ground under it. It was then that the orb suddenly exploded and divided into five different sets of small magical beams, the attacks curved and began soaring towards Sunset at high velocity. Sunset saw the five different attacks coming straight at her and let out a scream before jumping back as far as she could and just narrowly avoiding the attacks as they came together and exploded into a massive burst of fiery blue magic.
Just as Sunset was about to grind to a halt away from the blast however, she then suddenly felt herself back into some pony and felt two hooves wrap around her arms and her head forcing her to stand on her front hooves as she now felt herself caught in a vice grip. She was barely able to turn her head and was able to see that she was now in the arms of a Heavy clone, and it had no intention of letting her go as the real Heavy emerged from the smoke of the last attack.
"Okay Heavy...! I think we have had enough! Can we please stop now?!"Sunset begged as she felt the clones grip tighten.
"This is so... PATHETIC! What is wrong with you?! Why won't you fight?! Defend yourself or something!"Heavy said as he suddenly teleported and came face to face with Sunset."Do something... Think, how are you going to get out of this situation?"
"Please...Heavy, please can we stop?"Sunset begged once more in a shaky voice.
Heavy glared at her while Sunset felt tears welling up in her eyes as she gave Heavy the biggest and saddest pleading face she could give him, Heavy did not break his look from her, but gradually made the clone release Sunset from it's grip. Just as Sunset was about to get down on all fours once more however, Heavy suddenly gritted his teeth and growled at her before punching her right in the gut. Sunset felt all the wind leave her body as she fell to her face while holding her gut in pain, at that time the clone had disappeared and Heavy magically forced his sibling student to her hooves and looked her right in her tearful eyes.
"You speak as if you have a dream to fulfill, but whenever you're trying to make it come true, you barely apply yourself to anything, at this rate you won't have what it takes to be a princess of Equestria, and you know something...?"Heavy questioned as he brought the shaken Sunset close enough so his mouth was right at her ear."You never will..."
With that said he released Sunset from his magical grip and left her barely able to stand up as he walked away from her and immediately disappeared in a flash of blue light leaving Sunset to collect her thoughts and her wits about her. She was still shaking as she held her gut in pain from Heavy's assault, but his words were cutting deeper into her than anything else she had taken from Heavy before, she felt herself about to cry and made sure that no pony was around to see her, and just as she was about to break down.
It was then that Sunset felt a hoof gently touch her shoulder, she managed to stop herself from crying before turning around and seeing princess Celestia smiling at her as she then wiped the tears from Sunset's eyes.
"Are you alright Sunset Shimmer?"Celestia asked as she noticed a bruise forming on her stomach.
"I'm fine... Why is he always mean to me like this? He was never like this before,"Sunset said as she looked to the ground in pain.
"I do not know... It may have something to do with the passing of his mother, but that does not give him a right to treat you like this, I will speak with him and ensure that this doesn't happen again,"Celestia said as she lifted up Sunset's head and smiled upon her."Come... You can study along side with me for today."
"Yes princess..."Sunset said as she walked to the princesses side.
The princess looked to Sunset and made sure she was right by her side before lighting her horn up with golden magic, a golden orb then surrounded the filly and mare, after a flash of golden light went off around them, they were both gone.
Hours later Sunset Shimmer and princess Celestia were both in the castle library, Celesta was right by her side as Sunset was studying a book she picked up, and after awhile of searching, she had found something of interest. She now read what appeared to be something about the elements of harmony that she had heard from the stories Celestia told her about, but what did catch her eye more than anything was the element of magic, the most powerful element of all six.
Sunset felt something go off in her head, her interest in this power suddenly flared as a smirk grew on her face, but she had to hide her interest from her teacher, the last thing she wanted was for Celestia to know how desperate she was to find power. Sunset then quickly decided to pull off a quick trick as she turned to Celestia.
"Hey princess... Are these the elements of harmony you told me about before?"Sunset asked pointing to the elements in the book.
"Why yes they are, these are the esteem elements me and my sister used to defeat the evil Draconequus Discord all those years ago, it is... Also what I used to seal my sister away in the moon as well,"Celestia said in a solemn tone.
"Can you still use them?"Sunset asked again.
"No... For some reason I have now no longer been able to connect myself to them, they had since then turned to stone and could no longer be used, but I had learned that one day... The elements will choose a new wielder and grant them extraordinary power,"Celestia explained as Sunset's interest sharpen.
"You think maybe I could possibly be a wielder of the elements,"Sunset jumped in while only gaining a chuckle from the princess.
"Perhaps, but it is said that to use the elements, you need to except friendship into your heart before you can wield them, that is what the wielder must have if they wish to achieve such power,"Celestia explained further as Sunset gave her a blank look at the word friendship.
"Okay then... Do you think it's... Strong enough to even beat Heavy Weight?"Sunset questioned with a more serious look.
"Perhaps... But why were you worried about such a thing...?"Celestia asked.
"Because Heavy always says that using trinkets and things like this are a cowards move, and he even says that it is a crime against REAL magic,"Sunset said throwing her hooves in the air with frustration.
"To be honest, he's not really that far off, yes the elements are one of the most powerful magical weapons in the world, but in the end nothing can ever surpass real magic from an Alicorn or a unicorns beating heart,"Celestia said as she placed a hoof over Sunset's heart."In time you will be strong enough to face down any threat, maybe even Heavy Weight."
"Wow... I hope so,"Sunset said as she finally closed the book."Well I'm done for the day, I think I'll go stretch my legs for a bit."
"Very well then Sunset, you are excused for the day,"Celestia said as Sunset jumped off her seat.
Sunset then began walking her way through the library, the placed did seem to be a bit tricky to navigate due to the numbers of books and shelf's in the entire room, all Sunset could see was rows and rows of books every where she looked. Finally after a bit of a struggle finding her way out of the book shelves, she could now see the exit and began rushing to the door way, she had planned to head back to her room to relax, but her hopes of doing that were cut short after what happened next.
Just as Sunset had made it to the exit and turned right around the corner, she was instantly met face to face with Heavy, she could not stop her momentum and instantly smacked her head against his making a book fly out of Heavy's magical grasp. It got even crazier when Sunset suddenly felt her lips press against another's, she had her eyes closed but could feel the lips of another muffling something as she then opened her eyes to see who she was now sharing an accidental kiss with.
Her eyes widened as she was now looking into the eyes of Heavy Weight, she then looked down and then knew for sure it was his lips she had pressed against her own, she watched as Heavy began to blush as fast as she started blushing. They both stood there virtually frozen as they came to grips with what they were now doing, Sunset suddenly couldn't help but to actually enjoy what she was now doing with her scary crush, however the feeling was not mutual.
Heavy began fiercely muffling words as he shook his head and his head started to get red with anger and blush, but he could see that Sunset was enjoying this a little too much, and that's when he had finally enough, and with a big shoved, Heavy managed to get Sunset off him and knock her to the floor as he began wiping his mouth and spitting to try and rid himself of Sunset's taste while trying to voice his outrage.
"What the buck is wrong with you! Great Celestia you kissed me...!"Heavy said while wiping his mouth off with a hoof before speaking once more."Next time watch where you're going Sunset!"
Suddenly Heavy noticed something was missing, he looked around and noticed that he was missing the book he had in his magical grip, he was now completely worried as he frantically looked all around him for the book, and that's when he saw her. Sunset Shimmer was just starting to get up before she noticed something right in front of her, as her vision came back, she noticed a blank book with only the words Heavy Weight on it, and that's when she knew what she was now looking at.
The book turned out to be Heavy Weight's personal book of spells that he had started to make from day one, and it was opened to the very first page that showed off the magical body enhancement spell that would make a unicorns power increase ten fold. A light went off in her head as she realized that a new source of power is right before her, what better way to match her rival sibling student than to use the very spells he created. She wanted it, she wanted all that power for herself, she had never been so sure that this was indeed her key to power as she reached out with a hoof and the desire to take the book.
Just as she was about to take up the book however, she then suddenly froze as a hard white hoof stomped on her fragile orange hoof, and prevented her from taking the book, she looked up and saw that it was Heavy who caught her. He glared at her as he magically moved her hoof away from his book and levitated his property back into the air, he took a quick look at the book to check for any damage before glaring back at her.
"Do not even think about it... This... Is my book and my property, if I see you trying to take it, If i even think you're trying to steal my book... I will break every bone in your body, do we understand each other?"Heavy warned with a low growl.
"Yes... I was just curious about it, couldn't you at least let me learn maybe just a spell or two from it?"Sunset asked as Heavy lifted her to her hooves.
"Maybe when you start having some guts and actually get good with your magic, then maybe I will,"Heavy said as he stared her right in her eyes.
"This isn't fair Heavy, how can I when you keep using me as your personal punching bag, you're nothing but a bully Heavy,"Sunset accused much to the fury of Heavy.
"I'm only trying to toughen you up, and that takes a whole lot of pain to achieve, I have already endured that pain and now I show no pain or weakness when I train, the sooner you can do the same, the sooner you may finally hold some worth,"Heavy said as he began to walk away from her.
"You know what Heavy...?! Just... Just... BUCK YOU! YOU'RE JUST MAD AND BEING TOUGH CAUSE YOU WERE TOO WEAK TO SAVE YOUR MOM...!"Sunset shouted before suddenly slapping her hooves against her mouth realizing what she just said."I... I didn't mean that."
It was too late however as she saw Heavy frozen like a statue, she watched as his book dropped from his grip once more and his whole body began to glow, his head slowly turned as he gave Sunset a death stare that chilled her to the bone. Suddenly in a flash of blue Heavy was now right in front of her and delivered a vicious slap across her face making her scream as she slammed against the wall, she barely was able to collect her thoughts before Heavy was once again right in front of her and began viciously slapping the tar out of her and making Sunset scream in fear and pain.
"DON'T EVER TALK ABOUT MY MOM YOU WEAK PIECE OF TRASH...!"Heavy roared as he slapped Sunset until red marks started to form."You talk about my mother again and I will bucking kill you!"
"Heavy Weight that is enough!"Came the voice of Celestia.
Suddenly Heavy felt his whole body freeze as a golden aura surrounded him, he then suddenly felt a force throw him away from Sunset and was then slammed against a wall as he saw Celestia rushing to Sunset. With Heavy now restrained the princess had gotten to Sunset's side and helped her to her hooves as Sunset managed not to cry from the attack, but was now once again shaken up by the sudden actions.
"I'm... I'm okay princess, really I'm fine..."Sunset said as Celestia nodded and turned to Heavy who was struggling against her hold.
"Heavy Weight...! Do you already forget what we discuss earlier about this kind of behavior?"Celestia questioned as she walked to the restrained Heavy.
"She kissed me princess! And then she tried to steal my book!"Heavy said as he managed to teleport out of the princesses grip and appear right in front of her."Then she started saying trash against my mom!"
"Heavy... You need to control yourself, this temper of yours is becoming a real problem around here, I understand your anger if she really did all that, but you need to control your temper,"Celestia explained as Heavy looked away from her and took a deep breathe."I will talk with her, but please try to control yourself in such a situation."
"*sigh*... Yes princess Celestia, I'm... Going to turn in early for the night,"Heavy said as he began walking away from her, but not without shooting Sunset a look."Stay away from my book Sunset..."
Sunset watched Heavy as he disappeared down the hall way, once the ghost was clear she let out a sigh and turned to the princess who was seeing Heavy off before letting out a sigh before turning to the filly.
"Now Sunset, I will say this again, I know he wasn't justified in his assault, but you can not go around angering Heavy like that, he is a colt with magic skills that are unmatched by all royal guards under my command, upsetting him so deeply is a very dangerous thing to do,"Celestia said as she approached the filly who was nodding at her teacher."Make sure to think about what you say before you say it, I really don't want you getting hurt if he should lose his temper again, I will have a serious talk with him again, and this time it should help him stop this attitude or at least tame it."
"Yes princess... I'm sorry..."Sunset said with a sudden fake smile as she still had the book on her mind."It won't happen again... I promise."
With that Celestia was able to get an elegant smile going again as she walked off down the same hall Heavy was going down, once she was out of sight, Sunset herself decided that it was time for her to go as well. As Sunset Shimmer was making her way back to her own bedroom, she couldn't help but think about the book Heavy was making, there was so many spells he had already created, many of which appeared to be easy to her, with that many spells at her disposal there is no telling what she could do. It was eating her up inside and the desire for power was burning in her stomach like a hunger that a meal could not satisfy, she wanted it, she needed it, she had to have it.
"I'm gonna get that book Heavy, then we'll see who the trash really is..."Sunset said as she quietly went back to her room to make plans.
It was then that a few more hours had gone by and Sunset Shimmer was sleeping in her bed as the moon light struck her in the face, the night was complete and full of stars that glittered and sparkle like precious gems, but Sunset had her eyes on another gem of her own. During the time she spent in her room she was now formulating a plan to take what she desired, the book that could make her stronger, the book of her very own sibling student who would no doubt destroy her if she were to take this precious item. She had it all figured out now and she knew what to do, all she had to do now and wait for this very moment that was now before her as the night became late.
As the moon's beams gleamed all over Sunset's face, her eyes then suddenly snapped open and narrowed as her plan was now going into action, she quickly threw the covers off her and jumped out of bed. She quickly opened the door and rushed to it to check for guards, once the ghost was clear, she then emerged from the room and quickly yet quietly made her way down a hall and turned off into another hall way with a smirk on her face.
After a few minutes of running, Sunset turned off into a hall way that lead directly to the throne room, her smirk widened as she ran to the gate and then began to stand there waiting for a surprise to occur, and then it happened. The doors suddenly opened with the help of two magical aura's, and as the doors opened, it was revealed that two guards had opened the doors for her and allowed her access.
"Thank you... Is he still sleeping?"Sunset asked one of the guards who just stared her down.
"Yes... He's a heavy sleeper, he won't know that you were in his room at any time,"The guard said with a deep and regretful sigh.
"Good... Don't worry, this little visit won't take long..."Sunset said as she entered the throne room and walked towards Heavy's bedroom.
"You know... The only reason we're letting you do this is because we personally want to see what that colt does to you when he finds out you stole one of his most prized possessions,"The second guard said without moving from their post.
Sunset just rolled her eyes as she walked right up to Heavy's room and let out a nervous sign, she then slowly opened the door with her magic and looked inside to see Heavy sleeping soundly in his bed. She slowly entered the room and began to tip hoof through the room to look for what she came for, she looked under the bed and looked in his dressers while trying to cover her ears as Heavy began to snore. His snoring was loud and irritating for her as she quickly made a hoof shaped sock of hers appear and put it to his mouth, but as she did, she had found the thing she was looking for.
The book was laying properly in Heavy's arms as he slept, Sunset realized that this just got delicate as she reached for the book and saw Heavy's grip tighten around the book, she then knew that she will have to move his arms to get it, at least she couldn't hear him snoring any more. She gulped as sweat began to form on her head, with both hooves Sunset moved one of Heavy's arms and froze as Heavy stirred a bit, but to her relief he did not awake and didn't even move his arm back into place.
Sunset let out a light sigh of relief as she then looked to Heavy's other arm, she then gripped his other arm and slowly moved it away from the book and freeing it just for her taking as a smile stretched across her face. The dangers of what she was doing were now completely forgotten as she snagged the book and held it against her chest as her smile turned to a crazy and savage looking smile of absolute desire for power, with her prize in her hooves she then quickly made for the door of his room, but stopped for a moment and turned to the sleeping Heavy.
She looked at him with a mocking face and a wicked smile as she then stuck her tongue out at him, gave him a raspberry with her tongue and a shook of her flank before running out of his room and closing his bedroom door as if she was never there. The guards watched her run through the throne room and blast right passed them with the book in hoof and laughing as she disappeared down the hall. The guards let out a sigh of disappointment and shook there heads before getting back to guard duty with the thought of what Heavy would do to her if he finds out that she just stole his book.
A few minutes later Sunset was now back in her own bedroom and giggling quietly as she flipped through over seventy pages so far of many fascinating spells and Technics for performing the spells in strategy form. The power she could have with the book was definitely worth the effort as she flipped to the first page and began to read about the magical body enhancement and knew that she was in for a very rough yet very rewarding night as she began to learn.
"We'll see who the weak one is after I learn some of these spells of yours Heavy, We'll see just who the trash is...!"Sunset said as she continued to read without a care in the world.
BELIEVE ME, SUNSET WILL BE IN DEEP TROUBLE AND IT WILL BE THE LAST OF HER DAYS AS CELESTIA'S STUDENT... NEXT TIME... CELESTIA LOSES A STUDENT.