Prologue 1: Her Chosen Princess of the Sun
Once upon a time an orange unicorn filly was born to wealthy nobles from Canterlot. When she was born the first thing her parents noticed was her thick and wavy, yellow and red striped mane. It reminded them of the sky just as the sun dipped under the horizon, and how it's reflection shimmers in the water, and thus they named her Sunset Shimmer. Her parent's were extremely busy with running their estate and attending fancy parties and other important social events, and thus were never there for young Sunset. Instead she was raised by the family nanny, Silver Shine. The kindly mare was once her parent's nanny, and now her coat had turned from grey to white. Despite her age, she was still full of energy. Every evening she would bath Sunset, and while she washed the young filly she told her stories about the olden days of Equestria.
"Long ago, there lived two pony sisters. The older sister was named Celestia. While her coat was plain white, her she had a brilliant pink mane. "
Silver Shine grabbed a pink rubber duck in Sunshine's bath and started gesturing with it.
"The younger was named Luna, and all over she was an adorable blue. "
She then reached for a washcloth a shade of blue slightly darker than the day sky to represent Luna.
"Together they went on many adventures..."
With animated motions, Silver Shine acted out said adventures using the rubber duck and the washcloth. Sunset Shimmer giggled the whole time. Silver Shine told her the about how they learned to raise the sun and moon after the Unicorn Council was dissolved by a scary dragon named Discord, and for completing such a task they turned into princesses with both wings and horn. As she dried the filly off, Sunshine filly let out a soft remark that could barely be heard under the toweling.
"I wish I was a princess."
Silver Shine was old, but her ears were well tuned to the murmurings of young fillies. While continuing the existing task of drying Sunset, she also whispered some comforting words.
"You are a princess my dear. You brighten my day even more than the rising sun does. "
Sunset wiggled out of Silver Shine's grasp and pushed her away. She then squeaked.
"No I'm not. I don't have wings. I only have a horn. "
Silver Shine sighed.
"It's not having wings which makes you a princess, it's what inside. Of you."
She put her arms back around Sunset, and gestured to her heart. Sunset appeared to be satisfied with her explanation, and let the older mare tuck her into bed. But as Silver slipped out the door, Sunset murmured something under her breath.
"I'm going to be a princess someday..."
***
Upon the balcony of the palace stood an ivory figure shrouded in iridescence. The queen of the sun stood illuminated by the moon, acting as contrast against the darkness of night. Beside her a heavy book made of parchment and bound with leather lay sprawled open, and the princess was gazing into a telescope. The instrument was pointed straight out at the moon, clearly showing the details of the shadowy mare on it's surface. To the average observer nothing was amiss, but closer inspection revealed that four stars where hovering by it. Celestia was old enough to know that a thousands years ago, when she was just a filly, the stars were in a different part of the sky, and she had been watching their path ever since. She knew they were not just stars; they were the spirits of legendary kings and queens with a mission. After noting their proximity Celestia removed her eye from the telescope and glanced at the book which she was now levitating in front of her. She was there when Red Eye wrote the prophesy all those years ago, when her sister's blood was fresh on her hoof and mixed with her own.
"It's almost time, Luna. Soon you will come home."
On the longest night of the thousandth year the stars would aid in Nightmare Moon's escape, and Celestia would be powerless to stop her. It would be her apprentice who would have the power to overcome the demon by mastering friendship and wielding the elements of harmony that Celestia could no longer use. However, the prophecy didn't just state that the chosen one would defeat Nightmare Moon and redeem her sister, it also dictated the she would one day become her successor. She would need to carefully choose a protege and train her for her ultimate destiny. Now it was time to start searching.
***
Once she was old enough, Sunset's parent's enrolled her in all the most elite boarding schools in Canterlot like Starswirl Academy (named after Starswirl the Stout, a leading theorist on the education of youth who thought children should be taught a range of subjects in order to better discover their cutie mark, not Starswirl the Beared, the greatest conjuror of the preclassical era and father of the amniomorphic spell, which, while not his most complex spell, was arguably the most important as rejuvenated Equestria's economy by increasing their production of bowls a thousand fold and caused Equestria to become known as the largest producer of bowls in the world during the early classical era - Sunset Shimmer did a project on the subject). Other student's admired her intelligence and determination, and she made numerous friends. Due to her isolated childhood, Sunset Shimmer never had friends before, and she rather enjoyed their company. Soon she learned she could convince her friends to perform favors for her, and she enjoyed having friends even more.
In addition to the subjects taught in school like magic, mathematics, and history, Sunset made it her own objective to study friendship. She read "The Princess" by Neighcolo Hochiavelli among other books on the subject, and did experiments to discover how she could make the most friends, and the best friends to serve her greed. Once a friend was made, she could abuse their sense of loyalty. She learned how to lie for popularity's sake. Even an act of cruelty could win friends if framed in the correct context. A threat could be concealed, and tormenting the unpopular was seen as bringing justice. She snickered when she thought about the time she secretly turned Precious's pet rat that she brought in for show in tell into a spider, and the snicker evolved into a guffaw when she remembered how much her friend White Diamond screamed at the site. Yes, she would laugh at those she considered inferior behind their backs, which ultimately amounted to just about everypony as Sunset knew she was the greatest of all. After all, how could she make so many friends if she wasn't somesort of chosen one?
***
While Celestia was there for the original delivery of Red Eye's prophecy, over the years the details were lost from her memory. So today she was studying it in detail. Along with the original scroll the scribe Ruby Quill wrote that contained the full prophecy and the complied book of lore she read earlier, several commentaries on the prophecy written over the ages were sprawled out over the table. Red Eye described the chosen one as being the element of magic like Celestia once was, and would be the ultimate exemplar of the element. However, the word for magic he used was an archaic one, magia, that also meant friendship. From her studies it is was apparent that Red Eye meant that the chosen one would be the ultimate exemplar of friendship.
However, she still wasn't sure what exactly it meant for somepony to be the "ultimate exemplar of friendship". She chewed one of her feathers as she compared two contradictory explanations. Livid Star theorized that the chosen would exemplify friendship through strength of character, with the potential to befriend anypony by the virtue of having such a good nature. Blue Belle of Horseathea disagree though, stating that description is more appropriate for the element of kindenss, and the chosen one couldn't be both the element of kindness and the element of magic. She instead argued that the element of magic would demonstrate her status through action, showing off both her magical potential and her expertise with friends. At last Celestia concluded that the chosen would have the most friends of anypony, as her character would mean she could make friends easier than any other pony, and over time she would naturally have more friends than any other pony.
***
Once she was old enough, Sunset Shimmer was enrolled in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the most prestigious school of all. It's especially known for it's magical education. Sunset Shimmer's cutie mark was the sun, an astral body, so everypony assumed she was going to be a great magician one day and it made perfect sense for her to be enrolled in the school. After all, she had the best score on the entrance exam in over a decade. But Sunset knew the truth. She got her cutie mark in private, and it wasn't for casting some spell like most gifted unicorns.
She got it when she realized it was her destiny to become the princess of the sun.
***
It didn't take long for Celestia to learn that Sunset Shimmer had become the most popular student in the school. Her grades were also exceptional, so she would make an ideal canidate for the element of magic, she just needed to interview her first.
"Princess Celestia, I am honored to be in your presence!"
***
"Sunset, I have something to tell you. Many years ago I had a sister
"So the legends are true."
"It's not about you, Sunse
"Of course, your highness. If you
***
While she initially found her charming, after having her a protege for several weeks there was something about Sunset which didn't feel right. It's as if she were wearing a mask and something were hiding just beneath the surface, a creature burning with a different sort of fire.
The months and years passed, and the feeling still didn't go away. At last Celestia decided she needed to do something about it. She disguised herself and spied on Sunset
***
"Sunset, your behavior is unacceptable!
The return of Nightmare Moon is rapidly approaching, and I will not have the strength to stop her this time. I need to be able to trust you
If you continue this, you will NEVER become a princess.
***
Sunset gathered her most trusted friends around her.
"Celestia has proven unfit to rule any longer. She
When Nightmare Moon comes, we must be ready. I will be the one on the celestial throne to challenge her, and I will destroy her before she can bring forth eternal night.
***
She struggled against the bonds
"Celestia, you mode of ruling is outdated. You must transfer your power to me so that I may raise the sun in your place.
Nightmare is simply too dangerous.
"Sunset, how could you? I would never leave my people
With that moment she found her opportunity to break free. She struct down the yellow in a second
Just like that Sunset was gone.
Celestia had made a mistake. There was no way Sunset Shimmer was the chosen one. But if she wasn't, than who was?
