Sunset Shimmer looks closely at the portal in the evening light. It twinkled back at her like stars in Luna's night. She still remembered Princess Celestia and Luna. She also still remembered her defeat. She didn't know anything about friendship. But why would she want to? It had been thirty moons since she last saw Twilight Sparkle and her crown. But she still remembered her defeat...
The sun begins to set just beyond the portal in front of Canterlot High.
"Come on, come on, come on," she whispers ho herself. She slowly bangs her clutched fists on her knees. When the thirtieth moon rises with it's twinkling stars, a soft glow is released from the portal, making it have a rippling appearance. She smiles and jumps through. Rainbow tented lights flash in every corner of her eyes. Suddenly she smacks cold marble, and everything goes black.
Her eyes flutter open in pain and confusion. She places a hoof on her head. A hoof! Excitement took over her and she began jumping around. "I'm out! I'm out!" she cheerfully says. The very taste of the words on her tongue sent shivers down her spine. She looked at her tail and cutie mark, her coat, and luscious mane. Tears were almost brought to her eyes. She lifted a hoof, shaking with excitement and happiness, and touched her horn that spattered green magic. She clinched her teeth and closed her eyes tightly and thought of levitating. When she opened them, a beautiful crystal lamp that was obviously made and bought at the crystal fair was floating without wires like the plays in the human world. She jumped up and down. Oh how happy she was to finally feel the excitement of using her magic once more! But before her very eyes, her magic stopped and the lamp came crashing down, shattering at the slick, shiny marble floors. She bites her bottom lip as a shadow appears, just barely coming into the door. Sunset Shimmer's heart fills with distress and panic as she ducks behind a drawer. Her breathing grows heavy and her heart pounds in fear. What if she was caught? They'd be cruel, she knew it. They'd probably send her back into the human world, rushing her through the portal. Celestia might still hate her for what she had done. She might disgrace her and make her....Twilight Sparkle's student. The thought made Sunset grow disgusted and frightened at the same time. A crystal guard walks in with a flashlight, pokes the broken lamp, and looks around. Sunset Shimmer looks through a small crack in fright. The guard shrugs it off and walks out, closing the door, and locking it firmly behind him.
Pushing the drawer out of the way with her front hooves, she cautiously walks out from behind it. She stands over the broken lamp, prodding it with her hoof. A broken piece from the base rolls away from the mashed pile. It's spikes are pointing up in the moonlight streaming in through a window, as if it was....shimmering. Sunset walks over to the piece that looks like a little tiara, and places it atop her head but behind her horn.
"There!" she says fiendishly. "My own crown." She looks at herself in the mirror she came out of. She looks at her profile, then front view, then the back. She gives a couple faces along with it. "This will make a perfect replacement."
Her black cape from the day she first met Twilight and her friends hangs on a hook just next to the door. Sunset Shimmer puts it on, but not the hood. No. She wants her crown to be noticed, to be adored. She uses her magic to pick a crystal that is poking out from the wall, and uses a piece of the shattered lamp to carve it into a sharp point. She slides it into the key hole and wiggles it around. Quietly but quickly, she opens the door, and trots out.
Silly foals, she thinks. So idiotic some of you ponies are. Stallions, mares, Alicorns, and regular ponies alike. Ha! Silly... She trots toward two crystal guards, both of great stature. Sunset quickly places her hood on her head, but still revealing her "crown", just not her face.
"Guards!" she sternly says, acting as one of their own. They look left and right, looking for the owner of the female voice.
"You two!" she says, coming out of the shadows. "Let me through! I have to.....check on the streets. Shining Armor's orders." The guards nod and use their magic to open the towering doors. Sunset Shimmer, as clever as she is, flicks her tail beneath her cape, let's out a piping thank you, and walks out into the cold of the night. The crystal kingdom was lit up with street lights and crystal flags. In a box--made of crystals of course--on each street corner has a piece of paper covered by glass resides a copy of the crystal kingdom anthem. Sunset Shimmer smiles, lets out a small chuckle, and gallops away into the distance.
Once she is out of range of the crystal palace, where Shining Armor and Cadence stays, she takes her hood off. Walking to the train station, just outside of the kingdom, she sits on a bench outside in the grass, just the closed building. With her hoof, she takes the "crown" off her head, places it directly next to her, and then takes the small shard of crystal out from a secret pocket made inside her cape. Using her magic, she draws a face in the mud. A memorable face. A face she can't forget. Twilight Sparkle. With her powerful hoof, she raises it in the air with hatred, disgust, and envy.
"This is for all the villains who stood their ground," she says aloud. With a quickly slap to the ground, the face vanishes, leaving only mud. She smiles at her muddy hoof. Yet in anger, she frowns when Twilight comes into mind. What she did to her.....
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!" Sunset screamed into the night, it echoing through the empty sky. Sunset Shimmer places her "crown" on her head, and she vanishes into the frozen wasteland beyond the crystal kingdom, going with the snow. Her destination; Canterlot. Nothing but hate and revenge sprung in her mind as her hooves sunk into the slush of ice. They'd pay. They'd all pay. All the princesses, the elements, all. Especially Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset Shimmer made her way into the mountains leading to Ponyville. Her hooves throbbed and her legs ached. She had trudged through snow and ice to reach here. The warm evening sun beamed down on top of her head. She looks down from the mountains onto Ponyville, a small, peaceful town. A devilish grin jumped onto her face.
"Ponyville," she whispers to herself. The name felt good. The taste it left in her mouth was sweet. "Ponyville. Where the Elements of Harmony reside. Or so I've heard..." Of course Twilight Sparkle didn't stay there anymore. She was now too busy for her friends.....At least, that's what Sunset Shimmer thought. Sunset slowly walked down the mountainside. It was only until midnight when she finally reached Ponyville.
At the edge of the town Sunset Shimmer examined the tiny homes and wells, and their residents. They all look happy to Sunset. Of course, she was happy as well. She was especially glad that she was out the human world. All it's people, food, sports. Everything still haunts her mind. Her head hurt every time the words "Canterlot High" or "humans" came up. As if she ever wanted to go back.
She trots into the town, her hood still tightly fit around her head. Many smile or wave, some even talk to her. She knows she can't talk to them, but she really wants to. They all greet her with joy. She removes her hood, but just a little, only where her horn, "crown", and face are showing. The widest smile appears on her yellow-orange face. Everywhere her hooves take her, she smiles. She even giggles at some of the fillies and colts, but not in a mean manner. She giggles because they chase each other, having fun and laughing. She had never seen something that made her heart warm from the cold she trudged through. She could feel the frost still clinging to the ends of her coat, mane, and tail. She could still hear the howling winds of the frozen wastes. Every time she closed her eyes she saw her nightmares; humans, snow, ice, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia. She had been mentally scared from these things.
"Hello!" A cheerful pink pony says. Sunset is startled by her appearance, mainly because she wasn't there a moment again. The pony frowns at her slightly, staring at her. With a gulp, Sunset flashes an awkward smile.
"You don't look familiar..." says she. "You must be new here!" The pony smiles and jumps up and down.
"I'm your new friend Pinkie Pie!" she announces. "And what is yours?" Sunset Shimmer begins to sweat. Her ears go down and she backs slowly away from Pinkie Pie, trying to get some air that hasn't been used by the pony that talks a mile a minute. Her eyes bolt to the left then to the right. She sees nothing but homes, ponies, and ground.
"I-I-I....ummm.....uuhhhh..." Sunset tries finding the right words, but they refuse to come to her. What if she tells Pinkie her real name? Will she remember her? Will she forget her past and accept her now? Sunset Shimmer didn't remember the pony's name, even though she had heard before. She could only remember the horrors of her past. The Mirror, the crystals, the humiliating defeat. The thoughts made her shiver and sweat even more. What would she do? She also remembered that traitorous ex-boyfriend of hers, Flash Sentry. She remembered Twilight Sparkle flirting and smiling as if she could talk to him all day. Those thoughts made her angry, her face glowing a dark red. She knew she would hate Ponyville from the moment she stuck a hoof on its grounds. Everypony would want to be her friend and would definitely want to know her name. Her name.....her name.....
Sunset Shimmer's eyes bolt to a topaz a white unicorn with a purple mane was carrying with her magic. Sunset's eyes meet hers, and the unicorn walks over. Sweat is now stinging her eyes and softening her legs.
"Hello Pinkie," the white unicorn pipes. "Darling, who is this sweet young mare?" Pinkie shrugs.
"She hasn't told me yet,' she says. Sunset Shimmer bites her bottom lip, frightened and hot.
"Topaz," she yelps from panic. Pinkie and the other pony look at her suspiciously.
"Topaz......" Sunset Shimmer watches dust rise up from behind a carriage. "Dust! My Name is Topaz Dust. Nice to meet her Pinkie Pie, and....."
"Rarity," says the other unicorn. "My name is Rarity." Sunset Shimmer, also known as Topaz Dust from her newly made friends, looks at the unicorn.
"Could you take me to the Ponyville Library," she asks. She needed to find Twilight Sparkle, and she though Spike would be a good start. That is, if he didn't notice who she is.
"Well of course dear!" Rarity says. "When do you wish to go there?" Sunset lets out an evil smile.
"When the sunset shimmers."
Author's Note
I'm sorry this one was rather short. I promise the next chapter will be much longer! :)
