Chapter 1: A Fresh Start, Or Maybe Not
Sunset Shimmer could feel the burning again. Every moment she could feel the intense heat and pain of fire as her body refused to obey her, something else driving her actions as she was made to look down on the scene of chaos and confusion before her.
There were words leaving her mouth but they were not hers, no, that was a lie. These words leaving, these words that threatened death and destruction to the kingdom she had called home were coming from the darkest parts of her mind, the part of her that even she in her arrogance could admit had been corrupted beyond redemption by ambition and greed, like a tumor in her otherwise brilliant mind.
Twilight Sparkle. That was who she was looking down on, she and her new friends who had banded around her… and who it now seemed would die together as the flames thrown by her own hand engulfed them, their faces twisted in agony while she laughed on the outside while in her own mind she screamed and sobbed, finally the six of them falling together-
Sunset continued screaming and flailing even as someone tried desperately to hold her still.
“Sunset! Sunset! Calm down, it’s okay it’s okay, it was just a dream, wake up.” A panicked voice shouted until finally Sunset shot up in her bed, still breathing heavily from the dream. She looked to her right to see the blue face of her housemate Weatherstorm, his glasses askew and looking quite alarmed.
“A-Are you alright Miss Shimmer. That seemed like quite the unpleasant night terror visiting you there.” With things now calm Weatherstorm reverted back to his usual posh demanour which Sunset didn’t even believe was real.
“You don’t say?” Sunset snapped at him. “Now do you mind getting out of my room?”
“Of course.” Weatherstorm nodded and turned on his heel to the door, pushing his brother who had come to investigate. “Not now Soarin, night terrors.” He said in a failed attempt at a whisper.
Sunset took a moment to drop her head back on the pillows and groan, her hands covering her tired eyes; it had been over a year since that night and still she had to be reminded of it and what might have happened if they hadn’t stopped her.
She stood from the bed and rested her hands on the window sill. It was still early if the sunrise was any indication.
She turned away from the window as guilt washed over her as the sunrise tended to do to her now, ever since she had been shown how wrong she had been to leave Equestria like she did.
“It’ll be different now.” She promised herself in a hushed tone as she looked to her bedside cabinet; she had been surprised to receive a handful of “Welcome Back” cards from students and staff at the school.
“Probably Rainbow Dash just beat up anyone who tried sending me death threats.” She mused, chuckling in spite of herself at the image of the sporty girl patrolling the school halls looking for anyone even thinking of doing so.
Still though it did little to console her. She’d known this day was coming but still it didn’t make it easier now that it was actually upon her.
“Come on Sunset. Time to face the music, no sense pretending otherwise.” She reassured herself as she opened her cupboard and dressed herself. Some might have said a change in her clothing style might’ve helped sell the idea of her being reformed more but given what she had done she knew better than to assume that something as simple as no leather jacket would garner forgiveness.
“Miss Shimmer, it’s just about time for a spot of breakfast before we must head to school, wouldn’t want to be late for the first day now would we.” Weatherstorm asked through the door to her room.
“Speak for yourself.” Sunset muttered as she zipped up her jacket, it looked chilly outside, and made her way downstairs.
It felt rather like walking to the gallows to make it to the breakfast table. It was after all the last thing she would eat before she would have to face Canterlot High once again.
***
On the steps of Canterlot High three students lay, relaxing in the early hours before the school filled up. None of the three seemed particularly thrilled at being up so early but still they had turned out and sat themselves on the steps of Canterlot High.
The two boys were playing a game of snap while the girl walked back and forth in front of the stairs.
“Okay, you are definitely cheating!” The smaller of the two boys insisted as the other took the cards for their eighth game in a row.
The other boy simply grinned and stood up while putting his deck of cards back in his pocket; the boys hair was as black and red as the suits on his cards while his skin was a very dark blue. He stuck out from his friends casual wear with his neat and tailored royal blue suit.
“Really now Hoodwink, you’re going to act like I’m cheating? Did you forget who you were playing with?” Wild Card grinned as Hoodwink made to object before closing his mouth and sitting back down on the steps.
“Yeah yeah I get it.” Hoodwink replied; unlike Wild Card he was dressed much more what he would call normal with a simple zip up blue hoodie and jeans, with a Wondercolts t shirt from the school shop underneath the hoodie.
Even so it was chilly in the early morning.
“I thought Pinkie would meet us here, not make us, wait and freeze our asses off in the cold!” Hoodwink complained, ruffling a hand through his recently cut brown hair, not used to it being so short.
The girl at the front of the steps simply shrugged and stopped her pacing. Both her skin and her hair was an almost ethereal silver that seemed to shimmer even in the overcast morning with her jeans and t shirt showing off her beauty even more.
The three sat there for a few more minutes, during which Hoodwink continued to insist that Wild Card had been cheating, before Hoodwink pointed to something across the school car park.
“Well well, look what we have here.” Sure enough across the carp park the three could see the distinctive forms of Snips and Snails trying to sneak into the school without being noticed, a familiar looking scooter held between them.
“Hoodwink, don’t.” Silver said but already Hoodwink had stood and marched over to the two younger boys who were giggling to themselves as if they had pulled an ingenious plan; both of them yelped and tripped over themselves when Hoodwink coughed behind them.
“Why look at this.” Hoodwink remarked in a faux casual tone as he picked up the scooter. “This looks an awful lot like Scootaloo’s scooter doesn’t it lads. I wonder why it’s here and not at her house?” Hoodwink’s voice was calm but there was a definite fury in his sapphire eyes that not even Snips or Snails could miss.
Before it could go any further Wild Card placed a hand on Hoodwink’s shoulder and hauled him away from the two. “Let it go Hoodwink.”
“Excuse me but give me a reason I should forgive those two toerags?” Hoodwink demanded as he shrugged off Wild Card’s hand but made no effort to chase Snips and Snails as they scarpered across the car park to the school building.
“Because you were the one who lectured us on why we should forgive Sunset Shimmer?” Silver said pointedly.
“That’s not the same thing.” Hoodwink insisted.
“How?” Wild Card asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hoodwink again looked to be caught for an answer but before he had a chance to make up a reason a loud, cheerful voice interrupted them at the same time Silver was pulled off her feet by a hug.
“Yay! I knew you’d turn out to help I mean yeah I know that it might seem a little weird at first but I think doing this might really help Sunset Shimmer be good again and she won’t feel all weird coming back and everyone won’t be mean to her because she was mean to them even though she kinda was a menay but now she’s trying to be good so we should-”
“Pinkie. Smaller sentences.” From the car Pinkie Pie had came from a man with dark red skin and a tuft of hair on his head as well as a small beard. The three instantly recognised Mr Maker the technology teacher.
“Oh yeah, anyways Mr Maker said that we could use the gymnasium to set Sunset up a big party to welcome her back from therapy!”
“If I could make a suggestion Pinkie I might advise leaving that last part off of the banners and simply settling for a welcome back.” Mr Maker advised as he opened the trunk of his car, which was almost overflowing with Pinkie’s party supplies.
“Why do we get roped into these things?” Wild Card asked hopelessly as Hoodwink started forward and grabbed as much as he could carry from the trunk.
From inside the school main building Snips and Snails watched the group unloading the party supplies; the two younger students had been used to threats of the kind Hoodwink had given ever since they had helped Sunset Shimmer. More than once they had been beaten up or stuffed in lockers and it didn’t seem like anyone was too eager to help the pair out when it happened, not even among the staff.
“It’s so dumb!” Snips snapped and kicked at the wall, jumping and grabbing his toe as pain shot up his leg from the impact. “We shoulda been in charge with Sunset and now everyone’s picking on us again.”
“Yeah.” Snails agreed after a moments thinking about it.
“I mean Trixie and Sunset, they wouldn’t have done anything without us. And everyone wants to forgive Sunset, why not us?” Snips demanded as he finally stopped hopping and opened his mouth to speak again before he spotted something out the window. “Hey, isn’t that Sunset?”
Snails stood up quickly and looked out the window while Snips stood on his tiptoes to get a better view; sure enough the two could see Sunset Shimmer making her way across the front of the school, dragging a large sledgehammer behind her. The two boys recognised it as the same hammer she had “borrowed” from Mr Maker’s classroom the night of the Fall Formal.
“What’s she doing? Hey! Sunset, wait for us!” Snips yelled as he opened the window and clambered out of it; he heard a thud behind him as Snails tumbled out after him.
The instant she saw them Sunset shook her head, mouthing “no, no, no” to herself over and over and took off as fast as she could toward the statue, impressively managing to swing the hammer with her momentum.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Snips and Snails heard Hoodwink’s shout but ignored it as they rushed to help Sunset; before any of them could reach her Sunset Shimmer swung the hammer and brought it with a mighty crash to smash into the statue in front of Canterlot High.
As soon as the first chunk was smashed out of the statue, Snips and Snails were almost blinded by the beam of light that shot out of it; they heard a yell of surprise though they couldn’t tell who it had been as they covered their eyes.
Apparently Sunset hadn’t been deterred as they heard another crash from the statue and a clatter of stone chunks across the ground. The third smash never came but the two could hear Sunset and Hoodwink, it sounded like they were arguing and from the sound of it the two were struggling over the sledgehammer.
“Stop that, now!” The voice of Mr Maker piped up over the struggles but without any warning, no third smash or sound of crumbling, a deafening boom sounded from the statue as if a cannon blast had gone off right next to their ears.
Snips managed to force his eyes open while he kept his hands clamped firmly over his ears in case of any further blasting noises from the statue; he only had a brief chance to see Sunset Shimmer and Hoodwink standing in front of the statue, which had two large holes smashed out of it and was emitting beams of light, seeming to shake in it’s foundations.
Without warning something shot from the nearest hole, a large red glowing object and slammed into Snips; he was thrown back by the solid weight that had hit him in the chest and collided with Snails but before either could hit the ground there was a further boom and a flash of scarlet light.
Where the two boys had stood there was only a scorch mark.
***
“Sunset what the hell have you done?!” Hoodwink yelled to be heard over the racket of the statue. Sunset seemed rooted to the spot, the sledgehammer held loosely at her side as she looked at the chaos the statue was causing in front of her.
“I-I-I didn’t m-mean to.” She stumbled over her words as she tried to speak and yelped as another blast came from the statue, this time from the second hole of the statue; as before a large glowing object, a royal blue tone to it this time, shot out.
Sunset dodged out of the way, throwing the hammer to the side, but Hoodwink was not so fast and caught the object full in the chest; his “Oomph” of pain and surprise was cut off as with a flash of the same blue light he vanished.
“Keep your bloody heads down!” Across the school lawn Sunset could see Mr Maker, the school shop teacher, calling to her while he and several other students ducked down behind or in his car.
Sunset felt another pang of guilt and shame as she saw Pinkie Pie among them looking at her.
The statue continued it’s racket as Sunset curled herself up to press against the base of the statue which had remained intact. It seemed suicidal to her but as several more strange objects shot out of the statue she was relieved to notice that they seemed content to simply fly in a random direction before disappearing in a flash of light.
After several more of these a stab of dread flooded through Sunset.
“Hey guys, what gives?”
“Oh no, please.” She whispered to herself as she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice approaching, along with the timid footsteps that she recognised as Fluttershy. “No! Please, keep back!” She yelled from her side of the statue, praying that the two would listen to her.
“Sunset? Why is the statue acting this way, what did you do?” Rainbow Dash demanded accusatorially as she looked for cover. Before the cyan girl had even moved for cover one of the objects burst from the statue and flew right for her, the purple trail seeming like it was taunting Sunset and the others until it finally collided with Rainbow Dash.
When the glowing white object emerged Sunset knew what was coming next, even as she prayed to Celestia, Luna and any other deities she could think of for it not to happen. But it seemed that her prayer went unanswered as Fluttershy, who was still looking at where Rainbow Dash had disappeared, was caught unawares.
“What have I done?” Sunset whimpered, feeling the tears struggling to leave her eyes.
“You’ve made a right mess is what you’ve done.” She jumped as she heard the voice of Mr Maker right next to her; the shop teacher had picked up his sledgehammer and was looking furiously at Sunset.
“Now, Sunset Shimmer; what, just, happened?” Amazing he didn’t sound angry but he did sound very concerned. “Because I think you may have noticed whatever your little stunt just did has left us down five students!”
Sunset opened her mouth to answer him but was cut off by a final blast as the last of the statues mysterious objects emerged, shooting right toward them after flying straight up.
She flinched and waited for it to take them but opened her eyes when she heard a loud crack. Mr Maker stood with the hammer held like a bat in both hands; with the object sailing away until it smashed into the front of the school building and fell to the ground.
“Now, let us see what’s going on here. Pinkie Pie, please keep Sunset calm will you? She’s been through a lot.” Mr Maker said as the others approached before handing the hammer over to Wild Card and walking up to the school building where the orange glow of the last object was fizzling out.
Pinkie Pie knelt next to Sunset and pulled her into a hug, whispering reassurances into her ear while Wild Card and Silver both looked around, as if desperately hoping Hoodwink was going to magically appear once again.
“What. Were you. THINKING?!” Silver demanded, pulling her arm back to hit Sunset before Wild Card caught her.
“I-I’m sorry, I just- just, I couldn’t look at this statue anymore; I couldn’t see it knowing everyday that the portal would be there, reminding me of what I nearly did. I couldn’t take it, I snapped!” Sunset cried as she let the tears out, sobbing into Pinkie’s shoulder.
“Yeah well you’re snapping just killed my boyfriend and those other kids!” Silver yelled, Wild Card still holding her back from hitting Sunset.
As she lay there kneeling the world seemed to fade out around Sunset Shimmer; the voices arguing back and forth became muffled and muted while her vision became dark and blurred. The stress caught up to the girl as she slumped in Pinkie Pie’s hug, unconscious while the others argued over her.
***
“Oof!”
“Ow! Get off me!”
Snips shoved Snails off of him, standing up quickly while Snails pulled himself to his feet. Immediately the both of them knew that they had changed locations; all around them trees stretched toward the night sky from around the forest clearing they were standing in.
“Where are we?” Snails asked as he looked around, picking up a rock as if it would have the answer to his question written on the other side.
“I dunno.” Snips replied. “But wherever we are I’m sure that Sunset Shimmer knew what she was doing, she musta had a back up plan and wants us to wait here for her!” He declared with utmost certainty in his voice.
That same certainty promptly vanished as a sword shot from the darkness and slammed into the ground inches from his foot. Snips yelped and fell backwards as he tried to run and slipped over his feet.
“What, where’d that come from-” Snails’ question was cut off as another blade slammed into the tree beside him, the hilt almost reaching the trunk as most of the blade sank into the tree.
“What are you doing here? And what even are you for that matter?” The voice was a very measured one, perfectly calm and emotionless.
Snails put up his fists to the unseen enemy. “You just watch yourself, we’re with Sunset Shimmer and if she decides that she doesn’t like you treating us like this she’ll-”
“She’ll do what? Because I don’t see her right now. Question is… what precisely do you plan on doing about it if I decide perhaps that I don’t want two of her lackeys wandering my home and just, oh I don’t know, cut you up right here?” A hard edge entered the voice now along with a small chuckle as Snips and Snails immediately hugged each other for comfort.
“Is it really worth the intimidation game? I mean they’re not exactly much of a threat.” Another voice joined the first, this time sounding much more uncomfortable with the whole situation.
“What do you think I should do, let them go and let them go tell Sunset Shimmer that someone’s hiding here? How long do you think we’ll survive if I let that happen?”
Snips and Snails stared at each other in fear and confusion. Survive? Hiding? What exactly had they stumbled into?
“Look, we know that Sunset Shimmer won’t care about a hostage situation-”
“Yeah she’d just roast us and them on sight.” The first voice interjected.
“I’m just saying that maybe taking them prisoner would be enough for now, if you really think that they’re worth killing after that, well, you’re the boss.”
“Ugh, fine. Here, take this rope and start tying them up. You two.” The address of Snips and Snails was punctuated with another Sword stabbing itself into the nearest tree. “Don’t move a muscle or I’ll turn you into a shish kebab, got it?”
Snips and Snails nodded quickly and desperately, hoping and praying that they wouldn’t be soon run through despite the voices assurances. They both jumped when a figure emerged from the bushes before their eyes almost popped out of their heads at what they saw.
Standing in the clearing, now approaching them with some rope held between his wings was a light grey, talking pegasus. Any doubt the two had that he was the source of the second voice were dashed when he spoke to them again.
“Okay guys, just let me do what I need to do and don’t put up a struggle ‘kay? This’ll be a lot easier for all of us if you do.”
“Speak for yourself Lightning.” As if to further assure the two human boys that they were not in fact sharing a particularly bizarre dream, another pegasus emerged from the bushes. They both recoiled slightly as this was the voice that had threatened them before.
The second pegasus had a rather majestic look about him, his dark blue mane went well with his stormy grey coat, which here and there had some dirt on it and was a much darker tone than his companion's. At the end of his own white wings, tucked against his sides for now, a slightly lighter shade of blue tipped his feathers.
“Cool it Sword, we can’t just run through everypony we meet on the off chance that they aren’t useful and allied with the princesses.” Lightning scolded Sword as he tied Snips and Snails hands, ready to lead them away with the rope in his mouth.
“I reiterate my previous statement.” Sword deadpanned as he lifted his left forehoof; the two boys observed the glowing silver band on his hoof with a glowing cyan jewel in the middle of it, while as he held it aloft the swords littering the clearing flashed into little orbs of the same light which then zipped back into the jewel.
“W-W-W-What d-d-do ya mean p-princesses?” Snips finally managed to stutter out as Lightning dragged them behind him.
“As if you don’t know, you just claimed to be in league with them you worthless cowards.” Sword snapped as he guided them through the clearing, not caring as Snips and Snails tripped and stumbled on every root and hedge. “I know not who you are but in case you happen to be even vaguely intelligent, you have most likely heard of us; you are now the prisoners of Sword Symphony and Lightning Storm. Please give me an excuse to assure you that our reputation as the strongest obstacle to the princesses is very well deserved.”
“B-B-B-But we’ve never heard of you or a-any princess.” Snips insisted, apparently finally angering Lightning Storm who gave a sharp tug on the rope and nearly pulled the two flat on their faces.
“You claimed not moments ago that you were in the service of Sunset Shimmer when you thought you could intimidate us, don’t try and backtrack now.” Lightning warned them before continuing the dragging.
“Indeed. Servants of Sunset Shimmer.” Sword seemed to scoff at this for some reason. “I guess you couldn’t even prove yourselves useful enough for the one everyone knows is pulling the strings.”
“Yeah but why would she want these two anyway. They’re not too bright, and they’re very heavy.” Lightning not so subtly hinted as he dragged the two boys now actively struggling against the pull.
“Quite. Can’t see why in Equestria that Sunset would take them either but hey, we know that she’ll take what she can get.”
“Yeah. She isn’t exactly being left a lot to really rule over is she?”
“I’d much rather it go to her by this point.” Sword muttered as he doubled back to help Lightning. “I’d rather Sunset Shimmer take all of Equestria than any more of it fall into the hooves of Twilight Sparkle.”
