Two Weeks Later...

[-and in breaking news another body has been found-] A newscaster said as Scootaloo flipped through the channels from her bed. The pain had been reduced but it was still there.

“Ugh, bored, bored, bored, bored…” She groaned as she continued to flip through the channels.

[Don't hate me because I'm beautiful~]

“Too late.”

[YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!]

“Ugh, gag me.”

[Moon-Prism Power!]

“Seen it.”

[-in other news, police are still baffled as to how and why these creatures have started attacking the city…]

"....okay really, there's nothing else on?" Scootaloo said to herself as she turned the set off with a groan. "...no TV for me then."

“Hey Scoots!” A familiar voice called out as the door opened. Rainbow Dash and Gilda walked into the room, Rainbow herself carrying a few books while Gilda was holding some balloons and flowers. “How's our little trooper doing?”

"I'm taking a few lickings and keep on ticking." Scoots said with a confident smirk. "Take more then some bricks to take me down."

"Good to hear." Rainbow smiled, ruffling her hair.

"And thanks for the balloons and flowers Gilda!" Scootaloo smirked. "And here I thought you weren't soft enough to go through the trouble..."

"N-Nah, your friends back at school were worried about you so they asked us to bring you a few presents." She hastily explained, leaving out the fact that only a third of those balloons and flowers were from her friends, Gilda had gotten the rest of them.

"Wow.... well... I'm grateful for the flowers then." Scoots said with a blush as the flowers were placed beside her.

"That's not all we bought!" Rainbow added, placing one of the books on Scootaloo's pillow.

The young girl's eyes widened as she smiled. "Daring Do and the Pharaoh's Tomb!? You're the best!" She shouted, hugging her older sister.

"Only for the best little sister in the world." Rainbow said as she hugged her back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm impressed you managed to get so far in your condition..." Gilda mused to herself. "You sure you don't remember who helped you out of the building?"

"I.... I-I'm sorry but I can't." Scootaloo said with a sigh. "My head's just really hurting and.... well.... my memory isn't the greatest yet..."

Rainbow and Gilda shared an uncertain look, from what they'd been told the doctors had chalked up her lack of recollection to "trauma-induced memory loss", as most of the damage was done to her leg and she didn't seem to have a concussion of any sort.

"Let's at the very least wait till she's well enough to get out of that that bed before we start pressing her for answers..." Gilda whispered, Rainbow simply nodded in response.

"So as long as you two are here, do you wanna read some in Daring Do with me?" Scootaloo asked eagerly. "I'm already on the fifteenth chapter, and things are getting really good!"

"Anything for you sis." Rainbow said as she sat down on the chair next to Scoots' bed. "You wanna join in, G?" Rainbow asked her.

"... ah why not?" She shrugged, sitting down next to them as the sun began to set over the horizon...

Sunset yawned as she tuned out most of Cheerilee's lecture, occasionally glancing at her ring, covered up by her leather gloves. 'Where did this come from exactly? I know why it chose me.... but what MADE it exactly?' Sunset said to herself as she looked her hand over.

"Did you hear about that thing that saved the city?" She heard one of the students whisper behind her, she felt a small bit of pride realizing they were talking about her, but didn't let it show.

"Yeah. Heard it tore through some undead freaks... it was like a hurricane." Another one said. Sunset was starting to have some REALLY hard time trying to keep herself composed.

"Yeah, people are calling her ""The Crimson Dragon"!" Another whispered, earning an eye twitch from Sunset. She wasn't exactly liking the name…

"Really? Well that's a stupid-ass name." Rainbow said, which caused Sunset to scowl, suddenly having an urge to like the name, if only to spite her. A small spark emitted from the ring, she shook her head and turned her attention back to it. She couldn't help but feel a bit miffed. It had been two weeks since those creatures had attacked the city, and thoughts always went back to the final words of that freak Black Hand.

“You… you cannot stop…. the coming onslaught… no m-matter what happens... my master w-will prevail… ”

'Who the hell was he even working for?'

"Sunset, are you even paying attention?" Cheerilee asked her, causing everyone to snicker at Sunset's misfortune.

"Huh? Yeah yeah, you were going over the fifteenth chapter of Daring Do..." Sunset rolled her eyes as she looked out the window in disinterest.

Cheerilee was unamused by this attitude. "Well then if you were really paying attention then perhaps you can tell me what the three puzzles she solved in that chapter were, without looking at the book?"

"Busted." Gilda snorted in the background causing Dash to chuckle as well. Sunset just growled at them.

"Well it’s not like Rainbow and her girlfriend weren't paying that much attention anyways." Sunset said with a smirk. “If you’re gonna get on my case about it then-”

To her surprise however Rainbow immediately stood up with a confident smirk on her face. “The first puzzle involved walking with your left foot forward as a sign of respect to the cursed statues of the Pharaoh, the second one required you to listen to the riddle of the Sphinx, then take the word “spy”, the letter “D”, and the sound “er” and put them all together to make the word “spider”, and the last one was a test of which object was of true value: a fabulous golden cup encrusted with jewels or a simple, worn and battered clay cup. Taking the normal cup would grant eternal life while taking the golden cup made you rapidly age to death.”

'....h-how? She NEVER pays attention! How the hell does she know this shit so easily?!' Sunset thought to herself as she gulped and turned back towards Cheerilee, with a red tint in her cheeks.

“Uh… yeah that's correct.” Cheerilee stuttered, seemingly just as surprised as Sunset was… along with a few other students in the class. She then took a deep breath and recomposed herself before turning her attention to Sunset. “Well Sunset, it seems you could stand to learn a thing or from Rainbow if she's able to pay more attention than you in class.” She stated, prompting another round of laughter from the rest of the classroom.

Sunset bit her lip as she felt another small spark emit from her ring, she glared at Rainbow and Gilda only for Gilda mouth the words “suck it”.

"Just.... how.... HOW IN THE FUCK did that two bit bitch manage to pay attention!?" Sunset growled as she rubbed her ring hand. "No fucking way she should've been able to recite that entire puzzle sequence so easily."

As she walked down the hall she felt a pulse, looking around she couldn't help but feel like something was drawing her to the source... she made her way up the stairs, briefly taking her glove off after making sure no one was around to see the ring. For a moment her ring sparked again... before suddenly fizzling out, as if it had lost track of what it was looking for...

'What was that all about?' she thought to herself as she made her way back down the stairs, completely unaware of that someone was watching her from the shadows... the green ring around their finger glowing slightly…

In the restricted section of the city, most of the buildings and streets were still in ruins from Sunset’s battle with Black Hand and his Black Lantern forces. The decaying bodies had been cleaned up and the reconstruction of the area was already underway.

However as the construction workers packed up for the night and the security guards began their shifts, a city bus arrived not two blocks away, it’s interior engulfed in a lime green mist...

"Ah, finally here!” A hooded girl wearing a bandana smiled as the doors opened and she hopped off the bus. “Thanks for the free ride mister!” She giggled as her friends wearing similar attire walked out behind her, pulling up their bandannas to hide their faces.

“Yes, it was so generous of you.” The eldest one cooed as a lime green mist quickly seeped into the jewel on her necklace. “Now remember what you’re supposed to to...”

The bus drive simply nodded dumbly, his eyes glazed over as he shut the door. A few seconds after the trio made themselves scarce he slammed his hand on the steering wheel, honking the horn as long as possible.

“What the hell was that?!” One of the guards yelled as several of them ran towards the source of the noise, giving the trio enough time to sneak into the restricted area as the Sun began to set.

"I'm home..." Sunset sighed as she opened the front door, kicking off her shoes and casually storming through the living room. Barely giving her mother a second glance. Her mother was a middle-aged woman with short reddish-orange hair, deep orange-toned skin, and deep blue eyes.

"Oh! H-honey we weren't.... is something wrong dear?" Her mother; Autumn Shimmer asked as she rushed to her daughter's side.

"No mom. I'm perfectly fine. Just another boring dull day." Sunset told her as she walked to the kitchen.

"Oh... I see, w-well your dad's working late tonight, I was thinking maybe I could make your favorite dish for dinner?" She asked somewhat timidly.

"Fine, works for me." Sunset said with a shrug.

Her mother flinched at her cold tone. "S-sweetie, if there's something bothering you, you know you can just-"

"Mom, save that talk for the family favorite will you?" Sunset scoffed as she took a bottle of soda from the fridge and made her way upstairs.

"O-okay." Her mom said as she went to the kitchen begin working on food. "I-I'll be working as fast as I can."

Sunset sighed as she entered her room, throwing her bag onto her bed and slumping down onto her chair. Glancing down at her desks she saw a photo of herself as a child, or rather her human self riding on the shoulders of a young man.

Her older brother Sunburst, or as she'd dubbed him: the family favorite.

"Can't believe I thought he cared." Sunset snorted. "Smarter now though. Don't trust anyone but myself."

As she turned the picture away, she found her thoughts drifting back to her old life... back when she was still a pony...

"Mom! Mom look!" A young filly shouted as she ran into the living room, waiting for her was an adult Unicorn with a deep orange coat, a short reddish-orange mane, and her cutie mark was a sun with an orange spiral. She wore a pearl necklace and matching earrings.

"What is it daughter?" Her mother asked in a stoic tone. "What have you come to tell me?"

“I finally did it! I learned how to use levitation magic!” She smiled as she pointed her horn at the vase on the table. Her horn started to glow as the vase was enveloped in a turquoise aura, slowly hovering off the surface of the table. Sunset started to sweat as the vase wobbled in her grasp before she said it down gently. “S-see? I-I really did it... just like… big bro!” She said, panting tiredly yet beaming with pride at her accomplishment.

"... mhm. I see, doing a basic spell he did years before you? I say that's.... rather disappointing dear." Her mom said dryly.

Sunset winced at that, even though she heard her cold dismissive tone before, it still hurt all the same. 'No! I-I can still do it, I just have to...'

Without another word she turned her attention to the roses inside the vase itself as her horn glowed once more, a strained look came across her face as she shut her eyes tightly. 'Come on.... for mom.... do it for mom!' She mentally told herself.

For a moment an aura wrapped around the roses, at first they seemingly did nothing, but then they started wrapping around each other and were enveloped in a glowing light, when the light died down Autumn found herself looking at a single large rose about the size of her head.

"I did it... I DID IT!!" Sunset cheered, happily jumping around the table.

Sunset looked up at her mother, eagerly awaiting her response and happily taking in her shocked expression. What would you say? Call it amazing? Tell her how proud she was? Say that she was on her way to surpassing her brother?

"I expected nothing less."

And with that she left the living room, leaving the young filly alone, slowly registering what she'd just heard.

"Not even a simple “good job” or “I'm proud of you”, just “I expected nothing less”..." Sunset snarled to herself. "Really? You expected nothing less then me doing a spell Sunburst couldn’t accomplish? Fine. No that's PERFECTLY fine you two bit stuck up bitch."

She was brought out of her thoughts upon hearing someone knocking on her door. "S-Sunset? Sweetie? I-I just wanted to let you know that dinner's ready..." The timid voice of her mother called out from the other side.

"...yeah, sure." Sunset said with a roll of the eyes as she opened her door and brushed past her, making her way downstairs. “Funny how all that pompous bravado goes out the window the moment she realizes how badly she fucked up..." She scoffed as she sat at the dinner table. 'Wonder how my real parents are. Doubt they give two shits anymore....'

“So… what are we looking for exactly?” The middle-aged member of the trio asked skeptically, kicking over a trash can as the trio made their way through the ruined city streets. “This place in a total dump, not to mention the chick that was fighting here is probably long gone...”

"We're not here to find the one who caused it per say." The eldest of the trio said as they looked around. "Just looking for something that can make us strong enough to bring this world to it’s knees…well, that and the power to get back home is all.” She added as her jewel shined brightly. “Can you imagine how much power she held? There’s got to be at least some leftover excess energy from the fight that we can siphon...”

"I dunno.... but I'm getting some major leftover anger." The youngest one said as she sniffed the air and pulled down her bandanna. "I still don't see why you had us wear these weird masks Dagi."

"Because this looks suspicious as hell? Did you consider that moron?" The eldest one, Dagi, replied to her.

"HEY! I'm not a moron!" She snapped, getting close to her face. "It's just that these things are itchy!" She groaned, scratching her neck.

"Well deal with it for a little bit longer." Dagi said as she got back to searching. The youngest one pouted as she pulled her bandanna back up.

"Ugh, fine..." The youngest one groaned as she pulled it back up, she sniffed the air few more times and started looking around, setting her sights on an entrance to the subway. "I think I might've found something!" She smiled before rushing down the stairs.

"Now we're getting somewhere." The second oldest said as she followed her younger friend. The eldest following suit not too long later.

"Thanks for the grub mom, I'm going to bed..." Sunset sighed as she left the table, not bothering to look back at her as she made her way upstairs.

“Sunset wait!” Autumn called out as she reached her room. “Sweetie listen, I know your Dad and I haven’t been the best parents...”

“Understatement of the fucking century.” Sunset scoffed as she opened the door.

“-but we’re trying, dear God we’re trying. We just want to have a stable relationship with you again! But we need you to at least open up to us first!” She pleaded, putting a hand on her shoulder.

For a moment Sunset’s eyes flashed red as her ring sparked once more, memories of her past life flashing through her head. “Oh really? Where was that kind of commitment when I was a little girl thinking that I had to earn your love?”

“S-Sunset I-” Autumn began, only for Sunset to push her hand off her shoulder, her ring emitting another spark.

"Listen here and listen well Mom." She snarled, turning around to face her. "You and Dad had your chances to have a "stable relationship" with me years ago and you blew it! All because of your pompous, pretentious, elitist egos! So I'll "open up to you" when I'm good and damn ready! In the meantime, why don't you go back to doing what you and Dad are good at? Pretending you only have one child!" She snapped as she slammed the door in her face.

Sunset gritted her teeth as another spark emitted from her ring, while she was venting out her frustrations more towards her Equestrian parents, she was going off of what she knew about her human counterpart's history. Thankfully her human self had kept a diary, so she knew exactly what went down between this version of her family. Like her own family, her parents often ignored her in favor of her older brother, who was a child prodigy. And any accomplishments she made were met with "We expected nothing less" or "Sunburst did it better".

...until she'd finally had enough and simply left, leaving behind a single note.

Sunset was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sounds of her mother weeping behind the door. Sunset bit her lip as she placed her right hand over her chest, taking in what she’d just said. ‘Did… did I really just say that?’ She mentally asked herself as she looked down at her ring, she glanced back at the door for a few seconds before making her way towards the window as her ring began to glow....

Back in the abandoned subways, the trio carefully navigated through the subway tunnels, eventually coming across an abandoned train. The trio continued onward through the interior until they came across another station, and near the stairs was what appeared to be a large puddle of bloody red liquid, its surface bubbling occasionally and small sparks of red electricity dancing across the surface. The ceiling above the puddle had a large hole in it that looked like it had melted away due to some acidic force, the hole itself having been covered up by more fallen rubble.

"Sonata, I think you found what we were looking for." The second eldest one said as she smirked.... earning a slap from the eldest.

"Gee. Please say our true names aloud again please? I don't think the cops heard us that time." Dagi growled.

“Listen here you-” She snarled.

As the two of them started arguing, the youngest one, Sonata, casually picked up a discarded cane and carefully poked the puddle with it. Almost instantly the lower half of the cane was burned away upon contact. “Yikes…” Sonata then turned around to her arguing friends. "Um girls? You uh.... might want to see this." She said, showing them the cane.

"Ok WOW." The second-eldest one deadpanned as they stared at the puddle. "What IS this thing?"

Dagi got closer to the puddle, casually sniffing the air around it. "Whatever it is, I can feel the negative energy just wafting off it... it's like it's just a massive puddle of hatred and anger..."

"I dunno.... but I think it could melt us and I don't want that to happen." Sonata said as she tossed the rest of the cane into the puddle. "So... Dagi, can you and Ari stop fighting?"

The two glanced at each other and scoffed as they turned away from each other. “Fine…”

“Good! Now then… you two think our necklaces can absorb his kind of power?” She asked curiously, turning her attention back to the puddle...

"They should be able to." Dagi said as she got closer and held her necklace close to the puddle. "They are made of hatred. So it should be easy pickings."

The puddle started to bubble rapidly as a crimson mist rose from it and was swiftly sucked into the jewel on her necklace. Dagi fastened the necklace around her neck... and immediately felt a rush of energy flow through her body, an aura of crimson energy appeared above her... in the image of a fish-like creature...

"D-Dagi...? Are you OK?" Ari asked nervously.

"So... much... power..." Dagi gasped as she clasped her hand around her gemstone.

"....oh shit." Sonata said as she started backing away. "A-Ari I think we should leave now."

"N-No.. it's f-f-fine..." Dagi gasped and the image vanished in to her jewel. "I... I can contain it...." She sighed as she calmed down, falling to her knees. "This... this is what we were looking for...."

"But that's.... that's pure rage. I don't think that's something we can just eat." Ari said nervously while Sonata nodded her head.

It was at that moment where the group heard something outside, something loud. And for a moment they all sensed it; rage. More rage than this one puddle could produce.

"Well then, we'll just go right for the source!" Dagi smiled maliciously as she ran towards the stairs, two remaining two sharing a nervous look before running after her.

'Alright.... now how about another tour of the city?' Sunset thought to herself as she summoned up her armor and took to the skies. If there was one thing she knew, it was that if she was going to dominate anything with this new power, she had to master it. Flying was a little new to her at first but she'd gotten used to it in no time. 'So this is how Pegasi feel...' She thought as she soared over the City, more specifically the area where she had fought Black Hand. At the moment construction was already underway with buildings being rebuilt and certain streets being closed off to the public.

"Heh. You know? I think this'll be fun.... ruling the world I mean." Sunset said to herself as she hovered a bit over the city. "I wonder what I should do next? Maybe I should make an ultimatum and demand the city be under my control?"

"Or perhaps you may stand down and try to help others?" Another voice said, their voice rather rugged but with a feminine tone.

Turning around, Sunset was greeted by a surprising sight. Before her was a unmistakably female figure with a glowing green light surrounding her. Her attire was composed of a black skin-tight suit with several green rose patterns on her shoulder, abdomen, hip, and chest area, with long green gloves, and matching heels, and three small belts strapped on each arm. Her suit even covered up her face, leaving nothing visible except for her glowing green eyes and her shoulder-length hair, equally green in color.

"Oh and who are you? A discount Halloween freak?" Sunset growled as she summoned a sword. "I don't think I like you that much."

The figure sighed as she crossed her arms. “I’m not here to fight… merely teach.” She said as she held out her right hand, showing Sunset the ring upon her middle finger. It was then that a symbol similar to the one on the ring appeared above her bust, a circle between two bars, one on the top and the bottom. “You could do much better things for this world with that ring of yours, and I can teach you…”

"How to be weak and cowardly? Spare me the 'you can be a hero' bullshit." Sunset said with a growl. "This is complete bull. The only reason people like YOU exist is because you're too scared to admit that the world's better off being ruled by someone strong.

The figure simply shook her head in disappointment. "The strong do not exploit the weak, they protect them." She stated firmly as her ring started to glow brighter. "You can be better than this..."

"You're right. I could beat you to a bloody pulp faster!" Sunset shouted as she lunged forward and tried to slash her only for the figure to dodge at the last moment.

“If that's your final answer… then I guess you'll have to learn the hard way…” She said as she grabbed her arm. “This will not be a fight, but a lesson. And I have much to teach you...”

With those words she slammed her fist into Sunset's stomach with surprising strength, sending her flying through the sky…

"Let's start with "getting your ass kicked 101"."

'No.... no she is NOT stronger than me!' Sunset growled as she aimed and darted right back towards her. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?! ME?!"

“I don't think…” She said as she casually caught her fist. She then released a burst of energy, flinging her back once more. She crossed her arms in an “X” formation, summoning twin curved swords. “...I know.”

"You.... you no good... two bit...." Sunset growled as she charged and clashed sword against sword. "You're nothing compared to me! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'M BETTER THAN YOU!”

Sadly, the figure uncrossed her swords and pushed her back. Her eyes glowed as she shot towards her and started spinning rapidly, creating a green tornado of blades.

'I-it can't be! I-I'm losing?! I NEVER LOSE! I WILL NOT LOSE!' Sunset mentally screeched as she tried going against the green swirling tornado.

"There's still a chance for you to turn yourself around..." The figure said as she was pushed back, her blade tornado vanishing as she dispelled her swords and proceeded to summon a new weapon. "I suggest you take this opportunity before I get serious..."

"You? Get serious? Don't make me LAUGH. You're on your last leg!" Sunset roared as she aimed her dragon arm at her firing over and over.... however despite what she’d said it seemed more like she was on her last leg.

Slamming her hands together she summoned what looked like a triple-bladed scythe with blades that resembled claws.Not giving her time to react she rushed forward with unexpected speed sliced through every blast fired at her.

"STOP! JUST STOP DAMMIT!" Sunset yelled as the figure grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to the ground.

"Tell me, have you learned your lesson?" The figure asked as she floated down towards her. "Or do I still have to teach you?"

"You.... w-who are you? Y-you can't be stronger than me." Sunset said.... fear now evident in her voice. "I-I'm meant to be the strongest.... h-how are you this strong?"

The figure remained silent as she landed in the crater, towering over her imposingly. She then knelled down, looking her dead in the eyes. "....Willpower." She stated, showing her her own ring. "The drive to protect, the drive to stand for what is truly right.... something you clearly lack."

"Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Sunset yelled as she spewed out napalm blood to try and burn her opponent. "I-I AM POWER! I AM SOMEONE YOU DON'T FUCK WITH!”

The figure quickly leaped back formed a shield around herself, blocking off the blood. "You just don't get it, do you? Why are you so blind to your own misguided ways?” She asked… only to tilt her head as a thought came to mind. “...or, do you feel like you have something to prove? Do you truly believe you are better than everyone else, or are you just desperate to prove that to someone else?”

“I-I.... I-I.... JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sunset shouted as she took to the skies.

"Not yet..."

In a blur of speed the figure was right in front of Sunset with her hand around her throat. "Stubborn as you are, you still have a lot of potential. However as long as you continue along this path you'll bring nothing but ruination to everything around you as well as yourself." She then hold her closer to her face, tightening her grip in case she attempted spew blood at her. "This world is not yours to rule... it's mine to protect." She then slammed her fist into her stomach, her ring blasting her across the sky the moment she let go of her throat.

"I.... I can't lose." Sunset murmured to herself as she fell to the ground like a giant sack of rocks, her pride taking a deep punch to the gut.

Her opponent could only stare at her with pity before she glanced at her ring, it's glow slowly becoming dimmer. “You could be better than what you are... but your pride will be your downfall… remember these words, the words of the Green Guardian."

And with that she flew off into the night, leaving Sunset to crawl her way out of the crater.

Sunset groaned as she got up and tried popping her back. “Wonderful. My first fight that ISN’T against undead monsters and my ass gets kicked…. Some future leader of Equestria I am.” She growled as she took to the skies and flew back to her home…. unaware that she was being watched by a certain trio.

“That… was intense...” Dagi gasped as they watched from a nearby building. “Such power, such raw unmatched power!” She shouted, a perverse grin spreading across her face. “And just imagine what we could do if we bent it to our will...”

“Yeah, but did you SEE what they were capable of?” Ari asked. “They are WAY out of our league.”

"Then that means we just have to get more power." Dagi said as she lowered her bandanna and hood. "I think it's high time we found this.... Red Warrior."

"....why?" Sonata asked innocently.

"Because she mentioned Equestria.... Meaning that they know where the portal is.... meaning we can finally go back." Dagi said with a malicious smile.

Author's Note

Hope you all liked this chapter! I planned on giving Sci-Twi another cameo here but decided to save her for later.

Anyway, please eave a comment on what you liked and even some constructive criticism. And be sure to support the tropes page!