"So where were you yesterday? Umm...if you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy asked as she and Sunset Shimmer approached the school.
"Oh, just checking out this big black crystal fortress in the middle of the frozen wasteland that was full of freaky EVOs," Sunset said, shrugging. "Not exactly a vacation destination."
"Oh," Fluttershy said. "Well...that's interesting." She smiled. "Did you..." Her cheeks turned pink. "...whoop their butts?"
Sunset grimaced. "Actually, it—"
"Good morning, Sunset Shimmer," Principal Celestia interrupted as Sunset and Fluttershy walked through the school doors. "I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment."
Sunset shifted uncomfortably. "Uhh..."
"I promise it'll only take a second."
"Go on ahead," Fluttershy said with a bright, encouraging smile. "I'll see you in class."
Sunset sighed and shuffled her feet. "So...what is it?" she asked.
"We're having soccer tryouts this afternoon," Celestia said. "I was hoping I could convince you to try out for the team."
Sunset frowned. "Umm...pass," she said. "I, uhh...don't have much free time. Besides, I don't even know how to play soccer."
"Well, it couldn't hurt to try, could it?" Celestia asked. "Sports activities are a good way to make new friends, and I'd really like to see you make more friends here."
"More friends?" Sunset asked increduously. "The kids hate me! They know I'm an EVO!"
Celestia shrugged. "Then they don't really know you, do they? There's more to you than your Nanites." She patted Sunset on the shoulder. "Come on. Please? At least drop by the tryouts."
Sunset sighed. "I'll think about it."
Celestia smiled sunnily. "Great! Good luck! Have a pleasant day!" With that, she walked off to her office.
Sunset rolled her eyes, shook her head, and hustled to class.
Unnoticed by either, a locker door slammed. A blue-skinned girl with multicolored hair watched Sunset with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. "Like hell you'll be on my team, you freak," she hissed.
* * * * *
After school, Sunset and Fluttershy headed out to the soccer field. "You really didn't need to come with me, Fluttershy," Sunset said.
"Oh, well...I wanted to give you moral support," Fluttershy said. "Besides, it's a nice day, the grass smells so lovely..."
Several tiny animals erupted from Fluttershy's backpack and scampered over her arms and shoulders.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." Shaking her head and chuckling, she parted ways with Fluttershy at the bleachers, heading out onto the field. A crowd of hopefuls milled around, as well as the incumbent team members and the captain of two years running, Rainbow Dash. The coach was walking around with a clipboard and a pen, talking to students and making notes.
As Sunset approached, the mood abruptly shifted. Nearly every student on the field glared at her. Some looked scornful, some looked terrified. She frowned at their reactions.
"What's the EVO doing here?" a purple-skinned girl with blond hair yelled. "Get off the field, freak!"
"Bad enough you're even at our school to begin with!" a boy jeered.
The coach blew his whistle. "Okay, that's enough," he said sharply. He frowned at Sunset Shimmer. "I heard from Principal Celestia that you might be trying out for the team."
"Yeah, that's right," Sunset said sullenly, looking away and crossing her arms.
"Well, let me tell you right now," the coach said, "any EVO nonsense and you're gone, you got me? If I see you do even one thing a normal human can't do..."
"I got it, I got it," Sunset said. "I wouldn't use my powers for this in the first place. It's just soccer."
"You think soccer is just a game, freak?" Rainbow Dash hissed. Her rose-colored eyes burned with menace as she stormed up to Sunset. "We've worked our butts off to get good enough to play for Canterlot! We've been to regionals three times in three years! Some of us might wanna go pro one day! So you comin' in here with your attitude and your freaky Nanites and—"
The coach blew his whistle again. "Rainbow Dash! Fifteen laps! Move!"
With a frustrated growl, Rainbow took off running. The coach shook his head. "Alright, everyone line up..."
For the next hour, Sunset proved that for all the amazing EVO-trashing skills she had working in the field for HARMONY, the simple act of kicking a ball where she wanted it to go without tripping over her own feet was beyond her. It didn't help that the other students trying out for the team mocked her, jeered at her, and occasionally tried to deliberately trip or injure her.
After a particularly hard kick from one of the other hopefuls smashed into the side of her head hard enough to knock her to the grass, the coach blew his whistle. "You! Rumble! Off the field! I warned you!" He jogged up to Sunset Shimmer as she picked herself up, glaring spitefully at the younger student's back. "You, Shimmer," the coach said. "I...think you should go home." He sighed. "For one thing, you've got no game. Even if you did..."
"Yeah, I get it," Sunset said. "There is no EVO in 'team'." She shook her head, rubbed at the nasty bruise forming, and staggered off the field to the laughter and mockery of the other players.
Fluttershy fell into step beside her, a tearful frown on her face. "I'm sorry they acted that way toward you," she said.
Sunset snorted. "Whatever. I never wanted to do this stupid soccer thing in the first place."
Unseen by either girl, Rainbow Dash watched with a savage smirk of triumph.
* * * * *
"You're back late," Rock observed as Sunset stormed to her quarters.
"Principal Celestia talked me into trying out for soccer."
Rock raised an eyebrow. "Did you make the team?"
Sunset shook her head. "I suck," she said. "Besides, it's stupid and the rest of the team are jerks." She grimaced as she rubbed the side of her head. "PLEASE tell me there's an EVO I need to beat the crap out of."
"Sorry, no EVOs today," Rock said. "Dr. Sparkle needs you in the lab, though."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. An afternoon playing guinea pig is all I need..."
* * * * *
Sunset lay on Twilight's scanning table. All around her, things lit up and buzzed and whistled and generally did sciencey stuff she didn't really understand. Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle walked circles around her, fingers flying over the screen of a tablet. "So, soccer tryouts, huh?"
Sunset sighed. "Can we just forget it ever happened? I made a fool of myself and all it did was remind me how much the kids at that school hate me."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "If you hate being there so much, why are you still going? There are other places you could get an education." She adjusted her glasses. "If nothing else, I could tutor you right here. You could have the equivalent of any degree you wanted in less than a year."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm not going there for the education, I'm going for...other reasons. Personal ones."
Twilight shrugged. "Anyway...I agree with your principal to a certain extent about making new friends. You always seem a bit less...well...nasty after you've spent time with this...Butterfly, was it?"
"Fluttershy."
"Yeah, her."
Sunset shrugged. "I can't help it. She's...she's nice. It's like she doesn't even care that I'm not from this world or that I'm an EVO." Her eyes clouded. "It's...it feels good."
Twilight smiled. "That's called friendship," she said. She sighed. "It must be nice..."
"What, you don't have friends?"
"Never had time," Twilight said. "Besides, all the kids my age, well...let's just say nobody ever understood me." She chuckled humorlessly. "That's something we have in common, I guess." The scanners shut down. "Alright, we're done."
Sunset slid off the scanning bed and returned to her quarters.
* * * * *
Rainbow Dash whistled to herself as she stripped off her clothes, tossed them in the hamper, and turned on the water, waiting for it to warm up to just the right temperature before stepping into the shower. As she scrubbed the day's sweat and grime off her body, she thought about the freakshow that was Sunset Shimmer's soccer tryout. She snickered as she remembered some of the better digs the freak had taken from the others. She frowned as she recalled the chewing-out the coach had given all of them after he sent Sunset Shimmer packing.
She lathered her hair and scrubbed it vigorously, then applied her favorite body wash to every inch of her body, letting a layer of lather build up before carefully scrubbing every inch of herself clean. She then stood under the hot spray for a full five minutes, just letting the water cascade down her body. When it started to lose its heat, she turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a big, fluffy towel and wrapping it around herself. Drying her hands, she pulled her hair dryer out of the cupboard, plugged it in, and spent several minutes drying her hair. Satisfied, she finished drying off her body, then threw on her robe and padded back to her room.
Once there, she stripped off her robe and took a moment to examine herself in her full-length mirror, turning and flexing and posing. "Perfect muscle tone, perfect feet for soccer, nice slender hips, firm abs, awesome tits...heh. Rainbow Dash, you are the perfect package." She grinned at her reflection as
she suddenly doubled over in pain
and a high-pitched oscillating whine filled her ears
and she screamed
and it felt like her skull and her back and her feet were splitting open and on fire
and she curled up in a whimpering ball on the floor
and in the mirror, "the perfect package" started to change...
When the pain subsided, Rainbow Dash sat up, stared at her reflection in the mirror, and screamed.
Her door burst open, and her dad rushed in. "Rainbow? What..."
"DON'T LOOK!"
"...oh my God..."
"GET OUT!!" Rainbow yelled, shrinking into herself and shuddering.
Her father, wide-eyed, pale, and shaking, staggered backwards through the door before turning and running down the hall.
Rainbow trembled as she took another look at her reflection.
Her feet had changed into wide, oddly-shaped blue hooves.
Her ears had disappeared, replaced by a pair of pointy equine ears which poked up out of her hair.
A rainbow-hued horse tail had sprouted from just above her butt, swishing agitatedly across the floor.
And a huge pair of feathery blue wings had grown out of her back.
"No..." she sobbed. "No...!"
She curled up in a ball on the floor and whimpered pathetically, her new wings wrapped protectively around her.
* * * * *
Rainbow Blaze, eyes bloodshot and face covered in stubble, stared blearily at the clock on the wall.
He hadn't slept all night. Several times, he thought of going to Rainbow Dash's room and checking on her, but...
What he'd seen...
He frowned, got up, and paced around the living room again, as he had done for the last several hours.
For sixteen years, he'd raised Rainbow by himself, ever since her mother left in the night shortly after she was born. He'd changed every diaper, nursed her through every sniffle, taught her to play soccer, done his best by her at every opportunity.
When the Event happened, both of them had been scared shitless by the news reports. More EVOs were showing up every day. Canterlot High School had had three EVO attacks in the last few months. And...then there was the EVO that was enrolled at the school.
All the parents knew about Sunset Shimmer. It was impossible not to.
A lot of them were afraid of her. Seventeen students had been transferred out of the school once she'd been revealed, relocated to other school districts.
Blaze was not among the parents who feared the EVO. He'd watched her on the news, he'd seen her in action. She frequently risked her own life to save others.
As far as he was concerned, she was a good kid.
But Rainbow...recently, she'd changed. He had heard her make cruel remarks about EVOs, about Sunset Shimmer, even about a girl who hung out with the EVO. He'd tried to have talks with her about it, but...he had to be honest with himself. It was a dangerous, sensitive subject, and he wasn't even sure HE was the one who was right about that girl.
Yesterday afternoon, he'd gotten a call from the soccer coach. He'd been informed that Rainbow Dash and several others had sabotaged Sunset Shimmer's audition for the team. There had never been any real danger of her joining the team, but the coach was severely disappointed with the actions and behavior of the others...even as he himself admitted he was relieved the girl hadn't made the cut.
All evening, Blaze had thought over how he'd handle the situation. He'd waited as Rainbow came home, as she took her shower...waited until he was certain he knew how to handle her.
And then...
"Dad? Can...can you help me out in here?" he heard Rainbow call from her bedroom. He blinked. It was the first sound he'd heard out of her in hours, ever since she'd cried herself to sleep.
Blaze walked to his daughter's room, trepidation in his every step. After what he'd seen last night...
He knocked on the slightly ajar door as he approached. "Is...it is okay to come in?" he asked.
"Y-yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "I...I need your help."
Blaze opened the door and walked in. Rainbow sat on the bed, looking miserable. She was wearing her usual tight black bicycle shorts and skirt, and nothing else. She covered her chest with a bedsheet, flushing. "I, uhh...I can't figure out how to get a shirt on," she said. "These stupid wings..."
Blaze felt like he was going to faint as he stared at the huge feathery wings mounted on his daughter's back. "Rainbow Dash..."
Rainbow bowed her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm a freak, Dad," she whimpered, sniffling. "I'm a freak..."
"You are NOT a freak!" Blaze sat down beside his daughter, enfolding her in an awkward hug and stroking the back of her head. "You're my little girl, and I love you and I'm proud of you, and...and okay, so...so you're an EVO now, but..." He looked at her. "You know all those other EVOs, the ones that turn into huge rampaging monsters?"
"Yeah," Rainbow said in a small, scared voice.
"Well...you're...more or less still you," Blaze pointed out. "I mean, as far as EVO mutations go, this...this isn't really so bad..."
"But I'm still a freak," Rainbow said pitifully.
Blaze stood up and looked at her, willing himself to be calm for his daughter's sake. As he took in the changes to her appearance, he tilted his head thoughtfully. "Actually...now that I'm getting a good look at you? I think I actually like this," he said. He walked over to Rainbow's dresser and picked up her hand mirror, bringing it over and holding it up to her face. "See? The new ears are actually pretty cute."
Rainbow sniffled and let out a little giggle. "Y-yeah...I guess..."
"And, well...wings!" Blaze smiled hopefully. "You're like a little angel..." He mussed her hair. "My little angel. It...it could be a LOT worse. I don't think...it's that bad at all, really..." He hoped he sounded convincing, for her sake. He himself didn't feel much conviction in his words, even if he was sincere about the ears.
Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, well...I won't be able to hide any of this either," she said. She looked down at her hooves. "None of my shoes or boots will fit these things. And, well..." She flushed. "I can't even get my bra on. These wings are in the way."
Blaze turned red himself. "S-so, uhh...you needed help with...?"
"Just...help me find a shirt I can actually wear, okay? And...and help me get it on? And..." Rainbow's flush darkened. "Try not to stare at my tits."
"I'm your father!" Blaze squawked indignantly. "I wouldn't—" He shook his head. "Anyway, let's...let's see if we can't get you dressed. But you're not going to school today, right?"
Rainbow snorted. "I don't think I'm goin' to school ever again," she said. She sighed. "I...I'll have to quit the soccer team..." She buried her face in her hands and started to cry. "Everyone'll hate me, just like...just like that freak Sunset Shimmer..."
Blaze sighed and rubbed her back comfortingly. "I...I'll call Principal Celestia," he said. "Then we'll...we'll get you taken care of. I'll make some breakfast..."
He stood up and pulled out his phone, never taking his eyes off his little girl. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach. *Rainbow Dash...*
* * * * *
As Sunset Shimmer reached the front doors of the school, Fluttershy a step behind her, she was intercepted by Principal Celestia. She blinked. "Two days in a row? Seriously?"
"Could I speak with you a moment?" Celestia asked quietly. "In my office, alone?"
Sunset frowned. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, no," Celestia said. "But...one of your fellow students might be."
Sunset's brow furrowed. She glanced at Fluttershy. "I'll see you in class," she said. "Or at lunch..."
As Fluttershy headed for class, casting a worried look back at her, Sunset followed Celestia to her office. Celestia closed and locked the door behind her as Sunset sat down, then moved to sit behind her desk. "First of all, I heard about what happened at the soccer tryouts. I'm sorry. I intend to speak to several of the students who harassed you."
Sunset looked down. "Uh-huh."
"But that's not why I called you here," Celestia said. "Although it's related." She folded her hands. "You know Rainbow Dash, right? The captain of the soccer team?"
Sunset snorted. "I know she's an arrogant, self-centered little bi—"
"That will do, Miss Shimmer."
"Sorry."
Celestia sighed. "I got a call from her father this morning. Last night, she went EVO. I'm...not letting the rest of the school know, and I'd like to keep it a secret for as long as possible, but..."
Sunset frowned. "How bad is it?"
"From the sound of it, not...too bad," Celestia said. "It sounds like she's still herself...just, well..." She shrugged. "Probably not very different from you."
"Hmm." Sunset scratched her cheek. "Well...sucks for her, I guess."
"I was sort of hoping you might go over to her house, check on her, talk to her, help her through this..."
"Play EVO guidance counselor?" Sunset folded her arms and shook her head. "Not my thing. I smash EVOs. I cure EVOs. I don't chit-chat with EVOs."
"Then you could cure her," Celestia said.
Sunset snorted. "Why should I? She was a real bitch to me yesterday. I'd say she got what she deserved."
Celestia frowned. "I see," she said mildly. "I'm disappointed, Miss Shimmer. Somehow, after all you've been through, I expected better from you."
Sunset looked away. "I've heard that before," she muttered. She shook her head. "Anyway...if she's not causing trouble, I have no reason to get involved. And I kinda hate Rainbow Dash, so...I'm not gonna help her." She stood up. "I'm late for class."
As Sunset left the office, Celestia sat, lost in thought, for a long time.
* * * * *
Rainbow sighed as she sat in the living room watching television. All the curtains were drawn. Her friends at school were texting her; she pretended everything was okay, that she just had a cold.
She'd spent all night freaking out and crying over what had happened to her. Now, she just felt numb inside. Disconnected. Like nothing was real anymore.
In the end, her dad had wound up cutting up one of his tank tops and awkwardly tying it on her, since neither of them could figure out how to get a shirt on her over her wings...which she could only manage to fold behind her back a third of the time; they insisted on flaring out and stiffening up. A thoughtless joke about morning wood on Blaze's part had nearly gotten him a hoof to the balls, after which he'd hastily headed out to do some shopping after calling work to take the day off.
She stared down at her bare hooves and sighed again. "This sucks..."
She thought back to yesterday, at practice, and the way she and everyone else had picked on Sunset Shimmer. The things she'd said to her...
Of course, Sunset Shimmer was a freak, and she deserved to be treated like a freak.
...didn't she?
Rainbow reached up and felt her ears. Now she was a freak.
If her friends saw her, they'd...they'd treat her like a freak too.
Wouldn't they?
* * * * *
"There's a new EVO at your school?" Twilight Sparkle asked, pushing up her glasses. "Who is she? What's she like? What are her powers?"
"Her name is Rainbow Dash," Sunset said. "She's the captain of the school soccer team, she's an arrogant, conceited little bitch, she hates me because I'm a 'freak', and I don't know what her powers are because I haven't seen her since yesterday. I don't really care, either. It's not my problem."
"It most certainly IS your problem," Black Queen said as her image appeared on the monitor screen. "I'm ordering you to investigate this new EVO."
"And I'm ordering YOU to stuff it," Sunset said. "She's been nothing but a bitch to me ever since I was outed as an EVO. Now it's her turn. Let's see how SHE likes being treated like a freak."
Twilight frowned. "Sunset...that's not—"
"It's not WHAT, Twilight? Not nice? Not cool? Well guess what? I don't care what happens to Rainbitch. If she goes nuts? If she starts hurting people or blowing shit up? Then I'll gladly beat the living hell out of her. But for now, I want her to suffer. I want her to go through the same shit I've had to put up with."
"You're better than this," Rock said quietly. "I know you are."
Sunset sighed, clenching her fists. "You don't know me at all," she hissed, turning on her heel and storming out of the lab.
On the monitor, Black Queen scowled. "Now do you see what I've been saying all this time?" she asked. "That girl is dangerous. She needs to be controlled. Or contained."
Twilight frowned sadly. "She's...she's going through things you can't possibly understand," she said. "Things none of us can understand. Just...just give her some space, alright? She'll do the right thing...you'll see..."
* * * * *
Late in the afternoon, Rainbow Blaze returned with several shopping bags and two large pizzas. "Thought you'd like some pizza...maybe cheer you up a bit," he said.
Rainbow smiled weakly. "Well...can't say no to pizza..."
As they were getting out plates and filling cups with ice for their sodas, the doorbell rang. Blaze and Rainbow exchanged glances. Rainbow cringed. "Gimme...gimme time to hide," she said. She ran down the hall to her room.
Blaze sighed and answered the door. It was Principal Celestia. He swallowed. "Hello," he said. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I'm sorry to intrude," Celestia said. "I wanted...I wanted to visit. I've been worried about Rainbow Dash all day long. Is it...is it alright if I see her?"
Blaze grimaced. "I'll ask," he said. "She...I think she doesn't want to be seen like this..."
Celestia sighed. "She can't hide from the world forever," she said. "The sooner she accepts that..." She smiled. "Besides, she's not the first EVO, and she won't be the last."
Blaze nodded and walked down the hall. "Rainbow? Rainbow...it's Principal Celestia. She wants to see you. I think...I think you should come out."
The bedroom door opened, and Rainbow hesitantly walked out into the hall and followed her father back into the living room. As she walked into view, Celestia looked her over. She smiled, covering her mouth with one hand. "Oh! Don't you look cute!"
Rainbow crossed her arms. "Don't make fun of me," she said.
"I'm not making fun of you, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said. "I really do think you look cute. Especially the ears." She tilted her head. "Those wings...can you fly?"
Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "I can't really control 'em. I guess..." She frowned. "Well, maybe? I mean, if I've got 'em, it'd be nice if they did somethin', but..." She sighed. "What's it matter? I'm never leavin' the house again."
Blaze walked into the kitchen. "We were...just about to have pizza," he said. "You're welcome to join us."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I can come back—"
"No, I insist," Blaze said. "Especially since you were so kind to come out and visit Rainbow. Besides, I have a feeling we're all about to have a long talk."
"Well then," Celestia said with a smile. "Since I haven't eaten yet, I think I will take you up on your kind offer. Thank you."
"How are you not freaked out by this?" Rainbow demanded as she sat down heavily on the sofa.
Celestia sat across from her and smiled. "Why should I be? We all know...we all know the world has changed," she said. "I've seen...well...a lot worse than this. I imagine you have as well."
Rainbow grimaced. "Well...yeah," she admitted. "But..."
"Rainbow Dash," Celestia said. "You're more or less still yourself. You're still an attractive young woman. That's more than a lot of EVOs can say." She tilted her head. "I understand what's happened to you is...confusing, and right now you're upset and disoriented, but..."
"But I'm a FREAK!" Rainbow cried, throwing her hands up. Her wings sprang out to her sides, fully extended. "It took us an hour to figure out how to cover up my tits this morning because I can't even put a freaking SHIRT on with these wings!" She gestured at her hooves. "And then there's this! I can't wear shoes anymore!"
Celestia rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well, those are admittedly challenges that will take some...creative adaptation..."
Blaze set the two pizza boxes on the living room table, as well as three plastic plates and a pile of napkins. He returned to the kitchen and came back with two bottles of soda and three cups full of ice. He sat down, letting Celestia and Rainbow help themselves first. "I don't want Rainbow to be out of school too long," Blaze said. "But...I understand her frustrations. And her fears." He frowned at Rainbow. "Especially after that call I got from your coach yesterday."
Rainbow tensed up, fingers freezing halfway to a slice of pepperoni. "Uhh...what call from Coach?"
"I think you know," Blaze said. "I...I sort of forgot about it after, well...after this happened, but...this might be the best time to talk about it." He pierced Rainbow with his most parental gaze. "You were in on that whole mess with Sunset Shimmer, weren't you?"
Rainbow wilted.
Celestia frowned. "Sunset Shimmer did seem rather...well...dismissive of your plight."
Rainbow's eyes widened. "You TOLD HER?!" she shrieked.
"I asked her to visit you, to help you through this," Celestia said, folding her arms. "I thought maybe since she's an EVO herself, she could make this easier for you." She sighed. "But...she doesn't want to help you."
"I don't need her help," Rainbow muttered, grabbing a slice of pizza and biting into it viciously. "Anyway, she's probably laughing her ass off about this happening to me."
"You know, I've tried to encourage tolerance at my school," Celestia said. "Tolerance of others with different ideas, beliefs, lifestyles..." She frowned. "Since the Event, I've had four EVO students withdraw their enrollment and disappear. And then there's Sunset Shimmer. She's hanging in there despite the way the student body turned on her once her secret got out." She looked at Rainbow. "And now there's you.
"You're coming back to school, Rainbow Dash. As soon as we can do something about your...ah...clothing issues, I expect to see you back in class, and I expect to see you on the field, winning games for Canterlot. But most of all, I expect you to stop seeing yourself and Sunset Shimmer as freaks." She leaned forward, giving Rainbow a stern stare. "Can you do that?"
Rainbow looked down. "I...I don't know," she said.
Celestia sighed. "There is another option," she said. "But...you'll have to really swallow your pride for this."
"What is it?" Rainbow asked.
"Sunset Shimmer...can cure EVOs," Celestia said. "I asked her to cure you, but...she said no."
"What?!" Blaze demanded. "Why?!"
"Because I called her a freak," Rainbow said with a heavy sigh. She laughed. "Heh. I called her a freak, and now I can't even pass for human anymore the way she does."
"You ARE human," Celestia said. "This...change...it hasn't affected who you are inside." She smiled. "It's barely affected who you are on the outside."
"She's right," Blaze said. "You're still my little girl, and the only reason you're not grounded for bullying this Sunset Shimmer girl is because, well..." He gestured vaguely. "I think what happened to you is punishment enough."
Celestia sat back. "I think," she said slowly, "if you talk to Sunset Shimmer, and apologize to her for what you said, and...and take time to understand her...she might just cure you." She tilted her head. "If you want to be cured."
"Why wouldn't I?" Rainbow demanded.
Celestia shrugged. "That's for you to decide. In any case, you have two options. Make peace with Sunset Shimmer and get her to cure you, or make peace with Sunset Shimmer, then come back to school as an EVO as soon as you're ready."
"But either way, I have to apologize to the fr—to Sunset Shimmer?"
"That's right, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow sighed.
"You don't have to do anything right now, of course," Celestia said as she picked up a slice of pizza. "But...don't take too long." She studied Rainbow's wings. "And before you make up your mind...maybe you should try to find out whether or not you can actually fly." She smiled. "Wouldn't that be fun? I know I'd love to fly if I could."
Rainbow sat back, chewing thoughtfully on her pizza. "Fly, huh...?"
* * * * *
Fluttershy set a platter of carrot sticks and cabbage leaves arranged around a bowl of ranch dressing on the coffee table, next to her spread-out homework. Sunset Shimmer lay sprawled out on the couch, her history book open in front of her.
"Thanks for letting me come over to do homework and hang out," Sunset said. "I...I just had to bail for a while."
"You're always welcome," Fluttershy said. "What happened this time?"
Sunset sighed as she dragged a carrot stick through the dressing and popped it in her mouth. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course!"
"You know that loudmouth Rainbow Dash? She's an EVO now."
Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my...she must be so scared..." She broke a carrot stick in half and dipped the tip of one half into the dressing. "Is that why Principal Celestia wanted to talk to you this morning?"
"Yeah." Sunset tore a cabbage leaf in half and started chewing on a piece. "She wants me to help her."
"Oh. Well...are you going to?"
"Why should I?"
"Because it's the right thing to do," Fluttershy said. "And you know it is."
Sunset frowned. "After the way she treated me?"
"Sunset Shimmer! That girl is suffering!" Fluttershy sat forward, a stern frown on her face. "She has family, and friends, and...and a life...she doesn't deserve to have all of that ruined! Yes, she was mean to you, and she needs to apologize, but that doesn't give you the right to sit and watch her suffer!"
Sunset flinched.
"And what if everybody started treating her the way they treat you? Would that make you happy? Would that be right?"
"Okay, okay! I get it!" Sunset said, sitting up and throwing her hands up. "I'll...I'll talk to her. I guess. I'll...I'll get her address from Celestia tomorrow."
"Thank you," Fluttershy said primly. "And...I'll go with you."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Well...yes."
Sunset smiled. "You're too nice for your own good."
Fluttershy looked away shyly.
* * * * *
Long after night fell, Rainbow Dash left the house for the first time since her change. Her neighborhood was quiet and still after dark; nobody was likely to see her.
She stood in the back yard and looked up at the night sky. A breeze gently stirred her hair and tail. She felt the wind ruffle the feathers of her wings. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on spreading them, then relaxing them. It felt strange and unfamiliar, but slowly, she started to understand how to control her new body.
Information on flight filled her brain. It was as though it were an instinctual thing, something she should have known how to do all her life, and yet it made no sense...
She supposed the Nanites were responsible for that.
Taking a deep breath, she ran several steps, then jumped, flapping her wings. She gained altitude, rising above the treetops. Hesitantly, she climbed higher, learning how to maintain altitude with a combination of flapping and gliding.
She smiled as she coasted over her neighborhood. "Wow," she breathed. "This...this is kind of awesome..."
For several minutes, she flew over the tranquil houses below. The occasional dog would bark up at her. A few predatory night birds ghosted past her in their nightly hunts. The glistening eyes of cats atop fences watched her warily.
After about fifteen minutes, her wings started to ache. It took her a few minutes to get herself oriented and figure out where her house was. By the time she determined where she was, her wings were burning. Hissing, she swooped low, making a stumbling, staggering landing on her bare hooves on the sidewalk. A huge dog barked at her; a light came on inside the nearest house. Cursing, she broke into a sprint, running away into the night before the house's owner could come out to investigate.
It took her several minutes to get home. When she staggered through the door, she collapsed on the living room sofa. As her heartrate settled down, she threw back her head and let out a whoop of laughter.
Blaze poked his head out of his bedroom. "Rainbow? Are you okay?"
"I just FLEW!" Rainbow cried. "It was AWESOME!"
Blaze smiled. "That's wonderful. You'll have to show me next time."
"Heh...next time..." Rainbow sighed. "Yeah..."
* * * * *
At school, Sunset noticed quite a bit of gossip floating around. Rainbow Dash being absent two days in a row had not gone unnoticed.
Shortly after third period, Sunset located Principal Celestia near the teacher's lounge, holding a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said neutrally.
Sunset folded her hands behind her back and cast her eyes away. "Listen...about that thing we talked about yesterday..."
"Yes?"
"I...I'll see what I can do."
Celestia smiled. "Wonderful. I'll text you what you need."
For the rest of the day, Sunset barely paid attention in class. She thought about what she would say to Rainbow Dash, about what she expected her to say...
After school, Fluttershy met Sunset at the school entrance. "Did you get the address?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah," Sunset said, double-checking her phone. "It's about four miles from here..." Her legs and torso transformed into their motorcycle form, the engine purring to life as she grabbed hold of the handlebars. "I know you hate it, but...hop on."
Fluttershy shuddered, then hesitantly climbed onto the seat behind Sunset. "Just...don't tell me what part of your body I'm actually sitting on," she said. "Or what the handlebars are. I don't think I can take it..."
Sunset snickered and gunned the bike into motion.
Within minutes, they pulled up to a modest one-story house in a quiet neighborhood. Fluttershy hopped off as soon as the bike stopped; Sunset shed bike parts all over the lawn as she turned back to normal. Fluttershy frowned. "I hate the way your Builds litter," she said.
"Yeah, I've been trying to figure out a way to stop that," Sunset sighed. "Especially after that time that one guy bitched me out for 'taking a junk shit' all over his parking lot." Shaking her head, she walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
After almost a minute, a tall, fit man with dusky blue skin and rainbow hair answered. His eyes widened slightly. "You're Sunset Shimmer, right?"
"That's right," Sunset replied. "We're here to see Rainbow Dash."
The man swallowed. "C-come right in," he said, opening the door and stepping aside. "I don't believe I know your friend..."
"This is Fluttershy," Sunset said. She looked around. "Is she hiding in her bedroom?"
"Yeah," Rainbow's father said. "I'll go get her. Please, have a seat," he added, motioning to the living room.
As he headed down the hall, Sunset and Fluttershy sat down on the sofa. "I wonder what kind of mutation she has," Sunset said.
"Just...don't laugh at her, alright?" Fluttershy said. "I know you're not happy with her, but she doesn't need to be teased right now."
Rainbow's father returned. A moment later, Rainbow Dash herself walked into the living room. As she came into view, Sunset raised an eyebrow. She covered her mouth, fighting the urge to laugh.
Fluttershy shot to her feet and ran over to her, a loud *squee* tearing its way out of her throat. "Oh my GOODNESS!" she cried. "Your ears are so ADORABLE!" She reached out and started scratching Rainbow's ears.
"H-HEY!" Rainbow cried, swatting her hand away. "Cut it out!" she said, flushing crimson. She glared at Sunset. "And you! I see you laughin'! Think this is funny, huh? That I got turned into a freak like you?"
"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow's father said sternly.
Sunset snickered. "I'm s-sorry," she said. "I wasn't laughing at you...it's...it's something else."
"Oh yeah? What?" Rainbow challenged.
"You just...with the wings, and the hooves, and the ears..." Sunset giggled. "You remind me of a p-p-pegasus!" She doubled over, wheezing for breath.
"A pegawhat?"
Fluttershy pulled out her phone and opened her web browser. After a minute, she showed Rainbow a picture. "Pegasus," she said. "It's a mythological winged horse."
Rainbow studied the picture, ruffling her wings. "Huh," she said. "That's...kinda cool, actually."
"A-anyway," Sunset said, standing up. She looked Rainbow over. "So...this is it? This is all your Nanites did to you?"
"As far as I can tell," Rainbow said, shrugging. "I'm not getting any weird urges, I don't have machines popping out all over my body." She flexed her wings. "I can fly, I figured that out last night. Other than that..." She shook her head.
"You can fly?" Fluttershy gasped. "That sounds like fun! Maybe a bit scary, but..."
"Scary nothin', it's awesome!" Rainbow said.
Rainbow's father coughed. "Young lady, isn't there something you were supposed to say to Sunset Shimmer?"
"Huh? Oh...oh yeah." Rainbow ducked her head. "Listen, I...uh...I'm sorry I gave you a hard time, okay?"
"That sounded really convincing," Sunset said with a smirk.
"Sunset," Fluttershy said.
Sunset sighed. "Okay. Fake apology accepted." She clapped her hands together. "So, did you want me to fix this, or...?"
"Oh, don't!" Fluttershy cried. "She looks so cute like this! She could be the poster girl for good EVOs!"
Rainbow blushed. "W-well..." She sighed. "I might ask you to c-cure me later, but...I'm not ready yet." She frowned. "Last night, when I went flying, it...it felt right. Natural. I think..." She flexed and fluffed her wings. "I think...I'm not ready to give that up just yet."
"Even if it means you have to go to school like this?" her father asked. "Even if it means the other kids might call you a freak?"
Rainbow bowed her head. "I guess...maybe I deserve a little of that," she said.
"Nobody deserves that," Fluttershy said. "Not Sunset, not you, not anyone else." She tilted her head. "You have a lot of friends, Rainbow Dash. If they're really your friends, they'll accept you no matter what you look like. No matter how much you change on the outside."
"I...I guess..."
"Tell you what," Sunset said. "Give it a week. If you can't take being an EVO in public for a week, I'll cure you." She held out her hand.
Rainbow hesitantly took it and grasped it firmly. "One week. Got it." She frowned. "There's...still a problem, though..."
"Rainbow's having clothing issues," her father said. "Her wings are making it hard for her to put on shirts."
"More like impossible," Rainbow muttered. "And forget about shoes."
"I can probably help with the shirts," Fluttershy said. "I mean, I can sew...I can probably alter some of your clothes to fit." She frowned. "I can't do anything about shoes, but...I might know somebody who can."
Rainbow's father smiled and clapped his hands together. "Why don't I leave you girls to work, then! You're welcome to spend the night if you like. A little new-friends sleepover!"
"New friends, huh?" Sunset said. She raised an eyebrow at Rainbow.
Rainbow grimaced. "Well...maybe not new friends, but..." She sighed. "I guess...at the very least...I can try to not hate you anymore."
Sunset smirked. "I guess I can try to not hate you too." With a playful flick of Rainbow's ear, she added, "Pegasus."
* * * * *
"Dr. Sparkle. Where is Sunset Shimmer?"
Twilight looked up at the face of Black Queen on her monitor. "She's staying over at a new friend's house tonight," she said. "And you'll be happy to know that she's checked into the new EVO, Rainbow Dash. She reports that the girl is not a threat."
"Hmm." Black Queen disappeared abruptly from the screen.
Twilight smirked and went back to work.
* * * * *
"I don't know how you got through to her, but thank you."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Of course you don't." A pause. "And your other situation?"
"...unchanged. You haven't...told Queen, have you?"
"Of course not. We had a deal. I'm keeping it. But you can't hide this forever."
"I know." A sigh. "Thank you. I hope..." A pause. "Nevermind."
"Keep me posted on the situation with the new EVO, Bishop." Rock nodded respectfully to Principal Celestia and left her house.
Once Rock was gone, Celestia locked the front door, then grabbed a powerful LED lantern from the top of a bookshelf and walked down a long hall at the back of the house. Approaching a locked door at the end of the hall, Celestia steeled herself and unlocked it.
Blackness oozed out from inside, engulfing the hall.
"Ssssiiiiiiiiisssteeeeeeeer," a rasping, sibiliant, feminine voice hissed from the deep blackness.
Celestia turned on the lantern. There was a scream from inside the room, and the blackness retreated.
"How...how was your day, Luna?" Celestia asked.
"Let me ooooooooooooout," the blackness hissed. "Let me feeeeeeeeeeed..."
"No, Luna," Celestia said firmly. "But...there's someone who might be able to help you. A girl...she's special. She can cure EVOs..."
"Bring her to meeeeee," the blackness hissed. "I want to eeeeeeeat heeeeeer..."
Celestia sighed. "Luna...I just want my sister back," she said.
"Luna isss deeeeeeeeeeeeeeead," the blackness said. "I am the Niiiiiiightmaaaaaare..."
Celestia bowed her head. "We'll...we'll talk later." She closed the door, locked it, and turned on the bright halogen lamps that lined the hall. As she headed for her own room, she wept bitterly.
A haze hung over Canterlot, spreading heat and shadows over the city as the sun dipped ever nearer the horizon.
A teenage girl with copper-and-gold hair sailed through the air and slammed painfully into the wall of a high-rise apartment building. Grimacing, she stood, dusted off her black leather jacket, and squared off against the deadliest, most terrible foe she had ever faced.
Her entire life had been building to this moment. Teal eyes narrowed as she stared down her hated nemesis. "This. Ends. Now."
She charged forward, a scream of wordless fury tearing its way out of her throat as glowing golden lines raced down her arm into her right hand, which transformed into a giant purple-and-black mechanical fist. Pistons pounded and powerful motors whirred as the biomechanical impossibility slammed into her enemy, splaying it against the building on the other side of the street.
Her arm returned to normal as she stalked toward her foe, who was shaking its head to clear the dizziness. Beady red eyes narrowed and fixated on her, and it let out an unholy screech of menace.
She placed her hand on its chest; golden lines spread out across its body. With an audible, high-pitched burst of oscillating code transmission, nanoscopic machines interfaced, rapidly reprogramming and deactivating countless Nanites in the span of a few seconds.
The nightmarish monster rabbit that had menaced her all day shrank into a tiny white bunny, who glared up at her and twitched its ears irritably.
A girl with long cherry blossom pink hair ran up to her, clutching a bleeding wound on her shoulder. Her green skirt and white tank top were in ragged tatters, and she only wore one green boot; her other foot was bare. "Angel!" she cried. "You're alright!" She scooped up the little white rabbit and cradled him protectively to her chest, then smiled at the other girl. "Thank you, Sunset Shimmer. Thank you so much."
Sunset Shimmer flipped her hair and smirked. "You're lucky I didn't decide to make rabbit stew out of that little furball," she said. She tilted her head. "Umm, Fluttershy? You might...wanna find a new shirt." With a teasing grin, she added, "And...maybe start wearing a bra?"
Fluttershy looked down at herself and let out a petrified squeak, dropping Angel as she wrapped her arms around herself to cover her exposed breasts. Sunset shook her head, sighed, shrugged off her jacket, stripped off her own magenta shirt, and handed it to the mortified Fluttershy, who accepted it gratefully. Sunset put her jacket back on over her purple bra. "Need a ride home?"
"Oh...umm...no thank you," Fluttershy said. "I'll...I'll get your shirt back to you tomorrow, alright?"
"Whatever." Sunset's legs transformed into a huge purple-and-black motorcycle, which roared thunderously before speeding off into the city streets.
Fluttershy shuddered. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that..."
* * * * *
Sunset did her best to ignore the wolf-whistles from various troopers and researchers as she walked through the corridors of Crystal Prep, which had been repurposed as the de facto headquarters of HARMONY.
Halfway to her quarters, a door opened, and a woman with skin the color of granite, a blank, emotionless expression, and straight purple hair, wearing a blue-green suit with a skinny black tie, fell into step beside her. "You're late," she said.
"Had a little pest control problem."
"Queen wants you in the lab."
"You don't say."
"She's not happy."
"She never is."
"You should put a shirt on."
"I'll get right on that."
Sunset reached her quarters and paused, taking a deep breath before opening the door.
Inside, a purple creature roughly the size of a nine-year-old kid was lounging on a cot, reading a comic. The creature looked like an anthropomorphic cross between a dog and a dragon, with floppy green ears and a ridge of scaly green spines from the crown of its head to the tip of its tail. The creature leered at her with slit-pupiled green eyes. "How come nobody told me it's my birthday?" it said in a decidedly male—but young—voice.
"I can neuter you in a heartbeat, Spike," Sunset said as she shed her jacket, grabbed a shirt from her closet, and put it on. Shrugging her jacket back on, she looked around and frowned. "This room was clean when I left," she said.
Spike looked around at the empty ice cream buckets, crushed soda cans, and crinkled chip bags. "What?" he said in a nasally, "it-wasn't-me" tone.
Sunset massaged the bridge of her nose. "Clean this shit up," she said. Glaring at a particular mess in one corner, she scowled. "And ESPECIALLY clean that shit up. Or I'm telling Twilight about your pornos."
Spike paled. "Okay okay, sheesh..." Grumbling, he threw aside his comic, got off the bed, and started breathing plumes of green fire on the assorted trash and droppings, incinerating it. A ventilation fan in the corner clicked on, whirring as it sucked up the smoke. A device mounted on the opposite wall beeped and began releasing air fresheners.
Sunset shook her head and left the room, headed in the direction of the main lab.
As the double-sealed doors to the lab opened, she heard two voices arguing inside.
"—can't sanction her constantly going rogue! She must be brought to heel!"
"She's going out of her way to help us! We've learned more, helped more people, saved more lives since we found her!"
"She's dangerous."
Sunset cleared her throat. "She's standing right here, you know."
A girl her age was sitting in front of an array of computer monitors. She had light purple skin and soft purple eyes, long, straight violet hair with a pink stripe, and wore black-framed glasses and a white labcoat over a blue turtleneck dress. She turned to look at Sunset, adjusting her glasses. "Where were you?" she asked.
"Dealing with an EVO that was wreaking havoc at CHS," Sunset said. "Thanks for all the help, by the way," she added with a venomous glare at the other speaker.
"Watch your tone," a voice said from a large monitor on the wall. On the monitor, a severe woman with coal black skin and limp, stringy kelp-green hair was glowering at Sunset through smoked green glasses.
"Bite me, Queenie," Sunset said. "Hey Twilight, your mutt shit all over my room again."
Dr. Twilight Sparkle, the lead scientist of HARMONY and youngest Ph.D. in history, groaned. "I'm so sorry about that, Sunset," she said. "I'll have a talk with him. Again. But right now, we have more important things to discuss." She turned to her keyboard and began typing rapidly. One of her monitors showed a satellite view of the frozen northern wastes. "We're getting strange Nanite readings out of the north," she said. "Our surveillance network picked up something very interesting."
Another image appeared: a massive, jagged black crystal structure, shooting up out of the ice like a cancerous growth. "It looks like some kind of castle," Sunset said. Like something out of Equestria, she didn't add.
"We don't know where it came from," Twilight said, pushing up her glasses. "The Nanite activity levels in that area are unlike anything we've detected since the Event. And there's something...not quite right about the readings."
"We're sending in a team to investigate," the woman on the screen said. "You're going with them. As backup only. You're not authorized to do anything but stay on the drop jet and wait unless Rock tells you otherwise."
"And me without a parka," Sunset quipped.
"Do you understand your orders?" the coal-skinned woman asked sharply.
Sunset rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Queen, I got it."
"Good. The team leaves at 0600. Don't be late." The image winked out.
"Bitch," Sunset muttered.
"Sunset," Twilight said tiredly, "could you at least try to—"
"No, Twilight," Sunset said. "I'm sick of that bitch and her contempt for me. If I wanted to be talked down to and treated like a disease, I'd have stayed in Equestria. I didn't put up with that shit off Princess Celestia, I am NOT putting up with it off Black Queen."
Twilight sighed. "Go get some rest," she said. "You've got an early flight to catch."
* * * * *
Sunset lay awake in bed, thinking. She'd kicked Spike out for the night so she could be alone with her thoughts (and not have to smell him).
Not for the first time, nor the last, she thought back to that fateful night, twenty-five moons ago...
* * * * *
"Sunset Shimmer, your studies end here. I'm afraid I can no longer tolerate your attitude and your willful disobedience. You showed such promise...it saddens me that you have left me no recourse. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in this castle."
Sunset Shimmer glared at the ruler of Equestria. "You've been keeping things from me...things I deserve to know! You know I could be your equal! You know I could be—"
"The only thing you can be, Sunset Shimmer, is escorted from the castle by the guards." Princess Celestia turned her back on her. "Get her out of my sight."
Two pegasus guards flanked Sunset Shimmer. "This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life, Celestia!" she spat. The guards kicked her sharply in the sides, forcing her to march between them. She marched sullenly down the long corridor, past the room with the mirror...
...the mirror!
Sunset released a burst of magic from her horn, blinding the guards. They reared in panic; she kicked each guard right in the throat, stunning them, then teleported directly in front of the mirror. She looked back into the castle, a savage grin on her face. "So long, Canterlot," she said. Laughing, she stepped through the mirror...
...a blinding cyclone of colors surrounded her...and her body stretched...
She fell through the other side, landing painfully on the ground. Her body felt strange. She looked down at her hooves...only to find her arms ended in slender, five-fingered hands, which stung from contact with a paved surface. She rearranged herself into an awkward sitting position and examined her body with her eyes and hands. Her hind legs were longer and encased in tall black-and-purple boots; her knees were scraped and stung much like her hands. She was wearing unfamiliar clothing, her muzzle had become flat, and her horn was missing.
"Well...this is certainly an interesting development," she mused.
She looked around. Streetlights illuminated the darkness, revealing rows of buildings arranged along a paved road; it reminded her of Manehattan. Behind her stood a tall statue of a rearing horse; before her stood an enormous, palatial edifice that could possibly be a castle. Overhead, the moon shed pale light through wispy clouds.
"So...where am I?" she wondered.
And then a blinding white fireball swallowed the sky.
"What the—?!"
Suddenly, Sunset felt a searing agony, as though millions of burning hot ants were crawling around inside her body. She writhed on the ground and screamed. Her eyes had been seared by the fire in the sky; she squeezed them shut, fighting not to blink against the spots in her vision. She screamed as the strange crawling, burning sensation tore through her entire being.
A million horrifying thoughts raced through her mind.
Was this some side-effect of crossing through the portal?
Had this world somehow been alerted of her transgression? Was this an attack designed to drive her back into Equestria to face judgment?
Was some sort of war going on, and that fireball in the sky some terrible weapon?
After an eternity of agony, Sunset felt her mind slip away, and she blacked out.
When next she awoke, it was morning. The sun was shining down, a gentle breeze was rustling through the leaves of trees, and aside from a terrible headache, she felt completely normal. Her scraped hands and knees had healed overnight. She stood, brushed off her skirt, and looked around.
The streets seemed to be deserted. She studied the huge building that loomed ahead of her, then strode up to the front entrance; her bipedal gait caused her only brief moments of disorientation as she adjusted to the way her new body moved.
To her dismay, the front doors were locked.
Sighing, she looked out into the city, then made her way back down the steps, walking toward the street with steadier and steadier steps. The city was eerily quiet, but the breeze carried a noise to her ears. She followed it and found a barricade erected in the middle of a street, with a black and white metal carriage of some sort parked beside it. Two men in dark blue uniforms were milling around, drinking from paper cups. She headed in their direction. "Excuse me," she called once she was within earshot.
The men looked at her. One of them frowned. "Miss, you shouldn't be out in the streets this morning," he said. "You should go home."
"I, uh...I'm kind of a long way from home," she said. "I'm not from...around here."
"Oh," the man said. He grimaced. "Are you travelling alone?"
"That's right."
"You should call your family or something, then," he said. "Let them know you're alright..."
"I'll do that as soon as I can," she said. "What happened here? Last thing I remember was a fireball in the sky..."
The men exchanged glances. "You don't know?" the second man asked.
"I blacked out right after," she said. "I just woke up a few minutes ago, about a block back that way."
"Hmm..." The first man who had spoken scratched his chin. "The truth is, we're not entirely sure what happened yet," he said. "All we know at the moment is there was some kind of lab accident last night. There was a huge explosion, and..." He shrugged. "Something must've gotten out, because some government people are setting up testing areas and safety shelters..."
"The biggest concern is that some kind of disease was released," the second man said. "Everyone felt...something after the explosion."
Sunset grimaced. "Yeah...that, I remember."
"What was your name, miss?" the first man asked.
"Sunset Shimmer," she said.
The street exploded on the other side of the barricade, and an enormous, twisted grey monster with half a dozen purple eyes in an asymmetric line across its torso erupted into the air, screeching as it rained hundreds of bony needles down around them.
"Holy SHIT!" the second, younger man said, pulling a gun from a holster at his side and firing repeatedly at the monster. His shots had no effect.
"What IS that?" Sunset cried, backing away.
"I don't know!" the first man said, eyes wide. He squeezed the radio on his shoulder. "Officers requesting backup! There's a...a THING! A thing, it just came out of the street! We're under attack!"
The monster flailed out with a ropy tentacle, which wound around the first man's throat. He grasped at it ineffectually, trying to pry it off, but the monster squeezed tightly and lifted him into the air, then slammed him back to the ground. Sunset heard bones snapping. With another unholy screech, the monster flung the man high into the air.
"Get out of here!" the second man said, a quaver in his voice. "I'll...I'll hold it off!"
"With WHAT?" Sunset demanded. She stared at the creature. If only she could use her magic...
Her horn was gone, though...
She tried to call forth the great magical power that had brought her to this point, but to no avail. She felt a strange buzzing in her mind...
The man who had been thrown into the air landed on the top of the carriage with enough force to crumple the metal and shatter the glass windows. Blood ran down the sides of the carriage from his lifeless body. The monster grabbed the second man and began strangling him. Two of its monstrous purple eyes locked on Sunset, and a slanted mouth full of jagged teeth opened, spraying acidic spittle all over the ruined street.
Sunset tried to run, but her legs were rooted in place. The buzzing in her mind grew more intense, more frantic...
No...not buzzing. It was a high-pitched, oscillating whine, like nothing she had ever heard. It sounded artificial...
It sounded important.
The monster finished choking the life out of the second man, then tossed his limp body aside. It crashed through the barricade, bearing down on her, screeching in unholy fury...
An image formed in Sunset's mind. An image of a giant machine, elegant yet powerful, all pistons and motors and might. Nothing like it existed in Equestria. She had no frame of reference for it. And yet...
Golden lines of power traced down the lengths of her arms, which were suddenly encased in intertwined ropes of silver metal. More metal expanded, coming from seemingly nowhere, until Sunset's arms were replaced with enormous, sleek purple and black mechanical hands. As the monster reached her, she yelled in rage and drew back her arm, slapping the foul thing into the side of a building. Mortar dust and crumbled bricks rained down as it slammed into the wall. It pulled itself out of the rubble, shook itself, and turned to face her again, unleashing another torrent of bone needles. She raised her new metal arms to protect her face, then charged forward, landing a piston-driven haymaker right into one of its many eyes. It screamed; she pummeled it, motors whining and pistons pounding as her mechanical arms reduced the monster to a pulpy, bloody mess.
Sunset stood, breathing heavily, staring down at the dead monster, at her own arms. "What...?"
The metal fists shattered of their own volition, breaking away into scraps of metal and machine, and her own slim, unfamiliar hands greeted her as if the whole bizarre thing had never happened.
She heard sirens approaching in the distance. She ran.
* * * * *
Over the next few days, as she wandered from one part of town to another, Sunset—along with the rest of the world—began to piece together what had happened.
A laboratory on the northeast side of Canterlot—heh, there's a Canterlot here, imagine that—had experienced some sort of catastrophic accident, releasing billions of microscopic machines called Nanites into the atmosphere. The Nanites had spread across the world, infecting every living thing—plant, animal, human, even the soil. Most of the Nanites were inert, but all Nanites carried the potential of activating at any given time.
Activated Nanites produced random, unpredictable changes in the genetic makeup and cellular structure of anything they infected, resulting in sudden, extreme mutations. Any creature or plant that fell victim to one of these mutations was called an EVO. Most EVOs, like the monster Sunset had fought the morning after the Event, were out-of-control, mindless monsters. Some EVOs, such as Sunset herself, had control over their Nanites and over themselves, remaining relatively sane and gaining unnatural abilities.
As Sunset roamed Canterlot, she witnessed the devastation and confusion wrought by the Event. She also frequently found herself fighting rampaging EVOs, even as she struggled to gain control over her new abilities: the power to spontaneously produce a variety of large, powerful machines from inside her own body—machines as alien to her as most everything else in this world. Somehow, the Nanites had implanted within her mind the information needed to visualize and create these machines. She also found she had some limited control over other machines, which she had already abused to steal large sums of cash from machines that dispensed money.
Hey, a girl's gotta eat.
Unfortunately, she'd also been seen using her powers by quite a few people, and was forced to flee from angry, frightened mobs—even those whose lives she had in all likelihood saved by slaughtering deadly, psychotic monsters. Her only solace was that unlike most EVOs, she retained a normal human appearance—in fact, during her brief time studying this world so far, she'd learned that she was unusually attractive by human standards, which was probably something she could exploit—so unless she was forced to openly use her powers, she could blend in with everybody else.
Seven moons passed as Sunset wandered Canterlot, never staying in one part of the city more than a few days at a time, sleeping in abandoned or wrecked housing, buying food with stolen money, and generally struggling to stay alive, stay informed, and learn more about her new powers and the world she had landed in.
During those seven moons, word began to spread of an organization which was fighting and disposing of rogue EVOs. The organization called itself HARMONY, and it had resources at its disposal which seemed to alarm some of the local humans.
One day, Sunset happened upon a battle between an EVO the size of an eighteen-wheeler with a dozen stubby legs and a screaming, tooth-filled maw, a squad of soldiers who wore glossy black armor over green bodysuits with black helmets that sported green, goggle-like visors, and a grey-skinned, purple-haired woman in a blue-green suit. While the soldiers were using some sort of heavy projectile weapons, the woman in the suit was using a pair of swords that gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.
"DON'T HURT HIM!" a woman on the edge of the sidewalk screamed. She was being restrained by two of the troopers.
Sunset walked over to her, eyes never leaving the woman with the gleaming swords or the massive EVO. "What's going on here?" she asked.
"Evacuate the area, miss," one of the troopers said. "This is HARMONY business."
"HARMONY, huh?" Sunset asked. "Yeah, I've heard of you. The EVO hunters, right?"
"Please!" the woman screamed, tears pouring from her eyes. "That's my baby! He's only two years old!"
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but your baby is an EVO now," the trooper holding her said. "There's nothing that can be done."
Sunset studied the young mother and felt something. Something she rarely felt.
Sympathy for another living being.
This woman was suffering. She'd done nothing to deserve this. She was just worried about her child. And even though her child had turned into a gigantic monster, well...
Sunset wasn't entirely sure what made her do it, but she charged into the fray, brow furrowed as she summoned forth a pair of large metal wings with VTL turbines and flew up to the top of the mutated toddler. As she landed on its back, she shed her lift wings and generated the massive metal hands which were her most effective defense against most EVOs. "You need a spanking," she said as she began pummeling the EVO. "Bad baby!"
The woman in the suit landed behind her. "You're an EVO," she said in a flat, emotionless voice.
"That's right," Sunset said. "Except I can control my powers."
"Still an EVO," the woman said. "Still dangerous."
"Just...stay back, okay? I don't know exactly what I'm—"
She drove a fist right into the base of the EVO's skull; it dropped to the ground with a mighty crash.
"—doing here!" She jumped down off its back, landing next to its head. She shed her robot hands and laid her palms against its side.
The Nanites inside her stirred and began spreading out into the EVO. She closed her eyes...
She felt her Nanites talking to the Nanites in the EVO. She could see, somehow, the programming that drove them.
She could talk to them.
Shut down, she silently commanded. Please...let this child return to normal.
The high-pitched oscillation of Nanite communication filled the air...
The EVO began to shrink in on itself. Within seconds, a sleeping toddler, healthy and perfectly human, lay in its place.
The HARMONY troopers took a step back, clearly confused.
The woman in the suit landed beside Sunset. "What did you do?" she asked softly.
"I...I cured it," Sunset said. "Don't ask me how. I just..." She picked up the baby and walked over to his mother, handing him over. "Here," she said.
The woman's eyes were wide with disbelief as she accepted her child from Sunset. "Thank you," she whispered. She sniffled loudly, then repeated, "Thank you..."
Sunset felt a hand on her shoulder. "You need to come with us," the woman in the suit said.
Sunset turned to face her. "And if I refuse?"
The woman frowned almost imperceptibly. "Don't," she advised.
They stood staring at one another for a long moment.
The woman cleaned her swords and sheathed them. "My name is Rock."
Sunset relaxed. "Sunset Shimmer."
"Will you come with us?" Rock asked. "Dr. Sparkle needs to meet you."
Sunset sighed. "Yeah, okay."
* * * * *
Rock and her troopers had taken Sunset Shimmer to Crystal Prep, formerly a private high school, now the headquarters of HARMONY. There, she had met Dr. Twilight Sparkle, HARMONY's head researcher and expert on Nanite behavior, and Black Queen, the paranoid, mistrustful, downright impossible to get along with leader of HARMONY.
Although Black Queen didn't trust Sunset, she allowed her to join HARMONY as a secret weapon. As far as Sunset was concerned, Black Queen was a bigger bitch than Celestia and could go eat a pile of Spike's shit, but HARMONY's resources were very useful to Sunset.
Having a place to call home didn't hurt either.
Over the next eighteen moons, Sunset Shimmer had worked with HARMONY, fighting and curing EVOs far and wide. She'd also enrolled in Canterlot High School so she could keep an eye on the portal back to Equestria. She'd struggled to build a reputation, endeavoring to become a dominant force at the school.
Then the student body had found out she was an EVO, and suddenly she was an outcast. Only two people trusted her, accepted her, believed in her.
One was Principal Celestia, this world's version of the alicorn Sunset hated more than any other living being.
The other was a timid, mousy doormat of a girl named Fluttershy, who somehow, despite all odds, had become the closest thing Sunset Shimmer had ever had to a real friend.
Two years in this world had done some strange things to Sunset Shimmer...but she still had her ambition, she still had her desire to claim her destiny. To take back what Celestia had stolen from her.
Sunset sighed as she stared up at the ceiling.
Five more moons...
She studied her own hands, envisioning the tens of thousands of Nanites swimming in her veins.
Five more moons...the portal will open, and I can take this power back to Equestria...
I can force Celestia to bow to me...
But first, she had a job to do.
* * * * *
One thing that both impressed and alarmed Sunset Shimmer was how well equipped HARMONY was. The military and scientific technology at their disposal was advanced well beyond anything the private sector or the National Defense Forces had. One example was the drop jets used as air-to-air short range transport in and out of hot zones. Armored, armed, and ready to fly seconds after being dropped out of an airship, HARMONY's drop jets surpassed the military's V/STOL aircraft in every regard.
More impressive even than that was the Rook, HARMONY's mobile tactical base of operations. The Rook was an airship that used cutting edge propulsion technology to remain in the air for weeks at a time without needing to land. Most fuel and supply transfers to the Rook were done in-flight using VTL cargo lifts and drop jets.
Then there was the fact that the Rook was able to make the trip from Canterlot to the frozen northern wastes in eight hours.
"Approaching the structure," the captain said. On monitor screens all around the Rook, the imposing mass of black crystals stood in stark contrast against the bleak blue-white landscape. For miles around the crystal tower, chunks of black crystal jutted out of the tundra at odd angles.
"All troops to drop jets," the captain ordered.
Rock placed her hand on Sunset's shoulder. "You heard Queen's orders," she said. "Stay in your drop jet unless I call you."
"You get to have all the fun," Sunset said wryly. Rock arched an eyebrow, then shook her head and headed for her own drop jet, which she shared with six faceless HARMONY troopers.
Five miles out from the structure, four drop jets descended from the Rook. Three angled low to allow the HARMONY team to jump down; the fourth hung back, closer to the Rook. Sunset was aboard this fourth jet.
"Active Nanite readings are at record levels here," a voice said over the jet's radio.
"Stay alert," Rock's passionless voice said. "Be ready for EVO activity."
Sunset began to feel uneasy. Something about this place was calling to her...
No...calling to her Nanites...
She unstrapped herself from her seat, forced open the drop hatch, and jumped out of the jet, building up her VTL wings to fly down and join the team.
Rock looked up at her. "You're disobeying orders," she said.
"Something about this place is wrong," Sunset said. "You need me here."
A large, flat-topped chunk of black crystal suddenly rose out of the ground several feet ahead of the group. The front of it slid open with a horrible grinding noise, and a massive blue minotaur stomped out. He wore ragged black trousers and heavy iron boots, with bits and pieces of metallic girding and reinforced cables crisscrossing his bare torso. His arms rippled with muscles, and his long, black horns were curved, sharp, and deadly. He snorted steam and pawed the ground, flexing his muscles at them. "INTRUDERS!" he bellowed. "IF YOU DON'T GO AWAY, THERE'LL BE HELL TO PAY!"
"Now now, Iron Will. There's no need for that," a rich, cultured baritone voice said. A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out of the black crystal and strode boldly forward. He had dark grey skin and long, wavy black hair. He wore burnished silver armor over a black bodysuit, with a blood red cape streaming behind him. His eyes were like dark rubies; he wore a silver crown upon his brow with a large, curved red horn in the center.
He threw his arms wide, sweeping aside his cape. "Welcome, my friends! Welcome to my Crystal Empire! My name is Sombra."
Rock took a step forward. "We came here to investigate a Nanite anomaly," she said.
"Ah, yes," Sombra said. "I've been...collecting, you might say, followers. EVOs who have been shunned by society, who only wish to live peaceful lives free from the judgment of...well..." He chuckled. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but people such as yourselves."
Rock frowned. "Our readings are inconsistent with a simple gathering of EVOs," she said. "Also, the crystal structures themselves are giving off Nanite energy signatures. Crystals are non-organic. It isn't possible for them to be infected."
"Ah, yes," Sombra said. "That is easily explained." He raised his left hand; a black crystal gauntlet formed on his arm, with slender, sharp crystal talons on each fingertip. "I possess the ability to create crystals. The crystals resonate with my Nanites."
Rock raised an eyebrow.
Sombra swept a hand at the doorway behind him. "Would you care for a tour of my Empire?" he asked.
Rock nodded. "Yes."
"Then follow me." Sombra turned, sweeping his cape behind him, and proceeded toward the crystal entrance. Iron Will fell into step behind him; the HARMONY troopers took the lead, with Rock and Sunset in the rear.
Sunset leaned close to Rock and whispered, "This place is giving me the creeps. Don't let your guard down."
"I never do."
The group proceeded down a long crystal staircase, through a broad tunnel beneath the tundra which was shored up with crystal columns and branches, then up again, ascending a spiral staircase around the inside of the central crystal tower. The inside of the crystal glowed with an eerie light all its own. Halfway up, they were joined by a female EVO wearing nothing but a loincloth and a suede jacket; her body was covered in tan and cream fur, her legs ended in massive lion paws, and her arms were covered in coarse white feathers from the shoulder to the elbow. From the elbow down, they were yellow, scaly, and ended in curved talons. She had a crest of white feathers atop her head, frosted lavender at the tips; her eyes were golden and predatory, and instead of a nose and mouth, she had a sharp, cruel beak. Broad wings held her aloft, and a lion tail twitched behind her.
"My other bodyguard, Gilda," Sombra said. "She keeps a close watch on the skies for me."
"'Sup," Gilda grunted. She locked gazes with Sunset and narrowed her eyes.
All along the staircase, openings in the walls lead to various rooms arranged up and down the spire. EVOs of all shapes and sizes filled these rooms. Most of them were minding their own business—reading or sleeping or eating or talking. Some looked to be engaged in more sensitive, questionable acts—and whenever one of the HARMONY group peeked through such a door, it would close instantly.
"Sir, this is the largest concentration of EVOs known to exist in a single place," the lieutenant said to Rock.
"I noticed," Rock replied dispassionately. "Mr. Sombra, how have you managed to conceal this from HARMONY for so long?"
"Why, I have no idea what you mean!" Sombra replied. "Our humble Empire simply is what it is. It is no fault of mine that your organization has failed to notice us. Although, I must admit...it is rather convenient for our purposes."
"A bit too convenient," Sunset muttered.
"I beg your pardon?" Sombra asked.
"This big crystal castle..." Sunset gestured expansively. "It just appeared out of nowhere! I don't understand all the tech stuff we use, but I do know something like this should've shown up on the satellites a long time ago."
"She's right," Rock said with a very slight frown.
Sombra turned and looked down at his guests. He sighed. "Well...I suppose this is as good a time as any to show you the main feature of our little tour." His eyes glowed, and he snapped his fingers.
With a cacophony of cracking, splintering sounds, the stairs crumbled away, and the HARMONY group plummeted into the black depths of the crystal spire.
"It was a trap," Rock said. In a flash, she unsheathed her swords and buried them halfway to the hilt in the crystal walls. They screeched and skidded as they dug through the crystal, leaving deep furrows as she descended another ten feet before friction caught up. She hung from the wall, staring up at Sombra.
Sunset deployed her VTL wings and swooped low, catching two of the troops before rising back up. The remainder of the troops pulled grapple launchers from their belts and fired them up the shaft. They clattered ineffectually against the black crystal.
"Damn!" Sunset spat. "Guys, we're gonna have to do something really stupid here!" With that, she dove down the shaft again, still holding onto the two troops. They grabbed on tightly as her arms transformed into their giant mechanical forms; she began to descend more rapidly. They caught up with some of the falling troops, who rappelled off the walls and wrapped themselves around Sunset's arms and legs.
"None of you better look up my skirt," Sunset grunted as she angled toward one of the open holes in the wall and flung the troops in. Three EVOs sat inside; the troops wasted no time in dogpiling on them.
Sunset flew back out into the shaft, staring down with a frown. Three of the troops had fallen too far and too fast for her to catch up to. She sighed. "Sorry guys."
"Worry about yourself!" Gilda yelled from above. With a piercing avian shriek, she dove down at Sunset, talons extended.
"Oh, you do NOT wanna go there, bird-girl," Sunset said. As Gilda came within range, Sunset lashed out with a wide swipe of her mechanical hand, smashing Gilda against the wall. As Gilda began to slide down the wall, Sunset flew up to where Rock hung. Rock had just extracted one of her swords from the wall, and was well on her way to tugging the other free.
"Need a hand?" Sunset asked.
"No, but I could use a lift," Rock said as her sword came free. She kicked off from the wall, launching herself at Sunset; Sunset shed her mechanical arms and caught Rock, then flew down into the room where she'd left the other troops. She found them standing around a pile of unconscious EVOs.
"Situation secure, sir," the lieutenant said.
"Good job," Rock replied.
"Okay guys...it's time for an evacuation drill!" Sunset shed her VTL wings. Her arm transformed into a massive drill. It blurred and whirred as she slammed it into the crystal, cracking it; chips and chunks of black crystal flew away from the drill bit as she bored through the wall. Rock and the troops took cover around the edges of the room as more and more crystal shrapnel flew from the wall. With one final loud, sharp crack, a huge section of the wall gave way; sunlight bled in from outside. Sunset's drill transformed into a giant purple-and-black fist, and she drove a powerful punch into the crack, creating a gaping hole.
"Good work," Rock said. "Let's move." She headed for the hole; the troops followed behind her.
"You guys go on ahead," Sunset said. "I think I'm gonna go say goodbye to our host." She ran back into the shaft, building up her VTL wings and taking off.
Rock sighed, shook her head, and pulled out her comm. "Drop jet, requesting pickup on the west face of the spire," she said. "Prepare to re-drop one at the summit."
* * * * *
Sunset ascended to the top of the spire, which spread out into a broad circular landing. Four broad arches stood at the top, each leading to a set of crystal doors.
"Okay, you bastard, where are you?"
One set of doors opened, spilling sunlight into the spire. "Right this way, Sunset Shimmer," Sombra called.
Frowning, Sunset landed in front of the doors, shed her wings, and strode through into a garden full of perverse crystal statues which depicted humans being tortured and killed in a variety of inventive, brutal ways. "Love the decor," she quipped.
Sombra stood before a wide balcony, arms folded behind his back. "I suppose you weren't very impressed with my tour," he said.
"Honestly? It sucked." Sunset walked through the rows of grotesque statues. "You just killed some people I actually didn't hate. And tried to kill one person I kinda respect. Plus, you tried to kill me." Her right arm transformed into a broad black sword almost twice as long as her torso; a barbed purple chain threaded itself into place along the edges of the blade. "I'm taking you apart." The chainsword roared deafeningly to life as Sunset charged Sombra.
He spun, raised an eyebrow, and extended his right hand. An equally massive black crystal halberd formed there, its thick, curved blade running most of the length of the half. Sunset swung wide at Sombra; he parried with his halberd, skidding back a half-step. Sparks and chunks of black crystal flew as the chain of Sunset's weapon bit into the blade. Sombra heaved against her with his full weight, knocking her off balance, then lunged forward in a low chopping sweep. Sunset lowered her chainsword just in time to protect her legs, but ended up falling backwards and landing on her butt.
Sombra reached down and grabbed her by the face with his gauntlet-covered left hand, hauling her up and holding her above his head. Sunset cried out as the needle-sharp talons on his gauntlet dug into her face. A sizzling whip-crack of static lanced through her skull as she felt Sombra's Nanites invade her body, attacking her own. "Your form is sloppy," he said. "You're overconfident. A pity...I had thought you more a challenge."
"Challenge THIS!" Sunset's left arm transformed into a short, flared cannon barrel with a broad dish of reflective panels at the back. A white flare of reflected sunlight glinted off the dish as golden lines of light pulsed along the length of the cannon. A sphere of golden-white energy built up at the muzzle of the cannon with a high-pitched whine, before Sunset unleashed a point-blank laser blast in Sombra's face. He roared in agony as his head disintegrated; his grip on Sunset broke as his body staggered back and toppled to the floor.
Sunset stumbled, then caught herself. With a sigh of relief, she shed her sword and cannon. "Bastard better not have scarred my face," she spat. "Well, guess I'd better—"
A black crystal hand shot up out of the floor, seizing her around the ankle and jerking hard, sending her crashing face-first to the floor. "What the hell?!"
The smoking body of Sombra that lay before her dissolved into a pile of black crystal dust.
A column of rough black crystal rose up out of the floor, attached to the hand that had seized Sunset's leg. She flailed in its grasp.
Shards of crystal exploded away from the column, revealing a whole, very much alive, Sombra, whose eyes glowed as a pair of gnarled crystal hands erupted out of the floor, locking around Sunset's wrists. She thrashed around as Sombra planted a booted foot on her stomach, pinning her to the floor.
"Get OFF me, you psycho!" Sunset snarled.
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Sunset Shimmer," Sombra said in a sinister tone, sneering at her. "I deliberately attracted the attention of HARMONY because I wished to meet you."
"Wow, you're really hard up for a date, aren't you?" Sunset grunted.
Sombra chuckled. "My dear...you misunderstand. My agents have been keeping track of you. Your unique abilities are quite fascinating. You and I...we're opposite sides of the same coin." He narrowed his cold red eyes. "The same Equestrian coin."
Sunset gasped, eyes wide in shock. "You...?"
"That's right, Sunset Shimmer," Sombra said. "I wasn't entirely certain until I interfaced with your Nanites...but now I know." He folded his arms. "You see...I too am from Equestria."
Distant memories of books she'd lifted from Celestia's restricted library stirred in Sunset's mind. "Sombra...? As in...the Unicorn King Sombra?"
"So you have heard of me."
"But that's...! That's impossible! You disappeared over a thousand years ago!"
"Disappeared, yes. And exactly where did you think I disappeared to?"
"But...!" Sunset shook her head. "That's insane! You couldn't be...!"
"Oh, but I am!" Sombra said, spreading his arms wide and flourishing his cape. "I crossed time and space, escaping to this inane world with its insipid humans and its utter lack of magic, waiting for the right moment to reclaim what is rightfully mine.
"And then, twenty-five moons ago, the Nanite Event happened, and I, like all life on this misbegotten planet, was infected. Such power these scientific marvels possess!" Sombra stared at his hand, curling his fingers inward. "While I am certainly nowhere near as powerful as I was at the height of my reign, this power is unlike anything I wielded in Equestria...I have the power to corrupt life itself. The power to build an army, subservient to me alone...an army of powerful EVOs!"
Sunset's eyes widened. "You...you can create EVOs?"
"That's right!" Sombra grinned savagely. "Just as you have the power to cure EVOs, I have the power to activate the dormant Nanites within any lifeform on this wretched ball of rock. And with this power, I will avenge myself upon the descendants of my betrayer...and I will destroy the alicorns. I will stand atop their corpses as Canterlot itself burns around me!
"There is but one thing standing in my way: I lack the means to return to Equestria." He peered down at Sunset. "And yet...here you are, another of my kind, from that world. I would very much like to know exactly how you arrived here."
Sunset stared at him, lips pressed into a tight line.
Sombra held out his hand to Sunset. "Join me, Sunset Shimmer," he said. "Stand at my side as my faithful lieutenant. Reveal to me the means by which I may return to Equestria. Revel in the glory of my reign." He narrowed his eyes. "Or oppose me and suffer a slow, painful death as I torture the information out of you."
Sunset felt her skin crawl. "You're insane," she said. "I hate Celestia, but...I'll deal with her in my own way, on my own terms." She clenched her fists and snarled at Sombra. "You'll never set foot in Equestria again! I won't help you! I want nothing to do with you!"
Sombra scowled. "Then...we are fated to be enemies." His crystal halberd materialized again.
Two gleaming flashes split the air between them, and the crystal hands holding Sunset down shattered. A blue-green blur slammed into Sombra, knocking him off balance.
A half-dozen HARMONY troops burst into the garden, heavy rifles trained on Sombra.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Rock said, shifting the sword in her right hand to her left hand and reaching down to help Sunset up.
Sunset grinned and stood, building up her mechanical hands. "Yeah. Just in time to break this nutjob into itty-bitty pieces."
Sombra shifted into a defensive stance. "Hmm." His lips thinned into a tight, flat line. "It would seem the odds are not in my favor." He smiled. "Very well, Sunset Shimmer. We can postpone our battle until another day." His halberd disappeared, and he bowed mockingly. "Until we meet again." He sank into the floor.
The entire tower began to rumble.
The roof above them split open.
"Uhh...guys? We'd...probably better get outta—"
The floor lurched violently upward, propelling them all into the open sky. The crystal spire beneath them sealed up tight.
A dome of black crystal snapped into place around Sombra's castle.
Sunset built up her VTL wings and grabbed Rock. The HARMONY troops pulled out their skyhooks and aimed for the waiting drop jets. Within minutes, the surviving members of the scouting party were safely aboard the Rook, which reversed course and began speeding over the frozen landscape, headed back to Canterlot.
* * * * *
Sunset grimaced as Rock cleaned the puncture wounds on her face with alcohol. "Shit," she hissed. "Are those gonna scar?"
"Probably not," Rock said. "We'll have Dr. Sparkle give you a checkup when we get back to HQ."
Sunset sighed, rubbing her arms vigorously. "Queen's gonna throw a fit," she said.
"Probably." Rock set aside the gauze wipe she held and began applying small round bandages to Sunset's face.
"Sombra...he's from Equestria, like me," Sunset said.
"That's interesting."
"I know who he is," Sunset said. She cast her eyes to the side. "Back home, he...he was terrible. Cruel. He enslaved an entire empire."
"That sounds about right."
"Here, he has the power to create EVOs." Sunset sighed, looking at her own hands.
Rock raised an eyebrow. "That's very interesting. Get some rest. You have school tomorrow."
Sunset was silent the rest of the way home, lost in thought.
* * * * *
"Next time you're given an order, I expect you to obey it," Queen snapped.
"Our men would be dead if she hadn't been there," Rock said. "She made a judgment call. It was a good one."
Queen ground her teeth. "I'm warning you, Sunset Shimmer. Step out of line and I won't hesitate to end you."
Sunset flipped her off. "Come say that to my face." She hissed as Twilight prodded her stomach. "Gah! Take it easy! That bastard Sombra nearly stomped my guts out!"
"Sorry," Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. "I'll need to run a scan. I need to make sure none of this Sombra character's Nanites are still inside you."
Sunset sighed. "I hope not," she muttered. "What do you think it means, Twilight? That Sombra and I are both from Equestria and he has the exact opposite of my powers?"
Twilight frowned. "You know I still don't believe in this Equestria of yours," she said. "However...if, if, such a thing actually exists..." She absently fiddled with a stylus. "There could in fact be a connection between your powers and his."
"One thing's for certain," Rock said. "Sombra is preparing for war. We need to be ready for anything."
* * * * *
"Goodness," Fluttershy said as she met up with Sunset a block away from Canterlot High. "What happened to you?"
Sunset reached up and touched the strip of gauze wound around her forehead, which matched the two patches of gauze taped to her chin and cheek. "Got grabbed by the face," she said. "I don't recommend it."
Fluttershy reached into her backpack and pulled out a folded magenta shirt. "Here. I washed it for you."
"Thanks," Sunset said, accepting the shirt and taking a moment to tuck it into her own backpack.
As they headed up the front walk to the school entrance, Sunset cast a glance back at the giant horse statue.
*Equestria...*
*Sombra can never know about this portal. Ever.*
Author's Note
TECHNICAL DOSSIER: SUNSET SHIMMER'S BUILDS
The EVO known as Sunset Shimmer possesses the ability to spontaneously generate complicated, powerful machinery from her body. Where the mass and materials for these "Builds" comes from is unknown at this time, as is how she is able to create Builds without destroying her clothing.
At this time, Sunset Shimmer is known to be capable of creating the following Builds:
"Smack Hands": Mechanical hands capable of delivering punches and slaps of tremendous force. Sunset can also use these to protect herself from inbound attacks.
"Lift Wings": Fixed wing flight apparatus utilizing VTL turbines for lift. Sunset has demonstrated a remarkable range of flight utilizing this Build, having flown as far as 940km in a single trip.
"The Bike": Sunset is capable of transforming her legs and a portion of her lower torso into a powerful motorcycle capable of the same speeds as any high-performance road bike. The effects of this Build on her reproductive anatomy are best left undiscovered, if for no other reason than to preserve this researcher's sanity.
"Chain Sword": Sunset is capable of creating a large mechanical apparatus which appears to be a hybrid of a bastard sword and a chainsaw. It appears capable of cutting anything short of high-carbon steel.
"Drill Arm": Sunset is capable of creating a powerful drill. Testing shows the drill is capable of piercing through seventeen feet of solid concrete before breaking down.
"Solar Cannon": Sunset is capable of creating an energy weapon which collects sunlight and focuses it into a destructive beam. During testing, she obliterated a tank with one shot on a clear day. The only obvious drawback to this weapon is overcast weather and its inability to function at night.
It is unknown at this time if Sunset Shimmer is capable of generating further Builds. Technical data on testing of all known Builds follows on pages 11B-247A of this report.
Dr. Twilight Sparkle, Ph.D.
HARMONY Head of Research and Development
