Prologue: The Death of Twilight Sparkle
It was 11:00 on Friday night at Canterlot High School and everybody was jamming out to music provided by DJ-PON3, aka Vinyl Scratch, and the Thunderbolts, a garage rock band leg by Flash Sentry, who was a nice guy, but wasn't very popular for some reason. Among those on the dance floor was a teenage girl with lavender skin, blue hair with a pink highlight, and purple eyes. This was Twilight Sparkle, and she was in actuality a pony princess from the alternate world of Equestria on a mission to reclaim her crown, which had been stolen from her by the devious Sunset Shimmer, who would stop at what seemed like nothing to make sure she was the one who won the crown, which had been mistaken as the crown given to the Princess of the Fall Formal.
Unfortunately for Miss Shimmer, however, Twilight had managed to overcome the odds and win over the school. In the minds of most of the students, it was merely a formality that kept Twilight from her well-deserved crown.
But, that didn't keep Twilight from worrying. Not once had she seen Sunset or her flunkies, Snips and Snails, that night.
"Has anybody seen Sunset Shimmer?" asked Twilight.
Nearby, a girl around the same age with cyan blue skin and a rainbow colored hairdo and rose-colored eyes wearing a dress that matched her hair named Rainbow Dash boogied over to Twilight. "Maybe she was too embarrassed to show! She's gotta know you won by a landslide!" she said.
Twilight frowned. "Yeah... maybe," she muttered.
As Flash and his band wound down their music, Principal Celestia, a woman with chalk white skin, yellow eyes, and long hair colored bright blue, pink, and green wearing a cream colored jacket, a purple bodysuit, and high heels took the stage.
"First off, I want to say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier," said Celestia. "And now, without further ado, I'd like to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal Crown," she continued as her sister, Vice Principal Luna, who had blue skin and shimmering blue hair and wore a crescent moon necklace, a purple shirt, blue jeans, and black dress shoes as she carried a chest onto the stage that contained a golden tiara that had a pink star-shaped gem embedded in the top along with an envelope.
"The Princess of this year's Fall Formal is..." said Principal Celestia as she opened the envelope amid tension thick enough for a knife to cut through.
"Twilight Sparkle!"
And the whole school went nuts as Twilight took the stage to receive her crown. "Congratulations, Twilight," said Celestia, placing the crown upon Twilight's head.
But, it would be a short-lived moment of glory as the next moment, a voice screamed.
"TWILIGHT! HELP!"
"Spike?" said Twilight, looking through the crowd until she spotted her purple and green dragon turned purple and green dog getting stolen by Snips and Snails, despite the little pup's attempts to fight back. "They've got Spike!" yelled Twilight as she jumped off the stage and took off after the dognappers, crashing into a locker as they rounded a corner.
Right behind Twilight were her friends, Rainbow Dash, a cowgirl with tan skin and blonde hair named Applejack, a beautiful fashionista with chalk white skin and curly purple hair named Rarity, a pink skinned party animal with bushy pink hair named Pinkie Pie, and a yellow skinned nature lover with light pink hair named Fluttershy. Together, the six teenagers chased Snips and Snails past Trixie Lulamoon as she got peanut butter crackers out of a vending machine and out of a side entrance and around to the front of the school where a large statue of a horse was.
"That's close enough!" barked a cruel sounding voice.
That voice belonged to Sunset Shimmer, who, like Twilight, was a pony from Equestria posing as a teenage girl with fiery red and yellow skin, orange skin, and light blue eyes wearing a black leather jacket, a hot pink blouse, an orange, hot pink, and yellow skirt, and black and hot pink knee-length leather boots, and in her hands was a sledgehammer, poised to smash the statue, which actually doubled as a portal back to Equestria, the world both Twilight and Sunset were from.
Twilight and her friends stopped dead in their tracks as Sunset got ready to swing her hammer. "Not another move, or I'll smash it!" threatened Sunset.
"Twilight-" said Spike, before Snails clamped the dog's muzzle shut.
"Don't hurt him!" said Twilight.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," said Sunset, a smug look on her face. "I'm not a monster, Twilight. Let him go," Sunset ordered Snips and Snails, who gave her a confused look before letting the puppy go, right into the kneeling Twilight's arms.
"You don't belong here, Twilight. Give me the crown and you can go home tonight," said Sunset. "Or you can keep it, and never go home!"
Twilight and her friends gasped in horror at this ultimatum, for each option led to a devastating conclusion: if Twilight gave Sunset the crown, this world would be helpless to stop Sunset from taking over. If she refused, Equestria might not last against potentially devastating threats.
"Tick tock, Twilight. You don't have much time. The portal will be closing on its own in less than an hour," warned Sunset, jerking her head towards the slowly rising full moon in the inky blue sky.
Twilight removed the crown from her head as she tried to find the best possible solution to this problem, her eyes watering before she finally uttered one word.
"No!"
"What?!" yelled Sunset in shock. "Equestria,your friends! Lost to you, forever! Don't you see what I'm about to do to the portal?!"
"Yes, and I've also seen what you've been able to do here WITHOUT magic. Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony. This place might not if I allow it to fall into your hands. So, go ahead, destroy the portal! You are not getting this crown!" said Twilight as she stood up and firmly placed the Element on her head.
Sunset glared at Twilight, before she dropped the sledgehammer. "Fine. You win," she said as if she couldn't care less.
Twilight smiled as her friends surrounded her cheering for her victory.
"You're so awesome!" squealed Rainbow.
"Ah can't believe you were gonna do that fer us," said Applejack with a southern drawl.
"It's no wonder you're a real live princess," said Rarity with an accent that one would expect to find amongst a group of high society people.
Unbeknownst to the group of girls, each bit of praise they gave Twilight drove Sunset closer and closer to blowing her top, until finally, with Rarity's comment, Sunset spat out in pure rage, "OH, YES, SHE'S SO VERY SPECIAL!" before she lunged at Twilight, knocking her to the ground and knocking the crown off her head.
The crown bounced once, twice, three times before it landed away from them. As Twilight held onto Sunset Shimmer in an attempt to keep her from grabbing the crown, Spike leapt in and grabbed it.
Sunset Shimmer growled in rage. "Grab him, you fools!" she snarled at Snips and Snails.
On their boss' command, Snips and Snails took off after Spike, only to be out ran by Sunset herself as she chased the purple and green puppy to the front doors of the school.
"Spike! Spike!"
Hearing Rainbow's call, Spike tossed the crown to her, thus beginning one big game of keep away. Rainbow used some fancy footwork to avoid Snips and Snails from grabbing the crown from her, before tossing it to Fluttershy, off of whom it bounced off into her hands. Upon seeing the crowd of people heading towards her, Fluttershy was immobilized by fear. A quick-thinking Applejack used a lasso, albeit one used with rope from who-knew-where, and pulled Fluttershy out of the way of the mob, but also causing her to drop the Element, which was then picked up by Snips, only for it to be snatched by Pinkie Pie, who then passed it along to Applejack, who passed it to Rarity, who passed it to Twilight, who threw it directly over her head.
"I'll take that!" said Sunset as she caught the crown out of the air. Giggling crazily, Sunset grinned as she looked at the crown in her hands. "At last... more power than I could ever imagine!"
With that, Sunset Shimmer placed the crown upon her head. Almost instantly, powerful waves of magical energy came roaring through Sunset's body as she held onto the crown for dear life, before a powerful blast of magical energy lifted her into the air, transforming her orange skin into a blood red color as a tail and demonic black and red wings grew out from her back and her hands turned into razor-sharp claws, as well as drawing the whole school out to watch the spectacle.
Where only a moment before stood a beautiful teenage girl now hovered a raging she-demon.
As Sunset looked over her new form, she let out a demonic laugh, before turning Snips and Snails into demons themselves.
"This is gonna be SO cool!" giggled Demon-Snips as Demon-Snails hissed at the girls, who slowly backed up, ready to fight them off if they had to.
Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer had turned her attention to the frightened school people. "I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight, just to get my hands on this crown, when it really should've been mine all along!" said Sunset, her voice now dark and demonic. "But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now! And you will be loyal... to ME!"
On her last words, Sunset used her dark magic to tear a gaping hole in the front of the school entrance causing the gathered students to panic and flee in terror. Nobody got very far however, before Sunset used her magic again, this time to brainwash them into becoming her mindless minions.
"Round them up and bring them to the portal," Sunset ordered Snips and Snails, who saluted and left to do Sunset's bidding. Sunset, meanwhile, attended to the teenage girls and dog outside. "Spoiler alert: I was bluffing when I said I was going to destroy the portal. I don't want to rule this pathetic little high school! I want Equestria! And with my own little teenage army behind me, I'm going to get it!"
Twilight gave a small gasp of shock when she spotted Flash Sentry among the zombified crowd, before she regained her firm stance. "No. You're not!" she said.
"Oh, please! What exactly are you going to do to stop me?! I have magic, and you have NOTHING!"snarled Sunset, her hair momentarily turning into a tuft of actual fire.
"She has us!" said Rainbow Dash as she and the others ran up to stand behind Twilight, who looked back behind her and smiled.
Sunset glared at the ensemble before laughing. "Gee, the gang really is all back together again!" she chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye, before charging up a massive ball of fire. "Now, step aside! Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already! She needs to be dealt with!"
With that, Sunset launched the fireball at Twilight, her friends tried to shield her from the attack only for the fireball to increase in size and hit them dead on… and no elements of harmony came to save them. The blast vaporized her friends in front of her while Twilight had third degree burns over most of her body. She knew it was due to the Element of Magic holding back on her since it still saw her as it’s true host but she also knew Sunset would rectify this mistake… and soon. And when she did, there might not be a way to stop her from burning both sides of the portal to the ground... countless lives lost, all because a spoiled brat didn't get what she wanted and threw a temper tantrum.
“S-Spike... you need to get out of here,” gasped Twilight
“WHAT?! Twilight I’m not leaving you come on! We can both get through the portal-!”
“N-no, Spike… I-I won’t make it... y-you have to warn the others... g-go... t-tell them... I-I'll miss them...” Twilight said as she just laid on the ground in extreme pain. Spike had tears in his eyes but otherwise did what he was told to do. However, Sunset had other plans.
“STOP THAT DOG! HE CAN’T BE ALLOWED TO GO THROUGH THE PORTAL! HE CAN’T TELL CELESTIA!” Sunset shouted with... was that fear? Spike couldn’t notice or care as he leapt through the portal… just as the thirty moon time cycle ended. Snips and Snails just hit a wall instead. “RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the portal, a group of eight ponies consisting of two pegasi who had striking resemblances to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, two Earth Ponies who resembled Applejack and Pinkie Pie, a unicorn who resembled Rarity, and two alicorn princesses who greatly resembled Luna and Celestia. Additionally, there was a third alicorn princess with pink fur, purple eyes, and a cream, lavender, and hot pink mane and tail. Additionally, she wore a small crown, a heart-shaped pendent, and golden horseshoes. This was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Princess Cadence.
"What's taking them so long?" asked Rainbow Dash as she fluttered back and forth like she was pacing the floor.
Not even a second later, the portal rippled and through it stepped Spike, a baby dragon once again. Almost immediately, the ponies could tell something was very, very wrong.
"Spike! Where pray tell is Twilight? I certainly hope she isn't saying a long romantic good-bye to some boy who is spat upon by the community... the bad boys always go for the smart ones," said Rarity.
Spike gasped and panted, out of breath and exhausted... but he needed to get out what Twilight had told them, for her sake.
"Sunset... crown... Twilight... hurt... really... bad... dying-"
"Spike, calm down, and talk slowly," said Celestia.
Spike took several deep breaths, using Rarity to help him keep him steady as he told his tale, about how Snips and Snails had kidnapped him and used him to lure Twilight out for a final confrontation with Sunset Shimmer.
"...and then Sunset got her hands on the crown and put it on and... changed," said Spike.
"Changed? Changed into what?" asked Celestia, concern evident in her voice.
Spike gulped. "S-some kind of monster... she used the crown's power to brainwash everyone in the school... then, she hurt T-Twilight... th-the kind of hu-hurt th-that do-doesn't get be-better," choked Spike on his own tears.
Seeing the expression on Spike's face, the gathered ponies quickly realized one thing: newly-minted Princess Twilight Velvet Sparkle... was gone. And none of them would ever see her again. Applejack took her hat off in respect as tears welled up in her eyes. Pinkie's bushy pink mane and tail suddenly became as straight as an arrow. Rainbow Dash floated down and sat there, trying to hold back tears like the stubborn pony she was, Rarity and Fluttershy on the other hand, didn't even bother trying hide their sadness and very openly wailed. The Princesses, meanwhile, simply hung their heads.
"Oh, Faust in Elysium..." muttered Celestia, a truly devastated look on her face as, like with Applejack, tears began to well up
"Oh, my stars," gasped Cadence, covering her mouth with her hoof and fighting back her own tears
"Son of a bitch..." muttered Luna, causing an almighty uproar from Rarity.
"Princess Luna! Such language! And at a time like this!" she cried, her wet eyes wide with shock and her mouth hanging open.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Rarity! Joker's given this story a T-rating and he's added the Sex and Gore tags just in case, so I think we can damn well swear as long as it's within reason, and by Faust I say we damn well have a reason!" snapped Pinkie in a most uncharacteristic way before she remembered something. "And now that I think about it, I have a SERIOUS issue about that script that I'd like to discuss with that crazy clow-"
"Pinkie, Ah don't believe this is the time to go on a rant, especially since it just ain't your Pinkie way, AND to top it off, the one pony who brought us together is headed fer Boot Hill!" said Applejack, her voice cracking as she placed a hoof over Pinkie's mouth.
"Applejack is right," said Celestia. "This is not the time for bickering. This is a time for mourning. For honoring the memory of a pony who helped reunite me with my little sister, who taught so many other ponies the values of friendship. However, this is also a time for preparation. I have no doubt that right now, Sunset Shimmer is preparing for war. There is no doubt in my mind that we must do the same in order to insure that other innocents do not suffer the same fate as Twilight. Now, go, all of you, and rest while I have council with my sister and niece. Tomorrow, we must prepare for Twilight's memorial service."
Very, very, reluctantly, the Mane 5 and Spike slowly shuffled off to bed. The minute the door closed, the war talks began.
...
Back on Sunset Shimmer's side of the portal, as the sun rose, Sunset hovered in the air and watched as Snips and Snails examined the portal from every angle.
"I don't know, boss, this thing looks pretty solid," said Snips.
"That's because the portal's sealed off, you idiot! You let that mangy mutt get away, and now he's ratted us out to Celestia, and more importantly, my plans have been set back by another 30 moons!" roared Sunset, her hair turning to fire once again.
"So, what do we do now, bossssss?" hissed Snails.
Sunset placed her claw on her chin in thought for a moment. "Perhaps fate has stalled my plans for a reason... perhaps I am not meant to lead a mindless, untrained army into battle... yes, now that I think about it, it would've been quite foolish to launch my campaign tonight. So, what we will do for the next thirty moons, we will train and train hard, so that when the curtain rises on the big finale, we will be ready. Am I making myself clear?!" barked Sunset.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" said Snips and Snails.
"Yes, Queen Sunset," droned Sunset's army.
"Good! Then march yourselves back into the school, NOW!" barked Sunset, before she caught sight of her ex-boyfriend. "Except for you, Flash Sentry... I have something very... special in mind for you," she said in a seductive tone of voice as she landed and fluffed up her hair a bit.
The mindless drone formerly known as Flash Sentry slowly made his way over to Sunset, and when he got her, the raging she-demon and her puppet began to lean in towards each other, their eyes closing...
But, mere milliseconds before their lips touched, Sunset grabbed Flash's head and snapped his neck in one lightning-swift move. After the dead teenage boy crumpled to the pavement, Sunset Shimmer crouched down and whispered in his ear.
"That was for breaking up with me."
Elsewhere, in the Crystal Palace armory, we find a strong and sturdy unicorn stallion with a white coat and a dark blue mane and tail, both of which had a light blue stripe sharpening his ceremonial sword while wearing welding goggles. He was clad in a special suit of Imperial Guard armor, minus the helmet of course, for he was not only leader of the Imperial Guard, but he was also the Prince Consort of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor, husband of Princess Cadence, and elder brother of the newly minted Princess Twilight Sparkle.
As Shining Armor continued to sharpen his sword, Princess Cadence entered the room, tears running down her face. "Shining Armor," she whispered, her voice a little hoarse after all the crying she'd been doing.
Shining Armor pulled his goggles off of his eyes, which were a light shade of blue, and smiled at his wife. "Hey, Cadence-" he began to say, before he saw the look on his wife's face. "Cadence? What's wrong?"
"It-it's Twilight... she's been... murdered," said Cadence.
With those words, Shining Armor's world came crashing down. The LSBFF he'd always been there to cheer up when she'd been down, and the pony who had saved his wedding and prevented the takeover of Equestria time and time again, and who, in all honesty was a far greater soldier than he was... had been taken away from him forever.
"Who did it? Who killed my little sister?" said Shining Armor, an anger in his voice that scared Cadence just a little.
"Shining, are you okay?" asked Cadence.
"No, I'm not okay! Who could POSSIBLY be okay after finding out his little sister, who he'd promised to never let anything happen to, has been killed?!" yelled Shining Armor, tears welling up in his eyes as he bellowed like a wounded mule. "NOW TELL ME WHO KILLED HER!"
"Shining, you're scaring me!" said Cadence.
At this, Shining Armor stopped yelling and looked at his wife. His beautiful, darling, loving wife, with whom he'd been in love since high school, back when he'd been nothing but a big nerd... and realized that she was all he really had left now that Twilight was gone. "Cadence, I'm sorry about scaring you like that..." he said with a sigh as he sat down on a nearby workbench. "I just... can't believe little Twily is gone. My little sister is dead. Please, Cadence, I beg of you, tell me who killed her," said Shining Armor, his voice barely audible with the huge lump in his throat.
Cadence looked at Shining Armor. It tore her up inside to see him like this. Part of her was worried about how he would take to learning who his sister's killer was... but, she knew it had to be done, and that there really was no way out of it.
"Her name is Sunset Shimmer," Cadence said with a shaky but clear voice.
Inside Shining Armor's mind, that name bounced around in his mind, and with it, anger so strong, so potent that it was almost like poison.
Sunset Shimmer... Sunset Shimmer... Sunset Shimmer...
"Where is this Sunset Shimmer now?" asked Shining Armor, pure hatred in his voice.
"It's... complicated," said Cadence.
"What's so Faust-damn complicated about telling me where the son of a bitch who killed my sister is?" snarled Shining Armor.
"It's complicated because she's in another dimension," said Cadence.
"What?"
Cadence began to explain to Shining Armor everything that Spike had told her and the others. Once Cadence had finished her story, Shining Armor looked deeply into his wife's purple eyes, his mind racing, before he got up, put his goggles back on, and resumed sharpening his sword.
"Shining? What are you doing?" asked Cadence, a little worried.
"Well, from the sounds of it, we've only got another thirty moons before that mirror opens again, and all Tartarus breaks loose. We need to be prepared for the storm that's coming," explained Shining Armor.
Cadence understood what Shining Armor meant and got up. Just before she left the armory, however, she looked over her shoulder. "Shining, just promise me one thing," she said.
"Anything, my love."
"Don't forget that I'm always there for you when you need me."
And with that, Princess Cadence left the armory while her husband continued sharpening his sword.
...
As the night progressed and the first inklings of Celestia's sun began to appear, Shining Armor did more than merely sharpen his weapon. He practiced his combat abilities, both physical and magical, and practiced his weapons skills, before he finally took a breather, every ounce of him spent.
He was exhausted and sweaty, but not in the least bit sleepy. He had all those night watch shift back when he was still climbing the ranks of the Canterlot Royal Guard to thank for that. But, no matter what he did, it did nothing to ease his pain.
I promise you, Twilight… I promise that the bitch who took you from me will pay... I’ll make sure of it, Shining thought to himself as he practiced a little longer on the dummy, reducing it to nothing more than scattered bits and pieces of cloth and hay. Shining Armor made a mental note to himself to have some new ones made both for him and his soldiers. They were going to need all the training they could get within these next thirty moons, or else they, the Crystal Empire, and all of Equestria would suffer Twilight's fate.
Now that he thought about it, what were they going to do for her funeral? It was sure to be a media circus, as not only was an ALICORN PRINCESS actually killed, but there was also an impending threat to Equestria, and they had no way to truly stop it.
Well, there IS the Crystal Heart, but we can't just automatically assume that it'll stop that twisted nag. After all, Sunset Shimmer has the Element of Magic, Shining Armor thought to himself as he made his way towards the living quarters of the Crystal Palace, entering his room, and flopping down on his bed next to Cadence. As he gazed at the crystal ceiling of the Master Bedroom of the Crystal Palace, his mind kept racing with thoughts about avenging his sister, and punish the monster who had stolen her from him, his wife, and his parents. As much as Shining Armor tried to shove these thoughts from his mind, all they did was push back, keeping him awake. By the time finally fell asleep, the sun had nearly broken the horizon.
...
Rain poured from the skies in torrents. Nearly all of Ponyville, Twilight's family, and, of course, all of her friends, were gathered to say their final farewells to Princess Twilight. In respect for Twilight's friends and family, the media was strictly prohibited from attending the funeral by Celestia's orders... but, that didn't stop them from hovering outside the cemetery gates, trying their best to snap a picture or get a word from the attendees.
Everyone, of course, wore black for the occasion, but out of everyone, only two ponies truly stood out. Pinkie Pie, her bright and bubbly nature now replaced with a more subdued one, as evidenced by her sleek mane and tail in place of her usual bushy style. The second was Princess Celestia, her elegant black dress and horseshoes clashing magnificently with her regal stature as she took to the stage that had been constructed.
"Fillies and gentlecolts... today, we are here to celebrate the life of one very special unicorn, who ascended to become an alicorn princess... only to be taken from us in such a cruel fashion," said Celestia, a glistening tear on her cheek as she began her speech, pausing a moment before she could find her voice. "Twilight Sparkle was... like a daughter to me. I remember the day I met her, the day of her entrance examination... she seemed so happy, so full of life, so eager to learn new things… I could use so many words but they would never be able to truly convey how wonderful she is…. except maybe stubborn. Once she was sure of something she set to it…. and perhaps loyal as well….. I-I’m sorry… forgive me.” Celestia said as she ran off the stage, tears falling behind her, along with Pinkie Pie and Luna.
Fluttershy, swallowing her pride and with as much courage as she could muster, took the stage. "H-Hi... I'm Fluttershy," murmured Fluttershy, her knees shaking from both fear and sadness. "T-Twilight... was... one of my... best... friends... and... I MISS HER SO MUCH!!!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, causing several ponies attending the funeral to jump, and in the case of a unicorn on the other side of the gate with a green mane and tail wearing clown make-up and a purple suit, giggle for some strange reason.
Mere moments later, Fluttershy passed out from both her stage fright and sadness. The rest of the funeral, compared to the beginning, however, was really quite uneventful. Except, for when it came to Luna's turn to speak.
Youtube Video
If the waterworks weren't already running before Luna started singing this song, they certainly were now. Finally, it was time for the three-volley salute.
"H-honor... guard... aim... f-fire!" choked Shining Armor before he and his soldiers fired a blast of magical energy. Two more swiftly followed, thus concluding the funeral.
As everypony filed out, only one pony remained behind, gazing at the magnificent headstone they'd made for Twilight: Shining Armor. As he thought back to all of the wonderful times he and his baby sister had had together, he fell to his knees.
"One day, that son of a bitch will pay for what she did to you Twilight... I'll make her pay... I swear on both your grave and my honor Sunset Shimmer will pay."
