The time was finally here for Sunset Shimmer. She had waited and bided her time but now that was over. Seated at the head of the cherry table in the conference room a smirk slowly spread across her face. Soon, she would have her revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends for what they did to her. Placing that spell on her they had crossed the line. Trying to change someone’s personality with a spell is a dangerous practice. Soon they would see what happens when their little spell breaks. The computer in front of her stated that there was only 7 days, 8 hours, 24 minutes, and 30 seconds left.
29......28........27........26...........25............Bang!
Sunset's head snapped up as the door was slammed open. Ebony and Black came in and Sunset sighed in frustration. Whatever could it be now? The pair walked over to her and stopped in front of her. With another small sigh Sunset waved her hand to indicate they could speak. Ebony saluted her before he spoke.
"It seems we have a small problem one of your hand picked team says she wishes not to leave her family after all." Ebony spoke with confidence but his eyes said he feared Sunset's wrath. She watched Ebony sweat under her gaze for a few seconds longer before standing from her chair.
"I'll take care of it." Sunset said with a frown. She walked to the door and out of the room. All her hard work would be shattered if she couldn't convince this girl to go on the mission. She would not sacrifice everything just so some girl could be with her family. Everything she had worked for would not be for nothing. Her time for revenge had come. Twilight Sparkle had to pay for what she did. Celestia would rue the day she picked that prissy little unicorn as a student. All the princesses would see that Sunset was and always will be the better choice. She deserved to be a princess, she deserved all the power she could ever want. The smirk returned to Sunset's face. She was going to have more power than any of them very soon.
First off though she had to see to this problem. Sunset stopped in front of the door to the small living space of the girl in question. Each team member had been given one so Sunset could keep an eye on them. She knew the girl would be packing up her meager belongings at the moment. She pushed open the door with the nameplate next to it that read Intricate Detail. Based on her cutie mark which she wore with pride on a headband she was a pegasus. Her cutie mark was of a row of snowflakes that were all different. Sunset suspected her role as a pony was to make sure each snowflake was unique. As the door opened it revealed a girl packing clothes in a suitcase that was sitting on the bed. Intricate had turquoise skin with white hair that had baby blue highlights throughout. The long wavy hair of hers was always being pushed behind her ear. Sunset watched as she did just that while she packed. Leaning against the door frame Sunset cleared her throat.
"Oh!" Intricate jumped and spun towards the door. "I didn't hear you come in." Sunset indicated her feet planted squarely on the other side of the door jam.
"Technically I didn't." Intricate frowned and crossed her arms. She huffed and went back to packing.
"You won't convince me to stay on for this crazy mission. I want to be with my family not go off to some made up world so you can get some sort of revenge." Sunset closed the distance between them and grabbed Intricate's arm. She turned the girl so she was facing her. The glare she fixed on Intricate made her flinch.
"It is not made up." Sunset let go of her arm and started back towards the door. "Leave if you want but Northern Glow won't go with you." Sunset practically felt Intricate freeze in her motions.
Northern Glow was another part of the team. Her talent eluded Sunset but she could spot a unicorn a mile away. Glow and Intricate had become fast friends. They were almost always together now and they had been looking forward to going on the mission together. Sunset was being underhanded by mentioning Glow but she didn't care. After all she didn't have that nagging spell anymore.
"That's not fair." Her voice was weak and Sunset could tell she was about to cry. When she looked back to Intricate she could see her shaking her head and wiping her eyes. She fixed her trembling baby blue eyes on Sunset. "Fine. You win." Sunset smirked and walked out the door shutting it behind her.
"I always do." Her eye twitched at the crack in her perfect record. She would prevail over Twilight Sparkle no matter what. Sunset made her way down the hall and listened to the solid clunking of her combat boots. She reached up and touched the sleeve of her leather jacket. She had stopped wearing these when she was under that spell so it was nice to have them back. Like slipping on a familiar friend almost. She had stopped wearing them to school at least though. She had to keep up the appearance that the spell was still in effect. Though school had ended a while ago. Two and a half years she had waited for this to come. Keeping up appearances was starting to feel like torture. She didn't know how Twilight could stand her friends. They were all so quirky especially Pinkie Pie. That girl was like nails on a chalkboard to Sunset. She knew none of them cared about her they only cared if the spell they had placed was still working.
Sunset scowled at nothing as she walked back to the conference room. On her way she approached the lunchroom and her stomach gave a growl. She sighed and detoured through the lunchroom doors. It was lunchtime so it was pretty full with all kinds of people. Sunset was a little late though as there was no line to get food. Shrugging she walked up and got a hamburger and fries. When she turned to find a table she saw they were all taken. She usually sat by herself when she did eat. A hand waved and caught her attention. The team she had picked out was seated at a table with two empty chairs. Taking one last glance around Sunset walked over and sat in one of the empty chairs. She looked around at the people at the table.
Next to her on the right was Northern Glow. Glow had deep purple skin with a black mane. Her cutie mark was displayed on her sleeve and it was of what the humans called the northern lights. Her lilac eyes stood out against her skin. Next to her was the one who had waved at Sunset. He had a big cocky grin on his face.
“Yo Sunset!” He said which made Sunset glare slightly at him. It was obvious to anyone who knew that he was a pegasus. Color Stream was pretty much the opposite of his name. He had a dark gray coat and a plain white mane. His cutie mark of a rainbow waterfall stood out on his shirt. His dark brown eyes almost looking black. His talent was obvious to Sunset at least. He had his arm slung around the next girl in the team. Her name was Peach Bud she was an earth pony.
“You know she doesn’t like that Color Stream.” She stated with a huff. She had peach colored hair and light green skin. Her eyes also being peach colored. Her cutie mark was on her skirt and was of a peach bud. Finally Sunset's eyes landed on the person to her left. He sat straight and had a slight attitude problem. Bon Sweets was definitely a unicorn. He had lemon colored skin with sea foam green and light purple hair. His cutie mark was on the back of his jacket and was of some sort of French dessert. He had told her it was an éclair before but she didn't really care. He had orange eyes that always seemed to be smirking.
“Oh she doesn’t really care I’m sure. Right Sunset?” Color Stream asked but Sunset ignored him. Sunset looked around at her table mates and sighed aloud. Then they were joined by Intricate Detail as she sat in the empty seat to the direct right of Sunset. She ignored Sunset’s presence as she sat and smiled at Glow. They were almost as quirky as Twilight's friends but they each had a purpose that they served well.
They ate in silence even though Sunset had been called over it seems as if she wasn't welcome. It mattered little to Sunset she wasn't looking to make friends. She ate quickly and was almost done when Color Stream waved to get her attention. She acknowledged him simply by looking him in the eyes. He raised his half eaten hamburger and pointed it at her.
"Do they have burgers in Equestria?" Sunset was chewing on a French fry so she simply nodded. Color Stream's face split into a big grin again. "Great because I had a bet going with Bon. He said that sweets would be more common than real food. I told him that they had to have burgers if they are......."
"Hay burgers." Sunset had been listening and chewing and now that she had finished chewing she interrupted Color Stream. He had been boasting and holding his hamburger high. Now his whole face fell and he looked back to Sunset.
"Excuse me? I think I heard you wrong." Sunset had picked up her burger to take another bite but now she placed it down.
"You heard me just fine. They don't eat meat in Equestria. They eat burgers made of hay. Bon is right that sweets are all over. They even have that thing on his cutie mark."
"Éclair." Bon spoke up with a small smirk. Sunset shot Bon a quick glare.
"Whatever. Just get used to the idea of hay burgers or you could always eat a daisy sandwich." This time it was Glow who perked up.
"They eat daisies in a sandwich?" Sunset nodded to her and then took another bite of her burger. Color Stream was looking at his burger like it had just rotted before his eyes. He placed it down on his tray like it was going to bite him. Bon however was actively smirking at Color Stream and when he noticed he glared at Bon. Sunset rolled her eyes and ate the last bite of her burger. She went to stand when someone else spoke up.
"Um!" Sunset looked to Peach and motioned with her hand for her to continue. "You said that Equestria is mostly female, right?" Sunset nodded to her and she tugged lightly on her hair. It was odd to see her this nervous. It not like she didn't get nervous just that she usually kept it down. "I was wondering why I don't have a partner." Ah. Sunset had expected this question to come up after Peach had met the rest of the team she was just surprised it had taken her so long to ask. Sunset kicked her chair back a little and propped her combat boots on the table next to her empty tray. Intricate glared at the boots now invading her table space but said nothing.
"I thought about including a partner for you Peach. Another earth pony could be a valuable asset but it's also a hindrance. If I added another person you would then be a six man team and six men teams have a hard time blending in. Five is a nice odd number." Peach listened to Sunset and then pointed to the two boys at the table.
"Why include partners at all then? Why not just let us three girls go and get rid of the boys?" Color Stream who still had his arm around Peach gave her a disbelieving look. She gave him a small apologizing look but then looked back to Sunset. Sunset was smirking at Peach when she looked back.
"Good questions. You see, there is a place called Cloudsdale which is exclusively for pegasi. Mainly because earth and unicorn ponies can't get there." Sunset let that sink in for a second before continuing. "Cloudsdale as the name would suggest is made of clouds and floats in the air. As you know only pegasi can walk on clouds therefore if Intricate has to travel to Cloudsdale I would prefer she didn't go alone." Intricate touched her headband and then turned to look at Sunset finally.
"So it's impossible for a unicorn or earth pony to walk on clouds?" Sunset glanced at Intricate but then looked back at Peach.
"I never said it was impossible. There is a spell for walking on clouds in fact. Though it's never used it does exist. Only a unicorn can cast it obviously and they are more than happy on the ground with the earth ponies." Peach thought this over for a minute and then pointed to Bon. Before she could ask though Sunset began speaking again. "Your main location is going to be Canterlot Castle and the city that surrounds it. Canterlot is an upper-class city meaning it's mainly unicorns who have made a name for themselves with magic spells. They even have a school of magic there that is only for unicorns for obvious reasons." Glow who was thinking through all this perked up at that.
"Did you go to this school then?" Sunset thought of her days in magic kindergarten for a moment. That led to her thinking of the day Celestia showed up to take her under her wing. This all led to a scowl on Sunset's face as she answered.
"Yes." Peach looked around at the table and then back to Sunset.
"Does that mean we won't encounter any earth ponies?" Sunset scowled for a minute more before she realized Peach had spoken. She searched her memory for what had been said.
"I never said that it just won't be as common in Canterlot. There are places of only earth ponies though so you will see more earth ponies. I just thought a partner for you would be a little silly since you won't be farming or anything. Your skills are useful but most earth pony guys are more brutes then skillful." Peach glanced quickly at Color Stream out of the corner of her eye. She liked brute like men she was attracted to the confidence that came with it I mean it was obvious with how she clinged to the over-confident Color Stream. Sunset let out a small laugh. "It's too late to be getting a new team member anyway. We have a week to go I don't have the patience to go through all the things I went through with you all again so close to our goal. Especially people saying they don't wish to go." Sunset looked at Intricate as she said this. Glow watched this and gave Intricate a disapproving look. Intricate bowed her head under Glow's gaze and Sunset gave a tiny smirk. She took her boots off the table and stood from her seat. The rest of the table had also finished eating but none of them moved. Bon was the only one who acknowledged the fact that Sunset was leaving.
"Back to work then boss lady?" Sunset glared into Bon's smirking eyes.
"Someone has to do something around here." Bon's smirk faltered for a brief moment but it was enough that Sunset caught it. This caused her to smirk back at him. With that she turned and left the lunchroom. "Back to work indeed." She had everything planned to the last detail so there was no real work to be done. Still she would go over everything twice to make sure all was ready and in place. They would not get another chance after this. Either they succeed or they failed miserably. Failure in that world was much worse than here though. Nightmare Moon failed and she was sent to the moon for 1000 years. Sunset would not be stuck on the moon with this bunch for one day let alone 1000 years. They would succeed and she would finally have what she deserved. As she walked down the hall the almost quiet clunking of her boots turned into booming echoes as she walked straighter. The more she thought about it the more her confidence grew and the straighter she walked. Till finally she was walking as straight as a board and smirking all the way across her face.
Equestria's time had come. It was finally time for all of them to feel the wrath of Sunset Shimmer.
