- III -

"He ate more than the Carpenter, though," said Tweedledee.

The bright colored lights radiated through Vinyl’s eyes as upbeat music played through the speakers. She kept on jumping and banging her head with the adrenaline she was feeling. She faced her turntable and started scratching the discs. In front of her were many students dancing in their prom outfits.

She did not mind not having a dance for the prom, as she was enjoying entertaining the students with her tunes. Considering it was her last prom of her high school days, she’d promised herself that it would be the best time of her life. She wished the night could last forever, but something else was lurking inside the gym.

As Vinyl looked through the songs she was going to play, she caught a glimpse of two boys wearing top hats. One had light gray skin and orange hair and the other had amber skin and blue hair. The first was holding a sack while the other had a purple dog. The two quickly placed the dog inside the sack and made their way out of the gym.

Vinyl easily recognized the two as Snip and Snails, lackeys for the former self proclaimed school queen, Sunset Shimmer. She knew something was up but could not do anything since she was still at her turntable and could not leave the post unmanned. She then saw a few girls run after the boys, one of whom was the owner of the dog. She let out a deep breath and continued on.

“I’m sure they can handle it,” she said to herself. “I mean, one of them is a magical horse princess from another universe. What could go wrong?”

Indeed, it was a princess from another universe where their counterparts were equines. The Princess of Friendship known as Twilight Sparkle came to their world after Sunset Shimmer stole her crown; a crown which held a powerful force of magic.

The adrenaline rushing inside Vinyl could last forever, but something else was happening outside the school.

Vinyl saw multiple students running towards the exit. Though confused, she ignored this and decided to continue on, but more students went out of the gym and after a while, it was empty. Not a soul was there, not even the faculty. All that was left was Vinyl.

The gym went suddenly dark; the power had seemingly gone out. Vinyl turned on her flashlight app and went for the exit. As she passed through the doors, she could hear screaming echoing in the hallways.

“It’s gotta be Sunset, right? I mean it could be a prank of some sort,” Vinyl said.

She wanted to believe it was just a small harmless prank; then she heard even more screams echoing throughout.

She travelled through the halls as the screams grew louder, and eventually halted. Vinyl heard no soul as she got closer to the main entrance of the school. She got to a corner and took a peek; from there she saw a nightmarish, fiery-red-and-yellow monster towering over the students—it was Sunset Shimmer, or what had once been her. The entrance to the school was busted open and she could see six girls including Twilight Sparkle near the Wondercolt Statue.

Vinyl noticed the glowing opal eyes of the students. They weren’t right. Something had happened to them.She still couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her eyes. She also saw that Sunset was wearing the Fall Formal crown, which she presumed was Twilight’s crown.

A demon, she thought. That’s what she is!

The demon smiled as she looked around her surroundings. Two other demons soon joined her; a bit smaller than her which Vinyl assumed was her lackeys.

“Round them up and bring them to the portal!” the red Demon commanded.

The voice was all too familiar for Vinyl. It was none other than Sunset Shimmer, and her two lackeys being Snips and Snails.

The demon Sunset walked over to the front of the zombie-like students and cackled at Twilight and her friends.

“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!” Sunset laughed. “And with my own little teenage army behind me, I am going to get it!”

For a second, Vinyl thought of jumping in and just punching Sunset on the face, but dealing with a horde of mind controlled army and two other demons was a bit overkill for her. Thinking about it, she also thought Sunset could destroy her in an instance.

“No, you're not!” Twilight exclaimed.

Annoyed at Twilight’s will to fight, Sunset hovered to her and gave her a wicked smile.

“Oh, please! What exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have magic, and you have nothing!” Sunset growled at her.

However, this did not faze Twilight or her friends, who stepped beside her to confront Sunset without fear.

“She has us!” shouted the one with rainbow colored hair.

“Gee, the gang really is all back together again,” Sunset said sarcastically as she began to cackle; her eyes, crown and claw began to glow an eerie shade of opal, “Now step aside! Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already! She needs to be dealt with!”

The glow from Sunset’s hands intensified; it then generated into a red magical orb. The magic was extremely strong, the grounds and wind began to get aggressive. Vinyl struggled to keep her clutch on one of the lockers as the blast began to pull her even more. The students were seemingly unaffected by the pull.

The orb grew and became increasingly bright, with Sunset laughing victoriously. Without any hesitation, she launched the orb towards Twilight and her friends, engulfing them with the orb and igniting a magical explosion in the yard.

There was smoke all over the area. Vinyl could not see if the girls had survived. She could only hear the evil laugh of Sunset. She knew that if Twilight was indeed defeated, dealing with a zombie army and three demons would be an extremely big problem.

However, she noticed a pile of boxes nearby. She quietly walked towards the boxes while avoiding the attention of Sunset and her army. She slowly opened one of the boxes and revealed what was inside; a large speaker. She opened the other boxes and found a few other speakers and an amplifier. This sparked an idea in Vinyl’s head, which was most likely a stupid plan that could fail, considering that she was facing a demon. Nonetheless, she didn’t want Twilight and her friends hog the glory of defeating Sunset Shimmer.

Vinyl started taking out the equipment and assembling them.

Meanwhile, Sunset was still laughing boisterously at her victory. The smoke began to disperse as the latter continued to laugh. Suddenly, a purple glow began to emit through the smoke. As the smoke dispersed, Sunset was shocked to see what was left of the destruction she caused.

Twilight and her friends managed to survive the initial blast with a large purple sphere that shielded them. The girls were all huddled together while holding their hands, thinking it was their last. The girls soon realized that they were still alive and noticed the sphere that covered them.

Twilight stepped forward and pointed at Sunset, who was dumbfounded by the survival of the girls.

“The magic contained in my element was able to unite with those that helped create it!” Twilight exclaimed.

Suddenly, her crown began to glow and a magical beam fired into Twilight and her friends. Every second, she could feel her magic slowly draining.

Twilight and her friends began to hover, ascending higher than Sunset. Each of them began to grow equine ears and tails and two pairs having horns and wings respectively. The circle of friends started to glow in different colors; each signifying the traits that they have; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic.

“Together with a crown, they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, but it is a power you don't have the ability to control!” Twilight proclaimed as she grabbed a hold of her friends. “The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of Friendship!”

The group formed a heart. A vibrant rainbow colored beam appeared before them and shot through the clouds. Soon enough, the large prismatic beam descended to Sunset’s direction, engulfing the latter.

Sunset began to scream in defeat as the beam turned into a tornado, which shot multiple tiny beams to the students, rendering them free from the captivity of Sunset. The beams also hit Snips and Snails, turning them back to normal.

Flash Sentry, one of the students, quickly regained his consciousness. As he began to recover, he saw a large set up in front of him with Vinyl fidgeting with it. Still confused and clouded in the head from his hypnosis, he could only gaze dumbly at the girl, at a loss for words. The other students began to regain themselves, with the same reaction towards Vinyl and her speaker set up.

Vinyl, completely oblivious of what was happening at the yard, plugged a cord to her phone and scrolled through her playlist.

“Here and in Equestria, it is the only magic that can truly unite us all!” Twilight shouted as she fired one last beam to Sunset.

The final attack spawned a bright light, blinding everyone including Twilight and her friends. Following that was silence; no soul was heard as the blowing wind was the only sound made. Twilight along with her friends and the students began to regain their vision. The group of friends found themselves at the ground beside the Wondercolt statue. A large crater was in the middle of the yard.

Twilight stood up and slowly approached the crater. Once she got to the edge, she peeked below to see what could have happen to Sunset. Was she saved? Or was she vaporized? The latter option was too extreme, but it was for the best for this world and Equestria.

However, things weren’t what she expected. Twilight’s eyes shrank as she began to shrivel in fear. Below the crater, she saw Sunset still in her demon form, seemingly unaffected by the blast.

Sunset, who was shielding herself like it was her last ride in the world, began to realize that she wasn’t unaffected by Twilight’s attack. She examined her whole body if she was hurt, and found that she was still in top shape. Slowly, she let out an evil grin as she ascended to the sky once more.

The horrified Twilight began to step backwards, as she was powerless against the demon.

“Wait, was that your ultimate attack?! Was that your last resort?!” Sunset cackled at Twilight. “PATHETIC! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP!”

“W-Why didn’t it work?! The magic of Friendship is the strongest magic there is!” Twilight exclaimed as she stood in horror.

Suddenly, Sunset dropped in front of Twilight. The demon towered over her as Twilight fell to the ground. Sunset extended his right hand above Twilight and let out an evil smirk.

“No, Twilight, you don’t understand how this works,” Sunset explained. “You see, it’s not that the magic isn’t powerful... you’re just too weak to handle its power.”

Sunset grabbed a hold of Twilight’s head. Her hand began to glow a bright red aura, and soon Twilight too was glowing. Twilight started to scream as her screaming became distorted. Every second, she grew brighter and brighter and her screams became even more inaudible.

All of a sudden, Twilight grew quiet as Sunset let her go. Twilight, weak and disfigured, slowly looked at her friends and extended her right arm to them. She tried to speak, but due to her state, she struggled to do so.

“…D-Don’t… l-let… her… win,” she stuttered softly. “P-Please…”

As soon as she said those words, she began to fade like dust. Her friends watched in horror as Twilight disappeared from their sights. Soon, they realized that they were doomed; Sunset had won. Their will to fight vanished and the students lost hope, except for one student.

What was left of Twilight was a purple orb, which hovered above the yard.

“What an anti-climatic goodbye.” Sunset laughed victoriously as she started to circle around the orb.

“What you’ve done to Twilight is unforgivable!” cried Rarity, one of her friends.

“You can’t win, Sunset!” another one of her friends, Applejack, exclaimed to Sunset.

“I can’t win? LOOK at what your position is right now. LOOK at what happened to your precious Princess Twilight,” Sunset retaliated,.“You copycat doppelgangers think you can defeat me? YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!”

Sunset grabbed the orb and started to drain its energy. She started to become an even more powerful and terrifying demon as she absorbed the orb.

“Forget Equestria, I AM THE LORD OF CALAMITY! I’LL RULE THIS WORLD AND ALL OF YOU WILL BOW DOWN TO-“

All of a sudden, an extremely loud and distorted electronic music started playing. This interrupted Sunset as she covered her ears resulting to her letting go of the orb. The ground began to shake and the windows of the school began to break. The soundwaves slowly pushed back Sunset as she turned to where it was coming from.

Sunset turned to the destroyed front of the school and saw a large sound system set up with Vinyl operating it, with the latter enjoying herself.

“EAT DUBSTEP, YOU FREAK!” Vinyl shouted.

Vinyl cranked the volume louder, becoming even more destructive. Multiple cracks began to appear on the concrete of the school and the cars nearby began to shake. This angered the demon even more, prompting her to pounce at Vinyl’s location.

“YOU ANNOYING RAT!” Sunset screamed.

“WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO MAKE IT LOUDER AS YOU COME CLOSER? SURE THING!” Vinyl exclaimed.

Vinyl turned the volume to its maximum, literally making everything rumble violently. Sunset flew back as she was stunned in place due to the loud music.

Initially, Vinyl’s plan was to daze Sunset for Twilight to get a second wind. However due to Twilight’s disappearance, she was left with no other plan. All that’s left was to stun Sunset until the authority gets to them, or better yet, the military.

The music continued to stun Sunset in place while it still continued to destroy the surrounding areas. Little did Vinyl know, the area wasn’t the only thing that was beginning to give in.

The orb that Twilight left started to show cracks. Soundwave after soundwave, the cracks began to become increasingly big with every hit, until it finally broke. The orb became unstable and started to spark. A spark then shot out of the orb, which headed for Vinyl. Unfortunately, it was too late to dodge and she was struck by it. Vinyl fell to the ground became unconscious in the process.

The orb became even more violent, and eventually triggered a large explosion. Everyone in the vicinity was engulfed by the explosion and only saw one thing; a bright light.

A female voice was speaking to Vinyl. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself floating in a white space filled with nothing. The voice became louder and louder.

Vinyl looked around and saw the same spark that hit her earlier on. It was closing in and struck Vinyl once more.

She started having visions; first one involving a black lance and a woman in armor. The second was another woman that she was familiar with. She was standing on top of her. The third one was a demonic man standing in front of a castle in ruins. The fourth one was six colors slowly approaching her. And the final one, she only saw one single image: a mask.

“Awaken… The… Trailblazer…” the voice said to her.

She woke up once more and found herself in what appears to be a tent. A medic was beside her along with beds with other students. She could her murmurs of soldiers and choppers flying by outside.

“Are you okay, Miss?” the medic said as he looked at the other medics. “We have a live one here!”

Vinyl didn’t speak as she was confused on what was going on. She slowly got up while the medic insisted that she rest for a while.

“Miss, I suggest you lie on the bed for now. It’s dangerous outside.”

Vinyl refused as she forced herself outside. As she got out, she saw multiple tents and soldiers camped outside. The sky was dark red and the clouds rippled. Surely enough, she wasn’t at Canterlot High. Her eyes then caught something from the distance.

A large opal tornado-like portal that reached the sky was present in the distance. Vinyl got to a better view and saw the whole thing. Below it was a now destroyed city of Canterlot, with the surrounding areas filled with the military battling out what appears to be large wolves that are made out of wood. The wolves were seemingly coming out of the portal, along with a few other creatures. A few seconds later, an even bigger creature came out which terrified every soul that was watching the battle.

It was none other than a dragon, a mythical creature from the old age. The creature spewed out fire from its mouth and flew around the military. It started to wreck havoc around the area which resulted to multiple casualties.

Vinyl knelt in disbelief while blankly staring at the portal, knowing nothing of what was going on.Somehow, she knew that the world had forever changed.

Author's Note

- LOG 003 -
The explosion engulfed the whole earth, affecting every population.

The portal was active for a few days, resulting of unknown creatures spreading through the world, ranging from dragons to timberwolves. The portal stopped and became dormant, prompting the armed forces of the world for a counterattack. However, they were overwhelmed by the sheer power of the creatures and ultimately losing a portion of the world to them. Cities were easily destroyed and humanity was forced to retreat to other safer cities.

Protection was built around the cities, from walls to domes, but this wasn’t enough to repel the danger. As the world was about to lose hope, a discovery was made. Some individuals could wield magical abilities. This was the start for humanity to fight back. The magic wasn’t enough, so the production of weapons was established. Humanity started to win, reducing the population of the creatures and the remaining to retreat to the wildlife and wastelands that they caused, but this didn’t stop the danger that lurked the earth.

With the presence of magic, technology skyrocketed. New governance was established and everything changed. Some used magic for good, some used it for evil.

Sunset Shimmer vanished, never to be seen again. Some say she died, some say she exiled herself, some say she’ll return for a second coming.

Hope you like the first three chapters! On the next chapter, the Nightmare debuts.