Never Setting Sunby BronyparasiteChaptersPrologue: Two Faced1. A Very (Un)Typical Day In The Life Of Sunset2. Nightfall3. Sunday Part 1: Mornings4. Sunday Part 2: Quiet Sirens...UpdatePrologue: Two FacedSunset stared at her feet as she walked along a sidewalk in the nastiest part of town. It was a pretty dull day for Sunset, but then again, she always had dull days, which was why nights like right now excited her. Everyone knew she was like that at school. She was the most antisocial person in school, even more so than Fluttershy, the school’s shiest girl. Now, this may have bothered Sunset… If she even cared. Trivial things like popularity weren’t on her to-do list back home, or here. She was a wolf in sheep's clothes, not a sheep in sheep’s clothes. She wouldn’t act like them, and wouldn’t follow their social “norms”. Sunset Shimmer, the once proud prodigy of Princess Celestia, Guider of the Sun and Moon, and master mage. She had all the recognition she needed of commoners. She needed more. She wanted- no, needed to be Celestia’s equal. The mirror promised her that, and so she took that opportunity. She traveled from Equestria to Earth, and found herself in an alien world. Shock had taken her. A mixture of fear and curiosity filled her in the first days. But that fear vanished soon. After a while of learning that this world was magicless, Sunset was afraid she’d have to live an an Earth Pony for the rest of her life… But as if Faust was smiling down on her, that was not the case. She had her magic, and her life’s meaning was secured. Though, after some time, the magic she had was an advantage that shook her to her core. Learning more about this world, she discerned that nothing sort of an atom bomb would be able to stop her. She felt so invigorated, she even started a cult that worshipped her, and as time passed, her interest in world domination bored her. That was something… She didn’t plan for. Her life’s goal, to be Celestia’s equal, was in her grasp. She could even rule over the world if she wanted, surpassing Celestia with but a Unicorn’s magic! But as soon as this thought occurred, it vanished. Sunset wanted to be an Alicorn, to be on Celestia’s level, yet here she was, with the power to rule a nation unopposed, truly carrying Celestia’s equal in a weaker world… But this new flavor of power tasted bitter in her mouth. What would be the point? It wasn’t long until it dawned on Sunset that ruling over a nation, let alone the world, would be daunting. Impossible. Celestia was a god, yet even she chose to rule over only one nation. And just like that, Sunset’s hopes, dreams, and goals went up in flames. She was nothing. A failure of every category. She was lost without her mentor… Her mother… Her family. She threw it all away. And for what? Something she’d realized wasn’t what she wanted? She tried returning, but the portal was closed… She was cut off by the only one she ever cared about. After some time, Sunset resigned herself to go to school. Optimism soon diminished when, the first week, some girl named Gilda threw her homework into a toilet. She wasn’t bullied, but she wasn’t welcomed. Other than Gilda’s once and awhile threats before getting expelled, it was okay… But Sunset had already shut herself in. Sleepless or nightmare filled nights caused lowered grades, even if they were only B’s and A minus’, it highly degraded Sunset’s perfectionist personality. But in the end, she was the only one who ruined her life. So, here Sunset was, a year later, bags under her eyes and always wearing a hoodie, even in-doors. The most negative person in the school. Some had tried to cheer her up. A month of Pinkie Pie begging and throwing parties drove Sunset to threatening Pinkie in ways the pinkette would understand. Another one who tried was a girl named Rarity who’d tried to give the introvert a makeover. That obviously failed. The captain of every sports team and most popular girl in school played around with Sunset, and still did. Lastly was a girl named Derpy, Ditzy, or Muffin depending on who you asked, was the only one Sunset wasn’t annoyed by. She only sat next to her during lunch and offered her muffins. The last one always confused Sunset. No matter how much she tried to analyze her, Sunset couldn’t grasp what she was like. She had decent grades, yet seemed so stupid she’d eat a plastic bag instead of her food… Then there was her name. Nobody knew it, because she’d change it daily. Even the teachers didn’t know whether or not her name were Derpy, Ditzy, or Muffin. Sunset sighed. It wasn’t an angry, annoyed, or even happy sigh. It was indifferent. Which perfectly described what she thought of the rest of the school. CHS was full of… Oddballs, to say the least. A few whispered behind her back, mostly new students, but there were some that just made fun of her behind her back. “What’s wrong with her?” A boy once asked, unaware Sunset had heightened her hearing to listen in. “That’s Sunset Shimmer, the weird girl. She’s got zero friends and is such a grouch, I heard she made Pinkie Pie stay away from her.” A senior replied. Another time three girls whispered in barely hushed voices as Sunset passed by. “Oh look, it’s Ms. Lonesome’s wandering the halls. What a freak.” One girl said. “I know, I wouldn’t go ten feet of that putrid weirdo.” Another replied. She did care. Her feelings were hurt, but she didn’t want to bother talking to anyone or spend the energy. Shimmer sighed again, this time one of exhaustion. She was in the downtown Canterlot district, a littered place to be. The buildings weren’t as tall as Uptown’s were, but they were more humble. Though if anyone new tried to take the back alleys like Sunset did, getting lost in the maize-like designs was the least of one’s trouble… And she had not yet found what she was looking for… Still... But she did find it almost an hour later, when she saw two guys with dark skin and blue eyes. The Changeling gang. Filled with monsters of all forms. They wore leather jackets and matching pants, with heavy looking boots. Sunset could see that they were carrying poorly concealed guns. From where Sunset was, she could tell they were handguns, but unfortunately Sunset wasn’t a gun expert, so she couldn’t name them. She did however notice that one was a shiny silver while the other looked like what a Police Officer would wield. Sunset walked up to them, hands in her pockets. One of the Changelings noticed her and drew his gun, alerting the other to her presence. Quickly looking, Sunset saw that three more Changelings were clearing out a container and loading up a truck. “Get outta here before ah pop one in ya!” The first Changeling, the one with a silver gun said in a threatening manner, pointing his gun at her sideways… It didn’t scare Sunset, though. “You’re holding that thing the wrong way…” Sunset warned, and in a moment, she rushed him and wrapped one of her pocketed armed around his armed one, leaned away as he fired, and a golden shell shot out and hit the Changeling in the face, burning him. The second Changeling fired, but Sunset cast a spell on herself to move faster, and moved out of the way, opening the Changeling to the bullet. It punctured his chest, ripping through his heart and causing him to go limp, dropping the gun. The second Changeling stared, mouth agape. But soon, he was pulled out of his shock by a shower of bullets. The three Changelings loading the car had pulled their own guns out and shot, hoping to kill their attacker. However, she jumped behind the second Changeling goon, riddling him with lead. The three stood still for a long while, waiting to be attacked again. Finally, after what felt like forever, two of the three nodded towards the third, signaling him to move forward. The third did as such, walking towards the exit, before jumping out into the open, looking left and right. After a few seconds of nothing, he turned back to the other two before the ground below him glowed. In a split second, and explosion rang out, knocking the remaining two to the ground. One of them opened their eyes, only for Sunset to be right there, smiling sadistically at him. She placed her hand on his head, and a searing pain caused him to scream in agony. The last Changeling groaned, sitting up and turning to his comrade, only to be horrified at what he saw… His face had melted right off, and the lone girl was somehow the cause of this. “Wh-who are you!?” He hadn’t even seen her face. “I’m the Bane of Changelings… Tell that to your boss, grunt.” And with that, Sunset vanished. This was her new purpose. And she loved it. Author's Note Thank you for reading my story. I'd like to thank Mr. Grizzly, Shadowgod3211, and Pen the Dragon. I just realized that I forgot to save after I remembered who the helpers Fimfic names were. 1. A Very (Un)Typical Day In The Life Of SunsetBeep… Beep… Bee- Sunset flicked her wrist, sending a small fire ball at her alarm clock, causing it to explode in a spray of fireworks. Sunset smiled to herself. Everything was right with the world. Shree!!! Sunset jolted up to the sound of her smoke detector going off. She looked around rapidly before seeing that what was left of her alarm clock was ablaze. She instantly created a bubble around the fire, her magic’s reddish glow putting her at ease as the fire dimmed due to lack of oxygen. Dispersing the bubble when she was certain the fire was out and taking a moment to compose herself, Sunset thanked whatever being was watching over her that her parents went to work early in the morning. She looked around her room, taking in the blue carpet, white painted walls without a poster to be seen, and a mess that anyone sane would call as hazardous as a stray lego made her concede to the thought that it looked like it belonged to a boy. In that split second, Sunset ran towards her personal bathroom, which while small in size was directly connected to her room, and found herself at the toilet. They weren’t her parents. They were her doppelganger's parents. There was a pain in her chest as Sunset vomited bile and whatever dinner hadn’t digested from the other night. She nearly sobbed at the pain, both physical and emotional. This was what her mornings were like. Wake up, realize she was living a lie, and then do her best not to break down and cry due to the pain her arrival two and a half years ago caused… After getting over herself, Sunset stood up and washed up. She cleaned herself up, but decided against taking a shower. ‘I took one yesterday… And who’s gonna notice?’ Sunset had thought. However, it’d been two days since she’d showered. In truth, she wanted her outward appearance to match how she saw herself, at least on the inside. Soon after, Sunset made her way downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She nearly tripped halfway down the stairs, but caught herself on the wooden railing. Causing a hiss of discomfort to escape her lips as her entire weight was held by one arm that had been thoroughly exercised the previous night… Which had been the first time in weeks she’d used that arm as anything but a paperweight. Her arm that much sorer than even two minutes before, she continued as she made her way into the kitchen. She looked in the fridge, before checking all the cupboards. Both of which were fully stocked on everything her parents usually got. ‘There’s nothing worth eating here… Guess I’ll grab something at school.’ She told herself, but knew deep down she wasn’t willing to eat, no matter what it was. After her decision to forsake breakfast, Sunset decided what to wear. She was getting sick of wearing hoods all the time. She started being called things akin to ‘creepy hermit’ among others when her classmates thought she was out of earshot, which had done nothing positive for her confidence. She found the clothes she had come to this world in. A violet t-shirt with her former Cutie Mark on it. ‘A mark of shame and of failure.’ An orange skirt with yellow and violet stripes to the left, side by side. ‘Showing weakness and that since every other girl is doing it, I might as well clamp down and do as they do.’ Black, low heeled hooker boots with purple marking at the front. ‘Terrible for gym class- wait, I have a change of shoes in my gym locker… Um… Very heavy and hurts to walk. Easy to trip in.’ And lastly, a black leather jacket. ‘Makes me look edgy… Guys like this crap, right?’ At that thought, Sunset shuddered. She decided to pack her hoodie in case she decided to change her mind. After getting everything ready, including donning her simple black backpack. It was a good five years old, Her double had bought it and Sunset couldn’t get rid of it. With that, Sunset opened the door to her house… And immediately regretted it. Her eyes suffered the burning of the outside world’s sun. She toughed it out and exited her two story home in the suburbs a bit outside of Canterlot City. At the end of the driveway was a red bike. Shimmer walked over and unhooked it from the lamppost it was chained to, before hopping on… And promptly fell on her side, scraping her knee badly enough to stain the sidewalk. Sunset hissed in pain, tears threatening to leak as the teenager kicked the bike off of her before getting up. She’d continuously tried riding her bike, but she’d never gotten to the point where it would move before she fell over. In the past, however, she always had jeans to lessen the blow. She sighed, pulling out her water bottle and pouring a bit of it over her wound and rubbed at it. If she had to walk she’d rather do it without bits of cement lodged in her knee. With that in mind, Sunset began making her way to school. It wasn’t too far, but it was far enough to rather take a ride. Around four miles… And she had two hours before she was late. On the way, Sunset popped in earbuds from her MP3 Player and pressed the ‘Play’ button. Needless to say, Sunset didn’t make it. Missing school wasn’t a first for Sunset. It wasn’t overly uncommon, but it wasn’t constant enough to get her parents involved. The bacon haired girl sighed as she walking into the school. No one was around, so that meant they were all in class. She’d just prepare to go to the next class and avoid the current one. Sunset waited by the door to her classroom while fading in and out of consciousness. Sunset was then woken from one of her short naps by a ringing bell, and stood up. Just as she was on her feet, the door to her right opened and students poured out of the classroom. She acted like she had just come out, but it wasn’t like she was even noticed. She found herself nearly falling asleep in math and language studies, her second and third periods, she had a bad feeling about her fourth period, geography, though she couldn’t for the life of her explain why. Once she arrived, she noticed that she wasn’t the first to arrive. Inside the classroom was the school’s resident shy girl, Sunset wasn’t part of that competition, she wasn’t shy, she just didn’t like people. As it was, Sunset didn’t even know the girl’s name, and this was their only class together. Though Sunset avoided human contact whenever possible, this afforded her the time to sharpen her observation skills. ‘She’s shy, but very feminine. She seems awkward, yet during lunch she’s graceful and perfectly fine talking to her friends. There must not be any of her friends in this class, or I’m over thinking a girl sitting alone in a classroom minutes before class actually begins.’ Sunset knew people.Often better than they knew themselves. Not needing to converse with others gave her a chance to study body language and simple human behavior. There wasn’t too much she needed to learn in school, so it was more to see how humans acted. Sunset had chosen a seat across the room from the notoriously shy girl, where she had a plain beige wall, the girl got a window seat. Sunset was fine with it, of course. It was still in the far back, but was safe from the teacher, as the less sunlight there was, the less likely she would be seen. And recently, there had been many more storms rolling in. Though this wasn’t the only reason she chose the plain wall. Less eyes looked to the wall than the beautiful outside world. Even she, a shut in with no enjoyment for nature, liked looking at it from a distance. Sunset made her way to her desk, before sitting down. But as she was about to face the teacher's desk, the other girl turned her head to Sunset… And proceeded to gasp in shock at the scabbed over wound on Sunset’s leg. The same, untreated injury that Sunset had gotten because of her bike and poor choice in clothes. The girl rushed to Sunset’s side, climbing over desks to get to her faster, however only proving to slow the poor pinkette in her determined dash. Sunset stared at her in complete and utter confusion. “Oh my goodness! What happened!?” Fluttershy squeaked out. Sunset’s eyes widened. Outside of her family, this had been the first person to initiate a conversation. Let alone in such a… Caring manner.‘This… This can’t be happening. She’s the shyest girl in school! Why would she start a conversation with me!? Think Sunset, think!’ “Uh…” Sunset croaked out. Clearly something was wrong with her, she didn’t know why or how, but something was wrong because she found herself unable to speak. Unable to utter even a sentence. A word. Sunset resorted to gulping to try to clear her throat of the spider’s web in her mouth. “Oh you poor dear! Here, let me take care of your leg.” Fluttershy pulled up her backpack and unloaded it onto Sunset’s desk. There were numerous medical supplies and textbooks, as well as homework assignments just tossed onto it. She grabbed a bottle of disinfectant, a tiny bag of cotton balls, and a roll of gauze. She dipped the cotton in the disinfectant, before applying it to Sunset’s wound. The bacon haired girl hissed out in pain, gritting her teeth as she squeezed her chair. “S-sorry…” Sunset shook her head, indicating it was nothing. Once Fluttershy was done cleaning the wound, she blowed on it to dry the cleaning liquid, before applying the roll of tan gauze to her injured leg. “There, all better.” She said. Sunset was shocked beyond words. Until she finally wasn’t. “Th-thanks…” “Don’t mention it. You’d do the same if I was the one that was hurt, right?” Sunset wanted to reply with a ‘no’, but thought against it. “Sure… Though I don’t normally carry a first aid kit in my backpack” She half lied. If someone was hurt, Shimmer would ignore them. It wasn’t her problem. If she saw Fluttershy with a bloody leg, she wouldn’t bother the girl… “Well, I’m Fluttershy… I don’t believe we’ve ever, umm… Met…” It seemed to slowly dawn on Fluttershy that she was talking to a stranger. Even if Sunset knew every single student by name, which she couldn’t be bothered with anyway, that didn’t mean that everyone knew Fluttershy. “My name’s… Sunset Shimmer. I’m not a people person...” “Oh, you’re Sunset? I heard that you were kidna-” Fluttershy stopped, her eyes widening in horror at what she’d said. “Oh… I-I’m so sorry for bringing it up!” Sunset winced at the memory. “It’s fine… It happened years ago…” Sunset responded, trying to wave away the other girl’s concern It didn’t seem to ease the shy girl. She looked like she felt guilty. “Um, d-do you think we could hang out sometime?” That… Shocked Sunset even more than Fluttershy approaching her. “Oh, n-no thanks.” “I- I wanna make it up to you… Please…?” Fluttershy begged, looking to the ground. ‘Honestly, you leaving me alone would be apology enough… I can’t say yes. She might want to make fun of me… People are all the same… But I can’t say no… Maybe I say yes, and say that we can meet up in two weeks, then ignore her until then, and hopefully she’ll forget… It’s a Tuesday, so if I say we can-’ Sunset’s thought process was cut short when Fluttershy spoke. “Umm… A-are you okay? If you don’t mind me asking, that is…” At that, Sunset donned an unnatural grin. “I’m fine. And sure, I’ll hang out with you.” At that, Fluttershy smiled. “O-okay! We’ll meet at the Canterlot Mall this Saturday.” With that, Fluttershy donned an all too natural, excited grin, as well as a faint blush which struck Sunset as odd. The “shy” girl then pushed all of her stuff back into her bag with a swipe of her hand. After that, she ran back to her desk just as students began pouring in. ‘Dear Celestia, what did I just get myself into…?’ Fluttershy squealed to herself, the sound barely above a whisper as she walked out of fourth period and towards the lunch room. She was lighter than air. She sat with her friends as usual, Rainbow Dash and Rarity greeting her arrival. “Ah said ‘no’, Pinkie! Ah’m not letting ya babysit Apple Bloom!” Applejack, the southern blond, and most hard working person Fluttershy knew seethed, glaring at the bubbly pink girl that was Pinkie. Pinkamena Diane Pie sighed. “C’mon AJ! I need some practice if I’m going to babysit the twins when they’re born!” Fluttershy recalled the week Pinkie threw a party in honor of Mrs. Cake getting pregnant. Pinkie was, is, and most likely will be excited about the twins for the foreseeable future. They were due any day after all. “Babysit Angel Bunny then, that’d give you a good test dummy.” Rainbow Dash, one of the most popular girls in CHS, and captain of almost every sports team on campus, said. “I’d rather you not, actually.” Fluttershy spoke up, and instantly every eye turned to her. “Uh… D-did I say something b-bad? I’m sorry…” “Oh heaven’s no darling!” Rarity, the fashionista of the group said. “It’s just that… You seem excited. And a smidge more bold.” Fluttershy stared at Rarity until she registered what she was talking about. “Oh… I… Finally started a conversation with someone on my own.” There was silence for a moment, and in that amount of time Fluttershy began to doubt herself, until Rainbow Dash vice gripped Fluttershy in a hug. “Our little Fluttershy’s growing up!” Pinkie sobbed in an over exaggerated manner, leaping on the both of them to join their hug. Fluttershy wanted to point out that she was a year older than the party obsessed girl, but decided against it. “It seems those weekly visits with Dr. Discord have really helped.” Rarity said, gushing as she watched her shy friend try to wiggle out of Pinkie’s grip, with little success. “There’s… A bit more…” Fluttershy said, looking down. “The person I talked to was Sunset Shimmer...” The group went quiet as the implications of that last sentence took form in their minds. Author's Note Thanks to Mr. Grizzly and my new savior Kamachakta for proof reading, and to the latter editing my story. 2. NightfallSunset groaned, she was shaking violently. She felt wrong. Her body felt… Bigger… Longer. There were parts of her body missing, and new parts added. This was shocking to her, fear turning her gut upside down. It felt like she was dying, that she’d come close more than once. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours, and Sunset didn’t move. The pain, though, wasn’t the reason for her fear. What was, was magic. She didn’t feel any magic around her. Her special talent was useless. She was dead weight now. Nothing. The reason her mother- Celestia saved her from that damned orphanage wasn’t around her. She was lost. After an unknown amount of time passed, she felt someone tap her back. She was terrified. Uncurling from her fetal position, she looked up at whoever has tapped her only to come face to face with somepony that looked familiar… It was another Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer, protege of Princess Celestia, formerly all powerful Unicorn and scientific genius was beyond confused. This was impossible. It was beyond impossible. Nothing could’ve prepared her for any of it. “You couldn’t save me, sister…” The other Sunset said, and a wave of sorrow surged through the former Unicorn. “Celestia was right about you… You’re not ready.” The world around them morphed and altered to a point where nothing was recognisable. And the other Sunset, the former unicorn could only watch as her double’s chest exploded outward with blood, with an arm forced through her chest. The protege looked on in horror as the other fell to the ground, revealing another human looming over the two Sunset’s. Her eyes green and slitted like a dragon, hair an oxford blue, and her skin an ash grey where it wasn’t painted crimson. Sunset jerked awake when her chin hit the cold wood of her desk as the bell rang. The fiend who had so rudely awoken her was none other than Cirrus Cloud, one hand still above Sunset’s desk, where she had knocked the hand she was leaning on to wake her up. “Hey demon, class is over.” Cirrus said, glaring at the tired girl. This was another thing Sunset had to deal with, beyond her nightmares and the rather cruel whispers directed at her. The students of a few of her classes were jealous that she was able to “skip” through her classes. She only suffered in a few areas, as she’d already learned about things like science, math, a few languages that were used by Zebras, griffons and Minotaurs back in Equestria, and advanced thaumatic manipulation as Celestia’s student. She could understand their jealousy, quite thoroughly actually. What escaped her was why that jealousy came to form as hostility towards her. She accepted the beatings, of course. Hitting them back would do nothing except further cement her position as the outcast, if that was possible at this point. As her oppressors weren’t past the confusing days of puberty, and thus she knew that anything they might learn wouldn’t stick… Most of the time. Cirrus, meanwhile, snickered at Sunset’s emotionless gaze. The girl was wearing all black, a pair of spiked bracelets and collar. She had a green and blue mohawk with black ends, as well as a triplicate of earrings in her left ear, two studs and a small gold hoop that matched the one in her nose. “Demon’s a new one…” Sunset said dryly, and in a way Cirrus couldn’t understand as sarcasm or just plain boredom. This annoyed Cirrus to the point that she just left the room, leaving only Sunset and the teacher, Mr. Donkey, who went out of his way to ignore any student’s he came across outside of class hours. The groggy teenager looked at the palm of her hand for a bit as she absentmindedly packed her bag with the other. She couldn’t help but remember her first day on Earth. It started bad, having just run away from from the only pony to show her love, but gradually got better after she was… Sunset cleared her head before that line of thought went any further, standing up and walking out of the classroom. She’d put on her hoodie after the encounter with Fluttershy earlier, and so already had her hood up for the trek out of the school. The day of torture was over, leaving Sunset mentally worrying about the upcoming weekend. ‘Should I cancel? I really shouldn’t have said yes… What am I going to do!? I can’t socialize, I’ll be tired for my raid on the new nightclub run by that changeling guy... Kevin? Yeah, Kevin…’ As Sunset mulled over the possible ways she could horribly screw herself over with her schedule and plans, overbooking herself with the new additions to it, she hadn’t noticed the two girls stealthily following her. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, decked out in Pinkie’s patented ‘ultra sneaky ninja disguises of awesome’ were following Sunset in the hopes of finding out the girl’s master plan towards their friend. Sunset had no idea the terror they’d unleash should she take one misstep, or mumble the wrong thing as she pondered her situation. Sunset’s walk home was simple for her. She stopped by a lemonade stand and bought a cup of said refreshment for a quarter, from a kid she’d come to expect to be there every day as she was on her way home. She helped a lady with her groceries, spending quite a while picking up and carrying an array of canned and fresh foods, getting $15 she’d spent a good ten minutes trying to refuse, before going to a nearby park and sitting at a bench to listen to music in peace, in an attempt to relax after spending that much time being in contact with another being. But before she pressed play, she heard the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie scream out at her. “Hurry up!” This caused Sunset to turn in the direction, but saw no one there. She narrowed her eyes before putting her MP3 player away, any thought of relaxing thoroughly banished to the back of her mind for the time being. She stood up and started to make her way home. On her way, she picked up the sound of footsteps on the pavement behind her, always around a corner or behind an obstacle, and always behind her no matter how many ‘wrong’ turns she made. She was being followed, and she didn’t like it. Pretending to continue her walk home to make time to come up with a plan to lose her pursuers, an idea came to her as she passed an alley. Continuing on her way until she came across another, this one ending in a 20 foot brick wall and was populated by a few stereotypical green painted dumpsters and some trash cans. Passing the entrance to the alley, and stopping at the other corner of the opening she looked around, her head swiveling in an attempt to look as suspicious as possible before she ducked into the alley and broke into a sprint, quickly ducking behind a dumpster Sunset began weaving a spell significantly more complicated than her usual fireballs or levitation, having finished it just as the pair of stalkers crossed the threshold of the alley. In an instant, Sunset Shimmer vanished in a colorless transportation spell. She opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom, sitting on her bed. Once she affirmed that she wasn’t hallucinating because of a misfire Sunset went through the house, making sure that neither her parents or stalkers were there before she took off her hoodie to get herself into her usual casual clothes. One look at the pile she’d left them in however, had Sunset groaning. ‘Thank Celestia I decided to try a new look today and not just wear these to school, there’s blood all over them... With how late I stayed out last night, I would have too.’ Sunset applied a quick cleaning spell to the pile before sighing and getting herself dressed in her usual clothing. She needed something to cover her face, like a balaclava or a hockey mask. She couldn’t keep relying on shadows and the element of surprise to keep her face off the changeling’s, or authorities, radar. As well, she needed to stop leaving her ‘slip ups’ around the house, on the off chance her parents come home before school lets out and she has a chance to clean up. ‘Even with as little they’re here, they care. And I’m not sure how I’d explain a pile of bloodstained clothes to them without landing myself in a heap of trouble.’ Putting that thought out of her mind for now and deciding to get on with solving at least one of her issues tonight, Sunset pulled out her Android and opened the browser, before typing ‘Amazon’ in the search bar’. Coming to the site, she browsed the masks section until she saw something that interested her. She found a silver mask, smooth, shiny, and featureless beyond its reflective qualities, it still allowed the wearer to see without giving away a single detail of their face, it was perfect. It was also very cheap $5 plus shipping and handling. It was simple, light, and effective. She decided to purchase it. After her shopping was complete, Sunset sat on the floor of her room cross legged. On the blue carpet were symbols that were invisible to the untrained eye. They were stained oh so carefully into the carpet by magic. The runes glowed as Sunset closed her eyes, concentrating on pulling mana out of the circle surrounding her as fast as possible, without burning it out or hurting herself. In this world, magic was almost nonexistent. Unlike in Equestria, the magic on Earth wasn’t seeped into everything. Instead, it came from key points that could replenish magic. Sunset came to referring to these as Outlets. Her magic could restore itself on its own, but it takes hours or even days depending on how much magic she used. Thankfully for Sunset, she’d read up on an enchantment that could absorb and store ambient magic to replenish a pony whose magic had been severed from the world of Equestria. This wasn’t what they meant it for. The purpose originally was in case of an event like Tirek happened again. It acted as a way to turn up the water, metaphorically speaking, or in the event that Tirek were to return, it’d allow ponies to regain their magic. It worked wonders in a world without magic, however, and it even could be used as an amplifier, though it’d be useless for anything but enchanting as it wasn’t mobile. Something she’d found out the hard way as simply compressing the runes doesn’t work, the storage capacity of the circle being relative to the size of it.Meaning any circles small enough to carry with her would be about the magical equivalent of AAA batteries and while they would recharge, it’d take two just to provide the amount of magic needed to cast one spell, and a weak one at that. Getting to her feet when she felt her magic had been completely recharged Sunset let a smile come across her face when she realized her magic had grown a marginal amount. Even at this rate her power would continue to grow, and as soon as she was able, she would destroy the Changelings in one fell swoop. They would fear the Blacksun, no matter what Fluttershy did to her schedule. “Drats!” Rainbow snapped her fingers in aggravation. “Sunset’s a slippery one, ain’t she?” Pinkie looked dejected. “Aww, I’ve been waiting to make friends with Sunset for five-ever!” Rainbow gave her friend a confused stare, before realizing what she meant. “Oh… Well, she doesn’t make that easy. Wonder how Fluttershy did it and not me and you.” “It’s ‘you and I, Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie said, a laugh escaping her when she saw Rainbow giving her a deadpanned glare. “Like I give a crap about grammar.” Dash replied, almost venomously. Pinkie rolled her eyes, amused at Dash’s statement. “So this is why you failed english~” Pinkie Pie teased, causing Rainbow Dash’s face to light up pink. “Shut up!” Rainbow snapped at the energetic girl, who skipped her way out of the alley. “That teacher was so boring he put me to sleep, it’s almost like he was trying to fail me.” “Whatever you say Dashie~” Pinkie said in a teasing tone. Rainbow Dash just sighed at that. “You have something we can do?” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Well, I told Vinyl I’d help her with a party at her place. And stalking Sunset up till now is cutting it pretty close to when I said I’d be there.” “We weren’t stalking Sunset, we were finding out where she lives so we could grab her before she gets to Fluttershy next weekend.” Rainbow then pointed out. “Oh! I know where she lives! We were heading the wrong way.” Pinkie said, grinning. Rainbow’s eye twitched. “What…?” “Yeah, you just kinda grabbed me from out of the blue- er, cyan, and I thought you were playing ‘find the ninjas’ with Sunset!” At that, Rainbow felt a wave of anger wash over her. She wanted oh so much to knock Pinkie’s teeth in, but knew better than to hurt her friends. It wasn’t even her fault. The head of the sports club sighed. “Let’s just… Head to Vinyl’s place…” With that, the two made their way to Vinyl’s house. “This is Vinyl’s place!?” Rainbow gasped, jaw dropping. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were inside a luxurious apartment that was bigger than both of their houses… Combined. It was clean, and white to a shiny degree, the furniture didn’t look a day old, and everything had a gold tint. “Yeah, Vinyl’s parents are super rich, something about being descended from old nobility that managed to keep their money..” Pinkie replied with a shrug. “She’s also super good with machines. She told me that she’s trying to make a transforming car!” Rainbow was at a loss for what to say. “We have the most bizarre student body ever…” “I dunno, Crystal Prep’s pretty weird.” Pinkie shot back slyly, only for Rainbow to shake her head. “No, I mean we have a wide array of weirdos. All of their weirdos are the same.” Pinkie nodded to that, agreeing. “Anyways, where’s Vinyl?” “Probably at her job.” “Job?” Rainbow asked, picking up a box at the door that Pinkie and her had brought up. “Isn’t she already super rich?” “She is.” Pinkie didn’t elaborate, which only confused Rainbow even more. Though she wanted to she didn’t press any further, she knew better than to push when Pinkie wasn’t completely open about something. “So… Why have I never heard of any parties going on here before?” Dash asked, changing the subject as she moved the box in her hands over to place on a seat. “Because Vinyl’s parents are always home, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “I’m setting up the party early!” “Early…?” Rainbow asked, confused. “Well… I’ll explain as we get everything ready.” Pinkie said, grinning from ear to ear. Dash never liked it when Pinkie had her devious grin on. Sunset sighed as she made her way out of her house, stopping to pet the blue husky laying on the livingroom couch. “I’ll be back, Ember.” Sunset stated as the red eyed dog looked away, as if she didn’t want to act sad that Sunset was leaving. Sunset knew she was a caring dog. She assumed that was why her parents had hired a dog sitter to take her in the weekdays. “Don’t worry girl, I won’t be long.” She assured, before exiting the house, turning left, and getting on her way down the sidewalk. Soon to be consumed in her thoughts again as she went. Ember hadn’t been staying there all that long. Her ‘brother’ had found the dog around a year ago and Ember had been living there ever since. Needless to say, she never liked him, but she was glad he brought Ember home. Even if he just dumped Ember on his folks and her before skipping the country to go to school in Germany. Exchange programs never made sense to Sunset, moving in general baffled her. Sunset had come to a decision concerning her wardrobe earlier that day, she was going to switch back into her normal clothing while at school. She supposed that the change in wardrobe might’ve eased Fluttershy into talking with her, which she’d scold herself for later when she was having dinner, but that was also a primary reason she was doing so, she wanted to change her look not get a social obligation the same day she was busy with… Things. Sunset grumbled to herself as she hid her face behind a black bandanna. Until her mask arrived she’d be stuck using one of her mother’s bandannas, specifically the one she’d never seen the woman wear… Thinking about that caused Sunset a bit of discomfort, knowing that she was using something of her mother’s to fight crime. It was beyond embarrassing too. What kind of vigilante has to borrow their mask from their mom? Minutes later, a thought occurred to Sunset. ‘I should get a voice synthesizer… I’ve seen them work in TV shows… I wonder if they’re usable in real life. Or if one would fit under a mask if they are. If not, I can always enchant this bandanna and wear it under the mask.’ She thought. However, in her deep thought, she hadn’t noticed she’d reached her destination. A Changeling hideout. It was a five story high hotel that had seen better days. It was of historic importance, as it was supposedly the second oldest building in Canterlot City besides the old Asylum a bit south, meaning it wouldn’t be torn down anytime soon. And the Changelings had defiled it ever since Mayor Mare announced that it would be a museum. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be for a long time. “Hey! Th’hell ya think you’re doin’? Ya should be on the east side with the other blac-” The Changeling guard began but was cut off by a loss of breath due to a teal ring of magic tightening around his neck, a matching glow surrounding Sunset’s hand. “Do I look like a changeling to you…?” Sunset asked in a distorted voice thanks to the spell she’d cast a little while before, in lieu of an enchanted bandana or a voice synthesizer. Her magic was really handy for that sort of thing on short notice. She then used a magically reinforced fist to collapse the grunt’s ribcage, puncturing his lungs and dropping him to the ground as he continued choking, this time on his own blood. Slightly curious how long the Grunt would last while simultaneously suffocating and losing blood, Sunset timed him. He didn’t last long. ‘Celestia damn it, how long is it going to take if I keep using my hands!? I’ll run out of magic long before I-’ Sunset’s train of thought halted when she noticed that the Changeling she had just killed was armed. ‘Hmm… I’m not trained in the use of guns, nor do I have the wrist strength to take the recoil.’ Sunset sighed. “Can’t be harder than laser tag if I use my magic to counter the kickback…” She then steeled herself as she took the gun. Judging by what her uncle had told her about such things, it was a 9mm pistol though she didn’t know enough to tell the exact model just by looking. It is an extremely common caliber of gun, making it just as common at crime scenes.‘I guess it helps to have a talkative uncle that works for the police department…’ The mage then cast a simple “seatbelt” enchantment. It was a spell of her own making based off of human seatbelts, which Sunset thought could come in handy if she ever fell from a far too high building, or something of the like. After a few simple adjustments, her enchantment was ready. “Here goes nothing…” Sunset remarked, before taking a deep breath and opening the door. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed, lovely reader. Please comment your thoughts, positive, negative, or just memes that convey your feelings. 3. Sunday Part 1: MorningsSunset panted as she galloped along the streets of Canterlot, a horrified look adorning her face. The filly was not having a good morning. Her training in the art of summoning had been an illuminating experience. She had, however, forgotten to go to sleep the night before, leaving her worn out come morning… The day before the entry exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she’d trained far too hard, having been excited about giving the judges a show of power. This was her chance to set herself up for a life devoted to magic. Sunset gasped as she came to a halt outside of a tall building. Her sudden stop didn’t save her from colliding with the front door. After shaking off the impact, Sunset pulled the door open with magic and rushed inside. A stallion with a grey coat and a black mane smiled as she entered. “Five floors up, third door to the left.” He said in a soft, kind manner. Sunset nodded and thanked him before following his instructions. By the time she’d reached the room, there was only three foals in front of her in the line. “What are you doing young filly? Sign up ended a half hour ago!” An elderly mare scolded. She seemed to have a sight problem since she was wearing glasses and constantly squinting as if she were struggling to identify a microscopic particle with her naked eye. “I was running late. My alarm didn’t wake me up-” Sunset defended herself, but the mare simply snapped back. “If you don’t have a name tag, then you don’t get in!” The filly glared daggers at the elder mare. “That’s unfair! I deserve to go in, you hag!” Sunset seethed. The mare gasped at that. “Years from now ponies will know my name throughout Equestria! Sunset Shimmer!” “What an arrogant child. Thank Celestia you didn’t arrive on time or you might have bothered the actual prodigies...” The elder mare replied, scowling. Sunset was shaking in pure hatred. As soon as the mare left, Sunset looked at the pony in front of hers name tag and let her horn flare up with her magic. She’d show that pompous mare. The orange filly conjured a blank tag onto her chest, before trotting over to a table in the corner and pulled out a marker. A devilish grin forming on her face. “Eventide Lustful” then returned to the line. She didn’t want the bat eyed mare to recognize when the judges called her by name. She was going to shine… Saturday Night Sunset blankly stared at her screen as she sat in her living room, watching a cutscene to a video game she was playing. Even though “playing” was a generous term. “Sunset darling! Dinner’s ready!” Sunset heard her mother call from the kitchen. Sunset paused the game. “Kay mom!” Sunset shouted in reply as she set her controller down and stood up. She made her way to the dining room and was met with her father who was seated in a chair at the end of the table. He was a tall man with light yellow skin, his hair a mixture of orange and brilliant tangelo, done up in a mohawk-like fashion, and had soft eyes of a greyish persian blue. “How’s school been coming along, sweetheart?” Her father, Sunspot, asked. Unlike her mother, her father only got to see her on weekends. He was a busy man, often sacrificing personal time to run his company, and Sunset respected him for that. “It’s been fine…” Sunset replied as she took her seat at Sunspot’s right. “So I was thinking that tomorrow, your mother and I would treat you to a day that the three of us-” Sunspot excitedly began. Ember suddenly barked, interrupting him. “And Ember could go hiking on the Everfree trail.” Sunset stared at him for a moment. ‘Oh no…’ She thought. She loved her family, but her parents could run three marathons before realizing that she was still collapsed at the starting line. Before she could freak out, she suddenly remembered. “Uh… Actually, I had plans.” “What could be more important than spending time with your parents?” Sunset’s mother, a woman barely an inch taller than Sunset with brilliant orange skin, hair with two different shades of moderate vermilion, and lime greenish gray eyes piped in. She walked over to the table carrying a steaming pot of spaghetti. She set it down on a hot pad and went to take her own seat. “I was invited to go to the mall...” Sunset grumbled. Before she realized it, her mother was crushing her in a bear hug. “Yes! My baby girl has friends! Who are they, how many people are in their circle, what are they like? Are they nice? Are they your age? They better not do drugs or smoke. If they pressure you, you come to me, understand?” “Mom… Stop… I can’t breath…” Sunset grunted, before her mother let her go. Sunswirl had a goofy grin, as did Sunspot as they waited for an answer. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the dog was smiling at her too. “It’s not that big of a deal… Her name’s Fluttershy, just four or so, I don’t know, I’m sure, yes, pretty sure they don’t, and I know mom.” Sunset replied to her mom’s question. “Ohh! I’m just so excited! These’ll be your first friends! I was so worried that you’d end up alone, but here you are making friends! This is such a big step!” Sunswirl squealed, her grin morphing into an ear splitting smile. Sunset just stared at her mother. “Mom… They’re just people…” Sunswirl glared at her daughter. “With that attitude that’ll be the case. Just to make sure you go, I’ll have your father drive you there tomorrow… Then I’ll pick you up and you can introduce me to your new friends… Okay?” There was an undertoning threat in her voice. Sunswirl may not have had magic, but she could use the ‘mom voice’ just as well as Celestia. And Sunset had yet to find any sort of defense against it, magical or otherwise. “Okay, mom.” “Wonderful! Now, let’s have dinner!” Sunswirl’s glare dissipated almost instantaneously, replaced by her normal motherly smile, if not a bit bigger due to her excitement. Needless to say, dinner was a time for Sunset to suffer from anxiety. ‘Ugh, how am I going to hit the nightclub now?’ Sunset’s thoughts were, however, interrupted by a sudden noise on the other side of the room. Mounted on the wall across from her was a small TV her father had set up so he, and the rest of the family, could watch the news during meals. The noise in question being the jingle the channel plays every time it switches to a new topic, catching the attention of all three of them. “This week, the Mainfair Hotel was the epicenter of a large bloody massacre. Twenty-four dead, and three injured. It’s assumed that the Mainfair Motel was the headquarters of Changelings. One of the survivors is stated to have claimed that ‘the Blacksun was responsible’, but are currently in a coma and are unable to comment further. We’ll get back to this next week. Mayor Mare has stated that the attacks are barbaric and will be investigated further. Back to you, Bucker.” Sunspot turned the television off. “If you ask me, they deserve what they got.” Sunset’s father grit his teeth in anger. Sunswirl gave him an understanding, sympathetic look. “They hurt our baby girl. This Blacksun deserves a medal!” Sunset sunk in her seat as she began to sneak Ember little treats. ‘They did more than hurt her…’ After that, dinner was silent. It was as if there was no one living left. Sunset stood at the side of her bed, staring at her new mask. A one sided silver mask with no way to see the wearers features if they wore a hood or something that’d hide ones hair. Sunset had cast an enchantment on the mask, giving it her own flair. Whenever she came into contact with the mask, the silver would turn red, with two black circles where her eyes were. She wanted to weave more into the enchantment, but decided she’d add those features another time if she was up to it. Coupling the mask with the enchanted bandana that’d both change her voice and prevent condensation from stinking up and/or fogging over the mask itself. Three birds, two stones. With her additions to her costume completed, Sunset felt more at ease. She may be tired from being dragged along with that Fluttershy girl, but she could easily handle a few armed guards even with sore feet. A smile creeped onto her face as her plan became realized. “Maybe I’ll make my jacket bullet proof…” Sunset mused to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror on her dresser across her room. “Now… If only I could have convinced mom to not buy this sleeveless version of my old shirt…” Indeed, the shirt she was wearing was almost identical to her old one, minus the lack of a cutie mark… Sunset’s cutie mark from her time as a pony. It felt wrong to not have it on her in some way or form, but her mother had been convinced that wearing something new would set a better impression. But without her cutie mark on her shirt, or even on her pants, she felt… Like she wasn’t herself. ‘Am I losing myself? Have I already become disconnected with who I was? If I didn’t have magic… Would I have thought that my former life was fake…?’ Sunset mulled over her thoughts. It wasn’t even the first time she had questioned reality. She’d changed on the inside as well as the outside, and wasn’t sure if she was even the same pony. “Sunset! It’s time to go!” She heard her mother call from the first story of the house. Sunset sighed and grabbed her leather jacket and walked towards where the voice had come from. The drive to the mall was uneventful, excluding Sunset’s mother muttering to herself in excitement. Sunset noted that she’d never seen her mother this excited since she first met her… The mall itself was obviously large, but a lot larger than she thought. It looked around five or six stories tall, and was probably the widest building Sunset had ever seen, excluding Equestrian buildings. She’d never gone to the mall, since she had no reason to do so in the years she lived in the human world. Why go to a store if you can get everything you need from the interweb. “This brings back memories! Remember when we used to watch movies here?” Sunswirl asked. Sunset smiled slightly. “Yeah.” Lies. She’d never even gone to the movies with them. “Oh, we should do that again some time.” Sunswirl said wistfully. Sunset stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Totally. But from what I hear, the movies this month all suck.” At that, Sunswirl sighed. “Critics don’t know everything, sweetheart. Now go along and meet up with your friends!” Sunset nodded and opened the door to the volkswagen and stretched. “Have fun! Love you!” Sunset turned around. “Love you too, mom.” It was almost like a reflex, saying that. There was some meaning in it, but the feeling of love was a dull sensation at the best of times. It’d been that way since before she arrived at the human world. Sunswirl then began to drive off, and Sunset turned to look at the mall. Fluttershy and her odd click were waving at her. ‘These girls are the misfit crew… Or “Incomplete Token Club” from almost every buddy movie.’ Sunset thought. There was the popular, high society type. The jock. The quiet one. The loud one. And the… Sunset didn’t have a stereotype for Applejack, and didn’t give that much mind. She had an appearance to keep up. And a group of teens to repulse into never speaking to her again. Walking up to them, Sunset was taken out of her thought process as she was tackled by a pink blur that didn’t need to be named. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you’re coming with us!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “We can watch a movie, order smoothies, go on a slide, go swimming, shop for clothes, shop for games, shop for shoes-” “Aren’t the last ones the same?” Sunset asked, but she mostly wanted to shut the pink menace up. Rarity gasped at that. “Dear heavens! What kind of a lady doesn’t know the difference between clothes and shoes! Next you’ll be saying hats are the same as gloves!” Kind of a random outburst, but Sunset knew that the most popular girl in school besides Rainbow Dash was a fashionista. Which only made Sunset was to hang herself. “I honestly don’t need new clothes. My mom gets me my clothes-” “Oh my- I think I’m going to faint…” Rarity said as she fell into Fluttershy’s arms. The latter struggled desperately to keep her friend from falling. Sunset looked on in annoyance as Pinkie stood back up. “Where are the others? I know there are more than three of you.” “Appejack’s just finishing some work at the farm, and Rainbow’s at the arcade!” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Dashie can be impatient sometimes- let’s get going!” With that, Pinkie Pie vanished in an instant as the doors to the mall swung in and out at a speed that Sunset’s mind could hardly process. Rarity just smiled and shook her head. “That’s our Pinkie Pie. I’ll get our table set up.” Rarity added before following Pinkie’s lead, vanishing without a trace. That only left Sunset and Fluttershy standing at the entrance. Sunset stared at Fluttershy, unsure of what to do. It felt like forever until one of them spoke, and to anyone who didn’t know Sunset, they’d be surprised that Fluttershy was the first to speak up. “U-um… I’m glad that you d-decided to come today.” Fluttershy twirled with her hair. Sunset just shrugged, which was followed by more silence. Fluttershy broke it again. “L-let’s go inside.” The two entered the building, but as Sunset began to lag behind she noticed that something off. An alien tasting magic that drew her in, but not enough to direct her away. This presence made Sunset feel something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Fear. For the alien magic she felt was far stronger than hers. The only thing that prevented her from flat out freezing was that the magic’s sources didn’t seem to be moving towards her, which meant it might not have sensed her as of yet. Or it was luring her into a false sense of security. No matter which way she flipped it, she was in over her head. ‘I haven’t felt magic since… back in Equestria… is this even Equestrian magic? I’ve trained my magic senses and know what everything’s magic sources felt like, but this feeling… it’s older.’ Sunset was taken out of her thoughts as she felt Fluttershy’s hand in hers. “It’s okay, I know what it’s like to be afraid. But my friends and I are here to help.” Fluttershy smiled, which made Sunset momentarily forget why she was afraid. She nodded in understanding, even though Fluttershy’s perception on why she was afraid were misplaced. ‘Guess I should act casual, and try to locate the mage. If push comes to shove, I have my mask.’ That was until the two reached the food court, which was bigger than she imagined with way more people than she’d ever seen outside of school in one place. Though the magic Sunset felt began to grow closer. That was, until she felt someone bump into her. “Oh, I’m sorry!” The former unicorn stiffened. That voice radiated with the magic like a conduit, and every word seemed to scramble Sunset’s mind into an incoherent mess, excluding her fear receptors. Sunset turned to the owner of the voice, a young woman no older than herself with yellow skin that was soft on the eyes, orange curly hair that reached her hips, and purple eyes that felt years older than her body gave off, narrowed into a knowing yet seductive stare that complimented her menacing smirk. Besides her fast food employee attire, Sunset noticed a red pendant around her neck that seemed to glow with the alien power. “Did I scare you~?” 4. Sunday Part 2: Quiet Sirens...Coldness seeped into Adagio’s skin as her head throbbed in pain. She tried to remember her old body, the one she had before the human world, but even the reason why she was there was foggy. The only thing that was clear to her right now were six teenage girls standing on a hill, rivaling her own power at its peak. Barely. Just as things were starting to look up for her and the Dazzlings, and they were winning, a seventh rose to challenge her and a white horse made of light appeared, surrounding the seven girls in a protective bubble. While Adagio was distracted watching the forming horse before her, she failed to notice that her own avatar, a translucent orange representation of her old body, began falling apart above her like shattered glass. In Adagio’s hands, to her horror, were the shards of her heart stone. The image faded away to be replaced with the girl from before standing above her with a mocking smirk... The sound of screaming caused Adagio Dazzle to jerk awake, causing something on top of her to drag her off of the worn, blue couch she had been sleeping on. After crashing into the ground, Adagio’s eyes shot open in a glare. In front of her was her youngest sister; Sonata Dusk, grinning back at her nervously. She was wearing her pink pajama top and matching bottom. Adagio’s tired eyes stared at Sonata, before looking towards the source of the screaming… Aria Blaze, their middle sister, was watching an animated horror… thing. “Aria!” Adagio’s voice was shrill and cracked, a side effect of not wearing her pendant to “bed”. Said purple siren, wearing a light green silky set of pajamas which clashed with her off colored orange socks, jumped at the sound of her elder’s fury and paused the program. “What did I say about watching your cartoons while we’re sleeping!?” Aria groaned and rolled her eyes as if she were an angsty teenager. “It’s called anime… And maybe you shouldn’t have fallen asleep in the living room like a bunch of retards.” Adagio was less than amused with her sisters attitude. “I don’t care if you watch a show for little girls, but when I’m not at work-- whoa!” The head siren stood up shakily, causing Aria and Sonata to flinch. She then stomped towards Aria, snatched the TV remove, and proceeded to turn it off. “No ‘anime’, you hear!? Besides, Sonata looks pale.” The last sentence was more of an excuse rather than something that pertained to the current topic. While it was true that Sonata looked pale after watching the gruesome scene that was on the screen mere moments before, Adagio knew that Sonata was a horror enthusiast. Which scared her, if she were honest to herself, imagining her little airheaded sister becoming influenced by things so gruesome… She’d caught her more than once watching the likes of Scream, Halloween, Alien/s, Friday the 13th, Chucky, and many, many more. “Oh come on--!” Aria whined, but the older siren cut her off. “I have to work. Watch over the house, don’t let Sonata see anything that’d scar her, she’s already messed up as it is. And for the love of Tartarus, don’t let that weird boy near our house again! He thinks we’re aliens of all things!” Adagio said, oblivious to Aria mouthing her words as she spoke, all in a mocking and degrading manner, to which Sonata let loose a quiet giggle. Adagio looked over her shoulder to see her siblings making fun of her in their own ways and huffed once, before taking her leave. The Dazzlings lived together in a two story house with two bathrooms, two bedrooms and a master bedroom, a living room which she just exited, a garage which Sonata used for her “arts and crafts”, a backyard with a pool that wouldn’t be able to sustain the water due to numerous cracks in the concrete, A basement for laundry and whatever little projects Aria occupied her time with, and lastly, a small kitchen with only enough space for one person to cook at a time. Every siren had their own hideaway, their own chores, and their own roles. Adagio was the leader, the planner, the income, and the ‘scout’ as Aria would put it, searching for safe places to absorb magic on weekends. Aria was the enforcer, the thug who beat up anyone the trio didn’t want to waste their magic on, and kept the house running while Adagio was away. Sonata was the moral support, helping the others keep their sanity while they lived their immortal lives in their own internal and external hells, and did most of the chores around the house like cooking and cleaning. The chore part was Aria’s doing. Adagio took a moment to regain her nerves, as the nightmare had shaken her. An outsider might not have understood the fear losing one's heartstone could inspire and although it seemed silly, it was as if one dreamt about their teeth falling out. Multiplied by ten. With cancer. Well maybe not the cancer part, but if Adagio explained it that way it’d make sense in an instant. It was bad. The head siren readied herself with her standard routine. Shower, toothcare, wardrobe change and the usual. Except breakfast, that was something she skipped out on a lot, even though Sonata complained about her health. Even though she herself was careless with hers, staying up for far too long. Today was like any other… “And then, he dumped me right then and there! In front of everybody!” A woman in front of Adagio said to her companion, her voice shrill and unrelenting, like someone was dragging their nails along the top of the siren’s brain. Waving her purple hand around as she spoke, the woman ignored the waiting customers behind her in the line. They were next in line, and Adagio already felt her teeth grating along with her patience. “Welcome to Wendigo’s, may I take your order?” Adagio asked. Her day had already been taxing, so this woman was in a very bad position. “Ugh, gimme three frosties and-” Before she could continue, Adagio’s eyes turned a crimson red and a green mist swirled around her and her friend, and their eyes dulled. “Just give me your cash and go jump off a bridge.” The Siren ordered, and the two nodded. The shrill voiced one searched through her purse, and the two pulled out wads of cash which Adagio took with a smirk and put under the counter until she was done with her shift. After they were done making sure that they succeeded in their first task, the two began walking towards the exit... But the last person in line actually made her smile a bit. Rainbow Dash. “Hey, customers givin’ you a hard time?” Dash asked, leaning onto the counter. “You have no idea…” Adagio bitterly chuckled, a hollow smile adorning her lips. Rainbow didn’t entirely understand the meaning, so she continued. “So, how’s Aria been?” Rainbow asked, a genuine smile donning on hers. ‘Wow, one track mind.’ Aria and Rainbow had met a few months back, and since they were… similar, they decided to hang out from time to time. Or in their case compete, when Aria wasn’t in one of her moods. ‘Aria acts far too much like a teenager...’ Adagio thought to herself. “She’s fine, cooped up in the house.” Rainbow chuckled, though she didn’t know about why Aria was hiding, and Adagio didn’t care to rat out her sisters closet pastime to her… Frenemy? Rivend? Frienval? Adagio’s internal Sonata struggled to find a word as Rainbow spoke up. “Figures. I’ll get ahead of her one day if all she does is she lounge around all the time.” Adagio internally laughed, ‘You have no idea.’ “Of course, it’s only a matter of time.” Adagio said, but then frowned in surprise at the sight of the rest of Rainbow’s friends. “What’s the occasion?” “Fluttershy wants us to help out some girl that acts more like a clam than she does.” Rainbow Dash brushed the question off. But Adagio pressed her for information. “Fluttershy… Wanting to help someone get out of their shell?” Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Now I’ve got to meet this girl.” “She’ll be here soon, Shy is gonna wait for her-.” Rainbow turned around to gesture her animal loving friend, but found she was missing. “Huh…” Adagio looked on in mild amusement, shaking her head. “Are you going to order?” “R-right!” Rainbow shook her head in order to snap herself from her daze. “Uh, two double cheese, one baconizer, a super salad, a veggie burger, three northern swirls, two vanilla, one chocolate and… Guess that’s all.” “Not gonna’ wait for the new girl?” Adagio teased, leaned on the counter with a smug smile. ‘Humans...’ “Yeah, guess so. She can order separately.” “Maybe you should wait…” Adagio insisted, a tinge of force layering her voice. “I’ll remember your order and bring it over to your table.” “Fine, fine, guess I’ll head over to the arcade.” Rainbow grunted, waving as she walked away. Adagio gave a half hearted wave, before going back to her dull job. Minutes ticketed by, when Adagio felt something in her heart surge. “Equestrian magic…” Adagio whispered, before looking around. Most of the shoppers had gone back to their shopping, meaning the human siren was free, at least until the next rush started. Jotting down Rainbow’s order, Adagio left her post to search out this energy, grin adorning her face. She was nearing the source when she heard Fluttershy’s voice not too far away. “-know what it’s like to be afraid. But my friends and I are here to help.” Adagio turned the corner and ran right into the source of the magic. She looked familiar to Adagio, but she would put that thought away for the time being. “Oh sorry,” The girl tensed, and Adagio’s smile widened. “Did I scare you~?” The girl in front of Adagio froze up, eyes widening in a mixture of fear and surprise. ‘What a novice...’ Adagio mentally considered what to do. She had Equestrian magic in front of her, but… “Look, how’s about I make it up to you?” Adagio looked towards Fluttershy for a moment, who seemed neutral about bumping into her. “You and Fluttershy friends?” “I…” The new girl trailed off as Adagio devised her plan. However, Fluttershy spoke for the both of them. “Sh-she is.” Adagio back at Fluttershy once more. “Why didn’t you say so? Lunch is on me, for everyone.” “Oh, n-no, I couldn’t!” Fluttershy took on an alarmed expression. Adagio chuckled, amused with how open the shy girl was. While the siren wasn’t close to anyone, she did remember the people she met. Acquaintances that meant nothing to her they may have been, but the day Adagio’s mind dulled would be the day she died. “Oh come now, I’ve made enough money today. I can splurge for friends.” She nearly choked on her last word. With hesitant glances, though clearly for different reasons, Sunset and Fluttershy resigned themselves. As Adagio made her way to the counter, she started to grin maniacally. ‘The Sirens are back in business...’ “... Sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since. Hmm… Elements of Harmony. I know I’ve heard of those before, but where?” Twilight Sparkle, prized pupil of Princess Celestia, huffed. “I’m sure Sunset would’ve remembered…” Author's Note I'm sorry I made you all wait, I was having trouble deciding on what to do after this chapter. And no, that doesn't mean I'm clueless about where I want to head, I just dunno how to write slice of life scenarios. Otherwise, please tell me what you thought of this chapter. I love hearing suggestions and opinions, I just wish I got more of them. And again, I apologize for the length, but the next one will be a lot longer. I've been busy with moving and setting up my second account. Still, which would you like more? Vigilante or awkward Sunset? UpdateThis is not an indefinite hiatus. I'm kinda in a rut and would like some help editing while continuing. I'm also thinking about changing something due to having learned more about the characters. I want to change out Fluttershy for Pinkie. It's kinda weird how I thought Fluttershy would work in the role I originally pictured her in, but after Sunset's Backstage Pass and just the overall fact that Pinkie's the type of person who'd interact with Sunset... I have some major edits to do. I also suck at coming up with Slice of Life scenarios.
Prologue: Two FacedSunset stared at her feet as she walked along a sidewalk in the nastiest part of town. It was a pretty dull day for Sunset, but then again, she always had dull days, which was why nights like right now excited her. Everyone knew she was like that at school. She was the most antisocial person in school, even more so than Fluttershy, the school’s shiest girl. Now, this may have bothered Sunset… If she even cared. Trivial things like popularity weren’t on her to-do list back home, or here. She was a wolf in sheep's clothes, not a sheep in sheep’s clothes. She wouldn’t act like them, and wouldn’t follow their social “norms”. Sunset Shimmer, the once proud prodigy of Princess Celestia, Guider of the Sun and Moon, and master mage. She had all the recognition she needed of commoners. She needed more. She wanted- no, needed to be Celestia’s equal. The mirror promised her that, and so she took that opportunity. She traveled from Equestria to Earth, and found herself in an alien world. Shock had taken her. A mixture of fear and curiosity filled her in the first days. But that fear vanished soon. After a while of learning that this world was magicless, Sunset was afraid she’d have to live an an Earth Pony for the rest of her life… But as if Faust was smiling down on her, that was not the case. She had her magic, and her life’s meaning was secured. Though, after some time, the magic she had was an advantage that shook her to her core. Learning more about this world, she discerned that nothing sort of an atom bomb would be able to stop her. She felt so invigorated, she even started a cult that worshipped her, and as time passed, her interest in world domination bored her. That was something… She didn’t plan for. Her life’s goal, to be Celestia’s equal, was in her grasp. She could even rule over the world if she wanted, surpassing Celestia with but a Unicorn’s magic! But as soon as this thought occurred, it vanished. Sunset wanted to be an Alicorn, to be on Celestia’s level, yet here she was, with the power to rule a nation unopposed, truly carrying Celestia’s equal in a weaker world… But this new flavor of power tasted bitter in her mouth. What would be the point? It wasn’t long until it dawned on Sunset that ruling over a nation, let alone the world, would be daunting. Impossible. Celestia was a god, yet even she chose to rule over only one nation. And just like that, Sunset’s hopes, dreams, and goals went up in flames. She was nothing. A failure of every category. She was lost without her mentor… Her mother… Her family. She threw it all away. And for what? Something she’d realized wasn’t what she wanted? She tried returning, but the portal was closed… She was cut off by the only one she ever cared about. After some time, Sunset resigned herself to go to school. Optimism soon diminished when, the first week, some girl named Gilda threw her homework into a toilet. She wasn’t bullied, but she wasn’t welcomed. Other than Gilda’s once and awhile threats before getting expelled, it was okay… But Sunset had already shut herself in. Sleepless or nightmare filled nights caused lowered grades, even if they were only B’s and A minus’, it highly degraded Sunset’s perfectionist personality. But in the end, she was the only one who ruined her life. So, here Sunset was, a year later, bags under her eyes and always wearing a hoodie, even in-doors. The most negative person in the school. Some had tried to cheer her up. A month of Pinkie Pie begging and throwing parties drove Sunset to threatening Pinkie in ways the pinkette would understand. Another one who tried was a girl named Rarity who’d tried to give the introvert a makeover. That obviously failed. The captain of every sports team and most popular girl in school played around with Sunset, and still did. Lastly was a girl named Derpy, Ditzy, or Muffin depending on who you asked, was the only one Sunset wasn’t annoyed by. She only sat next to her during lunch and offered her muffins. The last one always confused Sunset. No matter how much she tried to analyze her, Sunset couldn’t grasp what she was like. She had decent grades, yet seemed so stupid she’d eat a plastic bag instead of her food… Then there was her name. Nobody knew it, because she’d change it daily. Even the teachers didn’t know whether or not her name were Derpy, Ditzy, or Muffin. Sunset sighed. It wasn’t an angry, annoyed, or even happy sigh. It was indifferent. Which perfectly described what she thought of the rest of the school. CHS was full of… Oddballs, to say the least. A few whispered behind her back, mostly new students, but there were some that just made fun of her behind her back. “What’s wrong with her?” A boy once asked, unaware Sunset had heightened her hearing to listen in. “That’s Sunset Shimmer, the weird girl. She’s got zero friends and is such a grouch, I heard she made Pinkie Pie stay away from her.” A senior replied. Another time three girls whispered in barely hushed voices as Sunset passed by. “Oh look, it’s Ms. Lonesome’s wandering the halls. What a freak.” One girl said. “I know, I wouldn’t go ten feet of that putrid weirdo.” Another replied. She did care. Her feelings were hurt, but she didn’t want to bother talking to anyone or spend the energy. Shimmer sighed again, this time one of exhaustion. She was in the downtown Canterlot district, a littered place to be. The buildings weren’t as tall as Uptown’s were, but they were more humble. Though if anyone new tried to take the back alleys like Sunset did, getting lost in the maize-like designs was the least of one’s trouble… And she had not yet found what she was looking for… Still... But she did find it almost an hour later, when she saw two guys with dark skin and blue eyes. The Changeling gang. Filled with monsters of all forms. They wore leather jackets and matching pants, with heavy looking boots. Sunset could see that they were carrying poorly concealed guns. From where Sunset was, she could tell they were handguns, but unfortunately Sunset wasn’t a gun expert, so she couldn’t name them. She did however notice that one was a shiny silver while the other looked like what a Police Officer would wield. Sunset walked up to them, hands in her pockets. One of the Changelings noticed her and drew his gun, alerting the other to her presence. Quickly looking, Sunset saw that three more Changelings were clearing out a container and loading up a truck. “Get outta here before ah pop one in ya!” The first Changeling, the one with a silver gun said in a threatening manner, pointing his gun at her sideways… It didn’t scare Sunset, though. “You’re holding that thing the wrong way…” Sunset warned, and in a moment, she rushed him and wrapped one of her pocketed armed around his armed one, leaned away as he fired, and a golden shell shot out and hit the Changeling in the face, burning him. The second Changeling fired, but Sunset cast a spell on herself to move faster, and moved out of the way, opening the Changeling to the bullet. It punctured his chest, ripping through his heart and causing him to go limp, dropping the gun. The second Changeling stared, mouth agape. But soon, he was pulled out of his shock by a shower of bullets. The three Changelings loading the car had pulled their own guns out and shot, hoping to kill their attacker. However, she jumped behind the second Changeling goon, riddling him with lead. The three stood still for a long while, waiting to be attacked again. Finally, after what felt like forever, two of the three nodded towards the third, signaling him to move forward. The third did as such, walking towards the exit, before jumping out into the open, looking left and right. After a few seconds of nothing, he turned back to the other two before the ground below him glowed. In a split second, and explosion rang out, knocking the remaining two to the ground. One of them opened their eyes, only for Sunset to be right there, smiling sadistically at him. She placed her hand on his head, and a searing pain caused him to scream in agony. The last Changeling groaned, sitting up and turning to his comrade, only to be horrified at what he saw… His face had melted right off, and the lone girl was somehow the cause of this. “Wh-who are you!?” He hadn’t even seen her face. “I’m the Bane of Changelings… Tell that to your boss, grunt.” And with that, Sunset vanished. This was her new purpose. And she loved it. Author's Note Thank you for reading my story. I'd like to thank Mr. Grizzly, Shadowgod3211, and Pen the Dragon. I just realized that I forgot to save after I remembered who the helpers Fimfic names were.
1. A Very (Un)Typical Day In The Life Of SunsetBeep… Beep… Bee- Sunset flicked her wrist, sending a small fire ball at her alarm clock, causing it to explode in a spray of fireworks. Sunset smiled to herself. Everything was right with the world. Shree!!! Sunset jolted up to the sound of her smoke detector going off. She looked around rapidly before seeing that what was left of her alarm clock was ablaze. She instantly created a bubble around the fire, her magic’s reddish glow putting her at ease as the fire dimmed due to lack of oxygen. Dispersing the bubble when she was certain the fire was out and taking a moment to compose herself, Sunset thanked whatever being was watching over her that her parents went to work early in the morning. She looked around her room, taking in the blue carpet, white painted walls without a poster to be seen, and a mess that anyone sane would call as hazardous as a stray lego made her concede to the thought that it looked like it belonged to a boy. In that split second, Sunset ran towards her personal bathroom, which while small in size was directly connected to her room, and found herself at the toilet. They weren’t her parents. They were her doppelganger's parents. There was a pain in her chest as Sunset vomited bile and whatever dinner hadn’t digested from the other night. She nearly sobbed at the pain, both physical and emotional. This was what her mornings were like. Wake up, realize she was living a lie, and then do her best not to break down and cry due to the pain her arrival two and a half years ago caused… After getting over herself, Sunset stood up and washed up. She cleaned herself up, but decided against taking a shower. ‘I took one yesterday… And who’s gonna notice?’ Sunset had thought. However, it’d been two days since she’d showered. In truth, she wanted her outward appearance to match how she saw herself, at least on the inside. Soon after, Sunset made her way downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She nearly tripped halfway down the stairs, but caught herself on the wooden railing. Causing a hiss of discomfort to escape her lips as her entire weight was held by one arm that had been thoroughly exercised the previous night… Which had been the first time in weeks she’d used that arm as anything but a paperweight. Her arm that much sorer than even two minutes before, she continued as she made her way into the kitchen. She looked in the fridge, before checking all the cupboards. Both of which were fully stocked on everything her parents usually got. ‘There’s nothing worth eating here… Guess I’ll grab something at school.’ She told herself, but knew deep down she wasn’t willing to eat, no matter what it was. After her decision to forsake breakfast, Sunset decided what to wear. She was getting sick of wearing hoods all the time. She started being called things akin to ‘creepy hermit’ among others when her classmates thought she was out of earshot, which had done nothing positive for her confidence. She found the clothes she had come to this world in. A violet t-shirt with her former Cutie Mark on it. ‘A mark of shame and of failure.’ An orange skirt with yellow and violet stripes to the left, side by side. ‘Showing weakness and that since every other girl is doing it, I might as well clamp down and do as they do.’ Black, low heeled hooker boots with purple marking at the front. ‘Terrible for gym class- wait, I have a change of shoes in my gym locker… Um… Very heavy and hurts to walk. Easy to trip in.’ And lastly, a black leather jacket. ‘Makes me look edgy… Guys like this crap, right?’ At that thought, Sunset shuddered. She decided to pack her hoodie in case she decided to change her mind. After getting everything ready, including donning her simple black backpack. It was a good five years old, Her double had bought it and Sunset couldn’t get rid of it. With that, Sunset opened the door to her house… And immediately regretted it. Her eyes suffered the burning of the outside world’s sun. She toughed it out and exited her two story home in the suburbs a bit outside of Canterlot City. At the end of the driveway was a red bike. Shimmer walked over and unhooked it from the lamppost it was chained to, before hopping on… And promptly fell on her side, scraping her knee badly enough to stain the sidewalk. Sunset hissed in pain, tears threatening to leak as the teenager kicked the bike off of her before getting up. She’d continuously tried riding her bike, but she’d never gotten to the point where it would move before she fell over. In the past, however, she always had jeans to lessen the blow. She sighed, pulling out her water bottle and pouring a bit of it over her wound and rubbed at it. If she had to walk she’d rather do it without bits of cement lodged in her knee. With that in mind, Sunset began making her way to school. It wasn’t too far, but it was far enough to rather take a ride. Around four miles… And she had two hours before she was late. On the way, Sunset popped in earbuds from her MP3 Player and pressed the ‘Play’ button. Needless to say, Sunset didn’t make it. Missing school wasn’t a first for Sunset. It wasn’t overly uncommon, but it wasn’t constant enough to get her parents involved. The bacon haired girl sighed as she walking into the school. No one was around, so that meant they were all in class. She’d just prepare to go to the next class and avoid the current one. Sunset waited by the door to her classroom while fading in and out of consciousness. Sunset was then woken from one of her short naps by a ringing bell, and stood up. Just as she was on her feet, the door to her right opened and students poured out of the classroom. She acted like she had just come out, but it wasn’t like she was even noticed. She found herself nearly falling asleep in math and language studies, her second and third periods, she had a bad feeling about her fourth period, geography, though she couldn’t for the life of her explain why. Once she arrived, she noticed that she wasn’t the first to arrive. Inside the classroom was the school’s resident shy girl, Sunset wasn’t part of that competition, she wasn’t shy, she just didn’t like people. As it was, Sunset didn’t even know the girl’s name, and this was their only class together. Though Sunset avoided human contact whenever possible, this afforded her the time to sharpen her observation skills. ‘She’s shy, but very feminine. She seems awkward, yet during lunch she’s graceful and perfectly fine talking to her friends. There must not be any of her friends in this class, or I’m over thinking a girl sitting alone in a classroom minutes before class actually begins.’ Sunset knew people.Often better than they knew themselves. Not needing to converse with others gave her a chance to study body language and simple human behavior. There wasn’t too much she needed to learn in school, so it was more to see how humans acted. Sunset had chosen a seat across the room from the notoriously shy girl, where she had a plain beige wall, the girl got a window seat. Sunset was fine with it, of course. It was still in the far back, but was safe from the teacher, as the less sunlight there was, the less likely she would be seen. And recently, there had been many more storms rolling in. Though this wasn’t the only reason she chose the plain wall. Less eyes looked to the wall than the beautiful outside world. Even she, a shut in with no enjoyment for nature, liked looking at it from a distance. Sunset made her way to her desk, before sitting down. But as she was about to face the teacher's desk, the other girl turned her head to Sunset… And proceeded to gasp in shock at the scabbed over wound on Sunset’s leg. The same, untreated injury that Sunset had gotten because of her bike and poor choice in clothes. The girl rushed to Sunset’s side, climbing over desks to get to her faster, however only proving to slow the poor pinkette in her determined dash. Sunset stared at her in complete and utter confusion. “Oh my goodness! What happened!?” Fluttershy squeaked out. Sunset’s eyes widened. Outside of her family, this had been the first person to initiate a conversation. Let alone in such a… Caring manner.‘This… This can’t be happening. She’s the shyest girl in school! Why would she start a conversation with me!? Think Sunset, think!’ “Uh…” Sunset croaked out. Clearly something was wrong with her, she didn’t know why or how, but something was wrong because she found herself unable to speak. Unable to utter even a sentence. A word. Sunset resorted to gulping to try to clear her throat of the spider’s web in her mouth. “Oh you poor dear! Here, let me take care of your leg.” Fluttershy pulled up her backpack and unloaded it onto Sunset’s desk. There were numerous medical supplies and textbooks, as well as homework assignments just tossed onto it. She grabbed a bottle of disinfectant, a tiny bag of cotton balls, and a roll of gauze. She dipped the cotton in the disinfectant, before applying it to Sunset’s wound. The bacon haired girl hissed out in pain, gritting her teeth as she squeezed her chair. “S-sorry…” Sunset shook her head, indicating it was nothing. Once Fluttershy was done cleaning the wound, she blowed on it to dry the cleaning liquid, before applying the roll of tan gauze to her injured leg. “There, all better.” She said. Sunset was shocked beyond words. Until she finally wasn’t. “Th-thanks…” “Don’t mention it. You’d do the same if I was the one that was hurt, right?” Sunset wanted to reply with a ‘no’, but thought against it. “Sure… Though I don’t normally carry a first aid kit in my backpack” She half lied. If someone was hurt, Shimmer would ignore them. It wasn’t her problem. If she saw Fluttershy with a bloody leg, she wouldn’t bother the girl… “Well, I’m Fluttershy… I don’t believe we’ve ever, umm… Met…” It seemed to slowly dawn on Fluttershy that she was talking to a stranger. Even if Sunset knew every single student by name, which she couldn’t be bothered with anyway, that didn’t mean that everyone knew Fluttershy. “My name’s… Sunset Shimmer. I’m not a people person...” “Oh, you’re Sunset? I heard that you were kidna-” Fluttershy stopped, her eyes widening in horror at what she’d said. “Oh… I-I’m so sorry for bringing it up!” Sunset winced at the memory. “It’s fine… It happened years ago…” Sunset responded, trying to wave away the other girl’s concern It didn’t seem to ease the shy girl. She looked like she felt guilty. “Um, d-do you think we could hang out sometime?” That… Shocked Sunset even more than Fluttershy approaching her. “Oh, n-no thanks.” “I- I wanna make it up to you… Please…?” Fluttershy begged, looking to the ground. ‘Honestly, you leaving me alone would be apology enough… I can’t say yes. She might want to make fun of me… People are all the same… But I can’t say no… Maybe I say yes, and say that we can meet up in two weeks, then ignore her until then, and hopefully she’ll forget… It’s a Tuesday, so if I say we can-’ Sunset’s thought process was cut short when Fluttershy spoke. “Umm… A-are you okay? If you don’t mind me asking, that is…” At that, Sunset donned an unnatural grin. “I’m fine. And sure, I’ll hang out with you.” At that, Fluttershy smiled. “O-okay! We’ll meet at the Canterlot Mall this Saturday.” With that, Fluttershy donned an all too natural, excited grin, as well as a faint blush which struck Sunset as odd. The “shy” girl then pushed all of her stuff back into her bag with a swipe of her hand. After that, she ran back to her desk just as students began pouring in. ‘Dear Celestia, what did I just get myself into…?’ Fluttershy squealed to herself, the sound barely above a whisper as she walked out of fourth period and towards the lunch room. She was lighter than air. She sat with her friends as usual, Rainbow Dash and Rarity greeting her arrival. “Ah said ‘no’, Pinkie! Ah’m not letting ya babysit Apple Bloom!” Applejack, the southern blond, and most hard working person Fluttershy knew seethed, glaring at the bubbly pink girl that was Pinkie. Pinkamena Diane Pie sighed. “C’mon AJ! I need some practice if I’m going to babysit the twins when they’re born!” Fluttershy recalled the week Pinkie threw a party in honor of Mrs. Cake getting pregnant. Pinkie was, is, and most likely will be excited about the twins for the foreseeable future. They were due any day after all. “Babysit Angel Bunny then, that’d give you a good test dummy.” Rainbow Dash, one of the most popular girls in CHS, and captain of almost every sports team on campus, said. “I’d rather you not, actually.” Fluttershy spoke up, and instantly every eye turned to her. “Uh… D-did I say something b-bad? I’m sorry…” “Oh heaven’s no darling!” Rarity, the fashionista of the group said. “It’s just that… You seem excited. And a smidge more bold.” Fluttershy stared at Rarity until she registered what she was talking about. “Oh… I… Finally started a conversation with someone on my own.” There was silence for a moment, and in that amount of time Fluttershy began to doubt herself, until Rainbow Dash vice gripped Fluttershy in a hug. “Our little Fluttershy’s growing up!” Pinkie sobbed in an over exaggerated manner, leaping on the both of them to join their hug. Fluttershy wanted to point out that she was a year older than the party obsessed girl, but decided against it. “It seems those weekly visits with Dr. Discord have really helped.” Rarity said, gushing as she watched her shy friend try to wiggle out of Pinkie’s grip, with little success. “There’s… A bit more…” Fluttershy said, looking down. “The person I talked to was Sunset Shimmer...” The group went quiet as the implications of that last sentence took form in their minds. Author's Note Thanks to Mr. Grizzly and my new savior Kamachakta for proof reading, and to the latter editing my story.
2. NightfallSunset groaned, she was shaking violently. She felt wrong. Her body felt… Bigger… Longer. There were parts of her body missing, and new parts added. This was shocking to her, fear turning her gut upside down. It felt like she was dying, that she’d come close more than once. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours, and Sunset didn’t move. The pain, though, wasn’t the reason for her fear. What was, was magic. She didn’t feel any magic around her. Her special talent was useless. She was dead weight now. Nothing. The reason her mother- Celestia saved her from that damned orphanage wasn’t around her. She was lost. After an unknown amount of time passed, she felt someone tap her back. She was terrified. Uncurling from her fetal position, she looked up at whoever has tapped her only to come face to face with somepony that looked familiar… It was another Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer, protege of Princess Celestia, formerly all powerful Unicorn and scientific genius was beyond confused. This was impossible. It was beyond impossible. Nothing could’ve prepared her for any of it. “You couldn’t save me, sister…” The other Sunset said, and a wave of sorrow surged through the former Unicorn. “Celestia was right about you… You’re not ready.” The world around them morphed and altered to a point where nothing was recognisable. And the other Sunset, the former unicorn could only watch as her double’s chest exploded outward with blood, with an arm forced through her chest. The protege looked on in horror as the other fell to the ground, revealing another human looming over the two Sunset’s. Her eyes green and slitted like a dragon, hair an oxford blue, and her skin an ash grey where it wasn’t painted crimson. Sunset jerked awake when her chin hit the cold wood of her desk as the bell rang. The fiend who had so rudely awoken her was none other than Cirrus Cloud, one hand still above Sunset’s desk, where she had knocked the hand she was leaning on to wake her up. “Hey demon, class is over.” Cirrus said, glaring at the tired girl. This was another thing Sunset had to deal with, beyond her nightmares and the rather cruel whispers directed at her. The students of a few of her classes were jealous that she was able to “skip” through her classes. She only suffered in a few areas, as she’d already learned about things like science, math, a few languages that were used by Zebras, griffons and Minotaurs back in Equestria, and advanced thaumatic manipulation as Celestia’s student. She could understand their jealousy, quite thoroughly actually. What escaped her was why that jealousy came to form as hostility towards her. She accepted the beatings, of course. Hitting them back would do nothing except further cement her position as the outcast, if that was possible at this point. As her oppressors weren’t past the confusing days of puberty, and thus she knew that anything they might learn wouldn’t stick… Most of the time. Cirrus, meanwhile, snickered at Sunset’s emotionless gaze. The girl was wearing all black, a pair of spiked bracelets and collar. She had a green and blue mohawk with black ends, as well as a triplicate of earrings in her left ear, two studs and a small gold hoop that matched the one in her nose. “Demon’s a new one…” Sunset said dryly, and in a way Cirrus couldn’t understand as sarcasm or just plain boredom. This annoyed Cirrus to the point that she just left the room, leaving only Sunset and the teacher, Mr. Donkey, who went out of his way to ignore any student’s he came across outside of class hours. The groggy teenager looked at the palm of her hand for a bit as she absentmindedly packed her bag with the other. She couldn’t help but remember her first day on Earth. It started bad, having just run away from from the only pony to show her love, but gradually got better after she was… Sunset cleared her head before that line of thought went any further, standing up and walking out of the classroom. She’d put on her hoodie after the encounter with Fluttershy earlier, and so already had her hood up for the trek out of the school. The day of torture was over, leaving Sunset mentally worrying about the upcoming weekend. ‘Should I cancel? I really shouldn’t have said yes… What am I going to do!? I can’t socialize, I’ll be tired for my raid on the new nightclub run by that changeling guy... Kevin? Yeah, Kevin…’ As Sunset mulled over the possible ways she could horribly screw herself over with her schedule and plans, overbooking herself with the new additions to it, she hadn’t noticed the two girls stealthily following her. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, decked out in Pinkie’s patented ‘ultra sneaky ninja disguises of awesome’ were following Sunset in the hopes of finding out the girl’s master plan towards their friend. Sunset had no idea the terror they’d unleash should she take one misstep, or mumble the wrong thing as she pondered her situation. Sunset’s walk home was simple for her. She stopped by a lemonade stand and bought a cup of said refreshment for a quarter, from a kid she’d come to expect to be there every day as she was on her way home. She helped a lady with her groceries, spending quite a while picking up and carrying an array of canned and fresh foods, getting $15 she’d spent a good ten minutes trying to refuse, before going to a nearby park and sitting at a bench to listen to music in peace, in an attempt to relax after spending that much time being in contact with another being. But before she pressed play, she heard the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie scream out at her. “Hurry up!” This caused Sunset to turn in the direction, but saw no one there. She narrowed her eyes before putting her MP3 player away, any thought of relaxing thoroughly banished to the back of her mind for the time being. She stood up and started to make her way home. On her way, she picked up the sound of footsteps on the pavement behind her, always around a corner or behind an obstacle, and always behind her no matter how many ‘wrong’ turns she made. She was being followed, and she didn’t like it. Pretending to continue her walk home to make time to come up with a plan to lose her pursuers, an idea came to her as she passed an alley. Continuing on her way until she came across another, this one ending in a 20 foot brick wall and was populated by a few stereotypical green painted dumpsters and some trash cans. Passing the entrance to the alley, and stopping at the other corner of the opening she looked around, her head swiveling in an attempt to look as suspicious as possible before she ducked into the alley and broke into a sprint, quickly ducking behind a dumpster Sunset began weaving a spell significantly more complicated than her usual fireballs or levitation, having finished it just as the pair of stalkers crossed the threshold of the alley. In an instant, Sunset Shimmer vanished in a colorless transportation spell. She opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom, sitting on her bed. Once she affirmed that she wasn’t hallucinating because of a misfire Sunset went through the house, making sure that neither her parents or stalkers were there before she took off her hoodie to get herself into her usual casual clothes. One look at the pile she’d left them in however, had Sunset groaning. ‘Thank Celestia I decided to try a new look today and not just wear these to school, there’s blood all over them... With how late I stayed out last night, I would have too.’ Sunset applied a quick cleaning spell to the pile before sighing and getting herself dressed in her usual clothing. She needed something to cover her face, like a balaclava or a hockey mask. She couldn’t keep relying on shadows and the element of surprise to keep her face off the changeling’s, or authorities, radar. As well, she needed to stop leaving her ‘slip ups’ around the house, on the off chance her parents come home before school lets out and she has a chance to clean up. ‘Even with as little they’re here, they care. And I’m not sure how I’d explain a pile of bloodstained clothes to them without landing myself in a heap of trouble.’ Putting that thought out of her mind for now and deciding to get on with solving at least one of her issues tonight, Sunset pulled out her Android and opened the browser, before typing ‘Amazon’ in the search bar’. Coming to the site, she browsed the masks section until she saw something that interested her. She found a silver mask, smooth, shiny, and featureless beyond its reflective qualities, it still allowed the wearer to see without giving away a single detail of their face, it was perfect. It was also very cheap $5 plus shipping and handling. It was simple, light, and effective. She decided to purchase it. After her shopping was complete, Sunset sat on the floor of her room cross legged. On the blue carpet were symbols that were invisible to the untrained eye. They were stained oh so carefully into the carpet by magic. The runes glowed as Sunset closed her eyes, concentrating on pulling mana out of the circle surrounding her as fast as possible, without burning it out or hurting herself. In this world, magic was almost nonexistent. Unlike in Equestria, the magic on Earth wasn’t seeped into everything. Instead, it came from key points that could replenish magic. Sunset came to referring to these as Outlets. Her magic could restore itself on its own, but it takes hours or even days depending on how much magic she used. Thankfully for Sunset, she’d read up on an enchantment that could absorb and store ambient magic to replenish a pony whose magic had been severed from the world of Equestria. This wasn’t what they meant it for. The purpose originally was in case of an event like Tirek happened again. It acted as a way to turn up the water, metaphorically speaking, or in the event that Tirek were to return, it’d allow ponies to regain their magic. It worked wonders in a world without magic, however, and it even could be used as an amplifier, though it’d be useless for anything but enchanting as it wasn’t mobile. Something she’d found out the hard way as simply compressing the runes doesn’t work, the storage capacity of the circle being relative to the size of it.Meaning any circles small enough to carry with her would be about the magical equivalent of AAA batteries and while they would recharge, it’d take two just to provide the amount of magic needed to cast one spell, and a weak one at that. Getting to her feet when she felt her magic had been completely recharged Sunset let a smile come across her face when she realized her magic had grown a marginal amount. Even at this rate her power would continue to grow, and as soon as she was able, she would destroy the Changelings in one fell swoop. They would fear the Blacksun, no matter what Fluttershy did to her schedule. “Drats!” Rainbow snapped her fingers in aggravation. “Sunset’s a slippery one, ain’t she?” Pinkie looked dejected. “Aww, I’ve been waiting to make friends with Sunset for five-ever!” Rainbow gave her friend a confused stare, before realizing what she meant. “Oh… Well, she doesn’t make that easy. Wonder how Fluttershy did it and not me and you.” “It’s ‘you and I, Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie said, a laugh escaping her when she saw Rainbow giving her a deadpanned glare. “Like I give a crap about grammar.” Dash replied, almost venomously. Pinkie rolled her eyes, amused at Dash’s statement. “So this is why you failed english~” Pinkie Pie teased, causing Rainbow Dash’s face to light up pink. “Shut up!” Rainbow snapped at the energetic girl, who skipped her way out of the alley. “That teacher was so boring he put me to sleep, it’s almost like he was trying to fail me.” “Whatever you say Dashie~” Pinkie said in a teasing tone. Rainbow Dash just sighed at that. “You have something we can do?” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Well, I told Vinyl I’d help her with a party at her place. And stalking Sunset up till now is cutting it pretty close to when I said I’d be there.” “We weren’t stalking Sunset, we were finding out where she lives so we could grab her before she gets to Fluttershy next weekend.” Rainbow then pointed out. “Oh! I know where she lives! We were heading the wrong way.” Pinkie said, grinning. Rainbow’s eye twitched. “What…?” “Yeah, you just kinda grabbed me from out of the blue- er, cyan, and I thought you were playing ‘find the ninjas’ with Sunset!” At that, Rainbow felt a wave of anger wash over her. She wanted oh so much to knock Pinkie’s teeth in, but knew better than to hurt her friends. It wasn’t even her fault. The head of the sports club sighed. “Let’s just… Head to Vinyl’s place…” With that, the two made their way to Vinyl’s house. “This is Vinyl’s place!?” Rainbow gasped, jaw dropping. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were inside a luxurious apartment that was bigger than both of their houses… Combined. It was clean, and white to a shiny degree, the furniture didn’t look a day old, and everything had a gold tint. “Yeah, Vinyl’s parents are super rich, something about being descended from old nobility that managed to keep their money..” Pinkie replied with a shrug. “She’s also super good with machines. She told me that she’s trying to make a transforming car!” Rainbow was at a loss for what to say. “We have the most bizarre student body ever…” “I dunno, Crystal Prep’s pretty weird.” Pinkie shot back slyly, only for Rainbow to shake her head. “No, I mean we have a wide array of weirdos. All of their weirdos are the same.” Pinkie nodded to that, agreeing. “Anyways, where’s Vinyl?” “Probably at her job.” “Job?” Rainbow asked, picking up a box at the door that Pinkie and her had brought up. “Isn’t she already super rich?” “She is.” Pinkie didn’t elaborate, which only confused Rainbow even more. Though she wanted to she didn’t press any further, she knew better than to push when Pinkie wasn’t completely open about something. “So… Why have I never heard of any parties going on here before?” Dash asked, changing the subject as she moved the box in her hands over to place on a seat. “Because Vinyl’s parents are always home, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “I’m setting up the party early!” “Early…?” Rainbow asked, confused. “Well… I’ll explain as we get everything ready.” Pinkie said, grinning from ear to ear. Dash never liked it when Pinkie had her devious grin on. Sunset sighed as she made her way out of her house, stopping to pet the blue husky laying on the livingroom couch. “I’ll be back, Ember.” Sunset stated as the red eyed dog looked away, as if she didn’t want to act sad that Sunset was leaving. Sunset knew she was a caring dog. She assumed that was why her parents had hired a dog sitter to take her in the weekdays. “Don’t worry girl, I won’t be long.” She assured, before exiting the house, turning left, and getting on her way down the sidewalk. Soon to be consumed in her thoughts again as she went. Ember hadn’t been staying there all that long. Her ‘brother’ had found the dog around a year ago and Ember had been living there ever since. Needless to say, she never liked him, but she was glad he brought Ember home. Even if he just dumped Ember on his folks and her before skipping the country to go to school in Germany. Exchange programs never made sense to Sunset, moving in general baffled her. Sunset had come to a decision concerning her wardrobe earlier that day, she was going to switch back into her normal clothing while at school. She supposed that the change in wardrobe might’ve eased Fluttershy into talking with her, which she’d scold herself for later when she was having dinner, but that was also a primary reason she was doing so, she wanted to change her look not get a social obligation the same day she was busy with… Things. Sunset grumbled to herself as she hid her face behind a black bandanna. Until her mask arrived she’d be stuck using one of her mother’s bandannas, specifically the one she’d never seen the woman wear… Thinking about that caused Sunset a bit of discomfort, knowing that she was using something of her mother’s to fight crime. It was beyond embarrassing too. What kind of vigilante has to borrow their mask from their mom? Minutes later, a thought occurred to Sunset. ‘I should get a voice synthesizer… I’ve seen them work in TV shows… I wonder if they’re usable in real life. Or if one would fit under a mask if they are. If not, I can always enchant this bandanna and wear it under the mask.’ She thought. However, in her deep thought, she hadn’t noticed she’d reached her destination. A Changeling hideout. It was a five story high hotel that had seen better days. It was of historic importance, as it was supposedly the second oldest building in Canterlot City besides the old Asylum a bit south, meaning it wouldn’t be torn down anytime soon. And the Changelings had defiled it ever since Mayor Mare announced that it would be a museum. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be for a long time. “Hey! Th’hell ya think you’re doin’? Ya should be on the east side with the other blac-” The Changeling guard began but was cut off by a loss of breath due to a teal ring of magic tightening around his neck, a matching glow surrounding Sunset’s hand. “Do I look like a changeling to you…?” Sunset asked in a distorted voice thanks to the spell she’d cast a little while before, in lieu of an enchanted bandana or a voice synthesizer. Her magic was really handy for that sort of thing on short notice. She then used a magically reinforced fist to collapse the grunt’s ribcage, puncturing his lungs and dropping him to the ground as he continued choking, this time on his own blood. Slightly curious how long the Grunt would last while simultaneously suffocating and losing blood, Sunset timed him. He didn’t last long. ‘Celestia damn it, how long is it going to take if I keep using my hands!? I’ll run out of magic long before I-’ Sunset’s train of thought halted when she noticed that the Changeling she had just killed was armed. ‘Hmm… I’m not trained in the use of guns, nor do I have the wrist strength to take the recoil.’ Sunset sighed. “Can’t be harder than laser tag if I use my magic to counter the kickback…” She then steeled herself as she took the gun. Judging by what her uncle had told her about such things, it was a 9mm pistol though she didn’t know enough to tell the exact model just by looking. It is an extremely common caliber of gun, making it just as common at crime scenes.‘I guess it helps to have a talkative uncle that works for the police department…’ The mage then cast a simple “seatbelt” enchantment. It was a spell of her own making based off of human seatbelts, which Sunset thought could come in handy if she ever fell from a far too high building, or something of the like. After a few simple adjustments, her enchantment was ready. “Here goes nothing…” Sunset remarked, before taking a deep breath and opening the door. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed, lovely reader. Please comment your thoughts, positive, negative, or just memes that convey your feelings.
3. Sunday Part 1: MorningsSunset panted as she galloped along the streets of Canterlot, a horrified look adorning her face. The filly was not having a good morning. Her training in the art of summoning had been an illuminating experience. She had, however, forgotten to go to sleep the night before, leaving her worn out come morning… The day before the entry exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she’d trained far too hard, having been excited about giving the judges a show of power. This was her chance to set herself up for a life devoted to magic. Sunset gasped as she came to a halt outside of a tall building. Her sudden stop didn’t save her from colliding with the front door. After shaking off the impact, Sunset pulled the door open with magic and rushed inside. A stallion with a grey coat and a black mane smiled as she entered. “Five floors up, third door to the left.” He said in a soft, kind manner. Sunset nodded and thanked him before following his instructions. By the time she’d reached the room, there was only three foals in front of her in the line. “What are you doing young filly? Sign up ended a half hour ago!” An elderly mare scolded. She seemed to have a sight problem since she was wearing glasses and constantly squinting as if she were struggling to identify a microscopic particle with her naked eye. “I was running late. My alarm didn’t wake me up-” Sunset defended herself, but the mare simply snapped back. “If you don’t have a name tag, then you don’t get in!” The filly glared daggers at the elder mare. “That’s unfair! I deserve to go in, you hag!” Sunset seethed. The mare gasped at that. “Years from now ponies will know my name throughout Equestria! Sunset Shimmer!” “What an arrogant child. Thank Celestia you didn’t arrive on time or you might have bothered the actual prodigies...” The elder mare replied, scowling. Sunset was shaking in pure hatred. As soon as the mare left, Sunset looked at the pony in front of hers name tag and let her horn flare up with her magic. She’d show that pompous mare. The orange filly conjured a blank tag onto her chest, before trotting over to a table in the corner and pulled out a marker. A devilish grin forming on her face. “Eventide Lustful” then returned to the line. She didn’t want the bat eyed mare to recognize when the judges called her by name. She was going to shine… Saturday Night Sunset blankly stared at her screen as she sat in her living room, watching a cutscene to a video game she was playing. Even though “playing” was a generous term. “Sunset darling! Dinner’s ready!” Sunset heard her mother call from the kitchen. Sunset paused the game. “Kay mom!” Sunset shouted in reply as she set her controller down and stood up. She made her way to the dining room and was met with her father who was seated in a chair at the end of the table. He was a tall man with light yellow skin, his hair a mixture of orange and brilliant tangelo, done up in a mohawk-like fashion, and had soft eyes of a greyish persian blue. “How’s school been coming along, sweetheart?” Her father, Sunspot, asked. Unlike her mother, her father only got to see her on weekends. He was a busy man, often sacrificing personal time to run his company, and Sunset respected him for that. “It’s been fine…” Sunset replied as she took her seat at Sunspot’s right. “So I was thinking that tomorrow, your mother and I would treat you to a day that the three of us-” Sunspot excitedly began. Ember suddenly barked, interrupting him. “And Ember could go hiking on the Everfree trail.” Sunset stared at him for a moment. ‘Oh no…’ She thought. She loved her family, but her parents could run three marathons before realizing that she was still collapsed at the starting line. Before she could freak out, she suddenly remembered. “Uh… Actually, I had plans.” “What could be more important than spending time with your parents?” Sunset’s mother, a woman barely an inch taller than Sunset with brilliant orange skin, hair with two different shades of moderate vermilion, and lime greenish gray eyes piped in. She walked over to the table carrying a steaming pot of spaghetti. She set it down on a hot pad and went to take her own seat. “I was invited to go to the mall...” Sunset grumbled. Before she realized it, her mother was crushing her in a bear hug. “Yes! My baby girl has friends! Who are they, how many people are in their circle, what are they like? Are they nice? Are they your age? They better not do drugs or smoke. If they pressure you, you come to me, understand?” “Mom… Stop… I can’t breath…” Sunset grunted, before her mother let her go. Sunswirl had a goofy grin, as did Sunspot as they waited for an answer. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the dog was smiling at her too. “It’s not that big of a deal… Her name’s Fluttershy, just four or so, I don’t know, I’m sure, yes, pretty sure they don’t, and I know mom.” Sunset replied to her mom’s question. “Ohh! I’m just so excited! These’ll be your first friends! I was so worried that you’d end up alone, but here you are making friends! This is such a big step!” Sunswirl squealed, her grin morphing into an ear splitting smile. Sunset just stared at her mother. “Mom… They’re just people…” Sunswirl glared at her daughter. “With that attitude that’ll be the case. Just to make sure you go, I’ll have your father drive you there tomorrow… Then I’ll pick you up and you can introduce me to your new friends… Okay?” There was an undertoning threat in her voice. Sunswirl may not have had magic, but she could use the ‘mom voice’ just as well as Celestia. And Sunset had yet to find any sort of defense against it, magical or otherwise. “Okay, mom.” “Wonderful! Now, let’s have dinner!” Sunswirl’s glare dissipated almost instantaneously, replaced by her normal motherly smile, if not a bit bigger due to her excitement. Needless to say, dinner was a time for Sunset to suffer from anxiety. ‘Ugh, how am I going to hit the nightclub now?’ Sunset’s thoughts were, however, interrupted by a sudden noise on the other side of the room. Mounted on the wall across from her was a small TV her father had set up so he, and the rest of the family, could watch the news during meals. The noise in question being the jingle the channel plays every time it switches to a new topic, catching the attention of all three of them. “This week, the Mainfair Hotel was the epicenter of a large bloody massacre. Twenty-four dead, and three injured. It’s assumed that the Mainfair Motel was the headquarters of Changelings. One of the survivors is stated to have claimed that ‘the Blacksun was responsible’, but are currently in a coma and are unable to comment further. We’ll get back to this next week. Mayor Mare has stated that the attacks are barbaric and will be investigated further. Back to you, Bucker.” Sunspot turned the television off. “If you ask me, they deserve what they got.” Sunset’s father grit his teeth in anger. Sunswirl gave him an understanding, sympathetic look. “They hurt our baby girl. This Blacksun deserves a medal!” Sunset sunk in her seat as she began to sneak Ember little treats. ‘They did more than hurt her…’ After that, dinner was silent. It was as if there was no one living left. Sunset stood at the side of her bed, staring at her new mask. A one sided silver mask with no way to see the wearers features if they wore a hood or something that’d hide ones hair. Sunset had cast an enchantment on the mask, giving it her own flair. Whenever she came into contact with the mask, the silver would turn red, with two black circles where her eyes were. She wanted to weave more into the enchantment, but decided she’d add those features another time if she was up to it. Coupling the mask with the enchanted bandana that’d both change her voice and prevent condensation from stinking up and/or fogging over the mask itself. Three birds, two stones. With her additions to her costume completed, Sunset felt more at ease. She may be tired from being dragged along with that Fluttershy girl, but she could easily handle a few armed guards even with sore feet. A smile creeped onto her face as her plan became realized. “Maybe I’ll make my jacket bullet proof…” Sunset mused to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror on her dresser across her room. “Now… If only I could have convinced mom to not buy this sleeveless version of my old shirt…” Indeed, the shirt she was wearing was almost identical to her old one, minus the lack of a cutie mark… Sunset’s cutie mark from her time as a pony. It felt wrong to not have it on her in some way or form, but her mother had been convinced that wearing something new would set a better impression. But without her cutie mark on her shirt, or even on her pants, she felt… Like she wasn’t herself. ‘Am I losing myself? Have I already become disconnected with who I was? If I didn’t have magic… Would I have thought that my former life was fake…?’ Sunset mulled over her thoughts. It wasn’t even the first time she had questioned reality. She’d changed on the inside as well as the outside, and wasn’t sure if she was even the same pony. “Sunset! It’s time to go!” She heard her mother call from the first story of the house. Sunset sighed and grabbed her leather jacket and walked towards where the voice had come from. The drive to the mall was uneventful, excluding Sunset’s mother muttering to herself in excitement. Sunset noted that she’d never seen her mother this excited since she first met her… The mall itself was obviously large, but a lot larger than she thought. It looked around five or six stories tall, and was probably the widest building Sunset had ever seen, excluding Equestrian buildings. She’d never gone to the mall, since she had no reason to do so in the years she lived in the human world. Why go to a store if you can get everything you need from the interweb. “This brings back memories! Remember when we used to watch movies here?” Sunswirl asked. Sunset smiled slightly. “Yeah.” Lies. She’d never even gone to the movies with them. “Oh, we should do that again some time.” Sunswirl said wistfully. Sunset stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Totally. But from what I hear, the movies this month all suck.” At that, Sunswirl sighed. “Critics don’t know everything, sweetheart. Now go along and meet up with your friends!” Sunset nodded and opened the door to the volkswagen and stretched. “Have fun! Love you!” Sunset turned around. “Love you too, mom.” It was almost like a reflex, saying that. There was some meaning in it, but the feeling of love was a dull sensation at the best of times. It’d been that way since before she arrived at the human world. Sunswirl then began to drive off, and Sunset turned to look at the mall. Fluttershy and her odd click were waving at her. ‘These girls are the misfit crew… Or “Incomplete Token Club” from almost every buddy movie.’ Sunset thought. There was the popular, high society type. The jock. The quiet one. The loud one. And the… Sunset didn’t have a stereotype for Applejack, and didn’t give that much mind. She had an appearance to keep up. And a group of teens to repulse into never speaking to her again. Walking up to them, Sunset was taken out of her thought process as she was tackled by a pink blur that didn’t need to be named. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you’re coming with us!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “We can watch a movie, order smoothies, go on a slide, go swimming, shop for clothes, shop for games, shop for shoes-” “Aren’t the last ones the same?” Sunset asked, but she mostly wanted to shut the pink menace up. Rarity gasped at that. “Dear heavens! What kind of a lady doesn’t know the difference between clothes and shoes! Next you’ll be saying hats are the same as gloves!” Kind of a random outburst, but Sunset knew that the most popular girl in school besides Rainbow Dash was a fashionista. Which only made Sunset was to hang herself. “I honestly don’t need new clothes. My mom gets me my clothes-” “Oh my- I think I’m going to faint…” Rarity said as she fell into Fluttershy’s arms. The latter struggled desperately to keep her friend from falling. Sunset looked on in annoyance as Pinkie stood back up. “Where are the others? I know there are more than three of you.” “Appejack’s just finishing some work at the farm, and Rainbow’s at the arcade!” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Dashie can be impatient sometimes- let’s get going!” With that, Pinkie Pie vanished in an instant as the doors to the mall swung in and out at a speed that Sunset’s mind could hardly process. Rarity just smiled and shook her head. “That’s our Pinkie Pie. I’ll get our table set up.” Rarity added before following Pinkie’s lead, vanishing without a trace. That only left Sunset and Fluttershy standing at the entrance. Sunset stared at Fluttershy, unsure of what to do. It felt like forever until one of them spoke, and to anyone who didn’t know Sunset, they’d be surprised that Fluttershy was the first to speak up. “U-um… I’m glad that you d-decided to come today.” Fluttershy twirled with her hair. Sunset just shrugged, which was followed by more silence. Fluttershy broke it again. “L-let’s go inside.” The two entered the building, but as Sunset began to lag behind she noticed that something off. An alien tasting magic that drew her in, but not enough to direct her away. This presence made Sunset feel something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Fear. For the alien magic she felt was far stronger than hers. The only thing that prevented her from flat out freezing was that the magic’s sources didn’t seem to be moving towards her, which meant it might not have sensed her as of yet. Or it was luring her into a false sense of security. No matter which way she flipped it, she was in over her head. ‘I haven’t felt magic since… back in Equestria… is this even Equestrian magic? I’ve trained my magic senses and know what everything’s magic sources felt like, but this feeling… it’s older.’ Sunset was taken out of her thoughts as she felt Fluttershy’s hand in hers. “It’s okay, I know what it’s like to be afraid. But my friends and I are here to help.” Fluttershy smiled, which made Sunset momentarily forget why she was afraid. She nodded in understanding, even though Fluttershy’s perception on why she was afraid were misplaced. ‘Guess I should act casual, and try to locate the mage. If push comes to shove, I have my mask.’ That was until the two reached the food court, which was bigger than she imagined with way more people than she’d ever seen outside of school in one place. Though the magic Sunset felt began to grow closer. That was, until she felt someone bump into her. “Oh, I’m sorry!” The former unicorn stiffened. That voice radiated with the magic like a conduit, and every word seemed to scramble Sunset’s mind into an incoherent mess, excluding her fear receptors. Sunset turned to the owner of the voice, a young woman no older than herself with yellow skin that was soft on the eyes, orange curly hair that reached her hips, and purple eyes that felt years older than her body gave off, narrowed into a knowing yet seductive stare that complimented her menacing smirk. Besides her fast food employee attire, Sunset noticed a red pendant around her neck that seemed to glow with the alien power. “Did I scare you~?”
4. Sunday Part 2: Quiet Sirens...Coldness seeped into Adagio’s skin as her head throbbed in pain. She tried to remember her old body, the one she had before the human world, but even the reason why she was there was foggy. The only thing that was clear to her right now were six teenage girls standing on a hill, rivaling her own power at its peak. Barely. Just as things were starting to look up for her and the Dazzlings, and they were winning, a seventh rose to challenge her and a white horse made of light appeared, surrounding the seven girls in a protective bubble. While Adagio was distracted watching the forming horse before her, she failed to notice that her own avatar, a translucent orange representation of her old body, began falling apart above her like shattered glass. In Adagio’s hands, to her horror, were the shards of her heart stone. The image faded away to be replaced with the girl from before standing above her with a mocking smirk... The sound of screaming caused Adagio Dazzle to jerk awake, causing something on top of her to drag her off of the worn, blue couch she had been sleeping on. After crashing into the ground, Adagio’s eyes shot open in a glare. In front of her was her youngest sister; Sonata Dusk, grinning back at her nervously. She was wearing her pink pajama top and matching bottom. Adagio’s tired eyes stared at Sonata, before looking towards the source of the screaming… Aria Blaze, their middle sister, was watching an animated horror… thing. “Aria!” Adagio’s voice was shrill and cracked, a side effect of not wearing her pendant to “bed”. Said purple siren, wearing a light green silky set of pajamas which clashed with her off colored orange socks, jumped at the sound of her elder’s fury and paused the program. “What did I say about watching your cartoons while we’re sleeping!?” Aria groaned and rolled her eyes as if she were an angsty teenager. “It’s called anime… And maybe you shouldn’t have fallen asleep in the living room like a bunch of retards.” Adagio was less than amused with her sisters attitude. “I don’t care if you watch a show for little girls, but when I’m not at work-- whoa!” The head siren stood up shakily, causing Aria and Sonata to flinch. She then stomped towards Aria, snatched the TV remove, and proceeded to turn it off. “No ‘anime’, you hear!? Besides, Sonata looks pale.” The last sentence was more of an excuse rather than something that pertained to the current topic. While it was true that Sonata looked pale after watching the gruesome scene that was on the screen mere moments before, Adagio knew that Sonata was a horror enthusiast. Which scared her, if she were honest to herself, imagining her little airheaded sister becoming influenced by things so gruesome… She’d caught her more than once watching the likes of Scream, Halloween, Alien/s, Friday the 13th, Chucky, and many, many more. “Oh come on--!” Aria whined, but the older siren cut her off. “I have to work. Watch over the house, don’t let Sonata see anything that’d scar her, she’s already messed up as it is. And for the love of Tartarus, don’t let that weird boy near our house again! He thinks we’re aliens of all things!” Adagio said, oblivious to Aria mouthing her words as she spoke, all in a mocking and degrading manner, to which Sonata let loose a quiet giggle. Adagio looked over her shoulder to see her siblings making fun of her in their own ways and huffed once, before taking her leave. The Dazzlings lived together in a two story house with two bathrooms, two bedrooms and a master bedroom, a living room which she just exited, a garage which Sonata used for her “arts and crafts”, a backyard with a pool that wouldn’t be able to sustain the water due to numerous cracks in the concrete, A basement for laundry and whatever little projects Aria occupied her time with, and lastly, a small kitchen with only enough space for one person to cook at a time. Every siren had their own hideaway, their own chores, and their own roles. Adagio was the leader, the planner, the income, and the ‘scout’ as Aria would put it, searching for safe places to absorb magic on weekends. Aria was the enforcer, the thug who beat up anyone the trio didn’t want to waste their magic on, and kept the house running while Adagio was away. Sonata was the moral support, helping the others keep their sanity while they lived their immortal lives in their own internal and external hells, and did most of the chores around the house like cooking and cleaning. The chore part was Aria’s doing. Adagio took a moment to regain her nerves, as the nightmare had shaken her. An outsider might not have understood the fear losing one's heartstone could inspire and although it seemed silly, it was as if one dreamt about their teeth falling out. Multiplied by ten. With cancer. Well maybe not the cancer part, but if Adagio explained it that way it’d make sense in an instant. It was bad. The head siren readied herself with her standard routine. Shower, toothcare, wardrobe change and the usual. Except breakfast, that was something she skipped out on a lot, even though Sonata complained about her health. Even though she herself was careless with hers, staying up for far too long. Today was like any other… “And then, he dumped me right then and there! In front of everybody!” A woman in front of Adagio said to her companion, her voice shrill and unrelenting, like someone was dragging their nails along the top of the siren’s brain. Waving her purple hand around as she spoke, the woman ignored the waiting customers behind her in the line. They were next in line, and Adagio already felt her teeth grating along with her patience. “Welcome to Wendigo’s, may I take your order?” Adagio asked. Her day had already been taxing, so this woman was in a very bad position. “Ugh, gimme three frosties and-” Before she could continue, Adagio’s eyes turned a crimson red and a green mist swirled around her and her friend, and their eyes dulled. “Just give me your cash and go jump off a bridge.” The Siren ordered, and the two nodded. The shrill voiced one searched through her purse, and the two pulled out wads of cash which Adagio took with a smirk and put under the counter until she was done with her shift. After they were done making sure that they succeeded in their first task, the two began walking towards the exit... But the last person in line actually made her smile a bit. Rainbow Dash. “Hey, customers givin’ you a hard time?” Dash asked, leaning onto the counter. “You have no idea…” Adagio bitterly chuckled, a hollow smile adorning her lips. Rainbow didn’t entirely understand the meaning, so she continued. “So, how’s Aria been?” Rainbow asked, a genuine smile donning on hers. ‘Wow, one track mind.’ Aria and Rainbow had met a few months back, and since they were… similar, they decided to hang out from time to time. Or in their case compete, when Aria wasn’t in one of her moods. ‘Aria acts far too much like a teenager...’ Adagio thought to herself. “She’s fine, cooped up in the house.” Rainbow chuckled, though she didn’t know about why Aria was hiding, and Adagio didn’t care to rat out her sisters closet pastime to her… Frenemy? Rivend? Frienval? Adagio’s internal Sonata struggled to find a word as Rainbow spoke up. “Figures. I’ll get ahead of her one day if all she does is she lounge around all the time.” Adagio internally laughed, ‘You have no idea.’ “Of course, it’s only a matter of time.” Adagio said, but then frowned in surprise at the sight of the rest of Rainbow’s friends. “What’s the occasion?” “Fluttershy wants us to help out some girl that acts more like a clam than she does.” Rainbow Dash brushed the question off. But Adagio pressed her for information. “Fluttershy… Wanting to help someone get out of their shell?” Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Now I’ve got to meet this girl.” “She’ll be here soon, Shy is gonna wait for her-.” Rainbow turned around to gesture her animal loving friend, but found she was missing. “Huh…” Adagio looked on in mild amusement, shaking her head. “Are you going to order?” “R-right!” Rainbow shook her head in order to snap herself from her daze. “Uh, two double cheese, one baconizer, a super salad, a veggie burger, three northern swirls, two vanilla, one chocolate and… Guess that’s all.” “Not gonna’ wait for the new girl?” Adagio teased, leaned on the counter with a smug smile. ‘Humans...’ “Yeah, guess so. She can order separately.” “Maybe you should wait…” Adagio insisted, a tinge of force layering her voice. “I’ll remember your order and bring it over to your table.” “Fine, fine, guess I’ll head over to the arcade.” Rainbow grunted, waving as she walked away. Adagio gave a half hearted wave, before going back to her dull job. Minutes ticketed by, when Adagio felt something in her heart surge. “Equestrian magic…” Adagio whispered, before looking around. Most of the shoppers had gone back to their shopping, meaning the human siren was free, at least until the next rush started. Jotting down Rainbow’s order, Adagio left her post to search out this energy, grin adorning her face. She was nearing the source when she heard Fluttershy’s voice not too far away. “-know what it’s like to be afraid. But my friends and I are here to help.” Adagio turned the corner and ran right into the source of the magic. She looked familiar to Adagio, but she would put that thought away for the time being. “Oh sorry,” The girl tensed, and Adagio’s smile widened. “Did I scare you~?” The girl in front of Adagio froze up, eyes widening in a mixture of fear and surprise. ‘What a novice...’ Adagio mentally considered what to do. She had Equestrian magic in front of her, but… “Look, how’s about I make it up to you?” Adagio looked towards Fluttershy for a moment, who seemed neutral about bumping into her. “You and Fluttershy friends?” “I…” The new girl trailed off as Adagio devised her plan. However, Fluttershy spoke for the both of them. “Sh-she is.” Adagio back at Fluttershy once more. “Why didn’t you say so? Lunch is on me, for everyone.” “Oh, n-no, I couldn’t!” Fluttershy took on an alarmed expression. Adagio chuckled, amused with how open the shy girl was. While the siren wasn’t close to anyone, she did remember the people she met. Acquaintances that meant nothing to her they may have been, but the day Adagio’s mind dulled would be the day she died. “Oh come now, I’ve made enough money today. I can splurge for friends.” She nearly choked on her last word. With hesitant glances, though clearly for different reasons, Sunset and Fluttershy resigned themselves. As Adagio made her way to the counter, she started to grin maniacally. ‘The Sirens are back in business...’ “... Sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since. Hmm… Elements of Harmony. I know I’ve heard of those before, but where?” Twilight Sparkle, prized pupil of Princess Celestia, huffed. “I’m sure Sunset would’ve remembered…” Author's Note I'm sorry I made you all wait, I was having trouble deciding on what to do after this chapter. And no, that doesn't mean I'm clueless about where I want to head, I just dunno how to write slice of life scenarios. Otherwise, please tell me what you thought of this chapter. I love hearing suggestions and opinions, I just wish I got more of them. And again, I apologize for the length, but the next one will be a lot longer. I've been busy with moving and setting up my second account. Still, which would you like more? Vigilante or awkward Sunset?
UpdateThis is not an indefinite hiatus. I'm kinda in a rut and would like some help editing while continuing. I'm also thinking about changing something due to having learned more about the characters. I want to change out Fluttershy for Pinkie. It's kinda weird how I thought Fluttershy would work in the role I originally pictured her in, but after Sunset's Backstage Pass and just the overall fact that Pinkie's the type of person who'd interact with Sunset... I have some major edits to do. I also suck at coming up with Slice of Life scenarios.
