Author's Note

Major thanks to Golarla for proofreading this chapter. Some things went down with him so that’s why the chapter is late. Sorry for that but I intend to get back on schedule now!

When the abnormal becomes normal

At Canterlot High

Sunset Shimmer was staring at the clock intently, waiting as the minutes slowly ticked by. To say she was furious would be like saying she was slightly confused by what her strange dragon tattoo was, she felt as though her anger could melt the very desk she was sitting on if it could.

”Just five more minutes... you can wait five more minutes Sunset” She thought to herself, tapping her foot on the ground.

After her unorthodox meeting with “Snowfall Frost” and being given the strange rock, she had attempted to get more research on what it could have been only to come up empty-handed. She was extremely hesitant to put it anywhere near her mouth, but after much thought decided that the strange man wouldn’t go through all that trouble just to lie to her, so she did indeed take a bite of the rock. After doing so she awoke to find herself in the local park during the middle of the night with cuts and scrapes on her skin and her clothes tattered. She had returned to her home only to find one of her windows broken and the inside almost completely trashed like some large animal had come in and gone crazy. It was at that point that she really had enough, and intended to give “Snowfall Frost” a piece of her mind.

“Ok class! Now before the bell rings, I would like to tell you all some exciting news!” Miss Cheerilee said, her voice as annoyingly chipper as usual, “Today we have some new Wonder Colts joining us!”

The classroom was suddenly filled with chatter from the other students, discussing who these new students could be. But Sunset Shimmer heard something else, a faint noise that caught her attention.

”This is a horrible idea! And why am I coming with you? Wouldn’t Samuel be better for this?”

“Come on it’ll be fun! You’re the best actor out of all of us, and musically gifted to boot! Besides this is where he disappeared and where those energy signals are popping up, it’s perfect!”

Sunset checked to see if something was wrong with her ears, quickly ending the strange noises.

“That’s right! But you’ll be surprised to find that we have two new students now! Please welcome your two new classmates!”.

The doors opened and two women entered the room. The first one had long brown hair and ocean blue eyes, her very presence demanded Sunset’s attention. She wore dark blue jeans with a black shirt, covered up by a beaten, torn up brown aviator jacket, but it looked like a men’s jacket instead of a woman's for some reason. She didn’t know why, but the woman looked very much familiar to Sunset, despite this being the first time she ever saw her.

The second woman was at least a foot shorter than the first. She had short black hair with gold highlights and emerald green eyes, her face filled with the familiar joy that this place seemed to have on people. She had a pair of ripped black jeans and a strange kind of bright red colored dress-short sleeve shirt hybrid on, her hands covered in what looked like hand wraps. Sunset then noticed that these two women looked nothing like each other, despite having the exact same last name as the other, both of which sounded more violent than any name she had heard of before. What was even odder was that they looked much older than anyone else in CHS, looking like they would be in a college instead of a high school.

“Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” Miss Cheerilee asked, the first woman then stepped forward.

“Hello! My name is Heart Breaker. It’s a pleasure to meet you all!” She said, and while she sounded happy Sunset could tell from personal experience that she was just putting on an act. Oddly she was rubbing her feet against the floor like she was trying to squish some bug.

The second woman, presumingly Diamond Breaker, stepped up next. “And my name is Diamond Breaker! I hope to get to know each and every one of you!” She almost screamed, her excitement sounding more authentic than Heart Breaker’s cheer.

“Isn’t this exciting?! It’s always wonderful to have some new students!” Miss Cheerilee...well cheered, but after that, Sunset noticed that “Heart Breaker’s” eyes widened for seemingly no reason. She then placed her entire hand on her neck, seemingly scratching it.

Yet again Sunset heard that faint noise, it almost crystal clear in her mind.

“What?! Meet me at the usual place asap!”

Before she could start to question what was happening, the school bell rang, signaling for everyone to leave. Sunset, along with everyone else, quickly got up and made a beeline for the door, the sound of Miss Cheerilee talking about homework being blurred out by the noise of talking students. But then for the third time, she heard the same faint voice as before.

“As if I didn’t already have enough to worry about. Now he’s here!”

“Do you think he has something to do with Marksen?”

”Most likely. We’ll talk more about this later.”

After putting her stuff back in her locker, Sunset made her way past the crowd of students and outside, once again ignoring pointless pleas of Fluttershy and her “animal shelter” as she rushed to the back of the school. When she made it there she was surprised to see that no one was there, despite this place normally being filled with students doing their meaningless activities. After taking several quick looks around, she finally found “Snowfall Frost” sitting down on one knee with his back against a dumpster, still wearing his full body armor.

“YOU!” Sunset yelled, not even attempting to hold back her anger at this point, “WHAT DID THAT ROCK DO TO ME?.

At this point, she had caught “Snowfall’s” attention, and even though she couldn’t see his face she knew he was giving her a smug look.

”Ah, Sunset Bitter! Sleep well last night?” He asked, twirling an odd looking knife between his fingers in his right hand. Sunset couldn’t get a good view of it, but then again that wasn’t her priority at the moment.

Sunset stomped over to him, clenching her hand into a fist. “I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! WHAT.DID.IT.DO?!” She growled, stopping when she was a couple of feet away from him.

Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. That would also explain your hair now that I think about it.” He then proceeded to get up while juggling the knife between his hands, doing so with great ease.

Sunset couldn’t take it anymore, her emotions took over. She ran at him as fast as she could, reeling her arm back for a punch, not thinking about how she was trying to punch a man in metal armor. Snowfall gave a fake yawn as he leaned to the left, perfectly dodging her punch as her body slammed against the dumpster.

“Was that supposed to be an attack? That one girl with the messed up eyes could do better!” At this point “Snowfall Frost” was two feet behind her, his insult only making her angrier. He was also still juggling his knife around like nothing was happening, frustrating her even more.

She turned around and went to punch him with her right hand, yet despite the fact he wasn't even facing her he still perfectly dodged the punch, taking one step backward to her as he elbowed her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He then went and back kicked her knees, sending her face first into the ground.

“You done? Did you get all that pent up stress out? Or do you want to go for round two?” He didn’t even sound interested at all at the moment

Sunset was in major pain, more pain than she had experienced in a long time, but yet, she somehow did feel calmer. After catching her breath, she got up and wiped the dirt and grass off of her clothes, taking several deep breaths.

“I ate your rock and the next thing I knew I wake up in the middle of the park all banged up and went back to find my house was trashed. You better give the best explanation in the world or I swear...”

”Calm your horses,hehe, I am a man of my word. What do you want to know?”

“EVERYTHING.”

”Everything huh? Ok then, but first a story.”

Let me ask you a question. What would you do If you had a material that could do almost anything you needed it to do? And what if this material was practically infinite, never would you have to worry about running out?

I can tell you what the people of Terran did with something like that. They had access to a farmable metal unlike anything the rest of the world had seen called Tore, and due to reasons we still don’t understand, it could do almost everything the Terran people needed it to do. Using it they formed a great empire on the island of Terran, boosting their empire into a technological age that the rest of the world would have to wait centuries to reach.

At the height of their power, the Terran government made a program that was meant to discover if the legends of people gaining amazing powers by consuming Tore were true. To their surprise, it actually did work, though only a small portion of the test subjects did survive the process. But for those who did survive, all their senses were enhanced along with strength, intellect, and speed. But the most interesting part was that these people were able to summon strange spectral creatures that could do amazing things that were once thought to be only possible in fiction. These creatures, dubbed “Espers”, were, and still are, a complete mystery to us. We don’t know why it happens, why Tore makes them, if at all! Hell! We don’t even know why each person’s Esper is different! But that didn’t matter to the ones in command, all that mattered was that this power could make them an unstoppable army that could conquer-

“Wait wait wait!” Sunset interjected, stopping Snowfall from continuing. “I said I wanted answers, not a history lesson!”

“I would think you would appreciate context to this, but I guess not. . So what do you actually want to know?”

“I want to know a couple things. One: What did this “Tore” do to me when I took a bite of it? Two: How can I fully control this new power? And three: How much do you really know about my past?”

Ok then. One: The Tore unlocked full access to your esper now, how you were able to use it before I’ll chalk up to your special past. Two: With some practice and patience, I can teach you the full powers of your Esper. And three: I read your mind.”

“YOU WHAT?” Sunset screamed, taking several steps back in fear and embarrassment.

“You’d be surprised what Tore can do when you throw things like rules and ethics out the window into a speeding highway. But don’t worry, I didn’t see you in any “compromising positions”, I still have tact you know.”

“Another thing, what did that Tore do to me when I ate it? I can’t remember a thing.”

”Oh that! Funny thing that is! It seems that when a person unlocks access to their espers power, they tend to lose control of their bodies and start acting like their Esper for a short amount of time. Yours is a dragon so I imagine you were trying to fly and destroy the city only to fall out your window like a fool and hurt yourself. At least that’s what I theorize, but then again you could just be crazy.” Snowfall chuckled, much to Sunset’s irritation.

“Ok, then wise guy, I want to know something else. why does your skin look so weird-”

In a flash, Snowfall appeared in front of her, the blade of the knife aimed straight at Sunset’s throat, completely catching her off guard. She had a perfect view of it at this point, it was a long one edged knife, the blade longer than her neck. The blade was black with a gold outline, a dragon that looked exactly like the one on her arm encrusted on the blade. He held it in his right hand with ease, his left hand reeled back like he was about to punch her.

”DO. NOT. BRING. THAT. UP!” He coldly stated, all sense of emotion gone. His body started to glow a bright blue outline, his right hand starting to glow a new shade of dark orange. Sunset slowly nodded her head, all of her self-confidence gone in an instant. He then immediately put the knife in it sheathes on his chest, allowing her to breath easier. He stopped glowing, lowering his right hand as he took a deep breath. Sorry... I just... It’s a touchy subject, ok? You think I wear this armor because I want to? If I didn’t I would quite literally drop dead! It maintains my ailing body. If you saw it it would, oh how did it go? “Look like an avocado had...something with an older avocado.” or something along those lines.”

Sunset was now even more curious than ever, but she knew that she should leave it alone for now. “So... are you still willing to help me master my “Esper”?” She asked, more hesitant than she usually was.

After a couple seconds of silence, he finally spoke up again. “Yes, I will, but don't expect it to be easy. Especially so since your little plan starts in a couple of months, If you consider a disaster waiting to happen a plan, that is, and please don’t whine about your day or whatever you kids do these days to me; I will kill you if you do.”
.

Sunset looked down at her arm, unrolling her sleeve to show her tattoo of Scales. It’s black body snaked down her arm, just looking at it made her more and more determined to fully master it. She clenched her hand into a fist, looking back up at “Snowfall Frost” with new determination.

“When do we start?”

on the train to the Crystal Empire

When I was a Purifier, there were many nights where I would have to stay awake, be it scouting missions, guard duty, or even just average restless nights, and I was completely fine the next day, but that was with my human body. My pegasi body on the other hoof was a different story. Both Keene and Mithril decided to crash at my place since neither of them had a place to stay for the night, and both of them were very loud snorers, much to my dismay. That meant I was exhausted by the time we got on the train to the “Crystal Empire” as Twilight called it. I was too exhausted to even point out how there is no such thing as “pure evil” and how life is never that black and white. I was sitting at a window, looking out at the snowstorm picked up.

I was laying down on a seat as I heard everypony around me talking to themselves. Many things were going through my head, which wasn’t helping the massive headache I had from my lack of sleep, but one thing stuck out from all the thoughts.

“Why me?” I thought to myself out loud, catching the attention of Sapphire.

“Why you what?” She asked, understandably confused I suppose.

“Why did the princesses chose me of all ponies to protect the Elements of Harmony? I mean I’m an amnesiac flightless pegasi who only just recently mastered walking. I would think they would go and ask somepony like you to protect them, but no! It’s pure luck that you just happened to come by when you did! What do they see in me?”

“I don’t know. But I trust the princesses' judgment, and if they trust somepony like you to protect Equestria’s greatest line of defense, then they must have good reason to do so.”

“But still...What would I do if something threatens them? Mildly annoy it into submission?”

“Perhaps. It may not be the best advice, but I think you should have a little faith in them. If the princesses believe in you, then you should believe in yourself as well.”

“Faith isn’t my style. It may sound cliche, but I believe what I can see, and quite frankly I see zero reasons why they would choose me for such a task.”

Sapphire looked at me slightly confused and suspicious, her eyebrow raised at me.

“Then what do you see?”

“I see a million things going wrong with me protecting them. I’ll ask you again, what could I do that nopony else could?”

“I’ll say it again, I don’t know but You shouldn’t worry about that right now, you look like you’re about to collapse. Did you get any sleep last night?”

“No, but don’t worry about-”

Just then I felt a sudden wave of fatigue fall over me, my eyelids felt like they weighed as much as a ton of bricks. I looked up at Sapphire, only to see her horn glowing. It didn’t take a genius to know what she did.

“You’ll thank me later.” She said, a smile bigger than normal on her face.

I didn’t even have time to protest as I felt my head fall on the pillow, falling into a deep sleep

Oh come on! Wait a second...where am I? Why is everything so dark? Am I lucid dreaming?

Dear Tore no! I don’t want to think about what you would come up with in your dreams!

HEY! Who was that?

The ghost of Christmas past... I’m you, idiot! Or the part of you that has any common sense that is.

...It’s official... I’ve gone insane...

Believe me, pal, we’re way past that point now. You went insane the moment you thought talking pastel horses were normal.

What do you want? I don’t go to sleep just to be insulted by...myself I guess...

I’m here because you’ve forgotten what you’re supposed to be doing! Instead of trying to find a way back home, you’ve just sat around doing jack! I know you wanted to go on a vacation but this has gone too far!

If you’re really me, then you remember that the only clue I have is smack dab in the middle of the castle of the Goddess who moves the sun!

Oh yes, it’s not like you’ve done things like that before a million times before!

I had opposable thumbs back then! But as you can see, I am lacking in that department now!

You personally know the student of the RULER OF THIS NATION! You have a believable reason for looking around the castle! You had zero reasons to not go with her!

...

On Earth, you have a job that lets you do the impossible! On Earth, you have a wife who is more likely to kill you every second we stay here! What do you have here? A job at a bakery and a house with no one else to live in it but you!

...

Let me ask you this, what is your name?

Easy, it’s Signal Fla... Oh crap...

Yep...

I need to get out of this place!

Too bad you decided to help these talking horses free an empire from a power-crazed tyrant.

What am I going to do?

You made your bed, now sleep in it. Protect these ponies until they fix the mess, then we can start to think of getting you back home!”

If-

When-

-When we get out of here, how am I going to explain to the others that they have doppelgangers here?

You don’t. They may act, look, and sound like Veronica and the others, but they are not the people you fought alongside with!

I’m guessing we’re still not revealing our identity to them, right?

Tore yes! Oh, and you might want to ready yourself in a couple of seconds.

What?