Shadow of the Sun

by TacoTues4Eva

Rating: teen
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Profanity, Alternate Universe, Human, Drama, Sunset Shimmer (Demon), Adventure, Equestria Girls
Length: 18003

After feeling alone and unwanted, as well as justifiably angry, Sunset makes a deal with a seemingly kind older man. He just might not be as innocent as he lets on.

After feeling alone and unwanted, as well as justifiably angry, Sunset makes a deal with a seemingly kind older man. He just might not be as innocent as he lets on. (Not the Sunset Shimmer demon everyone knows from the first movie.)

NOTE: While the beginning does deal with the aftermath and consequences of Anon-A-Miss, the story isn't about Anon-A-Miss. It's about Sunset and her dealing with her new circumstances.

Published 2018-07-07 04:10:10 UTC
Last updated 2018-07-26 22:03:31 UTC

Chapter 1

“You want me to what?” Sunset demanded, unsure if she actually heard the old man right as he sat on a large wooden spool that was left behind when the factory closed down. She still couldn’t bring herself to relax after coming to what had been her home for the last few years to find him waiting for her with a gentle smile upon his face. He rested both hands on top of his diamond topped cane as he leaned forward a bit, smile growing even more.

“I want you to take a more active part in hunting down the creatures of evil that plague this city. I know you came from that other world, and I need someone like you who understands magic. That knows just what real magic can do. Someone who will adapt to it like a fish to water, so to say.” The man chuckled, “All I ask is that you accept my gift to help protect those you love.”

“Why should I bother to protect those who abandoned me!” Sunset snarled, not even leaving room to question just how angry she was at her friend’s betrayal. How much it hurt her deep down. And to hear some stranger she had never even met before bring it up just served to piss her off even more.

“Who says I’m talking about those foolish little brats.” The man said with what could only be described with a wicked grin. “Don’t think I’m not asking you to do this for free, I am planning to offer you fair compensation for your troubles.”

“What kind of compensation?” Sunset asked, more than a little curious if very wary of all this. As far as she knew the only magic that was around was Equestrian in nature and that was a shadow of it’s true self.

“I wish I could give you what you most wish for, but I can not change people’s hearts. I can’t just make a family appear and make them love you. Things just don’t work that way, no matter who you are.” The man said, making gestures with a hand while holding the cane in the other. “What I can offer you is real credentials in this world so you can do what ever you want. A birth certificate and social security number that is the real thing. I would be irresponsible to give you a license, for that you are on your own though it would be as simple as learning to drive and walking into the DMV and doing what is required of any other teenager.”

“How can you do that?” Sunset asked making the man chuckle again, a sound full of mirth and caring as he gave a look that begged to be trusted.

“I have my ways, my dear. I was far from finished though as I will also give you an apartment and a salary which will be deposited straight to an account I will provide you with which will be paid out once a year with more than enough money to buy whatever you want as your utilities will be paid for. Only bills you will have are those you make for yourself such as car payments, insurance or phone payments. Actually, no, I will also cover your phone as well. I might need to contact you through it.” The man continued, changing his mind at the last second about the phone. It was all very tempting, but something about it didn’t sit right with Sunset.

“And what exactly will I have to do for all of this? I’m sorry, but this is all too good to be true.” Sunset said crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at the man. He was offering too much for what she considered too little. Or was it too little, it would be dangerous so perhaps it was fair compensation if he was being entirely truthful. Something Sunset was unsure about.

“It’s simple my dear, live here in Canterlot as you have done since coming to this world and stop the evil that plagues this city. And don’t try to say that you and your ex-friends have stopped all that there was. There is much more here than you know, more than any normal person knows.” The man said taking a sad tone of voice while shaking his head. “It threatens everyone here and if it learns of your portal, it could threaten your home as well. Would you want that? Would you be able to live with yourself knowing that you could have stopped it if something bad were to go through and cause havoc there?”

“This sounds good, it really does, but how can I even trust you?” Sunset asked as the man chuckled and stood up from his perch.

“It’s easy, the terms of my contracts are unbreakable and can not be changed unless you come to me and convince me to break it, at which point we would go our separate ways.” The man grinned seeing how interested the girl was becoming. “This is a one time offer, if I walk out of here you will not hear from me again. Allow me to sweeten the deal. I may not be able to change a person’s heart, I can expose Anon-A-Miss for who they really are. As soon as you walk into that school in the morning everyone will know the real identity of this miscreant and you will no longer be suspected.”

“You know who it is?” Sunset asked, fighting the tears that threatened to spill as an end to the torment was in sight.

“I do, but it is part of the deal. You want to know, become my champion and sign the contract.” The man said as a scroll and quill appeared out of thin air and floated over to Sunset. While she wanted to read over everything carefully as it unfurled, the man looked at a watch she didn’t even notice he was wearing.

“Please decide quickly Miss Shimmer as I do have other places I need to be.” The man said with a pleasant grin, though it sent shivers through Sunset’s entire being.

Quickly scanning the document, it did look as if everything was in her favor. At night when evil was close by the power she would be granted would seek it out and deal with it. No innocents would ever be harmed during it, and if they were she would keep the power granted and have full control of it while all obligations to the man named Mephistopheles will be null and void while all benefits would be kept. She would even gain access to magic during the day, though it would be more limited in scope and she would have to figure it out herself.

“Tic toc, Miss Shimmer.” The man said with a pleased grin as Sunset hesitantly took the quill. It took every ounce of will power that Sunset had to sign her name to the contract making the man laugh in triumph. “Perfect, Miss Shimmer, just perfect.”

“What happens now?” Sunset asked as the scroll floated back over to the man before glowing and splitting in two.

“Now, my dear shimmer, I give you what I promised.” The man chuckled slipping one copy into his suit’s inner jacket pocket while strutting over to her. She took a step back at his sudden advance, but stopped when he touched the end of the other scroll to the back of her hand. It felt as if her hand was on fire as the scroll sank into it.

“What did you do?” Sunset gasped out, finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden as her cutie mark appeared on the back of her left hand where the scroll sank into.

“Just providing you with what I promised.” The man smiled as pain lanced through Sunset’s back where two scars were located until a pair of bat like wings shot out of her back, her red hair turning black while the yellow streaks faded to white. Her skin paled more and more turning a very pale white matching Rarity’s own. Her nails elongated into sharp claws and her eyes faded into black with glowing blue irises and pupils lengthening into vertical slits. “After all, I never go back on my word. I am a man of honor after all.”

“And here I thought the devil had no honor.” The being laughed as she straightened up, no longer dressed in Sunset’s clothes. Instead there was a slinky black ankle length dress that clung to her curves and left her back bare, a choker with a ring in the center holding the straps of the low cut front n place and heels adding several inches to her height.

“My dear Shadow Reaper, I always honor my word. And as such, when Sunset awakens in the morning, she will have everything I promised. For now though, why don’t you stretch your wings and get used to your new body.” The man laughed watching as the girl flew off into the night.

“Of course, father.” Was the girl’s echoing laugh before disappearing from sight.

💔💔💔

Groaning Sunset turned over in her lumpy old mattress wishing the pounding headache would go away. She had the craziest dream last night about flying through the sky and just enjoying the freedom it provided. It didn’t take her long to realize that not only was the mattress the most comfortable thing that she had ever felt, she was covered with more than the ratty old blanket that barely covered her body being meant for a twin size bed and her mattress was a queen size.

Sitting up she winced at the light coming in through the large bay windows of the large bedroom and realizing what was wrong immediately. She was in a large bedroom of some place she had never been to and looking down at her left hand she couldn’t help feeling the horror seeing her cutie mark stamped there. Even if her skin looked normal, she couldn’t help scrambling out of the bed, running toward the large full length mirror next to the large walk in closet that was open, cursing as she bumped into the desk. Thankfully there was plenty of light coming in the window for her to see that while she looked like she should, her features had sharpened or enhanced slightly. She looked as if she wouldn’t even need makeup that she usually used as her features were, for lack of a better description, perfect.

“What is going on?” Sunset asked, turning to notice some papers and things sitting on the desk next to a nice sized monitor and computer. Shakily she picked up the top piece and started reading through it.

Dear Champion,

I guess for once I was wrong about something which I thought about after you flew off. I can’t say I was expecting your new form to call me father, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to complain. So daughter, I have left your birth certificate and social security number, emancipation forms, your social workers number since yes you have to have one being under age, your bank information and debit card as well as an envelope with some spending cash until you make it to the bank and your apartment’s key all here for you. Your meager belongings that was worth saving from that dreadful warehouse is on your table in the other room for you to sort through at your leisure.

Also, as promised, by the time you get to school the culprits of Anon-A-Miss will be revealed and things will be set right. Do not feel obligated to forgive those who wronged you, as you owe them nothing. Yes, you wronged them in the past, but saving them from the Sirens of your world more than made up for that. If they can’t believe in you after that, then they don’t deserve you my dear. I’ve said all I will on that, except for one thing. Give them hell.

Yours truly,
Father

Sunset couldn’t help tearing up at that. He had called him her father and while she wasn’t happy about what happened, confusion running wild in her, he actually did seem as if he cared in some small way at least. The promise of Anon-A-Miss being exposed lit a fire under her she hadn’t felt in ages as she rushed through her new apartment, taking longer than she would have liked, and rushed out intent on getting to school as quickly as possible.

She was surprised to find that she was the only apartment on the top floor which shouldn’t have been to surprising with how huge the entire place was. Getting to the elevator she quickly made her way to the ground floor and through a glamorous looking lobby only to be stopped by the doorman.

“Excuse me, Miss Shimmer, your ride is waiting” The man said, “Your father left instructions for a taxi to be waiting since you were new to the area and would need a lift to school. It is already paid for.”

“Thank you.” Sunset said, at a loss for words as the man led her to a waiting car.

“It is no problem at all dear, I hope you have a pleasant day.” The man said bowing to her as she got into the car.

“Thank you.” Sunset managed to choke out, fighting back the tears as this man was showing much more respect than she had been shown in a long time. It was almost like a fairy tale which worried Sunset as she still didn’t really understand what all was going on. Thankfully she didn’t have to dwell on it long as the taxi already knew where to go and sped through the city, passing through so many places she had never seen as she realized this was the rich section of town that the wealthiest lived.

As shocked as she was about that, she was even more shocked to see two police cruisers parked at the front of the school with a crowd of students looking on as Sunset climbed from the taxi. She almost wanted to dive back in and go anywhere else, but the car was already driving away. Steeling herself she started walking through the crowd while trying to ignore the looks. She quickly realized that they weren’t glaring at her with hate filled eyes, but more guilt ridden.

“Did you hear, Cheerilee caught those three brats asleep at the computer in the library in the middle of editing the Anon-A-Miss account.”

“Yeah, there was a huge crowd, they all saw it.”

“I hate to be the Rainbooms after they dropped Sunset like that.”

“Like your one to talk.”

“Hey, I believed Sunset was innocent, not everyone was stupid enough to jump on that bandwagon. Bunch of idiots I tell you.”

Sunset nearly collapsed at hearing the whispers and hushed conversations. The man was telling the truth, everyone really did know who the real Anon-A-Miss was. Though how did he know everyone was going to find out? And how did he know they would fall asleep?

“Sunset Shimmer, please come with me.” A woman in a police uniform said stepping in front of Sunset. She had a stiff posture that the apologetic look on her face contradicted.

“Am I in trouble?” Sunset asked, barely able to get the words out.

“Of course not dear, the principal convinced my captain to wait until you arrived so you have a chance to see the real faces of Anon-A-Miss up close.” The woman explained, “There is nothing to worry about.”

“Of course.” Sunset sighed in relief following the woman as they quickly made their way through the hall to the offices where she found her now ex-friends standing in the waiting area looking beyond nervous. There was no mistaking that they had been crying, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still were and Rarity’s tear tracks were stained dark.

“Please darling, tell them to go easy on our sisters. They didn’t know what they were doing!” Rarity pleaded, trying to get close to Sunset Shimmer only to be intercepted by the officer.

“If I have to tell you girls this again, I’m arresting you for obstruction of justice. Now stay back!” The officer snapped out frightening the girls which kind of gave Sunset a little satisfaction after all of the pain they caused her. Was it petty? Hell yeah, but she didn’t care. She was confused about Rarity’s plea though as she was escorted into the inner office belonging to Principal Celestia. She should have been surprised at seeing the three girls sitting on the bench against the wall while Granny Smith sat at the chair at the desk. Principal Celestia sat on the other side while another officer and Luna flanked her.

“We’re sorry Sunset! We didn’t mean for things to go this far!” Sweetie Belle sobbed out as she fidgeted in her seat, the other two doing the same while keeping their hands behind their backs. It didn’t take long for Sunset to realize they were handcuffed.

“I’m glad you made it Sunset, these officers were about to take the girls away.” Principal Celestia sighed. “While there isn’t anything I can do for them, I thought you at least deserved a chance to look them in the eye and hear what they had to say.”

“I don’t care what they have to say.” Sunset growled out as the pieces fit together like a puzzle. These little brats were behind Anon-A-Miss and had ruined all of the hard work into showing that she changed since the incident at the Fall Formal. “What’s going to happen to them?”

“That is for a judge to decide, but since they are minors with no prior records it is entirely possible that the judge could go easy on them. Worse case they end up in juvie until they turn of age when they will be released most likely and their records sealed.” The officer by Celestia said.

“And what if I don’t want to press charges?” Sunset asked making the woman who escorted her in give her a sad smile. She wasn’t sure why as she really didn’t plan to let them of the hook that easy after everything, but she was cur

“It isn’t that easy, Sunset. No matter what you say, these girls used school property to commit acts of cyber bullying that caused two girls to attempt suicide, five students to run away from home and over thirty cases of instigating violence. And that’s just what is reported so far.” The officer next to Principal Celestia stated with a look of disbelief.

“They are officially expelled no matter what happens and the students who sent in secrets will also be facing punishment depending on the seriousness of what was sent in.” Vice-Principal Luna explained.

“Ahm sorry ma kin caused you such grief youngin, and ahm ashamed that ah fell into the belief that you were behind the whole thing.” Granny Smith said, eyes downcast as a look of shame crossed her features.

“More students sent in secrets? So it just wasn’t them?” Sunset asked, feeling as if the world around her was spinning.

“I’m afraid so, this here is one of the biggest messes I have ever come across in all my years as an officer.” The officer next to Principal Celestia groaned.

“Can I go?” Sunset asked, “I need to get be alone, I need to process this.”

“Ifn there is anything mah family can do for you youngin, please ask. Ah owe you a great debt for all the pain you’ve done been through.” Granny Smith croaked out, looking as if she was much older than she normally appeared.

“Indeed, if you need anything at all Miss Shimmer, please come to us.” Vice-Principal Luna added.

“I just need to go.” Sunset said barely able to hold in the pain that was filling her chest.

“I guess if you don’t want to add to the charges then there is no need to take a statement, though I do hope you will reconsider. Here’s my card if you change your mind or have any questions.” The woman next to Sunset said handing her a card before the girl nodded and rushed out of the office. She ignored the pleas to listen to the girls in the waiting area, instead shooting them the bird in passing and slamming the door shut. She ran through the halls ignoring the looks and pitied words she overheard as she rushed up flights of stairs bursting out onto the roof before releasing a sorrowful and anger filled scream.

Author's Note

So I have no idea where I am going with this, do I make the Devil a good Devil much like Lucifer or do I make him evil like the one from Ghost Rider. And yeah, I took some inspirations from that. Do I have Sunset forgive? Not bloody likely on that count I'm afraid. Who do I have be the ones who trusted her or should she leave the school and go to maybe Crystal Prep or another school? Do I include the Sirens? Do I have Sunset return their magic? Do I change how they feed, if they do, or just return their magic without having to feed? How pissed do I actually make Sunset at the girls? Just ignore them or be hateful towards them? And last but not least, do I pair anyone with Sunset?

Maybe I should answer a question I know many will be asking. Is this a crossover? Nope, it is not. I may have taken inspirations from some things such as Ghost Rider, but this isn't Ghost Rider. Sunset will not be riding a flaming motorcycle or sports car. 'Nuff said, yo. Peace out!

Chapter 2

She had to admit, releasing her pain and emotions like she had just done made her feel a lot better. She still had a lot of questions, questions she didn’t expect to get any answers to any time soon as she did not plan on talking to Twilight’s friends any time soon. She wasn’t even planning on talking to Twilight either as a part of her was unsure where the girl stood on the whole situation. On the one hand, Twilight was a princess and likely busy back in Equestria. On the other hand, she couldn’t help wondering if it was one of the other girls who was blamed for Anon-A-Miss if she would have reacted the same way or if she would have dropped everything and rushed over to their aid. It was something she hated thinking no matter how much she felt she had a right to those thoughts.

“Are you okay?” A voice asked from behind Sunset making her spin around, heart leaping from her chest.

“What the hell?” Sunset groused as she glared at the blonde haired, lazy eyed girl who was in several of her classes. Derpy stood there with a concerned expression while holding out a muffin toward Sunset.

“Would you like a muffin, they help a little usually. They’re great comfort food.” Derpy said nervously, holding out a large homemade muffin wrapped in plastic wrap that looked very familiar. It may have been a different flavor, but it was definitely the same muffin that found it’s way on her desk and even in her locker a few times this week. She had tossed the note with them not wanting to see more accusations and tossed the muffin believing it to have been laced with something.

Now that she was here seeing the girl offering it before her, Sunset couldn’t hold it in. At first it was a few small chuckles as she tried her best to keep it in. She tried, she really did try to keep it from getting worse as the few chuckles turned quickly into laughs and giggles before finally giving away to full blown laughter with her eyes watering. She finally got herself under control, waving her hands in an apologetic motion when she saw the hurt look in the girl’s eyes.

“N-No! I’m n-not laughing at you! I-I’m laughing at my own stupidity for not even thinking the obvious. You’ve been the one leaving me muffins this week, haven’t you?” Sunset choked out, finally managing to push the bubbling amusement down before anymore escaped.

“And my number and an offer to talk if you wanted.” Derpy said shyly, “My friends and me tried to help, but you always ignored us when we tried talking to you. We don’t blame you though, you were pretty out of it.”

“I’m such an idiot!” Sunset hissed as she buried her face in her hands. She vaguely remembered someone punching another girl when they taunted Sunset while she was collapsed on the floor crying. Another hand came into view, but Sunset brushed it off as she jumped to her feet and ran away. Did she really have people who believed in her innocence and tried to help?

“No you aren’t, you are far from an idiot.” Derpy said, moving close to put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder and give a comforting squeeze. She was shocked when Sunset engulfed her in a tight embrace whispering, “Thank you!” over and over again.

“Are you okay?” Derpy asked a little nervously as she slowly patted Sunset’s back, a little afraid of the girl despite wanting to help her since this whole mess started.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” Sunset sighed as she pulled away from Derpy. After wiping her eyes a little, she smiled up at the other girl as she felt a surge of emotion and appreciation for her. She also felt some regret at not seeing what was right under her nose this past week. “I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you were trying to help.”

“Its fine, you were in a dark place and I understand that better than most would. Maybe if I tried harder, but you kind of…well.” Came Derpy’s reply as she grew more and more nervous as she searched for words to describe what she was feeling. “You intimidate me. Your beautiful, smart, edgy and one of the coolest girls I know.”

“I’m really not.” Sunset said in embarrassment, scratching her cheek.

“You really are. You worked so hard to make up for the things you did in the past which weren’t even half as bad as people make them out to me.” Derpy said taking Sunset’s hands in her own and squeezing them. “In many ways, you are kind of my hero even if you are a little scary.”

“I shouldn’t be anyone’s hero, but maybe we should head to class before-“ Sunset was saying before the bell cut her off. “the bell rings.”

“I’m sure with everything going on they will excuse us if we are a few minutes late.” Derpy hopefully suggested while Sunset groaned, doubtful they would be so lucky. Well, Derpy would probably luck out, but Sunset’s homeroom teacher has had it out for her ever since the whole Anon-A-Miss thing started. “And maybe you can meet my friends at lunch, we can eat together even.”

“Maybe,” Sunset verbally agreed, hiding her true thoughts on the matter. “Look, Derpy, I’d love to get to know you and your friends slowly if you really want me to, but I’m not looking to get back into getting too close to anyone right now. Not after everything that has happened.”

“I understand, but once you see how we really do want to get to know you, I’m sure things will change. Until then,” Derpy said with a large manic grin as she held out a muffin from her bag matching the one earlier, only this time it had visible red dots instead of blue ones. “It’s dangerous to go alone, take this.”

“Okay.” Sunset said confused as she slowly accepted the muffin while Derpy’s grin never faded.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Lyra will get you all caught up on references like that.” Derpy said before wincing, “Then again, that could be a bad thing.”

“I’ll see you later.” Sunset said, giving the girl an encouraging smile before both of them headed toward the door that was the exit back down into the school. “Hey, what was you doing up there anyways?”

“Are you kidding? It’s quiet and has the best view in the whole school, I go up there whenever I want a few minutes of peace to myself.” Laughed Derpy as she skipped down the steps. Sunset couldn’t argue the point, it was beautiful which was why she usually sneaked up there with a good book on warmer days during her free period or study hall.

The first two classes of the day was actually much better than she thought they could possibly be with everyone apologizing for jumping on the blame Sunset bandwagon. Even her homeroom teacher took several moments to say how sorry she was to treat her as if she was guilty before knowing for sure. It did piss off Sunset that all of these people even jumped on the hate train to begin with, but it felt nice for them to actually apologize. She wouldn’t forgive them, not that easily, but it made things a lot more bearable in her opinion.

It was during her free period that her mood once again took a nose dive as she sat in the library finishing up her homework that was assigned in her earlier classes. Rarity had the nerve to interrupt her which highly pissed Sunset off. “Darling, may I sit here?”

Sunset didn’t care that the girl looked like a disaster, her makeup ruined and dark colored tear tracks down her cheeks with bloodshot eyes and messy hair. Sunset ignored the request and kept her attention on the papers in front of her as she pretended to go back over them again hoping the other girl would take the message.

“Sunset, darling, I want to apologize for what we did. I know it was in excusable and I really wish we didn’t jump to conclusions about the whole thing.” Rarity sniffled, her eyes locked on an imaginary spot on the table as Sunset scoffed.

“Don’t tell me that you think I’m upset that I didn’t get invited to a few sleepovers and you decided to exclude me from the group.” Sunset asked, incredulous that Rarity would think that was Sunset’s problem besides being blamed.

“I know you are upset that we blamed you, but please know that we are truly sorry.” Rarity said, her voice sounding a little hoarse though it did nothing to earn pity from Sunset.

“You know what Rarity, I could forgive you for suspecting me and even distancing yourself from me. We all make mistakes.” Sunset said as she shook her head in disgust, “It hurt like hell, but I understand how you could maybe jump to that conclusion if I wasn’t considered family.”

“Darling-“ Rarity tried to say, only to be cut off by Sunset’s sharp reply.

“Don’t you dare call me that!” Sunset hissed out in fury, “You all said I was considered family and then you stabbed me in the back. You said I was family then you discarded me like yesterday’s trash while begging me to help your sisters. Well you know what, fuck you.”

“Sunset!” Rarity gasped, hand covering her mouth.

“Shut up! I’ve seen the way you treat your little sister. I’ve seen the way you treat each other. And despite saying I was family, none of you have ever treated me that way.” Sunset snarled, trying to will away the building tears. “I’m done! I’m done wishing that I would actually be treated the way you all treat each other.”

“But the sleepovers-“ Rarity once again tried to interject only to be silenced with the most furious expression she had ever seen.

“Were more for the benefit for all of you. Did you stop having them when you dumped me from the group?” Sunset demanded to know as she gathered up her things as Rarity sadly shook her head no. “Of course you didn’t stop having them, I was only an excuse to have them in the first place. I was just the trophy you all showed off that you beat me at the Fall Formal.”

“That isn’t true, we love you!” Rarity cried.

“Funny way of showing it.” Sunset said as she stood up, stuffing her things in her bag. “Rarity, I no longer give a damn about you or your friends. I was just a pet project pawned off onto you by Princess Twilight. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you can all rot in hell. I. Am. DONE!”

“Sunset, please listen to me! Please!” Rarity wailed as she jumped to her feet as Sunset was turning to leave. With a heavy sigh Sunset looked back over her shoulder.

“To do that Rarity, I would have to give a fuck what you have to say.” Sunset grinned, starting to walk away after delivering her parting shot, “Too bad I’m out of any to give.”

Sunset hated hearing Rarity let out a sob, she really did, but she refused to let that girl or that girl’s friends back into her heart. She paid for her mistakes, worked hard for her redemption and even weathered the callous shots from those girls leading up to the Battle of the Bands. She even put up with having the few ideas she suggested shot down in favor of one of the other girls. She put up with everything up to the pint where the abandoned her for the stupidest of excuses and refused to hear her out. No, she wasn’t going to go back to that and she refused to let them drag her back to it. She was done with them, that was all there was to it. Let’s see how they like not having a chance to say their peace.

Was it petty? Most likely. Was it cruel? Maybe. Did Sunset care? Hell no she didn’t. Not right now and she doubted she would at any point in the near future. After the crap they pulled this week it was time to give them some of their own medicine, even if her traitorous thoughts did want to keep reminding her of the good times. There were good times, times that yes she would cherish even if they would be tainted by the memories of the rest.

The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful as Sunset decided to just ignore the few attempts by the other girls and skip lunch, instead snacking on the two muffins she was left with. After tasting them she had to admit that they were likely the best muffins in existence and had to stop herself from just being friends with Derpy in order to get more muffins. That would be a cruel thing to do.

As she was gathering her things at the end of the day, she actually smiled slightly when Vinyl Scratch leaned against the locker next to Sunset’s with a huge grin on her face.

“Sup.” Vinyl asked in greeting, a lazy grin on her face.

“Crappy day.” Sunset groaned, shutting her locker and shouldering her bag. “Started out so good too.”

“So she does talk.” Vinyl laughed, giving a friendly smile as she patted Sunset on her shoulder. “Glad to see you seem to be doing better even if your day was crappy.”

“I’m sorry about this week and ignoring you. I wasn’t trying to do that.” Sunset sighed as the two walked through the sea of students, purposely going out the side door and not the front where the statue was and the other girls default meeting place other than the band room.

“Don’t sweat it girl.” Vinyl said as she adjusted her glasses showing some discoloration momentarily when they were moved a little.

“What happened to your eye?” Sunset asked, mouth becoming dry.

“No worries, you should see the other guy. Didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.” Vinyl shrugged, “I’m not usually one to get into fights, but I’m fiercely loyal to my friends and those who get a raw deal.”

“So is your interest because I got a raw deal or something else?” Sunset asked, really hoping it wasn’t out of pity.

“Nah, it’s not like that. You got mad skills on the guitar and you are the best singer in this school. I respect that and you, I think your awesome.” Vinyl said, Sunset believing every word even if she knew she didn’t have to. “Anyways, I’m heading out to Bon Bon’s place with the girls, you wanna come and hang with us?”

“You know, I would really like that. I can’t though, I just want to be alone and unwind after today.” Sunset said, surprised that she actually felt bad turning the girl down.

“No big, I know where your coming from. We all need time alone to get our head on straight when something big happens. Give me your phone.” Vinyl demanded, stopping and holding out her hand, fingers curling in a gimme gesture.

At first Sunset was going to tell her there wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to hand over her phone. Then curiosity actually got the better of her as she pulled out the new phone that was left with the papers and stuff this morning and handed it to Vinyl.

“Oh sweet, this is the new limited edition model. Only a hundred was made.” Vinyl said in awe, her eyes wide as she tapped away quickly on the touch screen before giving it back. “If you need anything or just need to talk, just send any of us a shout.”

“Thanks.” Sunset said feeling as if the floor fell out from under her. There under her once empty contact list was the numbers for Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia and Vinyl.

“Peace out, see you later Shimmy!” Vinyl said before running off.

Sunset almost regretted not tagging along, but she was telling the truth that she just needed to be alone right now. Instead of heading back to her new place though, she decided to walk around despite it being chilly and think about everything that happened today. That strange old man did tell the truth about everything though she wasn’t sure just what the deal with the cutie mark was though she did have those strange dreams the night before. It was odd, but she really couldn’t make sense of it. She did have the sinking feeling that she may be in over her head.

Being winter meant earlier nights, and as she was leaving the café near the library with steaming cup of hot cocoa in her hand, she felt the pain flare in her hand just as a scream was heard from the mostly empty parking lot of the library. Before Sunset could make a move the pain flared in her back and the wings sprouted back into existence as the change washed over Sunset leaving Shadow Reaper standing in her place.

“Damn it, why the hell does my dress have to be like this.” Shadow groused, her legs feeling the chill from the slit on either side and the bare back and keyhole front. With a couple flaps of her wings she took off into the sky narrowing down on where the scream came from. As a creature born from Sunset and the merging of what was meant to be training wheels for this form, Shadow Reaper ended up being much more than what was intended. She had full sentience instead of the basic set of intelligence that would slowly merge with the host. It scared her a little because she didn’t want to be absorbed and cease to exist.

Casting aside her worries as she zeroed in on a teen girl running away from three young men who was obviously drunk or high as the whistled and cat called while making numerous uncouth threats. It was when the girl tripped and fell in the snow that Shadow Reaper recognized the girl. It was one from Sunset’s memories, though why the Princess was wearing glasses was anyone’s guess. “Guess I better act the part of the hero.”

Author's Note

And here's chapter 2, I have a bit more clarity on where I want this story to go though I have to figure out what to do with a few elements yet. Hopefully it will be good.

And to those who are wondering about Derpy's reference about, "It's dangerous to go alone, take this." I kind of used it from a song I found on Youtube that is a little more on the perverted side but is actually funny as hell. Click at your own peril.

Chapter 3

“What the hell?” One of the three boys cried out as Shadow landed between the three and their target who froze in place where she was sprawled out in the show looking up at the creature with large wigs spread out fully to intimidate.

“Oh, so close, but wrong.” Shadow said, hissing the word wrong in mock sympathy as if they missed the million dollar question in a game show.

“Don’t think you can scare us with your cosplay bullshit bitch!” The second boy slurred, his aggression levels higher than the other two and seeing to mostly have control of his movements despite being fully loaded with cheap beer if the bottle in his hand was any indication.

“Dude, she fell out of the sky! That ain’t no cosplay!” The third screamed as she started backing away only for tendrils of shadow to spear out from Shadow and wrap around their necks to drag them to her, forcing them on their knees before her.

“Such naughty little boys you are.” Shadow said licking her lips, purposely showing one of her fangs even if she wasn’t going to use it. “Want to tell me why you were chasing a poor, innocent girl around saying such cruel and naughty things?”

“S-Screw you bitch! We aren’t afraid of you!” The second boy snarled while his two buddies were begging for their lives on either side of him.

“Oh, I’m sorry sweetie, you just aren’t my type.” Shadow grinned, her eyes flashing with power as she held out her hands and inhaled deeply. If one looked close enough they could see a dark miasma slowly form around the boys and stream into Shadows mouth as they changed from being scared for their lives to begging for forgiveness for what they’ve done. It was more of a snack than a full course meal, but the memories she was seeing was disgusting. The things they had planned made her want to kill them, but she wouldn’t take a life. Not even ones as pathetic as these three.

“Please forgive me, I’m sorry!” The three boys cried in unison as most of the darkness was drained from their bodies. It would have a chance to grow back depending on their decisions, but the memory of her was sure to help keep that from happening. By morning they would be at the first church begging the pastor, priest or rabbi to listen to their sins as they repent everything they have ever done. And that was if the police even let them go.

“I’m sorry, I’m not about forgiveness. I’m about second chances, and if that fails, punishment. Go turn yourselves into the police and tell them everything! Every single little detail, and maybe I won’t visit you in your dreams and eat your souls next!” Shadow hissed out, bluffing about the devouring their souls. Things didn’t just work that way, though she wasn’t lying either. Just a little word play to make these idiots think twice before going down the wrong path again and letting the darkness in their souls regrow.

Turning around as the three boys ran away, not even needing to see that they were heading in the general direction of the police station as were her orders, Shadow turned to find Twilight Sparkle to her feet shaking not from the cold, but from what she just witnessed. She was holding a small silver cross with a chain that must have broken in her haste to get it off and hold it out like a shield.

“Please don’t come any closer!” Twilight whimpered as she held out the cross, her hand shaking so much it was a miracle that she didn’t drop it.

“Oh, that is so cute!” Shadow gushed mockingly as she plucked it from Twilight’s fingers making the girl let out a squeak. With a little bit of magic that went unnoticed to Twilight as Shadow folded her wings over her shoulders like a cloak the clasp was fixed on the chain. After inspecting the intricate design, she came to the conclusion that it was most likely a gift from her grandmother.

“Please stay away.” Twilight whimpered again taking one step back only to freeze when their eyes locked. Shadow stepped up to Twilight and reached around the girl’s neck to clasp the chain back in place and letting the cross settle back on Twilight’s chest.

“Number one, when trying to use a religious relic to ward off evil spirits, don’t use something that was a gift from your grandmother and you don’t fully believe in.” Shadow admonished as she left her hands rest on Twilight’s shoulders, their faces mere inches apart.

“It was a gift from my grandfather.” Twilight mumbled automatically as her wide frightened eyes stared into Shadow’s own.

“Touché. And number two, that won’t work on me anyways. I’m a spirit of darkness, not evil. Huge difference there.” Shadow mocked with a huge grin wondering if her plan was going to take things too far or not. Not that she cared really.

“What are you going to do to me?” Twilight whimpered, unable to look away.

“I’m going to lick you.” Shadow cheekily chirped out, finding it difficult to hold her laughs in as Twilight’s eyes seemed to impossibly double in size.

“You’re going to do what!?” Twilight shrieked only to have Shadow dart forward that last inch and run her tongue up Twilight’s cheek leaving behind a path of saliva. With another shriek Twilight jumped back as Shadow almost doubled over as her mad giggles filled the air. “What the hell is wrong with you!? That’s disgusting! Do you even know how unsanitary that even is!? It’s disgusting! You are crazy! You…”

“Names Shadow Reaper, what’s yours?” Shadow asked as Twilight seemed to realize her tirade was aimed at what could only be described as a demon. She knew this girl wasn’t the princess from the memories she could see on the surface thoughts of those boys. They were like an open book.

“Twilight Sparkle. You aren’t going to hurt me, are you?” Twilight asked hesitantly only to get another giggle from Shadow while wiping the drool left behind on her cheek by the winged girl.

“Why would I go to the trouble of saving you only to hurt you?” Shadow asked.

“I don’t know, but aren’t you a demon?” Twilight asked.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re cute when you’re trying to be all smart?” Shadow asked earning a blush from the other girl. “No, I’m not a demon. Not exactly anyways. I hunt evil, be it rouge demons who are actually evil or idiot humans like the three stooges back there.”

“They wouldn’t have really hurt me, you know. They’ve done this before, all they do is harass me. One of them has a sister that goes to my school and he doesn’t like that I keep scoring higher on everything than she does.” Twilight said, gathering her bag and spilled books off the ground and shoving them back in her bag.

Shadow knew better though from the memories she saw, maybe it was different this time because they were drunk or this had been building for awhile, but they weren’t going to simply just let Twilight go this time. It was a bit of news she felt Twilight didn’t have to know though and cause anymore distress that she had already gone through.

“Well, come on, let’s get you home before anything else happens.” Shadow said motioning in a random direction.

“I live this way.” Twilight said starting off in the opposite direction making Shadow groan before hurrying to catch up.

“By the way, has anyone ever told you that you are sexy when you blush?” Shadow chirped as she walked with Twilight, hiding a grin when said girl stumbled.

“I have no idea why I’m trusting you even.” Twilight sighed.

“Because I’m sexy?” Shadow asked earning another blush from Twilight.

“What is it with you and this obsession with sexiness?” Twilight sputtered.

“What obsession? I’m just stating simple scientific fact. You have the whole sexy librarian thing down flat. And me, I have the whole sexy she-demon thing.” Shadow simply explained as if it was an every day fact of life.

“Okay, that aside, I really want to know what you are. Can I run some tests on you?” Twilight asked in excitement as images of the nobel prize flashed in her mind.

“Oh, our little Twily is growing up. She wants to play doctor with me!” Shadow squealed in mock excitement.

“Shut up, people will hear you! And it’s not like that.” Twilight groaned in embarrassment hoping that nobody heard as they were moving into her neighborhood. “And I just want to learn more about you.”

“I guess I might let you run some tests, but not tonight. I would be happy to come back and see you, as a friend. On the condition that what ever we talk about or whatever you learn is kept between us. I do not want to see a report about me ending up in a scientific journal somewhere, understood?” Shadow asked, crossing her arms and stopping to give Twilight a serious look. She almost felt bad being this strict with Twilight, but this was something that could not be spread around. It was probably a stupid thing to do really, but she already said she would do it.

“You will be my friend?” Twilight asked, obviously touched by the sentiment, latching onto that over any possibilities of learning about Shadow.

“Of course I will.” Shadow said, giving an encouraging smile though she knew Twilight’s curiosity would return sooner or later. She could tell Twilight was very smart and scientifically oriented if the memories from the boys and Shadow’s own observations were correct.

“This is my place.” Twilight said stopping in front of a nice house. Shadow could tell that Twilight’s family must have been well off as this was in a nicer neighborhood than any of the Sunset’s old friends.

“I guess I’ll see you later. If I don’t have to take care of anything tomorrow night, I’ll come by.” Shadow said as she turned with a wave over her shoulder.

“Thank you! Thank you for everything!” Twilight blurted out before hugging Shadow tightly a few moments then running into the house. Shadow couldn’t help the surprise she felt at the actions, but couldn’t help feeling a sense of happiness from it.

She slowly made her way back out of the neighborhood, her wings looking more like a shawl or more accurately a cloak over her shoulders and draping down her body. It almost reminded her of that old Disney cartoon that Pinkie Pie had once showed Sunset that Rainbow Dash actually liked. Snarling at the reminder of the girls, she flared her wings and took flight into the night sky when she was out of sight of any possibly nosey neighbors.

💔💔💔

Sunset groaned as she sat at her table sipping on a cup of coffee. It would be her second morning waking up in her new place and she still couldn’t believe it was hers. She was taking full advantage of it now as she could actually have something in her stomach to start the day as her bagel with cream cheese sat next to her. In her other hand she held her phone reading the morning news while trying to push the strange dreams of Twilight Sparkle out of her head. When she came to an article reading, “Possible Murder Plot Stopped Before it Began” came up Sunset almost dropped her phone. Even though there was no names listed since they were all underage, the little information there was almost exactly like what happened in her dream.

Chapter 4

This wasn’t really a day that Sunset really wanted to come to school, but neither had the last few weeks. At least today wouldn’t be as rough, but she was starting to get scared about what was happening to her. For two nights now she had blacked out with no real memories of what happened other than a few odd dreams here and there. And the newest dreams was what worried her the most as they were about saving a Twilight Sparkle and the news article she read this morning was eerily similar. Was that strange man behind it? And if so, was she making a mistake by indulging in the so called rewards he had gifted her with.

Her thoughts were so all over the place that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going allowing her body to run on autopilot. It should have been no surprise that instead of going into a side entrance her feet was taking her through the front and right by the statue at the front where the five girls she least wanted to see were gathered. At first the five looked at her in shock before jumping up to gather before her with looks of intense sadness and grief mixed with guilt.

“Sunset!” The five chorused almost as one, even Fluttershy herself being a little more vocal than her normal self.

“Go away.” Sunset grumbled as she tried to brush past them before Rainbow Dash stepped in her path stopping her forward momentum.

“No, Sunset I know we hurt you, but we are sorry. What more do you want from us?” Rainbow Dash asked, arms crossed in front of her. “You won’t even listen to us or give us a second chance. We gave you a second chance and you won’t even listen to us!”

“As crass as Rainbow is being darling, she does have a point. We gave you another chance after the Fall Formal, why won’t you at least just listen to what we have to say. We love you.” Rarity said, her voice and attitude subdued.

“Sugarcube, please jus listen to us. Let us make this up to you.” Applejack pleaded, holding her hat in front of her.

“Okay.” Sunset said as she looked from girl to girl as they gave a sigh of relief. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t keep the shark like grin off her face. “I’ll listen to you if you can truthfully answer my questions to my satisfaction.”

“We will answer anything Sunny, then after we make up we can go have a party after school!” Pinkie Pie cheered while Fluttershy seemed to try to hide even more behind her pink curtain of hair obviously sensing things weren’t going how they likely hoped.

“Okay, first question.” Sunset drawled out, a sneer forming as she glared at Applejack. “You said I was family, so why did you throw me away so soon after. Hell, all of you even agreed that you loved me like family.”

“Sunset, you can’t expect us not to suspect you after al the evidence pointed to you!” Rainbow Dash nearly shouted in frustration.

“You were rather mean before the Fall Formal. This was just like you went back to your old ways.” Fluttershy managed to get out after several false starts.

“When the hell did I ever do something like this? And when the hell did I get so stupid that I blatantly would have plastered myself all over the damned page?” Sunset demanded, glaring at Fluttershy before her angry gaze went back to Applejack. “And speaking of family, that brings up my next question. What would you have done if it was me that was arrested and had a police escort off of campus?”

“Sunset, please-“ Rarity tried to get in before Sunset just talked over her.

“You would all be throwing a good riddance party!” Sunset snapped while giving Pinkie Pie a hateful look.

“Now that’s not true!” Rainbow Dash snapped out.

“Oh? Wasn’t it you lot who was begging me to try and help your sisters get off? Sure seemed like you were supporting your family then. So, where was my support when I needed it? I was told I was family so I should have had the same love and support you gave your sisters.”

“Scoots isn’t my sister.” Rainbow Dash snarled as she looked away.

“Oh, so you are going to abandon her now. Some loyalty you have there, dropping friends left and right now are you?” Sunset asked with a humorless laugh making Rainbow Dash grit her teeth.

“Sunset, darling, please stop this. We are very truly sorry and we would do anything to make amends.” Rarity pleaded, “Just please give us a second chance.”

“You already had a second chance. When all of you kept stomping on my feelings and kicking me when I was down after the fall formal. All of the snarky remarks really hurt, but I gave you a second chance. Then when you didn’t want to really seem to want to include me in anything, another second chance. Then the battle of the bands and the way you treated me, another second chance.” Sunset said, her voice becoming somewhat emotionless as she shook her head. “No more second chances. I’m done with you and I’m done letting you stomp my heart into pieces.”

“Please Sunny, don’t do this.” Pinkie cried softly reaching out to Sunset who slapped her hands away.

“It was all of you who did this, not me. So we are done here.” Sunset snarled as she roughly shoved Rainbow Dash out of the way, the girl not even fighting to keep Sunset there anymore realizing everything that was said was the honest to painful truth and they needed to live with it. And she would have to apologize to Scoots after school for the angry and bitter words. She already hurt and drove Sunset away, she wouldn’t do it to her little sister figure too. “Okay, so you all are sorry. Well, too little too late.”

The girls watched as Sunset stomped off into the school feeling hurt over what just happened and extreme guilt for being the ones to cause it. As Sunset was disappearing into the school Applejack took one tentative step, then another before she was rushing off after Sunset. It didn’t take long to catch up with her and grab her wrist making the girl stop abruptly.

“Sunset, wait!” Applejack gasped out, catching her breath that the cold air outside and her haste robbed her of.

“I said back off!” Sunset snapped flinging her hand out. It was like a cyclone of wind filled the hallway horizontally pushing students gently back out of the way and throwing papers around. While the students were just pushed back, Applejack suffered the worse of it as she was flung over six feet away and slammed into a locker. All of the students looked on in fear as Sunset stood there, anger evident as she started to advance on the girl trying to climb to her feet.

“Sunset, I think she had enough dear.” A cultured voice said, hand on Sunset’s wrist making Sunset follow the arm up into the face of Octavia. She knew the girl was one of the few who supposedly believed her, actually remembering the girl scolding people for jumping on a bandwagon built around an obvious shoddy framejob.

“Octavia?” Sunset said, her voice unsteady as she fought back angry tears as the other girl led her away from the scene and to her waiting friends to calm down.

“It’s going to be fine, dear, let’s go get a drink and relax a few. I’m sure Derpy will have extra muffins, she always does.” Octavia said giving a little encouraging smile to Sunset.

💔💔💔

“What have ah told you about leaving that poor youngin alone, Applejack?” Granny Smith asked as she stared at her granddaughter sitting up in the cot at the nurse’s station.

“But Granny, we just want her ta listen to us!” Applejack sighed, avoiding looking directly at her Granny. “We are sorry for what we did!”

“Ah know you are sorry, but that youngin had done been through enough because of our kin. Before this is over we are likely goin ta lose the farm that has been in our family for generations. And it is all because of your sister and you.” Granny Smith said sternly,

“Buh-Wha-What did I do to make us lose it?” Applejack sputtered out indignantly.

“Ah told ya ta include your sister in those there sleepovers. It’s Christmas time, a time for family which included ya sister and Sunset. While your sister shoulders most of the blame, ya could have prevented it.” Granny Smith sighed, “Now isn’t tha time ta go layin no blame. No matter if we lose the farm or not, we will always be family and family sticks together. Ah truly hope you girls learn from this here lesson.”

“Ah have Granny, ah honest to goodness have.” Applejack said as she wiped at the tears in her eyes.

💔💔💔

Big Mac wanted to cry, he really did as he looked over the books once again. There was no room to squeeze any extra money to hire a lawyer for Applebloom. They would either have to take out a loan which wasn’t likely as they already had two out from major repairs to the farm that couldn’t be worked around, or sell the farm to that Filthy Rich who had been trying to buy it for a long time.

It seemed that Sweetie Belle’s family was in just as tight of a spot. They were better off than the Apple family financially, but after this whole fiasco they would likely be worse off. Mr. Belle was a private investigator whose business looked to take a nose dive when it got out that his youngest daughter tricked the whole school into believing Sunset was behind Anon-A-Miss and his oldest daughter feel for it completely. Who would want to hire a private investigator whose family is known for being cruel and manipulative or outright clueless.

Scootaloo had it the worst, Applebloom and Sweetiebelle was allowed to come home after being formally charged and their court date set. Scootaloo was an orphan and the orphanage just didn’t have the funds to pay the bond, not like the Apple’s really had it. They were able to quickly scrape enough up for it, but Scootaloo would be sitting in a juvenile holding center until the court date. Big Mac couldn’t help feeling sorry for the girl, but she brought things on herself.

“Damn it!” Big Mac snarled as he slammed the pen down on the table and got to his feet pushing the table several feet away in his anger. He still couldn’t believe his youngest sister had done this and his other sister not only blatantly ignored him, but accused him of thinking with his other head when he told her that there was no way Sunset could be Anon-A-Miss.

Yeah, he was attracted to Sunset and even entertained the notion of asking her out when she graduated if she was still single. There was only 2 years age difference between them which was nothing, but he was of age while technically Sunset wasn’t. So he intended to be a gentleman like his Granny raised him and wait and see. Not that he had high hopes of Sunset ever agreeing to go out with him, he didn’t really have anything to offer her. And Applejack knew all of this and accused him of taking Sunset’s side when he tried to convince her that there was no way Sunset would ever pull a stunt like this.

The one he was most disappointed in was Granny Smith as she was somebody he never expected to actually jump on a bandwagon like this. She was strong willed and stubborn, just like Applejack and even Applebloom, but to ignore everything he said to the point of being cold to the girl during lunch was uncalled for. He had delivered stuff from the farm to the cafeteria more than once to witness Granny Smith’s cold shoulder towards Sunset, even to the point of giving the bare minimum of food required rather than the extra helpings the woman usually shoveled out to everyone. He had even gave Sunset an apple a few times as he passed by Sunset while she was leaving the line while he wheeled in the apple crates. Not that she ever seemed to notice, she seemed to be in a fog the times he had seen her since this Anon-A-Miss started.

In the end, nobody had listened to him and Applebloom had sealed their family’s fate when it came to the farm. Granny Smith had left the decision up to him since it was the legacy left for him being the oldest and the heir. As angry as he was with his youngest sister, he wouldn’t leave her to suffer. They needed money for lawyers and he could see no other way. The case made by the police wasn’t going to be the only court case there was, and it was foolish to hope so. There were many families hurt by what happened and he couldn’t find it in himself to blame them for wanting blood for what happened to their children.

Picking up the phone he hooked it back up hoping nobody would call in the few moments it took to dial out to Filthy Rich. Looking out the window he took a long look at his legacy and didn’t bother wiping the lone tear fall from his eye.

💔💔💔

Sunset felt bad for blowing off the girls again, they just wanted to be friends and Sunset really did need them right now. She was just afraid of getting too close to them right now until she figured out what was going on. She didn’t want to accidentally hurt them like she did Applejack earlier. She may have been angry with the farm girl, but causing her serious injury wasn’t on her to do list. Thankfully all the girl suffered was some bruising and the wind knocked out of her.

Stepping into her apartment she heard the TV playing the news and could smell fresh coffee. Slowly she stepped in farther to find the old man sitting on the couch watching the news, the coffee pot sitting on a warmer plate on the small table in front of him with two mugs and a plate of pastries.

“Welcome home my dear, I believe you had some questions for me.” The man said as he motioned for the chair next to the couch that Sunset felt compelled to move to and take a seat.

“You bet your ass I do! What the hell did you do to me?” Sunset demanded, surprised she was semi-calm as she accepted the cup of coffee the man offered her.

“I only did what I promised. I gave you the power to fight those tainted by evil as well as rouge demons running amok in the city. There is a breaking in period of course since I can’t just give you all of those powers and make you just know how to use it. It could overload your brain, so your subconscious is brought forth at night when your power is at it’s fullest with the knowledge of what to do and it would slowly leak over to your conscious mind over the course of a few weeks to a month at most. It would be an instinctual thing mostly, the bare minimum of sentience given to your subconsciousness as a sort of training wheel. At least that is how it is supposed to go.” The man said, coughing in embarrassment as he tapped his cane on the floor.

“How it was supposed to go? What the hell? Am I a danger to my friends because of what you did to me?” Sunset asked, panic beginning to fill her. “Take these damn powers back!”

“I can’t take them back, not until the probation period is over. In the fine print there is a ninety day clause where I can not remove your power and you can’t give them back. Not by my choice mind you, but it is how it is.” The man said, small hint of apology in his voice. “You will never harm your friends, and neither will your other form. It is something hard coded into the magic that you can never harm an innocent. That being said, something within you mingled with the magic I gave you and the training wheels became more lively than it should. Your alter ego has a mind of it’s own, it’s own personality that comes out when the sun sets.”

“Great, so I can’t have friends over?” Sunset groaned, surprised that it was what came out. Was she really more worried about her friends than what this man has done to her?

“Of course they can, but they either must leave before the sun sets or you can wear this.” The man said pushing a velvet box Sunset only now just noticed across the table to her. “The mark on your hand is the safe for your contract as well as the source of your powers. At night it changes into a moon as your body changes to your alter ego. This will lock the change for one day a week for each side. In other words, you won’t change to your alter ego for one night every seven days and your alter will have the same benefit. While you wear it, it will remain gold and when your alter ego puts it on, it will change silver. She will also lose her wings and most of her power during the day as her powers depend on shadows and the moon while yours depend on the day. Another reason why your mark changes from sun to moon with all of your other changes.”

“It’s beautiful.” Sunset admitted as she opened the box and held the bracelet that was the most gorgeous piece of jewelry she had ever seen even if it was rather simplistic. She preferred simple things like this over the overly complicated things Rarity seemed to enjoy.

“All for you my daughter.” The man said with a warm smile.

“Daughter?” Sunset asked as she sat the box back on the table with the bracelet inside.

“I am an old, lonely soul and while I admit that I never wanted a family before, your want for one has woken the urge to have one. You are a lonely girl who I see a lot of potential as not only my champion, but for everything you set yourself to do. I would be honored to call you my daughter if you would allow me to be your father.” The man explained, growing worried as he sensed Shadow Reaper’s magic increasing as the sun was setting. He knew any moment she would be coming forth. He wanted to talk more with Sunset, he knew he wouldn’t be able to because Shadow Reaper had plans for tonight and he deemed them important enough to not try and convince Sunset to try out her newest gift. Something he never offered any of his other champions in his long existence.

“I don’t know, this is a lot to take in and I still don’t know if I can trust you. I’ll think about it.” Sunset said as she rubbed the back of her hand with the mark of the sun as it began to glow and start to become uncomfortable. A part of the change he didn’t like seeing Sunset have to go through, but it was part of the whole deal.

“If you look later you will notice you have a number added to your contact lists for me. If you need anything don’t hesitate in calling me.” The man said as Sunset nodded before gasping in pain. He watched as she changed from Sunset Shimmer to Shadow Reaper who wore a hurt and angry look on her face. “Hello my dear.”

“Go to hell, father!” Shadow Reaper snarled as she looked away with a few tears dripping from her eyes.

“I deserve that. I hope you know I never intended for this. All of my champions have had the lowest amount of sentience needed to perform their duties and merge with the main consciousness. I never seen one who created a whole new persona.” The man sighed shaking his head.

“Do you have any idea how unfair this is?” Shadow Reaper sobbed out, “Knowing I have maybe weeks before I’m absorbed? That I only have so short a time before I die?”

“I’ve contacted the rest of the council to see if there is anything that can be done to help you. Nobody deserves to lose their existence like that.” The man said, unsure it will do any good. As far as he could tell, Shadow Reaper was a part of Sunset’s soul despite it seeming to be separating from Sunset as Shadow Reaper became more and more dependent. When Shadow Reaper died, the little bit of soul she had was most likely going to be reabsorbed into Sunset and Shadow Reaper would cease to exist in her current state. She would be Sunset Shimmer day and night, only with different bodies.

“Sunset may come to love you, but all I will ever do is loathe you for doing this to me!” Shadow Reaper screamed before fleeing the apartment leaving behind a saddened man who hoped that Shadow Reaper wouldn’t somehow manage to break free of the contract and become what she was created to hunt in the first place.

Author's Note

I got to thinking that some of you may think that I plan to have Shadow be all flirty like she was in her first spotlight chapter. She isn't, she's going to have some anger issues and a real hate for rouge demons. She will be more gentle with normal humans as she devours the darkness and evil in their hearts, but she will also be harsh with some such as the one coming up in the next chapter.

I have an idea that I haven't been able to get out of my head that KR Chrome asked about. I wasn't going to use Lucifer or Lux, but maybe a colder version of Lucifer would be good who could be a reluctant ally for Sunset and have a Lux where she can visit. This Lucifer would not have a Chloe or be as nice as the one if the tv show, or care about humans as much. He will also have more powers if I decided to use him such as the ability to influence humans so they won't try and charge him for serving a minor if Sunset decides to visit. Should I, or shouldn't I use him?

Chapter 5

Cinch looked down into her drink as she sat at the bar in her home, her husband out getting hammered at the local bar. Not that she blamed him, their son and two of his friends were in jail for going in to the police station and admitting to being part of a plot to murder a student. And if that wasn’t the best part of her week already, they claimed Cinch’s daughter was behind the whole thing while confessing to their crimes. They claimed Cinch’s youngest child was behind the entire thing and no matter how the girl denied it, Cinch believed it. Cinch knew when her daughter wasn’t telling the truth, and she could tell she wasn’t during questioning. Right now her son was in jail while her daughter was upstairs grounded and she had no idea what to do about it.

Her life was crumbling down around her, her family falling apart, and Cinch knew exactly who was to blame for everything. She knew who was responsible for pushing her daughter to become this monster who pusher her own brother into bullying and finally into attempted murder. She knew who was behind her daughter becoming this person and Cinch hated the woman so much for turning the girl into this. Cinch hated herself for doing this to her baby girl, and worse yet an entire school.

She didn’t care much for her husband either, the man was a cold and shallow piece of work. While Cinch did push her children and her students to be the best at all times, she did it because she wanted them to be the best. Her husband just didn’t care, nothing would ever be good enough for him and she had almost let him time after time. Yet she was always seemed to fall for his crocodile tears and his promises of doing better, which he did for two or three days max.

If only she had listened to Cadence and Celestia every time they tried to tell her creating such a competitive atmosphere to the extreme that she had done in the school wasn’t a good thing. She had promised Cadence this evening that things would change, begged the woman to help fix the school before another student tried the same thing. Cinch hated that she was pretty much responsible for what her children tried to do to Twilight Sparkle as she never wanted somebody to actually get hurt or killed. She didn’t want blood on her hands so she knew things had to change.

Getting up she picked her glass up and walked to the sink to pour out its mostly untouched contents before going in to sit on the couch. She needed to clean up her home life, then the school. She just wasn’t sure how and trying to figure it out kept her from noticing a shadow behind her glowing a few moments before the woman fell into a deep sleep.

💔💔💔

Shadow Reaper silently floated up the steps of the home after casting a sleep spell on the woman on the couch. The woman was in a lot of pain which earned Shadow’s sympathy, but she wasn’t full of evil or a darkness Shadow could help with. When it came to humans, she had several options while with most monsters she had one which was killing them. When a demon’s physical body was destroyed on earth they would return to Hell and have to wait for their powers to regrow enough to create a new earthly body to return. For most it took years while a very few could do it in days.

Humans were a different and more delicate matter. For most, the bad choices they made often filled their souls with darkness and evil. Shadow could devour that evil leaving the human a guilt ridden mess that would recover within a few days to weeks even if they would still likely need counseling after. Then there were the few humans that for some reason were fully aware of what they were doing and relished in doing evil. These humans were so far gone that no amount of devouring their evil would release them from it. They knew what they were doing and they thrived on it, actually generated evil infecting others around them. They were evil incarnate and some of the most notorious individuals in history that was thought of as monsters was this type.

And finally, there were the humans who became prey for imps. They were typically good humans at heart who goes through a rough time and begins to give into rage, depression or other such negative emotions. An imp was one of the lower class beastial demons that made up a lot of the rouge demons as expending a little power to cast an influence on a person to increase their negative emotions until they exploded at which time the imp could absorb up to ten times the amount of power expended creating a quick path to evolving into a higher up beastial. They were the most looked down upon demons for this reason, the few who actually served as they were meant to getting a bad reputation because of it. The ironic thing is if they would just do as they were supposed to, they could actually become even more powerful and have a small chance at becoming something other than a beastial.

The question was, which was this girl? Her older brother and his two friends were salvageable. This girl was exuding such evil vibes that Shadow had doubts of this being as easy as the night before. Reaching her destination, the feeling of hate and anger on the other side of the bedroom door Shadow stopped at made her queasy. Taking a deep breath Shadow threw the door open scaring the girl who was texting on her bed to jump up and send a hate filled look her way.

“Who the hell are you?” The girl demanded as she threw her phone down on the bed and stomped over to Shadow.

“I think you already have an idea of who I am.” Shadow said as she extended her powers over the room casting the entire area in shadows making it much darker than it could naturally be. Do to her magic each of the two could easily make each other out, every single detail.

“So you are real? I didn’t believe it when that idiot was blabbing about some winged freak saving that pathetic loser.” The girl snorted, “So what are you going to do, make me beg for forgiveness. Well, too bad, you don’t scare me. You are just another worthless freak who thinks they are better than me.”

“Only thing I think is that you are an idiot.” Shadow said as she flexed her wings and spread them out in an attempt to intimidate this idiot girl.

“Please, like you are going to do anything.” The girl scoffed, “I have friends that will crush you with just a word.”

“Honey, I think you need a reality check.” Shadow grinned, trying to get a hold of the evil in the girl to devour it. She was feeling a little hungry after all and this girl would fill her up for a week. To her surprise she couldn’t even touch the evil meaning this girl was a source of pure evil that would never change her ways on her own if at all.

“If you are done trying to scare me, tell mom it failed and get the hell out of my room you freak.” The girl growled, her eyes going wide as Shadow wrapped a clawed hand around her throat and lifted her off the ground gasping for air.

“Look into my eyes.” Shadow commanding, the girl feeling compelled to do so did so. The girl was clawing at Shadow’s hand trying to get away from the grip as Shadow’s eyes changed from blue to red as if a fire was in them. The girl’s eyes quickly matched them as Shadow showed the girl hell and all the tortures she would endure. She should the girl all of the pain she has caused people from her own family to every single victim she was responsible for. She started screaming as Shadow dropped the girl and retreated out the window. It wouldn’t be long until the girl would fall into a coma and keep seeing and feeling everything over and over again until she chose to give up her grip on her evil heart.

It wasn’t something Shadow wanted to do, she hoped to never have to do this and she hoped when she was gone Sunset would never have to either. It was part of the job though and while Shadow looked forward to helping the other two types of humans, she hated this kind because it made her feel like a failure. She at least managed to Save Twilight Sparkle and she did look forward to seeing the girl which she planned to do now. Landing just on the outskirts of the neighborhood where there was no prying eyes, Shadow pulled her wings into her back so she looked like a normal human. She hated it as she walked towards Twilight’s house it felt as if her wings wanted nothing more to rip back out. It was almost a struggle to keep them in. She would have rather kept them folded around her like a cloak if she wasn’t going to see at least another member of Twilight’s family.

Nervously she walked up to the door and rang the bell, hoping it would be Twilight who answered. It was an older woman that finally answered and she looked to be in a bit of a bad mood as she sent an angry look at Shadow.

“Is Twilight here?” Shadow asked earning an even harsher look from the woman.

“I told the last one of you we aren’t answering any more questions!” the woman snapped.

“All I wanted to do was see Twilight, I’m not here to ask questions.” Shadow grumbled as she crossed her arms, inadvertedly pressing her breasts more together creating even more visible cleavage through the keyhole of her dress. She really needed to change outfits, thankfully her magic kept her and her clothes clean with each change.

“You aren’t a reporter, are you?” The woman asked, shaking her head.

“Who is it, Velvet, another reporter?” A second woman asked, one that was familiar to Sunset’s memories.

“My name is Shadow, I was just coming by to see Twilight.” Shadow grumbled, turning to leave. “Forget it, I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” The second woman gasped grabbing Shadow’s shoulder. “Are you the one Twily was talking about? You saved her?”

“All I did was chase off some punks.” Shadow grumbled, mentally adding, ‘After I drained their sorry asses.’

“Thank you so much!” The familiar woman gasped, pulling Shadow into a surprise hug. “My name is Cadence, I’m Twilight’s sister-in-law and this is Twilight’s mother Twilight Velvet.”

“Please come in.” Velvet said wiping at her eyes, “I’m really sorry for how I treated you. We’ve had reporters hounding us all day after it got out that there was a conspiracy to-“

“Honey, don’t worry about it, Twilight’s safe. I guess we have you to thank for that?” A man said, offering his hand while Cadence shut the door as Shadow allowed herself to be guided farther into the house. “My name is Night Light.”

“Hey, name’s Shining Armor.” Shining said coming out to give Cadence a side hug while giving Shadow a strained smile.

“My name is Shadow Reaper, it’s nice to meet all of you.” Shadow said with a bit of a nervous smile. She didn’t like being around so many people who were being friendly to her. She wasn’t exactly too sure how to act despite having Sunset’s memories to fall back on.

“I don’t know what you did to scare those kids straight, I just have to thank you for it. If not for you, I don’t want to think about what happened.” Night Light said, something in his expression having a more knowing look than what his words said which was putting Shadow a little on edge. Humans shouldn’t know about what Shadow was, much less other things that she was created to deal with. Unless he was one of those families that descended from what began as the Council of Watchers that evolved into the Hunters Guild that eventually disbanded. Which was more useless knowledge thanks to her so called father.

“It was nothing, I’m just sorry it happened.” Shadow said.

“You have a beautiful dress, coming from some kind of function?” Cadence asked.

“Yeah, my father does a lot of…charity work.” Shadow explained, taking a moment to come up with something that wasn’t a lie yet didn’t exactly say what he did. While she couldn’t lie most of the time, or didn’t like to was more accurate, she could tell small lies when needed to protect someone or her host’s identity. While she was an infernal, she followed celestial rules for the most part. Not that infernal rules were much different,

“Mom, who’s at the door?” A new voice asked as footsteps could be heard coming down the steps. The new voice sounded much more hollow than the one Shadow remembered from the night before.

“Your friend is here to see you honey.” Velvet called, the footsteps pausing a moment before rushing down and into view as Twilight came into view and tackled Shadow knocking both girls to the floor.

“Thank you!” Twilight cried over and over again as Shadow wrapped an arm around the girl despite the compromising position and rubbed her back.

“Hey, its okay Sparks, nothing happened and you are okay.” Shadow cooed.

“They were really trying to kill me this time!” Twilight sobbed loudly.

“Hey, it’s okay, relax. It will all be okay.” Shadow said softly, knowing it will take time for Twilight to recover from this and everything was going to be far from okay for the girl. A small foolish part had hoped that Twilight wouldn’t find out what they had planned, but sending them to the police to confess was pretty much ensuring the knowledge would get back to the now crying girl.

Shadow wasn’t sure how long she was there and while she was trying to calm the girl down, but at some point the others helped them up and after a few suggestions Shadow and Velvet helped Twilight upstairs to her room where the mother left the two teens to watch Disney movies that where playing in the TV that seemed to be a new addition as it looked like it was out of place on the dresser where it sat.

“Can you stay the night?” Twilight asked hopefully sometime into the movie which Shadow sadly had to decline.

“I’m sorry, but for the moment I have a curfew, but I will stay until you go to sleep.” Shadow said, as Twilight seemed to settle down into the bed more.

“Thanks.” Twilight said, Shadow leaning over to kiss the girl’s head sending a pulse of magic into her sending the girl into a deep, calming sleep while making sure her dreams would be of an alicorn flying high under the moonlight.

Making her way back down the stairs she passed what she suspected was Night Light’s study. The door was open as he was sitting at a desk where he motioned her in after their eyes met.

“Please close the door.” He said, which Shadow did. She looked around the room noticing several ancient artifacts that had long lost the power they once held while a couple still held a great deal. There were also books that she noticed was on demonology, monsters, celestial beings and mythology. The thing was, most mythology had a hint of truth as most pantheons were real. The thing was they weren’t gods, they were celestial or infernal beings masquerading as Gods which didn’t last for long even if their legacy did.

“So what’s up?” Shadow asked.

“At first I was going to ask you to stay away from my daughter until I witnessed that display earlier.” Night sighed as he motioned to a set of beads with a cross hanging on a hook by the door. “Could you hand those to me?”

“Sure.” Shadow agreed with an exaggerated eyeroll. The string of beads was a special rosary which was a relic of times gone past. It made the person who held it tell only the truth while in contact with it no matter what they were. “So what did you want to ask me that you tried to trick me into holding this thing while talking?”

“So I take it you are something other than human. I doubt you are a vampire or were of any type.” Night said.

“I’m an infernal being, a type of vengeance demon to be exact. Not the murdery kind though, I devour the evil infecting human’s hearts laving them feeling the guilt and a choice to redeem themselves or facing an eternity paying for their sins. I also hunt creatures of evil such as rogue demons and vamps and shit.” Shadow explained.

“So you don’t have any ill intentions to my family?” Night asked, relieved that Shadow wasn’t going to get angry over his little stunt.

“I would never hurt Twilight, nor your family. From what I could see your family is full of very good hearted people who doesn’t deserve what happened last night.” Shadow replied, “And Twilight, you don’t have to worry about her tonight. I put her into a deep sleep that will only give her good dreams for tonight.”

“Thank you.” Night said as he held out his hand to accept the rosary Shadow placed in it. “I’m sorry I had to test you, but my family is one of the few lore keepers. I’m sure you know about the Hunters of old?”

“Yeah, I have their knowledge.” Shadow said.

“Well, I don’t believe what many of the people of old claimed. There is good and evil in ever species. I just didn’t know we had one of your kind here for long enough to merge completely with their host.” Night said as Shadow took a seat in the chair opposite Night at the desk.

“I’m a special case. Yeah, usually newly created champions are dumb as a rock. Something odd happened when I was created and I have an actual personality and short life.” Shadow said.

“Wait, you are what the books called the training wheel protocol?” Night asked, shocked to see one with an actual consciousness as they did tend to be dumb as a rock as the girl described. They were supposed to be a buffer so as not to overload the host’s brain with a full info dump. Little by little it would leak into the conscious mind until fully merged and the host would have control.

“Yeah, I’ll probably be gone in a few weeks and my host will be in full control.” Shadow said, hurt in her eyes.

“There are stories of artifacts that could help. I know I’ve seen stories where people who were critically injured took over the body of someone who was declared brain dead.” Night explained. “I could look into that for you if you like as a thank you for saving my daughter.”

“I would appreciate that, thank you.” Shadow said as she tried her best to control her hope as the possibility. A person whose body was in good condition that was brain dead was a person whose soul had already moved on. That meant that she could occupy the body and have her own body if they found a way and both Sunset and her father would sign off on it so to say.

“I didn’t want my family finding out about any of this. My wife always thought this was all crazy talk and my kids think its just myths and legends and stuff. I guess it’s too late to ask you not to reveal yourself to them?” Night asked.

“Sorry, Twily already knows pretty much what I am.” Shadow said.

“It’s okay, not your fault. I just hope she doesn’t do something crazy because of all of this.” Night sighed.

“Don’t worry, I can tell she’s a smart girl.” Shadow said.

💔💔💔

Once again Sunset woke to feel fully rested and since she had actually good meals the last few days she was feeling better than she had in a long time. An actual hot shower helped a lot too and having money for all the necessities was great. The thing she didn’t understand was why she was holding a card for Crystal Prep when she woke up with a Dean Cadence’s phone number on it. She wrote it off as something her other self was doing, still not sure what to think about the whole situation. Though the thought that the old man may just really care in some capacity and wanted to be called father made her smile. She was sure today was going to be a good day as it was Saturday and for the first time she actually had money to do something.

Author's Note

Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. And yes Twilight is suffering from PTSD after finding out someone was not only going to kill her, but they planned on it with someone else. I will do my best to do justice to it and not make light of it, Twilight won't just get over it at the snap of a finger, but she will gain more courage as time goes on as she makes new friends.

As for Cinh, I'm not trying to make her into a bad guy here. I tried to show that what she did at the school was what she believed to be best, but this happeneing has ripped the blinders off and she realizes that she messed up and badly. So by the time the friendship games happens, if they do in my story, Crystal Prep will have gotten better and Cinch won't be the person she was in the movie.

I'm sorry that I'm not exactly very good at this, but if a really good author likes the story and would like to adopt it, I would be happy to leave it in your capable hands. Otherwise, I'll try my best to continue it and hope for the best that people will like it.

Chapter 6

“Ahm tellin ya all, Sunset is on tha verge of goin all demon again.” Applejack snapped at her friends, holding her bandaged side as she glared at her friends around their table at Sugarcube Corner. She didn’t want to believe it herself, but what Sunset did to her yesterday was nowhere near normal. Even for their group.

“And I’m telling you to drop it AJ.” Rainbow Dash said as she idly stirred her milkshake while staring over at her friend with a defeated expression. “We already hurt Sunset enough, we don’t need to add to it by accusing her of going demon again.”

“Darling, what if Applejack has a point.” Rarity said, shrinking back as the two more aggressive girls of the group turned their attention to her. “Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to believe it myself. Sunset has been through a lot lately. What if everything that has happened is affecting her and she might be reverting back into that demon thing by no fault of her own?”

“I wish Twilight was here.” Pinkie Pie whined, her hair mostly flat as she to played with her drink. “Maybe one of us can go through the portal and ask her for help?”

“Twilight does know about all of this magic stuff, maybe if something is wrong she can find out without hurting Sunset more than we already have.” Rainbow Dash mused.

“That there is ah great idea, sugarcube.” Applejack agreed.

“Yeah, Twi can see if she thinks Sunset is reverting without having to bother Sunset. We can make sure she is okay without risking another verbal beatdown.” Rainbow Dash agreed, “Even if we deserve it.”

“I just wish we could have our friend back.” Pinkie Pie sighed.

“We all do, darling. We all do.” Rarity said.

“If only we didn’t mess up so badly as friends.” Fluttershy squeaked out.

“So, who is going?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I will, I’m already used to it over there anyways.” Pinkie Pie admitted getting curious looks from the others. “What? Was it something I said?”

💔💔💔

Sunset stood in front of a large window display of the store, ignoring the chill breeze as she admired the different colors of the blinking lights of the Christmas decorations. It was beautiful, something that Sunset had always wanted to be a part of yet could never afford. Now that she had money she decided maybe now would be a good time to indulge in this frivolous little holiday activity. It would be different and fun and something to get her mind off of things. And now that she had her own real place, the timing couldn’t be better.

“Muffin?” A voice asked starting Sunset as said muffin was shoved under her nose. She couldn’t help smiling as she took the offered muffin while turning to the group of girls standing there.

“Thanks Derpy. Hi girls.” Sunset greeted her new acquaintances, and hopefully new friends as she unwrapped the muffin and enjoyed the strawberry muffin.

“So what’s up Shimmer?” Vinyl asked, grinning at Sunset.

“Well, I was thinking about decoration my place for Christmas. Not too sure what to get though.” Sunset said seeing a shocked look on pretty much the entire group standing there.

“Christmas isn’t too far off and you still haven’t decorated?” Lyra gasped.

“I never had a real home before this year.” Sunset said making the girls frown as they realized she was from another world.

“So you have one now love? Then let’s make it perfect for your first Christmas in your new home.” Octavia said.

“Yeah, we can help get what you need.” Bon Bon agreed.

“Well, I have plenty of money to get what I want. I would love the company and help decorating though. I’ll even order pizza for everyone.” Sunset offered with a grin as the others cheered.

“Glad you are finally coming around.” Octavia said, “I was worried that you were trying to avoid us because of what happened with the others.”

“I’m not, I know all of you only tried to help even if I was too blind to see at the time. I just had a lot on my plate this week, but I would love to start hanging out more if you girls seriously want to.” Sunset said.

“Well then, let’s go shopping!” Derpy cheered getting the others to giggle as her excitement quickly infected the others.

💔💔💔

“When I get home, I expect you to be gone.” Cinch growled out over the phone to her husband, soon to be ex-husband as she stared out of the window to the parking lot below. She was on the third floor of the hospital alone in the family waiting area as the doctors took her daughter for more tests. They had no clue what was wrong with her, and her husband not only had the nerve to ignore her requests that he come in and see their daughter, but he had blamed all of this on Cinch herself. Said it was her genes that caused their son to do what he did, and possibly their daughter being behind it. The ass knew nothing hurt more, or angered her more than saying shit like that. Cinch didn’t know her family seeing she was an orphan who worked hard to get where she was.

She had a very comfortable life going when she was stupid enough to fall for that bastard. She had worked hard, aspired to be the best of the best in school and her choice of work. She made plenty of investments in the stock market and came out on top over and over to the point she didn’t even need to really work as an educator. Being an educator was her passion though, and her two children were her life and the only reason she let her husband persuade her to take him back again and again.

“Come on babe, don’t say that. You know you can’t get by without me.” The man said, his ego and conceit showing. “I’ll come see you.”

“You should be coming to see your daughter, not me. You know what, if you aren’t out of my house by the time I get home then I’ll burn everything you have.” Cinch growled out ending the call.

“There you are, I have great news. Your daughter has woken up, she’s asking for you.” The nurse that has been keeping Cinch up to date said getting a sigh of relief from the woman.

“Thank you, I’m coming.” Cinch said as she put her phone away in her bag. She didn’t know what was wrong with her daughter, but she would always be there for her. She may not like any of the choices the girl made lately, nor would she hide evidence of misdoings, but Cinch would always love her daughter and be there for her. The same for her son.

💔💔💔

“Girls, I don’t think this is a really good idea.” Fluttershy muttered as the group of friends gathered by the portal in the base of the Wondercolts statue. She had been going back and forth on the subject ever since they discussed it earlier and she just couldn’t see a reason to get Twilight involved in this. She also didn’t like doing something that could potentially hurt Sunset Shimmer even more.

“Shy, we need to do this to make sure that nobody gets hurt. If Sunset is reverting back into a demon, it isn’t her fault.” Rainbow Dash said while patting Fluttershy’s shoulder. “It is our responsibility to save her from herself if we drove her to this.”

“Darling, Rainbow Dash is completely right for once.” Rarity said with a mischievous smirk as Rainbow Dash shot her a glare. “If Sunset is becoming that thing again, it is likely because of the entire school, our sisters and as much as I hate to admit it, mostly because of us. We didn’t learn our lesson the first time and this time the consequences not only cost us a dear friend, but may have pushed her down a dark path.”

“Sugarcube, there’s nothing we can do right now to win Sunset back. We done went and screwed that all up. What we can do is make sure Sunset is safe.” Applejack said, rubbing her eyes.

“Less talking, more action!” Pinkie Pie cried before jumping through the base of the statue.

Author's Note

This chapter is a little later than I wanted and a lot shorter than planned. I've restarted the damned thing numerous times trying to get everything perfect and trying to decide what I want in this chapter and the next as they will be important, very important. Well, my luck is I went and hurt my back, not bad though. It hurts like hell and it is hard to get comfortable or stay still as it is hard to get comfortable right now. So it is hard to focus meaning it is hard to read more than a small amount or write little chunks at a time. So I decided that I will release the next chapter in 3 or 4 chunks to help get it done. The next Shadow Reaper chapter may be the same way as I have some important bits for it if I decide to do hem all this time for her, or I may use only some things and use the rest next Shadow Reaper chapter.