Ambition can be a curious thing, guiding one to the most unexpected places. The promise of power and its pursuit is how most conceive this concept.

Ambition can be a good thing, if what you aim to be is something that can help others. But Sunset Shimmer's ambition had long ago walked down more selfish paths.

The student of the great Princess Celestia, a magical prodigy without equal in her generation; the study of the arcane arts and perfecting was all that she dreamed about.

Greatness was her destiny, and sadly she believed it too much.

Unknown to almost everyone, Celestia had subtly nudged the bloodlines of her subjects, in the hopes of creating powerful ponies that her teachings would make heroes. Protectors of Equestria.

Out of love and concern for those that were under her watch, all too conscious of the dangers of the world... and to, hopefully, create the next generation of Bearers of the Elements, and wield the power of Harmony to succeed where she failed and save Luna.

Sunset was one such pony, and her potential was endless. But the unicorn, while she ignored the reason of her power, knew that she would always be in the shadow of Celestia. For the alicorn had the best of the three main kinds of ponies, and had cultivated those traits to their peak.

But the greatest student of the alicorn princess refused to be less than her teacher; out of pride and love, she wanted to be at her side. As her equal. And all the talks and subtle nudges to make friends didn't deter her ambition, for the unicorn didn't know of the power such bonds could bring, both metaphorically and literally.

Celestia, a flawed person as everyone was, didn't realize she should have been more direct in making Sunset understand the importance of friendship; but having to plan and act in secret for so long led her to overestimate her student. She wouldn't open to others, and that mirror sealed her fate.

Maybe, had the princess acted otherwise, her pupil and currently best hope to save her sister would not have escaped through the mirror portal.

But that's not the possibility this story will explore.

Disappointment was something Celestia was used to feeling. Sadness? Oh, even more.

Sunset Shimmer had been a failure, and now she had run away, just as the portal closed; now it was too small and unstable to go through and find her. The little pony she had taken under her wing and trained for a great destiny, so sure she was the one needed...

Gone.

And the feeling that it was her fault, at least in part, eclipsed everything else. And even that was replaced with alarm as she watched the mirror, energy unlike anything she had sensed before emanating from it.

Before she could use a spell or give an order to her equally alarmed guards, the mirror exploded, magic and energy throwing them against the walls as power washed over them and tore the room apart.

As soon as it started, the blast of power ended.

Celestia got back to her hooves among groans of pain, the explosion leaving bruises in more than one place. As her guards tried to recover and a few more entered in an frenetic order, the alicorn despaired as her eyes fell over the remnants of the mirror.

The device was gone, the portal now a mere wound in the universe that trembled in a barely audible sceam before collapsing on itself, forever closing.

Sunset... no...

And for years the alicorn would pray, not caring what great deity or power bothered to listen as long as Sunset had managed to get to the other side before that explosion.

Sunset didn't know what to expect as the whirlwind of magic dragged her towards a light shining at the end, spells filling her and changing her in something she couldn't stop, her own magic too stretched to fight back.

Then something hit her on the side, and the whirlwind seemed to shift.

Whatever was left of her senses looked at what, by instinct, had grabbed her, pain giving way to confusion in the eyes that seemed to look right into her soul.

Two burning powers crashed through the whirlwind of spells, one dragging the other in search of its prey, not realizing they had stumbled upon someone else and colliding with Sunset and the mysterious being.

Some sort of dimensional inertia or impulse pushed the group out of the bridge the portal had created between the worlds, and the future collapsed.

All that Sunset was going to be, all the bonds that would have been created and nurtured on Earth, the magic that would flow into the world that expected her beyond the light, it was possibility that had become certainty... only to find itself denied just a few seconds before happening.

All of that collapsed, untolds amounts of energy suddenly filling the point of change, and the bridge could not handle it. Magic, energy, temporal power and more destroyed the portal, most of it dispersing between Arcana Magna and the Earth, only a fraction escaping through the ends of the connection before said connection found itself obliterated.

And the waves of energy pushed the surprised four beyond the timeline.

Agony filled the unicorn as the spells within her body twisted and shattered, the fragments tearing her flesh, bones and soul apart, her magic unconsciously fighting back. Pulled and pushed in every direction as every spark of arcane power that she called her own kept her together without retreating an inch, her eyes looking without seeing the wonders of time that filled and surrounded the multiverse like an ocean.

Whoever was holding her managed to right themselves and swam through the time, too busy looking for a calm place in the middle of this ocean while fighting with their other passenger to realize they were bringing the shattered unicorn with them. The relentless pursuer kept hitting his current ride while keeping the fourth being in as close of a chokehold as it was possible in their current, mostly immaterial state.

After eternities that barely filled seconds, they reached an island, catapulting out of the water and crashing on sand, the barely material beings rolling in different directions.

The pursuer shone in bright gold, chronal power enveloping the four and forcing their energy selves return to physical form. An hippogriff stood menacingly in their place, glaring at the two dragons she had been pursuing. As the two reptiles got up, spitting sand and returning the glare, a horrible cough caught their attention.

All three looked to the side and were taken aback at the sight of Sunset Shimmer, magic of every color coming off her body in waves as she coughed blood and fragments of spells, the arcane power vanishing against the sand. Bloody eyes tried to focus on the fight that had stumbled upon her, horn charging magic by instinct before losing power.

A veritable pile of sand was thrown at the hippogriff, the dragons taking advantage that she was distracted before jumping back into the ocean of time. By the time the Chronos Warrior got out, they were long gone.

River cursed her luck at her targets escaping yet again before Sunset's heavy, bloody coughing drew her eyes back to the unicorn. Sunset collapsed as the hippogriff walked to her side.

She talked, but Sunset's hearing wasn't working, and even if it was, she wouldn't have had the chance to answer whatever question River made as she passed out, her mind finally giving up in trying to stay conscious.

Author's Note

When I first heard about Equestria Girls, I found the concept to be a stupid addition to the MLP franchise. The typical high school setting, throwing magic to it? In the moment, I didn't like it.

I did like Sunset Shimmer's character, and found the second movie enjoyable. I ended up with mixed feelings regarding Equestria Girls.

But hey, this is fanfiction, where imagination is the limit! I've seen alternate takes of Sunset Shimmer's life where she never went to the human world, my favorite being The Witch Of The Everfree. So why not make mine?

This is what came to my head, inspired by Dragon Ball Xenoverse. I haven't played the game, but enough people have uploaded videos on Youtube to sate my curiosity on it.

Let's find out what awaits Sunset now that her future has literally blown apart, and see if she can learn to be a better person without a rainbow of arcane power shot at her very being.

Oh, and if you wonder what will happen on the human world without Sunset, check this story: Kamen Rider: A Shift in Time.

... What? I like Kamen Rider.