The Fabrication in The Shadows

Chapters

The Rumour
Endless Suffering
The Perfect Mission
A Conflicted Journey
The Confrontation
The Volcanic Battle
Human Nature
The Obligatory Villain Monologue

The Rumour

I sat at the counter in a crowded, musty bar, with my girlfriend, Twilight. A cacophony of voices and slurps resonated throughout the establishment at the same time as our conversation, the noise almost drowning out our voices. There were many people sitting, standing, drunk-walking (as I like to call it), and making strange sounds as they danced in a drunken stupor. I sipped wine from a small, curved glass as I sat with one leg crossed over the other, resting an elbow on the long green counter. I was facing Twilight, in mid-conversation, holding hands with her and staring into her mesmerizing, beautiful eyes (we were in our honeymoon stage, even though Twilight had lived with me for several months, since we'd literally just started dating the day before).

I finished off the remainder of my wine, and set it down on the table, exhaling in satisfaction. Then I looked up at Twilight and asked in an overly formal voice, “After our latest mission, what would you say our respective success rates are?”

Twilight looked at me with a perplexed expression while her lips were pressed to her glass. Then she caught on with what I was doing. She smiled mischievously as she raised her finger and closed her eyes, speaking in a purposefully pompous tone. “Well, Miss Sunset Shimmer, I would say each of our success rates are precisely 100%.”

I chuckled, then raised my eyebrow and said, “You’re really not gonna go into a convoluted mathematical explanation about it?”

Twilight blushed slightly, then stroked her chin as if she was contemplating, “Hmmmmmming” all the while. She tersely answered, “Nah.” But then she paused and added, “I’d do it for 100 kisses.”

We laughed together for a few seconds, then we were interrupted by both of our phones beeping to alert us of a notification, and several other phones around the bar made the same noise. We checked what it was about. I saw it was something from Horsebook, and I rolled my eyes. I knew almost anytime we got a Horsebook notification at the same time, it was another fake rumour about me. I was sad that I’d done things bad enough in the past to make others spread lies about me, but they shouldn’t have followed my bad example (the funny thing is, they probably didn’t even realize that was what they were doing).

I was right on the money. Before I even scrolled down to see the details, I saw a picture of me with an angry face. I said “Ugh” in annoyance and then I swiped further down the page.

Now, usually, the things people say that I do are pretty bad and absurd, but this.This took the cake.

On the left was a large picture of a bloody and badly beaten boy. There were countless scrapes and bruises across his face. I cringed at the gruesome photo, then looked to what was beside it. It was a video recording this beating I supposedly gave him. Surprisingly enough (though the camera seemed to be pretty far away), the person pummeling the poor boy did look like me, though there was something...different about the me in the video. I just couldn’t put my finger on what. The face of the boy also seemed vaguely familiar.

I shook my head to stop distracting myself and look at the writing accompanying the picture and the video. It said, “I got beaten up by Sunset Shimmer last week.”

That statement immediately sucked away a lot of the empathy I had for the boy. If he was the one who did this, he just straight up lied about something really horrible. The face of the boy which drew pity out of me not 5 seconds earlier seemed to now be mocking me. I considered the possibility that the whole thing had been photoshopped.

I looked up at Twilight, and she was staring at me worriedly. I was wondering why, but she spoke before I got the chance to ask. “This could completely ruin the reputation that you’ve worked so hard to build, Sunset! That video is really incriminating! The proof is seemingly airtight!” When I realized this, the appalled expression on my face must’ve alerted Twilight to how panicked I felt, and she continued in the most reassuring voice possible. “But there’s no need to worry. I’ll be here for you.” When she could see her words weren’t getting through to me, she placed her hands on my shoulders and said firmly, “We will get through this together.”

Twilight’s sincere speech made me feel slightly better, but I was still worried, and I bit my inner lip. I closed my eyes, and suddenly I was starting to have very dark thoughts about dealing with this boy violently, but I quickly shut the idea deep inside my head and took a long, deep breath. “I’m sure it’ll blow over soon enough. Let’s go. I’m tired,” I said, faking a yawn. I grabbed into my pocket and slapped some bills onto the table, then stood up, not realizing we’d already paid for our drinks.

Twilight didn’t budge. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re acting a bit...differently than usual.” Her furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips alerted me to how concerned she was.

I brushed off her worries with a "casual" smile. “I’m feeling great! A few strange looks and some whispers are nothing I can’t handle!” I said with a strained smile.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked, unconvinced.

“Of course!” I answered in an over-the-top jovial voice. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s just the worst thing that’s happened to me in years!” I dismissed her concerns with a casual wave of the hand. I cringed inwardly at my acting and pushed back a sigh as I walked away from the counter, expecting Twilight to join me.

She sat still for a couple of seconds, but she did eventually stand up and follow me. As she did so, Twilight uttered under her breath, “This is gonna be a rough week.”

Endless Suffering

Sadly, the rumour didn’t “blow over.” In fact, it may have gotten worse. The rumour spread like wildfire, and all I could do was try to endure the constant whispers, stares and conversations about me behind my back. And that’s not even taking into account all the grief I had gotten on the internet during the few days after the start of the rumour. I almost decided to completely cut off my connection with society, but I felt like I needed to face my problems head on.

Me and Twilight were walking together, a bag filled with food and drinks in my right hand, while I held hands with Twilight using the other. It was Thursday in the late morning, a time when barely anyone was out and about, and we’d purposefully planned to do grocery shopping at that time.

Luckily for me, people found out where we lived, and gathered in large groups to wait for me so they could boo me on the streets.

We passed by one of these crowds when we headed to the grocery store, and we had to see them again when we walked back. There were no “scenic routes” between our house and the local grocery store, and the teleportation spell we recently mastered wasn’t powerful enough to travel that far. Dozens of people were in the angry mob, some who I recognized, and some that I didn’t. Regardless of who they were, they were all shouting at me or holding up a hate sign.

I tried to hurry us along, but then Twilight released her grip on my hand and angrily marched toward the crowd that was continuously yelling, up until Twilight was right in front of them. I stopped and watched.

She took a deep breath, then bared her teeth and narrowed her eyes. “I can’t believe all of you!” she scolded with her arms high up in the sky. “Sunset has done nothing but try to better herself ever since the Summer prom, yet people like you keep taking every opportunity you can get to make her feel like dirt!” Twilight pointed in an accusatory manner at all the me-haters as she pressed on. “If you have problems with what she’s done in the past, or think she wasn’t punished enough by the school, then be a rational person and talk about it! You should all be ashamed of yourselves! How would you feel if everywhere you went, you were verbally attacked for something you didn’t do!? And, even if, and that’s a big if, Sunset did do what the rumour says she did, you can be more civilized about it!” Twilight huffed and puffed after finishing her rant.

One random guy in the middle of the crowd laughed and stepped forward as he said (with a stuffy and overconfident voice), “Obviously, Sunse's faking her “reformation.” Who would randomly turn good after being evil for years? She’s just trying to get on everyone’s good side and then do what she always does. The only difference is that she'll do it from the shadows. She doesn’t deserve respect.” I got a bit angry at the statement that I had randomly turned sides. There was so much more to it than that.

Twilight smacked her face. She looked like she was about to reply, but then I walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, telling her, “I can take care of this.” Twilight looked like she wanted to say something, but decided against it.

“So,” I said. “You think I’ve been faking everything and took off the element of magic myself because I was just tricking you? I easily could’ve taken over the world with the infinite power granted by the crown. Explain to me, how does it make sense for my reformation to be fake?”

The random man scoffed, and casually replied, “You’re Sunset Shimmer. Of course you’d want to go back to manipulating people.”

I was shocked by the open rudeness, and I sighed in frustration, pressing my hand to my forehead. I looked up and asked with annoyance, “Why the hell would I want to do that when the alternative was literally having everything I could want, maybe besides relationships?” I should’ve realized it was a mistake to say that, but it was too late.

The man smirked as if he had won the argument, and he spoke arrogantly. “That’s exactly it. Love is the only reason you decided not to keep your infinite power! If your precious Twilight didn’t exist, you’d be ruling the land with an iron fist! But the next best thing for you is to be just as nasty as before, just not in the open!”

I flinched at this point. It’s true that the thought of being alone forever had been the final nail in the coffin to convince me to turn good, but Twilight said a lot more than that. Twilight, I thought. He was right that Twilight was, in one way or the other, the only reason that I’d switched allegiances. I thought of how to put all my jumbled thoughts into words, then I finally responded, careful not to give this stubborn man the wrong impression. “It's true that originally Twilight was the reason I turned good, but it was because she had convinced me, not because I’d fallen in love in a few days! The thought of being alone helped, but now that I’ve seen all the benefits of not being everyone’s enemy, I could never go back to being that way again!”

At this, the man snorted, and confidently said, “Yeah, right. And I suppose that you feel bad about what you did too? The only honest part of what you said was when you agreed with me.” He started walking away, but I cried out for him to stop.

“Wait! I do feel bad about that!” The jerk didn’t even bother to turn around, and he just made puppet gestures with his hand as he continued walking. I slumped and turned back to Twilight, who was unintentionally creating magical fire around her hands from her fury at the utter disrespect I’d been shown. I couldn’t deal with this crowd any longer and sluggishly told Twilight, “It’s okay. You don’t have to defend me. They'll ever think differently of me no matter what you do.” As if to support this idea, the crowd kept shouting at me.

Twilight dispelled the fire and put a comforting hand on my back. “Alright, Sunset...If you say so. Let’s go home. I’m sure a nice meal will cheer you up!”

I nodded, but a frown remained on my face, and a slump in my back. The two of us walked away, the echoes of the jeering crowd growing more and more distant as I thought, What am I gonna do? I can’t deal with this anymore.

The Perfect Mission

As I continued going about my everyday business for the next several days, I was constantly seeing crowds of unrelenting haters, and needless to say, I started feeling a little depressed. Just as I knew she would, Twilight kept trying to cheer me up, and she did lift my spirits somewhat...but it wasn’t enough.

I was laying in bed wearing purple pajamas with a picture of my cutie mark on my shirt. I could hear Twilight in the kitchen making breakfast, and I considered getting up to eat. I just wasn’t motivated to do anything though. I stretched while staying in bed, and yawned. I wondered what I would do today, if anything. I sure didn’t want to go outside and face a random crowd of haters, but I didn’t want to just stay inside all day either. I realized I could keep my mind off my rumour problem (at least for a little while) if I found a mission to go on at Magicians Inc.

I stretched again and got up, rubbing my eyes. Then I got up and prepared to leave the house.

Twilight saw me as I passed by her (she was eating toast while wearing her favourite pair of pajamas, and it was just the cutest thing ever) and said, “I'm guessing you’re going out?”

I grabbed my sweater off our coat hanger and replied, “No, I’m getting ready for an indoor blizzard.” I glanced outside a window to see blooming flowers and green grass.

Twilight ignored my sarcastic comment and asked, “I don't think it's a good idea to go out alone. I can come with you if you want.”

I waved her concerns away. “Nah, I’ll travel by rooftops. And I can teleport between buildings to make sure that no one sees me.”

“Okay,” she answered, considering that for a second. “Just be careful. I don’t want to see how you'd act if you were even more down in the dumps. I’m guessing that you’re looking for a mission?”

I nodded and said, “See you later, Twi.”

As soon as I stepped out, I took a look around me to see if there were any mobs waiting for me, and I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of an empty street.

I found the nearest tall building, and cast a spell that boosted all my physical abilites. I placed one hand on my stomach and one hand on my head, before I yelled, “Super Human!” I instantly felt a boost in my energy, and I stomped the ground, creating a small crater and shaking the ground around me. I used the force of the kick to jump all the way to the top of the apartment building.

I deactivated the boost and teleported across buildings the entire way to the main building of Magical Missions Inc.

I leaped down from the top of the building closest to the familiar headquarters after briefly activating Super Human again. I entered the huge company building and made my way to the front desk, saying hello to the worker there. She gave me a smile and typed something into her magical computer, then went back to looking through some papers.

I was curious, but decided not to pry and looked through the Book of Missions for a few minutes. Before I figured out what mission was the best for me, my boss walked into the room from a door behind the receptionist, to my surprise, and said, “I’ve been waiting for you, Sunset Shimmer.”

Power Boss was a middle-aged man, and had been the head of Magicians Inc. for decades. It was rare for him to speak directly to an employee (even if she was pretty darn famous in the company, like yours truly), so I raised an eyebrow at his words. “You were waiting for me? What could possibly be so important that you would be waiting for a lone employee?”

Mr. Boss smiled and laughed heartily. “Just because I oversee the whole company doesn’t mean I don’t have time to stalk my employees. Especially one as notorious as you, Ms. Shimmer.” He winked at me and I giggled. No, not the high school girl kind of giggle that indicates a crush. Just a regular, innocent giggle. I mean, I am an adult, but he's like 50 (no offense to him though, he's a cool boss). “Congratulations on starting a relationship with Ms. Sparkle, by the way. I’ve known how you felt about her for some time now.”

I blushed. Was it really been that obvious to everyone but Twilight? I then remembered how this conversation started, and asked, “So why were you were waiting for me, Mr. Boss?”

“Ah. That. You see, I just received word that a very problematic situation had to be dealt with, and when I looked through all the information, I thought this would be a mission the newest couple in our company would love to go on.” He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to speak.

“Really?” I asked. “How so?”

Mr. Boss seemed to be struggling on how to answer, which was surprising. He was usually a quick thinker from what I knew of him. “Let’s just say,” he began slowly. “That there are no two people in this company who are better suited for this job.”

I was doubtful of his answer, but then I remembered who I was talking to, and nodded. “Alrighty then, I guess I'll take the file explaining this mission,” I said, grabbing the the collection of papers Mr. Boss was holding out to me.

Mr. Boss said farewell and I returned the gesture, before I turned around and left the building. Little did I know just how misleading my Boss’s explanation had really been.

I returned home while looking through the file, largely unaware of his deception. The job did seem like a pretty good match for the two of us, which just made me more confused about my Boss’s weird behaviour. The task was to capture a single criminal. He had injured a couple of elite guards who worked for the company, and the guards had said that this criminal did so with ease, which made him even more of a threat, and he needed to be dealt with ASAP.

When I opened my front door after an uneventful trip home, Twilight was standing right in front of me. She immediately started asking me a bunch of questions.

“I assume you found what you were looking for?” She had her eyes on the file tucked under my shoulder.

“Yes, I did.” Twilight saw that I didn’t look as content as I should’ve been, and tilted her head in confusion.

“And?” she asked, holding a hand out and waving it inward as if to pull the answers out of me.

I sighed, and held my arms with my hands. “I don’t know. It was strange.”

“What was strange?” Twilight inquired.

“I’m not sure how to describe it. Don’t you think it’s strange that our Boss showed up out of nowhere, then told me he’d been waiting for me? He’d apparently received word of a problem that would be perfect for us to deal with, and he kinda avoided my question about it.”

“Our Boss is a bit weird. I don’t really think that’s a big deal.” She shook her her head while saying so.

“It’s not just that,” I said, starting to get frustrated. “He was being so shifty when I asked that simple question, even though he was acting perfectly normal throughout the rest of the conversation.”

“It’s not like it matters, anyway. You found a mission, and the Boss personally recommended it to us. I don’t see the problem.” Twilight also seemed to be getting a little annoyed by the argument over what she thought was such a simple topic.

“But it does matter! I’m sure that there’s something special about this mission, and there’s a reason Mr. Boss isn’t telling us. Maybe we shouldn’t go on this mission. Who knows, maybe he was lying and we’re actually just being used as pawns to test the danger level of this “problem.” It may actually be way too dangerous for us to handle alone. The file said that the problem was a single criminal who had easily dispatched a few elite guards. That wouldn’t be too bad, but maybe there’s more to it than that. It would explain his reluctance to answer!”

Twilight held her head in her hand, and replied. “Look, all I’m saying is that you found exactly what you were looking for, and it’s very unlikely that there’s something important about Mr. Boss’s hesitation in answering your question. If you really don’t want to, you can just go back and tell him that you refuse.”

“No! No, it’s just…” I let out a deep breath and let my anger follow my breath. “This whole situation with the rumour has really been getting to me. I’ve tried to be strong and not let it affect me, but it’s still made me careful with everything people do, just in case they’re trying to hurt me like so many other people are.”

Twilight’s irritation immediately faded away too, and she hugged me as I began to tear up. She patted my back and soothingly said, “It’s okay. We have a mission to look forward to, and after a nice, relaxing, life threatening battle with a powerful criminal, I’m sure you’ll feel much better.”

I silently let tears stream down my face for a few seconds, before I chuckled and wiped away my tears. “Yeah,” I said. “I’m sure I will.”

A Conflicted Journey

I walked with Twilight along the narrow path on the way to where the criminal was spotted, carrying a backpack containing supplies for the journey ahead of us.

As soon as we were done studying all the information on the criminal, we had packed and set out. We’d been walking for 3 days, using the occasional spell to hurry us along, and setting up camp every night not far from the near endless road to the dangerous man we had to capture.

“Sunset,” Twilight said, catching my attention and making me look up at her. “Something seems to be bothering you. What’s on your mind?”

I turned my head down again, and considered not answering truthfully, but I’d seen how that turned out when my boss did it, and decided against it. “Well...I know this sounds crazy, but I’m sorta wondering...if I deserve all this misery the rumour’s caused.” I scratched my head, waiting for what I was sure would be a big reaction.

Twilight didn’t disappoint. “What!?” She cried. “That’s ridiculous! You’ve changed so much since you abandoned your old ways that you’re basically a different person!”

I held my arm in a hand, and replied, “I know, it’s just that I’ve caused so much pain and suffering over the years to so many people, and I got so little punishment from the school which was at the epicenter of all of it. Or at least, a lot of it,” I added, thinking back to my days as a student of Princess Celestia.

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed and she came closer to me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Sunset. You’ve done a lot of good too, and you’re forgetting all the punishment other than that which you’ve wrongfully received. People who haven’t forgiven you treat you like dirt, new rumours about you keep sprouting out, and especially in the past week, you’ve had to suffer so much. I’m shocked that you’ve even gotten this far while remaining mostly strong.”

My spirits were lifted somewhat, but I still wasn't convinced and I argued, “You’re partially right, but you don’t know all the details of what I’ve done. You only know the basics. I was always frightening and threatening people, revealing the darkest secrets of anyone who stood up to me, I made basically everyone at school feel worse than trash, and I even resorted to heavy violence.” At that thought, I lowered my head even more than before, and went on. “One time, a couple of months after I'd started "ruling" the school, a team of magicians tried to end my “reign.” Obviously, that was before we went to that magic course and I properly learned how to use human magic, but I always had humongous raw power. Plus, I did have some basic skills from the training I got from Flash, so I defeated the team pretty easily.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering who Flash was for a moment, then she realized he was that old boyfriend I’d mentioned a few times before. “I could’ve stopped there, and I wouldn’t have been that bad, but I decided to beat them up extremely badly to make a point. I thought it would keep any other potential threats away; but whatever motive I had, it was still a terrible thing to do. I even continued beating them up after they’d all been knocked unconscious. I actually gave them such a bad beat down that my attacks woke them up after they were knocked out. I at least let them escape then, though one did stay and tried to fight me, even though he had a bunch of injuries. He talked about how he couldn’t let me continue tormenting the school, and he dramatically told me his name was Shade Justice. He eventually ran away too after I pummeled him further. I wasn't exactly a fan of those heroes of goodness types back then, unfortunately for him.” I held my face in my hand for a moment after that, and sighed. Then I looked up to see Twilight's reaction.

Twilight was surprised, but she recovered and said, “I...see. That is pretty bad, but still. That was a completely different person. I know you don’t think it matters, but you went through a lot, and your terrible childhood is what shaped you into the person you were then.”

I shook my head. “So what? I’m the one who chose to let it shape me. There were so many chances for me to turn good, but it took 2 days of non-stop, very well thought out talking specifically meant to make me change my ways from you to convince me. And even then, I almost lost myself to the darkness.” Twilight looked like she wanted to speak, but I stopped her. “Before you go on about how it’s all fine, let me tell you about another terrible thing I did. There was one time when I was in Grade 10, at the point where everybody knew about me, when some random boy tried the same thing as the team of magicians.”

Twilight looked like she knew where this was going, and she bit her lip, a concerned expression on her face.

I kept talking, ignoring Twilight’s silent plea for me to stop. She needed to know the full extent of my evil. “He started off with a bold introduction, calling himself Shadow Comet, the future famous magician.” I chuckled, even though this was no laughing matter. When Twilight gave me a confused look, I explained. “Shadow was a cute, innocent boy, and his confidence mixed with his silliness was pretty funny, now that I think back to it. He wore really bright, colorful clothes to match his personality.” The smile disappeared from my face. “From my track record, I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”

Twilight nodded grimly, and I pursed my lips as I recalled the events of that day. “Well, to be specific, he gave a speech about how he’d defeat me, and defeat me again if I ever tried to take back the throne. I knew it didn’t work like that, but I didn’t bother telling him that. We fought, and he was actually a bit of a challenge. We had a conversation as we battled, regular sentences in-between magical incantations. It was fairly even, or at least until he brought up a sensitive subject.”

Twilight prepared herself for the full description, grimacing while partially closing her eyes. “He said that I got everything I wanted, and that it was completely undeserved. When he said that, I thought about all the things in my life that I didn’t have and that I’d lost...then I snapped.” I flinched at the thought, before resuming. “I overpowered him immediately after that, and I was so furious that I beat him up even more badly than I did the team of magicians, despite the fact that he had no idea that he’d done something wrong. He was strong, and he remained conscious, kept fighting back, even though it was futile. He probably had a wound on every inch of his body by the end of it, which was only when I had calmed down, and I left him there, half-dead. Even more than with the other magicians, I wanted to deeply apologize later. Even my thrashing of the magicians a year before had been somewhat justified, but with Shadow, I was just being an unreasonable brat. I heard that he moved away, and now I’ll never get to say sorry.” At those words, I stopped walking and fell down to my knees, clutching my arms. I started crying at the thought of my complete maliciousness.

Twilight stopped too, and she bent down, saying, “I know now that just telling you it’s gonna be okay isn’t enough." She paused briefly. "Look, I’ve been in a very similar situation as you before. With-,” she struggled to get her words out. “With Novel.”

I stopped crying and looked up with red eyes. Novel had been Twilight’s first crush, and was someone who had died many years ago.

“You know the story. Novel died while climbing a mountain. But I never told you the details.” I was curious. What could be so bad that it made that situation similar to what I did? “I’ve always thought that Novel was trying to do that to impress me, since he seemed to like me too.” It was a bit weird hearing my girlfriend say that, but I continued listening. “So that means if I never met him, it wouldn’t have happened. I know I shouldn’t blame myself for his death, but I can’t help it. There was so much I still wanted to tell him, so many opportunities to be together that we'd never be able to act on, and I would’ve done anything to stop his death. And I tried. But the time travel spells I found weren’t powerful enough to let me do what I wanted to do.”

We were both silent for a few seconds, one another’s deepest guilt weighing heavily on our minds (though what I did was still far worse than her). Then I spoke. “I guess we both need to get over some problems.”

“Yeah, I guess we do,” Twilight agreed.

I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but we just sorta gazed into each other’s eyes and slowly moved toward each other, until our lips were firmly pressed together, and we had our arms wrapped around each other. It was bliss. My mind relaxed and all my worries and guilt flowed out of it.

After a minute that felt too short, we reluctantly ended the kiss and stared at each other for a while, smiles on both of our faces. Twilight broke the silence, looking at my grin. “So I guess you’re feeling better too?” My smile widened and I nodded.

The perfect moment was shattered by a ringing sound. Twilight realized it was the magical journey which I had originally owned (but I gave it to Twilight after I realized she would have way more use for it than me) that she had packed in her bag just in case she needed it. She did officially live with me, but she still had to keep in contact with Equestria in case of an emergency or meeting she needed to attend. Twilight was a Princess and the living embodiment of an Element of Harmony after all. She reached into her backpack and took the book out. She read what was written there, then she closed the book and put it back in her bag, a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“A very powerful monster has started terrorizing Equestria, and I’m needed there.”

My eyes widened, then I hung my head, my smile gone. “I understand. I guess we should head back then so you can go,” I said, turning around, my mood being completely reversed in less than a minute.

“Wait!” Twilight called. I turned back around. “I...think it can wait a few more days.”

I shook my head vehemently. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have to get to the portal before it closes.”

“Actually, if my calculations are correct, the portal will open in a few days, meaning it certainly won’t close before we get there.”

“Still,” I argued. “Every minute you spend here on this mission to cheer me up, is another minute this new threat is attacking Equestria. There are plenty of other missions we can go on later.”

Twilight flinched, then reluctantly said, “Uh, actually, I haven’t mentioned it, but…” She paused for a long moment. “I’ve been thinking about switching jobs and becoming a scientist.”

I was shocked into silence briefly. “You can’t be serious.”

Twilight morosely said, “Yes, I am. I love this job and it lets me spend more time with you, but I’ve always had a huge passion for science.”

I couldn’t believe it. I wondered if I was hallucinating. “But, but, this is so sudden! In all the time I’ve struggled throughout the past week, I thought about the fact that you’d be by my side the whole time and I’d feel better. Now you’re telling me that you’ll be at a lab most of the day, and I’ll barely see you!?” I knew I was acting a bit bratty, but you have to realize how much a revelation like that would sting after all the hardships I’d been through recently, especially since Twilight was my only true friend (I had several other friends, but they weren't nearly as close to me as Twilight was).

Twilight looked a bit hesitant. “We'll still see each other, and this mission should cheer you up. I will finish this mission with you, and you can avoid crowds until they stop gathering.”

I wasn’t really listening. I was just imagining how hellish life could be without Twilight by my side. Without really thinking about it, I ran off into a nearby forest.

The Confrontation

I sat under a tree for nearly 5 minutes, devastated by Twilight’s sudden news. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even cry. I just sat in silence. Unfortunately, the racing thoughts in my head didn’t allow me any peace. After several painful and long minutes, Twilight found me.

I didn’t notice her until she was right in front of me, and she had nudged me gently. I looked up, a sullen expression on my face. “Sunset,” she began. “My decision was never final. And after seeing how much it affected you, I realize what I have to do.”

My eyes opened wide. I stood up and said, “You don't have to do that. I was just being a brat. You should do what makes you most happy.”

“Don’t you see Sunset?” Twilight asked. “You’re what makes me most happy. I did some thinking while I was out here looking for you. I realized how much I’d miss you if I switched jobs. I know now that I can’t do this, because of you, and because of me.”

I stood still for a while, a blank expression covering my face. Then, I smiled weakly and jumped forward to hug Twilight. “Thank you,” I whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as wonderful as you.”

“Everything,” she whispered back.

We held each other in an embrace for a minute. Then I cheerfully said, “Shall we leave this gloomy forest?”

Twilight happily replied, “Yup!” We held each other’s hands tightly as we strolled out.

By dusk, we were almost at our destination, and we prepared for the night one last time.

We sat around a magical fire as I ate a premade sandwich and heated my tea with a ‘Hot Hand’ spell, by briefly covering the cup with the heated hand. I didn’t bother chanting the spell’s name. Hot Hand was one of the few dozen spell among the millions in existence that can easily be cast silently.

Twilight had already finished her meal and was cleaning her hands with ‘Absolute Purity.’ After that, she yawned and said, “Goodnight, Sunset. I’m gonna hit the hay early. You should too. It’s gonna take a lot of energy to fight that criminal, I’m sure.”

“Alright. Goodnight, Twilight.” She went into our tent, while I finished off my dinner. Then I headed into the tent too. No. I’m sure you’re expecting it, but there’s no spell for brushing your teeth. I was surprised too. With all the complex spells that exists, there should been a bunch of teeth brushing spells.

Anyways, I saw Twilight already asleep, and I settled into the sleeping bag next to her. I closed my eyes, and I soon drifted off into sleep too, all the events of the day making it impossible to stay awake long. (and I do mean that. Spells use energy, so having a spell that increases your energy couldn’t logically exist; and yes, staying awake and casting spells draw energy from the same supply...which I feel like mentioning because random worldbuilding!)

The next morning, I was woken by the sound of Twilight preparing breakfast. I left the tent, and walked over to sit beside Twilight. We both ate a bowl of magically prepared soup.

By mid-morning, we were ready to begin the final leg of our journey. At first, I was kinda worried to meet the person at the end of the road, but at this point, I was just excited.

“It looks like it’ll just take a few minutes to get to our destination,” I said.

Twilight asked apprehensively, “Do you think we’re strong enough to take down the criminal?”

“Of course! We’re both former students of Celestia. One is so talented she became an Alicorn, and one was able to casually take down strong magicians at a time when she barely had any skill. Together, this’ll be a snap.”

I hope you’re right,” Twilight said with slight worry in her voice. “Because,” she gave a slight pause, then finished. “We’re here.”

I looked at the sign, and sure enough, it said “Shining Valley.” Conveniently, the information in the file told us that the criminal had last been spotted right next to this sign. “Well,” I said. I guess we should start looking around for him.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” a silky voice from behind some bushes said. It made both of us jump, and we turned to the source of the voice. Strangely, it sounded familiar for some reason, yet not familiar at the same time.

The man stepped out. I gasped. He had slick, jet-black hair; he was wearing a glossy black coat and pants, he wore a black cape, and to finish off the dark image, he had boots of the same color. Despite that, and the age difference, he was instantly recognizable. The beaten boy in the picture, the person I’d been fighting in the video, and the person standing in front of me right now was...“Shadow Comet!?”

The Volcanic Battle

I jumped high in the air and launched magical smoke bombs at Shadow as Twilight dashed forward, channeling ‘Ultra Sense’ and ‘Super Humanization’ at the same time, using them together to unleash a devastating combo while blind in the field of smoke.

I jumped in and used Ultra Sense, then charged two magical blasts, before flinging them at Shadow.

“Fools!” Shadow yelled right after I heard the impact of the blasts. “Do you really think that such puny attacks would damage me?” He brought his arms to his sides and roared, dissipating the smoke, and nearly shattering me and Twilight’s ears.

I was stunned. I’d never seen (or heard) a yell so powerful that it could clear smoke. Was it even physically possible? I shook my head, and looked towards Shadow again. He was smiling devilishly, and had his arms folded.

“D?” I asked, looking at Twilight. She nodded affirmatively.

We rushed again at Shadow, and Twilight launched a bunch of spells that would hopefully impair his fighting from the left, while I unleashed a massive offense from the right. The spells collided in the area that Shadow was in, and while we waited for the smoke to clear (no, he didn’t dispel the smoke this time), we huffed and puffed from using so many spells in rapid succession.

We both gasped as we saw that Shadow had his arms crossed in front of his body to use a forcefield. It was almost impossible to conjure a forcefield that powerful. I didn’t know what to do. Shadow was easily overpowering our best attacks, and he didn’t even seem to be trying.

Shadow saw the distressed look on my face, and cackled. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve worked harder than a mother would to ensure their child’s success.”

Twilight replied in between breaths. “You...won’t be able...to defeat us together. Our bond is too strong to be broken than anything.” I smiled, even if I didn’t feel quite as hopeful as her.

I was a bit worried when I saw the slight curve upward on Shadow’s lips, but I definitely didn’t expect what came next. “Oh, we’ll see,” he said ominously. Then he raised his hands high up and smashed them onto the ground, clutching it as he roared, “Rise, Mighty Volcano!!!”

Suddenly, the ground began trembling. I knew what was coming, but I was still surprised when I saw it. Slowly, a mountain filled with lava started rising up out of the earth, and within seconds, it stood at full height. It towered menacingly over us, and I gulped.

I knew what would happen next.

I started running to Twilight, urgently crying, “Nooo!!” But I was too late. In a flash, Shadow grabbed Twilight and teleported up to the top of the volcano. Twilight was trying to get out of Shadow's grasp, but he punched her in the stomach extremely hard, before lifting Twilight up by the head and smashing her into the ground, knocking her unconscious.

I used teleportation as quickly as I could and charged Shadow, but before I could do anything, Shadow threw Twilight down into the sizzling lava below.

I watched in horror as I saw the girl who mattered the world to me plunging towards her death. I wouldn’t just let it happen. I grit my teeth, and Shadow smiled. He knew what I was about to do next. I dived down into the hot death to save her. “I’m coming for you, Twilight!!”

Author's Note

Just one chapter left! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and that you'll like the final chapter of this story!

Human Nature

The heat was already starting to boil my body, and I shut my eyes in pain for a millisecond, before I concentrated again and teleported over to Twilight. I was just about to grab her hand, when all of a sudden, I was surrounded in a magical bubble that I couldn’t get out of, and I saw Shadow holding up a magically engulfed hand from the corner of my eye.

We kept falling into the deadly pool of lava, and I racked my brain for something that could get us out of here alive. I was drawing a blank. If only I could break the bubble prison. I tested its strength with a few quick attacks, but it wasn’t even fazed.

Despite the protection of the bubble, I could feel the heat of the lava I was falling into, and it was giving me a splitting headache.

I looked at Twilight as I panted heavily, and a few tears fell out of my eyes before being thrown up into the air by our rapid descent. I knew these would be our final moments. I shut my eyes, resigning myself to my fate.

This probably sounds really stupid and cliche, but my life literally flashed before my eyes...Okay, so it was more like I made a conscious effort to think about all the important parts of my life, but you get the point.

I thought about my abusive parents, my time in foster care, the good and bad years I’d had as Celestia’s student, and my time as a tyrannical ruler at Canterlot High.

Then I thought of Twilight. Twilight Sparkle, the girl who had changed my life so much, and the love of my life. I thought back to our fateful encounter outside Canterlot High, the moment I’d let light into my heart after her desperate speech, us bonding over the time of the magic course we’d taken together, and when we finally confessed our feelings to each other.

I opened my eyes. No, I won’t let it end like this.. I knew Twilight couldn’t help me due to her being unconscious, so I had to find a way out of the bubble alone.

I kept attacking the circular prison with all the spells I could think of and even some I just did by instinct, but none of them were doing anything. It seemed futile. Was Shadow right? Was I really helpless to stop him, no matter what I did? I started crying again, like a helpless baby.

My love for Twilight and all the fiery emotions that came with it suddenly coursed through my veins like magical blood, to my great shock. A surge of incredible power born out of my great love burst from my heart. I pushed back my tears and yelled at the top of my lungs, “NO!!! I WON’T LET YOU WIN!!!” I pulled back my hand, clenching it tightly. Then, I let all my intense, raw emotions flow into my fist, and I slammed it into the bubble with all of my power while shouting, instantly shattering it.

I could see Shadow, stunned at what I’d just done. I was just as surprised as him, if not more so, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that. Me and Twilight were moments away from being burnt to a crisp.

Twilight was a few meters to my right, so I blasted the air behind me with my fists to propel me to her. My eyes were still blazing as I grabbed Twilight’s hand, but the mere feel of her skin instantly cooled the burning emotions whirling around within me.

I was so relieved when I felt Twilight's faint pulse. I quickly used a teleportation spell and in the instant before we escaped our doom, I lifted her up and held Twilight by her back and legs.

We appeared several meters behind Shadow. At that moment, Twilight awoke, and she slowly lifted her eyelids. “Sunset?” she asked weakly. I looked down and smiled at her. She returned the gesture. “Thank you. You saved my life.”

My smile widened and tears flowed openly out of my eyes. I realized then that everything was okay.

But I had forgotten about a certain bitter boy.

“You,” Shadow said menacingly, turning around to glare at me. “You’ve ruined everything! You’ve ruined my dream, you’ve ruined my plan, you’ve ruined me! Now, because of your heroics, I can’t even get over you!!”

I was confused at his last words. He couldn’t get over me? Did that mean what I thought it did?

As he continued speaking, his villainous tone slowly turned into what I recognized as his old voice. No, not a heroic, silly one, but the whiny, bratty voice of a pathetic crybaby (gee, Sunset, a bit harsh? No, not really. Consider all that he'd done. Really think about it. And then think about why he did it...yeah, I bet you see my point now. Unconditional kindness isn't always the way, especially if the person you want to be nice to isn't deserving of it. I kinda only realized this in hindsight, and you'll see why). “None of this was supposed to happen! You shouldn’t have escaped, I shouldn’t have developed feelings for you over the months of spying! You shouldn’t have even started this in the first place! It’s all your fault! I thought I could get rid of my stupid emotions for you if you died, but now I can never do it! Sunset Shimmer,” he spat. “You’re always a demon, even if you’re not trying! And you always will be, no matter what you do-,” his tantrum was cut off as he wobbled from his crazy anger and fell backwards into the volcano.

By all means, I should’ve watched gleefully as this man who had almost taken everything away from me fell to his death; but whether by instinct, or because I could see what I could have become in him, I quickly and carefully put Twilight on the ground and rushed to the edge of the volcano. I lifted Shadow back up to safety with my magic. He had panicked, and it looked like he wouldn’t have survived if I hadn’t save him at the last minute.

When I placed Shadow onto the ground a little ways in front of me, he looked at me silently for a minute. He looked extremely conflicted. He shut his eyes tight while countless emotions played out on his face.

Then, out of nowhere, he opened his eyes, clenched his teeth, and teleported far away.

I stared at the spot where Shadow had escaped from for a long time, until Twilight got up and walked toward me. She grasped my hand and stared too.

I decided right there and then that I wouldn’t feel bad about rumours anymore. The people behind them weren’t worth worrying about. If they couldn’t forgive me after so long, even though they could clearly see that I had changed, I didn’t think it really mattered if they liked me or not. Especially if they couldn’t forgive me after I saved their life.

Twilight squeezed my hand and solemnly said, “We should head back.”

I was silent momentarily, then I replied. “Yeah.”

Without another word, we turned around and walked away, our hands locked together.

The Obligatory Villain Monologue

I stared in utter disbelief at Shadow, and I saw that Twilight was shocked too. “I-,” I started saying. “I can’t believe you’re the criminal! You were so heroic when I met you, and silly, and you just gave off a positive vibe. What happened to you?”

Shadow had been standing relaxedly with a cool, calm expression on his face. However, as soon as I said that, his eyes suddenly blazed with hatred and his whole face seethed with extreme fury as years of pain seemed to flash before his eyes. Then, he spat, “I’m not the bad guy here. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to bring you here.”

“Okay?” I said in confusion. “Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Do you know how much I went through after what you did? Because you were too cruel to care at all? My life was ruined!” He started emitting heat from his body, and me and Twilight backed away.

“Actually,” I said, after considering his words for awhile. “I think I do. My life kinda sucked for a long time, and at the moment, it sucks too.” I prepared myself for what I was about to say, after wanting to say it for so long. First, I took a deep breath. Then, I said, “But still, I know what I did was horrible, and I am truly sorry. I’ve completely changed since then, but it doesn’t excuse my past actions. I know I can’t make it up to you, but I’m asking you to please forgive me. If there is anything you think I can do to atone for my awful sins, tell me.” During my apology, I had collapsed onto my knees and lowered my head in shame.

Shadow again did a complete 180 and started cackling, to my confusion. I had been sincere. I got my answer soon enough. “Do you really think that a few nice words are gonna make me feel all better!? I know all about your little problems, Sunset Shimmer. But that’s nothing compared to how I felt when you beat me half to death!”

He too lowered his head and he began a speech. “Ever since I moved away because of that traumatic experience I had with you, my dream of becoming a great magician was simply crushed. Whenever I dueled with or sparred someone, I had a flashback to the terrible pummeling I’d received because of one simple remark, and I got distracted and lost!" He said that last bit in an overly cheerful voice and then gave a little manic giggle and I backed away a bit more. "Soon, I knew I could never continue pursuing my dream until I faced you once again and got over my trauma. I trained so hard for so long, constantly learning new spells, training my stamina, and fighting mock battles in my head.”

Before he could continue, I interrupted him. “Um, you do realize that monologuing is the easiest way to get defeated, right? I don’t mean to stop you from telling us about your epic backstory, but it might not be the smartest move. For one, you’re giving us a lot of intel, and you’re also leaving yourself open to an attack.”

Shadow put his hands behind his back, smiled, and said, “Sunset Shimmer, I have watched you for a long time now, gathering information to use against you, and I know you, as well as Twilight, are not the type to be rude like that and charge me while I’m talking. As for the contents of this “monologuing,” I wish for you to know everything! So that I may have the satisfaction of seeing you helpless to stop me even if you are aware of the full details of my plan.”

Wow, I thought. How can he think he’s not being evil? That’s some really evil stuff. At least he's kept some of his old silliness. I mean seriously, a monologue? Pure black clothing? And the way he talks is so villain-like. I sure hope this won’t be turned into a story, otherwise, he’ll be a terribly cliche and edgy villain.

I snapped back to reality when Shadow continued his monologue. “Eventually, I discovered that you had supposedly turned good and had a friend named Twilight. I thought of something even better than defeating you in battle. If I could separate you two before ending you, it would make my revenge all the sweeter!”

I was somewhat surprised by the sudden revelation that he was going to kill me, but it made sense, with how dark he seemed now. I also realized that he had unintentionally shifted his goal from getting over this trauma to getting his revenge, but I didn’t bother commenting on it. “Originally, I wasn’t going to get rid of you once and for all, but after I found out that you’d gotten away with so many bad things, and tricked most people into forgiving you, I knew it wasn’t enough. Otherwise, you could go on living a happy-go-lucky life. That all lead to this. I’ve been spying on you, as well as other key players in my plan for months, and hatched a plan to bring you two to me.”

I was curious now. I wondered how he'd planned all that out. “As you may have figured out by now, I’m the one who started the rumour which has turned your life upside down. Obviously, I injured the elite guards who reported me, and before I let them go, I made sure to tell them that I started the little rumour. You may be wondering how I fought them without being reminded of you, but my motivation was strong and allowed me to do many amazing things.”

I wondered why he didn’t just decide to give up then, since the reason he wanted vengeance was no longer a reason, but then I realized that he was too revenge driven at that point to stop. “Then, the elite guards I attacked would tell your Boss about me, and the information about the rumour. Power Boss was one of those people who would play a big part in my plan, and I figured that he would be subtle about the information regarding me. In essence, I knew he wouldn’t tell you outright that I had started the rumour, but he would still push you to go on the mission.”

I was actually kind of impressed. I looked over to Twilight, and she seemed impressed too. That was some pretty damn accurate people reading. “I also knew that you would want to escape from your worries, and go on this mission. Of course, your Boss realized that your girlfriend would want to assist you if she knew, so he’d recommend you both go. I was almost sure already that my plan would go off without a hitch, but to be certain, I used a special spell which would allow me to tell me how people would react to certain situations, and all my predictions, as I expected, were correct.” Again, he was right, to my surprise. Notwithstanding the spell.

He smirked, a dark look in his eyes. “Next comes the fun part. Or at least, to me. I will summon a volcano, and throw your beloved Twilight into it. Then, I shall kill you.” I thought that was the complete truth, but it turns out he had left a little something out, probably because that was the one thing which could be affected if he’d told us.

I was horrified. I knew he was evil, but I didn't realize he was that evil. He finished his speech, declaring, “Then, I shall finally be able to move on in my life, and be satisfied, knowing that I’d destroyed such an evil person inside and out.”

He was a fool. Shadow was a fool, or he was lying to himself. He'd never be able to return to the pure, innocent boy he had once been after doing something as horrifying as that, and all the change he’d went through in general. I pretty easily realized that he wasn’t someone worth apologizing to anymore if he’d go to such extreme measures. I felt bad for him, but nowhere near as much as I did before. I did still wonder if there was a chance for him to be saved, though.

“Um, Shadow?” I was startled and looked over to Twilight. She looked a little shaken. “I know you think that you have to do this, but you don’t. You have a chance to redeem yourself. Don’t let your anger blind you. Look deep inside yourself, and ask if you truly think this is the right thing to do.”

Shadow did seem conflicted for a few moments, but it didn't last long. Twilight just hadn’t said enough. “It is. Sunset Shimmer has caused so much pain to the world, and she must be punished. I am sorry about getting you involved, but it’s necessary.” Twilight’s head lowered.

My confidence in redeeming him was diminished by this, and I sighed, thinking, That’s too bad. Of course, I wasn’t just about to let him kill me and Twilight, and I looked over at her. She saw this, and she turned her head sideways. I nodded, and we both knew what that meant.

Author's Note

We're heading toward the climax of the story. Hold onto your seats, cause you're in for a crazy ride to the finish line (I've already received criticism, but if you have any criticisms of your own, I'd love to hear it! :twilightsmile: )!