Chapters Prologue: The Winds of Change
“It has to be around here,” Sunset Shimmer said, frowning down at the map she was levitating before her. The yellow unicorn turned and levitated her compass out of her saddlebags, glancing between it and the map, and then her calculations for location in the maps margins.
“The source has to be somewhere around here!” She exclaimed, putting both the compass and map back in her saddlebag, looking around with a frustrated look on her face.
Several months prior, Sunset had decided to finally return to Equestria, saying goodbye to her close friends and coming back to her old home. While part of her had been nervous at first, Princess Celestia soon forgave her, and then she settled down in Ponyville with Twilight and the pony versions of her friends back on the other side of the mirror. Only a couple weeks ago, Sunset had started detecting a massive surge of magical energy in the southern part of Equestria, and after collecting any needed supplies, she had set off on her journey to track down the magical anomaly.
Now, here she was, right at the location of the source, and yet, nothing to show from it. With a frustrated snort, Sunset stomped her hoof hard on the ground, before freezing as a massive bolt of lightning- purple lightning - cracked through the sky above her, rain suddenly pouring down out of storm clouds that had gathered in the area, blotting out the light of the sun and quickly covering the surrounding land in darkness.
“What the hell?!” Sunset yelled, her eyes wide. This makes no sense! There’s no way it could have just started storming that fast! There’s no-
Another air-splitting crack filled the air as a massive bolt of purple lightning smashed into the rocky ground only a few feet away from her, making Sunset yelp and leap backwards, only to slip and fall on the slick stone. As she stood, she heard a rumbling sound, and her eyes widened and her ears lay back on her head as she turned and saw a massive network of cracks now branching across the stone, already underneath her hooves.
Before Sunset could make a sound, the ground beneath her hooves crumbled into nothingness, and she dropped into darkness, still able to see the flashed of lightning from above. She tried to catch herself with her magic, or teleport, but none of her spells seemed to be working. After what seemed like hours of falling, she was starting to get annoyed and bored, and then without warning she landed with a thud on the ground, her head hitting something hard and sending a bright white light of pain through her head, before everything faded away into the soothing darkness of unconsciousness...
With a groan, Sunset raised herself up off the ground, sitting down and rubbing her head to try and relieve the pounding headache that came from smashing her head against hard rock. With a sigh, Sunset ignited her horn, allowing a little more light to illuminate her surroundings. She was at the bottom of what appeared to be a hidden entrance into an underground cave system, the surface being roughly… forty or fifty feet above her, if she had to estimate from the time it had taken her to reach the bottom. With a resigned groan, Sunset turned to venture deeper into the cave system, pausing as she felt it once again; that mysterious powerful surge of energy. And now it was closer than ever before.
With unrestrained excitement, Sunset hurried as fast as she could through the tunnels of the cave system, using a tracking spell to lead her onwards to where the magic originated from. She had lost track of how many tunnels she had gone through and corners she had made, before she turned one last corner and stopped short, her mouth falling open and her horn fizzling out at the sight before her.
The massive cave she had just entered was unlike any she had ever seen, and probably one of a kind. All of the walls were covered in a layer of amethyst crystals, the purple crystals glowing like they had an inner illumination. But the reason she was so transfixed was the whirlwind-like vortex of purple lightning that was crackling across every surface of the cave, originating from the very center, where a chunk of stone about a foot and a half high protruded out of the ground.
Mesmerized, and wanting to discover the source of the lightning, the unicorn slowly moved towards it. In the back of her mind, she noticed that as she approached, the lightning seemed to focus on the side of the cave opposite her, allowing her unimpeded access to the source of all the tendrils of electricity.
Atop the chunk of stone was a war hammer, the steel head buried halfway in the stone, its golden handle gleaming in the light of the lightning. Sunset walked up to it, before standing up and placing her forehooves on the edge of the stone, investigating the hammer closer. The unicorn narrowed her eyes, before casting a quick spell to confirm her suspicions; sure enough, the strange magic was originating from the hammer.
“Okay Sunset, this goes against every rule you know when dealing with really powerful, probably dangerous magical artifacts,” Sunset said, talking to herself. “But here goes nothing.” The unicorn climbed up on the stone and braced herself, gripping the handle of the hammer tightly with both her forehooves as she pulled with all her might.
While outwardly, it seemed like nothing happened, Sunset could feel the hammer give a little; not enough to be noticeable visually, but enough to be felt through her grip on it. With a growl, Sunset grit her teeth and pulled even harder, and with a loud crack she went flying backwards, the hammer landing with a thud a few feet away her. Sunset shook her head as she stood, before trotting over to the hammer with a small smirk.
“Good job Shimmer, couldn’t have gone any better,” Sunset said, before she grabbed the handle again with her hoof and lifted it up. As she did so, the head began to glow with purple lightning, and before she could react a million blots of the purple colored electricity shot out of the amethyst crystals covering the caves walls, shooting into the head of the hammer before surging up the handle and into her, causing her to let out a scream as she dropper to the ground, her body twitching as she felt the energy of the lightning coursing through her, along with a strange extreme burning sensation. And then her world went black as her eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out for the second time.
Author's Note
Yeah, I know it's kinda a dick move to end the chapter on such a cliffhanger like that, but I like being mean and building up suspense with my stories. Hope you enjoy the story, and feel free to comment or criticize as you'd like!
Chapter One: New Revelations
“Gah…” Sunset managed to moan as she slowly pushed herself up off the ground. She stared down through blurry vision at the ground as she blinked multiple times, her eyes refocusing as she stared down at the rocky ground, her hand braced against it.
“Wait, what!?” Sunset yelped as she fell backwards, realizing she was now in her human form, wearing the same clothes that she had worn through the mirror at Canterlot High. She held her hands up in front of her face, noticing she was shaking slightly, before lowering them and moving her gaze towards where the hammer lay on the ground, still sparking arcs of purple lightning off the head every once in a while.
Hesitantly, Sunset stood up slowly, taking a step forwards and reaching out a hand to grab at the handle of the hammer. However, before she even got close, the hammer shot off the ground and smacked into the palm of her outstretched hand, and with a shout of surprise Sunset leaped back, dropping the hammer on the ground.
“Okay…” She said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Let’s go at this smart…” She held her hand out again, and just like before, the hammer shot off the ground and smacked into her palm, and this time she closed her fingers around the handle. Letting out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding, she weighed the weapon experimentally in her hand, before giving it a test swing at her side, surprised to find that with just one swing, the momentum began to build, and within seconds the hammer was a blur of motion by her side, purple lightning crackling in its wake.
“Let’s see what this does…” Sunset thought aloud, before bringing the hammer forwards and letting it go, sending it flying at the opposite wall of the cave. The weapon hit like a bomb, and with a crack the wall exploded, and Sunset yelped as she threw her hands up to shield her face from shrapnel. When nothing hit her, she lowered her hands to discover that all the debris had been deflected off a shield a foot away from her. With a relieved sigh, Sunset held out her hand, and the hammer returned to it once more.
“No, not THE hammer now,” Sunset thought to herself as she turned it over in her hands. “MY hammer.”
Sunset turned and began retracing her steps from the cave, and within a half hour she found herself back at the bottom of the pit she had fallen into. Staring up towards the sky, Sunset looked down at her hammer, before back up.
“I wonder…” She said aloud, before beginning to spin her hammer by her side, and when it had reached its maximum speed, she swung it upwards, only not letting go of the handle this time.
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Seconds later, Sunset dropped down down on the ground at the top of the pit, breathing heavily and her body flooded with adrenaline. She hadn’t expected that doing what she had done with her hammer would cause her to go flying skywards at a ridiculous speed, taking a fraction of the time it had taken her to go out that it had for her to fall in.
“Woah… Twilight is going to love running all sorts of tests on you…” Sunset said, shoving her hammer through her belt as she began walking. However, she had barely gone a few yards before a figure in a sandy gold cloak stepped out before her, blocking her path. Sunset stopped as her hand dropped to her hammer and pulled it from her belt, holding it at the ready as she assessed the other person.
The other person stood slightly shorter than Sunset, and other than the cloak, the only other visible apparel was a yellow scarf that hid the lower portion of their face from view. Over their right shoulder, the feathered ends of about a dozen arrows were visible from where they protruded from a quiver, and held in the figure’s left hand was a metal recurve bow.
“Did you pick that up without any magical assistance?” The figure asked, gesturing at the hammer Sunset held in her hand. Sunset narrowed her eyes, and as if responding to her emotions, purple lightning started crackling around her hammer’s head.
“Yes, I did. Who are you, and why do you care?” She snapped, and the figure snapped their left arm up and over their right shoulder, sliding their bow into their quiver before reaching up and pulling the scarf down, and then flicking their hood back, revealing a familiar face framed by long pink hair.
“Fluttershy!?” Sunset yelped, nearly dropping her hammer. Fluttershy gave a small smile, before raising her hand and putting a finger on something in her ear.
“Yeah, it’s her. Pick us up.” She said, and then Sunset nearly dropped her hammer again as a massive, black-hulled ship materialized above the two of them, casting a large shadow on the ground below it. Sunset looked down at herself as white light suddenly began spiraling around her, and before she could say anything she suddenly found herself in the middle of a strange room, the light dying down as Fluttershy walked towards the door, gesturing at Sunset to follow, to which the fiery-haired girl complied.
“We’ve been waiting for you for months now,” Fluttershy said over her shoulder, leading Sunset along a hallway, multiple doorways or other corridors visible as they walked along.
“We ?” Sunset asked, and then Fluttershy stopped in front of a door just as it opened, the two girls stepping inside, and then Sunset’s jaw dropped. They were standing in a massive room which had a large window in the front of it, several displays visible on it as it gave them a perfect view of the surrounding area.
“Welcome to the bridge of the USS Firebird .” Fluttershy said, gesturing at a seat in the center of a bunch of consoles. “That’s the Captain’s seat. It’s been empty for months.”
“Why?” Sunset asked, before her head snapped around as she heard another familiar voice.
“Because our last Captain sacrificed her life ta’ try and slow down our enemy,” Applejack said from where she leaned up against a wall, the country girl also in her human form, and wearing a dark purple-magenta outfit, her boots wrapped in light purple fabric, and a pair of gloves that matched her boots were visible hanging from her belt. She was wearing her normal cowboy hat, but hanging on a hook over the station she obviously manned was a large, floppy-brimmed dark-purple hat.
“Applejack?” Sunset asked, before holding up her hands. “Okay, let’s slow down! What the hell is going on here!?”
“You’ve just inherited the privilege of becoming one of the most powerful beings in existence.” Another familiar voice said, and Sunset turned to find four other people had entered the room behind them. Standing in the middle and front was Twilight, wearing dark violet jeans, and a magenta blouse. To her right stood Rainbow Dash, wearing a dark blue bodysuit that had a white circle with a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning shooting across it, a bunched amount of fabric around her neck hinting towards a mask.
On Rainbow Dash’s left stood Rarity, the fashionista wearing a dark purple cape that flowed behind her, wearing a dark blue leather vest, leg guards, and arm guards. Hanging around her neck was a white scarf, trimmed with violet. And on Twilight’s left stood Pinkie Pie, wearing her normal clothing, but having an advanced-looking watch strapped on her right wrist, and her eyes assessed Sunset with a startling precision.
“W-what do you mean?” Sunset asked, and Twilight smiled slightly as she responded.
“You, Sunset Shimmer, are the new Traveler.”
Chapter Two: The Beginning of A New Path
Author's Note
Sorry for the wait everyone! Been holding this one back in case anyone wanted to proofread for me. Finally decided I should just post it. Hope y'all enjoy!
P.S. I'm still hoping to find a proofreader if you're interested
Chapter Two: The Beginning of A New Path
“I am the what now?!” Sunset asked incredulously.
“You are The Traveler.” Twilight said. “The guardian of the Multiverse and protector of all the innocent within it.”
“But… I’m just the ex-protegee of Princess Celestia!” Sunset protested, shaking her head. “You have to be mistaken! I’m not the next Traveler!”
“Only someone worthy of that hammer’s power, and therefore the title of The Traveler, can lift if and wield it,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing a finger at the hammer that was shoved through Sunset’s belt.
“Then why don’t one of you try?” Sunset asked as she moved to grab it, but was stopped by a raised hand from Rarity.
“We’d love to darling, but we’re all secondary tier Travelers. We can wield it, but we wouldn’t be able to harness all of its power like you can,” she explained, and Sunset sighed.
“What can you all do special?” The fiery-haired girl asked curiously, and Twilight smiled.
“Well, Fluttershy is a fabulous archer, and is very agile and quick,” Twilight said, and Fluttershy smiled.
“Mah strength, stamina, and endurance are extremely high, and ah’ go into battle dressed as Mare Do Well,” Applejack said with a smile. “It was the best costume design we could come up that fit me the best.”
“Me, I’m really fast!” Dash said, and then suddenly took off in a blur of blue and rainbow-colored lightning, and seconds later skidding to a stop where she had began, papers flying in the air behind her.
“Myself, I am a master in a special type of magic known as the mystic arts, introduced to us when we visited one world,” Rarity said, thrusting her hands forwards and spinning them in a circle as a glowing light blue circle of magical energy formed before her, fizzling out in seconds.
“I’m the tech person, and I go into battle with a suit of armor I built a while back,” Pinkie explained, pointing at her watch. “I’ll activate it later to show to you, since I only really like activating it when I need it.”
“And for me,” Twilight said, smiling. “I’m a multi-skilled fighter. I can adapt to any situation and use any method of fighting I know to gain the upper hand.”
Sunset stared between all of them, her head whirling as she tried to process everything. Finally, she settled for saying. “And… what can I do?”
The others exchanged glances, before Twilight stepped forwards, the tips of her fingers glowing as she raised them and touched the side of Sunset’s face, her pointer finger touching Sunset’s temple just as Sunset’s vision suddenly went dark and she was sucked into a vision of a different time…
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“Come on, you bitches!” A fiery-haired warrior in a golden bodysuit of armor shouted as she smashed through enemies. “You’ll never get what you want!”
Arrayed throughout the attacking army was the rest of the Travelers, each one fighting in their own style. Dash was speeding through the enemy forces, leaving a wake of destruction behind her while Applejack was punching her way through enemies, each punch or kick sending a foe flying backwards. Farther back, out of the worst of the fighting, Fluttershy stood, firing arrows into the enemy army, while closer to her Rarity was using her unique magic to grab enemies and send them flying through the air, opening portals and sending their own attacks back on them, while Pinkie Pie shot through the air in a suit of technological armor, firing blasts of energy into the enemy army, while Twilight slashed and cut with two katana-like swords, leaving a trail of destruction behind her.
However, the real fighter was the golden-armored warrior, who at that moment leaped high into the sky, purple lightning arcing off of them into the sky as they raised a hammer over their head, and when they smashed into the ground and the hammer made contact, it sent a massive force of pure destructive power ripping through the enemy army.
<><><>
Sunset stumbled as she returned to her own body, Twilight removing her hand as Dash sped over and grabbed the fiery-haired girl by the arm to steady her. After a few seconds to regain her composure, Sunset looked towards Twilight.
“That girl, with the golden armor… was that me ?” She asked, and Twilight let out a laugh.
“Yes, and no.” She responded. “That was Sunset Shimmer, but not yourself. She was the one from our world, and her full title was Queen Sunset Shimmer, ruler of Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and the Fire Realm, as well as The Traveler. She was the last Traveler.”
“She’s the one who sacrificed herself to buy you guys time?” Sunset asked softly, and Twilight nodded.
“And she was the Captain of this ship,” Fluttershy added. “A title which you’ve also inherited.”
“So… what am I supposed to do now?” Sunset asked, and the other girls exchanged glances.
“Train up, become a warrior, and fight back against our enemy,” Twilight said.
“And… who’s our enemy?” Sunset asked nervously, and this time Rainbow Dash spoke.
“He’s called the Anti-Traveler,” the speedster said. “His power and abilities are the exact same level of power as yourself, but on a more evil and darker scale. He’s already destroyed dozens upon dozens of worlds throughout the Multiverse, and we’re all that stands in the way of him and complete domination.”
“And your first lesson starts now,” Twilight said as she motioned for Sunset to follow her, which the fiery-haired girl did as she nervously twirled her hair. After several minutes, Twilight led Sunset into a room lined with weapons, crossing over to one wall where her two katana-like blades were visible, grabbing the hilt of one and with a zzzzing the blade slid out of its scabbard, gleaming in the interior light as Twilight then gestured at the walls.
“Go ahead and choose a blade or weapon that you’re going to use other than the hammer,” she instructed, and Sunset gulped as she walked along the walls, her eyes scanning the different types of swords and weapons until they fell upon one in particular, which caused her to stop as she looked it over more.
The sword was sheathed in a scabbard made of some sort of golden metal, with a finely crafted silver hilt and black wood handle, the pommel another ornately crafted piece of silver. Sunset reached out and lifted the sheathed blade off its rest, before unsheathing it with a ringing zzzzing , the inside of the scabbard being oiled leather, before inspecting the blade, which was about three feet long and made of a shining metal, the edges of the blade having a unique blued steel flame-like pattern to them. Sunset weighed the blade in her hand, before doing a swing with it, marveling at how it felt like an extension of her arm.
“This one,” she said, and Twilight made a grunting sound, before nodding.
“Square up,” Twilight said, flicking her blade, and Sunset did, dropping the scabbard on the ground before raising her new sword, Twilight bringing her sword up before immediately attacking, her blade swinging through the air in a whistling arc of steel. Sunset let out a yelp, blocking with her own sword, before retaliating, only for her sword to be deflected with a steely screech by Twilight’s.
“Yeah, definitely a lot of work to be done here,” Twilight said just as she began a complex series of blows, driving Sunset backwards before with a quick twirl of her sword she flicked Sunset’s sword from her grasp, her sword’s tip sweeping up to rest right on Sunset’s neck.
“Damn Twilight,” Sunset breathed, barely moving. “How’d you learn all that?”
“Queen Sunset taught me. She was an amazing swords-woman.” Twilight said, bringing her sword’s blade down and stepping backwards. “Something it’s now up to me to teach to you. So…” She flicked her swords tip at Sunset’s blade, and the fiery-haired girl picked it up, settling into a battle stance.
“Let’s begin,” Twilight said as she started forwards, her blade already in motion.
Chapter Three: A Lesson In Running
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