Several hours later, Sunset woke up all blurry-eyed for a brief moment before getting her vision back. But before she could move, she had a splitting headache after her encounter against the cragadiles. When she finished rubbing her head and taking a few deep breaths, Sunset slightly peeked her head out of her hiding spot to see if there were any creatures still around. Peering around left and right to check her surroundings concerning creatures or any form of predator out there, Sunset was relieved to see that there were no monsters around. But before she could leave, she felt something touch her in the back, giving her a good scare. She briefly jumped and turned around to see it was none other than Zecora.

Are you okay, Sunset?” the zebra asked before taking a look at her body.

“I’m fine, Zecora. Although I do look a little red.” Sunset snarked before trying to leave.

“Your wounds are still fresh, Sunset. But I will help bandage you, so do not fret.” Zecora assured.

“Do you always speak in rhyme?” Sunset asked before being sat down by the tending zebra.

“Think what you will about my speech. But I am never out of reach.” Zecora said before wrapping a bandage around Sunset’s chewed leg.

“Right. At least you were a chew toy for some angry cragadiles.” Sunset said before letting out a slight yelp from her leg being bandaged.

“I am colored surprised that you are still alive. Anypony would be lunch before a friend in need would arrive.” Zecora chuckled before putting some ointment on Sunset’s bloodied areas.

“Don’t get me started.” Sunset said in an annoyed tone.

While Zecora was tending to Sunset’s wounds all over her body, she looked up and saw Sunset’s horn. It may not have looked peculiar at first, but Zecora started to see small cracks in Sunset’s horn. Cracks which began to seep out small droplets of ooze. They were dripping down slowly from her horn and it would not cease.

“If I may, there is some ooze leaking out of your horn. I hope it gives you no scorn.” Zecora said, looking at Sunset’s horn.

“What are you talking about…?” Sunset asked in a scared tone before starting to feel the leak from her horn.

“You will understand when we get back to my home. There are monsters that still roam.” Zecora said before helping Sunset off the ground.

***

After getting Sunset back into her hut and tending to more of her wounds, Zecora started to become worried. The more she glanced at Sunset's horn, the more the ooze leaked out. It would only be a matter of time before the inevitable happens and there would be nothing Zecora could do to stop it.

"Am I going to die…?" Sunset asked, looking at her horn in the mirror.

"No, my dear. You will not die. But without the Elements of Harmony, you will be short on time." Zecora said in a foreboding tone.

"Even so, I gotta keep going. If something bad were to happen to my friends, I won't be able to live with myself." Sunset forlornly said.

"I understand, but allow me to tap in your mind. There is something inside you that I must find." Zecora said, looking at Sunset's slightly-broken horn.

"Okay. But how long will it be?" Sunset asked.

Patience, Sunset. Surely, your friends told you to never fret." Zecora said as she sat Sunset down.

Zecora went over to her cabinet and pulled out some form of red elixir. Bringing it over to Sunset, Zecora had her drink the elixir.

"What happens next?" Sunset asked, feeling uncertain.

"You will understand. But you must obey the elixir's demand." Zecora said as her voice grew fainter.

Suddenly, everything around Sunset grew dark. At this point, it was nothing but a pitch-black void inside Sunset's mind.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Sunset called out.

"Anybody…" a sinister voice said.

"What?" Sunset asked.

Out of nowhere, Sunset was grabbed by a hand with claws at its fingers. Pulling her through at a very fast pace, she crashed through what seemed to be a mirror, but it was too fast for her to tell. Falling through various levels of glass, Sunset gets up and looks around only to see various mirrors of her human self in her reflection.

“What in the…?” Sunset asked as she moved forward to touch the glass.

Suddenly, the reflections’ eyes turned red and jumped out of the reflections to assault Sunset before holding her down for some reason. Sunset looked around her surroundings to see what was going on before seeing Twilight being held by her neck. She was gripped by none other than her demonic self.

“No! Twilight!” Sunset cried out before seeing her best friend’s being snapped like a twig.

“Do you see now? Everything that you do… whatever that revolves around you… is your fault. That is an undisputed fact passed down by your mistakes as Celestia’s APPRENTICE!!!!” her demonic self shouted before duplicating.

Every reflection popped out of the mirror and started attacking Sunset Shimmer. She fought back with everything that she could, but she was being smothered by the entire army of reflections before disappearing. The next thing that happened, Sunset was in her human form.

“Hello, Sunset.” a voice called out.

Sunset immediately turned and saw that it was none other than Twilight and their friends from the human world.

“Twilight…?” Sunset said upon seeing the rest of her friends.

“They learned everything, Sunset. And we’ve got a lot to say about your decision to leave us.” Twilight scowled as she walked forward with her friends.

“No! It’s not like that! I was-”

“Just what!? Trying to take all the glory for yourself!?” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“And trying to act like you’re the hero of this little escapade you’re taking?!” Pinkie yelled.

“Telling Twilight and not us is so uneloquent, even for you, Sunset Shimmer!” Rarity shouted.

“All the while keeping secrets from us while you were trying to take over the world!” Fluttershy scorned.

“You are about as low as it gets after keeping this from us, Sunset!” Applejack yelled.

“We are all disappointed in you, Sunset Shimmer. Now it’s time you finally get what you deserve.” Twilight said as she activated her powers along with her friends.

Sunset was freaking out and she didn’t know what to do. Twilight and the others fired various projectiles at her and Sunset dodged the attack. They kept going at her until her demon self appeared behind them, her eyes glowing as bright as a crimson moon. Right before Sunset’s eyes, her friends started burning up. Their skin, like wax on a candle, started melting away just before they started charging towards her. Sunset tried to blast them all away, but it was too late as they swarmed all over, melting the former along with them.

***

Snapping out of the trance, Sunset panicked as she struggled to tell fantasy from reality as Zecora tried to calm her down.

“Relax, Sunset. The potion has reached its max.” Zecora assured before hugging the distressed unicorn.

“It felt so real… Twilight and her friends… they…” Sunset said while trying to reconnect her mind.

“Did you see anything?” Zecora asked.

“All I could see were my friends and someone I never wanted to see again. But I did hear a voice.”

“Can you describe the voice?” Zecora asked while trying to keep her mind focused.

“It was monstrous. It was the same voice I heard when the creatures invaded Equestria. Sweet Celestia…” Sunset said before covering her mouth in horror.

“What is it, my dear?” Zecora asked, feeling even more concerned for Sunset.

“I need to find the Elements of Harmony. And I need to find them fast.” Sunset said before getting up to gather her supplies.

“But you have barely the cragadiles lash, Sunset Shimmer. Leaving in your current condition is rash.” Zecora objected.

“If I don’t do something, Equestria will cease to exist or worse. I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here.” Sunset said before taking a few potions to recover.

“And what if the Elements have ceased to exist? Surely, you know you can’t escape this fix.” Zecora said as Sunset finished packing up.

“I dunno. But it’s the only thing we can do for our home. Even if it hurts like hell…” Sunset said as she left Zecora’s hut.

Sunset kept moving as the zebra helplessly looked on before leaving Everfree Forest, ready to continue her task in retrieving the Elements of Harmony.

Author's Note

Merry Thanksgiving, everybody! I decided that since it was a special day, I decided to publish this chapter for all of you. I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that two more characters will be receiving their own stories in RotSP. I will not say who it will be, but they will seem familiar to most of you. But anywho, enjoy this chapter and happy holidays!

This is Ghoul! I'll see you all on the other side!