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Just An Average Trip to Equestria
The Last Day of School and the First Day of Chaos
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Big. Clock. So. Slow. Won't. Stop. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Equestria. Far. Away. Can't. Go. Not. Time. Tick. Tock...Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Sunset woke up suddenly and looked around the classroom. The teacher was droning on about some maths equation, but nobody was listening. The stifling heat of the summer day was making everyone sleepy, and they were all thinking about the summer holidays. Some would stay at home with their families, some would be going to foreign, exotic countries. Technically, Sunset was doing both. She had all her things ready at her bungalow for a nice long fortnight. She would spend her time with Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and visit Celestia in Canterlot. According to what was written in her journal, her pony friends needed a break as much as she did.
"Miss Shimmer, would you be able to tell me the answer to this question or do you need to have a long nap during the holidays?" barked the teacher. The class broke out into laughter.could use a quill and ink, but the ink would seep through the pages of my book and destroy it."
At the end of the school day, Sunset did not go straight to Equestria. She had to say goodbye to her friends. How to do that? Go to Sugarcube Corner and eat a donut each. They each talked about what they would be doing. Twilight would be going to a festival in a few days - which was held in the grounds of a university that specialised in science. Pinkie and her boyfriend Cloudy Sky were going on a cruise around the world. Rainbow Dash was going to run a marathon for charity, and Rarity and Fluttershy were going to support her before heading off on a horse-riding holiday. Applejack was spending the entire six weeks on the family farm. She didn't seem to mind. She was actually looking forward to it. Everyone was looking forward to the holidays.relaxing, " she sighed in relief and happiness. "Between fighting off two demons here - no offence to Pinkie and Cloudy-"at least one of them. I hope it's Sonata, she still owes me a burrito. Let's see her face when she finds out how expensive eating out is in Canterlot."
She took a taxi home. Three minutes. She scrawled in her journal, need 15 more minutes, then changed into a new outfit. Even though she would not be wearing them in Equestria, she didn't want to be in smelly clothes when she returned. She switched backpacks, and packed her journal and a notebook identical to her friends' ones into the new backpack. Her motorbike was in the garage, locked away and safe. In pony years, she would turn nineteen in August, so she was technically allowed to drive. She had passed her driving tests with ease, so by law it didn't matter. Twelve minutes. She hauled the backpack on, left the bungalow, locked the door and legged it back to Canterlot High School. Five minutes. She yelled a war cry and ran through the portal: a statue of a horse on its hind legs.
All of a sudden she was in Equestria and everypony was screaming. She could not understand a word of what they were saying. She counted. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Spike the dragon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Starswirl the Bearded, a pony called Starlight Glimmer she had once met, a yellow stallion with called Sunburst, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk ("Yes," she whispered), all with new necklaces.
Wings. She had wings. She was an alicorn. She was a princess.
How in Starswirl's hat did she become an alicorn?!
Just An Average Trip to Equestria
Oh. My. Gosh. We. Have. A. New. Princess.
"Penny dropped yet?" asked Twilight, beginning to laugh as Sunset tried to work out how to use her wings.what ?!"
This was news to Sunset. She gave Twilight an accusatory look. "You were supposed to tell me everything important that happens in Equestria and you couldn't be bothered to tell me that your brother is an alicorn too now."
The news managed to spread like wildfire. By the end of the day, everypony in Equestria knew about the future Princess Sunset Shimmer, Ambassador For The Human World.thing . So are you. By the way, you always get gatecrashers such as yourselves at popular parties. By the way, I'm curious. When did you make up for trying to kill each other?"
She was in Sunset's dream, which had turned into a nightmare. Sunset was at her coronation as the new Princess of Equestria, but she was making a fool of herself without meaning to and the crowd were laughing at her. A dream version of Celestia looked down at Sunset and said, "You are useless. Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer are so much better than you. You are an embarrassment. Have you learned nothing hiding from me in that other world?" Sunset tried to speak, but spat out teeth instead.
The scene dissolved and the two alicorns found themselves on a cloud. Sunset was human, and was looking into a huge mirror. Her reflection was that of a huge winged troll.
Luna sat opposite Sunset. "Am I that kind of Pony? No. Is the job easy? No. Am I still a princess? Yes. Your demon is your worst enemy. You get dragged down. Maybe these wings will help you fly away from it."
Flew.
Just An Average Trip to Equestria
Sunset was nothing short of petrified. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her breaths were short and rapid. She was wearing a beautiful cyan gown that matched her eyes, and she had seen the tiara that she would soon have placed on her head behind her horn. It was surreal, and she had no idea how she would survive it. Tears began to run down her cheeks as she thought of all the horrible things she had done to people and ponies alike before Twilight had shown her another way of living life successfully.Oh. My. God. Shut. Up!
She was having another of her private battles with her demon. She bit her lip. What if it took over again?And how will you get that chance? So Celestia, Luna, Twilight and I are all going to let you out. Really?! Shut. Up. Please. I can't stand you any more. In your dreams. Ugh. Shush. Shut it.
Twilight's head turned to look at Sunset with a mix of confusion and worry.
A bugle sounded.
Just An Average Trip to Equestria
The Coronation of Princess Sunset Shimmer
Sunset walked slowly to the other end of the hall, where the other alicorns were standing. Cadence and her daughter Flurry Heart stood to the far left, next to Luna and Celestia. Shining Armour and Twilight were to Celestia's right. Music played. Sunset smiled at the ponies stood on either side of her. When she was in front of Celestia, she stopped and lowered her head a little. Celestia used her magic to guide a beautiful crown adorned with Sunset's cutie mark in jewels to her head. Sunset immediately felt its magic.
All of the alicorns except Sunset turned around and guided her out of the hall to the balcony. Thousands of ponies stood below, looking up at them. At me, thought Sunset.
"I may be a princess now, but I am in no way comfortable with this." The crowd laughed. "Being independent doesn't mean that you do everything alone and refusing the help of others. It's about doing what you can on your own, and turning to others when you are struggling." She stopped smiling. "I wasn't a nice pony. I said and did things that I should not have done, and I lost friends over it. Then, when I needed help, I couldn't find anypony willing to help me. It was my fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle, who showed me how to live rather than survive.
"I have been living in another universe for a while now. It has its differences, like the creatures that inhabit these worlds, and its similarities, like how friendship makes all the difference in both of these places. Independence is knowing that you have friends to fall back on, and that they will always be there for you. I would like to credit this new journey to some friends, the Sirens. They had been treated badly, and turned to dark magic to fight their attackers. I treated them the same. They helped me overcome my greatest enemy - myself - and that is how I earned my wings. I helped them get back to Equestria, and they helped me overcome my fear of returning. I would not be here if they had not taught me that your greatest enemy is not turning to anypony when you need to." She smiled again as she said this. That felt so good.
Celestia hugged Sunset.
Later that day, Sunset and Twilight returned to Ponyville. There were ponies everywhere, congratulating Sunset on becoming a princess. She smiled and said thank you very much and sighed in relief when the doors to the Castle of Friendship closed.was a surprise party UNTIL we confirmed that there was by yelling, "SURPRISE." We could have been pretending to be statues. Well, we had to be as silent and still as statues to make sure you didn't guess that we were throwing a surprise party, so maybe we were pretending to be statues, but it didn't work because some smart alicorn called Princess Sunset Shimmer managed to guess because some ponies were not hiding well enough but that doesn't matter because you were always going to know that there was a party when we told you..."
The party was a huge success and went on until midnight, when Sunset and Twilight started kicking ponies out so that they could get a good night's sleep. They had events planned, and only twelve days until Sunset had to return to Earth.
Just An Average Trip to Equestria
Demon Shimmer grinned as she watched Sunset fall asleep. All she had to do is pop into Celestia's dreams to speak to Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker, then slip into the dreams of those ponies and people who have their own demons, and the plan would be ready.
She disappeared into the dream realm. In this realm, she could escape from the jar that Sunset had sealed her inside. She was surrounded by what appeared to be bubbles. She saw Celestia in one of them and stepped into a meadow, where the sun shone brightly. She went up to the sun, where Daybreaker was hiding from Celestia. "Daybreaker, good to see you," she giggled. Daybreaker's fiery mane and tail had been tied in pastel-coloured ribbons, and she was in the process of repairing her damaged armour. "Sunburn, help me with the ribbons," the evil alicorn grunted. "Gladly." Sunburn Shimmer untied the ribbons in Daybreaker's mane and tail. The alicorn smiled. "In the world that Nightmare Moon and I are creating, demons shall rule. In one half, the sun shall shine for all eternity. In the other half, the moon and stars shall never leave. That way, my sister and I can get what we both want." "I have a slight complication." "Oh?" "Sunset took me out of her mind and sealed me in a jar." "How humiliating that my student got stuck in a jar. Rarity has been... Quieter, from what I have heard. She remains undetected. You could not keep silent for three seconds. Oh well. At least you can operate in the dream realm unnoticed. You could even slip into Sunset's dreams. As long as Sunset does not see you." "I shan't risk that. Besides, I need to know when is best."
Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Rarity materialised. "Well, sister, this is interesting," said Nightmare Moon. "Sunburn has actually been of use." Sunburn gritted her teeth. "I can operate without detection. Luna, Celestia and Rarity know that you are doing something, but are too preoccupied to sort it out. I was just asking Daybreaker when would be best." "Hmm," said Rarity, "I would say... Next Wednesday. That is when the Moon and Sun will be in the right positions. Isn't that right, Queen Daybreaker?" "Yes. That is correct. Now, all of us must rally all the other known demons before then. The unknown ones shall follow when we take over Equestria. Friends, spread word, and meet on Wednesday morning."
Eventually, Sunburn found the dreams of the human Twilight Sparkle. She flew to the full moon. "Midnight!" she hissed. Where was that demon? "Coming, coming," groaned Midnight. "What's up with you today?!" "Well, this demon doesn't exactly like talking to the demon of the person who ruined my plans." "I am Sunburn, not Sunset. We don't see eye to eye. I would have let you tear apart Earth to get to Equestria. Sunset had other plans." "Good ol' Sunset." "Next Wednesday, at dawn. It does happen at the same time on Earth, doesn't it?" "It does. It will be beautiful." "Good to hear that you approve." "Of course I approve! Eternal midnight! What is there to disapprove of?!" "Well, this is Midnight Sparkle, who does not like working with other demons." "Ah, good point. Still, there are several long-term gains to helping out, such as seeing and causing a lot of destruction, so I'm in." "Wednesday, at dawn. Be sure to have Twilight under control by then." "Coming from the demon who got banished from Sunset's mind. That is a problem for Queen Daybreaker and the Mare in the Moon." "Which I will solve. Curiosity killed the cat. Surely me sitting in that jar smiling for hours on end will make her curious as to why I am happy. Then I will take control." "Extreme magic?" "Summer Sun celebration. You'll be taking over then as well. Twilight wants to stay up. She'll be tired. When the Sun rises, she'll have to rely on magic to stay awake against the extreme sleeping potion that you will make sure she drinks an hour before sunrise." "Yes. Now run along, it's nearly dawn in Equestria. Dawn only collides in the two worlds at the Summer Sun celebration and Midwinter. I have a few minutes to get ready." "Bye Midnight." "Bye Sunburn."
Sunset woke up in one of the guest bedrooms of Twilight's castle. It was a Sunday. Her demon sat there, in the jar on the bedside table, grinning like a maniac. No change there.