Sunset Shimmer, a doubtless badass, wouldn't be relenting her white-knuckle grip on Canterlot High any time soon. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Not her motif, relenting; not part of her complex stratagem to usurp control of her home dimension.
It... Sunset could admit that her complex stratagem might not have made all that much sense on paper. Controlling a highschool in the human world should offer very little in the grand scheme of dimention domination, especially when her main target was as magical a place as Equestria.
But it was her plan, Celestia dammit! She was sticking to it.
...
Anyway, it was as she strolled her badass way through the cacophonus halls she'd grown to know, as fearful peers literally leapt from her path, that she felt the time was nigh to tighten that grip. Y'know, remind these people who the boss really was in this school.
Was that something she absolutely, positively, unquestionably needed to do?
Of course.
Especially with that insufferable Twilight girl bumbling about in search of her crown, giving people hope.
Blech, Sunset nearly scoffed. That clumsy, purple idiot thinks she can unwind years of my work in just one night? At my Fall Formal, no less? Hah! She'll learn soon enough that her crown fits much better on my head.
Will she? I'm pretty sure last night you couldn't even sle–
YES! Quiet, you. I don't have any time to doubt myself.
Whatever you say...
Sunset kept the ~~prominant, crippling fear that the arrival of an equally diligent and similarly intelligent adversary who's both wholly charismatic and fits the underdog-hero archetype to a tee might spell the end of her reign~~ ridiculous concept that Twilight could pose a slight problem behind tight lips and ice-cold eyes. As much as relenting wasn't her motif, appearing in any way nervous wasn't her style.
N-n-not she was nervous!
Obviously.
Nervousness implied challenge, challenge implied challengers, and challengers implied that Sunset Shimmer wasn't far above the reach of anyone below her in the proverbial food chain here.
And, let's be honest, she's Sunset Shimmer. The Sunset Shimmer.
Twilight? Sunset actually scoffed this time, out into the open hallway for all to hear. A foal in a faraway place.
Tonight, try as that darned 'clumsy purple idiot' and her circle of rag-tag friends might to rise against, Sunset would be seizing the Fall Formal with her own two hands, as it was destined to be, as it was rightfully so! Twilight's petulant little element, her crown of so-called-harmony, would be hers for the taking.
Equestria would follow.
An entire world gifted to Sunset by the fumbling hooves of great violet hopelessness, fit for her to rule just as she had CHS.
Tonight, all would come to fruition for Sunset Shimmer.
Obviously.
But first, she really did need to knuckle down. She'd been hearing scattered whispers of her impending failure at the formal, hollow words uttered by confused tongues. That, frankly, wouldn't do at all. What better way to dissuade the growing few than to make some poor, unsuspecting soul look like an absolute jackass for their treachery? Explain with action what would happen to the talkers, and let the talkers spread that explanation all on their own.
She didn't have anyone specific in mind —strange, for her ordinarily meticulous self— but that was part of her brilliance. Passing by an empty classroom, Sunset chuckled a villainous chuckle. Someone was in for it; they just didn't know it yet.
She quickly found an occupied room, freshly filled with prey aplenty. Her expression morphed into a grin so wicked, kickflips would be put to shame.
Perfect.
Mr. Doodle would do well to arrive on time next time; he had a flock to protect.
The chatter in the room ceased with haste as she snaked through the doorway. She greeted them all with a hellraising wave, a sinister wiggle of plotting fingers.
Her task, her plan, her mission; this would be easy.
And then everything went to hell.
Hmph. And who are you? Sunset's eyes narrowed on an unfamiliar face in the back of the class. A fresh face... From this world, I hope.
Didn't matter.
Fresh meat.
She prowled through the classroom, a carnivorous, booted skulk. One could have sworn that even the unoccupied desks scooted from her path. Students cowered as far into their seats as the exhausted plastic would allow, a sight that filled Sunset with great pride.
This new girl, however, didn't join her peers or the cowering furniture. She stayed put in the back row, absently filtering through her backpack as if doom wasn't cometh.
She radiated obliviousness.
The cluttered mess of her belongings, the way she debated that cluttered mess as if it confused her, her loose and unconcerned body language, it all spoke volumes to Sunset. This girl, this fresh meat, hadn't taken but one look around herself yet, the entirety of her universe bound within the confines of her backpack, lost amongst rattling pencils and bent notebooks.
Oblivious. The perfect target.
Sensing an opportunity oh-so prime, Sunset engaged her plan for the morning. She loomed over the front of the newcomer's desk, clasping a hand down onto the edge with a 'thwap,' her fingers curling gently underneath.
"I take it that you're new here?" She asked in a disinterested tone, checking her free hand's nails for dirt that wasn't there. "Must be~ You made quite an interesting decision moving here, out of all the nicer places you could have gone. Anywhere else, really." She glimpsed to the girl while awaiting a reply.
A grand mistake.
The girl, painted in a soft grey, with mussed hair the color of straw feathering over her debating brow, looked to Sunset with two innocent, slightly rebellious eyes of gold. A dimpled smile took over her features, warping the many freckles dotting along her cheeks.
Tha-Thump
She then proceeded to tilt the most adorable head tilt Sunset 'Doubtless Badass' Shimmer had ever seen, one that may or may not have caused the prospective tyrant's desk-mounted hand to slip.
Guh–
Tha-Thump
Sunset caught herself before taking a nosedive, but only barely, reinstating her badass pose and half-baked glare as quickly as she could.
Tha-Thump
"But this town is so... pretty! I really like it here." The girl spoke in a cantered, measured pace; slow, but in a way that felt carefree, with a light, bright tone to boot. "Cloudsdale was nothin' to sneeze at either, believe me, but–" she blew a wayward strand of hair up and out of her face "–i-i-it wasn't really a good fit for my family."
"It wasn't a good fit?" Sunset echoed with a sprinkle of impatience. "A funny way of saying you were run out of town, hmm?"
This did cause the girl to pause —a pause that hit Sunset with a wave of 'Wow! This tastes sour'— but she quickly dawned a playful smile, shaking her head. "No... nothing that interesting. We wanted a change of scenery, is all."
Before Sunset had a chance to reply/interrogate/pry/belittle/insult/do anything other than gape like a pacified newborn, the girl extended her hand sharply forward, something the Equestrian could only assume was an incoming handsha–
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Sunset hadn't a chance to stop her stupid, idiot, laguna hand. It accepted the offering all on its own.
"My name's Ditzy Doo, but some people call me Muffins!" The girl shook hands wildly, clasping Sunset's between both of hers for an avid introduction. "Friends do."
Muffi– Sunset blanked hard. FRIEND?
Really hard.
"Why?" she asked after a pause of her own making, her brain suddenly askew.
"Cause I like 'em." 'Muffins' deadpanned. To accentuate, she pointed to a plastic container centered on the desk. Sunset hadn't noticed it before, as glaring as the bulbous, translucent container was to her now. "And I like bakin' 'em."
"Uh-huh..." Sunset ogled the single, behemoth delight, protected in its shell not unlike the finest of jewelry in the finest of display cases. She momentarily wondered why there was only one muffin, but judging by the size of it, she figured one would be enough for anybody. "Uh-huh."
It looked delicious, from what she could see.
N-n-not that how delicious it looked mattered to her, of course.
Ditzy continued with bubbly vigor, "If I wake myself up early enough, I try to make a little batch and bring one in. Ya never know when someone might need one!"
Once again, Sunset found herself echoing this peculiar girl's words, this time, in a perplexed whisper. "Need one?"
"Like a pick-me-up!" Ditzy said cheerfully. She grabbed up her baked good, holding it to her chest proudly, protectively. "You'd be surprised what kinda stuff a fresh muffin can fix."
Sunset blinked. "I would?"
"Mhmm! Plus, if I can't find anybody who wants to take it, I just eat it myself," Ditzy beamed an enthralled beam. "That's a win-win if ya ask me."
Then, she giggled.
Ditzy giggled, and Sunset's brain turned the farthest off it had ever been; thrust back to the stone age, mentally off to grunt at fire and bonk at things with clubs.
Ooga...
"R-r-r-r-right. I totally, uh, get... that..."
People are starting to stare, you know. And not with eyes full of fear.
DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?? We have to abort–
No, you fool! You can't run away! That'll make you look even more hopeless than you already do... Just crush her under your boot as you do everyone else.
Crush!?
Crush! Destroy! Eliminate!
ELIMINATE?!? I-I-I–
Her lazy eyes...
...
The very thought yanked Sunset's turmoiling wobble into a deep frown. A very deep frown, indeed. Given the admittedly brutal way she treated the rest of CHS, this newfound impediment threw her for a big ol' loop.
Tha-Thump
This... what a strange feeling, this was. A feeling that told Sunset if divine punishment did exist, this baker-in-the-making was the line between her and eternal damnation.
It made her feel...
It made her feel...
Terrible.
Sunset opened and closed her drying mouth more than a few times, attempting to locate the bully within herself, willing it forth. However, same as the students around her, it, too, was cowering.
"So!" The exclamation snapped Sunset out of a haze she wasn't aware she was partaking in. Ditzy's thumbs twiddled together atop her encased treat. "What's your name?"
What is my name?
Dumb.
No... no... that's not it... Hmm. Oh! It's–
"SUNSETSHIMMER–" The badass tyrant blurted out at record speeds.
Ditzy replied with another head tilt, bringing her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Sunset grinned like the dummy she felt she was, warmth creeping to her cheeks. "Erhm, i-i-it's Sunset Shimmer." –Cough– "Sunset. Just, no one really says the 'Shimmer' part, because, uh, ya know, t-t-they just don't... Heh."
"Ooooh," Ditzy rolled her eyes, her right pupil settling somewhere far away. "Sounds kinda cool when you don't blurt it out all crazy-like."
...
'DID SHE JUST PICK ON ME WITH A COMPLIMENT?
SHE DID!
GAH–'
Sunset, unraveling at the seams, forced a smile so lame, so wobbly, that kickflips would avert their eyes. "Thanks..."
"Welcome!"
Tha-thump
Tha-thump
Tha-thump
"I think–" Ditzy held forward the container as if it were an offering to a higher being "–you could use a muffin."
Find someone else, quick.
B-but!
All is lost. You have to.
"N-no thanks. E-excuse me," Sunset abruptly pushed off of the desk and into a rigid stance. "I have to go do... something, somewhere. I'll be right back... probably." She turned around in a single, swift motion without waiting for a reply, very calmly walking out of the classroom in silence.
Her walk turned into a furious march once she was in the safety of the hallway.
What the hell was that?
Did Sunset Shimmer, doubtless baddass, prospective tyrant, Equestrian genius, just annihilate her own reputation in one fell swoop?
People were staring...
People were staring.
She beat a bitter path down the hallway, boots clacking befuddled step by befuddled step, lockers glaring down with disappointment to spare.
I am not the type to be reduced so quickly to a blathering mess.
You say that, but–
Shut up.
She spotted an isolated student, a boy of easy pickins. What Micro Chips was doing during class-time in the hallways all by himself, Sunset didn't know or care to find out.
She needed to get back on track fast.
She found herself suddenly behind him, tapping on his unsuspecting shoulder. "Do you have any homework with you?"
"Wha–"
"In your backpack, do you have any homework?"
"Um." Micro Chips looked frantically to and fro for rescue that didn't exist. "I-I-I think s–"
"Did you already do it?"
"Y-yes?"
"Good. Take it out of your bag," Sunset demanded.
The terror-filled boy obliged with shaky hands. In a few jittery motions, he had whatever assignment he'd done the night before in front of him.
"Sit down."
Very hesitantly, he obliged again, melting onto the tiles below.
"W-w-wha–"
"Eat it."
"WHAT?"
"Listen." Sunset leaned in close, her brow knit in a hellish furrow. "I don't make idle demands, and I'm not in the mood for retort. I want you to eat your homework, one bite at a time."
"B-b-b-b-b-b–"
"Not in the mood," She hissed. "Eat it. Don't stop until someone finds you. If they're a student, tell them I made you do it. If they're staff, tell them the same thing. Got it?"
He slowly nodded, desperate eyes persistantly flittering back and forth, rescue as absent as ever.
There was a protracted pause.
"EAT!!!" Sunset bellowed, echoing through the halls and beyond. "NOW!!!"
With a whimper, he dove in, holding trigonometry to his maw as if it were a sandwich.
Alright, Sunset! You clearly still got it.
She adjusted her skirt and one sleeve of her jacket, heaving a breath mixed with relief and bundled nerves.
All the feeble little underlings here are definitely still afraid of you. As afraid as they've ever been!
He took another whimpering bite.
Definitely afraid. Your reign is not in jeapordy in any way. Snips and Snails are already working on framing Twilight for crashing the formal, this boy will beacon to the others not to cross me again.
"Keep eating, don't move. I'll know if you do."
So quit freaking out.
She turned, injected once more with passion and assurance, and trekked back the way she came, leaving poor Micro Chips with an interesting snack to eat, to be eventually found with an interesting tale to tell.
Now, walk back into that classroom and teach that Ditzy-Muffins-or-whatever girl to fear you the same way the others do. Easy. Easy peasy.
What if she says or does something cute aga–
SHUT. UP.
She clenched her fists tightly, releasing them with an agitated huff.
Sunset blew back through the open doorway like the burning wind. She didn't bother to check if Mr. Doodle had arrived to protect his flock yet.
He hadn't, though that would have changed little.
She marched right back up to Ditzy's desk, rearing up and slamming both palms down onto it with enough force to echo and terrify.
Ditzy jumped with a start and mild concern, though she swiftly returned to a heart-gripping, relaxed smile.
Do not give in.
Sunset huffed out steadying breath after breath, gaping down at her supposed prey with wild eyes. Her grip on the desk tightened.
Do.
Sunset blinked.
Not.
Ditzy blinked.
Give.
Sunset blinked again.
In.
She took one last breath of preparation–
The time has come. Eliminate.
"–YOU–"
"It's blueberry!" Having retrieved the muffin from its shell, Ditzy held it with flat palms before herself, with enough pride for the whole room. "And it's reaaaally good! I know ya wanna try it..."
Tha-Thump
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sunset Shimmer pulled at her hair, fleeing from whence she came at a speed blinking would betray, leaving dust, smoke, and a very perplexed girl in her fiery wake.
Author's Note
This will be the only chapter written from Sunset's perspective. She'll play a minor role later in the story, absotootlylootly, but this fic isn't intended to be focused on her, as much as I love her with all of my gushy, ancient heart.
Sorry if this caused any confusion. I felt that having a minor-character-driven prologue would be good fun 
Edit: tiny tweaks.
