The Empathy of Monsters

by OnixQuill

Rating: teen
Tags: Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Principal Celestia, Crossover, Death, Alternate Universe, Fluttershy (EqG), Gore, Mystery, Dark, Other
Length: 1647

All that know fear will burn at the Man-thing's touch.

After the events of the fall formal, sunset faces much difficulty in her efforts to make amends for her actions, not only having most of the school against her, but her own self hatred. Even with the support of the principles, and her new (albeit reluctant) friends, she ends up running into the night only stopping when she finds herself at the edge of a large swamp just outside of the city.

There she comes face to face with the Man-thing, and despite initial trepidations, she finds a connection to it through both of their empathic tendencies, and through-out their many adventures, comes to terms with her demons and becomes a person she can truly be proud of.

I like this idea because in the debate of what element sunset would be, I'm in the camp that says empathy, and since Man-thing's main trait is its empathic ability I just thought it would be interesting.

I do not own cover art.

Published 2021-07-03 03:30:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-07-28 18:56:02 UTC

Prologue: Monsters by consensus

The swamp.

A deep, dark expanse of plants and animals. An environment so mysterious that strange elements seem instinctively drawn to it. And so unfathomable, it may threaten to consume all who dare enter.

You are a part of this domain. Once a brilliant man tasked in the creation of a formula that promised to help people, you were betrayed and attacked. In your escape, you ingest the serum to keep it out of vile hands. Just then tragedy struck and you crashed into the swamp. As you sank the serum in your body combined with the natural and mystic elements of the bog, transforming you into... a beast.

With mere shadows of memory, and compelled by intuition and the emotions of others, you roam the marsh lands aimlessly. But should you come across a living being, if their emotions and intentions are positive, you will give them no trouble. If their intentions be wicked, they will know your wrath.

And, should they show fear, they will burn at the touch of The Man-Thing

Else-ware, a young girl with crimson and gold streaked hair, reflects on events from the past week, and actions committed throughout her life. Actions that haunt her both in waking and slumber, for to her they seem more like the deeds of a monster rather than a misguided child.

This young woman's name is Sunset Shimmer, and her past just may be almost as strange.

Sunset hails from another dimension, one of magic and wonder, though with plenty of its own dangers as well. The stranger parts being that the peoples of this word were not humans, but fantastical creatures. From dragons to griffons, to Sunset's people; the three pony tribes: earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns which is what Sunset once was.

She ended up running from her world over a dispute with her former mentor and came to our world, where she enrolled in a school known as Canterlot high. In the three years that fallowed, her anger and bitterness clouded her judgment and she took on the roll of queen bee, ruling the student body with an iron fist.

That was until she decided to briefly return to her world and steal an artifact of great power, the owner of which, princess Twilight Sparkle, fallowing after. With the assistance of five others, Twilight was able to retrieve the artifact, but not before a final showdown with Sunset, which saw her try to use the stolen magic only to be corrupted and turned into a giant winged demon. With the power of the bonds the six girls had forged, Sunset was defeated and returned to normal.

But this victory did take its tole. The powers used on Sunset forced her to open her eyes and relive every awful deed she had committed. This process left Sunset a shell of her former self. But thankfully before her departure, Twilight requested her friends to watch over fragile girl and help her on the right path.

About a week has passed now, and though with some trepidations, the five girl have tried to make an effort to include Sunset in their activities. But sadly, with her current state, progress has been slow going. Not helping maters is the fact that the rest of the school has no intentions of forgetting what Sunset had done to them, as well as the large wave of aggression being directed at her in retribution.

Which brings us all to now, where after having escaped an ambush, Sunset finds herself walking on a road on the edge of a swamp just out side of the city. With her mind dwelling on the difficulties of redemption, she is unaware of the pair of head-lights coming down the road, or you in the shadows, having been drawn to the girl's strong emotions.

What fallows is possibly the start of an amazing, and honestly, vary strange friendship.

Author's Note

Hay there!

So this is my first story on this site, and I just hope I'm doing ok so far. Let me know if there's anything I need to fix and I'll see what I can do. My upload schedule may get sporadic at times, but I will try my best.

Have a good day and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story when it comes out.

Issue 1: Strange Savior

You wade in the shadows.

Drawn by sounds of sobs and rocks being kicked along the road, you set eyes upon a young lady with red and yellow hair. Immediately, you can sense the regret and self-loathing haunting this girl, and you find yourself wondering what could cause such self-hatred.

At that moment, screeching tires and blinding high-beams came up on the road behind her catch both of your attentions. A twinge of fear in the girl's heart is soon replaced by calm as she looks to the people that exit the vehicle. But this is not the calm of relief, it is that of someone who has resigned them selves to their fate. Of a soul in line... to the gallows'.

"Twice in one day. Your luck is phenomenal Shimmer." Sunset mumbles to her-self before fully facing her aggressors, bracing her-self for what's to come.

"Well, well, look at this. The demon-bitch in an isolated area with no-one arrowed to help her? It's like you want someone to end you." the head of the group exclaims in a making tone.

"Maybe Rainbow-crash and those other losers finally grew some brain cells and diched her." A taller boy added in, though by the looks of them, even you question if any of these idiots had the right to call anyone stupid.

"Dumb-bell, Hoops, and Score, the three guys with probably the least stock in being all 'retribution ageist the tyrant'. At least I never got fiscal in my tirades." Sunset proclaimed with a surprising amount of bite for someone so down on themselves. The one you assume to be Dumb-bell quickly closes the gap and takes Sunset by the caller of her leather jacket.

"What was that!" He spat out.

"We're not the ones that turned into a giant raging she demon and took control of everyone and blew a hole in the school!" The third boy, Score maybe, added.

"I wasn't in control." Mumbled Sunset. It sounded like it was more to her-self then then to everyone else.

"Like we're gonna believe that!" Hoops exclaimed.

"After we take out the demon, we're gonna be heroes. And with how deep and dark this place is, no-one will be able to find you." Dumb-bell said with an evil smile, readying his fist.

You sense Sunset's fear return as these thugs seemed to actually plan on ending her life, or at least leave her for dead out here. And with her strength spent from earlier throughout the day, all she could do was stand there and watch the fist come at her. They were so caught up in the moment, none of them notice your approach.

You don't know why. Maybe it was the evil you sensed in there intentions. Maybe it was that you could feel that the girl had been through quit enough for her crimes. You don't know, but you decided to save this young lady from the cruel fate these boys had planed.

You grab Dumb-bell's arm and lift him up, causing him to let go of Sunset. As he is processing what you are, you throw him into his pals. He seethes in pain from the burns left by your touch, and they all look up in horror at the site of your form.

"What the fuck is that thing!" Hoops shouts in terroir.

"Get in the truck!" Score screamed, almost wetting him self. They collectively scrambled into their vehicle and sped off with their tales between their legs.

Sunset just stood there staring at you. She was freaked out a bit sure, but that was being over shadowed by her curiosity of the fact that you saved her and of what exactly what the heck you were.

"Ok, thank you, I guess. I'm pretty sure you just saved my life." Sunset shifted nervously under your silent gaze. "What are you? I've never seen anything like you before, your like some sort of man... thing."

She walks around you, giving you a once over. Stepping closer she raises her hand and quickly pokes your arm. "Huh, how come it didn't burn?" She looks to you as if expecting some sort of answer. Not receiving one, she tries to figure it out an her own. Just then, she received an alert on her phone, and you can feel her mood darken as she reads the words on the screen.

"Heh, well those guys mite be deterred, but there are plenty of others wanting to end me." She lets out a sigh and you place a hand on her sholder to comfort her. "Ok, so you can't speak or answer questions, but you can understand when someone is upset. Well, working theory, you respond to emotion, which is honestly pretty neat actually." you remine silent as you lack the ability to explain how right she is.

She checks her clock and sees how late it is. "Dammit, that's not good."

She looks to you "Listen I have to get home now, but maybe I could come by every once in a wile and try to figure you out. You definitely don't look like your from Equestrian magic"

She turn away and starts heading back to where she came from, but not before look back at you with a smile and a small wave.

When she's far enough away you turn and return to the swamp, both of you unaware of just how many adventures the future has in store for you.