As the sun slowly set over Canterlot, the sound of two sets of hoofsteps rung trough the halls of Canterlot Castle. One set rang out louder than the other, the clanging of metal hoofshoes on the marble a much harsher sound than the soft clopping of hooves. With the vast majority of the staff off for the night the halls were much, much quieter than normal. The two golden-armored unicorn stallions guarding the entrance to the hall nodded quietly and opened the door with their magic for the two mares passing through. Inside was a simple hallway leading to the Royal Bedchambers, abodes of the Princess and her close companions

“Sunset Shimmer, I heard you are not getting along with the other students at school. We’ve talked about the fact that personal relationships are as important as simple power.” The first mare, Princess Celestia herself, spoke down to the smaller mare. Her voice was full of concern and the soft care of almost motherhood for her student.

The smaller mare, Sunset Shimmer, huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Yes, yes, personal relationships. Who cares? All that matters is being the best, not about how many ‘friends’ you have.”

While the Princess didn’t so much as frown, her disappointment was still palpable in the air through her emotional mask. “Sunset, we’ve talked about the importance of friendship before, and we’ve discussed that you need to start opening yourself up to new friends.” Celestia sighed and shook her head, letting her mask slip while in the sole presence of what some would call her daughter. “Friendship isn’t just about having ponies around you, it is one of life’s great joys. Sharing your triumphs with others, your joys, hopes, and fears. Not only lifting yourself up but those you care about, and trusting others to lift you up when you stumble yourself.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and frowned up at her teacher. “I don’t think I need another lecture on the ‘magic of friendship’. I get it, it’s important to you! I just don’t see why it should be so important to me!”

Celestia blinked at the outburst in surprise before offering a small sigh, her ears drooping a bit. The Princess stopped in her path and turned back to her student, a gesture from the monarch stopping Sunset in her own tracks. “Come, Sunset Shimmer, I have something to show you.”

Sunset couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her teacher but followed obediently. The draw of new information was almost tantalizing to the magical prodigy. Princess Celestia led her through several hallways to a room that Sunset had never seen before under Celestia’s tutelage. Eventually, they reached a large steel door embossed with Princess Celestia’s own seal. It was flanked by two Solar Guards, one unicorn, the other one pegasus.

At the Princess of the Sun’s nod, the unicorn’s horn glowed with faint blue magic light, allowing the door to creak open. Inside was a hooffull of tapestries and other trinkets, such as a glass case with replicas of the Elements of Harmony. In the center of the room stood a large mirror in the shape of a horseshoe, on a pedestal with multiple horseshoes all around the base.

Celestia stepped into the room first, motioning for Sunset to follow with a wave of her wing. “Sunny, look into this mirror and let me know what you see.”

Sunset’s ear twitched slightly at the sound of her childhood pet names, but simply rolled her eyes and stepped forward. In the mirror, she saw nothing surprising - saw herself. Sunset smiled and tilted her head into a flattering pose. “I see a beautiful pony that has nothing but power and potential.”

Celestia let out a small sigh, her ears dropping a bit to the side in concern. “Sunny, do you want to try that again with a little more of that humility we talked about?”

Sunset ground her teeth together, her own ears dropping low in irritation. “I see a pony who isn’t yet powerful enough, somepony who could be great, powerful.” She looked at the mirror again, seeing herself as a powerful alicorn this time. “Somepony who could rule Equestria.”

For a moment, the image shifted to show some kind of bipedal creature armored in steel sitting on a wooden throne. On its head sat a crown of gold, while behind it was a massive golden tree that reached into the heavens. But most disturbing was the fact that it shared Sunset’s long red and gold hair along with her piercing blue eyes, burning with power and authority.

Sunset flinched, one of her hooves pulling up to her chest, while her ears flicked back and her pupils shrunk in fear. “What was that?!”

With a shimmer of golden magic, the image was dispelled, leaving a blank mirror in its place. Celestia nudged Sunset with her wing to lead her out of the room. “It must have been a trick of the light, Sunset. Now come along our lesson is done for the day. For tomorrow, I want you to reflect on the discussion we’ve just had.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes a touch and looked back as she was led out of the room. “Mhmm. I understand, Princess Celestia.”

Later that night Sunset was stuck laying in bed wide awake, her large room as silent as a grave. With a groan, she tried to roll over and go to sleep but once again found it impossible. A faint whispering in the back of her mind was keeping her up, almost like an itch you couldn’t scratch. A sigh escaped Sunset’s mouth as she pulled her fluffy pillow over her head, finally giving in and listening to the damned whisper.

“Come, Sunset Shimmer. Come to the Lands Between and claim your place as Elden Lord.” The voice was still faint but radiated the same strength and power that Princess Celestia did. It was almost like hearing a mother’s call to her lost children, calling them to a home they left ages ago.

Sunset grit her teeth and huffs. The call was strong for sure, but also offered the power she wanted. The power that Princess Celestia was dragging her hooves in giving her, despite the fact that Sunset so clearly had earned it. Once again Sunset couldn’t help but grit her teeth...and finally, haul herself out of bed.

The apprentice gathered a few supplies, some foodstuff, money, and medicine before heading toward the mirror. The single guard that stood in her way was easily taken out by a simple sleep spell, removing any conflict without any blood. A telekinesis spell helped Sunset lower him to the ground safely, preventing him from crashing to the ground in a heap. Once inside, Sunset stepped towards the mirror cautiously, her hoof hovering right before the reflective service.

“Will this actually give me what I want?” the unicorn whispered to herself, concern and pride warring in her tone. So much could be lost here...but so much could be gained as well. It would mean casting aside her title as Princess Celestia’s Student and all the knowledge that it could bring.

But what is that knowledge worth if she refuses to treat you like the prodigy you know you are?

The mirror shifted once again, showing Sunset as a goddess among mortal ponies, the alicorn beaming with sheer power. Those that thought themselves her peers bowed before her majesty, groveling for even a mere taste of her time. Chief among them was ‘Princess Cadance’, the stupid pegasus that managed to cheat her way into achieving what Sunset had to work so hard and fail to get.

Sunset sucked in her breath and without thinking took the plunge. To wherever these ‘Lands Between’ were. To her destiny.

Sunset fell out of the other side of the mirror with a grunt, her legs giving out and sending her facefirst into a dirty floor. The room she fell into was dark, lit only by slowly guttering torches. While the faint light may have hampered one of her senses, the dank smell of rot easily made its way to her nose. That and a second smell, one of blood and death.

The mare rose to her hooves with trepidation thanks to that second smell, only to find herself confused as she tried to settle on all four hooves. For some reason, her flank was high in the air and her hooves felt spread out. Looking down she couldn’t help but gasp at the changes her body went through.

Instead of four hooves and fur, she had hands like a monkey, along with a set of breasts on her chest. Her skin seemed to be the same color as her fur, thankfully. Sunset was wearing a pair of pants, a purple shirt, and a pair of boots, giving her some modesty. One hand went up to her face, revealing a different face than a pony, and a missing horn.

Sunset’s heart skipped a beat at the missing appendage, but one quick mental reach for her magic calmed that fear. She still had her magic, but instead of channeling it through her horn, she seemed to channel it through her hands instead. The ground and air did still hum with magic, just slightly different. Like the difference between two types of apples in taste.

“I wonder if this body is the standard for creatures here...” Sunset muttered to herself, rising to her hindlegs - no, her feet. Thankfully the transformation also fixed her muscle memory, letting her walk on two legs without too many issues.

The room around her was a musty, abandoned stone building. Bits of scrap wood and rusted metal lay against the wall and floor, while cobwebs and dust sat on everything. The ceiling above her rose high into the sky, high enough that a second floor could have easily fit into the building. At the other end of the room sat a large wooden door, which from the faint light coming from underneath most likely led outside.

As Sunset slowly made her way to the door, she noticed something white to the right of the door. The woman let out a small gasp of horror at what sat in the corner of the room: the bloody and dead body of some woman in a white gown and headpiece. She lay slumped over against the wall, leaning to the side. On her lap lay a large knife, its edge serrated like some of the blades used by griffons for maximum bleeding from wounds created by the weapon.

Sunset’s nose crinkled in distaste, but she reached out and grabbed the knife from the dead woman’s lap. After all, she looked like she had barely decomposed so had to have died recently. Whatever killed her could still be nearby. While grabbing the knife with her right hand, her left crackled with a bit of magical energy as she brought some of the fighting spells she learned from Princess Celestia to the fore of her mind.

Now armed and ready, Sunset stepped over to the large twin wooden doors barring her exit. Parting the doors took way more effort than it should have, most likely due to the hinges being almost rusted shut. With a grunt and a groan, Sunset forced them open just enough for her to slip through, finally stepping outside.

The first look at the great outdoors took Sunset’s breath away. The ground in front of her may have been a simply broken pathway leading to a set of stairs descending into a lower patch of the island she found herself on. But rising from the darkness of the cliffs across the water was a massive imposing castle. From what she could see, the stone edifice was about the size of Canterlot itself.

But what caught Sunset’s true attention was a massive golden tree in the distance. It looked much farther away than the castle, but that did not stop it from looming over the landscape like an angry god. Its light shone like the Sun itself, giving the night air the glow of early morning despite it obviously being night. Also radiating from the tree was an intense magic aura, something Sunset could feel even from the incredible distance between the two.

“Well, I guess that is where I need to go,” Sunset grumbled to herself, narrowing her eyes.

The wooden stairs looked old and rickety, but Sunset did not let that stop her from advancing down them. It led to a broken-down courtyard, the stone floor cracked with grass growing from underneath it. The pathway forward led to a simple wooden bridge across a chasm, towards some open-roofed stone building. Sunset sighed and continued forward despite the growing unease shivering down her spine.

Inside the open-roofed building was a small graveyard with a large statue at the end. The statue depicted a woman similar in build to herself in a Y-pose, wearing some kind of simple dress. To the right of the statue was a large archway, while on the left was nothing but a cliff and air.

As Sunset approached the statue, a harsh whistle of something cutting hard through the air came from above her. With a loud crash, a large creature landed right in front of her, forcing Sunset to step back, magic cracking in her hands.

Rising from the dust stood a large mass of flesh and limbs wrapped in a dark blue cloak. Peering out from the front of the cloak was a child’s face, the youthfulness giving the rest of its form a special kind of horror. In its left hand was a large golden shield with a lion embossed on it. On its right side were two arms, one holding a longsword and the other a rapier.

“Shit shit shit shit,” Sunset yelled as the creature tensed up and SCREAMED, her ears ringing from the pitch.

In response, the mage held up her right hand and fired forth a bolt of fire which the creature blocked with its shield. It continued its spin and swung its blades in an arc to behead and bisect Sunset, forcing her to conjure her own magical shield to block the attack. It let out a smaller screech as the blades slid over the shield, almost making it trip over its own legs.

Sunset jumped back as the creature slammed its shield down, kicking up a cloud of dust into Sunset’s eyes. As she was temporarily blinded, the creature lunged forward, stabbing its golden rapier into Sunset’s chest. She screamed in pain, but instead of pulling back, she grabbed the blade by the hilt, holding it inside of her.

With gritted teeth, Sunset slammed her hand into the creature’s face and forced a wave of all her magic outwards. The pulse of magic blasted the creature back, sending the creature flying backward. It crashed into the statue before landing on the ground, stunned. The statue cracked from the force of the blast and slowly topped onto the creature, crushing it under its stony weight.

“Got...you...” Sunset wheezed out before collapsing, the light fading from her eyes...

Author's Note

And so it begins, Sunset Shimmer takes the first steps into the Lands Between....