There was a certain kind of stories beginning popular in CHS recently. They all centered around the same kind of idea.
"Well. I mean, it's just kinda cool. This dude was a loner in his world but now, he's all badass and he's just like "you don't know who you're messing with" and-"
"Well. I quite like the idea. The villainess was always quite the character. Horrible personality but wonderful fashion and social standing. Seeing that character be able to start from scratch or be redeemed with the help of someone who's read her story is quite interesting."
"I just like the ones about farmin' weird crops in a whole other world. It's an interesting idea and when they go all into it, it's hard to put down. Heck! Sometimes, I learn something!"
Those were some opinions but as a whole Sunset found all of her friends interested in the stories about being whisked away to another world through this way or that.
But as Sunset looked down from a throne of what she sincerely hoped weren't skulls, she groaned and put her head in her hands "I don't even like these stories…"
The three creatures kneeling at the steps stayed quiet, though Sunset could hear movement and uncomfortable shuffling. She pulled her face back and sighed at the sight of her red claws.
A quick glance upwards and she saw her horn. Her unicorn horn. It felt both horribly out of place but also a welcome familiarity. She was guessing there were more changes but she really didn't want to deal with that yet.
"Right. Can one of you tell me what's going on? Because I have no clue who any of you are or where I am." She wasn't going to pretend to be someone she wasn't. This situation was dumb enough. Misunderstandings could get the boot.
A… well, demon in a suit for lack of a better term stood up, smiling softly and adjusted her glasses. "Yes. You are the demon king and you've just gone through a metamorphosis. Temporary memory loss is expected."
"Are you fu-" she groaned again. "No. I'm Sunset Shimmer. I'm not- nor have I ever been a demon. Let alone a demon king, queen or lord."
The suit demon shuffled a bit and nodded "Ah. Well it seems-" she glanced back to another one, this one wearing a lab coat. Were they all stereotypes? No, of course they were.
Lab coat stepped forward and spoke. She sounded perpetually tired with every word. "A demon lord metamorphosis is a sort of summoning ritual similar to that of a hero summoning. But where they differ is that the metamorphosis pulls the summoned into the demon lord where the lord would absorb their power and mind."
Sunset could feel her eye twitch and something in her hand crumble. A quick glance showed her that it was the chair itself that had crumbled under her grip. "But I'm here. What does that mean?" She asked, trying her best to reign in her anger. It was difficult though. She didn't even like these stories, having literally been a living example of one already and here she was, pulled into another word just to be lunch for a demon lord. She was pissed!
She noticed that Lab coat was shaking a little, Suit was standing much straighter than needed and the one who hadn't spoken yet who was wearing what looked like a basic barbarian style outfit had taken to covering her head and whimpering.
Suit finally managed to speak up first "Pl- please calm your rage my lord! It is difficult to speak with such pressure!"
Sunset raised her brow and would have usually scoffed at such an idea. How could she put out so much pressure that three actual demons couldn't talk? But, Suit did sound like she was gasping those words out. She put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath before exhaling as she stretched it out. Who would have guessed she'd need Cadance's calming technique again after all this time?
It seemed to have the desired effect though as Lab coat stopped shivering and let out a gasp. Sunset let her catch her breath before motioning for her to continue. "What that means is that you absorbed the former demon lord instead. His memories and knowledge should become your own in time."
Sunset sighed and took a better look around the room. The look was…dumb. Overly "evil" and "Gothic" it was like someone saw a bad vampire movie and thought they could make it better by adding more "evil".
"This sucks." She grumbled before glancing to Barbarian "What about you? Do you have anything to add?" She asked lazily "also, this chair isn't actual skulls, is it?"
Suit spoke up first "Ah. No. They are replicas. The former lord had a flair for the dramatic but didn't want to actually touch lesser life forms."
"Great. So he was a specist. What a jerk." Sunset muttered as Barbarian stood up. She was pretty tall when she actually stood up. But the expression on her face stood in stark contrast. It was shy and unsure.
"Ah. Demon king- queen- lord-"
"Whatever. I'd prefer my actual name but somehow I doubt any of you will use it. " Sunset shrugged.
"W- we wouldn't dare to call-"
"Yeah, I figured. What were you going to say?" Sunset asked, resting her cheek against her hand. Thankfully, regardless of how sharp her claws seemed to be, they didn't do anything to her face.
"Yes! Well, it's just- during the period of your metamorphosis, the hero's party has made their approach."
"How close are they?"
"The…front gate."
Sunset was annoyed again but only for a moment as memories of RPG games from earth popped into her head. She had an idea. "Did they travel by ship or airship or whatever you have in this world?"
"Yes! Their airship landed on the coast of the continent two months ago!"
Sunset hummed as she grinned a little. It would be little more than a prank really but it would buy her time and no one would get hurt.
"Tell me more about their journey here." She ordered as she leaned forward.
~~
The hero readied his blade as he watched the gates to the demon King's castle swing open. His party had been talking about how to go about getting past the many enchantments earlier but now they were just being let in.
In front of them was one of the three commanders. The suit wearing demon-
"The demon lord has instructed me to bring you inside."
The hero blinked as his inner monologue had been cut off. "He just welcoming us in?" He steadied his sword and prepared for battle.
But the demon didn't change her stance "indeed. I'm not sure what my lord is planning right now to be honest but that was my order."
"Ha! I doubt that. You always know!"
The demon just shrugged "Nevertheless. Follow me. We've deactivated any traps and told any monsters to avoid the path."
The hero's party looked at each other for a moment before nodding. Trap or not. Getting further without going through the exhaustion that the path would probably normally cause would be a good trade-off.
Besides, they could deal with anything the Demon King could throw at them.
~~~
They were…actually in the throne room. All three of the commanders were here and so was…someone. "Who are you?! The demon lord's bride?! A demon queen?!"
The figure on the throne was completely red skinned with long red and yellow hair. Two horns gently curved to the back of her head while another stuck out from the top of her forehead like a unicorn. Her glowing teal eyes looked at him with annoyance before she sighed. "I'm the demon lord- I guess- just gender fluid or something I suppose."
"What?"
"New body, New me"
The hero paused for a moment. That sounded suspiciously like something said back in his world he narrowed his eyes "did the demon lord summon a bride from another world? Even I didn't think he'd sink so low."
The "bride" groaned and got up, causing the party to go on the defensive as her ragged leathery wings spread and spade tipped tail flicked out. But they only did for a moment as if she was only stretching. In fact, she was. She continued on, popping joints before moving down the stairs
"Look. I'm no one's bride. This specist jerkbag summoned me to try and absorb my power but I ended up absorbing him instead. Thus, I am the demon lord." She snapped her fingers and all of a sudden almost everyone's equipment got pulled to the ground.
"Like I said though. New me. I need to make a new reputation for myself and I need time for that. So I need you all to go away for a little bit. Tchau!" Another snap and the hero prepared for the worst but when he opened his eyes he found something familiar. The very same little town he'd started his journey in.
He looked around at the surprised faces of the villagers that recognized him and took a deep breath. How juvenile. All they had to do was get back on the airship and go right back
The airship that was on another continent…
His eyes widened as he realized how simple but problematic this situation was.
Sunset looked at her fingers. The fact she was able to actually do that was insane. How much power did she take from the jerk lord?
Suit stepped up with a grin full of sharp teeth. “My lord! How did you plan that all so well?!”
Sunset was pulled from her thoughts by that question. “Well, from what little I know about the former “lord”, he was a jerk. If we follow the usual conventions, if a world has a clear “Bad guy” like them, then the “Good guy” will be annoyingly good. So he won’t attack your back when you lead him, he won’t attack right away when he sees me.” She shrugged, “I just figured that the best way to change my reputation would be to focus on this area first and to do that we needed to send the hero away.” She explained with a smirk as she stepped forward.
This whole situation was dumb. Really dumb. She didn’t want to end up in another world all over again. But she was already here. She was stuck as far as she knew, so why not try to make things better for herself? Besides, it’s not like this would be the first time she had to completely turn her reputation around.
“So. How bout the airship?” Sunset asked as she walked towards the doorway the hero had come in through.
“As ordered, we’ve sent a group of monsters to take control of it.”
Sunset grinned. She felt a little bad about it but, if the world followed RPG logic then they stole the airship or got it as a gift, so why couldn’t she take it for herself. She was going to “improve” her reputation. She wasn’t going to become a saint. Besides, An airship landing was a heck of a lot less intimidating than demons flying in on their own wings. “Well, then. Let’s go and take a trip on our fancy, new airship.”
Author's Note
That's it. I don't really have anything to add to it. No plans or anything. It's just an idea that was in my head.
I DO plan to work on my other stories. It's just getting myself to work on them. I have a bunch to work on. So, ripperoni.
