Power Above All Else

Sunset never felt so alive. She could feel the powerful magic coursing through her veins. Her four new wings that adorned her back could practically feel the magic in the air as she soared across the sky, faster than she’d ever gone before in her entire life. She was an alicorn, plain and simple. The spell had worked, and she was more powerful than she had ever hoped to be. She was finally free to return to Canterlot Castle and let Celestia know that she was back, she would finally be loved by all and that she would be the new one of the new princesses.

Celestia had been too busy caring for Eclipse these days when did she have a child to notice that Sunset had been lacking in the very studies that she promised her would bring her greatness. Now that Sunset had gotten this power, Celestia would have to accept her, or she would have to be pushed aside if Sunset was ever to gain the throne or become accepted by Equestria. Sunset didn’t know if Equestria would accept her if she took over by force, but she hoped that Princess Celestia would be accepting of her so it wouldn’t come to that.

As Canterlot Castle loomed closer and closer, Sunset started to feel a little uneasy. Now was not the time to have regrets as it was too late to close Pandora’s box. But she wondered how she was supposed to explain where she even got the power in the first place. Princess Luna was dead. Sure, Princess Celestia had over a thousand years to get over her sister’s death but alicorns were immortal. Who knew if the Princess was even over it?

There were other issues that Sunset didn’t think of before like she had two more sets of wings that Celestia had and two extra pairs of legs than ponies usually had. Her horn was much longer and sharper and Sunset almost cut her tongue on her teeth twice on the flight over. Then there was the janitorial staff member who came in, looking at him made her hungry he tasted amazing but he didn’t have any food on him, and Sunset had to leave on an empty stomach. Her stomach still growled as she approached the castle. There was also the weird need to bite approach ponies. She was unsure what that meant.

The spell clearly had some side effects but that didn’t matter anymore. Sunset Shimmer was an alicorn. It was all worth it.

A flapping noise behind her caused her to sharply look back to see what it was. For some reason she could turn her head a full 360 degrees now. She figured this was something Princess Celestia could always do. Or maybe it was just a side effect. Or maybe she was just better than Celestia. She saw what it was. It was a small bird. Food. Her tongue snapped outward like a frog and pulled the bird inside her maw. It was barely anything to sate her hunger. It didn’t even fill her up. She snapped her head forward. She had to watch where she was flying, or she’d bump into a pony. That would be bad. Or good, if they had any food on them.

She soon arrived at Canterlot Castle. She gracefully and quietly landed on the upper balcony. All was quiet. Good. Then she could sneak back to her room undetected or maybe slip into the kitchen to grab a snack. If the kitchen had pony guards apples, then even better. She could use some fruit after the night she’d been through. She pried the door open but instead pulled it off its hinges and threw it back over the balcony behind her. Her magic was a lot stronger than she remembered. That was new and it was something she would have to get used to.

She crept inside the castle. It was quiet and dark. There was nopony around, not even any guards. That was odd. But good for her as she did not need to be caught now. Explaining everything to Princess Celestia in the morning after the Princess had a good night’s sleep would probably be better for the both of them. However, as she made her way down the strangely quiet hallway, she noticed that, at the end of the hall, was a light that was shining from under the door. She quietly made her way down the hallway, bypassing her room in the process. Maybe there were ponies on the other side!

If Princess Celestia was on the other side of that door, well, never mind sleep. It would be better to just tell her now.

Sunset ripped the doors off their hinges and entered the bright room. It was a playroom. The walls were blue and there were toys and pillows strewn all across the floor. In the center of the room, playing with the toys was a tiny foal. Eclipse. She glanced up at Sunset who stared back down in horror.

Just looking at Eclipse brought Sunset immense mental anguish. She screamed a wail that was not her own. It was an unholy screech that made her afraid of herself. She cowered backwards, unable to understand. What had happened to her? ABOMINATION. Why was she so afraid of Eclipse? IMPOSSIBLE. Had the spell effected more than just her body? WHAT DID CELESTIA DO?

Sunset hissed and physically recoiled. Princess Celestia was an obstacle to the path to the throne but so was this thing too. If it was causing her this much pain now, then she could only imagine how much pain it would cause her when Princess Celestia was DEAD gone. Sunset would typically never have even thought of hurting a foal. However, the circumstances were different.

Sunset felt the raw magical power flowing through her very being. She could easily snap the necks of a million ponies simultaneously. The raw power was making her feel quite giddy and excited. It made her want to do things she would normally never have done. She wasn’t really sure she was in her right mind when she thought about killing the foal, but she didn’t want the foal to attempt to kill her later in life after Eclipse realized that she had murdered her mother.

Has Sunset even decided she was going to kill Celestia? It wasn’t her first choice, but it was starting to feel like the better option of the two decisions. It had felt like the only option.

Sunset readied her horn and used the tiniest of magic against it. Nothing occurred. She tried again, with a bit more force this time. Nothing again. Sunset felt a headache coming on. She didn’t feel like trying again.

Sunset shook her head. Eclipse had to go. The mental anguish was bad enough but there was a potential chance that foal could kill her later in her life. Her path to being loved by her subjects to greatness would not be cut short by what ifs. Eclipse, no, it had to go.

NO.

Sunset shook her head.

NO.

Sunset shook her head.

NO.

Sunset shook her head.

NO.

Sunset sighed. The child would be more useful to her alive anyways, assuming she could get over what was starting to be literal physical pain at the mere sight of the foal. The emotional anguish she felt was starting to manifest as physical aches across her body. She watched as Eclipse continued to play with her toys as though Sunset wasn’t even there.

She circled around Eclipse, getting a good look at the foal. It didn’t look like Celestia. It never had. It had a black coat with white spots all across its body. Its horn had a white tip. Its mane was short for now, but it was dark blue in color. It’s Her pink eyes were the only thing about her that was like Celestia. She’d never questioned it the whole time she’d been around why not but now that she thought about it, she hadn’t even known who the father was. She supposed that Celestia was full of secrets.

She looked up from Eclipse to see a pony standing in front of the doorway, clearly horrified. The pony, Sunset assumed, was probably one of Celestia’s many servants. Easily replaceable. Her jaw unhinged and her tongue snapped out and in one single blink and swallow, the pony was gone.

Sunset blinked. Wait, what just happened to the pony that had been standing there? She’d just been there. Sunset had just seen her.

Eclipse was crying now for some reason. Sunset had never been good with kids, and she wasn’t about to attempt it now. She couldn’t even hold the foal if she wanted to.She felt physically ill just looking at it. She ignored it as it wailed. Sunset sighed again. It could attract attention with all that wailing. Maybe she could try to comfort it somehow.

Then in a blast of hot, searing painful light, she was sent flying backwards through the far wall and outside the castle. She nearly fell but she caught herself and steadied herself upright in the air, her wings beating nearly as fast as her heart. Princess Celestia was here. Her expression was neutral. Yet there was a certain way about how she flew towards Sunset that made her feel as though the Princess was upset.

“Sunset Shimmer, what have you done?”

“I have finally gained the power you have denied me my whole life!” Sunset said with a grin. “I have completed the alicorn ascension spell without your help and I have become a GOD.”

Princess Celestia studied her for a moment before speaking. “There is no spell for that.”

Sunset frowned. “Yes, there is. I-I did it. I did the spell.”

“What book-”

“Arcane Secrets of Alicorn Ascension by Starswirl the Bearded.” Sunset replied.

“Those are just theories that are not founded on fact, and they have been disproven,” Princess Celestia said firmly. “Even if you had cast them, they would have done nothing at all.”

“Unless you cast them with alicorn magic.”

Celestia’s frown deepened. “And how would you obtain that, exactly?”

Sunset couldn’t cower now. She couldn’t. But even in the face of her old mentor, she felt a little scared. “I got it from Luna.”

Princess Celestia just stared at Sunset, her face betraying no emotion. “You stole magic from my sister to fuel a spell that doesn’t even work?”

“It clearly worked!” Sunset protested. “Look at me, Celestia! I AM AN ALICORN.”

“You are nothing but a mere mortal who gained powers beyond your understanding or control,” Celestia replied.

“I understand these powers very well,” Sunset replied. She was bluffing, however. She’d felt odd ever since she left that crypt.

“You understand nothing at all, Sunset and that was intentional. I was going to reveal everything to you when you ascended. You were filled with promise and potential.” Celestia said. She shook her head sadly. “I’m very disappointed in everything you’ve done.”

Despite no longer caring for her mentor’s approval or disapproval, Sunset couldn’t help but feel hurt somehow by Princess Celestia’s words.

“I’ll give you a small, final lesson, for free, Sunset Shimmer.” Princess Celestia said. “Alicorns are a mix of the three pony tribes. However, they are also something else entirely. Rather than being a hybrid species that is one third of every kind pony tribe, they, unbeknownst to the general public, are just something else. We could’ve gone in depth on what that is and means but,” She let out a little laugh and that sent a chill up Sunset’s spine for reasons that she couldn’t quite figure out, “you desecrated my sister’s body.” The Princess sighed. “This situation is the equivalent of an ant trying to drain the magical power from a dragon. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“But it worked,” Sunset argued back.

Princess Celestia was shaking a little now though her expression stayed nearly the same. “It. Did. Not.”

Sunset noticed how Celestia’s mane was slowing turning yellow and orange and how hot the surrounding area was becoming. Yellow armor gradually appeared over her body. This was not a form that Sunset had seen Celestia take before, but it seemed she was preparing to fight. Sunset would ready herself too.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, to try to distract Celestia and give herself a chance to prepare but instead, another voice came out.

“WHAT IS ECLIPSE?”

This garnered a reaction from Celestia. A small hint of sadness, surprise and longing crossed her face. She quickly recovered.

“That’s my daughter,” Celestia simply replied.

The voice that had been in Sunset’s mind, the voice she tried so desperately to ignore so she could pretend for more than two seconds that nothing was wrong, and she hadn’t completely messed up, spoke from her mouth once again.

“LIES.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. She then grinned and Sunset saw her reflection on her sharp teeth. “Fine. I wanted you back, that’s all.”

Sunset involuntarily howled, screaming a scream of pain, anger, hatred and jealousy. She could feel the emotion coursing through her, threatening to overwhelm her very mind. It took everything she had to stay sane. The being that lived in her stopped screeching, but she could still feel the emotion eating away at mental state.

She messed up.

“You want to know something interesting, Sunset?” She asked. Celestia’s hair became fire itself and her pupils became catlike slits. The air around her became so hot that Sunset nearly felt like she herself would burst into flames. In that single moment, the Celestia she knew became something else entirely. A fiery demon. “Death works differently for Alicorns. And because of that, they must be handled differently.”

Without warning, Celestia launched a spell at Sunset. She almost completely dodged the spell, but it still hit her back leg, causing her to let out a screech. It burned worse than any pain that Sunset had ever felt, and it was enough to almost make it vomit. It was also at that moment that she knew she was outmatched.

FLEE. FLEE. FLEE. FLEE. FLEE. FLEE.

The need to escape filled her mind and it was the only thing that Sunset could think about. It filled her every thought and controlled her every action as she dodged every single spell that Celestia tossed at her. She darted back into the castle and flew down the hall.

THE MIRROR WORLD.

Sunset had only heard about it once before, but the mirror world was easily a place where she could go. She’d only heard about it briefly, but it was some kind of mirror that led to an alternate world, in theory. She could hide out there until things calmed down and she could return home. She flew down the hall, somehow remembering the way. She flew into the door to said room, her large body breaking down the door without even trying. She glanced back. Celestia was nowhere to be found.

She could hide out somewhere else on the planet and bide her time. No, Celestia would track her down with a vengeance for stealing magic from her sister. And a death from Celestia was bound to be a painful one. She stared at her burned leg. Normally, her alicorn regeneration would heal it. But it remained a blackened mess. Her leg hurt to even put weight on. She limped towards the mirror and saw herself in the reflection. It was enough to make her briefly terrified. What had she become? A six eyed monster with rows and rows of sharp teeth and a long blood-stained muzzle. A blue star sat in the center of her face. What was that about?

She shook her head. No time to think about it now. She could hear hooves running down the hall. It was probably Celestia. She dove into the mirror and watched as the world went black.