The Choices We Make Are Sometimes Wrong
For the simple mortal pony, an alicorn is a god. They are all the three pony tribes fused into one, powerful magnificent being. They are the deity that watches over the lands. While most ponies in Equestria didn’t view them as gods, a small few did. They stood in awe as these beings raised the powerful celestial bodies across the sky. They had powerful magic that could do anything. Most importantly, they were the rulers of Equestria. Not only did the alicorns hold vast amounts of magical strength; they also held lots of political power. They were, for all intents and purposes, gods.
Sunset Shimmer wanted nothing more than to become a god.
That was why she enrolled in Princess Celestia’s school. To become a god. She was hand-picked by the princess herself at her entrance exam. Princess Celestia had seen the raw magical power inside of her, the power she’d seen inside of herself for a long time. She hoped that Princess Celestia could shape that power and mold it into something more than herself. She knew it was possible to ascend to alicornhood. She’d read books and even Princess Celestia herself had brought it up occasionally. It was a possibility on the horizon, so long as Sunset worked hard and studied.
But that wasn’t quite enough. Sunset desired power, more than anything else she’d wanted in her entire life. She started to feel impatient over the years. Her magic was good, good enough to ascend. The only thing standing between her, and her well-deserved ascension was Princess Celestia herself. No matter how hard Sunset pushed, she felt like she wasn’t getting to where she wanted soon enough. She felt like she was running at the same pace she’d always been going.
Then it all went sideways. Princess Celestia had a foal.
Sunset hadn’t known that the princess was pregnant. The Princess hadn’t been around as often to give her personal lessons and the princess had gained some weight, but they weren’t necessarily close, especially recently as Sunset raced to complete her studies. But Princess Celestia hadn’t even mentioned it to her. She’d kept it hidden from Sunset and seemingly everypony else as well. And then suddenly, there was the foal. A ruinous little alicorn foal that changed everything forever.
Princess Celestia was unable to give private lessons after having the foal. She was unable to continue giving Sunset private practice, tutoring, or even suggestions. Princess Celestia became frustratingly obsessed with her new daughter, whom she named Eclipse. There was no room for Sunset anymore. Of course, Princess Celestia had assigned professors and private tutors to her in her absence, but it wasn’t the same. Sunset had been all but abandoned and at this rate she would never ascend. There had to be another way.
It was at that point that Sunset began to research other options. Princess Celestia could not be the only way forward. Sunset Shimmer wanted to achieve ascension before she grew old and withered and she knew that somewhere in Equestria was the secret to exactly what she was looking for. One day, she found that something. But it was blasphemy and if Sunset achieved what she wanted through these means, Princess Celestia would turn her back on her. But if this method worked and Sunset achieved limitless power then she was more than willing at this point to make sure that if Princess Celestia didn’t accept her as a new alicorn princess in Equestria then she would remove Princess Celestia from the equation entirely.
~
The building wasn’t too hard to find. Sunset quietly walked through the Everfree Forest, a golden shield protecting her from any hidden monsters and her horn aglow with light to see the way in the dark forest. Some way ahead was the building she’d been searching for, The Castle of the Two Sisters. It had been spoken about in the old books that Sunset had found in the Canterlot Library. Here was the place that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had ruled before Princess Celestia moved to Canterlot. The building was still well preserved, probably by order of Princess Celestia to protect the historic location.
Sunset entered the building with ease. There were no locks in the building whatsoever. A spell pulsed outward from Sunset’s horn, quietly disabling any traps and security measures inside the building.
The inside layout was simple. A long hallway stretched forward. On the right side was a stone wall with many doors leading to many hallways and rooms. On the left side a stone wall with stained glass windows like in the Canterlot castle, depicting a story. It was the story that every pony in Equestria, the story of the death of Princess Luna. Sunset walked past each window, remembering the simple tale in her mind.
Once upon a time, Princess Celestia had a sister named Princess Luna. Her sister was her opposite, as dark as the night sky and her mane filled with many stars. One day, after returning home from defending Equestria from attacking monsters, Princess Luna fell ill, having been gravely wounded by one of the monsters. Princess Celestia tried her best to cure her sister but the poison the monsters had given her had already taken over her mind and she fell asleep, never to awaken again.
Sunset pulled her map from her bag and looked it over once more. Then she opened the first door at the beginning of the hallway and opened it. Torches along the side wall instantly lit up as a stairwell led down into the darkness. Sunset followed it down.
Princess Celestia didn’t want Princess Luna to be buried at the new Canterlot Castle. She wanted her sister to be buried in a familiar place. So, her body was laid to rest in the exact castle they’d lived in for a good portion of their lives.
Sunset watched as the torches lit up as she made it to the bottom hallway and walked down towards the room ahead. When she got to the room ahead, she reached the door. This door was made of stone and had an inscription on it.
Here lies Luna, my dear sister.
This was probably where the tour guide would’ve turned the group around. But Sunset knew this wall was a door. The old books she’d found said so. She carefully used a spell to unlock it but found it wouldn’t budge. The magic guarding the door was seriously powerful. More than powerful enough to keep out a stupid thief. It was just her sister’s corpse, why go this far?
Sunset didn’t like doing this because she didn’t know what exactly was behind the door, but she hoped it was the room with the corpse. She needed to get in there. She braced herself and teleported directly into the room behind it.
The room itself was dark but Sunset lit it up with a spell. Four blue torches lit each corner of the wall, giving Sunset all the room she needed to see the area.
In the center of the room was a glass box. It was raised up on a platform. Inside was a cushioned bed and placed on said bed was, unmistakably, Princess Luna.
Which Sunset thought was odd. Instead of a rotting corpse or some bones, there was the corpse of the perfectly preserved Princess Luna. Her mane and tail had been frozen like the liquid mane as stopped in time itself. Her body was perfect without any scars or injury. It was weird. She’d been dead for at least one thousand years. Maybe slightly less time than that. But it’d been a while. Sunset wanted to believe that Princess Celestia had perfectly preserved the corpse with some kind of magic but upon checking the body, there was no trace of Princess Celestia’s magic on the body. Sunset checked the vitals of this corpse. It was a corpse. It had no vitals. But it did still have the one thing that Sunset was looking for. It’s magic.
Sunset’s plan was simple. She was going to use a spell she’d learned in class to siphon what little magic Princess Luna had out of her body and integrate it into her own magic. From there she would proceed with the alicorn ascension spell and use it on herself. Only an alicorn could perform the spell and she would have the magic of an alicorn. Sunset looked over the corpse. Defiling a body like this felt wrong but Sunset knew she was past the point of return. There was nothing that she wanted more.
Carefully, she pried the glass top off the box and teleported it to a secure location, which was her house. Sunset approached the body and stood over top of it, preparing herself mentally for what would come next.
“Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset jumped. Something said her name. It didn’t sound like anypony she knew. She looked around wildly. It was just her and the corpse. Being around a body was starting to freak her out. There was nothing else here.
“Calm down, Sunset,” She loudly told herself. “It’s just a body. Nothing to be worried about.”
Sunset slowly approached the body once more.
“Sunset Shimmer.”
The words entered her mind once more. It felt like they were coming from inside her brain, but they weren’t her own thoughts. It felt like they’d come from somewhere else, but she hadn’t known where. She definitely heard them this time.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t give a hoof about who you are,” Sunset said back loudly. Now she had lost her mind.
“I want them to love me, Sunset. You want that too.”
That’s not what Sunset Shimmer wanted at all. Sunset wanted power. She desired power more than anything else. That was what brought her here. And yet, it felt like, the longer she stared at this corpse, the more she felt that desire start to slip from her mind. Why… why was she here?
“Sunset.”
“Sunset.”
“Sunset.”
Her name echoed in her mind and with each echo, it felt like she was slowly losing her grasp on her goals and reality itself. She grew nauseous as the room swayed. It felt like a psychic attack and there were spells for defending against that, but Sunset could not defend against this. It felt too ancient, too powerful. Too much. Visions flashed through her mind of Princess Luna, standing at the top of the castle and then falling off the roof and hitting the ground. Those visions kept happening over and over while the voice echoed in her mind. The sound of Princess Luna’s bones cracking as she hit the ground. The feeling of pain, sadness, loneliness and most of all jealousy filled her body as though she was feeling what Princess Luna felt at the time. It was all too much.
Suddenly, Sunset screamed. It didn’t even sound like her voice anymore. It felt unknown. She brought herself down over the corpse, her face inches away from its body.
“W-what do you want from me?” She whispered.
The noise in her mind ceased.
“Eat me.”
The lingering thought crossed her mind. It was so ridiculous and gross that Sunset wanted to gag. But she couldn’t. She realized that she couldn’t move. A more powerful force held her in place and was slowly pushed her head towards the body. She was actually starting to get scared. She’d decided to mess with forces more powerful than her for power and now it was too late to regret things.
“eAt mE.”
The voice began to echo in her mind, urging her to eat the body. Sunset resisted, unwilling to give into the force. She would not let it overtake her. She would not let it win. She was Princess Celestia’s student, for Celestia’s sake. She was more powerful than some stupid ghost.
Before she knew it, a large, blood flavored piece of something hit her tongue and she swallowed. She shakily stared down at the chunk she’d taken out of Princess Luna’s corpse.
She felt backwards, the force having let her go. She retched several times, but nothing came up. Surely, this couldn’t be real. Maybe it was all an illusion? A trap meant to capture ponies who weren’t supposed to be there.
Sunset tried to coax herself into thinking that. That’s all it was. She didn’t even want power anymore. She wanted to go home. She quickly teleported the glass top back on top of the corpse and teleported to the other side of door. She raced up the stairs and collapsed at the top of the stairway and gazed at the moon above outside the way.
It was big and bright that night. It felt brighter than it had been in a long time. When was the last time that Sunset Shimmer had seen the moon? It felt like it had been one thousand years. She was starved, despite the circumstances that happened and wanted nothing more than to get back home and each a hay sandwich.
Well, maybe not a hay sandwich. Sunset was in the mood for something different, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what. She could figure that out when she got home.
As she was about to leave, the door swung open, and a stallion entered holding a broom. He had a trash bag tied to his waist and he glanced at Sunset. He seemed to be some kind of janitorial cleaning staff.
“Who’re you?” he asked in surprise, dropping the broom on the ground.
Sunset stared at him, suddenly realizing what she wanted to eat for dinner tonight. Her stomach growled as she slowly approached. She barely noticed the way her body changed, or her bones cracked and broke and mended themselves to match her new form. Or how her large four wings stretched outwards. Or how her new long horn was sharper than any knife. Or how sharp her teeth had gotten. She only really wanted one thing. Well, two things.
Food and to be adored.
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.
