Chapter 1: battle at midnight

In sunset apartment currently said person was in a deep sleep. However, unknown to her, as she slept, a mouse hole slowly opened up on one of her walls, and out came nine mouse-sized creatures. Eight of the creatures are smoke-like monsters that resemble horse skeletons, with small butterfly wings, pale colors, and human-like teeth. Leading the creatures was a man. The man had black, spiky hair, red eyes that almost looked demonic, and for clothing he wore silver armor that covered his entire body, which was completed with a cape, and on top of his head was a silver crown.

This man was none other than the shadow king. He led the creatures until they eventually stopped in front of the sofa, where they eyed the former unicorn, who was still sleeping. The shadow king then eyed the necklace around sunset's neck and smiled evilly.

"So that's the jewel of empathy. The thing that will lead to my downfall." The shadow king said. "It doesn't look like much, but then again, looks can be deceiving." The shadow king then turned to look at the shadow horse. "Umbrums retrieve the necklace." One of the horse creatures, now known as umbrum, bowed its head and was about to retrieve the necklace, but before it could, a voice was heard, catching everyone's attention.

"Hold it right there, Sombra." A voice said, causing everyone to turn to the source to see that standing across from them was the nutcracker, who had pulled out his sword and was pointing it at them.

"Eric." The shadow king, now known as Sombra, said angrily as he glared at the nutcracker, now known as Eric. "So you're still alive."

"Yeah, I am Sombra," Eric said.

"But not for long, umbrum attack." Sombra orders, and immediately all the Umbrum quickly fly towards Eric, who quickly swings one of his swords at the creature. When the sword made a direct hit on the umbrum, it exploded in a burst of smoke. However, before he could attack the other umbrum, one of the umbrum opened its mouth and fired a stream of smoke at Eric, who was able to act quickly and block the attack with his sword. Unfortunately, however, while he was able to successfully block the attack, the force from the attack was still enough to send him off his feet and to land on his back. As soon as he hit the ground, all the remaining umbrum flew above and fired a stream of smoke from their mouths. Acting quickly, Eric rolled out of the way.

As soon as he got up, a magical blast hit him, causing him to land on his side. After he got up, he turned to look at Sombra, who was smirking at him. Sombra then pointed one of his hands at Eric and fired a magical blast at him. Fortunately, before the attack could hit him, Eric quickly moved out of the way. This, however, didn't deter Sombra, who fired another and another magical blast at Eric, causing him to keep moving in order to avoid being hit. After firing another magical blast, Sombra turned to face the remaining seven Umbrum.

"What are you waiting for? Get the necklace." Sombra shouted angrily, causing one of the Umbrum to bow before flying towards sunset.

"Oh no, you don't." Eric said as he ran towards the umbrum in an attempt to stop him, but before he could, the other six umbrum quickly appeared in front of him. They open their mouth and fire a stream of smoke at Eric, causing him to jump out of the way to dodge the attack. After dodging the attack, Eric then turned to look at the umbrum that was heading towards the necklace around sunset neck. Before he could do anything, he saw the umbrum touch the necklace, and as soon as it did that, it let out a small glow before releasing a burst of light that not only destroyed the umbrum but also caused the former unicorn to wake up from her sleep. After Sunset had woken up, she quickly rubbed her eyes and immediately looked down to see the Umbrum, Sombra, and Eric staring at her.

"What the heck." Sunset said as she got off the sofa. "What's going on here?"

"This is problematic," Sombra said. "But luckily it is a problem I can fix with a bit of magic." Sombra then fired a magical beam at Sunset, causing her to shrink down until she was at the same size as everyone else.

"What the heck." Sunset said in shock as she saw she had shrunk. She then turned to look at Sombra. "Who the heck are you, and what are you doing in my apartment?"

"Oh, pardon me for my bad manners." Sombra said mockingly. "I am King Sombra, the shadow king." He then bows to sunset mockingly.

"The shadow king." Sunset said in shock as she backed away in shock.

"Oh, so you heard of me." Sombra said as he eyed Sunset evilly.

"No, this can't be real." Sunset said before she pinched herself only to let out a small yelp of pain. "This isn't a dream; this is real.

"That's right, girl, this is real." Sombra said. "A real nightmare."

"What do you want from me?" Sunset demanded.

"I want the necklace," Sombra said.

"Why do you want it?" Sunset said.

"That's for me to know." Sombra said. "So hand it over if you know what's good for you."

"Yeah, about that. While it's true I don't know why you want this necklace, I do know enough that if a dark wizard is going through all this trouble for something, then I shouldn't let them get it." Sunset said before she ran away in an attempt to get away.

"Why you." Sombra said angrily. "Umbrum, stop her." One of the umbrum suddenly appeared in front of Sunset and was about to fire a stream of smoke at her, but before it could, a sword stabbed it from behind, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke. Sunset then saw that the one who had helped her was the nutcracker.

"Run, and whatever you do, don't let Sombra get the necklace," Eric said as he walked past Sunset with his sword raised.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Sunset said as she ran for her life. Immediately after she did that, the remaining five Umbrum appeared in front of Eric. The two stare at each other in silence for a moment before charging towards one another.

Meanwhile, Sunset quickly hid behind one of the chair legs at her dining table. She took a moment to take a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"Ok, sunset, don't need to panic." Sunset said. "Just stay calm, and you will find a way to get out of this situation."

"I hardly doubt that." Sombra said as he suddenly appeared in front of Sunset, causing the former unicorn to run for her life.

"Curse it! If I still had my magic, then I would not be so helpless right now," Sunset thought to herself before Sombra suddenly appeared in front of her, causing Sunset to run in a different direction, and not long after she did that, Sombra then appeared in front of her again, causing Sunset to run in a different direction, only for Sombra to appear in front of her again. This keeps happening a few more times until eventually Sombra corners Sunset at a wall.

"Dang it." Sunset said in anger as she saw she was now cornered.

"It's over. Hand over the necklace," Sombra said.

"Not on your life." Sunset said as she glared at Sombra, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an easy victory. She then held her hands up into fists, ready to fight the shadow king.

"Even when cornered, you choose to fight me. Impressive." Sombra said as he looked into Sunset's eyes and saw no traces of fear in them. He was genuinely impressed that even when cornered and outmatched, the girl refused to give up and continued to be defiant till the end. However, as he continued to stare at her cyan-colored eye, he couldn't help but feel enamored, as they were quite beautiful. He then turned his attention to Sunset's face, and due to him no longer having all his attention on the necklace, he saw her face clearly, and immediately he felt completely entranced by her face. She was indeed quite beautiful, maybe not as beautiful as the sugar plum princess but just as beautiful. Her defiant look didn't even do anything to ruin her beautiful look; if anything, to him, it made her look more attractive, like she was some warrior goddess ready to fight to the end. He was genuinely speechless as he continued to stare at her.

"What is your name?" Sombra asked Sunset, wanting to know the name of the girl who had caught his interest.

"The name is Sunset Shimmer." Sunset said in a voice that was full of determination.

"Sunset shimmer." Sombra said almost in a lovestruck manner. Suddenly he was brought back into reality when Sunset screamed and ran towards him, fist raised. Once she was in front of Sombra, she quickly swung her fist at him; unfortunately for her, Sombra quickly caught the fist before it could hit him. He then quickly reached his hands towards the necklace in an attempt to take it. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he grabbed it, it let out a small glow before releasing a burst of light that was strong enough to send Sombra flying. This caught the attention of Eric and the remaining Umbrum, who quickly stopped their fight to turn to look at Sombra, who had fallen onto his face. After he landed on the ground, the remaining umbrum quickly gathered around him.

"My lord, are you alright?" One of the umbrum said, revealing that it could talk.

"I am fine." Sombra said as he got on his feet. He then turned to look at sunset." I believe we should flee for now, as it seems we encounter some unexpected complication." The remaining five umbrum then quickly fly around Sombra and quickly let out a large smoke cloud that covers them and their king. Once the smoke cleared up, it revealed that Sombra and his remaining Umbrum were now gone, causing Sunset to breathe a sigh of relief. She then turned to Eric, who was heading towards her.

"You are the nutcracker I bought." Sunset said as Eric stopped in front of her.

"I am," Eric said. "My name is Eric, and I am the captain of Princess Serenity's guard."

"Princess Serenity." Sunset said in a curious voice.

"Serenity is the name of the sugar plum princess." Eric said.

"So you don't mind telling me what's going on here?" Sunset said before she pointed to her necklace. "Why in the world is that guy after my necklace?"

"I am not sure myself, but from what I can tell, it seems that the necklace contains some kind of powerful magic." Eric said as he examined the necklace.

"Powerful magic." Sunset said as she pulled the necklace closer to her face. She has a look of interest on her face as she wonders what kind of magic the necklace has as well as wonders if she can use it in her conquest of Equestria.

"Hm, if you don't mind, I wish to have a closer look." Eric said as he reached his hand towards the necklace in an attempt to grab it. However, as soon as his hand got near the necklace, it produced another burst of light. However, unlike before, it was a small one with just enough force to only push his hand away.

"That happens earlier just now when Sombra touches it." Sunset said.

"And it happened earlier just now when one of the umbrum tried to steal it from you while you were sleeping." Eric said. "There must be some kind of magical protection on it that prevents anyone from taking it." Sunset then took off the necklace and put it back on her.

"Theirs seems to be no problem when I take it off." Sunset said. "It seems only I can take it off."

"That's good since it means we don't have to worry about the shadow king stealing it from you." Eric said.

"That's good and all, but I am still small as a mouse." Sunset said.

"Don't worry; there is a way to restore you back to normal." Eric said. "All of the Shadow King's enchantments are tied to him. Once he is defeated, all his spells will be undone."

"That's good to hear." Sunset said. "So what now?"

"Now I believe I should go and rescue my princess and defeat Sombra." Eric said. "Currently, right now he is no doubt back in the land of dreams trying to come up with a plan to steal the necklace, and no doubt he is not expecting an attack too soon. I will use this to my advantage by going to the land of dreams and defeating him once and for all."

"That's good and all, but what about me?" Sunset said. "You're not planning to leave me here like this, are you?"

"Sorry, but it's best you stay here, as it will be too dangerous for you to come." Eric said.

"Well, it's just as dangerous to leave me here as Sombra could return while you are gone." Sunset said.

"You do have a good point there." Eric said. "Then I guess it might actually be best if you follow me."

"So how are we going to go to the land of dreams?" Sunset said. "Since last I heard, weren't you banished from there?

"I am, but fortunately, Sombra left us an entrance that will directly lead us to the land of dreams." Eric said as he pointed to the mouse hole.

"Where did that mouse hole come from?" Sunset said, now noticing the mouse hole for the first time.

"It isn't a regular mouse hole; it's an entrance to the land of dreams." Eric said. "While you were sleeping just now, Sombra opened this hole to travel into your room. Anyhow, I believe we should go now as we don't have a second to lose."

"Great, so let's go now." Sunset said.

"Before we go, I need to warn you that our journey will be extremely dangerous, so it is for your own good that you stick close to me so I can protect you from any danger." Eric said.

"I will keep that in mind." Sunset said before she and Eric began heading towards the mouse hole, and as they walked towards the mouse hole, Sunset couldn't help but think how unexpected her situation is. Up until now she had always thought that they weren't magic in this world, but apparently she was wrong, as there really is magic in this world. She eventually shook off her thoughts when she saw that they were now walking through the mouse hole, and as they were entering the mouse hole, Sunset quickly mentally prepared herself for whatever would come her way, as no matter what, Sunset vowed she would get out of this situation and return back to her normal size, and once she did that, she would then wait until the portal opened so she could return and have her revenge on Princess Celestia. This is something Sunset promised to herself.
....
End of chapter 1

Author's Note

Don't forget to leave comments on what you think of my story