Sunset shimmer and the nutcracker

by Savant 123

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Alternate Universe, Romance, Original Character, Equestria Girls, King Sombra, Adagio Dazzle, Starswirl the Bearded, Adventure
Length: 35825

On Christmas Eve, sunset bought a nutcracker who was under a curse. At nightfall, the shadows king, who was the one that placed the curse attack sunset home, Now sunset, and the nutcracker must venture into the land of dreams to defeat him.

It’s Christmas Eve, and the resident school bully and queen bee had planned to just stay at her house and spend the holiday alone. However, fate has different ideas, as on that Christmas Day sunset accidentally stumbled upon an old antique shop where she bought two objects that caught her interest: a nutcracker and a necklace.

As she bought the two objects, the old man who owned the shop told her the story of the nutcracker. Of how it was once a handsome soldier engaged to a princess of a magical land but was cursed by an evil king called the king of shadows. Sunset didn’t believe it at first. However, that night the shadow king himself arrived at sunset home, and in the battle that followed, sunset was shrunken down.

Now the only way for her to return to normal is to venture into the land of dreams, the nutcracker home world, to defeat the evil king and end his reign of terror.

Published 2024-12-02 22:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-23 16:10:06 UTC

Chapter 7: The dream and let me make you proud.

Sunset didn't know where she was or how she even got here, but all she knew was that she was lost as she found herself in an open grass field. She continued to walk until she reached what looked like a park bench, and sitting down on the bench was a man Sunset easily recognized.

"Star swirl." Sunset said in shock.

"Hello sunset." Star Swirl said as he turned to look at her.

"What's going on here? Where are we?" Sunset said.

"Ah yes, you have many questions, but why don't you sit down first so we can talk?" Star Swirl said as he used his hand to tap the bench for emphasis. Sunset just stared at him for a few moments before sitting down next to him. The two sat in silence before eventually that silence was broken by sunset.

"All right, star swirl where are we." Sunset asked as she turned to look at the old man.

"Oh this place." Star swirl said ." This place is a little place everyone goes when their go to sleep."

" Sleep." Sunset said before she realized what he meant. "This is a dream."

"It could be a dream or it could be something more." Star swirl said. The two sat in silence for a few moments before sunset broke the silence again.

"It wasn't a coincidence, wasn't it?" Sunset said as she turned to look at star swirl. The necklace resembling my cutie mark, and me buying it and the nutcracker. It wasn't by chance, wasn't it."

"No, it wasn’t.” Star Swirl said before he turned to look at sunset.

"But why.” Sunset said as she turned to look at star swirl. "Why me? I am the last person who should have the necklace. I am an awful person who causes pain and suffering to others just so I can get what I want. I am not the kind of person who should have this necklace.”

"Don't you mean you were.” Star swirl said."You were an awful person who caused pain and suffering to others, and you were the kind of person who shouldn’t have the necklace.” Star swirl, then turn to look at sunset."But you no longer that kind of person, aren’t you? You want to become a better person, don’t you?”

"I do.” Sunset said."But I still don’t understand why me. Surely there are more people who are more suitable to have this necklace.”

"I don’t think there are people more suitable for the necklace." Star Swirl said. "The universe works in mysterious ways, and right now it deems you to be the one to wield the jewel of empathy and save the lands of dreams.”

“ Me.” Sunset said in shock."Are you even sure you got the right person?”

“ Oh I am sure.” Star swirl said.” You are the one who will free all of the inhabitants of the land of dreams and when I meant everyone I also meant sombra.”

"Wait, sombra." Sunset said in a confused voice. "What do you mean free sombra? Isn’t Sombra the one who enslaved the land of dreams?”

"He is.” Star swirl said."But Sombra is a prisoner himself. In this case, he is a prisoner of fate, and only you can free him from his imprisonment.”

"I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.” Sunset said.

"Don't worry, you will understand soon,” Star Swirl said before he pulled out a pocket watch. "Ah, it seems our time is out.” He then turned to look at her. "Sorry, but we have to cut our talk short.

"What?” Sunset said in a confused voice before a white light covered her vision.
….
Sunset woke up and quickly sat up. She took a few deep looks around and saw she was in the room in that cabin that she and Alise had chosen to sleep in.

"What's wrong, sunset?” Alise said as she sat up from her bed and rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Oh, it’s nothing, Alise; I just had a strange dream,” Sunset said.”Just go to sleep.”

“Okay.” Alise said before she lay back down on the bed. Sunset looked at Alise as she went back to sleep and stared at the young girl for a while before getting out of the bed and heading towards the room door. After exiting the room, Sunset walked down the stairs, and as she walked down the stairs, she tried to process her dream.

“Was that a dream or was it something more?” Sunset said to herself.” And what does he mean? That he is a prisoner of fate. I don’t understand it all.” As soon as Sunset went down the stairs, she saw in the middle of the room was Adagio, who was sleeping. She walked towards the window and stopped in front of it. She stood in silence as she looked at the woods. As she stared at the window, she noticed something flying in the air. At first, she wasn’t able to tell what they were, but as they got closer, the details became clear, and instantly a feeling of fear overwhelmed her. She saw that heading towards them was a large swarm of umbrums and giant bats with black guards riding them.

“Oh no,” Sunset said before running to Adagio.

“WAKE UP, WAKE UP.” Sunset shouted as she knelt down next to adagio and shook her awake.

“Huh, what is it?” Adagio said as she woke up with a groan.

“Trouble,” Sunset said. ” The umbrums and black guards have found us. We need to wake up the rest.”

“ What?” Adagio said.

“Come on, let’s go,” Sunset said before helping Adagio up. The two then ran up towards the stairs. As soon as they reached the second floor, they quickly went to the nearest door and slammed it open. The sound of the door slamming open woke up Eric from his sleep.

“ Huh sunset, Adagio, what’s going on?” Eric said as he slowly sat up.

“ Trouble.” Sunset shouted.” There is an army of umbrum and black guards heading towards us.”

“ What?” Eric said in shock.

“ Come on, let’s get Alise and go,” Adagio said.

“ Right.” Eric said as he got off the bed and grabbed his sword and the map that was on the nightstand that was next to his bed. The three then ran out of the room and went towards the room where Alise was sleeping. As soon as they slammed the door open, Alise instantly woke up from her sleep; as like Eric, the sound of the door slamming open woke her up from her sleep.

"Is it morning already?” Alise said as she rubbed her eyes.

"We need to go now.” Adagio said."The umbrum and black guards are heading towards us.”

“ What?” Alise said in shock.

"Come on, let’s go,” Eric said, as he quickly ran towards the bed and picked up Alise. The three then ran out of the room and down the stairs. As soon as they went down the stairs, the umbrums burst through the windows of the cabin, and shortly after their enter the cabin the black guards began entering the cabin through the broken window.

"To the back door,” Adagio said before she and everyone ran through the back door of the cabin. The three burst through the back door of the cabin and quickly ran as quickly as they could. As they ran, they suddenly saw multiple large shadows above them. Everyone looked up to see multiple large bats flying above them, and riding on them was the black guard.

"Quick everyone to the side now." Eric said, and immediately everyone ran to the side and into the woods. The black guards quickly try to follow them; however, due to the night sky and the woods being very dense, it was impossible for them to see them.

"We lost them.” One of the black guards said.

“They might have escaped from us, but I don’t think they will escape the umbrums.” Another Black guard said as he saw on the ground countless umbrums were entering the woods.
….
Sunset, Eric, and Adagio run through the woods until their eventual stop to take a few deep breaths.

“Do you think we lost them?” Alise asked.

“I would say….” Sunset said before she turned to look behind to see countless red eyes heading towards them. ” No.”

“Run.” Adagio said before she and everyone run for their lives as the umbrums chase after them. As they run for their lives, Adagio suddenly trips on a tree root and falls onto the ground.

“Eric, Sunset Adagio is in trouble.” Alise said as she looked over Eric's shoulder. Both Eric and Sunset stop when they heard what Alise said. Their turn to see a group of umbrum bite onto Adagio, who was snuggling to break free.

“Help me.” Adagio shouted as the umbrum flew into the air, taking Adagio with them.

“Adagio.” Sunset said in shock before turning to look at Eric. "What are we going to do?" Before Eric could reply, one of the Umbrum fired a stream of smoke at him, causing him to fly off his feet and onto his back.

"Eric, Alise." Sunset shouted before she ran towards them. As she ran towards them, an umbrum suddenly swooped down on them and used its mouth to grab Alise and flew into the air with her.

"Alise." Eric shouted as he quickly got on his feet.

"Help me." Alise said as the umbrum took her away.

"Eric, they , took Alise and Adagio. What are we going to do?" Sunset said as she now stood next to Eric.

"I don't know." Eric said before he noticed an umbrum was behind sunset. He saw it was opening its mouth, and acting quickly, Eric grabbed Sunset and immediately ran away as quickly as he could while also pulling Sunset with him. The two run further into the woods, and as they run into the woods, the umbrum began following them. They run as quickly as they can, but no matter how fast they run, they are unable to shake the umbrum off.

"They are getting closer." Sunset said as she turned to see the umbrum were getting closer to them. She then turned to look at Eric."What are we going to do?" Eric said nothing as he turned to see the umbrum were getting closer to them.He then turned to look in front of him and immediately knew what he needed to do. He quickly ran ahead towards a tree and pulled Sunset with him. The two then get behind the tree, and immediately after, they stop running.

"Eric, what are you doing? We need to go now." Sunset said.Eric said nothing but instead pulled out the map that was in his pocket and gave it to her, much to her confusion.

"Hide," Eric said before he ran out into the open.

"Hey, I am over here." Eric shouted before he ran ahead as quickly as he could, and shortly afterwards all the Umbrum went after him.

"Eric," Sunset said as she watched all the Umbrum go past her. After the last umbrum went past, sunset went out into the open and looked at the direction Eric and the umbrum went to. She looked in the direction in silence before hearing what sounded like a fight, and then after a while there was complete silence. Sunset stood in silence for a few moments before walking in a random direction.

"What am I going to do now?" Sunset said to herself as she realised she was all alone now.
....
In Sombra Castle, Sombra was seen in his room sleeping when suddenly the sound of his bedroom door being knocked woke him up from his sleep.

“ Uhh. What's with the racket? Sombra said in annoyance as he woke up from his sleep. After rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes, he got up from his bed and headed towards the door. He opened it and saw a Black guard behind the door.

“What’s going on? Why did you wake me up so late in the night."Sombra demanded.

“My apologies, my lord, but it is important that I wake you up.” The Black Guard said.

“What is so important that you need to wake me up?” Sombra demanded.

“The umbrum and black guards that were sent out have returned with Eric in their custody.” The Black Guard said.

“What.” Sombra said in shock.” Eric has been captured.” As Sombra said that, another thought suddenly came to him. ” And what of Sunset Shimmer?”

“Sunset shimmer.” The Black Guard said in confusion.

“The girl with the jewel of empathy.” Sombra said.

“The girl got away,” the Black guard said. Sombra said nothing and just stood in silence for a few moments before the silence was broken by Sombra.

“Bring Eric to my throne room.” Sombra said before closing the door to his room to change his clothes.
….
Eric, who was handcuffed, was being escorted through the hallway of the castle by a group of Black guards. He was forced to walk through the hallway until he reached the door to the throne room. The door opened by itself, and once the door was fully open, Eric saw sitting down in a throne was Sombra himself, who was smiling smugly at him,. Eric said nothing but glared at the shadow king as he was forced to move into the throne room. He continued to move into the throne room until they reached the middle of the room, where he was then forced onto his knees.

“Well, well, look at what we have here: the great Eric is now at his rightful place.” Sombra said mockingly.”On his knees before me.”

“This isn’t over, Sombra.” Eric said.

“And why you said that.” Sombra said.

“It’s because Sunset is still out there.” Eric said as he glared at the shadow king.” And I have faith in her that she will stop you.”

“Ah yes, Sunset Shimmer.” Sombra said.” Can’t forget her, can I? But she won’t be a problem, as I already found a way to deal with her and get her necklace. But let’s not talk about that. For now why don’t we let you rest in the dungeon as I have something special planned for you and your precious sugar plum princess?

“Don’t you dare hurt her.” Eric said as he glared at Sombra.”If you dare to so much as touch her hair, I will….”

“Do nothing.” Sombra said as he interrupted Eric.”But don’t worry about her; you will see her tomorrow. But for now enjoy your stay in the dungeon and try to have a nice sleep, for it will be your last peaceful sleep.” Sombra then snapped his fingers, and immediately all the Black Guards began dragging Eric out of the throne room. As Eric was forcefully dragged out of the room, his mind slowly wandered towards sunset.

“Sunset, wherever you are, please be alright and be careful.” Eric thought to himself.
….
Sunset walked aimlessly through the woods, not knowing what to do now. Everyone was captured, and she was all alone. She eventually reached a clearing. She walked through the clearing until she reached the center of the clearing, where she then fell onto her knees.

( music start here)

“What am I going to do now?” Sunset said to herself.”Everyone is captured, and I am all alone.” Tears then began coming from her eyes. As she lay on the ground, she suddenly remembered what Star Swirl said.

“The universe works in mysterious ways, and right now it deems you to be the one to wield the jewel of empathy and save the lands of dreams.”

“ But how.How am I supposed to do that? “Sunset said to herself as her tears began to fall onto the ground.”Oh Princess Celestia, how I wish you were here right now. I need your guidance more than ever." As sunset lay on the ground, she began to think of Eric, Alise, and Adagio.

"Eric, Alise, and Adagio,"Sunset thought to herself as she began to remember the moments she had shared with them. Even if it had only been a short time, it felt like it had been a lifetime. She thought back to when she first bought Eric at the pawnshop, to her being shrunken down, and to them traveling to the land of dreams. Then she thought back to when she and Eric met Alise and how both Alise and Eric tried to comfort her after she had a breakdown after confessing her plans of taking over her world and how Eric tried to reassure her that she wasn’t a monster. Then she thinks back on how she, Eric, and Alise first met Adagio and then to when she and Adagio revealed their past to one another, and finally she thinks back on her last moments with Eric and on how he sacrificed himself to draw the umbrums away from her. As she thought of Eric's sacrifice, she suddenly remembered what Celestia told her a long time ago.

“Well, that’s the thing about friendship.Sometimes, due to the bonds we share with others, we would do something reckless to ensure they are safe. Sometimes, the ultimate test of friendship is risking your life for a friend; that’s how they know that they are really friends. In this case, instead of running away, he chose to risk his life for the ones he cared about. Can you understand that?"

“Friendship.” Sunset said as she began to imagine Eric, Alise, and Adagio standing in front of her, all three of them smiling at her. Suddenly, Celestia's words began to echo in her mind once more.

“Can you understand that?"

“I didn’t understand it, or more accurately, I didn’t want to understand it back then.” Sunset said to herself as she wiped the tears from her eyes. ”But now I do.” Sunset then stood up with a look of determination. She then clutched her fist in determination.

“I need to save my friends.” Sunset said with a voice full of determination.” No matter what it takes.”

( Music ends here)
….
“Eric, please be alright.” Serenity said before she suddenly heard a familiar voice call out to her.

“I see you are still awake princess.” The voice said, and immediately Serenity turned to see that standing not too far away from her was Sombra himself, who was smiling smugly at her.

“ Sombra.” Serenity said as she glared at the shadow king.” What do you want now?”

“Oh, just want to inform you that we have successfully caught Eric,” Sombra said, causing Serenity to gasp.

“Eric.” Serenity said before her expression turned into a look of anger.” Where is he?”

“Oh, don’t worry; he is alright for now, at least.” Sombra said.”He is currently resting in the dungeon, which is what I suggest you do now since I have big plans for you two.”

“What plans?” Serenity demanded.

“Sorry, I can’t tell you that since it would spoil the surprise. “ Sombra said.” But all you need to know that tonight will be you last night in this tower, so try to get a good night's sleep, as it will be your last sleep. However, I might be merciful and let you and Eric be around long enough to attend the wedding tomorrow.”

“Wedding.” Serenity said in a confused voice. ” What wedding?”

“My wedding.” Sombra said.”Between me and a beautiful girl that caught my attention.”Hearing that caused Serenity to look at him in surprise.

“Surprise.” Sombra said mockingly.” Well, so was I, but I guess the universe is full of surprises.” After shaking the shock of her face, Serenity turned to look at Sombra with a look of defiance.

“ Well, whoever this person is, she'll never love a monster like you!" Serenity said, and immediately a look of anger formed on Sombra's face, and he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Serenity, and before she could process what happened, Sombra grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.

“Don’t you dare call me that.” Sombra said before tossing her onto the floor. Serenity, after being tossed onto the floor, quickly took a few deep breaths before turning to look at Sombra, who was glaring at her. Without saying anything, Sombra suddenly disappeared, leaving Serenity alone. As Serenity got back on her feet, she turned her attention to the window and looked at the night sky with a look of worry.
….
(Play this song.)

(Author note: I should inform you that I replaced the word son with student as it fit sunset more.)

In a forest somewhere, Sunset walked through the woods looking at the map she got from Eric. After she was done looking at the map, she put it into her pocket and began running through the woods, and as she ran, she began singing a song that came from deep within her heart.

Maybe I make things a mess.
And maybe you're right to have doubts in me.
Maybe, but nevertheless
If you for once could just trust me

Sunset continued to sing as she moved through the woods, and as she moved through the woods, she thought back to the many mistakes she had made in her life, from her time as a bully at Canterlot High to her time as Celestia's student. The one that stuck to her the most was her fallout with Celestia. As Sunset continued to move through the woods, she saw in front of her was a small valley; however, much to her luck, there was a log that was over the valley, which she could use as a makeshift bridge. Sunset got on the log and began to walk over it to get to the other side.

Just this once let me come through for you.
The way that you want me to

After getting to the other side, Sunset continued on with her journey. She continues to move through the woods with a look of determination on her face.

Let me make you proud.
Let me show you the best in me.
Let me give you a reason to believe that I can stand tall.

She then came upon a frozen lake that had been cracked. Not letting this stop her, she jumped onto one of the frozen surfaces before jumping over the water and onto another frozen surface until she reached the other side of the lake. Once she reached the other side, she then continued with her journey through the woods once more.

And when I return
And I'm more than you dreamt I'd be.
Maybe then you will realize
That you never actually knew me at all.

Sunset continued to move through the woods until she saw up ahead of her was a large cave. Without hesitation, she went into the cave.

Sure, I've made lots of mistakes.
I know that I've disappointed you.
Still, though, whatever it takes
I'm gonna fix it; just watch me.

As sunset walked through the cave, she took a moment to turn and look at her reflection that was on the cave walls that was frozen solid. As she stared at her reflection, she suddenly imagined her reflection disappearing, and in its place was Celestia, who was looking at her with a disappointed look, causing her to fill with guilt, and just as quickly as it appeared, it suddenly disappeared and was replaced with determination. Sunset then began running through the cave.

Just you wait; I'll make it up to you.
If it's the last thing I ever do

Sunset exited the cave and found herself on a hill. She then turned to see a large wooden bark that was big enough for her to use as a makeshift snowboard was buried under a pile of snow. Without hesitation, Sunset grabbed the wooden bark and used it to travel down the hill.

I will make you proud.
I will make you have faith in me.
I will prove that the way I used to be is all in the past.

As she traveled down the hill, she saw a valley in front of her. Sunset narrows her eyes in determination as she gets closer to the valley.

I will save the day.
And come back here triumphantly.
'Cause I long for that look of surprise.
When you see your student rising at last

The speed that her makeshift snowboard was going was more than enough to send her into the air, and once she was near to the other side, the snowboard then began heading down, but Sunset reacted quickly by jumping off it and successfully landing on the other side. Once she safely landed on the other side, sunset then began her journey once more.

The pride in your eyes
When you see your student rising at last

Sunset continues to sing until she reaches the top of a large hill, where she sings the last verse of her song, and as she sings the last verse of her song, the sun has risen from behind her and covers her with its morning light. Once she was done singing, she turned to look in front of her and saw Sombra Castle not too far away from her.

Sunset stares at the castle with a look of determination before making her way down the hill.

"Don't worry, Eric, Alise, and Adagio; I am coming to save you all." Sunset said to herself as she made her way down the hill and towards Sombra Castle.
....
End of chapter7

Author's Note

Well it seems we are nearing the end of the story.

Anyhow, don't forget to comment on what you think of my story so far.

Prologue

In the streets of Canterlot City, Christmas decorations have been set up on both the streets and on countless shops and buildings, and walking on the streets were countless people who were out doing some shopping to buy presents for their loved ones. It was a joyful day for everyone, everyone but one person, that is. In a bakery known as Sugar Cube Corner, where many students from Canterlot High School can be seen enjoying themselves with the foods they order or with the company of their loved ones, one person can be seen sitting down alone at a table. Unlike everyone else, who have a happy look on their face, this person has a sullen look on her face. This person was none other than Sunset Shimmer, former unicorn and student of Princess Celestia, now resident school bully and queen bee.

Not many people know this, but the holidays, like Christmas, always cause her to be in a bad mood as they always brought back painful memories of her and her old mentor. She remembered how in the past they used to spend time together on holidays such as Heartwarming Eve, the Equestrian equivalent of Christmas. However, as time went by, they started spending time with one another until eventually they stopped spending the holidays with one another, and after their falling out, the memories they have made now no longer make her happy but instead make her bitter, as it is a reminder that, unlike before, she will be spending the holidays alone.

"Just one more year and the portal will be open." Sunset said to herself. "And I will have my revenge." Sunset then took a look around the shop and saw people were wandering around or interacting with one another. She saw among the crowd of people was her ex-boyfriend, Flash. She watched as Flash talked to one of his friends and having a good time with them.

"Here you go, dear, the usual." Miss Cake said as she handed her a paper bag and a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Sunset said as she took her order and left the shop.
….
After leaving Sugar Cube Corner, she was now heading towards her house. As she walked on her way home, she stopped when she saw a shop she had never seen before.

"Huh, never seen that before." Sunset said as she looked at the shop. She saw hanging above the shop was a sign that said Star Swirl Antique Shop.

"Hm, star swirl like the astronomer star swirl.” Sunset said as she stared at the shop for a few moments before, out of curiosity, she decided to enter the shop. As soon as she entered the shop, she saw it was full of old antiques like lamps, tables, and other such things. She didn’t know why, but maybe out of some form of curiosity, she decided to go further into the shop to look around, and as she looked at all the items that they had, she saw something that got her attention. On one of the shelves, there was a wooden figure of a young man. He wore a red coat with gold buttons, a tall blue hat, blue trousers, black boots, and a belt with a miniature sword. His face was well detailed and crafted. Sunset saw that the figure had blue eyes and brown-colored hair, and in addition to that, his mouth was huge with bright white teeth painted on it. Sunset picked up the object and brought it closer to properly examine it. After a few proper examinations, she realizes that it was a nutcracker.

“A nutcracker,” Sunset said as she continued to examine it. Sunset doesn't know why, but there was something about the nutcracker that got her interested. After a few minutes of staring, Sunset decided to ultimately buy the nutcracker.

"Well, with this nutcracker, I can eat nuts a lot easier now," Sunset said, trying to justify herself for buying the nutcracker. She then went further into the shop to look around more. As she looked around, she suddenly stopped when she saw something on one of the shelves that got her attention. She stared at the object with a look of shock. The object she was staring at was a necklace with a silver chain that was attached to a shimmering sun pendant. One side of the pendant was colored red, and the other was colored yellow.

“My cutie mark.” Sunset said in shock as she grabbed the necklace and brought it closer to better examine it,” How can it be?” She took a few moments to examine it.

“It has to be a coincidence,” Sunset said to herself in an attempt to find a logical reason why there was a pendant that looks like her cutie mark. After a few moments of staring at it, Sunset decided to ultimately buy the pendant as well. She then made her way to the counter, where she saw a small bell was on the table, and next to the bell was a sign that said, Ring for service. Sunset did what the sign said and rang the bell. When no one came, Sunset hit the bell a few more times.

"You can stop now; I am already here." A voice said from behind her. The sudden voice shocked Sunset for a bit, and after getting over her shock, she turned to see an elderly man was standing behind her. The man has a long white beard and hair. For clothing he wore brown pants, a white shirt with a black tie, and a brown vest.

"What took you so long?" Sunset demanded.

"I was at the back doing inventory." The man said before he walked behind the counter. "Now how can I help you?"

“I like to buy these two.” Sunset said as she placed the pendant and the nutcracker on the table. ”By the way, I can’t help but wonder why you name your shop Star Swirl.”

“Oh, that’s because Star Swirl is my name, and before you ask, yes, I am related to the astronomer Star Swirl. He is my ancestor, and my parents decided to name me after him.” The old man now known as Star Swirl said before turning to the necklace and nutcracker. "Oh, what we have here, you buying this nutcracker—my, how lovely. You know there is a story behind this nutcracker.”

“A story.” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, story.” Star Swirl said. ”It is said that this nutcracker was once a handsome soldier of a magical kingdom.”

“A soldier of a magical kingdom.” Sunset said with an eye roll.

“Yes, a soldier.” Star Swirl said. ”From what I recall, the story said that the soldier was a kind and noble man that many look up to. It was said that due to these traits of his, the ruler of the kingdom, the sugar plum princess, chose him as her soul mate.”

“The sugar plum princess, “Sunset said with a voice full of disinterest.

“Yes, the sugar plum princess.” Star Swirl said. “According to the story, the sugar plum princess was said to be the most beautiful woman of the kingdom, and it is said her kindness was as great as her beauty, and it was due to her kind nature that her subjects adored her.”

“And let me guess, she also has many admirers as well.” Sunset said, causing Star Swirl to chuckle.

“She did.” Star Swirl said. "However, out of all her admirers, she chose the soldier who at the time was the captain of her guards. The two, after falling in love, got engaged and were soon to be wed.”

“And let me guess: tragedy struck.” Sunset said, already knowing how this kind of story goes.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Star Swirl said. ”For you see, hiding in the shadows was a dark wizard who sought after the princess. However, unlike many others who sought her, he did it not out of love but out of lust for power, for he wanted to marry the princess so he could become king of the kingdom.”

“And let me guess, he placed a curse on them.” Sunset said.

“He did.” Star Swirl said. ”He used his dark magic to turn the soldier into this very nutcracker. However, despite being turned into wood, the princess still loves him, which infuriates the dark wizard more, so he uses his magic to forcefully banish the soldier from the kingdom, and using his dark magic, he summons evil creatures known as umbrum to take over the kingdom by force and imprison the princess. Once he took over the kingdom, he crowned himself the shadow king. However, not all is lost, as it is said that one day the soldier shall return, and once he and the sugar plum princess reunite, their combined love will not only free the soldier of his curse but also banish the evil that has conquered the kingdom.”

“Yeah, that was a good story.” Sunset said sarcastically. ”Now if you're done with story time, can we get on with it? I don’t have all day.”

“You know, in every story there is always some hint of truth.” Star Swirl said as he checked the price tag of both the nutcracker and the necklace.

“Yeah, yeah.” Sunset said annoyed as she gave Star Swirl the money before taking the nutcracker and necklace before leaving the shop and heading home.
….
That night, Sunset Shimmer was sitting on a sofa in her apartment watching a late-night Christmas special on her TV. Currently she was wearing her pajamas and new necklace, and on the table in front of her was a bowl of nuts and the nutcracker. Once the special was done, Sunset let out a yawn before switching off the TV. She then turned to the clock and saw it was almost midnight. Feeling too tired to walk to her bed, Sunset decided to lie down on the sofa and just sleep on it. Before she slept, she turned her attention to look at the nutcracker and immediately thought back to what the old man said.

"Yeah, right. There is no magic in this world." Sunset said to herself before she fell asleep.
….
Back at the antique shop, Star Swirl can be seen locking the doors of the shop. After locking the door, he took out a pocket watch and saw it was one minute till midnight.

"I wish you the best of luck, Sunset, for you will need it for what's to come." Star Swirl said as he saw the hands on the clock move to midnight.
....
End of Prologue

Author's Note

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

Chapter 1: battle at midnight

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

Chapter 2:The land of dreams

Sunset Shimmer didn't know how long she and Eric had been walking through the dark tunnel, as it felt like hours, but for all she knew, it could have just been a few minutes. It was hard to tell as the tunnel was incredibly dark with no signs of them reaching the end any time soon.

"How much longer until we reach the end of this stupid tunnel?" Sunset said in an impatient voice.

"Not sure, but I don't think it will be long." Eric said. After walking down the tunnel for a bit, they saw a light ahead of them.

"Finally we reach the end." Sunset said happily and was about to run towards the entrance, but before she could, Eric quickly stopped her.

"Wait, there is a possibility that Sombra might have set up a trap for us at the end of the tunnel." Eric said. "Stay close to me and get ready for anything." Eric then brought out his sword, and immediately afterwards, he and Sunset then slowly made their way to the end of the tunnel. Once they exited the tunnel, Sunset quickly closed her eyes as the sudden light blinded her. After she opened them, she quickly looked behind her and saw that they had exited from a cave. She then turned to look in front of her to see that they were in a forest that was covered with snow. She then looked up and was shocked to see that it was morning.

"How can it be morning?" Sunset said in shock. "Wasn't it still night just now?"

"Time moves differently between the land of dreams and your world." Eric said. Suddenly, Sunset shuddered as the cold wind blew onto her.

"Man, it's cold here," Sunset said as she shuddered.

"Don't worry; if I remember correctly, there is a village located on our path to our destination." Eric said. "We can stop there first to get you some warmer clothes before we continue with our journey."

"And where are we heading, anywhere?" Sunset asked.

"To the sugar plum palace." Eric said. "No doubt after taking over the land of dreams, Sombra also took over the castle, and there is no doubt that the castle is where Princess Serenity is being held captive."

"And where is the palace anywhere?" Sunset asked.

"It's located at the center of this land." Eric said. "It will probably take us a day or two to get there, so it's best we start moving." The two then began moving through the forest, and as they moved, Sunset decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since they began their journey.

"So what's the plan exactly?" Sunset said, and immediately she saw Eric have a sheepish look on his face.

"Um, I don't exactly have one." Eric said.

"Are you kidding me?" Sunset shouted angrily, causing Eric to shush her.

"Be quiet, or you might bring unwanted attention onto us," Eric said.

"Oh, excuse me for being angry at the fact that you apparently don't have a plan to defeat Sombra." Sunset said angrily.

"In my defense, I didn't think I would be able to find my way back to the land of dreams anytime soon." Eric said. "Besides, we at least have a day or two to come up with a plan."

"I am doomed," Sunset said as she facepalmed.

"Hey, don't say things like that." Eric said. "I am sure we will find a way to defeat Sombra."

"You're quite the optimistic one, aren't you?" Sunset said.

"Well, in a situation like this it is best to think positively." Eric said.

As the two continued to walk, they didn't notice from behind them an umbrum coming out of the bushes. The umbrum looks towards the direction they walk in before opening its mouth and letting out a large cloud of smoke that completely covers it. Once the smoke cleared up, it revealed that the umbrum was gone.

....
At the center of the land was a large, dark, sinister-looking castle that gave the feeling of fear and dread. Above the castle skies was a large dark cloud, and flying over the castle were numerous umbrum patrolling the castle for any intruders, and patrolling from the ground were numerous guards dressed in black armor that covers their entire bodies. The only part that was exposed was their eyes, which were glowing red. This castle was formerly the sugar plum palace, and prior to Sombra's takeover, it was once a beautiful palace that gave off the feeling of warmth and kindness, but after Sombra took over, he used his magic to turn the castle into his own image, which is why now it gives off the feeling of dread and hopelessness, like the concept of hope no longer exists. In the castle throne room, Sombra was sitting down on his throne, thinking about what had happened earlier.

"It seems the necklace has some kind of protection that prevents anyone from taking it by force." Sombra thought to himself. "So how am I going to steal it from that girl?" As Sombra thought about the necklace, his mind slowly moved towards sunset and the look of defiance she had when she faced him.

"That girl is something." Sombra thought to himself. "When faced against an opponent she can't hope to win against, she chooses to continue to fight till the very end. Not many would have done that, as some would choose to surrender and beg for mercy." As Sombra thought of sunset, he suddenly felt his heart beating more quickly as a strange feeling overcame him. "Why is my heart beating so fast, and what is this strange feeling coming over me?"

" Sombra." A voice said, bringing Sombra out of his thoughts. He then looked in front of him and saw a large dark cloud of black smoke appear in front of him, and shortly afterwards, two large demonic red eyes appeared on them.

"Hello, mother." Sombra said in an emotionless voice. "What can I do for you?"

"I heard of your failure in retrieving the jewel of empathy." Sombra's mother said. "Tell me, is it true?"

"It is." Sombra said. "But it's not my fault, as apparently the jewel of empathy is protected by some kind of powerful magic that prevents me from taking it. Why is that dumb necklace so important anywhere?

"Fool, the jewel of empathy will be the thing that destroys everything we have worked for." Sombra's mother said as she glared at her son.

"You said that before, but you never told me the full detail." Sombra said. "If you want me to retrieve the necklace, then the least you can tell me is why."

"Very well, if you want the full detail, allow me to tell you." Sombra's mother said as a small piece of smoke cloud separated from her. Sombra watched in interest as images began to form in the small cloud.

"A few nights ago, while I slept, I had a premonition," Sombra's mother said as images began to form in the cloud. The first image was of the necklace. "I had a dream of a powerful artifact, one that possesses incredible powers." The image then changed to show sunset."And the girl who wielded it." The image then shows Sunset standing next to Eric. "Through the use of the necklace power, the girl will help Eric to free the princess, and through both the combined love of the princess and the soldier and the necklace, they will end our reign." The image then shows Sombra and his mother screaming in pain as they slowly disappear in a flash of bright light. After the last image was shown, the cloud disappeared.

"Now you know why the necklace is important for us to retrieve." Sombra's mother said. "You need to get the necklace before the solar eclipse that will happen in two days from now. If she isn't stopped by then, then all our plans will be destroyed." Suddenly the door opens, and both turn to see an umbrum coming in.

"My lord, I brought news." The umbrum said as it bowed its head. The umbrum then looks up to look at them. "Eric has returned, and he wasn't alone."

"Who did he come here with?" Sombra said, already having his suspicions of who came with Eric.

"It was a girl with flame-colored hair." The umbrum said.

"Did she also have a pendant that resembled a shimmering sun?" Sombra asked.

"She did." The umbrum said.

"This is grave news." Sombra's mother said before turning to Sombra. "We need to find a way to stop her before it is too late."

"Don't worry, Mother; I will send in the huntsman to get her." Sombra said. "I won't fail this time."

"For your sake, you better not." Sombra's mother said before she disappeared. After she disappeared, Sombra turned to look at the Umbrum.

"Contact the huntsman and order him to hunt down Eric and the girl." Sombra said.

"It shall be done, my lord." The umbrum said as he bowed before he left the throne room. As Sombra was now left alone in the throne room, his thoughts went back to sunset, and immediately once again his heart started to beat faster, and the strange feeling overcame him again.

"Why is it that when I think of that girl, this feeling overcame me?" Sombra thought before he snapped his fingers, and immediately an image of sunset formed in front of him.

"Sunset shimmer." Sombra said as he looked at the image. "Who are you, and why does this feeling come over me every time I think of you?"
....
"How much longer?" Sunset said in annoyance as she shivered.

"Not too long," Eric said. "The village shouldn't be too far from here."

"Are you even sure we are even on the right path?" Sunset said.

"Yes, I am sure." Eric said. "I know the way to the palace like the back of my hand." Sunset opened her mouth to say something but stopped once she saw something not too far away from them.

"Hey, what the heck is that?" Sunset said as she pointed her finger forward. Eric turned to where Sunset was pointing and squinted his eyes. He then smiled before turning to sunset.

"It's the village." Eric said happily. "Come on, let's go." He then began running towards the village, and it wasn't long before Sunset ran after him.

"Ah, finally I can get some warm clothes." Sunset said as she smiled happily. However, that smile faded as soon as the two got a closer look at the village.

"What the." Sunset said as she and Eric stopped in front of the village and saw it was in ruins.

"No way." Eric said in shock as he quickly ran into the village, and shortly afterwards, sunset followed him. When the two entered the village, they saw all the houses in the village were in a horrible state, as many of them had their doors broken down or their windows destroyed, and as they went further into the village, they saw more houses that were in a similar state.

"What happened here?" Sunset said in shock as she turned to see a wagon lying on its side as if someone tipped it over.

"I don't know." Eric said as he and Sunset stopped in the center of the village. Eric then looked down and saw something buried in the snow. He bent down and slowly pushed the snow away to see an abandoned doll. He quickly stood up straight and looked around more. "But by the looks of things, it wasn't good."

"And not only that, it seems the village is abandoned, as I haven't seen a single person during our walk through the village." Sunset said as she slowly made her way towards a house.

"Where are you going?" Eric asked as he followed sunset.

"I am going to look for some warm clothes." Sunset said as she entered a house with Eric following her shortly. Unknown to them, however, as the two entered the house, they didn't notice a figure was watching them through the window of the house across from them.
....
When Sunset and Eric entered the house, they saw that the inside of the house was a complete mess. There was broken furniture and broken plates and glass on the ground, and in addition to that, there were some toys littered on the ground. They also saw some cracks on the floorboard, and when Sunset and Eric turned to look at the dining table, they saw some food on it. The two went near the table to get a closer look and saw that the food was half eaten. Sunset then turned her attention from the food and to the wall in front of her. She saw on the wall were picture frames that have a picture of a family of four. A mother, a father, a teenage girl around sunset age, and a young boy who seems to be around ten. She turned her attention from the photo frame and towards the stairs leading upstairs. Sunset then headed up the stairs with Eric following her shortly.

The two walked up the stairs, where they found themselves in a small hallway. The two then went towards one of the doors that was in the hallway, and when they opened it, they saw what looked like a bedroom with a bed that was tipped over to the side. Sunset turned her attention from the bed and towards the closet that seemed to have been forced open. Sunset took a closer look at the closet and saw there were winter clothes in it.

"Finally some winter clothes." Sunset said happily before she turned to look at Eric. "I am going to change my clothes, so wait downstairs until I am done."

"Alright,"Eric said before he left the room and went downstairs to wait for sunset. He stood at the bottom of the stairs for a few minutes before he suddenly heard footsteps coming down from the stairs. He looked up and saw that Sunset was now wearing a red sweater, a black winter jacket, pants, and boots. He also saw that Sunset was now wearing black winter gloves.

"All right, I am ready to go now." Sunset said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. The two then began making their way out of the door. As soon as they were out of the door, Eric suddenly stopped as he heard something.

"Why did you stop?" Sunset asked as she stopped and turned to look at Eric.

"I heard something," Eric said as he looked around.

"I didn't hear anything." Sunset said, and immediately after she said that, she heard what sounded like a floorboard creaking.

"That was the sound I heard just now." Eric said as he turned to look at the house in front of them. "I believe it came from over there." The two then quickly run to the house in front of them. As soon as they entered the house, they saw that, like the previous house they entered, the inside of the house they entered was also a mess. The two looked around the house and saw no one. They then quickly went up the stairs, where they then proceeded to go through room after room only to see nothing in them. Eventually there was only one room left.

"Get ready sunset." Eric said as he pulled out his sword. "There's no telling what might be in there."

"Don't worry; I am more than capable of handling whatever is in there." Sunset said before she spotted a broken floorboard. She quickly tore it off the floor and turned to the door.

"Ok, on the count of three we will go in." Eric said as he placed a hand on the doorknob.

"One, two, three." Eric said before he and Sunset charged through the door to see that they had entered a bedroom. The two cautiously walk around the room to look for any sign that someone is there. Sunset looked under the bed to see nothing. She then turned to look at Eric, who had placed a hand on a handle of a closet. Sunset quickly stood next to him and grabbed the other handle. The two then look at one another for a moment before nodding. Afterwards the two quickly opened the door, and immediately after they did that, they saw a little girl, probably around eight, sitting down in the closet. The girl has brunette-colored hair, blue eyes, and for clothing, she wore a pink dress, white socks, and black shoes. The girl has a look of fear on her face as she stares at them.

"Please don't hurt me." The girl said in fear. Seeing the look of fear on the girl's face, Eric quickly put his sword away.

"There's no need to be afraid; we are not going to hurt you." Eric said as he knelt down. "My name is Eric, and this is Sunset Shimmer."

"Eric." The girl said in surprise, "You mean you are Prince Eric."

"I am not a prince yet, but yeah, I am Eric," Eric said.

"So it's true what my father said." The girl said happily as she walked out of the closet. "You have finally returned to save us all."

"I have," Eric said. "Can you please tell us your name?"

"My name is Alise," the girl now known as Alise said.

"So, Alise, if you don't mind, can you please tell us what happened here?" Eric said. "What happened to this village, and where are all the villagers?"

"It was the umbrums." Alise said as tears came down her eyes. "They attacked our village and kidnapped everyone, including my parents. I was the only one who was able to escape." The girl then began crying.

"Hey, it's alright." Eric said as he hugged Alise and patted her back in an attempt to comfort her. "I am here now, and I promise I will save your parents and everyone that was captured."

"You promise." The girl said as she calmed down.

"I promise." Eric said as he pulled back and looked at the girl in the face with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Eric." Alise said as Eric petted her head.

"What I still don't get is why they kidnapped all the people in this village." Sunset said.

"I think they kidnapped them to take them to the mines," Alise said.

"Mines?"Sunset said.

"I once heard from my father talking to his friends about how Sombra had been attacking villages and kidnapping all the villagers, taking them to work in diamond mines." Alise said as tears began to form in her eyes again. "And from what I heard, once you are taken to those mines, you are never seen again, as Sombra forced everyone, from the young to the old, to forever work in those mines, and from what I heard, not even children are spared from such a horrible fate."

"So Sombra has been attacking villagers and forcing all of them to work in mines." Sunset said in shock before she walked in front of a window to look at all the damaged houses. "I can't believe someone would do all this just for some jewels. I never thought someone could be so cruel, but I guess I was wrong, as apparently there really are people out there who would cause pain and suffering to others just so they can get...."

Sunset suddenly trailed off, causing Eric and Alise to turn to look at Sunset.

"Sunset." Eric said in concern when sunset suddenly went quiet. "You alright?"

"I am the same." Sunset said softly before she looked down at the floor to see a broken hand mirror. All the glass shards of the mirror lay next to it, and as Sunset looked at her reflection that was in the mirror shards, she think back to all the people she had hurt, all the people she had used as stepping stones, and finally her old mentor, who had a disappointed look on her face, and as she stared at the reflection, a sudden feeling overcame her. She can feel the walls she had a long time ago built around her heart begin to crumble, and a feeling she had long ago forcefully bury began to resurface.

"Sunset," Eric said with a voice full of concern. Sunset then dropped the broken floorboard she was holding and knelt on the ground and began crying.

"I am such a hypocrite." Sunset said as she began crying as for the first time in a long time tears began forming in her eyes as a feeling of guilt and shame began to overwhelm her. "Here I am ranting about how awful a person like Sombra could exist while I am basically no different than him."

"Sunset, what are you talking about?" Eric asked, confused.

"What I am talking about is how much of a monster I am like Sombra." Sunset shouted as she turned to face eric."I cause pain and suffering to others just so I can get what I want, just like him.

"Sunset, there's no way you are like him." Eric said.

"Really, then what if I told you that I was planning to take over my world through the use of a powerful magical artifact, and not only that, but I was planning to use the jewel of empathy in my plan to take over the world?" Sunset said.

"Sunset, are you actually serious?" Eric said in shock. "You actually were planning to take over your world."

"Yes, I was." Sunset said as she cried. "I am a monster like Sombra."

"No, you are not." Eric said as he slowly approached sunset.

"How can you say that after everything you just heard?" Sunset said between tears.

"Because if you were a monster, then you wouldn't have felt remorseful over your action." Eric said as he placed his hands on Sunset's shoulders. "You are not a monster sunset. The fact that you felt genuine remorse is proof of that. You are not a monster, Sunset, and you are nothing like Sombra." Eric then kneels down and hugs Sunset in an attempt to comfort her. As he did that, Sunset continued to cry with remorse, and as Sunset cried, Alise walked behind Sunset and petted her head in an attempt to comfort her.

After a minute or two, Sunset finally stopped crying. Once he was sure Sunset was done crying, Eric pulled away to look at Sunset, who had tears on her face.

"So, Sunset, what are you going to do now?" Eric said as he got back onto his feet.

"I am not sure what to do now." Sunset said. "For a long time my only purpose was to take over my world, but now I don't know what to do now."

"How about trying to redeem yourself?" Eric said as he extended his hand towards sunset. "It isn't too late for you to redeem yourself and become a better person. You can still turn your life around, Sunset, and we can start by working together to take down Sombra." Sunset didn't say anything as she just sat in silence. She then looked down to look at the glass shards that were on the floor and stared at her reflection in silence.

"I mess up so much that I don't even know where to begin to clean it up." Sunset said, breaking the silence. She then turned to look at Eric. "But I suppose taking down Sombra is a start in the right direction." Sunset then grabs Eric's hand, and immediately Eric pulls Sunset up to her feet.
....
From outside of the ruined village, a figure can be seen walking. The figure who seemed to be male wore a blood-red robe that was open to reveal a black leather armor. The figure also wore a brown tattered fur cape and black boots. Strapped on the belt of the figure was a small war axe, and completing the figure's look was a black face mask that only left his eyes exposed. In one of his hands, the figure was holding a metal chain that was attached to a collar that was being worn by a large white fur wolf. The wolf was currently sniffing the ground, and as it and the figure slowly approached the village, it pulled its head off the ground and let out a small howl.

"The prey is near." The figure said before he and the wolf began heading towards the village.
….
End of chapter 2

Author's Note

As you can tell from reading this chapter, something much bigger is going on, as Sombra and his mother are planning something big, and in addition to that, Sunset now has a different motivation in stopping Sombra, and that is to redeem herself. However, she might not get the chance as an unknown person had just arrived in the village.

Anyhow, don't forget to leave comments on what you think of my story so far.

Chapter 3: The huntsman and the resistenc

Sunset Shimmer and Eric, who was holding Alise's hand, were walking down the stairs in silence, and as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sunset decided to finally break the silence.

"So what are we going to do about Alise?" Sunset asked Eric.

"We can't leave her here." Eric said. "It's dangerous to leave her alone. So I guess we have no choice but to bring her with us."

"But isn't it too dangerous to bring her along?" Sunset said.

"I believe so, but it is more dangerous to leave her alone," Eric said before he looked down to look at Alise. "Alise, from here on, I need you to stay near me and do what I said. Ok."

"Ok," Alise said.

"Good." Eric said before he and everyone began making their way out of the house. However, the second they walked out of the house, they immediately heard what sounded like a howl. The three turned to the direction where the howl came from and saw that standing not too far away from them was a figure holding a chain attached to a wolf.

"What the heck." Sunset said. "Who the heck is this guy?"

"It's the huntsman." Alise said with fear.

"Who?" Sunset said, confused.

"The huntsman is a fierce hunter that works for Sombra." Alise said. "Sombra would normally send him to hunt down anyone that dared to oppose him."

"And I take it he's here for us." Sunset said as Eric stepped forward, sword in hand.

"Eric." The huntsman said as he turned his attention to Eric. He then turned to look at sunset."And you must be the girl that my lord sent me to hunt down." The huntsman then grabs his axe and pulls it off his belt. As soon as the axe was off his belt, it instantly transformed into a long chain attached to a mace. They watched in horror as he spun his mace before tossing it towards them. Seeing the incoming attack, the three quickly get out of the way before the attack hits them.

"Sunset, take Alise and get out of here,"Eric said as he turned to look at Sunset before turning to look at the huntsman.

"But what about you?" Alise asked in concern.

"I will stay here and handle this guy." Eric said as he turned his attention to the huntsman. "Now go." Sunset stood still, not knowing what to do, but eventually she turned to look at Alise.

"Come on, Alise, let's go." Sunset said before she grabbed one of Alise's hands and began running away with her.

"But what about Eric?" Alise said as she ran with sunset.

"Don't worry; I am sure he will be alright." Sunset said as she continued to run. "Now let's get out of here while we can." As the two run, the huntsman turns his attention from Eric to Sunset and Alise.

"No one going anywhere." The huntsman said as he let go of the chain, and immediately after he did that, the wolf ran towards them.

"Oh no, sunset, Alise." Eric said. He was about to run towards them, but before he could, he quickly saw from the corner of his eye a mace heading towards him. Acting quickly, he quickly moved out of the way before the mace hit him. He then turned to look at the mace and watched it being pulled away. He followed the mace with his gaze until it returned back to the huntsman, who was once again spinning the mace. Before he could do anything else, the huntsman threw his mace towards him again. Fortunately, however, before the mace could hit him, Eric quickly used his sword to swing the mace away. After the mace landed, the huntsman quickly pulled the mace back towards him, and shortly afterwards he began swinging it again.

Both Sunset and Alise run as fast as they can as the white wolf chases after them. However, no matter how fast they run, the wolf is able to keep up with them with ease, and at the rate it is going, it won’t be long before it gets them.

"What are we going to do? It's getting closer." Alise said in fear as she looked behind to see that the wolf was getting closer to them.

“Keep running.” Sunset said in fear. However, as the two ran, they didn’t see the rock that was in front of them. By the time they did, it was too late, as the rock caused Alise to trip and fall onto the ground.

"Alise," Sunset said as she turned to look at Alise. She then knelt down and was about to help Alise up, but before she could, she saw the wolf was about to be on them. Panicking, Sunset looked around to see if there was anything that could help them, and immediately after she did that, she saw a shovel was on the ground next to her. Acting quickly, Sunset picked it up and walked in front of Alise. When the wolf was near enough, it jumped in the air and was about to pounce on Sunset, but before it could, Sunset swung the shovel at the side of the wolf's face, sending it away. The wolf landed on its side, and immediately after landing, it quickly got up and turned to sunset. It then let out a small growl as it looked at Sunset and Alise. It then charged at sunset again, who acted quickly by using her shovel to swing the wolf away. However, this didn't stop the wolf, as it simply got up again and began circling the two.

"What are we going to do?" Alise said as she quickly grabbed onto Sunset. The two move their bodies to follow the wolf, making sure to not let it out of their sight.

"Stay calm, Alise." Sunset said as she and Alise continued to keep the wolf in their sight.

Eric quickly jumped out of the way before the mace hit him. After dodging the attack, he turned his attention back to the huntsman, who was pulling back the mace into his hands. After pulling the mace back into his hands, the huntsman then spins the mace again before tossing the mace again. Acting quickly, Eric quickly got out of the way of the attack before the attack hit him. After dodging the attack, Eric quickly charged towards the huntsman, who was pulling his mace back. Just as the huntsman pulled back his weapon, Eric was already in front of him, and before he knew it, Eric quickly swung his sword at him. However, before the sword could make a direct hit, the huntsman quickly jumped out of the way.

After rolling on the ground for a bit, the huntsman quickly got up. He then changed his weapon back into an axe and charged towards Eric. The huntsman swung his axe at Eric, who used his sword to block the attack, and after blocking the attack, he quickly ran to the side of the huntsman and kicked him at his side with enough force to cause the huntsman to fall onto his side. After the huntsman landed on the ground, Eric quickly turned his attention from him and towards Sunset and Alise and saw that the wolf was still circling them. Seeing that Eric quickly runs as fast as he can towards them.

When the wolf heard the sound of footsteps hitting the snow, it quickly stopped and turned to see Eric running towards it. It was about to charge towards Eric, but before it could, Sunset quickly swung her shovel with enough force to send it flying into the air, where it then landed onto the ground across from her.

"We need to get out of here now." Eric said as he put his sword away and ran towards Alise, where he then proceeded to pick her up. "Come on, let's go."

"Right." Sunset said before she and Eric quickly ran as fast as they could. However, unfortunately, they didn't get far as a metal chain was suddenly wrapped around sunset, and before sunset could process what just happened, she was suddenly being pulled back. The pull was so sudden that Sunset accidentally let go of her shovel as she was pulled back.

"Sunset." Eric said in shock as he turned to look at Sunset, who was being forcefully pulled to the huntsman. As soon as sunset was in front of the huntsman, the huntsman gave a hard tug on the chain, forcing sunset onto her knees. Sunset was about to get up, but before she could, she saw the wolf was suddenly standing next to the huntsman. It let out a growl as it moved its face closer to her. Sunset moved her body slightly to the back in an attempt to get some distance away from the wolf. However, before she could put some more distance between her and the wolf, the huntsman suddenly grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up, forcing her onto her feet, and immediately after he did that, the huntsman then noticed the necklace around Sunset's neck.

“What’s this?” The huntsman said as he eyed the necklace. As he eyed the necklace, he saw a small glow on it, and before he knew it, the necklace suddenly let out a burst of light that was strong enough to send both the huntsman and his wolf off the ground and into the air. Both the huntsman and his wolf then hit the side of a house, and after they landed on the ground, a huge pile of snow from the roof of the house fell onto them, burying them completely in snow.

Sunset, after seeing all that, just stood for a moment before she suddenly heard Eric calling out to her. She then turned to see both Eric, who was still carrying Alise, running towards her. Once Eric had reached sunset, he then put down Alise and began the process of getting the chains off her.

“Are you ok?” Eric asked sunset.

“Yeah, I am okay.” Sunset said. ”From what I can tell, the necklace magic protected me from the huntsman and his wolf.”

“That’s good to hear.” Eric said as he finally got the chain successfully off sunset. He then proceeded to pick up Alise. ”Now let’s get the heck out of here while we still can.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Sunset said before she and Eric began running away. The two continue to run until they are about to reach the edge of the village. However, before they could run out of the village, Alise suddenly saw something.

“Look.” Alise said, causing the two to stop. The two then turned to look at Alise to see that she was pointing to something, and immediately the two turned to see that she was pointing towards an abandoned sleigh.

“A sleigh. Eric said before he turned to look at Alise ”Good eye, Alise. We can use the sleigh to travel.”

“Yeah, but we have nothing here that can pull it.” Sunset said, and immediately, as if on cue, the sound of a stick being snapped was heard, and immediately everyone turned to see a horse standing not too far away from them. ”Well, that’s convenient.”

After attaching the reins of the sleigh onto the horse, all three quickly got onto the sleigh, and immediately after getting on, Eric quickly took the reins and got the horse to move them out of the village as fast as they could. Unknown to them, however, shortly after they left the village, both the huntsman and his pet wolf burst out of the snow pile, and after the huntsman dusted off the snow that was still on him, he and his wolf were about to return back to the hunt for Sunset and Eric when suddenly he heard a beeping sound. Quickly the huntsman pulled out a glowing necklace from his pocket, and shortly after he brought out his necklace, the necklace then projected an image of Sombra.

“Report.” Sombra said. ”What’s your progress so far?”

“Both of the prey have unfortunately managed to get away.” The huntsman said. ”But I will continue with the hunt, and the next time I encounter them, I will succeed.”

“You better. For your sake.” Sombra said angrily before his image disappeared.
….
Back in the throne room, Sombra was sitting down on his throne, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

“The huntsman failed to capture both Eric and sunset. Once mother heard about this, she will be furious.” Sombra thought to himself in annoyance as he knew he would have to deal with his mother's wrath, which he was in no mood to deal with. His thoughts then slowly drifted to sunset, and immediately the strange feeling overcame him again.

“This feeling again.” Sombra thought to himself. ”Why does that keep happening every time I think of her, and why do my thoughts always drift back to that girl?" Sombra then makes an image of sunset appear in front of him. ”Why can’t I get you out of my mind?" As Sombra stared at the image, he found himself once again feeling enamored, and as he continued staring at the image, he found himself in a trance-like state as he found that he was unable to look away, not because he couldn’t look away but more like he refused to look away. However, his trance was broken by the shout from an angry voice that was calling his name. Once Sombra heard the voice, he quickly made the image disappear, and shortly after he did that, his mother appeared in front of him with a look of fury.

“Hello, mother.” Sombra said annoyed, knowing he had to deal with his mother when he was in no mood to deal with her. ” What seems to be the problem?

“Don’t act like you don’t know,"Sombra's mother said as she glared at her son. ”I heard the huntsman had failed.”

“It’s just a minor setback, Mother.” Sombra said.

“We can’t afford setbacks.” Sombra's mother shouted angrily. ”We need to catch that girl now before it is too late. Send in the Umbrum and the Black Guards; we need to find them now.”

“Very well, mother, if that is what you wish.” Sombra said before he suddenly disappeared.
….
In the highest tower of the palace, a female figure can be seen looking out of the window. She had purple eyes, which were beautiful, though they were a bit reddened and shadowed, indicating that she hadn't slept well for the past few nights. She has long pink hair that reaches her neck; however, the hair was a bit messy, indicating it has been a while since it was properly taken care of. For clothing she wore a tattered pink dress that looked like it was once an elegant gown fit for a princess. In addition to that, most of the sugar plums decorating the hem and collar had fallen off, and those remaining were shriveled and dry, and around her neck was a pink crystal heart necklace. This person was none other than Princess Serenity, the Sugar Plum Princess, and the rightful ruler of the land of dreams.

As Princess Serenity looked out the window, she let out a sigh before turning her attention to the necklace around her neck. The necklace around her neck was the first present that her beloved had given her, and it was the only thing she had left to remind her of Eric. As she looked at the necklace, she suddenly heard something, and immediately she looked out the window to see countless umbrum flying out of the castle, and accompanying them was the black armor guard now known as black guard, riding on large black demonic bats.

“What’s going on here?” Serenity said, wondering what was happening.

“Greetings, princess.” A voice said, and immediately Serenity turned to see that standing behind her was Sombra.

“ Sombra, what do you want?” Serenity demanded. ”I am not in the mood to deal with you.”

“Now, now, there's no need for such attitude.” Sombra said mockingly. ”I am just here to give you some interesting news that you might like to hear.”

“And what news would that be?” Serenity demanded.

“Eric is back.” Sombra said, and immediately Serenity's expression changed into a mix of shock, happiness, and hopeful.”

“Eric is back.” Serenity said in a happy tone.

“He is, and from what I heard, he is traveling with a new female companion.” Sombra said in a taunting voice. ”I think he might have finally moved on from you. Not that I can blame him, as from what I have heard, the girl is quite beautiful.” As Sombra said that, his mind slowly drifted back to Sunset, and suddenly, for some reason, the idea that Eric and Sunset were together somehow made him feel something unpleasant. He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t like it almost as much as he didn’t like the thought of Sunset and Eric actually being together. He quickly shook that thought out of his mind before turning his attention back to Serenity, who was glaring at him with a look of fury.

“If this is your attempt to get me to marry you, then you need to try something else,” Serenity said. ”Eric would never do anything like that, and if he did, marrying you wouldn’t be any better. I would rather die than marry you.” Immediately after she said that, Sombra let out a huge laugh before eventually calming down.

“Do you think I still want to marry you after all this time?” Sombra said as he turned his gaze back to Serenity, who was still glaring at him. ”You know better than anyone that the only reason I wanted to marry you was so I could become king of this land, and now that I am already the king of this land, I don’t need you anymore. The only reason why I kept you alive till now was so I could use you as bait for when Eric returned, and now that he has returned, I will not only end him but you as well. So enjoy your last few nights, princess, for the time of you and your lover's death draws near.” Sombra then turned and left through the door, leaving Serenity by herself.

“Oh Eric, please be okay.” Serenity said as she looked out the window with a look of sadness.
….
Somewhere on the path to the sugar plum palace was sunset, Eric and Alise, all of whom were still riding the sleigh. As they continued to travel down the path, Sunset took a moment to look behind to see that no one was following them.

"So far I don't see the huntsman anywhere." Sunset said as she looked around before turning to look at Eric. "So it is safe to say we lost him for now."

"That's good to hear." Eric said happily before a sudden rumble sound was heard. Both Eric and Sunset then turned to the source of the sound and saw it come from Alise, who blushed in embarrassment.

"It's been a while since I have eaten anything." Alise said in embarrassment.

"It's okay, kid." Sunset said. "If it makes you feel better, I am feeling a bit hungry myself."

"Then it must be a good thing that there is a farm right ahead." Eric said as he pointed in the direction ahead of them, and sure enough, when Sunset and Alise turned to look in front of them, they saw that there was a farm just ahead. "Let's stop and ask the people at that farm if they can give us some food and maybe even some supplies."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, Eric, since there is a chance that, like with Alise Village, the people on the farm could have also been taken.

"Well, even if they were taken, there is still a chance there are supplies and food on the farm." Eric said.

"Good point." Sunset said as Eric got the horse to pull the sleigh into the farm. Once they were near the farmhouse, Eric pulled the rein, causing the horse to stop.

"You two wait here while I go knock on the door." Eric said as he got out of the sleigh. After getting out of the sleigh, he immediately went to the front door of the house and knocked on it a few times. When no one answered, Eric knocked a few more times again.

"Hello, anyone home?" Eric said door. "We are not with Sombra, we swear. We just want some food and supplies. Once we have them, we will leave, we swear." when it becomes clear no one was coming Eric turned to look at both Alise and Sunset. "I guess no one's home."

"My guess is that either the people here left or they were taken." Sunset said. "Either way, there might still be some food and supplies we can take." Shortly afterwards, both Sunset and Alise got out of the sleigh and quickly joined Eric, who had turned the doorknob of the front door to reveal the door wasn't locked, which in turn confirmed their suspicions that the farm was abandoned. The three then enter the house and begin looking for any food or supplies. However, unfortunately for them, they found that the house had no food or any useful supplies they could take on their journey.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time." Sunset said in annoyance as she, Alise, and Eric walked out of the house.

"Maybe there is something in the barn," Alise suggested.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to at least check." Sunset said before she, Eric, and Alise went to the barn that was located at the back of the house. As soon as they entered the barn, they saw that the only things inside were some farm tools, empty barrels, and hay.

"Well, this was a waste of time." Sunset said as she and everyone went out of the barn. Just as they were about to walk to the front of the house where their sleigh is, Alise suddenly saw something that caught her interest.

"Look," Alise said, pointing to somewhere. Both Sunset and Eric turn to see a tree full of oranges.

“Well, look at that,” Sunset said as she turned to look at Alise. "First the sleigh and now the oranges. You seem to have a good eye when it comes to spotting things useful.”

“Good job, Alise.” Eric said as he petted Alise's head. The three then make their way to the tree.

“So how are we going to get the orange off the tree?” Sunset said as she and everyone stood in front of the tree.

“I can climb up and get it for you guys,” Eric said before he began climbing up the tree. Once he reached the top, he quickly sat on one of the tree branches and quickly grabbed one of the oranges. However, when he pulled on it, he found it was stuck. Annoyed, Eric pulled harder, and immediately after he did that, a face popped out of the leaves, shocking him. He saw the person staring at him was a girl that seemed to be around sunset age, and in addition to that, he saw that the girl was wearing a green helmet covered in leaves and orange, and one of said oranges was the one he had been pulling previously. Before Eric could process what was happening, the girl pushed him off the branch and onto the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, both Alise and Sunset ran to him.

“Eric, are you alright?” Sunset asked as Eric slowly got up.

“Yeah, I am alright.” Eric said, and immediately he and everyone turned to look at the girl who was now holding a handbell. The three watch as the girl rings it.

“What are you doing?” Sunset said, and immediately, as if to answer her question, the ground around them burst open, revealing there was a secret entrance buried under the snow, and immediately afterward, coming out of the entrances were a large number of men and women, as well as some children, all of whom were armed with various weapons, from axes, swords, pitchforks, knives, pickaxes, and spears to even some kitchen tools such as cooking pots, pans, and even a rolling pin, and not only that, she saw some wore makeshift armor and were using cooking pots as helmets. Sunset then looked around and saw more people coming out of the trees, and like with the girl, the ones coming out of the trees were wearing green helmets covered in leaves and orange, and before she knew it, she, Eric, and Alise found themselves surrounded.

“Well, look at what we have here.” One of them said. ”It seems we have some intruders.”

“Who are you people?” Sunset demanded.

“We are the resistance.” The girl who pushed Eric off the tree said as she climbed down the tree. ”We have reunited to defeat Sombra and free both the Sugar Plum Princess and this land from his rule.”

“Well then that’s good to hear, because we are also against Sombra.” Sunset said before gesturing to Eric. ”In fact, this person here is Eric himself, the sugar plum princess lover.”

“Do you expect us to believe that?” A girl who was probably a year younger than Sunset said. ”In fact, how do we know you aren’t spies sent by Sombra to look for us?”

“We are not spies, and she is telling the truth. I am Eric.” Eric said desperately.

“Oh yeah.” A voice said, and immediately everyone quickly moved to the side to reveal an obese man. The man had white hair and a white mustache, indicating that the man was of old age, and for clothing, he wore clothes that were completely identical to Eric's.

“Captain Mathew.” Eric said in shock towards the man now known as Mathew.

“You know this man.” Sunset asked Eric.

“Yeah, I do. That’s Captain Mathew. He was the captain of the guard before me.” Eric said. ”You see, before I was the captain of the guards, I was originally the second in command, but shortly after Mathew retired, I was promoted to captain.”

“If you are really Eric, then tell me something only Eric would know.” Mathew said as he stood in front of Eric. Eric then got near his ear and whispered something that caused Mathew to blush.

“I told you that was an accident.” Mathew said as Eric pulled away. However, after he calmed down, he had a look of realization on his face. ”Eric, so it is you.”

“Yes, it's me.” Eric said before Mathew suddenly hugged him. After pulling away from the hug, Mathew turned his attention to Eric.

“You're actually back.” Mathew said happily. ”I can’t believe it. How, when, and who are these people you are traveling with?”

“That’s a long story.” Eric said. ”And by the looks of things, I am not the only one since it looks like you have quite a story to tell me.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Mathew said with a chuckle before he motioned for all of them to follow him. ”Come on, let’s go; we have much to talk about.” Mathew and the rest of the resistance began walking towards the secret entrance, and it wasn’t long before Sunset, Eric, and Alise followed them, and as Sunset walked towards the entrance, a sense of hope overcame her as she believed that with the resistance's help, they might actually have a chance at defeating Sombra, and with Sombra defeated, Sunset can return back to normal and return home. However, as soon as she thought about home, her feeling of happiness was instantly gone as she remembered the mess she had made during her time at Canterlot High School.

“I really make a mess of things at that school.” Sunset thought to herself. ”I need to clean up my mess.” As sunset thoughts slowly went back to Canterlot High School and all the wrongs she had done during her time at the school, she made a promise to herself that if she managed to survive all of this, she would do everything she could to undo all the damage she had done to everyone she had ever wronged.
….
End of chapter 3

Author's Note

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

Chapter 4: The attack and the trap.

After following Mathew and the resistance through the secret entrance sunset, Alise and Eric find themselves in what can be best described as an underground tunnel of some kind. It was a bit dark, but luckily there were lanterns hung onto the ceiling of the tunnel, illuminating enough light for everyone to travel through the tunnel without problems.

“My word, you all have been through quite a lot in the last few hours.” Mathew said. During their walk through the tunnel, Eric had been explaining everything to Mathew, from his banishment to meeting Sunset and their journey through the land of dreams. Of course he left out the part of Sunset originally intended to conquer her world, as he figured it might cause unnecessary problems and trust issues between Sunset and the resistance, so he purposely left that detail out.

“Yeah, I guess we did.” Eric said.”What about you, Mathew? Last I checked, I heard you were retired.”

“I was retired.” Mathew said. ”But when Sombra took over the land and kidnapped the princess, I had no choice but to get out of retirement and help lead the resistance in taking down Sombra.”

“What happened to the rest of the guards?” Eric asked.

“When Sombra unleashed the umbrum onto the land, many of the guards tried to fight back.” Mathew said. ”And unfortunately, while they managed to put up a fight, they were ultimately defeated and captured, with only a few managing to successfully escape and eventually join the resistance.”

“And what about the ones captured?” Sunset asked.”What happened to them?”

“They were unfortunately sent to the mines.” Mathew said. ”We have been trying to help both our fellow guards and all the capture civilians escape the mines, but unfortunately, so far we have been unsuccessful.”

“That’s terrible.” Eric said.

“It is.” Mathew said before turning to Eric.”But that’s all going to change now because now you are here. If we manage to get you and Princess Serenity together, the power of your combined love will finally free this land of the evil that has taken over it.”

“But how are we going to do that exactly?” Sunset said.

“Well, that’s why we are here, aren’t we? To discuss our plan.” Mathew said, and after he said that, he, along with everyone else, reached the end of the tunnel where they then found themselves in a large underground chamber. She saw the chamber was full with a large number of people, and from what she could tell, there were at least more than a hundred people inside. There were also many different weapons in the room, ranging from axes, swords, arrows, cannons, pickaxes, knives, etc. Sunset also saw that the chamber also had crate boxes and what looked like sleeping mats lying on the ground, and in addition to that, there were a few horses that were gathered in a fenced area, and not too far away from the horses were some wagons. However, what caught Sunset's attention the most was the other entrance that led to and from the chamber.

“What is this place?” Sunset asked Mathew as she, Eric, and Alise followed Mathew and the rest of the resistance into the chamber.

“This is our underground resistance lair.” Mathew explained. ” After we form the resistance, we set up an underground base and dig up a series of tunnels so we can not only have a safe place to hide from Sombra but also have a way to move our troops and supplies through the land of dreams without fear of getting caught. Now let’s go; we have much to discuss.” Mathew led the group to the center of the chamber where a table was located, and it wasn’t long before all the resistance members quickly gathered around them.

“So what's exactly our plan to take down Sombra?” Sunset asked.

“Well, as we previously established.” Mathew said. ”Since Eric has returned, all we have to do now is reunite both Eric and Serenity together so the power of their combined love can banish Sombra and his dark forces.”

“And how are we going to do that exactly?” Sunset said.”We don’t even know where Serenity is.”

“Actually, we do.” Mathew's said. ”Not too long ago we sent our best men to infiltrate the palace, and through some luck, they managed to find out where they were keeping Serenity.”

“There did.” Eric said in shock.”Where is she? Is she alright?

“Calm down, Eric,” Mathew said. ”To answer your second question, yes, she is alright, and for your first question, according to what they heard, Serenity is being held in the highest tower of the castle.”

“And how are we going to get her out?” Sunset said.”No doubt the tower is the most guarded place in the castle, which will make it difficult to bust her out.”

“Not if there was something to keep all the guards distracted.” Mathew said. ”In this case, that distraction will be us.”

“What are you going to do?” Sunset asked.

“Simple. We will attack the castle from the front with all our forces.” Mathew said. ”And while we do that, you can sneak into the castle and rescue Serenity.”

“Hold on, isn’t that a bit too risky?" Eric said.

“It is, but if you manage to succeed in rescuing Serenity, then the risk is worth it.” Matthew said.

“And how are we going to sneak into the palace?” Sunset said.”Even if you did manage to successfully distract everyone in the castle with your attack, there's still the problem of us needing to find a way to get into the palace without getting caught."

“I agree, which is why it's a good thing we already have that plan out.” Mathew said. before he pulled out a piece of paper from under the table and spread it on the table. Both Sunset and Eric immediately look at the paper and see that it was the blueprint of the sugar plum palace.

“That’s the blueprint of the sugar plum palace.” Eric said in shock.

“That’s right, it is.” Mathew said. ”Luckily, while Sombra used his dark magic to change the castle's appearance, its structure is pretty much the same, and after a long time of planning and observing the blueprints, we were able to find the best way to enter into the palace.” Mathew then taps his finger on a drainage pipe.

“The drainage pipe,” Sunset said.

“Yep.” Mathew said. ”Out of all the entrances, we believe the best way to enter the palace undetected is through the sewer pipe.” Eric didn’t say anything but instead just stood in silence as he thought over Mathew plan, and after a while he finally broke the silence.

“This plan of yours, while risky, might actually work.” Eric said.

“I am glad you thought so.” Mathew said.

“We might actually be able to pull it off.” Sunset thought to herself as hope began to fill her once again. ”We might actually be able to defeat Sombra.”
….
Back on the surface, the huntsman and his wolf can be seen following the sleigh track that was left by the sleigh that sunset, Eric and Alise were previously riding in. Following near him was a group of Umbrum. The huntsman, his wolf, and the umbrum continue to follow the track until they reach the farm.

“The prey is near.” The huntsman said as he eyed the sleigh that was still at the front of the house. The huntsman then turned to look at his wolf and saw it was barking at the horse that was still attached to the sleigh. When the horse saw the wolf barking at it, it quickly ran away, dragging the sleigh with it. The wolf, seeing that, quickly ran towards it, but a quick tug on its leash caused it to stop.

“That’s not the prey we are after.” The huntsman said as he pulled the leash again. ”Now go find us the correct prey.” The huntsman then let go of the leash, and immediately the wolf sniffed onto the ground. After a few sniffs, it then moved its head up from the ground and let out a small howl before suddenly running. Seeing that the huntsman and the umbrum quickly followed the wolf, who led them into the back of the farm. They followed the wolf until it suddenly stopped and began sniffing the ground again. It then turned to look at the huntsman and let out a few small barks.

“I see.” The huntsman said as if understanding what the wolf was saying. He then pulled out his axe, which immediately turned into a chain mace. Seeing that the wolf quickly ran away from the spot it was standing in, immediately after it did that, the huntsman threw the mace on the spot the wolf was standing on. When the mace hit the ground, it quickly revealed the secret entrance that led to the underground tunnel.

“The prey is down there.” The huntsman said.

“Huntsman, blow the horn that we gave you.” One of the umbrum said.”We need all our forces here.” The huntsman nodded and quickly pulled out a warhorn and blew on it.
….
“What is that sound?” Sunset said in shock as she and everyone in the chamber heard what sounded like a horn being blown.

“Oh no, we've been found!" Mathew shouted in fear.
....
Back on the surface, many Umbrum and Black Guards had heard the sound of the horn being blown and were heading towards the source.
....
The huntsman continued to blow on the horn until he saw multiple large shadows were now covering him. He stopped and looked up to see that the sky was filled with an army of umbrum and black guards.

" The prey are in their." The huntsman said as he pointed to the entrance, and immediately all the umbrum quickly flew into the hole, and as for the black guards, they had their bat land on the ground, and shortly after landing, the black guards quickly got off the bat and were now entering the entrance, and it wasn't long before both the huntsman and his wolf joined them.
....
In the underground chamber, Mathew can be seen giving out orders to all the resistance members who were hard at work implementing his orders.

"Load all our weapons, supplies, food, and other necessities onto the wagon." Mathew yell. " And make sure you load all our battle plans, maps, and any other important information. We can't afford Sombra getting his evil hands on them and leave anything that is unnecessary or unimportant behind. We don't need the extra weight slowing us down."

"What are we going to do?" Alise asked in fear as she held onto Sunset's hand. "The umbrum are coming."

"Don't be afraid, Alise; we will be okay." Sunset said in an attempt to calm down Alise.

"Eric, Sunset, and Alise, we need to go now." Mathew said as he ran towards them. "Before its ...." Mathew didn't get to finish what he was saying as suddenly from one of the entrances a large army of umbrum came flying into the chamber, and coming in after them were the black guards.

"The umbrum is here." Alise said in fear.

"And not just them. The Black Guards are also here." Mathew said.

"Black guards." Eric asks, confused.

"Black guards are one of Sombra's creations." Mathew, explain. ” Shortly after he conquered the land, he used his dark magic to create evil creatures known as black guards to help further his control over the land. We need to get out of here now.” Mathew then pulled out two pistols from his pocket and fired at a Black Guard. As soon as the bullet hit the guard, black smoke leaked out from its armor, and shortly afterward the black guard fell onto the ground, where its armor then scattered all over the ground, revealing that the armor was now empty.

“Everyone grab your weapons and prepare for battle,” Mathew shouted to the resistance members as he fired at two of the umbrum, causing them to explode in a burst of smoke. Taking that as their signal, the resistance quickly grabbed their weapons and began engaging the black knights and umbrum in battle.

"This isn't good." Sunset said before an umbrum suddenly appeared in front of her. It opened its mouth and was about to fire its attack on them. Fortunately, before it could, Eric quickly swung his sword on the umbrum, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke.

"Thanks, Eric." Sunset said thanking Eric.

“You're welcome,” Eric said.

“Sunset.” Mathew said as he ran up to Sunset carrying two swords. ”Catch.” Mathew tossed one of the swords to Sunset, who managed to catch it.

“Thanks.” Sunset said.

“You're welcome.” Mathew said before he ran off to help in the battle.

"So what now?" Sunset asked Eric.

"I will help the resistance, and while I do that, you and Alise find a safe place to hide." Eric said.

"Right," Sunset said before she and Alise ran for safety. After he saw the two have run off, Eric quickly joined in the battle.
....
The huntsman and his wolf walked down the tunnel until he reached the chamber where he immediately saw the umbrum and black guards fighting the resistance. He then turned to look in front and saw Eric, who was fighting a Black Guard.

"Eric." The huntsman said before he threw his mace in his direction. Eric, after kicking the Black Guard away, quickly saw the mace heading towards him. Acting fast, Eric quickly moved out of the way before the mace hit him. The mace continued to fly until it hit a black guard, causing it to fall onto the ground, where its armor scattered onto the ground, and from the armor pieces, black smoke came out of them.

After the huntsman pulled back his mace, he quickly threw it at Eric, who acted quickly by using his sword to swat the attack away. However, this didn’t stop the huntsman, who pulled back the mace. However, suddenly Eric grabbed the mace and pulled it with enough force to cause the huntsman to let go of it as he fell onto his face. As he got up, he saw Eric was pulling the mace towards him, and acting quickly, the huntsman quickly grabbed the chain and pulled it towards him. Eventually the two ended up in a tug of war with both sides trying to pull the mace towards them. However unknown to Eric, as he was busy with the huntsman, the wolf had snuck off.
….
“It’s okay, Alise; everything is going to be okay.” Sunset said as she patted Alise's back in an attempt to calm her down. Currently both girls were hiding in one of the wagons. As they hid, they could still hear the sound of the battle that was still taking place. Out of curiosity, Sunset peeked her head outside and immediately wished she didn’t because she saw that while the resistance army was making a great effort in fighting back the black guards and the Umbrum, there were, however, still too many of them, and from what Sunset can tell, they were slowly being overwhelmed, as no matter how many black guards and Umbrum they take down, more keep on coming. She turned and saw a group of Umbrum surrounding a resistance member. She watched in horror as they flew in the air and bit onto his body before flying into the air and towards the entrance, taking the member with them. She turned again and saw a group of Black guards easily disarming a group of rebels and surrounding them. She watched in horror as a group of umbrum surrounded them before unleashing a cloud of smoke from their mouths and covering them. Once the smoke cleared up, it revealed that both the rebel and Black Guards were gone. She looked around and saw more and more Umbrum flying towards the entrance while carrying resistance members with them or unleashing a cloud of black smoke that completely covered them, and when the smoke cleared, the rebels disappeared.

“This isn’t good.” Sunset thought to herself as she ducked back down. ”What are we going to do?" As sunset was thinking of any possible way they could get out of the mess they were in, she and Alise heard something, and quickly the two turned to see the huntsman wolf jumping into the wagon from the side.

“It’s the wolf.” Alise said in fear.

“Let’s get out of here.” Sunset said as she grabbed her sword before she and Alise quickly jumped out of the wagon, and immediately after they jumped off the wagon, the two began running for their lives. The wolf, seeing that, quickly jumped off the wagon and chased after them.

As the two girls run for their lives, an umbrum suddenly appears in front of them. Acting quickly, Sunset quickly swung her sword at the umbrum, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke. The two were about to run off again, but before they could, they heard a growl, and the two turned to look behind to see the wolf had jumped into the air and was about to pounce on them. Sunset acting quickly quickly grabbed Alise and moved out of the way before the wolf could land on them. After dodging the wolf, the two ran for their lives. However, they didn't get far as suddenly two Black guards quickly blocked their path. The two quickly turn back to run only to see the wolf standing behind them.

"Not good." Sunset said as she saw that she and Alise were surrounded on both sides.

"What are we going to do?" Alise said as she held onto Sunset in fear. Sunset didn't say anything as she tried to think of a way out. Sunset looked at the wolf and then turned to look at the Black Guards, who had their swords out. Sunset gripped her sword, ready to try and fight their way out. Fortunately, however, before a fight could break out, the two Black guards suddenly collapsed onto the ground, where their armor scattered all over the floor. Sunset saw, standing behind the now dead Black Guards, was Mathew holding two pistols with smoke coming out of them. It only took Sunset a second to realize that Mathew had shot the Black Guards from the back.

"Run." Mathew yelled.

"Right." Sunset said before she and Alise quickly ran past Mathew, who was aiming his gun at the wolf who was growling at him. Mathew glares at the wolf before firing his pistol at him. The wolf reacted quickly and dodged the bullets before charging at Mathew, who repeatedly fired at the wolf. Unfortunately, however, the wolf was able to dodge the attack with ease and was still charging at him, and to make matters worse for Mathew, he eventually ran out of bullets just as the wolf got closer to him.

"Dang it." Mathew said when he saw he was out of bullets. He then saw the wolf jump towards him in an attempt to pounce on him. Acting quickly, Mathew quickly moved to the side before the wolf could land on him. After dodging to the side, he quickly put the gun in his pocket before pulling his sword that was strapped to his side. He grips his sword hard as he glares at the wolf. The wolf charged at him, and acting quickly, Mathew swung the sword at the wolf, who dodged the strike. The wolf then tried to bite on his leg, but Mathew was able to pull his leg away before the wolf bit on it. He then swung his sword at the wolf, who easily dodged the strike, and after dodging the strike, the wolf pounced on Matthew, causing him to fall on his back and to let go of his sword. The wolf let out a small growl before it opened its mouth.

“Sunset look.” Alise said as she suddenly stopped and pointed to Mathew. Sunset turned to see that Mathew was in trouble, and thinking quickly, an idea came to her. She quickly grabbed a stone and tossed it at the wolf. The stone hit the wolf, and it quickly turned to look at Sunset, who was smiling smugly at it.

“Hey, you idiot dog, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Sunset said before she blew her tongue at the wolf. Seeing this, the wolf let out a growl before charging at them.

“It's heading towards us.” Alise said in fear.

“Exactly.” Sunset said before she quickly stood in front of Alise. The wolf jumps into the air and tries to pounce onto Sunset. However, just as it was about to land on sunset, the necklace around her neck let out a small glow before releasing a burst of light that was strong enough to send the wolf flying away. Sunset smiled as she watched the wolf land on the ground.

“I knew that would work.” Sunset said as she smiled.

“Thanks, Sunset,” Mathew said as he got up and grabbed his sword. He then turned to look at Sunset. I am not exactly sure how you did it, but thanks.”

“You're welcome,” Sunset said.

….
Both the huntsman and Eric were still in their tug of war. The two continue to pull on the chain as hard as they can until eventually, when the huntsman lets out a hard pull on it, Eric suddenly lets go, causing him to fall onto his back. Eric let out a small smile; however, that smile was gone when he saw three Umbrum were flying towards him. Acting quickly, Eric quickly ran for his life as the Umbrum flew after him. Just as it looked like the umbrum were about to be on him, help came in the form of a rebellion member who spotted what was going on and who acted quickly and fired three bullets at the three umbrum, taking them down. Eric, who saw that, turned to the resistance member who saved him. He nodded gratefully towards him. The resistance member did the same and nodded.

“Eric,” Mathew said as he called out to Eric. Eric turned to see Mathew, Sunset, and Alise running towards him. ”We need to retreat now. We can’t win this fight.” Mathew then pulls out a small horn and blows on it. Once he was done, he pulled it away.

“Retreat.” Mathew yelled, and immediately all the resistance members quickly retreated. Many of them quickly got onto the wagon and quickly drove into the tunnels, and the remaining few who didn’t get into the wagon simply ran into the tunnels.

“Come on, let’s go,“ Mathew said, and immediately he, Eric, Sunset, Alise, and a few of the remaining resistance members headed into one of the tunnels. Seeing all this, the Umbrum and Black Guards quickly chase after the resistance as they run down the tunnels.

The huntsman, after getting up quickly, grabbed his mace and quickly ran after them, and joining him were his wolf, the umbrum, and the Black Guards.

“They are following us.” Alise said in fear as she and everyone ran down the tunnels.

“Don’t worry; we are prepared for this situation.” Mathew said before he suddenly pulled out a match and lit it.

“What are..." Sunset said before she noticed up ahead there is a bunch of dynamite strapped onto the walls and ceilings of the tunnel they were in.

“Oh.” Sunset said as she realized what he was planning to do. As soon as they reach the dynamites, Mathew quickly lights them up.

“Run,” Mathew said before he and everyone else ran as quickly as they could in an attempt to get as far away from the dynamite before it exploded.
….
The huntsman, his wolf, the black guard, and the Umbrum continue to run down the tunnels; however, as they got near, they saw something up ahead that caused them to stop.

“Dynamite,” the huntsman said before he and his wolf ran back. This was followed by the Umbrum and the Black Guards, who immediately joined them. However, they didn’t get far as the dynamite exploded, blowing the huntsman and his wolf out of the tunnel and killing many of the Umbrum and Black Guards that didn’t have time to get away. The huntsman and the wolf, after being blown out of the tunnel, landed on the ground. After the two got up, they heard another explosion, and quickly the huntsman and the wolf turned to see that the explosion had come from another tunnel. He then heard more explosions and saw they came from the other tunnels.

“They have planned this well ahead.” The huntsman said to his wolf.
….
Somewhere in the forest, the ground suddenly burst open, and out came Mathew, Eric, Alise, Sunset, and the resistance members that escaped with them.

“Is everyone alright?” Eric asked everyone.

“Yeah, we are alright.” Sunset said, which was followed with a similar response by everyone.

“So what now?” Sunset asked Mathew. ”Many of the resistance members were captured, and not only that, the remaining resistance members that managed to escape have separated and scattered to who knows where. How are we going to fight against Sombra now?"

“Don’t worry; it isn’t over yet.” Mathew said. ”There are some other pockets of resistance in some other places in the land of dreams. We make a protocol that in the event that we are forced to flee from our base due to an attack, we are to immediately go to the other resistance base. No doubt by now the remaining members that escaped are heading there right now and informing them of our plan. This fight is far from over.”

“So what now?” Alise asked.

“Now me and my men shall go to the nearby resistance base to inform them of our plan.” Mathew said before turning to Eric. ”While we do that, you and your friends shall head to Sombra Castle, and with any luck, we will arrive in time for the final battle.”

“I guess this way we part ways for now.” Eric said.

“I guess it is.” Mathew said. ”I wish you and your friends the best of luck.”

“You too, Mathew.” Eric said. After the two bid goodbye, they went their separate ways with their respective groups.
….
In Sombra's throne room, Sombra can be seen looking out of one of the castle windows with a thoughtful look on his face.

“That girl, no matter how hard I try, I can’t get rid of her from my mind.” Sombra thought to himself. ”Without her necklace she shouldn’t be someone important, yet I can’t stop thinking of her. Why is that? Once again he felt the strange feeling overcome him again, and his heart beating faster. Sombra quickly placed a hand on his chest.

“Why does this keep happening?” Sombra thought before his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He turned to see an umbrum walking into the throne room.

“What news do you have for me?” Sombra asked the umbrum as it bowed towards him.

“We found Eric and the girl among the rebellion.” The umbrum said.

“The rebellion.” Sombra said in shock.

“That's correct, my lord.” The umbrum said as it raised its head to look at Sombra.

“And what happens next?” Sombra demanded.

“We manage to capture many of them; however, some manage to escape.” The umbrum said.

“And what about the girl?” Sombra said in an eager voice.”Did you capture her?”

“She escaped with Eric.” The umbrum said, causing Sombra to scream in fury.

“Idiot!” Sombra yelled in fury, causing the Umbrum to fly out of the throne room in fear. After calming down, he took a few deep breaths.

“I guess if I want something done right, I have to do it myself.” Sombra said.
….
Sunset, Alise, and Eric continued to walk through the forest until it became night. Eventually all three become too tire to continue walking and decide to set up camp. After setting up the campfire, Sunset volunteers to be the first one on night watch and keep an eye around in case the Umbrum, black guards, or the huntsman and his wolf manage to catch up. Currently right now, Sunset was staring at the campfire bored out of her mind. She then looked down at her necklace before she suddenly heard what sounded like grunts. She then turned to see that it was Alise who was grunting in her sleep, and by the look of things, Sunset could tell she was having a nightmare. Acting quickly, she woke up Alise, who quickly sat up and let out a small scream of fright that caused Eric to wake up from his sleep.

“What is it? Are we under attack?” Eric asked as he grabbed his sword.

“Alise had a nightmare,” Sunset said.

“I am sorry.” Alise said.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Eric said in a reassuring voice before he sat next to Alise and placed his hands on her shoulder. ”There is nothing to apologize about.” Alise didn’t say anything but instead just stared at the campfire.

“You know I heard talking about your nightmare can help a person feel much better,” Sunset said.”Mind telling us what your nightmare was about?” Alise continued to remain silent before eventually talking and breaking the silence.

“I had a nightmare about the umbrum attacking my village and kidnapping everyone, even my friends and my family.” Alise said. ”And then I saw the umbrum taking you and Eric away, leaving me all alone, and that’s what scares me. I don’t want to be alone.” Alise then let out a small cry.

“Hey, it’s alright; Eric and I aren’t going anywhere soon.” Sunset said.”Not until we at least free your parents and everyone that Sombra captured and free the land of dreams from him. So you shouldn’t be afraid.”

“Look, why don’t you just go back to sleep for now?” Eric said.”You will feel better later.”

“I can’t.” Alise said. ”I am afraid.”

“Hmm,” Sunset said before an idea suddenly came to her. ”How about a little lullaby then?”

“A lullaby.” Alise asked as she turned to look at sunset.

“Yeah, and I just know the right one that can soothe your fear.” Sunset said before a sad look began forming on her face, “Someone special used to sing this to me when I was little.”

“Sunset,” Eric said as he noticed the sad look on Sunset's face. Sunset gently put Alise's head on the ground and began singing her lullaby.

Dry your eyes
Everything's alright
I am here to hold you, I won't let you go

Lay your head, let me calm your fears
You are safe forever
I'll always be here

I know there's pain locked deep in your heart
You feel like you're lost all alone
But just when it seems it's hard to believe
The promise of love leads you home

When the rain falls lift up your eyes
There's a rainbow just standing by
And the colors will light up the sky
Bringing hope to your heart
Guide your way through the dark
Where you'll find me
Always with you

After sunset was done, she saw Alise had fallen asleep. She let out a small smile. However, that smile suddenly disappeared once she remembered the song she sang to Alise.

“Celestia.” Sunset thought to herself. ”She used to sing to me that song when I used to have nightmares when I was little.”

Flashback:
It was in the middle of the night, and in the hallway of Canterlot Castle, a filly sunset can be seen in front of the doors leading to Princess Celestia's bedchamber. She knocked on the door a few times, and after a few more knocks, the door opened, and Celestia, who had a tired look in her eyes, looked down, and immediately after she saw Sunset, her eyes opened in shock.

“Sunset, what are you doing here?” Celestia asked her student.

“I had a nightmare,” Sunset said.

“Oh, then do you want to sleep with me for the night?” Celestia asked gently in a motherly tone.Sunset said nothing but instead nodded. Celestia let out a small smile and moved out of the way, allowing Sunset to enter. After closing the door, the two headed towards the bed. Celestia then gently picks up Sunset and places her onto the bed. Celestia got in shortly afterward. When Celestia saw the scared look on Sunset's face, Celestia quickly thought of an idea to help soothe Sunset's fear.

“Do you wish for me to sing you a lullaby, my little pony?” Celestia asked gently, and Sunset just nodded. Celestia then began singing a lullaby to Sunset, who eventually fell asleep. Celestia, who saw this, let out a small smile.

“Good night, my little pony.” Celestia said as she placed a hoof over sunset.

End flashback:
“Sunset,” Eric suddenly said, bringing Sunset out of her thoughts. She then turned to look at Sunset with a look of concern.

“You okay?” Eric asked sunset.

"Yeah, I am okay." Sunset said."Why you asked."

”Because you are crying,“ Eric said, and immediately after he said that, Sunset quickly placed a finger under her eyes and realized she had tears coming out of her eyes. Acting quickly, Sunset rubbed the tears away. She then turned to look at Eric.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Eric asked Sunset, who just looked at him silently before letting out a small sigh.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it now, okay, so drop it.” Sunset said, and Eric just looked at her in silence for a few moments before sighing.

“Alright.” Eric said,” But if you want to talk about it, remember I am all ears.”

“I will keep that in mind.” Sunset said.”Now go back to sleep. I will swap watch out duty with you later.”

“All right,” Eric said before he went back to sleep. Once she saw Eric was asleep, she then let out a small sigh. She then turned her attention to the campfire, and as she stared at the fire, another memory began resurfacing.

Flashback:
It was heartwarming eve, and a filly sunset can be seen in Celestia's room, cuddling her as they both sat near the fireplace. Floating in front of Celestia was a storybook, which she was holding through the use of her magic.

“Thanks to Flash Magnus's courage and bravery in distracting the dragons, his comrades were able to rescue their captured comrades from the dragons.” Celestia said as she closed the book and put it down.

“I don’t understand Celestia; why did he do something like that?” Sunset asked.”Isn’t he afraid that the dragons could get him?”

“Well, that’s the thing about friendship.” Celestia said.”Sometimes, due to the bonds we share with others, we would do something reckless to ensure they are safe. Sometimes, the ultimate test of friendship is risking your life for a friend; that’s how they know that they are really friends. In this case, instead of running away, he chose to risk his life for the ones he cared about. Can you understand that?"

End flashback:
Sunset brought her mind from her thoughts and turned her attention to the fire.

“I am so sorry, Princess Celestia." Sunset thought to herself as guilt began to overwhelm her. She turned her attention to Eric and was about to wake him up so they could switch lookout duty. But before she could, she suddenly heard a voice calling towards her.

“Sunset.” A gentle voice called out to her.

“Hello, who said that?” Sunset said as she stood up and pulled out her sword. She then looked around to see the person who had called her.

“Sunset.” The voice called out to her again.

“Who's there?” Sunset said as she continued to look around. She was about to wake up Eric, but before she could, the voice called out to her again.

“Sunset over here.” The voice said, and immediately Sunset turned to see who had called her and immediately dropped her sword in shock, as standing not too far away across from her was Princess Celestia, who was smiling a kind, motherly smile towards her.

“Princess Celestia.” Sunset said in shock.

“Sunset, please follow me.” Celestia said before she ran off into the woods.

“Wait, Celestia!" Sunset shouted as she ran after Celestia. Her shout woke up both Eric and Alise.

“What sunset?” Eric said as he sat up and turned to see Sunset running into the woods.
….
“Celestia, where are you? “Sunset said desperately.

“Over here, Sunset.” Celestia's voice calls out, and Sunset quickly follows it. As she ran through the woods, she followed the sound of Celestia's voice until she reached a cave. As soon as she entered the cave, she saw Celestia standing inside of the cave, and without a moment's hesitation, she ran further into the cave until she finally stopped in front of Celestia.

“Princess Celestia, I am so sorry; you were right; I was arrogant,” Sunset said as she looked down on the ground, unable to face her former mentor. ”Please forgive me.” Sunset stood in silence, waiting for her former mentor to talk, but when she said nothing, Sunset looked up to see Celestia just standing there and smiling at her.

“Princess Celestia.” Sunset said before Celestia disappeared, and before she knew it, a wall of darkness suddenly covered the cave entrance, engulfing her in darkness.

“What’s going on?” Sunset said in fear.

“What's going on is that you have fallen into my trap. I am not exactly sure who you saw just now, but whoever they were, they must be someone very important to you that you would carelessly walk into my trap.” A familiar voice said, and immediately before sunset could process what was happening, the cave was suddenly illuminated. She saw that what was causing the illumination was a large ball of light that was floating above in the air. However, it wasn’t the ball that caught her attention; it was the person standing in front of her, as standing in front of her was the shadow king himself, Sombra.

“Hello, my dear.” Sombra said.”We have much to discuss.”

….
End of chapter 4

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update. It would have been out sooner, but I got other stories to write, and in addition to that, I also need to make sure I write the story correctly.

Anyhow, don't forget to comment on what you think of my story so far.

Chapter 5: Bargained and a new friend.

Sunset stood in fear as she saw the shadow king smile evilly at her.

“ Sombra.” Sunset said as she backed away in fear. ”But how?”

“How what ?” Sombra said.”How I manage to use the image of the one you love. Well, to answer your question, it was a simple spell that will make the target of the spell see the person they value the most. After casting the spell, all that was left was to lure you to where I wanted you to go. Which is here. Of course the spell only affected the target vision, so I couldn’t actually see whoever it was that was important to you.Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get down to business.” Sombra then got closer to Sunset, who backed away in fear. Unfortunately, she didn’t get far as Sombra suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of her, and before Sunset could react, Sombra gently placed a hand on her cheek, causing her to stop at the sudden touch. Sunset was completely confused about this sudden touch of affection, but for some reason she can’t help but find his touch somehow comforting. However, she quickly shook this thought out of her head and quickly backed away, breaking the touch.

“What do you want from me, Sombra?” Sunset demanded as she glared at Sombra. Seeing the look of defiance, Sombra, instead of being angry, just let out a small laugh, causing Sunset to just glare at him angrily. Sombra then stopped laughing and turned his attention to Sunset.

“What I want you asked.” Sombra said mockingly. ”What I want is the necklace around your neck.”

“And do you expect me to just give it to you?” Sunset said.”In your dream, there is no way I will give it to you.”

“Oh really? Then how about a bargain?” Sombra said.”You give me the necklace, and in return I will not only return you back to normal but also send you home. So what do you say? Sombra then extended his hand towards Sunset, who looked at him with a look of shock.

“What.” Sunset said in a shocked voice.

“You heard me, sunset.” Sombra said.”Just give me the necklace, and you can go home safe and sound.” Sunset didn't say anything but instead just stared at Sombra in silence.

“Now come on, sunset, what is there to think about?” Sombra said.”This isn’t even your world. You have no personal stake in this conflict. Just give me this necklace, and you can go home, and everything you experienced will be nothing but a nightmare. So what do you say?" Sunset stares at Sombra in silence for a few moments before finally answering him.

“No,” Sunset said as she glared at Sombra.

“What.” Sombra said in shock.

“If it was the old me, I might have, but now I won’t do it.” Sunset said.”I am not the selfish person I used to be, so the answer is no.”

“Why you.” Sombra said angrily before calming down. He then smiled evilly at sunset.”Fine, if you don’t want to give it to me, then I will just have to take it by force.”

“Take it by force.” Sunset said in shock.”How are you going to do that xactly? As I recall, there is a strong magical protection on the necklace that prevents it from being taken by force.”

“The magical protection might be strong, but like all magical protection, it still has its limits.” Sombra said before suddenly what looked like a shadow tentacle came out of the ground and wrapped itself around Sunset's body, preventing her from moving. Sombra then smiled evilly before pointing his hands towards her, and immediately after he did that, a stream of shadows came out of his hands. Sunset watched in horror as the stream of shadows hit her necklace. However, as soon as the stream hit the necklace, it let out a small glow before releasing a burst of light that sent Sombra flying. As soon as Sombra was sent flying away, the tentacles that were wrapped around her suddenly disappeared, and both the wall that was covering the cave entrance and the ball of light that was floating above in the air suddenly disappeared. Seeing that the wall blocking the entrance was gone, Sunset took the opportunity to quickly run out of the cave as quickly as she could. However, she didn’t get far as Sombra suddenly appeared in front of her. However, due to his sudden appearance in front of her, she didn’t have time to stop, and thus she accidentally rammed into Sombra, and the two rolled on the ground before eventually stopping.

After regaining her bearings, Sunset saw that Sombra was now on top of her. However strangely, Sunset didn’t feel scared, as when she stared at the eyes of the shadow king, she felt some form of attraction. This goes for the shadow king himself, as he felt lost just from looking at her face, and as he continues to stare at her, his eyes turn from red to blue before turning back to red. The two just stare at one another in silence, and Sombra, without even thinking, lowers his head towards Sunset and brings his lips closer to hers, and just as the two lips are about to touch, the sound of a stick being snapped is suddenly heard, causing him to stop. He then quickly got off of Sunset, and both he and Sunset then turned to see both Eric and Alise coming into view. Once they saw Sombra, they immediately stopped.

“ Sombra,” Eric said as he pulled out his sword and glared at the shadow king. Sombra just stood in silence, not knowing what to do. He turned to look at sunset before turning to look at Eric. He then suddenly disappeared. As soon as Eric saw that Sombra was gone, he quickly ran towards Sunset, who was still lying on the ground.

“You okay?” Eric asked Sunset as he helped her up.

“Yeah, I am okay.” Sunset said in an uncertain voice.

“What happened just now?” Eric asked Sunset, who didn’t say anything as she didn’t know what to say. Eventually, after a few moments, Sunset decided to tell him.

“ Sombra used some kind of spell to lure me away and try to take my necklace by force through the use of his magic,” Sunset said, leaving out the fact that Sombra tried to kiss her and the fact that she, for some reason, didn’t try to resist..

“Anyhow, since you are alright, I think it is best we should go now. It’s no longer safe to be here.” Eric said.

“Alright.” Sunset said before she realises something. ”By the way, do you have my sword? I think I dropped it just now.”

“Oh well.” Eric said in a hesitating voice.”When Alise and me saw you run off, we immediately ran off after you, so we didn’t have time to pick up your dropped sword.”

“Well, that sucks.” Sunset muttered in an annoyed voice. ”Anyhow, we should go now.”

“I agree.” Eric said before he, Alise, and Sunset began their journey again. However, just as they were about to leave, they suddenly heard something and turned to see a familiar horse pulling a sleigh.

“Hey, isn’t that the sleigh we were riding this morning?” Sunset said.

“It is,” Alise said.

“Well, what are the chances?” Sunset said happily before she and everyone got onto the sleigh. As soon as they got on, Eric took the reins and got the horse to begin moving on the path towards the castle. As they continued on their journey, Sunset took the moment to think about what happened earlier.

“Why did I feel some form of comfort when he touched me?” Sunset thought to herself. ”And why didn’t I resist when he tried to kiss?" Suddenly Sunset felt a strange feeling overcome her, and her heart started beating faster.

“What is happening to me?” Sunset thought to herself as she placed a hand over her chest.”What is this strange feeling, and why is my heart beating this fast?"
….
Unknown to Sunset, Sombra was going through the same thing. In his throne room, Sombra sat at his throne with a hand on his chest.

“Sunset shimmer.” Sombra said in a longing voice as he thought about what happened earlier.

“Why did I try to kiss you?” Sombra said to himself. “I didn’t want to kiss you yet a part of me wanted to. Why is that?"

“ Sombra.” An angry voice called out to Sombra, causing him to quickly shake off his thoughts. He then saw his mother appearing in front of him.

“Hello, mother.” Sombra said calmly.

“I heard you failed once again in retrieving the necklace.” Sombra's mother screams angrily.

“The magical protection on the necklace is a lot stronger than I previously thought, as even with my magic, I wasn’t able to forcefully take the necklace,” Sombra said.

“This is troublesome.” Sombra's mother said. ”We need to get that necklace off of her before it is too late.”

“Hmm, if we can’t take the necklace by force, maybe we can find a way to make her hand it over to us willingly.” Sombra said as an idea slowly came to his mind.

“What do you have in mind?” Sombra's mother asked. Sombra didn’t say anything but instead just let out an evil laugh as an idea slowly came to his mind. Unknown to them, however, watching them from the slightly open door was a female figure wearing a black cloak. The figure looked through the small opening of the door for a few more moments before attempting to leave, but before she could, an umbra suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Where do you think you are going?” The umbrum said. Suddenly the throne room door opened, and the figure turned to see that both Sombra and his mother were now looking at her.

“Well, look what we have here.” Sombra said as his eyes glowed red.
….
The sun had risen, and on the path towards the sugar plum palace were Eric, Sunset, and Alise, who was still riding on the sleigh. Currently, Eric was still driving the sleigh, and as for Sunset and Alise, both girls were currently sleeping peacefully. However, suddenly the sleigh ran over a large rock, causing it to jolt, which in turn caused both Sunset and Alise to wake up.

“What happened?” Sunset said with a voice full of shock.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Eric said.”The sleigh just ran over something.”

“Then please be careful; you almost gave me a heart attack.” Sunset said as she calmed down.Suddenly she and Alise saw an apple tree just ahead.

"Hey, can you make a quick stop at the apple tree?" Sunset said."I am feeling quite hungry, and I am pretty sure Alise is also feeling the same."

"Oh right, you guys didn't get a chance to eat yesterday." Eric said before he had the horse stop the sleigh in front of the apple tree. He then got off the sleigh and began heading towards the tree, where he then climbed up it. After climbing up the tree, he quickly got on one of the tree branches and pulled out some apples from the branch and dropped them on the ground. He then climbed back down the tree and began picking up the apple. Both Alise and Sunset got out of the sleigh and went to help Eric pick up the apples. The three then headed back towards the sleigh and began their journey again. As they continued their journey, Sunset and Alise took the opportunity to eat the apples they had gathered.

"Mmmmmm, these apples are quite good." Alise said as she took a bite of her apple.

"I agree." Sunset said as she took a bite of her apple. She then turned to look at Eric.

"Don't you want some apples too?" Sunset asked Eric.

"No, thank you. I don't even feel hungry." Eric said as he turned to look at sunset. "My guess is that being made out of wood gave me the benefit of no longer needing to eat." Eric then turned to look in front of him, and immediately he saw what looked like a cloaked figure lying on the snow.

"What's that?" Sunset said as she and Alise saw the cloaked figure.

"It looks like a person lying on the ground." Eric said."They might need help." As soon as they got near, Eric had the horse stop, and he, Sunset, and Alise went to check on the cloaked figure.

"Hey, you okay there?" Eric said as he bent down and placed a hand on the figure. The figure then suddenly stirs.

"Please help." The figure said in a weak female voice as she raised a hand towards Eric. Seeing this, Eric grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up to her feet.

"What happened to you?" Eric asked in a concerned voice.

"We need to go before they get here." The figure said.

"They, they who?" Sunset asked.

"The Umbrum, they are after me." The figure said, and as if on cue, four umbrum suddenly appeared in the air above them.

"Their the escapee," one of the Umbrum said.

"And it seems not only did we manage to find the escapee, but we also found Eric and the girl." Another of the umbrum said, as it and the other three umbrum eyed Eric and Sunset. One of the umbrum then flew towards Eric, who acted quickly by pulling out his sword and swinging it at the umbrum once it was near enough. The sword makes a direct hit on the umbrum, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke.

"We need to go now." Eric said before he, Sunset, Alise, and the figure run towards the sleigh. Seeing this, the remaining three Umbrum flew down and charged towards them. Fortunately, however, all four were able to get into the sleigh, and as soon as Eric grabbed the reins, he quickly had the horse move forwards towards the charging umbrum. Seeing the charging horse, two of the umbrum quickly got out of the way. However, the third umbrum wasn’t quick enough as the horse rammed into it, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke. The two remaining umbrum quickly flew after them.

“They are getting closer.” Alise said, in fear, as she and Sunset saw the umbrum heading towards them.Thinking quickly, Sunset quickly grabbed an apple and threw an apple at one of the Umbrum, who managed to dodge the attack. Seeing that Alise quickly followed Sunset's example and threw an apple that was able to successfully hit an umbrum in the head, causing it to fall onto the ground.

“Good throw, Alise.” Sunset said to Alise,

“Thanks.” Alise said before she and Sunset turned to the last umbrum that was still after them. Both Sunset and Alise quickly threw apples at it. Unfortunately, however, it was able to dodge each of the apples thrown at it. Eventually they ran out of apples to throw.

“We're all out.” Sunset said as she and Alise saw they were out of apples.

“What now?” Alise said. Sunset turned to the umbrum and saw it was getting nearer. Suddenly an idea came to Sunset, and she turned to Eric and took his sword. She then turned to look at the umbrum, and once it was near enough, she quickly swung the sword onto the umbrum, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke.

“Good job, sunset.” Eric said as he turned to look at sunset.

“Look out.” The figure suddenly shouted as she pointed above them. Everyone looked up and saw the umbrum that Alise knocked out previously was now above them. The umbrum then swoops down towards them. Acting quickly, Sunset stood up, and as soon as the umbrum got near, Sunset swung the sword on it, causing it explode in a burst of smoke.

“Glad, that’s over.” Sunset said before giving Eric back his sword. She then turned to look at the cloaked figure.

”So now that the danger has passed and we are not in any imminent danger right now, can you please tell us who you are and why the umbrum were after you?" Sunset asked the figure who just sat in silence before eventually breaking the silence.

“My name is Adagio Dazzle.” The figure said before pulling down her hood, revealing a teenage girl with poofy orange hair and gold highlights that was around sunset age. ”And the reason the Umbrum were after me was because I managed to escape the mines.”

“Escape the mines.” Sunset said in shock.

“Yes, escape.” Adagio said.”You see, not too long ago, my sisters and I were captured by Sombra and were forced to work in his mines.” She then let out a small sigh. ”We were forced to work tirelessly day and night and were only allowed little food and water.”

“That’s terrible.” Alise said.

“It was.” Adagio said.”That’s why we plotted to escape. However, unfortunately, both of my sisters were captured, and I was the only one who was able to escape. I've been on the run since then.”

“I am sorry to hear that.” Eric said. Adagio then let out a small sigh before turning to face Sunset. ”So what about you? What’s your story?
….
“So you really are Eric,” Adagio said in shock.

“Yeah, I am.” Eric said.”And I promise I will defeat Sombra and free the land and everyone he has captured, including you sisters.”

“Thank you.” Adagio said as she smiled at Eric.

“So what are you going to do now?” Sunset asked Adagio, who sat in silence for a few moments before speaking.

“I want to join you guys.” Adagio said, shocking everyone.

“What?" Sunset said in shock, which was mirrored by everyone.

“You heard me.” Adagio said.

“But it’s dangerous,” Eric said.

“I know, but I want to get my sisters back.” Adagio said with a look of determination.”That’s why I am following, and you can’t convince me otherwise.” Sunset opened her mouth to say something, but once she saw the determined look on her face, she decided to simply close her mouth and let out a small sigh.

“Fine.” Sunset said shocking both Eric and Alise.

“What.” Eric said in shock. ”Sunset, you can’t be serious about letting her join us.”

“It’s very clear from the look on her face that no matter what we said, she will not take no for an answer.” Sunset said.”Besides, with our current situation, we would probably need all the help we can get.” Eric turned to look at Adagio and saw the look of determination on her face. He then let out a small sigh.

“Fine.” Eric said before turning to look at Adagio. ”But I advise you that no matter what, you stick close to us, as the journey to the sugar plum palace is full of danger.”

“Noted.” Adagio said. The four then sat in silence as they continued with their journey when they suddenly heard the sounds of wings flapping.

“What the.” Eric said as he and everyone turned to look behind to see that something was flying in the air and was heading towards them. Due to the distance, they weren’t able to properly see it. However, as it got closer, they could see its details more clearly.

“Is that a giant bat?” Sunset said in shock as she and everyone stared at what looked like a giant bat flying towards them. However, as the bat got closer, they saw something was on it. At first it was difficult to see, but as the bat got more and more close, they saw that it was the huntsman and his wolf.

“It's the huntsman.” Alise said in fear.”What are we going to do?" Sunset said nothing but instead just turned her to the side and looked at the woods. As she watched the countless trees that passed them, an idea suddenly came to her.

“We jumped.” Sunset said shocking everyone.

“What?” Adagio said in shock.

“We need to jump into the woods.” Sunset said.”We can hide in the woods until he passes us.”

“Jump into the woods? Are you crazy?” Adagio asked.

“Just trust me.” Sunset said before she turned to look at the bat that was getting near. She then turned to look at the woods. ”Come on, let’s go; we don’t have much time left.” Eric didn’t say anything but instead turned to look at the bat that was getting nearer and nearer.

“I think we should do what Sunset said.” Eric said shocking adagio.

“Are you serious?” Adagio said.

“It might be the only choice we have.” Eric said causing adagio to sigh.

“Fine,” Adagio said annoyed.

“All right, everyone, on the count of three.” Sunset said as she picked up Alise.

“ One”

“Two”

“Three.”

All three then jumped out of the sleigh and into the woods, and not long after they did that, the huntsman flew past them and followed the sleigh. Seeing that sunset let out a sigh of relief.

“It seems my plan worked.” Sunset said in relief. Currently she was on her back and covering Alise, who was on her with her arms. She then turned to look at the little girl.

“You okay?” Sunset asked Alise.

“Yeah, I am okay.” Alise said before she got out of sunset. Sunset then got up and turned to see Eric, who was lying on the ground, slowly getting up. She then looked around and saw Adagio's cloak had been caught on a tree branch, and lying near the cloak was Adagio, who was sitting on the ground clutching one of her knees. With the cloak off, Sunset was able to see Adagio's clothes. She saw that Adagio wore a mauve violet mini bolero with small shoulder puffs over a purple romper that stopped slightly above the thighs and what looks like an indigo music note with a gold gem on the bottoms, a golden, spiky belt with a yellow gem around her waist, lavender tights with lilac triangle imprints, and dark purple below-the-knee boots with yellow gold-spiked bands around the ankles and gold spikes on the brown medium heels. Seeing the outfit sunset was full of shock since the outfit Adagio wore looks like something that’s from the human world. This fills Sunset with many questions; however, she quickly shook them off once she saw Adagio had a look of pain on her face. She got up and slowly approached her.

“Adagio, are you okay?” Sunset said as she kneeled down near Adagio.

“Yeah, I am okay.” Adagio said.”I just scraped my knees, that’s all.”

“Please remove your hand so I can see the wound.” Sunset said.

“Why?” Adagio said.

“So I can help you.” Sunset said as she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.

“I guess I was right that the handkerchief would come in handy.” Sunset muttered to herself, remembering how she found the handkerchief in the same closet that she found her winter clothes.

“Now can you please move your hands?” Sunset asked, and Adagio stared at her for a few moments before removing her hands, allowing Sunset to see the wound. Sunset looked closely at the wound and saw it is not too serious, much to her relief. She then tied the handkerchief over the wound, and once she was done, she stood up and held a hand towards Adagio. Adagio stared at the hand for a few moments before grabbing it, and immediately Sunset pulled Adagio up.

“Can you still walk?” Sunset asked Adagio.

“Yeah, I believe I can.” Adagio said as she took her cloak off the tree branch and put it on.

“That’s good to hear.” Eric said as he and Alise approached them.”Because I believe it is best we get far away from here as quickly as we can before the huntsman returns.”

“I agree.” Sunset said.”Come on everyone, let’s go.” The group then headed deeper into the woods in order to get as far away as they could before the huntsman returned. However, as they walked through the woods, Sunset couldn't help but think back on Adagio's clothing, and a look of suspicion appeared on her face, and unknown to Sunset, Adagio had the same look on her face as she turned to look at Sunset. She took a sniff from sunset and smelt a familiar scent she hadn't smelt in a long time.
….
The group continued to walk throughout the forest in silence until eventually that silence was broken by sunset.

“So adagio.” Sunset said, causing Adagio to turn to look at her. ”What do you and your sisters do for a living?”

“Why do you want to know?” Adagio asked.

“Just want to know you better since we will be working together.” Sunset said.

“Oh.” Adagio said.”Well, if you want to know, my sister and I worked as singers.”

“Singers,” Sunset asked.

“Yes, singers.” Adagio said.”Me and both of my sisters worked as travelling singers in the past.”

“Both sisters.” Sunset said.”So you have two sisters.”

“Yeah, I do.” Adagio said.”And before you ask, I am the oldest; my sister Aria is the second oldest, and my sister Sonata is the youngest.”

“So what’s it like to be travelling singers?” Sunset asked. Adagio didn’t say anything and instead just had a blank look on her face. She continued to walk in silence for a few moments before eventually breaking the silence.

“It’s not bad, but compared to how our life has been before, it’s quite bad.” Adagio said.

“What do you mean by that?” Sunset asked causing Adagio to sigh.

“Look, I won’t tell you much, but I will at least tell you that my sisters and I weren’t always travelling singers. We had a wonderful life and lived a life full of luxury, but due to circumstances, we lost it all and now have to move from place to place and get whatever scraps we can get through our songs.” Adagio said.”But I suppose it wasn’t bad since I had my sisters with me. Sure, they at times annoyed me and drove me crazy, but I suppose having them by my side made my fall from grace more tolerable.”

“You may not believe it, but I sort of know how you felt.” Sunset said.

“Do you now?” Adagio asked in a sceptical voice.

“Yes, I do. You see, in the past I used to live a life full of luxury and comfort.” Sunset said as she remembered her time of living in Canterlot Castle as Celestia's student and all the luxury she gained from such a position, such as the castle servants that served her hand and foot, to the royal ball she used to attend with Celestia, to the high-quality food she used to eat with her.

“And like you, I lost it all and now have to get by on whatever scraps I can.” Sunset said as she remembered how when she first arrived in the human world, she had to sleep in a box in an alleyway before eventually finding an abandoned warehouse to live in until she managed to find a way to make enough money to afford her apartment room. ”But I suppose out of the two of us, you probably were still better off, as unlike me, who was alone, you had two people to watch your back and help you.”

“I guess you might be right with that one.” Adagio said.”Too bad it only took me losing my sister to make me realise how important they were to me. In the past I took them for granted, and now that I have lost them, I can’t help but feel guilty for not being a better sister to them.”

“I guess that’s another thing we have in common.” Sunset said as she chuckled a humourless laugh. ”I also have a person in my life that I took for granted.” Sunset thought back to Princess Celestia, and a feeling of guilt went through her. ”And if I ever see that person again, I want nothing more than to apologise to her for everything I've done.”

“Me too.” Adagio said.”I want to apologise to my sisters for taking them for granted and for not being a good sister to them.”

“I guess we have more things in common than we previously thought.” Sunset said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess.” Adagio said as she can’t help but chuckle along with Sunset.

“Don’t worry; we will get your sisters back.” Sunset said with a reassuring smile.

“Thanks.” Adagio said before the group continued to walk through the forest.
….
In a path somewhere, the sleigh that sunset, Alise, Eric, and Adagio rode in previously was destroyed, and running away from the destroyed sleigh was the horse. The huntsman and his wolf, who had gotten off the bat, were now staring in the woods.

“They must have gone into the woods.” The huntsman said as his instincts were telling him where sunset, Eric, Alise, and Adagio had gone. He then turned to look at the bat.

“On the bat would no doubt make it easier for them to quickly spot me. Need to go on foot.” The huntsman said.”Leave” Hearing the command, the bat quickly flew away, leaving the huntsman and his wolf.

“Now let’s continue with the hunt.” The huntsman said before he and the wolf went into the woods to begin his hunt.
….
End of chapter 5

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update, but I had a little bit of writer's block when writing this story.

Anyhow, don’t forget to leave a comment on what you think of my story so far.

Chapter 6: The bridge and the past.

Sunset, Alise, Eric, and Adagio continued to walk through the woods until they came upon an old bridge that was over a large valley.

“Please tell me we are not going to actually walk over that old bridge,” Adagio said.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice.” Sunset said.

“But it looked so unstable that it might collapse at any moment.” Adagio protests.

“Then we have to be very careful.” Eric said.”I will go first to test the bridge.” Eric then began walking onto the bridge and managed to make it to the other side safely. He then turned to look at everyone. ”Alright everyone, it’s safe.” All three girls then look at one another.

“Well, I guess the bridge is safe to use.” Sunset said before turning to look at Alise, who had a scared look on her face. Seeing that Sunset offered her hand to Alise, who just looked at the hand before grabbing it. The two then began walking onto the bridge, and as soon as they got onto the bridge, Adagio followed them. However, as soon as they got into the bridge, the sound of barking was suddenly heard, and immediately everyone stopped, turned to look back, and saw the huntsman and his wolf. The wolf growled at them before running towards them.

“It’s the huntsman.” Sunset said in fear before picking up Alise.” Run.” Both Adagio and Sunset then run for their lives as the wolf and the huntsman get onto the bridge and chase after them. As the huntsman and his wolf chase after sunset and adagio, he suddenly tosses his chain towards sunset. Fortunately, before the mace could hit her, she quickly moved out of the way. Unfortunately, however, the mace ended up hitting one of the bridge pillars, destroying it completely, causing the bridge to tilt to the right. Luckily, the two girls manage to grab the railing of the bridge before the sudden tilt causes them to fall off the bridge. The three then look down and see that the entire valley is covered in mist, making it impossible to see how deep the valley is. They then turned to look at the huntsman and saw that he also managed to grab the railing before the sudden tilt made him fall into the valley, and his wolf was able to use its sharp claws to embed into the wooden plank.

“We need to go now.” Adagio said before she and Sunset run for their lives, and as soon as the two began running, both the huntsman and his wolf run after them. The wolf then jumps into the air and tackles Adagio onto the ground.

“Sunset Adagio is in trouble.” Alise said, causing Sunset to stop and then turn to see that the wolf was on Adagio. Sunset gently put Alise on the ground before turning to her.

“Go. I will handle this.” Sunset said, and before Alise could say anything, Sunset ran off to help Adagio, who was trying to push the wolf face away from her face. From her position she saw the huntsman standing nearby, and in his hands was an axe. As soon as the wolf saw Sunset running towards them, it quickly jumped off Adagio and ran towards Sunset. As soon as it was near enough to jump into the air and try to pounce on her. Fortunately, Sunset was able to quickly move to the side before the wolf landed onto her. After the wolf has landed, it quickly turns and tries to jump onto Sunset. However, unfortunately for the wolf, the magic protection on the necklace activated and created a burst of light that sent the wolf off the bridge. The huntsman, seeing this, quickly ran to the side and watched in horror as his beloved wolf fell down into the valley, where it then disappeared into the mist that covers the valley. The huntsman stood in silence for a few moments before letting out a roar of anger and fury. He then turned to look at sunset and saw that Adagio had gotten up and was now running towards her.

“You alright?” Sunset asked Adagio.

“Yeah, I am alright.” Adagio said before she and Sunset turned to see the huntsman glaring at them. ”But I don’t think we will be alright for long if we don’t run.”

“Agree.” Sunset said before she and Adagio quickly run for their lives, and as soon as they start running, the huntsman chases after them. As soon as the huntsman was near, he quickly pushed Adagio towards the side, causing her to almost fall off the bridge but luckily hit the railing, thus preventing herself from falling towards her death. The huntsman, after pushing Adagio aside, quickly ran ahead and blocked Sunset's path. He then swung his axe towards sunset head. Luckily, Sunset was able to narrowly dodge the swing that almost took her head off. After dodging the attack, she quickly moved to the side just as the huntsman swung down his axe on the spot she was standing on. After dodging the attack, Sunset quickly turned and tried to run for her life, and after seeing her run in the opposite direction, Adagio decided to do the same and follow Sunset. As the huntsman chases after them, he quickly turns his axe back into a chain mace and throws it at them.

“Look out.” Eric called out, causing both Sunset and Adagio to turn and see the mace flying towards them. Acting quickly, both girls quickly duck down as the mace flew past them. It then hit the middle bridge, destroying it, and in addition to that, the force of the mace caused the bridge to shake with enough force that it caused the old rope to snap, which in turn caused the bridge to collapse, causing all three of the people to fall off the bridge and towards the valley.

“Ahhhh!” Sunset screams as she falls off the collapsed bridge. Luckily, however, due to her quick thinking, she was able to quickly grab onto the gap between the planks that was located at the end of the collapsed bridge. She then heard screaming and quickly looked up and saw Adagio falling. Just as the girl fell past her sunset, quickly grab her hand. Immediately after she did that, the huntsman fell past them, and both girls looked down to see the huntsman continue to fall until he completely disappeared into the mist.

“Sunset, Adagio, are you two okay?” Eric asked as he and Alise looked down from above the valley.

“Yeah, we are okay.” Sunset said as she placed Adagio's hand into the gap between the planks.

“The huntsman on the other hand.” Sunset said before she looked down at the valley. ”Not so much.” She then looked up to look at both Eric and Alise. ”Don’t worry; I think we can climb up just fine.” The two then began climbing up the collapsed bridge. The two climb up in silence until that silence was broken by adagio.

“Thanks for saving me just now.” Adagio said quietly.

“You're welcome.” Sunset said as she and Adagio reach the top of the collapsed bridge. As soon as they reach the top, Eric quickly helps Sunset up, and Alise helps Adagio up.

“So the huntsman is really gone,” Eric asked.

“Yeah, I believe so.” Sunset said.”But even so we shouldn’t stick around. Let’s go before anything else happens.”

“Agree.” Eric said before he and everyone left the area as quickly as they could.
….
Unknown to everyone, however, was that deep in the valley, hidden in the mist, was a tree branch that the huntsman was currently hanging on to through the use of his chain mace. Earlier, as the huntsman fell into the valley, he saw the branch, and acting quickly, he threw his chain mace at it, which quickly wrapped itself around the branch. After stopping his fall, he was now climbing up the chain, and once he was on the branch, he quickly untangled his chain mace and turned it back into an axe. After putting it back onto his belt, he slowly looked down at the valley, and as much as he hates to admit it, his beloved wolf is now gone, as even from where he stood, he was still unable to see the bottom of the valley. The huntsman then let out a scream of fury as he looked into the sky as if cursing the very universe itself. After calming down, he then tightened his fist in anger.

“Revenge.” The huntsman said in anger as now his hunt for Eric and sunset has become personal. The huntsman then made his way to the wall of the valley and began climbing up. It would be a long and hard while before the huntsman could reach the top, but his anger fuelled him with enough energy that it is only a matter of time before he reaches the top of the valley.
….
In Sombra Castle, Sombra was walking through the hallway of his castle with a thoughtful look on his face.

“If things go according to plan, the necklace will be mine.” Sombra thought to himself before another thought came to him. ”And what of Sunset? What should I do with her once I get the necklace?" Sombra then stops as he places a hand on his chin in thought.

“The most logical thing to do is to send her to the mines.” Sombra thought to himself as he began walking once again. ”But for some strange reason, the idea of her being sent far away from me fills me with uneasy feelings. Maybe I can have her work as my personal maid in my castle; that way I can have her by my side every day.” Immediately when that thought entered his mind, Sombra's heart started beating fast, and he once again felt the strange feeling overcome him once more.

“There it is again, that strange feeling.” Sombra thought to himself. ”But for some reason the more I felt it, the more it felt pleasant. Why does thinking of that girl bring out this feeling? Without that necklace, Sunset shouldn’t be someone who should catch my interest, yet whenever I think of her, my heart beats fast, and what’s more, I can’t stop thinking of her and her beautiful face and beautiful eyes that seem to mesmerise me. They are so beautiful and attractive I could look at them all day.” As soon as Sombra reached the door that led into his throne room, he opened the door, and once the door opened, he saw his throne, and immediately an idea came to him.

“Maybe instead of giving her the role of a maid, I will give her the role of being my queen who will rule this land by my side.” Sombra thought to himself as a smile began to form on his face. ”That way she can be by my side forever.” As the thought of having Sunset as his queen brought excitement to Sombra, he then began to imagine how his life would be with Sunset as his queen. In his mind he imagined Sunset sitting on a throne that was next to him and Sunset sitting down at the castle dining table with him and eating together, and finally he imagined him and Sunset sharing a kiss, and suddenly a realisation finally hit him.

“The strange feeling that overcame me, it’s love.” Sombra thought in realization. ”How can that be possible? I shouldn’t have this feeling for her and yet.” Sombra thought back to when he almost kissed Sunset. ”It did happen.” Sombra then walked up to his throne and sat down on it with a thoughtful look on his face.
….
The sun had finally set again, and it was nighttime. The group, after a long day of walking, came upon what looked like a cabin. All four look at one another in silence before that silence is broken by Eric.

"I will go and check." Eric said before he went to the door and knocked on it. When he heard nothing, he knocked on the door again and again, and when it became clear that no one was going to answer, he turned to look at Sunset, Adagio, and Alise.

"I don't think anyone is home." Eric said before he turned to the door and grab the doorknob and turned it to find that the door was unlocked. He then turned to look back at everyone. "It's unlocked."

"Good, then let's go." Adagio said before she entered the house, and it wasn't long before everyone else followed her inside.

When the group entered the cabin, they saw that the inside of the cabin was in decent condition despite looking like it had been abandoned for a few years. Adagio then sneezed, causing everyone to look at her.

"This place is covered with dust." Adagio said before she sneezed again.

"Bless you," Alise said.

"Thank you," Adagio said.

"Adagio and I will look around downstairs for anything useful." Sunset said to Eric. "You and Alise look around upstairs." Eric nodded before he and Alise quickly walked up the stairs.

"So where should we start?" Adagio asked.

"We can start at the kitchen." Sunset said before she and Adagio went into the kitchen. As soon as the two enter the kitchen, Sunset turns to look at Adagio. ”So, Adagio, is there something you're hiding from us?”

“ Huh.” Adagio said as she turned to look at Sunset with a look of surprise.

“Those clothes you are wearing.” Sunset said suspiciously.”Those are earth clothing. You are not from the land of dreams, are you? “Adagio stood in silence for a moment before suddenly letting out a small smile.

“You got me.” Adagio said.”But I am not the only one who is hiding secrets, am I?”

“What are you talking about?” Sunset said.

“You are from Equestria, aren’t you?” Adagio said, causing Sunset to look at her in shock.

“How do you know?” Sunset demanded.

“I can smell the scent on you.” Adagio said.”It might have been a long time, but I still remember the scent all too well.”

“Too well.” Sunset said before a sudden realisation hit her. ”You're from Equestria too, aren’t you?”

“You got me.” Adagio said as she crossed her arms.”My sisters and I were from Equestria before we were banished to Earth.”

“Banish.” Sunset said.”Who are you really?”

“Well, since there is no longer a reason for me to hide it, I may as well tell you.” Adagio said.”You see, a long time ago, my sisters, Aria and Sonata, and I were originally sirens from Equestria.”

“Sirens,” Sunset said in shock.

“That's right, sirens.” Adagio said.” Through our songs we were able to spread disharmony in Equestria by causing the ponies of Equestria to fight among themselves, and by causing them to fight we also cause them to produce negative emotions for us to eat, and with every negative emotion we eat we grow stronger. However, unlike my sisters, who were content with just simply spreading harmony and eating negative emotions, I wanted more. I wanted to rule Equestria."

“You try to take over Equestria,” Sunset said.

“That’s right.” Adagio said.”Of course I wasn’t foolish enough to try and face both Celestia and her sister Luna alone and unprepared. So I convince both of my sisters to join me with my plan to take over Equestria, and after convincing them to join me, we began making plans to take down both Celestia and Luna. The first step of our plan was to make ourselves stronger so we could stand a much better chance against them.“

“And let me guess, your plan was to cause as many ponies to fight among themselves so they would create a lot of negative emotions for you and you sisters to eat so you can become stronger.” Sunset said.

“That’s right.” Adagio said.”Our plan was to go to small villages and towns that were far from canterlot so that the princess wouldn’t notice what we were doing and use our powers to cause the pony to fight among themselves and produce as many negative emotions as they could for us to devour and once we gain enough we would move to another small town or village to do the whole process again and once we were sure we were strong enough we would go to the larger city and towns and use our powers to spread more chaos and gain more power and not only that with our power we would turn the ponies that live there into our brainwashed servants creating an army we can use to conquer equestria and by the time the princess realize what was going on it would be too late as we would have already been strong enough to challenge them and not only that we would also have a army comprise of their brainwash pony backing us up. An army that the princesses won’t dare to strike knowing that they are innocent ponies brainwashed to serve us.”

“Given the fact that you are not ruling Equestria, I take it your plan didn’t go well.” Sunset said.”So what happened?”

“Star Swirl,” Adagio said.

“Star Swirl the Bearded.” Sunset said in surprise.

“Yep.” Adagio said.”Star Swirl discovered what we were doing and banished us to Earth. However, while Star Swirl managed to successfully banish us to Earth, we still have our pendant, the source of our magic, and while they have lost most of their magic, they still have enough magic for us to use. So after arriving on earth, we spent centuries wandering the planet trying to spread disharmony so we could gather as much negative energy as we could to regain our lost power. However, it wasn’t easy, as the negative energy humans produce wasn’t nearly as strong as the ponies. Not helping is that earth doesn’t have magic, and to make it worse, there was also the fact that the humans back then had a loathing for magic, as back then, once someone saw us lose magic, we had to flee as quickly as we could.”

“Even though it was centuries ago, I remember it all like it was yesterday. I remember how in the first year alone, when we first arrived on this world, my sisters and I tried to hide our magic after we learnt the humans hatred for magic. But it never lasts long, as eventually someone would eventually discover our ability to use magic and try to burn us at the stake or drown us for what they deem as witchcraft. I also remember the things they used to call us: demons, devilspawns, corrupt monsters, and many more.“ Adagio said before sighing.”I will admit that during our time on earth we did commit crimes like theft and many other such things, but it was mostly for survival.”

“Now that's something I can sympathise with.” Sunset said.”During my time on earth, I did many things, such as theft or extortion, just to survive on this planet.”

“I guess that’s another thing we have in common.” Adagio said.”Anyhow, my sisters and I were so desperate to survive in this world that we would do anything to survive. We even went as far as to offer our magic in the service of human kings and emperors, and in return for our service, they would allow us to live in their realm without persecution. Unfortunately, none of them accepted our offer as they saw us as demonic monsters or threats to their power, and the few people who did accept our offer immediately backstabbed us the second they no longer needed our services.”

“No surprise there.” Sunset said.”Anyone who actually did accept your service is probably people who are the least trustworthy sorts.”

“Funny thing is we were aware of that, but given our situation, we were extremely desperate.” Adagio said. “Anyhow, after a while, we eventually decided that since we cannot regain our former lives, we can simply just settle down and use our magic to amass a large wealth so we can spend our days living in comfort and luxury.”

“And let me guess, that didn’t turn out well too.” Sunset said.

“No, it didn’t.” Adagio said.”Every time we try, people would immediately get suspicious and wonder how three young girls could get such wealth, or some jealous noble would try to take it for themselves, and sooner or later they eventually discover that we can use magic, which in turn means we have to run off again. Living a quiet life as a simple villager wasn’t an option either because every time we managed to find a place to settle down, the people around us would eventually grow suspicious of us when they noticed how even though years had passed, we never showed signs of ageing, and when people noticed this, they would go into the one explanation they could think of, which was witchcraft, and let me tell you, back then, even the simple accusation of it meant being chased by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.”

“And let’s not even go into the human treatment of their females.” Adagio said bitterly. ”Humanity has a shockingly cruel attitude toward their females, treating them as lesser than males. Most of the human males I have encountered have been creeps who have had no respect for my intelligence or talents and only cared about my appearance. Sure, there were some females in this world that had gained positions of power, but they were few and far between, and very few of them ever helped out their fellow women.” Adagio then looked away and stared at one of the window in the kitchen that showed the woods outside. She then chuckled bitterly before turning to look at sunset. ”You know, sometimes I can’t help but wonder if this is what Star Swirl had intended: to banish us to a magicless world where we are doomed to wander forever with only just enough power to draw negative attention but not enough to reclaim our former glory. If it was truly the case, then I guess Star Swirl had a cruel way to punish his enemies.”

“I hardly doubt it was the case since the way Celestia had described Star Swirl to me, he sounded like a person incapable of such cruelty.” Sunset said.

“You know Celestia personally.” Adagio asked with a raised eyebrow.

“ Me and celestia have a history.” Sunset said. Adagio just stared at her in silence before eventually deciding to break it by continuing her story.

“Anyhow, eventually humanity has evolved in many ways.” Adagio said.”Gradually, the superstition and fear that ruled the human world slowly disappeared, and humanity started exploring the world rather than listening to outdated dogma. Women had gained more rights. Reason and knowledge became more important, and it became easier for my sisters and me to better blend among the humans, especially since humans no longer believe in magic and aren’t no longer on the lookout for witches. Things seem to be going well for us, or at least when compared to how things were previously. But then we ended up here.”

“How you three ended up here exactly.” Sunset asked. Adagio didn’t say anything but instead just looked up at the ceiling before turning to look at sunset.

“It was my fault.” Adagio said.”Even though we can live a peaceful life now, I still wanted more, so I spent years trying to find a way for us to return back to our former glory, and one day I thought I found it in the form of an old book that was being kept in an old library. When I read through the book pages, I realised that it was some kind of spellbook. Excited with the idea that I managed to find something that might restore our former glory, I quickly brought it to my sisters, and we immediately decided to cast one of the spells in the book. However, something went wrong, and the next thing we know, we end up here. At first when we arrived here, I thought our luck had finally changed, as the second I arrived here, I could sense the magic in the air. It might not be as strong as the magic in Equestria, but it was still strong enough for us to increase our magic, and with time we might be able to restore ourselves to our former glory. However, unfortunately, like always, our luck didn’t last, as unfortunately for us, Sombra caught wind of our existence and of what we were doing, and he quickly went to confront us. We try to fight back, and with our magic now stronger than ever, we thought we could win. Unfortunately for us, however, Sombra was stronger than all three of us combined. Not only did he defeat us, but he destroyed our pendants and stripped us of our powers, turning us into regular humans, and after we were defeated, we were immediately sent to the mines, and well, you know the rest of the story.” Adagio then looks on the ground and chuckles bitterly. ”If there is one good thing that came out of all of this experience, it is that I learnt how much of a fool I have been. It was because of my desire for powers that my sisters and I went through centuries of suffering, and now we have truly reached rock bottom, as now not only are we trapped in another world far away from Equestria, but now we lost our powers and become just regular human teenagers, and frankly right now I can’t see anywhere for us to get any lower.” Adagio then shakes her head before turning to face Sunset.

“Well, since you know my story, what’s yours?” Adagio said.”What you did to get banished to earth.”

“I wasn’t banished; I went to Earth of my own free will.” Sunset said shocking adagio.

“What.” Adagio said in shock.”You actually willingly went to Earth. Why would you do that?"

“It’s a lot more complicated than you think.” Sunset said.”To understand, we need to go back to the beginning, the very beginning. My earliest memory that I can remember was being raised in an orphanage somewhere in Canterlot. I never knew who my birth parents were or why they left me in an orphanage. But one thing I do know is that I was different from the other children in the orphanage.”

“Different.” Adagio said.”Different how?”

“I was a lot more talented and smarter when compared to the other kids.” Sunset said.”I was considered by many as a prodigy among prodigies, as even at such a young age of 6 years old, I was able to become a skilled magic user that was skilled enough to master advanced spells that only older unicorns should be able to cast. My talents with magic were able to wow many of the orphanage staff and children. Sadly, however, it wasn’t enough to get me adopted. I never knew why since I thought my talents with magic would make parents want to adopt me as they would be proud to have a daughter so talented. Maybe it was something about my look, or maybe they didn’t want a daughter that was unusual and not like the others. Whatever it was, I never got adopted no matter how hard I tried to convince the parents that came to the orphanage to adopt me.”

“So what happened next?” Adagio asked.

“One day I decided to cast a tracking spell on a ladybug.” Sunset said.”After casting the spell on the bug, I let it go into Canterlot, and after a while I follow it since I want to see if my spell works. I eventually manage to find it; however, I was so busy trying to get the bug I didn’t notice where it was leading me, which was Canterlot Castle Garden. I didn’t realise it until Celestia found me.”

“At first I thought I was in trouble, but much to my surprise, Celestia was more curious than anything.” Sunset said.” She wondered what I was doing in her garden, and not knowing what to do, I told her the truth, and as soon as she saw the ladybug, I placed the tracking spell on Celestia, who was immediately mpressed. She then asked me to show her the other spells I master, and without hesitation, I did. Seeing that I was able to master such advanced spells at such a young age, Celestia was greatly impressed with me; she saw that I had the potential to achieve great things, and the next thing I knew, Celestia went to the orphanage, and after filling out some paperwork, she gained custody of me, and I became Celestia's personal student..”

“Her personal student,” Adagio said.

“Yeah, her personal student,” Sunset said.” And for once in my life I was actually wanted, and in addition to that, life as her student was quite good, as I got to live in the palace and have all the luxury and privileges of being her student entails. But the one good thing above all else was the motherly love Celestia gave me.”

“Motherly love,” Adagio asked.

“Yeah, motherly love.” Sunset said.” During the time we spent together, Celestia would treat me like I was her daughter. I remember the good time we had together, such as during heartwarming eve when we would spend the night together and exchange gifts or how she would read me stories. Another good memory I have with Celestia was during Nightmare Night.”

“Nightmare night.” Adagio said.” What’s that.”

“You don’t know Nightmare Night.” Sunset asked in a confused voice.”Huh, I guess you were banished here before Nightmare Night was invented. Anyhow, Nightmare Night is more or less Equestria's version of Halloween. Anyhow, I remember during one nightmare night when I was still a filly, I dressed as a royal guard and spent the night as Celestia's unofficial guard.” Sunset then let out a small chuckle before shaking her head.”I had everything a pony could ask for, and my life is perfect.”

“And let me guess: something happened.” Adagio asked,

“Yeah, it did,” Sunset said.” One day she appears.”

“ Who.” Adagio asked.

“Princess Cadance.” Sunset asked.”A former Pegasus that ascended into the ranks of alicorn.”

“Wait, ponies can become alicorns.” Adagio asked.”Is that even possible?”

“Apparently it is.” Sunset said.”Anyhow, after she appears, Celestia adopted her as her niece.”

“And let me guess, you become jealous.” Adagio asked.

“I was.” Sunset said.”I didn’t like the fact that some newcomer showed up out of nowhere and was instantly accepted as family by Celestia. A part of me felt like I was being replaced and that Celestia would shift all her attention to this newcomer.”

“And did she?” Adagio asked.

“No, she didn’t.” Sunset said.”She still has her attention on me and tries to be a part of my life while also trying to be a part of Cadance's life. She even tried to have us be friends with one another, and while Cadance was friendly, I wasn’t able to get along with her since a part of me hated her for being adopted by Celestia.”

“However, Cadance indirectly gave me an idea on how I can get closer to Celestia.” Sunset said.”If Cadance can ascend into an alicorn, then why can’t I?”

“You try to become an alicorn.” Adagio asked.

“That’s right, I did.” Sunset said.”I asked Cadance how she became an alicorn, and she told me she became an alicorn due to Celestia. Apparently, according to her, Celestia made her an alicorn after she broke the curse of an evil unicorn, and hearing that gave me an idea. If I can prove myself to Celestia, then maybe she will turn me into a princess and would see me more than a student; she would see me as a daughter and someone who is worthy to walk by her side.”

“So I dug deeper into my studies and spent years improving my magic and skills with the hope that one day it would be enough to impress Celestia that she would make me a princess.” Sunset said.”But no matter what I did, it wasn’t enough, and in time I noticed how Celestia and I started to spend less time together, with her choosing to spend time with Cadance.”

“So you really were being replaced,” Adagio asked.

“No, I don’t think it was that.” Sunset said.”Thinking back, I believe it was because she wanted me to open up with other ponies; in other words, make friends. I remember how Celestia would keep encouraging me to make friends with other ponies, but due to me having grown arrogant due to my skills in magic and my position of being her student, I would brush it off and at times would say how friendship was a waste of time.” Sunset then sighed before she continued with her story. ”Anyhow, Celestia apparently grew concerned about my growing arrogance, and many times she would give me talks about humility, but like always, I would just ignore or brush it aside, and after seeing that no matter what she said would make me listen, she decided to one day show me a mirror. I didn’t know what she expected for me to see, but what I saw in the mirror was probably what she didn’t expect.”

“What did you see?” Adagio asked.

“I saw myself as an alicorn with a crown on my head.” Sunset said.”Anyhow, after Celestia saw that, she quickly ended our lesson and refused to talk more about the mirror. I spent weeks trying to get her to tell me the mirror, but she always said no and that we will get to the mirror when I am ready.”

“And let me guess, the phase when you are ready hit you the wrong way.” Adagio said.

“Yes, it did, since back then I believe I was ready.” Sunset said.”And that Celestia was holding me back. But I suppose in a way she was, but not because she didn’t want me to achieve my potential but because I really wasn’t ready. I didn’t listen to or understand her lesson in friendship or humility, and it was due to that that Celestia believed that I wasn’t ready. The entire time, Celestia had been trying to teach me everything I needed to know, but in my arrogance, I always ignored them.”

“So what happens next?” Adagio asked.

“What happened next was that I snuck into the restricted section and tried to gain information about the mirror.” Sunset said.”I manage to find a book about the mirror and learn that every 30 moons it will open a portal to another world, and it so happens that the night I decided to sneak into the library was the night that the mirror will open. But before I could get more info, Celestia appeared, and she didn’t like what I was doing, and we had an argument, and she decided to remove me from my position as her student and immediately had her guards escort me out. Unfortunate for them, however, I was able to knock them out and quickly jump into the mirror, and, well, you know the rest.” The two then stood in silence for a few moments before that silence was broken by sunset.

“I guess that is another thing we have in common.” Sunset said.”We were so arrogant that we believed we deserved more, and it was due to that that we failed to appreciate the things and people we had in our lives, not until our arrogance caused us to lose them."

“I quite agree with that.” Adagio said bitterly. The two then stare at each other in silence, not knowing what to say now.

“So should we go back searching this place?” Sunset said in an attempt to break the silence.

“I believe so.” Adagio said before she and Sunset quickly looked over the kitchen, only to find a few utensils, a few frying pans, and a few cooking pots. Once they were done, they exited the kitchen to see Eric and Alise standing next to a table. When they heard the sound of the door opening, they immediately turned to look at them.

“Oh, there you two are.” Eric said.”Find anything.”

“Nope, we didn’t find anything useful.” Sunset said.”What about you two?”

“Besides finding a few blankets and pillows, nothing much.” Eric said.”The only useful thing we found is this map.” He then gestured to the map on the table near them, and immediately both Sunset and Adagio quickly got nearer to the table and saw the map.

“Is this the map of the land of dreams?” Adagio asked.

“It is.” Eric said.”And if I am right, we are right here.” Eric then pointed to a spot on the map, And the palace is right here.” He then pointed to the center of the map. Sunset looked at the place Eric previously pointed and saw that they weren't far from the palace.

“We are almost there,” Sunset said in shock.

“Yes, we are.” Eric said.”And if I am correct, it’s only a few hours walk from here to there.”

“Which means our journey is almost over.” Sunset said happily.

“It is.” Eric said happily, knowing that soon he will see Serenity again. ”Anyhow, I believe we should rest for tonight and begin our journey early in the morning. If we are to beat Sombra, we need all the rest we can get.”

“I agree.” Adagio said as she yawned. ”Besides, I was getting tired anyway.”

“So how many rooms are there upstairs?” Sunset asked.

“There are two rooms with one bed upstairs, and as I previously mentioned, there are a few spare pillows and blankets in the closets in those rooms.” Eric said,

“In that case, both me and Alise can share one of the beds,” Sunset said.

“And Eric can take the other bed, and I will take the one with the pillow and blanket and sleep down here.” Adagio said.

“Are you sure you want me to have the bed?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, I just want to be alone for now.” Adagio said, and immediately Sunset understood that after having to reveal her entire story, she would no doubt want to be left alone for now.

“Come on, guys, let’s go to sleep now; we have a long day tomorrow.” Sunset said.

“Alright, come on, let’s go to bed, everyone.” Eric said.
…
Somewhere in the air above the woods were a large number of Black guards riding on the giant bats. Accompanying them were the umbrums. Leading the army of Umbrum and Black Guards was a Black Guard holding what looked like a pendant. It stared at the pendant before it started glowing red, and immediately what looked like an arrow appeared in the pendant and pointed straight forward.

“It’s glowing.” The Black Guard said.

“This means the king plan is working.” The umbrum flying near the black said. ”We must go now.” Without a second to lose, all the black guards and umbrum flew in the direction the pendant was pointing to.
….
End of Chapter 6

Author's Note

In case you are wondering the idea for Cadance backstory came from here:

The inspiration for some of sunset backstory is from here:

Anyhow, don't forget to comment on what you think of my story so far