//------------------------------//
// Sunset 
// Story: Remnants of Equestria: SSTT 
// by chillbook1 
//------------------------------//

	Long ago, before even the Great War, there was a land called Equestria. Within Equestria, there were four warring groups of people. They separated into four villages, which eventually grew to live in four massive Forts: Fort Vale, Fort Mistral, Fort Vacuo, and Fort Atlas. Their hate and distrust for each other attracted the creatures of Grimm, beings of darkness and negativity, who demolished their forts and greatly diminished their numbers. A small band of survivors from Fort Atlas uncovered a secret weapon, Dust, which they shared with the other survivors. The surviving Humans and Faunus battled the Grimm and erected Kingdoms, named for their forts. By this point, society as they knew it was in tatters, and these Remnants of Equestria built a new land, appropriately named “Remnant”. Their walls were guarded by powerful men and women, wielding both steel and Dust as weapons. These guardians had many names. Some called them spirits. Others knew them as half-gods. Today, we call them Huntsmen, but the names don’t matter. Regardless of what they are called, they should be acknowledged as one thing above all else; Legends.

That was the story my dad would tell me, and then my mom when Dad would hunt. I don’t remember the whole story, but I remember bits and pieces. I remember my father’s grin from that last word. Legends. That’s what he wanted to be. He had always wanted to be a legendary hero, protector of the weak, helper of the helpless. That’s what made me know, without a doubt, that I wanted to be a Huntress.

I was always a good fighter, and I flew right through Signal like it was nothing. Dad wanted me to go to Atlas Academy and train with the strongest military force in Remnant. I would’ve done it if he hadn’t gotten laid out like he did. My dad’s paralysis made me stay, if for nothing else than to punish the Grimm responsible. When I first saw my mother wheel him in, I made my decision. I would slay Grimm and become Vale’s greatest hero, just like my father was.


My name is Sunset Shimmer and I want to be a Huntress. 

I was widely considered the greatest fighter at Signal. I only ever lost to my best frenemy, Starlight (rumor has it, she actually did move to Atlas). I owed most of my success to my awesome axe guitar, Rebecca. Becky and I have won hundreds of fights, against students and Grimm alike (even though I wasn’t really supposed to hunt just yet). I was unsurpassed, for the most part. It got really boring after a while.

My story begins like a lot of others: At initiation. Well, about an hour before initiation, actually. That’s when I saw her for the first time since the thing with my dad. She didn’t know my name, but I knew hers. I made it my business to learn her name, her history, everything about her. Despite having only seen her a rough dozen times in my life, I recognized her immediately. Straight, purple hair, that stupid pink highlight, the big, twitchy pony ears on the top of her head. When I look back at it, we were very similar. Faunus children of legendary Huntsmen and Huntresses. We both had massive shoes to fill, even if one of us was more eager to fill them than the other.





I was walking through Beacon’s courtyards, my guitar case slung over my shoulder during my stroll. I needed to do something, anything, to burn time until I could do what I did best: fight. The fresh air was nice, the sun warm enough to make me slightly uncomfortable in my leather jacket. I considered picking a shady tree to nap under and was about to choose one when I saw her.

She was reading a book on Grimm biology when I approached her. She was so preoccupied, I was able to stare at her for several moments without being noticed. She never heard me, despite the big, very functional ears. She was too focused. I grinned slyly, determined to play with my food before I devoured it.

“We're both Faunus, but your mom was human. How does that work? Shouldn't you have one ear or something?” It was a stupid question, but it caught her attention as intended. She looked up from her book, locking her deep violet eyes onto my piercing cyan ones. I smirked deviously, then gently flicked her pony ear.

“It’s based on recessive genes,” she said quietly. “H-hello. I’m-”

“Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Night Light and Twilight Velvet,” I said, smirking at the confused and startled look she gave me. I stepped back, allowing her to get a good look at me. Soak it in, Sparkle. I have the same ears as you. We’re basically kin. I wanted her to remember every detail of my face because she would be staring at my back from that point on.

“Sorry, I don’t know your name,” said Twilight.

“Sunset Shimmer,” I said, my tone false and sugary-sweet. I extended her hand. “My parents knew your parents. Your brother and that girl of his, too.” She stared at my hand nervously for a second, then gripped it and shook. 

“Nice to meet you,” she said.

“So, is it true?” I asked. She looked at me with an expression that spilled confusion. Awesome. “About your dad being a member of the White Fang?”

“What?! No, of course-”

“Ya know, I think he must’ve been. Otherwise, he was just a coward.” I glared at her coldly, hoping my gaze could somehow make her understand the hate I had for her, for her parents.

“My dad was a hero,” she lied. “He was brave and strong. He wasn’t a Fang, and he was definitely no coward.”

“Hm. If that’s so, why’d he run? What kind of a man just leaves his daughter behind?” I grinned darkly. Get it now, Sparkle? You and your dad are worthless. “No man at all. Face it, Sparkle, your pops was a coward.”

“He didn’t run, he went missing.” She gripped the dagger on her hip angrily. “So ungrateful dirtbags like you can be safe.”

“Oh, who told you that? Your brother? What about the team he was working with?” I all but spit in her face at that point. “Did you bother to ask them their side? Why not ask the people he affected, like my dad. You know, he’ll never be a Huntsman again, and it’s all because of Night Light. He was a coward, and he doesn’t deserve the decency of being declared MIA. He went AWOL, to save his own skin, and-”

“You’ve clearly never met my father. If you did, you’d know that he was a brave man.” She stood up and drew her dagger. “You will not talk about him that way.”

“You gonna stop me?” I hissed. “You’re his daughter, and a coward can only make a coward.”

“How about we duel? Maybe we’ll see who’s really the coward,” she said, adopting her battle stance. Right foot forward, dagger in her right hand and facing down. Her left hand clenched slightly and held below the right. It was the most efficient way to use that dagger of hers, Dusk. A long, purple-tinted dagger with a thick crossguard the length of the blade itself. There were little dents along the guard for her to put her fingers in when it transformed. On the end of the hilt was a small amethyst that was vital to her style of combat. That said, I had no clue what that style was. I’d only seen her fight once or twice, and she never transformed it before. In that one regard, I was in the dark. Not that it mattered.

“Sure. I’m not busy,” I said, slinging my guitar to the floor. “That’s a tiny knife, though, you sure that’s enough?”

“You have a guitar, for Pete's sake.”

I flipped open her case and withdrew a large, electric blue electric axe guitar, both an axe literally and in musical terminology. The body was actually a sharpened blade, easily capable of cutting right through her stupid face. I twirled it around, then played a loud, hard rock solo.

“This baby plays some killer chords, huh?” I said mockingly.

“That’s not plugged into an amplifier…” she noted. She was really smart, but apparently had never seen a guitar with a built-in amp before. “How do we do this? Do we count to three or-”

She barely had time to duck my first swing. The next one was no easier, just barely missing her dagger arm. She finally got the lead out of her boots and made her first stab forward. I blocked it with the flat of my axe, tilted it, and wailed out another chord. 

My music blared, knocking her flat on her ass. She recovered, then threw out a left hook. I dodged right, an admittedly foolish move which allowed her to catch me on the side of the face with Dusk’s hilt. I shook the pain away angrily, then played another loud blast of music, this one powerful enough to knock her on her ass. I stood over her, turning my guitar over in my hands before raising it up. This was what it would always be like, Sparkle. I am superior to you in every way and don’t you dare forget it. I would never kill her, but I’d scare her to hell and back. I swung my axe downwards, prepared to stop it a few inches from her nose.

I’m not sure exactly what happened next. All I know for a fact is that Rebecca was flung to the side, as was Sparkle’s Dusk. Then, I felt the air leave my lungs, and I was suddenly on my back a few yards away. It happened so fast, next thing I knew, someone was pulling me to my feet.

“Unless one of you is secretly a Grimm in disguise, I see no reason for weapons to have been drawn,” said the interference. She was a tall, pale woman with a head of long, tri-colored hair. A large, golden scepter in her hand exuded a strange, yet familiar, energy, and marked her as the Headmistress of Beacon.

“Professor Celestia…” I said quietly.

“Sunset Shimmer, I know your parents quite well, so I say on rather good authority that they would be aghast at your behavior,” said the Professor sternly. “They taught you better than this.” She turned to Sparkle. “The same goes for you, Ms. Sparkle. Tell me, do you think your father would want you to get expelled in his name?”

Even though she thought I was going to behead her a few moments ago, that was the scariest part of the day for her.

“E-e-expelled?” stammered Twilight. 

“Students who battle on school grounds face expulsion.” Her stony gaze softened significantly. “However… As orientation hasn't begun yet… I suppose you aren't students. “

“Why?” I asked. Later, I’d ask myself why I would risk expulsion by asking such an unnecessary question. “Why not just boot us out? It’d be easy, and you’d be in the right.”

“Because, much like Blaze, Starburst, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet, I believe in second chances,” said Celestia. She folded her scepter in half, then slipped it through a loop in her belt. “Neither of your families would be happy to know that you are fighting one another in retaliation for events you were too young to understand.”

“She called my father a coward,” she said. She sounded like a child, which was appropriate.

“He was not. You know that, I know that, and even Sunset Shimmer knows that. What happened to your parents, both of yours, was a travesty. Neither party was at fault.” Celestia crossed her arms behind her back. “You two will shake hands, apologize, and wish each other luck in the coming initiation.”

Sparkle and I glared at each other for a bit before we each begrudgingly grasped each other's hands, as if the other would sprout Taijitu fangs.

“Sorry,” she said through gritted teeth. “Good luck with initiation.”

“Right back at you, Sparky,” She clearly didn’t like the nickname, which meant I would use it every chance I got.

“I suggest you both head to the Great Hall for debriefing before initiation,” said Celestia. She turned to walk away but stopped herself. “There are too many enemies in this world for you to make more amongst your friends. Remember that. You are here to fight Grimm, not each other.”

She was right. Of course, she was right. And of course, I was too young, stupid, and angry to care. All that mattered was that Celestia was standing in the way of my revenge. It never occurred to me that Twilight had completely lost both of her parents while mine were still alive and in my life. I never considered the fact that it wasn’t Twilight’s fault for the way her dad acted. It was just so easy to hate her.

Without even noticing, I was slowly sympathizing with the creatures I worked so hard to kill.





“For years, you have trained to become warriors,” said Celestia, standing before us with a sort of expectant grin. “And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.”

I could hardly contain my excitement. Initiation was about to begin. To either side of me was a line of Huntsmen and Huntresses, totalling at thirty-one other guys and girls. Directly in front of me, standing on the edge of the cliff, were Professor Celestia and her sister, Professor Luna. Luna was like Celestia’s right-hand man, handling things when the Headmistress was busy with other matters. She was also a legendary Huntress in her own right.

“It is likely that you have heard rumors of team assignments,” said Luna. “We stand before you to end your confusion. Each of you will be receiving a teammate, whom you will traverse the Forest with.”

“These teammates will be following you throughout your entire life at Beacon Academy,” added Celestia. “So it would be mutually beneficial if you were to pick a partner with whom you can work well with.” Her smirk went from excited to downright devious. “That said, your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with on the ground.”

“Well, damn,” I muttered. 

“After partnering up, head to the northern end of the Forest. You will encounter opposition. Do not hesitate to slay anything in your path,” Luna said forebodingly. “Our staff will be monitoring you to ensure there is no cheating-”

“Or fighting amongst each other,” said Celestia. Her stare seemed to linger on me and Sparkle, who was just to my right.

“But they will not intervene. You are on your own. Hesitation could mean your death.”

“Once you partner up, you will begin searching for a temple, where you will find several relics,” said Celestia. “Each pair will retrieve one relic, and return here. We will factor in the relic to your overall standing and the partner you have chosen, and you will be given your grade accordingly.” Her grin was a full-on smile now. “Any questions?”

Silence reigned over the students. I think we all just wanted to kill something, and Celestia noticed.

“Prepare yourselves,” said Celestia. I grabbed my guitar case tightly, adjusting my stance a bit. I tapped my foot impatiently on the little square panel I was standing on. Time to show my stuff.

“Good luck, my students,” said Celestia.

“Begin.”

And, just like that, I was in the air. It was amazing, to soar unimpeded through the air. But, soon I’d start falling, and I’d need to prepare for that. I looked down at the sea of green, trying to decide where would be a good place to land. The further north, the better. I titled forward in the air, shooting down like a bullet. Just before hitting the tree canopy, I yanked Becky from her case and swung her down as hard as I could. The blade caught a branch, allowing me to swing forward and land on my feet. I took a second to assess my surroundings.

Trees. Lots of trees. Literally, nothing but trees. I strained my ears to sense some sound of movement, and I didn’t get much back. My hearing was slightly better than a human’s, on account of my Faunus blood, but it wasn’t much to write home about. I moved forward carefully, my hand on my guitar case. Most students hadn’t actually fought a Grimm before, but I was pretty well-versed in dealing with most varieties of monsters. 

I walked in silence for ten minutes, never hearing more than the screech of a Nevermore soaring through the sky. Just as I thought I would never run into a partner, I heard the roar of a Grimm, and the shriek of a student. I booked it in the direction of the noise, hopping over branches and tree roots until I burst into a clearing to save the day.

Twilight was pinned down by a big, angry Ursa. She struggled pitifully under its weight, just barely keeping it from ripping out her throat. I froze because I couldn’t believe the luck. She was stuck under an Ursa, the same monster that crippled my dad. I felt a small smirk spread on my face. All I had to do was sit there and watch. Twilight pushed pitifully one last time, finally catching view of me in her peripheral vision. She saw who had come to save her, and a wave of disappointment passed over her. She thought that I’d just sit there and let her get torn to shreds, and she surrendered. That’s when I had my epiphany. That look of defeat, and hopelessness, that was the same look my dad must’ve had.

I ran forward and slid, wailing on my guitar as I did. Rebecca screeched loudly, with enough force to knock it a few feet away. I grabbed Twilight by the wrist and yanked her to her feet.

“Don’t quit on me yet, Sparky,” I said. “You still need to repay me for what your dad did.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” she said. I rolled my eyes, then chucked my axe as hard as I could at the Ursa. The blade lodged itself into its chest, killing the beast.

“Yeah, I think you do, Sparky,” I said with a grin. I collected my guitar and slipped it back in its case. “Guess we’re partners, huh? Oh well, I could do worse.”

A surge of heat rushed at me from behind, igniting my arm and scorching my skin. I screamed loudly, batting at it to try to put it out. For some reason, it wouldn’t go out.

“Do something!” I snapped. Twilight was apparently a statue, and couldn’t be bothered to help me. Luckily, I didn’t need her help.

“I swear to God, if you don’t shut up, I will feed you to a Beowolf!”

I recognized that voice. It came from the direction of the fireball, and I was able to hear the faint sound of leaves and twigs beneath feet. I tried again to slap the flames away when they slowly flickered into nothing. I dropped to the ground, clutching my arm in agony.

“Glimmer!” I shouted. The steps quickened to a run, and then she stepped into clear view. She wore all gray, like the Atlas Academy uniform, except with a black equal sign on each shoulder as opposed to the Atlesian crest. Her hair was the same old purple that it always was, along with the turquoise streaks. Her perpetual, ironically-superior smirk was nowhere to be found today. Instead, she seemed barely able to refrain from exploding, and it was due to the girl behind her. She gripped her two-pronged staff (the weapon that had scorched me) tightly, angrily.

This chick was a weirdo. She wore this shimmering blue cape, and a magician’s hat, decorated with stars and moons. She had this weird energy to her, an insane amount of confidence. She didn’t even have a weapon.

“Oh, it’s just you,” said Starlight. “Did I hit you?”

“No, my arm always had third-degree burns,” I groaned. I calmed down slightly, letting my Aura do its job. I felt the skin begin to heal, the burns nowhere near as bad as it looked. “Nice shooting, by the way. You might’ve hit a Grimm if there were any around.”

“Don’t blame me. Blame my idiot partner,” growled Starlight. She jabbed her thumb in the other girl’s direction. “This girl does not shut up, ever! All she does is brag!”

“Trixie cannot help it if she’s so amazing,” said the girl, turning her head up in disgust. “Trixie should be the one complaining! She’s the one stuck with a Huntress as bland and useless as you!”

“So, you and Trixie are partners?” asked Twilight. “Since Sunset and I are already partners, so I think we have nothing to lose by working together.”

“Trixie requires no assistance! She-”

“You don't get a vote, Lulamoon,” said Starlight. She turned to me. “Please tell me, just this once, that you know something I don't.”

“I'm just as lost as you, Glim.” I had no idea where we were, or how we'd get to the temple. “We need to get moving. If we're the last pairs to get relics, we are S.O.L. in terms of being real Huntresses.”

For some reason, everyone looked at me, as if I had some answers. I literally just said I didn’t know where I was going. Still, for whatever reason, I seemed to be chosen to figure it out. 

“So? Where do we go?” asked Twilight. I bit down on my tongue in thought, when a brilliant idea struck me.

“Hey, Sparky, you know about Faunus, right?” I asked rhetorically. “If I were to play a song, would we be able to hear it echo?”

“Um… Perhaps. I’m not sure,” she said. “I suppose, possibly, I could. The trees might cause some interference, but…”

“Awesome.” I pulled out my guitar and a small tuning fork from the case. I slapped the fork against my knee, taking note of how it rang. I tuned my guitar accordingly, then adjusted its amp settings. Now, it’d blast a bit more concentrated, shaped by my Aura.

“Let’s make some noise,” I said. Then, I wailed out on Becky. I went into one of my favorite metal songs, rotating slightly as I went. After about half a rotation, Twilight stopped me. I halted my strings, then strained my ears. Sure enough, I could hear my song come back to me, not like how it normally did when it bounced off of the trees.

“Alrighty, then,” I said with a grin. “Let’s go!”

I slipped Rebecca back into her case and set off through the woods, followed close behind by the other three. I still don’t know when exactly we agreed that I’d take point, but I definitely wasn’t going to say no to it. I was probably the best candidate, honestly. Sparky wasn’t exactly the type to take charge, and Glim was a bit of a tyrant. I didn’t know much about the other girl, but she seemed too stupid and confident to lead a team. So, it was on me.

After walking for five seconds, Trixie started up again. She complained, and bragged, and complained about why nobody noticed that she was bragging. If Celestia wasn’t watching, I’d hit her with Becky and call it a training accident. I tried to block it out and focus on my surroundings.

Ten minutes into our trek, I stopped in my tracks. Twilight did the same, and we both drew out weapons. Glimmer and Trixie stared at us but prepared to fight anyway. Them not being Faunus, they weren’t able to hear what me and Sparky could.

“Yo, Sparks,” I whispered. “You hear em?”

“Yes. I think your music attracted them,” she said. “And don’t call me that.”

“What are we dealing with?” asked Starlight, matching our volume.

“Can’t be sure. I hear a Beowolf, and maybe an Ursa… Wait, I think I hear a T-”

“Do your worst, creatures of Grimm!” shouted Trixie, one hand confidently on her hip while the other pointing in the general direction of the Beowolves. “Come, you foul beasts! Battle with the Great and Powerful Trixie if you think you’ve got the mettle!”

Grimm are attracted by negative emotions. This is common knowledge. What isn’t so much common knowledge is exactly what constitutes as a negative emotion. Anger, tension, and distrust are the most common ideas of negative emotions, but there are more. Depression, lust, and even just apathy can attract and enrage the Grimm.

Oh, and arrogance. The Grimm hate that.

“She’s an idiot!” hissed Starlight. Three Beowolves burst from the treeline, bounding forward for us. Starlight swiped her staff horizontally, sending a wave of flame forward. The Grimm shrugged it off and leapt towards Starlight. 

Trixie jumped in front of them, throwing a handful of little blue orbs. They exploded, which shrouded both her and the Beowolves in heavy purple smoke. I couldn’t really see what happened next. All I know is that the Grimm went launching backwards from where they came, crashing against trees. I heard the snap of one of their spines, and the beast soon started to disappear, like all Grimm did when they died.

“The Great Trixie is quite amazing, don’t you agree?” she said with a smirk. We didn’t have time to congratulate/beat the tar out of her because the remaining Beowolves were back for more. I pulled my axe from her case and held it at the ready. I never even had to swing, because Trixie surprised us all again.

“Enough!” she shouted. Her voice became shimmery, almost slick and smooth. “Have you not wasted enough of Trixie’s valuable time?! Go, shoo, before Trixie sends you to hell to meet up with your friend!”

The Grimm stopped in their tracks, reeling like they had been hit over the top of the head with something heavy. Slowly, but definitely surely, they began walking away. Within a minute, they were gone.

“How the hell did you do that?!” demanded Starlight. “You just told a Grimm to go away, and it listened!”

“Her Semblance,” said Sparky. She tensed up, gripping her dagger even tighter than before. “I was right. There are more coming.”

Something slithered to our right. Something big. It sounded like someone was dragging a tree across the floor. Only one thing could make that noise.

“King Taijitu,” I muttered. “Never fought one of those before.”

“They’re big,” said Twilight. No duh, genius. “And their scales are thick. We won’t be cracking through them without considerable effort.”

“Weak points?” asked Starlight.

“Eyes. Trixie, can you do that thing again?”

“Pah! You expect Trixie to win all of your fights for you?” scoffed Trixie. We glared at her, and she sort of shrank. “Trixie cannot use her Semblance very often or on everything. A Taijitu will be able to resist Trixie’s dulcet tones.”

“We run,” I said. Starlight, Sparky, and Trixie were shocked, and they showed it. “Look, we’re not killing that thing without a solid plan and room to breathe, and we don’t have either. So, we F.O. Glim, you cause a distraction. Trixie, head left. Sparky, follow me right. Glim will follow Trixie when we’re in the clear.” It was a good plan, the best one I could come up with on such short notice. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.

The massive black head of the Taijitu wormed its way from the density of the trees before us. Glimmer was in action before the giant serpent even stopped; She leapt forward and slammed her staff into the ground, setting the air around the snake’s head aflame. The Taijitu flinched, and I saw my opening. I grabbed Twilight around the wrist and practically dragged her forward, crossing paths with Trixie as I did. We made it past the first head when Twilight made the mistake of looking back.

“Starlight!” she screamed. The Taijitu had raised its head and rushed forward, rocketing towards Starlight too quickly for her to dodge. I grinned.

“She’s fine,” I said, skidding to a stop. The head paused just in front of Starlight, then slowly retreated. It lowered its head back down to the ground, to the point when Starlight set the air around it on fire. The flare re-appeared and sucked in on itself. Starlight grinned, then headed after Trixie. The Taijitu had its head engulfed in flames again, reared itself up, and lunged forward at nothing, burying his head into the dirt. Starlight’s Semblance was probably the coolest thing about her.

“Amazing,” breathed Twilight. We took off running, putting as much distance between us and the Taijitu as possible. Shimmer and Trixie kept heading left while me and Sparky kept on right. 

“Try to keep up, Sparks,” I said playfully. I spared her a small smirk, which was a terrible mistake. I hit something large, dense, and black and fell flat on my ass. I looked up to see the looming, formidable shape of an Ursa. I never even got to reach for my guitar.

Six bolts of purple light collided with the Grimm’s chest, sticking in place. There was a soft whistling sound, like a bullet zipping past, and six daggers of purple light stabbed themselves into its chest. Sparky hopped forward, sticking her knife into the Grimm’s neck, to finish him off. He collapsed onto me, melting away after a few seconds.

“Even?” asked Twilight, offering me her hand. I looked at her for a moment, then accepted her help.

“Not by a long shot,” I said with a grin.





“Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, and Twilight Sparkle,” said Professor Celestia, gesturing to the large screen that was projecting our images. “The four of you retrieved the Magic Elements. From this day forth, you will work together as Team Sunset, led by Sunset Shimmer.”

The students watching clapped politely, and Trixie actually bowed in their direction. She really was hopeless. But now, she was my problem to deal with. We actually were the first ones to retrieve our relics, the Magic Element of Harmony. We were sort of the Team to beat. Lucky, too. We picked a good year to enroll. It was Vytal Year, and we’d be able to fight in the Tournament. Teams would be gunning for us throughout the year. I grinned just at the thought.

Hit us with your best shot, Beacon.