Even Less of a God
When the Great and Powerful Trixie woke up, the first thing she did was panic.
Not as part of her routine or anything. She wasn't the kind of girl who was so high-strung that she went into a blind panic every time she got yanked out of dreamland. Most mornings, she woke up softly, like a butterfly or a summer breeze, and she spent so long snuggled up in her covers that she had long since set her alarm to go off two hours before she actually needed to start waking up. No, the panicked awakening was a one-time thing.
Of course, if you woke up in the back of a van you didn't recognize, wearing a sheer silk nightgown you didn't own, with your hands and feet bound by ropes that definitely weren't meant to be comfortable and your magic cut off by a very ugly tiara, you'd probably panic too.
After about five solid minutes of frenzied thrashing about, the Great and Powerful Trixie gave up. While her captors obviously didn't give a tinker's cuss about the comfort of the struggling artist, they certainly knew their knots. They had been tied as expertly as any knot on a magician's escape rope, with the obvious caveat that these knots hadn't been tied to be escapable. The anti-magic headband just seemed lazy by comparison, and the way it pressed her headgem back into her skull was more than a little painful. With the futility of her situation successfully impressed upon her, the Great and Powerful Trixie decided to try and assess the positives.
Well, it was a nice van, at the very least. There was no small amount of wear and tear, but that was hardly a mark against it. "The sign of a good vehicle," Trixie's father had always said, "is one that looks beaten half to Hades. That's how you know it stands a chance of making it back out." Empty bags and plastic containers were strewn about the back of the van, but they were all clean or very close to. There was a garbage bag in one corner of the van's trunk, but there weren't any smells wafting off of it, so it was probably just unfortunately labelled storage.
And at least Trixie's kidnappers knew how to dress a girl up nice. Not that she was all that big into fashion, but she knew what looked good on her, and that nightgown was looking great.
Any further positive reflection was suddenly cut short as the door of the van clicked open. Trixie tensed up, her muscles bunching together and a variety of half-remembered martial arts moves flashing through her mind. As the door slid back to reveal her kidnapper, Trixie didn't know what to expect. She couldn't think of anyone who would go to the trouble of kidnapping her, and even she would have to admit she was far from the most attractive girl in the school. No, that honor would definitely have to go to...
"Oh, good. You're awake."
"Sunset Shimmer?"
There was no chance of mistaken identity. Sunset Shimmer was probably the most recognizable person alive today, and even if you had never encountered her as anything other than a pillar of incandescent light in serious need of a coffee break, you would have recognized her voice. Folks seldom forgot the voice of the only god willing to pick up the phone.
But as Sunset Shimmer climbed into the van, it quickly became clear that something was off. Her face seemed older, and less kind, but somehow better-rested. The gem glittering in the center of her forehead was only a sparkling blue, rather than the constant entrancing flicker of flames that always seemed to be dancing in Sunset's headgem. Of course, it was her clothing that was really surprising to Trixie; a grey hoodie and faded black jeans, as though the most recognizable face on the entire planet were trying to hide from the rest of the world.
"Yes and no." Sunset set down a plastic grocery bag, and Trixie couldn't stop her stomach from grumbling when she saw that there were bagels. But now was not the time for food, as evidenced by Sunset crawling closer and beginning to undo her ropes.
"What do you mean, yes and no? Are you Sunset Shimmer or are you not?" Trixie tried to twist away from her possibly-but-most-likely-not captor in protest, but the girl's magic quickly encircled her and tugged her back into place.
"Yes. And. No." Sunset was gritting her teeth and growling, but she seemed to be staying corporeal. Trixie was getting very confused, and it must have been obvious, because Sunset sighed and let her head fall into her hands. "Look, you know that your Sunset isn't from this world, right?"
"Obviously," Trixie said as the possibly-but-increasingly-unlikely-to-be Sunset went back to undoing her ropes, this time with magic. "Everyone knows that."
"And what do you know about her world?"
"That it's a world even more drenched in magic than this one, that it's been like that since basically forever, it's populated by hyper-intelligent horse people, and that all the people living there are just generally more awesome versions... of... us..." Trixie's eyes bugged out as she realized what was going on, and she stared at Sunset with a strange mix of embarrassment and terror.
"That's right," Sunset Shimmer whispered comfortingly, reaching over and plucking off Trixie's headband. "I'm the one who was here first."
Trixie had no idea what to do. Even in a world that obeyed totally different rules to the ones she had grown up with, meeting the homeless doppelganger of the most powerful girl in the world was not something she had planned for. With no clue how to resolve the situation, she did the only thing she could do.
She said a quick prayer under her breath.
A few hours later, Trixie and Sunset Shimmer (the god-one, not the mortal one) materialized in front of Canterlot High. Trixie basically collapsed against the nearest wall, not sure whether to laugh or scream. For her part, Sunset was trying her best to stop from catching fire.
"Alright, Trixie," she said, her voice audibly teetering on the edge of a string of curse-words. "What have we learned today?"
"The difference between LARPers and cults?"
"If you're LARPing the systematic annihilation of every other religious icon by one particular religious icon, there isn't a difference. Try again."
Trixie thought for a moment, then shrugged. "If a more awesome version of you comes to your planet and gets world-wide recognition, confront them instead of running away?"
"That's what she learned."
"If you ever invade an alternate dimension that's inherently less awesome than yours and everyone there is a less awesome doppelganger of people you know, hunt down your alternate counterpart and network instead of just hoping she never shows up?"
"Okay, now you're just making this about me."
Trixie actually burst out laughing at that point. "Well, it is all you! The only thing the Great and Powerful Trixie did was get roped into being a virgin sacrifice to you, and then pray for help!"
Sunset's palm rose up and smacked her own face, and the sound echoed across the city. "Trixie, what did you learn about magic today?"
"Oh, that." Trixie pulled out a file and started working her nails. "If you design a teleportation spell with one specific recipient, but then try to redirect the spell because you're tired of getting burnt offerings in math class, make sure the redirect link goes where you want it to go."
Sunset Shimmer smiled, and gave Trixie a playful punch in the shoulder. "That's my favorite student."
A fair few readers probably know that the whole crazy idea of this story was inspired by Story Shuffle, a One-Shotober collection that used MtG cards as prompts. A few of the stories contained therein went on to become part of an alternate continuity otherwise entirely divorced from the MtG-crossover concept, the Oversaturated World. Basically, magic pours into the human world at a slightly faster rate than it's been doing in the movies, which culminates in Sunset Shimmer accidentally becoming a god. Hijinks ensue.
I've wanted to do something with it for quite some time, and this card coupled with an interesting concept for Sunset's human counterpart provided just such an opportunity. Unfortunately, due to a combination of unexpected IRL circumstances, I didn't have as much time on this one as I probably needed, so I had to cut out the scene where Sunset Shimmer burns down the headquarters of the cult that tried to sacrifice Trixie.
It's also very firmly not canon with the actual AU, but it was a fun idea to mess around with, so I'm not sorry.
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Wooly Thoctar!? You got this from Wooly Thoctar? Don't get me wrong, the flavor text certainly makes it work, and there's a very interesting concept here. It does need one more scene to better establish just what Trixie escaped from, but this was still quite entertaining. Thank you for it.
Also, "a pillar of incandescent light in serious need of a coffee break" is one of the better descriptions of this Sunset that I've seen.
7625101 On this day, the true limitations of One-Shotober were discovered.
Still, glad the result was enjoyable.
This was confusing even as one who could make a good guess about the background context of this. Mainly 'cause I was wondering if it was a Pony or EGQ Trixie, as IIRC, Magic Inhibitors aren't a thing in the Oversaturated World, until this snip. Mainly 'cause I was the one who asked about them. ... Although, I could have misremembered my answer.
Also... Wait... Is the whole Cavalcade in the Oversaturated World and I just didn't know or think that until now???
7625179 This one-shot is very firmly non-canon to the actual Oversaturated World, partially because I checked with FoME and discovered that Sunset's actual policy for attempted sacrifices or burnt offerings is much more no-nonsense and partially because of the anti-magic device you bring up.
Ok, I admit that I don't quite get this one.
7625302 Yeah. Sorry about that. Truly.
On the plus side, things should be back to normal tomorrow.
I'm still not sure what Trixie learned about magic today ... where was the spell targeted? What was using the spell? How or to where was it redirected?
In others words ... what?
7626047 A Sunset Shimmer-worshipping cult made a spell that sent their burnt offerings and sacrifices directly to Sunset Shimmer. She altered their spell so that it couldn't reach her, thinking that would just cause a loop and their offerings wouldn't go anywhere. Instead, the magic latched onto the other Sunset Shimmer.
7626152
Everybody loses because they leave the table in disgust :-P :-D
More seriously, I'm gonna bet on Storm Crow.
Ride that fast paced tempo, baby!
Fllllllrp.
FLRRRRRRRRP.
I just.
It has.
Yes.
FLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLLRLRLRLRLLRLRP.
7626798 ....
Pardon?
7626984
FLLLLRLLRLRLRLRLRLERLLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLELLRLELELRTLTLLTLERLLRLRLLRLRP!
7627055 Please speak English, you mutant cat.
7627063
Excuse me, the mutant cat is my avatar. I myself am a black leather robe.
I believe my avatar was attempting to express amazement and genuine appreciation at your basing one of your snips off one of mine.
7627070 Well, you did the same once. Figured I should do my best to pay you back.
Oh my god
I just got caught up
Woolly Thoctar
Eeeeeeeeeeeee
Overall, I enjoyed this. Granted, in not familiar with the story this world is set in, but I still found it enjoyable. Lots of confusion at first, but the comments did help clear things up.
This probably isn't a good introduction to the Oversaturated World, is it? XD
8412933
Oh, it's an objectively shit introduction to it. It barely even makes sense to people to know the world.
8412964
well, I'm at least interested in it now. :) Gotta find some time to read things I want to. <.<