In the middle of the Friendship Games, Sunset enters the portal during Twilight's time-traveling dilemma.
With no response from Princess Twilight during the Friendship Games, Sunset decides to go back to Equestria and talk to her face-to-face. Upon entering the portal, she is thrown into a alternate time-line that is in a constant loop. Nothing makes sense and with every second it makes even less sense. With only Twilight and another pony knowing what's going on, Sunset must help make it right again.
"Twilight hasn't answered any of my letters. There must be another way to contact her."
Sunset stared at the mirror before her. Ever since the Crystal Prep students arrived on campus, magic had been acting up in the strangest of ways. Sunset's friends were ponying-up close to everyday and on the oddest of circumstances. That wasn't even the worst of Sunset's problems as Twilight's human counterpart, a student from Crystal Prep, was taking the magic from her friends.
"There's only one thing to do then," Sunset urged herself.
In the corner of her eye she spied the other Twilight making her way over to the statue. If Sunset wanted to traverse the mirror, she had to do it now or else she would be seen. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the seemingly smooth marble base. The marble rippled like water upon her touch. She then hesitated. A pang of guilt sprang through her as she felt like she was abandoning her friends.
"C'mon, Sunset, it would only take a moment and I'll be back," she told herself.
With that, she threw herself into the mirror. The magic it contained took hold of her and sent her flying through the dimensional energy. It had been a while since she felt the sensation of traveling through dimensions. Her stomach started to churn as much as her head as she tumbled on. Colors and flashes of light blinded her. At the end of this colorful and swirling tunnel was a dark hole that became larger and larger with each split-second.
"Gah!"
The hole engulfed her and before she knew it, she was face-first in a pile of stacked books. The books, made unsteady by the force of her slamming into them, soon toppled all over her new mane and horn. Several grunts of pain afterwards, Sunset used her magic to levitate the novels and tomes off of her.
"Why would they put so many books in this room?"
Upon saying these words, she froze in confusion. Her surroundings were not that of the Crystal Palace, but of Canterlot architecture. The high ceilings, the stained windows, the smell of burning oils and incense all contradicted the memories of when she stole Twilight's crown.
"Well, she did tell me they moved the mirror to her castle..."
Her eyes wandered about. No, she thought, Twilight said her castle was crystal too. These walls are made of stone. White Canterlotian stone. Maybe they just returned it to Canterlot? Sunset shrugged her pony shoulders at this and stood up. Her hearing, smelling, and eyesight felt hyper with her pony senses. She could hear armored hoofsteps in the distant halls and the pungent smell of books filled her nostrils.
It would be best if I get out of here and see Celestia. Heck, maybe Twilight is here too. Though Sunset never enjoyed the idea of seeing her teacher again, she was willing to go through it for her friends. After a relaxing breath, she made her way out of the book-filled room and headed down the adjacent hall. It all felt too familiar to her. Last time she was here, she was running away from Celestia in a fit of rage. The halls were the same. The torches and small pony statues no different. From this she concluded that these were the very same halls she ran through to the mirror. Odd, why would they place it in the same exact spot?
At the end of the hall was a set of winding stairs, lit only by a handful of dim torches. So dim, in fact, that Sunset made her horn glow with light to see. It must be night. Huh, I never noticed that the human world and Equestria had different time zones.
The stairs were long and Sunset began to huff as she ascended them. With her new legs, she wobbled about, trying to remember how to use them properly. She had to calculate some of her steps carefully and her pace up the stairs was not a speedy one.
"Finally!" she cried when she reached the top. "Now to find Princess Celestia."
"Halt!"
Sunset froze upon hearing the voices of two stallions. She glanced off to her left to see a pair of royal guards run at her with spears in their magical grip. They stopped right before her and held their weapons at her fiercely. She only smiled back at them and gave a short wave with her hoof.
"Good to see you two. Is the Princess around?" she asked courteously.
"Who are you! How did you enter the palace at this hour?" the darker of the two unicorn guards demanded.
"I'm Sunset Shimmer," she pointed a hoof at her chest.
Their eyes widened. "Sunset Shimmer? You have returned!"
"Yes, yes. I know it's been a long time."
"Of all the days you should return, it's today!" the other growled. "The princess has enough stress on her hooves already. Now she has to deal with your traitorous flank!"
Sunset backed up. "Traitorous? Guys, I'm reformed. I've learned the magic of friendship! I'm not the pony tha-"
The darker one cut her off. "Save it! You still have the charge of assaulting the princess before you escaped into the mirror. We must take you to her, whether you like it or not."
"Then I'll come peacefully."
They preceded to flank either side of her and lead her up the massive hallway. She could only raise her brows in confusion. None of this felt right. Not only did the guards seem unaware of recent events, but they seemed to remember her all too well. She had been gone for years and they acted like she was gone for only months.
"May I ask what has happened since I left?" Sunset risked the question.
"Too much, lass, too much," the lighter colored guard sighed. "You've come at the worst of times."
"I'm sorry to be an inconvience. I just want to ask Princess Twilight some things about magic. You see-"
"Princess Twilight? There's only two princesses, and one is not well known. Who is this Twilight you speak of?" The darker guard hissed.
"Uh...The Princess of Friendship? Do you live under a rock?" Sunset was becoming annoyed.
"Have your journey through dimensions fried your brain?" The guard asked back. "There is no Twilight here. Only Celestia."
"And Luna?" Sunset asked. "C'mon, Twilight told me Luna's back too."
The guards glared at her as if she insulted them. They took hold of her shoulders and started to drag her.
"Hey! What gives?"
"How do you know such a name?" both guards demanded.
"Who doesn't?"
That did not help her cause as they started dragging her faster to the throne room. She wanted to struggle, but she knew it would only cause more suspicion than she's already created. The guards were red in the cheeks with anger as they dragged her through the hallway. The familiar columns and stained windows were the only friendly aspect of this relatively lifeless palace.
They threw open the great doors to the throne room and threw Sunset to the ground. She coughed on the dust from the stone floor and looked up desperately. There was no ruler on the throne at all. Guards were lined on both sides with spears pointing towards the arched ceiling. Her eyes darted about in search for Celestia. Finally they locked on the great white alicorn that was staring absently out of a stained window.
"Princess Celestia!" Sunset gasped and started to run to her former mentor.
Celestia did not even glance her way. None of the guards moved at all to prevent Sunset from reaching the princess. The unicorn's hooves came to a slow stop next to the one she admired. However, the princess still refused to move at all. There was no reaction from her. No smile and certainly no kind or loving demeanor. The princess seemed more traumatized than anything else.
"Princess, Your Highness, I've come back. It's me, Sunset Shimmer," Sunset said as she knew something was wrong.
"Why now?" Celestia asked with whisper.
"I need Twilight's help. There's been a-"
One of the guards that escorted yelled out. "She knows Nightmare Moon's true name!"
This made Celestia give the smallest of head movement. "Now why would you know that? I never told you about my sister."
"Twilight did. She told me everything. You remember that book we had that let us send messages together? I used that to talk with her."
"She stole my book?"
Sunset blinked in confusion. "No, you gave it to her..."
With a quick glow of her horn, Celestia summoned the book in question. The princess's cutie mark on the cover made certain that it was Ceelstia's messenger book. She then absently opened it and flipped through the pages with her golden magic. "There are no new messages here. You are mistaken, Sunset."
"What?"
Sunset forcibly took the book and looked through it herself. Celestia was right, all the pages were blank and there was no sign of recent use. What's going on?! She gulped loudly.
Celestia blinked without a care. "This Twilight seems to know much of me. Too much in fact. Only the most trusted of ponies know my sister's name."
"Somepony has betrayed us!" a guard shouted.
"Twilight is your prized student! You granted her alicornhood and the title of princess. What's wrong with you?" Sunset started to become aggressive.
"I've never had a student since you, Sunset," Celestia muttered lowly. "I think you've gone mad since you left."
Maybe the portal sent me back in time when I left? "Um, how long have I been gone?"
"Nigh on four years now."
Well, it pushed me back four years. "Twilight has been your student for years then. Twilight told me that you said the time between her and me wasn't that long. You granted her to be a student at your school when she got her cutie mark, but did not make her your personal student until I left. Where is she?"
"Sunset, your words make no sense to me," Celestia slowly shook her head. "I know no Twilight."
"What has happened?" she blurted aloud.
Celestia glanced out of the window. Sunset followed her absent gaze to the moonless night sky. No moon? She had never seen a moonless sky before in Equestria. The human world had them all the time, but not here. She felt a chill go up her legs.
"Princess, what has happened?"
"My sister came back," Celestia started, "I tried to reason with her. I tried to show her how we could be family again. All these years, she never gave up her mission to prevent the dawn from rising. She left as Nightmare Moon and returned as Nightmare Moon. Two weeks of perceptual night followed her arrival. I tried, Sunset, I tried to steer her away from her evil dreams. I tried to reform her in some way. When Equestria started to die from the lack of sunlight...I had no choice. I had to save my ponies. I had no means of banishing her twice...So I ended her once and for all."
"You mean..."
Celestia began to falter. "Yes, my former student, I destroyed my own sister."
"But the Elements of Harmony!"
"Are still lost. I couldn't bring a spark to activate them again. My only means of delaying the inevitable was gone."
"But Twilight and her friends..."
"Enough with this 'Twilight!'" Celestia bellowed angrily. "You are mad! You are lost! Just as lost as I am right now! Be gone! I am your teacher no more. There is no hope for me now. My only reason to live, the thought of meeting my sister once more, is gone! Obliterated! I have no more reason to toil through this horrid world. Leave me be, Sunset," she sighed and stared at the floor. "Go forth and try to carry on with your own life."
Sunset was far too stunned to cry. Her breathing became raspy and her eyes were widened beyond necessity. The Princess broke down in sobs as she wept for the loss of her beloved sister. Why is this happening? Without a thought, Sunset turned and galloped away. The guards watched her with solemn eyes and frowns as she passed.
"Twilight! Twilight, where are you! What's going on!" Sunset cried throughout the palace.
Sunset crept through the dark streets of a lifeless Canterlot. It seemed even the ponies were stricken with grief like the princess. The reddish night sky loomed over the still city without remorse. The Princess of the Night was no more and thus the beauty of night was gone as well. Equestria seemed only half there. It was deprived of hope or care.
Sunset's worried eyes darted back and forth. The street signs were the same, everything was as she had left it. It seemed that everything beyond what was established before her departing was fumbled about in a nonsensical mess. Something went astray and brought all this misery to Equestria. What could have happened to change everything?
Sunset looked down at the ground. "All I wanted to do was ask Twilight for some advice. I guess this is the sort of stuff that makes girls angry when you don't answer texts. Maybe they mean it when they say it'll end the world."
The unicorn could not help her own distress. The small amount of humor she could find in all of this was too small to cheer her up in the slightest. So she continued to wander.
"Come on! There must be a place to start. This is four years in the past. Where would Twilight be if she never became Celestia's student? Her home. Where was her home? Remember! She told me once before. It...It was by...It was by the southern gardens!" she clapped her hooves in sudden excitement.
With a burst of speed, Sunset raced towards the only landmark that could help her. She had to keep her mind utterly focused on the streets and turns. She had planted Canterlot's ancient street design in her mind so that she would never be lost in the capital. However, that was years ago and she strained every mental muscle to keep herself on track. She read every sign, marked every spire, and read all the shop signs. Instead of gaining all of her faded memories, she was left with a strange déjà vu feeling. It was all so familiar, yet so obscure.
Lonely stallions and depressed mares could only watch her run by. Not a single pony was left unaffected by the princess's tragedy. Sunset had to force herself not to look in their hopeless eyes. She just wanted out.
"Twilight!"
The southern gardens were in view. Alright, one of the houses here is hers. They were all similar, but each one had a unique dome roof or gliding stairs that wrapped themselves around the cylindrical houses. Some houses had moons or stars atop their pointed domes, others had suns or hearts.
"Guess I'll just check them all."
Sunset teleported to a window of the closest house. She peered inside, but could not see much. It was useless, she thought. I'll have to go inside to make sure. However, she could not bring herself to break in. She was good at it, as Twilight's crown was not the first thing she tried to steal, but that was no longer who she was. So she sighed and teleported to another home.
She levitated herself to see through the high windows. There was nothing in there to suggest that a studious unicorn would live there. With a curse, Sunset gave up on the house. I'm wasting time! She floated back to the ground and sighed in frustration. There were several homes left. Twilight could be in any of them, or none.
Suddenly, Sunset heard the faint shouting of a familiar voice. Twilight? The sound came from down the road. Without hesitation, Sunset charged at the sound. If it was indeed Twilight, she was no doubt furious.
Sunset's hooves chipped the stone beneath as she pressed on. The voice was still coming from the same spot, and still mad as ever. The house which it sounded behind was one of the taller homes with a great blue moon and star painted on its dome. All these once vibrant colors were tainted by the reddish night sky.
"How long will we be doing this?" the voice shouted.
"It's hopeless! It's so hopeless!" another screeched.
"We can live in the dark, can't we?"
One was panting loudly. "The redness....the redness..."
Sunset turned to corner to see, not Twilight, but a group of ponies around a fire. It was a extremely small fire, so small that it was about to die as it only contained a few sticks and no other fuel to feed it. The ponies around it stared at the dying fire with twitching eyes and shivering hooves. It was not a cold night, so Sunset knew they weren't cold, but terribly afraid. As the shadows drew in around them, suffocating the last rays of light from the pathetic flames, the ponies drew their heads closer and closer just to catch the last glimpse of fiery hope.
"It's gone!" one short stallion said as quiet as a breath.
"Our light..." a purple pegasus mare cried. "The dark is back."
"I say we embrace it!" one unicorn stallion suggested with crazed expressions. "Why fight it?"
One white mare with green eyes simply stared at the heavens. "The redness...the redness...."
"Um, hello?" Sunset broke their insane concentration.
"Wha' you want?" The short stallion asked so softly that Sunset only barely heard it.
"Do you know of a pony named Twilight?" Sunset asked nervously.
"The redness...the redness..." was the reply from the white mare.
"Nopony knows nopony no more," the pegasus mare snarled. "It's all darkness! Go away!"
"Who needs the sun anyway?" the unicorn stallion said absently.
"I guess you guys won't be any help," Sunset sighed. "Um, see ya?"
"Wait!" the short stallion said just a tiny bit louder than usual, "you have a cutie mark like that! Perhaps you are good with fire? Please, we need light. Light that is not the redness!"
"The redness....the redness..."
Sunset hesitated. The ponies were clearly not right in the head. This was shown not only by their words, but by their wide, unblinking eyes. However, they did appear in need. To Sunset, making fire with magic was as simple as riding a bike. Once she learned it, it came back to her easily. Keeping her eyes on them, her horn lit up and a fire burst on top of the small wooden fire. The insane ponies gasped in delight, but said nothing to her as they admired the flames. It was already dying without fuel, but they made no effort to grab any wood.
As they stared at the fire, Sunset turned and left them with a shake of her head. The ponies were insane and would return to their problematic situation. To Sunset, they were helpless.
Her traveling took her to the southern tip of Canterlot, where the city's gate was located. Perhaps Twilight was in Ponyville, she thought. This alternate world was not following the rules she expected. She looked back on the city. This city held so many wonderful memories, but in this world, they all seemed to have never existed.
She felt like crying. What will crying do for me? She breathed loudly through her flared nostrils. Settling for this world will not do, she thought. Something was wrong and by Tartarus, she was going to solve it. She turned and walked through the city gates. It was a long ways to Ponyville on hoof alone. It would give her time to think and maybe even relax. She heavily doubted the latter would ever happen though.
"Twilight, wherever you are, I'm gonna find you. And when I do, we're gonna have a long, long talk..."
Twilight held her head up with her hooves. Spike was sitting across a red table that was covered in hills, mountains, and cities. The red table was a map of Equestria. Nothing on it was different, except that it was red instead of its usual blue. The alicorn lifted an impatient brow at the young dragon.
"Well, Starlight had this scroll-" he began.
"Yes, but how?" Twilight roared in frustration. "What caused her to do this? How did she do this?"
"Starswirl's spell," Spike frowned.
"Yes, but how did she tweak it? I mean, I messed with that spell once and I only was in the past for like, 30 seconds. We keep going through some endless cycle of alternate realities!"
"Twilight, we can't worry about all this. We need to stop Starlight."
"You're right, Spike."
"Good!" Spike brightened.
The dragon stood up and walked around the table. With his claws, he took Twilight's right front leg and pulled her from the table. She reluctantly allowed him to do that, still wondering about the situation they were in.
"Maybe we can find out how this world went bad," Spike suggested. "I mean, I've never seen a red sky like this."
Twilight looked at the sky as well. "It's definitely not good. There's not even a moon in the sky. I feel like something happened to Luna."
"Do you think she's dead?" Spike asked worriedly.
"With how these realities been going, I would not be surprised."
The two of them headed toward Ponyville. The town was boarded up and only a few nervous ponies stood out in the dirt roads. Twilight couldn't help but look at the ponies who sat by their pitiful fires. Everypony was in desperate search of light and flocked to any source like a pack of mindless moths. It was all so depressing.
The moans of the Ponyville residents were a horrid reminder of hopelessness. Twilight had to stare straight ahead to avoid the sad gazes of the ponies that crept on the sides of the streets. Most ponies hid and stuck to structures as if the buildings gave them a feeling of safety. From there they would either watch her or the fires made by the bolder ponies. Their eyes reflected the deep flames and that was all that allowed Twilight to know they were there.
"We have to come up with a plan, Spike," Twilight insisted when they were on the other side of the village. Fewer ponies were on the east side of town, as those who did live there had fled to Canterlot for some sort of refuge. Whether it helped them or not, nopony knew.
"I know," Spike sighed. "But I think we can't just make some plan right now. We need to at least know what we are up against. Right?"
"Spike, we've been through seven realities so far, including this one. Well, if you call them 'realities' because you know, this could all be some massive illusion Starlight created. I really hope that's the case as creating this many alternate universes could bring havoc on.....everything!" Twilight sweated from the brow.
Spike shrugged. "Well, I think the first step is to find our good pal Starlight. If we can get her to submit, maybe she knows how to fix all this?"
"She could be anywhere in Equestria," Twilight sighed.
"Maybe, I mean, she would want to watch us suffer, right? She could be watching us right now."
"There's been no sign that that is her goal. For all we know, she is creating worlds until she finds one that has her winning."
The two rested at a bench right before a river's bridge. It was this bridge and road that would eventually lead to Canterlot, though it was normal to simply use the train, if it had not been destroyed. Twilight looked up at the mountaintop capital, seeing looming spires that no longer swelled with pride. It seemed the city was as melancholy as the rest of the world, lost and terrified under the menacing red sky.
"How did this happen, Spike? It was so peaceful before. Everything was so well with the world and then, Starlight showed up. Ugh!" Twilight huffed. "Why would she do this? I would rather have it we fought right in my castle, but no, she had to drag us into a...maybe literally endless mess!" she crossed her legs and looked at the ground.
"Twilight, it'll work out. We've been in tough situations before, right? I'm sure we'll be able to get Starlight and turn the world back to normal. Through friendship right?" he smiled to give his friend the hope she needed.
"Friendship, yup," Twilight rolled her eyes. "Our friends are probably dead or worse in this world. I think we are on our own..."
Twilight got up from the bench and spread her wings out. Spike knew that she was about to head off to Canterlot and hopped on her back. He never enjoyed riding on her back when she flew, but he was not one to complain about it. He prepared himself for the ride and held on to her neck.
Right before she was about to take off, a wild howl rang from the town. A vicious, blood-curling howl that sent shivers up both their spines. Twilight turned around to see timberwolves running from the forests towards Ponyville, attacking every pony they came across.
"Timberwolves? But they never leave the Everfree!" Twilight said in shock.
"Yeah, but that was when things were normal," Spike huffed. "But we should keep going."
"Are you crazy? They're going to kill ponies!" Twilight barked at him.
"Yes, but we need to save the world and by doing that we need to capture Starlight as soon as possible. And you even just said this could all be an elaborate illusion!"
"Spike, I...we can't risk that. We just can't."
Twilight took off and flew over the village. Dozens, if not a hundred, wolves ran through the town, ripping into any ponies who did not stand near fires. Cries of agony rang from the dark streets. The alicorn soared over the town, shooting beams of magic at the wooden canines. Some shattered upon being struck with such a massive blow, others swiftly dodged the attacks and continued their hunt, mostly ignoring the pony that flew over their heads.
"This is so unlike timberwolves," Twilight gasped.
She landed near a pack of them while they surrounded two poor earth ponies. Their eyes were not the usual pale menacing green, but a light blue. Smoke of the same color rolled down the wooden canine cheeks and seeped from their open mouths. Even when Twilight landed so near them, they mostly ignored her, aiming for the pitiful ponies for no other reason but destruction.
Twilight sent another bolt of magic, destroying a devilish hound. Only now did the other wolves look her way. One wolf, who held a struggling stallion in his maw, dropped him and growled a low growl at the princess. Their bluish eyes were so bright, they hurt the eyes against the darkness. The wolves took cautious steps towards the alicorn.
"Twilight? Are they being possessed?" Spike asked.
"It seems so," Twilight said.
One wolf, who was larger than the others, pounced at the princess. Twilight generated a shield bubble just in time, making the wolf bounce off and into an abandoned house. The wolves followed suit, but were shot down by the alicorn's powerful magic.
The large wolf got up and howled into the air, calling in reinforcements. The rest of the possessed wolves surrounded the duo. Their claws and jaws coated in warm blood. Their low growls rattled off their wooden frames. They did not care about their fallen brothers, as they simply walked over the branches and bark of the recently deceased wolves.
"But who could be controlling the wolves?" Spike wondered.
Twilight eyed the wolves and held a bubble shield over herself. "I think the answer is obvious. This is Starlight's work."
When she said this, a chuckle left the mouth of the largest wolf. Its eyes went up as if it was amused by what she said. After the laughing, it cocked its head to one said and words began to leave its frightful maw.
"It is obvious, isn't it?" said a feminine voice.
"Why are you still doing this, Starlight? These ponies have done nothing to you!"
"Do you think I care about that?" Starlight said through her wolf. "These ponies are nothing to either of us. Well, they are nothing to me. This is simply another failed world caused by you. But I savor in the distraught it brings to you. So if ponies suffer in these pathetic universes, as long as they bring you misery, then it'll keep happening!"
"This is insane. This is an irrational! I know I ruined you, but take it out on me, not these ponies," Twilight commanded.
The wolf rubbed its chin with a paw. Much like a pony, it appeared to think about Twilight's command. The large timberwolf looked to the others, who in their possessed state, never turned to glance at their leader.
"If you wish to endure the pain from my wolves, I'll oblige. In this world, the Everfree's curse has spread much farther, and well, I have plenty more wolves to control. I am confident you'll survive this, and so next time, I won't be so willing to spare these pathetic, unequal ponies."
Starlight's crazed low cackle came the pack's leader. The wooden hounds crept close to the ground, waiting for the right moment. However, Twilight remained firm and kept her shield up. Spike bit on his claw tips nervously. It was a brutal waiting game between the cursed beasts of the Everfree and the Princess of Friendship.
The pack leader laughed once more. "Well, if you are just going to sit in that bubble, why should I have my pack simply stare at you?" Starlight wondered. "Hmm, perhaps you can just sit here for eternity. I have much better things to do. Perhaps I should do the spell again? Create another world? Hmm, seems nice, but we've hardly spent any time in this one. This pale red sky is intriguing. It's a mystery on how this alternate universe failed so miserably. I would guess you and your friends faltered in a mission. Maybe Fluttershy perished? Oh, I hope that liar was ripped to shreds by some monster! Perhaps Rarity was murdered in a dark alley? Would serve that wretch right! Maybe you, the Twilight of this world, couldn't live up to her destiny? Maybe your cutie mark led you to destruction and with nopony so special to save Equestria, it succumbed to this darkness!"
"Resorting to taunts, have you?" Twilight raised an annoyed brow.
"Would you rather have me just send my hounds on the villagers? I can do that. Have them rip the flesh off of the bones of these fools! Hehehe, for all we know, it would be a kindness to end the lives of the poor ponies."
"I never thought you could be murderous, Starlight," Twilight growled.
"When you drive a mare to ruin, like you did to me, she can become many things."
Some of the wolves began to back off, seemingly to go after the fleeing Ponyville residents. Twilight knew that if she didn't lower her bubble soon, then innocent ponies would be attacked once more. She lowered her shield and readied to fire her magic at the timberwolves.
Two wolves charged at her. The princess jumped back, using her wings to give her extended flight, and aimed her glowing horn at them. Before the wolves knew it, they had been vanquished and their wooden parts flew through far through the air.
"Way to get them, Twi!" Spike cheered from her back.
Twilight zapped another pair of wolves, blowing them up into many little pieces. The Everfree hounds growled and jumped up to bite at Twilight's dangling legs. She barely took them out of reach and was caught off guard by how nimble the possessed dogs were.
"Fight all you want, Twilight Sparkle," Starlight hissed. "You could be here all night! Well, if there is such a thing as day in this world. If not, you'll be here forever wasting your energy on useless timberwolves while I create the next world to torment you with!"
Twilight angrily zapped the large wolf that Starlight spoke through, sending it flying into a building. She then returned her attention to the rest of the pack. The wolves climbed up on each other in the desperate attempt to reach the princess, but Twilight only used this to her advantage, striking several wolves down at once with a powerful blast spell.
Wolf after wolf was destroyed in the alicorn's might. Some were knocked out of Starlight's possession and they fled with twigs between their legs. Most of them continued to haplessly rush around the ground, nibbling at the air or desperately howling at the red sky.
"They just keep coming!" Twilight grunted in frustration.
"Well, at least we can just hover here," Spike said uneasily. "They can't get us, right?"
Twilight suddenly caught a wolf in the corner of her eye. The beast was clamping onto a large wooden board. She noticed it spinning rapidly with the object in its mouth. She gasped and realized what the wolf was doing, but it was too late. The board was flung at her with tremendous speed smacking her right in the side and sending both of them tumbling back to the ground.
Twilight hit first and bounced roughly off the cobblestone street. Spike flew a bit farther and went through a window of an abandoned hut. After rolling to a stop, Twilight tried to stand up, but the pain in her side and wing caused her to cry out in agony.
A timberwolf rushed over to her and bit into her injured wing before flinging her into the wall of a house. The wolf growled loudly and charged at her again, his wooden spiked teeth now painted in her dark red blood.
Twilight charged a spell and fired, but it only took off the top part of the wolf's head. The bottom jaw and the rest of the wolf still went over to attack her. The princess took hold of the wolf with her magical grip and was able to keep the hound just out of claws' reach. The wolf could only make guttural sounds and its legs flung about wildly. Twilight breathed heavily as sharp wooden claws barely missed her.
She fired another weak spell, successfully destroying the rest of the hound. She fell over on her side, inspecting the wound in her wing. The other wolves approached her, but she needed a bit more time to charge another beam attack.
"Get away!" she shouted. "Get away!"
"Oh? Are you afraid?" Starlight's voice chuckled from the nearest wolf. "Do you feel helpless? Like the world is ending right before your very eyes?" the voice deepened with hatred. "Hm, sounds like how I felt when you drove me from my home! Took my followers! And the worst part, you led them down a path of hate and depression just so that you could ruin my work! You deserve all this, Twilight! All of it!"
The wolf was about to sink its maw into the princess's neck when the sound of a furnace roared through the air. The wolves, with their ears lifted up, turned to look back at the Canterlot road. Intense flames rose from that direction and timberwolves covered in burning fire yelped pitifully as they fled the village.
"What in Equestria is that?" Starlight shouted. "Are the dragons here too?"
"Starlight, we would hear a dragon big enough to create firestorms like that," Twilight corrected. "Dragons are noisy creatures and they most likely would be in the air shooting flames down at us."
"Be quiet!" Starlight barked. "Don't give me your useless facts!"
"Useless facts are your worse enemy," Twilight rolled her eyes.
The timberwolf howled into the air, rallying the others in the pack. Some dogs rushed off to meet the creator of the fires, but they too were swept away in the inferno. Starlight's timberwolf began to back away in fear of what was coming their way.
"What could create such fire?" Starlight asked aloud.
The answer rounded the street corner. It was a unicorn with a yellow and red mane. Her horn was on fire as she spit magical flames at the timberwolves. She fought them all back alone and the hounds were no match for the overwhelming flames.
"A pyromancer!" Starlight gasped. "But...but who?"
Twilight chuckled and spat some blood out. "I think I know who."
"Then we shall meet soon enough. Enjoy with your wounds, Twilight. You know full well this is not our last encounter. Oh, I have plans for you yet!"
The dog lost its blue eyes, being replaced with the normal green ones. In sudden fright, it howled and then ran away. The pyromancer made the remaining wolves scatter before galloping over to the princess.
"Twilight! Twilight!" she yelled worriedly.
"I'm alive, Sunset. Oh, I'm so glad to see you," Twilight smiled weakly.
"I'm sure."
Sunset stopped right in front of her friend. Her teal eyes looked down on Twilight with deep concern. Her magic enveloped the princess and she levitated her.
"Be gentle with me," Twilight complained. "Wings are very sensitive."
Sunset panicked "I need to find you a bed! Some water! Umm..."
"I'm fine, Sunset, really I am. I'm just really confused."
Sunset raised a brow. "Confused? About what?"
"How are you here?" Twilight asked loudly. "Well, I mean, you could be this world's Sunset, by then how do you know who I am? Did we meet?"
"Twilight, I am the Sunset you met at Canterlot High."
"Yeah, that still raises a bunch of questions."
"It's a long story, ok?" Sunset giggled. "So what happened to Equestria?"
"It's......It's an even longer story..." Twilight sighed.
Spike suddenly opened up the door from the house he fell in. "Don't mind me, girls, just got a kink in my back and you know, found a nice bed and some clean water. But yeah, not need to give me attention."
"Good job, Spike," Twilight smiled at him.
"Well, I guess you should rest while we tell our respected stories, right?" Sunset suggested.
