//------------------------------// // The Wheeled Warriors 01 // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// One thing that Spike was used to was the ability to walk and hold things on his claws, something that only some ponies could -mainly the unicorns- so he got used to it quickly considering how much Twilight ended up needing him and his ability to order things and write things. Now he was seriously thinking about exchanging the short legs he had for four legs considering how fast his pony friends were on land. Thankfully for the baby dragon his wish came true once he jumped through the mirror allocated inside the Friendship Castle and his body was transformed from a scaled little dragon to a furry dog. The first time it happened he found himself as lost as Twilight, but unlike her his body came with lots of little hints; the whispers of instinct as Fluttershy had explained to him once he told her of his adventure as a canine. Thanks to that the body transformation was smoother for him than for Twilight and he was quicker to get a hold of himself and reorient himself with the change of perspective. Just like he wished, the species change granted him quicker speed and he put it to practice as he went out like a rocket up the stairs into Canterlot High School. The halls with students still in them were no problem for Spike who already knew most of the school and the layout; after all, if he was capable of living in the Friendship Castle without getting lost once then he was sure he would be able to find his way anywhere. Thankfully he was capable of finding a person that could help him complete his mission, none other than the soft pink haired girl who was right now holding a bunny on her arms as she accompanied the most beautiful girl on that side of the mirror. Spike quickly shook his head realizing that this was not the time to ogle Rarity. “So, Fluttershy, do you think the red dress is better than the green one?” She asked holding up two different dresses for the other girl to inspect. Said girl focused her eyes into the two dresses carefully considering her answer. “I think that one fits better into your line, besides, the cut is much more in vogue these days.” “I believe you are right, even though I prefer to be a trend-setter, but fashion sometimes is not about risks but what is beautiful. Oh my! Is that you Spike?!” The fashionista quickly changed the talk once she saw the small dog looking everywhere on the room the Rainbooms used to practice. “Where is Sunset? I need to talk with her!” Spike said obviously affected by something because neither girl had ever heard him so desperate, not even on their most dangerous moments when they battled darkness. “Sunset is not here, she is helping Applejack and Rainbow Dash with a project they had; I think they are at Applejack’s house. Are you alright Spike?” To an animal lover like Fluttershy, to see the way Spike was acting put her on high alert, not only because he was a small dog but also because he was usually so calm and collected. “No I’m not and Equestria won’t either unless I find Sunset.” Well, that explained why he was so scared, there was definitely something wrong going on in Equestria. Without another word Rarity put the dresses on the clothes rack left behind after the Friendship Games just before she and Fluttershy closed the room, then they quickly ran outside the school and used the fashionista’s car in their search of the elusive redhead. Said redhead was right now busy fixing the interior of the car she was currently inside of. The dashboard had been removed and the electrical parts had been revised and fixed in the last couple of minutes thanks to Sunset’s expertise with everything electrical in the human world. Cleaning the sweat accumulated on her forehead with the back of her hand Sunset took a deep breath after finishing the last touches. She was sure that after all the work on cars she had accumulated in the last two days she could open up her own car shop, maybe even one of those fancy ones that made custom parts. Opening the door after placing the dashboard back on its place Sunset was careful not to step on Applejack in her way out from the old Buick. The blonde student was right now checking something under the car so Sunset had to maneuver around her friend to get to the refreshments. If there was one thing that all the Rainbooms loved was Granny Smith’s lemonade every time they arrived at Applejack’s house. After taking a long sip of her almost frosted glass she turned around to talk with the other girls in the garage. “Okay, would you please explain to me why you have so many cars in your family’s garage? I mean, where did you even get them?” She asked pointing at the five cars in various states of fixing. It had taken Sunset almost a full afternoon to make the Charger L-body work again after who knew how many years of being abandoned in the garage. “Ah swear to you that Ah have no idea sugarcube.” The blonde said finally coming out from under the car; she then accepted Sunset’s hand and got up “The only thing Pa told me about them was that some Apple family members leave their cars behind on this garage after they stop working. Apparently some thought that it was too much of a hassle to repair them and then just got another car.” “That doesn’t sound like the Apples I met at the last party.” “That’s because they were from Pa’s side, if you wanna meet the ones that filled this garage here then go and meet my Ma’s side, those Oranges could even give Rarity a run for her money at being so frou-frou. A little bit more and they would start speaking in fancy.” The way Applejack was so down to earth that she considered French like that spoke a lot about her friend. After laughing a bit about Applejack’s family for a few seconds they were finally accompanied in the garage by Rainbow Dash who had a box of sparkplugs in her hand. “Next time we need to find something in your house is your turn to search for it.” The rainbow haired girl said with part of her bangs still smoking for some reason. “Rainbow, what happened to you?” Sunset asked visibly worried about her friend as this one kept on walking in the direction of the old first generation Ram pickup that she was working on since two days ago. “Apparently Apple Bloom and her friends want to become master pyrotechnicians. I swear, first it was Snails and Snips with their magic show and now those three. Next time I see Trixie I’ll punch her on the nose.” Rainbow said mimicking the action as the other two girls rolled their eyes at her antics. “Rainbow, ya can’t just beat all your problems away.” “You can watch me try.” The two began to bicker in their almost scripted way as the trio went back to work. In a way it was relaxing working alongside the others for Sunset who was becoming engrossed in the whole idea of fixing every car in the garage so the ones without transportation would have a way to get to school. But just as she imagined arriving at school in a 1992 Corvette ZR-1 the sound of a car and several doors opening and closing took them from their own job. Next thing Sunset knew was a purple blur knocking her into the floor. After a couple of blinks she finally noticed the small dog in her lap that was holding some sort of pendant on his mouth. “Wait, Spike? What are you doing here?” “Sunset, I need your help! Twilight is in trouble and I cannot get in contact with her! There is something really bad going on in Equestria right now and there’s no time to lose!” “What are you talking about?” To say that Sunset was beyond confused by what Spike was telling her was obvious but instead Spike put the pendant he was holding into Sunset’s hand and things truly turned bizarre. In a flash Sunset felt a sensation not too dissimilar to the one she felt every time she stepped through the mirror portal but instead of being stretched and transformed this time it was… smoother? Next thing she knew she was standing outside Twilight’s castle back in Ponyville. Sunset then heard a gasp of surprise and she noticed that the other six members of the Rainbooms were standing close to her too, including Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle… all of them still human. “Alright, that was the weirdest trip I have ever been a part of, and I was riding shotgun when Limestone was practicing for her driving license.” Sunset had never seen Pinkie that dazed before but thankfully Twilight was faring better. “What’s going on? One minute I was playing with Spike in the backyard and now… now we are in Equestria?” the scientific mind of the glasses wearing girl was flying a mile a second as the other purple dog began to look at the new land he found himself in. “Hey, check it out; I’m not a dog anymore.” Said the other Spike who was now still small but in his more scaled version of himself. “Okay, this is beyond weird, can somebody please explain to me why we are suddenly in horse land and what is going on?” Rainbow said as confused as the rest of the other girls “I can provide some answers to your questions Rainbow Dash.” Said a voice that was very familiar to the other girls and then they saw the most majestic horse -or pony in this case- that they have ever seen. She had a long ethereal mane that seemed to hold a complete galaxy in its interior, a dark purple shiny coat and the most extravagant black jewelry. “Vice Principal Luna?” The six girls asked making the other half of the Diarchy giggle behind her hoof. “Not quite so, although Princess Twilight Sparkle had mentioned the similarities between both universes, although the differences in hierarchy between my double on the other side of the mirror and myself still perplexes me. Nay my little… humans; I am Princess Luna. Excuse me for meeting you in this abrupt manner but there is something dark in the horizon for our world” The dark alicorn with a grave voice as the seven girls got worried by the second. Meanwhile Spike stretched after having his legs once more; he didn't mind so much the transformation that he had across the mirror, but nothing could beat his original form. He then stopped as every single pair of eyes turned to look at him at that moment “what? Oh right, grave danger. Sunset, you need to help me, Twilight is in danger!” “What young Spike says is true but goes beyond that. Not only Princess Twilight is in peril but also my sister and former teacher of yours Sunset Shimmer.” “Princess Celestia.” “Indeed; apparently my sister and Princess Twilight began to investigate strange plants appearing over the Everfree Forest; plants that were capable of resisting any kind of magic performed on them, including the Rainbow Power.” “Rainbow Power?” “Something like our ‘Pony-Up’ energy Applejack. What happened then Princess?” “I don’t have the full information since I wasn’t present at the time. I had traveled to Griffonstone to investigate about rumors of strange vehicles terrorizing the nation. Sadly the day I left for the now prosperous city was the last I spoke with my sister. I’m sure young Spike knows more since he accompanied Princess Twilight.” “Twilight and Princess Celestia went into the Everfree and we found out what was causing the plants to get out of control. It was a monster and he called himself Saw Boss and there were more like him.” “Apparently it was these monsters the ones that attacked Griffonstone and they are… very similar to those artifacts behind you.” The Princess said making everyone turn around at the different cars and pickup truck around them; in fact, all the cars that they had been working on were now in Equestria. “Wait, are you saying that cars being used by plants attacked you?” “No Rainbow Dash, I was attacked by plants that turned into these cars as you call them.” “Yeah, I was as surprised as Twilight when we found out these things can turn into cars, but not like on Earth. These things can grow weapons and for some reason not even Princess Celestia could hurt them, until Twilight got to the Tree of Harmony.” “What was Twilight doing at the Tree of Harmony? Oh right, her cutie mark is in the trunk, of course she can interact with the tree.” “Wait, you know about the tree?” Spike asked surprised about that news from Sunset Shimmer. “Sure, Princess Celestia told me about it and even took me to its location in the Everfree Forest. Once I got my cutie mark and we both saw I wasn’t the pony selected by the tree things became a little… you know.” Sunset said clearly still hurting from those days. “Well, the tree had two things there, two pendants; one was for Twilight and the other one was for you, see? It even has your cutiemark behind it. Twilight wanted to go look for you through the portal but the monsters found us, next thing I know I was back in the castle after Twilight teleported me.” “Sadly that was the last we heard from both my sister and her student. With this new threat we had no other choice but to follow the tree’s hint and I allowed young Spike through the mirror in search of you.” “So you basically teleported us all into this universe once you found her?” Twilight was busy recording everything she could through her cellphone wanting to get as much information as she could. “That was not my doing; it seems that the Tree of Harmony holds powers neither my sister nor I could access on our days as the Element Bearers. Sunset Shimmer, your destiny may not have been the one my sister dreamed about once but it does seem that the Tree of Harmony had plans for you.” “Well, what am I supposed to do with this thing? Throw it to those monsters?” Sunset said before the amulet began to shine as bright as when they were teleported but instead of them being affected this time the cars that had been brought alongside them began to glow and reshape them. The four cars and pickup had been transformed into sci-fi versions full with weapons, all in silver and gold leaving them with their mouths in the floor “I just had to ask, isn’t it?”