//------------------------------// // Feel the Magic, Hear the Roar 01 // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// “There is something that I still don’t understand.” Twilight said looking at the crown on her hands that she had just recovered an hour ago. Alongside her were the human versions of her friends which had also become close friends with her. “And what is it Twi?” The blonde girl at her side brought some strange sense of comfort that was so familiar to the purple haired girl, just like hearing Rarity’s posh voice or Pinkie going on in a tangent, there was something magical about hearing her friends, no matter the dimension. “Is just that, both the versions of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy on my world are Pegasus; so we all have wings in Equestria, I still don’t understand why we didn’t gain them.” Twilight said still wondering the reason why it happened that way considering the magic they used had given them Equestrian magic. “Wait, are you saying that Flutters and I can fly in your world? Oh come one, that isn’t fair!” “Well, if it went like that then you and Rarity would have gained a horn too, right?” “Oh I hope not Applejack, not that I am against that kind of things but, just imagine how much I would have to work alongside that kind of enhancement, just to think about new attires or hats to go with something like that.” “And there she goes, cannot believe Ah missed spending time with you all gals.” “I was just joking my dear; but going back to our friend’s question, maybe things work differently on this side, maybe Applejack has some right in saying that maybe some things are lost on translation.” “Yeah, maybe both of our worlds are different but maybe that’s okay since having both worlds be similar would be boring, I mean, duh! Just imagine that, if you went through the portal and both worlds were the same, which would so boring!” “Leaving Pinkie being Pinkie aside, it has some value what she said, which is a surprise by itself.” “You would be surprised by how often Pinkie reveals some big truth on a daily basis, but still, maybe you are right, maybe I am overthinking this.” “Oh, it is alright, I think the ears were fine, they were so fluffy” Apparently Fluttershy was the one who enjoyed the most of that transformation. “Whatever the case may be I am glad I met you girls, but I have to go now, the portal is going to close and-“ “Is okay Twi, we understand, you have responsibilities on the other side, just say hello to ourselves in the other side okay?” Applejack said placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. It did hurt a bit to get a new friend like Twilight and then suddenly have to say goodbye, but they all understood, it still hurt but they understood. “Thank you Applejack and please, help Sunset Shimmer, everyone deserves a second chance and I know she saw the error on her way.” “No promises, aw! Okay, okay, I’ll try to help.” The rainbow haired girl said after receiving a fierce elbow to her sternum from Fluttershy who was right now glaring at her in her own peculiar way. It seems that the nice quiet girl truly wanted to give Sunset a chance. With one last wave Spike and Twilight Sparkle walked through the portal just as the last glimmers of energy went through it. As one last ditch to keep her on the world or maybe just to see the other side, Pinkie Pie tried to jump through the portal too but just crashed against the concrete to the amusement of her friends. ----- It had been several months since that occurrence and still mysteries were present in the everyday life of Canterlot High, just like the way Sunset Shimmer seemed to isolate herself from anyone that wasn’t Applejack and company, and much to the displeasure of many students that wanted to take revenge on the humiliated girl, they found themselves in the opposite end of pranks. At first, people had been suspicious of both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash -both expert pranksters and who had been feared before Sunset came to the school- but after seeing them suffer the same result after they also tried to prank Sunset, they all realized that there was probably magic involved and simply abandoned their plans for revenge. What everybody didn’t realize was that, although magic was involved, it had nothing to do with Sunset. It was a presence that had been revealed to Sunset Shimmer and she was at the same time annoyed and exhilarated after meeting the apparition. “So, are you sure they decided to stop?” “Oh yes, after the last unfortunate event of the hot sauce -I still cannot believe humans can ingest those things- and the way Rainbow became completely red they just swore off their revenge.” The blue phantom flying alongside Sunset said obviously satisfied with his work. “I don’t know why you are doing this, I mean, what’s the point? Is not like it will stop them from hating me.” “Sunset, you have already gone through your own awakening through pain and suffering, there is no gain for them to continue this way of life. It will be much more constructive if they forgot their petty resentment and try to forge new relationships.” “That kind of words coming from the great Starswirl the Bearded? The pony renowned for giving his back to friendship?” “It has been so long and I suffered a great deal for thinking in that way. Take it from someone that took a road similar to yours, don’t walk away from people that offer you a hand in friendship, if only I could have done the same for dear Luna maybe things would have been different in Equestria, but alas, we are prisoners of our own decisions.” “So you just decided to leave Equestria and die in this dimension? How does that work? Because, believe me, I still cannot comprehend that.” She said to the phantom of the old unicorn genius that had suddenly appeared on her room some time ago. It had been such a surprise that had sent Sunset to the floor, thankfully she didn’t faint but it was still quite a surprise to find a blue translucent spirit that called himself the late Starswirl the Bearded. Those first few days had been awkward as Tartarus, but in the end it had helped Sunset vent her pain and frustrations to someone that listened to her closely and gave her his own perspective. “Isn’t that the million dollar question as humans would say, but the truth is that I was tired of it all, alongside a heaping amount of self-loathing and survivor’s guilt. There I was; the strongest unicorn in history and I was completely alone. Luna was gone and trapped in the moon and would not be set free until my body became dust. My own dear Clover who I loved as a daughter was taken by the Grim reaper too soon and Celestia… well; she also was hit hard by Luna’s fall into darkness. We used to be friends but her constant abuse of the mirror’s power sent me to edge. I think that deep inside I hated the mirror the most and what I did with it, sending criminals through it and exiling others. It just made me so bitter than in the end I decided to leave Equestria behind, dying shortly after and becoming a ghost for some reason. I don’t mind since I saw of what these humans were capable of. Their worst and their best, and even after all that I never found another Equestrian, until you arrived.” “You must have been so mad at me.” “No my dear, I was mad at myself because I was not capable of helping you, to give you a guiding hand to sort your anger. Celestia’s desire to recover her sister did more hurt than good, first by pushing away the girl that loved her once she realized she wasn’t the destined pony, and then by molding twilight into the perfect student without taking in consideration the damage she did to her.” “Oh, come on, how could he have hurt Twilight? She is the best student she had, she is perfect.” “Exactly, perfect as a student but not as an equal. Unlike you, Twilight practically venerates Celestia and turning her into an Alicorn was done in such a way that will bite her back in a bad way, you can be sure of my words Sunset Shimmer.” “Geez, when you put it that way it was good for me to leave too.” “More than you imagine because I feel that your part on the story is only barely unfolding, you can be sure of that. Changing this dreary topic for one much more interesting, how are Gilda and Lightning coming along in their tutoring?” “Better than I expected, once Gilda realized how important math was to someone that wanted to be in the air force she started to focus better. Also, Lightning surprised me, she is really good at literature but she thought it was only for nerds but once she found out Flitter and Cloudchaser were avid readers too she started to talk with them about it; she is now on good terms with them on the Track and Field team.” “You’ve done great Sunset Shimmer, not only helping others but creating new friendships along the way.” “Yeah two among dozens, that is so helpful.” “Do not see it that way, have faith Sunset Shimmer, something will appear that will allow you to gain the trust of the school.” “Yeah right, I swear, you put too much attention to my school life; we need to find someone else that can see you so you can talk with them.” ----- “Well, that was weird.” Was the only thing Sunset could say after meeting such a bizarre trio. “Sunset Shimmer, do you remember how I said that something could appear?” “Yeah, what about it? Oh no, don’t tell me-“ “Indeed, the trio that you just met is one that I also met hundreds of years ago. You just had the pleasure of meeting Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.” “The Sirens, just what the school needed, more magic weirdoes, I thought it was enough with me in here.” ----- And things just went from back to worst, first by being incapable of helping her friends –Twilight included- use their powers or do well enough in the Battle of the Bands selection, and now by not being strong enough to help them once they fought against them. Yes, she had been the one to rally her friends back up much to the pleasure and pride of Starswirl but things just went downhill once the Sirens simply ditched the singing contest and went all out trying to kill her friends. Sunset barely had time to jump and tackle Vinyl out of her turntable station/car just at the moment a scream from one of the sirens made it explode. The redhead had never seen the mute girl that mad before. Looking around Sunset noticed how every one of the Rainbooms had been scattered across the hill, their instruments either destroyed or barely staying together. Sunset knew that they had won, but she couldn’t accept it, she knew this couldn’t be the end, she just couldn’t leave her friends be defeated by monsters like those three. She went up with fire on her eyes, ready to fight hand to hand if that was needed just so her friends would be alright. At her side, Starswirl smiled knowing that the redhead was ready. “If you want to engage the Sirens in battle, I believe it is fitting for you to have a weapon as powerful as your heart Sunset Shimmer. You wanted to know what I did all those years I spend as a ghost. I searched far and wide the difference in magic between Equestria and Earth and finally found the source but I could do nothing to interact with it. Apparently, long ago, I wasn’t the only one that visited this planet, others did too and left behind a power that morphed the energy in this place. They had a great source of power and a great sword to rally the group behind.” “Starswirl, make it quick because I’m about to bust some sirens right now.” “Oh, don’t worry my friend, I believe here comes the power you need to do just that.” The ghost said as a red light fell from the sky right into her hands. The energy then became a small dagger with a red eye on its center. Sunset now knew what to do and as she moved the sword it began to grow, the fire inside her alongside it. She had the words on her mind, the words to rally her friends and allies on this battle. “Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, HOOOOO!” the sword grew to its full size just as a light came from the handle turning into a red signal in the sky. The black cat head seemed almost alive as a couple of people among the hypnotized audience finally blinked out of the control and felt a tug in their hearts. Both Gilda and Lightning Dust alongside the human members of the Rainbooms became energized, ears growing and eyes turning black and red slits. Next thing the Sirens knew was that they had gone from being the most powerful magic users to being simply prey to a bunch of magically enhanced cat eared teenagers. With the speed that Lightning and Rainbow had gained alongside the strength of Gilda and Applejack, Rarity and the rest of her friends were capable of beating back the Siren’s avatars before Sunset used her sword’s power to send a ray of energy in the direction of the weakened Sirens. The power of each of her friends seemed to flow right through Sunset’s body before being transferred to the sword, doing enough to not just destroy the giant Sirens but destroying the amulets that the flesh and bone used around their necks. Once the dust had settled every single student of Canterlot high were celebrating the victory of the new protectors of mankind. “Seems that the Sword of Omens had chosen well, Thundercat Lord, or should it be Lady? Well, only time will say.”