//------------------------------// // The Will of Fire 01 // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Maybe Sunset had been a little too quick to jump through the mirror. Yes, she had the plan to jump through it and see what was at the other side; it was the big point of knowing that the mirror was a portal to another world. Now she knew why Celestia was so afraid of the other side of the portal; it was clear that all the soldiers and expeditionary parties that the princess had sent through it had met a very sad end. The redhead tried to find a better position on the sorry excuse this place had for a bed before placing her new appendages -they were a softer, more dexterous version of a Minotaur’s arms- behind her head and tried to rest. It was a little hard to do considering the position that she had found herself at. Who would have thought that the most powerful unicorn in Equestria would have been taken prisoner so fast after her first interdimensional travel? Although, considering the way those guys had acted and how fast they struck her down, maybe she was too weak when it came to the martial side of her education. If only Celestia wasn’t such a tight plot when it came to real useful education she wouldn’t be in this situation. It was then when Sunset heard hoof steps… well, maybe it wasn’t like that considering they only had two legs, but she heard several of these monkeys getting closer to her jail cell. Sunset thought that maybe they were ready to get her out of jail and set her free, or maybe they were guiding her to her execution, for either case she had a contingency plan, a foolish one but still a plan. What she saw were two of those monkeys still wearing those creepy ceramic masks -she almost laughed when she saw that one of those masks represented a monkey- and they were obviously the escort of the long blonde haired man in the center. He wasn’t wearing the cloak and masks like the other two; instead he was wearing some kind of vest over black clothes and a bizarre headband with a symbol on it. The man arched an eyebrow at the young Sunset Shimmer and took a look at her two jailers. “And this is the dangerous criminal you two captured?” She couldn’t see their expressions behind their masks but she could almost feel the way they were fidgeting right now. “She appeared out of nowhere inside the village and no one has any information of how she got in or from where.” The voice was unmistakably male and the blonde monkey simply sighed while putting a hand over his face, clearly tired about what was going on. “I think it is a good thing that I came and not Ibiki, we still don’t know if she is dangerous or not but if what you say is true then this is not a normal little girl.” On his inside, the man named Yamanaka Inoichi was already asking forgiveness for what he would have to do. The man had been brought in to extract information out of their new jail tenant but never had he thought that it would be someone that young. The girl was too young; enough to be just another student, not even a full ninja, but they all knew that appearances were nothing when it came to their jobs so he made up his mind. “I am not a little girl, and I would like it if you called me by my name instead of just referring to myself as if I wasn't here.” The trio of ninjas were surprised by the way the small girl talked, full of control and confidence, it didn’t fit someone like her, maybe she wasn’t a ninja but the daughter of a local daimyo? Still, he had a job to do and better him than Ibiki. With the ease of years of practice the man named Inoichi did a series of hand signals that left Sunset completely confused further convincing Inoichi that the girl was not a spy or an enemy ninja. But then what happened took everyone by surprise and no one was sure of what exactly happened. Instead of making a direct contact with the girl so he could get inside her head and get her important memories, the chakra line that connected Inoichi and the girl was simply… absorbed. That was the only thought from Inoichi who had to forcefully break the connection before the girl absorbed most of his chakra reserves. Trying to regain his strength, Inoichi quickly noticed how shocked and surprised the girl was by the way she kept on looking at her hands as if something completely unexpected had happened. Whoever the girl was it was definitely more than just a little girl, and there was something else that had made Inoichi do a double take when he saw her. The red hair, it was so vibrant and eye catching. There had only been only one other in the village that had that kind of red hair, but she had died just a couple of years ago. Could it be? ----- So apparently the monkeys were ready to take her to their leader, although maybe not in the way she expected because alongside him there were several masked monkeys and several older monkeys too who apparently made some kind of council just like back in Equestria. And just like back in Equestria it was the man sitting down behind his desk the one who controlled this. “So no one exactly knows where you come from, turning you into quite the mystery. You have to understand why my men are so on edge around you; after all, ninjas do not like mysteries and surprises.” The old man talked in that annoying combination of sagely and heartwarming that reminded her of Celestia. “Ninjas? What is a ninja?” Sunset had never heard that word and it made the other people gasp in surprise at what she had said, but apparently the man in charge was better at hiding things because he didn’t even blink. “And just like that you have vanquished the idea of you being a spy form another nation. A human on this world does know what a ninja is. Just looking at the way you act we can see that you are not lying which leave us in a very precarious situation. How exactly did you absorb the chakra of one of my ninja?” “Is that what that energy was? Chakra? I don’t know; I just saw the line being directed at me and I reacted, there was no way I would let somepony else read my mind! Then it was simply absorbed into my body. What? What did I say?” “You can see the chakra as a line, connecting you two?” “Yeah, that’s what I told you. What’s the big deal? Unicorns can see the magic connections from a spell, you just have to concentrate enough, well, not every unicorn, only the ones that are the most powerful.” She said with a big smirk making all the men in the room blink in confusion. After a few seconds several of them began to laugh making Sunset’s temper get to the point of boiling, not that it was that hard. Every man then shut up watching the aura around Sunset and the temperature rising inside the office. “That’s enough! My men were disrespectful, but you better keep your own chakra under control or your power will be sealed for the rest of this hearing!” The man wearing the funny big hat said standing up from behind his desk. For her part, Sunset finally understood that what they called chakra was none other than her own energy. Taking a deep breath she got the aura back into control making Sarutobi sit down once again. “So I see you got control over your chakra, but how did you know the man doing the interrogation wanted to read your mind?” “That’s easy, that amount of magic -I mean, chakra- being directed as a line right into my head? There was no doubt that monkey wanted to take control of my mind, I just don’t know how I was able to counter that kind of ability. I just have one question, why do you use all those hand signals? They look so awkward.” “Because they are needed in order for my men to use those abilities you talked about.” Sarutobi wasn’t exactly sure what was going on but he decided to trust the young girl with the information since it was so basic for a ninja that they all studied it in the first year. “Then why not use Clear Mind’s theorem of Cubic Pre Casting? It would save so much time.” Sunset said so confused about how advanced and archaic these monkeys were at the same time. For his part, Sarutobi simply smiled knowing that Konoha would probably never be the same with another redhead living in the village. He knew that the girl was a wild card, but sooner or later she will understand the Will of Fire. ----- And understand she did, there was nothing in the academy she couldn’t understand and master, it was so easy at times but at others she was baffled and had to ask others for help. It had changed her and now here she was. Her name had finally been called and here she was; the small headband across her forehead as she was ready to rise up the ranks. Up there were her teammates still waiting for their names to be called, but for now they were happy cheering her on. Hana was clearly excited about her match while Maruten kept his stoic face as the giant of a ninja ran up to her. Sunset smirked knowing that the man had no idea of what she had done before the match started. The redhead knew that these matches would decide if her team deserved the title of Chunin and she was going to show everyone what Sunset had. As the other ninja began to charge his attack she took on running and taking a page from Hana’s book she began to spin on the air creating a tornado of fire. The man quickly got out of the way sending a bolt of electricity as the fire drill disappeared as if it had never been there. Too late he realized the trap and just as he turned around a fist engulfed in flames sends him spiraling through the air before crashing against the ground completely knocked out. Genjutsu illusion stacked one open the other, all pre-casted by her and just like that her match had ended in a record time, beating the time of the young man that had went before her. Among the cheering of the citizens of Konoha and the loud voice of Hana, Sunset turned to look at Sarutobi sitting down alongside the other Kages. A thumbs up and a huge smile was Sunset’s message to the old man, telling him that she had understood what the Will of Fire was.