July 4th, Unknown Place, Wednesday ???
??:??PM
"Wake up..."
Sunset groaned in her sleep. She twisted and turned in her place, trying to stay comfortable.
"Wake up, Sunset Shimmer..."
Sunset kept feeling as though there was something calling her name, but what was it saying?
"Wake up, Sunset Shimmer..."
Her eyes slowly opened, she was greeted with darkness. She wasn't at home, she wasn't at the hospital, like her friends said she'd be, she wasn't even on the street where she passed out. She was in some kind of black limbo.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed through the darkness. She waited for a response, hopefully, from the thing calling her. She stood up and began looking around. "Is anybody here? Where am I?" Still, a response never came. She kept walking forward, hoping for there at least to be something wherever she was. She continued calling out, never giving up. Sunset heard a voice, she knew she did. "Hello? Somebody! Anybody! Is anyone here?!"
Silence.
She sighed deeply and sat on the ground. Whatever she heard, it was gone now. Now she's trapped in a limbo, all alone.
"I'm here," a deep voice suddenly said.
Sunset jumped back up and looked around the place. "Who's there?" she asked. "Where are you?"
The voice began speaking again, "I am nothing but a figment of your imagination; I have no physical form, but I do still exist."
"My imagination?" Sunset now began pondering. "So... does that mean we're in my mind right now?" She looked around the eternal darkness that surrounded every side of her.
"You are very correct, Sunset Shimmer. You are currently inside of your own personal mindspace, which many do visit whenever their incarnation of myself requires them to be here," the voice explained.
"But why am I here?"
The voice left her there for a moment.
"Look behind you," it requested.
Suddenly, there was an extremely bright light rising behind Sunset. She turned around and shielded her eyes with her arms. Through the spaces of her arms, she could see silhouettes of two people, walking closer and closer to her.
"Who are they?" Sunset asked the voice.
The voice no longer responded, which caused Sunset to wait until she could make out the silhouettes. They finally managed to get close enough for Sunset to recognise their shapes.
Sunset gasped when she realised who they were. "T-Twilight?! Rainbow Dash?! What are you two doing here?"
They didn't say anything back; they kept walking towards her.
The light finally dimmed so that Sunset could look at her friends directly. But when she did, she saw that something was terribly wrong. All around her friend's bodies were cuts, grazes and bruises. They looked extremely beaten up. Eventually, once they both got close enough to Sunset, they collapsed on the spot.
Sunset screamed. She rushed over to the two lifeless bodies and knelt down before them.
"W-What happened to them?!" she asked with fear. "Why did this to my friends?!"
The voice hummed. "Due to a mistake they both made. It led them to suffer..." It paused on the last word. "...consequences."
Sunset started breathing very fast and heavily. "What are you talking about?! What mistakes did they make?!" She sat her friend's heads on her lap.
"Given time, Sunset Shimmer, you will know what mistake they made and when you do, you will know what to do."
Sunset sat there confused, staring off into the abyss while her unconscious friends began to disappear. "Is that all you brought me here for?" she asked. "Isn't there anything else, at all?!"
She heard the voice let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately for you, there is in fact more. For you see, Sunset Shimmer, that monster will only bring more pain to both you, and everyone close to you personally. And what it will bring to you shall happen within the night tonight, as the moon takes its place in the sky."
"What are you talking about? What's going to happen to me?!" Sunset began raising her voice toward whatever was above her (Most likely nothing).
"I'm sorry, but that is all I can tell you for now," the voice finally finished. "Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer, and good luck."
Her eyes widened and she held out her arms upwards as to, hopefully, bring the voice back. "No, wait! Don't leave, please!"
It wouldn't return to give answers, forcing Sunset to give up. She sat on the dark ground, thinking over everything she was told.
'The thing that attacked me will somehow make things worse for me tonight?' she thought, looking down at her bandaged hand. She groaned, "Dammit! What was he talking about?"
The words that the voice echoed in her head, 'Due to a mistake they both made. It led them to suffer consequences... that monster will only bring more pain to both you, and everyone close to you personally.'
"Is there a chance these are both linked?" Sunset asked herself. "Could that thing have been the one that hurt Twilight and Rainbow Dash?"
Suddenly, all of the area surrounding Sunset began to crumble away. Sunset began to panic, looking all around for a way out, but there was now only the small patch of ground beneath her feet. The land had completely disappeared around the girl, causing her to begin falling into a white abyss.
Canterlot Hospital, Wednesday Evening
05:55PM
Sunset shot up from the pillow she was lying on. She saw that she now laid in a hospital bed. She looked around the room she was in, she saw at least five other patients sitting in the room and when she looked forward, she saw her friends, two of them. Them being Rarity and Fluttershy. Both of their faces lit up.
"Oh, thank the stars you're alright!" Rarity cheered as she jumped up and hugged Sunset.
Fluttershy stayed where she sat, on the opposite side of Rarity. "How are you feeling, Sunset?" she asked.
Sunset tried moving Rarity off of her, sat up and shrugged. "I feel fine, if not still a little dizzy but yeah, all good."
"That's lovely to hear! And, in better news, we also got the doctor to look at your hand," Rarity announced, sitting back in her seat.
Sunset perked up in her bed. "Really? What did they say?"
Rarity sat up. "Well for starters, they said that you turned out fine, no diseases or anything. But the thing is that not even they know the creature that bit you, even when we described it the wayvyoi did, which did surprise us, but hey, at least you're all right."
Sunset looked at her hand once again. It was in a new bandage. She then realised that there were a few people missing here.
"Wait, where are the others?" she asked.
Rarity tapped her chin. "Hmm... Well, I think Pinkie Pie and Applejack both went home," Rarity answered. "And as for Twilight and Rainbow Dash, I think they're both over at Twilight's house."
"They didn't come to visit?"
"Honestly, Darling, I'm sure they all have somewhere they need to be right now, and they would've come if they could, but at least you have us by your side."
Sunset smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Rarity tried changing the subject. "Hey, Sunset? Do you perhaps think that you're feeling well enough to go home tonight?" she asked.
That lead Sunset to, again, think over what that voice had told her. If something bad were to happen to her tonight, would it be best to stay, or would it be best to go home? "I guess so..." she said hesitantly. "Yeah, I think I could go home."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Is there something troubling you, dear?"
Sunset sighed shook her head. "No, no, everything's fine."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Rarity smiled. "Well, okay then. That's great." She stood up and Fluttershy followed. "We were actually about to go and get some food, do you want anything?"
"No, thank you, I'm fine for now."
Rarity's smiled dropped. "Well, if you're sure. We'll be back soon to take you home," she finished.
"See you soon, Sunset." Fluttershy waved.
"Bye, girls." Sunset waved her friends back.
Sunset was now alone again. At least this time she wasn't trapped in a black limbo. She laid back in her bed, rubbing her forhead. Whatever was coming, Sunset could only hope that it didn't come while her friends are with her. She didn't know what she would do if something hurt them. She'd have to make sure Rarity and Fluttershy leave as soon as possible when they take her home. Her head began to hurt just by thinking about what might happen. She might have just developed a headache.
Streets of Canterlot City, Wednesday Evening
06:23PM
As promised, Rarity and Fluttershy helped taking their fiery-haired friend home. They drove in a small pink car which was owned by Fluttershy. Sunset was in the back seat, lost in thought, looking out of the window. Rarity took notice of this.
"Is something the matter, Dear?" Rarity asked, looking through the mirror.
Sunset was pulled back. "Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she answered.
Rarity hummed questioningly. "Are you sure? You seem very lost."
Sunset waved her hands and tried put it on a fake smile. "Seriously, Rarity, I'm okay. You don't have to worry."
Something was very suspicious about Sunset, Rarity thought. She could practically see through her like an X-Ray. "Well, if you're sure..."
Nobody said a word to eachother the rest of the way home. All that could be heard was Fluttershy's quiet humming as she drove. Sunset continued looking out of the window, thinking very hard. As long as her friends weren't around her for what was about to happen, they should be fine.
Fluttershy finally pulled in next to Sunset's house. Trying to be nice, Rarity helped Sunset out of the car and lead her to her door. Sunset took her house key out from the inside pockets of her jacket and made her way into the house with her friends. Her first priority was to feed Ray, her leopard print lizard. Rarity and Fluttershy just sat on Sunset's couch as they watched her go about her house.
Rarity cleared her throat. "Is there anything at all we can help you with, Sunset?" she offered.
Sunset stopped what she was doing and looked at her friends. She saw an opportunity to get rid of them. "That's really kind, you guys, but I think I can handle it from here."
"Because if there's anything at all-"
"Rarity, seriously, I'm okay. You don't have to keep worrying about me," Sunset told her. "I mean, yes, I'm just out of hospital, but I honestly feel very great." Sunset ushered them out the door. "Now you two go on, spend the day together, have fun. No need to worry about me, okay?"
Rarity, now outside Sunset's house, sighed through her nose. "Well, okay but-"
"Okay! Great! See you! Bye!" Sunset quickly said before closing the door on them.
Rarity and Fluttershy were both surprised. Never before had Sunset just thrown her friends out of her house. Rarity did suspect something strange must have been going on in Sunset's head. She didn't know whether or not it was something worth really worrying about. Sunset has been acting very strange around them since they began taking her home. Rarity thought maybe she was a bit afraid of the beast, which she couldn't argue with. She knew even Applejack would worry about something like that, especially if it had a chance of not happening again.
They both walked back into Fluttershy's car and drove away. They didn't have any plans, so they were just going to drive around Canterlot and see if anything eventually comes to mind.
Sunset's House, Wednesday Evening
07:58PM
Sunset was pacing back and forth her living room. Nighttime was approaching, and it was coming faster than she would have wanted it to. As the seconds quickly ticked past, she only became more and more paranoid. She worried for everyone's safety, even Ray's, who was sleeping peacefully on a stick. To calm herself down, Sunset tried this breathing technique Twilight taught her. It didn't help out an awful lot but it did work slightly. Now having her breathing under control, she crashed onto the couch. She continued to breath deeply into her nose and out of her mouth.
'Maybe it was really nothing? Maybe I'm just thinking about this to much?' she thought to herself.
This whole thing being nothing is what Sunset desperately hoped for. That maybe her conversation with that voice was nothing more than a dream. There was no way that something could go terribly wrong tonight, right? She was completely safe in the comfort of her own home, right?! Oh, did Sunset want to believe that, that maybe she's just crazy.
After spending a long time lying on her couch, she decided that maybe sleeping it off would do the trick. So she made sure that Ray had plenty of food and water, changed into her pyjamas and tried to go to sleep. The problem was that her anxiety was keeping her up. She twisted and turned in her bed, trying to get comfortable, which she just could not do. She looked at the clock sitting on the drawers beside her bed.
11:22PM
Sunset was surprised that it was already that late. She felt like she had only been home for a little over an hour.
After failing again and again at going to sleep, Sunset finally gave up and sat up on her bed. She groaned in annoyance and then looked out of the window. She could see the moonlight shining into her home and onto her. And then suddenly, she began to feel... strange. All throughout her body she was shaking wildly. It felt like a ghost trying to possess her. She then shouted in fear and gripped hard onto her covers.
Sunset Shimmer was changing...