Reality was torn open, the hole showing a bright and bustling city. Through the portal came Sunset Shimmer, swinging on a web-line and dressed in red and gold.
Reality was torn open, the hole showing a bright and bustling city. Through the portal came Sunset Shimmer, swinging on a red tentacle that formed from the creature bonded to her body. She let out a shriek, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
Reality was torn open, showing a piss-yellow sky and the shattered remains of a once great city. Sunset Shimmer limped through, her clothes in tatters. She pointed a shotgun before, firing a shot that took the head off a zombie.
"EAT IT, WALKERS!"
Reality tore open to a massive forest with a full moon glowing above it. A massive wolf stepped through, its red coat so dark it was nearly black. It threw its head back and let out a howl.
Reality tore open to a forest. Sunset Shimmer stepped through, her cloak flowing around her as one hand rested on the hilt of her sword.
Reality tore open. Sunset Shimmer stepped through.
Reality tore. Sunset stepped through.
Reality tore.
Reality tore.
Reality tore.
Dozens of rifts appeared around the school, created every time Dark Angel Sunset made a slash with her claws. Each led to a different reality, and each had a different version of Sunset Shimmer pass through it (with one notable exception: a rift that only revealed glowing light, which grumbled something about trying to fix the universe while sealing the portal). The friends of this reality's Sunset Shimmer and their allies all stood there, eyes wide and jaws hanging open as they watched what was going on.
Adagio cleared her throat.
"First, Aria, please stop drooling."
A blush formed on Aria's cheeks as she turned away, wiping an arm across her mouth. If she had known that the nerdy little girl could become such a hot and amazing bad girl like that, she totally would have let the little egg-head feel up her arm. Maybe then, she would get to return the favor. Or more. That dress really showed off her body. And those nails.
Aria wiped another line of drool from her mouth.
"Second," Adagio continued, "shouldn't we do something?"
"Right, right," Rainbow Dash agreed. Her brow then furrowed as she looked up at the Dark Angel Sunset Shimmer. "Any ideas on how to do that?"
"Our best chance is to talk her down first," Twilight offered. "We might be able to convince her to close the portals, then all we have to worry about is the Sunset Shimmers that have already come through."
"Any ideas on how?" Applejack asked.
"Still working on it." Twilight shifted, looking around. "In the mean time, we need to contain all the Sunset Shimmers here so they don't go who even knows where."
"I call dibs on the werewolf!" Sonata shouted and bolted off.
"Wait!" Twilight cried. "No. I don't..." She trailed off as she felt Adagio's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry," Adagio stated. "Sonata might have her problems, but when she gets an idea and puts some effort, she can take care of herself. Besides," she pointed up, "you do have more important matters."
Twilight scowled, but nodded.
"Getting back to the previous matter," street mage Shimmer said. "I think I can help with keeping everyone contained." Her brow furrowed as she looked around. "It's going to take some time, though, and I'm gonna need some help."
"Get all the help you need," Twilight said. "Girls, stay with me. I have an idea. Everyone else try to keep all the Sunsets here." She bit her lip. "I'd tell you to send them back through their portals, but I don't think that's very likely considering all that's going on and..." She gave a shake of her head. "We have no way of knowing what would happen if we sent them to the wrong dimension."
"Aria," Adagio called out, "you deal with the one that used to have this." She held the staff. "I'll deal with our dear inter-dimensional sister."
"Do I have to?" Aria asked, even as she already started walking. "I mean, she's such a wimp without her staff." She turned to look ahead, eyes narrowing. "Pretty sure that armor's completely decorative. Doesn't even cover any of her vital organs."
"Then you should be able to deal with her quickly."
Sonata Dusk stopped by one of the Sunset Shimmers, and turned to her.
"I need your sword."
The Sunset turned to her, looking out from under the hood of her cloak. One eyebrow raised up.
"Why?"
"Werewolf," Sonata answered. She held out her hand.
Brow furrowing, Sunset pulled the sword from its sheath, and passed it over.
"I'm afraid it won't do you much good. There's no silver, and i have yet to get it enchanted."
Holding up the sword, Sonata gave it a few test swings, getting a feel for its balance.
"That's fine," she replied. Resting the flat of the blade on her shoulder, she resumed skipping along. "Just means I get to play with it longer." She then stopped and turned back. Eyes narrowing.
"Wanna help?"
Grinning, Sunset Shimmer pulled out a bow.
With no tall buildings around to swing off of, The Golden Spider found herself at a massive disadvantage. Especially as she found herself fighting a creature that called itself "Ravage." She had a symbiote-bonded enemy in her own world, and had faced them a few times, but there was a big difference between one that was bonded to Wallflower Blush, and one that it turned out was bonded to another version of herself.
It also seemed that Ravage did not like there being another Sunset Shimmer, seeing how they kept talking about how they really hated clones.
Golden Spider landed in a crouch, looking at her villainous counter-part.
"You sure we can't talk this out?" she asked. "Maybe over a cup of coffee?"
With a noise between a roar and a hiss, Ravage charged forward. Its right hand shifted into a large ball, then spikes poked at of it, and it threw a punch with it at Golden Spider's face.
"So, I take it that's a no?" Golden Spider called out as she dove out of the way.
Two Sunset Shimmers floated in the air, without wings, circling each other. Both were dressed in skintight outfits, and had an aura of energy glowing around them: one green, the other red. The air between them was thick with tension, each waiting for the other to act.
The red one acted first. Opening her mouth, she spat out a ball of glowing blood, nearly as large as her head. The bloody sputum burst into flames as it short through the air, leaving a streak of fire as it shot forward.
The green one threw up a hand, a green ring igniting with similar colored energy. It created an energy construct with the proportions of an Equestrian earth pony, but the size of an earth Clydesdale. The construct turned around and kicked out with its hind legs. One burned away by the fireball before it was launched up in the air and away from them both. It even managed to go through the rift that the red Sunset Shimmer came out of.
"That had to be worth some points," the green one declared.
Twilight Sparkle picked up the spectrometer, giving it a quick once over. She could make out a few of the modifications, but the initial design was definitely hers, and it looked like everything was functioning as it should.
Turning around, she faced the other, holding the device up.
"Okay," she said calmly. "I think I know what to do." She held up the spectrometer. "I use this to collect some of the harmony magic in each of you, then use it on myself."
There was a second as the other five stared at her, processing what she said.
"You sure you wanna do that?" Fluttershy asked. She pulled at one of her thumbs. "I mean, you've gotten better, but considering how scared you were at Camp Everfree of reverting back to Midnight Sparkle..."
Twilight took a breath and let it out.
"Want to?" She gave a shake of her head. "No." She turned to look at Dark Angel Sunset from the corner of her eye. "But..." She rubbed her face. "Can't believe I'm going to say this." She looked to her friends again. "I think this is what I have to do."
"What'cha mean?" Applejack asked.
"Alright. To start, I may not watch as many cartoons as Sonata, but I have watched some. And I'm sure you're all aware that I've probably read a lot."
"It is why I call you egghead," Rainbow Dash pointed out.
"Right," Twilight sighed out, rolling her eyes at the nickname. "Well, that does include a wide variety of fiction." She held up the spectrometer again. "My using this to transform and stop Sunset Shimmer would create a literary symmetry to the story. A sense of poetic justice. I would be doing for her what she did for me."
There was a second of silence.
"Well," Rarity spoke up, "far be it from me to interfere with an action straight out of a romantic novel. Do we need to do anything?"
The others quickly agreed.
"Just brace yourself," Twilight said as she pointed the spectrometer at them.
Aria Blaze walked up to the sentai villain version of Sunset Shimmer. Said Shimmer turned to her and puffed up, smirking.
"What's this?" she asked. "I have faced greater challenges than you could imagine. What do yo--"
Aria punched her in the stomach, driving her fist deep into the sternum. There was a meaty thump of impact, followed by a grunt from the Sunset as the air was knocked out of her lungs. The villain dropped to the ground, curled in a ball and holding her stomach a Aria pulled her fist away.
"Like I said," Aria said, shaking her head, "not covering any vital organs."
Adagio Dazzle walked up to siren Sunset Shimmer and stopped. Normally, she would cross her arms, but holding onto the scepter with one hand made that an extremely difficult maneuver to do comfortably. As such, she shifted to place more of her weight on the staff, sticking out one hip and placing her empty hand on it. Her eyes narrowed as her lips pressed thinly together.
"I must say, I'm pretty disappointed," Adagio Dazzle stated, turning her nose up and away from the other siren.
Siren Sunset turned toward her, scowling.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "And why should I even care?" With this last part, she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, for the second, I don't suppose you should," Adagio conceded. She shrugged a shoulder. "I mean, sirens have never really cared what we thought about each other beside how useful the other might be... or possibly how edible..." She gave a shake of her head, pushing that thought away. "As for the first." She pointed a hand at Sunset Satan. "You should have been able to take charge of her little group."
Siren Sunset's body tense and scowl deepened. She turned to look away, hugging herself tighter.
"I tried," she mumbled. "They all were resistant, and I couldn't try harder without being caught."
Adagio Dazzle's face grew colder.
"Which makes it all the more disappointing."
Street mage Shimmer, Sentai Shimmer, and Trixie came out of the school carry cans of paint, the labels of which identified the color as "eggshell."
"Okay," mage Shimmer said. "Right now, they're all still in the parking lot. So we use the paint along the edges and sidewalks to create a large circle around the whole thing." She looked up at the other two. "It's very important that there are absolutely no breaks. This is already iffy on this scale and with the uneven spots, but if the line is not completely connected all the way around, then it absolutely will not work. Understood?"
The other two nodded.
"Good." Street mage Shimmer pointed at Trixie. "You will pour the paint." She pointed at Sentai Shimmer. "You go with her, in case anyone attacks."
After another nod, two of the paint cans were opened. They started to pour it onto the ground, moving in opposite directions.
The werewolf roared.
Sonata roared back.
The monster lunged forward, snapping its jaws hard.
Sonata hopped to the left, being missed by the attack. She then spun in a circle, slashing out with the sword. The blade cut into the creature's cheek.
Unfortunately, just like the previous blows she had landed, it was already healing, the wound closing up before Sonata's very eyes.
Meanwhile, the cloaked Sunset Shimmer was on the other of the werewolf, firing arrow after arrow into it while Sonata kept its attention focused on her.
The werewolf turned its head and Sonata jumped out of the way, slashing down. The blade sliced through the nose, severing it from the creature's face. The werewolf threw its head back, crying out in pain.
The damage was too extensive to heal quickly.
"HEY!" Sonata picked up the severed piece of flesh and held it up. "GOT YOUR NOSE!"
A new rift in reality appeared. This one was the largest so far, towering taller than the school and nearly as wide at the base (which thoroughly destroyed the trapping circle plan). The portal was a blackness, nothing beyond it could be seen.
A loud booming thump, like something heavy had hit the ground, echoed from the portal. It was followed by another, louder one, and another still. The ground began to shudder with each impact. People and other creatures stopped what they were doing, turning their attention to source of the sound out of curiosity.
The head of a dragon emerged through the massive portal. It had golden-yellow scales that glistened even in the cloud-covered night, broken up by spots of obsidian blackness. As it continued to emerge, its great wings spread out, giving a flap and knocking those nearby off their feet.
Sunset Shimmer sat on the creature's back, riding between its shoulders. She was dressed primarily in brown leather armor, with pieces of iron attached to it. Most notable was the iron dragon on her chest, its head nestled between and wings cupping her breasts. She also wore a helmet made to look like a dragon's skull, complete with horns, and glowing red gemstones in the eye sockets. In one hand, she held a staff, a crystalline staff with a large red gemstone at the top, held in place by three points that were reminiscent of a dragon's claw.
The stone in the staff's grip and the ones for the helmet's eyes lit up.
The dragon opened its mouth, revealing great, sharp teeth, and unleashed a massive yellow flame into the air as it roared.