//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Alternative Origins // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Stupid Celestia. Stupid mission. For the umpteenth time, those thoughts ran through Sunset Shimmer's mind. Outside the train, the scenery changed into frozen tundra and the rattling of the engine was slowly giving her a headache. The troop of soldiers who kept babbling around her didn't help either. She could be in a warm, cosy study in Canterlot Palace right now, with a cup of hot chocolate and one of Starswirl's old journals to dive in. She could be sitting in the throne room right now, at Celestia's side where she always belonged, nobles standing in line for hours just to get a brief moment with the Princess and her prodigy of a student. She could be in the archives right now and find more information on this twice-damned mirror, for star's sake. But no! You're not ready yet, Sunset Shimmer. You'll learn everything you need to know, when the time is right, Sunset Shimmer.Augh! Trying to convince the Princess that she was ready was useless. For years now, she has been the top student of every class she's ever been assigned to. She put students, seniors, teachers and even professors in their places, behind her and below her. She was the most talented unicorn in all of Equestria, the most powerful student Celestia ever had, the Princess even admitted so herself. She had learned every lesson the Princess taught her and pushed even further, excelling every expectation the Princess ever put in her in every possible way. She was more than just a student or a protégé. She was Sunset Shimmer! She was powerful, smart and talented. Out of an entire nation of ponies, she was the one who could claim her spot next to Princess Celestia, not as her underling, but as an equal. She deserved to be her equal! She deserved to be respected! She deserved to be an alicorn, for Celestia's sake! She had seen it, in the mirror. She had seen the wings and she had felt the power. For one brief moment, she had felt what it was like to be an immortal alicorn goddess. But Celestia told her she wasn't ready. She postponed her private sessions, reworked her assignments and even cut into her independent studies. When she found out that Sunset Shimmer wouldn't stop gathering any information available about the mirror, she'd even sent her on this stupid mission. Stupid mission. Stupid Celestia. At least the train ride into the north gave her ample time to read. She had to admit, the Crystal Empire turned out to be a very interesting subject. Just imagine an entire city that had vanished without a trace. That there was a whole culture that had disappeared a thousand years ago. Knowledge, art, history, all forgotten by everypony except Princess Celestia herself. An entire tribe of ponies that nopony had ever heard of, with magic nopony had seen in a millennium. The crystal ponies possessed a form of internal magic, like earth ponies and pegasus ponies, driven by emotion and empathy. What exactly that meant, not even the books from Princess Celestia's personal library could tell. Even so, crystal pony magic was just the beginning! There was also King Sombra, a unicorn so powerful that he could only be defeated when Princess Celestia joined forces with Princess Luna (now known as Nightmare Moon and trapped inside her own moon for another few years, another secret Sunset Shimmer had discovered during her studies to impress Celestia and to earn her praise and confidence). Even though he supposedly turned evil and insane from all this power, King Sombra had managed to cast a curse so powerful it banished the entire Crystal Empire and every soul living within. A curse so powerful that still left traces of power and magic lingering in the frozen north to this day and that had lured out mages and sorcerers for generations to investigate. Of course, they all failed. The last one to get any distinct trace was the last know student of Clover the Clever himself and even then, he only managed to utter a vague prediction that the Empire might return someday, maybe after a thousand years. Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and snorted in a dry laughter. They all failed as expected, even one of the most powerful mages of all times. She would not fail like them. She wasn't just one of the most powerful unicorns, she was the most powerful, period. She'd figure out this curse and she would find the power source King Sombra had used (some obscure artefact called the 'Crystal Heart', out of all stupid names). Once she had found the artefact, she would claim it for herself. She wouldn't go insane like the king, her mind was sharp and she had more ambition than all of the other mages combined. Ponies called her arrogant, but she knew that wasn't true. She was just being honest to herself. Why should she hide the fact that she was the most powerful unicorn of all times and so talented and intelligent that she even managed to impress the Princess on a daily basis? Other ponies couldn't understand it or they were simply jealous. Not that Sunset really cared much. She didn't need them, she was superior in every way after all. Once she had this curse lifted, she would have proven she was ready. Why else would the Princess send her here, unless as a final test? With the Crystal Empire and all its secrets at her disposal, she'd figure out the mirror with ease, even without help from Celestia. She would be an alicorn and who knew? Maybe she'd even have an Empire to rule for herself. Sunset Shimmer smirked at the book in front of her. Empress Sunset Shimmer does have a nice ring to it. Empress Sunset Shimmer, Princess of Equestria, Wielder of the Crystal Heart. Yes, that sounds so right! Lost in her thoughts for a moment, Sunset Shimmer noticed one of the pegasus guards staring at her with a goof grin. Within a second, her smirk was gone and replaced by an icy glare "Stop staring at me, you creep!" More than one of the guards flinched at the harsh yelling from the amber unicorn, but the pegasus just tilted his head "Must be one damned good book you have there." "You wouldn't know a good book if it came and smashed against your head." A few of the guards snickered but stopped when Sunset Shimmer's eyes darted around to send out more glares, only to fall back at the staring pegasus. She realized he might only be a year or two older than her, probably fresh out of guard training. She also realized he didn't know who he was dealing with when he dared to glare back with a snort "Yeesh, what's your problem, girl? I'm just trying to be nice. Who do you think you are?" Sunset's glare turned from icy into burning fury as she stood up and took but one step towards the pegasus. The young guard instinctively backed away and Sunset smirked with confidence "I am Sunset Shimmer, personal student and apprentice of Princess Celestia herself. While you've been spending years learning how to stand still and stare at a wall, I've mastered every kind of magic and spells from all over Equestria. And while your featherbrained head probably struggles with even finding north without help, I'm on an important mission for the Princess." The guard finally pulled his eyes away from the furious glare, but he still refused to surrender without throwing something back at the unicorn "We're headed to the northern tundra. There's only a guard post out there, what kind of mission would that be?" Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes turned around to face her book again "Listen, why don't you just go back to being silent like a good guard and leave the thinking to somepony who's smart enough to deal with it." She sat back down in front of her book but she still heard him trying to say something in return "We're headed the same way, so we could help you on your mission. Or we can protect you if it's dangerous" Sunset Shimmer's harsh and unkind laughter filled the train "I don't need your protection. And if I ever see the day when I need help from somepony like you, we should all fear for the end of Equestria." The guard finally clamped his mouth shut and Sunset Shimmer focused back on her book. She completely missed the silent glares from every single one of the guards around her.