ULTRA LIVE! Sunset Shimmer

by Cojo5536


Scavenger Hunt

The day following the slumber party found Rarity in class, distracted by her thoughts. After Applejack had left she had gotten the idea to ask Sunset about her ability to attract guys without trying.

The answer had been quite revealing.

FLASHBACK

“What?” Sunset asked, not entirely believing what she was hearing.

“You heard me, what is your secret to getting dates?” Rarity repeated.

“You’re right, I did hear you, I’m just wondering why you’re asking me about it.”

“Please darling, you managed to get Trenderhoof after you without ever speaking to him, and before Anon-A-Miss boys would approach you regularly. Come on, what’s your secret?”

Sunset seemed to become conflicted as to what to tell her until, it seemed, she got an idea, “Hey Wallflower, what do the guys say about dating Rarity?”

Wallflower, who was getting her hair braided by Fluttershy, replied as she looked at Rarity, “They wonder why you don’t just transfer to Crystal Prep.”

Sunset winced from the green girl’s bluntness, “Ouch, you could have laid it on gently at least.”

“I’m the spymaster, remember? It’s not my job to be gentle,” Wallflower casually replied. She could be subtle and savage, an odd combination.

Rarity, who had been staring at Wallflower open-mouthed, suddenly screeched, “WHAT!? WHY!?”

“Probably because you keep bringing up money whenever you talk about guys,” Lightning Dust replied from where she was playing video games with Trixie and Pinkie Pie.

“Not to mention you want someone of high social standing,” Sunset added, “How many guys fall into those categories at Canterlot High?”

Rarity blushed, “Well, fair enough, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THEY CAN’T TRY!”

Sunset shifted herself in discomfort, “Uh, yeah, see, that’s the other thing guys have a problem with. You’re… Uh... Pinkie if you were a boy, how would you describe dating Rarity?”

“Like owning an alligator. Only cool if you know how to take care of it,” Pinkie said before returning to the game.

Rarity paused, “...WHAT!?”

“She means you’re high maintenance,” Sunset clarified, really wishing her company would go easy on Rarity.

Rarity huffed in indignation, “I am NOT ‘high maintenance’.”

Suddenly the entire room became quiet, and Rarity realized, she screwed up.

“Oh really?” Sunset then did an impression of Rarity, even faking her accent. “‘Oh, my! A broken nail! This is the worst! Possible! Thing’! All I need now is a couch to collapse on. Rarity, you’re not just high maintenance, you’re melodramatic. You overreact at the tiniest thing.”

“That’s…” Rarity attempted to defend herself, but Sunset was not done.

“Or how about the fact you pack your entire house’s worth in suitcases for an overnight trip? Do you even register how unreasonable that is?”

“But-” Rarity attempted again, but to her shock, Fluttershy now joined in.

“What about your habit of dragging boys into doing favors for you without any payoff? Like those boys who helped you move the piano? It makes you look unfaithful.”

“E tu Fluttershy?” Rarity groaned, but now Pinkie dealt the final blow.

“Ooooo, what about how you always talk about what the guy can do for you? Never what you can do for him? Isn’t that kinda selfish?”

That was it, that was what finally broke her. She was just told that guys find her difficult to get along with and tiring. She could only stare absently in front of her in horror.

“Sorry, Rarity. Even if you weren’t as bad as I was, you can be a bit manipulative,” Sunset said.

“...Am I...am I a bitch?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“No, no, no,” Fluttershy said softly. “But you do act like a diva sometimes.”

“You’re not a bad person. You just need to work on improving some of your behaviors. Rather than losing your mind at a single drop of mud or sauce on a white dress, treat it as the minor annoyance it is. Rather than take all of your possessions for an overnight trip, try to condense it into a single suitcase, with only what you absolutely need. Rather than make eyes at guys to get favors out of them, then just ditching them, take a moment to get to really know them, or give them some monetary compensation so they want to help. Lastly lower your standards to something more realistically attainable, and you will find yourself far more likely to have guys approaching you more often,” Sunset finished with a smile.

Rarity lowered her eyes from Sunset in sadness, and croaked out “I suppose I could try.”

END FLASHBACK

Since then she had been thinking of some way that she could defend her behaviors, to prove her friends wrong somehow. However, no matter how she looked at the matter, the result was the same: the fault was never with the boys, it was with herself.

“Hey Rares’ whatcha thinkin’ about?” Rainbow Dash interrupted Rarity’s thoughts.

“Oh, nothing. Just how much of a fool I’ve been,” Rarity replied, not accounting for who she was speaking to.

Rainbow gave a vile grin, “So, Sunset finally admitted she’s Anon-A-Miss huh? YES! I knew she was! Did she confess to the monsters too?”

Rarity suddenly realized who she was speaking to, “Rainbow Dash! She did no such thing!”

“What!? But you said-!”

“I never said anything about Sunset. I’ve just taken a  good hard look at myself and made to recognize my own flaws.”

“But, Rares, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“I wish that were true, darling. Tell me, have I ever strung boys along to get what I want? Have I ever behaved melodramatically at something as small as a chipped nail? Do I behave like a diva?”

“Where is this all coming from? Did Sunset post something about you?” Rainbow demanded to know.

Rarity just pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and massaged her temple with the other. She knew Rainbow Dash could be stubborn and while Applejack could rival her in that department, the athlete just was not the kind of person to admit defeat or admit she was wrong until she was backed into a corner. There should be a limit to how foolishly stubborn a person could be, but Rainbow Dash was just incapable of having such a limit. They were all worried that Rainbow Dash was just obsessed with being right about Sunset, that she was bad news, no matter what anybody said. It was almost delusional and they were worried about her mental health.

“Honestly, Rainbow Dash, you’d probably blame global warming on Sunset just because!”

“What the hell!? Why are you defending her? Last I recall, you were right there with me when we accused her!”

“That was only because you argued for it vehemently,” suddenly a thought occurred to Rarity, “Now that I think of it, why did you argue so hard for us to abandon Sunset?”

“Well, duh! She stabbed us in the back! Why shouldn’t we abandon her?”

“And sever our only link to Princess Twilight? And that’s hardly the point, you were beating that drum even before Anon-A-Miss posted anything about you. So, what is your true grievance with her?”

Rainbow became very quiet at that, confirming Rarity’s suspicions. However, before she could pry answers out of the athlete the class end bell sounded, allowing Rainbow to avoid answering Rarity’s query.

*////*

Gilda was on her way home from work. Inside her jacket pocket was the dinosaur-like figure she had found the other night. For some reason, the girl had grown attached to the figure. Well, it was a toy that reminded her of her childhood love for dinosaurs, but it was more than that. For some odd reason, Gilda felt as though it were alive.

The night she slept after finding the figure, she had a strange dream about it, only it wasn’t a 5 inch toy but instead a giant monster that had to be at least 100 feet tall. But she was not afraid, instead she was in awe of the beast.

It was also in this dream that she learned the beast’s name: “Gomora”.

Now carrying around a toy could get Gilda the wrong attention. She was an adult and she had a reputation to maintain. She did not need people talking behind her back, calling her childish or a baby who played with dolls. However, Gilda just didn’t have the heart to leave Gomora back at home.

Gilda never got into college. She just didn’t have the grades for it. Instead, she got a job as a mechanic. She was at least good at that and she made a decent living. Her boss was a decent guy. He might check her out while she’s working but he never made any rude comments or sexually harass her. He might have pervy eyes, but he was otherwise a good guy.

Right now, Gilda was craving a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows. She should make a stop at the Sugarcube Sweet Shoppe. Mrs. Cake made a really great mug of hot chocolate.

“Hey, G!” The scratchy voice of Rainbow Dash called out.

Gilda sighed, ‘Great.’ She returned the greeting, “Hey, Dash.”

Rainbow reached her delinquent friend and began walking beside her.  Rainbow Dash was the last person Gilda wanted to talk to right now. Lately, Rainbow Dash was acting all obsessed and angry. It was honestly starting to scare her, though she would never admit it outright.

“So have any luck proving Sunset’s evil today?” Gilda pried.

“Tch, I thought I had her in class today, but Rarity just turned it around on me. Damn it what is happening with those girls? Just a few days ago they were all willing to back me up, but now they’ve all turned on me, and it’s pissing me off,” Rainbow ranted.

“I don’t know why you’re tellin’ me this, my thoughts haven’t changed since last night,” Gilda responded.

“Oh, come on, G! With everyone else bailing on me, you’re the only fallback I have!”

“What about the sports team? Don’t you have anyone there you can complain to?”

“Uh... Well, they started on my side, but when Pinkie’s post went up yesterday, they decided to stay out of it. Some of them even said they would join up with Sunset.”

“Maybe they got good reason to, did you think of that? What did your folks have to say about it?”

Gilda had met Rainbow Dash’s parents, Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles. Looking at them, it was easy to tell where Rainbow got her looks from as she had inherited her mom’s skin tone and her signature hair color from her dad. They were supportive of their daughter, to an embarrassing degree. Still, they were good parents. Hopefully, Rainbow Dash had gone to them for some parental advice. Then again, Rainbow’s parents likely contributed to her ego, even if their excessive show of support embarrassed her to no end.

“Yeah, they’re behind me, but that doesn’t really help, because they’d support me nose-picking if they caught me doing it.”

‘Damn it, those two are such damn pushovers. Can’t they see this blind support isn’t helping their daughter at all?” Gilda thought bitterly.

“I need the backing of the school to get rid of Sunset, but that can’t happen if people keep walking out on me,” Rainbow Dash complained.

“Look, I’m headed to Sugarcube Corner. You want anything?” Gilda offered.

“Sure, maybe I can gather some people there to help me bust Sunse- SON OF A BITCH!” Rainbow Dash suddenly screeched.

There, across the street, visible through the window of Sugarcube Corner, was Sunset Shimmer. And she was sitting in Rainbow’s seat.

*////*

The Rainbooms, sans Rainbow Dash, were seated at their usual booth in Sugarcube Corner. Wallflower, Lightning Dust, Taro and Trixie were absent. Lightning Dust didn’t say what plans she had, and Wallflower wanted to decorate her Christmas tree with Taro helping her. Trixie said that was going to the children’s hospital to perform for all the sick kids there.

When the other CHS students in the shop saw Sunset, they just glared at her but did nothing since she was in the company of the Rainbooms. This confused them. Weren’t they the ones who first believed Sunset was behind the Anon-A-Miss profile? Then why were they sitting with Sunset and acting like friends again?

School was interesting, to say the least. While Sunset was still getting glares from the student body, it was not as bad as before since she had most of her friends back and a few new ones.

The graffiti on her locker had been cleaned by the janitor so now Sunset, hopefully, did not have to look at such an eyesore again.

Her friends helped out as they went to their cliques and clubs to help to spread the word that she was innocent. There were skeptics and people on the fence, but they had no reason not to believe her friends. At least there was progress. Not everyone was against her, they were just afraid of going against the crowd. Not sure how she felt about that, but at least her time at school was no longer miserable with friends supporting her.

It was a bit awkward and tense between Sunset and the Rainbooms, at first. They did drop her without a good reason, even if it seemed she was behind Anon-A-Miss. However, they soon came around. They even realized that Sunset had too much to lose and she was smart enough as to not be so blatant as to paint an obvious target on herself with the profile. It was like the damn thing was designed to make her look guilty. It was a frame up job and they had eaten it all up. Fortunately, Sunset decided to give them another chance. Rainbow Dash still believed she was Anon-A-Miss, but Sunset had bigger things to worry about.

Right now, there was something way bigger and much worse than Anon-A-Miss at large.

“Maybe it’s one of the teachers,” Pinkie Pie suggested.

Right now, they were discussing about the Dark Giant and his agents, Metron and Icarus, when Pinkie Pie made the suggestion.

“You think a member of our school’s faculty could be the mastermind?” Rarity asked.

“It always happens in teen superhero shows,” Pinkie Pie answered. “And usually it’s the nicest one like your favorite homeroom teacher, or the school guidance counselor. Heck, in one show, it was the principal.”

While many would dismiss Pinkie Pie’s random ramblings at nonsense, more often than not, she was usually spot on so it was something to consider. Could the Dark Giant have taken possession of someone in the faculty? It would explain why there hadn’t been any action taken against Anon-A-Miss.

They would need to investigate the faculty if that were the case.

As the Rainbooms chatted between themselves, Sunset’s journal was opened in the middle.

“Yah know, thinking about it, losing you would’ve meant losing Twilight,” Applejack confessed as she looked at the journal. Besides the portal, it was their one link to their other-dimensional royal friend.

“Yeah, since Sunset has the journal, she’s the only one that can write to Twilight if we need help,” Pinkie Pie added, realizing how dumb they were.

“Relax, it’s fine,” said Sunset as she took out a pen. “Y’know, you can each write a Christmas message to Twilight.”

“Won’t she be too upset with us for what we did?” Rarity asked.

“Relax, I wrote to her already. She’s cool. She just asks that you don’t do it again or she’s coming through the portal to set you guys straight,” said Sunset. “Kinda wish Rainbow was here, though.” She wanted to patch things up with all her friends.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?”

And speak of the devil, there was Rainbow Dash who had just walked in with Gilda. Judging by her yell, she saw them all.

Rainbow Dash made her way over to their booth, an angry scowl on her face. She just could not believe what she was seeing.

“Hey, Rainbow-” Applejack started.

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SITTING WITH HER!?” Rainbow Dash pointed at the ‘traitor’.

“Rainbow, we’ve spoken to Sunset-” Rarity began, only to be cut off as well.

“SHE’S NOT OUR FRIEND! SHE’S A TRAITOR! SHE SHOULDN’T BE IN MY SPOT!”

For a moment, Sunset wished she did have Ultra Psychokinesis like Taro so she could shut the irate athlete up.

Rainbow Dash felt a hand on her shoulder and would’ve decked the person in her angry state, but paused as she raised her fist.

“You’re causing a scene,” Mr. Cake said sternly as he stood behind Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth then spotted Pinkie Pie’s milkshake. She went to snatch it to throw it in Sunset’s face when Pinkie Pie snatched it up, faster than Rainbow could. The pink-haired girl sipped it all up in one go, even at the risk of a brain freeze.

“Nope! No wasting milkshakes!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

Rainbow Dash looked at each of her ‘friends’ and felt like she had been betrayed. They were being played for fools by Sunset, and none of them realized it. Seeing that she could not reason with any of them, she turned and stomped out of the sweet shoppe.

On the way out, however, Rainbow shoved Gilda out of the way, shaking Gomora out of her pocket, and into full view of Sunset’s gang. Gilda quickly snatched up the little monster doll and shoved it back into her pocket. She checked to see if anyone noticed before following Rainbow out.

The Rainbooms’ table was silent for a moment.

“Wait, that was…” Sunset started.

“A Spark Doll, yes,” Rarity finished.

“It looks scary,” Fluttershy said.

“And crazy strong,” Pinkie gasped.

“Now y’all just wait a darn minute. What make y’all so sure it’s one of them toys?” Applejack cut in.

“Have you ever seen a dinosaur like that, AJ?” Sunset replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Well no, but it ain’t like I know every dino ever.”

“There isn’t one like that in the fossil records,” Fluttershy suddenly said, causing her friends to turn to her. “I like animals,” she said, blushing.

Pinkie Pie was drawing on a napkin. When she finished, she gave it to Sunset.

“You should text Wallflower and send this to her. Maybe Taro knows what it is,” Pinkie Pie said. Sunset looked at the napkin and saw that Pinkie had drawn a picture of the Spark Doll in Gilda’s possession. It wasn’t a perfect likeness, but it had enough of a resemblance. Hopefully, Taro could shed some light on this.

“Let’s hope it’s a monster from his universe then,” said Sunset as she took a picture of the drawing with her phone then texted it to Wallflower.

*////*

“Wallflower, please! This is embarrassing!” Taro yelled.

Taro was perched right on top of the tree, dressed as a Christmas Angel. There was even a little halo on him. Honestly, it was cute, in a weird way.

“Oh come on, it’s adorable, Taro,” Wallflower squeed in delight as she held up her phone.

“It’s demeaning,” Taro protested. “Please don’t take a picture.”

“Oh I’m taking it, and you are going to like it,” she said as she prepared to press the button. She was stopped by a text message from Sunset Shimmer. “Oh really? You’re going to text me now of all times?”

“Thank you,” Taro whispered as he hovered off the top of the tree, thankful that he was ‘saved by the bell’.

Wallflower read the text message and cocked an eyebrow.

“Sunset says she found a new Spark Doll. Hey, Taro. Do you recognize this thing?” Wallflower showed Taro the picture Sunset had sent her.

Taro gazed at the picture in thought, “Well, the details are somewhat off, but if I were to guess, it would have to be…” Taro paused in recognition, “GOMORA! Wallflower, call Sunset now!”

“Wha- I mean, sure, why?”

“Just trust me on this,” Taro pleaded.

“Okay, okay,” Wallflower said, quickly pressing the call button, “Crap, this is gonna be a bad one.”

*////*

Sunset’s phone started ringing, “Wallflower’s calling.”

“Wow, that was fast,” Pinkie commented.

“Yeah, that can only mean bad news,” Sunset responded, pressing the answer button, “Yo, what do you have?”

Don’t you think you’ve gotten out of this yet, buster. Once I hang up, you’re going back on the tree,” Wallflower said as her voice came through Sunset’s phone.

Sunset paused, “... Uh, what?”

Never mind her,” Taro replied hastily, “Is everyone else there? They need to hear this too.” Sunset put her phone on speaker. “The monster you saw is called Gomora!

“Okay? What about it?” Sunset asked.

What about- Sunset, Gomora is an immensely powerful monster. A fierce close-combat specialist, capable of fighting Ultras to a standstill, without ever resorting to it’s sole ranged weapon, the Super Oscillatory Wave.

“That sounds pretty bad,” Sunset replied.

Yes, which is why it is imperative that you recover that Spark Doll immediately! In the wrong hands, it could spell disaster! Where did you see it!?

“Gilda had it.”

Aw, crap,” Wallflower said with a groan.

“What?” Sunset asked.

Gilda graduated around last year, but even though she stopped bullying, she’s still a hardass tough girl. She’s fixated on that image and will do anything to protect it. Can’t say for sure but it’s possible that she’s Dark Dummy Spark material,” Wallflower explained.

“So, Gilda’s in danger as long as she has that Spark Doll,” Pinkie summarized.

Correct,” Taro affirmed, “Anymore questions?

“Just one, what was that about you going on the tree?” Sunset asked, however before Wallflower could answer the click of the call hanging up sounded.

“Aw, I wanted to hear about the tree,” Pinkie whined.

“Some other time I guess,” Sunset sighed, “Alright girls, listen up! You heard Taro! We need to find Gilda and the Gomora Spark Doll before Metron and Icarus do! She already has a head start on us so we will have to split up to cover the most ground! Are you ready!?”

“Yeah!” The other four girls cheered.

“Alright! LET’S GO!” Sunset cried.

“Actually, I got a better idea,” Pinkie Pie chimed in, stopping everyone as they started for the door.  “Since Dash and Gilda have been spending so much time together, wouldn’t it be easier just to text Rainbow and have her bring Gilda to us? I mean, that way we won’t have to run around town looking for them or ask people if they’ve seen them.”

“...That does sound like a better plan,” Fluttershy admitted softly.

“Just one problem, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “Why would Dash listen to us? You know how stubborn she is and since we’re on Sunset’s side she won’t listen to us.”

“Well, what if we make her think we’re not on Sunset’s side?” Pinkie Pie suggested.

Sunset understood where Pinkie Pie was going with this. Well, not 100 percent sure, but she got the general idea. Still, she trusted Pinkie to set up the plan. It was easier  to lure people in than to chase after them sometimes, especially if you had some very tempting bait.

“OK, but don’t do it too soon. We don’t want her to get suspicious,” Sunset permitted.

“Trust me, this will be a party she can’t refuse,” said Pinkie Pie as she started to type up her message. “We just need a place where we can meet up, a blindfold, a gag, and some rope.”

The party girl’s other friends stared at her uncomfortably.

“Uhhh... Let’s just get a place to meet, we don’t need any of the other stuff,” Sunset said, shakily.

“Oh, that stuff’s for me~,” Pinkie Pie explained before she added quietly, “Pinkie likes kinky.”

Sunset sighed, not wanting to get into another tangent, “Just… Just send her the text, Pinkie.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie said as she hit ‘send.’

“So, where did ya tell ‘er ta meet us,” Applejack asked.

“The gym back at school,” Pinkie answered. “I have a key since I need it to set up my parties in there.”

*////*

Since Gilda and Rainbow Dash could not have hot chocolate in Sugarcube Corner, they decided to just grab something from a nearby Starbucks. Yes, the drinks were overpriced, but Gilda was paying so Rainbow didn’t mind. Gilda certainly did, however.

“Thanks, ‘Bulldog’,” the tough girl said sarcastically.

“It’s not my fault! Sunset shouldn’t even have been there!” Rainbow pleaded.

“Do you think I’m buying your bullshit anymore, Dash? You just got us kicked out of Sugarcube Corner. Do you have any idea how hard you have to mess up to get kicked out of Sugarcube Corner!?”

“Sunset stole my friends and now she’s stolen my spot in Sugarcube Corner!”

“Yeah, and!? Why the hell does a Goddamn chair mean so much to you!?”

“That’s… I don’t have to explain to you!”

“You know, Dash!? I’m beginning to think this goes deeper than some jackass talking shit online. Now are you gonna tell me what this is really over, or are you content to just keep burning bridges? Because if not you can say goodbye to me too!”

Rainbow sat silently glaring at Gilda at that ultimatum until the text alert on her phone rang. Pulling it out, she saw it was from Pinkie Pie, “Oh, what does that traitor want now?” Rainbow opened the message. It was ironic that she called Pinkie Pie a traitor when the athlete had been the one to betray a friend

‘Hey, Dashie! U were rite! Sunset’s fooled us! Kwik, come 2 the gym! We got hr ready 4 u!’

The text was followed by a series of emojis: smiley face, smiley face, balloons, smiley face.

Rainbow’s eyes widened, “... I was right.”

Finally, the girls saw sense and realized that she was right.

“What?” Gilda asked.

“I WAS RIGHT!” Rainbow shouted in response, celebrating, “YES! SCORE ONE FOR RAINBOW!”

“WHAT!?” Gilda repeated.

“I SAID-!”

“No, I heard you, but listen here dipshit, we literally just saw them with Shimmer, and now their saying they want to meet up? This has ‘sketchy’ written all over it.”

“DON’T CARE! I’M GOING!” Rainbow yelled from the Starbucks doors. “WOOHOO! I WAS RIGHT!”

“Ugh, I should just let her run off. But, maybe she’ll get her ass kicked, and do I really wanna miss that? Dammit, no I don’t, HEY DASH WAIT UP!” Gilda called, following after her chromatic friend.

Meanwhile, sitting at a nearby table in his human disguise was Metron who smiled as he finished his drink.

“And here we, go.”

*////*

“OK, she’s on her way,” Pinkie Pie informed them. She and her friends were gathered in front of the school gym. The text Rainbow had sent back was in all caps:

‘BITCH IS MINE!!!’

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Wallflower said sarcastically.

Wallflower had arrived to school on her bike with Taro. For some reason unknown to the Rainbooms the tiny Ultra kept far away from the green girl and was perched on Sunset’s shoulder.

“So, when Rainbow shows up with Gilda, we need to separate them and grab the Spark Doll before she Lives into it,” Sunset explained the plan. “Taro, that’s where come in. You can hide somewhere to freeze her.”

“Yes, but stay on guard, we should expect Icarus and Metron to appear as well,” Taro warned.

“So we might actually see the aliens? Yee-haw! Ah’m gonna pummel ‘em for hurtin mah friends,” Applejack cheered.

“Oh, I’m sure Miss Applejack,” Taro said, then added, “If you can survive full body necrosis.”

“Say what?” Applejack asked.

“Icarus is capable of firing a ray of energy needles that instantly decays plant matter. I have never seen what happens when it strikes a human, but I imagine the effect is similar. So I ask again, can you survive full body decay?”

Applejack stayed silent for a moment, gulping at the mental image of rotting to death.

“Darn it, how are we supposed to fight these varmints?”

“Hopefully, you won’t have to.”

“Yup, so be careful. These guys aren’t going to hold back if we confront them,” Sunset warned. She had not met these aliens personally but she was cautious after hearing some of Taro’s stories. Aliens could also become gigantic.

“So Taro, what was Wallflower talking about when she said you were going back on the tree?” Fluttershy asked, not wanting to think about the danger they were in.

“Oh! As you know, Taro and I were decorating the Christmas Tree, and I got this idea to dress him up as a-,” Wallflower began excitedly explaining, but Taro cut her off.

“Quiet they’re here!”

*////*

Gilda eyed Rainbow worriedly as the prismatic-haired athlete just kept clenching and unclenching her fists with a fierce look of eagerness in her eyes. The girl was looking forward to finally putting Sunset Shimmer in her place and gaining her friends back.

Gilda was silent as she contemplated the situation. To be honest, it was highly suspect. From what little she saw, Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms had been getting along in Sugarcube Corner. For one of them to suddenly text Rainbow Dash, saying that they had realized the error of their ways, just didn’t make sense. However, Rainbow Dash was in no mood to listen to anything sensible.

Losing her friends, one-by-one, to Sunset Shimmer of all people was probably having a negative effect on Rainbow Dash. The girl was prideful with an ego that was inflated by her parents’ support. Gilda understood why they had done it, though. They wanted Rainbow Dash to gain confidence so she could push herself and get better. They were proud of their little athlete. However, such support could also cause Rainbow Dash to become overconfident and unwilling to listen to anyone else’s opinions, thinking she was right. It was difficult to argue with her as she was always determined to win and was unlikely to compromise.

Now, they were headed for the school gym. To Gilda, this just smelled like some kind of setup, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening to her. She wouldn’t be listening to anyone. All she cared about was being proven right, that Sunset was Anon-A-Miss, that the girl was and always will be a bad person. In Rainbow Dash’s mind, there was no room to doubt Sunsets guilt or to consider her innocence.

There was nobody at school, the school’s sports team had all been given a break as it was close to Christmas. The gym was open as Rainbow told Gilda that Pinkie Pie had a key so she could do her party preparation easily. It was a privilege that Pinkie Pie had never abused.

Rainbow Dash opened the door and went in with Gilda following.

“OK, I’m here!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she spotted all her friends. Sunset looked defeated - a good look for her - as she sat on the floor with the Rainbooms surrounding her.

“Glad you came, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack greeted while eyeing Gilda.

“Well, when Pinkie Pie sent that text, I couldn’t resist,” Rainbow Dash grinned as she looked at Sunset Shimmer. “I’m just glad you all came to your senses.”

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied before she mumbled, “Sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash did not catch that.

“TARO! NOW!” Sunset yelled.

Wallflower Blush and Taro were hidden under the bleachers.

“ULTRA PSYCHOKINESIS!”

Rainbow Dash and Gilda both cried out in shock as their bodies just locked up and froze like statues.

“Hey!?”

“What gives!”

“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie threw confetti as Applejack and Sunset Shimmer went over to Gilda.

“Wait, what’s going on!?” Rainbow Dash yelled as she panicked, confused as to what was happening. Meanwhile, Sunset and Applejack were searching Gilda’s jacket. They found Gomora’s Spark Doll.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Gilda yelled angrily. “Give it back!”

“Sorry, but we can’t do that,” said Sunset. “This isn’t a toy. It’s dangerous.”

“Exactly.”

All of a sudden, a human-sized ball of energy dropped onto the gym floor. The force of its impact knocked everyone to the floor, including Wallflower Blush and Taro. This caused Taro’s hold on Rainbow Dash and Gilda to break. The Spark Doll also went flying and landed near the ball of energy.

The ball of energy soon vanished, revealing Metron in his true form. He had no need for a human disguise right now.

“Greetings, humans,” Metron greeted. “And also greetings to Sunset Shimmer, or should I say ‘Ultraman Ginga’?”

“Ultraman...?” Gilda’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ginga...?” Rainbow Dash uttered in disbelief.

“Alien Metron, I presume,” Sunset got up to her feet.

Metron picked up the Gomora Spark Doll and revealed a Dark Dummy Spark. He had no visible mouth, but Sunset could tell he looked smug.

“Thank you for finding this Spark Doll for us, Sunset Shimmer,” said Metron as he approached Gilda. Sunset was about to intervene but Metron stopped her, “I wouldn’t make any hasty movement. Icarus, are you here?”

“Right here! Hm hm hm,” Alien Icarus revealed himself as he stood on the bleachers with his fingers pointed at the Rainbooms. “One wrong step and you’ll rot! Hm hm hm.”

Metron went over to Gilda and the girl looked at him in fear as his huge fish-like eyes looked straight at her.

“I can tell you have some unresolved and caged up anger inside of you,” Metron said as he presented the Dark Dummy Spark to her. “How about you let it all out?”

Gilda’s eyes glowed the same color as the Dark Dummy Spark. Unable to resist, she grasped it. Metron smiled as he handed her the Gomora Spark Doll.

Rainbow Dash recognized the device as Lightning Dust had showed it to her.

“Gilda! Don’t!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she picked herself up and ran to her friend before she made a terrible mistake. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough as Gilda touched the sole of Gomora’s foot with the Dark Dummy Spark.

DARK LIVE! GOMORA!

Gilda was engulfed in dark energy before she vanished right before their eyes. Then, moments later, the ground shook and everyone heard a loud roar coming from outside.

“Later, Ginga! C’mon, Icarus!” Metron teleported away.

“Bye-bye!” Icarus waved as he also vanished, teleporting away from the gym.

Wallflower Blush crawled out from behind the bleachers with Taro on her shoulder.

“Dammit!” Sunset Shimmer took out her Ginga Spark and ran for the door, but Rainbow Dash stood in her way. “Dash, get out of the way!”

“Not before you answer some questions, Shimmer! What the hell is going on!?” Rainbow yelled.

“I don’t have time for this!” Sunset Shimmer shouted as she tried to get past Rainbow. Fortunately, Applejack was there as she grabbed Rainbow from behind, pulling her away from Sunset.

“AJ! Let me go!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Sorry, RD! No can do!” Applejack refused. “Sunset, do what you gotta do!”

Sunset nodded and took out a Spark Doll from her jacket, much to Rainbow Dash’s shock. So, she was right. Sunset Shimmer was involved with the monsters.

ULTRA LIVE! AGIRA!

Sunset Shimmer was engulfed in a pillar of light before she vanished as well. The ground shook once more and they heard another monstrous roar.

“C’mon!” Pinkie Pie held up some pompoms she had gotten out of nowhere. “Let’s show Sunset our support!” She did not want to miss a Mega Monster Battle.

The Rainbooms ran out of the gym, leaving Rainbow Dash stunned.

*////*

These past few days had been absolute misery for poor Officer Shining Armor. Sure the weird stuff at Canterlot High School happened, but those incidents were highly localized events and did not warrant police intervention. The monsters, however, they reached out far further from the school and did cause significant damage, requiring all available resources, including the Canterlot City Police Department. If it was not for that Ultraman guy, the city would be completely leveled. Yet the chief had a different opinion, he saw Ultraman as a dangerous vigilante that needed to be locked up. Unfortunately, there weren’t a pair of handcuffs or a cell large enough to hold the giant. Even then, Shining heard the chief praying for Ultraman when the monsters show up.

Shining Armor could not understand that man, he hated Ultraman, yet ran for cover and yelled for the giant whenever a new monster appeared. Hypocrite. Then again, the police force was not equipped to deal with giant monsters. Only the army had that kind of firepower to deal with a threat that big.

Then there was his sister at home, who was obsessed with the happenings at CHS and the monsters and Ultraman. Twilight Sparkle was a very science minded girl, always curious and trying to study new discoveries so she could make discovering of her own. Anything she did not know, required her attention as far as she was concerned. It was a handful to keep her from getting herself killed by running out into a monster attack or Ultraman fight. Then there was the older boyfriend, who he was sure was up to something. Adding on to that was the two other guys who seemed to answer to the boyfriend, and Shining was working himself to the bone with all the stuff he had to do.

Suddenly he noticed people were getting out of their cars and running by his vehicle.

“Get the army on the line! Now!”

“THE HORROR! THE HORROR!”

Screams like this and more, greeted Shining Armor as he got out of his patrol car. Picking the nearest person, he called, “HEY! WHAT’S HAPPENING!?”

“Take a guess, genius!” the unamused person yelled back, still running.

Then the ground shook, followed by a roar, “No. Not now. Not again! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME GOD!” Shining Armor cried as the gigantic dinosaur walked into view.
Unfortunately, it seemed the dinosaur had heard him as it turned to face him.

“OH, COME ON!” Shining cried as he joined the throngs of fleeing people, as the dinosaur began chasing him..

Suddenly, another, smaller, giant dinosaur leapt upon the larger one’s back. The first dinosaur - Gomora - began to thrash about as it tried to throw off the smaller dinosaur - Agira.

Inside Agira, Sunset was trying to hold on as Gamora tried to throw her monster off.

“Gilda!” Sunset shouted, but she was not receiving any response. She tried again, “GILDA!”

Sunset only received a roar in response as Gomora managed to throw Agira off. The Capsule Monster fell to the ground and growled in pain.

It seemed as if Gilda had been completely taken over by Gomora’s feral nature and Sunset’s voice was unable to reach her.

Gomora stomped over to Agira and delivered a devastating kick rolling over the smaller dinosaur. This was followed by several other similar kicks before finally stomping on Agira’s chest.

Sunset grunted as she felt like her own chest was being stomped on. “GILDA, PLEASE!”

Gomora merely roared again and applied more pressure. Agira grabbed hold of its larger foe’s foot and attempted to lift the monster but Gomora shifted his weight and stomped on the smaller monster’s head instead. Agira stopped moving.

Gomora roared in triumph.

BANG!

A bullet connected with Gomora’s hide, causing the monster to pause. It turned its glare onto Officer Shining Armor who had his gun leveled at it.

“Shit! Shit!” Shining Armor cursed as he panicked and continued to fire until his magazine was spent. However, the bullets just bounced off.

What could’ve possessed the police officer to fire at the monster with a mere gun?

Well, it did not hurt but it sure got Gomora’s attention. It did not hurt, actually. It felt like a mosquito bite, to be honest.

Removing its foot from Agira, Gomora growled at Shining Armor. Gomora’s horns began to glow as it prepared to deliver its Super Oscillatory Wave.

“NO!” Sunset shouted.

Agira leaped to its feet just as Gomora was about to fire. It ran in the path of the monster’s attack, shielding Shining Armor with its own body.

The wave impacted like a bomb against Sunset’s back, yet she willed Agira to stand firm. The attack finally passed, only to give way to a swing of Gomora’s Megaton Tail, sending the little monster across the city. Agira wobbled back to his feet but Gomora had already closed the distance and grabbed his tail, then spun around, smashing Agira into more buildings before letting go. Agira flew across the city into more buildings and just laid there unable to fight..

*////*

“SUNSET’S GETTING DESTROYED OUT THERE!” Pinkie shrieked in horror.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “How did Sunset turn into a monster!?”

“Not now, Dash!” Applejack yelled.

“No! Hell no! You guys sided with Sunset and you’ve been keeping things from me!”

“And so have you, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity countered.

“WHAT!? WHAT DID I DO!?”

“Do you think I’m blind!? You were championing Sunset being Anon-A-Miss before the blog said anything about you! You were always first to cut Sunset out of our activities! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WANTED SUNSET OUT OF THE BAND! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO REFUSES TO LET GO OF THE PAST!” Rarity screamed.

Rainbow gasped then glared back at her ‘friends’. Now, she saw the truth. They had all turned against her. However, she could not accept that it was her fault. There was no way it could be her fault, even if they said it was. She refused to believe it was her fault.

It was Sunset Shimmer’s fault.

All of a sudden, Icarus appeared behind Rainbow Dash, stunning the Rainbooms, Wallflower and Taro. With a smile and a wave, he grabbed the rainbow-haired girl and teleported away with her.

“What?” Fluttershy gasped.

“She’s gone,” Wallflower said.

The shock was cut short when Gomora roared again, reminding the Gang of the monster still rampaging unchecked.

*////*

Inside Agira, Sunset groaned in pain.

“Gotta get up...” Sunset willed herself. “We gotta get up. We need to fight.”

Gomora was on a rampage and it seemed that Gilda had lost complete control. If Sunset did not stop the Ancient Monster here and now, then the city would be destroyed and more people could get worse and hurt.

She was the only one who could stop it, but she could not do it alone.

Gripping the Ginga Spark tightly in her hand, she looked at it. She could never summon Ginga unless he allowed her to and always it was when she needed him the most. It was like he was testing her resolve and her courage.

“Ginga, please. I need you,” Sunset begged. She needed him to help her save the city and everyone in it. She needed him to him to help her protect the place she called home and the people she cared about.

As if responding to her plea, the Ginga Spark opened up and released Ginga’s Spark Doll. Sunset smiled as if she was looking at a good friend.

“Thank you,” Sunset said gratefully before her eyes hardened into a fierce look of determination. “Now, here we go, Ginga!”

ULTRA LIVE! ULTRAMAN GINGA!

*////*

Out of a pillar of light, Ginga rose from where Agira once laid and accelerated as he leaped at Gomora, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. He stopped in front of Gomora and struck with a spinning roundhouse kick, knocking the beast over.

Shining Armor just gawked at the giant whose gaze then fell on him. Taking it as a message to get away, the cop ran for cover.

Gomora picked itself up and charged at Ginga who caught the monster by the crest with his bare hands. The Ultra landed a karate chop on Gomora’s snout before delivering a series of punches that hit the gigantic beast in its spiked chest. Gomora retaliated by using its Megaton Tail, but Ginga leaped over it before landing a kick to Gomora’s chest, sending it staggering back.

Ginga, feeling confident, closed in on Gomora for a punch but the monster caught his fist and twisted drawing a pained grunt from the Ultra. Gomora released Ginga’s fist, then delivered a right claw swipe to Ginga’s head, followed by a punch to his stomach, and finishing with a kangaroo kick. Ginga fell back onto another building, crushing it, but before he could stand back up, Gomora launched into a front flip, bringing its tail down upon his chest.

“... Ow,” Sunset gasped, before noticing Gomora was raising its left foot in preparation to stomp on Ginga’s chest. She willed Ginga to grab Gomora’s right leg, then rolled, sweeping it out from under the dinosaur, and sending it onto its back.

Ginga hopped back onto his feet then and pounced on the monster to hold it down in a MMA-style submission hold, before Gomora blasted him off with its Super Oscillatory wave. Ginga landed several yards away as Gomora got back to its feet. The first thing Ginga saw upon standing up, was Gomora in full charge.Ginga caught the monster by its crest, getting pushed back several feet before shifting his grip and flipping Gomora over his shoulder.

Gomora, now absolutely furious, stood back up and swung his tail so fast that Ginga could not prepare, striking him in the side, and sending him flying. He landed in a street several yards away as his color timer began blinking red.

*////*

Inside Ginga, Sunset was surrounded by a flashing red light. “I knew this thing was tough, but words can’t even begin to describe how hard this is.” She grunted as Gomora once again struck Ginga with its tail.

“Sunset!” Taro exclaimed.

“Taro, what do I do? She’s so strong!” Sunset said in a barely contained panic.

“Cut off her tail, and break her nose horn. Those are two of Gomora’s primary weapons! But be warned, his tail works like a lizard’s and will begin to flail!”

“What!? Nevermind, can’t complain now, that’s all I have to go on,” Sunset said, more to herself than Taro, as she willed Ginga to stand back up.

*////*

While this exchange was happening, Gomora had wandered off to resume its its rampage, assuming it had defeated Ginga. This also left it open.

I have my chance, I cannot mess this up here,’ Sunset thought as she moved Ginga into a steadily increasing run. When Ginga was just about to reach the monster, Sunset put her attack into motion.

“GINGA SABER!”

Gomora saw Ginga approaching and made to swing its tail, but Sunset ducked Ginga underneath the mass of muscle and bone and swung the Ginga Saber.

The tail came off in a single stroke, and the sudden loss of balance sent Gomora onto its face. Before Ginga could jump on the opportunity, however, the severed tail began flailing, striking him in the back.

“Ow! Motherf-,” Sunset growled as she and Ginga struggled with the runaway tail. Sunset noticed Gomora was back on its feet, and charging, albeit, clumsily. Deciding to give Gomora a taste of its own medicine, Sunset willed Ginga to swing the tail into the charging monster like a club, sending it back to the ground. Then Ginga threw the tail away while Sunset prepared to destroy it.

“GINGA SLASH!”

The tail exploded spectacularly.

Gomora growled and then roared as it prepared it signature Super Oscillatory Wave. In response, Ginga also started to power up his own attack. Inside Ginga, Sunset prepared as well with a new attack. Sunset brought Ginga’s to his chest then cocked his right fist back as his crystals turned red. Suddenly eight, magma like meteors surrounded the Ultra, as Gomora fired its Super Oscillatory Wave.

GINGA FIREBALL!

Ginga punched his fist forward, causing the meteors to fly at Gomora. Though Gomora’s attack managed to destroy some of the meteors, the final one struck it on the nose horn, breaking it, and sending the vibrations back into the monster, causing it to violently shake. Sensing victory was near, Ginga began the motions for his ultimate attack.

“GINGA CROSS SHOOT!”

The beam struck Gomora in the chest and caused it to erupt into a massive fireball.

*////*

On a nearby rooftop, Rainbow Dash and Icarus watched. They had witnessed everything.

“As you can see, hm hm hm, you never stood a chance against Anon-A-Miss as you are,” Icarus began. “With that power, even when people don’t know it’s her, Sunset Shimmer will have the adoration of the people. As Ultraman Ginga, she is their hero while you are nothing by comparison.”

Rainbow Dash had nobody left on her side. No one to turn to complain or persuade that she was right. Even now the school was gradually losing interest in Anon-A-Miss and leaving the bandwagon because of her friends joining Sunset and showing their support. Soon, she would be cleared of all suspicion.

It wasn’t fair. Sunset had stolen her friends and now she was a superhero who got the adoration and respect of the entire city..

“However, the iron is hot. Ultraman Ginga is nearly out of energy, and is vulnerable. If you take this opportunity, then you can take her place as the hero of this tale, hm hm hm. Take this, and everything you have ever wanted will be yours,” Icarus spun his lie, while holding up a Dark Dummy Spark and a Spark Doll.

Rainbow hesitated. She had seen the power of these objects first hand, and knew they were dangerous. However, between letting Sunset take her spotlight and being able to kick her ass, Rainbow knew which choice she would rather take.

*////*

Gilda opened her eyes to what looked like the Apocalypse. Buildings and cars crushed or burning and virtually all of it had been her fault. Standing over her was Ultraman Ginga, no Sunset Shimmer, with the Gomora Spark Doll entering the color timer.

“So why did you spare my life?” Gilda asked in a sad croak.

Sunset spoke from inside Ginga, simply, “Because, I believe in second chances.”

Sunset prepared to take off, but was then struck in the back by an energy bolt.

*////*

The Ginga Gang had been on their way to help Gilda when Sunset had been attacked.

“What!? Where did that come from!?” Wallflower asked, shocked.

“Those cheatin’ varmints, attackin’ ‘er when she’s weak ,” Applejack said disgusted.

Rarity was more focused on looking around for the attacker, but she saw something that made her jaw drop, “Darlings, what is that!?”

Turning to where Rarity was looking, their jaws followed suit. Now walking into their visual range, was a giant, but not any giant.

“A black Ultraman?” Fluttershy gasped.

Taro, however, had a bigger shock.

“Ultraman… Mebius?”