//------------------------------// // 11. Absence of Generosity // Story: Sunset's Wonderful Life // by sonicfan05 //------------------------------// Sunset could hardly believe what was happening. Here she was, standing in the middle of the road, staring at the welcome sign with a different city name, along with three familiar faces on it. Not only that, these are the faces of her and her friends' enemies.  Sunset felt her heart stopped beating and could barely breathe. She wanted to believe that this was nothing more than a terrible nightmare and that she was about to wake up at any second now. But no matter how many times she desperately blinked, that same sign with those three Sirens are still there like they're mocking her. “This– this can’t be real!” Sunset said shakingly. “This… this is supposed to be Canterlot City!”   “Was Canterlot City,” Rebecca corrected. “But it is not Sunset Shimmer! This city is now renamed by the new rulers of this town!” Sunset's face went pale. “You don’t mean…” “We interrupt your program to bring you this message from our beloved rulers of our world!” Sunset jumped from a loud announcement, coming from the many TV's coming from a window of some electronic store. Sunset turned to see one of the TV's just as the words "Dazzlings Breaking News" from the screen before it cuts to a person that Sunset never expected to see again so soon. This girl was about the same age as Sunset. She had a huge puffy orange hair, which (in Sunset's opinion) looked like a size of a giant cheese puff. She also wore a purple business suit and light purple tie. But the most disturbing image of all, she had that same arrogant smirk on her face like the last time Sunset saw her. “Greetings citizens of Dazzling City,” the teen with a huge orange hair announced with a smirk. “It is I, you beloved Mayor, aka Queen of the World, Adagio Dazzle!” Suddenly, there was a loud sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, causing Adagio to frown and rolled her eyes in annoyance.   “Oh right… and my two co-rulers, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk!” Soon, two more teenaged girls appeared alongside with Adagio. One was a purple pigtailed haired girl, known as Aria, crossing her arms with a scoff and acting like she doesn't care. The other girl with a blue pony haired girl, known as Sonata, had a huge excited smile on her face which rivaled Pinkie Pie.   “OOH! Are we on TV! Are we REALLY on TV!” Sonata chirped as she started waving at the camera. “Hi everyone! Tell the people I said hi! They are hearing me right? Because I couldn’t hear them! Maybe we should check our tech again just in case–”   “Hey! Shut your trap Sonata!” Aria shouted angrily. Sonata turned towards Aria with angry eyes. “No YOU shut your trap!”   “No you!”   “No YOU!” "YOU!" "YOOOOOOOU!"   “QUIET!” Adagio screamed with an enraged look. The two girls instantly ceased their argument with Sonata had a look of fright on her face while Aria appeared to be indifferent. Adagio glared intensely at the two for a moment before she cleared her throat to calm herself and slowly faced the camera.  “Anyway… we’re here to remind you, our beloved viewers and residents to come to our town hall later tonight and deliver all the presents to us!" Adagio said cheerfully.  "And if your present is good enough, we may let you live for another year!”   “And if your gift sucks… well let’s just say you’ll be getting something that is far worse than a lump of coal for Christmas!” Aria added with a smug look.   “Yes it’s hard to get gifts these days since we have all the money in the world and you peasants have, well... nothing," Adagio commented in her false empathy voice before she let out a cruel smirk. "But I’m sure you all can figure it out! Till then, have a Merry Christmas… and may your precious day be your last!”   “And in others news, Christmas also happened to be the same day as… you guest it, Taco Tuesday!" Sonata announced cheerfully. She quickly ducked down from view for a moment before she reappeared with a sombrero on her head and two maracas. "So wear your best sombreros, get yourselves some tacos… and deliver them all to me!" She then started dancing as she shook her maracas. "Feliz Navidad!~”   Adagio simply facepalmed while Aria rolled her eyes with a huff. “UGH, go back to sleep Sonata!” Aria deadpanned before their feed was cut back to the scheduled program. Sunset couldn't believe what she was watching. Those same three girls that she and her friends defeated from the Battle of the Bands, are sitting in their office as Mayors. She felt her body shake uncontrollably like she was about to hyperventilate at any second.   “No…" Sunset uttered with shakiness in her voice. "The Dazzlings ruled this city!?”   “I’m afraid so,” Rebecca said sullenly. “With no one to stop them, those three took over the school with their magic almost a year ago! After that, they used those hypnotized teens to bring others to join them and the whole city falls under their influence within a week!” Sunset took breathing exercises to calm herself down. As she slowly regained control of herself, she began to think of how those three managed to take over the town so easily. Then, something came to her mind as she recalled the one thing that stood out to her throughout their whole "announcement".   “Hang on… they just called themselves 'Rulers of the World'!" She turned to Rebecca with a nervous look. "W-what do they mean by that?”   “You’re not gonna like the next part!” said Rebecca before sighing. “They didn’t stop from there! They continued to use their magic and their influenced “Fans” to one city after another, until the whole country was taken over by them! And then they did the same with the next country! And then…” Sunset eyes widened in horror. “They took over the entire world!”   “Now you’re catching on!” said Rebecca with a grim expression. “The most horrifying thing of all is that it only took them almost a month of conquering the planet and made themselves rulers of the world!” Sunset felt like she was about to have a heart attack at any second. “This is insane!” Sunset exclaimed as she shook her head. "I know that these girls are bad, but this... that's just pure evil! But what does any of this have to do with me? How could they take over if I’ve never been born? None of the Equestrian Magic comes here if it weren’t for me!”   “Well… you’re only half right Sunset Shimmer, but it’s a little complicated,” Rebecca answered. “If you recall, you’re not the first Equestrian of ever coming to this world. During their battle against the Pillars many moons ago, Starswirl tricked the Dazzlings into his magical portal and dumped them to this world, trapping them. He believes that by sending them to this world with no magic, the Dazzlings will have no access to use their Equestrian magic at all.”   “But if that’s the case, then how did they easily rule this planet?” Sunset questioned.   “Starswirl may be the most powerful unicorn in our world, but that doesn’t mean that he’s perfect,” Rebecca stated. “What he failed to realize was that by using his magic to dump the sirens to this world, he caused a minor… leak, if you will, in between the dimensions and unintentionally let a small flow of Equestrian Magic to this world where the Dazzlings slowly regaining all of their magic… even after the portals were sealed.” Sunset blinked with a blank expression. While she understood most of Rebecca’s explanation, a part of her was still confused. “But… I still don’t see how this has something to do with me.”   “Well for starters, by wearing Princess Twilight’s crown, you caused a huge amount of Equestian Magic flow right into you and this world,” Rebecca explained. “At the same time, the Dazzlings happened to be around near the area and regained most of their magic back, speeding up their efforts of taking over the planet.”   “...oh I see,” Sunset said miserably. “So because of me, I unintentionally made them show up at my school earlier than intended!” She then huffed. “You spent the whole time trying to convince me that I did a lot of good things for being born, and yet you’re telling me that I did something terrible for existing for once! I feel so much better now!”   “I wasn’t finished,” Rebecca said sternly before sighing. “Yes, you did unintentionally let them regain their powers quickly and have them showed up at your school sooner than anticipated. But in doing so, you also gave your friends access to their own magic with music and have them properly prepared for their attack, despite some setbacks within the group. But most importantly, when the Dazzlings had the upper hand against your friends during the final battle, who was the one person who helped them finally beat them when they needed the most?” Sunset silently recalled that moment when her friends had a final showdown against the Dazzlings with their music during the Battle of the Bands. Her friends were holding off well at first, but the Dazzlings easily overpowered them, causing Princess Twilight to drop her microphone and landed by Sunset’s feet. Just when hope seems to be lost, she remembered Princess Twilight turned and reached out to her and cried,   “Sunset Shimmer… we need YOU!” “…me!" Sunset said quietly. "It was because of me that we defeated the Dazzlings!”   “That’s right,” Rebecca said softly with a warm smile. “Not only you’ve redeemed yourself and became a hero to the eyes of everyone in school, but you also became a wonderful friend… to your friends' eyes.” She remembered that it was at that moment that Sunset finally had the courage to stand up to the sirens and helped her friends defeat them one and for all. After that, not only her life had changed for the better, but she also earned almost everyone’s trust and forgiveness at the school, including her best friends. Sunset has never felt so loved and belonged all in her life until that very day and she considered herself lucky that she is a part of their friends lives now. With all the stress and heartache recently, she had forgotten all about that moment... until today. Rebecca then frowned sadly. “But, without you around… the Dazzlings have won and then they took over the entire planet, leaving everyone who lives here became their mindless, loyal slaves and misery for all eternally.” “...everyone?” Sunset whispered. “Well… almost everyone,” Rebecca answered cryptically. “There was one person who is not only immune to their ‘magic’, but also made a deal with them so that she could use one of their artifacts so that she can control over the people too.” “Seriously?” Sunset exclaimed, couldn’t believe that there was another person who was just as bad as the sirens. “Then who was that person?” Before Rebecca could answer, a loud voice interrupted them. "Dresses! I got dresses!" “Speaking of misery...” Rebecca muttered. "Dresses! I got dresses for anyone to buy!" Sunset turned towards the direction of that loud voice, only to gasp at what she saw. Or rather, who she saw. There was a person, standing by the corner of the building, showing off what appeared to be some kind of dress, which was made from many different fabrics sewn together. This person appeared to be a teenaged girl, wearing a beaten up brown robe, old black shoes with mismatched socks, a black cap and dirt in her cheek. The most shocking detail was that this girl has blue eyes and a familiar long, yet messy purple hair. "R–Rarity!?" Sunset exclaimed in shock. Sunset couldn't believe that she was seeing her most highly sophisticated friend is now reduced to rags like a homeless person. Not only that, her friend was standing outside in the cold trying to sell her "dress", despite that the dress itself didn't look very appealing all and not caring that she was freezing. "How about you darling?" Rarity offered as some random stranger walked by her. "Are you interested in this dress?" The stranger placed her finger on her chin in thought. "Well… how much are you selling?" Rarity grinned. "I'm willing to sell this for two-hundred dollars!" Sunset dropped her jaw in shock while the stranger's face went red. "Two-hundred dollars!?" She yelled. "For that dress?" "You're right," Rarity conceded. "What was I thinking… it was actually three-hundred dollars!" The stranger was even angrier. "Are you kidding me!? That dress looked like a bunch of rags sewn together! I ain't paying that thing even if it costs a dollar!" "But it's one of a kind ma'am!" Rarity insisted. "This was made exclusively from another country!" "More like it came from the garbage!" The stranger scoffed before walking away. "Get a real job ya bum!" "No wait! Come back!" Rarity screamed desperately. But the stranger ignored her and disappeared down the street. Rarity slumped forward and let out a defeated sigh. "Great… I lost another customer," said Rarity as she raised her arm and placed it over her head in her most dramatic manner. "Oh woe is me! I'll never be a fashion designer!" "Um… excuse me?" Rarity and Sunset looked down and noticed a very young girl with purple hair and a small cloak. The young girl looked up at Rarity with pleading eyes. "Um… I'm interested in your dress. Can I have it?" The girl asked hopefully. "Do you have any money?" Rarity asked stoically. The girl frowned. "Well… no, but–" "Then beat it!" Rarity stated coldly, much to Sunset's shock by her friend’s heartlessness. "B–but I need that for my mommy!" The girl begged with tears in her eyes. "Please? She's really getting sick and I need that dress to keep her warm!" Rarity scoffed. "Look kid, when living out in this cruel world, it's everybody for themselves! And I'm not giving away this one-of-a-kind dress to someone who can't even afford a simple dress! Now get out of my sight!" The girl sniffed sadly and then she turned and walked away with a broken heart. Sunset had a horrified, shocked look on her face, appalled by Rarity’s behavior. She couldn’t believe that the most generous person she knows, acted so vicious and greedy right in front of her. "Sweet Celestia," Sunset whispered. "What happened to her? Not only she is in that state, but she is also acting so cruel and selfish! The real Rarity I know would never turn that poor girl away and is actually very successful at her job!" Rebecca shook her head. "Except here… she didn't achieve her dream and failed miserably in the fashion industry." “But Rarity is very successful when it comes to fashion!” Sunset asserted. “She worked so hard to make a name for herself in the fashion community!”   “She did, but not without the help from her friends, especially you Sunset!” Rebecca pointed out. “You played the biggest part of her success and made her who she is today!”   “Me!?” Sunset exclaimed in disbelief. “How could I possibly make her life successful?”   “Well you helped support her as a start,” Rebecca listed. “And after you reformed, the first thing you did was to make up for her by volunteering as a model for her fashion jobs!” “I did,” Sunset said solemnly. “It’s the least I could do after what I did to her at the Spring Fling. I’m actually surprised that she had forgiven me even before I offered to volunteer.” “Even so, not only did she appreciate what you did to help her, but you also build her confidence and boost her reputation as an amazing fashion designer,” said Rebecca. “But that’s not all you did! Do you remember when Ms. Hemline hired Rarity to set up a window display for her shop?” Sunset widened her eyes from the memory. “How could I forget! Rarity’s boss is… very hard to please, even after her two years of working for her as a lowly paid associate. The window display assignment was her biggest chance to impress her boss and show off her skills, but had a huge pressure to come up with anything. Eventually… the stress was too much to her and decided to give up, kissing her career goodbye.”   “Until you secretly stepped in and finished the display window for her as “Flanksy”, saving her career in the process,” Rebecca finished.   “I did,” Sunset admitted with a small smile. “It was Rarity’s dream to make herself big in the fashion world. I still feel bad for what I did to her during the Spring Fling years back, so I helped her out in secret to not only make up for it, but also as a friend. Of course, Rarity knew about it anyway and said that I don’t have to make up for her for anything, but she said she is forever grateful for helping her.” Sunset chuckled softly. “She truly is a very generous person.”   “Well it seems to me that some of her generosity must have rubbed off on you since you didn’t want anything from her in return,” Rebecca said slyly.   “She doesn’t need to!” Sunset stressed. “Her happiness and me being her friend is more than enough I need from her!”   “And I’m sure that she felt the same way about you!” Rebecca said kindly. “Regardless, ever since that day, she is forever grateful to you for not only saving your career, but also inspired her to be the young woman who she is today!" She then sighed heavily as her eyes set to the Rarity in front of them. “But without you… things took a darker turn for her.” Sunset had a mixture of concern and fear on her face. “Oh no! Ms. Hemline didn’t really... fire her for not finishing that stupid window display, did she?”   “She did,” Rebecca confirmed in a grave tone much to Sunset's dismay. “Because she was both unimpressed and insulted that Rarity couldn’t handle the pressure, she openly told Rarity in front of her peers that she was a failure and that she'll never have what it takes to be a fashion designer." Sunset winced. "Ouch! I heard that Hemline is known for being blunt, but that was just harsh!" "Yes, but that's not the worst of it!" Rebecca sighed. "One of those peers who happened to be around and witnessed Hemline firing Rarity… decided to spread Rarity's failure to Rarity's school and throughout the fashion community out of spite." "What!? Who?" Sunset demanded, angered at the thought of someone making her friend's life miserable. "...Suri Polomare," Rebecca answered. “SURI!?” Sunset cried out in disbelief and anger. “You mean the one who once tried to steal Rarity’s designs and claimed them as her own, just to cheat her way during the Fashion Week?” "Yes, the very same!" Rebecca answered with a look of displeasure. "She thought by exposing Rarity's failure will be her way of knocking out another competitor and bringing herself closer to the top of the fashion world… as cruel and selfish it sounds." Sunset grit her teeth in anger. "That... witch!" "Because of that,” Rebecca continued. “Rarity's career is ruined and no one in the fashion business will hire her again. Overtime, Rarity became depressed and tried to sell her own clothing line by using whatever material she could find from off of the streets at a high price, no matter how ridiculous it was to her customers. And ironically, Rarity even took Suri's actions as a 'lesson' to herself that there is no such thing as generosity and will only look after herself. And on top of that... she even became a crazy cat lady!”   Sunset balked at that revelation. “What!? But she only has one cat!”   Rebecca cocked an eyebrow. “Wanna bet?” Suddenly, a white dirty cat with light green eyes came out from around the corner of the alleyway and slowly walked towards Rarity. Even without the purple bow and collar, Sunset immediately recognized Rarity’s grumpy pet cat, Opalescence, or Opal for short. To Sunset’s surprise, another cat came out from around the corner and followed Opal. One by one, more cats came out from the corner and made their way to Rarity. By the time the last cat showed up, there were a total of six cats, much to Sunset’s disbelief.   “Come along Opal, Ruby, Topaz, Jasper, Sapphire and Jade…” Rarity sighed as she started walking down the street past Sunset. “Let’s just… go home and mope about life over dinner. There should be plenty of cat food for everyone at home... including me.” Sunset watched in shock as Rarity walked further and further away with six cats in tow. As crazy as it was to see Rarity owned so many cats, but seeing Rarity so miserable, cold, poor and alone breaks her heart. She was also horrified after hearing what her friend had to eat to survive out there on the street.   “Oh dear Faust!” Sunset spoke quietly. “Did her family even lose all of their money to the point of becoming poor and couldn’t afford food... all because I was never born!?”   “No... her family is still rich,” Rebecca said in a joyless tone. “Her family actually kicked her out!" "WHAT!? Why?" Sunset screamed, infuriated at Rarity's family for their cruelty. "Why did they do that!? How could they do that to their own daughter? Why would they do something so cruel?" "Actually… someone suggested to them that they should kick her out," said Rebecca. Sunset frowned deeply. "Oh really? Who?" Rebecca sighed. "...Cinch." "...what?" Sunset responded in her angry tone. "Once the news spread out about Rarity's failure, not only Cinch kicked her out from the school, but she also told her parents that they should give her the boot!" Rebecca explained. "But how could Cinch do this to her?" Sunset exclaimed. "Heck, how could her family listen to that heartless woman!?" "Well, do you remember when I said earlier that the one person who was not under the Dazzlings spell after they made a deal with them?" Sunset nodded. "Well… that person… was also Cinch!" "...you gotta be kidding me!" Sunset yelled,  clenching her fist in rage. "How does Cinch pull that off? There's no way that even the Dazzlings would want to work for her!" "They would've got her under their spell just like the others… if not for that artifact she found," said Rebecca. Sunset blinked in thought. "Artifact? Wait… you mentioned something about an artifact earlier! Was it from Equestria? Where does she get it? Did that had anything to do with how Rarity ended up on the street?" "It has everything to do with Rarity and much more!" Rebecca responded. "Shortly after the Friendship Games, Cinch stumbled onto that artifact along with three other artifacts!" "Three!?" Sunset exclaimed, alarmed with this revelation. "She has more than one!?" Rebecca nodded. "Yes, but those other three artifacts was how she made a deal with the sirens. That they can have them and use them to take over the world. And in return, Cinch wanted them to use their "influence" to make her school the "best" thing in the world. She also wanted to keep that one artifact she found, which gives her the ability to control the minds of students and the staff." Sunset gasped. "You mean… she was using it to hypnotize these people from school?" "Yes, along with a many others." Rebecca responded. "That artifact has the same ability as the Dazzlings, but without the music. The artifact has a face of a cobra with magical ruby jewels as its eyes. Anyone who sees them, their minds are instantly controlled by the welder." Her expression then became serious. "But the real kicker... was that these artifacts originally belonged to those sirens." Sunset stared at Rebecca with a surprised expression before letting out a loud groan. "And this just keeps getting better and BETTER!" She cried. "But if those artifacts actually belongs to them, then why didn't they have them then? And how Cinch got a hold of them?" "The sirens brought it along with them as a backup in case something happens to their powers," Rebecca answered. "They hid their artifacts after their arrival to this world, but Cinch ended up finding them. But even so, they were doing well without them and didn't feel the need to use 'em." And yet, the sirens I know failed on their evil plot! Sunset thought. If they really hid their artifacts as their trump card, then why didn't they use them immediately after we beat them? Sunset decided to put aside that topic for the time being and focused on the main issue. “Well even so, that's just wrong!" Sunset shouted. "She can't just ruin Rarity's life all because she was fired from her job! And it has nothing to do with her!" "Well to Cinch, the reputation of the school matters to her more than the lives of her students!" Rebecca said with disgust. "She only used the performance and superior academic skills of students, just to make herself look good to the public. But if anyone from her school have done something that reflects poorly towards her, at least in her mind, she'll give them a harsh punishment as an example so that no one will think twice about tarnishing the school's reputation, no matter if it was intentional or not. And unfortunately, Rarity was one of those victims." Sunset growled with contempt. "I take that back… that woman is more evil than these sirens!" Rebecca sighed. "Yeah… it was hard to believe that there are people like her who would act so cruelly." She then sadly shook her head. "Still, with Rarity losing her career, getting kicked out from that school and her home and becoming an outcast to society on top of that really hit her hard! Her spirit was so broken, she didn’t even try anymore. She even lost her generous nature in the process.” Sunset turned towards the direction where Rarity disappeared to again with a sad frown.   “Rarity…” she whispered. This was really starting to get too much for Sunset. Each of her friends she witnessed what their lives were like without her was just as heartbreaking as the other. And it keeps on getting worse and worse just as Rebecca told her. But what could possibly be worse than what was happening to Rarity? Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror when that one particular person came to her mind. “Wait... where’s Fluttershy?” Sunset asked with dread and concern as she faced Rebecca. “You haven’t shown me her yet! What happened to her? I need to know!”   Rebecca hesitated for a moment, thinking whether or not she should answer Sunset’s question. “Listen Sunset, I know where and what has happened to Fluttershy… but you’re not going to like this!”   Sunset shook her head with a determined look. “I don’t care! Please, just take me to her!” After a moment of silence, Rebecca let out a long sigh. “Very well Sunset… but don’t say I didn’t warn you!” As Rebecca turned and headed to the alleyway, Sunset had a gut feeling that the worst has yet to come.