Sunset Shimmer sat at the crooked beak shaped end of an airship drifting through polluted clouds. Her hindlegs dangled over the canyons below they drifted over, idly strumming an acoustic guitar, looking for a usable tune.
She had been pleasantly surprised to find these still existed in this strange green world. Little memories remained of her time as a human, despite encompassing a good 16 years or so of her life, but guitar was certainly a skill she retained all memory of fostering; fingers growing coarser as she thoughtlessly exerted their dexterity, passing them over string after string in search of a melody.
Fingers were the first thing she noticed missing from her new form, when she woke up in a box abandoned in a back alley.
It had all been downhill from there.
"Eyes up, Shimmer. We've almost met our destination."
Her eyes narrowed as she heard a distinct metallic clicking behind her, clanging as armored hooves approached. She turned to see a peytral clad chest held high, blue eyes squinted in the sun, yet still unmistakably filled with a sickeningly genuine glee and excitement. The soldier's underlings boiled and choked in the heat and smog they themselves worked to generate from engines below, and here she stood, poisoned half to death and still smiling at the white light on the horizon.
Unicorns were a rare find this far out from the shining utopian jewel of the planet. Their horns were valued, and as a result they tended not to survive for very long straying from where their princesses protected them. When Tempest's plan had become clear, Sunset had spitefully wished for it to fail; for both of them to die far from anyone who could care. Yet here they were, months later, and two more had been found, abducted from as many parts of the world Tempest could tear apart without returning to where it began, where the species thrived.
What a joy it had been to be thrust into the body of a species that could spin magic like silk, far from any security that could be offered to her.
What an honor.
Making up for something, Tempest?
"If your big Storm Boss finds out about your secret little project, I won't be keeping my lips shut." Sunset blithely offered.
Tempest laughed, taking a swig from the canteen hanging from her neck. It was a detestable, disgusting noise, forced up from the throat like an alien parasite.
"Keep your pretty little optimism up, Shimmer. Get ready for touch down; be nice to plant your hooves on the earth again, wouldn't it?"
Sunset didn't glorify her with a reply. She returned to her guitar, strumming notes to see what could distract her. Tempest's good mood didn't sway, and she began marching away, calling out to those on the deck around her.
"Men, find a spot to dock and clench your asses. I'll be getting the other cogs in the machine."
"Don't... Don't get it... When I put my boots on, and walk, I go clickaclickaclick... Then when I run with my boots on, I go cloppacloppaclop... But none of that happens without my boots!"
One of the shaggy beasts on board whined from under his helmet drunkenly to the drinking buddy he had found himself. She gave him a mock sympathetic pat, stroking along the fur on his hunched back before she offered an retort.
"Have you considered that you might be a reindeer?"
"Reindeer?"
"Sure! Reindeer also go clickaclickaclick when they walk, and cloppacloppaclop when they run. It's possible you've been a reindeer this whole time, and keep forgetting when you're sober. Don't worry though, I have a plan to keep you from forgetting."
She took a scrap of paper from her saddlebags and a quill, and wrote in large, flowery letters-
BUCK ME
A strip of tape, and it was slapped to the guard's back.
"There! Now when you sober up, you'll see it and remember that you're a buck!"
The guard grunted his appreciation, before sliding off the barstool and collapsing.
"Sweet dreams, friend."
Tempest came upon this scene as she pushed through guards to reach the lower deck, the one spot in the ship crew could flock to on breaks. There, at a haphazardly crafted bar with posters and street signs slapped over the back walls, a light purple unicorn turned to her, blindingly white eyes washing magic light over her. Starlight chuckled, head rolling about on its neck as she stumbled to her feet.
The second unicorn discovered had been tracked down to a rocky quagmire on the outskirts of Equestria, the closest they had ever come to actually entering its borders. Her discovery had been a complete accident, but it was hard to miss a mess of fur rambling to nobody as it shuffled through the desert. She had been plucked from the ground floor, and given well over two weeks to recover from her fit, convulsing and screaming all the while.
When she finally calmed down, little about her made itself clear. All that was known was that she had come from a small town in Equestria, and fled after something happened; something magical, and powerful. She exuded dark magic like radiation, seeping out from her every pore, and still occasionally fell into a dissociative state, seared white eyes burning brightly as she stared into space, afterwards brushing it off as a courtesy call from an old friend of hers. She spoke greatly of this old friend, how he lived in her head, a soul forcibly divorced from its body and desperately trying to escape the one it now inhabited. These fits were half of her day to day life now, the other half spent doing work given to her and shedding her restlessness and frustration upon any who came too close to her.
"Commander. Good to see you showing your ass down here, to a room that hates you and can't do anything about it." Starlight spat, grinning.
"Always nice to have fans. Say, Starlight, we're getting awfully close to releasing you. I've got one more job for you; we've withheld it from you this far, but it's gonna take every unicorn on deck. Pull through for me, and you're a free woman." Tempest wrapped a foreleg around Starlight's neck, smiling like a used car salesman to her.
"All unicorns, you say? You've still got Trixie on your side? She hasn't offed herself yet?"
"Trixie does what I ask of her. And so will you; if you don't want to be freed after this, that's quite alright by me, but you're coming outside with me. How's it sound, buddy?"
"Like indentured servitude, but I guess that's all I've been to you since you pulled me onboard, so I'll do it."
"Head up top. I got another stop to make before I'm up with you. Say hi to Sunset; you two seem to get along."
A metal door creaked as it swung open. All lights were off in the room it led to. The beam of light from outside fell upon a huddled form on a mattress underneath star patterned blankets. Above the mattress, pinned to the wall, a large poster for a magic show sat, several months old, with a blue mare taking center stage, seductively staring out whilst holding a crystal ball. Dust was collecting on the poster, untouched for weeks, perhaps longer. Churning sounded from machinery lining the walls of the room.
"Up and at em, Trixie, your old pal's here. You're needed back in the sunlight, assuming it won't turn you to dust."
The form stirred, rising from under the covers and turning to the light. A meek and ragged unicorn stared through eyes flooded with blood. She was a shadow of the confident woman in the poster above her, a wretched reflection.
"...Tempest?"
The third unicorn had been found in an isolated town in Yakyakistan, a travelling performer who sought to bring magic and wonder wherever she went.
Tempest had kidnapped her without a second thought.
And yet, she didn't falter. Her spirits kept up, and with every show she put on for the crewmates she worked with, so too did theirs. Even Tempest was happy, a real happy, a genuine happy brought about by the unicorn she deemed her closest pal.
Nobody knew what happened, what forged a gap between them. That lay between Tempest, Trixie, and the blazing hot poker driven into each of the latter's eyes.
Trixie died that day, and the crew fell silent. All that remained was the cadaver, the scared, half-blind girl who worked in the deepest and most sweltering engines of the airship.
"I've got a job for you, buddy. You remember the reason you came on here? You remember when you were so happy, so sympathetic, so willing to help? Need you to tap into that again, old friend. That's all I ask, then the show's back on for you again!"
Trixie didn't respond. Her inky black eyes bore holes into Tempest's forehead.
"Whenever you're ready, just come up on the deck. Cheer up pal, I still believe in you."
The door shut, and Trixie was enclosed in darkness.
She stared at the closed door for a long time.
The sun had just begun to fall under the horizon as the four gathered at the bow of the ship, staring out upon the green below them. The entire canyon flourished, flora climbing its mass, and as they rose above the clouds it became clear that the canyon was only the base. All of it rose into the sky, culminating in a disc shaped plateau, covered in flowers and grass. A great tree stood at the center, branches rising into the sky, seeming to support the very heavens and keep them from crashing into the earth.
Tempest's airship climbed to reach the lip of this great plateau. The four gathered waited patiently, rapping sounding out from speakers placed upon the airship's hull, sounding out over the entire land.
"How many people do you think have died on one of these?" Starlight cheerfully brought up.
Bless the universal truth of Dadaism between worlds.
"I count two just from where I'm standing." Sunset replied.
"Nah, I don't feel like dying yet. It's not all it's cracked up to be." Starlight shook her head.
"Who cracks up dying?"
"How long have you worked here?"
Sunset considered asking the question she had pondered for a while. She and Starlight were far from friends, but they understood each other. Was that enough?
"So whose your friend?" Only live once, why not.
"The guy in my head you mean? Old childhood buddy." Starlight didn't seem too bothered by the inquiry. "His name's Sunburst, and that's all you need to know."
"What's he doing in your head?"
"Screaming, mostly. He's not too fond of his situation, and frankly I don't blame him. I just wish he slept at a reasonable hour."
Sunset dropped it, turning instead to the unicorn lying on her barrel, staring out at the clouds the aircraft generated.
"Speaking of screaming, Did you hear what Trixie and Tempest were screaming about when it happened?"
"Sure didn't, but someone had to. Hard to be alone nowadays, unless you lock yourself in a boiler room like her."
"Poor girl. Nobody deserves that."
"I count one just from where I'm standing."
Both turned to Tempest, content to seethe in a mutual hatred.
The rumble of machinery around them blotted out the distant approaching sounds. The smoke blotted out the dots on the horizon.
The four unicorns gathered on the tippy top of the plateau. Tempest stood at the very center, at the base of the great tree, circling it and calling to the only three who could hear her over the machinery of the airship hovering by them. The remaining three stood sparsed out equal distances from each other, standing in the barrel high grass, facing inwards.
"Ladies, our time has come. In mere minutes, midnight will fall, and the Secretariat Comet will pass over Yggdrasil Plateau. When it does, our magical power will wax to its highest. What once required ten unicorns will now only require four; and even then, we now have that power with only three, thanks to the soul residing within our dear Starlight."
The moon was high by this point. Winds swept through the grasses they stood on, mysteriously becoming more powerful by the second.
"In mere minutes, you three shall cast one of the most powerful spell known to ponies; the restoring of the horn! My power will be regained, my thaumic field healed, and all of you shall be released!"
Lights swept over Yggdrasil Plateau. The other three curiously looked up to the sky.
"Let your power seap forth! Draw from the inherent magic of the very planet! Draw, and heal me! Draw, and-"
COMMANDER TEMPEST SHADOW.
Tempest looked up in fear. Airships gathered around the plateau, spotlights blazing down at her. Each was twice the size of her own, some even larger. They blotted out the night sky as they swarmed around them, each with hundreds of weapons and lights trained carefully on them.
YOU HAVE INITIATED AN UNAUTHORIZED MISSION, USING STORM EMPIRE RESOURCES FOR YOUR OWN GAIN. YOU WILL STAND DOWN AND REPORT TO THE STORM KING IMMEDIATELY, OR BE-
"PISS OFF!" She screamed at the flocks, growing more frantic as the winds rose. "I'M NOT GIVING UP NOW! THE STORM KING JUST WANTS TO KEEP HIS BARGANING CHIP! I COULD MURDER HIM! DON'T TRY TO STOP ME!"
The lights turned from white to yellow as something more powerful overtook them. All present looked up to see the streaking comet tail approaching them.
"NOW! WE HAVE TO DO IT NOW! DO IT!"
Three horns flared up at once as the comet reached its apex. The grass and flowers began to melt down as magic was drawn from the thaumic atmosphere around them. All three struggled to keep their balance as more power than they had ever experienced before swept through their veins and minds. The plateau began to redden, then turn a dusty brown as all plant life was slaughtered atop it.
OPEN FIR-
A beam of magic erupted from what remained of Tempest's horn. The octarine fire climbed the heavens, decimating the tree that supported it, and the entire plateau shifted. A crevice formed as it split in two, bottomless crack pulling it apart. The canyons around them were deprived of all life as the entire planet seemed to die, and the magical explosion rocked all nearby airships. The ones that stayed on course opened fire, guns raining down, first upon the airship they arrived in to prevent escape. The balloon punctured and the ship caught fire as it began to careen into the plateau.
Trixie turned around despite the pain and power running through her, teeth gritting and eyes widening as she saw two blurry airships shifting and separating into each other through the ocean of blood that flooded her vision every moment.
She broke concentration in a vain attempt to escape.
The spell shattered, and Tempest howled and shrieked in pain, almost enough to drown out Trixie's own as the Airship detonated feet from her, tossing her through the air.
Tempest and Starlight were furthest from the blast, both turning soot black as they toppled over the edge. Both lost consciousness as they began to roll down the face, into the dead world they themselves had created.
Sunset ran through the hail of fiery debris, desperate to escape. The sky was alight and blazing, airships still falling from the sky or retreating.
Something came down on her, hard. She felt her leg crunch, and blacked out not soon after, not knowing if she would wake.
Her last thoughts were hoping beyond hope that Tempest had perished.
Tempest woke up. Her hoof immediately went to her horn, feeling at the stump, and cursing to the dry and dead land surrounding her.
Starlight's charred body came to a few feet from her, looking out upon the canyons they had cleared, some part of her mind still begging and screaming as it always had. She took solace in the sobs, letting it ground her, and finally rising.
"Tempest? Is that you?" She spoke.
Tempest stopped cursing, taking raggedy breaths as she stared at the ground, eyes blazing with hellfire.
"We'll do it again."
"What?"
"We'll do it again. I don't care how long it takes. I don't care if we kill the entire planet, and devour all magic left. I'm going to get my horn back, and nobody can stop me."
She laughed maniacally, burying her face in her hooves.
"Even if we're the last living souls, all alone. It's going to happen. Nobody can stop me.
Nobody can stop me."