//------------------------------//
// Busta Machine, Sunset Shimmer! 
// Story: ATC's Scrapbox 
// by AdmiralTigerclaw 
//------------------------------//

Over on Spacebattles, we've got a thread going based on the Time Loops concept from My Innortal...  

I ran into an idea that I just couldn't put down until I ejected it from my mind.

I hope you have enough Hot Blood for this new type of Sunset Shimmer.





The shield had fallen... This loop, Cadance and Shining weren't awake, and so far, things were not looking good for Twilight. Despite her experience, it seemed this time around it seemed Sombra just might win this one. Loathe as she was to admit it, a slight alteration in his traps had caught her off guard. It seemed almost funny to have fallen into such a rut about it. But, there had been worse. Sombra was hardly the most horrific being she'd encountered after all this time.

Still, it was embarrassing to find herself not only tangled up in plunder vines, but also caught in an anti-teleport field. Usually, this kind of trick wouldn't even be a problem. Except there was this feedback loop built in that she was having trouble working through. The more power she tried to use, the stronger it got. Almost like a struggle bind her friend used.

Down below, Sombra swirled and floated his way into the city, a sneer on his face and malice in his eyes as he cast his gaze upon a crystal pony unlucky enough to be closest to him.

The dark lord chuckled as he leaned down at the cowering mare.

"K-k-King S-S.. Sombra," she choked out.

"My crystal slavesss..." the king returned a hiss of satisfaction.

Part of Twilight was curious, even as the exchange went down, she wanted to know what the king would do if, or when he reestablished control of the city. Bad Things, of course, but the academic part of her wanted to know exactly what the king would do. They'd never let him win, ever. What if-

The jolt of a powerful transport magic shot through her body.

Down in the city, Sombra was thrown back when a crystal spire that he'd created shattered. The crystal pony he'd been accosting cringing in terror at the unexpected violent act.



The king snarled in anger as he wiped a shard off his face, his eyes being drawn towards the glowing orange in the corner of his vision.

Even as he did so, crystal ponies around him gasped at the sight of the unicorn floating in front of him. Reared back on her hind legs, hooves crossed in a pose of absolute disdain, a disapproving frown on her face. The mare's brilliant orange and yellow mane billowing above her.

Sombra sneered... The little upstart wanted to fight? Without warning he unleashed his magic, striking down the foal. She wasn't a crystal pony so-

Even as his magic shot out, a pinprick of perfect darkness appeared in front of the mare's horn. Every pony in the field of view watched as the King's attack bounced back, compressed, and was sucked into oblivion in the blink of an eye.

Twilight gaped in surprise at the mare below. Even from here, there was no mistaking that mane.

"Sunset...?" she all but gasped. "But... How-"

"By Rift!" Sunset snapped into the relative silence. "For my bond between myself and my friends... Dimensions are no boundary!"

Nearby, Shining Armor blinked in surprise. He'd never seen this mare in his life.

"Who is she?" he all but mouthed. And it seemed the mare heard him.

"Equestrian Royal Academy Apprentice to the Celestial Throne." she snapped. "Unicorn First Rank Arcane Magister of the Sun under her Highness herself!" 


"Sunset Shimmer!"


'This seems oddly familiar...' Twilight frowned.

Down below, Sombra struck once more, his magic being hurled at Sunset in waves. To his surprise, they were batted aside as if nothing by her magic.

"I was a fool," Sunset snapped as Sombra recoiled in shock. "Whether one is an alicorn or not doesn't matter!"

'She isn't...' Twilight couldn't decide on chagrin, or laughter. With a slight grunt, she managed to twist to get a better view of the action below. Sombra was preparing to attack once more, shadows forming into razor sharp crystals.

"One who thinks:" Sunset continued seemingly without concern for the rain of crystalline spears being aimed at her. "'If only I were a princess!' would NEVER meet her true potential! After all..."

There was a flash, and in an instant, the unicorn struck back. Beams of radiance lanced from her horn, shredding the King's dark attacks to nothing. Still, even at that point, Sunset had yet to break pose.

"A pony's true strength rests in her will to believe in herself to the very end!"

Sombra snarled and leapt forward. If magic wasn't going to do this, he'd rip the unarmored fool apart with his own horn.

"Because surely any unicorn," Sunset continued to glare back at the king.

"ANY PONY!" she snapped louder, head tilting slightly and locking eyes with the approaching darkness.


"IS AN ALICORN IN HER HEART!!!"


Twilight wished she could find some popcorn... This was about to get good.

Sunset Shimmer burst into flames, a flash of light that reflected off every crystal surface in the area as arcane fire swirled and wrapped itself about her horn, a miniature star seeming to ignite at the tip.


"FUSION LAAAAAANCE!!!"


Sombra was caught completely off guard, a ray of what seemed to be raw concentrated sunlight slammed into the shadow lord face first, completely reversing his charge into a wild and out of control flight. In a few seconds, the king was hurled clear out of the city and into the tundra and still his body continued to ride the beam, searing in pain as it went. He would have howled if he had time, but even as he sucked in the breath for it, a mountain rose up to greet him violently.

Back in the city, Sunset finished inhaling a breath of her own.


"FLASH!"



  


Crystal ponies screamed, Twilight squinted her eyes shut, and even as far away as Canterlot, Princess Celestia was startled from her own attentions as a brilliant light, seemingly brighter than the sun, lit the Crystal Empire up in a blinding burst of purest white.

After a few seconds it began to fade in an eerie silence. Those who could still make use of their eyes turned in the direction Sombra had been launched. In the far distance, what had once been one of the bordering Crystal Mountains was now shrouded in a harsh orange ball of fire, rising rapidly into the sky as it dimmed into a huge tower of smoke. Concentric rings of white clouds formed and dissipated around it as it rapidly rose into the stratosphere.

Then, eyes locked on the sight in awe failed to alert ponies to the arrival of the shockwave, many more screamed in terror for a moment as the entire city shook from a colossal 'boom' that cracked windows and kicked up dust.

Finally, after several uneasy seconds of terror, silence fell. Sunset Shimmer remained exactly as she had appeared, reared up on her hind legs, forehooves still crossed.

Not a single crystal pony spoke as the distant smoke cloud began to dissipate in the northern winds. After a minute, and there seemed to be no other activity, a quiet voice piped up from the back of the gathering crowd.

"Did she just annihilate King Sombra?"

Even without the Crystal Heart at the center, the resulting cheer set the tower off.

*************

"So... Your solution to defeating Sombra," Twilight began over a cider. "Was nuclear fusion?"

"You should know better than anypony that the best way to get rid of the darkness is to turn on a light," Sunset smirked back. "I just took that idea to its logical conclusion."

"But nuclear FUSION!" Twilight laughed. "I never would have pegged you as using the 'power of the sun' in the most literal sense possible. I mean..."

"Yes, yes..." Sunset waved it away with a hoof before taking a sip of her mug. "Normally Celestia's shtick... But I figured I'd get the best use of the Light arcane element if I went right to the literal source. But I was pretty sure Celestia would take exception to me Hijacking the actual sun and throwing it at Sombra. So instead I left for Earth early this loop and took some courses in nuclear engineering. I already had enough arcane knowledge to put the whole thing together, so I wasn't really missing out on anything as Celestia's 'Previous Faithful Student'."

"I see..." Twilight smirked. "So what about that entrance of yours? For the longest time I thought I was the only one awake this loop, and then you pop up like that. Actually caught me off guard for a moment. Not too shabby really."

"I've been wanting to do that for over a dozen loops now," Sunset smirked. "I never realized just how good it feels to pull off."

"I see," Twilight then drained her cider before continuing. "Had a run in with Nono, eh?"

"Once you've been bustered..." Sunset grinned. Twilight blinked.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know," Sunset snerked. "I didn't go through that loop as any of the buster corps."

"Then..." Twilight pointed a hoof silently.

"I was the space monster," Sunset grinned. "And you don't truly know a Buster Machine until you've been killed by one."