Chapter 1. Stuck Again
One thing was clear to Sunset. The Element of Magic didn't like her.
Once she put on the crown, raw magic flooded into her body so fast, she didn't get a chance to react. But, it wasn't a pleasant experience, for she started to feel a burning sensation all over her body. Her body and mind, emotions and entity were set alight with the fires of agony. Like an entire forest was set ablaze, her pain was in every single fiber of her being.
And with the growing unbearable pain, Sunset also felt a violent assault of emotions. But, above them all, she felt hatred. Hatred towards little princess Twilight Sparkle, who not only got the title and the power Sunset deserved, but also tried to ruin all the plans she'd been building for the past thirty moons. She felt hatred towards the five girls who tried to help Miss perfect Twilight Sparkle stand against her.
As the magic of the Element filled Sunset's every desire of power, she also felt her flesh burn and her blood boil; she felt her brain furiously beat against her skull, and the skin of her back, tear apart as bones jutted out and formed the shape of wings. When the transformation was over, Sunset opened her eyes and looked at herself.
She didn't expect to be turned into a demon; but, she didn't mind at all. Her skin was now red, her clothes changed to match the red and yellow patterns of her hair, and she also had grown a tail. She was thrilled, she had missed her tail ever since she became a human, and even if this wasn't exactly her pony tail, it was a tail, and it was hers.
But the joy she felt was quickly replaced by anger as the pain returned. Her arms started to shake violently, desperately trying to convince her body to produce, and send some adrenaline to cease the pain. Sunset clenched her teeth, and forced her body to stop shaking. She wasn't going to give up, not now.
Sunset used her otherwise impossible magic and turned her loyal minions into half demons, just like her. She frowned seeing that they didn't seem to suffer the same pain as she did, but she decided to ignore it for now. She then proceeded to show her new power by destroying the school's entrance with no apparent effort. The students screamed in fear, and that pleased Sunset, but if she was going to use them, she needed them to be loyal, so she brainwashed them all, students and teachers. Sunset growled as the pain increased, but decided to ignore it. She was this close to conquering Equestria; she only had to bear the pain a little more.
Unfortunately, the Element still didn't like her, so it found a way to restore its bond with Twilight, and with her, it found provisional bearers to connect with the other Elements in Equestria.
Sunset saw the six girls rise from the ground and glow with the brightest light she had seen since the sun itself. She heard Twilight say something, but the purple beam the Element used to connect with the princess produced a sound in Sunset's ears that resembled to white noise. And then, an explosion of light happened just above her and a rainbow was shot directly to her feet, and started to spin around her forming a small tornado.
"What… is… happening?!" She cried.
Sunset's conception of pain was then taken to another level. She wanted to scream, the pain was just too much; she didn't care anymore if they heard her scream, but she couldn't do it. And suddenly, all the pain vanished and was replaced by a soothing sensation. Her limbs felt weak; so weak that she had to kneel and lean on her hands. For a moment she wondered when she had returned to the ground.
"You will never rule in Equestria. Any power you may have had in this world is gone." Sunset heard Twilight's voice echoing from above; she opened her eyes and realized that she was in some sort of crater. "Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are. You've shown them what is in your heart."
The feeling of being burnt alive was gone, but it quickly was replaced by a new kind of pain; one that overwhelmed her heart and made it feel heavy in her chest: regret.
"I-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!" She yelled, and she could feel her throat dry, and cold tears running down her face. "I didn't know there was another way!"
“The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria; it's everywhere." Sunset started to climb the crater, fortunately for her, it wasn't too high. "You can seek it out…" Twilight paused and turned away, repressing a heavy sigh. "… Or you can forever be alone… The choice is yours."
Sunset finally got to the edge of the crater, but she felt so tired and weak that couldn't bring herself to get out of it. "But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart..." She put a hand on her mouth to suppress herself from bursting into tears. "I don't know the first thing about friendship!”
Her eyes closed as tears ran like rivers down her cheeks. Twilight took her hand and helped her come out of the crater. Sunset felt her knees shake with both cold and tiredness. "I bet they can teach you." Twilight pointed at the five girls behind her, who gave different kinds of smiles at Sunset.
Sunset looked at them with a confused gaze. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight herself had grown wings, and all of them had pony-like ears. She wanted to question them about it, but she was tired, so tired that she decided to walk to the destroyed entrance instead while everyone gathered around Twilight. Sunset sat down and leaned against the wall. Her eyes closed unwillingly and she fell into slumber.
~~~~~~~~
The sound of cheerful voices and laughs startled her. She opened her eyes and saw the six semi-anthropomorphized girls gathered in front of the statue that held the portal back to Equestria. Sunset stood up with less effort than she thought and walked to the opposite wall, the one she had previously demolished.
She saw them turn to see her after a group hug. For a reason that Sunset would never understand, she felt the need to hide behind the broken wall. "Miss Shimmer." Sunset looked at her right and saw Vice Principal Luna being followed by Snips and Snails, who were carrying bricks and mortar. "I hope you know how to use this." Luna then gave her a trowel.
Sunset looked at the small tool and then at Luna. "You can't be serious…"
Luna raised an eyebrow. "I am very serious. Construction workers will be hired to repair the entrance and cover the hole in the front yard. But you will help them for the time they require. After that, you three will attend to a month of detention."
Sunset felt her stomach fall. "W-Wait…" She wanted to tell her that she didn't even belong to this world; she wanted to run away through the portal. But then she heard a thud coming from the statue. Rainbow Dash was on the ground as if she just fell, while Pinkie slammed her face with the portal. It was closed. Sunset stared blankly and dropped the trowel to the floor.
Snips and Snails looked at each other with worried expressions, while Luna was more confused than anything. "For now you may leave. I expect you to come tomorrow at eight in the morning." Luna turned to see the young boys. "As for you two, aside from the month of detention, you will help clean the school's halls for two weeks."
Sunset turned to see Luna. "Wait, they won't help with the repairs?"
Luna shook her head while Snips and Snails frowned at Sunset. "No, you are the one who destroyed it. You should be grateful, Miss Shimmer, that my sister decided not to call the police." And with that, Luna turned around and walked away, followed by the boys.
Sunset stood there for a moment and then slammed her fist against the wall, making some dust fall from it. She was angry and sad at the same time. For a moment she had all the power she ever wanted, but it had been unbearably painful. And now she not only had lost all that, but she felt really tired and weak, and the only chance to return to Equestria was gone. She was stuck in the human world for another two and a half years.
Sunset looked at the floor and sat down, leaning on the wall again. Tears started to form on the corner of her eyes as the realization hit her. "Hi there!" Sunset turned to see the source of the unmistakably cheerful voice. Pinkie Pie was mere inches away from her, giving her a really big smile. "You don't look so good."
"You don't say…" Sunset said with a frown.
Pinkie kept smiling, ignoring Sunset's angry gaze. "You want a ride?" She pointed at the limousine they rented to come to the dance. The other girls were already in it.
"I can go home on my own." Sunset answered sharply. Pinkie was going to ask again, but Sunset silenced her with an angry gaze.
"Ok…" Pinkie said pouting. "See you around!" She trotted to the limousine where her friends were waiting.
Normally, Sunset would have yelled at the pink girl, but since the Elements blasted her just an hour ago, she somehow felt bad with her own attitude. She didn't like that feeling. It was like being another person.
Even if she felt a little -just a little- bad about rejecting Pinkie's offer, she still didn't want them to know where she lived. They wouldn't let her hear the end of it. Even worse, they would take revenge on her and tell everybody about it. And she had been humiliated enough in one night.
Sunset sighed, finally alone with her thoughts. She looked at the closed portal again and felt her heart ache. She remembered the first time she came to the human world, she felt the same way for a whole week. She was homesick, and the pain in her chest was getting worse the more she thought that she would stay in this world for another thirty moons.
She stood up and walked into the school. The corridors were completely covered in darkness, but her eyes wasted no time to get used to it, and soon she was able to see where she was going.
Every step she made, Sunset felt more and more tired. The rainbow laser must have taken all her energy away in order to change her back into a human, but deep inside, Sunset wished it had turned her into a pony instead. As Sunset went farther, she noticed that the air was getting slightly colder; she never liked cold, but after the experience with the Elements, it was a bless she was more than willing to embrace.
She decided that walking home would be impossible, for she knew she'd fall asleep anytime soon, so she came to the conclusion to do the same thing she did the first time she came to the human world.
Sleep in the school.
She went straight to the gym as quickly as her tired legs allowed her to. When she opened the doors she was greeted by the mess left from the dance, some streamers and deflated balloons on the floor and tables placed against every wall, filled with baked goods and punch.
Sunset made her way to the storage room. She took some mats and stacked them upon each other to improvise a bed. It took her just a few minutes, but it felt as hours as her arms sore. When she finished her pseudo-bed, she took a big Wondercolts' banner and unfolded it. She then lied down on the mats and covered herself with the banner, using it as a blanket.
She didn't even have a chance to make herself comfortable, her eyes closed out of tiredness and she quickly drifted off to sleep.