18 YEARS AGO
Rarity sat on her couch, covered in soft blankets and surrounded by empty containers of Colt Stone ice cream. She was eating her favorite flavor, vanilla oat swirl. When she thought all hope was lost, Spike ran through the front door. He gave her an enchanted book for her inspiration and creativity problems, and it worked out okay at first. But after a while, she started to lose control.
Spike saved her with the only possible way to free her from the spell, "Only with spoken true words shall you finally be set free." From then on, Rarity hoped it never returned. And it almost didn't. If it wasn't for Sunset Shimmer.
20 YEARS AGO
Sunset Shimmer finally returned to Equestria, after living many years in the human world. The magic imbalances of her return were almost fatal. It seemed fine at the time, but the disturbance in the balance awoke many dark spirits, releasing hurtful magic into Equestria. Soon enough, strange things began to happen in the land. The once defeated plunderseeds began to sprout, growing over time. It was very slow, and not even Discord noticed.
Twilight began to get threat notes. She didn't know it was real, she thought it might've been a prank or something. She simply tossed the notes into the trash. The threats began happening more frequently, and Twilight started to worry about her life. She knew she could not be killed as easily as she used to, but it was still possible. Very possible.
PRESENT DAY
Sunset Shimmer watched the sun begin to lower after a long day of work. She bid her farewell to Twilight, packed her saddlebags, and calmly walked out the crystal gates. The horizon had a smoky reddish glow, with pink tinted clouds surrounding it. Sunset almost wanted to take a picture of it, but she moved on.
Trudging forward to her Ponyville cottage, she noticed something odd. The colors around her began to dim, getting blacker and blacker by the second. It was then pitch black. Sunset worriedly paced in the empty space. "Twilight?" She called. "What is going on?" She felt a warm sensation grow behind her. She heard the crackles of a warm fireplace, flaming ashes hitting the ground then dissolving into dust. She turned around.
She saw a tall alicorn stallion, with fire for a mane. His coat color was a silky orange, almost white. His eyes were glowing along with his mane. "Who in the wide world of Equestria are YOU?!" She cried. The stallion smiled. He was at least 4 feet taller than her, making Sunset grow scared as he grew closer.
"I am King Blazer, the element of heat and fire. I know perfectly well who you are, Sunset Shimmer." The stallion answered. He turned around, his large flaming tail almost touching Sunset's skin.
"Please be careful! I don't want to end up in the hospital again!" King Blazer paused and laughed politely.
"You have not been taught as well as I thought. You were created from a part of my essence. making you my daughter. When you were born, you were granted resistance to extreme heat."
Sunset carefully processed his words. As she did, the king blew a bonfire before her. She hesitantly stuck her hoof inside the flame. Soon enough, she was standing in the center of the fire. Her body filled with sensation, a feeling she had never had before. As the fire depleted, she remained speechless. "Dad?"
"Yes, Sunset Shimmer?"
"Teach me more..."
"Training, day one." Queen Raina spoke. Lyra looked around herself. She had been blindfolded and had no idea where she was and what she was doing. She felt the aura of the queen's magic lift her. "Stay calm, Lyra. This will only hurt a bit." Lyra began to fret. She felt a pulse in her stomach and lungs, she could barely breathe enought to survive. She felt cold water sinking into her coat, filling her veins.
She could not speak. She was choking on her breath and even tears. Suddenly, the magic dropped her into a pool of water. The blindfold fell off. She was in a closed tank, a large one. She desparately pounded at the wall of the tank, wanting-and needing-to be let out. Suddenly, she could breathe. The water became warm and her vision was clear. Her hindlegs merged together, forming something like a tiger-fish tail.
Lyra was more angry than she was surprised. A pony was bad enough, she wanted feet to walk on. Now she had none. She used all her force to pound through the glass, shattering it all over the floor. Water flooded the basement floor. Lyra tried to yell at the queen, but no words came out. She could not breathe as easily as she could in the water. She realized something awful.
Without the tank, she couldn't live. Raina used her magic to try and turn her back. After a while of confusing spells, she was almost back to normal. "I figured you would break out." Raina remarked. Lyra opened her mouth once more, but was interrupted. "This was a very important spell for your survival in this damaged era. Whenever you go into water, you will transform. You will experience many times when you need to be able to breathe underwater and swim faster. I know your future, and without this spell, it will not be an easy task. Do you understand?"
Lyra nodded. "I will try my best to suceed." She answered.