//------------------------------//
// The Chapter Where Things Happen 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer (Doesn't) Learn The True Meaning of Christmas 
// by Hclegend 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer (Doesn't) Learn The True Meaning of Christmas

By Hclegend
 
T'was the night before Ch- Hearthswarming, a cold and snowy one at that. Everypony was sleeping and wearing nightcaps. Except for one little pony named Sunset Shimmer. She was trotting around, looking for the dimmer...
 
Wait, what the heck kind of writing is THAT? I get what you're trying to do with the whole "Night Before Christmas" thing, but that was shoddy. Step up your game.
 
Fine Sunset Shimmer, no more rhyming. Sheesh, tough crowd
 
Anyway, Sunset Shimmer was trotting around in her hotel room, having rented it the day before so she could see Twilight Sparkle during Hearthswarming. But unfortunately for her, Twilight Sparkles "Castle Of Friendship" was being renovated. So they both had to stay in a hotel for the holidays. With the Princess Of Friendship snoring away peacfully in her Princess-Sized bed, the yellow unicorn with the firey mane was left with only her thoughts. And the narrator.
 
"I haven't done anything for Hearthswarming." she thought to herself whilst lying on her bed. "I could try taking over Equestria." she thought about the odds of taking on the Mane 6. "Nah, with the Rainbow Power that they have, I'd get beaten even harder than last time." She concluded. Deciding to not think about it anymore, she then took that thought and threw it out of the hotel window, hitting a stray cat.
 
"Screw it, I'll think of something in the morning." The incredibly bored unicorn then decided to pass out.
 
Sunset Shimmer woke up not in her dingy hotel room with the purple pony princess snoring like a boar, but in a log cabins bedroom, lying on a comfortable bed that smelt of rainbows, which is like a dead fish, but 20% better. Deciding to actually do something that involved effort, Sunset Shimmer hopped off of her bed and landed on her hooves. Trotting over to the door of the bedroom and opening it lightly, Sunset noticed a alicorn waiting for her in the main room of the cabin.
 
The alicorn was noticeably taller than the average pony, not quite the height of Princess Celestia, but tall nonetheless. Having dark fur cover her entire body, with a dark blue mane with what appeared to be stars in as well. Finally, she had the cutiemark of a cresent moon upon her flank.
 
"Greetings Sunset Shimmer, I have heard a lot about you from Twilight Sparkle." She spoke in a elegant voice, not unlike that of a royal princess. Which she was, so this made sense "I am Princess Luna, the guardian of dreams." She said with a somewhat smug smile.
 
"That's great and all, but why am I here?" Sunset said with a hint of nervousness due to situation at hand... Or hoof in this case. "Because you do not understand the true meaning of Christmas of course!" Luna said with a light tone
 
"The true meaning of Christmas? Don't tell me that we're going down THAT road." Sunset Shimmr groaned "And let me guess..." she continued "I'm going to be visted by three ghosts who will tell me why I'm a horrible person and then I'll learn the true meaning of life or whatever."
 
Luna stared at the young unicorn with a with a suprised look "Pretty much. At least it saves me telling you. M'kay have fun" she blurted out before teleporting away.
 
"Horsefeathers." Sunset Shimmer said while facehooving.
 
When Sunset stopped facehooving from the massive amount of fail, she saw that she wasn't in the cabin anymore. She was in the Golden Oak library with a very familar purple pony standing in front of her. No, not Berry Punch. It was Twilight Sparkle, but before she became a princess.
 
"Hey Sunset Shimmer, I am Twilight Twinkle, Ghost of Christmas Past. You like my tree?" she asked excitedly while pointing her hoof to a miniature Golden Oak Library with tinsel on it.
 
"It's lovely." Sunset deadpanned while giving the ghost a good stare. "Now why am I here?"
 
"Because you're a terrible pony and you should feel bad for not worshipping based goddess Luna." she said with a serious expression
 
Sunsets eyes widened, attempting to comprehend the unicorns brief but brutal message. And failing hard.
 
Raising her forehooves into the air and rotating her head skywards, she opened her mouth and screamed "WHAT THE F-" before being cut off by a pink pony tackling her to the ground. Partly for plot convenience, and partly so this can keep an E rating.
 
Hello? Can we get to my part now? I'm really super duper excited for it! The previously patient pink party pony Pinkie Pie proclaimed. Carry on.
 
Sunset Shimmer, who had gotten up during the brief exchange, turned to the screen and shrugged.
 
"Heya Sunset! I'm Pinkie Pie, the Ghost of Chrismas Presents!" The hyperactive party planner was quivering with excitement as she said those words, like she had just realised the meaning of life, the universe and everything (It's 42 by the way)
 
"Don't you mean Ghost of Christmas Present?" Sunset shot a quizzical look at the possibly psychotic Pinkie, who had the look of "You'd be a great Cupcake!" in her eyes. Sunset regretted every life choice she had ever made whilst looking into Pinkies maniac, soul piercing eyes.
 
"No, you silly filly!" Pinkies psychopathic look changed to a playful grin. "I'm here to give you your Christmas present!" she pulled a present covered in red and yellow wrapping paper out of the magical land called "Off-Screen". "Here ya go Sunny!" Pinkie practically shouted while almost throwing the wrapped mystery at Sunset.
 
"Um... Thank you Pinkie." Sunset nervously said while using her magic to open the package. But before she could fully open it, a blue pegasus exploded out of Sunsets "Present" scaring her half to death and leaving her with a deep fear of presents.
 
The mysterious infiltrator of the package was none other than the fastest thing alive, Rainbow Dash.
 
"Sup. I'm the Ghost of Christmas Awesome." Rainbow Dash said with a smug look of smugness on her face.
 
"What." Sunset said with a shocked expression. She stopped questioning whether Pinkie Pie wanted to bake with her or bake her, and why Twilight called herself "Twinkle". I mean, that name is completely stupid. But whatever.
 
"So you're here to show me what will happen if I don't change my ways?" Sunset asked. She'd take seeing her dark future over this madness.
 
"Nah, all that happens is you try and take over the Crystal Empire but are stopped by some pink round dude with a hat named Hclegend or something." Rainbow Dash explained in deadpan tone. "It's like a bad fanfiction." she added.
 
"So... What ARE you going to do?" Sunset asked, while wondering about this Hclegend guy. "He sounds like a complete dolt." she thought while chuckling inwardly.
 
"Wake up." She said in a Twilight-esque fashion
 
"What." Sunset replied. She said that she wouldn't question anything before, but this was getting weird.
 
"I said wake up Sunset!" Rainbow said again, in the same voice as before.
 
"Fine I will!" she shouted before being dragged out of Dreamland to see Twilight staring at her with a worried expression.
 
"Ah, so you didn't fall into a coma then." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief along with Sunset Shimmer.
 
Sunset Shimmer got up while thinking to herself about the dream. "Well, that explains why I was in a log cabin." she noted before going to the window that she threw the thought out of the previous night. Seeing a small pink creature with a black cap on, she opened the window and shouted "YOU THERE!"
 
The pink creature turned to Sunset and replied with a simple "WHAT".
 
"What day is it boy?" Sunset asked while getting a sense of Deja Vu.
 
"December 6th. It ain't Christmas yet Scrooge." the creature replied with a snarky tone.
 
"Horsefeathers."
 
And nopony learned anything.
 
The End