If you had told me when I first moved to Ponyville that I would end up befriending Twilight Sparkle, I would've called you insane.

Today, we're extremely close friends, and she's made a major impact on my life. I'm really grateful to have somepony like her as a friend.

But when we first met, all I felt towards her was hatred. And I made no effort to hide it.

I absolutely refused to listen to her, and whenever she talked to me, I did my best to respond with as much snark and rudeness as I could. All I was concerned about was getting away from her, and I was praying that she would get fed up with me and send me back to Celestia.

But she was persistent, and kept trying to get through to me. I was impressed, but at the same time annoyed.

Pinkie Pie, naturally, was the first to meet me. She tried throwing me a "Welcome To Ponyville" party, and was relentless in her efforts to befriend me. What annoyed me even more was the fact that she simply defied logic, and her tendency to literally pop out of nowhere only added to my paranoia. To be honest, it was still preferable to my inner demon, who continued to torment me at night, taunting me about how Celestia loved Twilight more than me.

Twilight then brought me to Sweet Apple Acres to meet Applejack. It's ironic that today, I enjoy working there and helping out with the harvesting: back then, I wouldn't have even thought about getting within a hundred feet of that "hick farm", as I used to call it. I was pretty much treating her like your typical Canterlot snob would: blindly assuming that she was an unsophisticated idiot and that her apples reeked of "commoner."

Rainbow Dash... she tried showing off her aerial acrobatic skills. I'll admit, I was impressed by the stuff she could do. However, there was no way I was actually telling her that. Instead, I just taunted her, saying that if she was indeed the best flier in Equestria, why wasn't she a Wonderbolt? Seeing her squirm and get all defensive over it was just entertaining.

When Twilight brought me to Carousel Boutique to meet Rarity, the fashionista kept going on about how gorgeous and fiery my mane was. She insisted on making me a dress to go with it, and when I first saw it... I was blown away by how absolutely gorgeous it was. When I saw myself in the mirror, I was speechless. Everypony in the room kept going on about how I looked positively radiant. But like Rainbow Dash, I refused to let her know what I actually thought about it, and just told her I wasn't at all impressed, that it looked pathetic. She looked like she was having a seizure when I left the Boutique.

Finally, there was Fluttershy. I noticed that she was very easily intimidated by me, and was scared easily. That's pretty much what my early interactions with Fluttershy were: scaring her for fun. She just made it way too easy. And I was often getting chewed out for it by Twilight and Rainbow Dash while she cowered.

It was like that for two weeks: Twilight and her friends tried to befriend me, and I just did my best to irritate them as much as possible. I didn't want anything to do with them. And while that was happening, my nightmares continued: the demon inside me kept up the tormenting.

One late afternoon, I was passing by the library, and I overheard Twilight and her friends talking about me...

Sunset wandered through the hallways of the castle, half-asleep due to another night of restlessness.

"Stupid nightmares..." she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. As she passed the library, she heard voices arguing.

Sunset's ears perked up as she caught wind of the conversation. Her eyes narrowing, she tiptoed to the entrance to the library and listened in, making sure to keep herself hidden.

"Sugarcube," Applejack said. "I know you don't want to let down Princess Celestia, but with Sunset acting the way she is, I don't think it can be done."

"I know," Twilight sighed. "I'm not trying to help her for Princess Celestia's sake. I'm doing it because she needs friends. But there's something definitely bothering her, and whatever it is, it's making her act out this way. I've been hearing her screaming in the middle of the night, talking to herself. When I go up to her room to check on her, she's against the wall, crying and shaking. But whenever I try to approach her, she just snaps at me to go away. I honestly don't know what to do with her."

"What about a 'Sorry That You're So Crabby All The Time' party?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't think that'll work. Especially since you won't stop bugging her about it."

"Why don't you just send her back to Princess Celestia?" Rainbow Dash asked. "She's been doing nothing but getting on everypony's nerves!"

"Princess Celestia told me I'd have to be patient with her," Twilight answered. "But I didn't expect her to act like this. Even Discord wasn't this hard to work with, and he's a troublemaker!"

"Hmm..." Twilight raised her forehoof to her chin, lost in thought. "Well... she's definitely got something against me, that's for sure."

"She's always glaring intensely at me, and whenever she talks to me, it's always in a hateful voice. Especially when she calls me 'Princess.' She never calls me Twilight, just 'Princess.' And the way she says it... it just sounds so... angry."

As Twilight talked to her friends, Sunset's blood began boiling again. She clenched her teeth as she remained hidden behind the doorway, continuing to listen in on the conversation.

"You think Sunset's angry at you just because you're a princess?" Rarity asked. She scoffed. "Pretty petty reason for anger, if you ask me."

"But Rarity, she used to study under Princess Celestia, just like me," Twilight pointed out. "Princess Celestia told me that tensions between her and Sunset were building up the last couple months they were together, until they broke apart after a massive argument one night. This is just a hunch, but maybe when she looks at me, it serves as a reminder of what transpired between the two of them..."

Twilight and her friends quickly turned towards the doorway of the library, spotting Sunset Shimmer standing in the middle of it. Her eyes were in an intense glare, and she was breathing heavily.

"So what?!" Sunset shouted as she stomped into the library, making her way towards Twilight. "You want to know why I despise you? BECAUSE YOU STOLE WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!"

"Hmph!" Sunset began to slowly circle Twilight, their eyes locked onto each others'. "I have the potential to achieve great things. Princess Celestia knew this, and she still held me back by refusing to turn me into a princess! Meanwhile, she just gladly hands the title over to you just for hanging out with a bunch of ponies!"

"Well, no wonder you didn't become a princess!" Rainbow Dash shouted, hovering in the air as she crossed her forehooves and directed a glare at Sunset. "You're acting like a total brat!"

"Oh shut up, not-a-Wonderbolt!" Sunset shot back, causing Rainbow Dash to cringe angrily. "You should know how I feel: you're the best Young Flier in Equestria, and you're still not in the Wonderbolts! I was the top student in the school, but no, that's not enough for Celestia!"

"With that attitude of yours, I hardly blame her," Rarity replied. "Twilight has shown compassion and humility towards other ponies, and she's always been there for us when we needed her. You, on the other hoof, only seem obsessed with getting what you want. Not an attitude befitting a princess, if you ask me."

"Any of you know what it's like to be told you can achieve great things, and yet you're never given a chance to do just that?!" Sunset asked as her gaze fell on everypony in the room. "I'm ready to become a princess, and she keeps insisting I'm not!"

"I don't know nothin' about royalty," Applejack said. "But I sure as heck know that you ain't actin' like a princess should!"

"You've lived on a hick farm all your life!" Sunset stomped up to Applejack, the two ponies staring each other down. "How would you know what royalty should act like?!"

"Well first off..." Applejack growled, leaning in towards Sunset's face. "They don't act like a spoiled brat over somethin' so stupid! And as a matter of fact," she added. "I did get a taste of the royal life when I was a little foal, but I decided it ain't my thing."

"Why'd you leave? Was being sophisticated too much for a simpleton like you to handle?"

"That's enough!" Twilight dove between Applejack and Sunset, pushing them apart before they could lunge at each other. She turned towards Sunset, who was looking more furious by the second. "Sunset Shimmer, there's no reason to act like this! Whatever happened between you and Celestia, don't take it out on everypony else!"

The two former students of Princess Celestia stared at each other for a couple seconds, neither one saying a word while the rest of the occupants held their breath. Twilight sighed. "Sunset," she began. "There's something bothering you, I can tell. It's not just your history with Princess Celestia that's making you act like this. Why don't you just tell us what's wrong?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted as she turned around to glare at the blue pegasus.

Sunset stomped her hoof. "Hmph! I don't need this!" Turning around in a huff, she stomped out of the library, a teal aura of magic enveloping the doors before they were slammed shut. The impact sent a couple dozen books on the adjacent bookshelves tumbling onto the floor.

"Nice goin', Rainbow Dash," Applejack muttered, nudging the pegasus with her hoof.

As the two friends argued behind her, Twilight's eyes remained on the closed doors. She was too distraught about Sunset to focus on the books that now lay on the floor, unorganized. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh.

Sunset wandered through the grassy plains outside Twilight's castle, adrenaline from her confrontation still coursing through her.

"Pfft, don't act like you know what I'm going through, Twilight," she muttered angrily as she dragged her hooves across the dirt. "You have no idea what I'm going through!" She turned her head towards Twilight's castle, the sunset reflecting off its crystalline surface. "Your life has been peachy..." she muttered, turning away as rage continued to overtake her. "You've been here yucking it up in this town, while I've been going through crap the past two years!"

At the time, all I could think of was my hatred of Twilight and Princess Celestia. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going...

I had heard weird things about that place, that it's got its own kind of warped magic. Plants thriving without ponies looking over them, animals taking care of themselves, and clouds moving on their own. On top of all that, I had heard about some really strange creatures that inhabited the forest.

I didn't buy any of it, just convinced that it was all made up to keep young foals from wandering in and getting lost.

"Stupid unicorn," Sunset scolded to herself as she trotted through the forest. "Pay attention to where you're going, you idiot..."

The unicorn made her way between the trees, the fallen leaves crumpling underneath her hooves. She had been wandering for the past half hour, the light from Celestia's sun growing ever dimmer with each passing minute.

"Come on, where's the freaking exit?!" Sunset blurted out angrily. No matter where she turned her head, all she saw were trees.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to her, and she slapped herself in the face for not thinking of it earlier. "Duh... teleportation." Concentrating as much as she could on Twilight's castle, she ignited her horn.

Sunset spun around, bewildered. "What the heck?" She lit up her horn again, putting as much effort into her spell as she could.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Sunset groaned loudly. She attempted to teleport again, only to end up with the same result. "Come... on... get... me... outta... here!" she shouted between multiple attempts. Her last attempt resulted in her popping into existence a couple feet in the air before flopping onto the ground with a thud.

"Dammit..." she muttered as she slowly got to her hooves. "Is this stupid forest messing with my spell or something...?" Shaking her head, she tried to teleport again. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, her efforts only resulted in her horn sparking and a headache. "Ugh... that's just brilliant..." she groaned as she rubbed her forehead.

Suddenly, she spotted some woodland critters running past her, apparently in a panic. A squirrel stopped in its tracks and turned to Sunset, squeaking frantically as it waved its arms. Sunset just tilted her head in confusion, narrowing her eyes. "You trying to tell me something?" The squirrel continued chattering, stopping to point behind Sunset. The unicorn looked behind her, and she noticed something moving between the trees, the sound of loud stomps echoing through the forest. Whatever it was, it was huge, and approaching fast.

At first, Sunset was curious to see what the creature was, but she shook her head, brushing that thought out of her mind. "No, better safe than sorry," she muttered to herself before turning around and sprinting as fast as she could.

The Everfree Forest whizzed past Sunset as she galloped through the trees, her heart pounding and her breathing growing rapidly. She heard a roar behind her, but she kept her eyes forward as she fled the area.

I just want to get out of here... she thought to herself. She continued running, weaving in and out of the trees and keeping her head down to avoid low branches. The roaring from the creature behind her began to grow faint, until she could no longer hear it.

Sunset continued running, quickly glancing behind her. The only thing she saw was an empty forest, nothing but trees and bushes. She breathed a sigh of relief-

Sunset slammed into something in front of her, grunting in pain as she recoiled from the impact. "Ugh... nice going, Sunset," she muttered, lifting a forehoof to her head. Blinking a couple times, she glanced forward, spotting the rough wooden surface that brought her to a halt. "Stupid tree..." she muttered to herself, getting to her hooves and giving it a kick.

She began to brush herself off, but she froze, her ears perking up as she heard a soft growl that seemed to be coming from nearby. She turned her head, but didn't find anything. She glanced at the "tree" that she just ran into, suddenly noticing that it seemed to be moving. Oh no...

The unicorn tilted her head upward. Her eyes widened, and she began backing up slowly.

She found herself looking at a live head made entirely of logs, bearing sharp wooden teeth and glowing green eyes with leaves that resembled eyebrows. As her eyes moved, she noticed that the creature in front of her strongly resembled a wolf, except that it was composed entirely of logs and branches.

What the heck is that thing?! Sunset thought to herself. The creature slowly advanced on her, growling softly as it stared her down. Sunset continued backing away as slowly as she could, racking her brains in an attempt to remember what she had heard about the Everfree Forest. Her eyes darted around, hoping to find something she could use to defend herself.

She glanced upwards and suddenly spotted a giant branch above the creature. It was loosened quite a bit, and it looked heavy enough to do some damage. Gritting her teeth, Sunset slowly lit up her horn, continuing to back away from the monster in front of her. She prayed that the glow of her horn wouldn't set off the creature as she led it underneath the branch. Come on... just a little more-

At that moment, however, her leg caught on a stray log behind her, and she tripped, tumbling over backwards. As she fell, she accidentally fired a blast from her horn, hitting the wolf-like creature squarely in the face. It reeled back in pain before letting out an ear-splitting roar.

At that moment, the gears in Sunset's head clicked as she remembered something Applejack told her during her tour of Sweet Apple Acres. She mentioned something called 'timberwolves' while boring me to death with her Zap Apple story... is this thing in front of me what she was talking about?! She slowly got to her hooves and glanced at the timberwolf pawing the ground and growling softly.

Suddenly, the timberwolf lunged towards her with its mouth open and claws extended. Eyes widening, she quickly dove to the side, turning her head as it sped past her. Her opponent quickly spun around, letting out a growl before taking another leap at its prey. Sunset barely had time to duck as a claw whizzed over her head, slicing a few strands of hair off her mane. As the unicorn backed up, her hind leg brushed against something. She turned her head, her eyes falling on the log she tripped over earlier. Her horn lighting up, she quickly grabbed it and levitated it in front of her, shielding herself just as the timberwolf launched another attack.

Sunset backed up with her makeshift shield raised, the timberwolf continuing to swipe at her. "Come on... give me an opening..." she muttered, parrying another attack. A strong blow from the creature struck the log, and Sunset's eyes widened when she noticed that it was starting to break in half. Sweat began to roll down her face as the log slowly began to bend under the pressure of additional attacks. Sunset strained with effort while she tried to keep herself protected, hoping she could hold her ground long enough for the timberwolf to lower its defenses.

The timberwolf suddenly reared up on its hind legs, getting ready to trample its prey. Spotting the opening she needed, Sunset grit her teeth and raised the log. Time seemed to slow down as she swung it at her opponent's hind legs, striking as hard as she could. The log snapped in half as it connected, knocking the howling timberwolf onto its stomach.

Sunset collapsed onto the ground, the glow of her horn dissipating from exhaustion. Gasping for breath, she glanced at the injured timberwolf that lay motionless on the ground. Her eyes fell on one of the legs she had struck, and grimaced once she noticed that it appeared bent out of shape. "That looks like it hurt a lot..." she muttered to herself. She struggled to her hooves, taking one last look at the creature before turning around.

Sunset only took a few steps before she heard another roar. She quickly turned around, her eyes widening as she spotted the timberwolf right behind her with its paw raised. Before she could react, it swung its paw and struck her.

The unicorn flew through the air, gasping in pain as she slammed into a tree and hit the ground. Sunset groaned, trying to push herself up. But her aching legs refused to obey her, and she was too drained to conjure up a spell with her horn. She looked up from the ground as the timberwolf limped towards her, grunting as it put pressure on the broken leg.

Sunset struggled to get to her hooves, but her strength finally gave out and she collapsed to the ground. As her breathing grew shallow and her eyesight began to fade, visions of her past began to race across her mind. Her life went by in a blur, until she heard a familiar evil laugh. She looked up at the timberwolf approaching her. Her vision flashed, and her eyes widened when the timberwolf transformed into the last thing she wanted to see:

"LOOKS LIKE THE END FOR YOU, LITTLE UNICORN!!!" she taunted, her demonic voice echoing in the forest as flames erupted around her. Tears flowing from her eyes, Sunset's vision flashed between the timberwolf and the flaming demon as the monster raised a claw, preparing to strike.

No... please... not like this... Sunset silently begged. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the end.

The monster suddenly stopped in its tracks as a rock bounced off it. Sunset opened one of her eyes, barely making out the demon hovering in front of her looking around for the source of the disturbance.

Another rock bounced off the demon, who disappeared from Sunset's vision as the timberwolf took its place. The unicorn's ears perked up, recognizing the voice behind her. She turned her head, and gasped once her gaze fell on two familiar ponies.

"You'll have to go through us!" Rainbow Dash yelled, hovering in the air and tossing a small rock in her hooves. She then spun around quickly before flinging it at the timberwolf. It sped through the air, hitting its target with a *SMACK!* and knocking off one of its wooden teeth. The creature howled loudly in pain before taking a massive leap over Sunset.

Rainbow Dash dove out of the way of an incoming claw swipe as Applejack ran underneath the timberwolf, using her lasso to snag the creature's hind leg. Rainbow stuck her tongue out, flipping and rolling through the air while the timberwolf continued to lash at the blue pegasus. Applejack was dragged across the ground, tugging on the lasso with all her strength.

Sunset's jaw dropped as she tried to process what was happening. Suddenly, she heard rustling beside her. Shifting her gaze, her cyan eyes met a pair of violet ones.

"Sunset Shimmer... are you all right?" Twilight Sparkle asked, holding out her forehoof.

"When I began to fall,
And I lost the path ahead...
That's when your friendship found me,
And it lifted me instead..."

To be concluded...

Sunset Shimmer: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well

by Joeycrick

Chapter 11: Wayward Sun (Part 3)