//------------------------------// // Saint Sunset 01 // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Everyone in this world hates me, they all do. Okay, that was way too melodramatic, I should leave that to Rarity, but I don’t think I’m lying when I say that everyone in this building hates me, not that they don’t have many reasons for thinking like that. I have treated everyone as if they were inferior to me. I climbed to the pinnacle of the high school social ladder and it didn’t matter who I had to step on to get the measly amount of power hat I had, or better said, the power that SHE has. This past few years have been a non-stopping torment, always watching what happens outside but never capable to let them now, to be heard and finally finish this nightmare, but it didn’t matter how much I struggled against these chains or tried every single mental exercise I could think of to get back control of my body, I was just another prisoner in this school. I don’t even remember how many times I cried inside my head, how many times I called for Celestia to rescue me, but all of it was only in vain, false hope that allowed me to remain sane or at least remember who I was so I wouldn’t lose myself to this insanity. The taunting was the worst, knowing that whoever had my body did all those petty and cruel things just to make me suffer even more, as if taunting me with the knowledge that I couldn’t stop her, that even if I stopped her nobody would believe me and I would remain alone, that no matter what world I tried to live in I will suffer the consequences from the actions of this… this demon. It had started so simply, I had grown attached to the idea of becoming a princess, maybe if I became immortal and regal as Celestia then maybe… maybe she would finally look me in the eye and call me daughter… pathetic, right? Everything is the fault of a lonely child that only wanted a family… I shouldn’t have gone into the forbidden section of the library, I just allowed IT to jump into me, was this what happened to the Mare in the Moon? To Princess Luna? Was this creature made to make the host suffer or was that just a byproduct of the damage and pain she inflicted unto others, I will probably lose my mind before I’m capable of answering any of those questions and I know I won’t get any help, not after this monster returned to Equestria, guess it wasn’t enough that she probably broke Princess Celestia’s heart jumping through the mirror… or maybe Celestia was glad that I left, I don’t know anymore. Sometimes I don’t even listen to the things my… doppelganger I guess… does in the school, I have stopped trying to understand why it stays in a high school, maybe she is trying to find something? I don’t know, I don’t care… well, there it goes, picking on Fluttershy once again, I swear, bullying her is like kicking a puppy that was trying to play with you, is THAT heart breaking… what did she mean by crown? Oh sweet Faust! That’s…. that’s Celestia’s student after I left… Twilight Sparkle… the one that did become a princess… Celestia must have been so proud of her. The crown! That’s it! She was looking for the crown! That’s an element of harmony! She stole it, but why? It had been lost for so long that no one is sure what are the powers of it, so if this monster just jumped into Equestria just to steal the element of harmony then that means she had a plan for it. She either stole it to make me look even worst in the face of Celestia… not that it was that hard considering how I was with her… so if this wasn’t just petty theft then what was the point? Yes, it is supposed to be a really powerful magical arti...fact. The most powerful magical artifact in all of Equestria in a world with no inherent magic, is that what she is trying to do? Regain her magic? Or well, my magic since this is still my body, but if that is true then that means that everything that she has done so far pales to the scale of damage and destruction she could do. ----- If I wasn’t trapped, incapable of talking or even moving all these shenanigans for the crown would have been comical, or at least awkward; this was supposed to be the demon that had ruled a high school with an iron fist? Really? God, this was embarrassing. The taunts had been childish, the attempts to make Twilight look bad were pathetic, really, and didn’t she know how to use Photoshop? I mean, I was the one trapped and I know more about the human world than her, this is ridiculous. So now it comes to this, she has finally lost, everybody finally rallied against around the newest princess, seems that Celestia choose the perfect pony for the role… I’m glad. Now the monster has no more control and she will be able to return to Equestria with me in chains so… wait… what is she doing? No. NO. You cannot give her the crown! Princess! If you can even listen to me, don’t give this monster the crown! Oh, but it is too late now you stupid pony. This… this can’t be… she can’t… she cannot win… that’s not how stories go… right? Twilight… Twilight can still win. But there was no sudden rescue, no sudden source of power to defeat her, no Princess Celestia appearing with her gleaming armor ready to destroy another monster… just pain. Endless pain. When I’m capable of focusing on the outside world I can only listen laughter and screams of fear, well, seems like the whole school has seen us transform, at least they have know seen her real face. “Sunset Shimmer! What have you done!?” the voice of Twilight was still strong and there was no signs of fear, truly remarkable Twilight. “Do not. Call me. That. NAME!” I have never heard this creature this mad before, whatever power she syphoned from the crown seemed to have shook some screws loose “I have been playing the part of this pathetic little mortal for too long, my name is Alecto!” “What… what do you mean? Sunset…” “Oh please, you ponies are always so easy to manipulate! Sunset hasn’t been in control of this body for years now” “You monster!” Rarity, if I were you I wouldn’t antagonize the obviously crazy monster. “She is right, you are nothing but a monster, all this time you have been hiding as an innocent girl?” who would have thought Fluttershy could get this mad? “I wouldn’t call her innocent, she is quite the work of art, petty, envious and full of hate and anger, it was so fun to see her crumble inside her head, why don’t you see for yourself? After all, I don’t need her anymore, I have all I need now” Wait, what, what does she mean by thAAAAAAAAAAGH It felt as if my body had been put through a meat grinder, it hurt everywhere. Wait, I can feel pain… I can feel the grass on my face and hands; I can feel the breeze moving my hair… I never thought I would miss that feeling so much, I would be crying of joy for having my body again if I wasn’t already crying due to the pain. “S-Sunset Shimmer?” I can hear the soft voice of a young girl at my side almost immediately, who else but Fluttershy, looking at me with something akin of pity and worry… I do not deserve it. “I-I… I’m sorry… I c-c-couldn’t ma-make her… stop… no con-control” I feel so weak, so much pain, she has been using me as a battery and a container all at the same time, no wonder she wanted that crown, just a couple of years more and my body would have shut down . “Is okay, it wasn’t your fault” “I’m… sorry” “Just rest Sunset” I have never seen her like this, usually is just looks of fear, I don’t know why I deserve her looking after me. “Aw, isn’t this just adorable? Sunset being forgiven for her sins, isn’t that nausea inducing?” “SHUT UP! I don’t know what is going on, but I can understand this very well partner, you have been using Sunset as a scapegoat all this time, and now is time to pay!” Go get her Applejack, not that I think there is much you guys can do. “What can you and the rest of this pathetic school can do? I am complete again, and soon chaos will reign over this land just like it did in Equestria” her voice, the way she said those things, the way she looked as if she came from one of those religious books were quite enough to maintain all the students inside the gym, they were petrified due to fear, I could even hear some of them crying in fear not that I can blame them, she looked like a demon with black and red armor to boot. “We can stop you, with the strongest magic of them all, the magic of friendship!” the monster, Alecto, simply laughed at Twilight’s words. “Oh poor little princess, you alicorns have tried that so many times, and each of them found out the same thing, all beings born by Eris will never be fell by that, not now anyway considering that this is merely a useless piece of jewelry now” Alecto said while throwing the crown aside, it made me shudder how the element of magic looked like now; when Twilight arrived it looked full of light, catching the reflection of the bulbs in the school and make it seem almost alive, now the jewel seemed dull, empty of whatever energy it had before. “It… cannot be” Twilight doesn’t look good, I guess I don’t either but just looking your most powerful weapon being thrown aside like that can be very painful. “Well, why lose more time? Time to die little princess, ‘Unrelenting Rage’!” Uh oh, this is not good, Alecto’s body started to shine, this is not good, she is charging for an attack, I have no idea what Unrelenting Rage is but I’m pretty sure is nothing good… so why am I in front of Twilight? Damn guilt… oh well… at least I died free. ----- She should have done more, but the very sight of her element of harmony being thrown aside as if it were a child’s toy had taken all the wind out of her, now they had no weapon, no way to defend against whatever that creature, Alecto, planned to do. At the sound of energy being charged Twilight closed her eyes, then she felt the arms and body heat of all her new old friends around her and for one second Twilight had to smile, at least she won’t be alone these last few seconds, but then… pain never came, just the sound of magic being released and opening their eyes the six friends found out why they had been left unscathed. In front of them Sunset stood between them and the attack of Alecto, her head slightly turned looking at them with a resigned look, then a flash and Sunset was no more… all that was left was a scorched mark in the grass. Twilight didn’t even dare to breathe, in fact, for the first time on her life she didn’t even know what to think, everything seemed to be frozen in time until someone screamed and everything came rushing down. Sunset was dead… she died saving their lives, she had been prisoner in her mind for who knows how long and now… now she was dead. Both Rarity and Fluttershy were hugging each other crying, Pinkie seemed to have lost all energy, just looking at the place where Sunset died with unshed tears in her eyes, while Rainbow and Applejack. “I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!” Applejack had to use all of her strength to stop an enraged Rainbow. “You saw what she did! Don’t be an idiot!” “She fucking killed Sunset! This mother fucking monster just killed her! And it was never her fault… all this time… it was never her fault… I hated her when-when she was suffering all that time… and I cannot say sorry to her… she is gone…” Rainbow Dash finally stopped struggling and slowly felt to her knees. For her part Alecto stood hovering in midair not quite believing what she had seen “So the stupid pony gave up her life… what an idiot, guess the waste of space finally found courage for that” “Don’t” “What was that princess?” “Don’t you dare speak of Sunset like that again!” Twilight could feel it, the telltale of rage coiling around her. “Well, well, well, seems like the little princess is more than ready to fight, but there is nothing you can do now my dear, no magic, no power, no nothing, you only got a reprieve, now do like your little friend, and DIE!” Alecto screamed ready to attack once again. ----- For the first time in years Sunset knew peace, it was quiet, only her floating in darkness and silence, finally she could forget of screams, rage and pain, finally she could rest forever and sleep. Sunset There was a voice, but it was interrupting her rest, she didn’t want to be bothered. Sunset… they still need you What? What was that voice saying? She wasn’t needed, she was already dead… she just wanted to rest. Sunset, they still need you No, they didn’t, she was just a failure, she failed in her studies, she failed to become a princess, and she failed against the monster, no, they didn’t need her at all. Oh my sweet Sunset, your destiny was never to be a princess, that was just what Celestia wanted of you, but you still have something even bigger waiting for you And in that moment, everything around Sunset was clear and full of light as a presence did what she haven’t felt in years, it hugged her and it was full of love and warmth. “But… I am already dead… I cannot help them” Sunset… that is not true, there has been someone that has been waiting for you all these years And like that, she felt a spark being ignited inside of her, a power she knew well, fire that started to burn around and inside her. Go my little Sunset, protect your friends and be prepared, soon I will wake up ----- “… now do like your little friend, and DIE!” Alecto screamed while she prepared to attack once again and this time Twilight knew that there was a very high chance that they would effectively die. But there was a spark and then a raging inferno, flames that seemed to have life, moving around the school entrance making everyone gasp in terror but seconds later in fascination as the flames danced around the six girls as if they were old friends. “What is this feeling?… it feels so natural… is so melancholic” Twilight couldn’t describe the feeling; it was something old and important, a feeling of deep sadness but also of happiness for its return. “No… no… it cannot be… there is no way… there is no way… I killed you… I KILLED YOU!” Alecto seemed to have lost all of her composure, screaming at the flames, while these ones seemed to retract and dance, expanding and pulsing, it looked like… it looked like Princess Celestia’s pet… the immortal bird… a phoenix, and just like this image became clear, a figure, a shadow appeared in the heart of the fire beast. As the image became clearer with every step it took they could not contain their smiles and gasps of surprise because in front of them, wrapped in a beautiful white and blue armor with a beautiful golden crown like the head of a bird was none other than Sunset Shimmer. “I… killed you… I killed you… then why? Why are you still here?” for all response Sunset smiled softly at the monster than for so many years had tormented her. “Alecto… it doesn’t matter how many times you try to get rid of me, just like the bird I will come back time and time again, because I remember who I was supposed to be, what my true destiny was, I am Sunset Shimmer and I am the thing you fear the most Alecto, I am one of Athena’s Saints! I am the Phoenix!” Sunset said while the same kind of energy than Alecto appeared around her, this one as bright as the sun. “Don’t say that as if you knew what you were talking about! You are nowhere near their powers! There is no way a simple bronze saint could defeat a Fury! Unrelenting Rage!” “This time is different! Let me show you what I have remembered! Fiery Phoenix!” Unlike the dark aura of Alecto A phoenix made out of fire seemed to be projected behind Sunset while she released her energy in a torrent of fire and wind not only stopping the attack of Alecto but slowly pushing it backwards. “How… I have the power of the element of harmony!” “You fool, you represent everything that harmony is not, do you think it would help you? Now, go back to Tartarus where you belong!” with that the attack overpowered Alecto, the winds and flames broke her armor and like that, her body was turned to dust.