Sylri watched Sunset toss and turn in her sleep. A wild hoof crashed near her on the bed, and the sprite jumped back, tumbling backward over a fold in the blanket. She sat up again, rubbing the back of her head. She didn’t know what to do.
She fluttered onto Sunset’s pillow and began gently petting her mane. Her tormented friend smelled so good, the agony in her nightmare growing the longer Sylri let it go on. She wanted to wake Sunset up, but the filly hadn’t been able to sleep at all the last few days.
Sylri’s stomach growled, and she quickly put her hand over it, wishing that would quiet it down. She’d been hungry for so long, refusing to feed herself in order to satisfy Sunset instead.
Drool dripped from the sprite’s mouth. She angrily wiped it away.
“No, Sylri! She’s a friend!” she told herself in a harsh whisper, turning away from Sunset. She sat on the edge of the bed, dangling her feet. “Though, it’s not like she’d be in danger inside me. I bet she’d even enjoy it.”
She peeked over her shoulder at her sleeping friend, then slapped her own forehead. “What am I saying? She’d be in misery. And tiny.”
Her hunger tugged at her stomach particularly strongly as Sunset rolled over - grunting, fighting something in her nightmare. With her head in her hands, Sylri continued debating what to do.
---
Sunset Shimmer wandered through a twisted version of Canterlot castle. Spiders dangled from their webs in the corners of the hallways and the glass in the windows was shattered - the wind howling past the remaining shards. She found herself at the dark, looming doors of the throne room. Slowly they creaked open, and a golden glow encircled Sunset and pulled her inside.
The room was black, occasionally lit up by jagged bolts of lightning from outside the broken windows. Sunset didn’t realize she was shrinking in size until a large table came into view, growing larger every second. The golden magic dropped her onto the table, and she could see there were two maps beneath her hooves. One depicted Equestria, and the other depicted her home world. On the latter was an image of the horse statue in front of Canterlot High, and beside that was her human face, smirking.
The darkness at the other end of the table peeled away as Celestia approached. She towered over Sunset, but didn’t seem to notice her.
“Stage one has gone just as planned,” she said with a cackle. “Now, with my sister back by my side, we can begin annexing the human world!”
Sunset stood trembling below her. Celestia glanced at her, tilting her head. “And you made the perfect tool. However, your usefulness is at an end.” Sunset was lifted again by the golden glow. It carried her to a shadowy corner of the room, illuminating a dusty shelf covered with stone statues of ponies her size. Each seemed to look up at her, horror permanently upon their faces.
Celestia tossed Sunset onto the shelf. “Don’t worry, my dear student. If I have a need for you again, I’ll know where to find you.” The evil princess laughed as Sunset scurried to her hooves. “Ready? Now, be good and pose for the camera.”
Sunset reared up, kicking her forelegs in a futile attempt to save herself. She felt her hindlegs go numb and looked down to see herself turning to stone. Her scream echoed through the throne room, and the last thing she saw was Celestia’s face, her pointed teeth in a malicious grin.
---
It seemed to Sunset like she came back above water when she awoke. She gasped for breath, her heart pounding in her ears. She looked around and found Sylri, asleep on her dresser. Before even catching her breath, Sunset got out of bed and began packing her saddlebags. She needed to leave Canterlot, and she needed to leave now.
With her bags packed, she scribbled a goodbye note for Sylri. The exhausted sprite slept through the noise Sunset was making - fortunately for her, Sunset thought. She didn’t want to drag her along on her whirlwind tour of Equestria, suppressing her magical instincts. Sylri would easily find her way out of the city on her own, if there was danger.
Sunset folded the note and tucked it under Sylri’s wing. She smiled in her sleep and turned to wrap her arms around the note. Sunset watched her little friend for a moment, wondering if all this paranoia had something to do with her.
She decided that was further reason to leave, and so she turned away and exited the room.