Face Down in the Dirt

by SkyeSilverwing

Chapter 1

It was finally hers.

After all the planning, all the work, all the blood, sweat and tears that had gone into getting it done, Sunset Shimmer’s day had finally arrived.

It had not been easy, no. Not by a long shot. The Oracle Stone had been correct about her successor as Celestia’s protégé succeeding in finding and unsealing the Elements of Harmony from where they had slept for the last thousand years. It had also accurately shown her where and when to strike.

She had planned the operation perfectly. A few suggestions to Principal Celestia, and a picture derived from what the stone had shown her, and she had been able to have a copy of the Element of Magic commissioned. Then all she had needed to do was wait for the portal to open.

She knew- from her studies in the depths of Princess Celestia’s hidden library vaults- that once the Element of Magic had been brought into this world, it would no longer need the so-called “Spark” to awaken its powers, or even the other Elements. Here, in a place where magic was foreign, Magic could stand alone. And with that magic, she could finally return and take her rightful place as the ruler of Equestria.

First, though, it had required her to sneak into the castle on the other side of the mirror and retrieve the Element. That was where her plan met with its first major snag.

It had been more than two years since she had been through the portal, and, she had to admit, she had not been as sure on her hooves as she once had been. It had been pure happenstance that she had tripped over that stupid dragon’s tail, but it would have been easier to recover from if she had been a little more used to her hooves.

She managed to escape, but the Element had been launched through the portal ahead of her, resulting in the Artifact falling into the hands of that weak-kneed little pansy, Fluttershy. She had delivered the Element to Principal Celestia, who had placed the thing inside a lockbox in her office to prevent it from “being stolen again” until it was time to crown the Princess of the Fall Formal.

This was little more than a delay to Sunset’s plan, since she had already locked down the Fall Formal crown by ensuring that she would have no completion at all.

That, of course, was the case until Twilight Sparkle came through the portal. Sunset had expected her to be easier to handle here, but that brat managed to pull back together a specific group of girls in the school that Sunset had taken the trouble to specifically break up when she had first arrived in the human world.

Those girls had a kind of unifying effect on the student body of the school at large, and since Sunset’s control relied on playing the factions of the student body against each other, she had learned about computer hacking and put that skills to use in driving a wedge between them.

She was not sure how Twilight had done it, but she had managed to undo weeks of effort in under two days, pulling that group of friends back together. After that, the girls working together had managed to overcome Sunset’s attempt to discredit Twilight in the eyes of the student body with a fancy song and dance number.

Sunset’s next plan had been to have the gym trashed and frame Twilight for the damages, but of all people, Sunset’s ex-boyfriend had gotten the girl out of trouble by bringing evidence of Sunset’s deceit to Vice Principal Luna. Sunset cursed her minions. She had told them to use Photoshop, not scissors and glue.

The last straw had been the way that that fool girl had arrogantly taken the mantle of the Princess of the Fall Formal, a title that was Sunset’s by right after all the work that she had put into winning it.

Now, finally after threatening Twilight’s stupid little dog and her only way home, Sunset finally had the crown. The power of the Element of Magic was coursing through her, and had granted her wings and power.

With a wave of her hand, she crushed the school’s façade and tore it away, revealing the students inside. “I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight just to get my hands on this crown, and it really should have been mine all along.” She said, scowling at them. Then she smiled. “But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now, and you will be loyal... to me!”

With that she waved her hand and captured all of their minds with magic. They all turned as one, mindless and complacent in her power. She glanced at her two willing minions with fanged grin. “Round them up and bring them to the portal.” She said. Soon, she would step through the portal, and with the power of the Element of Magic at her command, she would strike down her former mentor and, at the head of a horde of transformed humans, she would take her rightful place as the ruler of Equestria.

She turned and glanced at Princess Twilight, who still stood opposed to her power. “Spoiler alert:” she said arrogantly, “I was bluffing when I said I was going to destroy the portal. I don't want to rule this pathetic little high school; I want Equestria! And with my own little teenage army behind me, I am going to get it!”

The purple hued Princess stood up defiantly and planted herself between Sunset and the portal. “No you’re not!” she said, glaring up at Sunset.

Sunset had to laugh. This idiot clearly did not know when she had lost. “Oh, please!” she said, with a laugh. “What exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have magic, and you have nothing!”

Suddenly the five friends that had helped Twilight in resisting Sunset stepped up to her side. They had not been with the rest of the students and so had not been mind-controlled. Rainbow Dash, one of the sports pests, spoke for all of them. “She has us!”

Sunset laughed and wiped a non-existent tear from her eye. “Gee, the gang really is all back together again.” She said, mockingly. Then she ignited the power in her claws. “Now step aside! Twilight has tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already! She needs to be dealt with!”

It would be a simple matter to annihilate this fool girl before she went through. A quick burst of power, and it would be over. Nothing could stand before that. She flung a bolt of power down at them, and rather than scatter to save their own hides, the five of them flung themselves in front of Twilight, trying to shield her from the beam. The blast should have seared the flesh from all their bones.

But then there was a light. “What?!” Sunset stared in shock as the smoke cleared to reveal Twilight and the others, unharmed, and cloaked in a soft violet light. It was impossible. There was no magic on this side of the portal, and any that Twilight could have brought should have paled in comparison to her own. It made no sense!

Twilight and her friends began to hover in the air. That… wasn’t a good sign.

“The magic contained in my Element was able to unite with those that helped create it!” Twilight intoned, “Honesty! Kindness! Laughter! Generosity! Loyalty! Magic!”

Sunset watched as the six of them danced through a transformation sequence that was probably a lot shorter than it felt. Their hair lengthened into ponytails, their ears shifted to points higher on their heads and became more pointed, and Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gained wings. Sunset suddenly had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Together with the crown, they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, but it is a power you don't have the ability to control!” Twilight said, “The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the Magic of Friendship!”

The crown on her head was feeding power into the spell they were casting. Sunset stared in horror as those rotten brats started to turn the power she had worked so hard for against her. “No!” she screamed, as a huge rainbow burst from the girls and spiraled up into the clouds.

Idly, a part of Sunset’s mind recalled the old stories. The ones that told of the battle between Princess Celestia and her sister. It was said that the Princess had turned the Elements against her own mad sister, who had been attempting to seize control of Equestria and bring about endless night. It was also said that the result had been a permanent exile to the Moon.

A spike of fear shot through Sunset as the Rainbow began to arc down at her. Was that what was about to happen? Was she about to be banished to the Moon? Was it on the Moon or in the Moon? She could never remember. Could she even survive on the Moon? Seriously, it was just a rock in this world. Surely they wouldn’t send her to the Moon to die, right? But wait, Twilight was from Equestria so maybe she did not know that sending Sunset to the Moon would kill her.

Oh, no.

She tried to retreat, but the pull of the magic fueling the spell leaving the crown on her head held her like a rope. The Rainbow began to wrap itself around her. “What is happening?!” she cried, as she felt the power of the spell wash over her.

“Here, and in Equestria,” Twilight intoned, “It is the only magic that can truly unite us all.”

There was a final burst of blindingly brilliant white light, and Sunset felt herself fall. As the dust settled, she found herself alone in a crater, lying face down in the dirt.

On the bright side, there was no burning pain of suffocation from a vacuum ripping the air from her lungs, so she was probably not on the Moon. She was pretty sure she was not dead either, because she hurt kind of like having been torn in half. The wings and tail and the pulsing power that had gone with them were gone.

Smoke drifted up from around her, and, if the bits of asphalt in the dirt beneath her were any indication, she guessed that the only thing that had saved her from death had been her demon transformation, as the blast had pulverized the concrete sidewalk to sink her into this hole.

Sunset felt more than saw it when Twilight Sparkle stepped up to the edge of the crater. She desperately tried to push herself up with everything she had, but faltered a few inches off the ground. If she could just get to her feet, she could face Twilight and… What? What was she going to do against the girl who had not only faced her down in her moment of might, but beaten her? How could she even expect an even playing field when she could barely move, and Twilight clearly still had her full power?

Twilight’s shadow loomed over her. “You will never rule in Equestria.” Twilight said.

The words hit Sunset like a blow. Twilight was right. Without the power of the Element of Magic, she could never manage to hold her own against Celestia. She would never be able to rule there.

“Any power you had in this world is gone.” Twilight said, “Tonight, you’ve shown everyone who you really are. You’ve shown them what is in your heart.”

That shook Sunset to her core. What was in her heart? Was that demon that intended to use them all as her pawns to take over a world she had no business ruling truly what she had inside? She looked deep within her and found the strength to push herself up. Tears fell from her eyes, and she knew she regretted what she had done.

She looked up at the assembled students and knew that Twilight was right. “I… I’m sorry.” She said in a trembling voice. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know there was another way.”

Twilight looked down at her from the edge of the crater. “The Magic of Friendship doesn’t just exist in Equestria…” she said, looking from Sunset back to her friends, “It’s everywhere.”

Sunset began to pull herself up, toward the edge of the pit as Twilight continued. “You can seek it out… or forever be alone.” She said, “The choice is yours.”

Sunset struggled up to the concrete, pulling herself up on it. Was friendship really something she was capable of finding? Would anyone even want her for a friend after everything she had done?

She looked up at Twilight. “But all I’ve ever done since I’ve been here is drive everyone apart…” she said, tears still flowing down her cheeks. “I don’t know the first thing about friendship.” She lay her head on the edge of the concrete and gestured with her hand, and she was surprised when Twilight took the hand and drew her to her feet.

Twilight turned and held a hand toward the five friends that had aided her in defeating Sunset. “I bet they can teach you.” She said, and the five girls, still sporting their pony ears, nodded in agreement.

Sunset looked at each of her possible new friends, and for once, she felt like she understood. Friendship really is magic.

.o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o. .o0o.

Author's Note:

I kind of wondered what must have been going on in her head during the moments after she was defeated. So here is this.
In case anyone was wondering, the "Oracle Stone" is a macguffin plugging the "How did Sunset Shimmer know that Twilight Sparkle found the elements/brought the Element of Magic/would be where she was" plot hole. It can allow the user to see the future, but only as long as they are not involved in that future enough to change it by knowing about it.
I like it when people give me ideas and things to think about, and let me know when I did something wrong, so by all means, give me some constructive criticism.

Comments

[PrincessOfTheEnd]

Your likes to dislikes ratio is now 1/0 :)

[GenerousGhibli]

heeey not bad! i like it. i dont think twi would know that the moon would kill her. that would be... awkward. and funny. but mostly awkward. and a bit tragic.

[MLPFan234]

Not bad, i Think it was Alright! One thing tough, if This is you're only chapeter, maybe Give it a name instead of "Chapter 1" Just saying.