Tales of the Equestria Girls

by 621Chopsuey

Sunset Shimmer in "The Magic Tree"

The first thing Sunset became aware of was the throbbing pain in her head. If felt like someone was repeatedly taking a sledgehammer to her skull. Then came the hot, putrid scent of mud, woodrot, and stagnant water that weaved through her nostrils, a smell Sunset nearly gagged at in her stupor.

The last thing Sunset remembered was taking a shortcut through the forest to Fluttershy’s cottage, intent on joining her on a nature walk they had planned the week before. It was one of Sunset’s many steps on the path towards understanding friendship, one she found challenging after a month’s progress. What happened during her detour to Fluttershy’s was a mystery. She couldn’t remember anything. Every time she tried, her mind only drew blanks.

Her eyes slowly cracked open, then she just as slowly got to her feet to take in her surroundings and hopefully glean some answers as to where she was and what happened. Sunset was greeted by a mist that hung heavily over what definitely was not the deciduous forest Sunset walked earlier. Instead, she found herself in a muddy, misty, vine-laden swamp. Her ears picked up the rhythmic calls of various creatures punctuating the air. Some were shrill, others guttural, and the remaining chorus of calls quite foreign to Sunset.

When she moved to better explore the mysterious realm, Sunset felt a force tug at both her hands and feet. She looked down to find herself stuck in mud. That’s when she also took notice of her body. Much to her surprise, she found herself covered in fur in addition to standing on all fours. A red and yellow sun emblazoned her flank, followed by a flowing tail of the same colors. Lastly, from her equally blazing mane emerged a horn that, with a simple thought from Sunset, fired off several cyan sparks. Her jaw slackened in revelation.

She was a pony again.

“This is getting more and more strange by the minute,” she commented. The transformation back into a original unicorn form was delightfully welcoming, but it served only to further the list of questions running through Sunset’s mind. Was she back in Equestria, and if so, how did she come back? The mirror portal was closed off for another thirty moons, making it impossible to leave the human world.

Sunset shrugged and, after some effort jostling her limbs free from the mud, proceeded to trudge her way to dry ground and deeper into the swamp. No way were those questions going to answer themselves if she stood around doing nothing. Besides, starving and asphyxiation by mud was not how she imagined her final moments.

Time passed as she traversed the eerie swamp, the amount in minutes or hours a mystery. In all honesty the now-unicorn had nothing to offer her guidance aside from intuition, which had proved itself questionable in the form of a ravine or boulder in her path. Not that Sunset couldn’t find a solution--her magic remained as valuable an asset as ever--but frequent obstacles made the wandering difficult. Needlessly, in her opinion.

Eventually Sunset set hoof in a small clearing within the massive expanse of trees and vines. On the other side, a short distance away, was an especially large tree with gnarled roots that plunged into the ground like like the legs of a giant spider. Beneath it sat the entrance to a hollow opening. A cave, to be precise.

The longer she gazed into its depths with intrigue, the more she realized she could hear whispers emanate from within, albeit faintly. And they were calling her name. Sunset had the sudden urge to start rubbing her hooves to generate some warmth and stave off the drop in temperature. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“Tell me about it. That cave’s giving me the creeps, too.”

Sunset’s eyes widened. She knew that voice very well, and was very surprised to hear it here. Not that Sunset found the newfound presence unwelcoming, but as far as she knew he was back in Equestria with a certain purple pony princess. He had no reason to be back in the human world so soon, and even if he did the mirror portal was closed off for the next thirty moons. When Sunset turned to face him, her confusion grew further.

“Spike?” Sunset looked him up and down. There Spike sat on a small boulder, in his natural dragon form much like Sunset’s equine self, but that was not what warranted her confusion. “Why are you dressed like that?”

Spike looked down at the simple brown robes he wore, then shrugged. “Heck if I know. This is your dream, not mine.”

“A… dream?”

“Yeah, and a pretty trippy one, too.”

“That would certainly explain a lot.” Sunset muttered, peeved she could have easily crossed that swamp like Christ on water. Why did she never get around to mastering self-levitation?

She mentally shook her head. That wasn’t important. With the revelation she was in a vision weighing on her shoulders, Sunset’s mind was loaded with questions; a minor regret was low priority at the moment. “So, why are you here? And where is ‘here’ exactly?”

“I’m here to guide you on a mystical journey.”

“Oh, joy.”

The young dragon ignored her lack of enthusiasm as gestured to the swamp. “As for here, this is a place from your memory, from a long time ago. You recognize it, don’t you?”

Sunset took in the scenery around her, this time with more thorough eyes. Something in her mind clicked. “The Everfree Forest.” She whirled back on Spike with a scrutinous gaze. “Hold on a minute. Why here?”

“It’s dark and it’s spooky. The perfect place for your test.”

She was about to question what kind of test when a flurry of screeching bats left the cave.

“What’s in there?” Sunset asked.

“Only what you take with you.”

“Great. Ambiguous words of guidance,” She deadpanned. “Tell a riddle while you’re at it. I don’t think this vision is mystical enough for me.”

Spike’s brow furrowed. “Hey, I like things to be easy too, but the hero’s not going to learn anything if the mentor just gave her all the answers. Epics 101.”

“Whatever.” Rolling her eyes, Sunset turned away and closed the distance between her and the cave mouth. She gazed into its dark depths, her left hoof hovering at the edge.The aura of confidence that radiated from Sunset faded the moment she reached the entrance, as if the cave itself sucked the spirit right out of her. Those voices, however faintly they emanated, just wouldn’t quit whispering her name.

Another chill brushed along her fur, sending Sunset into shivers once again. “I definitely got a bad feeling about this.”

Gulping, she descended into the darkness.

As she walked further into the cave, the nonsensical whispering grew louder. Sunset grew more anxious all the while. Normally the sight of something so mysterious as a cave would send Sunset’s intrigue into overdrive. She always was a hooves-on learner, thus thoroughly enjoyed opportunities to get her hooves dirty and explore nature’s enticing secrets.

But exploring secrets often meant putting herself into danger and the realm of the unexplainable, this cave no exception. Whispering aside, something about this particular cave didn’t set well with Sunset. The mist was unnaturally thick like pea soup, and the air felt different, as if it were alive. Alive and… Sunset couldn’t quite grasp it. Odd? No, not odd. Abnormal? Not quite the right word either.

She soon reached a point where the vines widened into a cavern. It was still plagued with knee-deep mist, but at least Susnet wasn’t trekking through as confined a space as the passage behind her. The whispering had grown loud enough to be heard as if someone was talking to her at a normal level. The more she listened, the more Sunset felt herself grow colder.

The voices were none other than those of the very people whom she was able to call friends, and they taunted Sunset callously from every corner of the cavern.

"For a smart gal, you sure can be pretty dumb."

"Who's the pathetic girl now? Ha, ha, ha!"

"Why would I wanna be friends with an egghead who can't solve her own problems? S'not cool."

"They say beauty can be found on the inside, but to be frank darling, your beauty is only skin-deep."

"Wanna party? Oops, too bad, you weren't invited. TTFN; Ta ta for now!"

"Still trying to climb the ladder by hanging with the popular kids, huh? You haven't changed a bit."

“There is a reason why Princess Celestia refers to me as her faithful student.”

That’s when the appropriate word to describe it formed on her tongue.

Malevolent.

The onslaught of horrible words drove Sunset to her knees. She wanted to scream. This was so very wrong and so very cruel. Sunset desperately wanted it all to end. She kept screaming at the top of her lungs “Shut up!”, but to no effect. She covered her ears in hopes of silencing the voices, but it was a futile effort as well. They continued ruthlessly tormenting her, bombarding Sunset’s self-confidence like the Blitzkreig.

Then they stopped.

The silence of the cavern yawned at length before it was broken by something soft rapping against stone.

“Knock knock,” said a sickly sweet voice.

Her eyes shot open in tandem with the heavy weight hitting her stomach. A feminine figure, with skin red as blood, large leathery wings folded against her back, and hair blazing hellfire, stood by the cavern entrance. She bore her fangs in grin that could strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest souls, Sunset no exception. That… thing should not have been present, and yet here she was.

“You…” Sunset’s fear and sorrow morphed into fury, which boiled over into a jet of white-hot flame that burst forth from her horn.

“The phrase ‘fight fire with fire’ doesn’t quite apply to this situation.” With a nefarious laugh, the fiery she-demon caught the fire in her claws, compacted it into a sphere small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and cast it back its owner.

Sunset jumped to the side, the flame missing her by inches and leaving a sizable burn on the rock behind her. Not intending to let She-demon gain the upper hand, Sunset switched tactics by firing a vivid blast of cyan magic. She-demon met her magic with a blast of her own. When the twin cyan streams connected, deafening, crackling energy that came close to blinding them illuminated the cavern. For a few moments the two teetered, one beam drawing close to one combatant before being forced away towards the other.

“How can you still be here?” Sunset demanded through gritted teeth, straining to maintain her magic attack. “Twilight… she and her friends destroyed you!”

The she-demon dropped her attack, then sidestepped Sunset’s as it hummed past and struck rock. She-demon grinned as she sashayed closer to the girl. “Isn’t it obvious, Sunset? I am you!”

Another ray of cyan shot forth from her left palm and tore up the ground too close for Sunset’s comfort, sending dust and mud into her face. With her thrown off balance, the fiery she-demon rushed forward. Sunset was too occupied with recovering from the blast to see her satanic counterpart fast approaching. Even if she did see see her, Sunset could never have expected the she-demon to phase through her, nor prepare herself for the torrent of memories that flashed before her eyes.

--“Hmpf. I have better things to do than socialize. I'm going to re-read 'Advanced Elemental Magical Practices' and then practice for my advanced summoning spells exam. What are you studying for? Nothing, that's what.”--

--“Oh, did I strike a nerve? I feel sooo bad.”--

--“If your god loves you so much, then explain to me why there’s so much unhappiness in the world. Your god doesn’t love you. He grew you in a petri dish and left you to live out your meaningless, miserable life.”--

--”Don’t you get it? We’re through when I say we’re through.”--

--“Sorry it had to be this way… princess!”--

--“You must be new here. I can speak to anyone any way I want.”--

Everything she heard was in her own voice, but with that firm, cynical edge that reminded Sunset of the manipulative girl she once was. The memories sickened Sunset, so much standing became an effort all in thanks to wobbly knees. But she stood her ground. She didn’t plan on giving She-demon the satisfaction of becoming a shrieking wreck a second time.

From behind, Sunset heard She-demon clasp her hands in delight. “Oh, that was delicious! I particularly loved the one when you sent that poor boy questioning his beliefs. You’ve never been much of a girl of faith yourself, especially in this world. Always looking to facts and figures over faith to answer your questions.”

Sunset whirled on her, eyes tempered with spirit. “I have faith in my friends!”

“You think those five little monkeys are your friends?” She-demon let out an amused chuckle. She did a double take when she noticed Sunset’s expression hadn’t wavered. “Oh wait, you’re serious? Let me laugh even harder.” And laughed harder she did, heartily enough to nearly bring tears to her eyes.

Sunset’s glare intensified. Did she really think this was funny?

It was a few moments before She-demon could compose herself. “I beg to differ. From the the way I saw the exchange, it was a matter of obedience. Did you not see the reluctance in their faces when the princess said ‘I bet they can teach you’? Would those girls honestly have tried to become friends with you if she hadn’t made the call?”

There was no immediate answer. The fire in Sunset’s eyes dimmed as she looked down at the floor. She-demon brought up a valid observation. Things could have been different had Twilight said anything, couldn’t they?

She played the scene in her head, this time reimagining a different ending. Instead of offering Sunset a second chance, Twilight didn’t do a thing. No parting words, not a second look back, nothing else but retrieving a crown that was rightfully hers and departing through the portal and leaving Canterlot High forever. Maybe say goodbye to her new friends in between, but certainly nothing for diabolically evil Sunset Shimmer.

Would Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie have become friends with Sunset then?

“Probably not. They had every right to be reluctant, even outright refuse. I was a terrible person. I never understood friendship.” Sunset admitted. Had the apathetic Twilight scenario played out, they would’ve left a defeated and very miserable Sunset alone in that crater. “But those girls--my friends--know I’m trying hard to change, and they’ve helped me every step of the way.”

“By order of the princess.” She-demon rebutted.

That fire within Sunset’s eyes flared to life once again. “They did it of their own volition!”

“Face it, Sunset, what you believe they’re doing is nothing but a farce. Once you’ve been ‘rehabilitated’, those ‘friends’ will just abandon you. Of their own volition.” She-demon sneered. “Lost, alone, with no one else to turn to, you’ll eventually come crawling back to me. The real you you were meant to be.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“To remind you that no matter how many times you convince yourself you’ve changed and claim to be a good person, you never did and you never will. You can try to reform all you want, but in the end you’ll succumb to the urge to manipulate others, to drive BFFs apart, to become queen of more than just a pathetic high school, when given the chance. After all, who in their right mind can resist the temptation of pleasure and status?”

Sunset didn’t budge. “Never gonna happen.”

“You can’t fight nature, Sunset. It’s a part of you.” She-demon gestured to herself. “I’m a part of you, an amalgamation of the darkest aspects of your nature. You can’t just expunge me as if magic were some cosmic eraser. I will be lurking about here in the deepest, darkest recesses of your heart, ready to strike when the opportunity comes. I’m never truly gone.”

For a moment, Sunset’s satanic counterpart remained silent, allowing time for the words to sink in. She-demon then thrust her face mere inches from her counterpart’s. “So be a big girl and accept the reality you'll never change.”

Sunset once again didn’t budge, her eyes firmly set on the she-demon’s black coals. “Don’t count on it. You may be my darkness, but one day you’re going to see those girls are my friends and realize you have no control over me.”

Whether or not She-demon felt threatened she didn’t show. Her smile, however, fell into a frown in displeasure towards her equine counterpart’s resistance. “If that’s how you want to play, then so be it.”

---

“And then she just faded away.” Sunset concluded.

“Oh dear,” was all Fluttershy could say as she dabbed a wet cloth on the wound on Sunset’s head.

The two were in Fluttershy’s bedroom, a rustic space that was as equally warm and inviting as the rest of the cottage. Sunset possessed no recollection of how she ended up here, nor did she regain her memories of how she ended up in dreamland in the first place. Thankfully Fluttershy could fill Sunset in on the details.

Fluttershy, often the worrying type, feared the worst when Sunset didn’t show up. After several texts and calls remained unanswered, she took it upon herself to find her. A search in the nearby woods was commenced. Not without help, of course; Angel, Fluttershy’s pet bunny, possessed an excellent sense of smell, and utilized it to find an unconscious Sunset lying a short distance away from the trail.

Sunset had woken up not long after having been brought to the cottage, Fluttershy sitting upon the bed with her as she tended to the fiery-haired girl’s injury. After listening to Fluttershy’s account, Sunset had spent the past while recounting the dream to her.

Having finished her tale, Sunset crossed her arms. Her experience in dreamland was still a raw one; she couldn’t shake the uncertainty that clung to her like a second skin as her dark side’s words replayed themselves over and over in her head. Sunset was trying her damnedest to turnover a new leaf not only for her own benefit, but for Fluttershy and the others as well. However, Sunset had her doubts, her urges, her temptations. Who was to say it was outside the realm of possibility for her to succumb to her old ways?

Sunset held herself tighter. “‘Oh dear’ is right. I don't think I've ever had a dream this disconcerting.”

“I was talking about your head wound.”

“Oh.” Sunset coughed, embarrassed. “Er, how does it look?”

Fluttershy took one last look at the now-clean wound before retrieving a fresh bandage from her first aid kit. “You took a nasty fall down the trail and suffered a concussion. Thank goodness it was only a mild one. As mild as your concussion is though, you need to take it easy for a few days.” She paused in her bandaging and let out a disappointed sigh. “I was really looking forward to walking the trail and showing you just how beautiful nature can be.”

Sunset instantly felt guilty, her expression turning crestfallen. A simple blunder and a nature walk was out the window, and it was all her fault. “I’m... sorry I let you down.”

“Don't be. They call them accidents for a reason.”

“But I still messed things up for us. I was really looking forward to it, too.”

A butter-yellow hand laid itself on Sunset’s shoulder. “We can try next weekend.”

That brought a smile to the fiery-haired girl. “I’m down with that.”

“Just come straight here instead of taking the scenic route next time. I don’t want to worry over you again like today.”

“Of course.” Sunset nodded. “Thanks, Fluttershy. For everything. I’m glad to have a such a kind friend.”

“I’m glad we could find a little bit of goodness in you.” For a moment her smile held before faltering. Fluttershy hid her face behind her hair, almost as if she was embarrassed to say what was on her mind. “Um, Sunset? I know you’ve been trying to turn over a new leaf for the past month, but…”

Sunset arched an eyebrow almost threateningly. “But what?”

“...would you do it? Turn on us, I mean?”

A period of silence hovered over the pair before Sunset leaned in uncomfortably close to the girl, a devilish smile creeping up onto her lips. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Fluttershy’s hands did little to stifle her gasp. “Sunset!”

“I’m just kidding!”

“That wasn’t funny!”

“Sorry, sorry. My sense of humor needs some work.” Sunset took a mental note to receive comedy lessons from Pinkie Pie.

It took a moment for Fluttershy to compose herself. “It’s okay. You were only trying to funny. Still...”

Sunset got the hint. “Truthfully? I’ve already come this far since the Fall Formal. I earned your trust, your friendship. I’m not going to just throw it all away for something petty.”

The next thing she knew, Sunset felt a pair of arms around her back and the majority of her vision obscured in pink and yellow. “I’m glad to hear that.” she heard Fluttershy say. Sunset smiled and returned the hug. With her friends by her side Sunset Shimmer, former tyrannical queen bee of Canterlot High and ex-power hungry she-demon, could do anything, be anything.

A new person.

A better person.

Sunset Shimmer - The Magic Tree

Author's Note:

Comments, criticisms and queries always apprceiated.

Comments

[Ponibius]

Not bad at all. The scene with Sunset dealing with her inner demons was pretty solid.