Interlude: Starlight's Gamble
Two weeks passed before the doctors allowed Sunset to leave the hospital, as there were a variety of tests that they had to run to be completely sure that she had recovered from everything that her overexposure to Searing's demonic form. That was what the doctors told her anyway, though she knew that they were doing their job and merely allowed them to work before they allowed her to leave. She spent that time thinking about whether or not she could trust Searing, because she had been nothing but trouble ever since her bracelet had shattered back on Yeedil. The problem was that now she was beginning to wonder if the demon was actually being sincere or if she and Starlight were being played into lowering their defenses.
The problem was that Searing was constantly helping her out while the doctors weren't around, allowing her to communicate with the rest of her family without having to leave her bed. Ratchet, from what she had heard, had been completely surprised when Searing stepped out of the shadows to speak with him, but he and Clank rapidly grew to accept it and allowed her to deliver messages between them. Angela had almost fainted when Searing appeared and it required Starlight to explain what was happening, though she was the one that didn't agree with accepting the demon so quickly and only did so because of Ratchet.
While she was stuck in the hospital she heard that Starlight was working on something that would allow her and Searing to create a bond that would give them ability to change forms without the pain or anything else associated with the transformation. Sunset had no idea if such a thing was even possible, but considering that her sister could harness the power of the Cores they had acquired she knew that she had to have some faith in whatever her sister was planning.
When she was finally released from the hospital she found her family waiting for her outside her room, through the only one that wasn't present was Searing at the moment. Sunset could still feel her connection to the demon and knew that she was somewhere in the immediate area, though Starlight merely shook her head to indicate that it wasn't worth worrying about her at the moment. Something had happened to the demon in the two weeks she had been stuck in the hospital, though she was eager to see what was wrong with her other half at the moment.
They returned to the Hyperion and Starlight initiated the launch sequence, though at the same time Sunset walked through the corridor until she returned to where they had kept the Cores... where she found Searing lurking in the cell that had been designed to keep her trapped whenever she took control of Sunset's body. The three Cores glowed as she walked into the chamber, though Searing merely raised her head for a moment to indicate that she knew Sunset was there before letting out a sigh.
"I'm going to die today, just so you know." Searing said, not even bothering to move into what would pass as a standing position, as if she was admitting defeat.
"What are you talking about?" Sunset asked, though she wasn't sure what was even happening, because she had never seen her other side like this before.
"Starlight's planning on using the Cores to bind us together, but I know what's coming." Searing commented, though the way she was looking at the center of the room made Sunset wonder what her demonic side was thinking about, "Considering that the last time the Cores were used against me, where I was bound back inside you until Qwark released me, I'm afraid that the three we have might end up destroying me completely."
"Then why did you agree to this, if you knew that it might get rid of you?" Sunset asked, because she was curious as to whether the demon was truly losing her mind or if she was playing her.
"Because I want you to be happy," Searing replied, turning to face Sunset for a moment, while allowing the shadows that kept her together to wave in a nonexistent wind, "I've seen how you depressed you've been since I took over during the course of our last adventure... and how you have grown to hate the magic that courses through your body. Sunset, I can only apologize so many times for destroying a planet, so I guess the only way to atone for what I've done is to go along with Starlight's plans."
Sunset had no idea why Searing, the demon responsible for the destruction of several cities and an entire planet, was suddenly apologizing for everything she had done so far... or why she was suddenly seeking Sunset's approval all the time. She was beginning to think there was something important that was hidden in her past life, the one that had been taken from her by the bracelet that she had been wearing. Her past held the key to so many questions that were always racing through her mind, but at the moment she knew it was time to make sure that Searing was okay with going through with Starlight's plans... otherwise they would try something else.
"Searing... do you trust me?" Sunset asked, knowing that it was the best question she could ask the demon, though she never thought that a conversation like this would ever happen between the two of them.
"O... of course." Searing replied, indicating that she trusted Sunset with her life, which meant that she would gladly go through with Starlight's plan to use the Cores.
"Then you shouldn't worry about being exposed to the Cores again," Sunset said, a light smile appearing on her face, "I'm sure that, when this is over, we can get on with our lives and put the past behind us."
Sunset could see that Searing wasn't a fan of the past, though she knew that the demon was thinking about the previous life that they had shared and was unable to tell Sunset about. It was kind of annoying that the demon knew who she had been before putting on the bracelet, but eventually she would regain her memories. After a few seconds Searing nodded her shadowy head and agreed to going through with Starlight's plan, which meant all they had to do was wait until they arrived at their destination.
As it turned out the planet that they were heading towards was actually Planet Aranos, which was actually lifeless and proved to be the perfect place for them to test out whatever plan Starlight had been working on. The journey there gave Starlight time to explain that she had been working on a secret base on the planet shortly before Nefarious attacked Veldin, a research center that was designed to hold Searing. Of course all of her calculations had been thrown off when Searing used more of her power against Nefarious, demonstrating that she and Sunset had more power locked away inside them, but at the moment she didn't need the majority of the functions that the facility used. All they really needed to use was the holding area where Searing would have been kept, as well as the pillars that would hold the Cores while they were in use.
Sasha, Helga, Al, Skid, and Qwark accompanied the family on their journey to Aranos, though Qwark made sure to keep himself away from Searing and Sunset until their arrival. Everyone knew that the demon disliked the captain, and would likely hurt him if he attempted to piss of Sunset, which was why they all could breath a sigh of relief and relax.
When they arrived in the planet's atmosphere they climbed into their various ships and left the Hyperion behind, where they descended towards the location of Starlight's secret base. It was easy for them to find the building, as it held the only heat signature on the entire planet. and Sunset was pleased to find that there was plenty of space to fit all of their ships in the landing area. As they landed Sunset also noticed that Starlight was carrying a case that contained the three Cores they had recovered, though she could feel their power as they followed her sister through the base.
The strange thing was that there weren't any AI protecting the base, or any guards for that matter, telling everyone that Starlight fully expected the place to be hidden no matter what happened in the Bogon Galaxy.
"In here," Starlight eventually said, opening a door that allowed them to enter a wide open chamber, one that had six metal pillars and a chair in the middle of the room, "Originally I designed this entire facility to keep and contain Searing, more like a prison and less like what we have on the Hyperion, but we noticed that Nefarious was attacking our home galaxy and I swiftly forgot this even existed. Now, however, I have rebuilt several of the systems and made sure that everything was running perfectly... considering what we're going to be doing. Sunset, Searing, the two of you should gather around the chair and prepare yourselves, because the systems will need a few minutes to power up before we activate the energy within the Cores."
The shadowy form of Searing stepped out of Sunset's shadow and the two of them approached the chair, which happened to lower itself into the floor and leave them in a bare circle that was surrounded by the six pillars. Sunset had wondered what her sister was up to while she was trapped in the hospital, though now that she knew the truth she was curious as to what would happen when the Cores were activated. She could tell that Searing was concerned for her well-being, considering what could potentially happen to her when the magic of the three Cores were targeted towards her, but she knew that now was not the time to be worried. Sunset trusted her sister, and Searing trusted Sunset, so the demon had to trust that this wouldn't do anything besides allowing them to share the same body without any painful transformations.
Starlight directed the rest of their party into the control room that connected to the chamber that Sunset and Searing remained in, though once they were inside the room she walked up to three of the pillars and pulled out the Cores they had collected, positioning them in a triangle pattern before heading into the room herself.
Sunset and Searing watched as the three pillars became active before their eyes, to which they watched as the Cores began to glow with their individual colors. One thing they both noticed was the fact that three glows appeared between the three they had, which told them that Starlight might have been able to lock onto the signatures of the other three for a brief moment. Not long enough for her to uncover where they were hiding of course, otherwise she would have gone out of her way to take them from the people who were holding them and include them in what they were doing, but just long enough for her to reach out to them with the three they had.
"Okay, the systems are online," Starlight said over the intercom, "Just stand still and this should be over in an instant."
The energies of the Cores burst out from the three pillars and surrounded the two of them, creating a sphere of energy that would leave them trapped where they were standing. Sunset could feel her other side drawing ever closer to her, but unlike all the other times it had happened this was the one time where she was calm and not in pain. Even as she and Searing merged together she could tell that the Cores weren't trying to harm either of them... rather they were trying to heal what was wrong with them. She could even feel the three Cores that were absent lending whatever power Starlight had locked onto to the sphere, making it seem like all six of them were there for a brief moment.
Eventually the sphere died down and the Cores returned to their normal state, but Sunset was pleased to say that her sister's experiment had been successful.
"I don't understand how I could have failed." Starlight commented over the intercom, giving Sunset the ability to hear what was going on in the other room, "The Cores were supposed to merge the two of you together, but instead they seem to have had no effect on either one of you this time."
Sunset wondered what her sister was talking about, considering that she had felt the effects of this test, but when she turned to where Searing had been floating she froze for a second. There was another Sunset in the room with her, but where Searing had crimson colored skin the newcomer had dark grey skin. The newcomer's hair was a mass of shadows that seemed to move in some nonexistent wind, though some sort of dark purple mist seemed to be moving out of her eyes. Even her eyes had turned deep red, though they were surrounded by this sickly green color that made her look like she was pure evil. She also wore a dress that mimicked the one that Searing always wore, but her's was made of shadows and, oddly enough, there was no hole in her chest at all.
Sunset was beginning to wonder if tampering with the Cores had been a good idea in the first place, considering that there was now a third version of herself running around.
"Ah, it is so good to be alive again," the shadowy Sunset said, though she revealed some fangs in her mouth when she smiled, "and this time it appears that I'm finally on the top of the food chain. What's wrong Sunset? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Wh... what are you?" Sunset asked, not sure if she should attack the other version of herself or simply talk to it, "Who are you?"
"I am you... to some extent." the shadowy Sunset replied, waving a hand as if she was making sure that she was real, "I am the amalgamation of your darkest emotions, the fusion of what Sunset Shimmer fears, of what she hates, and of what she is angry at. Seven emotions once bound your powers and prevented you from reaching your full potential, but with Pride preoccupied with taking over your body, and the rest recovering from their various defeats, it was easy for me to absorb the others and their powers. With their powers increasing my own I am now the second most powerful emotion to reside within you, though now I am given the opportunity to do what Pride could not.
As for who I am... well, that is rather quite simple; I AM HATRED!"
Sunset watched as Hatred walked over to the wall on her right and pressed her right hand against the metal, though not a few seconds later a cluster of dark crystals punctured the metal and opened the facility to the planet's cold weather. With the deed done she started to laugh as she jumped through the opening she had made and landed outside the facility, clearly heading out to see if there was anything for her to destroy. What followed was the ground shaking as dark crystal spires erupted from the ground around the facility, though it didn't stop until a ring surrounded them.
Sunset could tell that this new emotion wasn't as powerful as Searing had been, otherwise the planet might have been blown to pieces, but she knew what she needed to do.
You mean what we need to do. Searing mentally corrected her, revealing that she had survived the encounter with the Cores, exactly like Starlight had planned.
"Right, sorry about that," Sunset replied, rubbing the back of her head for a moment, before concentrating on switching to a more suitable form to battle Hatred with, "I hope your ready to deal with another annoyance."
I should have killed Hatred before that bracelet was even shattered, Searing commented, though that was followed by a sigh, I cannot change the past, but we can make sure that Hatred doesn't repeat our mistakes.
Sunset nodded as the energy she had been gathering washed over her, allowing her to change her body into the human shape her family had given her for the holovision show. Luckily it also came with some clothing, the armored robes she had created so long ago, because she was ready to go the moment the energy was gone. Once she was done changing forms she jumped through the hole in the wall and followed the path of magic that Hatred was throwing around, as if she wanted to fight Sunset and was merely directing her someplace else.
It didn't take Sunset long to find where Hatred was hiding, considering that she had traveled maybe ten minutes away from where everyone else was and was merely standing on what appeared to be a bridge made completely out of her dark crystals.
"Your experiment was a success," Hatred observed, staring at Sunset's form as she walked onto the bridge, "but then again it also failed. You had no idea that I would use that opportunity to slip out and conquer the universe, but I do enjoy the fact that you are willing to hand over the rest of your power to..."
Whatever she was about to say was cut off as Sunset crossed the gap between them and punched Hatred in the jaw, knocking her backwards and forcing her to regain her footing.
"I'm going to say this one time," Sunset replied, raising her arms into a fighting stance in the off chance that Hatred refused what she was about to say, "Go back where you belong and stay there... otherwise I'll beat you into submission."
"Nice try, but you don't scare me." Hatred said, though she mimicked Sunset's stance, "I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than I should."
Sunset frowned and jumped back as one of Hatred's feet came near her, though the instant it passed by her she swung her fist at her opponent. She ended up missing entirely, considering that her opponent dodged it before it even reached her, but that didn't stop her from trying again. She used both her arms and legs to attack Hatred, who merely dodged everything that was thrown her way until it was time to plant her foot in Sunset's chest and knock her back just a bit. It was painfully clear that her emotion was more used to this form than Sunset was, but she decided not to let that hold her back as she attacked again.
Sadly the first hit she scored on Hatred seemed to be the only one that she managed to land, because after a few minutes there were some cuts and bruises on her arms and legs, indicating where Hatred had struck her. Most of the time she was able to prevent the shadowy version of herself from landing any hits, but when she landed some Hatred only increased the amount of blows she used in each rotation. Searing made it clear that Hatred had the powers of the other five emotions inside of her, which only made her more powerful than either of them were expecting. That was swiftly followed by Hatred planting her foot in Sunset's chest, harder than the previous instances, and slammed her into one of the crystal spires she had summoned earlier.
Sunset, do you trust me? Searing asked, though they both knew that at the moment they weren't going to be able to defeat Hatred at all.
"Yes," Sunset answered, because at this point it was either listen to whatever Searing had in mind or be destroyed by Hatred, and she knew that the second option would be unpleasant.
Then call on my power. Searing replied, allowing the air around them to heat up for a moment, Do what I did to that android and send Hatred back where she belongs.
Sunset knew that tapping into Searing's powers, while the transformation spell was up, would burn their magic at lot faster and could potentially leave them drained if they didn't stop Hatred. They were not prepared for something like this, not when they had no training in testing their new limits, but at the moment they didn't have much of a choice. There were several of Searing's spells that could easily destroy Hatred, if they connected to their target anyway, but Sunset merely let out a sigh as she opened herself to Searing's powers. She could feel the flames dance around her body as her hair and tail caught on fire, though this time it wasn't painful like all the previous times she had taken on Searing's form.
"I see that you are using your trump card," Hatred commented, snapping her fingers for a moment, though she had a smug look on her face while she did it, "too bad you activated my trap card!"
The floor of the bridge erupted as spikes made out of pure crystal shot out of the material and raced towards where Sunset was currently standing at the moment. Sunset grinned as the crystals came towards her, because this time she wasn't going to back down as she allowed her energy to gather around her hands once more. She slammed her fists into the center of the crystals that came at her, shattering them with the power of her earthquake ability, though this time she elected to keep the magic contained in her immediate area so she didn't harm the rest of the planet. Her smile only widened when she noticed that the smug look on Hatred's face had disappeared as she drew closer to her emotion, all while allowing more energy to build around her.
She intended on finishing this in one go, but the moment she reached Hatred the emotion jumped backwards and moved out of the way, though she heard a growl escape her opponent's lips.
"Fine then... I guess I had better wrap this up," Hatred said, to which dark energy gathered around her hands, "I will release all my energy and obliterate you... and then I'll take over the universe."
Sunset leapt backwards just a bit and pooled her energy into the area between her hands, because she intended on releasing a beam of energy that would counter whatever Hatred was planning. She could feel Searing gathering energy as well, telling her that they might need their combined powers to defeat this particular emotion, but she was glad that they were both being prepared.
"Ka... me..." Sunset said, pulling her hands back to her side, keeping the sphere of energy stable while she waited for Hatred to reveal her hand, "ha... me...."
"TAKE THIS!" Hatred shouted, throwing her hand forward and releasing the energy she had been gathering, resulting in a beam of dark energy soaring towards Sunset while breaking the ground beneath it.
"HAAAAA!" Sunset shouted back, releasing the energy she had been gathering as she leveled her hands with Hatred, to which a beam of red energy erupted from where she was standing.
The two beams of energy collided with each other and stayed that way for a moment, to which the two of them pressed against each others power with their own. It was a stalemate, which was actually not too bad in the long run, but at the moment this merely destroyed the area around them as the two energies fought each other. Sunset could feel Searing preparing herself for what was likely the finishing move, which was why she stalled Hatred's attack and kept it where it was.
Let's do this! Searing said, to which a shadow appeared next to Sunset and added her energy to the beam that Sunset had released, resulting in a much larger beam of energy erupting from her hands.
Sunset grinned as Hatred's smug look disappeared as her attack was rapidly pushed back, as if she couldn't understand what was happening at the moment. She could even see the amount of power surging past where Hatred was standing, though she was clearly struggling against the power that Sunset and Searing were producing. Then, with one final push of energy, the red beam of energy tore through Hatred's attack and collided with her, causing the area around her to explode in an explosion that rivaled what Searing had done to the android a few weeks ago.
When the smoke cleared she was relieved to find that Hatred had been destroyed, as there was a black crystal that floated in the air where the emotion had been standing, though it shattered a few seconds later.
The deed is done... Searing commented as Sunset returned to her alicorn form, but she'll be back.
"And we'll be ready for her when she comes back," Sunset replied, letting out a sigh as she turned to head back to the facility, "I need to rest after that ordeal... and tell Starlight not to mess with the Cores again."
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
973 users online
1,200,947 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So Pride wasn't the only emotion that survived what happened to her... now we've got Hatred as well.
And apparently Sunset and Searing both like Dragonball Z moves.
yay. that. was. AWESOME!!!
7782540 Actually, since the Kamehameha was red, I'm thinking they watched GT.
7782608 Still, it seems like the author noticed our comments and made Sunset/Searing more like Goku/Vegeta.
Sunset's favorite move = Kamehameha. Searing's favorite move = Final Flash.
7782629 Aye. And Hatred appears to prefer Galic Gun. Hey, maybe Sunset and Searing will get to go Super Saiyan 4. It would fit, just with a pony tail instead if a monkey tail, and the fur the same color as her normal coat.
7782634 I'd laugh if something like that happened. Though if I'm right at guessing what the author will do next, and I usually am, I think we'll see Angela and Maul do their thing next chapter.
And then we'll start the Dreadzone saga.
7782639 Sounds about right. Should be interesting to see. I just thought of something. I kinda want to see Sunset get aggravated with an opponent, and tell them "Alright. No more miss nice pony." before siccing Searing on them.
7782646 Kind of like a Hulk style thing? Make her reach a certain point before she snaps and sends her other side at them?
7782655 Yeah! That would be even better!
7782661 Hehe... though all this makes me wonder if Hatred will appear again.
Sunset clearly hasn't finished off her emotion, so will Hatred return or will she be a good girl and remain in her cage?
Or will she befriend her like she did to the other one?
7782675 I think she's officially taken Searing/Pride's place as the ultimate hurdle. Speaking of, is it just me, or do some of Searing's attacks seem awful familiar...
7782890 Like I said earlier, Searing seems to have been influenced by Vegeta. So it would make sense that her moves would almost match his... save for the abilities that she stole from Whitebeard and Beerus.
7782984 She also seems to be using some of Tirek's abilities from Skyrim.
7783117 Yeah, only she's actually hitting whatever her target is considering that she doesn't have someone constantly trying to stop her. Or she did, seeing how she's backed down before achieving their full potential.
7783141 For now. Dreadzone may change that.
7783142 True. Gleeman Vox is likely to change that in some way... one that's not good for the rest of the universe.
The Goddess of Destruction will rise again... sometime in the future.
7783162 Meh, her family will probably reel her back in, but not before reminding everyone just how she got that name. Personally, I'd say good riddance.
7783165 We hope that Ratchet, Starlight, and Angela can reel in Sunset/Searing when they go into 'Goddess' mode.
7783175 After they destroy Dreadzone
7783181 Yeah. That's the given for the next story arc. The only question is what Gleeman Vox is going to do to spark the transformation... and how much will be destroyed before the flames die down.
7783189 On the first, he's sadistic, so no telling. On the second, everything.
7783240 Oh I see something now...
Sunset: Ratchet... how much of Dreadzone can I destroy?
Ratchet/Starlight: All of it!
Sunset:
7783372
Yay.