• Published 10th Aug 2016
  • 2,367 Views, 80 Comments

Turn Cruel - Gpizano



What turns a good girl cruel?

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The Fever

It was getting harder and harder to keep her grip. After Sunset Shimmer had taken the elevator to the Diamond Suite at the top of the building, the doors slid open to reveal about twenty undisguised Changelings waiting for her. Now they were all crumpled up or near the walls, in the same comatose-like state that she had left the others in the hotel lobby. The red head would have continued on her way through the double doors, but right now she had a death grip on the handles as she struggled to make sure she didn't lose it.

Breathing through her nose, her eyes were tightly shut as she let her forehead rest against the right door, the cool metal somewhat helping her to keep focus. Through all her studies as Celestia's student, the bottom line with dark magic was that it was no joke. While magic was neither good or bad despite words like 'dark' or 'white', both were tools that could be used for harm or for good. After all, she recalled a story when Princess Twilight had enchanted her Smarty Pants doll and threw all of Ponyville into chaos. It was like comparing fire to water. Both could be equally destructive but like fire could easily grow out of control and consuming everything around it. And, unlike water, it could leave scars.

When she had finally managed to quell the growing inferno inside of her, Sunset pulled her head back from the doors and took a deep breath. She could do this... she had to do this... no matter how scared she felt right now.

After she opened the doors, Sunset Shimmer was greeted by the sight of a dark foyer, the entire far wall was entirely made of glass, allowing the moonlight to filter through and allow for some light. Beyond the glass walls outside, all Sunset could make out was what looked to be a large pool and a few other shapes. What drew her attention back to the interior was the sound of a 'click', her eyes immediately spotting the small, red flame as a figure appeared to be lighting a cigar. From the split second the face had been illuminated, she vaguely recognized it as being Filthy Rich's but there wasn't a doubt in her mind it was another Changeling. Quite possibly the queen.

Sunset Shimmer cautiously approached the black leather couch where the man was sitting, the fake Filthy Rich taking a deep drag before finally speaking.

"This world you ran off to is certainly something, Sunset Shimmer. And so easy to take what we want since no one would believe our kind exists."

As the Changeling let out long stream of smoke, Sunset Shimmer fought to wrinkle her noise against the smell, keeping a steely gaze on the other with her fists clenched at her side. Since she hadn't said anything, the fake motioned with the hand holding his cigar to the couch opposite him on the other side of the glass coffee table.

"Please, have a seat. I'm afraid your princesses, and my queen, are in another castle. Instead I am here on behalf of my queen to make a proposition."

Ugh, did he really just use that old line? Despite that old joke being more than enough grounds to slap this guy upside the head, Sunset Shimmer instead moved over to the couch and took a seat, crossing one leg over the other as she also crossed her arms.

"Unless you are going to release my friends and any other victims you have captured and all of your kind goes back from where you came, I'm going to start wailing on you in about thirty seconds."

"Feisty. But not a brat like the other dimension's Twilight Sparkle. I like that."

Another drag, the end of the cigar flaring up and bringing light to the Changeling's borrowed facade for a moment before the light faded away.

"I'm sure you've already guessed it, but my Queen would like you to join her. Not as an underling, oh no, she knows that you would settle for nothing less than being a full partner. After all, you are a very capable woman, you know very well how this world works, and we know within you is great power. You deserve to have power, you're better than all these weak, unimpressive humans. Why not join the winning side?"

"And my friends?"

There was a pause, it told Sunset everything she needed to know even before the Changeling opened his mouth.

"A necessary sacrifice for our plans. We need them in order for us to keep using our magic. And for our queen to get the power necessary to take over."

"Then what else can I say? Except you and your queen can go to Tartarus."

A disappointed sigh came from the Changeling, who took one last drag before setting the cigar down on the glass ashtray on the coffee table.

"It's such a shame to see you go against your true nature, Sunset Shimmer... even as the darkness inside of you is bursting to get out, you keep trying to play the good girl."

"I am good, I'm not the same pony I used to be when I came to this world."

She began to stand, as did the fake Filthy Rich, she could practically hear the smirk that was on his face as he spoke.

"But only when your friends are around, I'd say without them you're looking fairly bad... she-demon."

Anger spiked and her blood began to boil, Sunset Shimmer reached out and grabbed the Changeling by the lapels of his suit. Then with a thought, there was a flash of black and blue magic, the two disappearing from inside the suite and reappearing on the roof, the Changeling reaching to hang on to her wrists as he found himself dangling off the edge with only Sunset Shimmer holding him up.

"Either you tell me where my friends are or I drop you. Unless you'd like to see if you could change back in time to use your wings while dodging my magic on the way down!"

For a moment the Changeling looked terrified, up until he smirked and gave a shout.

"Taurin!"

Not having time to wonder who he called out for or threaten him again, there was a sudden crash from behind her and something encircling her leg. A surprised yelp left her as suddenly she found herself being dragged back, losing her grip on the Changeling's suit. His upper half fell onto the roof where he scrambled to pull himself up the rest of the way. He quickly pushed himself up onto his feet and over to the hole in the roof that Sunset Shimmer disappeared down, smirking as he saw her pinned one of the master bedroom's wall, a big, meaty hand around her throat and cutting off enough air that it was ruining her concentration to cast magic.

The hand belonged to a great, hulk of a man, dressed in a tank top that was barely holding together and a pair of tight fitting jeans and sneakers. His hair was shaggy and a blue so dark it was almost black, with a wild beard and dark, fierce eyes. Sunset Shimmer had seen muscled men before but this was unnatural! The muscles were huge and seemed strong as steel, the sheer amount of them didn't seem humanly possible!

"Sunset Shimmer, meet Taurin. A minotaur we brought with us. Poor guy went mad when we used him as a guinea pig to start figuring out the magic in this realm but he has his uses. Have fun!"

Watching the Changeling step away from the hole and disappear, Sunset Shimmer felt the grip on her throat tighten and had to draw all of her will to summon some magic. She shut her eyes tight as she raised her hand at Taurin's face, a sudden burst of black sparks shooting out and hitting the hulking man in the eyes. There was enough pain to register and it caused Taurin to let her go, bellowing out as he raised his hands to his face.

Sunset Shimmer wasted no time in scrambling away, gasping for air as she quickly opened the door and slipped out. She had to keep distance, otherwise she wouldn't be able to focus and he'd kill her! Quickly going down the stairs, the high schooler's mind was starting to clear when there was yet another crash. She looked up just in time to see that Taurin had burst through the wall of the master bedroom and had vaulted over the railing, aiming to land right on top of her! It was only at the last split second that she had managed to jump out of the way to his left, the floor nearby actually shaking some as cracks snaked out from the epicenter of where he landed.

Unfortunately the brute had better reflexes than she thought, since she was caught with a back fist so powerful it sent her flying through the window wall, the entire large panel shattering and falling to the ground as she hit the ground on the other side and rolled into the pool. As she came up gasping for air, a weight came down hard on top of her, dragging her back down as a beefy arm wrapped around her neck. Panic began to set in as she struggled to break free, trying to elbow his side, kick, and even pull away his arms. There was no chance for her to focus as Taurin's grip tightened and her lungs started screaming for air, her efforts becoming weaker as she was kept under water, she could feel herself growing closer to becoming unconscious.

As her head began to sag and her eyes slowly closed, images of her friends came to mind, nothing but emaciated corpses left in glowing green cocoons. The rest of Canterlot burned as blood flowed through the streets...

Having thought that he had killed the red headed girl, Taurin was completely off guard when there was a flash... then heat... the water in the pool turned to steam, his eyes stinging and his grip on Sunset Shimmer completely lost. He stepped back and lost sight of her in the wall of steam until he spotted a dark outline. It looked like Sunset Shimmer... but with bat wings, and glowing blue and black eyes.

The next thing he knew was pain as a fist suddenly collided with his stomach, making him double over before a second fist hit his jaw in an upper cut, sending him flying into the air with Sunset Shimmer following. The barrage would not stop and no matter how he tried to defend himself the punches always found a way through, but what was worse than the sting after they connected was the following burn. Like his skin had been lit on fire!

When the beat down was finally over, Taurin hit the ground near the suite, completely unconscious while Sunset Shimmer landed on the ground near the edge of the pool. Her chest was heaving as she began to stalk closer, her body starting to look more like the demon she had become at the fall formal...

'Kill him... he tried to kill you... just a mindless animal now! You'd be doing him a favor! Kill... kill! Kill-NO!'

Hissing, Sunset Shimmer held her head as she stepped back, fighting for control as her skin began to return to it's normal hue and her fangs began to disappear. No, she wasn't a killer! She wasn't going to kill this poor guy, he wasn't in his right mind! She wouldn't do it!

Hearing a helicopter in the distance, the high schooler panicked before running towards the edge of the roof. Her wings were slowly starting to disappear, she'd be crazy to do this under such dangerous conditions but she was hardly in her right mind right now! As she jumped off the edge of the roof, her wings spreading and carrying her just far enough before they disappeared that she could safely fall the rest of the way to the roof of the building across the street, landing into a roll across the gravel covered rooftop.

Coming to a stop on her hands and knees, her body began to shiver as she fought back the burning hate that threatened to consume her mind. With it gone she began to shiver in the chilly night air, going over the end results in her head. The Changeling that looked like Filthy Rich had no doubt escaped, she lost her bike and now the police would be on the look out for her. All of this would be pinned on her and make her a fugitive.

After taking a deep breath, Sunset Shimmer got to her feet and headed to the roof access door so that she could get going. Right now she still had no idea where her friends were, but it was something she'd have to figure out fast to save them in time while laying low.

Fantastic...

Author's Note:

Yeahhhh, I thought Sunset Shimmer would be fighting the Changeling Queen in this chapter too.

But it'd seem a shame to get to that fight already.

Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter kids! :trollestia: