The Huntress

by The Quiet Party

I: These Things Last Till Tomorrow, O Death, for They Wear Out This Vigor of All the Senses

CANTERLOT, CALIFORNIA
June 4, 2016

One eye shut from a cut above it and her movements unsteady from a twisted ankle, Sunset Shimmer all but plopped down on the floor in what used to be the front lobby of Canterlot High School. Used to be, in the sense that there wasn't much left of it. Last time the damage had been this bad, it had been her doing.

But now…. Sunset winced as she tried to stand on her wounded leg, only to yelp as she collapsed to the ground. Now there was danger, far more than she'd experienced before since her change of heart. Far more than just power-hungry sirens, a confused teenager turned psychotic, or even the weirdness of the Everfree Forest. She looked around as tears of pain came to her eyes. Did someone declare war on this country? Was it terrorism? Or, worst of all: did a new monster come from Equestria, hell-bent on carnage and chaos?

She could hear explosions in the distance. Closer to her, she could also hear the whimpering of Lyra Heartstrings against Derpy’s shoulder – the former’s lover, Bon Bon, had been one of the first to die, right next to Principal Celestia. Celestia herself had been completely incinerated by the blast that had come from seemingly out of nowhere. That had been the start of the panic that had gripped the city in the past few minutes since.

Forcing herself back to her feet, and feeling momentarily wobbly for it, she staggered over as close to the doors as she dared. Outside, the school grounds were an abattoir, with dozens of dead people, many of which she knew. Her hand went instinctively to her mouth in a shocked gasp as she saw so many she knew among the lost.

Then a fiery beam came down from the heavens and struck the statue in front of the school – the statue that housed the portal to Equestria. It registered for a split second that with the statue destroyed, there would be no hope of rescue from Equestria – even if Princess Twilight could create a new portal in time, there may not be survivors to appreciate the assistance.

The second thing she registered, as she saw the blur flying towards them was that the donation was strong enough to cause a blast wave – and she was only mere feet away from it.

Turning and diving towards what she hoped would be safety, she barely managed to scream “WATCH OUT!” A fraction of a second later, she was thrown by a wave of white and heat….

The last thing she thought before darkness claimed her was that today, of all days, was not supposed to be like this.

~*~

“Awww yeah!” Rainbow shouted as she put on her gown. “Time to graduate! Bye-bye, CHS!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity chastised, “how could you think that such an event is a joyful occasion! We’re graduating, and in a few months, we’ll be headed off to our respective colleges. We won’t see each other on a regular basis again.”

“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha,” the rainbow-haired athlete grumbled, accepting the admonishment. “It’s just … y’know, I’m looking forward to heading to State University! In fact, I’m looking forward to heading there in late July to get ready for soccer season. What about you guys?”

One by one, they answered: Rarity’s family was spending the summer in Europe before she started school in Manhattan. Fluttershy, who was attending college locally at the University of Canterlot, had already started working as a vet’s assistant. Pinkie and her boyfriend Cheese Sandwich were taking a roadtrip around the country before they both started school at Cloudsdale U. Applejack was going to be studying agricultural sciences at nearby Ponyville Community College, and would probably commute back and forth from Sweet Apple Acres. And finally, Twilight was starting early classes at Everton University – she’d be leaving in a week.

“I notice I didn’t hear any of your plans,” Twilight said as she adjusted her glasses. “What about you, Sunset?”

“I’ll be attending UC along with Fluttershy … but I’m taking a year off,” she admitted. When her friends looked at her curiously, she gave a soft smile. “I … I need to make things right with my mother. Princess Twilight has asked me to come back and see my family, and I agreed.” She sighed. “I have so much to make up for. I need to apologize to my cousins Cadance and Blueblood. Plus, I’ll probably go see the Sirens and see how they’re adjusting to living back in Equestria. Plus I've missed so much while I've been here – it's time for me to go catch up.”

“Tell ‘em we said hi!” Pinkie chirped.

“Well, don’t you dare forget about us,” Rarity said, wrapping Sunset in a hug, which the latter had reluctantly accepted. Things had been awkward between the two of them over the past few weeks ever since Rarity had confessed her feelings to Sunset. Sunset had never seen her friend in a romantic light, and it hurt the one-time unicorn to turn down someone she loved. But she loved Rarity as a friend, not as a romantic interest. Rarity had since said she accepted it, but sometimes Sunset wasn’t too sure.

“I won’t,” Sunset promised. “I never could.”

“Excuse me, girls?” They all turned to see Principal Celestia, standing there in her educator’s robes. “It’s almost time to start, but I wanted a minute to talk to you all in private.”

“Are we in trouble again?” Rainbow asked, and the older woman giggled.

“No, not at all, Miss Dash. Truthfully … well, I will miss you all.” They all gave her an odd look at that, and the principal gave them a beatific smile. “Things have been interesting in the years you were here, and though things will be quieter with you all no longer around, I must admit that CHS will be a poorer place without your presences.”

“Thank ya, Principal Celestia,” Applejack said with a grin. “I feel plum appreciative that you said that.”

“Well girls,” Twilight looked at those assembled. “Let’s go get graduated!”

~*~

“SUNSET!”

The teen came to, realizing that she was laying on the floor of Fluttershy’s van. However, given the roar of the engine and the rattling, it meant the vehicle was racing at high speeds and the driver was most likely not Fluttershy.

Sitting up, the first thing she noticed was Flash Sentry at the wheel, with Applejack seated shotgun – literally so, given the rifle that sat in the farmer’s hands, obtained from who knew where. She noted those facts only to hear the screech of the tires and inertia taking over quickly as she was slammed hard against the side of the van’s cargo space.

“Hey, you okay?” Sunset blinked and looked into Twilight’s eyes. The girl’s glasses were cracked, and she looked like she’d been thrown around once or twice, but was otherwise okay. Peering closer, the Asian girl added, “You don’t look like you have a concussion.”

“I’m fine,” she said, waving off her friend. “What happened?”

“There’s been an attack,” Twilight started, before going into larger detail: “Nobody really knows what happened, but it started at CHS, and the police are telling us to get out of the area and the National Guard’s on the way….” She shook her head. “My parents….” she sobbed, and crumpled into Sunset’s arms as her friend comforted her.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset said, holding Twilight close while she cried. She was too shell-shocked to hear about Twilight’s parents. She’d met them a few months back; both of Twilight’s parents were second-generation Japanese-Americans, their parents having immigrated from the old country a while back. To think of them as gone, as well as so many others…. It was a crushing blow in an already painful day.

“Hey, Sunset, good – yer awake.” Sunset looked up to see Applejack looking at her, a grim look on her face. “We’re headin’ to the mall – cops are usin’ it as an emergency and evac site.”

“What’s going on?” Sunset related, not sure if she really heard Twilight correctly.

“We were attacked,” Flash said. “We don’t know what it was or who did it, but it decimated CHS and the area around it in minutes. As you can guess, several of our loved ones are gone, as are most of the staff – and most of our classmates.”

“Fluttershy? Where’s she––”

Twilight sobbed. “She … she didn’t make it. Her, or Pinkie.” The younger teen let out a sob that wrenched from the heart. Sunset pulled her friend closer as she began to cry once more.

“Rarity’s behind us in her car,” Flash continued. “She's got Vinyl and Trixie with her, but that was all she could get.” The wail of a siren interrupted him as a police car raced part him, followed by a SWAT can. “Anyway, we should be safe at the mall.”

Applejack cut him off as she looked at the sky in the distance. “Those storm clouds don't look natural.”

“Wasn't it supposed to be clear all week?” Flash asked, incredulity slipping into his voice as he saw the clouds start to twist and turn. A second later, to his and Applejack’s horror, the clouds suddenly turned into a tornado that suddenly barreled down Canterlot’s main street, flinging anything in its path to the literal four winds. A few seconds later, this included a beat-up Chevy Astro and a soon-to-be formerly pristine Toyota Camry, as well as the vehicles’ occupants.

As soon as the world stopped spinning, Sunset crawled forward, ignoring the pain and the bleeding. She barely noticed the van was upside down, or that behind her, Twilight lay forever still. A desperate need carried her on, moving inch by inch towards the driver’s seat and towards Flash.

We were going to my homeland together, was all that filled Sunset’s mind. After graduation, Flash was also taking a year off so they could travel Equestria together and rekindle their relationship, restarted after the incidents at Camp Everfree. Sunset had been looking forward to introducing her mother to the guy who’d stolen her heart, and she was planning to surprise Flash that she’d been a lesser princess all this time – a princess in title, like her cousin Blueblood, but not a ruling one, like her cousin Cadance.

But all that was lost now as she saw Flash’s lifeless form slumped over, held only in place by the seat belt. Sunset’s eyes filled with tears, though she couldn’t cry yet; she had to make sure that she survived to remember him. Only then, when she and others were safe and that she could make sense of this senselessness, could her tears fully come and she could mourn the loss of the man she loved.

Pausing only to give Flash a final kiss and a whisper of “I love you,” Sunset felt herself yanked violently out of the van. She was about to scream when she heard a voice say, “Calm down, Sugarcube. There ain’t no good freaking out right now.”

“Applejack?”

The blonde nodded. She was bleeding profusely at the moment, but she held her rifle steady. Next to her stood Trixie, looking worse for wear, but at least still alive.

“But what about the others?” Sunset asked. A few seconds of silence followed, and the hard line that was Applejack’s mouth was the only answer that she would get.

“Sunset … please,” Trixie pled. “Trixie doesn’t want to lose any more friends today.” Sunset hid the shock at the other girl’s words. She and Trixie had never been friends; the closest they came was in the wake of Camp Everfree, where they agreed to let bygones be bygones. But Trixie and Sunset were never friends. So for her to make this declaration….

“Sunny … we gotta go,” Applejack murmured. “We still got about a quarter mile ‘till the mall.” Sunset nodded and taking one look back at the wreckage of the two cars and the friends – and lover – she would leave behind, the three slowly made their way towards the mall, ignoring the cacophony of noise around them.

As they moved down the street, a block away Sunset could see military vehicles, confirming her worst fears: something had invaded, and it was strong enough to have done serious damage to her adopted homeworld. Had Discord gone back to his old ways? Or was it Tirek, or Grogar or any one of a hundred villains, all of which claiming the powers of a god and with a bone to pick with Equestria? And if so, why here, on Earth?

Unless they’re after me, Sunset thought with a bit of panic. That would make sense: she was the daughter of the ruling princess and in a place where she was relatively defenseless, magically speaking. Sure, humans had weapons that were horrifying by the standards of her native world, but you had to be able to use those weapons in order to “pacify your enemies”, as the saying here went.

But my friends and Flash…. Sunset fought the tears again. She would not shed a tear until she was able to. And once she did, she would find a way to contact Equestria and send for help. And her mother would send aid, she knew it.

She only had to survive long enough to write for help.

~*~

Finally, the trio reached the outside of the mall. Various cars surrounded the place, given that everyone tried to make their way here. Within, Sunset could see two heavily-armed SWAT officers guarding the entrance to the mall, while a third uniformed officer ushered in everyone.

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. C’mon, girls, we need to get in.”

Applejack nodded, glad to see safety at last. “You don’t have to tell me twi––” Her words suddenly ended, and when the other two girls turned to look, they could see the hole right between Applejack’s eyes that burned completely through her head. The cavity sizzled, as if whatever had gone through self-cauterized on the way, and with a wide-eyed look, Applejack slumped to the ground, dead.

But before either girl could react to this newest death, the mall exploded in a massive detonation of fire and smoke, debris and bodies strewn everywhere. Both Sunset and Trixie were thrown by the blast, in different directions, with Sunset crashing through a store, finally colliding against a bookshelf and slipping into brief unconsciousness.

Finally coming to – and biting off a scream as she looked down to see her right arm bent at an unnatural angle – she looked around to see dozens of people dead…

...and something out of her worst nightmares. Floating in the air with a field of light blue magic around her was Trixie. She was choking, her hands going to her neck in the instinctive way people did when they were suffocating. And doing the choking…

...was a mysterious, alien creature. Fully clad in black armor that seemed to absorb the light of the sun itself, the figure was bipedal but certainly not human. Its hands shone with the unnatural energies that could clearly only be magic, unless it was a science far beyond current human technology, even the experimental projects. Sunset tried to comprehend further, but couldn’t concentrate on much at the moment, given the searing pain of her broken arm.

WIth a twist at an unnatural angle, the magic wrenched Trixie’s head, killing her instantly. The look on the girl’s face was one that would haunt Sunset for the rest of her life But with Trixie’s death, everyone she’d known and loved – or at least tolerated – was now dead.

Sunset at that moment snapped.

A second later, buoyed by her magic, so did the head of the offending being.

She walked out of the bookstore’s shattered facade, her eyes alight with power and her broken arm dangling uselessly at her side. In her other hand, however, she held a ball of witchfire, the magic force in her hand radiating like a turquoise star.

She looked around, searching for other attackers. Her mind was no longer on trying just to survive, but to take down as many of these bastards as she could. If she died, at least her friend Princess Twilight would know, and she’d let Sunset’s mother know. And though Sunset would be dead, woe be to those would challenge the might of Equestria’s Sun Goddes––

A blast of incalculable power hit her from behind, slamming her through a pillar and sending her to a painful crash several feet away. As she tried to force herself up, she could see the remains of the mall, aflame and with the black soot rising to the sky. Looking above, she could huge clouds of birds in the sky, flying into the scattered clouds, turning them into thunderheads….

Wait – birds don’t have that ability, a part of Sunset’s mind informed her. The only one who could weaponize clouds are….Despite the pain, Sunset looked at the sky, discerning shapes as some of the “birds” flew lower. Pegasi? They’re pegasi! But why would pegasi be doing this unless….

No! her mind screamed. No! It can’t be!

Her question was answered a second later as she felt herself being pulled up by the neck. The magic felt horrifyingly familiar to her, and as shapes came out of the smoking wreckage of the mall, Sunset wished that what she witnessed wasn’t happening.

But what came out of the smoke only verified that fear. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, all wearing variants of that strange black armor. One figure similar to the earlier one also appeared; without helmet, and Sunset immediately recognized it as a diamond dog. Other creatures, all from Equus appeared, and the truth was known: Earth was being invaded from beyond the dimensional veil, as Equus’ species came to destroy her new home.

And then the reason for it walked through. A huge white mare, her eyes a burning red like rubies, glared at Sunset with utter hatred. Her mane and tail were pure flame, though no smoke came from them. With her wings and horn she marked herself as something far more than a mere pony, if that had for some reason been in doubt. Finally, the burning red sun emblem on her flanks, visible despite the armor, left no doubt as to the alicorn’s identity.

Hope wilted within Sunset. She’d heard the stories of her aunt’s fall to darkness and the years Celestia had to sentence Luna – then Nightmare Moon – to her namesake, in order to protect all of Equus. Sunset knew that temptation well; she’d been corrupted by it herself, and she’d seen two other humans fall under its sway.

But this….

This….

It took everything for Sunset not to wilt as she realized her mother, Princess Celestia, was now under the sway of the Nightmare Force.

~*~

Nightmare Star hefted the unnatural creature before her. Unlike most of the humans Nightmare had encountered, with their feeble toys that failed to protect them from her wrath, this one held magic. This human was a magic user, and from the looks of things, had already killed one of her forces.

“You will die, human,” Nightmare Star pronounced, “but I will grant you a boon, so long as you tell me true: Where are you filthy creatures keeping my daughter?” Though the Nightmare herself couldn’t see it, the look in her eyes was crazed and filled with madness.

“Mother….” the human gasped. “It’s … me. It’s––”

“YOU LIE!” Nightmare roared, taking the human in her magic and slamming her against the ground. Both air and blood exploded from the human’s mouth, and tears of pain and sorrow erupted from her eyes. Noting the broken foreleg, the Nightmare picked the human up from that, eliciting a wild scream of pain from the creature that was music to her ears.

“Last chance, human,” she said, muzzle to shrunken, misshapen muzzle. “Tell me where my daughter is, or your world will burn. It will burn anyway, for defying a queen and holding my foal hostage, but I will be benevolent and spare you watching your world be consumed in witchfire. Now speak true, or suffer the consequences.”

“Mother, it’s me,” Sunset spoke, using the last bit of strength to touch the alicorn. “It’s you––” But Sunset said no further as a unicorn rushed forward, slamming into the human girl and goring her with his horn. The girl collapsed in a heap on the ground with a huge hole where her heart used to be and a massive pool of blood spreading out beneath her.

“You will never touch the Queen again, creature!” the unicorn ordered, then turned to his regent. “Are you well, your majesty?”

Red eyes briefly turned lilac…

She held the filly in her forelegs, nuzzling her. “My precious daughter. You will always be my light.”

Sunset cheering as she mastered spell after spell, with her proud ruler of a mother cheering her on.

The princess’ heart broken as she argued with her daughter, before Sunset disappeared into the mirror.

Twilight reporting to the senior princess what had happened to Sunset when she retrieved the Element of Magic and how Sunset would be in a better place now

Sunset, with three other mares in tow, embracing her mother as they all met in Twilight’s castle. Sunset had brought these sirens with her, promising they would change their ways if they returned to Equestria.

Later that night, Sunset surprising her mother by saying her home was in the human world now, and though she would always come to visit, she would forever live on the other side of the mirror.

...as the last vestiges of Princess Celestia died.

Nightmare Star’s eyes filled with flame as she screamed at her foal’s death. She then fixed her eyes on the offending unicorn, and before he could utter a word, he instantly incinerated, turning into nothing but sun-scorched component atoms before everyone’s eyes.

“BURN THIS WORLD!” Nightmare Star pronounced. “BURN IT ALL!!!!!”

~*~

Opening her eyes for the final time, Sunset felt numbness as her lifeblood slipped away from her. The brief moment of clarity in Nightmare Star’s eyes had shown her proof: Deep within, there remained some part of her mother, fighting for control.

“I forgive you, Mother,” were the last words Sunset Shimmer ever spoke.

Minutes later, the city of Canterlot, California was consumed in what appeared to be the largest nuclear detonation mankind had ever known.

Comments

[Shinzakura]

Wow, I can definitely see the 7DSJ influences here. However, it's a different enough story that I'm intrigued to see what happens next.

How does the Golden Age and the Collapse come into play? Or the Traveler, or....?

Yeah, I'm watching this story.

[The Quiet Party]

7650646
Thanks! I used Seven Days as a template because I liked the realism of the world, and thought it would make for a nice jumping point.

And things aren't quite what they seem, really. Think of the story as using the frameworks of Destiny and TCB, but not completely outright themselves. It'll make sense later, I promise.

[BlueBastard]

7650666
How much counts as 'framework' exactly?

[The Quiet Party]

7650674
I'm sorry ... I don't understand the question?

[Shocks]

EqG/The Conversion Bureau/Destiny crossover.

The Conversion Bureau

I take it you've never heard of the saying 'Dead dove, do not eat'?

[The Quiet Party]

7650717
In fairness, TCB was the closest parallel I could come up with for some parts - personally, not a fan of those stories.

[Shinzakura]

7650771
If that's the case, you'll want to separate yourself from TCB as much as possible. I assume you're talking about The Taken, and while yes, there's a very rough equivalent, a link to TCB is not the kind of headache you want.

[OddOneOut]

so close, and yet, so far. why can't people see that sunset is obviously a sunsinger?? she loves magic and she's practically a pheonix anyways. she's already mastered radiance and fireborn.

[The_Poket_Umbreon]

Holy Jesus, I've only read the description and I already can battles galore.

[Void Runner]

An interesting concept,though the Conversion Bureau connection is a bit off-putting. I'll mark this under Read Later and give it another look once there's more content.

[The Quiet Party]

7651478
I always thought of her as a gunslinger, if only because she's a straight shooter. Bladedancer, because she used to move on the edge of a knife (which is how bullies operate), and Nightstalker because bows are cool.