Shards of Sunset

by fmriver

The Do-Over CH00

Author's Note:

So this idea was born from rereading the first couple chapters of Sunset Reset (go read that if you haven't!), which combined with my current obsession, which is Otome Villainess Isekai/transmigration Manga/Manhwa. For those that aren't aware, this is a sub-subgenre that's evolved from Isekai, which has the person reincarnating into the Villainess role in an Otome game, usually with future knowledge due either to playing the game previously or because they lived it and basically turned back time.

I've always been interested in exploring Sunset's experience in the Human world the years before the Crown theft fiasco. There are some really good fics out there that examine that era, but the big challenge is that Sunset wasn't really a character ready to grow back then. SO how do we change that? And my brain came up with this.

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Sunset startled awake from her new recurring nightmare, taking a tiny gasp for air before instinctively stopping herself from moving or opening her eyes. It was a throwback from her youth, when it was best to sometimes continue faking sleep.

She hadn't really been able to get a full night rest since the Fall Formal, visions of her victims through the years or being punished in more and more cruel ways after being dragged back to Equestria. It had only been a few days since the Formal, but she could feel exhausted down to her bones even first thing after waking up. Probably didn't help that today was the first day back to school since that whole fiasco went down, and the Principal had made it clear to her that she didn't really have a choice to skip.

She still had no clue how it would all play out, or even how to even begin to fix things. Even coming to the conclusion that she wanted to even try had taken her most of the weekend. Sunset frowned as she noticed the sounds and air didn't feel quite right.

She finally sat up and opened her eyes open before shutting them and squawking as she was unexpectedly blinded by bright sunlight reflected to her face. After blinking a few times, she realized she was outside. Her heart started racing as she scrambled backwards till her back hit what felt like a cement wall.

A small part of her mind noticed that one of her feet had kicked a bag and scattered the contents around her, though she was mostly panicking and trying to find the people responsible for somehow taking her from her humble bed. There were plenty of people with the motive to do so, and she knew that she no longer had any sort of reputation to protect her from the reprisals of everything she'd done through the years. For the first time in a long while she felt herself simply freeze, her vision tunnelling into one of her worse kinds of panic attack.

As the seconds ticked by, and her heart slowly stopped deafening her hearing, she was able to get her breathing under control. She had pulled her legs up, hugging her knees to herself and nestling her head against them. She idly noted that her cheeks were wet with tears as she found herself almost sobbing as she finally was able to get air into her lungs. She forced her breathing to even out as she stared at her boots.

She felt incredulous and not a bit nauseous at the thought of somebody having even dressed her in her sleep without waking her. Had they used some form of drug? She needed something to distract herself. The sturdy canvas bag and the glint from some of the scattered items by her feet was the only thing in her view that didn't require her to move any muscles, and they caught her attention the more she stared at them.

Something about it actually helped push back the incessant droning in her ears. They were a clue to the mystery. Something about them didn't make sense. That bag had her cutie mark emblazoned on it, but wasn't her bag. At least not her current school bag. It looked exactly like her old Equestrian saddlebag, which she had been forced to rig into a messenger bag when she had first arrived through the mirror.

She slowly shifted to lean closer and inspect what was beside it. That was a suspiciously full looking bag of bits, not to even mention the gems and reactants, but that was impossible. She'd depleted the little magic in that dimly glowing fire ruby trying in vain to re-open the portal early during her first moon here, and long since pawned it, and the rest of the gems off for what she had later learned was a pittance of local money.

She looked up, squinting and putting an arm in front of her face. It seemed that the light she had woken up to was the reflection off of one of the shiny faux minarets decorating the CHS roof. She shakily stood up, leaning against what she could now tell was the Wondercolts statue, where she had apparently been sitting in its shade.

Sunset had always been good at telling time based on the position of the sun. It seemed like it was late afternoon, almost sunset ironically enough based on where the sun behind her and the long shadows that the statue made across the lawn. Thankfully she still had more than enough light to see the school lawn however.

The School was oddly immaculate, with its front lawn perfectly trimmed, leading to a miraculously intact facade of the building. You'd never tell that just two days ago it was a bombed out carcass of itself. It made no sense. The brick looked the exact same shade of weathered as the rest of the building.

Nothing was making sense. Where is everyone else? Sunset wondered as her eyes darted around. It didn't feel like another of her night terrors, but there was no way for things to look so cleaned up. She began to shiver, suddenly aware of the cold, rough stone of the Wondercolt Statue on her back.

Sunset bent down and quickly shoved everything back into the bag, hurrying towards the school doors, looking behind and around in case she might catch anyone hiding. She almost missed the guardrail in her distracted stumbing, trying twice to grab it and use it to help herself up the steps.

Her body felt slightly off. Was it the residue of whatever drugs they used on her to be able to dress and move her here? She had finally made her way to the school doors, but they seemed locked. There was a notice stuck to them.

PLEASE BE ADVISED
School Grounds will be closed from the 25th to the 31st. The Administration offices will be open for walkins from the 1st to the 3rd 10am-3pm for late student registration and book pickup. First day of School is the 4th.

The year on it was wrong. It had to be wrong. Oh please tell me I'm wrong.

Sunset knew she had more than enough clues, but it was her reflection that finally broke through.

The reflection in the glass was young. Much too young. Sunset Shimmer was looking at the world's saddest little tween. Gaunt face, scraped knees, swimming in a much too large jacket. Behind her, Sunset could just see a banner hanging in the School Corridor.

Welcome Incoming Wondercolts

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Comments

[Velvet-Fresh]

I'm a huge fan of Bakarina. So for the love of faust make it a full fic and let Sunset obtain a bisexual harem with her future friends but she only see them as friends cause she's too busy redeeming herself she seduced them..also the Dazzlings. Maybe.

Sunset is either oblivious to the affection her 'friends' gave her or she hands wave it off as "This is how they are before i messed it up for them. "