Chapter 1
The guardsponies patrolled the quiet torchlit halls of the Crystal Empire, each door guarded closely as within slept an Element of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were visiting for her first royal summit following her coronation as the Princess of Friendship. Lurking within the shadows was Sunset Shimmer, her sinister demeanor hidden by the cloak she wore. Quickly, Sunset's eyes set upon the door she was after. There were two pegasi guards keeping watch, so she knew getting past them was going to be difficult. If she wasn't quick enough, it could all end there. First was getting to the door, but she needed a plan. She was outnumbered, she didn't know swordsmanship and magic would lead to high alert.
Coming to a decision she continued down the hall, sneaking past several guards on the way. She rolled her eyes at their incompetence, slipping into a room she remembered from the previous day, when she first came here to learn the grounds and figure out where the Element of Magic would be kept. She looked through the familiar alchemy room, a plethora of ingredients sitting on the different shelves. Quickly she began picking and choosing what she needed from memory alone. Passionflower, Tart cherry, Magnesium Chelate, Tryptophan, Hops. One by one she added the ingredients into a grinding bowl, mashing them together into a fine powder. She grabbed a nearby pouch with her magic, slowly pouring the powder into it before tying it tightly shut.
Returning to Twilight's door she carefully opened the bag with her magic, utilizing a simple wind spell to carry the particles across the hall and into the faces of the two guards watching over the princess's door. She watched for several seconds, the two beginning to sway, fighting to stay awake before falling unconsciously to the ground. Sunset grinned at her handiwork, slipping past the sleeping bodies and into the room where she saw Twilight's crown, the Element of Magic, sitting on a nightstand next to the princesses bed.
Sneaking past the snoring baby dragon she snatched the element within her magic, catching the nearby lamp she mistakenly bumped before it managed to hit the floor and shatter. She internally scolded herself. She couldn’t imagine the plan failing over such a trivial mistake. Quickly she placed the crown into her cloak, setting the lamp back down and turning to make a hasty retreat. To her dismay, the dragon must have moved in his sleep, as his tail moved out in front of her at the last second, tripping her. She let out a startled cry, slamming onto the cold and unforgiving floor with a loud thud.
The baby dragon, Spike, was the first to awaken. Startled, he looked at the unexpected unicorn in surprise as she slowly got back to her feet. Twilight likewise looked her way, yawning softly as she spotted the sparkle of her crown within the inner pocket of Sunset’s cloak.
“My crown! She’s got my crown!” Twilight yelled, now fully awake. Sunset cursed under her breath. She was so close, but it wasn't too late. She just needed to make it back to the human world, where she could use the crown's magic immediately and begin her takeover. Quickly she swung open the door, bolting down the long hallway as quickly as legs would carry her, caring little for the countless guard ponies who now knew of her presence and began to pursue her. She didn’t bother to look back, hearing the sound of hooves clacking against the crystal floor after her.
She took a sharp turn, Twilight yelling for her to stop as several doors at her sides opened immediately, the guards of those doors quickly drawing their weapons in preparation to take her down. She spotted several colorful ponies watching her in confusion and surprise. They didn’t immediately react but jumped to aid Twilight and the guards as she announced that she had stolen her crown. Inside, she wanted to panic, as she now had the Elements of Harmony and countless guardsponies charging after her. Shaking her head of those thoughts she instead tried to remain positive, all she needed to do was reach the mirror! Just a few more turns and she would be there!
Chancing a look back she nearly screamed as the rainbow maned pegasus slammed into her, causing the crown to fly from her cloak pocket and back toward the rushing ponies. Twilight was quick to grab it with her magic, offering it to Spike, who began running in the opposite direction to prevent Sunset from possibly reobtaining it somehow. Seeing this Sunset felt her stomach drop, that ever familiar feeling of deep dread and failure encompassing her entire being.
“No!” Sunset screamed, her voice a mixture of sorrow and rage. She was so close! She just needed to make it a little further, but now the crown was being taken away by that damned dragon! She could attempt a teleportation spell, but then what? She knock the dragon down and run in the opposite direction of the portal? What about the guards? They were now surrounding her, weapons pointing in her direction as the cyan mare held her firmly to the ground.
“Who are you and why did you try to steal my friend's crown?!” Rainbow Dash yelled, tightening her hold on Sunset as she glared down at her. Was that hatred she saw in the mare's magenta eyes? That look, she recognized it, it haunted her.
"Now, Sunset Shimmer, for your final test, you shall need to wow us. Give us the best you've got" an older grey unicorn said, glaring down at the younger mare. Beside him sat two more ponies, the three of them judges for the final exam of Celestia's school for gifted unicorns.
All around her other students sat, staring at her with looks of envy or disdain. Pushing their stares out of her mind she instead focused on the judges, the second of which began to speak.
"As princess Celestia's own pupil, we expect big, big things today"
Of course they did. The teachers and adults hardly cared about her as a pony. No, all they cared about was her power, what they expected a student of the Princess to achieve.
Her fellow students were no better. Most were jealous of her position as Princess Celestia's pupil. Others who did pretend to care about her slipped up rather quickly, revealing that they only ever cared about what perks they could gain from her position.
Pushing the loneliness from her mind she instead focused on the pot of soil in front of her, her horn lighting up as she began to cast her spell.
"Oh! It looks like she's going to do a growth spell. A classic, but is it enough?"
"I suppose we will see, won't we?"
She grit her teeth, focusing every ounce of power she had into casting this spell. Oh, they will see, alright. Suddenly, several vines sprang forth from the soil, growing ever larger as they smashed into windows and broke through walls. She didn't mean to do this! The students screamed as debris and shattered glass flew in every direction.
"What are you doing?! Is this the way the pupil of Princess Celestia should act?!"
"She's so full of herself, just look at her flaunting her power in front of us, like she's special"
"I should be the one by the princess's side! Not you!"
"After all our princess has done for you, this is how you thank her?"
"Freak!"
Sunset felt moisture form in her eyes. She felt so truly alone, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t fill that gaping hole that continued to grow as more and more ponies rejected her.
Rainbow’s eyes widened as she looked down at the unknown unicorn, the other Elements of Harmony now closer and watching her with what looked like pity. Twilight even stared in disbelief, all semblance of anger gone from her visage. Why were they looking at her like this? Slowly, as Rainbow released her, she reached to her face, feeling the moisture of freshly shed tears trailing down her cheeks.
“Sunset Shimmer, I’ve heard that you’re not getting along well with the other students. We’ve talked about this before. Friendship is important. You need ponies in your life who you can trust and open up to” Celestia said aloud, causing Sunset to look over to her as if she’d been stung.
“I’ve tried! Why can’t you believe that?!” She cried, her voice cracking from the stress and anxiety. She continued to follow the princess as she led her to a large door. Celestia turned to her as they reached their destination, eyeing her sharply.
“You can’t stop trying, Sunset”
“So I can fail again? So others can use me for my position?” She bit out, causing Celestia to sigh.
“I don’t think anypony’s incapable of making friends”
Behind the six ponies, Spike returned, followed closely by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The Princess of the Sun stared down at the trembling unicorn in surprise, rendered speechless by her presence here alone.
“Look into the mirror and tell me what you see”
Sunset nodded, leaving Celestia’s side and standing before the crystal mirror. At first, she saw nothing but her own reflection, however after only a short time she saw another pony standing by her side. Then another, and another. Looking to her left and right she saw she was alone, yet in the mirror, she saw something she most longed for.
Friends.
The image shifted, a pair of brilliant wings extending from Sunset's sides. She now stood alone, beautiful and regal. An alicorn, much like her teacher. Her eyes widened as she took in this possible future, and it was now that she understood its message.
She could become an alicorn princess, just like Celestia. When she did, she would hold such power and respect the other ponies would have no choice but to do as she wished! She could make them be her friends. She wouldn’t be alone anymore.
She knew what she needed to do.
"Sunset…"
That broken voice snapped her back to the present, looking up to see the Princess of the Sun hovering over her with a look of grief. She tried to back away but was quickly engulfed in the princesses' wings. She pulled her into a tight embrace, startling the unicorn at the unexpected action.
"W-what are you…"
"I'm sorry, Sunset Shimmer. I truly have failed you, haven't I?"
Her heart raced as she stared into Celestia's purple eyes, the two orbs filled with a great deal of regret and despair. Slowly she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her as well, holding her tightly against the regal Alicorn's body. Sunset couldn't comprehend just what was going on.
"I should have gone after you. I should have listened to your plight. There are a great many things I did wrong, and I am so deeply sorry. I never meant for you to feel so lost and alone"
Sunset's breathing became rapid, her mind working a million miles a minute to try and calculate just what her previous mentor's angle was. There was no way Princess Celestia of all ponies would be genuinely apologizing to her, could it?
Sunset sat, nose buried in a book within the deepest rooms of the Canterlot Castle Library. After learning what needed to be done, Sunset began sneaking into the restricted area and learning spells the princess refused to teach her, believing she wasn’t ready for them. Her power had grown substantially and she knew she was ready to become an alicorn.
Tossing aside her most recent tome, she picked up another book, scanning the contents and stopping as she spotted information on the mirror princess Celestia had shown her weeks ago.
“The crystal mirror...every thirty moons, a portal will open to another world for three days. Thirty moons… that's 840 days if my calculations are correct. 2 years, 3 months, and 18 days to be precise, not counting the minutes or seconds” She whispered, eyes scanning the page for any further information she could gather, unaware of the presence approaching behind her.
“What are you doing here?!”
Sunset yelped, tossing the book and spinning around to face a very angry princess Celestia, flanked by two of her royal guard.
“I have made it very clear that you are not allowed here, yet you have disobeyed me,” Celestia said, her voice stern. Sunset only frowned, feeling a wave of anger in her heart alight like a burning flame.
“How dare you keep this kind of magic from me! This is what I need to become great, to become an alicorn like you!” She spat, grinding her teeth as Celestia stared back in disappointment.
“You’re being selfish, you need to step back and reflect…”
“I’m being selfish? You're the one keeping me from the power I need to make friends!” Sunset yelled, causing Celestia’s eyes to widen in surprise.
“Friends? This is no way to make friends, Sunset! What you need to do is follow my lessons!”
“I tried everything you told me! Don’t you get it?! Nopony wants me! Nopony will ever want me until I command the respect I deserve!”
“That’s not how friendship works!”
Sunset slammed a hoof on the ground, the sound echoing off the walls of the library. Celestia stared in shock, noticing the look of pure hatred written across her crying student's face. When she replied, her voice was filled with thick venom.
“How would you know? You don’t even have any friends!”
Before she could muster a reply Sunset vanished in a flash of brilliant green, exiting the teleport in the hall and rushing for the crystal mirror.
Twilight looked to the unicorn sobbing and shaking in Princess Celestia’s hold, half listening as Princess Luna recounted the events her sister shared with her about her past. Any semblance of anger left within her wilted as she heard the tragic story, realizing all of this was a desperate attempt at companionship. Sunset was alone, and she just didn’t want to be alone anymore.
She approached the two, both Celestia and Sunset turning to face her, one smiling down while the other trembled. With her own smile, she slowly reached out to Sunset, placing a hoof on her shoulder, an action the fiery maned unicorn clearly didn’t understand. As Twilight spoke, her eyes widened in disbelief, a fresh set of tears trailing down her already moist cheeks.
“I want to be your friend, Sunset Shimmer”
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I will give you a chance.
Ohhhh, some new information about how it deterred from canon. You got my interest
I don't think the Empire was around during Sunsets time as student of Celestia
10858040
Good point, I didn't think of that. I'll see if I can fix that small error.
nice work on the 1st chapter are you reediting the others?
10858881
Thank you. Just where it's needed, I will be reading them over and adding polish where I can