Hotter Than Hell

by totallynotabrony

Chapter 13

Silver knocked on Sunset’s door in the morning with breakfast. Sunset let her in and they went over the day ahead, expanding on the brief notes Sunset had made for Silver the night before.

Looking across the table at her, Sunset thought that Silver seemed uptight. This was different than before, somehow. Getting hit from so many directions with the stresses of her work with Sunset, finding out what Sunset was, and getting into a fistfight over an otherworldly golden crown had really thrown the girl's week into a tailspin.

So it was good that while she might have been uptight now, it was in the sense of being locked on, rather than about to break. Silver was so focused that her fading black eye didn’t even seem to distract her.

“This seems complicated,” Silver said, commenting on the plan laid out before her, “But no more complicated than a few other things we’ve done.”

Ordinarily, Silver would have said you’ve done, but it was true this time that Sunset would be relying heavily on her to pull off a few key moments.

“Are you sure this is going to work? With Spike?” Silver asked.

“If it doesn’t, it’s no big deal,” Sunset said. “That’s why we have contingencies.”

“And tonight,” Silver said. “What if the Dazzlings are something you’ve never seen before? If they have the power to affect an entire school...”

“Since you know about it now, you should be able to shake it off,” Sunset said.

Silver considered that. “So the other day, when…”

The hallway fistfight had occurred the same day the Dazzlings had arrived. “You might have been feeling it then,” Sunset said. “Even still, you didn’t start the fight.”

Silver nodded, reassured. Sunset figured it was better to balance her emotions - no need for Silver to take too much blame on herself, or - perish the thought - actually come to enjoy throwing punches.

Though perhaps a little swagger would not have hurt her. At school that day, her first day back since the suspension, even Sunset could feel the eyes on Silver. The whole student body had heard what happened, and the story was slowly growing in the telling, based on what Sunset eavesdropped that morning.

Sunset hoped she could handle the pressure. Though, she was confident; it was hardly the worst thing Silver had handled in the past week.

Sunset’s thoughts turned to other matters, spotting Twilight down the hall. Their eyes met, and Twilight quickly looked away, lowering her head. Sunset almost smiled. Her plan was in motion.

Seeing Twilight again at lunch, Sunset gestured her over to the table she occupied. Twilight saw her from across the room and hesitated, but came over.

“Is something wrong?” Sunset said as Twilight sat down. She noticed Twilight’s backpack move a little from within.

“I, uh-no,” Twilight said. She looked down at her lunch. Pepperoni pizza. “Actually…” She pushed it away and looked at Sunset. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sure.” Sunset tilted her head. “Somewhere private?”

Twilight glanced around. Nobody was paying them any mind, and in fact, the cafeteria was noisy with other conversations. “Actually, here is fine. It’s public.” She lowered her voice and leaned closer. “Sunset, what do you know about magic?”

“I, uh-” Sunset replied intentionally, ironically mimicking Twilight. “W-why would you ask a question like that?”

“Sunset, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I’ve heard from reputable sources that you can do things that humans shouldn’t be able to.”

Spike had tattled, just as Sunset wanted him to. Twilight leaned forward even further and pressed, “Sunset, who are you?”

“I’m…” Sunset paused dramatically “...a kirin.”

It was an old pony tale. Kirin were friendly, pony-like creatures with fire magic, who had been driven away by terrifying monsters called nirik. Doubtless Twilight had heard the legend.

Twilight jerked back in surprise. “But...Sunset Shimmer isn’t a kirin.”

“What are you talking about? I’m right here.”

Sunset could practically see the hamster wheel spinning in Twilight’s mind, trying to process this. “But if you didn’t do it, then how did the crown get here?”

“Crown? That one that showed up at the school? What’s it got to do with this?” Sunset said, playing perfectly innocent. “Twilight, what’s going on?”

Twilight hesitated a moment longer, but then let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Sunset, I came here under false pretenses. I need to tell you the truth.”

And so she did. There over the lunch table, their conversation concealed under ambient noise, Twilight confessed everything to Sunset. She was a magical princess from another land. A monster of bone and flame had stolen the Element of Magic. She’d come to this world looking for it, and the culprit.

“I don’t know what to say to all this,” Sunset said. “I...I can believe it. It’s fantastical, but I can believe it. It explains so much. I used to think I was all alone.”

She added a little more gravity to her tone. “But I have some questions for you, Ms. Princess. If you’re going to come to my world, I need to make sure I understand you fully. Earlier, you said my name. Have you met a...another me?”

“Well, no, I never met her personally, but I do know she came to this world before,” Twilight replied. “She’s a unicorn, though. Though I guess she would be turned into a human, same as I was.”

“What is your dog?” Sunset asked. The bag wriggled again.

“Spike is a dragon.”

Dragon!? Sunset didn’t have to fake her surprise, though she much preferred him as a dog. But it definitely explained how he was apparently intelligent. As intelligent as a dragon could be.

“I’ve never met a unicorn before, especially not one from another world,” Sunset said. “Can you do magic, too?”

“No.” Twilight shook her head. “Maybe something about the portal or this body isn’t compatible. I could back in Equestria. I was-” she laughed awkwardly “-the Princess of Magic, actually.”

Sunset smiled, but took pleasure in twisting the knife. “I’m sorry to hear your magic doesn’t work here. I want to help you get this crown back, but I think between the two of us I have a better chance of winning it as a prize for the Spring Fling. I might have to go through a whole show-and-dance on stage before I can give it to you. That’s if they even let me hold it a little bit before it goes back in a trophy case somewhere.”

“I see what you mean,” Twilight reluctantly admitted. “Everypon-one knows you, whereas I just showed up this week. Okay, let’s go with your plan.”

Too easy. Now Sunset just had to figure out how to keep Twilight and the crown separate once it was in her hands

She declined Twilight’s suggestion to meet after school and figure out a plan, citing urgent other business. “After all, the Spring Fling is still a week away, right? Trust me.” Even if Twilight didn’t, she didn’t have much other choice.

That afternoon, getting out of school, Sunset was already sitting astride her bike in the parking lot when Silver came up to her.

“I think they’ll come,” she reported to Sunset, “but I’m a little concerned that they already seemed to know me and were a little...too enthusiastic.”

“It could just be that rumors of you being a troublemaker got to them and they think this party is going to be just like what they’re doing to the school,” Sunset speculated. “Don’t worry about it.”

Silver, per usual, did look worried, but did not reply.

Sunset had everything she needed for that evening. One of Silver’s family's real estate properties was just outside of town, a large country house all by itself. It was furnished, but currently sat unoccupied.

She got out there early, turning on some lights and starting music playing. Come eight o’clock, when Silver had told the Dazzlings to show up, the night would be fully dark and the house would be the only light and sound within sight. That should cover for whatever happened next.

Sunset, while not worried, was cognizant that she didn’t fully know what the Dazzlings could do. But confidence in herself and confidence in the power of the Rider had taken her this far. The Spirit of Vengeance might exist to persecute those who had done evil, but Sunset was nothing if not a pioneer and tonight would see about adapting it to a more proactive role. A unicorn, hunting. If Princess Celestia could only see her now.

She parked her bike out back of the house and settled in to wait. Silver had told the Dazzlings that this would be a house party with a lot of high schoolers attending. Hopefully, whatever the girls were, this would be enticing bait.

Sure enough, the three girls arrived just at eight. Maybe there was something about the setup of the fake party, or perhaps they sensed the lack of other people around, but the three of them had stopped to discuss it before going up to the front door. That was how Sunset found them as she revealed herself.

“Here we go,” muttered Aria, the first to spot Sunset as she approached out of the darkness.

“Wow, that’s some kind of new record,” Sonata remarked. She seemed unconcerned.

“So it’ll be you, then,” said Adagio. She too had turned to face Sunset and the three of them stood together at her approach.

“I thought there was something about you,” Adagio went on. Despite essentially admitting unbidden that they’d been caught, her tone was typical Adagio that Sunset had heard over the last few days: haughty and superior. “A little too close, a little too curious. We must be really slipping if some human figured us out in less than a week this time.”

This time? Did they just move from school to school causing chaos?

Sunset decided to take the opportunity to stoke her own ego. “No human could have done it. You came to the wrong town.”

“Oh?” said Adagio, smirking. “Are you saying it isn’t big enough for all of us?”

“I’d say that depends on what exactly you are, Sunset,” said Aria, eyes intent, but cautious.

“I wondered about you too, for a while,” Sunset said. “But it came to me eventually. Singers, spreading negative feelings-” she raised a hand to gesture “-those matching jewels in your necklaces. Sirens.”

“Think you have it figured out?” taunted Adagio. If anything in Sunset’s words had shaken her, she didn’t show it.

Sunset was confident in her assessment, but the longer she stood there she began to wonder when the Rider would show up. Sirens were evil, weren’t they? She could feel a twinge of it, but so far that didn’t seem to be enough to bring out the fiery Spirit.

The Dazzlings began to walk forward, unhurried. Their crystal necklaces began to glow from within, a red luster also beginning to collect in their eyes.

“Well Sunset,” said Adagio, lips parting to add some teeth to her smirk. “You’re a dog that caught a car: what are you going to do now?”

Sunset had no idea. But she stood her ground. “Maybe I’ll have a barbecue,” she said, offhand. It wasn’t the best line, but combined with a little flicker of fire she could muster from her hands, it did stop the Dazzlings in their tracks - just for a moment.

“Get her!” shouted Adagio.

The three of them flashed with magic, transforming. Sirens, though Sunset had never seen one before, were creatures of Equestrian legend. Earth, too, though Sunset had never seen any evidence that they naturally existed here. They were part dragon, part horse, part mermaid, and maybe a few other things. It seemed the Dazzlings had figured out how to appear human, human enough to get close and sing their songs of destruction.

Tonight, they’d just cast off all of that to show Sunset their true form. Each of them suddenly towered over her, serpentine and toothy.

But so too did Sunset change. Now that the Sirens had revealed themselves, whatever magic had concealed them was gone. It was night, and the Rider had risen to meet them.

There was the usual fire, burning away Sunset’s body in a flash and leaving only bones and spite. And, to her satisfaction, the mere sight of her visage actually stopped the Sirens. Momentarily, anyway, but for Sunset intimidation was just a tool, and substance was what mattered. She looked like she could be the reckoning of them, and she would.

Whether or not the Sirens could sense how well they were matched, the three of them charged.

Sunset did not anticipate the real fight would be physical, and sure enough, the dragon-like Sirens opened their mouths to fire beams of magic. With a thought, Sunset raised her hands, unleashing the magic she had been just waiting to throw at someone.

Either Sunset was out of practice, or the balance of power was more in favor of the Sirens than she thought. Three combined beams of attack magic hit her at once, and she was nearly knocked over. As it was, her boots dug into the ground and the reflection magic she was holding only barely remained intact.

An inhuman growl built in the Rider’s equivalent of a throat. It was rage, but it was also Sunset’s determination. She could feel her body seem to shift of its own accord, adapting, strengthening. Just what she needed.

Her hands were free now, and she grabbed the whip coiled on her belt. Out from under the blocking magic, she gave it a toss. Guided by her will, it coiled around Aria’s neck, and Sunset pulled tight.

A third of the incoming magic stopped instantly, and the other two Sirens reacted to their sister’s plight by trying to pull her back. But Sunset had now taken the offensive, and it was clear that the Sirens were unused to being on the receiving end.

She’d yanked Aria close enough to get her hands around the Siren’s throat. “Look into my eyes.”

There was the usual voice distortion, her own filtered through the Rider, but it seemed harsher now. Something had changed about Sunset’s hands, too, the bones taking on a different shape, but that was not her focus.

Aria’s soul burned, even as her sisters tried to pull her away. If Sunset had paused to think about it, she might have noted with scientific interest that the Spirit of Vengeance worked so well against otherworldly monsters, too. It was a powerful tool, a weapon, and she was all about power.

She also knew that there was a kind of power in rage, and should have anticipated the reaction of the other two after erasing their sister. A moment of shock, and then all restrictions were suddenly gone as well.

The Sirens might have been attempting to defeat Sunset before, but now she clearly felt their intention to kill. That might actually be a good thing, if she had the time to stop and consider it while absorbing another attack. The Rider fed on hate, and only rose to the challenge.

Though, that didn’t mean Sunset had the skill or ability to meet it head-on. This time, under the onslaught of two angry red beams of magic, she was knocked backwards, only her whip catching around a tree prevented her from being blown away, but even still, it only held for a moment before it was uprooted.

It was at that moment Sunset realized she had never faced anything like this before, on either world. But there was no room for doubt in her mind, certainly not self-doubt. She’d come too far. She wouldn’t lose to anyone, not anymore.

Out of the maelstrom, an engine roared louder than the hurricane wind. Sunset went over backwards one more time before landing upright astride her faithful motorcycle. She twisted the throttle, piercing forward into the gale and whipping winds that would have torn the skin from her face if she had any right now.

Despite their best efforts, the Sirens could not hold steed and rider back. Sunset accelerated, the bike thrusting forward. Raising an arm as she went by, she caught Sonata about the neck with the whip, yanking her along for what turned out to be a very short ride. It only took a moment for Sunset to get her hands on Sonata’s head, bringing them face to face.

“Look into my eyes.”

Sonata was horrified, crying, pleading. She’d witnessed firsthand what happened to her sister. Now, it had come for her. But in a moment, she didn’t even have time to struggle or even blink as her soul too went up in flames.

Sunset turned to Adagio, dropping Sonata. She sat astride her bike, staring down the final Siren, revving the throttle and daring her to move first.

Adagio turned to run. Sunset crossed the distance and closed her bony fingers around the back of Adagio’s neck in a fraction of a second, sweeping her up and carrying her away.

“Please! I…” Any further protest Adagio could have made died on her lips as face was forcibly turned towards Sunset.

There was nothing persuasive Adagio could have said in the moment, nothing poetic, not even anything spiteful, and she was too terrified to say anything else before Sunset ordered, once more, “LOOK INTO MY EYES.”

It felt almost anticlimactic. The Sirens had put up a fight, and Sunset had drawn deeper and pushed harder than she ever had before, but she was left wondering, was that it?

Adagio was gone. Sunset let go and turned away. Silver was standing there, eyes wide, hands clutched to her chest. She must have seen the whole thing, what parts of it mortal eyes could comprehend, anyway.

Sunset looked down at herself, noting with surprise some changes. Her legs were bent, jointed differently, and she realized that she’d grown hooves. At some point, her skull had apparently elongated. A partial shift to a pony form? Had the magic really twisted her body that far?

Her magic. Finally, Sunset was seeing a little bit of herself in the Ghost Rider. She was making it her own.

“That was...that was it, huh?” said Silver, voice barely able to muster enough volume to be heard. She swallowed hard and then dropped her hands, taking a step forward.

Sunset felt the flames begin to die. This time, not only was it accompanied by crawling skin, but her skeleton started to shift back. She had returned to her human form by the time the fire was out.

“Oh, um…” Silver rummaged in her bag and pulled out a bottle of water.

As Sunset dumped the entire contents of the bottle down her throat, she reflected that this had been one of her better days since coming to Earth.

Comments

[Tania tokustar]

Holy shit

[Noc]

Well … that happened. F for Sirens.

I am a fan of this fic, but I wanna ask: Are we supposed to root for Sunset achieving her present goals, or are we supposed to root for her becoming a better person? ’Cause so far there hasn’t been much in terms of a personality transformation. For several chapters now I’ve really wanted to see her get knocked down a few pegs, especially if she’s plotting against/manipulating Twilight – maybe by Twilight outsmarting her, or her encountering someone or something (other than Mac, who isn’t really an enemy/opponent) she can’t just plow through with sheer physical/magical might, forcing her to maybe reconsider her objectives. She’s entirely too accustomed to things going her way, which is a trait that makes for a great villain we want to see lose, not so much a sympathetic protagonist we want to see win.

Also, and this is definitely a nitpick, but I’m kinda uneasy about what happened to the Sirens here? Sure, they were the villains of Rainbow Rocks, but they weren’t really irredeemably evil so much as selfish/mischievous, especially as seen in later specials where they become almost decent. Makes it odd that the Penance Stare worked on them, since the fic has already shown it doesn’t work on folks who aren’t irredeemably evil when Sunset tried it unsuccessfully on those low-level mooks a few chapters back. Maybe the Sirens are just plain bad in this fic’s universe so that the Penance Stare works on them for story reasons? Or does its supernatural nature mean it be used successfully on any magical beings regardless of what they’ve done?

Anyway, I am enjoying this, and I don’t mean to sound overly critical. I’m just wondering when Sunset’s gonna progress beyond being a shamelessly bad person, since – at least for me, can’t speak for anyone else – it makes it impossible to root for her.

[zachary12]

nice work.

[totallynotabrony]

11021748
In the original plan for this story, Sunset was going to get knocked down and only barely defeat the Sirens, and then there would be a third arc about growing emotionally as well as powerfully by the time it came to defeat the biggest bad.

But after struggling with this story for nearly ten months now, for some reason having to force every word because it just won't click, I'm exhausted and cutting it short. Next time will be an epilogue. It's not where I want to leave things, but I can't do this story anymore. So, your criticism is entirely accurate.

[Noc]

11021961
… Oh damn, now I feel like I cursed this.

Sorry to hear writing it’s been so tough. Much as I wish it would go on, I can accept if it’s just not in the books. Hope your next project goes smoother, and thanks for sharing this one with us for as long as you did.

[Aemon Targaryen]

11021961
Damn it.

This story is really good, and it's such a waste.

I loved this wicked but with a softer side Sunset.

[howard035]

11021748
I agree that the penance stare only works on serious baddies, but I don't think it requires irredeemable evil to function, just a significant amount of sin (Ghost Rider feels like Calvinist morality more than anything). Some young hoodlums, even if they've done time, may not have committed a mortal sin. But the sirens are thousands of years old. Even if they are redeemable ( and I totally agree they are) they probably have a mountain of sins. The Penance Stare would probably work on Discord too. I don't think he or the sirens deserve it, but I still think it would work.

[Moonlight Tome]

11021961
Damn. Sorry to hear that. At least the action was decent, and I enjoyed seeing Ghost Rider Big Mac. I do wish we had gotten that emotional growth, but sometimes a story just isn't working out. I fully understand, and wish you good luck in your next project, whatever that may be.