Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Awakening

Sunset groaned as she stirred at long last, as she felt like she got ran over by a truck thanks to the powerful blast of the Elements of Harmony, thanks to Princess Twilight and her new friends, though as she opened her eyes she found herself in an entirely new and unknown area. She had expected to awaken in a crater or a hospital bed, given what happened to her earlier, but what she appeared in was some sort of laboratory, due to the fact that she seemed to be resting on a bed that looked like experiments were done on it. Such a thing was also reinforced by what could only be described as a grotesque thing being assembled on another table, where flesh and bone were being bound together to some sort of monster that was far, possibly for protection, and had three arms, two normal and one on the back. Sunset found that she was surprised to find that such a thing didn't disgust her, in fact she wasn't even repulsed or sick when she looked at the figure, before she glanced out at the rest of the area she had found herself in.

What she found was some sort of sunken middle area that looked like it had all sorts of books and tomes, around an area that two individuals seemed to be riding in, as they were riding horses that looked like they were ready for war and both of the figures were wearing metallic armor, not to mention carrying weapons. In addition to the bloody construction area she was in, as that was the only way to describe what she was seeing right now, there seemed to be a lab emitting a dark green light and she could see something rotting, again not doing anything for her. The wing to her right seemed to be a place of frozen spires, where a floating skeletal figure seemed to be manipulating the cold environment to it's benefit, or maybe it was showing someone how to use their powers, where she tore her gaze away from it as she focused on the rest of the odd area she was in. One other thing she noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of bones, massive ribs anyway, that had been molded to fit the form of the structure she was in, or at least it looked that way, but she did spot what appeared to be an exit across from her and got up.

It was in that moment that she finally noticed how odd her body was, that her legs were different than she remembered and that they ended in hooves, plus the pony tail and ears that she didn't have before, including the horn, but decided to ignore what was going on and get out of here, before someone checked on her.

Sunset found that, despite the odd changes to her body, that she was able to walk with her new legs like she had been using them for her entire life, and that the coloration of her body seemed duller than normal, when she looked at her left hand for a moment. All of that made her wonder if the life had been drained out of her body or something, because death seemed to be the only answer she could think of and that meant that something might have killed her, before deciding to focus on escaping before worrying about anything else. She then found two figures in the left wing, a human wearing red armor, almost blood colored based on what she was seeing right now, and a lady who seemed to have long ears and was wearing metallic armor that exposed her stomach area, something she didn't seem worried about. Of course they were far too close to the path she wanted to use, since the floating undead was on the right path and the first armored pair had the middle covered, causing her to realize that there was no way for her to escape without someone noticing her.

In that moment a figure appeared in the middle of the wing that she had been making her way towards, one wearing the most imposing metallic armor that gave off the appearance of someone who dealt with death all the time, with a crown that had a blue gem in the forehead area.

As someone called for everyone to stand at attention, due to the 'Lich King' arriving in 'Acherus', though as he stepped into the area that they were in, a floor as Sunset discovered since there happened to be another floor below them since she could see over the rails, she found herself frozen. It wasn't in fear, in fact she was sure that such a thing had been broken when she died, rather it was because she recognized the figure who was walking, her memory of her death was coming back to her as she stared at the imposing figure. She recalled how she suddenly appeared in this world, in a crater, and the fact that the figure stabbed her with a sword, right in the heart, which told her everything she needed to know at the moment, as he had stabbed her, pierced her heart in seconds, and then, before she could move on, brought her back to life, even if it was some sort of undeath. Such a thing seemed to bring on a headache unlike anything she had felt before in her life, something that caused her to fall to one knee as she realized that something was happening to her, someone, she determined, was invading her mind and she felt her mental walls crumbling before her, as they were nothing before the power of the being that was in front of her.

While her mental walls crumbled Sunset could feel something stirring inside her, a feeling of anger, cruelty, vengeance, and all sorts of powers awakening, while her free will seemed to be extinguished before her very eyes, eventually causing her head to hang low as the being came to a stop in front of her.

"Rise, Sunset Shimmer, and heed your master's call." the figure said, his voice cold and commanding, as if whenever he told someone to do something they did so without question, to the point where they ensured to appease him with some of the best results, and she found that, while she did have some control over her actions, the power that had ensnared her mind compelled her to obey.

"As you command, master." Sunset replied, where she found that her voice sounded odd, likely another thing that had changed after her death and rebirth, especially with the glowing eyes that she possessed, given a brief reflection she saw in the imposing being's armor, but, once again, it didn't bother her at all.

As Sunset stood up she found that the rest of the undead beings had turned to focus on her, because the Lich King, as in the figure who had approached her, was interested in her and that meant the others had to wonder what was so special about her, save for the shape that her body took in this world. Her mind was filled with all sorts of new knowledge, likely forced upon her so she could survive and prove herself to her new master, where she found that the floating skeleton was a lich, there were ghouls on the lower level of Acherus, the vessel they were on, and so much more. She had to wonder if the Lich King gathered all the knowledge of those he raised and passed it around accordingly, or maybe he wanted to save time by shoving all sorts of information into her head, though while his actions did give her a headache she found all sorts of knowledge now available to her. Her master beckoned to his right for a moment and another figure approached, baring a crate that was placed in front of Sunset, where she found what appeared to be plate armor, tough metal that would be hard for someone to overcome, hence why she had been reborn as her master's instrument, a powerful death knight, an imposing warrior of great power.

While the others went back to their duties, and the Lich King walked away, Sunset followed the unspoken command, she pulled off her ruined school attire and slipped on all of the plate armor, finding that there was some material to prevent it from cutting into her own skin. It took her a few moments to put all of it on, where she discovered that she looked like she was a force of death, which she guessed she was now, and found that it had small shoulder pads, a cape, and some pieces of jewelry that boosted her new power to some degree. In addition to all of that she found a few bags inside the crate, to allow her to carry all sorts of things, even though they disappeared when she accepted them, causing her to not question it as she pulled over the jacket she had worn before coming here and slipped it inside her storage space, since it was the only piece she didn't want the dead to burn. The last thing she did was pull out the hood and found that it would give her a dark and mysterious look, which she assumed was what the makers of it intended when they designed the set, where she slipped it on and assumed her dark role as her master's instrument of doom.

With that done she found that one of the other two risen warriors, the ones on steeds, were waiting for her to arrive and escorted her down to the lower floor, and by that she meant walking over to a teleport pad and warping down to the floor below where she woke up. Sunset discovered all sorts of undead, the massive abominations with three arms, the feminine val'kyr who had wings and raised souls to serve the Lich King, ghouls that seemed to be servants and sacrificial pieces for when a battle occurred, and a few others. There were other risen warriors, also death knights she learned, who were in the middle of practicing for the battles ahead of them, former heroes who died fighting dragons, the opposing faction to their own, powerful beings called Old Gods, and all sorts of dangers, though she figured out that each lost their life to give Azeroth, this world, another day. She also discovered a variety of work stations that seemed to be where the smiths made armor and weapons for the various troops, forges were some knights imbued their blades with terrible might, and several wooden dummies for everyone to train on so they could improve their skills before heading into battle.

She also found a tall figure, a human, wearing bright blue armor who seemed to be an instructor for the knights, including some of the other melee fighters who served the Lich King, though as she was escorted to him she found that one of the two knights carried a blade with a circular area that had a floating metallic skull in it.

"So, you are the one our master raised... I shall measure you, to determine your worth." the instructor said, his tone telling Sunset that he was a military advisor or something, as he sure sounded like it, before he raised a hand and beckoned to one of the weapon racks that were scattered around the floor, "However, prove that you truly have a death knight's runic power and create your first runeblade... it is vital for a death knight's survival, and if such a thing is impossible you won't last too long."

Sunset had a feeling that this was why the Lich King pushed so much knowledge into her head, to make sure she passed all of the tests to make sure she was worthy to become a death knight, to which she walked along the upper ring of this floor and stared at the various weapon racks. All of the swords looked like they were worn out, well used by the forces of Acherus, and her information informed her that once she imbued the blade with power it would be restored to it's proper form and power. She found a blade a few moments later, which looked chipped and totally worn from the battles it had seen, though it seemed to be calling to her and she took it in her right hand, where she walked over to one of the forges that had a skull design and held it out. Sunset focused her mind for a moment and found that the runic power came when she called out to it, where icy energy washed over the blade and three runes appeared on it, one red, one blue, and one green, before the process was done and she found that it took on a sharper form, complete with a wing shaped guard that had an icy blue eye in the middle.

After that the instructor, Razuvious, had her engage one of the other lesser knights, who came at her sword swinging and she found her mind informing her how to fight, where she parried the attack and pushed it back with ease, even if this was her first time swinging a weapon. Once more she had confirmation that her master wanted her to succeed with the tests, hence the knowledge that became available when she needed it, though she also found that the knight attacking her was an orc, a race suited for battle, while finding the other knights, who were from different races, watching them. Sure, her blade was a greatsword and was heavier than a normal sword should be, but she found that it was lighter than what she was expecting and even switched to one hand at one point, allowing her to instinctively cast a rotting attack on the floor, chipping away at her foe's power. She found that none of the others were surprised by this fact, as they did everything to ensure their victory over whoever their enemy happened to be, and even her foe approved, even though she knocked him to the ground and forced him to yield to her.

Razuvious, however, chuckled a little as he announced that she had passed, as she might be the champion that the Lich King had been waiting for, though since they were a great distance from their destination he would make sure to hammer his lessons into her and turn her into a weapon of the Scourge, all while Sunset looked forward to enforcing her master's will upon the rest of the world.

Comments

[Silent Wing]

Thanks for the great chapter. This was exactly what I needed after a horrible day at work.

[Xpparda]

Thanks for the update, this is so good, will we see twilight's POV?

[Blackdrag-rose]

11256761 I hadn't considered the idea, but I guess it's possible. I know such a thing happened in the story were Sunset was sent to Lordran, which is set in the first Dark Souls game, as Twilight and the girls, and I think everyone else, could witness her exploits... I guess at some point she could figure out a way to see what happened to Sunset.

[UnbelievablyDeadCultist]

Looking forward to what comes next

[Blackdrag-rose]

11257619 As am I, since we'll be starting the death knight starting zone and get to see Sunset in action.