Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: The Mirror World

Sunset stood still as she focused on what she was doing, as after commanding her forces to prepare themselves for a new assault on another location she had gathered the mages and portal experts in the vast fields of the Valley of the Four Winds, the best place for her army to wait. She, in addition to the blue dragons and her vast army of mages, were gathering and focusing their various magics, all while the bronze dragons and others were tracking down the strands of magic that had brought her to Azeroth in the first place. Some of the magical Mogu had been assigned to help them to speed things up, so they weren't wasting too much time, using their powers to track down souls and soul energy, to pull them back and force them to serve the might of their now conquered empire, to her benefit. This time around she wasn't going to create a new timeline with all of the powers that were available to her, to find more power or forces to claim for her growing army, rather she had a very specific reason for tracking down the magical stream that was connected to her soul.

She was tracking down the magic of the Elements of Harmony that had brought her to Azeroth, traveling across the vast nature of this universe, to find the Mirror World she had been sent to when she tried to use the crystal mirror, as it was time for her to head back and complete her main goal. Sunset could only imagine the looks on the faces of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and the rest of the school as she returned to their world, possessing powers unlike anything they had seen and leading an army of death to crush everything they loved. It would be sweet revenge, as they no doubt thought that they had killed her, to purge the world of the darkness she had infected it with to make sure harmony was broken, to separate everyone into groups and make them hate each other, to come back to them and plunge their entire world into a hell that was worse than when she was still living. She would enjoy her time in the Mirror World, using all of her power to bring Death to it and those who called it home, only to deny them the sweet release of death as she raised each of them into undeath, forcing them to slay those they loved and cared about, or at least try to since they weren't soldiers like those from Azeroth.

Once she had a base of operations, however, that was when things were going to get interesting, as while she knew that the portal structure would be offline at this point in time, meaning Princess Twilight was back home no doubt, Sunset had an idea of what to do to fix that problem.

"My Queen, the portal structure is complete." one of the Mogu stated, as she had commanded many of them to work with Ra-den and several others, where they had been carefully working together while bending the stonework of the Serpent's Spine, an untouched section of it anyway, into a portal structure that they would then use once she and her mages were done with their work.

"Good. I suggest all of you rest, for once we reach our destination you will need to make a new structure to bind the other world to Azeroth." Sunset stated, as having a permanent portal that linked the two worlds together would allow her vast army to march on the Mirror World without delay, allowing them to fortify it while she focused on her main objective, one that she would accomplish alone.

As the Mogu saluted Sunset opened one of her eyes, as she found that she could now split her focus like this and not lose whatever she was working on, likely a power stolen from the four Old Gods whose power she now possessed, where she found that the portal structure was, as he said, complete. It was a wide, as the length from her left to her right was about twenty humans standing side by side, while the height was the same as the Serpent's Spine, meaning it was large enough for her dragon forces, while the larger Aspects would have to use their Visage forms to cross over. In that following instant the circle that was around her started to glow with an eerie icy blue light, as she had her magic force build a magical circle to help them concentrate their efforts, though that was only part of it since the other half of the circle was for them to use their powers in combination with hers. The meaning behind that was that she was going to steal Anima directly from the Shadowlands, from the Realms of Death itself, and the Mogu were going to use their soul directing powers to ensure that all of it was placed into the pair of statues that were on the left and right of the portal frame, which served as batteries to empower the portal.

As such Sunset stood still as her mages raised their staffs and channeled their powers, directing the Anima into the portal frame as they worked to open the portal she wanted to open, while she, with her dual focus, focused on the main aspect of what everyone was doing, the path connecting Azeroth to the Mirror World. For a few moments nothing happened to the portal, though that brief pause was only temporary as icy blue colored magic danced around all four directions of the massive frame, surging towards the center as if they were eager to greet each other. As that happened Sunset found what she was ultimately looking for, an image of her destination, causing her to turn her power on the portal's center, where all of her soldiers watched as it surged outwards, as if something was being snapped open, as it formed an image of the area their Queen was interested in. To them it looked like a city, one far unlike anything they had seen so far, yet if anyone felt it wasn't their destination all they had to do was glance at Sunset, as the grin on her face was enough to tell them that all of their hard work had paid off.

With the portal complete, with an icy sheen that caused everyone to pause, Sunset stepped forward as her forces simply watched her, though when she passed through the portal she found herself in front of a mountain that was near her old school, causing her to return to Azeroth for a moment.

"The way is open! Portal crafters, you will follow me through to the other side and form the frame, allowing us to link the two worlds together," Sunset stated, where she could see that many of her followers were eager to hear the command to declare war on the new world, even though it was an old one for her, and she had information to share with them, before they stepped foot in the Mirror World, "orcs, you will follow me through and act as the first wave for our assault, taking out the city that the portal spawned near and allowing us to set up the base camp for everyone else... once the portal is open, well, everyone can have some fun with the rest of this new world!"

She knew that bringing the entirety of her army was overkill, especially for Canterlot High and the city it was in, but a force of orcs were more than enough and she made sure that a number of val'kyr were with them, so as soon as everyone was ready she turned around and marched through the portal, followed by her dark army. Once they were on the other side all of those assigned to work on the portal frame got to work without pause, turning on the mountain behind them, while she and her army marched through the forest in front of them, even though it started with her orcs cutting down each of the trees in front of them. Such a thing would make things better for when the main army arrived, plus the lumber would be good for wherever her forces decided to set up their base of operations, that part hardly mattered to her, though she simply made her way through the forest without stopping. She was fine with her army getting the path ready for when it was time for them to assault Canterlot, as it allowed her to set the stage and find her targets, hence why she spread her wings and took off, zeroing in on the part of the city that she was interested in.

A few moments later she landed near the front of the statue that housed the portal back to Equus, where she found that a great deal of the damage that had been done to the front of the school building, in fact she found a crater in front of the steps, where she likely crashed into before being sent all the way to Azeroth.

"It looks like barely any time has passed on this planet, while months have passed on Azeroth." Sunset commented, not that such a thing surprised her, as while the day and night cycle of the two planets were the same, twenty-four hours that were roughly split between day and night, it seemed like there might be some time displacement for her, or maybe this was how the Principle left the school while she figured everything out, "I can still feel the magic in the air, leftover fragments from the day I used the Element of Magic... feels like a lifetime ago, back when I had small ambitions."

"Who are you?" a voice asked, where Sunset turned her head for a moment and found three girls standing nearby, sisters she had to guess, even though they had different hairstyles and outfits, the first wearing a dual purple attire while having orange colored hair, the second having purple pants with a turquoise jacket and white shirt while her hair was done up in two purple tails, and the third was the only one wearing a skirt while having arctic blue hair.

"I am Sunset Shimmer, former inhabitant of Equus turned into the Lich Queen... just as you three aren't from this world at all, aren't you?" Sunset remarked, as her reasoning for that was because each of them were wearing a red gemstone near their necks, gemstones that radiated a power that could only come from her home world, making her wonder if she had, without meaning to, discovered the infamous Sirens, causing her to ignite her power, "Yes, you three are the Sirens that did all sorts of damage to ponykind before Starswirl banished you to another world... how fitting that you would come before me, on the eve of my victory over this world and the start of my assault on Equus itself. Come, serve the Lich Queen, and I shall restore you to your prime... you will experience death for a short time, but I will raise you to back to your former glory and then some."

Sunset could see the greed in the leader's eyes as she knelt before her, causing her sisters to follow her lead, where she did nothing for a few seconds before using Frostmourne to stab each of them in their hearts, though before they collapsed she channeled her power and raised them into undeath, restoring their power to what they had been at before Starswirl had banished them to this world.

"Looks like Vinyl was right, there's an awesome dragon warrior standing near the statue." another voice remarked, though this time around Sunset recognized it, as it was one of the five she had come to find so she could install fear in them before making her final move, and when she turned her head she found that Rainbow was standing in the hole she had made in the moments before her demise at Princess Twilight's hands.

"Rainbow Dash! So nice of you to show up... and you brought the others! Wonderful." Sunset remarked, as she was happy to see that Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were standing near Rainbow, meaning she wouldn't have to search the city for them before ordering her army to lay waste to everything, and she could see that they were confused about who she was and how she knew them, "Right, you wouldn't recognize this form... you might recognize this, however."

She could see the shock and surprise on their faces as her magic washed over her, creating the illusion of what she looked like when she was still a student of this school, in fact it looked like Fluttershy was about to collapse after seeing her again, before she dismissed the illusion entirely.

"How... how are you still alive?! The Princess said that the Elements destroyed you... we've been going to therapy to get over what happened that night!" Rarity asked, where it was easy for Sunset to see that they didn't know what to make of what they were seeing right now, especially since none of them had noticed the Sirens behind her, though it made sense that she was the one that mentioned therapy, given what she recalled of the others.

"She was wrong. They sent me to another world, where I was slain and raised by the Lich King, who I served for a time before finding a way to gain the power to take over, and almost all of Azeroth belongs to me." Sunset replied, though at the same time she raised her hand and ensnared the five girls in front of her, snatching them with her magic as she raised them into the air, pulling their arms and legs out as if they were being stuck to an invisible torture device, before stopping all five of them when they reached the roof of the school, "I am Sunset Shimmer, the Lich Queen, Jailer of the Damned and Ruler of the mighty Scourge... your world will be purged in a sea of Death, where everyone will be risen to serve me and join in my quest to bring multiple worlds under my control."

"You might have gained some unnatural power, but I don't see this 'army' of yours." Applejack remarked, though while she had a feeling that Sunset was telling the truth, Princess Twilight had explained it was likely because her counterpart was the Element of Honesty or something, she was hoping that saying something like this would cause her to back off.

"Oh, but you will in time." Sunset stated, where she felt the magical energy in the air and directed their attention over to the mountain that the portal had been created near, even turning their bound forms so they could see the massive flash of energy as her forces created the portal frame that would link this world to Azeroth, before she loosed an orbs of dark green magic into the air, exploding into a signal flare, "Come, witness the end of this world!"

Sure enough the orcs she had brought with her tore through the rest of the trees, showing them the decimated forest that was now filled with animals that had been risen into undeath, before surging into the city itself, slashing at the people with their weapons and blasting them with magic. Sunset could see the expression of terror appearing on the faces of the girls she wanted to torment with his scene, while at the same time she found that the Sirens joined their new companions, as while they didn't have weapons they had been given back their magic, both their full voices and everything else they had before coming to this vast world. The girls were forced to watch as those they knew or cared about were put down by the orcish horde that had appeared outside the city, even though that gave way to terror as everyone was raised into undeath by Sunset's val'kyr, freaking out Fluttershy to the point where Sunset used her power to force her to watch everything that was going on right now. Their fear was increased when they spotted people they knew, the other students and the staff to be exact, being handed spare weapons as they were sent at the rest of the city, killing the police officers, officials, and the rest of those who dared to stand up to them or those who happened to be in their way.

Sunset smiled as she watched the scene unfold before her eyes, the city was being destroyed, it's inhabitants were being put to the sword and being raised as minions of Death, and those who sent her to Azeroth, even if it was an accident, were being forced to watch as their world was destroyed without being able to do anything to save their home.

"It doesn't matter if you wreck our world, as we gave your book to Principle Celestia and she should be sending Twilight a message to destroy the portal!" Rainbow stated, clearly finding the courage to speak after seeing all of the horrors that a fraction of her army was able to inflict upon this world, though such a thing caused Sunset to chuckle as she positioned the five of them on the roof once more, forcing them to watch what happened next, "What's so funny? You'll never be able to return to your home world once they break the portal!"

"Sure, you may have sent a message, but the book's counterpart is likely buried... they'll never get it in time." Sunset said, as she had considered such a thing while building the portal to this world, that the book would have given them a chance to break the mirror, but she already knew what to do about that, because even though the portal was offline she could still feel the connection between both worlds, "Here, allow me to demonstrate!"

In that moment Sunset turned and directed her power into the horse statue that was her target, where her magic struck it before penetrating the material to get at the connection she was after, though as the girls watched they found that a fair number of icy blue cracks were appearing in the statue and the base. That wasn't the only thing that was happening to the statue, as the cracks were starting to spread out on the ground around it, as if reality itself was breaking under the might of her terrible power, and they could tell that Sunset wasn't stopping. Once she was sure that the structure was weakened enough, which didn't take too long since the portal's magic fell to the power of Death in no time at all, Sunset flexed her power and the statue flashed with the energy she had prepared, where she could feel the way opening. In the instant that followed the entirety of the statue, horse and base, exploded as she tore it apart with her power, the force of which also breaking up everything around them as if she was breaking glass, as shards of reality floated in the courtyard of the school as the girls' eyes widened in terror.

In front of them rested a breach in the barrier between this world and Equus, the world Princess Twilight called home, a breach that seemed to be staring down at some plains between two important looking settlements, one on the side of a mountain and the other near a dark forest, and they knew that dark days were ahead of them all.

---

Celestia went over the plan that Wrathion had presented to her, Twilight, Luna, and Cadance, the last two being brought in after discovering what his first steps were to ensure things worked in their favor, namely moving the mirror portal over to the plains between Ponyville and Canterlot. His reasoning for moving it was because once Sunset invaded the world that was on the other side of it, something he and his allies were sure of, she'd conquer it and crush everyone until they were under her dark rule, before coming through it, so they wanted her to be away from any settlements. Apparently she was no longer the mare Celestia had taught once upon a time, as she had been twisted into a force of darkness that killed any being that stood in her way, be they young, adult, or even elderly, all were raised to serve Death. As such they wanted to make sure her focus was on Celestia and Luna, the strongest of the alicorns, while Twilight gathered the Elements so they could be used against Sunset, leaving Cadance to use her powers to try and stall her in some way.

Twilight, of course, had simply told her friends that a new evil might be rising and that they would be called upon to help deal with it, as she couldn't reveal the truth to them, not after all of the terrifying things she had discovered so far, but as everyone went over the plan, and what it required, a figure was permitted into the chamber they were in, since the throne room wasn't an option.

"Right, what do you have to report?" Wrathion asked, because after he met with Celestia and Twilight he introduced them to his bodyguards, two female black dragons that weren't bound to his father's madness, where 'Right' took on the form of a female human who looked more like a warrior, while 'Left' was a female orc huntress, so named based on where they stood whenever he was someplace new.

"I have... bad news." Right replied, where she huffed for a moment, mentally cursing the layout of the castle since time, at the moment, was of the essence since they needed to be ready for when their foe showed up, before straightening as she gave them her report, "Our allies were right: the Lich Queen has conquered all of Pandaria... no life exists there. However, we were told that she would take over the rest of Azeroth before making her way to the Mirror World, giving us time to get ready for her arrival... Kalecgos informed us that she's skipped that important step."

"No... that means she's attacking the Mirror World... we have less time than we originally thought." Wrathion said, which didn't need to be explained to the four alicorns, because if Sunset was getting ready to attack the other world it meant she was getting closer to attacking Equus.

As Twilight started to open her mouth, to ask what they could do now that part of the plan had been wrecked, even if she thought that sacrificing multiple worlds to stop Sunset was a foul idea, she paused as she felt the magic in the air shudder for a few seconds, causing her to bolt out of her seat and head outside. As the others rushed after her, with Wrathion and his guard following suit, Twilight pushed through the door in front of her and stepped out onto the balcony that allowed one to overlook all of Canterlot if they desired, usually what Celestia and Luna did when they moved their celestial objects to change day into night. Her focus was on the plains that were beyond Canterlot, where Luna and Cadance had carefully placed the mirror portal after leaving the Crystal Empire, though even from here she could see that something was wrong, as if the frame was being overwhelmed by some sort of foreign energy, before her eyes widened. The portal was closed, the link between worlds was so weak that it would take even her some time, and a new frame of sorts, to create a portal that was out of the cycle, and yet, despite all that, Sunset was forcing a bridge between worlds, straining the mirror in the process, something that freaked out Celestia and Luna when they noticed it.

A few moments later the mirror split in half, as if someone had torn it in half without anyone being there, though that was when a surge of magical energy rushed into the air and slammed into the sky, as if hitting a ceiling, and the sky cracked open before their eyes, as if it was make out of glass, but on the other side Twilight saw a chilling sight, Canterlot High with the human versions of her fields being held against their will as an army of death rolled over the city.

"And I will show you the true terrifying might of Death itself!" a voice said, where Twilight realized that Sunset was talking to the girls in the other world, while at the same time informing anyone listening to her that she was going to show them, meaning that danger was coming and they had to be ready.

Celestia, however, could only hope Wrathion's plan worked, otherwise they were going to be in a world of trouble with a being of darkness baring down on them, while praying that she had the strength to do everything that was needed of her in the epic battle that would decide the fate of multiple worlds.

Comments

[midnight arrow]

good chapter