The Bearers of Harmony

by Naren

The Element of Empathy

A girl watched order die. She watched it be replaced by chaos and madness, as things never meant to exist became real. Building twisted and grew, and the sky itself turned inside out. Things that were once people, and things that weren’t, stalked the ruined landscape. And the worst part was the object in the distance. A massive stone pillar, reaching to the stars themselves, sat just in the eye’s view. You could glance at it with your peripheral vision, and if you looked hard enough you may be able to get a good look. But to do so was to invite pure insanity. The Girl was cursed from the beginning of the end in order to always be able to see it. It was likely the reason she had forgotten so much.

The Girl couldn’t remember any specific details. She could remember how to do math, and speak the language she was native in, but she couldn’t remember the language’s name. She couldn't remember the name of the Building, the high school, that she was on top of. She couldn’t remember her friend's names, but she could remember their faces. She couldn’t even remember her own name. The girl was sure it started with an S, though. Perhaps that would be a suitable replacement, for now.

S walked over the rooftop of the destroyed High School, careful not to trip and fall into any of the holes in the structure. The High School was one of the only safe places left in the area, maybe even in the whole world. For some reason, one that she didn’t know, the monsters avoided the area like the plague. Instead, all you had to look out for was the dangers of a building collapsing. That, and starving and dying of dehydration. Certain areas of the school had flooded, which was a source of drinking water, if maybe not the healthiest. The Problem was the food, though. You had to leave the safety of the school to forage for remnants amongst the dead town.

Regardless, she had found food two days ago. She was fed for at least until tomorrow, which meant he could finally rest. S did just that, relaxing on top of the roof. The view was great, and it offered a perfect view of the desolate wasteland. If you could really call the ruined skyline of a once beautiful city a “view". It was as S relaxed that she heard a weird sound. It echoed all around her, and she realized too late what was happening. The Roof around her gave way, and plunged her into the depths of the school.

S awoke to find herself buried in debris. She had survived, and miraculously, not been injured. She could see that she had landed in a classroom, on the bottom floor. Thankfully the school was only two stories high, so she hadn’t fallen far. She looked up, and could still see the sky. It was painful to stare at, but she could still see it.

Slowly, and carefully, she got to her feet. The classroom was empty, with a bunch of desks bearing the window. Judging by the shattered glass and destroyed furniture, they had been unsuccessful in keeping things out. On one side of the room was a white board, with furious scribbles scrawled on every inch. Upon closer inspection, S could see that they all said the same thing.

It has Come. She Is gone. He will save us. It has Come. She is gone. He will save us. It has Come. She is gone. He will save us.

S could only make a few guesses as to what it meant. “It” could refer to the tower, but “She” and “He” rang no bells. She looked around, and saw that there was a door near the side of the board. It was shut, and there were signs that the door hadn’t been opened in quite some time. S approached the door, and slowly opened it.

There was an empty hallway on the other side, with lockers dotting the walls. To the right the hallway was blocked by debris, and to the left was a turn. S began to walk down the hall, and saw that many of the lockers had been forced open. There were a few classrooms as well, but a quick glance revealed nothing of importance.

S turned the corner to reveal more hallways. She could see more lockers, another turn, a few classrooms, and most importantly, a stairwell. She set out to reach the stairs when something caught her eye. It was a locker, unopened and the same as the others. But for some reason, S felt drawn to it. When she touched it, it felt weirdly familiar, as if she had done this action a thousand times. She moved to unlock it, and surprisingly, she was successful. She could not remember the passcode, but her hands seemed to know it.

Before She opened the door, she stopped. This was her locker. From before the end, before the Tower arrived. Her mind may have been shattered by the event, but her body remembered. She opened it, and surveyed its contents. In the bottom there was a bag, it was half open. On a shelf on top was a necklace, with a small disc attached to it. On the disc was an orange sun. The Necklace was important, somehow. In the back of the locker, S found a mirror. And for the first time since the End, since her mind and memory was shattered, S could see her reflection.

The first thing that caught her attention was her hair. It was long, stretching past her shoulders and reaching near her hips. It was a mix of red and yellow, the vibrancy of the color at odds with the wasteland. She had blue eyes, and even though she was covered in dirt and debris, her eyes shone with power. In fact, they almost appeared to be glowing. She was wearing a jacket, and beneath that jacket was a shirt with a two colored sun symbol. It was the same colors as her hair, and the same symbol as the one on the necklace.

S was finally able to take in what she looked like, instead of pushing it away and focusing on the more important things like survival. It felt good, important, like she was finally beginning to repair herself. She reached for the necklace, and the second she touched it she felt something. An energy, perhaps, but it felt right to her. She held it for a second, before putting it on. As she began to feel more repaired, she remembered the bookbag.

If this was her locker, and these were her items, then perhaps the bookbag held keys that she needed to repair herself. As she picked up the bag, she heard something behind her. A noise like a foot stepping on the ground, but not in shoes or boots, but with claws. S turned, and saw the thing.

The creature had been a person, at some point in the past. Now, it was hunched over in a wolf like manner, with two legs and two arms. On each limb was a horrifying set of claws, some stained red. It was covered in a mix of fur and the remains of clothing. Its head was the worst part, as she could see that it once had human features. They were twisted now, almost moved, transformed into a snout. It had a mane, swayed as the thing stepped. The mane looked like a pastel rainbow, with beautiful pinks, greens, and blues mixing together. The worst part of it was its eyes. It had purple eyes, and unlike the rest of the beast, they appeared to be unchanged. No, the worst part was the fact that they darted around, independent of the body. They showed a creature in pain, in fear, and most horrific, intelligence. It was as if the person’s mind was still there, trapped with a body no longer its own.

Those same eyes landed on her, and S froze. The eyes widened, and appeared to be pleading for something. S felt the necklace on her neck grow warm, and swore that she could hear a voice.

“Run. RUN SU-” That was as far as S heard before she heeded the command. She turned and sprinted down the hallway, heading towards the corner from where she had come from. She heard the beast let out a roar, before it began to gallop towards her. She turned the corner, and threw herself though an open doorway. She slammed the door shut, before hiding beneath the window.

S heard the footsteps as the thing bounded down the hallway, before it stopped suddenly. She heard it start sniffing, trying to smell where she was hiding. As it got closer, she swore that she could hear the sound of it weeping. It stopped right in front of the door she was hiding behind, and S tried to become as quiet as possible. She then felt her necklace grow warm again.

“No. I will not hurt my stud-” the voice suddenly began to scream in agony, and she heard the beast whimper. S then heard the sound of footsteps, as it moved away from the door and down the hall. She held her breath until she could no longer hear its footsteps, and then for a little bit after for good measure. S breathed in and out, and she remembered the bag she found in the locker. She sighed, as she had brought with her during her flight from the beast.

S opened it fully, and the first thing she was greeted with was a notebook. She put it to the side and continued looking. Some old snacks, clothes, a couple of books, and-score! A water bottle.
After she had finished rummaging through the bag, she turned to look at the notebook.

She had been wrong in thinking it to be a simple notebook. On its cover was that same two colored sun as the one on her necklace and shirt. Beneath that lay the four most important words she had ever seen.

Property of Sunset Shimmer.

Her name. She finally had her name back. Sunset noticed a drop of water had hit the surface of the journal, and she realized she was crying. A crucial part of herself had been restored, and it felt as though things were beginning to click together. While many memories avoided her, she couldn’t have cared less in that moment. Sunset Shimmer had her name back.

She opened the Journal to the first page, and found a small paragraph awaiting her.
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
Test 1. Test 2. I assume that this is working, and that we can finally communicate across the portal. If this does work, then you can contact me about any problems that come across.(Like the Sirens). If this did work, then I await your response on the next page.
-Princess Twilight Sparkle

Sunset looked at the page, her eyes furrowed in confusion. Some of her memories were indeed returning to her, even if they were taking a while to do so. Despite this, she had no recollection of a Twilight Sparkle. Not even a face to put it to. It was just an empty space in her head, yet it did seem like something may have belonged there.

She flipped to the next page, and sure enough more text awaited her. It was written to Twilight Sparkle, and it was from her. She could barely remember writing it though, and despite her best efforts she could not recall a Twilight Sparkle. Sunset flipped through the Journal until she got to a blank page. The page before had been covered in ink and scribbles, making it impossible to see what was written before.

As Sunset finished looking at the journal, she heard a quiet, husky breathing. She turned slowly, looking at the window in the door. She was met with a pair of wide eyes. They were a deep purple, and they stared at her in horror. Sunset could see tears begin to stream down the beast's snout. She had but a moment to scramble back before the beast threw itself into the door. Surprisingly, the door held against the hell beast. It continued to hold as the beast clawed and rammed against it. This left her in a dire situation, however. Sunset was trapped, in a classroom, and a beast that was just waiting to kill her on the other side. Tears began to rush down her face, mirroring the beast. She had just remembered her name, and was beginning to remember so much more! Now, she would be killed by a person turned into a monster in the place she thought she was safest in.

The door continued to hold, miraculously. If Sunset had decided to look, she would have seen crystal vines moving up and down the door, forming a six pointed star. But she didn’t look, and instead was trying to find a way, any way out of the mess. Her eyes, rapidly flicking around the room, landed on the Journal. It was an extremely long shot, but maybe Princess Twilight Sparkle could save her, or at least give her advice. She scrambled over the Journal, opened the blank page, grabbed a pen and began to write.
Princess Twilight Sparkle,
I need help. Something happened, and my world has been turned to pure madness and insanity. My mind has been shattered, and I just found my own name. I can’t remember any other names, and I can’t remember you at all. I have been trapped in a classroom by a person turned monster, and-and I need help. Please Twilight Sparkle, I need help.
-Sunset Shimmer.

As soon as she finished writing the plea for help, Sunset heard a sound and froze. She heard a crack. Just as when she fell into the school, she realized too late what was happening. Sunset turned to face the door, and saw it shatter into a hundred pieces. Everything began to move in slow motion. She saw the beast stalk into the room, she felt the necklace begin to warm once more, and she began to hear the voice.

“NO! I will not let you hurt her! Never AGAIN!” As Sunset heard this, the beast let out a roar that shook the room. It paused and began to shake, before slamming a claw into itself. The claw tore a bloody path across its chest, with the beast letting out a cry. It collapsed to the ground, shaking as a person and a monster fought for control of the body. Just as Sunset was getting her breath in order, she felt something weird. It felt like water flowing around her, slowly picking in strength and speed. Then she felt something massive slam into her mind.

“Take It! Take Para, Sunset!” A voice shouted directly into her mind. The volume and power of it made her stumble backwards, and she nearly tripped over something. As she closed her eyes she felt the pressure retreat, but it left something behind, something that held an immense power of its own. In her mind, Sunset tugged at the power, and she felt it hold a second before relenting and beginning to move. Power, magical power washed around her, before flowing around her arms and into her hands.

As she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a miraculous sight. In her hands lay an intricate and beautiful sword. It was made of a silvery metal, and faint gold lines crossed the blade and guard. On the hilt was a glowing pink six pointed star. Similar Pink energy surrounded the blade, but it was mixing with another color. The second color was surrounding her hands, and it was flowing into the blade. It was a crimson red, and Sunset realized, or remembered, that this was her magic.

Before she could inspect Para closer, a noise drew Sunset’s attention. The beast, still on the ground and a puddle of blood surrounding it, was staring at the blade. Its eyes, for once, looked to be at peace as if it knew what would happen next. In fact, Sunset could feel the sword pulling at her, as if trying to move on its own. She let herself be pulled by it, and it brought her to stand right in front of the creature. The beast closed its eyes, and waited as the sword pulled itself higher in the air.

Sunset felt the sword begin its descent, and once more, time slowed to a crawl. Para was heading in a direct downward arc, and it would kill the beast if it made contact, she was sure of that. Something, however, felt off. The beast had tried to kill her, and judging by red stains on its claws, it had killed others as well. But she couldn't bring herself to end it. It was reasonable for its actions, they were forced upon it and it was made to watch. As Sunset fought to pull the sword away from a killing blow, she could feel its intent. Para was trying to end the creature as a mercy, and so blade and person clashed their wills against each other.

In the end, Sunset won. She felt the blade relent, and could feel as it changed its arc. Para slammed into the ground before the beast, and she could feel her necklace begin to warm up, so hot it almost felt like it was burning her. Red magic flowed around the blade, her magic mixing with the power of the sword. It understood her intent, and it would do all it could to help here.

Sunset kneeled down, so that she was eye level with the beast. She raised her left hand, and placed it on the thing's shoulder. She felt the power around the sword surge, and could watch as red energy coursed down her arm and into the beast. As it did, Sunset could feel something within the beast’s mind. There were two presences, with the first being much more powerful than the second. Sunset closed her eyes, and she found herself in a black void.

Two things sat before her, a beast and a girl. The beast was towering over the girl, foam dripping from a snarling mouth. The girl, however, had curled into a ball and was silently weeping. Her pastel rainbow hair was torn and frayed, and in front of her was a small object. It was a sun, but in a different shape to hers. It was more rounded, with all the rays coming off the circle in the center being the same size. Or rather, it had been a sun. Now it was shattered into multiple pieces, with the beast all but stepping on it.

As Sunset approached the duo, it was the beast who noticed her first. It turned in her direction, and it let out a growl as a warning to her continuing advancements. In response, Sunset simply led out her hand, and a soft glow emanated from it. The beast's ears flattened to the back of its head and it let out a small whimper before scuttling backwards.

The girl on the other hand, simply looked up at the outstretched hand. With tears still streaming down her face, she shied back from the hand, and the light. Sunset gave a small frown, before dropping to one knee to look at the girl. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder, and the girl smiled as she looked Sunset directly into eyes. Sunset again stretched her hand out, open to the girl. The Girl stared at the hand, at the soft light, before she finally accepted and took it with her own. There was a flash of light, and the sun that had lain shattered was now whole once more. It was pinned to her left chest, and the girl looked at it with sorrowful fondness.

The two of them turned to face the beast, slowly standing up. Sunset helped the girl up, with the girl not taking her eyes off the beast for a second. It was crouched down, whimpering softly. The girl, gaining more strength by the second, approached the beast. She moved her hand outwards, outstretched so that the creature could take it, same as she had just done. The beast stared at the hand, before making a quick glance toward Sunset. It then stared at the girl, before slowly shaking its head. As it did so, it dispersed into the shadows, leaving only Sunset and the girl.

Sunset blinked, and she found herself in the real world once more. She was eye to eye with the creature, who was staring into her eyes. Small tears formed at the corner of its eyes, and Sunset could feel her necklace grow warm once more.

“Thank you. Thank you, Sunset.” The beast, no, the girl said to her mind. While it still held the form of a beast, the girl who had once owned the body was once more in control. As Sunset looked at her, she could see a small pin over her left chest. An eight pointed sun, same as the one the girl was wearing, had formed there. Sunset had no words that could describe what she felt, so instead she opted to throw her arms around the once-person. The wolf-like human hesitated before carefully returning the gesture.

When they eventually separated, Sunset could feel her exhaustion slam into her. It was like that power from earlier, except this time it was completely physical and not related to magic in any way. She stumbled and began to fall backwards, before she felt something cushion her fall. The creature had caught her, and the last thing Sunset saw before drifting into unconsciousness was the girl trying to smile at her despite her snout and non-human face.

Sunset found herself in a place that was oddly familiar. She was in a large hall, with stained glass windows dotting the walls. A carpet ran to the end of the hall, where a raised dais had been constructed. A throne, for what else could you call a chair made of solid gold and red velvet, sat on top of dais. Banners hung around the hall, made with exquisite patterns inscribed into them. The hall was completely empty, and no one could be seen, which felt odd to her.

“A beautiful room, don’t you think?” a voice asked her. It was soft, but most definitely masculine. The sudden noise made her jump out her skin, even as she turned to face the speaker. She didn’t have to turn far, as she spotted him facing one of the glass windows. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his gaze didn’t deviate from looking out the window. Sunset tried to speak, but no words came out of her mouth.

“You don’t need to try, as it can be quite difficult to speak in a dream. Especially when your sanity has just started to repair itself.” He said, in a calm and soft tone. Sunset blinked a few times, before watching him turn around. He was wearing armor, unlike most, or any she had seen before. It is grayish silver, and was highlighted with golden accents. On his chest plate she could see two winged unicorns, and Sunset swore she should be able to know what they were.

“They are called Alicorns, Sunset. Majestic creatures capable of moving celestial bodies themselves. Worry not, your memories will come back to you as time passes.” He said. While she was surprised at what appeared to be him reading her mind, if she was lucid dreaming things didn’t have to make as much sense.

"Not reading, just making an inferenced guess."

She went back to studying his armor, and she found two strange symbols on his pauldron. One was the same sun symbol that she saw the girl wearing, and below that was a crescent moon on a pink background. Connecting his pauldrons to his chestplate were two circle joints, each with a different symbol on it. On the one connecting his left pauldron was a pink six pointed star, the same one that was on the sword, Para. On the joint connecting his right pauldron was a blue shield, with three gold stars above it. Around his waist were pieces of metal that extended in an almost skirt like fashion, with two on each side of his legs. In between them, in front of his legs, was a dark piece of cloth. The two symbols from his pauldron joints had been placed there. The pink star had been placed on top of the shield, with the three golden stars just above the shield. Just as he was done inspecting him, he spoke again.

“I haven’t introduced myself, have I? I know your name, but you do not know mine. I am The Knight-Regent, but you may simply call me Knight.” He said. Sunset stared at him, still unable to speak. Knight was about to say something else, but was cut off by a horrible, earth-shattering roar.

“I suppose that’s my cue, then. Before I go, I have some very important advice for you. Sunset Shimmer, you must find the Bearers of Harmony. With them, take Para to the Tower and destroy it. Stop the invasion, and save your world.” The Knight-Regent said, before two massive wings unfolded from his back. They extended to fill much of the room, and with a pink flash he disappeared.

Sunset opened her eyes to find sunlight streaming into the room. She sat up, and found that she was still in the classroom. She turned to find that she had been sleeping on the creature. She felt something begin to click in her head, and she realized who exactly had been transformed into the beast. Pastel rainbow hair, that sun symbol, and the fact that she was in the school. Sunset remembered her name, and felt the weight that it carried.

“Celestia.” Sunset rasped, her voice hoarse as it hadn’t been used for quite a while. Celestia stirred at the sound of her name, but she didn’t wake up. She slept peacefully, probably for the first time in months. For the first time since the End, Sunset found that the future looked just a little brighter.

Author's Note:

While this was originally intended to be a short story, I can't help but feel the urge to continue Sunset Shimmer's journey though a land of Madness and Horror. Do leave any criticism that you may find, as it will only help me grow as a writer. Ave Harmony.

Comments

[Danyram1308]

Interesting start, let's see where it leads.

[Pete100]

Are we gonna see the girls use their powers in fights?

[AxelFones]

This is honestly fascinating.