I Am a Monster

by J3sterking

The Start of It

Sunset Shimmer had always ignored the looks she got. It had somehow gotten harder when the school wasn’t trying to hide their disdain for her.

Her few friends didn’t appear to have sat down yet, so she sat near their customary place—near enough to talk to any of them that thought it’d be nice to talk with her, but not so close as to disrupt any of the other students that wanted to talk to one of the five, as had happened several times. Sunset had felt so guilty when they walked away…

Someone sat down at her other side. Sunset looked up in surprise to see the school’s local DJ, Vinyl Scratch sitting down besides her, looking somewhat awkward. At least, as far as body language was concerned, given that Vinyl still wore the massive goggles that were her signature item.

Sunset decided to let her talk at her own pace.

Most of the students who came to her demanding apologies for how she’d acted hadn’t done so around her five friends, and only rarely in the cafeteria. But with how Vinyl was acting, that didn’t seem to be what she was here for.

“So…” Vinyl cleared her throat. “You’re, like, from another world, right?”

Sunset was smart, and began to have one or two ideas what this might be about. “Yeah.”

“So, are any of the, like, traditional fantasy monsters in...um...your home...world?”

“The country I am from is called Equestria,” Sunset corrected, trying her best at being gentle. Modulating her tone wasn’t hard, actually—she’d already been doing that for years before her reformation. “As for the question...for the most part, yes. We’ve got manticores, dragons, gryphons—though the latter two species object to the term ‘monster’, in the rare cases where they interact with ponies.”

“Aren’t...aren’t gryphons supposed to eat horses?” Vinyl asked slowly.

“Historically speaking, gryphon raids have been uncommon,” Sunset replied, trying to remember all the details from Equestrian history. She’d excelled at it, like everything, but it had been a great many years since she had lived in Equestria. “Gryphons have never had anything resembling a unified city, except for their one and only king, but that was centuries ago. For the most part, I’m not sure what they eat nowadays. I don’t think they’re obligate carnivores, so…” She paused, then looked into Vinyl’s goggles. “Sorry, am I rambling?”

“I did ask,” Vinyl chuckled. “That is fascinating, though. Are their other creatures? You mentioned manticores and gryphons, so, what about other mythologies?”

“I know there were hippogriffs, at least at one point,” Sunset said. “Trade with them ceased abruptly two to three hundred years ago. It’s remained a mystery since. Manticores aren’t common. Then we have cockatrices, a few legends related to sphinxes, I think I remember a reference to sirens one time, but that was really ancient history and I don’t really remember that. Oh! You’ll get a kick out of this—there is a Cerberus guarding the gates of Tartarus!”

Vinyl seemed like she’d been about to ask a question, but stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry, Tartarus? I thought...it was the land of rainbows...and unicorns, and the magic of friendship…”

“It’s used as a magical prison,” Sunset said. One that I probably would have been sent to if Princess Celestia hadn’t chosen to send Princess Twilight…

“Are there vampires?”

Her line of thought broken, she blinked, looking at Vinyl. “Vampires?”

“You know, the--” She swept one arm in front of her like she was wearing a cape. “—‘I vant to suck your blud’ type,” she said, in an exaggerated Transylvanian accent.

Sunset laughed at her theatrics, then stopped when she thought it might be rude. Vinyl was grinning, though, ear to ear. “I’ve been reading Twilight,” she said. “That, and I found Concrete Blonde’s collection of vampire music, so I got curious.”

“As far as werewolves are concerned, Equestria’s seen head nor tail of even the faintest myths of werewolves,” Sunset said. “Given that it means ‘man-wolf’, I assume there’s never been anything like that in Equestria. As far as vampires? We have myths over there, but there’s never been any concrete evidence.” She shrugged. “I have a theory that humans have myths pertaining to Equestrian creatures because every once in a while, one finds its way over here and…” She gestured to herself. “Well, doesn’t turn into a human.”

“Huh. That sounds plausible enough. Seems too convenient that the portal out front turns everything that comes through into a human, anyway.”

Sunset nodded. “Especially as it was a specially crafted relic, too. If there was a naturally occurring portal somewhere…”

“Then it might lead to something coming through, yet retaining its true form and not--” Vinyl gestured at her. “--turning into an Isekai protagonist.”

Sunset chuckled. “Well, in oh-so-many words, yes.”

Vinyl turned back to her food, seeming to think. Sunset decided to let her, turning to her own plate and deciding to finish her food before she had to return to class.

“I’d love to keep chatting about this sometime,” Vinyl mused. “It all sounds neat.”

As if a word like ‘neat’ could possibly describe the intricacies of interdimensional travel. Sunset smiled, then said, “Yeah, neat.”

As Sunset stepped out of the school, she almost had a spring in her step. Given that she’d been noticeably feeling upset here lately, Fluttershy took that as a good sign.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset said, waving as she got close. “We still up for movie night?”

It was almost a running joke, at this point. Sunset had, at first, assumed they didn’t really want anything to do with her, so that was her code of asking if she was welcome. She’d never really stopped asking, but they could tell it was a slightly different edge now.

At least, they hoped so, anyway.

“Of course!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, punching her shoulder excitedly. “Though you and Vinyl talking about vampires over there probably put a spin on what Rarity was choosing tonight.”

“Please, Rainbow,” Rarity said. “I was on the verge of choosing it anyway. Sunset merely made up the deciding factor.”

“Uh huh, if you say so,” Applejack said, folding her arms over her chest. “Sunset, you need a ride?”

Sunset nodded. “If—if you don’t mind.”

“’Course not, sugar! You’re great company to have around!”

Sunset nodded, but didn’t look convinced. Watching her struggle with herself made Fluttershy almost want to laugh sometimes.

Compared to how Fluttershy herself used to act, Sunset Shimmer’s bullying was downright tame. Like Rainbow Dash’s playful punches, or Pinkie Pie’s spontaneity.

“I’m bringing popcorn marshmallows!” Pinkie exclaimed. “So I’ll need to stop by my house before we start, because we can’t have popcorn marshmallows without syrup!”

Fluttershy let out a quiet giggle.

“Popcorn—” Sunset blinked, frowning. “How the hay…”

“If you haven’t learned by now, it’s best not to ask questions,” Applejack said, putting a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Who’s place we watching at?”

“Who’s place are we watching at,” Rarity corrected. “Pinkamena’s was last time, Fluttershy’s the time before that…”

“My place this time, right?” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“It’s a bit cramped, though, for six people,” Rarity pointed out. “Perhaps my place?”

Applejack turned to Sunset. “Maybe we could sit at your place, Sunset. Though, now that I think about it, Ah’m not sure exactly where ya even live.”

Sunset suddenly shifted, looking tense and awkward as everyone stared at her. “Well, um, it’s a cheap, crappy house a short walk away from here. And—it’s smaller than Rainbow’s place, so…”

Applejack frowned at that, but said nothing.

“Then let’s do my place this time,” Rarity said decisively. “Not that you’re place isn’t lovely, Sunset, I’m sure it is, but six of us in a place even the size of Rainbow Dash’s is a bit much.”

Sunset nodded enthusiastically. “My place suits my needs, but, um, I’m afraid it doesn’t suit much more. I could pay for the popcorn this time!”

“If it’s my house, then I refuse to let someone else pay for the popcorn,” Rarity said indignantly. She was supposed to represent—generosity, was it? Was that what Princess Twilight had said?

Yes, and Fluttershy was kindness. Which she found kind of funny.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but Applejack interrupted. “Everyone else have a ride?”

“Um, I think I could? If it wouldn’t...be to much of a bother,” Fluttershy asked, trailing off towards the end.

“Course it wouldn’t! My truck seats three just fine!” Applejack said. “We’ll meet up at your place, Rarity. And I know you won’t let me pay for all the popcorn, but Rainbow and I eat the most of it, so I’ll pay ya for one of the bags. I insist.”

Rarity opened her mouth to object, then shrugged. “Fine, darling. I’m in too high spirits to argue you down from this one.”

Applejack’s mouth quirked up—to date, Rarity hadn’t yet succeeded at talking Applejack down from paying for one of the bags. But she said nothing, just moved into the driver’s seat. Fluttershy began moving to the back seats, but ran right into Sunset. Sunset’s eyes widened briefly, and she said, “Oh, um, I’ll just take shotgun, then. If—you don’t want it…”

Fluttershy didn’t want it. She shook her head. “I tend to be more comfortable in the back,” she said, opening up the door and sliding in.

Sunset sighed in relief, getting into the shotgun seat and buckling herself in. Applejack began pulling out, then turned her eyes to the road ahead of them. “Let’s see...she lives in the fancy part of town, right?”

“The mansion with the purple roof,” Sunset agreed. Sometimes, she seemed to hate taking any form of leadership positions, but Fluttershy knew that wasn’t the case. Sunset was afraid of herself.

Fluttershy related to that.

“Right, right,” Applejack muttered. “Like, I get farmhouses, right? Me and my kin all live in there. It can get up to eight or more people in one house. But why the hay do four people need a house big enough to fit a tractor in?”

Applejack had the tendency to replace ‘hell’ with ‘hay’, and...a certain other word with ‘buck’. Fluttershy found it funny, and wondered how Applejack would react if she spouted off some of the ones she knew.

“Er...I hate to say this, but I grew up in a castle,” Sunset pointed out.

Applejack seemed surprised. “What? I thought taking the crown was so you could be royalty.”

“I wasn’t royalty,” Sunset said, somewhat snappishly. “Wasn’t then, and never will.” She shuddered from the idea. “But I was the Princess’s personal student. Think of it like a fancy dorm room. With….my own personal maid. Did I mention that this ‘dorm’ consists of almost six different rooms?”

“Rainbow’s house barely has six rooms,” Applejack breathed.

“I suppose it’s just a matter of comfort,” Fluttershy said, seeing that Sunset wasn’t liking the conversation. “Some people might find the giant manors convenient, while others might get scared by all the empty rooms.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “Yeah. I...didn’t used to get that. When people—ponies—said they preferred smaller houses, I normally thought they were trying to trick me somehow.”

Applejack was silent for a minute. “This might be a touchy subject, Sunset...but...do you actually have a house right now? You’re not living, like, in some abandoned warehouse or somethin’ like that?”

Sunset was silent for a minute, then actually laughed. A good sign. “Of course not! I do have a house! I might have, um, absconded with a few jewels and such before leaving Equestria. The Equestrian bit is not an accepted form of currency round here, nor are they pure gold, as I quickly discovered. But the jewels are quite a bit more valuable here than in Equestria. Enough so that I afforded, well, a small and crappy, but cheap, house.”

Applejack nodded. “A’right, but I’d still like to take a look at it tomorrow, after school. If it’s too bad, Sunset, you can stay at my place—Lord knows we have the extra bed.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose--”

“You living in a dirty, rundown house without any necessities would be me imposing on you!” Applejack retorted. “It’s nice that you’re making a very good effort to change, girl, but try and have some self-worth.”

“O-kay. I’ll try.” Sunset let out a breath. “But please, I’ve been living there for almost six years now. Try and have some faith, okay?”

“I’ll head along with,” Fluttershy said. “We can all hang out, play some games…”

Sunset seemed to perk up slightly. “Oh, that sounds fun.”

Applejack pulled to a stop outside Rarity’s house. “Yeah, three friends sitting round, lookin’ out for each other, having fun...exactly what good friends do!”

Fluttershy felt the magic before she saw it. A direct pulse of magic ran through the car, and a small, circular rainbow ran around all three of them, for a single second, then disappeared.

And far off in the distance, Fluttershy heard something shatter. Something priceless. Something she needed.

Applejack looked up in alarm. “What in tarnation?” she demanded. “Was that--”

“I—I don’t know,” Sunset said. “I majored in all magic but friendship magic! I—I don’t think it even did anything, right?”

“The car’s still workin’ fine,” Applejack said, patting the radio. She pulled out the keys, and the car turned off. “It’s not powered by rainbows now, I guess.”

“I don’t know what that was. Fluttershy!” Sunset spun around quickly, and she and Applejack both sighed in relief when they both saw she was still sitting there. “You okay?”

“Um, I think so?” Fluttershy shrugged. “I do need to use the restroom, but, um, that’s all, I guess.”

NO IT WAS NOT ALL THE DAMPENER WAS SMASHED THE DAMPENER WAS SMASHED--

Applejack laughed. “Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Maybe we hold off on giving speeches on the value of friendship for the time being, eh?”

“Call me crazy,” Sunset said slowly, unbuckling her seat belt, “but...Princess Twilight gave that whole speech and all right before she blasted me with the Elements. I thought she was just being dramatic, or trying to finally get a friendship lesson through this thick skull of mine, but...what if that triggers it?”

“We’ll ask the others,” Applejack decided. “Come on, let’s head in.”

Fluttershy managed to exchange one or two pleasantries with Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash—Rarity and Pinkie Pie hadn’t arrived yet—but she quickly excused herself and made her way Rarity’s closest restroom.

She stumbled inside, closing the door behind her. She looked into the mirror, and opened her mouth wide.

Upon a reflexive motion she hadn’t done in so long, two long, four inch fangs slipped out of her upper jaw, and her eyes turned a dark, deep red.

It shouldn’t have been possible. The dampener—it should be keeping her from having any of the normal signs of vampirism! But she’d felt it break. Friendship magic had released her powers back to her.

And with it, the old curse. She felt the familiar hunger, rising inside her. Her bloodlust.

Author's Note:

In terms of giving credit to inspiration, this fic came about when I saw the video "Different View of Shyness" by Killme2paza on YouTube, which put Fluttershy as a vampire pretending to be shy so she could learn to be kind (at least, that's how I interpreted it into my writing).
This lead to me getting the idea to make a full series out of it, with a "different view" for the different characters, except primarily in the Equestria Girls setting. (I guess because I like Sunset Shimmer?) If all goes well, do expect me to write more of these, and if you guys would like a sequel, leave a comment! No promises that I will make a sequel, and I will mention it if a story is closed off and will NOT have a sequel.