I Am a Monster

by J3sterking

Our Past Is Not Today

"My past does not define me, cause my past is not today!"

Sunset Shimmer in "My Past Is Not Today"

Dear Princess Celestia,

It seems everything's going good over here. Admittedly, I think a lot of us were a little 'up-in-the-air' about it for a bit, but things seem to have worked out. Fluttershy especially has settled into being much more comfortable, and has even written a vampire song for our band that we plan on singing for Halloween (this world's version of Nightmare Night).

Our band itself is a little...strange, I should say? We all play wildly different instruments, but thanks to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the music still sounds good. We've also had a few minor arguments, but it was just over silly little things and we worked those out, even if Rainbow Dash still refers to it as 'her' band occasionally.

What I think is the most strange is that I'm a part of it, actually. Only a couple of months ago, they wouldn't have wanted me anywhere near it, but now, they sought me out so they could have fun with me, too. And it's not just them, the entirety of the student body seems more comfortable with me! I was half-worried that they might go back to treating me like they did once the bruise faded, and the bandages came off, but no. There are still a few holdouts--people like Wallflower, though she, at least, isn't mean about it. We just acknowledge that she doesn't particularly like me.

Things are really looking up for me, Princess Celestia. I'm of the mind that I should have listened to you much sooner, but also, if I had, I wouldn't have met all these amazing friends. But what about the friends I could have met in Equestria that I never did? Ugh...

I suppose I shouldn't really be concerned about it, regardless. The past is the past, right? Either way, it is not today, and I'm free to make my own future.

Your faithful student, Sunset Shimmer

P.S. Give my thanks to Princess Twilight, next time you see her! I owe her big time for all this!

Sunset closed the journal, smiling to herself.

"I'm just saying that wearing something a little more decent than our standard school wear might be appreciated, Applejack," Rarity said.

"And Ah'm just sayin' that no one's gonna care what we're wearing, Rarity," Applejack said pointedly. The two were busy glaring daggers at each other, there instruments still strapped on around their shoulders.

"Girls--" Fluttershy said, too quietly for neither the fashionista nor the cowgirl to hear.

"We're going to be representing the school, Applejack. I, for one, think we should at least care about proper decorum."

"Girls--"

"And Ah, for one, think that only students are gonna be there, and ain't none of 'em gonna care if we're wearing your frilly fru-fru dresses!"

"Girls--"

"For the last time, Applejack! 'Ain't' is a contraction for 'I am not'! It is not a word you can just shove into any sentence and have it remain grammatically correct!"

"Girls--"

"Consarn it, Rarity! We both know that that ain't the concern right now!"

"That AIN'T the concern, Applejack?"

"GIRLS!" Fluttershy shouted, eyes turning bright red. When both turned to look at her, they immediately faded to their normal color. "Oh, um, sorry, nevermindyoucangobacktoarguingnowso--"

"Rarity, can you take a moment to appreciate that maybe some people...uh, really don't care that much about the clothing?" Rainbow Dash said. "I don't mind, really, but...fashion isn't everyone's cup of tea."

"And Applejack, would it kill you if wear something that was...like, slightly fashionable?" Sunset paused after saying that. "Uh, no offense to your current outfit. But I'm just saying it would make Rarity happy, and it wouldn't hurt you?"

Rarity and Applejack shared a look, then both giggled.

"Well, I suppose those are fair points," Rarity said. "I am not above admitting to being at fault. Or, 'ain't' above it."

"Ah'm pretty sure yer wrong about that," Applejack muttered. "And, fine, if you wanna stick me in somethin' that's not...well, not makin' me look like a dandy, I'd be fine with that."

Sunset checked the time, smiling. "Well, as much as I enjoyed band practice today, I gotta go. I volunteered to show some new students around the school."

"That's awful kind of you, sugar," Applejack said, tipping her hat. "See ya Thursday?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Any world," Sunset assured her. She grinned at Rarity. "Ain't that the truth?' she said with an over-exaggerated cowgirl accent.

She left the room to the chorus of laughs. Sunset moved through the school, and as she passed students on their way to various activities most called out to her.

"Hey, Sunset!" Lyra said. "See you Friday?"

"You bet!" Sunset called out. "Hey, Firecracker. You exploded any time recently?"

"Har de har, Sunset," Firecracker said, smiling and rolling her eyes. "The grill was busted."

"It was also still on while you were messing with the propane tank," Sunset said as she passed her. "Don't expect people to stop making fun of you until the hair regrows on your arm."

Firecracker raised the remains of one of her eyebrows. "Trip and hit any interesting staircases recently?" she asked dryly.

Sunset rubbed the last remnants of the bruise on her face. "Okay, fair enough."

She passed other students, giving similar greetings, before ending up in the main foyer, where three girls awaited. "You must be the new girls," she said. "I'm Sunset Shimmer. Welcome to CHS!"

"Yes, we've been pretty excited to come here," one of the girls said. She wore a violet punk outfit, which should have clashed with her head full of orange curls, but somehow, it worked for her. Sunset found her attention drawn to the one person who could give Pinkie's hair a run for its money--she had a great mane of bouncy orange curls, sticking out on every side of her face. "You can call me Adagio. These are my sisters, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk."

"A pleasure to meet you three," Sunset said, shaking Adagio's hand. Aria didn't seem the least bit interested in shaking hands, so Sunset shook Sonata's next.

"Pleasure to meet you, too," Sonata said. "What happened to your face?"

Aria shot her a look, but Sunset only laughed. "A bit of an embarrassing mishap," she admitted. "If you think it looks bad now, then you should have seen it the day after I got it."

"I can only imagine," Adagio said sympathetically. "It doesn't look great with your complexion."

Sunset chuckled. "Yeah, I noticed," she said. "Anyway, let me show you around." She began leading them to different school rooms, making small talk on the way. The three girls were fairly tight-lipped about themselves, she noted. They seemed intent on brushing off any question that sounded like, "Have you done that before", and despite the fact that they were transfer students, they didn't seem to know too much about how schools worked. Sunset dismissed it as her being paranoid.

"Oh! We're having a musical showcase very soon," Sunset said, gesturing to one of the posters that a fellow student had hung up. "Everyone's getting together to show off their own musical style. You could sign up!"

"That could be fun," Adagio said. "We are musically gifted, after all." She completed this with a smile to her sisters.

"Well, duh," Sonata said. "It's how we get people to do what we wan--oof." Aria elbowed her hard in the ribs as Sunset's "I-am-currently-in-danger" warning gave off a few chimes.

Overreacting, or under-reacting?

"Um..." Conversation change, stat. "Those are pretty," she said, pointing to Adagio's necklace. Both the others wore one curiously like it. "Where'd you--"

Her hand hadn't even been particularly close to them, but Adagio's hand snapped forward, caging Sunset's wrist in a grip that was strong enough to have her gasping in pain. Adagio let go quickly, but Sunset just stepped back, rubbing the fresh scarring on her wrist.

Adagio's eyes flickered in surprise, seeing the scarring. "Oh, um, sorry," Adagio said. "These are very important to us, so--" Her hair bounced in a sudden breeze as her hand shot towards her own, suddenly empty, throat.

"Yeah, I reeeeeally bet they are, Adagio," Fluttershy said pointedly. With the punk outfit that she had started wearing to school--Sunset had a picture of Bon-Bon's reaction as her phone background--she looked like she fit right in with the three new girls.

All of whom went completely colorless upon seeing Fluttershy. "I thought you'd died," Adagio said simply. "Everyone lost sight of you back in the twenties."

"I wanted a change of pace, and scenery," Fluttershy said. "Made my first ever friends in '98." She shrugged, then smiled. She tossed the gem back to Adagio. "I'll take over from here, Sunset."

"Um, you sure? They friends of yours?"

"Well, not yet," Fluttershy said, "but they were the closest I got."

"Right. I'll leave you to it, then," Sunset said slowly, backing out of the situation, more than a little relieved.

"'Not yet'?" Adagio asked, fastening her gem back around her throat.

"Of course. While I'm afraid I can't let you...uh, do whatever it is you normally do, you're free to stay here." She gave her a smile. "Maybe you could meet the people who made me give friendship a chance."

"It certainly sounds like a proposition, Fluttershy," Adagio said. "But we were here because we felt magic from our home. Real magic that we can actually use, that's not the...more vile magics of this world." She shuddered at the thought.

"But--" Fluttershy paused. "Are you Equestrian?"

"The fuck's an Equestrian?" Sonata asked.

"It was their lame-ass country," Aria said with an eye-roll.

Adagio slammed her hand into her face. "As a matter of fact, we are not Equestrian. Not only were we from the opposite side of the world, we predate the country." She paused. "I think we did, anyway. I never cared too much about what the silly ponies were doing."

"So what were you going to do with it?" Fluttershy asked. "The magic."

"What we've always been trying to do. Get everything we've deserved." She closed her eyes, seemingly savoring the thought. "Fame. Adoration."

"Obtained with mind control?" Fluttershy asked. "You know, that won't be adoration."

"Of course it will be," Adagio snapped.

"You can make them jump when you say, you can make their hands clap, but there is literally nothing that can force someone to legitimately love you, Adagio," Fluttershy said. She reached over, putting a hand on Adagio's shoulder. "While it's a bit more work, letting them choose to love you is much more rewarding."

"You've changed."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Fluttershy said, smiling. "After all, you remember the old me, hmm?"

Adagio stared her in the face. "I suppose it's pointless arguing either way, hmm? You won't let us take the magic."

"Weeeeell, no, not really," Fluttershy admitted. "But I'd rather convince you not to then force you."

"We'll...have to see," Adagio said slowly. "By the way, that other girl. She knows what you are? I saw the bite."

Fluttershy winced. "I, um, had a tiny bit of an accident," she admitted. "Turns out, old me was so scary that even I was scared of her."

"They didn't call you 'Flutterbitch' for nothing," Adagio smirked.

"Didn't we start them doing that?" Sonata asked.

Aria hit her hard with her elbow. "She doesn't know that," Aria hissed.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out," Fluttershy said, eyes briefly turning red. "But it was pretty fitting, and kind of funny." She giggled. "Yes, my closest friends know, but it's not exactly common knowledge around the school." She paused. "Did you have a gameplan for Celestia, actually?"

"We had a song rehearsed," Adagio said. "It should work on her, right? Your Stare did."

Fluttershy nodded. "Well, that's true, I suppose. Why not you come along? I'll introduce you to my friends."

"People you call friends," Adagio murmured. "Humans?"

"Yes. Every--well, every one of them but Sunset, anyway. She's a unicorn from Equestria."

Adagio seemed surprised at that. "Well. I suppose can't be completely worthless if you're vouching for them, hmm?"

"I don't think anyone is completely worthless," Fluttershy said.

"Is that why you got our help to kill Sombra? Because he wasn't one of the worst people to ever live?"

Fluttershy hesitated. "Well, I mean..." She thought it over. "Sombra was horrible. He was vile, he murdered my parents, tortured me and many others. But once upon a time, he had something good inside him, right? And I am remiss that I never saw it."

"Perhaps," Adagio said. "Well, then, let's go meet your friends."

---

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

I'm glad to hear that you are doing alright. Your new friends sound lovely, and I'm glad that they, too, have forgiven you. Twilight says that it was no problem at all, by the way, and that she was glad for the opportunity to make some friends. Next time the portal opens, I'll give you another journal so you can talk to her, as well.

In fact, next time the portal opens, we might pay you a visit. It would be wonderful to talk to you face-to-face again, and to hear the music you and your friends play. Though it would probably be best if you informed my doppelganger of any such plans--and apologize on my behalf for the incident that occurred during my last visit (See? We all make mistakes, Sunset.)

As far as Fluttershy's plight is concerned? I'm glad that she managed to make amends for her past. My sister was, for a time, in a similar situation, and if you require any further help, I can share some of her experiences with forgiveness. I'm certain she would be glad to help.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that nothing of note has happened here since I last wrote to you. It's been simply more of the same as it's always been--stuffy politicians arguing with each other. When you mentioned that your country in the human world is run without a single person able to make a decision and say, 'that is final', I must confess, I don't know how they can possibly accomplish anything.

Of course, who am I to complain about that? Equestria has done very little these past thousand years, so perhaps it wouldn't be much different. But even if nothing will be accomplished, I still must go and manage my country.

With love, Princess Celestia

Sunset smiled, closing the book again.

"So, everything's alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"Absolutely," Sunset said, setting the journal on her bag.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's play!" Rainbow said, doing a fake strum on her guitar.

Sunset jumped over besides her friends, strapping on her own guitar. "Ready!" she said.

She grinned as Pinkie counted to four, banging her drumsticks together, and when finished, Sunset struck the chords on her guitar, and began to play.

Author's Note:

Well, this one's done! I'm glad you guys came to the end with me, here. The pacing of this one definitely feels a little weird to me, but I hope it was enjoyable anyway.
I will say that well-intentioned constructive criticism is welcome, but hatred for the sake of hatred will be ignored.
Anyway, I do have plans for the remainder of the other 'Alternative' stories for this plan. I'm currently writing the one for Rainbow Dash, as well as occasionally writing original work I intend to publish and an EQ/RWBY crossover. The Rainbow Dash one is coming well under way, you can probably expect it within the next two months.
All that said, I thank you for giving my fic a chance, and I hope it was at least worth the time spent on it. Well wishes to all, and I'll see you next time around!

Comments

[zachary12]

great job on story

[J3sterking]

11598705
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it, feedback from you guys means a lot to me

[a creature]

T'was quite good! It's a shame it didn't get more attention. Thank you.

[J3sterking]

11599315
If I had been writing for the attention, I wouldn't have gotten this far, but it is nice all the same! Glad you enjoyed it!

[Wishesshecouldwritegood]

Awww it’s already done? I was enjoying it so much! Loved it so so much. Thank you for this!

[J3sterking]

11600463
Glad you enjoyed! I do have some plans for a sequel, but I wanted to write some fics for the other members of the Mane 7 first, so it might take a while.

[Wishesshecouldwritegood]

11600584
Ooh, well looking forward to your next works! Will keep on the lookout for a sequel eventually 👀

[Starlight Nova]

Why is there a slice of life tag?

[J3sterking]

11666501
Because literally my first fic on this site XD
Okay replacing it with 'adventure'. Thanks!