Firestorm.
Firestorm.
The storm crashed down all around her. Rain, heavier than ever, torrential, even, engulfing all her senses. The night was dark, nearly light-less. Only the occasional flash of lightning lit the sky– for brief seconds, almost giving the illusion that it was day.
But none of it was enough to stop her.
Canterlot was near deserted, so getting to the castle was the easy part.
Now for the hard part.
Now for the part she had trained for nearly a decade.
She observed the tall castle walls. Beyond them, the only clear source of light, the castle and its windows. Due to the storm, it was impossible to discern any sounds other than the crashing of rain. But that was good news.
Because if anyone screamed, they wouldn’t be heard.
She removed her cloak– it did little to stop the rain anyways; And it got taken by the wind immediately. Bandages were all she wore, covering her burn marks.
Sunset Shimmer took a deep, long breath, tuning out the pounding rain around her.
“Finally. After all these years... Vengeance.”
Exhaling steam, she ran. With a mix of teleportation and levitation and even galloping, she ran up the castle walls, and made her way to the top.
With a hop, she was inside the perimeter, walking above the walls. Quickly turning her head to the left, she saw a guard– One who wasn’t even wearing full armor, simply taking a smoke break outside, covered very loosely by the roof that led to one of the towers that surrounded the castle.
His eyes widened seeing the intruder, nearly choking in confusion. He was about to ask her who she was or what she was doing, but she didn’t give him the chance.
With a tilt of her head and a light of her horn she tossed him out of the wall– his screams covered by the pounding rain.
And just like that, she opened the door of the first tower.
Four guards were lounging, completely unprepared for a fight, playing cards on a table– She counted them, only four. Looking around she saw the only object of interest.
An alarm bell, ready to be rung– But no longer, when with her magic, she crumpled it.
“H-hey, who are you?!” A guard asked– But not fast enough. She lunged forward, incinerating him with a fireball, and as he screamed in agony, she dispatched two others with quick slices of her horn, alight with her magic in the form of a blade. Only one of the guards had the chance to pick a sword with his teeth, but it wasn’t nearly enough. She disarmed him with fierce hoof blows, and used his own blade against him.
Before exiting the room via a window, she launched a fireball at the ceiling, the flames spreading slowly through it as she left.
Next.
She galloped above the Canterlot Castle rooftops; The rain once again pounding around her, cleaning most of the blood that stained her body. She ran with fierce determination, not intent on slipping, and with that momentum, she leaped forward and jumped through a window in one of the roofs. Rain immediately started pouring through the hole she made.
Landing with a roll; She inspected her surroundings; A room with several beds, all empty. A biped guard scoffed in surprise, and stood up– His massive figure towering over her, akin to that of a minotaur, but she did not falter. “Hey little lady. You lost? Or is today my lucky day?”
Sunset lit her horn and glared at him. “Where have you situated your armory?” She snarled simply.
“Yep, heheh. Today’s my lucky day.” With a grin and a snicker, he was truly happy to finally get some action, a joy he would come to regret soon enough.
Lunging forward, Sunset waited for the last second in which a punch of his would connect, teleported behind him, and sliced one of his legs clean off with her horn alight.
Screaming in pain, his blood splattering against the floor, he toppled over, and desperately attempted to swat at her with one arm– of which she jumped on top of, and increasing her gravity with magic, shattered its bones.
There was only one arm left, one he used to desperately cover his face as he whimpered. With one magical motion, she forced the arm down, standing on top of him, scowling. “Armory. Where?”
He was nearly in tears, screaming in pain, the rain that poured from the window above them spreading his blood across the floor. She quickly stomped on his broken arm to get him to focus– Which did lead to more screams before he spoke. “T-Take a left on the g-grand hall!! It's near the d-docking bay!! P-please let me go–!!”
She hopped away from him, and cast a fireball on his whimpering form, incinerating him, but not certainly not quickly. And before she left, she threw a fireball at the roof for good measure.
Next.
No alarms yet. That guard was likely lying. But she considered she might as well follow the directions anyway.
She ran through the halls of the castle that long ago she called her home. It was unkempt. Banners were torn, furniture was toppled, but her path was clear enough.
Her ears twitched as she heard… music, echoing. Likely coming from multiple phonographs. With her eyes narrowing in anger, she followed the sound.
The grand hall had been rearranged to be a sort of lounging area for guards. She had a bird’s eye view of it, being on the second floor, overlooking what was once a ballroom. She could see; Definitely more than twenty guards, and at least five just as big as the one she had just killed, as big as a minotaur, brutes.
Almost none of them were fully equipped with armor. They were distracted with the music, playing games, drinking, generally completely unaware of even the possibility of an attack.
The music was lively, and it was a cacophony– Multiple phonographs lit at once, some playing different songs, multiple torches around them glowing in an almost blue hue.
For merely a brief moment, she allowed herself to remember how this hall used to look like, long ago. Memories of her younger age, attending the grand galloping gala as Celestia’s pupil… She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts, and inhaled sharply, focussing.
Her ears twitched.
On her right, a guard spotted her, in a casual walk on the same floor she was on. “H-hey!! What the fuck?!”
She teleported beside him and bucked him over the railing, causing him to fall on one of the tables below. Several of the guards below shouted in surprise.
With magic blasts, she blew the chains off four chandeliers that hung on the ceiling– And picked a particular one to jump on top of– one that was right above a larger guard, using her magic to increase the gravity of the chandelier, she impaled the brute.
“No fucking WAY!” one of the guards shouted at the sight of her– And upon landing she immediately jumped onto the ballroom with murderous intent.
Plenty of her moves involved incapacitating enemies and leaving them for dead, but she prioritized killing one's outright, if they were more dangerous, such as the unicorns and the brutes.
She ran, slid and teleported around the battlefield, not allowing herself to get cornered. The chaos of the crashes of the chandeliers were more than enough to provide her the perfect element of surprise– managing to take out nearly ten lesser guards before they truly had the capability of fighting back, grabbing weapons, trying to blast her with magic, or simply attacking her with their hooves.
She unleashed every blow with murderous intent. Using the enemy's weapons against them, refusing to let up, spreading fire across the room. Any chance she had, she would cast fireballs at walls and the floor, allowing the flames to spread wildly.
She sliced and burned her way through the hall, teleporting out of the way of strikes, but it wasn’t always enough. More than once she was struck or sliced– And nearly immediately she struck back, twice as hard.
The flaming aura that surrounded her was incredibly intimidating to those that got too close, causing burns and even blinding her opponents.
Slowly, one by one, the phonographs that surrounded the hall were breaking during the tussle, as bodies were flung around, tables were flipped, and chairs were broken, the sound that existed of the music being replaced with screams.
One of the brute guards landed a punch on her side, sending her flying– She teleported behind him, and with the same momentum of being launched, bucked his head mid air.
The other larger guards grabbed anything they could find, from chairs to tables, and started tossing it at her; An action they soon regretted. She stopped the objects with her levitation, lit them on fire, and tossed them right back.
Using the objects as a smokescreen was the perfect opportunity for takedowns– As the brutes were distracted blocking, she would teleport forward, either setting them aflame or slicing their limbs, removing them from play.
The final brute recoiled in fear, as she approached him, whimpering in surprise. “W-who the fuck is this pony?!!!”
“FIRESTORM!!” She barked loudly in response. And just like that, she created a tornado of flames around her, and lunged forward, burning and slicing all at once.
There were a few guards that cowered and fled, seeing their compatriots torn to shreds or burning in front of them, but the few that remained wouldn’t remain for much longer.
One of the guards, a unicorn, broke a glass bottle over her head. It wasn’t enough. With a grimace of rage, she used her magic to reconstruct the bottle, and smashed it against his head, then reconstructed it again, smashed it again, and again, and again, until she stuck what remained of it in his throat.
The last few guards tripped over the bleeding and burning corpses of their fallen allies as they attempted to flee.
Sunset Shimmer teleported forward and pinned one of them down– Bending one of his front legs the wrong way, breaking it.
She turned him to face her, and snarled, verifying information. “Where is the armory?” Her own blood dripped off her face and mouth and stained him, only one phonograph remained functioning at this point, the song garbled and corrupted, barely audible over the sound of flames spreading.
The guard complied immediately. “O-on the left!! Right over there, near the airship docks– W-what do you want?!” She didn’t bother replying to him. Simply tossed him on the side of the room that was burning the most, then exited stage left.
Next.
Now bells started ringing, alarms started blaring– as the handful of fires she had set began to spread. She could hear, aside from the sounds of the storm pounding outside, the shouts of guards in multiple directions.
She felt almost a bit groggy– having to ignore a couple of wounds and bruises, and having to spit out blood once– But she did not allow herself to falter. She opened a door that led to a large hallway, and was met with dozens of armed guards that were moving her way, attracted by the chaos she had just caused in the hall.
“I-it’s a unicorn?! Where’s the rest of your battalion?!” One of the guards asked in confusion, as they quickly approached her.
“Just me.” She snarled simply, with her horn lighting up– Her entire side of the hallway was engulfed in flames, and she galloped forward with anger, the flames spreading immensely fast.
The guards, who before were running forward with determination, quickly turned around and started running in fear, one or two even attempting to jump off windows to get away with questionable results, the rest, utterly engulfed in flames.
And she continued to gallop; If any one of the guards attempted to stop her, she would either slice them or leave them to be consumed by the flames she was generating.
With that same momentum, she burst through multiple doors, only letting go of the flames when she was alone.
Next.
This looked more like an armory. Several ponies and brutes ran around, desperately grabbing weapons, arming themselves to the teeth and adorning themselves with armor.
And before they even noticed her, she galloped through, with single minded determination.
Gunpowder was certainly an interesting invention. It was highly effective at arming cannons, and making bombs.
It was also incredibly flammable.
“H-HEY!! THE INTRUDER! SHE’S HERE!!” One of the brutes bellowed, spotting Sunset running among the many distracted guards.
There were too many enemies to count. She didn’t bother. All she had to do was light one barrel.
Turning, for merely a second, she smirked, as she held a barrel with her magic, and flames erupted from her horn.
The second that every guard noticed just what was about to happen was one she took great personal joy in, as they realized that maybe being near her was a terrible idea.
There were dozens upon dozens of barrels and crates with explosives around them.
With one final snarl of anger, she yelled for the whole room to hear.
“DEATH TO THE STORM KING!!!!”
She lit the explosives, and teleported out of that room.
Next.
Now every single guard that inhabited that castle could see what was happening.
With a sequence of teleportations, she got out of range, safely on one of the rooftops, and watched the fireworks. What was left of the armory was set alight insanely high, the fire and explosions spread to not only many of the rooms and floors surrounding the castle, but multiple of the airships that were docked there were immolated and subsequently exploded.
There must have been at least a hundred soldiers in the room she had just blown up– Not to mention the many that would have been in the adjacent rooms, and on the airships.
The remaining forces would likely be distracted attempting to put out the flames, or fleeing.
Perfect.
Even though the storm, she could hear movement all around her, and the damage of the fire spreading throughout the castle, among many other things.
It was cathartic, for a number of reasons.
But now came the actually hard part.
Her gaze landed on the throne room, on one of the tallest towers, and she began to sprint there, jumping above rooftops and through windows.
Single minded determination leading her to her final target.
Next.
She tried her best to ignore the rain and wind that pounded around her. Finally, she landed on the courtyard outside of the throne room. She was going to begin ascending those stairs, until…
“That’s far enough, don’t you think?” A voice calmly stated from above, on the doors of the throne room, all While Sunset paused, standing in a courtyard in the rain.
And she knew who the voice belonged to. She was waiting for this. Her heart pounded furiously.
General Tempest Shadow stood sternly on the doors of the throne room, surrounded by four heavily armored brute guards, right above the stairwell that led to her target– A stairwell that resembled a river, with water pouring down it..“May I ask what your intention is with this little tantrum, pony?” She waved a hoof, pointing at the burning castle around them.
“Death to the Storm King.” Sunset snarled simply, her eyes narrowed, glaring at the enemy.
Blinking only once, but not showing much more reaction, Tempest tilted her head. “So you have come to die, then? Surely you must know he cannot be killed. He wields the powers of four Princesses and the storms themselves.”
“If we’re going to fight then shut up and fight– If not, get the fuck out of my way.” Sunset bared her teeth, ready for anything, ignoring the rain and wind that continued to crash all around her, the pain and soreness in her body, and the lighting that lit the sky.
The slightest smirk appeared on the General’s lips, and with a nod, she stated “Go get her.” And the guards around her pounced.
Heavily armored enemies were certainly harder to fight, but she was ready, despite receiving several grazing strikes of their claws and punches, she countered, teleporting above them, blasting them with magic, shooting fireballs, knocking them back.
With a buck, she broke one of her enemy’s legs, and then threw him off of the courtyard with magic, plummeting into the castle grounds below.
Another fiercely attempted to punch her, but she was ready to intercept, her horn alight akin to a blade, slicing the foe’s fist entwain, and with a leap and another cleave, his head was cut clean off his shoulders.
She was punched on her flank, which sent her flying, but with a roll, she stood, and lunged back to counter attack, engulfing herself in flames, and delivering swift hoof strikes to the armored foe, teleporting incredibly fast, and that, coupled with the heat, completely overwhelmed him, until she had an opening to decapitate.
The last one attempted to crush her, but with a sharp inhale, she fiercely channeled her magic, and forced the armor he wore to crumple and squeeze him, until he was incapable of moving, simply yelling in pain. Distractions were unneeded. With her levitation, she tossed him over the railing too.
“Impressive conviction. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tempest descended down those stairs slowly, measuring her opponent with narrowed eyes.
Sunset exhaled. The blood of her enemies and her own blood dripped down her flank, mouth, and legs, being washed with the rain, staining the nearly flooded floor. She breathed heavily. Attempting to muster words, but words were unnecessary, focussing on her breathing was a priority, as she scanned Tempest’s every move.
“You truly came all this way just to kill yourself attempting to fight him?” the Commander stated, now closer than ever to her incredibly dangerous opponent.
Sunset gave her no response. She was simply ready to fight to the death, here and now. Scanning her opponent's every move, with a slow nod.
“Alright.” Tempest smiled. A genuine smile. “Let’s go kill the Storm king.”
“--What?!”
“Tempest.”
“Firestorm. Are you sure he won’t notice I’m not restrained?”
“He won’t. He’ll be too busy gloating. Wait for the most opportune moment, when the staff is closest.” Tempest whispered, as she guided Sunset Shimmer through the near empty halls that led to the throne room. “We only have one shot.”
“I won’t miss.” Sunset snarled plainly.
Every step she took on this enormous, grandiose room was familiar. But the location didn’t feel as much. The stained glass windows, marking famous events in Equestria, were all shattered, allowing the wind to carry rain inside, which flowed out of the room almost like a river.
Outside, the night sky wasn’t as dark anymore. The flames that spread through all the castle illuminated plenty of the darkness.
There was a single bitter moment– Where Sunset envisioned a younger self, eagerly, full of hope, desiring to have one of those stained glass windows depict her one day. All she had now was fire and blood.
She focussed on her breathing, ignoring the pain she felt from the many bruises of the last hour. “Will breaking the staff of storms free the Princesses?” She asked, thinking about the true reason she was here.
“Unsure. But it’s the best hope we have.” Tempest shook her head, fully aware that this might be her final moments.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
They shared silent nods, as the final doors opened.
And there he was. Sitting on a throne that never belonged to him. In a castle that he didn’t deserve. The Storm King.
Decorating the room, the Princesses, now made of stone, were treated like furniture, memorabilia.
Sunset ignored all the statues, except for one.
Celestia. Frozen in a pose that indicated fear and surprise.
The anger and adrenaline that already coursed through Sunset went in overdrive. Her heart pounded furiously.
“Your highness.” Tempest called out. “I’ve captured the interloper that has been attacking your castle.”
Cackling, snickering, generally thinking lightly of her, the Storm King remained seated. “Wait, you’re serious? That little pony? Aren’t we being attacked by a battalion?! Resistance fighters, maybe?”
“Just her.” She shook her head. Sunset followed, complying, measuring the King with her gaze, a gaze of hatred.
And of course, he thought lightly of his opponent. “You’re joking, right? Our armory was incinerated, our defenses breached, plenty of our airships are burning, all by this tiny little idiot?!”
Sunset had no reaction. Her gaze, unintentionally, was fixed on the statue of Celestia.
Tempest nodded slowly, her words were cold, disinterested. “Yes, your highness. It seems she trained for years for this particular endeavor. But of course, she failed. Nothing can ever stop you. The reign of storms will be eternal.”
“HAH! You’re damn right, Commander! This is why I love keeping you around, you have a great sense of humor!” He joked at her expense, and her expression was empty. Sunset’s eyes were now fixed on the staff of storms that he held tightly.
Tempest and Sunset stood merely meters away from him, in the middle of the throne room. The Commander cleared her throat, pushing her ‘prisoner’ forward, prepared for anything. “I stopped her. But I figured you’d like to question her before executing her, your highness.”
“You figured right, Commander. Look at that efficiency! Maybe someday I'll consider fixing your horn, heheh!!” Tempest’s only reaction was the slight twitching of her scarred eye. Her muscles tensed.
The King spoke with cackles, like a hyena, malicious, leaning forward on his throne, looking down. “What’s your name, little pony?” He asked with a toothy grin.
Finally, Sunset allowed herself to speak, barely containing her rage. “Firestorm.”
He pointed at her dismissively, making light of her. “Cute. Real cute. I like the look, too. What, did you burn yourself with a kitchen fire?” He addressed the several burn marks on her hide and face, dismissively.
No response from her, other than just narrowing her eyes. Her heart continued to beat insanely fast. She had trained for years, just for this moment, and now she was here.
The King was endlessly amused at the sight. “So you, all by your lonesome, thought you actually could just waltz in here and take me down? That’s downright adorable. And why, praytell, are you so determined to die here?”
“You took my mother from me.” Her gaze moved, for only a brief moment, to the statue that was once Celestia. Then it moved back to the King. “Your forces killed my parents.”
Blowing raspberries, chuckling, the Storm King rolled his eyes. “Wow, how original. That doesn’t narrow it down at all, you know that? Here I thought it would have been an interesting backstory!!” He mocked.
Of course, little did he know, he was talking to the first ever pupil of Princess Celestia herself, here to avenge her old master.
No response from Sunset. All her muscles were tense. Her adrenaline was incredibly high.
Shaking his head, the King let out a toothy grin. “Whatever. I’ve had my fun. Time to put you out of my misery.”
He pointed the staff of storms at her. As it channeled its incredibly powerful magic, Tempest yelled.
“NOW!”
Sunset, with her levitation, swiftly threw the Commander forward like a missile, with a single, determined target: The staff of storms. With the unstable magic of Tempest’s broken horn, her rageful demonstration of power blew up like incredibly erratic fireworks in contact with the staff.
The entire room was lit with the blast, explosions echoed, and all were pushed back. Tempest and Sunset were nearly thrown to the opposite side of the room, while the king was simply thrown back in his throne, still holding the staff.
Unfortunately for the two unicorns, the staff had merely cracked.
Regaining his senses, he shook his head dismissively, pleased to see his staff none worse for wear. “Really, Commander? Petty betrayal? I see that nothing is beneath you, is it? How disappointing!”
The two unicorns breathed heavily. Sunset snarled through gritted teeth, at her compatriot. “We kill him and die trying.”
“Roger.” Tempest nodded with the same anger. “But before that...” Finally, she addressed the king. No more lies, no more deception, no more containing her emotions.
She yelled out words that she had waited ages to say. “HEAR ME, YOUR HIGHNESS!! THERE IS NO DEATH THAT IS RIGHTEOUS, PAINFUL, PROLONGED ENOUGH TO BEFIT YOU, YOU LYING WRETCHED DISGUSTING MONSTER!! DEATH TO THE STORM KING!!!!”
“DEATH TO THE STORM KING!!!!” Sunset Shimmer yelled out, in complete agreement, both of their horns alight.
And of course, the King barely cared, Standing up from his throne, pointing the staff at his two usurpers. “Aww, you two are gonna hurt my feelings like that! Oh well. I can get another commander. Bye bye, Tempie!”
Smiling, utterly enjoying this, he channeled the power of his staff, ready to obliterate those two.
And the two Unicorns were ready to lunge forward, intent on killing him or die trying.
But they all stopped.
Because something very strange happened.
The Princess of Valor, with a flash, appeared out of thin air.
“Oof!! Fuck, I was trying to nap!” She groaned. Getting up, spreading her wings, she looked around, and Immediately realized something was very, very wrong in this universe. “Tempest? And me? …Weird!” She observed her other self. Sunset Shimmer, covered in wounds, bruises, burn marks and bandages, and even blood who was likely not hers. This world had not treated her kindly.
She looked back, and saw a familiar old foe. “...The Storm King…?” Her gaze scanned the room, and she saw the three Princesses turned to stone. Celestia, Luna, Cadance… And Twilight.
She bared her fangs and frowned.
The Storm King, utterly confused, scratched his head, narrowing his eyes, trying to understand what he was seeing. “Um. Hello? Who are you?!”
Tempest grimaced in utter confusion, seeing an Alicorn version of her new ally, switching the gaze from one to the other, stupefied.
And of course, Sunset was the most flabbergasted of all. “W-what the fuck are you?!!!” She recoiled in surprise, seeing herself, as an Alicorn, taller, and with significantly less scars.
“Sorry about this, let me get caught up.” The Valkyrie stepped forward and touched her other self, quickly cycling through her memories.
I am Sunset Shimmer. …Or at least I was. I came here to die. I was a pupil of Celestia, but I was exiled– I was not good enough. I was not strong enough.
For a while, I considered payback. I considered getting back what I had thought was rightfully mine. Her new pupil seemed to have everything I lacked.
But then the Storm King came. He beat Celestia– He beat every single pony that tried to stand in his way. He beat Celestia’s new pupil. His new reign killed so many. It killed my parents.
If I was good enough, this wouldn’t have happened.
If I was good enough, I would have been side by side with Celestia to stop it.
So I trained. For years. To be good enough.
I trained, for the day I would be ready to come here.
To save her, and likely die trying.
Sunset Shimmer is gone. Firestorm is all that remains– And I will do all that I can to bring Celestia back.
Death to the Storm King.
The Alicorn recoiled, and her surprise turned into a grin. “Death to the Storm King.” She affirmed with a nod.
The two unicorns looked at each other in confusion.
Standing near his throne, the king waved his hands in confusion, still holding the staff. “Excuse me, what’s going on– does that stupid little pony have a big Alicorn sister? Hello?!”
Those were his last words. With a flash, Princess Sunset Shimmer adorned her Valkyrie armor, surprising all in the room. She inhaled.
Teleporting immensely fast, she flipped in the air besides the storm king, and with her horn alight as a blade, she severed his arm that held the staff of storms, which fell and rolled in the room. The King yelled in surprise and pain, clutching his bleeding stump that was previously an arm.
But he didn’t have time for pain, as soon as Sunset landed, she used her momentum to jump in a corkscrew motion, spinning like a tornado, her razor-sharp wings slicing the Storm King's chest and armor thoroughly, and finalizing it with a definitive slice.
The Storm King’s beheaded corpse tumbled down the stairs that led to the throne, and Sunset landed with precision. “That’s that.” She stated simply, exhaling.
The Storm King was dead.
Both Tempest and Sunset’s jaws were wide open, in complete shock.
The commander nudged her compatriot in complete confusion. “T-that was– What the– Your sister is incredibly powerful!!! Why didn’t you call her earlier?!!!”
“I HAVE NO IDEA WHO OR WHAT THAT IS!!” Sunset pointed at the Alicorn casually walking down the steps of the throne towards them, entirely confused.
“I'm you from another universe, Sunset. I’m glad I got here in time to help, at least! What do you say we free the Princesses, huh?” The Valkyrie spoke casually, as she approached the statue of Twilight Sparkle, looking at it with a listless gaze.
“‘S-Sunset’? Aren’t you called Firestorm?” Tempest tilted her head.
Sunset exhaled. “It’s my old name. One I let go of.” She shook her head slightly, and Tempest nodded in understanding, after all, she knew exactly how that felt.
Snickering a bit, the Valkyrie pointed at her other self. “It’s a cool name, I can see why you changed it, too. Kind of like Tempest, huh? Isn’t that right, ‘Fizzlepop Berrytwist?”
Flustering, covering her face, Tempest shuddered. “O-oh, how the fuck do you know that…!!?”
Turning her gaze back to the frozen Twilight Sparkle, Sunset snickered. “Told you. I’m from another universe. I know you in mine.”
Her other self rubbed her own temples in confusion. “I-I can’t fucking believe that I trained for nearly a decade to kill him, and y-you just. Poof out of nowhere and murder him so easily!!?!?! What the FUCK is going on??!?!!?” She shook her head avidly, trying to wake up from this strange dream.
The Valkyrie kept her gaze on Twilight, but smirked. “If it makes you feel better, you two would have succeeded, I'm sure. The Storm King’s a huge push over, me and my wife defeated him easily in my universe. The moment you take his staff from him he’s a whimpering mess.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel any better!!” Sunset proclaimed in disbelief. “A-also what?! You’re married?! And an Alicorn?! What the FUCk!?! HOW?!”
Slowly, Tempest approached the corpse of the Storm king, inspecting him. After a moment of silence, where she stared at the master that she had served for years, who had lied and used her like a tool, she spoke to the other two. “Revenge is underrated. I feel incredible.”
“Hear hear!” The Alicorn chuckled, making her way to the middle of the room where the staff laid, clutched by the severed hand of the dead King.
The other Sunset Shimmer groaned. “Whatever! Whatever!!” And ran forward, towards the staff. Grabbing it with her mouth, she clumsily walked over to Celestia, attempting to point it at her, unsure of what to do.
“Careful!” Tempest warned. “It’s an incredibly powerful tool!”
“Easy, other me! You don’t want to accidentally blow her up– Besides, Twilight Sparkle is right here!” The Alicorn pointed.
Ignoring her, Sunset kept fiddling with the staff, unsure of how to use it. “I don’t care about the Princess of Friendship!! I'm here for Celestia, she’ll free the others later.”
Pointing at Twilight, the princess garnered her other self’s attention. “Hey, this is your future wife right here– Show her some respect!”
That last statement made Sunset clumsily drop the staff, and turn to her other self. “What the FUCK are you saying?! What?!”
“I’m married to Twilight Sparkle in my universe.” the Alicorn said proudly with a smile. “And if things go well on this one…” She pointed at her other self teasingly.
A moment of flustered confused silence passed, one in which Tempest couldn’t help but snicker at her compatriot, until Sunset shook her head awake. “Wh– She took our position!! How and why the fuck did you marry her?! I’m never going to be in love with someone that usurped me– I’m only here to free Celestia!!”
“Yeah you say that, but then you hear one of her dorky laughs and it’s over for you.” The Alicorn walked forward to her, chuckling. “Now easy, you don’t want to blow Celestia up, let's do this carefully.”
Approaching calmly, she attempted to fiddle with the staff. The other Sunset, not as calmly.
Tempest approached the two, tilting her head, addressing the Alicorn, almost in a worried whisper. “Sunset, is it…? You’re from another universe, so… In yours, do I ever… Fix my horn?”
Exhaling, the Princess reminisced on her friend, Tempest Shadow. They weren’t that close, after all, even after reforming, Tempest was a bit of a recluse. But she had left her shell, and had made connections. Meeting her was always a joy. “...No. Never. But I do think you became really happy, despite it.”
“H-happy?!” Tempest grimaced. “How could I possibly…?!”
“Here.” Sunset offered a hoof. “Let me show you.”
“Show me…?” Tempest accepted it. And with it, was shown memories about her– That didn’t belong to her.
I can’t speak for my Tempest.
But through all the times I met her– Through all the times we spent together, with her and my friends– Whether it was at a celebration, at a conflict, or simply with me, you, and Pinkie bar hopping–
I could see you smiling.
Smiling in ways I never expected you to.
I don’t know if the loss of her horn still affected her–
But seeing her together with her childhood friend, finding love and companionship–
I saw her smiling.
And I felt its warmth, it’s truth, it made sense to me. It felt right.
All that, while still lacking her horn.
“M-me and Glitter D-drops…?!” Tempest recoiled, with a grimace of surprise, flustering, and nearly tearing up. Her eyes darted to the floor, as she attempted to shrug off the incredibly warm memories she had just shown. But with an inhale and an exhale, she accepted them.
Sharing on the chuckle, the Valkyrie smiled. “Yep. You two seemed pretty happy! I couldn’t help but feel pride. I always related to you in a couple of ways…. We were both built of sterner stuff, you know?”
Chuckling slightly, Tempest nodded. “I believe I might know, yes.” It was easy to think of the previous hour, in which Sunset Shimmer had carved a bloody swath through this castle for revenge.
The Alicorn smiled and nodded, not before going to her other self as well. “Hey. You next. Come here.”
“Hey what are you–” her other self complained, but it was short lived.
Through a span of two seconds, Sunset showed herself a handful of memories and feelings. Many of which were related to Twilight Sparkle.
The other Sunset nearly toppled over, face growing redder, utterly confused. “W-wife…?!” Was all she could mutter, dumbfounded.
“That’s right. You know what this means, right?” The Alicorn teased, tilting her head.
“No. I don’t.” Pouting, her other self crossed her arms.
Exhaling, but still smiling, the Valkyrie poked her other self in the chest. “It means Sunset Shimmer isn’t dead. She’s right here. And if you still want to, you could have it all– And this time, do it right.”
“B-but–” Sunset looked away, to the statue of Celestia that stood next to her. “Isn’t it… Too late for me…?”
Chuckling, the Princess of Valor shook her head. “Dude. You killed the Storm King and saved every Princess. You and Tempest. Everypony will forgive you both easily.”
Eyes widened, Sunset blinked. “W-wait, but I didn’t, you did!”
She shrugged. “Take the credit. Both of you.” The Valkyrie turned with a smile. “I’m only going to be in this universe for an hour anyway, before I get shot onto the next one. So you two can simply say you both killed him. Now if you two will excuse me, I have to find a good quiet place to take a nap.”
Tempest and Sunset both stared at each other, and then to the Alicorn, in complete shock and surprise.
The Princess of Valor lingered only for a moment, as she leaned her forehead against the statue of Twilight Sparkle. It wasn’t the same as the real thing. It wasn’t the same as her wife. But for one lingering moment, that closeness helped her.
Soon after, she jumped out of a window, with a final message. “Good luck, you two!”
And just like that, the room was silent once again. The rain outside was dwindling, not a storm anymore.
The two that remained stared at each other, almost awkwardly. “Well!” Tempest cleared her throat. “I guess we… I guess we did it! I… I can keep a secret.” Her smile was almost mischievous.
Groaning, Sunset stretched a bit, still feeling the pains of her bruises. “Ugh. Well… I guess this is okay. Man, am I dreaming…? What the fuck was that…?!”
Eyes still filled with surprise, Tempest gazed at the broken window the other Sunset had just jumped through. “I have no idea…!”
Blinking a couple of times, then groaning again, Sunset came to a realization. “Oh no! Fuck!! The castle is burning because of ME– Celestia is gonna wake up to see her home in flames, shit, shit, I never thought I'd get this far…! Oh, I’m in so much trouble.”
“If it makes you feel better, so am I.” Tempest suppressed a chuckle. “I’m the fool that turned these Princesses to stone, remember?”
Both of them exhaled, and Sunset clutched that staff, beholding her old mentor. "I... I never thought I'd get this far."
For the first time, in this day, she felt fear.
Tempest very similarly felt uneasy about what might come next. "Whatever happens, we can cover for each other, right?"
Looking at her with a smile, glancing at the Stormy King's corpse, Sunset nodded. “I won't tell if you won't, heh.”
“C’mon.” Tempest shrugged, and picked up the staff of storms calmly. “Let’s figure out a way to bring your mother and wife back.”
“H-hey!! N-not married!! A-and you’re one to talk, Fizzypop-something something! You and your Glitter Drops or whatever–” She muttered awkwardly, attempting to deflect.
Chuckling, they both held the staff together.
And eventually, freed Celestia.
A new age dawned on Equestria.
SUNSET SHIMMER VS THE STORM KING.
INFO: Sunset has every information she could possibly need on the Storm Kings weaknesses, having beaten him before, and not just that, but his strengths. Through easy target prioritization, she completely nullified his capacity with a single blow, and finished him off with another.
VERDICT: It wasn't even a battle. A flawless victory from the Princess of Valor.
I hope you enjoyed what will likely be the bloodiest chapter in the whole fic! Buuuuut there will still be some carnage in some of these. Sunset Shimmer has some unhealthy (or healthy, if you consider how well Equestria is benefiting from it) anger management methods.
This chapter is also one of the few chapters in which I get to write Tempest-- One of the few things of the MLP movie I actually liked, tbh, the rest of the movie was a bit mid-- Always a shame that both Tempest and Sunset are underused in all of MLP FIM. At least Tempest has two cute comics, Sunset only gets a prequel comic and a few measly cameos :(
The comical Anti-Climax of these two ultra-fighters simply fiddling with a staff together, heheh. Art by my friend Luna!
But either way, I had my fun, this is actually one of the more recent universes I came up with, in my long long list of chapters i'll be doing lmao.
And hey. Rejoice. Next chapter, we get an intermission, to check on Sunset Shimmer's wife.
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11910525
Celestia letting go of her royal composure and throwing hooves with an earth pony 👊👊
YOOOOOOO LETS GOOOOOO EPIC FIGHT SCENE
I'm curious to see how Sunset would feel about a reality where Twilight is with somepony else, and can no longer play the "get yourself a bookhorse" card to help that world's Sunset.
Also it would be funny for a non-cannon event where she meets sunset from your other ongoing fic, sees just how much heartbreak is going on, and just "nope"s her way out to find somewhere quiet to nap.
11910933
It's def smth that might come up; And Sunset Shimmer isn't just wingmanning herself because "yo me with twi good" But because she knows its something that would help not only both of them but a lot of the people around them (Like Celestia!) Though even in universes that twi has another partner, the Princess of Valor would still try to get her other self to at the very least pursue her passions and reunite with Celestia. Her goal is to improve her other selves lives, and she is well aware that being with Twilight is one of the best choices, considering how much being with Twilight helped her. Needless to say, the Princess of Valor is an incredibly biased protagonist.
Smth thats def poignant is that in canon, twilight ruled alone, without even having any relationships, (and we all know how badly that ended up!) so a lot of universes will loosely adheer to that canon, no matter how crap it is lmao
and of course, thats not to mention the universes where sunset will already be in a relationship, as rare as that may be, heh
I do have a joke about the Valkyrie finding out that twilight is with trixie in a universe and being like "Ok imma murder trixie" but idk if i'll end up putting it somewhere in the fic, heh. (her other self is like DONT, YOU HAVE MY FACE I'll BE INCRIMINATED)
I really like your stories I hope you continue with this sunset, I love everything, the wedding I would like to read it
11911861
I may very much write the wedding in a future chapter ;D
tempest shadow has full permission to decapitate me
two of the best fighters in equestria proceed to to just fidget around with one of the strongest relics in equestria
That's right. I was a G1 pony this whole time and none of you were the wiser.
Me seeing ths in theaters for the first time:I'm sorry...is there a joke or something that I missed. (Unaware of any G1 characters outside of Surprise, Firefly, Posey and the other g1 counterparts)