Chapter one: A Fall From Grace

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An exhausted sigh escaped Princess Celestia’s mouth. A painful crick in her neck had built up after hours of sitting in that chair doing nothing; nothing but sitting and working. Suddenly, the door opened wide, with two guards trotting in the room. The one thing that caught Celestia’s eye--and her primary attention--was how one of soldiers was holding Sunset Shimmer by her left foreleg, completely ignoring her attempts to escape.

“What is the meaning of this?” the Princess called, her voice crackled and weak.

One of the guards in charge of Shimmer’s capture stepped up with Shimmer in toll.“Princess Celestia, we caught Sunset Shimmer studying dark—”

“It’s a lie!” Sunset Shimmer shouted, looking at Celestia. “Don’t listen—”

Princess Celestia held a hoof that silenced Sunset Shimmer. Her glare made the young unicorn uneasy, as the room grew silent. “You are certain of this?”

The guard nodded.“Yes, your Majesty.”

Shimmer said nothing and kept her attention on the floor, as it were more of an interesting thing to look at. It didn’t matter much, though, because, off the shining surface of the floor beneath her, she saw her angered mentor’s reflection, looking down in shame. Sunset Shimmer looked up at Princess with a frown upon her face.

Princess Celestia looked at her guards and gave them a nod. She waited until she heard the door close before her steely look faded and was replaced with concern. Sunset Shimmer stood still, not moving a muscle as Celestia looked down at the table as if it held any interest. The silence began to bother Shimmer, making her groan. “Princess, I--”

“Sit.”

“But, I--”

“Sit.” Princess Celestia repeated. “Please.”

Sunset sighed and sat down on the chair.

Princess Celestia looked at Shimmer for a while, letting the silence sit in. She turned to her right and levitated a cup over to the Shimmer. “Tea?”

Sunset looked at Princess Celestia with a confused look. “No, I don’t want tea right now.”

Celestia set the cup down and returned her attention back at Shimmer. “Alright, just being polite. Mother always told me politeness is the way to start a conversation.” She sighed. “Sunset Shimmer, you do know you can share anything with me.”

“I can’t believe this.” Sunset Shimmer leaned back in her chair and looked at Celestia with shock rendering her eyes. “You believe their words over mine, don’t you?”

“Sunset Shimmer, the guards swore an oath to never spread lies. I trust them with--”

“You trust a hunk of metal over me!” Shimmer scoffed. “That’s insulting. It’s like the time we spent meant nothing.”

“I enjoyed our time together.” Princess Celestia said. “I’m just wondering why you lied about going into the archives without my permission.”

“I didn’t!” Sunset slammed her hooves down on the table. “Why, all of a sudden, do you not trust me?”

Princess Celestia didn’t looked threatened when Shimmer made her outburst. All she did was sigh and shake her head. “Shimmer, do you remember the lessons we went through?”

Shimmer sat down and laid her head against her hoof and looked at Celestia with a bored expression. “Of course.”

“Humility.” Princess Celestia said. “Humility has to do with everything. Until you learn that, you’ll never understand.”

Sunset Shimmer gasped. “How dare you.” She lifted herself from the chair and shot a hoof at the teacher. “You have no right to tell me I have no humility. I’m the most talented and—!”

“That’s enough, Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset Shimmer took a step back at the sheer volume from the calm and collected mare. She never thought she would see the day Celestia lost her temper and shouted at her.

“Sunset, I believe you,” she said. “I believe in you. Just please, take my lessons with more thought. You’ll never know when it might come into play.”

Sunset opened her mouth to protest, but sighed instead. “Fine.”

Princess Celestia smiled. “Thank you.”

Shimmer looked at Celestia, ignoring as the guards opened the door. Without a word or even a bow, she turned around and walked out the room.

Sunset Shimmer ran across the bridge that separated the two castles. She held her head down to keep the rain from blinding her vision. She picked up her speed when she heard thunder clap in the skies, echoing through Canterlot.

The sound of her hooves stomping against the ground was all she could hear over the pouring rain. She looked up for a moment as she approached a door in the distance. She looked back down, not just because the rain, but because she hated seeing how small she was in comparison to the spire.

She opened the door and sprinted inside, closing the door behind her. She sighed and removed the hood from her head, breathing in the warm aura the room contained. She could hear the rain dropping onto the rug off of her soaking wet cloak. “Ugh, it had to rain today.”

Sunset Shimmer looked at the window next to the clock, its glassy surface watered down by the rain outside. It was heavy too, pitter-pattering against the glass like tiny pebbles, with the dark, thick tarp of clouds shrouding the world outside in darkness. It was no surprise that her face was soaked, despite having a hood on. Sunset vigorously shook her head to be rid of the water.

She hoped Celestia forgot about yesterday. She almost came close to finding out that she did indeed search for dark magic, but her skills of weaseling her way out of things proved to be useful. She just hoped Celestia wouldn’t bring it up today.

Turning around the corner to the eastern hall, Sunset could see a pair of large, purple double doors as tall as Celestia, bearing her sunny symbol right in the middle. She felt the nervous trembles stirring into a spin inside her chest, as if her heart was inside a washing machine. As she confronted the door, a guard stepped forward, using his spear to block the entrance to Celestia’s chambers. “State your business!” Sunset Shimmer removed her hood from her head, making the stallion gasp. “Oh, miss Shimmer. I didn’t know it was you!”

Sunset shot the stallion a glare.“You’re lucky I’m not in a sour mood. Is Princess Celestia around?”

He shook her head. “The princess is currently not within her quarters.”

Sunset Shimmer groaned. “This is just swell. She’s the one who wanted to see me, I bet for another boring lesson and she’s the one late!”

The guard gulped. “I-I could let you in if you like. She shouldn’t be too long.”

Sunset smiled to herself. “Proceed.” She waited at the door as the stallion walked to it and opened the door for her. She walked in and heard the door closing behind her. Celestia’s room had a royal look to it with red carpet underneath Shimmer’s hooves, the golden bars that held Celestia’s king-sized bed, which was well made, the blankets matching the color of the carpet. Shimmer was not too fond of Celestia’s paintings, always the ones with the opened field surrounded by grass, maybe because she liked the thought of just roaming there with her student.

She whistled and looked around for something to read or look at while she waited. The wallpaper Celestia had chosen was the color of the clear blue skies, although Shimmer couldn’t really tell. There were shelves of items covering wall to wall, stacked with treasures Celestia collected from her trips across the world, however Sunset couldn’t care less about any of them. She stopped looking as her eyes hit on a chest sitting inches away from her. The locks were sun-shaped to resemble Celestia’s cutie mark, all coated in gold. The hood of the chest was white just like her teacher’s coat.

She looked behind her to see the door still closed then turned her attention back to the chest. What was in it? A crown Celestia crafted for when Shimmer would become the new ruler of Equestria? Was it a diary from Celestia’s time, exploring more weakness for Shimmer to hurt. Her curiosity got the best of her and she placed her hooves on the lid of the chest near the bed and slowly lifted it up.

Shimmer fished through the chest, the sound of crinkling parchment and jewelry filled her ears until she spotted a distinct red book. She laid the book on Celestia’s bed and opened the journal, skimming over Celestia’s horn writing.

She stopped once she found the page that started with a few select words: “I think he has found the way to travel through time and space,” she read. “I fear Star Swirl has lost his way.”

Her eyes widened and her brows rose along with them. She knew the wizard was insane—everyone did—but this. Discovering this was taking insane to a completely new level.

Regardless, she read on, so enthralled that she began to hear a gentle and calm tone echo in her mind--

“The structure is so simple, I cannot believe I didn’t see it before,” he says with much confidence.

This stallion would always come to me with theories, most of them were considered insane, but I knew better. Although I still have doubts of his well being. “The theory of time travel and our relation to the spectrum of space are interconnected. You see, time and space are not so different.”

We perceive time as a constant, moving force that only goes forward, but it is not. Rather, it is how my old friend, Star Swirl, described it—like a big twisted ball of yarn. When you loosen all the strings and lay them out neatly, they are all linear and straight, but in this ball, all parts of the strings are connected and tied, and similar to how we can move in any direction of space, we can pick any of the many choices in time. The former is how we see usually time, with both a beginning and an end with no detours, but the true reality is the latter, where time can branch off into numerous different paths, interacting with other strings and forming new pathways and futures.

The future for the all of us.

I fear for my friend’s life.

Page after page she studied closely, her mind taking all the information in pages. She stopped flipping when she passed a certain page that caught her eye. Time travel spell. Her eyes scanned over what Celestia had written about the spell, the instructions on how to perform it now stuck in her head.

But there was one error within the spell, the user couldn’t use the spell to travel back in time, only forward.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

Shimmer cursed to herself and turned to behind her, and her breathing quickened at the sight of Celestia herself standing before her in all her glory, a frown on her face. A normal pony would have cowered under her glare, but Sunset Shimmer considered herself not like most ponies.

The Princess kept her distance, and the stallions did the same. The guards closed the door behind her, emitting a sigh from the Princess. She then turned to Sunset Shimmer again, her frown disappearing. “I cannot believe this. Even after our talk, you still disobey me. I’m very disappointed in you, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset had never seen it before, but for the first time ever, she saw the fear of failure in Celestia’s eyes, and she loved it. She knew she would fail as a teacher; a ruler. If only Celestia had seen her potential, it would not have come to this.

Princess Celestia’s eyes traveled down to the book laid out open on the floor then turned to her opened chest. “You always did let your curiosity get the best of you.” She levitated the book and flipped through the pages, a small smile spreading across her face.“Star Swirl had a brilliant mind, just like yours, Sunset Shimmer.”

She shut the book and turned to Sunset Shimmer, a frown on her face. “And, just like you, he failed to achieve his destiny because he failed to learn humility.” Princess Celestia sighed. “You’ve left me no choice, Shimmer, but by disobeying my orders and taking advantage of my trust, you will no longer will be my student.”

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. “No, no, those words--”

“But you are welcome to stay in--”

“No!” Sunset Shimmer shouted, silencing Celestia. She stared at her, mouth agape. “You… you can’t do this. I-I came so far, I’ve worked hard to get where I am!” She felt her heart pounding from her rage boiling up inside her. “You can’t do this!”

Princess Celestia sighed. “You never humbled yourself, Sunset Shimmer. That was always a flaw of yours. A flaw that I can’t no longer stand.”

Sunset Shimmer growled. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were wise, but you’re just like them.. Naive!”

Princess Celestia glared, snorting with building rage, her friendly act melting. ”I was optimistic for you Sunset Shimmer, but you have proven you only care for your own desires. You’ve shown me that you are not ready to rule Equestria.”

She stared this time, not moving a muscle nor doing her usual rant. This time, Celestia struck a nerve and left her speechless. Sunset Shimmer growled at her. “You can’t do this! I was supposed to rule!”

“I’ll have the guards escort you out,” Princess Celestia said, preparing to turn around.

“Don’t turn your back on me. We’re not done talking!” She gasped as Princess Celestia turned around and headed for the door. “Don’t ignore me!” She shouted as she released blasted a beam of magic at Celestia.

Princess Celestia saw this and formed a shield around her which quickly vanished the blast. Celestia looked at her student- former student with shocked eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but words to express what Shimmer had just done wouldn’t come out.

Sunset Shimmer looked at Celestia with shock in her eyes. She just attacked her teacher, the ruler of Equestria. She couldn’t shake the feeling buried beneath her shock, the pleasure followed when she attacked her, it felt… good.

The door burst opened and Celestia quickly snapped out of her brief trance. The guards stopped beside Celestia and shielded her with their bodies, pointing spears at Shimmer. “Surrender now, Sunset Shimmer!” one of them shouted.

Shimmer snapped out of her trance. An intense red glow emerged from the spirals of Sunset Shimmer’s horn, the spell expanding outward like a bubble and pushing the guards back. They tried to break through, but the shield was proving to be too much for them. The guards began hammering away at the shield, but despite their assault, it continued to grow sturdier. Sunset Shimmer saw Celestia charging up a spell.

The Princess’s horn lit up the room. The light flew across the room the time that Celestia blasted a spell that broke Shimmer’s shield and sent her falling to her haunches. Shimmer grunted as she felt Celestia’s magic coursing through her body. She looked up to see Celestia holding out a hoof.

“I take no pleasure in doing this. Please,” Celestia lend out a hoof. “Be the better pony and leave now.”

Growling, Shimmer charged another spell, blasting it as she shouted. “I hate you!”

Princess Celestia was too stunned to react as the spell hit her chest, however it only pushed her back a couple feet. Sunset Shimmer wasn’t surprised that the spell didn’t put Celestia on her haunches. She was her student, and thus she wasn’t powerful enough to bring down a goddess.

While Celestia stared at her, catching her breath from the last attack, Sunset Shimmer’s mind raced for an exit plan. The thought of teleporting came first, but without focus, she could appear anywhere. She considered the idea of taking that chance, but then the image of her demise woke her up.

”The time spell!”

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and focused. She felt something wet trail from her nose, and her body trembled with pain. Star Swirl did not mention this in his journal, but she hoped the stallion’s notes were correct.

An orb suddenly engulfed Sunset Shimmer, shielding her in a golden aura similar to Celestia's. Her enemies looked as if they were shouting something out, but she ignored them. They all stood outside the bubble, just staring at her, full of a hesitant, delicate frustration. Sunset smirked and stood back, watching as the three stood helpless outside.

Her former mentor’s frown had vanished into a sad expression, realizing she could do nothing else but only stand there in front of her. They both stared at each other, separated by different times. Celestia was moving with it, and Sunset Shimmer was not. Princess Celestia walked up to the bubble and placed her hoof on the surface. “Listen to me, Sunset Shimmer. Stop this at once and surrender!”

“Oh you would like that wouldn’t you,” Shimmer said, smirking. “To be the hero when clearly you’re the villain.”

Princess Celestia’s frown deepened. “This is insane!”

Sunset Shimmer walked close to the bubble, staring into her eyes as she said, “Never again will I bow to you.”

Celestia took a step back. Shimmer watched as her horn glowed and surrounded her and the guards. There was a bright flash of light before it died down and Celestia or the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Then it happened. No sound, no more talking, no final scream—the scene was moving forward. She watched Celestia’s room slowly change, then speed up so fast she could not tell what was happening because she was moving through time at such an incredibly rapid speed.

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes to avoid the bright light that exploded in the room. She felt the light faded away and opened her eyes to a sight to leave her mouth hanging.

The rapid speed slowed down as the walls became smudged with mud and grew cracks within it. The orb that surrounded her popped like a bubble, making her smell something nasty, as if there were a dead body decaying in the room. She resisted the urge to puke as she studied her new surroundings. Everything was broken down and aged beyond comprehension. The curtains, the blankets, and any other kind of fabric had holes within them, or looked like a timber wolf had ripped and torn everything apart with its claws.

The unicorn closed her eyes. She grinded her teeth together as the realization set in that her only escape home was gone, leaving her stuck here. She levitated whatever was on the ground and smashed it onto the wall, hearing glass shatter onto the floor.

Shimmer turned around and picked up an old vase and threw it onto the wall. Her heart pumped with rage as she tore through the wall, smashing everything in. She didn’t realize the tears were trailing from her face as she was covered in sweat, exhausted from breaking everything.

She saw the chest across from her, still sitting in the same spot. It had green smudges smeared around it. She growled and lifted the chest in her magic. “Ugh!” she shouted as she tossed the chest outside the window, shattering the glass.

She tried to control her beating heart, but her anger only fueled it. The fact that Celestia trapped her here with the spell, made her want to break more things, but she saw nothing left. The room had been wiped clean of things to break.

As she was about to move the ground under her hooves shook.

Her cold cheek smacked against the floor, and her body felt numb. She laid there for several minutes groaning. Sunset Shimmer forced herself to her hooves. Her legs trembled, but she managed to stand as she clung to the wall and looked for a way out.

She closed her eyes as she began teleporting out of the room. At the end of her spell jump, she lost her hoofing and rolled across the ground. She grunted as she pushed herself up from the ground, looking around and noticed the door to the second spire standing across from the one behind her.

Realizing she was standing on the bridge that separated the two castle towers, she looked up at the sky. The moon hung around the edge of the cloudless sky, accompanied by the bright stars shining. She realized she was on the bridge, the bridge that was far off from the ground and that the could fall kill her. She resisted the urge to puke.

The collapsing floor beneath reminded her she did not have time to relax. She ran towards the edge of the bridge that separated the two spires, her vision became blurry as more she approached the end and it felt like she wanted to puke. She shook off the feeling and continued to run. She felt like she was going lower and lower as her hooves galloped. She looked behind her, seeing the bridge fell apart, breaking the two spires off made her sped up.

Her heart was practically a war drum as she forced herself to continue sprinting. She closed her eyes and leaped off, yelling, “Aaaaah!” while the bridge behind completely broke apart.

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and teleported again, and once more felt the rolling motions. She hissed as the ground scraped her foreleg and ripped some of her cloak off. Grunting as the pain numbed her body, she tried to get up, but found it hurt everytime she tried to stand on her injured foreleg.

Her ears twitched at as she heard something crashing into the ground. The ground underneath her shook from the impact. She looked up and saw the city blanketed in shadows. The once great white towers of the princesses stood out like tall, thin sticks against the darkening horizon.

All she could do was watch as Canterlot—her home—crumbled to the ground in a heap of dust. She watched the tower of the two sisters crumble to the ground, losing its imposing figure. She felt her heart skip a beat, realizing as she watched a ton of dust fly into the air and the stones of the city crumbling back to the earth, that her escape back home went down with the rest of it. She was trapped within this unknown.

Her breath was caught in her throat as she saw the cloud of dust that erupted earlier from outside was storming towards her. Everything in its path was consumed by the grey, earthy cloud, becoming a meal to the monstrous beast.

Sunset Shimmer only had time to perform a shield spell before the dust consumed her whole.

Chapter two: A Moment of Time

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Sunset Shimmer moaned from the intense pain she felt burning in her back. She blinked, shut her eyes, and blinked again. How long was she out? Days? Weeks? Months? For all she knew it could have been a year or more, time wasn’t exactly her friend right now.

It was the reason why she’s stuck wherever this is. She blinked and opened her eyes to see the sun was gone, the clouds had turned grey and the peaceful noise replaced by the sound she didn’t see coming.

The sound of thunder.

She welcomed it, enjoying the drops as it washed through the dirt and tweaks in her mane, washing the grime off her body. She even opened her mouth to catch some of the raindrops as a drink, ignoring her muzzle getting wetter and wetter. She didn’t care if the water wasn’t from a sink, she didn't care if it was dirty. She only cared that it wasn’t coming from the ground in a pile of mud.

She coughed and grimaced, feeling the fresh bruises on her body, wincing as the wind blew into her wounds. Her body felt weakened either by the hunger in her stomach or by her lack of energy. All the running and magic exhausted her, and was now an easy meal for any predators that may be stalking around. She wondered if any form of life survived out here other than plants.

However she didn’t have time to think about it as the growing hunger reminded her that she had a time limit that was decreasing each passing second. She could already imagine Princess Celestia putting on an act as she addressed her subjects of her student’s apparent death, using false speeches about the “good” times they had.

Then, when their backs are turned, Princess Celestia will replace her like a used napkin. A fresh new student to do her bidding while she took all the credit for his or hers work. The realization that Princess Celestia was winning this battle she began jump started her heart as if a bolt lighting restored the energy she had lost.

Not this time, Princess Celestia. She wasn’t getting rid of her that easily.

She mustered all the strength she had left and lifted herself up, only to fall back down on her face in a matter of seconds. She inhaled and channeled all her strength into her hooves as she lifted herself up, pushing through all the weight in her body.

She couldn’t lose. She couldn’t let Princess Celestia win or else all the progress she put into her plan would be for nothing. All because she let herself become weak, become like the ponies that adored the tyrant she called teacher.

She wasn’t weak. She was strong, powerful. She bit her lip, drawing out a bit of blood as she heaved herself up on all fours. She screamed as all her weight came crashing down on her forelegs, but she wasn’t going to fall back down and lay in the dirt like an animal. She was the future ruler of Equestria and lying down was a sign of weakness.

Shimmer was all power.

She sucked in all the fresh air she could and stomped with each step she endured, shivering as the mud smeared all over her hooves. The sound of thunder echoed across the skies, and a squishing could be heard as pairs of hooves stomped their way through the mud. She snuggled as much warmth from her cloak as she could, and kept her head down to avoid the rain as she walked through it. She watched every single drop of water plummet into the ground, being consumed by the dirt.

She shivered at the cold touch of the wind looked behind her to see what's left of the city. She couldn’t go back, nothing was there for her, nothing but rubble and dust scattered around her. No more tall white buildings that would be seen from a mile away that almost touched the skies.

There was no meaningful change of scenery. Trees, grass, vines... It seemed mother nature had reclaimed what was rightfully hers, but at the cost of replacing everything that was here? Her exit had crumbled along with what was the greatest city in her time. Now it was just an artifact, like her. A memory of what Equestria used to be before whatever it was that turned it into dust.

It bothered her to the core. The feeling wouldn’t go away. It stuck to her wherever she went, reminding her it was still there. A memory came back, her ears perked up as Celestia’s voice echoed in the air, or in her mind. “And just like you, he failed to achieve his destiny because he failed to learn humility.”

Failed to learn humility. How dare she! Sunset Shimmer didn’t need humility because it would only bring her closer to failure. If she humbled herself to those rats Celestia called subjects, then she wouldn’t have a brilliant mind.

She growled as her rage boiled inside her. Her horn glowed and whatever her magic picked up from the ground was tossed across the sky.

She wished the thing smashed into a window, hit a pony in the face, hit a stop sign on the pavement, anything to let her know not everything was destroyed. She waited for an echo, or a pony shouting at her for throwing it. The rain responded with another clap of thunder, but at a louder volume that rang in Shimmer’s ears. She shielded her eyes from the fog that clouded her vision.

Her muzzle quivered under the cold and her teeth clattered together. Shimmer hooves felt like all the muscles inside were stiff therefore every step brought pain in her entire hoof. She looked around for any sign of life, but she couldn’t see a thing for she was trapped within the fog.

No noble ponies dressed in fancy outfits, prancing around with their muzzles raised in the air.

No pony to praise her.

No princess to hate.

She was alone.

She had never felt so alone, in the face of an unknown world in which she was nothing to nopony. Her anger, angst and selfishness evaporated instantly as she had dreams and plans for the future. She had so much that needed to be accomplished, and now she never would see it though. Everything looked incidental and unimportant. She couldn’t tell how many hours and miles she had ahead of her.

She let the rain trail down her hood, overwhelmed with her own thoughts.

She wished the instructions for the spell would float around in her head while her eyes were closed, but she saw only darkness. She tried to put more thought into it, but her memories of were all jumbled up. Starswirl’s entry sounded off as she tried to remember the words, but it was blank.

She couldn’t travel back in the past, even if she wanted to; but she could push herself farther into the future where society maybe survived whatever this was. Rebuilt itself from the mess she created, and all the resources she could use to travel back home would be waiting for her.

Her eyes widened in realization as the words stuck her like the rain hitting her face. The solution was right in her face the entire time and she didn’t even know it. All she had to do was perform the spell. Sure, the plan had some flaws in it, but it was the only one she had.

She turned back for one final look.. The city her parents grew up in, the city she grew up in, was nothing but a pile of dust and memories, nothing more. She closed her eyes and pictured the great white castles that would be the main attraction when somepony would look up above. Leaving everything she knew behind for something new again felt wrong, as if she was abandoning her home for something imaginary

Maybe it was a stupid thought, but she hoped she would cross paths with Celestia one more time. To finally see the mare of harmony, who fought in many wars, tremble in fear because of her. The ‘failure’ she claimed Sunset was. She pulled the hood off, not minding the rain wetting her mane.

Her horn glowed a golden aura, shining into the darkness that surrounded her. Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and focused. The same thing happened as before, the wet trail on her nose, her body trembling with pain. Even the scene was moving forward. Days, years, centuries. She re-watched skip forward, but it wasn’t enough. The land still looked abandoned and broken. She needed to keep moving forward and so she did. A headache pounded against her head as she forced more magic into the spell.

She was putting her all into this spell. She couldn’t lose. She was Sunset Shimmer. The most talented unicorn in all of Equestria, which she proved numerous times. She knew for a fact she was going to survive this and travel farther into future.

She just hoped it had what she needed.

She couldn't tell what was changing because she was moving through time at such an incredibly rapid speed. Tears fell from her eyes as she reached her limit, she felt lines of burning pain encircling and crushing her heart. She opened her mouth for a final scream, but a bright light erupted from her mouth and eyes, shining within the darkness before it went out and with no trace of the unicorn.

Sunset Shimmer woke, her face touching the ground. Her cheek cold laid against it as the rest of her body felt numb. And the smell. Sunset Shimmer felt like her nose was laying in sewer water. Shimmer nearly choked on the saliva that had gathered in her throat, and in an instant, her eyes widened to an unnatural degree.

She groaned. Her body felt like it just been drained by some magic monster, the spell must have done that, rendering her body useless. All her muscles wouldn’t respond, unable to move with the lack of energy she had left in her. She heard the beep again, but longer this time as if somepony or something was doing it on its own.

“Come on, get out of the street!”

Her ears pointed straight up as the husky voice shouted into it. Did she just hear another pony’s voice? No, this couldn’t be a hallucination, Shimmer was sure of it.

The long beep again, followed by a, “Come on!”

Suddenly Shimmer groaned and lifted her head to see a stallion, holding out a hoof to her. She hesitated, but he didn’t like the guards that would arrest her in a flash.

This stallion wore a dark blue uniform, shirt buttoned up and a belt wrapped wrapped around his waist and with blue pants under it. What caught Shimmer’s eye was the golden star pinned on the right side of his chest. What did it mean?

Without a word, the stallion went ahead and pulled Shimmer up to her fours. “You alright ma’am?”

She dusted herself off and nodded.

“Why are you asking her that, arrest her!” The stallion barked. He stepped out of the carriage and balanced himself by clinging onto the hood as he shouted, “I didn’t call you to comfort her!”

“Please sir, just get back in the vehicle and--”

“She’s clearly some bum or drunk that passed out in the street!”

While the two barked at each other like dogs, Swimmer's ear twitched as she heard whispers from behind her. Turning around, her eyes widened as she saw a group of ponies looking at her with the same shocked expression.

A swarm of ponies looked at her. Every pony she saw had some form of clothing. She saw all kinds of things. Suits, jackets, dresses and big coats shielded them from the cold the rain brought. She looked down to examine her whole clothing. A cloak that had holes within it and some of the fabric was torn from it, dirt smeared around the dark spots. No wonder they stared at her.

She could see a light emitting from what looked like books in their hooves. Some held onto their faces and talked into it while others pointed at her before a bright flash blinded her a little. She felt threatened by it and growled at them.

That’s not what caught her attention. What really caught her eye were the dozens of massive skyscrapers thrust so far into the heavens that they went even higher than the cloud cover. How the lights managed to shine through the dark rain was something puzzling. If she had to guess, she would say that it was about eighty stories tall before it disappeared into the clouds. She wondered if pegasi had trouble flying all the way to the top of the unknowably tall building.

Images flashed on the buildings before fading away. Images like a mare holding a can named “Coke” with a smile on her face. She looked like she was real, as her eyes winked at the world. Other images had marees drinking out of a can or a glass bottle.

Shs turned away from them when a loud sound rang in her ears. A metal carriage drove in front of her. The strange moving carriage had glassed windows unlike the carriages without it back in the day. which did not had none. Their wheels spun rapidly while the carriage continued to move at an impressive speed without any stallions pulling it.

This carriage was not the only one. There were dozens, hundreds on the road, all their lights brightening the dark places. The carriage came to an abrupt stop when a light turned red. She was startled by the sound from before, only this it was from a carriage behind her. Shimmer tried to teleport away, but only ended up with blood trailing from her nose and a sudden headache pounding her head. She knew she was out of options. She couldn’t teleport away or she would put herself through more pain. The carriages didn’t make this any easier by honking at her.

She looked around. Everypony had stopped with they're doing to look at her, all their eyes planted on her and those strange devices pointed at her with flashing lights. The carriage worsened her headache, beeping into her ears. She grabbed her head, the noises crawling through her brain, its strange music blasting in her ears.

It confused her. She couldn’t understand any of it. The fact her mind couldn’t wrap around the technology of the future haunted her. She was Princess Celestia’s student for a reason, and now that she felt like the rest of the ponies in the crowd: stupid.

She used her hooves to block out the pesky noise that attacked her ears. She looked up and when her eyes hit a billboard that sat above her, she gasped. A mare looked down on Shimmer with a smile on her face, big as the building she was stuck on, waving at the tiny ponies on the ground.

But the size wasn’t what Shimmer cared about, it was what was waving at her. It was an alicorn, a pony Shimmer was destined to be. Instead another mare had stole that from her, stole her right as Princess of Equestria. Sunset Shimmer stopped staring as the officer touched her shoulder.

“Ma’am, how about you come with me and I’ll make sure you're safe.”

“Where am I?” Shimmer said, looking around in awe.

“Ma’m, I need you to stay calm and come with me,” he said, hooking his foreleg over her.

“Hey, let go of me!” Shimmer shouted, pulling back.

“Ma’am, please don’t--”

Shimmer shrugged his foreleg off. She didn’t time to react as the officer pulled her foreleg and forced it upon her back. “Hey! Ugh! What are you- ow! Doing!”

“I tried to be nice, but you had to make me use force.” The gruff voice she heard before said.

Let go of me!” She wiggled her hooves, but the stallion’s strength was too much for her. “I demand you--” Shimmer cringed as he tightened his hold.

“Just be quiet and I won’t have to hurt you.” She heard weird noises and something cold gripped on one of her hooves.

She grunted. “Where are you taking me!”

“To jail.”

As he was about to placed it on the other, Shimmer’s horn began to glow a bright turquoise color. The stallion that held her hooves released his hold as he stepped back, his eyes burning from the light that erupted from Shimmer’s horn. A wave shoved the stallion back as a large turquoise aura bubble surrounded the area. She lifted her head from the hood and saw behind her the stallion blinded from the light from her spell.

She couldn’t escape with a teleportation spell as she was still exhausted from the last cast. An alarm went off in her head when the stallion groaning as he regained his sight. Without a word spoken, Sunset Shimmer grunted as she lifted herself from the hood and threw herself into the stallion’s side. He grunted as her force knocked him back, spittle flying out of his mouth as he fell to the ground, his hoof clutching his side.

Her head slammed on the ground after she headbutted the stallion. She groaned as she rolled over, her hooves being crushed by her back. She whipped around at the sound of the stallion, now prone, screaming at her to stop. She rose up and looked around, seeing the ponies in the crowd still watching her, some with shocked faces and some with excited ones.

She looked to the alley ahead of her and sprinted towards the it. She ran off into the darkness, the sounds of the crowded area fading off into the distance. The only sounds she had to comfort her were the clopping of her hooves on the pavement and the shackles jangling along.

Not even an hour in the new world, and she already was on the opposite side of the law.

Chapter three: Mad World

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As Sunset Shimmer ran, she looked back down the alley. The stallion was still hot on her trail, getting closer each second as they ran. He moved like a cheetah, so running was just prolonging the inevitable. Shimmer looked around for something to slow him down, but all she could find were trash bags. Her horn glowed as she threw one bag at the incoming stallion and watched as he tripped over the plastic, his body slamming to the ground.

That did the trick.

A smile spread across Sunset’s face as she saw her gateway to freedom, a large gap between the buildings. The opening revealed cars driving back and forth, ponies walking by the exit. All that was waiting for her, she just had to not get caught. She looked back again to see the stallion wasn’t on her tail. Either that was a good sign or bad, Shimmer didn’t care.

The mare slowed her pace down into a trot. The breeze cooled her down, drying the sweat on her forehead. The sky had cleared, except for a few scattered fluffy clouds in the wind. The light from the sun was blinding at first, but Sunset’s eyes adjusted and it became bearable.

Since the stallion wasn’t chasing anymore, Sunset figured she could stop to catch her breath. After all, she might need to run again when she’s out the alleyway. She stopped and leaned her back against it, catching her breath. She inhaled and exhaled, then repeated it over again until she stopped hearing her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

Shimmer pulled on her cloak to get a look at it. The holes were growing, spreading everywhere. She sniffed at the foul odor coming from somewhere near where she stood. She brought her muzzle near the cloak and took a sniff, pulling back as the smell grew stronger. It smelt pungent, like she’d been in a sewer, which, in a way, she kinda was. Waking up laying on top of mud could do that to an pony.

There was no time for a bath, no time to look into the mirror and refine her reflection into perfection. She only had time to figure out how to survive in a new and very different world. What the hell was happening? Sunset had never seen anything like what she saw earlier.

Whoever the new alicorn was has proven to be a more difficult threat than Shimmer ever could imagine. She didn’t know what she was going up against, but she knew for sure it didn’t involve magic. At least she had that on her side.

Sunset grabbed her head as her ears exploded from an ear-splitting noise filling the air. The unicorn turned around when she heard another sound, like something screeching. A black-coated carriage sat at the entrance, closing the gap between the buildings. The dark alley was suddenly brightened by the red and blue lights that sat on the hood of the carriage. Two stallions wearing the same blue uniform came out of the carriages and stood near it.

Sunset Shimmer’s horn brightened as the two stallions simply stared at her, mocking her with their silence. The only sound accompanying them was the loud screech from the carriage. The larger one stepped forward and pulled out a new pair of shackles in his magic, walking slowly towards her. “Come on now, don’t make this harder on yourself.”

“Touch me and I’ll break your hoof.” Shimmer growled.

The stallion stepped forward only to be blasted with a spell. His partners shielded their eyes from the blinding only to look in horror as a frog hopped out of the hat laid out on the floor.

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle.

The stallion pulled out a black stick and charged at her with it. Sunset looked to her right. Nothing that she saw could hurt the stallion until her eyes landed on a stick lying in a puddle. Grabbing it she turned around in time for the stick to connect with the stallion’s head. The stallion dropped to the ground and groaned as he held his head.

Shimmer turned in time for her to be tackled on the ground, her head slamming down hard. The skies looked blurry from the view on the ground. She couldn’t tell if it was because the headache pounding inside her head or because how she was positioned. Her ears popped as his partner laughed. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or may do can and will be used against you in court,” the other cop said.

Sunset couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be happening to her. Furious, her horn glowed a dangerous green. The stallion released her, stepping back cautiously. He could feel his eyes burning from the light that erupting from Shimmer’s horn. He rubbed his eyes, groaning from the pain he must feel from the light. “Ugh!” Shimmer saw his eyes were red, tears building up inside. “Get her!”

Before the stallion charging could lay a hoof on her, Sunset Shimmer blinded the stallion with a flash from her horn. Sunset shook the dizziness from her vision as she turned towards the other cop as he bellowed and ran towards her. Shimmer’s horn glowed as picked up a metal pole from the ground and swung it right into the other one’s stomach, making him fall to the ground, gasping for air.

Sunset turned as the other one pulled out a strange device and pointed at her. A large green bubble expanded from Sunset, ignoring any non-living thing as the green surface phased through the walls and garbage. The stallion posed in a shooting stance and pointed at Shimmer. “Last warning before I shoot!”

Sunset groaned as she held the bubble. The headache pounding in her head was screaming for her to stop and surrender, but she couldn’t, her pride wouldn’t allow that. She growled and shouted, “Take your best shot!”

An ear-splitting thunderclap wracked orange mare’s ears. As it died down, it rang out a second time. She opened her eyes when she saw the stallion holding a strange device in his magic, smoke flowing out of the tubes. The stallion advanced towards her and kept firing. Each hit punctured holes within her bubble.

Even though the shield protected her, the things punching holes in her bubble made it feel like something was pounding against her head. She grunted with each shot the stallion fired, losing the battle to hold the shield. To Sunset’s surprise, the bubble popped with a sharp sound like shattering glass. She didn’t have time to respond as the stallion knocked her to the ground with a punch to the face.

Sunset Shimmer groaned from the stinging feeling on the side of her cheek and lifted her head to see the stallion along with the other two looking down on her with a smug grins. The one in the middle Shimmer assumed was the leader, grin disappeared as his hoof slammed down on her face, making blood fly from her mouth.

The stallion still had blood shot eyes as he lifted Sunset up from the ground and pinned her to the wall. He pulled his hoof back and swung it onto her cheek, the force of it making Shimmer fall to her hind legs. She heard the other officers laugh in the background. Their laughter ignited the fuel of her rage. The leader lifted her up from the ground laughed right her face.

Shimmer growled and spat blood to wipe that stupid grin off his face.

The stallion wiped off the blood that stained his cheek. He looked off to the side for a couple seconds before he looked back at Sunset, Anger clearly burning in his eyes. Without warning, he viciously shoved her against the wall with his magic, knocking the air right out of her. His grip tightened around her neck, sending her into short coughs and raspy gasps.

He growled as he tightened his grip. Shimmer tried her hardest to keep her eyes from shutting so she wouldn’t pass out, but she could feel her vision beginning to fade.

“Hey, that’s enough!” one of them shouted.

“Shut up!” the stallion yelled back as he shot a glare at the other officer. He turned back to Sunset and gave hard squeeze around her neck before he let go and slammed a hoof against her face. Everything went black.

Sunset Shimmer groaned as she recovered from passing out. The light that shined in her eyes caused her to grimace. She lifted herself from the chair and saw the two stallions that beat her to a pulp calmly seated before her. She looked down to see chains cuffed on both her hooves to the sides of the door.

She tugged on them, but to no avail. They didn’t budge.

Shimmer grunted as she tried to move, but the shackles would tighten every time she did. She bit her to stop herself from screaming as she wiggled her hooves around in the shackles. This got the stallion’s attention as he turned back. “Hey, cut that shit out!”

Sunset growled in response.

She studied how he would turn the wheel gripped in his hooves and how the carriage would automatically turn the direction he pointed it to. How he flexed his hind leg further forward and pressed a pedal sticking out of the wall ahead of him. Everytime that happened, The car would push through the mud faster and roll forward, rushing out into the damp streets. Shimmer watched as the landscape passed by rapidly, in a manner not unlike the way things looked when Sunset traveled into the future.

Shimmer turned back to the front after she heard static coming from within the carriage. Ten-one-four, we’ve got a shooting on Hall Street, requesting back up. Whoever spoke on that sounded like a mare, the only question was how she was talking to them without the usage of ink or scrolls.

The rest of the ride was silent. Nopony had anything to say to each other, it wasn’t needed. The message was loud and clear; Shimmer was going to die unless she did something to prevent that.

These weren’t the regular guards she was used to dealing with. These guards were something else. They were corrupt, willingly to kill to erase the dirt that stained their society. Sunset Shimmer looked at the front to see if either one of them was staring at her, but their eyes were stuck on the road.

Sunset groaned as she felt a headache pounding in her head. What were the weapons they were using? Why didn’t they tried a spell to break the shield? How could that little weapon destroy such advanced shield?

Unless...

Shimmer’s heart stopped. No, that can’t be true. She used magic, he used magic, this wasn’t making any sense.

Shimmer had seen him use magic to hold that gun. One thing Celestia told Sunset that she always held onto was that magic would be around no matter what. So why didn’t he attack her with it? Fire a beam at her, turn her into a frog, something magical!

None of this was making sense. She hated when she couldn’t wrap her head around things. The headaches that came with it, the question mark floating around her head, begging to be answered.

Sunset Shimmer wiggled around in the seat, unable to stay still as the question bogged her mind. It felt like hours passed by as the silence mocked her, leaving her with even more unanswered questions. She couldn’t handle not answering them, it already felt like her head was going to explode. Her heart pounded against her chest as she watched the stallion driving.

She closed her eyes. Even though she was inside a carriage moving at a fast speed and teleporting send her anywhere was a bad idea, she didn’t have a choice. Her horn glowed within the carriage. She kept her eyes close as the stallion’s laughter echoed in her ears. When nothing happened her eyes shot opened. “What… what happened to my magic!”

“You thought we would be stupid and not secure that little horn of yours?” He laughed.

As the officer said that, Shimmer looked at her reflection in the window. She gasped as she spotted some sort of ring wrapped around her horn, a green light shining bright within her reflection. It felt like the device was draining her from her magic, leaving her feeling exhausted.

When she tried to focus on the magic, and headache would throw her off.

“What did you….” she shook off the dizziness. “do to me?”

“Let’s just say you won’t be using spells with that thing on,” he said, chucking. His partner joined in and both laughed at Sunset’s misfortune.

Out of all the situations, magic couldn’t be the easy ticket out.

She had to rely on her instincts. Asking nicely wasn’t going to work, so she had to perform another approach. One where she had to use force to escape. She looked down at the chains.

Shimmer launched out of her seat, wrapping the chains around the stallion’s neck. He gagged and let go of the wheel as he tried to pull the chains from his neck. Sunset felt her body move along with the carriage as it swirled around the street, screeching into the air, but she held onto the stallion’s neck with the chains. Shimmer saw out the corner of her eye he had a gun in this magical grasp.

“Let go of him!” the other officer shouted.

“Stop the carriage!” Shimmer shouted in the driver’s ear, tightening her grasp.

The stallion at the wheel coughed.“Shoot this crazy bit--” a sudden increase tightened around his throat, interrupting him.

“I’m counting to three!” the officer shouted.

Sunset struggled to keep her hold. The stallion’s was fighting back with all his strength, she could feel her grip slipping away. If that happened, she knew something worse was going to happen to her, but she didn’t care. “Stop the carriage now!”

“One!”

The driver coughed, scratching at the chains. “What the fuck are you doing!”

“Two!”

“Fucking shoot her already!”

Shimmer could feel the tense building up, sweat burning her forehead. She felt her heart skipped a beat when her ear twitched at the sound of the gun being cocked.

“Last warning!”

“Shoot her now!”

Sunset Shimmer couldn’t hear anything but a ringing sound as red splattered on her face. The mare’s head slammed against the window, knocking her out.

Sunset groaned as she regained consciousness despite the headache that pounded her head. Her head felt heavy and she just want to lay it down on a pillow, but not even that helps. The pain throbbed and pulsed in her skull, not a sharp pain like a knife-inflicted wound, but more of a dull pounding with a hammer over… and over… and over again. Her brain felt like it was on overdrive, but unable to process properly. Images and ideas and plans and deadlines ran through her head, but they're chasing each other round and round.

Shimmer lifted her head from the seat, shards of glass falling from her mane. She choked on her breath as she saw the officer in the driver seat, glass surrounded his hind legs and some were on his clothes, as well as blood. He stared at her, but with colorless eyes.

She was too stunned to scream or move away as his head dropped down through the dividing section between the front seat and the beat seat, his the neck bending at an unnatural angle. All the muscles in her body went stiff, and her mind couldn’t come up with any action for her to take.

The other officer sat in his seat, pinned down by a pole that struck through his stomach, blood still dripping. He had no wise jokes to crack, no comments about not caring about her life ending because she was a criminal. Funny how quickly karma caught up to him, but Shimmer wasn’t laughing.

A smile should’ve spread across the orange unicorn’s face, but none did. She wanted to feel some sort of relief or happiness, but the sight of his lifeless eyes staring back at her was sickening. Resisting the urge to puke became even more difficult, but the idea of lying in a puddle of her own vomit helped her stay in control. For now she kept quiet, staring at the stallion’s neck bent in an unusual manner.

Sunset resisted the urge to puke as his clueless eyes stared at her.

Without a second thought, her body acted on instinct and moved towards his body, reaching into his pocket. Shimmer pulled out the key with her mouth. She held her chained hooves in front of her face as she jerked her head forward, putting the key into the keyhole, then turning it, silently cheering as she heard the locks click. Sunset saw her reflection in the carriage's window, the ring wrapped around her horn gone. Pieces of the cursed thing littered the seat and floor of the carriage. Looks like the impact smashed it.

She could almost feel her magic coursing through her veins again.

Sunset’s hooves finally felt like they could move around as the chains fell. Scooting herself over to the open door and ducked her head down as she got out of the carriage. She hissed as her weight came crashing down on her left hind leg. She looked down to see blood trickling down from a hole in her thigh.

Standing outside Sunset saw a pole inlaid into the hood of the carriage, stabbing through the hunk of metal. She wobbled around, but she gripped onto the smashed surface for support. She limped around the carriage until she saw the pavement across from her.

Shimmer looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw a green sign standing tall, but it wasn’t the sign that shocked her, but what was written on it. Hall Street. It felt like she was ready to collapse with each step she took. Her vision was blurry, and she gagged as she almost puked. She held her stomach with one hoof and kept walking. Once she stepped onto the pavement, her whole body stopped and she tipped forward her legs buckled. The meager amount of food she had in her was spit onto the previously clear pavement.

She was thrust into the chaos this new world contained. She hadn’t been here a day, and already she had almost been killed and witnessed two deaths, Her tough act had vanished, killed alongside the stallions who died in the carriage, leaving nothing left but the real Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset Shimmer, a scared and lonely mare with no knowledge of how things operate. No, that would be impossible, she could understand anything in a heartbeat. She wasn’t stuck in this time, that would mean she was wrong, and she was never wrong. She had a brilliant mind, one that Celestia used her for to strength her status as ruler. There was still hope, right now her thinking was too clouded.

Sunset wiped her muzzle on her leg and looked up, grimacing in discomfort from the light that emitted from the long pole above, shining right into her eyes. It looked like the sun from the ground.

It kinda reminded her of— No. Can’t think about her, she was the cause of all this. She was responsible for all of this. She lifted herself onto all fours and looked around. Nopony was around in sight because of the bunch of smoke surrounding her. She walked down the pavement, following the trail down to anywhere. She couldn't be near that carriage.

Sunset Shimmer kept walking without turning back. She stayed silent for a while, the sound of her hooves clopping on the pavement was the only sound that broke the silence. She stayed quiet until she couldn’t take it anymore and broke down into sniffles. She tried her best to fight it, but the tears came trailing down her face as she walked, clouding her vision. She lost the battle to contain her emotions.

Her city reduced a pile of dust, finding out she had been replaced, getting beaten to a bloody pulp and now this! She had bottled up her emotions the entire time, keeping it together in the new world.

And now all the emotions came rushing at her at once, overwhelming her heart. Tears fell from her eyes and her sobbing was interrupted by hiccups. The most talented unicorn in Equestria wasn’t here right now, only Sunset Shimmer. The mare who sobbed alone in an empty street, walking away from two dead bodies that sat in a carriage a couple feet behind her.

Sunset heard the sirens go off behind her, shouts and screams from numerous officers. She started a limped faster as the noise grew louder, ignoring the pain in her foreleg. The flashing lights brightened the dark neighborhood Shimmer was in, coating the buildings with red and blue.

It sounded like a growl howling into the street, but when she turned behind her, she saw it was the same carriage she was locked inside. Only now there was more than one. She couldn’t count how many followed her, but the numerous sirens booming into her ears told her it was a lot.

Sunset stopped limping as the carriage sped up and drove past her just to make a swift turn and stop in front of her. The other ones did the same and blocked her only passage to freedom. She stood still and stared at the carriages, her horn glowing ready in case they made a move.

It felt like one of those stand offs in the books. The silence, the intense feeling in the muscles, itching to move when in danger, and the fear crawling in the back of her head. She took a stance. Her horn shined brighter than before and she kept her eyes locked on the stallion that came out of the carriage.

He held something in front of his mouth and spoke, sounding like he was using the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Make this easy on yourself and give yourself up! You’re surrounded.”

As he said this, a swarm of officers stepped up beside him in a formation, creating a long line. Shimmer found herself staring at the barrels of all their weapons. She could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of her neck. “Leave me alone!”

The sound of their weapons being loaded and cocked all sang at the same time like a chord. “One.”

“Leave me alone.” Sunset Shimmer mustered all the strength she had, pushing away the fear that would make her lose focus.

“Two.”

“Leave me alone!” Shimmer shouted, horn shining bright.

A streak of lighting formed above her, and grey clouds covered the empty sky. She grunted as she focused, summoning a cloud of mist that headed towards the officers. They stopped and turned around in time to be caught in the mist. Their screams turned into coughs as it flew into their lungs.

Sunset Shimmer steadied her balance and kept channeling more magic into the spell, ignoring the blood trailing from her nose. She watched as the officers staggered around as well, dropping to the ground.

Sunset stopped summoning the mist and grabbed her head. An intense headache pounded at her mind, but it was worth the pain when she looked up to see all the officers unconscious or on the ground still coughing.

However, when she thought she had won, the lead officer that held the device in front of his muzzle came walking towards her, still able to walk even though he was breathing heavily. He levitated the gun, the weapon shaking violently in his grasp, and aimed it at Shimmer.

Her mind caught up with her, but her body didn’t react in time. The gun fired, and a bullet pierced through her shoulder. She howled in pain and collapsed on the shoulder that been hit, slamming her weight down into the wound. She screamed even louder than before.

Sunset lifted her head up to see the officer’s coughs turn into violent ones, blood flying from his mouth. He held his chest and leaned his back against the carriage as he coughed and coughed, more blood splattering onto his uniform.

Finally his body slammed to the ground and, just like before, Shimmer was staring into the eyes of a dead stallion. However, no tears were shed, she couldn’t if she wanted to. She didn’t feel nothing as she saw the bodies, some dead and some barely even breathing.

What scared her wasn’t because the bodies itself, but the fact she felt no remorse.

Shimmer moaned in pain as she looked down to see the gaping hole in her shoulder, blood pouring out of it. It felt like salt and alcohol was smeared into it, increasing the burning sensation that increased the pain.

Her eyes fluttered as she tried to keep them open, but she found her grip was loosening. Never before have she experienced some much pain. Even spells couldn’t do what the stallion had do to her with his gun.

Sunset could feel herself slipping away slowly. Her backside had became wet as she bled out, forming a small pool out of her blood. Her heartbeats pounded in her ears, drumming at a slow and calming rhyme.

She couldn’t get up. She felt like her body was paralyzed from the waist down, pinning her to the cold ground. The moon looked beautiful from her point of the views, the stars shined brighter than before. She couldn’t tell if this was a side effect to the blood loss, but...she found it comforting.

A shadow in the form of figure stood over her. The moon’s light shined some of its light on the figure, and what she saw took the breath from her. What she saw, she never thought she would see in a million years, something ponies feared back in her time and was now standing over her, wearing a chef's apron.

She lost consciousness before she could utter a response.

Chapter four: Hurt

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Celestia trotted over to the boiling kettle. Carefully, she levitated it towards Sunset Shimmer at her fancy, compact round table. “Careful, it’s hot,” she warned.

Tentatively, Sunset reached for the cup. “Thanks,” she replied, leaning back in her chair. The taste of honey mixed with oaks from the finest tea calmed Shimmer. She hummed as she relaxed further into the chair.

“Sunset, you always strike me as the collective type. So what’s on my mind is:” a smile spread across her face, “what does Sunset Shimmer fear about her future?”

“Why ask such a question?”

Princess Celestia replied with a shrug and giggled.

Shimmer leaned back in her seat and pondered at the question.

Of course she feared for what the future held for her, but Celestia can’t know that. It would poison her plans for becoming the ruler of Equestria.

“No, a mare such as myself has a plan ahead for a better future,” Shimmer said.

Princess Celestia hummed, seemingly happy with the answer. Until she pondered more and filled her tea cup.

Shimmer could feel another question coming on.

“And what if something were to occur that would deconstruct your plans?”

Shimmer scrunched her nose. “Then I would have a counter plan in case,” she said. “Why are you asking me these questions all of a sudden?”

“As I said before, I’m just curious.”

She heard a thumping in the background.

A throbbing sensation inside her chest. “Y-yeah.”

“Oh, though… after witnessing two murders right in front of your eyes and then proceeding to murder a number of officers, I figure that your collective thought would be deconstructed.”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

The same ringing sound she heard from the carriage echoed in the background.

How did she know that? How could she, if that event happened thousands years in the future?

Sunset looked up at her teacher, horror mixed with shock on her face. A smile appeared on Celestia’s face as she looked at Shimmer innocently.

“Well, Shimmer, what is your answer? You seemed so sure of your plans for such a fate.”

Sunset choked on her saliva as she opened her mouth.

She gulped. “I..”

“Tell me,” Princess Celestia said, “tell me, Shimmer, you always so sure of everything, but now when you see a little blood you’re lost, confused, unsure of yourself?”

Moisture blinded her as tears built behind her eyes.

Her muzzle wavered as she recoiled from her teacher’s glare.

She couldn’t control her body shaking in the chair. She tried to stop the tears from escaping her eyes, but it was no use. Her cheek became wet as it trailed down to her chin.

Her tongue stumbled and was silent.

“Sunset Shimmer, answer the question!” Princess Celestia shouted, her voice was solid, hard-held. “Come on, tell me!”

“Leave me alone!” Shimmer shouted, eyes still shut. She felt a magical tingle in her eyelids as they were forced open. Her head turned by Celestia’s magical grasp, forcing her to stare into the eyes of her nightmare.

A bullet-sized hole planted itself in Celestia’s head. The sight of the blood streaking down from it made Shimmer want to puke. However, Celestia didn’t seemed bothered by at all. In fact, she showed not an ounce of pain.

Shimmer broke down and sobbed before the pony she despised the most. She could hear the mad ruler cackling through her sobs. Her growl cut through her sobs and she glared at Celestia, tears trailing down her face. “Shut up!”

Never did she think she would see in Celestia’s magic the same gun that had wounded her, both mentally and physically.

“I can tell you remember this little…” She chuckled a bit, waving the gun around, “toy.” Her smile dissolved from her face when she shoved the barrel against Shimmer’s forehead. “I have to say, this works way better than magic. Requires a lot less focus, but still gets the job done.” She shrugged. “A lot messier than magic, yes, but it still outranks magic.”

Fear held her in a vice, but she fought through it. Never would she give Celestia the pleasure in seeing her break.

“Screw you,” Shimmer said with a growl.

Celestia’s smile fell from her face as the foul words were spat at her.

Shimmer discovered how heavy the gun was as Celestia smacked her across the face with it, drawing blood from her muzzle.

“You always were so stubborn, Shimmer, ” she spat with anger.

Shimmer saw a small flame burning within Celestia’s eyes.

She could almost feel Celestia’s rage while captive in her hold. “A flaw that can be fix with this.” She started cackling madly as she planted the gun’s muzzle on Shimmer’s forehead.

Her ears twitched as the weapon cocked.

Then nothing.

Her eyes shot open. Her body pushed upward as she gasped for air. She inhaled and exhaled, the heartbeats drumming in her ear slowly fading away. She’s gone… she’s gone. She sighed in relief as she saw no signs of a crazed Celestia after looking around.

She touched her cheek to see if she was awake, but felt something wet. Has she been crying?

She held a hoof on her chest and hissed as she touched the wounded shoulder. She looked down to see, instead of a hole in her shoulder, there was a white patch with a little blood on it.

Even though the wound was covered and probably clean, the pain still burned like hell. It felt like she’d been shot all over again. No type of magic ever had this lasting effect, no matter how strong the spell was.

She leaned her head back as she moaned in the pain. Gods, this hurts. She bit her lip, drawing blood as she used her magic to lift the patch to catch a peek at her wound. A small hole smudged with a little blood was all she saw from underneath.

Shimmer closed her eyes. Oh gods, I never felt this much pain before. It felt like the hole in her chest was burning as if the gun still fired.

Sweat burned her forehead and kept her body hot, or maybe it was the sheets that covered most of her body. She tried to push through the pain and and take in the sight around her. It was a room filled with lights and pictures, with flower patterned wallpaper and a cat-shaped clock hanging on the wall.

She was in somepony else’s house.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she realized something was missing.

Her cloak.

Her heart began to race as she pictured who ever patched her up also did something while she was out. She was clearly in a vulnerable state, leaving the intruder to do whatever they pleased without a fight. What if the real reason they saved her because they wanted her all to themselves?

Moments later, the sound of the doorknob twitching rang in her ears.

Oh no, they was here. They were going to fondle her body again, but this time she wasn’t unconscious.

Sunset grunted as lifted herself from the bed. She wobbled around a bit, but she clung on the bed springs to support her weight. She mustered all the strength she could to stand right and not pass out through the pain that burned her chest.

She looked around, her eyes wandering. She stopped as she spotted a stick leaned against the wall.

When the door hit the wall, Shimmer closed her eyes and screamed, charging forward with the stick in her magic. She managed to step once before she collapsed into the arms of her intruder. She froze as her face was pressed against her intruder’s body. It felt like they’ve been in the sun for a long time.

Slowly, she looked up. She stopped as she saw her own reflection in the intruder’s razor teeth. “Aaaaaaaah!” She whacked the intruder repeatedly with the stick in her magical grasp.

“Ow, what the fuck!” he shouted, shielding his face from the attacks. “Why are you hitting me!”

“Because you’re a dragon!” she shouted, striking him repeatedly on the shoulder. Her magic dissolved from the stick as he gripped it in his claw. The dragon tossed the stick to the floor and looked at Shimmer with a killer glare.

Her heart was beating fiercely against her chest.

Without a word, the dragon swooped under and lifted her from the ground with ease. “Put me down!” She screamed, pounding her hooves on his shoulder. She stopped after a couple seconds of striking his shoulder, seeing how it brought no harm to him.

He kept walking with her body tingling along. He reached the bed and gently placed her down on the pillows. Sunset Shimmer tried to get up and run like last time, but at that moment, her strength betrayed her, causing her to collapse back.

All she could do was stare the dragon in the eyes.

He exhaled. “Are we done trying to kill each other?”

Shimmer replied with a snort.

He sighed. “You must be feeling okay after trying to brain me with that stick.”

“Because you tried to kill me!” Shimmer shouted.

“How was I trying to kill you? I fail to see where I did,” he said with a bit of sarcasm. “Okay, I see we got off the wrong hoof,” he said, “So how about we introduce ourselves. I’m Jark, you know like Jerk, but without the ‘A’.” He waved a claw at Shimmer. “Now you.”

Sunset Shimmer didn’t move or blink an eye as she studied the dragon. He wore a chef's apron, but nothing under it. That didn’t catch her eyes, but the stains on it did. She couldn’t tell if the red stains was blood or ketchup. Maybe it could be her blood.

Or he could have eaten one of the corpses outside and got some blood on him.

“Take your time, no rush,” he said, earning a glare from Shimmer.

Okay, maybe she had some trust issues and those things she thought about were silly, but what if she told Jark her name, he’ll think she’s crazy? Claiming to be a mare that should be a pile of dust right now, was sitting before him in a bed surrounded by technology beyond her time just sounded insane.

All of this sounded insane.

She opened her mouth, but stopped as she saw him sniff in the air and then his facial expression switched to disgust. He held a claw to his nose and backed away from her.

He held his stomach and gagged.“Oh jeez, you smell like you’ve been in a sewer!”

“I don’t!”

He backed away.“Ugh, smell your foreleg and you will!”

Shimmer lifted a foreleg and sniffed it.

The sewer scent struck her.

She pulled back and gagged. He pointed to a door a couple feet from her. He gagged again. “I’m going to puke!” he said as he dashed out the door.

“Wait where are you--” She stopped as the door slammed shut. “going.”

As she sat alone, her thoughts began to take over. I’m in the future. A future where technology rules over magic. A future where a new ruler controls Equestria, and Celestia is nowhere to be seen. She buried her face in her hooves. Why? How could an ancient mare disappear without a trace!

She rubbed her face down and banged her head against the bedpost. Ugh! Nopony here knows why… either because they're not smart enough or they choose not to tell me. She looked up at the ceiling as if it held the answers for her. Something had to happen. Celestia wouldn’t allow Equestria to become...whatever this is! How did the magic that made it so special suddenly vanish and be replaced with… with metal weapons!

The ruler is reasonable. She has to be responsible for what happened to Equestria five hundred years ago. But whatever happened five hundred years ago to cause that much destruction compared to the world now feels… disconnected.

The sewer smell shattered her thoughts. “Think later, shower now.” She rubbed her sore shoulder. Right then, she wished there was something to ease the pain in her bones.

She lifted herself from the bed and trotted to the door the dragon had pointed to earlier. Sunset pushed the door and trotted inside, but then limped as her legs pained her.

Thankfully, there wasn’t anything unrecognizable in the bathroom, despite the amount of time that had gone by. The tub looked cleaned and was in workable condition. It wasn’t her type of bathtub, but it’d do for now.

Hot water came rushing down into the tub as she twisted the knob towards the left. Since it was going to take a while to fill up, she sat on the edge of the tub and once again her thoughts took over.

How is a dragon roaming free in Equestria? Why did he save me? He clearly didn’t do it out of the kindness of his heart. What game is he playing at?

She pondered more and more, increasing the headache that pounded her head.

Her thoughts flooded with mind with questions she couldn’t answer.

How?

Why?

How?

WHY?!

Sunset broke out of her thoughts as the water spilt onto the floor and splashed on her foreleg. She turned around, and her eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the water overflowing the tub. She reached over to turn it off, but she slipped and fell into the tub.

Well she was going to get wet anyway, but she wasn’t planning on drowning. She pulled herself from the water, gasping for air. She looked and saw the knob was a couple inches away. She sighed. “Oh come on!” She held her breath and lunged towards the knob.

“You okay in there!”

Shit.

All this water splashing onto his floor.

If what she did before didn’t make him mad, than this would get him pissed for sure.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine!” Shimmer’s hopes were restored as she reached the knob. She grabbed it and wrenched it clockwise, shutting off the water. She levitated a towel on the floor and mopped up all the water, letting it soak into the towel. She felt the floor was dry enough, she tossed it into a white pottery near the door.

She flipped over on her back and slowly sank into the water. The warm liquid came brushing against her bruises and cuts, pain from irritated wounds. She screamed, but bit her lip to stop herself from continuing.

She sat still and awaited until she longer felt the pain faded away.

The floor was pretty much soaked from all the water. Yep, she was going to die. She face hooved as she remembered she could have used magic. You’re losing it, Sunset Shimmer! You’re on the run from the cops. You’ve exhausted yourself by using that much magic , you’ve been shot, almost bled to death, and saved by a fucking dragon! Who, heh, wants to eat you!

She gasped. What if this is where he cooks his victims? What if I’m next! Well he doesn’t know who’s he’s dealing with!

Her eyes were glued to the door at the same time she was scrubbing her body with the soap. She fought hard, but she felt too relaxed. Her eyes fluttered as she kept them from closing. She eventually shut her eyes for a moment until they shot open at the sound of the water splashing.

She rubbed her eyes and saw that the clear water was now red. She prepared to jump out of the water and scream, but something sprang from it. Her eyes went wide as she was looking in the eyes of the dead officer, covered in blood.

She wanted to scream, but he prevented that as he covered her mouth with his hoof.

Even though the bullet was carved in his head, he still cackled madly, chilling Shimmer to the bone. “Surprised to see me, huh?” he laughed. “I’m surprised too. You know, what with me being dead and all.”

No, this wasn’t real.

This can’t be real.

This was all—

“Please don’t say this is all a dream.” He sighed. “That won’t make this any easier. Just saying that makes you seem crazy. Well, you’re already passed crazy and traveled to insane now that you’re seeing a stallion who’s suppose to be dead.”

Shimmer’s eyes started watering.

“Oh no, don’t cry. Please don’t,” he said, brushing a hoof against Shimmer’s check. Shimmer. Shimmer shivered at his touch. The tears came flowing out and her sobs became louder even though they were muffled. “Shimmer, it breaks my heart seeing you cry.”

Shimmer looked at him with teary eyes. Her heart beat fast against her chest and she had a troubled time breathing, like he was sucking the life out of her. She couldn’t fight back, the stallion was stronger than her. All her muscles in her body had frozen.

“Are you crying ‘cause you didn’t die with me?” He asked in a sad tone. “Don’t worry, you’ll die soon.”

Shimmer heard a banging on the door as the stallion talked. Shimmer tried to ignore his voice, but it got louder than the door banging. The other noise faded away as he gripped up her face and made her look in his colorless eyes. “You’re a criminal, Shimmer. Criminals shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

Shimmer closed her eyes to shield herself from the horror that had a face, but it was no use. Even when her eyes were closed, she could see images of the officers lifeless corpses. She could remember how they stared back at her with blood streaking down their heads.

She remembered how helpless she felt watching them die. The pain of knowing she could have died with them if the stallion in the mask didn’t spare, still haunted her. She hugged her forelegs and sobbed, more and more tears came trailing out.

Just like before, she couldn’t control the emotions that came spurting out. She fought to keep the tears from falling, but the emotion was too strong to hold it. She had to let it go. The stallion’s mad cackle echoed in her ears. It felt like she cried for hours, but she couldn’t really tell. Her heart hurt so much at the memories.

“Shimmer, what are you going to do now, huh! You always have a plan, come on, spit out!” He gripped up her face. “Come on, Sunset Shimmer, tell me!”

“No!” Shimmer cried out, eyes shooting up. No matter how hard she thrashed and thrust around, she couldn’t break free of his hold. As if her hopelessness was increasing his strength.

She jumped when she heard a loud crack sound . She opened her eyes to see Shades had vanished and instead was the dragon came charging in. She quickly covered herself up, a blush burning her cheeks. “What are you doing in here!”

He shielded his eyes with a claw and turned around. “I…uh….I—”

“G-g-get out!”

He was blushing too as he looked away. “R-r-right.” He backed away and hit his his head against the wall. “Leaving now,” he said, dashing out.

Sunset looked at him then the water. The blood was gone, leaving a clear sight of her hind legs as they sat underneath the water. She didn’t move a muscle and just kept watching the flowing water.. All her thoughts was jumbled up so thinking only led to more headaches

She couldn’t rest her eyes because the nightmares that awaited kept her awake.

She was hopeless.

Powerless.

Sunset Shimmer wasn’t powerless, she was power. So whatever she witnessed, she couldn’t let that stop her goals. So why was she haunted with these nightmares? Why everytime she saw them, she burst into tears like a foal who’s candy was taken away.

Shimmer could hear Celestia’s mad laughter in the back of her head. She shivered at the at her monstrous tone. She grabbed her head as the laughter hunted. Shut up! Shut up!

Being in this bathroom made her wanted to puke, she lifted herself from the water and stepped out of the tub, levitating a towel over her, drying up her coat. She walked out the bathroom and poked wet her head out.

Looking around, she saw nothing. She walked out and looked around. She walked to the bed and sat down. She repeated breathing over and over again until her heart beating faded away and her breathing slowed down.

She wiped her tears away and sniffed. You can do this. You can. She took a deep breath then huffed, a frown forming on her face. She needed to get up and get right back on track, starting with looking for more info about what happened and about this new alicorn.

I need something to wear. Everypony’s wearing clothes now, and seeing me walking around naked would be suspicious.. Her eyes slowly scanned the room until she hit the jackpot as she saw a closest.

She walked to the closet doors and swung them open to find a hanging leather jacket. She raised her eyebrow. Why would a dragon have a pony size jacket? She tapped a her chin. He has to be hiding something.

She moved the jacket aside and poked her head inside. The rest of the closet was empty except for the jacket and a pair of blue jeans.

She groaned and pulled her head out of the closest.

Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that it was fake leather, but she decided that it would suit her just fine. In fact it was great camouflage for when she goes outside. They wouldn’t even tell her apart, she would look just like them. Sunset Shimmer took the jacket and examined it. She saw no trace of claw marks or even blood, maybe it washed off.

Maybe he hung this jacket as a trophy.

Maybe she was being paranoid.

Sunset swung it on. The lining inside felt nice and it did make her feel kinda sharp. She couldn’t shake it, maybe it was a coincidence, but this jacket fit like it was her size. She sat down on the bed and levitated up the blue jeans.

She struggled a bit, often putting both hind legs inside one pants hole until she finally got it. She pulled them up and she walked around. It felt nice and smooth, again her size. Things were starting to get very strange. The type of strange she wanted to get into, but wouldn’t like what comes out of it.

This dragon was hiding something. He had to be. The matching clothes, no picture frames of him or any of his relatives, he was basically a walking mystery. All the questions always ended up why he decided to save a criminal who he knew had killed.

The “because I’m a good person” bullshit excuse didn’t fit right with Shimmer.

But this wasn’t about looking good. Her head turned at the door as she heard a knock. She looked around, but saw nothing could fit inside her pocket in case. Even though the dragon had saved her and took her in, his intentions weren’t truly clear.

Her eyes widened as she saw a small pen on the desk. She levitated it inside her pocket and walked to the door. She took a swift inhale then huffed. She opened the door and the sight of the dragon greeted her. This time, he wasn’t smiling. “Yes?”

“Wanted to apologize for barging in like that.” He rubbed his neck. “I wasn’t trying--”

Shimmer sighed. “Let’s forget that happened okay?”

“Right. Forgetting that now.” He chuckled as examined her, from her jacket down to her jeans. “Heh, you look good in that jacket,” Jark smiled, but only for a moment.

“I hope it’s alright.”

He waved a claw. “Go ahead. Letting it stay here is bad for me.”

"What does he mean, 'bad for him'?"Shimmer frowned. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

He sighed and walked in.

She left the door open in case she needed a place to escape and turned around. The dragon walked to the bed and sat down, blowing his breath. “I already told you why.”

Sunset groaned. “I don’t have time--”

“Time for what? You keep saying that like you're on a time limit or something. How about you answer my question,” he said. “Why are you such in a rush, huh?”

Shimmer’s grasp of the pen tightened as his voice had gotten louder. “Calm down,” she said. Her heart pounded against her chest, her breathing quickened, and she could feel her face grow damp from the sweat that burned her skin. She didn’t know if he could see that her grasp of the pen was shaking violently under his glare.

“Listen, you bit…” He stopped himself and exhaled. “Listen, wherever you came from, it doesn’t work like that here. You can’t just walk outside when you’re a wanted criminal.”

“I know how to take care of myself.”

“Yeah the stack of bodies proves that!” He shouted, waving towards the window.

“I did what I had to do!”

“Is that what you keep telling yourself that!” He barked. Then he stopped and exhaled.

The pain in her chest still burned like it was a fresh wound, and suddenly standing in one spot exhausted her. All she wanted was to collapse on the bed and rest, but she couldn’t.

If she stopped now, then Celestia won.

She couldn’t allow that.

Without a word, Sunset Shimmer walked to the door. She stood still and stared at the knob grasped in her magic. A question swarmed her head she could longer keep in the back of her head.

Sunset shut her magic off from the knob and turned around. She saw the dragon staring back at her with a tired look. “Why do you care so much, huh? I killed so many officers and I haven’t even been here for one fucking day!” Her muzzle trembled as she spoke. “You took me here, treated me, gave me a roof above my head and you don’t even know me!”

She asked with a shaky tone, “Why? Tell me why did you save me! After knowing what’ve I done you still saved me! Why!?”

“Because you’re not the only one who saw some crazy shit that traumatized you!” She could see tears were building from his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away before they could escape and sniffled.“So stop acting so fucking selfish!”

The dragon was looking at her as he waited for her response. The sound of his heavy breathing was the only thing she heard.

She opened her mouth to speak, but noises from the outside interrupted her. Different noises like screeching in the streets and doors shutting. She moved to the window and saw the street was brightened by the red and white lights flashing from the carriage. It was bigger than the other ones she had seen, and the colors were different too.

She looked towards the right and saw a big white sheet covering up something. She couldn’t get a good look as it was too far off to the right. She turned around to see the dragon staring at the box a few inches from her. He held a stick in his claw that was aimed at it.

She walked to where the dragon sat and looked at the box. A mare in a brown jacket was inside the box, her lips flapping, but she couldn’t hear words forming. “What’s happening?”

“Sssh,” he said, pressing the button on the stick.

The mare got louder and louder as he did this. Shimmer could hear officers shouting orders in the background and even more carriages came into view.

“This is Equestria News here to report a tragedy that struck us today.”

Sunset Shimmer squinted her eyes. The officers were moving back and forth in the background, but the mare holding the device in her magic paid no attention to the shouting and other noises as she addressed the public. “Wait a minute.”

“This is Equestria News here to report a tragedy that struck us today. Ten officers were found dead due to strange causes just minutes ago on Hall Street, in what appears to be a complete massacre.. Just down the lane, two other officers were also found dead in their car. Early reports are suggesting that the killer worked with a third party to kill the officers in the car, then released a poisonous gas to kill the other ten responders on-scene. You’re going to want to stay inside, mares and gentlecolts.”

The mare’s tone switched slightly as she read over what she had to say next.

“Because the police just assigned a full on search on everyone who lives in this neighborhood, where they believe the killer is hiding.”

Sunset ran over to the window as the mare said this and peeked through the blinds. She saw the lights in the building across from her flick on as a loud knocking echoed in the room. Followed by another, and then once more. “No, no this can’t happen!”

“Reporters on-scene are telling us that the police force has already begun their search, and expect to find the killer within the hour.”

Her body tensed up as the knocking grew louder, but this time, she felt the vibration of it. It was already too late for her to escape.

The Future for You

by Manes

Chapter one: A Fall From Grace

Chapter two: A Moment of Time

Chapter three: Mad World

Chapter four: Hurt