> The Cutie Re-Mark: Sunset Shimmer Future
>  by Da Joestanator
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Rise (And Fall Again) Of Sunset Shimmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Cutie Re-Mark: Sunset Shimmer Future


Written by Joey Turner


Based on idea by Tanya Furness


Edited by Bryce "The WrestleManiac" Kanyon

        “AAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!”
Once again, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were falling out of a time loop conjured by Starlight Glimmer’s spell. It felt like hours ago when the two returned to their castle to find the devious unicorn had broken into their home. With the castle’s map and an altered time-travel spell of Star Swirl the Bearded, she created a time hole to take the three of them back to the most important date of Twilight’s life… The day Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom painted the skies and she and her friends received their cutie marks. Of course, it wouldn’t end that way if Starlight had her way. As revenge for what Twilight and her friends did to her ‘perfect’ village, Starlight vowed to return to the past and fix it so that the rainboom never happened… Thus erasing Twilight’s friendships from history!
Of course, no one counted on what happened next. Twilight and Spike were pulled back to the present by the map, and the future of Equestria had changed for the worse. King Sombra and the Crystal Empire reigned supreme over the land, bringing the once peaceful world of ponies into a terrifying war-driven apocalyptic nightmare! At least, that’s how the future looked at first.
Eventually, Twilight and Spike found a way to travel back to the day of the rainboom, hoping to stop Starlight before she could sabotage things again… But to no avail. Starlight succeeded in stopping the rainboom again, and this time the future turned out even worse! Ponies were forced to hide in the darkest parts of the forest while swarms of Changelings hunted them down to feed their ravenous army! So chance number three to fix the past would work like a charm, right?
Wrong! After being outsmarted a third time, the discouraged duo were brought to a world where the night was eternal, Princess Celestia was trapped in the moon, and Nightmare Moon ruled the kingdom with an army of loyal guard ponies! She tried to force them to reveal the spell, but Twilight Sparkle was not so easily intimidated by the Princess of the Night. She and Spike escaped with ease and tried to fix things again. Before long, a fourth time turned into a fifth time, and then a sixth time, and now a seventh time; each future getting worse than the last.
Now here they were lying on top of the map once again; future number seven. The Princess of Friendship and her number one assistant climbed off the map to collect themselves, preparing for whatever nightmare-ish future awaited them.
“This is starting to get old really fast,” Spike groaned. “Where are we now?”
Spike looked around, but what he saw caught him by surprise. Instead of being outside, the map transported them inside a rather familiar location. Wide eyed, Spike’s hopes began to perk up.
“Hey! We’re inside the castle! Maybe we fixed everything!!”
However, Spike’s hopes were crushed when he turned to Twilight, who shook her head sadly.
“No Spike,” Twilight answered, looking around. “This isn’t OUR castle. We’re in the castle all the way back at Canterlot! What happened to Equestria now-“
“WHO DARES DROP INTO MY CASTLE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!?”
A loud voice boomed across the halls. Twilight and Spike turned their heads, slowly looking behind them, unprepared for what they saw before their eyes.
Right in front of them stood Princess Celestia’s throne – surrounded by royal guards – same as always. Celestia, however, wasn’t sitting on her throne. The princess was chained to the side holding a service tray without her regalia. But the most surprising of all was who WAS sitting on the throne. There, right before Twilight and Spike, dressed in Celestia’s regalia, stood somepony they didn’t expect-
“Sunset Shimmer!?” both dragon and princess exclaimed.
“A-HEM!”
Twilight and Spike turned to face one of Sunset’s guards, who cleared her throat loudly. Removing her helmet, her identity was revealed: A very flat-maned Pinkie Pie.
“That’s QUEEN Sunset Shimmer to you, purple pony intruder and cute little dragon intruder!”
“Stand down, Pinkamena,” Sunset assured. “I’ll take care of this.”
Without budging from her throne, Sunset took a closer look toward her new guests. Twilight and Spike sat wincing in fear under the cold gaze of their former friend. All was silent within that room, nopony said a word in the few seconds. Then finally, Sunset’s eyes widened.
“ANOTHER Alicorn?” Sunset spoke in surprise. “Wow… I’m impressed.”
Sunset pondered the circumstance of her discovery, as a mischievous smirk crossed her muzzle.
“Or rather I WOULD be impressed, if it weren’t for THESE babies!!”
Sunset Shimmer stood off her throne, as a large pair of amber Alicorn wings emerged from her back. Twilight gasped at the display, completely caught off guard.
“Sunset Shimmer? You’re an ALICORN!?”
“That’s right,” Sunset replied, flaunting down the throne strutting her elegant wings. “Do you like them? Aren’t they beautiful? But don’t you DARE touch them, or I’ll have you in the dungeon for FIVE weeks!!”
“Five weeks?” Twilight asked, confusion in her eyes. 
“Duh! I have to be strict yet fair, or else ponies like you won’t learn who’s rightfully in charge! Which reminds me: CELESTIA, bring me my grapes!”
Sunset clapped her hooves together, as Celestia levitated a bunch of grapes toward the Queen.
“Here you are, your grace,” Celestia spoke plainly.
Twilight winced at those words, the former princesses’ voice was broken lacking the motherly tone it usually had. Twilight’s heart sank at having to see see her former teacher reduced to a slave by one of her friends. As she looked on, Sunset took a bite of one grape, winced, and spat them back in Celestia’s face.
“These grapes are too sour!” Sunset exclaimed. “Also… I HATE grapes!!”
“If you don’t like grapes, why would you make ponies bring them to you?!” Spike barked, irritated.
“To humiliate them,” Sunset replied, with a sneer. “Yeesh, you really DON’T know how being queen works, do you?”
While Spike was starting to get irritated, Twilight’s anger grew just as much. Clearly, this WASN’T the Sunset Shimmer she knew. But not knowing what THIS was capable of, Twilight knew she had to keep her cool… For now.
“How did you become QUEEN of Equestria? … Or an Alicorn? Where I come from, you’re a unicorn living in another world!”
Twilight’s question intrigued Sunset Shimmer, as if this was the first in a long time that this subject was asked of her.
“Another world? I haven’t been in another world since my rise to power.”
“Please,” Twilight begged. “Tell me how you became queen.”
Now Sunset Shimmer grew curious, as Twilight held her ground while Spike looked on, nervous as to how the queen would react.
“You don’t know? You really MUST be new around here. Very well, I’ll tell you… But, afterwards, I want to see a sample of your alicorn magic. And if you try to escape to that… Table-map thing you came in on-“
Sunset clapped her hooves again, on cue her army of guards lined behind Twilight and Spike, cutting them off from the map. 
“Well… I wouldn’t recommend that,” Sunset concluded, with a smirk.
“Deal,” Twilight agreed. “I’ll show you my magic… But first, tell me your story.”
“Very well,” Sunset replied.
Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat and, while the guards kept watch over Twilight and Spike, the Alicorn Queen began to tell her story.
“Years ago, I was one of Celestia’s prized students. There was no spell I couldn’t figure out; no magic I couldn’t master. I was at the top of my game, eager to learn more! But, all that changed when Celestia showed me the mirror.
“It was beautiful… A magic mirror. To Celestia, it was a portal to worlds never explored by pony-kind. To me, an outlet of unlimited magic! It showed me my future… As an Alicorn! As Celestia’s equal… NO! Her superior! I prodded her to show me how the portal works, but she refused!”
“I was trying to protect you,” Celestia protested.
“You were holding me back!!” Sunset lashed at her former mentor. “You only wanted me to be another nameless unimportant stooge in your little ‘friendship’ empire! You saw what I could do! I could’ve been better than that!”
“You were always important to me,” Celestia argued, angry tears leaking out. “I could’ve been a better teacher; I could’ve shown you a better way to use your great magic!”
“Well, you didn’t!” Sunset barked.
Sunset felt her eyes watering and swiped the tears aside. It didn’t take long for the malicious smirk to return to her muzzle.
“But hey, it all worked out, didn’t it? I got what I wanted.”
“How did you get it, though,” Twilight pushed.
“After I ran away to the other world, I finally found my calling: Becoming queen! It didn’t take long to turn every pony… Er, ‘everyone’ at that school against one another, severing all bonds, and so they’d have only one pony to turn to… Me! 
“But ruling a world without magic isn’t as appetizing as I thought it would be. So I returned to Equestria… With an army of my very own! They’d do anything for me to avoid being alone, or having a few ‘interesting’ secrets leaked out. My goal was clear: To find the legendary Element of Magic and use its power to set myself up as supreme ruler of Equestria!
“Unfortunately, even MY magic wasn’t enough to unlock the elements, or wield them for the matter. But, along the way, I found the next best thing.”
Sunset removed the armor around her neck. As the plating clattered on the floor, Twilight and Spike gasped. For around her neck was a familiar, terrifying necklace that left Twilight speechless… For only a few seconds.
“The Alicorn Amulet,” Twilight spoke silently, her voice growing more frightened.
“Very good,” Sunset commended. “You know your ancient artifacts. Yes, the amulet gave me all the power I needed to take on Celestia… And defeat her! In the midst of her great fall, I made her grant me what I’ve longed since the start: To become an Alicorn! And thus, the reign of Sunset Shimmer began! It didn’t take long to set myself up as Queen of Equestria, it only took slightly longer to decide what to do with our poor dethroned princess over here.”
“Wow, you would’ve thought she’d send Celestia to the moon or something,” Spike whispered to Twilight, half joking.
“I heard that!” Sunset snapped. “I’m not a monster; I wouldn’t do that. Plus, breaking their spirits is WAY more satisfying… And less messy.”
That was all that Twilight could stand and she would hear of this no more.
“Sunset… All this is wrong, you know it! Where I come from, you aren’t some… Some… Power-hungry tyrant!”
“Tyrant!?” Sunset asked indignantly.
“She maaaay have a point,” Pinkie Pie muttered.
In response, Sunset glared at the pink mare, who knelt down as if she committed a crime. Still, Twilight held her ground and refused to back away.
“Listen to me!” Twilight implored. “Where I come from, in my time, my friends and I stood against you… And saved you from all this! You wanted to rule ‘everything’, you even went so far as to steal my crown and used its magic to turn yourself into a raging she-demon! But that wasn’t the real you; THIS isn’t the real you!”
As Twilight spoke to her, Sunset Shimmer started to feel uncomfortable. This was not a subject she wished to hear, that much was clear in her eyes.
“What do YOU know about the real me?! I never FOUND the real me!! Believe me, I tried, I even hoped to ‘build’ a new me! You think you’re so special, why don’t YOU tell me what the ‘real’ Sunset Shimmer is!”
Though taken aback by Sunset’s outburst, a warm smile crossed Twilight’s muzzle. Once she found what was needed to do, Twilight put the plan to motion.
“Well… I DO owe you a magic demonstration and I always keep my promises.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow in confusion, but her rage started to cool as she processed exactly what Twilight said.
“You do? Oh, right! Yes! Good! Uh… Do that! Show me your magic,” Sunset ordered, uncertainly.
“Sooo, we’re just gonna teleport back to the map and get out of here, right?” Spike asked hopefully.
“No spike,” Twilight answered. “I couldn’t do anything to help in the other futures. But before we stop Starlight, I CAN do something for THIS future. I don’t want to sit back and watch my friend fall back into the dark place we saved her from.”
“If you two are done whispering to yourselves,” Sunset groaned impatiently. “I’m waiting for this demonstration!”
“As you wish, your majesty,” Twilight smirked. 
As Twilight warmed her magic, she already knew the perfect spell to help her out. Her horn glowed, bright and pink, reeling her head back gently as a long beam of magic fired from her horn connecting to Sunset’s. The amber alicorn grunted as the magic entered her brain; suddenly, it became clear what Twilight was doing: She was casting a memory spell!
Suddenly, everything flashed in front of Sunset’s eyes: Her ORIGINAL time in the other world, breaking apart so many friendships, Twilight ending her reign, stealing Twilight’s crown, the Princess of Friendship and her friends blasting her with the magic of friendship, and finally-
“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” The now powerless Sunset whimpered. “I didn’t know there was another way; I don’t know the first thing about friendship.”
Sunset expected Princess Twilight to simply scorn or reject her… But she didn’t. Instead, Twilight extended her hoof-currently a hand-to the broken girl, and pulled her from the crater, out of the darkness.
The force of the memory and the magic proved too much for Sunset; it sent her flying right back into the throne and sent the amulet flying off her neck, freeing her of its corrupting magic. Everypony held their breath at the sight of the fallen alicorn, the guards especially concerned. While nopony was looking, Twilight levitated the amulet away, and Spike set it ablaze.
“I really wished we did that to the original,” Spike whispered.
"One crisis at a time, Spike," Twilight muttered.
Secretly, however, Twilight DID wish they burned the original amulet.
“QUEEN SUNSET SHIMMER!!!” Pinkie Pie leapt at her queen, gently shaking her. “Wake up! Wake up! Wakey-wakey-cherry-chimi-cupcakeys!!” 
“P-P-Pinkie! Please stop shaking me,” Sunset finally sputtered, her eyes still closed.
Suddenly, Pinkie’s eyes widened and realized something was wrong. Sunset’s voice lacked that same cold authoritative tone from earlier. Pinkie Pie shrieked, releasing her queen.
“It’s worse than I thought! SHE’S BROKEN!!! Sunset NEVER calls me ‘Pinkie,’ OR says ‘please!’”  
“What are you talking about, Pinkie?” Sunset groaned, opening her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I-“
Just then, Sunset Shimmer stopped, as she got a better look at her surroundings. But more importantly, her eyes were on Twilight and Spike, the two standing anxiously as it all came back to the amber mare.
“T-T-Twilight? Spike? Wait… What am I doing back in Equestria? W-w-what am I doing in Canterlot?”
The more questions Sunset asked, the more freaked out she grew. That fear, in general, only grew the moment she saw the appendages on her back.
“W-w-why do I have wings?!”
But the last straw in Sunset’s rising fear came the moment she saw Princess Celestia in chains.
“P-P-Princess Celestia!?!?!”
Sunset Shimmer quickly snapped at Celestia’s chains with her magic, the chains clattered onto the floor leaving her former mentor free.
“Wha-What happened?!” Sunset asked, expressing concern. “Who did this to you?”
Celestia was taken aback by Sunset’s sudden change, she almost couldn’t believe that her former student was oblivious of her actions.
“You did this to me, my empress… When you defeated me and became my superior, just like you always wanted.”
Sunset’s jaw dropped as the words rang in her ears. She turned her head for a proper look around the throne room. Tapestries with her cutie mark hanging on the walls, guards surrounding the throne-including one of her best friends-, and when she looked down she discovered she was wearing part of Celestia’s regalia. But the words from her former mentor, how Sunset herself was her superior, those were the worst of all. Years ago, she’d have wanted this; but now, she couldn’t stand the idea of it. Even after saving the school during the battle of the bands, she had nightmares that sent her falling back into the darkness… Now she was apparently living it. All this was too much to take in, as the amber mare began to hyperventilate.
“No… Th-this isn’t right! I’m not anypony’s superior! I don’t want to be alone in the dark again!”
Frantic, confused, and frightened all at once, Sunset did the only thing her panicked brain could think of: Clinging to her old mentor for comfort. Celestia herself was taken aback.
“I’m sorry, Princess! I’m so sorry! I don’t want this! Not anymore! I-I-I-“
Though surprised by her former student’s sudden change in attitude, Celestia did the only thing she could think to do: Embracing the crying alicorn before her. Sunset’s face pressed against her chest as slow tears dropped from Celestia’s eyes.
“Shhh. It’s okay, my little pony. It’ll be alright.”
And there it was the motherly nature that made Princess Celestia well known. As Twilight and Spike looked on, they both admired this tender scene between teacher and student -which in a way metaphorically symbolized a reunion between a mother and a daughter. As Celestia allowed Sunset to lay against her shoulder, she turned to the two.
“Whoever you are, whatever you did… Thank you.”
“Way to go, Twilight,” Spike congratulated. “Not every day you get to save a pony TWICE.”
Twilight didn’t respond, but Spike’s compliment made her blush as her cheeks turned a rosy red color. As every pony was coming to terms with what happened, it was in the heat of moment that Sunset suddenly remembered the elephant in the room.
“Twilight… What’s going on?” Sunset asked. “Why am I an Alicorn in Equestria? I’m supposed to be in the other world getting ready for the Friendship Games! And what happened to Equestria in the first place?”
Twilight sighed, she knew it was unavoidable and they deserved to know the truth.
“Starlight Glimmer happened.”
“Who is Starlight Glimmer?” Celestia asked, helping Sunset up.
“A super powerful unicorn who messed with the timeline,” Spike pouted.
“Remember when I told you about the sonic rainboom?” Twilight asked. “The one that Rainbow Dash performed that helped me and the others get our cutie marks?”
“Yeah,” Sunset recalled.
“Starlight altered one of Star Swirl’s time travel spells, went back to the day of the rainboom, and made it so it never happened! Every time we try to stop her, she beats us to it, and Equestria gets thrown into some horrible future… Including this one!”
Twilight realized what she said and once more blushed in embarrassment.
“Uh… No offense.”
But rather than being offended, Sunset giggled and approached Twilight.
“None taken, this IS a horrible future… But it’s great to see YOU again, Twilight. Although, just between us, it’d be nice if we can meet up WITHOUT the fate of the world at stake.”
Sunset and Twilight shared a giggle and a hug, happy to be reunited again. But this tender moment was interrupted when Spike cleared his throat. The two alicorns realized that now was not the best time, so they separated from their hug and returned to business.
“So, what’s the plan this time, Twilight?” Spike asked.
“Honestly Spike, I have no idea,” Twilight sighed sadly. “We’ve been at this seven times… But she’s always one step ahead of us. We could be at this for the rest of our lives!”
“I’m guessing blasting her with the magic of friendship is out of the question?” Sunset asked.
“I’m afraid not… It’s just Spike and I this time. I don’t think we can do this without our friends… And I may never get to see them again because we’re stuck doing this forever!”
Feeling defeated, Twilight lowered her head, as a small tear trickled out of her eye. Sunset saw the tear and approached her friend, wiping it away with her wing.
“Hey, come on now! That’s not the Twilight Sparkle I know! The Twilight Sparkle I know never gives up, no matter how bad the situation looks! The Twilight Sparkle I know finds a way to make everything right no matter what it takes! 
“But most importantly: The Twilight Sparkle I know never gave up on me, even when I was at my worst,” Sunset spoke, the last sentence solemnly.
“Hey,” One of the other guards spoke to Pinkie Pie. “Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?”
“Nope,” Pinkie chirped. “But it’s getting GOOD!”
The topic made Princess Celestia all the more curious, as now it was her turn to approach.
“This “Starlight Glimmer” mare, what is she like?”
“Well, she’s really powerful for a unicorn,” Twilight explained. “She’s cunning and under the assumption that ponies with different cutie marks can’t be friends. When we first met, she managed to force a whole town of ponies to give up their cutie marks!”
“Oh yeah, aaaand she’s kinda mad at Twilight for ruining equalized town,” Spike added.
“Wow, you think she’d be after all of Equestria instead of a small town,” Sunset spoke. “Is that why she stopped the rainboom?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t think she cared about taking all of Equestria,” Twilight replied. “She only seemed to care about ruining my friendship with the others.”
“Hmm…” Celestia pondered. “It sounds to me like she doesn’t know the effects her altering the past is having on Equestria.”
As if having a sudden realization, Twilight perked up.
“Hey… You’re right! Maybe Starlight isn’t a bad pony… Maybe she’s just REALLY misguided! I don’t think she’d keep doing this if she saw what she was doing.”
“Maybe if you quit fighting her and try to talk her down,” Sunset offered. “She MAY be willing to put a stop to all this.”
“I can’t fight her forever, but she can’t stop me from trying to save my land,” Twilight declared triumphantly.
“There’s the Twilight I know!” Sunset beamed.
Sunset gestured the guards to step aside; though they were still shocked by what happened, they complied and created an opening for Twilight and Spike toward the map. But before they could leave, Twilight pulled both Celestia and Sunset into a hug.
“Thank you! Thank you both!!”
“You’re very welcome, my little pony,” Celestia replied, returning the embrace. “Now go! Save Equestria! Save your friends!!”
“I will!” Twilight nods.
Twilight and Spike then made a mad dash to the map, as Sunset, Celestia, and the guards looked on.
“Oh, and Twilight,” Sunset called out. “Before I forget, check the journal after you save the world! I think I might have sent you some messages!”
“I will!” Twilight answered. “Don’t worry! Everything will be okay!”
Twilight and Spike took their spots on the map, while Spike held up the scroll. Suddenly, the portal reappeared above and the two disappeared into the void of time and space, more determined than ever to face Starlight Glimmer one last time.
“Do you think she’ll succeed?” Celestia asked in uncertainty.
“I KNOW she can!” Sunset beamed, confident in her friend. “If there’s anypony who can make things right, that pony is Twilight Sparkle!”
“YIPPEE!!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “Soooo… What do we do now?”
“Well…” Sunset pondered. “I always wondered what it’s like to have wings; might as well use these while I can!”
Sunset Shimmer flapped her wings and leaped high into the air. Celestia looked on, beaming with pride to have her former student back. But then she cringed when Sunset crashed to the floor; the amber mare groaned from the impact.
“Just remembered…” Sunset spoke, raising her hoof. “Can’t fly! … STILL WORTH IT!!!”
Sunset Shimmer groaned again, as her hoof fell to the floor. Celestia shook her head with a smile, as the guards turned to each other, not sure what to make of the most confusing shifts in their lives… Or what will become of the future.