Tang Ri Shan

My Little Pony Equestria Girls- Project Tantabus

(This is a sequel to Equestria Girls- Seeing Double)

Ch 1

A warm breeze blew across the buildings of Canterlot, carrying the scent of grass and the chirping of birds to anyone who happened to be outside on this fine day. Though it clashed sometimes with the scent of car exhaust and the blaring of horns, the scents and sounds of summer seemed to always rise above any unwanted distractions as the breeze carried it through town.

One such breeze swirled through the air towards a certain building near the outskirts of the city, and wrapped like a transparent ribbon around a large white statue of a rearing horse, before swirling around the bodies, and through the hair, of six girls that were sprawled at the feet of the statue.

"Mmm" One of the girls, with pink hair and pale yellow skin, tilted her head back to enjoy the breeze more. "That feels good"

"Ya can say that again Fluttershy" a yellow-haired girl added in a thick country accent. "A nice gentle...HEY!" The girl suddenly gasped as the wind playfully ripped the girls' brown stetson hat right off her head. "Gimmie back ma hat!" She demanded, jumping up in a frantic effort to catch her windblown hat.

The others burst out laughing as they watched the girl chase her hat across the yard. "Wind one, Applejack none!" A rainbow-haired girl chuckled as she lay on her back at the edge of the red-and-white checkered cloth the girls were all sitting on.

"This ain't funny, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack snapped, trying again to reach her hat, which danced on the air just out of reach.

"It is to me!" Rainbow Dash replied, laughing again as she watched her friend struggle.

"Maybe the wind is trying to tell you something, darling!" An ivory-skinned girl called after her, shielding her freshly-painted nails from the wind. "Maybe it thinks you need a proper makeover"

"I don't know Rarity" A girl with bubblegum-pink poofy hair argued from the top of the statue's base. "I think it just wants to have fun!"

The sixth girl paused from feeling the wind flow through her red-and-yellow hair and glanced up at the pink girl. "How do you figure that, Pinkie Pie?"

"Well, think about it, Sunset" The girl explained happily. "The wind just blows and blows all day long, it never stops and it never takes a break, so it has to find some way to enjoy what it does, that's why it likes to tease people" Pinkie gestured to Applejack's efforts to catch her hat as an example.

Sunset Shimmer arched an eyebrow at her friend, but smiled anyway as she felt another warm breeze wrap itself around her like a soothing veil. She leaned back against the cold stone and watched Applejack try again to catch her hat which appeared to be literally dancing on the air just above her. Wait a minute Sunset felt her smile fade to a frown. "Uh, does the wind normally play with people for this long?" She asked aloud.

"Don't you know?" Fluttershy twisted around to look at Sunset. "Weren't you saying the other day that ponies in Equestria can control the elements? Pegasi can control the wind and the rain, Unicorns lower the sun and moon, and Earth Ponies can command the soil much better than we can?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "That's back in Equestria Fluttershy, here I can barely make a breeze, let alone control the weather."

"Still, it must be nice to be a control freak" Pinkie said from the top of the statue.

"What did you say?" Sunset gasped, glancing up at Pinkie.

"Woah Sunset" Rainbow Dash looked up from her phone. "Pinkie was just saying that since ponies in Equestria are able to control the elements in their world, that you would probably have a better understanding of them than we do"

"Rainbow Dash is right." Applejack said as she trotted back to them, her hat under her arm. "Pinkie didn't mean no harm, and Ah got mah hat back, so no problem"

Sunset nodded, but she frowned. It sounded to her like Pinkie had been referring to something completely different.

"YEOW!" Pinkie suddenly yelped with pain and bounded off the statue.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" Rarity exclaimed as they watched the girl wave her hands around like they were on fire.

"The statue!" Pinkie whimpered her face now a mask of pain. "It...it burned me!" She held out her hands, which were now blackened and horribly blistered.

All the girls gasped in horror. "How in the world did that happen?" Rainbow Dash asked as they all gathered around their injured friend.

"Do you think it was...magic?" Fluttershy asked timidly. All the girls then glanced at Sunset, whose eyes widened under the sudden scrutiny.

"W-why are you all looking at me?" Sunset asked.

"Well duh, you're the magic expert here remember?" Rainbow Dash reminded her. "How'd this happen?"

"Just because I'm really a unicorn doesn't mean I'm an expert in magic" Sunset argued then her face fell. "Besides, I still don't know how magic works in this world yet"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts! It hurts!" Pinkie whimpered, waving her burnt hands in the air. Applejack knelt beside Pinkie, wrapping each of the girl's hands in a cloth bandage.

"I thought you and your double had figured it out by now!" Rarity exclaimed, looking astonished. "What have you been doing all those times at their lab if you weren't figuring out how magic works?"

"It's not that we're not trying!" Sunset said, "It's just that…we don't really have much to go on! Right now we've been using Imitae and the Sirens mostly, but they no longer have magic anymore, so it's difficult to gather any hard data" Sunset replied.

"But what about the Star Stones?" Applejack asked. "Ya know how they work, don't ya?"

"Yes we do, and we've been analyzing them too, but their powers are being...uncooperative" Sunset admitted.

"Uncooperative in what way?" Fluttershy asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Like...like the power's there, but we can't access it anymore" Sunset explained to a series of groans.

"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash looked amazed, while Applejack and Rarity shook their heads. "Do you have any answers at all?"

"Look!" Sunset snapped, glaring at the girls. "You girls have no idea of the hours I've been putting into this!" Sighing angrily, she turned away from them. "I'm not even sure I want to figure this out anymore!"

"What are ya talking about, Sunset?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, what are you saying?" Rainbow Dash added.

"Well, I keep expecting magic to operate the same way here that it does in Equestria" Sunset explained. "Over there, magic is…predicable and controllable, but here…here it makes no sense at all! I'm the one that brought this magic here, so I should be able to figure out how magic works, right?"

Sunset saw the other girls glance at each other. None of them answered and that only made her feel madder. "But no, I've spent the last few months just going around in circles! Every time I think I've figured it out, something happens to prove me wrong! It's just so FRUSTRATING!" Sunset screamed, but suddenly she felt a blast of heat behind her and the Rainbooms all gasped. Sunset spun around to see that the Wondercolt statue was covered in black flames.

"The Portal!" Sunset cried out, and the flames seemed to grow larger at her words. "NO!" She screamed, dashing to the statue, but the heat and size of the flames forced her to draw back.

"What's happening?" Pinkie Pie gasped.

"I...I don't know!" Sunset exclaimed as she watched the black fire consume the state and the portal, climbing higher and higher into the sky. "I…I don't understand, any of this!"

"All Ah saw was the portal burst into flames when Sunset got angry" Said Applejack. The girl suddenly paused. "And the statue burned Pinkie when she was teasin' Sunset!"

Sunset saw the girls glance at each other, then at Sunset. There was fear in their eyes now. "Sunset?" Rarity asked quietly. "Are you doing this?"

Sunset was shocked. "N-no!" She stammered. "I'm not doing this, I swear!" But her words sounded strangely hollow. Applejack's point was a good one. Sunset stared at her hands. Even after trying so hard to overcome her past, was she still responsible for the pain her friends felt? Had she truly made any progress at all?

"AAAHHHH!" Sunset spun around at Pinkie's shriek, and she gasped when she saw that her friends were now surrounded by the same black flames that engulfed the wondercolt statue. Seeing that they were trapped, the other girls began reaching and crying out to Sunset.

"Sunset! Help us!" Rainbow Dash called.

"Sunset please!" Fluttershy screamed.

"Ya gotta help us!" Applejack cried out.

"GIRLS, NO!" Sunset dashed towards them, but felt something grab her ankle, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. Glancing, back, she saw that a heavy looking ball and chain had appeared out of nowhere and was firmly connected to both of her ankles. "What? Where did this come from?" She grasped the chain and pulled hard, but the chain wouldn't break.

"SUNSET!" Sunset glanced back to see the ring of fire around her friends begin to construct. The girls were huddled together in a panicked ball, but Sunset could feel their gazes on her, even through the black flames. "DO SOMETHING!" Rarity wailed.

"Hang on girls! I'm coming!" Sunset tried to crawl towards her friends, but the ball was too heavy and Sunset found she couldn't move very far.

"Try all you want Sunset, you can't help them" Sunset froze as a voice whispered in her ear, a very familiar voice.

Despite the heat around them, Sunset felt icy terror coarse through her. "That voice" She breathed. "No. No, it can't be!"

"Oh, can't it?" Evil laughter cackled from behind her. Visibly pale now, Sunset slowly turned back towards the statue just in time to see a figure rise up from the flames, a figure with dark red skin and flaming red-and-yellow hair.

She was wearing black boots and a red-and-yellow dress that matched her flaming hair and a fiery tail emerged from the back of her waistline. Large, ragged-looking bat-like wings slowly beat the air and a crooked black horn pulsed with dark energy on the center of her forehead. The figure laughed again as she watched Sunset draw as far back as her chain would let her go.

"Oh my gosh! IT'S SUNSPOT SHIMMER!" Sunset heard Pinkie Pie scream behind her.

The demon Sunset paused, looking surprised, then thoughtful. "'Sunspot Shimmer'? Hmm, I like it!" She smiled and gave another evil laugh. The sky suddenly grew dark and lighting flashed in response. She waved her hands, and the black flames spread rapidly leaping to the school buildings, which quickly caught fire.

"But this is impossible!" Sunset argued, fighting through her disbelief at seeing her school burn around her. "Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated you at the Fall Formal! You can't still be here!"

"And yet I am here" Sunspot Shimmer smirked triumphantly. "I will ALWAYS be here, Sunset Shimmer! And do you know why?" Not waiting for an answer, she dipped towards Sunset. "Because I am a part of you, the BEST part!" She laughed as Sunset's jaw dropped in horror.

"No! That...that's not true."

"Oh yes it is, and you know it" Sunspot hissed, smirking at Sunset. "You are nothing without me"

"No! I'm better off without you!" Sunset yelled back, but her voice was shaking.

"Maybe you are, but are they better off?" Sunspot gestured to Sunset's trapped friends and the flames around them erupted into fountains of fire.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The five girls screamed as fire rained down on them, obscuring them from view. When the flames subsided, there was no trace of the five girls at all.

"NOOOOOOO!" Sunset wailed, dashing back towards them, only for her feet to get tangled up in the chain, which caused her to trip and fall again.

"What a shame!" Sunspot's laughter grated in Sunset's mind like nails on a chalkboard. "If you're really 'better off' without me, why couldn't you save your friends?"

"No! No! This can't be happening!" Sunset sobbed, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the scorched crated that marked where her friends had been.

"Oh yes it can!" Sunset winced as she heard Sunspot land behind her, then cringed as she felt the girl's clawed hands yank her up and hold her off the ground. "And it will! Take a look Sunset!" Sunspot forced Sunset to look as the entrance of the school caved in, revealing a very familiar hole.

"No!" Sunset sobbed, her voice so choked she could hardly get the word out. The drama from the Fall Formal seemed to replay itself before her very eyes.

"Yes!" Sunspot hissed, grinning wickedly. "Drink it in! Look at what you have done!"

"No! That wasn't me!" Sunset struggled weakly, but her demon self's grip was like iron.

"Deny it all you want, but we both know that's a lie" Sunset shuddered as she felt one of Sunspot's claws gently stroke her chin. "You can't escape your past, Sunset." Sunspot raised her free hand and the ground in front of the door split open. Something rose up from the fissure, a mirror with a frame shaped like a horseshoe.

Sunset gasped as she recognized the mirror. It was the portal in Equestria that lead to this world. The surface of the mirror rippled and Sunset saw images appear in the glass, images of the cruel way she had acted when she was still in Equestria. Sunset saw herself yelling at ponies, deliberately tripping them up, hiding things from them, she even saw an image of herself doing something with a…

"No!" Sunset was so choked with sadness she could barely talk.

"Yessss!" Sunspot hissed like a snake. "This is who you are, and nothing you can say or do will change it. You know the old saying, once a demon... always a demon!" With that, there was a sudden whoosh and fire swirled all around Sunset. Her hands burned and when she glanced down at them she saw that they were now deep red and her fingers had become claws. She felt large wings erupt from her shoulders and felt a horn crackling with dark power sprout from her forehead.

Sunset looked up at the mirror and saw her reflection. She looked exactly like Sunspot.

"NOOOOOO!" Sunset screamed as Sunspot's laughter echoed in her ears.

---

"Sunset! SUNSET!"

"Huh? What? OW!" Sunset jolted awake seconds before she felt a hand collide with her cheek in hard slap. A nightmare! She sighed as she took in the couch that she was lying on. Another one! She'd been having them ever since the Fall Formal, but lately her dreams seemed to be getting stronger.

Rubbing her face, Sunset glanced up, and for a split second she panicked as she stared into a face that looked exactly like hers, but then she relaxed as she saw kindness and concern radiate out of the face's eyes, and realized it was the face of her human 'twin'

"Oh, sorry about that" 'Sunset' smiled apologetically as she backed away, adjusting the collar of her white lab coat as she spoke. "I didn't know how else to wake you"

"You could have just yelled my name" Sunset snorted as she sat up on the sofa.

"I did, but you were muttering so loudly in your sleep you must not have heard me" 'Sunset' said

"So I talk in my sleep, great" Sunset groaned as she got to her feet.

"Actually, it was more like you were yelling in your sleep" A voice piped up from across the room. Sunset glanced over to see another girl with dark purple hair and thick black glasses wink at her. Sunset smiled back sheepishly, but her grin faded when she saw concern in 'Twilight's face. "Are you okay?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Sunset tried to dodge the question, but from the way 'Twilight' and 'Sunset' exchanged a look, it was pretty clear the two girls were not buying it.

"Are you sure?" Her double asked. "You know you can tell us anything. I mean, we're practically sisters" She gestured to the two of them, which made Sunset chuckle.

"And we've both learned a lot since the Halloween Dance" 'Twilight' added, walking over to join them. "About being social, being friends, and everything in between. Not..." 'Twilight' suddenly corrected herself "...that Sunset and I weren't friends before we met all of you" She laughed nervously, "It's just that now, we have new kinds of friends who don't always share the same interests, so..."

"She gets the point, Twi" 'Sunset' cut in, glancing at her lab partner before turning back to her double. "Still, you know you can talk to us" She insisted.

Sunset took a deep breath. "You're right. I guess I'm just frustrated that we're no closer to figuring out how magic works in this world yet" She admitted, ignoring the pang of guilt in her stomach.

Sunset wanted to tell them the truth, about how she blamed herself, about how she felt like she should have been able to solve this puzzle by now, but every time she tried to, this dark feeling of foreboding seemed to stop her from speaking. Besides, what she said wasn't a total lie.

"Have you tried contacting Princess Twilight?" 'Sunset' motioned to Sunset's backpack, which carried the enchanted journal that allowed Sunset to send and receive letters from Princess Twilight in Equestria.

'Twilight' perked up at the mention of her double. "Yeah, she's gotta know a lot about magic right? You once said that magic was her 'element'. If anyone can help us figure this out, she can"

Sunset shook her head. "I know I probably should, but I kinda...wanna figure this out on my own. I mean, I'm the one that brought the magic here, so if someone's gonna try to figure it out, it may as well be me"

'Sunset' nodded, looking like she understood. "I know the feeling. You know, when Twi and I first met, we were actually rivals. Isn't that right, Twi?" 'Sunset' raised her voice and glanced back towards her partner. "Remember the early times?"

"Do I?" 'Twilight' laughed as she strolled over to a large machine and began plugging cables into it. "When we both attended Crystal Prep together, at first we could barely stand being in the same room as each other. It took both of us tying in a science fair to realize that our energies were better spent working with each other rather than against each other. Once we realized that, it didn't take much to discover we actually had a bit in common, and once we were able to get around a few roadblocks, the rest, was smooth sailing"

"Roadblocks?" Sunset chuckled at her double's half annoyed-half amused exclamation.

'Twilight' suddenly seemed to catch herself. "Oops! Sorry!" She edged behind the machine she was working on.

'Sunset' shook her head at 'Twilight' then turned back to Sunset. "The point is, that we both know how hard it is to ask for help" She leaned in and whispered "and it's even harder when you feel like you have to face up to mistakes that you've made"

Sunset felt her eyes widen in surprise. How did her double know that was what she felt like?

As if reading Sunset's mind, 'Sunset' chuckled and said. "We share a bit more than a name and a face" She winked, which made Sunset smile at her. "I too live with the burden of past decisions. But I was able to overcome my guilt, I'm confident you'll overcome yours"

"Thanks" Sunset and her double hugged, which caused them both to glow with an orange aura and float up off the sofa.

"Uh girls, it's happening again!" 'Twilight' exclaimed, wide eyed.

Upon seeing what was happening, Sunset and her double quickly let go of each other, causing the aura to disappear and for them to gently float back down to the floor.

"Why does that keep happening?" 'Sunset' wondered, looking at Sunset. "Didn't you say you had a theory on that?"

"I do." Sunset nodded. "I think that the aura is caused by the parallel essences that exist between our dimensions. My Equestrian essence is clashing with your human essence."

"Would that be a good thing, or a bad thing?" 'Sunset' asked, raising an eyebrow. "'Cause it doesn't sound like something good"

"I'm not entirely sure" Sunset admitted. "So far nothing major has happened, so it's hard to measure the seriousness of the effects. Maybe the effects would be bigger if more people came over from Equestria" Sunset smiled. "Of course, it's hard for me to measure anything when you two keep hogging all the test subjects." She teased.

"Which is why we're giving you full use of our laboratory for the afternoon, so you can collect some data on your friends" 'Sunset' reminded her, and then glanced at the clock. "Speaking of which, the other girls should be here soon, and we still have to finish setting up. Give me a hand?" 'Sunset' nodded towards a large case that lay on the floor.

Sunset nodded and rose to her feet, but as she did, she felt a sudden clammy feeling rush down the back of her neck, like someone breathing. She glanced back, but saw nothing there but the wall behind her and her shadow on it.

Suddenly, Sunset's eyes widened as her shadow suddenly seemed to grow wings, large bat-like wings. An evil chuckle echoed in Sunset's mind and she shuddered. Keep it together! She scolded herself.

"Hello! Earth to Sunset!" 'Twilight's voice made Sunset shake off the cold feeling and she turned back to her friends with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming" Sunset walked over to her double's side and helped her open the case, pulling out what appeared to be a metal colander with a lot of wires coming out of the top. 'Sunset' grabbed some of the wires and began plugging them into various consoles while Sunset grabbed two wires and fed them over to a glass-enclosed section of the room filled with large computers. After plugging the wires into her personal laptop inside, Sunset ran a program, than gave her double a thumb up. "Everything's set here!"

'Sunset' nodded, then paused and pulled out her phone, which was vibrating. "Hey Dagi, what's going on?" She smiled as she spoke. Her eyes suddenly widened and she glanced at her watch. "Shoot, it's that time already?" 'Twilight' paused from where she was pushing two consoles closer together. "Ok, thanks, we're on our way" She hung up and turned to 'Twilight. "We were supposed to meet the Sirens five minutes ago at the theater"

'Twilight gasped and glanced at her watch. "Oh no! How did we forget that?"

"Forget about what?" Sunset asked as she walked back into the main room.

"That Imitae was applying for a job at the theater this afternoon, and that we promised the sirens we would come support her" 'Twilight' replied, dashing past her to the door, throwing off her lab coat and trying to hang it on a rack by the door, only for the garment to slip from her grasp and fall to the floor.

"Wait, when was Imitae planning to get a job?" Sunset asked. This was the first time she was hearing about Changeling seeking employment.

"You didn't know?" 'Sunset's smile faded and she looked thoughtful. "I could have sworn I told you"

"No, I would have remembered if you had" Sunset responded. In her mind however, Sunset heard another chuckle.

Or maybe they just don't care enough to tell you" Sunspot whispered. "Not surprising, considering what they know about you"

Shut up! Sunset growled in response, clenching her teeth.

"Oh, we need to get going!" 'Twilight' whimpered from the door. 'Sunset' rolled her eyes as she shrugged off her own lab coat and hung it neatly on the coat rack.

"Relax Twi, the theater's not going anywhere" She glanced at Sunset and rolled her eyes, which made Sunset chuckle. "Good luck Sunset!" She called as they headed out the door.

"Wait!" Sunset called, rushing after them. "You're leaving me alone? What if I...?"

"You'll be fine!" 'Sunset' called back from the landing. "Just don't do anything we wouldn't do! Oh, and try not to blow up the lab, okay? It's the only one we've got!"

Sunset groaned as she listened to her double's laughter echo down the stairway as she shut the door and leaned against it. For a few moments, the room was silent, except for the buzzing of the machines and the beeping of computers. Sunset finally shook her head to clear it and strode over to where her backpack was leaning against the sofa. Fishing out the journal, she opened it to a blank page, clicked her pen, and began writing.

Dear Princess Twilight,

How's life in Equestria? Learned any cool new spells yet?

Things have been pretty quiet since your last visit. Imitae is now sharing a dorm room with the sirens and is settling in well. Our doubles have been peppering them and me with questions about Equestria and magic. I've tried to answer their questions, but the magic here seems to act differently than it does in Equestria. For example, we all still pony up when we play music, which Rainbow Dash keeps begging for us to show off, but we've been firm in our resolution of keeping this under wraps. No use showing something we don't fully understand yet!

And that's the problem, really. I DON'T understand what's going on. I feel like I should and yet, I can't grasp exactly what this is all about. I would love to hear your opinion about this if you have the time.

Give Princess Celestia my regards.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

---

And Cut!

I sincerely apologize for retracting this story, but like I said, I was getting nowhere with the plot and seriously felt like I needed to start over. This new plot-line should be bigger and better!

That being said, I have a lot on my plate at the moment so updates to this story will be infrequent, at least until I get some other things finished. Just bear with me and you won't be disappointed (hopefully!)

Until Next Time!