You, Us, We, Now
Chapter 4: Because
Previous Chapter Next Chapter"I didn't do anything to you! I never see you around!" Sunset Shimmer pleas while sitting next to her friends.
"Ever wonder why I wasn't around? Ever wonder what was happening in my life? Throughout the days? Throughout the years? Ever wonder why no one ever said, hey, you look like someone I know?" Sunset stares at the girls and Spike.
The remaining members of the Main Seven get goosebumps while their counterparts smile happily at them. Sunset Shimmer tilts her head, watching them try to come up with theories.
"What exactly happened to you?" Twilight asks nervously. She knows the outcome of the answer won't be pretty.
"I'll tell you my tale. The horrors I experienced," Sunset gets comfortable on the couch chair. "A few years ago, Madam President Chrysalis thought the country would be prospering better with a more controlled populous. It takes one mind and wicked people to create an operation that'll wind up being their downfall."
"Wh-What did Madam President Chrysalis do to you..?" Fluttershy nervously asks. She sees her counterpart tightening her grip on the black pair of scissors.
"To control the populous to her liking, she needed the perfect specimen to replicate a living person. When reports about two identical people, living in the same town, and on documentation, no such file of two exact people in their records; they heard one with magic power and the other as fragile as any other."
"The Fall Formal........." Sunset remembers her demonic form when she tried to enslave everyone.
"While I was on my way to school, and this was before entering the eighth grade, two people, all in black, approached me and took me away to an underground facility where the Equestrian Government conducted their experiment. So, their purpose was to use my genetic makeup to create more copies to replicate every citizen in our country. They called the project, The Changeling. However, there was a major flaw in their works. They created the body, the aspects of the person. But, they weren't able to replicate a soul. The duplicates were then tethered to their opposites, mimicking their everyday lives. With further study, they deemed their project worthless. They abandoned their work and left me behind to rot."
The girls and Spike are silent. It's like listening to a scary story or watching a horror movie. Sunset Shimmer is going through a lot of emotions, all due to her involvement in this world. Sunset now knows that Princess Twilight Sparkle is right, but the conclusion to her statements is more vile and atrocious than any possibility Sunset thought.
"I walked aimlessly for a while in the underground facility, looking for a way out. That's when the experiments that were done on me caused me to be tethered to you," Sunset points at Sunset Shimmer with her black scissors. "When the duplicates saw that I was different than them, they heard me sing and play my guitar; they deemed me as their savior. So, I began to plot. Using the idea of Madam President Chrysalis' favorite colors, I designed how each jumpsuit shall be made and the color of our weapon. I decided to allow the Changling Project to be unleashed. Today, we are free. Tomorrow, we will take over. Rising out of the darkness and into the light."
"Not on my watch!" Rainbow Dash grabs her necklace and ponies up. She uses her high speed to attack Sunset when Rainbow gets knocked to the ground in an instant.
"Rainbow Dash!" The girls and Spike horridly shout.
"Acting without thinking," Sunset on the couch chair applauds for Rainbow's feeble attempt. It was Rainbow's duplicate that threw her scissors at Rainbow Dash when she lunged at her savior.
Rainbow Dash reverts to normal while having a pair of black scissors impaled through the chest. Rainbow Dash pants heavily from the attack. Sunset does a hand signal for the duplicate to untethered herself. Rainbow wearing the jumpsuit walks up to Rainbow Dash.
"Wait! Please!" Rainbow Dash begs for her life while looking into the eyes of her duplicate. The duplicate stops, smiling widely, and impaling Rainbow Dash's heart. Rainbow's eyes go up as she closes them.
"Noooooooooooooooohohohoooooooooooo!" Pinkie shrieks.
Fluttershy holds onto Applejack; she doesn't want to die. Applejack holds Fluttershy and tries to keep a stern look at the Changelings (duplicates). Spike buries his face in Twilight's belly, not wanting to see any more death. Sunset couldn't believe what she witnessed. Pinkie Pie is in a trance seeing her sister and one of her best friends dead. Twilight Sparkle doesn't know what to think; she just witnessed her friend murdered.
"Today, my friend, you are untethered. Join the rest, hold hands in an embrace, relish the freedom you have," Sunset commands Tethered Rainbow Dash.
The girls watch Rainbow's duplicate pulls her scissors off Rainbow Dash's chest, splattering blood on the floor, and leaves the house. Pinkie cries her eyes out when Rainbow's blood got on her.
"The same goes for you two," Sunset does the hand signal, allowing Rarity and Sweetie Belle to join their brothers and sisters in freedom.
"Are we going to die?" Fluttershy is in tears while holding onto Applejack. She wants to go home and live.
"Unlike Rainbow Dash, who foolishly wasted her opportunity, I'm allowing you to face your duplicates in a fair game."
"Game..?" Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, and Sunset said in unison. Spike couldn't utter a word to speak. He's too afraid to see his friends dying the way Rainbow did.
"You'll have a fair opportunity to untether yourselves," Sunset sinisterly smiles. "Each of you, face your opposites," Sunset takes out Rarity's phone. "Or, you can join them instead," Sunset shows the girls the breaking news on Rarity's phone. All across Canterlot City, hundreds of people are dead on the streets and in their homes. Many footages are shown, including several recognizable families.
"Nooo! Nooo!" Twilight Sparkle sees the footage of her family dead on the streets from drone surveillance. She pants while holding onto her chest.
"Oh my God..," Applejack sees Sweet Apple Acres on fire on the phone. She sheds a few tears.
"Please! Stop this!" Fluttershy wants the madness to end.
"There's nothing you can do to stop this. Either take your chance with the untethering or join your family in death," Sunset gets up. "Pick your poison."
"We will stop you," Sunset Shimmer stands to confront her counterpart. "We will find a way to end this madness. You watch."
"Bold words. So far, your magic is at its peak when you have your friends standing by. I killed Rarity. Your friend, Rainbow Dash, is there," Sunset uses her scissors to point at the lifeless body of Rainbow Dash. "Your combined magic is worthless now."
"Magic or no magic, we will find a way to end the Changelings' Madness!" Sunset Shimmer proclaims.
Sunset does a hand signal. "There is something that you should know. Being tethered to you; they, being tethered to your magical friends, we were enhanced in precious gifts," Sunset kicks Sunset Shimmer to show her immense strength. Sunset Shimmer crashes into the wall and lands outside the house.
"Sunset!" The girls and Spike cries out.
"That does it!" Applejack had enough of their terror and ponies up. She throws the first punch at her duplicate when she catches her fist. The Tethered Applejack kicks Applejack in the gut and tosses her outside through the window.
"Fine, I'll fight to protect my friends!" Twilight musters enough courage to pony up. The Tethered Twilight tilts her head, smiling while looking at herself. "Take this, you abomination!" Twilight uses her magic to levitate a baseball bat to strike at her Tethered self. The Tethered Twilight moves out of the way and uses her magic to hurl Twilight a bit. The Tethered Twilight goes after Twilight.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Pinkie Pie ponies up and throws sprinkles at the Tethered Pinkie and Fluttershy. She wants to kill all the Changelings for causing great harm and regret.
Fluttershy grabs Spike and flees from danger. The Tethered Pinkie turns to Pinkie, her smile turns into a frown. The Tethered Fluttershy slowly walks after her prey.
"Die, you fucking parasite!" Pinkie Pie unleashes her fury and emotions on the Tethered Pinkie Pie. She punches and kicks Tethered Pinkie left and right while tears stream on her face.
Sunset Shimmer gets up after the assault. She sees her duplicate walking closer. Sunset Shimmer grabs a trash can lid to use for self-defense.
"What can you do to harm me?" Sunset said, mocking Sunset Shimmer's situation.
"Come closer and find out," Sunset entices her duplicate.
Sunset decides to attack Sunset Shimmer to see what she does. She runs and does and a knee strike on Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer uses the trash can lid to block the knee strike and hit Sunset on her side. Sunset takes the hit but doesn't acknowledge the pain; she smirks at Sunset Shimmer.
"Time to slice and dice," Sunset unveils her scissors, ready to end the life of Sunset Shimmer. She jams her scissors onto the trash can lid, piercing through, nearly hitting Sunset Shimmer's right eye.
Fluttershy is outside and sees Sunset Shimmer defending herself against Sunset. Fluttershy sees the birds above her and talks to them, asking them to distract the one attacking her friend.
Sunset pulls her scissors out of the trash can lid and goes for another stab. Instead of piercing the lid, she pierces Sunset Shimmer's leg.
"Gaaaah!" Sunset Shimmer squeals and falls over. She squirms away a bit while watching her duplicate walking closer, relishing her pains.
"There, the moment I waited for so long," Sunset kneels and inches her scissors to Sunset Shimmer's throat. "I'm going to watch you die. I'm going to steal your life as you did to me years ago!" Birds start attacking Sunset and pecking all over her face. She screams as the pecking intensifies.
"Sunset!" Fluttershy helps Sunset Shimmer get up. "We have to go! Now!" Fluttershy encourages her friend to start moving, knowing she is injured.
"What about the others?" Sunset Shimmer asks.
"No time! We have to get moving!" Fluttershy pleas for her friend to heed her words.
"We can't leave them," Sunset pants a bit. "We cannot abandon them..,"
Twilight Sparkle is having a hard time landing a hit on Tethered Twilight. Her magic evens the odds during the fight for survival. Applejack uses her strength to disarm Tethered Applejack scissors and stabs her repeatedly through the chest with them. She sees Pinkie Pie continuing her onslaught on Tethered Pinkie. She's already dead, but Pinkie didn't care; she wanted to make her statement. Applejack ambushes Tethered Twilight Sparkle and snap her neck.
"Thanks, Applejack," Twilight gets up.
"We gotta get going," Applejack and Twilight are on the move. They see Sunset Shimmer with Fluttershy and Spike. Pinkie Pie comes out of home with the black scissors and a beheaded Tethered Pinkie Pie.
"I'm going to slaughter them all," Pinkie angrily said.
"We gotta move, the birds pecking Sunset won't last for-" Fluttershy's speech comes to an end when her friends saw scissors blades piercing her chest from behind. Tethered Fluttershy kills Fluttershy allowing the birds to cease their attack.
"Fluttershy!" Sunset, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack cry in horror.
Pinkie Pie uses the scissors and slashes Tethered Fluttershy's throat. Blood gushes out of her throat while she collapses.
"We need to go, now!" Spike shouts.
"But where?" Twilight asks.
"Doesn't matter, let's go," Spike starts running away from the scenery. Twilight, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Pinkie Pie follow Spike.
Sunset gets up after the birds start flying away. The birds managed to peck her left eye out of her socket. Sunset hatches an idea to kill Sunset Shimmer before the takeover begins.
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