Description[]
Description: Sunset Shimmer vs. Mal Bertha. Two teenage former villains turned heroes with magic powers who come from dark backgrounds and once sought to take over a kingdom, but instead turn over a new leaf and become leaders and protectors who use their magic and ability to transform for good and fighting evil.
Introduction[]
Wiz: It’s always satisfying to see the villain get their comeuppance, but sometimes it can be even more satisfying to see them turn over a new leaf.
Boomstick: Like with these two magical badass bad girls turned badass good girls.
Wiz: Mal Bertha, the daughter of Maleficent and the current queen of Auradon.
Boomstick: And Sunset Shimmer, the unicorn-turned-human leader of the Equestria Girls. He’s Wiz and I’m Boomstick.
Wiz: And it’s our job to analyze their powers, skills, and abilities to decide who would win a Death Battle.
Sunset Shimmer[]
Wiz: In another dimension of magic and wonder, there is a world known as Equestria, inhabited by Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. This is the original home world of Sunset Shimmer.
Boomstick: I can’t believe we’re doing another My Little Pony character in a Death Battle. People are going to start thinking we’re one of those fans who are actually attracted to cartoon ponies. Just to be clear, everyone, I do not want to bang a pony… Now the human versions of them, those I can get behind.
Wiz: You do know that they’re all still in high school, right?
Boomstick: I can wait! *Cough* …So, um, about Sunset, she may not seem like it now, but this feisty redhead used to be a unicorn, and not exactly the nicest one around.
- Background
- Age: 16-17 (human years), early 30s (Equestria years)
- Height: 5’7
- Weight: 115 lbs.
- Species: unicorn-turned-human
- Street artist name: Flanksy
- Former student of Princess Celestia
- Former friendship student of Twilight Sparkle
- 7th Element of Harmony in the human world
- Represents the element Empathy
- Hobbies – graffiti artist, sushi chef, gamer, guitar player, singer, songwriter, fencing, science, mystery solving
- Rhythm guitarist and a songwriter for the band The Rainbooms
- Unofficial leader of the Equestria Girls (EQGs)
Wiz: Neglected by her family, and only seen by her parents as a means to promote themselves due to her talent in magic, Sunset was brought up believing that power was all that mattered. At least according to the series writers since it was never actually stated in the series, though her parent’s neglect was strongly hinted at in the comics.
Boomstick: And with as talented as she was in magic, she became the personal student of Princess Celestia, who’s basically, like, a goddess of this colorful pony world, so that’s really quite an honor. Seriously though, I don’t get what makes alicorns so special. They’re just unicorns with wings.
Wiz: Alicorns aside, when Sunset wasn’t able to get the results she wanted fast enough, nor was she able to convince Celestia to teach her the more advanced magic since Celestia didn’t think she was ready for it yet, Sunset grew bitter and resentful, becoming greedier and meaner by the day.
Boomstick: So she tried to find another way to get power, and ended going through a magic mirror, where she ended up in an alternate reality that had no magic in it at all. What it did have was an alternate human version of pretty much everyone in Equestria. What was with everyone being all these different rainbow colors anyway? The last time I saw people who were all these colors, I was on acid… Yeah, I really regret my youth.
Wiz: Unbeknownst to Sunset, the doorway to this world was only open for a few days at a time, and when it closed, she was left stranded in the human world, and without the ability to use any magic since she had become human upon entering this world.
Boomstick: Yeah, what was up with all the ponies turning into humans when they when through the portal anyway? The sirens too? Even Spike turned into a dog for some reason.
Wiz: Well, while it’s never really explained, based on what we’ve seen, since dragons, magic ponies, and such don’t exist in the human world, crossing dimensions causes them to become what they would have been had they been born into that world, which also explains why humans become ponies when they go to Equestria since there’s no humans there. Hence why Sunset, Twilight, Starlight, and the Dazzlings all become humans, and even manifest clothes, when they went to the human world. It would also explain why they become teenagers in the human world, even though they’re actually about in their thirties in Equestria since time in the human world seems to move at about half the speed of Equestria based on the time the Equestria Girls movies, shorts, and specials take place in the My Little Pony timeline.
Boomstick: You know way too much about this, Wiz.
Wiz: It’s called being thorough in your research.
Boomstick: Then answer me this, shouldn’t there also be a human version of Sunset already living in the human world?
Wiz: There doesn’t seem to be, and according to the writers, there isn’t one, which makes sense if you think about since even though the two worlds are parallel, the fact that they’re still alternate realities where different events occur means that different people will be born while others won’t be.
Boomstick: Well, be there one of her or two, Sunset didn’t let that stop her from taking power the only way a teenager girl can; by becoming the queen bee of the local high school.
Wiz: For the next year and a half or so, Sunset pretty much ruled Canterlot High as the school bully, destroying the reputations of anyone who threatened her position of power or who started becoming too popular, even sabotaging friendships and turning the students against each other, so everyone became too afraid to challenge her.
Boomstick: Until the portal finally reopened, and Sunset went back to check on how things were going in Equestria while she had been away. It did not go well.
Wiz: Discovering that Twilight Sparkle had taken her place as Celestia’s student and gained the power she had wanted, Sunset stole Twilight’s magic crown and took it back with her to the human world.
Boomstick: Which didn’t exactly work out for her. Once she put on the crown, she was overwhelmed by the magic in it since it was too much for her, and ended up becoming corrupted by it, turning her into one sexy succubus.
Wiz: This transformation, which has become known as Sunset Satan by fans, is an evil, demonic version of Sunset who’s controlled by the corruption. With her new dark power, Sunset planned to take over not just the human world, but Equestria as well.
Boomstick: Too bad for her, Twilight had gone after her to get her crown back, and with the help of the human versions of her pony friends, she basically bitch-slapped Sunset with a blast of rainbow, friendship magic.
Wiz: Soundly defeated and realizing that there was more than power that made someone great, Sunset decided to turn over a new leaf now that she saw what friendship and compassion could do, and no longer believed that power was everything. And so she set out to make up for all her wrongdoings and begin helping others, becoming a kind and caring person.
Boomstick: Yeah, if you think about it, she really wasn’t cut out to be a villain. She was more like an angry, entitled brat going through a rebellious phase rather than a bad guy, at least until she went into full demon mode after she was corrupted. But she really turned things around.
Wiz: While it took some time for everyone to accept and trust her after all the bullying she did, she certainly earned her redemption, even becoming the unofficial leader of the Equestria Girls. Now with friends and a place where she felt like she belonged, it seemed that Sunset had truly found where she was meant to be and what she was meant to do.
Boomstick: But if you think the story’s over, you’re way off. Turns out that bringing Twilight’s crown to the human world and unleashing its power, not to mention those rainbow friendship beams Twilight and her human friends were shooting around, caused magic to manifest in the human world, particularly within Sunset and the other Equestria Girls.
- Powers and weapons
- Transformations (Pony-up, Crystal Guardian, Friendship Power, Daydream Shimmer)
- Magic geode
- Music magic
- Mind reading and emotion reading
- Genius level intellect
- Advanced strength
- Fencing, hand-to-hand combat, and karate skills (implied)
- Magical knowledge
- Flight (when transformed)
- Athleticism
- Magic influence resistance
- When transformed – flight, element magic, lasers, magic beams, magical blasts, endurance, enhanced strength and speed, magic neutralization
- As a unicorn – telekinesis, teleportation, other magical abilities
Wiz: Now whenever Sunset and her friends play music together or show their true selves, they go through a transformation they refer to as being able to pony-up.
Boomstick: Basically, they get pony ears and ponytails, and they can float around and use music magic to fire blasts of Cutie Mark magic or something that they can even be used to attack with. At one point, we even see Sunset basically go Super Saiyan and grow these fiery phoenix wings or something while she’s singing. They never did explain what that was about.
Wiz: These new magic powers actually came in handy, seeing as the portal to Equestria was damaged during a magical mishap, causing Equestrian magic to slip through the cracks in the portal and corrupt people and objects it comes in contact with in the human world.
Boomstick: Hey, Wiz, why do they call the pony dimension Equestria, but the human world is just called the human world? It should have a fancy name too. How about… Pedestria?
Wiz: We’re not calling it that.
Boomstick: I am in my head!
Wiz: Not all of the magic that seeped into the human world caused corruption though. In fact, some of it manifested in the form of magic geodes, each one exclusive to one of the Equestria Girls, of which each represents one of the Elements of Harmony, which help to maintain the balance of their world.
Boomstick: And get this, turns out that Sunset represents the seventh Element, Empathy, which is exclusive to the human world. That’s right, while Equestria only gets six Elements, the human world gets seven. Human! Human! Human!
Wiz: These geodes are connected to each of the girls, so that when they’re wearing them or are within a certain proximity of them, they can use a certain magic exclusive to them. In Sunset’s case, she’s able to read the thoughts and emotions of those she touches, and even look into their minds and see their memories.
Boomstick: This power apparently works on water and snowflakes too. What is this, Frozen 2? She literally saw the memories of a snowflake. How does that even work?
Wiz: These types of visions are called Empathy Flashes. And while at first they happened automatically, Sunset soon learned to control this new power.
Boomstick: Well, not entirely. Turns out that if one or more of the girls overuse their geode magic, they all start to become supercharged, like when Sunset began hearing thoughts as if they were spoken out loud and getting visions of other people’s memories even without touching them. That’s got to be awkward. Sure glad you can’t see into my mind, Wiz.
Wiz: I would dread seeing into your mind, Boomstick.
Boomstick: You couldn’t handle what’s in my mind!
Wiz: To avoid these episodes of having their geodes overcharge, Sunset and her friends began using their magic in moderation or only when they needed them. But this is actually only their base level of magic, if you will. When unleashing the power of their friendship, Sunset and her friends are able to transform into their Crystal Guardian forms.
Boomstick: Hold up! Did this just become a magical girl anime!? How did we go from a show about colorful, talking ponies to a high school drama to a magical girl anime?
Wiz: *Groan* Focus, Boomstick. In her Crystal Guardian form, Sunset’s powers increase exponentially, allowing her to freely fly around and shoot lasers and blasts of magic, even without the use of music, and fire magic neutralizing beams.
Boomstick: Her friends can even transfer their power to her so she can fire massive beams of pure energy that she even used to take out a rampaging robot. Hold up now, did this just go from a magical girl anime to freakin’ Dragon Ball Z!?
Wiz: While powerful on her own, a good portion of Sunset’s power comes from her friends and the connection they share, especially that which is shared amongst them through their geodes.
Boomstick: Basically, the girls are connected to their geodes, their geodes are connected to each other, so the girls are connected to each other. You know, friendship magic and all that junk.
Wiz: But even without her magic, Sunset is highly skilled in other areas. She’s rather physically stronger than what you would expect for a teenage girl and rather athletic. She’s very artistic, and can nearly intellectually match the human version of Twilight, who’s a super genius. She’s also apparently skilled with a sword since she’s shown to be a member of the fencing club, and it’s implied that she also knows karate.
Boomstick: And if all that weren’t awesome enough, she’s also really big on video games, and even has her own gaming channel. I mean, seriously, she’s smart, talented, athletic, she can sing, play and write music, and she’s a gamer. What more could you ask for in a woman? This girl has it all.
Wiz: Well, while she does have a strong sense of righteousness, and is very protective of her friends, she’s also rather competitive. She’s also shown to still feel guilty for her past actions, and can become a little insecure when magical mishaps occur since she blames herself for bringing magic to the human world in the first place. Also, while it’s usually justified, she’s shown to have a bit of a temper, and can verbally lash out when she gets angry.
Boomstick: Yeah, but I think that last one’s more of a redhead thing. Every redhead I know seems to have a fiery temper. Actually, now that I think about it, that seems to be the case with every girl I meet.
Wiz: I think that’s more of a reflection on you, Boomstick.
Boomstick: Ouch, that one was below the belt, Wiz.
Wiz: Although what we’ve seen thus far is Sunset’s standard level of magic, her biggest display of power comes from when she absorbs the magic of her friends, enabling her to transform into Daydream Shimmer, her most powerful form.
Boomstick: So she goes from a unicorn to a human, to a demon, to an anthropomorphic pony girl, to a magic girl, to some kind of angel. Geez, this girl goes through transformations like she’s trying on outfits in a clothes store. By the way, did you notice how her hair became a shade lighter after she made her first pony-up transformation? Hey, Wiz, do you think the carpet matches the drapes?
Wiz: Boomstick!
Boomstick: What? I’m just asking for a friend.
Wiz: *Sigh* As Daydream Shimmer, Sunset takes the form of a celestial-like being, and is able to fight on equal ground with Midnight Sparkle, who was powerful enough to tear holes in dimensions and nearly caused both Equestria and the human world to collapse. But Sunset was able to immediately repair all the damage Midnight Sparkle did to the dimensional walls with little to no effort.
- Feats
- Defeated/helped defeat the Dazzlings, Midnight Sparkle, Gloriosa Daisy/Gaia Everfree, Wallflower Blush, and Micro Chips’ JVJ-24601 robot
- Resisted the Dazzlings’ magical influence
- Helped solve various mysteries (magical and non-magical)
- Captured the Storm King’s magic storm (with help)
- Helped rescue passengers on a sinking yacht
- Repaired crumbling dimensional walls (as Daydream Shimmer)
- Took control of the students of CHS (as Sunset Satan)
- Beat Applejack and her super strength in a snowball fight
- Destroyed the Time Turner
Boomstick: If only the old, bad Sunset could see herself now. I’d say she definitely got the power she once wanted back then.
Wiz: And ironically, she gained it after she made friends and no longer desired it. She definitely needed it though in order to face off against the various of powerful individuals who either used magic for sinister purposes or become corrupted by it.
Boomstick: Like the Dazzlings, a trio of evil sirens with enchanted voices that drew their power from negative emotions. It was thanks to Sunset that she and her friends were able to combine their power and completely obliterate them after they went all Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
Wiz: Or when she helped fight the ancient spirit Gaia Everfree, who was actually just someone else corrupted by Equestria magic taking on the persona. Not to mention several other people and objects that stray magic took over.
Boomstick: And let’s not forget when she totally wasted that runaway robot after her friends gave her a power boost. With some help from her flashy, blue-haired boy toy of course. You see what I did there by calling him flashy?
Wiz: While powerful on her own, Sunset’s magic grows stronger when she’s with her friends or shares in their power. And as their friendship grows, their magic evolves as well, even upgrading their Crystal Guardian forms to their even more powerful Friendship Power forms.
Boomstick: You know, typical magic girl stuff, like good old Sailor Moon, where stronger powers come with new outfits so companies like Hasbro can sell more toys. And we haven’t even gotten into the kind of magic she can do as a unicorn.
Wiz: Which is a bit of a moot point since she decided to stay in the human world as a human, but it should be noted that she does occasionally go back to Equestria for visits during special occasions, during which times she does turn back into a unicorn, although she does seem to forget how to be one during these times. But no matter which world she’s in, what form she takes, or what transformation she undergoes, there’s no denying that the sun will be shining on Sunset.
Mal Bertha[]
Wiz: In an alternate reality from the main Disney continuity, all the Disney characters are alive and well, living together in the same time and place.
Boomstick: Until Belle and her beast-turned-human hubby banished all the villains to a nearby island. Honestly, I can’t really blame them though. If you think about it, a lot of the classic Disney villains are pretty dark. And they showed kids this stuff?
Wiz: Banished from the kingdom of Auradon, the villains found themselves confined by a magic barrier on the Isle of the Lost so they could no longer cause trouble for the citizens.
Boomstick: So, naturally, with all the baddies in one place together, they did the only logic things… Get busy and begin popping out babies!
Wiz: Which introduced us to Mal Bertha, the daughter of Maleficent, the Mistress of Evil, and later revealed to also be the daughter of Hades, the god of the Underworld.
Boomstick: Hard to believe that this purple-haired teen actually had such a dark parentage. Speaking of which, do you think the carpet matches the drapes with her?
Wiz: …
Boomstick: What? I told you that I’m asking for a friend. A friend!
Wiz: What is with you today?
Boomstick: For. A. Friend.
- Background
- Full name: Maleficent ‘Mal’ Bertha
- Age: 16 (at start of series)
- Height: Approx. 5’2
- Species: 1/2 dark fairy, 1/2 demigoddess
- Daughter of Maleficent and Hades
- Wife of the son of Belle and the beast
- Queen of Auradon
- Hobbies – graffiti artist, singing, dancing, causing mischief, spell casting
- Former student of Maleficent
- Leader of the Villain Kids (VKs)
Wiz: As the daughter of arguably the greatest and most evil of all Disney villains, Mal had some pretty big shoes to fill since she wanted to live up to her mother’s reputation as the Mistress of Evil. Especially since her father wasn’t around since not even Hades could tolerate Maleficent’s level of evil. She got the chance when Ben, the son of Bell and the beast, decided to try and make peace with the villains by inviting a few of their children, appropriately dubbed VKs for ‘Villain Kids’, to go to school with everyone else in Auradon.
Boomstick: Yup, nothing like unleashing the offspring of the most evil people in the Disney universe on the public. How could this possibly go wrong?
Wiz: A gamble for sure, but Ben’s reasoning was that children shouldn’t have to suffer for the sins of their parents.
Boomstick: Hang on a sec. I just remembered that there was an episode of House of Mouse where Hades and Maleficent hooked up. The villains also tried to take over the place at one point. Was that what made Ben’s father banish them? Does Descendants take place in the House of Mouse continuity?
Wiz: That’s… an interesting theory, and a surprisingly well thought out one for you, Boomstick, as it would set the stage for everything, from all the characters being present to Mal’s parents getting together, to the villains committing a crime that could have resulted in them getting banished. Regardless though, despite Ben’s parents’ hesitancy, they eventually gave in to their son’s request on a trial run at least with just a few VKs.
Boomstick: Speaking of which, was it ever explained why his parents were made the kind and queen of Auradon? I mean, there’s a lot of royal couples who could have done it. What makes them so special?
Wiz: Let’s just put your theories to rest for now and stick with what we know about Mal. Ever the opportunists, the Disney villains saw this as an opportunity to use their kids to help them escape and invade Auradon. So Maleficent gave her daughter a magic book of spells, which was useless on the Isle of the Lost since dark magic didn’t work there thanks to the barrier, but could be used outside of it. This spell book would allow Mal to use all kinds of magic, and even make potions.
Boomstick: Hold up, I just realized something. If Maleficent is a dark fairy and Hades is a god, wouldn’t that make Mal half goddess or something?
Wiz: The term is demigod, or in this case, demigoddess, and there have been many of them in different mythologies. And technically, yes, which only suggests that Mal has a great deal of magic potential. Unfortunately, she’s never really been able to reach that potential while on the Isle.
Boomstick: But now that she and her friends were finally out and about, they could finally cause some real trouble.
Wiz: While on the Isle, Mal and her friends were pretty much just a group of delinquent teenagers, but now they were capable of doing some real damage, and were tasked by Maleficent to steal Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother’s wand to take down the barrier surrounding the Isle.
Boomstick: Yeah, that was easier said than done since no one trusted Mal and her friends, and even made them take classes on how to be good. Like, who does that? What does that even mean? How would those classes even work?
Wiz: Mal eventually decided that her best chance to get the wand was to steal it at Ben’s coronation. Upon learning that Ben’s family and girlfriend would get to stand beside him when the Fairy Godmother named him king, which would put her in grabbing distance of the wand, Mal followed the instructions in her spell book to concoct a love potion, which she then gave to Ben so she could become his girlfriend.
Boomstick: But of course, this is Disney, so in typical Disney fashion, as they spent time together, Mal ended up falling in love with him.
Wiz: What more, on one of their dates, they went swimming in an enchanted spring that washes away all magic enchantments, including the effects of the love potion. But Ben being the good guy that he was, let Mal think he was still under the potion’s effects to give her a chance to come clean and see where their relationship might go.
Boomstick: Poor sap, he actually thought that she gave him the love potion because she had a crush on him and was too afraid to ask him out on her own because she though he’d say no since she was a VK. I guess it’s nice of him to give her the chance to fix what she did, but still, he already had a girlfriend at the time, so that was pretty cold. Especially since that girlfriend was Audrey, the daughter of Aurora and Philip from Sleeping Beauty, which makes it twice as harsh.
Wiz: But it wasn’t just Ben giving Mal a chance to admit to what she did and fix it. During their time together, he actually fell in love with her as well, for real.
Boomstick: Which really doesn’t make much sense since he was already in love with her thanks to the love potion. I guess it was real love on top of the fake love… or… something
Wiz: In any case, Mal and her friends’ time at Auradon, and her relationship with Ben, did change them for the better, and when the decisive moment came, she and her friends decided that they wanted to be good.
Boomstick: But Mama Maleficent wasn’t having any of that. After she escaped from the Isle, she went full dragon mode on everyone. But Mal and her friends stood up to her.
Wiz: Using her own magic, fueled by the power of her friends and newfound love, Mal was able to trap her mother in the form of a small lizard.
Boomstick: And everyone lived happily ever after… Or so you would think.
Wiz: Now that Mal and her friends had decided to be good, they truly attempted to integrate into Auradon, for real this time. And Mal began using her magic to help people for real, and not just to manipulate them.
- Powers and Abilities
- Spellcasting
- Potion brewing
- Dragon transformation
- Magical knowledge
- Fairy magic
- Swordsmanship
- Fire breathing (as a dragon)
- Flight (as a dragon)
- Hades’ Ember
- Birthright jewel
- Magic spell book
Boomstick: But these magic uses mostly involved small things, like fixing up hair, creating illusions, nothing really big. And usually she needs to rely on her spell book, and chant some magic words. Hey, Wiz, what’s up with magic spells usually needing to rhyme in some way?
Wiz: Typically, it’s to string the words of the spell together and allow the magic to flow through them. And while some magic words are just meaningless babble, others have origin, many times from ancient Latin.
Boomstick: Wiz, I’m ashamed that you knew that.
Wiz: You asked.
Boomstick: Still ashamed.
Wiz: While Mal was free to use magic, she did become a little dependent on it, using it to try and solve all her problems.
Boomstick: And get this, she even gave her buddy Carlos’ dog the ability to speak, and that wasn’t even intentional.
Wiz: This use of magic to solve everything stemmed from her insecurities of being accepted and the pressures of proving herself of being a worthy girlfriend to the king of Auradon. She eventually got over these insecurities though, particularly when she realized that Ben loved the real her, becoming confident enough to even give up her spell book later. But the overuse of magic did help her to sharpen her skills and made her power stronger.
Boomstick: She even gained the ability to turn into a dragon. A dragon! And while it wasn’t some giant, evil monster with all the power of Hell like her mom, it’s a freakin’ dragon.
Wiz: What more, it turns out that Mal’s friendships actually makes her stronger, as the strength of their friendship helps to empower her magic. With this power, she’s been able to protect Auradon from numerous threats to it.
Boomstick: What’s up with all this friendship magic being the end all, be all of magic.
Wiz: There are many different forms of magic, Boomstick, and in almost all cases, it’s fueled by emotion, hence why magic that comes from love and friendship are the strongest.
Boomstick: Careful, Wiz, your nerd is showing again.
Wiz: But it’s not just her friendship that empowers Mal, as she later obtains her birthright jewel, which, unfortunately, had a curse on it that temporarily made her evil until the curse was removed. This jewel actually made her magic even stronger. In fact, when Zevon, son of Yzma, stole the different birthright jewels from Mal and her friends and combined them with Jafar’s staff, he was almost able to take over Auradon.
- Feats
- Defeated/helped defeat Maleficent, Audrey, and Zevon
- Fought off Uma and her pirates in a swordfight (with help)
- Helped unite Auradon and the Isle of the Lost
- Fought Uma while transformed to a draw (as a dragon)
- Broke Uma’s love spell on Ben (with true love’s kiss)
- Broke Audrey’s curse
- Warded off Hades
- Helped reform various VKs
Boomstick: And Mal needed all the magic she could get, especially when she faced off against her old rival, Uma, daughter of Ursula, who was really obsessed with people knowing her name. Not to mention preventing her father, the literal lord of the Underworld, from trying to escape the Isle.
Wiz: Not to mention stopping Audrey when she attempted to get revenge on Mal for stealing her boyfriend. After Ben proposed to Mal and the two become engaged, all the jealousy and resentment Audrey was feeling finally came out, and she tried to take what she felt was rightfully hers.
Boomstick: Guess I really can’t blame her for that one though. Having the girl whose mom cursed your mom and tried to kill your dad steal your boyfriend, and your future crown along with it at that, has really gotta hurt. Wait, does that mean that Descendants fully acknowledges what happened in the Disney movies? Then how is Maleficent even alive to have a daughter? This series makes no sense.
Wiz: After stealing Maleficent’s scepter, Audrey became corrupted by its evil magic and began turning people to stone, among other things. Fortunately, Mal was able to convince her father to give her his Ember, which boosted her power further, provided it never got wet. With it, she was able to undo Audrey’s curse, take her down, and overcome the corruption the magic caused.
Boomstick: Yeah, nearly killing Audrey in the process.
Wiz: True, but fortunately she was later revived by Hades. It should be noted though that during Mal’s showdown with Audrey, Mal’s friendship with the VKs is what really helped her defeat Audrey after her father’s Ember got wet, as the power of their friendship enhanced her magic, making Mal even stronger than ever.
Boomstick: Like I said, friendship magic everywhere.
Wiz: But even without Hades’ Ember, her birthright jewel, or her friends boosting her magic, Mal is quite powerful on her own. And in her dragon form, while she can’t actually use any spells, she was even able to fight on equal ground with Uma after she unleashed the magic in her mother’s seashell necklace to turn into a giant octopus woman.
Boomstick: Wait, wasn’t it the power of Triton’s trident that made Ursula grow, not her necklace? Hehe. Triton’s trident.
Wiz: True, but regardless, as Mal being able to fight her to a stalemate with her own power is still pretty impressive. Even without magic though, she’s shown to have skill with a sword, as seen when she helped fight off Uma and her gang of pirates. Proving time and time again that with or without magic-
Boomstick: How much of a badass she is! Kinda wish we got to see her go up against some other villains though rather than just their kids. I mean, seriously, what were they all doing all this time?
Wiz: It was a tough task, but eventually Mal and Ben finally managed to bring peace between their kingdom and the Isle by accepting all the VKs, and even taking down the barrier separating the two islands.
Boomstick: Yup, heroes and villains living together side by side once again with no barriers separating them. Wonder how long that’s going to last.
Wiz: Well, as seen at Ben and Mal’s wedding, while there is still some tension between sides, everyone is trying to make an effort. And with Mal and Ben as the king and queen, the people of Auradon and the Isle seem to be in good hands, proving that even a former villain can obtain happily ever after.
Interlude[]
Wiz: Alright the combatants are set. And we've run the data through all possibilites.
Boomstick: It’s time for a Death Battle!
The Battle[]
Mal is walking down the halls of Auradon Prep, reading through her spell book. She comes to a stop as she looks at a certain page.
Mal: “Hmm, this looks interesting. A spell to summon a unicorn. Always wanted to see one. Let’s see if this works.”
She holds out her hand, and it begins glowing with magic.
Mal: “Ponytail, hooves, and magic horn, I summon forth a unicorn!”
Elsewhere, at Canterlot High, Sunset is practicing with her friends for their band in the music room. There’s a flash of light, and she suddenly disappears. She reappears in Auradon Prep a short distance away from Mal, and stops playing her guitar as she realizes that she’s in a different location.
Sunset: “What? How did I get here?”
She glances at Mal, who is staring at Sunset in confusion with her glowing hand still held out.
Mal: “Uh… Hmm, I wonder if I got the spell wrong.”
Sunset gasps and drops her guitar as she notices Mal’s glowing hand and the book of spells she’s holding.
Sunset: “Is that Equestrian magic? That’s dangerous! You shouldn’t mess around with that; it can corrupt you. Give it here.”
Mal glances down at the book, then hugs it to herself.
Mal: “What? No.”
Sunset goes over to Mal and attempts to grab the book. Mal holds it behind her, out of reach, while pushing Sunset back as she tries to grab the book.
Sunset: “Give it here. Give it. Give it!”
Mal: “No! No! I said no!”
She slaps Sunset across the face, and both freeze. Sunset blinks in surprise, then turns red in anger, and delivers a karate kick that knocks Mal back. The two then glare angrily at each other from a distance.
FIGHT!
Sunset leaps over to the wall where two crossed swords are hanging and snatches up a sword, then jumps back over to where she was before and holds up the sword. Mal holds out her hand and it glows, and the other swords detaches from the wall and flies into it. She holds up her sword as well, and then she and Sunset charge at each other.
Their swords clash for a moment, then Mal pulls back and swipes high. Sunset blocks, so Mal strikes low, only to be blocked again. She spins around, swiping her sword, and Sunset jumps back to avoid the blade, then charges forward and brings down her sword. Mal blocks, but then finds herself on the defense, and she begins backing away as Sunset’s sword keeps striking her own.
Lunging forward, Sunset stabs, but Mal maneuvered around her, bringing down her sword. Sunset holds up her sword, blocking the blow, and the two break apart before coming back together, their swords clanging together. As the two push against each other, Mal looks up, spotting a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Sunset’s eyes suddenly start glowing as she has an Empathy Flash and receives a vision of Mal’s thoughts. She sees in her vision as Mal holds up her hand, and the chandelier above them suddenly falls. Mal jumps back, and the chandelier falls on Sunset, crushing her.
The vision ends, and Mal holds up her hand for real, just as she did in the vision. The chandelier falls, but both Mal and Sunset jump back this time. Before the chandelier hits the ground though, Sunset leaps up and kicks off of it to gain some air. She comes down, bringing her sword down hard. Mal falls to one knee as their swords meet, but manages to block the blow. While Mal is down, Sunset does a fancy swipe that sends Mal’s sword flying out of her hands and across the room, then delivers a karate kick that knocks Mal back and has her doubling over. She recovers though and points a finger at Sunset.
Mal: “How did you know what I was going to do?”
Sunset: “Simple. I could see what you were thinking.”
Mal growls and pulls out her spell book, flipping through it.
Mal: “Well, did you see this coming? Remove that which can cause harm, I cast a spell to disarm.”
The sword suddenly turns into bubbles in Sunset’s hands, and she looks down at her empty hands in surprise.
Sunset: “Huh?”
Mal: “Ha! And you call yourself a mind reader.”
Green magic fills her hands, and she begins throwing blasts of magic. Sunset takes a karate stance, and begins kicking and chopping the blasts of magic. She then charges at Mal, throwing chops and kicks at her. Mal attempts to dodge and block, but gets struck once, twice, again, before she’s thrown back by a high kick.
Sunset takes a fighting stance as Mal stumbles back, waiting to see what she will do next. Mal then reaches into her pocket and takes out her birthright jewel. She clenches it in her hand and begins glowing, then leaps up in the air, surrounded by a green aura of magic. She begins launching beams at Sunset, who goes on the defense as she ducks, dodges, and hops back. A beam of magic hits the ground where she just landed, and Sunset gets blasted back.
Mal hovers closer, still glowing with power. She holds up her arms, and a bunch of different objects float over to her. As Sunset gets up, she gasps as her guitar floats by as it hovers over towards Mal with the other objects. She snatches it out of the air and strikes a chord. Then she begins glowing and starts to float in the air as she grows pony ears and her hair extends into a long ponytail as she pony-ups.
Mal points at her, and the levitating objects fly at Sunset. She begins playing her guitar, sending out blasts of music magic that blow apart the objects being launched at her. Mal lets out an annoyed growl and gathers magic together before firing a massive beam. Sunset responds by playing rapidly on her guitar, sending out a stream of her Cutie Marks in the form of a beam that meets Mal’s.
The two attacks collide in a stalemate. Mal continues to fire as Sunset continues to play. Then Sunset begins singing some scales before ending on a high note and striking a hard chord on her guitar. This causes her to manifest a pair of fiery wings and unleash a wave of magic that fills the hall, pushing back Mal’s attack and flowing over her. She’s thrown backwards and hits the wall, then drops to the floor. She looks up to see Sunset glowing brightly with her fiery wings extended, but forces herself to stand up, ready to keep fighting.
Mal: “Alright, no more holding back.”
She suddenly transforms into a dragon and roars loudly. Sunset jolts back in surprise, and Mal spits a fireball at her. Sunset hits a chord on her guitar, sending out a pulse of magic that collides with Mal’s fireball before it hit her. This causes an explosion that sends Sunset spinning through the air and landing hard on the ground, her fiery wings gone. Her guitar hits the ground in front of her and breaks in two, and Sunset gasps in dismay. Mal roars again, breathing a stream of fire into the air, and Sunset angrily gets to her feet. Mal lands and snarls at Sunset, who reaches up and grasps her geode.
Sunset: “She’s been corrupted by the magic. I was afraid of this. I better end this before things get out of hand. Time to show her the true magic of friendship.”
She suddenly transforms into her Crystal Guardian form and flies up into the air. Mal spits a fireball at her, but Sunset dodges it and flies through the air towards Mal, delivering a punch that knocks Mal’s head to the side, then does a backflip before diving down and delivering a kick to the top of Mal’s head. She follows up by firing a beam of red energy that causes Mal to cringe away as it blasts against her. With an angry roar, Mal breaths a stream of fire at her. Sunset flies around to avoid it, firing blasts of magic at Mal in the process. Mal lashes out with her wings, smacking Sunset away, and she goes spinning through the air and crashes through a large window, ending up outside.
She halts her momentum and turns back to the window she just crashed through, and a moment later, Mal comes bursting through it. Sunset fires another energy beam that strikes Mal, who roars and flies at Sunset, who quickly flies out of the way. She gathers a ball of energy in her hands and throws it at Mal, who turns around just in time to get blasted by it. She roars and begins spitting numerous fireballs. Sunset begins blasting them as they fly at her, eventually flying out of the way when Mal breaths a stream of fire at her instead.
Mal flies up after her, still breathing fire. Sunset stays ahead of the flames as she maneuvers through the air, trying to shake Mal. She turns around and begins flying backwards and starts shooting energy blasts back at Mal, who stops breathing fire as she’s struck in the face. With a snarl, she begins spitting more fireballs, which Sunset starts blasting and dodging as she flies along. Mal pauses and takes a deep breath, then spits a larger fireball, which Sunset hits with an energy blast before it hits her. The explosion it causes sends Sunset spinning backwards until she stops herself. Mal speeds towards her again, breathing a stream of fire. Sunset fires a beam into the flames, keeping them at bay, but Mal keeps coming, and Sunset dodges at the last second.
Turning around, Mal heads back towards Sunset, who lets out an annoyed growl. She cups her hands together in front of her and begins glowing. Her outfit suddenly changes as she transforms into her Friendship Power form. Magic gathers in her cupped hands as she glows brighter before she unleashes a rainbow of energy. It wraps around Mal, binding her tightly, and Mal roars loudly as she’s trapped in a rainbow cocoon. Her cry is heard all around Auradon Prep, and the students, including her friends, all look up and see the fight taking place in the air. Seeing that Mal is trapped, they close their eyes and begin glowing, sending Mal their power and encouragement.
Up in the sky, the rainbow completely engulfs Mal, but just before it completely covers her face, her eyes begin glowing. A few seconds later, the rainbow cocoon suddenly bursts open. Mal hovers in the air, glowing with a green aura of magic. In her claw, she holds up Hades’ Ember, and blue flames shoot out of it and surround her, mixing with the green aura. Sunset pulls back in surprise, and Mal roars at her. Taking a deep breath, she lifts her head to the sky, and a green flame appears in her mouth. It grows larger and larger, until she finally spits the enormous fireball at Sunset.
Sunset fires a beam at the fireball, attempting to push it back, and the fireball slows down to a stop. Mal holds up Hades’ Ember, and a stream of blue fire shoots out of it, colliding with her fireball, increasing its size, and it begins to move towards Sunset again, pushing against her beam. Sunset pushes harder, but the fireball keeps moving closer until it finally explodes. Sunset jolts back from the blast, and squints as she attempts to see through the cloud of smoke. But suddenly, Mal comes flying through it, and Sunset gasps in surprise. She dodges at the last moment as Mal slashes at her with her claws, but then Mal spins around and whacks Sunset with her tail.
Upon making contact with Mal’s tail, Sunset’s eyes start glowing again, and she sees a vision of Hades Ember empowering Mal, only to be extinguished as it was doused with water. The vision ends, and she went crashing to the ground. Mal lands a short distance away and roars at her. And as Sunset gets up, she suddenly changs back to normal. She let out a gasp and realizes that her geode is gone. She looks around, and spots it a distance away, behind Mal.
Mal snarls at her as Sunset gets to her feet. She takes a fighting stance, and Mal spreads her wings threateningly. Sunset charges forward, and Mal breathes a stream of green fire at her. Sunset drops down, skidding beneath the flames, then hops back up and rolls forward, beneath Mal, going between her legs and coming out behind her, snatching up her geode in the process. She puts it back on and transforms back into her Friendship Power form again as Mal turns around and holds up Hades’ Ember, unleashing a stream of blue fire. Sunset fires a beam into the approaching flames, but the stream keeps coming, getting closer and closer to Sunset, until she’s forced to retreat back to avoid the flames.
Landing a short distance away, her clothes partially burned, she fires a beam at Mal, who holds up a wing to block the attack. She lowers her wing and spits a fireball at Sunset, who quickly ducks to avoid it, then jumps back again as Mal unleashes another stream of fire from Hades’ Ember, and Sunset hovers backwards to dodge it. She lands a distance away, breathing heavily. Mal storms closer, spreading her wings and hissing as the two stare each other down. Sunset regains her composure and points at her.
Sunset: “You’re pretty strong, but I learned firsthand that nothing can beat the magic of friendship. My friends may not be here right now, but I know that they’re always with me. Our friendship can get through anything, and as long as it endures, there’s nothing we cannot do.”
As she speaks, the ghostly images of her friends appear around her. Different colored light flows from their geodes and began flowing into Sunset’s, and she begins glowing with power. There’s a blinding flash of light, and Sunset transforms into Daydream Shimmer, floating in the air in front of Mal. Mal snarls at her and spits a green fireball. Sunset holds up her hand, and a blinding flash of light erupts outward, dispersing the fireball.
The light flows over Mal, pushing her back, and she digs her claws into the ground to stop herself. Squinting, she looks into the light, and Sunset suddenly flies out of it with her hands glowing. She fires a beam of white light from her hands, and Mal holds up Hades’ Ember, shooting out a stream of blue fire that collided with Sunset’s beams. The two attacks crash together, pushing against one another for a few seconds before Sunset’s push back the flames and strike Mal, pushing her along with Sunset flying after her. And when the beams finally stop pushing her, Mal snarls at Sunset, but she’s already gone.
Sunset: “Over here.”
Mal turns around to see that she had been pushed to the edge of Auradon and Sunset was hovering out over the ocean. She fires beams from her hands down into the water, sending up a large wave that rises up and washes over Mal.
Mal immediately flew up out of the water, but the blue flames that had been floating around her disappear as Hades’ Ember stops glowing in her claw, though she’s still surrounded by her green aura as she hovers in the air. She turns back to Sunset, who flies towards her, and Mal roars.
As Sunset begins gathering energy in her hands, forming it into a ball, Mal takes a deep and breaths a massive stream of green fire at her. Sunset continues to fly forward, holding out the ball of energy in front of her as a shield, and flies straight through the stream of fire. She comes right up to Mal, slamming the ball of energy into Mal’s mouth.
There’s an explosion of light that lights up all of Auradon, and when it fades, the blackened and burned skeleton of Mal’s dragon form is revealed. It falls from the sky and shatters into a pile of bones on the ground, which then crumble into ashes a moment later as Sunset comes down and hovers over the pile of ashes.
Sunset: “Nothing beats the power of friendship.”
KO!
Sunset is back at Canterlot High in the music room, looking bashful as she holds up her broken guitar for her friends to see, but then they present her with a brand new guitar that she gleefully accepts, and they do a group hug.
Outcome[]
Boomstick: I guess even a sunset can burn you to a crisp.
Wiz: This was a fairly tough battle, as both Mal and Sunset are powerful magic users. And because we never got to see how skillful Sunset actually is with a sword and with martial arts, we had to primarily focus on her and Mal’s other abilities. And since both use different kinds of magic, we had to look at who’s was stronger, and how the kind of magic they use would help them in a fight.
Boomstick: For spell casting and spell variety, Mal definitely had the advantage, but most of the magic we saw her do wouldn’t really be all that helpful in a fight. Not like Sunset, who’s practically a superhero with what she can do. Even when it comes to just using magic in general, Mal is known to make mistakes, and often needs to rely on her spell book, and more often than not, she needs to say some fancy rhyming spell, which is only going to make her using magic more difficult.
Wiz: Sunset, however, faces no such restrictions, and can use her magic much more freely. Since she doesn’t need to rely on using spells, she can actually use her power right away, unlike Mal. Also unlike Mal, she’s shown to have complete control over her magic, with the exception being when her powers activate automatically when her geode gets supercharged from overuse. But really, that would only help her in battle since she would then be able to see Mal’s thoughts and hear what she’s thinking without even needing to touch her.
Boomstick: Sunset’s magic is also much more useful in a fight than Mal’s is. She also has multiple transformations she can use, each one stronger than the last, and each one gives her even more magical abilities than before.
Wiz: While it’s true that Sunset does rely on her geode to make these transformations, meaning it’s possible that Mal could gain the advantage if she somehow managed to get Sunset’s geode away from her, if she even figures out that the geode is one of Sunset’s primary sources of power, then the same could be said for Mal and her reliance on her spell book, birthright jewel, and her father’s Ember. And, quite frankly, her use of them would be much more apparent than Sunset’s use of her geode, and they would also be easier to get away from her than Sunset’s geode would be.
Boomstick: And even if she did, Sunset would still have her music magic that she can use, and she would still be able to pony-up. Heck, she can even still access her geode powers to an extent as long as she’s in the same area as it. But if Mal loses any of her magic items, she’s going to be in trouble.
Wiz: What more than that, Sunset didn’t even need to get Hades’ Ember away from Mal, as she was able to use her Empathy Flash to see into Mal’s mind and learn that water neutralized its power, which would cripple a good portion of Mal’s strongest magic.
Boomstick: But let’s not forget her dragon mode. That there was her biggest advantage. I mean, of course it is; it’s a dragon… even if she can’t really use magic in that form. But Sunset’s faced magical monsters and other dangers far worse than any dragon. Mythical creatures, magically corrupted beings and objects, rogue robots, she’s pretty much faced it all.
Wiz: While it is true that Sunset has always faced these threats with her friends there to fight beside her, it still doesn’t take away from her experience in fighting them, or how she’s able to use her power against them. Even when her friends aren’t present, she’s still connected to them through her geode, enabling her to share in their power, even from far away.
Boomstick: Which brings us to Sunset’s trump card, Daydream Shimmer.
Wiz: As we explained before, Daydream Shimmer is Sunset’s most powerful form, putting her on the same level as Midnight Sparkle, who’s power was strong enough to begin a dimensional collapse. In this form, Sunset has exhibited power that goes far beyond anything Mal has done at her strongest.
Boomstick: Yeah, we’re talking about someone who could repair tears in dimensions and fight on par with someone who can casually cause those tears in the first place compared to someone who can’t even overcome a magic barrier surrounding an island. Not even at Mal’s strongest could she match the likes of Daydream Shimmer. There really was no contest once Sunny brought out that baby.
Wiz: It should also be noted that the only time we saw Daydream Shimmer was back before Sunset and her friends obtained their geodes. In fact, it was also before the human Twilight Sparkle even joined their group, and before their friendship evolved to the point it’s at now, which only made their magic stronger. So if Sunset ever did become Daydream Shimmer again, she would be even more powerful than she was back then.
Boomstick: And if we got into all the different kinds of magic Sunset could do as a unicorn, even if that magic isn’t as strong as her other forms, that’s a whole other list of advantages. And speaking of her being a unicorn, don’t forget that Sunset originated from Equestria, and that place actually has dragons in it. So as far as we know, Sunset may already have experience in dealing with them, which would only be one more advantage.
Wiz: While it’s possible that over time, Mal might be able to become more powerful than most of Sunset’s other forms, provided that Sunset’s own power doesn’t grow beyond what it already is, it’s highly unlikely that she would ever be at the level of Daydream Shimmer during her original appearance, let alone with how strong Daydream Shimmer would be now. Even if it turns out that she has some demigod powers akin to her father, based on the minimum of what we’ve seen Sunset do as Daydream Shimmer compared to Hades’ biggest feats, the odds are still likely in Sunset’s favor.
Boomstick: It looks like the sun has set on this battle, and the better girl is flying off into her namesake.
Wiz: The winner is Sunset Shimmer.
Trivia[]
- Both Sunset and Mal are the main protagonists from the main series’ spin-off series.
- Both betrayed their former mentor and parental figure.
- Both are teenage magical girls in high school.
- Both are reformed villains who tried to take over the world.
- Both are the leader of their groups (EQGs and VKs).
- Both have the ability to transform.
- Both use a magic jewel as a source of power.
- Both have skill with a sword.
- Both are known for spontaneously singing and dancing.