//------------------------------//
// Traveling to Another World 
// Story: A Shimmering Dazzle 
// by isuckdotcom 
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Oh, my library. A place where I can go to escape my reality.  Crystal walls, large windows, sparkling chandeliers, and of course, pillows and books. My comfort zone. My home. The only place i can relieve stress. But I can't stay there forever. Ever since this whole castle buisiness, my life has been taken up with meetings, studies, and visits to many other places-even different countries! It's all very stressful. 
On my special shelf (full of books I absolutely CAN'T forget), I keep a journal. It's leather bounded with a depictment of Princess Celestia's cutie mark on the cover. Me and my friend Sunset Shimmer write to each other in that book. Recently, she has written me a letter for me to visit her over summer break. She told me this:

Dear Princess Twilight,
Lately, I've been wondering about your life in Equestria. How much has it changed since I was last there? I mean, besides the time I stole your crown. I'm still pretty embarassed at myself for doing that. Stuff over here has been pretty crazy, too. I was thinking maybe you could power up the portal again and visit me for a few weeks for summer break! Your human friends would love to see you and we wrote a song to perform in front of you! Let me know how things are going and if you can come. Also, tell Princess Celestia that I miss her. Tell her I said hey. Your student and friend, Sunset Shimmer.

I've still been thinking how to write back and what I should say. I would hate to hurt her feelings, along with the rest of my human friends. In fact, I'm thinking of asking Spike to help keep watch of the castle and tell everypony that I'm gone. Maybe I'll do that now.
I walked out of my library and into the main hall of the castle. Spike was dusting some old bookshelves. "Spike? Can you do me a little favor?" I said nervously.

"Sure, Twi. What is it?" He replied.

"I was wondering, could you help look after the castle for a few weeks? I'm going to visit Sunset Shimmer." I nervously waited for a reply.

"Yeah! I'd love the job! It might be good for you to get some stress of your shoulders. Go ahead, I promise you won't be disspointed!"

I beamed with delight. "Thank you so, so, soooo much!" I ran up the stairs in euphoria. I activated the portal by putting the journal on the top frame of the new machinery. it glowed a beautiful magenta glow. I hopped in, getting swirled through a new dimension. 
When I hopped out, I gleefully stood up and admired my hands. Sunset Shimmer was sitting next to the portal, peacefully writing in her journal. It was like mine, only with her cutie mark on the front. She glanced up, surprised. "I didn't expect you to come so early! I was going to write you an update!" I smiled and sat down next to her.

"You can just tell me now. I'd love to hear."

"Well, it's getting late and I was just about to head home. I'll tell you on the way, though."

"Sure! How do we get there?"

"In my car."

"What's a car?"

Sunset showed me over to an area of the school I'd never noticed before. It had a black cement floor, and there were three or four shiny carriages parked in different spots. I recognized them. We both walked up to a pastel orange one, with flame marks decorating the sides. It had no roof, which was odd. "This is a car. It's like a carriage, but without anypony to pull it. It works like this..." Sunset plugged in some keys into a hole and pulled some triggers. The car made a deep rumbling sound, which scared me. But if Sunset drove one, it must be safe. So I decided not to react.
The car moved backwards as she stepped on a pedal beneath her and pulled a small trigger in the front. Then, after it backed away, it stopped for a moment and she pulled the trigger once more. She stepped on the pedal, going slightly faster than before. She clicked a few buttons near the front window. A sound blasted through speakers on the sides of the door. She turned the volume down.
"Cool, huh?" She said. I was too shocked to say anything. "So, the news is that The Rainbooms got a record label and just recorded our first album! I'll put it in for ya." Sunset stopped near the curb and opened a disk. She placed in a small slot in the front of the car. The sound came on again, and she turned it up. Blissful sounds of drums, guitars, a keytar, and a bass played through the speakers.

"Shine like rainboowws, oh whoa. Shine like rainbooows, oh whoa." She sang along with the music.

Soon enough, we arrived at a small house. It was made of a sand-colored brick, with red-dust colored tiles on the roof. She parked the car in front of the house and pulled the keys out. Both of us got out and started towards the door. When we got inisde, it was a bit dark. Sunset switched on a little lamp by the door. Inside the first room, there was a little hallway leading into a kitchen. To the right of the hall, there was a black leather couch facing a large flatscreen T.V., blankets scattered around the floor and couch. To the left of the hall, there was a staircase leading down. Probably her room or something.
"So, this is what I call paradise. My mom used to own it before my dad died, so she gave it to me after she moved down the street. She thought since I was old enough, I could be responsible for a house this big. Er, more like this small." Sunset led me into the kitchen. "Since we might be up studying, I thought maybe we could have some coffee! You might like it."
Sunset grabbed a mug from a cupboard and placed on an island in the center of the kitchen. Hitting a few buttons on a machine on the counter, she pressed the mug against the edge and poured a dark liquid into the mug. She handed it to me, which I blew off the heat and took a small sip.  "It's quite bitter." I commented. "But it makes me feel more awake. This is a lot different from Ponybucks coffee." I kept drinking. Then we left into the living room to watch some T.V. It was a foolish mistake.