//------------------------------//
// Unexpected Appearances-Sunset Shimmer 
// Story: A Sparkling Sunset 
// by Ferhog 
//------------------------------//

	Sunset had to keep her fringe back from fluttering in her eyes. The wind in Canterlot city tended to pick up around winter times, so it was no surprise that she had little control over the state of her hair. She looked back to see that most of the other kids were having the same problem, though some had the intelligence to wear hats. The others were suffering from hair that seemed determined to break free from their scalps. 

She walked over to the nearest orphan, Raspberry Roots, who was desperately trying to keep her hairstyle in place. "Isn't it kinda futile to try and fix your hair until we get on the bus?" Sunset asked.

Raspberry looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you kidding me! No one should suffer the sight of an obliterated hairstyle." She then went back to her pathetic attempts at restoring order to her hair.

Sunset turned her head to see the bus arriving. She had to stay back as all the more fashion orientated orphans rushed to escape the wrath of the convection currents. Afterwards, Sunset and the others entered the bus and selected their seats. She sat down near the back, and was joined by Coppermane, one of her male housemates. His short spiky hair was a brown color similar to the metal that he was named after, while his skin was an icy light blue.

She was on slight alert now. While she still considered all her fellow orphans good people, Coppermane was probably the snarkiest smartass at Miss Peachbottom's orphanage. 

"So, how was your little trip to horseland?" he asked, in a tone of very little interest.

Sunset had to contemplate what he was saying for a second, before her memories fully kicked in. Even though it had been a while since that fall formal, it was still strange to think that everyone at Canterlot high, including her fellow orphans, were now aware of her equestrian origins. 

"It was fine. Thanks for asking, I guess."

"Well why wouldn't it be fine, its the only thing you really do on weekends these days."

There was something about his tone that made Sunset feel slightly suspicious. "And is there anything wrong with that?"

"Oh nothing." There appeared to be a slight cocky smile showing on his mouth. "I'm just curious as to why you'd be spending so much time with miss pony princess. I may or may not expect you two to announce your engagement any day now."

"Oh ha ha," she said sarcastically. And while she was used to Coppermane's brand of insults and sarcasm, she was still had to force back any signs of embarrassment. "And what makes you say that?"

"Well, for one, I don't think you give any of your other friends half as much attention as this princess of yours, heck, I don't think even Flash Sentry was given the luxury of visits every weekend."

"Well..."

Not for the first time, Sunset found herself at a loss for words at his wit. The thing was that he was absolutely right. She hadn't really liked her ex-boyfriend, and saw him as more of a tool in her conquest for popularity back in her less moral days, so spending more time with Twilight than she ever did with him made sense. But it dawned on Sunset how much more time she had been spending with Twilight than any of her other friends.

"Y'know what, you look like you're going through an inner emotional crisis, so...I'm gonna go find another seat." Presenting a sly smile, he unstrapped his seatbelt and walked over to the back of the bus.

'Did he just sit here for the sole purpose of confusing me?' Thought Sunset.

Whatever his intentions were, he had certainly put her into deep thinking mode.

What was it that made her spend more time with Twilight? All of her other friends were good people. It was hard not to enjoy being with Fluttershy, with her kindness and sweet nature. Applejack was a hard working and devoted friend that could also make for a good role model. The same could also be said for Rarity, who was always willing to do favors for you, along with always having advice to give. Rainbow Dash's loyalty and competitive nature made her a complete joy to hang out with. And given time, even Chrysalis herself would be powerless against the urge to love Pinkie Pie.

But despite all the loveable things about those five, the urge to spend time with Twilight overpowered most of the urges to spend time with anyone else. For some reason she felt...drawn to Twilight. But what was it about her that clicked with Sunset so well.

She thought about it. Both Twilight and Sunset were former students of princess Celestia, that was one thing. This similarity meant that they enjoyed many similar things. Twilight was one of the very few people she could discuss books and intellectual knowledge with, and the fact that they had studied under the same mentor had built a certain bond between them. But despite this, they didn't exactly have the same personality. Though both of them loved books, Twilight was certainly the nerdier of the two, always ready to blurt her knowledge out like a living Encyclopedia, and she had an obsession with details, checklists and schedules that made her seem almost unstable at times. This contrasted with Sunset's more easygoing personality, but she couldn't help but love it.

She couldn't help but love it.

Wherever her thoughts were going then were halted by the sound of everyone getting off the bus. She looked out the window to see the grounds of Canterlot High laid out before her. As she walked outside, she felt that the strong winds had become more of a breeze, which made sense considering the school grounds had a lot more open space than the narrow streets that the bus stop was located at.

Among the school grounds were multiple buses and cars, spewing out student after student from all of CHS's various cliques. Athletes, techies, rockers, fashionistas, and just about every category that a person can fit into.

As Sunset approached the front entrance of the building, she looked to her left to see the school statue. The statue itself wasn't too special, just a large white horse proudly displaying its front legs. It was the pedestal that the horse was placed on that caught Sunset's attention. On each side of the cubic pedestal was a mirror, the back one being the portal to Equestria.

She felt the huge urge to run over to the statue and jump into the portal. To see Twilight again and get to spend time in the library together. But she knew she couldn't do that for two reasons. One, the portal probably wasn't active at the moment. Two, she had school to go to, and she didn't intend on abandoning her education. 

And any urges she was feeling were disrupted by a sudden whisper.

"Psst. Sunset Shimmer."

She turned around to find a grey plastic bin placed before her. It was weird enough that she heard a whisper come from it, but she had never seen a bin placed out on the school grounds before, they were always indoors, and the school didn't have grey plastic bins. She opened the lid and looked inside to see absolutely nothing, which was also strange.

"Uh...hello?" She asked the bin, immediately realizing that she was talking to a bin. She decided that she had just imagined the voice and turned away, before she heard another whisper.

"Hey, don't walk away from me."

Sunset turned around sharply to see that there was still nothing but a grey plastic bin.

"Okay, what's going on here?" She asked in an annoyed voice.

Than, to her shock, the bin suddenly grew a pair of yellow eyes and a mouth with a large sharp tooth.

"Hello Sunset Shimmer." It said in a voice that she now recognized fully.

"Discord?"

The face on the bin smiled. "Why Sunset, I would say you were surprised to see me."

There were about a bajillion questions in Sunset's head right now. What was Discord doing here? How was he using magic? What the...WHAT?!

She cleared her head and asked one of the more important questions. "How...how are you using magic?! There isn't any magic in this world!"

"Well if you recall miss Shimmer, there does seem to be some traces of magic in this world, since the Sirens and the Elements of Harmony could access their personal magic reserves, even if ponies can't connect to the magic in Equestria. I'm not too surprised that I can tap into my own magic reserves, though I must say that I am very pleased."

The bin grew a grey arm that snapped its fingers. Sunset heard a thud behind her and turned around to see the horse statue galloping down the streets, as the pedestrians looked on in horror.

"Hey! Put that back!"

In another flick of his fingers, the horse was back on the pedestal, but there were already a few people who had collapsed at the sight.

"Thank you." She turned to face the bin again. "What are you even doing here?"

Discord looked almost appalled at the question. "Do you think I'd pass up the opportunity to go and visit another dimension? Pfft. Perish the thought you silly little filly."

"How the hell did you even get here?"

He looked slightly confused. "Hell?"

Sunset realized that she forgot Discord was Equestrian. "Basically a human version of Tartarus. Although, there was a Tartarus in greek myth..."

"Yeah. Yeah. I get it." He interrupted. "To answer your question, the portal was already open, so I thought I might as well take the opportunity."

"Wait, it was already open?" Sunset was getting curious now. "Why?"

His yellow eyes widened. "Oops. I almost spoiled the surprise. Shame on me. Best be off now. Time to find that janitor me..."

In a white flash, the grey bin had completely disappeared, leaving Sunset very confused.

'Why would the portal already be open?' She thought. A possible answer grew in the back of her head, but she dismissed it.

Inside the building she found the school community, students and staff alike, doing their usual morning activities. The actual lessons weren't going to start for about twenty minutes, so everyone had plenty of time to get ready or just chill out. The hallway was filled with a bunch of students either going through their lockers or chatting with their peers. As she passed the staff room she caught a glimpse of Miss Cheerilee, Mr. Neigh and Mr. Donkey talking over coffee. 

While Sunset was approaching her own locker she checked her schedule. Math, Science, English, and...Geography. After finding and collecting everything she needed, she closed the locker behind her and continued walking down the hallway.

She and the girls usually met up in the music room. Even when they weren't practicing for any event that the Rainbooms were attending, it still felt fit to hang out in.

As she approached the music room she could already hear people talking. She listened closely, and recognized the voices of Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Fluttershy was probably there as well, but you could never hear her in a different room. They sounded pretty happy about something.

When she opened the door, she found a surprising site before her.

She found the group standing amongst all the musical equipment, only it was one member larger than usual.

The lavender skinned girl waved her hand a little. "Hi Sunset."

"Twilight?"

She walked over and gripped Sunset in a small hug, causing the latter's heart rate to increase.

"Well this is an...unexpected surprise."

"I know right!" said Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy found her sitting outside on the outside pedestal earlier this morning."

Twilight smiled awkwardly. "Everyone back in Equestria was busy, so I thought I'd check on how you guys were doing."

There was something in Twilight's voice that made Sunset feel slightly suspicious of what was going on in her head. Not to say she didn't love the fact that Twilight was here.

"Well, its good to see you again. So, what were you girls talking about?"

"Oh we were just catching up on each other," replied Rarity. "Did you know she tutors the pony Sweetie Belle and her friends. I've been trying to find Sweetie Belle a good tutor for years! It just makes me wish we had our own Twilight."

Pinkie Pie had a face of deep thought on her face.

"Wait. If we have counterparts in the pony world, doesn't that mean there should be a Twilight in this world? And a Sunset Shimmer too? But wait, if there's two dimensions with two of everyone, does that mean that there should be more universes, and the multiverse theory is correct? Are there countless worlds upon worlds each with a different version of us? But if there are countless versions of us, what is the meaning of the life of one? What is the meaning of our lives?"

Everyone just looked at her.

Fluttershy was the first to speak. "Pinkie, you scare me."