As soon as class ends, Sunset Shimmer and I walk over to the school's soccer field and sit on the bleachers as we watch our friends practice. We give it a couple of minutes before Sunset Shimmer starts to explain where she's from. I listen to her intently, but the more I listen, the more confusing her explanation becomes. I am especially perplexed when she finally explains what she originally is. I thought she was some kind of humanoid being or some alien creature, but the truth turned out to be both simpler and yet much stranger than I thought.
"You're a horse?" I ask.
"Not a horse, a pony," Sunset Shimmer corrects.
"That's the same thing," I counter. "You're basically a smaller horse."
"I know that sounds that way in this world, but in Equestria, they are separate species. We're both equines, but ponies have different races and possess different magical abilities that horses can't obtain," Sunset Shimmer counters.
"And you're a unicorn specially?" I ask.
"Yes, I'm a unicorn. Therefore I can use my magic to cast spells and levitate objects, whereas pegasi can use their magic to fly and walk on clouds and Earth Ponies use their magic for strength." Sunset Shimmer explains.
"And there's pony versions of everybody in your world?" I ask.
"Well, not quite everyone," she says. "It's my understanding with one of my conversations with Princess Twilight that Mr. Iron Will is a minotaur, and Mr. Doodle is a donkey in Equestria."
I look away from Sunset Shimmer for a second, befuddled.
"Mr. Iron Will is a minotaur, and Mr. Doodle is a donkey," I say, thinking out loud. "That kind of sounds about right. And Princess Twilight is a unicorn too?"
"Yes. Well, she was," Sunset Shimmer answers. "She was born a unicorn, but shortly before the Fall Formal, she turned into an alicorn."
"A what?" I ask.
"It's a mixture of a unicorn, pegasus and earth pony." Sunset Shimmer says. "There are four alicorns who rule Equestria: Twilight, her sister-in-law, Princess Cadance, and Princess Celestia and Luna, who are the immortal rulers of the country."
"Wait, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna are immortal in your world?" I ask, bewildered. "Does that mean they're immortal in our world too?"
"Um, not to my knowledge," Sunset Shimmer says, unsuringly. "In fact, I think they're mortal in this world."
"How do you know that for a fact?" I question. "The Celestia and Luna in this world could be immortal and have discovered ways to hide it for Lord knows how many years. It wouldn't make sense for them to be immortal in one world and yet only exist now over the past 30 or 40 some years in a parallel world."
"Well, that's probably where it gets confusing," Sunset Shimmer says while scratching the back of her head. "This world and Equestria are both parallel and perpendicular at the same time."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Well, Twilight and I have been discussing how a lot of the students and staff at CHS are human counterparts to ponies in Ponyville where she lives and from Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Having said that, though, most of the people who are teenagers or adults in this world are all young adults in Equestria."
My face is more perplexed by the minute as I take in this information.
"So everyone here are adult horses - er, ponies in your world?" I ask.
"Most of them," Sunset Shimmer says. "The problem with our studies in comparing both worlds is that there is no scientific rhyme or reason to why things like the age difference even if you take Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna out of the equation. Some of the freshmen here like Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Snips, and Snails are elementary school foals, and while Ms. Cheerilee is an adult and Big Mac has only graduated last year. They are both adults in Equestria, and the Crusaders even tried to pair them up once."
My mouth drops. In this world of magical talking ponies, Big Mac and Ms. Cheerilee could get together and get married, whereas the idea here is not exactly legal. In fact, have Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo tried to pair them up in this world?
On second thought, I don't want to know.
I sigh, trying to keep myself from being overwhelmed with everything Sunset Shimmer is explaining to me.
"So you are an adult pony in her 20s just like Twilight Sparkle and these other ponies?" I ask.
Sunset Shimmer chuckles nervously and scratches the back of her head again.
"Oh, you're going to love this," she says. "You see, when I came to this world, I was a 22-year-old mare, but when I came here, I gained a 14-year-old human body. Now before you say anything, this is where it gets messed up. The portal between this world and Equestria opens only once every thirty full moons, making it roughly once every three years or so in this world, but during that period, time will go faster in Equestria than in this world."
"What, are there fewer days in a year in Equestria than in here?" I ask.
"No, it's the same amount, but more time is allowed to pass in Equestria when the portal is closed. Let me put it this way, when I left my studies and traveled here, Twilight took my place as Princess Celestia's student, and she was only six years old. When the portal was open again, and I stole her crown, causing everything that happened at the Fall Formal, she was twenty. So what was only three years for me since I first came here was roughly fourteen years in Equestria."
I stare at her in disbelief.
"So by that logic, you're basically..." I begin before Sunset Shimmer interrupts.
"Yes, that more or less means I'm technically 17, 25, and 36 years old all at once," she confirms. "I am biologically 17 years old here, my birth was 36 years ago in Equestria, but I've been alive for 25 years going on 26."
I stare at her, dumbfounded.
"But-but-but, how is any of this possible?!" I exclaim. "I mean okay, I'm hardly the most qualified person to talk about other dimensions and time travel or anything, but I don't think things like this between two relatively similar worlds would be this inconsistent. I mean, should we just be shrugging and saying the whole universe is a bunch of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff or something?"
Sunset Shimmer chuckles at my reaction before she puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Believe me, Rough Draft, I wish I knew the answers to those questions," she says kindly. "Ultimately, I think it's best to accept that we will never understand everything as there's only so much that can be explained with science or magic."
"Yeah, I guess," I say before a thought entered my mind. "But you know, that raises another question, you dated Flash Sentry, so given how ol-" I stopped myself for a moment when Sunset Shimmer gives me a glare and then clear my throat. "Given the difference between you and Flash, doesn't that mean you dated a minor?"
Sunset Shimmer frowns at my question.
"Good question," she says. "Honestly, I don't think so. Traveling to different worlds where you are given a different body and age and staying in that world doesn't happen often enough for there to be any official rules or morals, leastways with a case as convoluted as this. Truth be told, Rough Draft, I would appreciate it if you saw me as only 17. I may be a grown mare from another world, but I can sincerely say that this is my home now. I am a teenage human who is a senior in high school, and I don't plan on going back. This is who I've been for over three years, and this is all I plan to be for the rest of my life. Not a magical pony, but a human just like you, who just happens to get magical pony ears and tail when I play music with my friends."
I think about what she's saying, and it makes enough sense. But then another thought enters my mind.
"But what about your family?" I ask. "Shouldn't you at least visit them and see how they're doing and letting them know you're okay after all these years?"
Sunset Shimmer looks down, looking sad, which makes me feel guilty.
"I'm sorry if I overstepped -"
"It's alright," Sunset Shimmer says. "But to be honest, I have been so distant with my parents years before I came to this world. I don't even know if my parents are still alive or if they care about where I’ve been all this time. I don't know what would even change if I did see them. As far as I'm concerned, the only family I have are the Rainbooms and even to a certain extent any of my other friends here at Canterlot High, including you."
I give her a small smile at her considering me and the Rainbooms and her other friends at Canterlot High her family before I think of my next question.
"Then, I guess that leaves me with one more question," I say. "Why did you come to our world?"
Sunset Shimmer looked at me skeptically.
"Do you really want to know, Rough Draft?" She asks. "How do I know you're not just trying to be friendly to me? This is a lot about myself that I usually don't tell anyone."
"I really want to know, Sunset Shimmer," I answer. "You were a manipulative, cruel human being since before I stepped foot in this school until you became kind and repentant after the Fall Formal. Now that I know where you came from and what you were, the only thing that seems to be missing is understanding what caused you to do everything you have done up until that dance."
Sunset Shimmer hesitates at this.
"Well, it is a long story," she says.
"Well, we still have a while before Rainbow Dash and Soarin are done practicing," I say, pointing to the soccer field where Rainbow Dash is shouting out commands while Soarin and the rest of the team are doing drills.
"Well, if you really want to know," Sunset Shimmer begins with a small smile before she turns her face away from me and sighs sadly before she starts explaining while looking at the mountains in the far distance. "I was eight years old when I was accepted into the Canterlot School of Advanced Magical Studies. My parents used to train me to pass the magical entrance exam so often that I lost count of the times I fainted before the big day. You see, my mom and dad are very determined and boastful ponies. They both are very successful business people or business ponies as the saying goes in my world, and they both are so prideful of their accomplishments that they believe that they were better than everypony else. It's pretty normal to be uptight and condescending when you're as high up in business and society in the capital of Equestria, but that usually meant me being neglected."
"Usually?" I ask.
Sunset Shimmer shrugs and says, "Well, as much as they acted like they cared about me as their daughter, they mostly kept their distance from me to be looked over by a nanny or a private tutor. So whenever I did spend time with my parents, it was nice, but at the same time, their devotion to me always felt forced. It's as if my life was like a bad movie where you know who two of the main characters are, but never feel like you've spent real quality time with them as the audience. It didn't take long to figure out that I was not much of an interest to them unless I grew up to be something that would benefit them in some way. When it was all said and done, they made it clear that in their eyes, no one should need any pony. The most important thing in life is to be the best, and personal relationships have their uses but are forfeit in the long run."
"Ah, that already explains a bit," I comment with a smirk.
"I don't doubt it," Sunset Shimmer says, smirking back. "Anyway, when I planned on entering the school, my parents worked me to the bone, hoping that I would be accepted and grow up to become something useful to them. When I was asked in my entrance exam to use my magic to try to open a phoenix egg, I did so well that it caught the interest of Princess Celestia. She made me her private student, where I would be living in Canterlot Castle and be taught by the ruler of all of Equestria herself. My parents, as you could imagine, were proud to hear the news. They were eager to hear how I would turn up many years later and thus gain a new form of social greatness coming from the success of their child. Of course, they didn't know how happy I was to finally get away from them. I didn't know what possibilities lied ahead as Princess Celestia's private pupil yet, but I was determined to make sure my parents had no part of it. Whatever achievements of grand proportions I made would be mine and mine alone."
"Sounds like you ironically became like them just to be away from them," I comment.
"Well, you're not wrong," Sunset Shimmer says sadly. "I worked hard with my mentor practically day and night, practicing spells and re-reading various books about magic until I could practically recite them as easily as a simple pony tale - um, child's story. I passed my exams with flying colors without breaking a sweat, blowing the school board away with synchronized dancing cats and turning a seed buried deep inside a pot of dirt into a giant plant that covers the entire school."
"Synchronized dancing cats?" I ask skeptically.
"Yeah, I know that doesn't sound half as awesome as using the Force in Star Wars," she says, smirking again. "But keep in mind that these were mostly stepping stones to a road to many possibilities for me as Celestia's student."
Sunset Shimmer then turns her head away from me and looks down at her knees sadly.
"But then my arrogance became my undoing," she says. "Shortly after I passed my latest midterm exam, Princess Celestia noticed how I rudely pushed other students away. They would invite me to hang out with them, but I would ruthlessly turn them away, wanting to focus on my studies. Celestia began to try to teach me the importance of humility and compassion, using a mirror as a way of trying to help me see me as some pony with those qualities. Still, whenever I looked in the mirror, all I saw was myself as a great and powerful mare destined to become a powerful and beloved alicorn princess just like Celestia."
"So, you were so confident that you thought you could have the power to change into a completely different race?" I ask.
"Pretty much," Sunset Shimmer answers. "Keep in mind, Rough Draft, that no one is ever born an alicorn."
"Wait, not even your world's Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna?" I ask.
"Nope, not even them," she says. "I have no idea what they were originally. I know their adopted niece, Princess Candance, was one before she became an alicorn, but I don't know for sure."
"You mean you never asked her about that part of her past even though you were her private student?" I ask.
"Didn't ask, didn't care," Sunset Shimmer replies with a shrug. "Looking back, I was close to her to an extent, given the time we spent together. She may have been like a real mother to me after all those years as her student. But back then, I saw her as an obstacle that had the elixir that I was looking for. I only cared about how to get it rather than asking her about how it happened to her. Though I don't think she would give me a real answer as she probably knew I would try to do the same thing she did."
I nod in understanding before I ask, "So then what happened?"
Sunset Shimmer sighs before she continues her story.
"Well, as I said, Celestia asked me to look in the mirror and asked what I saw, and I pretty much said that I saw myself a princess. She gave up and suggested that we worked on other studies, but then I thought I saw a different figure in the mirror. It looked like me, but it was a species that I had never seen before. This form of me was giving me an evil yet inviting look as if it was telling me to walk through the mirror to get what I've wanted. I told Princess Celestia about it, but she shrugged it off, saying it was probably the lighting and dropped it. But I wasn't willing to let it go. The next few days, I would try to bring up the mirror again only to be shot down every time with Princess Celestia making it clear that I wasn't ready. One day, I had enough of her rejecting me and snuck into the castle library eager to learn more about the mirror. I read through dozens of books until I found something in a history book. It said that the mirror was a portal to another world that opens once every thirty moons, and it even went on to say how it was connected to the ability to turn into an alicorn princess. But before I could read further into that, Celestia caught me. I argued with her telling her that she was keeping me away from my destiny, and she was being selfish and demanding that she would turn me into a princess, but she refused sitting that's becoming a princess is something that is earned. Ultimately, she had enough and disowned me as her student and banished me from the castle. But when the time was right, I knocked out the guards that were escorting me out of the castle and ran back to the mirror. As soon as I stood in front of it, I saw the figure appear again through the mirror, just waiting for me to come in. I looked back one last time before I took a breath and walked right through the mirror, and the next thing I knew, I came out of the portal here realizing that I no longer have my pony body but instead this human form with clothes and everything. I had just happened to have come to this world shortly before school was starting and so I took the time to study my new surroundings and learn more about the new species that I have become and what I was. I also just happen to have a few bits for me, which is the money currency in Equestria, and since bits are pure gold, I was able to sell all the bits I had and used it to buy my apartment and enroll in Canterlot High School. From there, CHS became my new target. Since the portal is at the school, it seemed clear to me that it was the key to my goals. I worked my way, pretending to help other people like we talked about with people like you, Mystery Mint, and Cloud Kicker before using them to become popular."
I grimace at the dark memory of how she used me before she continues.
"But it didn't take long to figure out that I needed magic to be brought into this world to get what I truly wanted," she says. "Because of this, I had to wait until the next time the portal opened so that I could secretly come back to Equestria and find a magical object that could be used for my needs. As luck would have it, Twilight and the pony counterparts of the Rainbooms found the most powerful objects known to pony kind called the Elements of Harmony. Their magic was what ultimately turned Twilight into an alicorn princess, and she was crowned with the main Element of Harmony, the Crown of Magic, which conveniently enough looks exactly like the Fall Formal crown. Then an opportunity presented itself when Twilight and her friends were visiting the castle in the Crystal Empire where the mirror was moved to. I snuck back into this world to steal the Fall Formal crown from Princess Celestia's office, came back to Equestria, and stole Twilight's crown. Twilight chased me to the mirror, where the crown was knocked out of my sack and flew into the portal. I escaped from Twilight and chased after it, but the time I came back, the crown was already found by Fluttershy, and she gave it to Principal Celestia, mistaking it for the Fall Formal crown. I had no choice but to earn the crown back during the dance only for Twilight to come here to bring it back to Equestria."
"And that's when you turned into a demon?" I ask.
"Correct." She says. "After Twilight won the crown at the dance, I used her dog, Spike, who is actually a dragon in Equestria, to bring her out to the front yard of the school and take the crown. But when I put it on, dark magic fueled by my lust for power consumed me into becoming that demon. If it wasn't for Twilight and the Rainbooms, I might have succeeded in ruling Equestria with my army of brainwashed students."
"But how did they stop you?" I ask. "I mean, is it really some rainbow magic that's fueled by friendship or something?"
"Yes, it is," Sunset Shimmer answers. "I know it sounds hard to believe, Rough Draft, but ever since Twilight and the Rainbooms defeated me, it was finally becoming clear that what I needed was the complete opposite of what my parents raised me to pursue. There is a stronger and more enduring kind of power in the unity of friendship that no book, spell, or magical object can give. You have to think about it, but magic or no, there is something truly wonderful and everlasting about friendship regardless of how corny or illogical it seems. That's why I broke down after I was changed back into a human. Twilight's words about friendship and the effects of the power she and the Rainbooms possessed made me ashamed of everything I had been for so many years. Even now, though, the guilt in everything I did runs deep through me."
"But shouldn't you be over that guilt by now?" I ask. "After all, everyone apart from me forgave you after the Battle of the Bands."
Sunset Shimmer sighs and turns her head to look into the distance again.
"I thought so too until the Anon-a-Miss incident happened," she says. "I thought all the hate was over after Sonata and her sisters were defeated, but then the Crusaders made that MyStable page and even Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity thought I was back to my old ways. Soon, everyone was turning on me, and just when I thought I had made good progress with you, you blew up on me thinking that my attempts to be your friend again were so that I could make you more miserable than before."
I look away at her sadly, remembering what I said to Sunset Shimmer after Octavia dumped me.
"I felt at my worst when people started verbally harassing me in the halls," she continues. "Everyone was ganging up on me, and all I could do was hug my legs, fighting the tears as my worst fear had suddenly come to pass. I don't know what I would have done if Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle hadn't proved my innocence, but even then, it seems like everything I have done to show that I'm good can easily be forgotten by one simple thing. Like in some psychological way, everyone sees me just like what you said about seeing me as both a seemingly nice person, but, at the same time, remember how I was cruel and dishonest. It's like what they see will always be what I saw in the mirror from my hair to my eyes to my clothes."
Silence takes place apart from hearing Rainbow Dash and the soccer team practice in the field. I look away sadly, feeling sorry for everything that Sunset Shimmer has put up within her life. I can't help but feel the guilt that I felt when I came to apologize to her, knowing how I added salt to the wound she had during the entire Anon-a-Miss incident. It isn't right that people like me can still see who she was even after all her attempts to prove otherwise.
Just then, I get an idea, and I give Sunset Shimmer a smile
"Well, why not fix that with a makeover?" I suggest.
Sunset Shimmer turns her head and looks at me confused before I elaborate.
"If all they're seeing is the same person to the last detail, make a change that signifies that you're a completely new person. Like maybe get a haircut like Sonata did when she went back to juvie or get new clothes or something. Show more than just your actions how you've left your old life behind, and you're nothing like what you saw in that mirror."
Sunset Shimmer stares at me, surprised by my idea. Then she scratches her chin deep in thought and then looks at her purple shirt with the red and yellow sun at the center. She stares at her shirt for a minute before a smile grows on her face.
"You know, Rough Draft, you're right," she says. "The sun in this shirt represents everything I have done both here and in Equestria before the Fall Formal. In Equestria, our personal marks, or cutie marks as they are called in my world, are meant to represent our special talents and, in some cases, our destinies. But I have a new destiny now, and this image on my shirt has no part of it anymore. I am not my parents; I am not a mare meant to become an alicorn princess, and I am no longer a force for darkness in the form of a raging she-demon. I am Sunset Shimmer, and for months now, that has meant so much more than it has been for so long, and it's time people see that."
"Yeah, that's the spirit," I say encouragingly.
Then out of nowhere, Sunset Shimmer gives me a tight hug. I raise my hands in surprise as she hugs me.
"Thank you, Rough Draft," She says appreciatively.
I can't help but smile as she pulls back, and I say, "You're welcome. I look forward to what you come up with."
She responds with a smile before she turns to the field.
"Looks like they finished up over there," she says.
I turn my head to find that the soccer team has finished practicing and started packing up. Soarin and Rainbow Dash are discussing strategies while in each other's arms, which makes me smile.
"So they are and nice to see Soarin and Rainbow Dash act a little bit like a couple for once," I say.
"Yeah, Rainbow is hardly into romance, but it is good to see her show how much she likes Soarin," Sunset Shimmer says. "Who knows? Maybe she'll try kissing him on the lips before the school year is over."
"Heh, I'd love to see that happen somehow," I say. "It looked like progress when she pecked him on the cheek for defending me at the cafeteria, but you can never tell with a girl like Rainbow Dash."
"Well, the semester has barely started, so who knows?" Sunset Shimmer says. "It's like with you and Octavia; you shouldn't give up on love."
My smile falters as Sunset Shimmer starts walking down the steps to meet up with Rainbow Dash.
"I hope you're right," I mumble, still sitting on the bench.
****************************************************************************************
After soccer practice was over, Soarin and I decide to message Caramel to meet up with him to play at the arcades for a couple of hours before we all head home. I came home just in time for dinner with my parents, which was quiet for the most part. My parents mostly just asked how my first day back was, and I answered that it was alright. When I finished, I went straight to my room and laid on my bed.
For about twenty minutes, I didn't do anything but think back on everything that happened today from finding out I finally share some classes with my best friends to Sunset Shimmer explaining where she came from. It was so strange yet enlightening to learn who she was and where she came from and why she came to this world. But then thinking about it leads me back to thinking about what she said about Octavia and me.
I want to believe that Sunset Shimmer is right and that Sonata might be able to get her and everyone else at the E.M.R. to see reason, but I can't help but feel like there's no hope. I take out my phone and start looking at pictures of her and me. I start with one where we are both making silly faces that I can't help but smile at, and then to another where we try to take a selfie of us kissing. I look through more photos until I stop at one photo in particular. It looks like it was during one of our movie nights because we can only be seen from the light of the TV. I'm resting my head on the arm of the couch while Octavia snuggles next to me, laying her head on my chest. She looks so happy and peaceful to be next to me, and it makes my heart ache thinking of how she changed her perspective of me so quickly.