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// Homecoming 
// Story: Sunset the Seventh 
// by SmilesPerHour 
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Sunset Shimmer was your average student, with good grades, many friends, and the ability to call upon a powerful mystical energy within her soul when fighting otherworldly abominations. Well, admittedly, she isn’t entirely ‘average’, but she is one of the kindest and friendliest people you could ever meet at Canterlot High. It wasn’t always like this, however: Sunset Shimmer was born as a unicorn in a world called ‘Equestria’, a world populated by magical horses who could cast magical spells and fly through the skies, among other incredible abilities. Sunset Shimmer had invaded Canterlot High with the intent of using a powerful mystical artifact from Equestria to enslave all of Canterlot High. However, Twilight Sparkle, another resident of Equestria who taught Sunset about the power of friendship, foiled Sunset Shimmer’s plans. Although many students were hesitant to forgive Sunset at first, they learned to accept her as a friend and help her feel accepted.

Sunset Shimmer was happier than she had ever been in her life, but she could not forget about her home in Equestria, and everything that she left behind. She knew that she would not be complete until she returned to Equestria and made amends with her former teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia. As it turns out, travelling to Equestria was the easy part: the statue at the entrance to Canterlot High contained a portal that would allow certain individuals, including Sunset Shimmer to travel between Equestria and Canterlot High. Sunset packed a few of her personal items, including her diary and a few spell books into her backpack, took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

Seconds later, Sunset emerged from the portal in Equestria, but things were not quite the same: for one thing, Sunset was no longer a human, but a unicorn with the image of a bright, flaming sun on either flank. In addition, when she had stepped through the portal into Canterlot High several years ago, the portal had been standing in an old stone castle in the center of Canterlot, the central city in Equestria. But now, the portal was sitting in a castle that was sparkling in the bright morning light, and the entire structure seemed to be made of crystal.

That’s weird, Sunset thought, I could have sworn this portal was standing in Princess Celestia’s castle, but I’ve never seen this building before. Maybe the portal took me to the wrong world. Sunset shrugged and walked outside, or at least tried to walk outside, because she had to adjust to walking on all fours instead of two legs. After practicing for several minutes and remembering how to walk in her horse body, Sunset opened the door and stepped outside. She needed to shade her eyes from the bright morning sun, but after she adjusted to the scene before her, she saw rural cottages on either side of the street, and outside of these cottages, there were magical horses that looked very much like her, selling fruits, vegetables, flowers and other such items from farm stalls. Sunset breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good, this really is Equestria. The portal worked.” Sunset said to herself, “But if this is Equestria, what is this building that I just walked out of?” She turned around and looked up at the massive façade of a crystalline building, a castle with several balconies and towers stretching hundreds of feet into the sky. Sunset was speechless, but before she had the chance to figure out where it came from or whom it belonged to, a grey pegasus with bright yellow hair and a muffin in her hoof bumped into Sunset.

“Oops, my bad!” said the pegasus, “I didn’t see you there. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen you anywhere before. Are you a friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle? But then, I guess you must be, since you’re walking out of her castle, but then again, you never know!” The pony smiled and giggled while Sunset stared in disbelief. She had no idea where this pony had come from or whom she was, but at least she provided some helpful information: this castle belonged to Twilight Sparkle, who wasn’t home at the moment. Twilight Sparkle had been living in Ponyville for several years, where she and her five best friends frequently worked together to defeat the supernatural terrors that threatened to either enslave or destroy Equestria. No matter the threat, Twilight Sparkle and her friends always managed to save the day, garnering the respect and adoration of the nation.

Sunset cleared her throat and said to the mare, “Yes, I’m an old friend of Twilight Sparkle, and I was stopping by for a visit, but it doesn’t look like she’s home. Do you know where she is?”

The mare stroked her chin in thought for a moment, then looked back at Sunset and said, “Well, she said something about a map leading her to a secret town in Equestria, and then she left to visit the secret town with her friends. But she should be back home soon.” Sunset smiled warmly and said, “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll stop by when she gets home. By the way, which way to Canterlot?” The mare pointed Sunset in the general direction of a massive mountain, where a bustling city was positioned on a large outcropping on the side of the mountain: Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. Sunset thanked the mare for her time, and cast a teleportation spell that would bring her closer to the city.