The rest of Summer went as expected. Just like the last one, Sunset spent her time with them and just did things a normal teen would. There were days when Equestria would not cross her mind, when the strangeness of this world didn’t feel as strange.
But just before it ended, Flash told her about another one of his ‘Pegasus Dreams’, about news from Equestria. It was a little vague, but it was enough. Sunset held it together, long enough for Flash to leave. As soon as he was gone, she broke down.
Sunset had not only been replaced, she had been outdone. She had expected to be replaced eventually. Hell, she knew she wasn’t the first Unicorn to be the Princess’s student. But it seemed like it might have happened almost immediately after she left.
She was fine with that, but then there was the story of how Vice Principal Luna finally ‘appeared in his dreams’. The return of Nightmare Moon, quickly put to a stop by the Princess’s student and the Elements of Harmony. Sunset’s Replacement was the Element of Magic, Savior of Equestria, and probably a whole bunch of other titles.
But that wasn’t what hurt most. What hurt most is the fact that she couldn’t really say she had been replaced as the Princess’s student, because the new girl was not ‘the Princess’s’ student, she was Celestia’s.
Why was this mare worthy of seeing Celestia, of knowing her and being her friend? What did she have that Sunset didn’t? Sunset had tried, over and over, to get even the barest glimpse of Celestia, yet this mare was granted that so easily. Why?
Sunset asked herself why over and over. She cried, maybe harder than she had the night she left. The only thing to keep her from screaming was the idea of waking the neighbors. Many poor coping mechanisms ran through her head. She was too young to buy a drink, and while her nails dug into her skin, she couldn’t bring herself to attempt any self-harm.
She wasn’t sure when she stopped crying, when her pain lessened from intense stabbing to a dull throb. It still killed her, but she could at least think. She could plan.
If…. If she managed to go home, managed to get the Element of Magic for herself, maybe she could get everything she had once wanted. That was it, wasn’t it? She hadn’t used the Element of Magic, that’s what made this other mare ‘better’, the only differences she could find. If she could do what her replacement had done, would Celestia talk to her, care for her?
She had a chance, one chance, to get everything she’d ever wanted. But was it worth giving up the life she’d made here? Flash, Goldie and Bramble, Brawly and Thunder, even just the other students at CHS that could be friends if she tried. If she was able to go home, she wouldn’t see them again. At least not for years.
The answer came from doubts. The doubts she had about these friendships, despite what happiness they gave her. None of them, not even Flash, knew the real Sunset Shimmer. It wasn’t like she had faked everything, as if she didn’t care about them. Because she did.
But how could they know her if she had to keep so much from them? She could never tell them ‘I’m a Unicorn from another Dimension’. She justified it over and over. She had to lie because who would believe that? Because it would unravel the things she did lie about, both for protection and to get what she’d wanted, and that could force them away more than going home could. And if she kept up the lie, could she really call them friends?
But Celestia… while she hesitated to go back, to even hope that she could have what she’d longed for, she wouldn’t have to hide anything from her. She could tell Celestia about this world, about her life, and about little things that she could never tell anyone here just because it involved Magic. She could have a real friend in Celestia, if only she could figure out how.
Sunset had a plan. When the portal opened, she was to go to Equestria, take the Element of Magic, and bring it back here. She’d debated about whether to bring it back or not, but in the end, it seemed like a better option. She didn’t know how long it would take get the Element of Magic to work, if she could put it on and have it instantly work or if she needed to ‘convince’ it to let her use it. No one would expect someone from another dimension, so she’d have all the time she needs while they search Equestria.
The only problem was making sure no one here could keep her from using the Element of Magic. While Humans didn’t know about it, there was a chance that the Elements were bonded with the Souls of those who wield them. If so, their Counterpart’s Souls might be enough to interfere.
To keep that from happening, she had to stop them from being together. Technically there were many ways to stop them, but some of the more definite options were…. Nothing she wanted to do. So she just had to separate them from one another, get them to stop talking to each other.
She didn’t want to do that. Maybe if they had been terrible, she wouldn’t have cared. But these girls, well, she hadn’t found her Replacement’s Counterpart. But thanks to her new theatre teacher’s shenanigans, she figured out the other five.
While they weren’t close, she liked them well enough. Fluttershy was sweet, and scary when pissed off. Applejack was blunt and stubborn, but she was the definition of ‘Southern Hospitality’. Rarity was an oddity. She fit a lot of tropes for the stuck-up-bitch, but always helped others. And Rainbow Dash was entertaining and overall fun, even if her ego could get bit on her nerves.
And then there was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was the one Sunset knew best of the group, but not through anything specific other than their recent time in Theatre. Pinkie just liked being friends with everyone, with knowing things about everyone. And sometimes knowing too much. There were things she said sometimes that made Sunset wonder if she knew about Equestria, about what she really was. More than once Sunset had wondered if she should tell her, and there were many times where she slipped and replied with something too Equestrian.
She didn’t want to break them up. But she had to. If she wanted any chance, she had to. Even her third year as Fall Formal Princess didn’t make her as happy as it had in the years before, despite Flash trying to make her laugh and mess up the picture. She couldn’t be truly happy in a world where no one knew her.