//------------------------------// // Whole New World // Story: Twilight and Sunset of the Vampires // by Anonomis //------------------------------// Sunset emerged from the portal and immediately collapsed. Looking around, she noticed some kind of building in front of her and hoped no one saw her. “Canterlot High School? This is really different from home,” she mused It took a few minutes of falling to realize that four legs don't work in this world. Using the pedestal to help her up; Sunset managed to stumble towards one of the other faces to see what she looked like. Staring back her was a young teen with red and yellow hair wearing strange garments; consisting of an orange skirt and purple shirt with her cutie mark imprinted. “Really? I look so young. Why did I have to be de-aged? I was an adult for buck’s sake! I guess the biggest question is where can I sleep?” INTERLUDE 1 She slowly made her way away from the statue and came to a corner with others standing wearing similar clothes with one difference. Everyone has larger items covering their heads and hands. She saw snow around and started shivering uncontrollably as the others ignored her. Noticing a image of a person light up; the others began to move as Sunset followed. Once on the other side of the street; she felt something was wrong and turned around. Following her a short distance back was a male in all black clothing. “Where's a pretty little thing like you going at this time of night? Dangerous things could be lurking around,” the stranger taunted Vampire or not; she knew that something bad would happen if she didn't get away. Unfortunately for her; the new body didn't want to cooperate and the stranger managed to catch up to her. Sunset was grabbed and dragged into a nearby alley so he could have his way with her. “Such a pretty face. It's a shame you were out here alone,” he said as he stroked her face “Bite me,” Sunset retorted “Maybe later. But first; how's about a kiss,” he asked As he leaned in to kiss Sunset, she saw her chance to act. Willing her fangs to emerge, she proceeded to sink them into his neck and drink. Moments later, she withdrew from his neck as he slumped down dead. Knowing she did something wrong, Sunset had to leave. She had no plan on where to go, but let her legs guide the direction. A little while later; she entered another alley with occupants and wanted to leave, in order to not attract attention to herself. “It's okay, dear. We won't hurt you,” a feminine voice said “What's your name,” a male asked “Sunset Shimmer.” “That's a beautiful name. What is a young lady like yourself doing on the streets,” the female asked “I was banished from home.” “You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need,” the male said “Sorry for our rudeness. I'm Star Swirl and this is my friend Mira.” “That name is familiar, but I can't place it,” Sunset thought “Come on over here; Sunset. It's not much, but it's home,” Mira replied Sunset made her way over and found a small tent she proceeded to crawl into and fell asleep. The next morning, she found herself woken up, still shivering. “From what I heard; some time during the night, a male was found in a nearby alley. The interesting part is the fact the victim was found drained of blood,” Star Swirl commented “Dear; are you alright? You have something on you chin,” Mira asked “Please don't be mad at me. I did it,” Sunset said burying her head in her hands “I promise not to say anything. Could you to open your mouth for a moment,” Star Swirl asked Looking at Sunset’s canine teeth, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so he dropped the subject. He remembered this was the girl that Luna mentioned about guarding. “Could you tell us more about yourself,” Mira asked “I came from a world of ponies called Equestria. The last thing I remember was sneaking into a castle belonging to the ruler and being sent through a portal at a place called Canterlot High School. Before I came here, someone brought me to a place to do something bad to me. I bit him in the neck, drawing blood.” “That explains what you had on your chin. I could be mistaken; but I have seen a young lady that looked like your twin sister,” Star Swirl said stroking his beard in thought Sunset took a good look at the two people she was with. Mira had dark hair of indeterminate color and wore torn clothes that were dirty. Star Swirl had noticeably long gray hair and beard and wore a set of well loved blue clothes. She knew he felt familiar, but wasn't entirely sure. “Where are we going to get food?” “We are able to get leftover donuts from Donut Joe; but mostly we head to the nearby food bank,” Mira replied “You're getting red. Here, use this to cover up,” Star Swirl said “Otherwise, you'll catch hypothermia.” Sunset was handed an oversized hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants and gladly put them on with a little assistance from Mira. She did feel better as the cold started to disappear a little bit; although her newly functioning hands were somewhat of a problem to get used to. Sunset took a moment to readjust to where she was, now there was light. The three were in an alley with the unmistakable smell of donuts around it. Their current shelter consisted of a pair of tents facing one another with various cardboard boxes taped to overturned shopping carts to form a makeshift barricade. Thinking about her situation brought about a small chuckle. “New world; same problem. Still homeless.” “In the meantime; have a donut or two. You look like you're still hungry,” Mira commented “Thank you very much. These are good.” “Day old donuts that weren't sold. Joe makes sure to give them out for the homeless that could use them,” Star Swirl said “When you're ready; we'll head out.” With Star Swirl leading, the three made their way down the street to the food bank. Once inside the building, they joined the line heading to the cafeteria. Sunset wasn't paying attention to the layout; but where the two in front of her were headed. “What can I get you to eat,” the chef asked “Beef stroganoff or grilled chicken breast?” “Chicken please,” Sunset replied, not knowing what the other was “Next room has other offerings,” the chef said Heading down the hall Sunset saw a table consisting of huge bowls of fruit and salad, along with a tray of desserts. “Fruit,” the worker asked, curiously “Yes, please. May I also have some salad?” “Of course,” the worker replied “Dessert,” another worker asked “Chocolate cake, please.” Before taking a seat, she stopped by a watercooler to grab some juice and picked up some plastic silverware to use. Meat wasn't eaten in Equestria; but her growling stomach changed that idea rather quickly. “Here. I'll cut up the chicken for you,” Mira suggested “Thank you.” Sunset ate slowly and cleaned the plate; despite wanting to devour the food. She had to remember that this wasn't like home where ponies might chow down on their food. Afterwards, she went up to get seconds as she still felt hungry. “More,” the chef asked “Yes please.” Sunset was automatically given the stroganoff and had a second helping of fruit and veggies. While she was hungry when she arrived from Equestria; despite draining someone of blood, the food helped immensely. “After you eat, join us in the other room. Food's give out there,” Star Swirl said A short time later, Sunset headed to another room and noticed many tables covered with food. She was handed a box as she joined the line. “Pick whatever you like,” Star Swirl said, motioning to the contents She proceeded to select various fruits, including a few apples and oranges. A few boxes of cereal were placed in inside her box along with various other snacks. With that done, the three headed back to the alley. “We'll place the perishable foods in this,” Star Swirl said, holding an ice chest With that decided; the food was stored in whatever containers were available. Sunset headed into one of the tents and curled into a ball in an attempt to keep warm. “Use the sleeping bag. It should help,” Mira suggested “Thank you.” Sunset found herself falling asleep with one thought running through her mind: ‘Why?’. Was Luna’s plan to send her here just an elaborate way of killing her? The weather certainly didn't help matters as well as the garments she was given. All she knew for certain was that it would be thirty moons before she could return home. “Why did this have to happen?” “I can't answer that for you,” Mira replied, startling Sunset “My apologies. You were muttering in your sleep.” “It's alright. Just thinking about my situation. I made one mistake and end up banished from my home world.” “I'm sorry you went through that. Is there anything Star Swirl or I can do to help,” Mira asked “Where's the closest library?” “Down the street. If you'd like, I could show it to you tomorrow,” Mira suggested “I'd like that very much.” The next day Sunset was directed down the street towards Canterlot Library. Once there, she was amazed at the size and how it dwarfed the one in Ponyville. “Can I help you,” the librarian asked “I came to read.” “You'll need a library card if you wish to check anything out. Would you mind giving me your name,” the librarian asked “Midnight Star.” “Thank you Miss Star. Here's your library card. The only limit to how much you can check out is whatever you could read in three weeks,” she said “Thank you very much.” With that made official; Sunset started to make her way to the history section and removed a few books that seemed to be interesting. To go with those; were a few on vampires to see how they compare to actuality. “Huh. Humans are extremely violent creatures. So many wars fought over nothing,” she thought After being both impressed and depressed over the violent nature of humans; Sunset returned the books to the shelves. The vampire books caught her attention as she read. “So; in this world vampires are fictional. This part about wolves in interesting. Perhaps the knowledge might come in handy,” she thought The rest of the week was spent in the library from open to close, reading as much as she could. One of the times she was reading; the librarian tapped her on the arm before placing a cup on the table. “I thought you could use something warm. It's hot chocolate,” the librarian said “Thank you very much.” “You could check these out and read them at home,” the librarian commented “Could you keep a secret,” Sunset asked, as the librarian nodded “I'm homeless and staying with a couple others. I don't want to risk the books getting damaged.” “I see. You really care about the welfare of the books,” she mused That evening; Star Swirl was waiting outside to escort Sunset home. She was surprised but glad to have a guardian looking out for her. “After we go to the food bank tomorrow; we're going to be leaving,” Star Swirl said “Oh? Where to?” “It'll be easier for you to see it for yourself,” he said vaguely With that; Sunset had an uneasy night due to what she was told earlier. She tried to think about the stories she found in the hopes of clearing her mind to fall asleep. The visit to the food bank was good as she enjoyed her food and selected what she wanted. Once they returned to the alley everything had to be quickly packed up, including the two tents. “We're leaving soon. A friend of mine mentioned there's an abandoned house we can use. The city doesn't care if us homeless use it, just as long as we clean it,” Star Swirl said “There is hot water and gas already set up.” “We're lucky that the city has a few safe houses like that,” Mira added An hour later, they were picked up by someone in a van and helped load everything inside, leaving nothing left in the alley. Sunset was cautious about leaving the only home she had to go somewhere else. “Haven't seen you before. What's your name, young one? I'm Tirek,” he said “Sunset Shimmer.” “You wouldn't happen to have a twin sister by any chance,” Tirek asked as she shook her head “Filthy Rich has a daughter just like you.” A few minutes later; the truck stopped at a simple one floor house as everyone departed and carried everything inside. The food was stored properly in the fridge as Sunset headed towards one of the rooms, while Tirek left. “Take one of the sleeping bags if you need it. We made sure to have extra, just in case,” Mira said, handing one to Sunset “Before we forget; could you place this outside,” Star Swirl asked, handing Sunset a flag, and taking the sleeping bag “What's the flag for?” “A red flag placed near the front signifies the house as being occupied. That way; if someone left they don't find another visitor inside when they return,” Star Swirl explained Sunset headed outside and placed the flag by the front door, making sure it was stuck into the ground deep enough before heading back inside. Just before she reentered the house; two people walked by that caught her eye. An older male in a suit was with a girl that bore a striking resemblance to herself. She quickly darted inside to catch her breath. “Who were those two that walked by?” “That was Filthy Rich and his daughter Sunset Shimmer,” Mira replied “So, my human counterpart.” “I don't know what you're thinking; but be careful,” Star Swirl whispered Now knowing there was a human counterpart of her in this world; Sunset knew she had to do something. Star Swirl and Mira weren't bad in the way of guardians; but she didn't want to be homeless forever. Looking at a nearby calendar; she saw it was two weeks since her arrival on Nightmare Night. The next day, she decided to come up with a plan. “I'm going out for a little while.” “Just be careful. You are supposed to be in school. Speaking of which; what grade were you in back home,” Mira inquired “Technically, we didn't have grades, but I was top of the class.” Once outside she kept out of sight and followed her human self home to learn about her. Not wanting to be spotted, Sunset quickly headed home. At least she found the house to be only a few blocks away from their current dwelling. The following day she left again, but instead of heading to see her counterpart; went to the Everfree Forest. Star Swirl warned her to be careful as wolves lived there and were known to attack people. Losing track of time, she realized it was late as the sun had already gone down some time ago. A series of howls rang from the forest and Sunset was completely frozen in fear. Two brown wolves emerged and headed towards her, sniffing her. To her amazement, one sat down on its haunches while the other headed to her hand to be petted. “Friendly little guys, aren't you? You know what I am; don't you,” Sunset asked as one nodded The one that sat down rose and headed for her legs, before gently nudging her. She was led to a nearby cave where one proceeded to rip off a chunk of meat from their latest kill and dropped it in front of her. After eating her dinner, she slept on the floor with the two curled around her. Hours after sunrise, she woke up and realized she needed to get home. “Sorry you two, but I have to leave. My guardians are probably worried about me.” Sunset brushed as much dirt and hair off her clothes as she could and made her way out of the forest. The trip through took a while due to how far in the cave was located. Once out, the rest of the way home was easy as she returned around noon. “What happened to you? When you didn't come home we feared the worst,” Mira asked when Sunset returned home “I lost track of time and found a cave to sleep in. There was a wolf in there, but it seemed to want nothing to do with me.” “Just be careful. We don't want anything to happen to you,” Star Swirl said “I'm sorry to have worried the two of you.” For the reminder of the week; Sunset headed over to her counterpart’s home and dared herself to enter. Carefully lifting the window; Sunset had just entered when the sound of the door opening startled her. “Miss Shimmer? What are you doing,” a maid asked Sunset raced over to the maid and pulled her into the room with one hand over her mouth and the other hand around her waist. “I am Sunset Shimmer; but not yours. Forget I've ever been here and say nothing to anyone about what you saw. Understand,” Sunset demanded as the maid could only nod in response Sunset left the house and decided not to return for a little while. In the time she skipped stalking her counterpart; she found it hard to believe that she had been a human for a month. After waking up, she knew something was wrong, but couldn't place it. “Uhh, my head. It feels like someone pounding on my skull.” Sunset made her way slowly down the hall for breakfast in the hopes that eating something would help her feel better. “What happened to your eyes,” Mira asked “What do you mean?” “Take a look,” Star Swirl said handing her a mirror Looking back at her was a Sunset with pale skin and blood red eyes. Running her tongue over her teeth found her canines to be sharper than normal and she understood what happened. She needed blood soon or else she'd feed on her ‘family’. “Here, try some pancakes. Maybe some food will make you feel better,” Star Swirl suggested While they enjoyed breakfast, an uninvited pest in the form of a rat ran through the dining room. Without thinking, Sunset proceeded to catch the squirming varmint around the middle. “Thank you Sunset. That was the first one I've seen here. We'll get rid of it after we eat,” Mira said To the shock of the others; Sunset opened her mouth to reveal two sharp fangs and sunk them into the neck and drank. Once she finished, Sunset felt much better and they watched her eyes return to her normal blue and her skin regain its color. “You're a,” Mira started “Yes. Sorry to startle you, but I did drink once before." “Well; you certainly look much better. Let's drop the subject and get rid of that. Go ahead and get cleaned up,” Star Swirl said taking the dead rat After she returned from the bathroom, Sunset continued eating the remaining portion of her breakfast, now that she felt better. “So, I have a month before that feeling returns. Better carry out my plan before then,” she thought “I forgot to ask; but when's your birthday,” Mira asked later “Nightmare Night,” Sunset replied automatically, before defining “October 31st. I'm not sure what this world's version is.” “Halloween. We dress up in costumes,” Mira replied “Same as Equestria, but kids were to ‘donate’ a portion to the creator Nightmare Moon.” “Whatever happens to the candy,” Star Swirl asked “I honestly never found out; but I doubt the princess ate it.” On Thanksgiving; Sunset decided to head over to her counterpart’s house one last time and leave a note in the hopes of having a meeting to find out some things about her. If done right, the bloodlust wouldn't return for a month, now that she understood to feed regularly. “I'm going out for the night.” “I'll go with, if you don't mind. There's some things I'd like to talk with you about,” Star Swirl replied The two headed into the forest and had plenty of time before her meeting. She hoped he wasn't going to try and talk her out of this. “Sunset; I haven't been entirely honest with you. You aren't the first to come through that portal,” Star Swirl started “You really are him. There's no record of you leaving Equestria.” “I didn't need anyone knowing. I had my own reasons for doing so; in fact I've lived here for the better part of a few hundred years.” “How is that possible? You aren't immortal; are you?” “Yes and no. I wasn't an alicorn, but a spell gone awry prevents me from ever aging past what I am now. Over the years, I've taken whatever position needed, including soldier, doctor and lawyer. No one knows what drove your attacker to you that night; but an old friend asked me to watch over you,” he replied “Who asked you to do so?" “My old student Luna. She appeared shortly after you did,” he answered “That's amazing you've been here so long. Does Mira know about you?" “She’s the only one that does. I'm not sure what you plan on doing, but I hope you don't regret it. You're only thirteen in this world, and as your guardian; I don't want to see you get into trouble,” he said hugging her “I have to do this. You and Tirek both mentioned seeing my counterpart and I don't need anyone bringing it up about already seeing me when I didn't do something. I'm sorry, but for now this is goodbye,” Sunset said, hugging him “I'll be watching over you no matter what. We'll see each other again soon,” he said before departing